Archive for the 'Delegation' Category

Jun 13 2010

NOISE ANNOYS

Hey!

                                

Ease up on the ears

                                                   

a little, will ya please?

                                                                                        

     Where is it written that business and professional sports success must hinge no longer on performance, but on the tumult and hoopla that surrounds them?

     How did it ever get to be that attending a professional football, basketball, or baseball game meant giving up one’s sense of hearing for a week?

     I am nor referring to the yeas, boos, chants, whistles, claps, and songs of enthusiastic well-meaning fans. With or without cheerleaders, those natural outbursts of energetic support — together with the crack of a bat, the swoosh of a net, and the thud of a tackle — are the real true sounds of sports.

     I’m talking about the machine-generated, artificial bombardments of drum-banging, hand-clapping, bugle-blowing, spiral-buzzing racket that has absolutely nothing to do with the sport-at-hand, nor the performers, and which is a genuinely disruptive insult to our respective brains.

     No I’m not turning into a grouchy, out-of-touch, old guy. I am simply resentful of how noise has risen to the top of the consciousness disruption charts, and literally taken over what it was originally designed to merely support.  

     I was reminded of this again today as I went to see my favorite NY Mets play the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. I’m not singling out any team or stadium here because it’s ALL of them; today was simply an example.

     And just like in business— some know-it-all marketing whiz-kids have literally commandeered every professional, semi-pro and college stadium and gymnasium, and forced each venue into becoming a catch-all of suffocating, obnoxious, insulting, decibel-threatening sound effects.

     How stupid is sports top management to have been sold on the idea that blasting noise (and even, but to a less annoying extent, music) through seat-and-building vibrating speaker systems will contribute to successful team status?

     In fact, it seems to me to be doing the reverse. I see many more fans staying home to watch sports on TV and not subjecting themselves to this deafening fun for the feeble-minded.  

     In business, educational and entertaining market-ing approaches seem universally preferable to those parts of the population that I’m exposed to, than the screaming in-your-face, sleazy fast-talk of car dealership advertising and many late night info-mercials. Yet the audio clutter continues.

     Greedy pro sports management convictions that noise sells . . . and that the way to an enthusiast’s heart and wallet is by prompting pounding headaches . . . is serving to set the stage for other businesses to follow suit. Does it all originate in Hollywood? Well, let’s see: how many movies can you name that haven’t wrapped their messages in earth-shattering sounds? (Oh, sorry, “Special audio effects.”)

     No matter what your business message is and no matter how you say it, when you surround it with too much noise, you will suffer the consequences of lost trust and lost credibility. People who really mean what they have to say don’t need to wrap it up in fireworks, sirens, explosions, and other deafening audio garbage.

     Just say it like it is.

If a certain sound is part of what’s being sold or sets a receptive stage, use it.

If not, don’t.

www.TWWsells.com or call 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  
Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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Jun 10 2010

2011 ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Should You

                                                              

Be Paralyzed? 

                                                                                                                                       

     Today’s news ushered in a bombardment of reliably-sourced economic reports that 2011 will bring complete economic collapse to the US and other nations. Why? Reports suggest the cause is  Obama administration insistence on tax increases being put in place to cover the costs of the federal government’s rampantly out-of-control spending policies.

     Who knows? I don’t pretend to be an economist. I hear the same things that you do. The talk is about major corporations jamming up their income and packing it into 2010 so that increased taxes can be sidestepped in 2011.

     Without getting into the details of how this triggers other tax-rate-related events, and what this represents, the results are expected to be a fully collapsed economy with unemployment possibly reaching even 2-3 times the present level, which as all of us know is already unacceptable. 

     If you’re looking for answers (beyond taking a correction course in the next two major elections), you might as well click off to another blog; I have nothing to offer as a quick-fix. If you’re feeling panicky about all these rumblings, I am here to tell you that you will produce what you breed.

     Freezing in your path, becoming catatonic, and paralyzing your business are not choices that are going to get you anywhere, and will in fact foreclose even the remotest possibility of survival. Recognizing that the future is fantasy; it is not here now, and it may never actually come (or may certainly never come as you expect it to) is an awareness that can carry your business successfully through the projected storm.

