by Beth | Jun 5, 2024 | Employee Hiring
When I bought my house three years ago, I decided that I wanted some new dishes to complement my regular white ones. I actually walked into Williams Sonoma and bought 8 blue dinner plates and 8 blue salad plates to go with my blue kitchen. I also bought 8 blue linen napkins to round out the place setting. I was in total bliss.
Every year at Christmas, I host my Vistage group for our Christmas meeting. I have one red and green table and one blue and silver table to accommodate about 16 people. I pulled out my trusty blue linen napkins and alas! I could only find 7.
I looked EVERYWHERE for that missing blue napkin. I thank my lucky stars that one person in our Vistage group couldn’t attend the meeting, so I only needed 7 blue napkins.
But still.
This spring, I cleaned every closet, every cabinet, every crevice, crook and cranny of my house, and I couldn’t find that damn thing anywhere. Finally, I started looking at the Williams Sonoma website to buy 8 more napkins, but my OCD kicked in when I realized I would still be short one napkin.
SIGH.
Then, one night, I was going to Boulder to have dinner with my good friends, Lisa and Michael. It was a hot night so I put on a sundress. I turned around to walk out of the bathroom, and there on the floor in the middle of the bathroom was the blue napkin.
WHAT??? My only guess is that thanks to good ole static cling, it was stuck to my dress.
This exact situation happens in hiring all the time. You search and search. You interview. You lament. You worry. You cling to hope. Until one day, your amazing employee drops in your lap. And then, you are so happy that you forget all the other horror.
You are so happy that you hired a great employee, and I am so happy that I have an even number of napkins. YAY!
POWER THOUGHT: Your napkin/employee isn’t lost. It just hasn’t dropped into your lap yet. Keep searching.
by Beth | May 22, 2024 | Lifestyle
In February, my beloved friends, Shelly and Jeff, came to visit me for the weekend. We had a BALL! We drove to the mountains one day, ate at my favorite restaurants, hung out and got caught up. It was a lovely, lovely weekend.
While we were making dinner one night, I dropped a jar of salsa. It spilled everywhere, shattering glass and tomato chunks all over the floor. I dutifully cleaned it up.
A few weeks later, I dropped a piece of lettuce on the floor, and I noticed that some chunks of salsa were stuck to the side of the refrigerator, but I was in a hurry and didn’t do anything about it. And, I continued to not do anything about it… for 3 months.
Sigh.
Every time I walked into my kitchen or sat at my dining room table, I would euphemistically slap my forehead and say, “Oh yeah! I need to clean that!”. Then, I was off doing the next thing.
I am horrified to report that last week (May 15th) I cleaned the dried salsa off my refrigerator. It took less than 5 seconds.
We all have that running to-do list that includes things like cleaning the salsa, and it can eat away at you if you aren’t careful. I saw this video that said to do ONE more thing each day before you knock off work. Just one. Food for thought!
And, I feel so much better about my clean fridge that I am using it for blog material. 😊
POWER THOUGHT: Clean the salsa. Then you have time to LEARN the salsa.
by Beth | May 8, 2024 | Employee Retention
As many of you know, my daughter, Katy, is a postpartum nurse at a hospital outside of Dallas, Texas. About 8 weeks after she started out on her own, a young couple gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and Katy was their nurse. They were so moved by the care that Katy gave them, that they named their baby girl, Amelia Kate, after Katy.
What Katy didn’t know is that they also nominated her for A DAISY award. The DAISY Foundation was founded in 1999 in the memory of Patrick Barnes, who died after an 8-week hospitalization. The Barnes family was so grateful for the nursing care that their family received, they started the foundation as a way to recognize compassionate nurses. To date, there have been 2.5 million nominations across 39 countries.
According to research, organizations that recognize nurses through the DAISY awards have higher retention rates for nurses, better recruitment, and happier, healthier work environments. It reminds nurses why they became nurses, and recognition helps elevate care across the industry. Nurses are more engaged in organizations where DAISY awards exist, and patient care is enhanced. You can read more about it here: www.daisyfoundation.org
Katy says that a DAISY award is the Academy Awards for nurses. And, she won. I am bursting at the seams with pride.
What is your company doing to recognize outstanding work?
POWER THOUGHT: “Nurse” your employees through recognition.
by Beth | Apr 24, 2024 | Good Management
Several years ago, I was in Boulder with a client, interviewing for a Salesperson. This was a software technology company that had been in business for a while. A man came in for an interview with us, and he had some really unique experience to bring to the table. I was excited to interview him!
Before we got started, he asked me if I needed references, and I said that yes I did. He had a FedEx envelope with him that was sealed and it had a pull tab on it. Instead of pulling the tab, this candidate pulled out a knife, pushed a button and the blade popped out. He sliced the envelope open, put the knife on the table, pulled out the reference sheet, and handed it to me. He picked up the knife, pushed the button again, the blade disappeared, and he put the knife back into his pocket.
You could have heard a pin drop.
The man starts describing the references on his sheet. No one moved. I guided him through a few questions and then informed him that he would have answers by Friday. He seemingly was never aware of how his actions affected everyone in the room. He thanked me profusely, saying that you never hear from companies when you apply for a job. I walked him to the door, shook his hand and he left. I locked the door behind him. After that, I eventually quit doing first interviews in person. It just felt like too much of a risk.
I am writing this on Saturday April 20th. It is the 25th anniversary of Columbine and I am reminded of how vulnerable we really are in our daily lives. We think that it can never happen to us, but it can.
Please don’t let another day go by that you don’t review your security policies for safety in your office. None of us want to think about the unthinkable, and yet, thinking about the unthinkable can save lives.
POWER THOUGHT: Think through the unthinkable and put a safety policy in place.
by Beth | Apr 9, 2024 | Firing Employees
A friend of mine owns his own company, and about a year ago, he hired a not-so-great admin. He spent months working with her, training her, teaching her. She continually made mistakes. He lost money with his schedule not being full and then, billing became an issue. One day, he walked up to the front desk, and she was reading a book on her phone, with several things unfinished. Finally, the straw that broke the camel’s back: he asked her to send an email. She said she did. He didn’t get it. She said it must not have gone through. He said no problem, just forward it to me. She of course had never sent it.
He greeted her at the door with her final check one morning, and she wasn’t even surprised.
He looked at me and said, “I’m an idiot. I should have fired her 4 months ago.”
First of all, he is not an idiot. He is a kind, generous, dedicated human being and a fantastic business owner. I really appreciate the way that he tried everything in his power to make it work.
And.
As the great Chris Rock says: “Relationships aren’t tough. They are tough when only one person is working on it. Two people can move a couch real easy. One person can’t move it at all.”
I am very pleased to report that my friend has a new admin who started last week, and 2 days in, my friend said this: “I really am a good trainer and teacher. I had forgotten that about myself.”
POWER THOUGHT: When your couch has to be moved, and it isn’t moving, it is time to move on.
