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.
by Beth | Nov 29, 2023 | Company Culture
I recently conducted a training on how to improve the hiring process, and one participant blurted out,
“What do you do about a brown-noser? We have this guy who doesn’t perform until the manager walks
through the door. Then, this guy sucks up to the manager and the manager doesn’t even see it! It is SO
frustrating!”
“What do you do about it now?” I asked him.
He said, “We call him Rudolph behind his back. Rudolph the brown-nosed reindeer, and we laugh about
it. We have to let off steam somehow!”
There are several things about this reindeer farm that are alarming: First, the company has a bunch of
reindeer that are getting paid to talk about someone behind their back. This is NOT good for reindeer
culture. When your reindeer are focused on the behavior of another, it disrupts the flow of business,
and it inhibits teams from performing well- meaning getting the gifts to the people.
Second, this makes the manager, Santa Claus, look inept. All of the other reindeer, who laugh and call
him names, are secretly wondering why Rudolph hasn’t been fired. They think Santa is too busy eating
cookies to get work done.
And finally, there will be reindeer who quit working, because Rudolph doesn’t do his job. Why should I
do mine?
A brown-noser is ultimately bad for business, and the last thing we want in our reindeer culture is a
reindeer who doesn’t do his job and hides that fact. We have gifts to get out, people! Fire the brown-
noser and get back to business.
POWER THOUGHT: When employees laugh about anyone behind their back, you have a culture ruin-er.
Brown-nosed reindeers must go.
by Beth | Mar 8, 2023 | Company Culture
If you have ever watched YouTube videos, you might have seen one about a bunch of crabs in a bucket. The crabs scramble to get out by crawling on top of each other to get to the top. Fascinatingly enough, once one crab gets to the top, the other crabs pull them back in! The group keeps all members in the bucket, instead of focusing on getting out. Instead of improving their surroundings, the group of crabs keep everyone stuck in the muck.
Turtles, on the other hand… if there is a turtle who has gotten turned over onto its back, and is scrambling to turn back over, other turtles will rush to its rescue. They, as a group, will help that turtle turn back over and land on their feet. The success of one equals the success of all.
If you want to create a thriving, synergistic and productive culture in your organization, you must fire the crabs and find more turtles. No one gets to the top without a lot of help and support, and getting to the next level isn’t easy. Having just one crab on your team can make the difference between success and failure.
POWER THOUGHT: Ask yourself this question: does your company culture revolve around turtles or crabs?
by Beth | Dec 28, 2022 | Company Culture, Firing Employees
As we begin each New Year, many of us take the opportunity to re-group and redefine goals for our businesses. This time is often filled with renewed energy to get our lives and work in order. As a part of your New Year’s goals, it might also be time to fire that one employee that is not contributing to your company’s vision.
The impact of an unengaged employee on your business can be catastrophic. Decreased productivity, lowered company morale, and miserable working environments have been common complaints by my clients as they come to the decision to an part ways with an employee. I say start the New Year fresh!
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, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new goals, new awesome employee and new culture!
by Beth | Oct 19, 2022 | Company Culture
Currently, I am working with an organization to completely re-vamp two departments. They are the fastest growing business in the country in their industry according to Inc. magazine, and they have grown from just 15 employees to over 85 in roughly two years. I had a talk with the CEO/owner of the business, and I asked him what the turning point for his growth was.
“Bloody Thursday” he said, without missing a beat.
“That sounds ominous!” I exclaimed.
He explained it like this. One day, he woke up and realized that about half his staff were the wrong fit for their roles. He gathered his top performers, and he rallied the troops. He said that he was letting go of the people that weren’t pushing the company forward. Then, he developed the 5 company values: grit, live with grace, fear not, quality and excellence, and celebrate. He and his executive team don’t make any decisions without consulting those values first.
From an outside perspective, when I walk into this office, there is lots of laughter. There is intense debate. There is compromise and a drive forward, and it is a pleasure and an honor to have them as a client. Personally, I would call Bloody Thursday a success.
POWER THOUGHT: Sometimes the way forward depends on getting your knuckles bloody.
by Beth | Sep 7, 2022 | Company Culture, Employee Retention
Last week in my Vistage meeting, one of my colleagues brought up that she is hearing about lots of employees who feel unappreciated, and she asked our group what we thought was going on.
Back when we had paper checks that we handed out to employees every Friday or every other Friday, the boss would go around the office and hand each employee their check. The boss would look the employee in the eye, shake their hand and say “thank you, employee for all the work you did this week! I so appreciate you!” or something along those lines. Right then, the employee mentally connected the paycheck that they received to their performance that pay period.
Now we have direct deposit.
The employee receives their pay in their account, which is convenient, but it eliminates that crucial appreciation conversation that they had with their manager. There is a big disconnect from their money to their performance.
One way to change this situation is to bring back the Friday thank you’s. Every time your employees get paid, make it a habit to go to their desk and say “today is payday, and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you working for me. I couldn’t do it without you.”
Simple gratitude for them as employees should be associated with their paycheck. It isn’t hard, and it matters to your people.
POWER THOUGHT: Use payday as an opportunity to connect with your people and express your gratitude.