     Start out with the conviction that you can in fact make some things happen with your own business that will help protect it should times, in fact, get even tougher than they are right now. And begin taking steps now.

     People in the 50’s were ridiculed for building bomb shelters, but the peace of mind that these fortifications produced served to provide a level of renewed vigor and confidence for moving forward.

     This is not to suggest you run out and start constructing bunkers. It IS to suggest that you begin taking careful inventory of what’s essential to making your business run — what can you do without? How can you consolidate and collaborate and combine efforts to save expenses and maximize productivity. You already went through this exercise a year or two ago. Do it again.

     9/11 changed the world. In the same fashion that carry-on luggage regulations and examinations have correspondingly changed, you may need to once again reassess, downsize, adjust, compress, consolidate, and tighten your business controls. You cannot afford to wait until a bomb hits before building a bomb shelter. Prepare your business now. 

     You cannot continue day-to-day business operations without contingency plans. Set your goals. Adjust your goals, Go for your goals. But don’t focus on the finish line. Stay with the journey! And don’t choose for worry to get in your way!  

www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless:  You, America, and Our Troops. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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Jun 08 2010

The Soft Side of Business

Helping the needy 

                                              

doesn’t mean

                                         

competitors will 

                                            

eat you for dinner

 

 

  In fact, quite the contrary. When you slow down or stop your business-wheels long enough to reach off your merry-go-round and help some of those who can only afford to stand off to the side and watch you calliope-music your way around in circles, you are investing in your community . . . and ultimately in your own business, if you’re smart enough to make it newsworthy.

“Charity starts at home” isn’t just a sarcastic jab at humor.

But most businesses either fail at trying to make newsworthiness out of nothing, or at thinking that efforts to proclaim newsworthiness out of acts of generosity somehow taints the integrity of the charitable offerings. Both are wrong. First of all, the public is not stupid. People can see through thinly-veiled acts of self-proclaimed greatness with one eye shut and both hands behind their backs.

Don’t invent situations in order to gain favorable news exposure and publicity. Editors typically reject such self-serving efforts, and even when something does manage to slide by and end up getting attention, the public sees it for what it is.

But when your business does something heartfelt to help someone or group of someones, don’t be overly timid about spreading the word. Why? Isn’t that too much like bragging? Doesn’t that rub people the wrong way to be tooting your own horn?

The truth, since you asked (okay I asked for you) is that the more exposure your business gets for having sponsored an employee fundraising for some worthy organization or situation, the more you will have primed the pump to prompt others to follow suit. Then what? Then you will have shoe-horned (have you ever seen a shoehorn?) in even more helpful acts than your own.

The soft side of business — whether it’s charitable fundraising, or giving an employee or supplier or community family the support it needs to get through a crisis, or sponsoring a neighborhood clean-up project, or donating products or services or time, or providing technical or administrative back-up to a local or regional nonprofit organization — can work wonders for business reputation.

People (your customers, clients, patients, and prospects) BUY reputation! Connect the dots.

You haven’t time for all the solicitations at your doorstep? That’s like saying you haven’t enough time to learn time management. Ask for someone in your organization to follow a criteria list you hand off to screen applicants and make periodic recommendations for situations that fit inside the annual or semi-annual or quarterly budget you set and insist on.

When the tax-deductible budget is spent, solicitors go on a waiting list, or apply again next year. Make sure arrangements are made for news release announcements before and after (at least) every event, with content that’s always focused on the benefiting individual or organization, and always urging others to get on the bandwagon (or your merry-go-round!).  Soft is good.

 Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops 

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Jun 06 2010

The Missing Business Spark . . .

Been Tweaked? 

     If  you haven’t had a professional examine the words you’re using for your business — to communicate, explain, describe, sell, plan, promote, publicize, print, email, broadcast, and blast across the Internet — you’re missing great potential sales, revenues, and profits.

     And you may be adding untold hidden expenses every day, even every hour.

     You could very well be the best at what you do, but if you’re not trained and experienced as a skilled professional business marketing writer, it won’t matter.

      It takes only one slightly wrong word to UNdo all your years of hard work, to UNdo the strength or promise of your customer or investor bases, to UNdo your employee, supplier, and community relations.

     But here’s the best kept secret of successful businesses and practices in your industry and profession:

They’ve all been tweaked! 

