Business Management Skills

By Aaron Boyce - AB Workshops

Successful companies understand that good employees equal good business. A company that employs good employees need not worry about large amount of shrinkage to the inventory, they need not worry about the loyalty of their staff, and they need not worry that the employee will try to hurt them or hurt their business. Instead a good employee who is fully vested in the company will work harder, work smarter, and work faster because they truly appreciate the company and the management for which they work. In my book, “Seize the Opportunity… and other marketing strategies”, I mention that it’s always important to surround yourself with helpful people. Well, who is management surrounded by everyday other than their employees? Therefore it makes sense to ensure that your employees are intelligent, resourceful, ethical, and open to the idea that your success is their success and their success is yours. But where do we find such wonderful employees? There are two answers to that question; 1. Hire employees intelligently with these qualities in mind and 2. Develop your current employees, any new ones, with these qualities in mind.

Let’s start with the first one. Would you find it strange that a major retailer, one of the largest in the world, hires its employees with the belief that these employees will indeed be bad employees? Would you believe that they actually plan for these employees to steal from them, be disrespectful to them and their customers, and generally do a bad job. In fact part of the plan, uses the “revolving door” concept, that is, the employees are so unimportant that they are willing to hire them, train them, and fire them when they don’t like the job they do. And even though this retailer is large and successful, their track record on employee satisfaction and employee development is quite abysmal. Maybe their budget is large enough to be able to handle such costly turnovers, but to small businesses with less than 100 employees, one bad employee could be a death knell. So with that in mind, it would be wise to hire with a keen vision of your future success. Instead of your top job requirement being experience, since we all know that experience does not necessarily equal excellence, take a look at who they are today. Mandate the use of a resume and look at it thoroughly. Asked them questions about their resume. Are they able to back it up with words. How do they walk in the room? How are they dressed? Can they communicate well with others? Do they look at you when they speak? Do they smile? Asked them questions about your company. Can they answer them? Do they seem to care about themselves? Do they seem to only care about themselves? Do they understand the words pride and integrity? Can they indeed do the job they say they can do, and if not, can they be trained? Let’s not place such great emphasis on experience and education; remember Bill Gates dropped out of college. See if this makes sense - instead of experience, look for excellence. Instead of asking how long, ask how well.

As for the second answer, it only makes good business sense to develop the employees that you wish to surround yourself with. Training for example. Now, I know that many small companies do not have large budgets for training. But I also know that there are many professionals that would be willing to come in and do a workshop for a small stipend or sometimes for free simply because they wish to give back to the community. There are also professionals who will do it for free so they can obtain speaking experience. Find those professionals and invite them to speak to your employees for an hour or two. Topics could include customer service, sexual harassment, communication skills, diversity, business ethics, etc. Mandate that all employees attend all if not most of these seminars. Include a certificate with each attendance. Also include light refreshments and beverages. There will be a small cost, but the larger picture is that you’ll have well-trained employees, who are able to do their jobs. Another good way to develop quality employees is to allow them the ability to make the workplace feel like home. I don’t just mean their desk, but rather, from the front door to the back door. Within reason, give your employees the access how the place looks, smells, and feels. Let them develop some feng shui of their own. You will be amazed how happy an employee is when they see that they had a hands-on experience in how their workplace looks.

In my workshop, How to Develop Quality Employees, I include 10 other great examples of how we can ensure our company, but more importantly ensure our customers and clients, the benefit of happy, satisfied, and efficient employees. And folks, that is money in your pocket.

To contact me, e-mail me at Aaron@abworkshops.com or visit my website at www.abworkshopsarethebest.com. You can also speak to meet at my toll-free number, 866-745-6966 extension 6.

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