Did you know that in today’s workforce we have four to five generations of workers?  This made me think of the businesses I know that truly understand how to manage the various challenges that come with a diverse workforce.  I get into many organizations and have the privilege to talk with many business owners on a daily and weekly basis. In recent discussions with some organizations, I hear their main concern is retaining the employees they have and stopping the employee turnover they are experiencing.  From other organizations, this topic does not come up unless I bring it up. I was curious why some businesses have huge retention issues and others do not.   In my opinion, there are many reasons for this, one overarching reason for poor retention is The Boss’s lack of understanding of the several generations in their present-day workforce.  Here are a few points to think about; First, I have been carrying an AARP card in my wallet for more than a decade now.  In my generation, I was trained in an autocratic management style. If you didn’t like what The Boss said and didn’t comply with The Boss’s demands, you would often hear, “My way or […]

I recently began to work with a company that had a problem with employees not showing up for shifts and/or often leaving shifts early.  We called a meeting of the management team and began to discuss the problem and how to correct this type of damaging behavior.  I asked The Boss if the company had a disciplinary policy and the proper forms for the managers to use to correct these types of activities.  The Boss said no, the company never had anything like that.  The Boss said in the “old days” he would just threaten to fire any employee the next time “stuff like this” happened and that would be enough to correct the problem.  Today with the unemployment rate so low, The Boss says he is afraid to discipline anybody because of the worker shortage and as The Boss says; “We got to get shit done and we can’t afford to lose anyone!” As we continued our discussion, The Boss was not comfortable saying anything to the employee because he was afraid to lose another worker.  I stressed the fact that at least disciplining the employee or even letting the employee go would be the best action The Boss […]

In my work I have often been approached with these questions; “Do you think this is a good idea” and “should I go into business?”  I usually asked them to further describe their business idea for me.  They begin by speaking calmly and at an average pace, then, as they begin to get excited, their voice tone starts to rise, the pace of their speech increases and they often become animated.  This is a great sign since it shows they have a true passion for what they are describing.  Passion for what you’re doing is one of the critical ingredients for success as a small business owner. Next, I ask them to describe their competitive advantage.  If they respond with, “What’s that?”  I tell them not to quit their day job; end of discussion. Having and identifying a competitive advantage is so important that if a business owner cannot describe their competitive advantage then I believe they are destined for failure. As the owner of your business, you must identify or develop your company’s competitive advantage.  Once you’ve done that, you have to teach your key management and employees how you plan to use your competitive advantage to outsell the […]

While evaluating a new client, I participated in their management meeting where The Boss and the department managers were reviewing their financial performance from the past month. They were evaluating the financials by department, going over the expenditures line-by-line. I began to ask questions about the sources of the expenses. I received some very vague answers in some cases and in others, I was told, “I have no idea”. I observed that the department managers didn’t know what “success” looked like. They didn’t have a year-over-year comparison to benchmark their performance, nor did they have an annual operating budget to use as a goal for the month, quarter, and year. I asked The Boss if he set goals for his managers. He said he shouldn’t have to, they are the managers and they should know what they must do to be profitable. “That’s what I pay them for” was one of his responses. I said I understood his position and I often run across owners who have this same viewpoint. But this approach by The Boss will not create the results in the owner’s equity that The Boss desires. After interviewing each of the department managers, I gained some more […]

When I first begin working with a company I sit in on the manager’s meeting and just listen.  What I often find is that the staff is focused on what The Boss stresses as important. They instruct their direct reports to accomplish the goals set forth by The Boss in these department meetings.  The problem I sometimes see is that The Boss is sending the wrong message or a partial message. For example, in one meeting during a review of the prior months’ financials, each department head reported out to The Boss what their actual revenues were compared to the annual budgeted numbers.  Then The Boss asked what the budgeted revenue goals were for the next month and how each department manager was going to achieve those revenue goals. Afterward, The Boss was expressing frustration to me in the lack of gross profit from each department as it pertains to the annual budget goal.  During our discussion, I asked if the departments were hitting their revenue goals and The Boss said “Yes, as a matter of fact, the total revenue for the company was ahead of last year and ahead of budget”. I said I was not surprised as that […]

The Boss needs to be “The Coach” for the team I began working with a company where “The Boss” was frustrated and exhausted.  The Boss was playing the roles of operations manager, sales manager, and being The Boss over the entire company.  The Boss had begun the company many years ago and the revenues had grown into the millions of dollars. Now The Boss felt like he had a “tiger by the tail” and was just hanging on without really controlling anything.    I asked The Boss why he felt he needed to fill the management roles for all the departments and The Boss stated none of his employees were ready to take on the responsibilities.  The Boss was a big sports fan, so I used a sports analogy to explain what I was seeing. The Boss had several key positions open on his team and was waiting for an MVP player to show up to occupy those positions.  Because The Boss felt he did not have an MVP player on his team, The Boss left the positions vacant or tried to fill them himself. Imagine if he was coaching a football team and the right tackle position on the […]

If it’s not wrong, it must be right, right? As a business consultant, I’ve been privileged to work with business owners who wanted to improve their operations and increase their bottom line results.   During this process, I get to know their businesses intimately, and in doing so, we often uncover inefficiencies and sometimes errors in tasks performed by employees who are doing what they feel is “the right thing.” Once these errors are uncovered, “The Boss” often wants to react quickly with disciplinary actions or other penalties which they feel are appropriate for the mistake.  I caution them to first “look in the mirror” with regards to their own miss-steps. When I talk with the employee(s), who have been doing these tasks they often explain that they didn’t fully understand their job because of a poor onboarding process and/or poor training practices.   They told me they really were not sure if what they were doing was correct and “The Boss” was often not around to ask. This will happen in smaller companies where “The Boss” wears several hats and is often “on the move” to get things done. The employee will say they did what they felt was best and […]

So you want to start a business, throw out the Jokers! When I was a child, my sisters and I would like to play a card game called Rummy 500.  Those of you who know this game understand the goal is to reach 500 points before anyone else.  In Rummy all cards are counted as their face value except the Jokers.  They were considered “wild cards,” and we could make them equal to any card in the deck. When I was in college, my buddies and I would like to play Poker.  When I played with them, we were serious and played for money.  Because we were playing for money, we didn’t have “wild cards,” and we didn’t use the Jokers. I often advise people who are considering starting a new business to throw out the Jokers, eliminating them from the deck.  When starting a new business, the Jokers were not “wild cards” but “failure cards.”  The thought of failure is not an option when starting a new business.  You cannot even have the “Failure Card” in the deck because when the going gets tough, and it will, you don’t want to be tempted to throw that “Failure Card” onto […]

Does it matter how the towels are folded? Once in awhile, I get a chance to ride along with a project manager or foremen to visit a job site.  This gets me out of the client’s office and onto a job site, but more importantly, it allows me time to talk with employees in a neutral environment, usually a pickup truck.  On my last ride-a-long, I heard about a business owner who was a micromanager.  He set the policies and procedures for all areas of his company.  Now he has every right to do so, but at times it could be counterproductive. In this situation, I asked the employee how he would change a procedure to improve a problem area we were discussing.  He gave me a comprehensive outline that seemed to have a lot of merits and could improve efficiencies.  I asked if he suggested it to The Boss.  He just smiled at me and said, “When was the last time you remember ‘The Boss’ changing his mind?”  Well, I thought about it, and he did have a point.  The Boss didn’t change his mind often, ok seldom if ever.  I thought about this ride and the lessons the […]