     Every highly profitable revenue-charged business and professional practice is measured by its leadership, reputation, productivity, and the words it uses.

Research proves time and again that what your business says (and the ways that your business says what it says) makes the difference between success and failure

. . . on the Internet; in emails, news releases; promotional, ad, branding and marketing campaigns; mission and vision statements; employee and sales training; supplier, investor, and referrer motivational programs

. . . on the front lines and telephone lines with customers, clients, patients, and prospects.

     How does one get her or his business “tweaked”? Where do you start? You start by submitting rough or revised drafts for professional review and input. The finished product is the revised return of a polished document, ad, release, web page, branding theme line, business plan narrative, layman translation from technical material, ebook, training outline, whatever.

It’s a process that raises your ideas up a notch

and puts you ahead of the competition!

     The good news is you need NOTspend a fortune to get tweaked. Many mid and large size companies that use internal Tweakers, also hire outside firms to tweak and prepare their messages (often at outrageous fees of $10,000 to $20,000 a month!). But this is SMALL business. And no one else can represent your business ideas as well as you.

     You don’t need high-priced outside service firms to tell you what to say. You need a budget-conscious, experienced, professional Tweaker who can take what you’ve done and put it in the right language and context for the market you want to target.

     Some, like having preventive maintenance visits, get a “Tweak Cleaning” twice a year. Some are happy with an annual “Tweak Insurance” Review. Still others want “On-Call Tweakability.” Oh, and if you’ve read this far, you must be interested. So yes, I tweak.

# # #

Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT Day for someone!

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Jun 02 2010

HIRING “Outside Experts”

Pay for Performance 

 . . . Not for Promises!

 

     The best business consultants, advisors, coaches, trainers, and counselors base their fees on what they’re able to accomplish, not on how great they tell you it’s going to be.

 YOU’RE PAYING TOO MUCH IF:  

1)  You’re paying ongoing fees and can’t see any ongoing results.

2)  You’re paying any kind of “retainer” fee, and you’re not sure of what it is that you’re “retaining.” 

3)  You’re paying for dead-end training, coaching, or counseling support that assures you of new and improved leadership/team-work . . . or communications, or customer relations, or sales . . . but that doesn’t produce noticeable change in 21 days, and that doesn’t then keep it going with meaningful, targeted, personal follow-up long after scheduled sessions are completed.

4)  You’re paying for outside services that continuously blame your inside services for stalling/blocking/obstructing/interfering or foot-dragging and/or lack of commitment.

5)  You’re paying for professional expertise exclusively because of long-term relationships and because that individual or group has maintained all your records for a long time. Would you not go to a medical or legal or financial expert you know has the ability to heal you just because your present advisor was hired by your father (or grandfather) and has your complete history in his files?  

6)  You get billed for every breath taken on your behalf. Outside experts unwilling to invest a little extra time and effort on your behalf as an expression of their customer / client relationship management are not worth the invoice postage or email review time. They are easily (and happily) replaced.

     There are a gazillion qualified groups and individuals out there who will deliver ongoing attention and ongoing results. In case you think you haven’t enough time to go shopping for the kinds of outside experts who breed authenticity, consider how much money you’ve been (or are presently) wasting  by not finding more honorable replacements.

     Even hiring someone else to shop for you – with your criteria of course – will probably still end up being a financially-smarter and more performance-rewarding move than avoiding the issue.

     The hardest thing any of us have to do in life – and consequently the hardest thing any business owner or manager has also to do – is to let go.

     Letting go of anything that we own, command, raise, invent, enhance, fix, inherit, create, design, develop, build, or even just think about, is like giving up a piece of our existence. How big of a piece determines the amount of anguish and reluctance and hesitation and whining and complaining that is sure to surface.

     And you’ve already been around long enough to realize that the total of all the upset added together multiplies according to how much time, money, and effort has been invested. So, the time to act is now. Clean house. Find experts who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work with you, who will act like partners, not leeches.   

 

# # #

                                                   

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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May 23 2010

Appreciation vs. Depreciation

The farther apart we go,

                                                   

 the closer we need

                                     

to be.

                                                           

     As time and technology continue to stretch the great divide they’ve created between human beings . . . and personal relationships become less personal . . . the importance of common sense and common courtesy rises to the surface with more pronounced impact than ever before.

