by Beth | Jan 17, 2024 | Employee Hiring
I don’t poach. I fish. I LOVE fishing! But in my world, poaching is a no-no. Let me explain.
Several years ago, I had a client who was looking for an architect to hire in his firm. Architects were VERY hard to find during that time, and he couldn’t afford to lose any current staff. One day, his top performer approached my client and told him that a recruiter was calling him everyday asking him if he “was ready to make a change”. The employee was offered really obscene amounts of money and other perks. My client started checking in with other employees and found that several of his staff were being targeted by this recruiting firm.
My client called the recruiting firm and politely asked them to quit calling his people and was told in no uncertain terms that this was a free country, and they could call anyone that they wanted. He then asked them who the client was that they were working for and he was completely shocked when he discovered that his competition was behind the search. The worst part? He thought that the owner of his competition was a friend.
My client called the competition and said basically, “What the hell. Dude?” The competitive firm quit targeting my client’s firm and employees, but the damage was done. This is called poaching.
While poaching employees isn’t against the law, and yes, the sleazy recruiting firm has the right to call whoever they want, it is at the very least unethical and in my opinion, immoral.
I am all about getting the right people on your staff, so that you are kicking ass and taking names. And, I don’t poach. I fish. I put bait out in the water, by placing an ad on an online job board, and reaching out to people who have posted their resumes online. But I draw the line at reaching out to employees unsolicited. Frankly, it reeks of old fish.
Fishing? Absolutely.
Poaching? Absolutely not.
POWER THOUGHT: Poaching is just fishy.
by Beth | Jan 3, 2024 | Firing Employees
In my last blog “The Bar Napkin Summit” I gave you three examples of how great business ideas came about, and they didn’t come from being behind a desk! Coming up with THE great idea is just the first step: Then, you have to execute. And what better time to execute than the New Year?
Now that we are entering 2024, it is time to look around and figure out what needs to be done. Do you need to improve your diet? Your exercise plan? Or maybe it is time to fire someone?
A past client of mine had an employee who consistently gave her ultimatums. The threats were often “If you don’t do this, then I will quit.” Who wants to work with an individual who is constantly threatening you? The team was struggling to work with the individual, my client was unhappy with the performance of the individual, yet the concept of firing and replacing this person seemed daunting and ill-timed. When my client finally became fed up, they did indeed fire the employee. I won’t sugar coat the transition. It was hard, uncomfortable and came at a terrible time, but my client knew that this was the right decision for the company.
In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So, if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you and help with your Bar Napkin Summit, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new you, new goals (thanks to the Bar Napkin Summit), new awesome employee and new culture!
by Beth | Jan 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Approaching the new year, here I am stuffed full of cheese and chocolate, and I had a former client call me out of the blue. He said: “Beth, I have this employee who started off great, but this person is making my life hell!”
He went on to describe the ultimatums and threats this employee kept saying. Things like: “if you don’t do this, I will quit.” My client was so frustrated! “I gave this person a great bonus, I have allowed them to work from home, though I suspect a lot isn’t getting done, and I just lost a big client because of shoddy client service from this person.”
“But do you want to know the straw that broke the camel’s back? I just realized that I don’t want to go back to work- AT MY OWN COMPANY- because I HATE working with this person!”
It is a new Year and a new you. If you have eaten cheese for 2 weeks, and you don’t feel excited to go back to work with that soul-sucking employee, then it is time to fire that person. Just like you start a new diet or a new exercise program, the new year is the time to do some intense evaluation of what is working and what is not in your business. Start the new year fresh!
In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So, if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new goals, new awesome employee and new culture!
by Beth | Dec 27, 2023 | Attitude
About 12 years ago, 2 men had a meeting at a bar. Over what I know to be a local IPA, the now CEO whipped out a pen and wrote a business plan on a bar napkin, while the now CFO created the financial plan for how this business would take off. Just this past year, the consulting firm known as NewGen Strategies and Solutions celebrated their 11th year in business, and the meeting at the bar is fondly known as The Bar Napkin Summit. The CEO and CFO have a repeat of that Summit every year.
In 2012, I took Katy, my daughter, to SeaWorld. (This was BEFORE the movie Blackfish!) While Katy was swimming with the beluga whales, I stood on the ramp watching her, beaming with pride. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. The weather was perfect. And all of the sudden, I had an epiphany: my process at A-list Interviews was 7 steps, and I could begin marketing it that way. My business sky-rocketed after that.
Another client of mine wrote a book while driving across the country by dictating paragraphs into a Dictaphone. She was totally burnt out from her corporate job, so she planned a road trip. It was the beginning of a brilliant career in a totally different field, and she termed it “RoadRage”.
What these stories have in common is that the big idea did NOT come from sitting behind a desk. That next stroke of genius did NOT come from doing the everyday activities that one always does. The stroke of inspiration came from doing another type of activity.
Now that the holidays are here, I hope that you are spending time with friends and family doing activities that you don’t normally do, and that your Bar Napkin Summit turns into your next flash of brilliance.
Happiest of creative holidays to you all!
Beth
POWER THOUGHT: Whether you attend a Bar Napkin Summit, participate in an intense writing session or stare at your beautiful daughter, your next idea will emerge outside of the office. Get to it!
by Beth | Dec 13, 2023 | Company Culture, Employee Retention, Good Management
I just received an offer from Chase Bank to open a new bank account with them, and they would fund said bank account with $600.00. What a deal! I open an account, and they give me $600.00? I am IN!
A bank account functions like this: You make a deposit, then you make a withdrawal that is LESS than the deposit. This is also what a healthy employee/employer relationship looks like. Think about it: You make an investment in your employee, and they make an investment in you and your company. The bank account is healthy. But what if an employee starts making withdrawals that are more than deposits? For example, they start taking more time off than allotted without a legitimate reason. Or they start missing deadlines. Or you have many clients complain about them. What then?
Most of my clients don’t want to have conflict with their employees, so they will ignore the overdraft fees for a long time. The fact is that an overdrawn bank account is a BIG red flag in relationships. If you feel drained after dealing with an employee, and you can’t get the balance in the account to be in the black, it is time to cut them loose.
In addition, if you aren’t training your people, if you aren’t conducting regular reviews, and if you aren’t honoring people that are doing a great job for you, then you are the one draining the bank account.
The bottom line is this: Both the employer and the employee have to make regular deposits into the joint account in order for the relationship to be healthy, and if that isn’t happening, a change in status MUST be made. You can take THAT to the bank!
POWER THOUGHT: In order to have a bankable relationship with your employees, you must both make regular deposits.
