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Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Tag Archives: employees
When an Employee Can’t Grow With You
Every business is an organism. It is either growing or dying. I’ve met a few owners who said “I want everything (sales, staff, profits) to stay exactly as it is,” but none who were actually able to pull that off. As we … Continue Reading
You Make Two Types of Decisions
The principle function of leadership is making decisions. Whether you own a business or direct the work of others, your employees come to you with issues they can’t solve themselves. There are two types of decisions. One is easy; you just know something that … Continue Reading
You Only have Two Hands…or not.
To paraphrase an old New Yorker cartoon “I love being self employed. You can set your own hours, as long as you don’t mind working 24 each day.” Many owners find themselves “too busy” running a company to concentrate on the longer term … Continue Reading
The Disconnect Between Skills and Jobs
A Gallup/Lumina Foundation Poll released a few weeks ago is getting attention in the business community. In a survey of 623 business leaders, most said that higher education was important, but where an employee earned a degree, and what the degree … Continue Reading
Posted in Economic Trends, Managing Employees, Top Blog Posts
Tagged business ownership, employees, hiring, management, small business advice
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Empowerment Requires Encouragement
We all want employees who are empowered to think. That doesn’t always turn out the way we hoped. Last week the news feeds carried a story about a Girl Scout in San Francisco who set up her cookie table in front … Continue Reading
Four Generations’ Embrace of Technology
Technology is pervasive in the workplace. That isn’t a news flash; it’s just reality. When we have an IT or Internet malfunction, my employees are probably less than 20% as effective without their computers. They will catch up on some … Continue Reading
Employee “Rights” in the Workplace
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the “Due Process” amendment, is one of the most-litigated sections of that document. It is also the only one that specifically abrogates rights, broadly removing the right to vote or hold … Continue Reading
Employee Retention: From Thirty Years to Two
The United States has never been known for permanent employment. The flexibility of our job market, the ability of employers to hire the employees need and fire those they don’t, has always been considered by economists to be a core attribute … Continue Reading
Bah, Humbug! Remembering Fezziwig.
Last week was the 170th anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (December 17, 1843). The immortal words of Ebenezer Scrooge are ingrained in the memory of the entire English speaking world. I’d venture to guess that “Bah, Humbug!” … Continue Reading
Employment as Video Game
In a recent survey of 20-something employees, the majority said that they expected a promotion in the workplace at least every two years. Most surprising to business owners, however, was that they did not believe that such advancement should be … Continue Reading
Lots of Jobs – Where are the Workers?
The South Texas region has an unemployment rate of somewhere between 5.2% and 5.8%, depending on exactly where you are located. Employment in certain highly desirable professional technology occupations is officially over 100%. Finding entry-level employees in South Texas is … Continue Reading
“We’ll Just Agree to Disagree”
A CEO was having a discussion with one of his top executives a few weeks ago. He felt strongly that the executive needed to take a certain course of action as soon as possible. The Vice President explained that the … Continue Reading