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You see the signs over town of companies desperate for new employees. But this isn’t because there are no good workers.
But you might want to notice which businesses are doing just fine with their workforces. They’re retaining great people and attracting new ones at a comfortable rate. You just don’t hear about them because they’re getting back to delivering great value for customers.
What’s the difference?
The answer comes through thinking about employees like you think about individual customers. You often ask questions like:
Read the rest of this entry »The other day I was having a conversation with some of my coach friends, and the concept came up about having a “disputable goal.” I confess that I’d never heard the phrase before, so of course I found it fascinating.
The idea is that when you have a goal, it should be possible to disagree with it. But why is this useful?
Imagine that you’re building an organization, and you really care that the people get along with each other well. So your goal is to “handle conflicts professionally.” Sounds good, right? Who could possibly think this is a bad thing?
Read the rest of this entry »All organizations have goals, no matter what the size. Sometimes they’re clear, sometimes not.
But when the organization gets large, the employees rarely find the goals to be motivating. Instead, they often revert to the lowest common denominator: What do I have to do to keep my job?
This drives leaders nuts.
It’s a great idea to ask for feedback from your employees. It’s part of letting them know you care, and want to improve.
So you gather up your courage and ask people for feedback, both one-on-one and as a group.
But here’s the hard part: showing them that you’re taking action. Why is that crucial?
Because it tells them about your honesty and integrity.
Read the rest of this entry »I was recently honored with the title of Golden Fish! Actually, it is a big deal – for me – even though you’ve never heard of it.
It’s something that we’ve been doing this year in Small Fish Business Coaching to recognize contribution and achievement. The best part is that it’s a recognition of my peers in the company, people I work closely with and deeply respect.
The emotional impact is the most important part. Which got me thinking …
Read the rest of this entry »I started out my career as a software engineer. Software doesn’t tend to be quite as elegant as other forms of machinery, but I totally get the concept that things are beautiful when they run efficiently and reliably.
That’s why I’ve found it amusing that my emphasis has shifted almost entirely to the “people side” of business. People are messy, unpredictably, and endlessly challenging.
I guess it’s because I’m a problem-solver at heart, and people offer an infinite array of problems to work on. Yet, we envision our businesses as that “well-oiled machine,” running like a top.
Read the rest of this entry »Almost 4 million workers in the US quit their jobs in April 2021. That’s just stunning.
And, as we know, it’s a mixture of many job openings, people changing their career paths, and dissatisfaction with current situations. Workers are really rethinking their options right now.
As an employer, I assume that you’d like to keep your best people around. But there’s a problem:
Read the rest of this entry »Last week I talked about creating delightful experiences for customers. But I have to be fair and admit that there’s a flip side as well.
This came to mind just yesterday when I got a new tool for my woodshop. The tool is great, although the assembly instructions weren’t as uniform in their detail as I would have liked.
Then I came to the registration card.
I recently got a new camera. Yeah, a real camera that takes pictures and videos and stuff – not a phone.
And I confess that I didn’t take the photo here – I don’t yet have the talent to use the camera properly. That’ll come.
But my point today is what an absolute delight it is! It’s solid, capable, and seems to have prepared for my every whim.
Read the rest of this entry »The pandemic broke Just In Time (JIT).
I’ve seen many examples of this in the last year, starting off with the toilet paper shortage. Remember that?
It was ridiculous! It’s not like people started using a lot more TP. It’s just that it was in the wrong place, in the wrong format. When people noticed, they started hoarding … but that just made it worse.
The real problem is that we all became accustomed to having supplies readily available. Without having to stock extra.
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The Values-Based Business 