     The HR and sales management rule of thumb, “Praise in public and criticize in private” has — for example — no less common sense meaning now, with increased communication reliance on emails and text messages, than it did in the days when every encounter was a personal face-to-face experience. In fact, the integrity of that “Praise and Criticize” guideline is even more important today.

     Why is that? Because today, we rely more on short, concise, written notes, and every communication is traceable. When someone is praised by email for exceptional performance, everyone in the ranks should get a Cc. When someone is criticized, and Bcc’s are flying around, poor judgement is being exercised, and hidden agendas overwhelm integrity.

     If you run your business on a need-to-know basis, and that works for you, then stick to that and don’t entertain exceptions. If you have a broader interpretation of management transparency and practice across-the-boards openness with all your people, and that works for you, don’t drift into occasional closed door sessions or transmissions. Consistency is what builds business success because it’s what fosters customer, employee and supplier loyalty.

     Customers, employees and suppliers all like to know where they stand. They appreciate business policies, procedures, and approaches that are predictable, and that — even if they disagree with them — they can be assured of no surprises!

     Common courtesy of course is most evident with every exchange, in writing and electronic transmission, in person and on the phone. It is so evident because it is so simple, takes so little effort, but works wonders for every recipient: “Please” and “Thank you!” may sound like dumb old customs to some in this day and age, but nothing else has ever risen in all of history that accomplish more than those three words. [And at-home applications are as important as on-the-job.]

     People are hired and fired, sold and unsold, respected and disrespected by the subjective measures of others as to the genuineness with which these three words are expressed, and if, in fact, they are expressed at all. Those who let “Please” and “Thank you!” flow freely (yes, even when the waitress puts your silverware down or pours you a glass of water, even when a delivery person brings you something you don’t want!) are the people who spread positive attitudes and who will achieve the most success.

     No need to take my word for it. Simply observe those words in emails, hear them in person and on the phone and — assuming they’re delivered with some sense of authenticity — judge for yourself what your impressions are of the person using these expressions of courtesy vs. those you observe and hear who don’t. It’s your call. Thank you for your consideration! 

 Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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May 22 2010

ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES

“First Things First!”

                             

     I never figured out why my father always shouted this statement, but I guess it was because he was always in a dither when it occurred to him. Most of us don’t think much about prioritizing until we’re feeling overwhelmed with no place to turn. It’s kind of a “force your hand” type of response. OMG, I’ve got 3 hours to do 27 hours worth of tasks and then the world ends. Right. I’d better prioritize. 

     Here’s the deal: Let’s work backwards at this. One of the life-goals most of us share (beyond not having any IRS surprises!) is to avoid last-minute panic situations and 11th hour rush jobs, right? And it doesn’t matter what business you’re in; that’s an unspoken priority for most of us who are not earning a living by participating in extreme sports. So, okay, the target here is to be –and stay– organized. 

     Establishing priorities means, first and foremost, that you have a busy agenda, or that maybe you’re too busy to even have had time to put together an agenda (which makes me suspect of why you’re even stopping to read this, but nice to see you all the same). Either way, implications are that what you really need to address as Step One is to do a Quick Risk Assessment.

     Nothing magical here. Simply list all the burdensome tasks on one piece of paper (or txtmsg2Urself) and then run through each item with a 1,2, or 3 ranking. It’s a 1 if you just stepped in something brown and gooshy on your way into a building for a big meeting. It’s a 2 if your shoelace broke. It’s a 3 if you just realized your socks don’t match. Determine the relative risks.

     What on your list absolutely positively cannot wait until tomorrow (or the end of the day, or next week, etc.)? Each of those items gets a 1 assigned to it. Let the rest fall by the wayside for the moment and focus 100% of your time and attention and energy on getting your number 1 issues resolved before even looking at the rest of the list to decide if the remainders are 2s or 3s (many will migrate up to a 1 ranking by the time you finish the immediate 1s).

     When a couple of someone else’s have both “assigned” tasks that are battling for THE number 1 position, go back to those someone else’s(bosses or customers or lawyers or spouses or whomever) and ask them to talk with each other to sort out what exactly you need to put next on your runway for takeoff because there’s only one of you to go around! Hand the responsibility for deciding back to the sources!

