How To Stay Out of Trouble in 5 Easy Steps

Managing a business is one thing, managing people is another. Wait a minute. Aren't they one in the same? Well, yes, if you have employees. There are some entrepreneurs who have made a good living without hiring help, but that is for another discussion

For those of you who have employees, bookmark these 5 steps for staying out of trouble when it comes to the many, (some unnecessary!) labor laws:

1.) Use all available resources for communication. While there still exists some controversy over the use of communication tools such as employee handbooks, policy manuals, and job descriptions, it has been my experience that you are better off having these in place and updating them on a regular basis. These tools help you first to communicate your passion, your mission, and your ideas of where the business is heading. The tools help you to clearly explain the course of the business and the business values while explaining the culture of your business. They also communicate to the team what is expected and what is not expected as far as conduct, dress code, using the internet, etc. Use these tools to stay out of trouble.

2.) Be responsible. I've seen it over and over again. Employers get in trouble when they have the attitude that people are tools to be disposed of when they are no longer needed or if they get broken. My comment is always to "Man-up!" or woman-up if that fits. In other words, take responsibility for the person you hired. In most cases, you spent a lot of money to hire that person and letting them go without trying to salvage them is just plain bad business. From the moralistic point of view, you as another human being, in a Western culture need to show compassion for another. If the employee continues to mess up, and you've tried all that you can do, then by all means fire their fanny, but only after you've tried all that you could try to help them, nurture them, train them, feed them, whatever it takes to keep them. The bonus to this is that no court will won't to punish you for terminating someone after you've exhausted all efforts.

3.) Document everything. A good example from step #2 is that if you've tried to keep the employee and worked with that person from every possible angle, please document your efforts. Even jotting down dates and times on a Post-It Note becomes a legal document. Write down every occasion that the employee was late, did not perform well, smoked dope, whatever it was, jot it down. Your memory is not that good. Document, document, document.

4.) Don't go it alone. If you have to have a closed door meeting with an employee over a discipline situation, bring another person in with you. This helps to keep the story straight when you document the incident afterward. It also helps to avoid any accusations by the employee later on. I once terminated a female employee who began crying and stated that her husband was going to kill her. My heart went out to her. I closed the door and approached her to put my hand on her shoulder (this was really early in my career). I came to my senses, realized my mistake and immediately called in another female to assist me with the meeting. Bring someone in with you.

5.) Stay informed. There are so many new laws affecting the way employers are treated that it is difficult to stay on top of everything. Notice that I said affecting employers and not employees. That is because the laws seem to favor employees with a huge burden on the employer. You need to know about these. While your job is to do whatever your business creates, produces, and provides, you still need to keep abreast of laws that affect the outcome of how you handle employee situations. There are great resources available online or you can simply sign up for my monthly e-newsletter at www.DuncanConsult.com

Seeing Green

It's not easy being green, although it is popular. In fact, consumers look for the green label on everything from toilet paper to power cords to ice cream (seriously! saw it on a ice cream carton myself!) But what does it cost to go green and who sets the standard for green? Well, it all depends on your industry, who talk to, and what the general public opinion is regarding green.

There are really good reasons for going green today, but most of the businesses I follow are going green, or stating that they are going green, in order to increase the bottom line of their business. In other words, they want our business based on the shade of green of their business.

Before getting all greenish to help the sales of your business, perhaps we should all step back and look at what really brings in the biz. Customers want good customer service. Notice that I wrote "good" and not "great" customer service. Most customers are willing to settle for average service because they see so much poor service today. I hear from customers of some of our clients who state that the good customer service they receive is almost a shock. They are stunned that a salesperson actually made eye contact with them and seemed to care about the needs of the customer. Their face didn't look like they fell into a tackle box (way too many piercings), and they could speak the Queen's English without nonsensical slang. They seemed to understand that their pay is based, in part, on providing a good customer service experience.

Do you want to go green? First, make your competitors grow green with envy when they see that your business is stealing customers because of the great service that you provide.

What Am I Doing Here?

Have you ever had one of those times when you walk into a room in your house or office and then ask yourself, "What I am doing here?" For some unknown reason you cannot remember why you went there. Some folks call it a senior moment. My theory is that we have way too much information swimming around in our brains that we let the small things escape us.

