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Three Myths About the Generation Gap
My clients report to me about hiring challenges. Many of them see the same issue. It’s about the “younger generation” and their mind set toward work. They are not the same as their older employees.
This issue is totally frustrating to some employers. They simply cannot find people to hire who exhibit the same attitudes and work habits of their current employees. However, they will not find them.
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Three Reasons Why Can’t You Find Good People to Hire
Hiring good people is a challenge in the best of times. At this point in time, it is more difficult than ever to get hiring right. One would think that, now that small and mid-sized companies are back in the market to hire people and, with unemployment still hovering around 9%, that there would be plenty of good people available for hire. And, with some people out of work as long as they have been, they would be eager to ...
<< MORE >>What's Love Got To Do With It? Chapter 2
Gerald Bricker
In my last post I wrote about the importance of having your customers or clients in love with your business. The next question would then be “How do you get customers to love your business?”
The challenge may seem complex. There are many competitive companies, products and services for people to choose from. Sales and marketing efforts aimed at closing sales are beefed up regularly. Innovative new products and services are introduced with great fanfare and promotion. What can a business do to keep customers loyal?
It’s no secret. Happy and motivated employees are the key to loyal customers. Bill Marriott, CEO of the Marriott hotel chain said, “Your employees will treat your customers the same way that they are treated.”
Recently the Consumer Reports National Research Center surveyed 55,000 people and asked them to rate their shopping experiences at major retailers such as Kohl’s, Sears, Walmart and Costco. The only retailer out of ten major chains that received an “Outstanding” rating was Costco.
While there were a number of reasons cited for the ratings such as quality, selection and value, one of the biggest reasons for negative ratings was the check-out experience. This is where retailers’ employees most often come in contact with customers. According to GLASSDOOR.COM Costco rates number 23 among the best companies to work for according to its employees. It is also the highest rated when compared to the major retailers studied by Consumer Reports.
It should be no secret that a person who feels good about the company they work for will have a positive approach to their work. Their positive attitude toward customers or clients will be reflected in how the customer feels about their interaction with those employees and, therefore, with the company they work for.
Whatever a business may want from its relationship with its customers it must also give its employees. Therefore, management has a challenge and a duty to create a work environment in which people feel positive and appreciated for their work.
“What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
This well-known song title poses an important question for company owners and managers. When it comes to your customers or clients, what does their love for your company, product or service have to do with your business?
Most people do not think of their customers as someone who loves them. That can be a serious problem. With the economic challenges that businesses face today and the competitive arena of most businesses, the lack ...
<< MORE >>Are You Scared to Plan?
These are some of the scariest words in business! Really! Recently I have been told by several successful, intelligent and hard-working executives that strategic planning scares them. Another told me he does not believe that business owners actually do strategic planning. So how are they successful?
The thing is, whether they have a written strategic plan or not they certainly have a plan, if only in their ...
<< MORE >>Hopes and Dreams Abound: Now What?
The holiday season ends one year and begins another. With it come feelings of hope and dreams for the future. These are common themes this time of year, but why only this time of year? Are people not hopeful all year round? Yet they focus more on hope this time of year. Perhaps it’s because they take the time to dream about new accomplishments in the coming year.
For business owners and managers this is the time of year when budgets are planned for the next fiscal cycle. Much time is spent forecasting revenues and profit. Some will also create new sales and marketing plans for the coming year. Yet many seem to focus on the financial aspects of planning as a priority. That seems backward. Can a football coach decide the score before he makes his game plan? Dan Gilbert, CEO of Quicken Loans said “The numbers don’t lead, they follow.” Forecasting is a necessary planning tool. But results come from action plans that are tied to goals, not forecasts.
How are hopes and dreams connected to business planning? They are part of the company strategic plan. It begins with the owner’s vision. What will the business become? What will it achieve? It is a statement about the future. It is a dream. Now what? What must be done to move the business towards reaching its vision. Usually, this means setting near term goals, that is, for the next 12 to 24 months. Some call that the Mission and the goals must be mission critical.
After the mission critical goals are set the action plans that will lead to goal achievement must be created. Without the vision, mission, critical goals and action plans the results for the coming year are left to chance and the people are left to try to succeed without knowing what is expected of them. That is a risky way to run a business. Consider a strategic plan that contains these elements to realize your hopes and dreams. Happy New Year!