     Restaurants may be in the food-service business, but cleanliness has to always be Priority One or there may not BE a food-servicebusiness if food poisoning prevails. Maybe you’ve been focused on a date for printing materials for a client when the reason for the materials is more important . . . having finished documents ready to travel with for an out-of-county trade show, needs to dictate the prioritizing for print preparation schedules.

     The undercurrent throughout the prioritizing process is that you need to have a grip on time management (and never get into the position of not having enough time to do time management!) and — aha! —  Our old friend: stress management take some deep breaths!

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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May 12 2010

Accelerating Arguments . . .

“When Push

                                        

Comes To Shove,”

                                            

Keep Customers

                                             

Out Of The Way!

                                                                            

     Protecting your customer base at all costs needs to be Priority One. When people have purchased your products or services in good faith, they are putting their confidence in you and the business you own , manage, or represent. If you screw up that relationship and lose their trust, you have lost a great deal more than a customer or two.

     Long-time idol of mine, Roy H. Williams, Chief Guru of Roy H. Williams Marketing, Inc., and author of what may arguably be the best two essay collections ever written on the spirit of advertising in the universe of American business. The two book set. The Wizard of Ads and Secret Formulas of The Wizard of Ads were published in 1998 and 1999 respectively by Bard Press, Austin, Texas. 

     In his Secret Formulas collection, Williams quotes study findings from Technical Assistance Research Programs of Washington, DC, that you should know about. Chew on these highlights for a couple of minutes:

  • For every customer who complains, 26 more will not.
  • Each of these 27 unhappy customers will tell 16 others about their bad experience.
  • Do the math: Every negative complaint you hear represents 432 negative impressions.
  • By the time you hear a particular complaint 3 times, the problem has been mentioned to 1,296 people.
  • It costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it costs to keep an old one.
  • 91% of your unhappy customers will never buy from you again.
  • But a focused effort to remedy complaints will get 82% to stay with you.

     Williams concludes this 2-page revelation with the three questions  to ask unhappy customers (calmly, genuinely, and without a defensive attitude) that he says (and I agree) “will bail you out every time”:

  1. WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
  2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED?
  3. WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE IT RIGHT?

     I might add that the best customer service businesses are those businesses without customer service departments and personnel. When all (every single) employees are trained to put themselves in the customer’s shoes, there should never be a need for the expense and excess baggage that a customer service group tends to burden a business with.

     Bottom line: When you accelerate arguments and draw customers onto a battlefield, you lose. Even if you win, you lose. Can your business afford all the negativity attached to your or your staff members’ short fuses? A little stress management works wonders and keeps customers coming back.

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day! 

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May 09 2010

The MOTHER OF INVENTION . . . is you!

Happy Mother’s Day,

                       

Mother of

                                                  

Invention!

                                       

That’s YOU, Boss…

                                             

     If you work anywhere in that vast SEA OF (government or corporate giant) INCOMPETENCE, click off here and visit some other website. If you’re running or managing your own business –real parent or not– read on: YOU are the “Mother of Invention.”

     Now, Peter Drucker, who’s referred to as the “Father of Management” may not like that idea, but–I would challenge him–when did “Mother” ever lose to “Father”?

                                                                          

     Today, in other words, is also a day to celebrate being your business’s parent.

     First off, anyone who works for you sees you in a parental light. You are looked up to for guidance and leadership. You are a role model. You may not like providing inspiration or being thought of as something special, but you ARE.

     Face up to it and make the most of it. You’ll be helping your staff, your self and your business to grow.

     Don’t just provide leadership. Provide leadership by example; people want to learn by watching and trying and doing.

     Don’t just provide leadership. Provide leadership that’s transparent. Keep all your business dealings clearly defined and out in the open. Forget you have a Bcc setting on your emails. Stop closing doors. Share information freely.

     If you’ve hired good people to start with, you’re only toying with risk levels that are reasonable. If you’ve got a bad apple or two, your open-and-above-boardness will flush them out.

     In other words:

Give everyone a chance to give you a chance for your business to have a chance to succeed.

