by Beth | Jul 24, 2024 | Employee Retention
I have a killer tan. I really do. It comes from several long days at the pool this summer and some very strategic lunch hours in the sun. But my goal is to have the “killer-est” tan of them all, and I am going to get that on my upcoming 2-week vacation in Florida.
I am going to be a complete slug in the sun. Lay there, and do nothing but wiggle my toes in the sand. When I am tired of that, I am going to swing through the kitchen to grab a snack, then head to the pool for more slug time. I. Can’t. WAIT!
What I am not going to do is work while I am on vacation like 40% of Americans are doing this summer. There is even a term for it: quiet vacationing. Read here for more: https://www.newsweek.com/millennials-quiet-vacationing-work-1903454
What is an alarming trend among all generations is the fear of asking for time off. This must change.
What we know to be true is that inspiration does not come from being behind a desk. What we know to be true is that people are more energetic when they come back to work after a vacation. And what we also know to be true is that people are tired and burnt out.
So what can you do as a hiring manager? Here are some tips:
- Set the tone. Take your own vacation and don’t work while you are gone.
- Tell your employees that they must take time off and not work on their vacation.
- Make sure that the employees’ work is covered while they are gone.
- Ask your employee how you can support them being able to un-plug on vacation, and then do it.
If you don’t support vacation time, people will take it anyway and not be rested and rejuvenated. And you need that.
You also need the killer-est of tans.
POWER THOUGHT: Make a vacation goal to not work. And remember to wear your sunscreen!
by Beth | Jun 18, 2024 | Employee Retention
I was sitting in a client’s office a few weeks back when my client offered me some coffee. We went to the kitchen and there was the most beautiful coffee machine I have ever seen. I made the yummiest, most foamy cup of coffee out of this work of art, and the angels sang.
As I ooh’ed and ahh’ed over this cup of magic, there were 2 other employees in the room. I gushed to them: “Are you just in heaven every morning with this coffee machine?” And one of them replied, “Oh no. I drink coffee out of an old pot,” she announced proudly. The other woman nodded and beamed at me. I looked at her like she had grown a third head and said, “What?? WHY?”. Her answer shocked me: “The CFO makes our coffee every morning out of a pot in his office.”
Several years ago, in their old building, the finance department was in the basement, far away from the kitchen. So, the CFO who came in really early, would make the coffee every morning. The habit stuck.
She continued her story with, “He goes to Target once a week to buy a small bag of this coffee. I don’t know why he doesn’t just buy a big bag.” (“Because it gets stale faster”, the CFO informed me.)
Each of these women have worked for this CFO for 5 and 6 years respectively, and neither has any plans of ever leaving.
Maybe it is the love that goes into each cup of coffee – something a fancy machine can never do.
POWER THOUGHT: The best part of waking up is going to a job where you feel valued and cared for.
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 | 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 | Dec 7, 2022 | Employee Retention, Leadership
I have a client who is really worried about “quiet quitting”, and he called me to discuss his concerns. I said, “do you know what quiet quitting is?” He said “Yes! It’s when employees quit working but are still on your payroll!” It’s easy to see why he is worried.
Quiet quitting is a very confusing term because it doesn’t involve employees actually leaving the company. According to this article, the more accurate term is “acting your wage” or doing nothing more than your job.
https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-engagement/why-we-cant-quit-talking-about-quiet-quitting?TRK=orgsocial-quiet-quitting-facebook-9-14-22&fbclid=IwAR2a7LCyRaP_NcRBDXBDifLGpCJJgVSnWN0_t4QnmlHD7sUHVzj3Pz6popA
I really hate terms like this because it makes my clients super nervous. When the business leader in an organization is nervous, then everyone on staff gets nervous. And that makes “quiet quitting” a self-fulling prophecy.
Instead of fearing this trend, let’s re-frame it: What if quiet quitting is simply employees having better boundaries around work? What if employees stop killing themselves at work, and engage in more self-care? What if instead of focusing on ‘quitting” we focused on training and retention?
At the end of the day, whatever term you use, I want you to focus on being proactive and not reactive. When you as the leader are proactive, you are calmer, and that feeling eases the tension for your staff.
POWER THOUGHT: Quiet quitting is quite the trend. Just maybe not the trend that you thought.
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.