While observing a group of employees for a client, I overheard one of them ask to no one in particular, "What I am doing here?" Interesting question.
What if it were one of your employees? I imagine you might be upset. Fire them? Yell at them? Throw them in the stockade?

There are many ways to handle this situation, but probably only a few good legal ones.

First, your employees need to know why they are there and what their job roles are. If they don't, it is usually not your team members who are at fault. It is either you or the leadership that you put in place. Communication is lacking at some point. Either when you hired the person, your expectations were not communicated. Perhaps there was a glitch in your orientation program. Maybe your employee handbook is not communicating what is expected of them. How about your job descriptions? Are they up to date and have they been read by your employees?

You should be able to go to any employee and ask them what their role is in the organization and they have a good answer that just rolls off their tongue. The should know how their job fits in the overall success of the business as well as the definition of success for the business.

If you have an employee that is overheard asking, "What am I doing here?" let it be because they are experiencing a senior moment and not because they don't have a clue about why they are there.

Wishing you a profitable Spring!

HR Guy

LIGHTING YOUR (TEAM'S) FIRE

We often underestimate the power of that which goes beyond motivation. Beyond what one could possibly instill into one's team (and one's own psyche), it goes beyond mind-games and above what might translate into a handsome quarter end bonus.

It is what literally makes us get up every single morning and what we dream of doing, if it is something other than the roles we perform every day.

Sometimes it might not even fully or directly relate to our jobs. For me these days it is the taste of a long (and long-awaited) trip to a different continent.

But why should anyone invest any time thinking about this?

Even for the luckiest of us, the ones who get to pursue their passion every single day, sometimes the light goes into pilot, and the roaring, crackling fire that once propelled us dims every so slightly. That's when it is important to remind ourselves that work-related stuff is never the only dangling-carrot at the end of the race and let our copilot (our other dreams and aspirations) take control of the wheel and let those motivations re-ignite our bonfire.

That's why it is so important to get to know your team-members. Know who's working to pay for their parent's dream vacation, know who is working to adopt a child, know who is working to buy a boat or to get a degree...you get the idea.

Getting to know your people is not always as easy as it sounds. It has to be done sincerely, tactfully & graciously. One has to invest time for conversation to flow, for barriers to break down, for trust to build. But in the end, it is one of the simplest and most important conversations you can ever have with anybody in your team.

When someone is down because they could not close a deal, or things simply did not go as expected, softly remind them "Hey, think about that boat, think how worth it it all will be in the end. Think about lazy fishing Sundays!"

This, of course, is no exact science, but adding a human touch to the quotidian surely it has never hurt relationships...or business.

≡ YOU SHOULD SEE IT FROM OUT HERE! ≡

There are plenty of laws and HR guidelines that dictate how one should legally and ethically behave during a religious celebration. The laws are there to respected and follow. But let us not forget that common sense is always the best defense to avoid conflict in the work place, particularly during "the holidays" (We all know how I feel about that blanket statement so I'll spare you my soliloquy).

All the corners of the world have entrenched beliefs, cultural traditions and religions that they celebrate at one point or another during the year. One big difference between most of the world and us is that we've become sissyfied. And by that I mean that, in most religions, be it of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or any other tradition, there is a pride and inner peace with one's beliefs. Of course, radical or extremist groups aside.

Recent polls show that 92 per cent of Americans believe in God (or a 'higher power'). We are a nation that has been born in the Christian tradition. Our very foundation is that of one country under God. I don't understand how we are steadily losing respect for what we have the right to celebrate and cherish.

At one point we are all going to be so consumed by worry about offending someone else that this in itself will be found offensive by a sue-happy employee. I can almost hear it happening: "Do you think I am so weak that you need to baby my every feeling? I resent that."

So what is there for a team leader to do? Well, just like in the movie clip below, take a metaphorical step outside the door, take a good look at any situation as an outsider, and analyze it with a critical eye. Let common sense reign, don't make anyone feel forced to partake on any religious celebration or feel ostracized by it. Respecting other people's beliefs goes without saying, of course. And just as important, know the laws that apply in your state to help keep employees engaged and your business away from law suits.

Let's hope for a de-sissyfication of America for this Christmas, no more double standards, and overall respect for what each of us believes in.

Here is a good link to learn more about religious freedom in the workplace.

Merry Christmas!!!

≡ FLUFF? ≡

Kindness.

