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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: employees
Ready…Set…Exit! Part I
For the last six years I’ve been writing and speaking around the country to business owners about the coming tsunami of retiring Baby Boomer business owners. My e-book “Beating the Boomer Bust” details the statistics (For a free download, go here … Continue reading
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Millennials: The New Normal
Do you employ Millennials? If you have twenty-somethings in your workplace, you do. Most scientists who study generations put the start of the Millennials between 1982 and 1985. Using the earliest dates, the oldest are just turning thirty this year. Sociologists … Continue reading
4 Responses to Millennials: The New Normal
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Correct Decisions, Good Decisions and “Best” Decisions
The young protégé asked his mentor, “How do you know what is the right decision?” The mentor answered “From experience.” “But how can I get experience?” The protégé asked. “Make some bad decisions.” was the mentor’s answer. Experience is what you get … Continue reading
One Response to Correct Decisions, Good Decisions and “Best” Decisions
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The article reminds me of an old allegory.
4 generations of women are in the kitchen preparing a Thanksgiving meal. The youngest great-granddaughter watches her mother cut the ends off a ham and place it in the pan. “Mother,” she says, “why do you cut the ends off the ham?”. Her mother answers, “That is the way we have always done it. Your grandmother taught me.” The girl goes to her grandmother and asks the same question, and gets the same answer. She was taught by the girl’s great-grandmother. So the girl goes to her great-grandmother who is dozing in a chair by the window. She wakes the old woman and asks why the family cuts the ends off the ham. Her great-grandmother answers, “I do not know why your mother does it, but when I was growing up our pan was too small.”
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Getting the Message to Employees
Last month, one of my business owner groups (The Alternative Board®) examined the issue of communicating company news to employees. Among those participating they had collectively tried personal emails, an e-newsletter, a paper newsletter, a company Facebook page, discussion groups on the company intranet, … Continue reading
5 Responses to Getting the Message to Employees
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Great post John…
Face to face communication is essential. It helps to ensure “buy-in” from the team. No one liked to be be given instruction from their parents “because they said so”. Memos or emails can give this impression. Face to face communication gives the team the opportunity to understand the “whys” of the new change and enhance team buy-in.
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John: Good article. I agree that one way to close this communication gap is to help managers and supervisors better understand how to relate and speak to their junior employees. Equally important is to train Millennials to empathize and connect with senior managers. It’s a two-way street. Earlier this year, Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, reversed the company’s work-from-home policy and ordered employees back into the office. She cited, among other reasons, that face-to-face interaction is better for collaboration and innovation. I suspect that the returning employees will be more likely to hear about company news since they’ll actually be working in the company from now on. Rob K., MillennialEdge360.
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Nothing, but nothing, replaces face to face communication. Our company engaged in regular appraisals ensuring that it was clearly understood that it was for the benefit of both parties and that salary reviews were not a part of these meetings. At these face to face get together’s both parties had to submit and exchange items for discussion in advance. I used these meetings to update the person with the company plans and aspirations; this not only ensured they were in the loop and felt valued but they in turn passed on to colleagues the correct information. From the outset we would both agree that the meeting was personal and confidential and also what subject(s) could be shared with other our team members. We also held a yearly company meeting at which each director presented a report concerning their sector of responsibility, the past, present and the future. We rarely encountered subsequent misunderstanding – if there was any, we reminded ourselves that the fault always lies with the sender of the message, never the receiver. We also walked the building at least once a day and visited branches once a week.
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I really liked your concentric circles concept — I never thought about starting with key employees first before communicating it to the rest. But that’s super smart — they are the ones that have influence, and other employees will go to them if they have questions/gripes/etc about the message they got. But empowering some of those key employees could really help make sure your message gets across clearly. Great article, John.
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The whole field of hiring and applying for a job has relegated itself primarily to an electronic process. I think it is very interesting that the “final decision” ultimately requires the “human touch”.
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“I’ve got it!” : The Curse of Competence
In any business, a competent employee is a treasure. Smaller enterprises may not have the layers of responsibility and management to offer a well-defined career path, but they often make up for it with the opportunity for an ambitious person … Continue reading
2 Responses to “I’ve got it!” : The Curse of Competence
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Great article. Now get some sleep!
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The sudden loss of a competent employee can be havoc. Disaster planning for a small Business should include measures for when the “what if ______gets hit by a bus” occurs. Finding competency to replace the loss can be a major challenge and drain on company resources.
Thanks for this John…I know it’s very hard for some Boomers and X’ers to understand, but you’re right about the Y’s.
I find if funny that Mr. Konopaske is a consultant for Millennials but has no ways to follow him? (twitter, linked in, fb)
Hi, John:
Thanks for another insightful piece on generational differences in the workplace…an area for which we both share a strong passion. As the founder of a new management consulting company, I’m pleased to see how my first few company clients are taking a proactive approach to getting their arms around these thorny generational issues. I agree with you that there are a number of major differences in how Boomers and Millennials communicate, use technology, learn and perform their jobs, and integrate their personal and work lives. Yes, after growing up with near continuous positive feedback from their parents, teachers, and coaches (don’t forget hourly video game “leveling up” and “high score” messages, texting 100+ times/day, and continuous social media page updates/thumbs up icons, etc.), they expect to be recognized frequently from their supervisors and companies (informally through verbal reinforcement and formally through frequent pay raises and promotions, challenging assignments, continuous training and development) for doing their regular jobs with competence. That being said, I have to admit that I’m “bullish” on Millennials as a positive current and future force for businesses…they are very smart and know where to find answers quickly, entrepreneurial, globally-minded, learning-oriented, technically-savvy, balanced, environmentally and socially conscious, and keenly interested in doings things in their own (better?) way. Organizations can benefit by developing strategies to attract, engage, develop, and retain talented Millennial employees and junior managers…so that they can work closely with and learn from Boomers. This knowledge Boomer-to-Millennial transfer needs to occur before too many Boomers leave the workforce and take their invaluable organizational knowledge with them.
Clint:
Thanks for the suggestion to add follow links to my http://www.MillennialEdge360.com website. I recently set up accounts on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and a few other social media sites, but need to get the follow buttons added. That’ll be done soon. Here’s the link to my FB site: https://www.facebook.com/millennialedge360.
Rob K.
Hey Rob,
Yeah, I’m bullish on them as well…they’re our future leaders and have a lot to give…look forward to following you on Twitter and Linked In (Facebook is just not in my DNA).
Clint.
You’re so right John, these Millennials are from a different world. And, as you say, boomers must learn how to communicate with them if they’re to continue to succeed in business. This is something that failed and failing businesses have not embraced sufficiently and now they suffer. A good leader always learns how to communicate to the audience at hand. If you can’t communicate through their media and ways of understanding, you will loose them and their productivity. And a good leader trains subordinates to take his/her place. When you’re not at work, how will they be trained or qualified to take you’re place and continue your business plan?