Be The "Guys" Who Show Up
A friend told me a story recently that speaks to how to build a business and create customer loyalty. Her husband and his brother decided to start a home improvement business. In that region, there were a number of competitors. Things began slowly and after a few months they struggled to get contracts.
After some time the brothers decided that they needed to find a way to stand out, to differentiate themselves from the other contractors. They began to ask people “What is the most common complaint you have in dealing with home improvement contractors?” They were told “They don’t show up.” Apparently, in that area many of the contractors were known for making appointments that they did not show up for or showed up very late, as in days later. The brothers decided to be “the guys that show up. “ They made that their slogan and they showed up on time every time they made an appointment. And their business began to grow.
Many blogs, books and articles have been written recently about marketing. Many advise that business owners must find a way to “be remarkable” or “be distinctive” to truly differentiate their business in the crowded and competitive market place. This true story illustrates that finding a way to differentiate your business does not require that you invest time and money in a complex marketing strategy. You simply must understand what customers want that they are not getting and help them to get it.
There is more to the story. In working with some customers they learned that some customers, Seniors, have many small projects they need done that they no longer can, or want to do, like changing furnace filters, etc. So, they adopted another slogan, “No job too small.” The result of their adding these small free services is that these customers give them numerous referrals to their friends and families. This effort to build customer loyalty won them free word of mouth advertising and led to their business growing and becoming more profitable.
Can You Create a Career Path for Employees?
The key question is "Whose career path is it anyway?" Does a company direct what the dreams of their employees are? Even if the company makes use of the traditional motivational methods, Fear and Incentive, does it manage to determine where an employee may go with their work life 30, or even 10 years in the future? Not likely. There are too many variables in the work environment, business successes and failures and the economy in general for a company to have real control over the career path of its employees. The company can provide opportunities for career growth. But the path of an employee's career is more up to that person than it can ever be up to the company.
What determines the career path of an employee? First, it begins with their dreams. Where do they want to go in their work life? What position, what earnings, what status do they seek to attain? What do they want to achieve? More importantly, what is the true passion of their life, both in Professional and Personal terms?
Second, where do they see themselves today? When you phone someone to ask directions they usually ask you "Where are you?" This point of reference is needed in order to set a new direction. Self-evaluation and self-awareness are needed to determine where a person is in relation to where they want to go.
Third, what are the critical steps that will get them where they want to go. Yogi Berra said "If you don't know where you're going you'll end up someplace else." For career planning it is important to decide what goals you must achieve to help you realize your dreams. Then create action plans to enable you to reach your goals and set priorities to help you manage your time.
Companies, mentors, coaches and educators can help to move people along the path. It is necessary for the individual to set their path and follow their dreams.
Employees Want to Know: What is My Career Path?
During the last 12 years of my corporate career my sales team was a key part of a company that grew an average of more than 25% per year. Needless to say the organization grew at a rapid pace along with the sales revenues. We hired people and grew the number of employees at a pace of about 10% a year. And, there was a lot of interest on the part of our employees to grow with the organization. A frequent ...
<< MORE >>Excuse Our Customer Service
A recent experience with a local home service organization made it clear that the business owner chose the latter. The people who worked on our home delivered what was, in effect, Class C service, even though the owner was charging Class A pricing (based on competitive quoting.) The question is, was waiting for customer complaints the right decision?
Business competition, today, is such that customers can easily find competitive organizations to service their needs. A business loses customers quickly if it does not deliver first rate service. In my case, the business owner wrote a letter of apology. In his letter he chose to excuse the poor customer service by explaining that he cut manpower due to the poor economy and he has now decided to add more field supervision. That, of course, is too late for me. But, is it really the solution to the problem?
When a company is in the service business it is critical that service be the best, period. Bill Marriott, CEO of Marriott Hotels, said "Your employees will treat your customers in the same way that they are treated." Perhaps supervision can help to improve service. But, training, motivation and pride in their work are the things that create the best possible service because it is the people doing the work who deliver the service.
If a business owner resorts to excuses customers are not going to be satisfied with the service delivered. Excuses are not the customer's problem or concern. Apologies are acceptable as long as there is follow up and correction of the problem. However, it is far better to plan and execute exceptional customer service to please the customer in the first place.