Goodwill.

Empathy.

What do these words evoke in you as you sit in your office up to your neck in deadliness and unreturned phone calls?

How about these words?

Metrics.

Productivity.

Deadline.

Do the latter sound more realistic and business-like? Am I hitting a nerve? Am I reminding you of something? Or are you already in tune with the softer side of you?

What prompted all this fluff? You may ask...After all, this is a business-related blog, right?

It all started when a friend was telling me about a bad event at his workplace and he finished the narration by saying "And to do such a thing during the Christmas season! How could they?"
Or as the politically correct would say "And to do such a thing during the Holiday season! How could they?" I am not politically correct so Christmas stands in this story.

At any rate, allow me to politely disagree with every cell of my being at the allusion of any festivity as the basis for us being more human and kind-hearted. After all, if you think about it, at any point during the year it is someone's time to celebrate, whether it be Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Earth Day. So why let outside events dictate who and how you'll be, how you'll lead your team and when you will deal with a bad situation?

"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." -Mark Twain

And more importantly, where did we get the notion from that we have to be more humane during a common celebratory time? Why not behave humanely all year round?


"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."--Plato


A long time ago, while working for a large brokerage company, I attended a training where we all had to take part on role-play exercises. One person was the client the other the broker. Different scenarios played out for the entire team to see and evaluate. Scenario one: client wanted to understand his holdings and accounts and get some guidance on saving for his child's college. Scenario two: wife lost his husband and called to straighten out all of the brokerage accounts. Scenario three: son of a client was excited about opening his first account and wanted some educational help.

One thing immediately jumped out from all the scenarios. The tone. The broker's tone and inflexion when speaking with the widower was warmer and it addressed best the client's need. To which the trainer, arms up in the air, suddenly embodying an old Baptist minister & yelled out: "DOES SOMEBODY HAVE TO DIE FOR US TO BE EMPHATIC & KIND?"

That always stuck with me. A death is a sad, sad thing and it requires a special touch...but then again, don't we all go through small deaths and meaningful successes, rebirths if you will, through our days that we wish others were more in tune to?

Here are some simple practical applications for your work place:

• Listen & ask questions
• Be genuinely interested
• Drop your crown-- if you go get yourself something to drink or eat offer to bring it to somebody else as well.
• Offer to help someone who is in a bind or a tight deadline
• Bring someone their favorite snack and put it on their desk without them knowing
• Give that sincere compliment you've been meaning to for a while
• Criticize behind closed doors
• Take an interest in learning more about who the people you work with are
• Avoid gossip, or anything that might be perceived as such
• Have an accountability partner, someone whose feedback you trust
• Be a mentor
• Cultivate good motives in everything you do

As you carry on with your week, please remind yourself that tuning into your soft skills does not equal you becoming weak or wimpy. Au contraire, mon ami: ""Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but manifestations of strenght and resolution." --Kahlil Gibran.

With these ideas in place watch your metrics be outstanding, your productivity soar and your deadlines be met...in advance.

FAILURE & MISTAKES

A quick & refreshing video to remind us that quitting and standing still are not viable options in business nor in life.

Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else's can shorten it. --Cullen Hightower

Also, a good way to remind us that we ought to encourage and empower each other to act boldly and be creative. Mistakes will surely be made but since most of our life is spent learning the art of fixing and capitalizing from our errors... why stop when we cross our work threshold? Why is it that many of us became different people when we sit at our workspace? Perhaps we are so deeply afraid of peer-ridicule that we just freeze our inner creative selves?

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. --George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Judgement calls are prime real estate for error. Particularly when these snap decisions must be made faster than one's neurons can fire warning signals to each other. "He/she has good business instincts," we sometimes say of someone else...but if anyone ever takes the time to ask and dig deeper I am positive we'll find a plethora of mistakes in their past. The difference is that they choose not to wallow in despair and capitalize from every single crumb of a failed action or decision.

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. --Henry C. Link

Empowering employees, teammates and oneself can only lead to valuable learning and experience. Even when your employees might not have the ability to make a final decision all the time, teach them how to think and act as business owners, that is the only way that customers will stop finding excuses to bypass your staff and talk to you every single time. This will give your team a sense of ownership and accomplishment and will leave you with the necessary time to plan and achieve more.

The expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. --Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

It is time to take our decision-making training-wheels off and fly.