by Beth | Jul 18, 2016 | Attitude, Employee Retention
Business people-showing teamwork
Last week, I met with a new client and I was introduced to their new employee, Stephanie. “But we call her Jan.” said my client.
Wait… what?
Apparently when Stephanie first started her job, my client said to her, “What’s up, man?”
She asked, “Did you just call me Jan?”
And, the name stuck: EVERYONE in the office calls her Jan!
When my client told me this story – in front of Stephanie – everyone laughed and laughed (including Stephanie herself). I now call her Jan as well.
The camaraderie in that office means more to employees than we can really measure, because moments like these are what create company culture. When you have this type of easy rapport with your staff, the harder conversations like those around mistakes are actually easier to have. Business runs more smoothly and people are more willing to try new things. When people try new things, innovation happens, growth occurs and turnover is reduced.
That’s why hiring the right candidate – your IDEAL candidate – is so important. The ideal candidate is one who will not only fit into your company culture, but will themselves end up embracing and nurturing it!
Remember: A rose by any other name… would still be Jan. Or Stephanie.
by Beth | Nov 4, 2015 | Attitude, Interview Process
Yesterday I was interviewing with a client who turned to me and said “Beth, I am so sick of interviewing people!” I responded “Well, you better learn to love it.” He looked horrified, and asked “WHY?” I replied, “Because if you are going to grow and evolve as a company, you will be constantly interviewing people.” He looked a little sick from my answer.
This mindset of hating interviewing is common among many of my clients. They HATE interviewing. They HATE spending all day sitting in a room with a steady stream of people coming through the building. They HATE “wasting time” and not being able to do their “real job”.
Here is the truth: when you run a company or department, your job is to create the vision for your area and hire the people to implement that vision. If you approach this valuable activity with any other intention, then you ARE wasting your time. Instead of coming to the table hating the interviewing process, shift to learning how to LOVE finding new employees. Begin by getting in touch with the end goal, which is to find an amazing candidate who comes in and knocks the ball out of the park. THAT person will let you go back to doing the rest of what you love to do. Hiring the very best fit means that you spend some time interviewing candidates to find employees who love what they do. Then you get to spend more time doing things that you love. You cannot find a better way to spend your time than that.
Don’t be a hater.
by Beth | Sep 8, 2015 | Adventures in Interviewing, Attitude, Employee Hiring, Interview Process
Several weeks ago, my client and I called a candidate to get her scheduled for an interview. She asked for a phone interview at noon on the Friday afternoon that we had available for interviewing. She was very specific about the time. When I asked her if there was a reason for that particular time, and she responded by saying, “Yes. I am in a wedding that day and it starts at 2:00.” Since we schedule phone interviews all the time, I asked her if another day and time might be better, and she said “No. I do NOT want to miss out on this opportunity.”
On the day of her interview, I asked her if she was ready for the wedding, and she said “Yes. We have done our hair and makeup, and I am sitting in a church pew in my Bridesmaid’s dress. This is a first for me.” It was a first for me and the client as well!
The most amazing part about that interview wasn’t the dress or dedication to taking the call, although these were great steps to showing her enthusiasm for the position; it was actually in her preparation. She had done her research on the company. She referred to Yelp reviews. She asked excellent questions and she referred to her “list” of questions several times. She knocked the ball out of the park… all in her bridesmaid dress.
Brilliant. Truly brilliant.
by Beth | Jul 14, 2015 | Attitude, Employee Retention, Leadership
One dreary Monday morning, a friend of mine dragged himself into his weekly staff meeting. Sighing deeply, he prayed that his enormous coffee would somehow get him through the worst time of the week… the weekly staff meeting. BORING!!!
This week, however, his manager came in and dumped a huge bucket of Legos on the table. He grabbed the flat green stand, attached three Legos to it, and turned to the employee sitting to his right and said “Take 3 Legos, add it to mine, then pass it to the next person. Let’s see what we can create.” Then, the manager went on with the regular staff meeting. Same format, same information, but the atmosphere had dramatically changed. What the team created was an unnamable, indescribable Lego blob, and a whole lot of laughter on a dreary Monday morning. My friend bounced back to his desk with a spring in his step that had nothing to do with his huge cup of coffee.
What transpired after that was mind blowing. The team got closer, created more, cooperated more, and laughed at inside jokes around the Lego disasters that came out of those meetings. Then, it became the responsibility for other team members to bring an activity to the staff meeting. What really mattered was that manager got his team out of the rut they were in, and suddenly there was a huge shift in energy and innovation.
If you are the manager of a team and you dread your own meetings, then certainly your employees do as well. Take a moment to figure out how to get yourself out of the rut and then provide a cure for the interminable dreaded staff meeting. A little play time does wonders.
(Dedicated to Alex Deison, Logan Deison, Logan Gilbert, Alex Gilbert and Josh Gilbert: the men in my family who are true Lego connoisseurs.)
by Beth | Jul 7, 2015 | Attitude
While vacationing recently, I took long walks on the beach. The wind in my hair, the sun on my face, the sand under my toes… pure bliss. After a few days, I began to look around at the other folks enjoying their time on the beach as well. What I noticed was shocking… not a single person was on their phone. I didn’t see a soul on an iPad. I didn’t even see a Kindle. What I did see was people talking to each other. I saw people playing games together and building sand castles with their kids. I saw people napping, eating, reading and working. Yes, I did say working….
After sitting on the beach for a while, your mind wanders. You look around to see the surroundings and, lo and behold, inspiration strikes. People made some of the most beautiful sand castles, wrote inspirational messages in the sand, collected sea shells and created art work. They were working. The word “work” means “an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result”. And at the end of the day, people were satisfied.
Work has literally become a 4 letter word… something that we have to endure in order to live. I think work is a beach. When we are inspired by our work, we create and innovate. We are more willing to try new things, and we sometimes make mistakes. We are learning!
So, if you are thinking to yourself “Work is a bi*%h”, then I encourage you to visit a beach… stat!