                                                                                         

     Now, Mothers and Fathers, let’s look at that “Invention” word that you’re parenting. If you’re not CONSTANTLY creating and inventing and innovating . . . coming up with new ideas, ways, methods, designs, plans, steps, contacts, messages . . . EVERY DAY, then you are investing in the status quo.

     Keeping things the same, not rocking the boat, and “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” are the prevalent notions anchoring most stagnant corporate giants, every government agency, and all unsuccessful small businesses. 

     Business owner Job One is to stay out of that trap. Don’t let anything interfere with your daily birthing of inventive thinking. It’s how you started your business. It’s what’s carried your business. It’s what will will make the difference between your business surviving and your business thriving in the months and years ahead. 

     This doesn’t mean every lightbulb that goes on over your head needs to light up the world, or even that little dark corner of your workspace, but it does mean that you and your business cannot afford to pull the plug on that open socket; keep trying out new bulbs; follow up with some and discard others. [Edison made 10,000 tries before inventing the lightbulb!]

     Innovation, remember, is taking the rarest of those good ideas and seeing them all the way through, every specific step of the way, to their final destination markets — even if only on paper or the computer screen. Together with your business itself, it’s those parented ideas that become the inventions that you mother and nurture into adulthood. Happy Mother’s Day!     

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops (“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”- Thomas Jefferson)  Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Apr 28 2010

WORDS to pump up employee support:

MONEY

                             

DOESN’T GROW

                                             

 ON YOUR BOSS’S

                                        

TREES EITHER.

                                                          

(SETS OF WORDS TO CHERRY-PICK FROM AND ADAPT AS NEEDED)

                                                                          

     DEAR EMPLOYEE: I know you are a basically honest person or you wouldn’t still be employed where you are, doing what you do. And I greatly appreciate your loyalty.

     This message is intended in the spirit of seeing the business you work for, and your own career pursuits –both– experience unprecedented success in the months and years ahead.  

     You should, first of all, know that –as the Boss– I am working for myself and my family, and for you and your family, and for everyone else involved, to provide the best possible product and service quality for the best possible dollar value to our customers.

     I am doing this when we’re closed as well as when we’re open. There’s hardly more than a few minutes ever pass, day or night, that I am not thinking about ways to improve our business, and ways to provide more opportunities for growth to employees, suppliers, and customers.

     I am writing this to enlist your increased support in attitude and productivity. I can only feel comfortable in making this request because you have proven yourself capable, and you have demonstrated your ongoing commitment to sustain yourself and your family by being conscientious and by working hard.

     Now I am going to ask you to accept increased responsibility without increased compensation, but with the increased assurance that when your extra-effort help starts to kick in, I will be certain to see that you are appropriately rewarded with corresponding job security. The more effort we get from everyone, the more opportunities will surface for participating in management leadership teams. 

     The product of our combined extra efforts will lead to more productive and more protected jobs with greater compensation.

     For me to hold up my end of the deal, I need you to start now acting like more of the leader and teammate you have demonstrated you are capable of being. When you observe personnel, system, or equipment breakdowns that you know how to deal with, step in and deal with them. When you are not sure about what to do, come ask. Sweeping problems under the rug only produces bigger problems.

     When you are aware of someone padding their hours, not honoring the terms of their employment, acting lackadaisical or disinterested, filching supply items, or treating equipment abusively, you are doing this business and your own career a disservice by looking the other way.

     I am not urging risky confrontation or that you play “tattle-tale,” but I am suggesting you consider that avoiding the reality of what’s going on is akin to avoiding your responsibility to do the best you can do to help your own family. Only by protecting and nurturing the interests of this company, can your career here be expected to grow and thrive.

     You see, I am not made of money any more than you. You may look at how I live and conclude that it’s like cruise control compared to all your hard peddling. I assure you, the hidden stress makes it a no-contest situation.

     Dealing with the banks, investors, lawyers, bill collectors, insurance agents, the landlord, over-the-top government controls and regulations (and all the accompanying paperwork) is not fun and games. I have no complaints. It’s what I do.

     But for us to get out of this economic crunch, I am going to need you to pull more than your usual share to help me help us to turn things around so that all of us can enjoy greater freedom. Are you with me? What three things can you do this week to help us get this renewed mission started?      

Click Here to work with Hal!

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! 

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