Make Them Stick

Small Biz Book – Post #5

I took a near two month break from writing posts concerning What Not to Do to Ensure the Success of a Small Business with good reason. I discovered that nothing takes the wind out of your sails when writing about crappy business practices more than working for a company that doesn’t partake in crappy business practices. I began formulating the ideas for this post when I was knee deep in working for an operation that didn’t give a rat’s patootie about their employees. In absolute contrast, at the end of July, I began working for a corporation that hosts a monthly “Employee Spirit Day” and provides a bi-monthly, on-site chiropractor to align and massage employees free of charge. As you can imagine, I feel my dreams have come true and find it hard to want to drudge through memories past. Alas, I set out on this endeavor to give the bad experiences a purpose. I couldn’t appreciate my now to the fullest if I didn’t have the past to compare it to.

In my last small business post, I explored hiring practices and suggested a trial run period before completing the entire on-boarding process. I was pleased to find that my new company actually participates in Try-Out runs after securing a W-9, which is much less time-consuming than the employee paperwork legally required after officially hiring an individual. This proved to me that the common sense process I envisioned for a small business is completely legitimate, even for a corporation. Now I will focus on how to keep employees motivated and wanting to stick around post-hiring. Or, better yet, since I’m a self-proclaimed expert of What Not to Do, let me share how to make damn sure employees will quit, pronto, as these examples abound. These may seem blatantly obvious, but I can’t make this stuff up:

• Don’t physically attack any of your employees.

Granted, this example is extreme because in my experience with this, lines were blurred all over the place. One of the owners of the company was simultaneously my boss and my lover (for more info on how to handle that situation, click here). Emotions during a work conversation between us ran at a higher level than normal, which resulted with me landing in the floor per his hands on my neck. While I firmly acknowledge that some situations call for running off alone to throw a temper tantrum, if there is any chance of being observed, keeping emotions in check is the only option to avoid lawsuits & disrespect and to maintain the status of a functioning adult. Along the same lines, refraining from physical attack but threatening an employee is also to be avoided. It seems pretty self-explanatory that scaring employees into submission is not going to create a successful business.

In Living With Joy, spiritual author, Sanaya Roman, wrote, “You all know people who have a great deal of authority, and yet when you are with them, you feel depreciated, ignored, or put down…true power is the ability to motivate, love, encourage, and assist people in recognizing who they are.” My translation for this when it comes to business:

• Do not speak disrespectfully to or about the people that represent you.

Employees represent a company’s brand. If an owner of a company has a poor opinion of who works for the business, won’t the clients follow suit? In an example I recall with C.O.X., an emotionally charged conversation resulted in an owner directly telling an employee who called in sick that he was, “Full of shit!” This employee, a veteran in the industry, had just been welcomed to the staff a few months prior. The company was too small to offer health insurance or paid sick days. As I observed, I had to ponder all of the different reasons and ways the situation could have been handled. Namely, a signed communication between both parties acknowledging the procedures for sick days would have negated the cause for undo frustration.

Biting the tongue while in a conversation that causes negativity just to go to someone else to vent about it is obviously anti-constructive as well. I’ve been caught on the listening end of one of these sessions, during which I remember thinking, if the person knew that you were upset by this, I bet you both could begin working on a solution together.

Finally, a ghastly story I cringe to draw upon but must tell:

My 2nd ex-husband (that’s another story altogether) “employed” many non-English speaking landscapers. Along with the language deficit, these men were not clear on American banking requirements. In an effort to buy time to attain money, my ex would write payroll checks and just happen to forget to sign them. This exchange would take place late enough on a Friday that once the bank refused to honor payment and the employee returned for a signature after many unanswered calls to their boss, the check couldn’t be cashed until the next business day. This solution may have bailed the owner out a few times, but I feel he is indebted to the karmic price for this one for at least this lifetime. From this lesson, I must add:

• Don’t be dishonest to your employees or treat them unfairly.

Although I feel inspiration on the topic of employees will strike again, I’m going to bring this post to a close with the intelligent words spoken by Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group (which controls over 400 companies): “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

To sum this up- Small Biz What Not to Do #4:

Don’t treat the people who aid in creating the company’s income like they are any less than equals.

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