Audio for this transcript available
Transcription Services Provided by Verbal Ink
Katie: Welcome back to segment 3 of the BusinessMakers Overtime Show. We just heard a fantastic interview with Billy Laden and Russ Capper, and now we are on to a new track to talk a little bit about making your company definitely a company of excellence/awesomeness.
Esther: You know, it's not just about having a great product. In order to sell that product, you've gotta have a company that can sell that for you. In order to create a company that's sustainable, you've gotta make your employees happy. You've gotta make sure - it's not just about getting in a call center and giving them a paycheck. There's a lot more to it to create this culture of excellence.
Katie: Exactly, and culture is really the keyword there because I mean it really does exude into every single, little piece and nook and cranny of your business.
Esther: Mm-hmm, in ways that you probably can't even understand if you're in management. If you're being managed, you can understand what it's like to go to work at a job where you either love or you hate the job because of a lot of factors that are weighing on you at all times. It's not just one thing or another thing. There's so many things that go into this culture, you know, this idea of culture.
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: So we found this great article at entrepreneur.com and there's a lot of great tips in it and I thought we would just kind of talk about some of them and highlight just the really base ways that you can bring culture into your organization.
Katie: Exactly. So the entrepreneur.com article is called, "Creating a Culture of Excellence" ironically enough. (Laughter)
Esther: Yep.
Katie: We'll probably say that word a whole bunch. (Laughter) It really does dive into just some very actionable plans, but what I like about it is that it's not like super, super, super specific because no business, no leader, no company is exactly the same, has the exact definition of success or of excellence.
Esther: Right.
Katie: For sure.
Esther: So the first thing you should do is make a plan and stick with it because that is different for everybody obviously. But once you decide you're going to change your culture, so much effort goes into it, you know, any behavior takes a long time to change no matter what it is. If you are use to your employees coming in and putting their heads down and not challenging the status quo and not asking questions and not being lively at work and happy and engaged, there is a lot of work that goes into changing the way your employees think when they walk into that office in the morning.
Katie: Exactly, and I mean sometimes the hardest part of change is even knowing what to change and how to change it. So entrepreneur suggests that in addition to really you know, talking amongst yourselves so to speak, and you know, kind of figuring out what are the benchmarks of excellence gonna be for you, but also going out and pulling your customers aside, whether it's your next sales meeting, whether it's at a luncheon or at a conference, and actually talking to them about their experience with your brand, with your people, with your services, and really getting an idea of, from an outside perspective, the people that really count. What the heck do you need to do? You know, where do you start?
Esther: And I also love that they say, "Survey employees anonymously," because that will give you an excellent way to set benchmarks. If you know that your employees are very unhappy with something and they're very happy with other things, you know what to focus on, you know what really needs work.
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: So the next thing it says is, "Motivation is key." Motivation is so important and how can you get your employees motivated? It's not just about money. I read a survey recently that said that money was only one of eight motivators in the workplace.
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: I mean think about it. So there are seven other ways you can motivate people in your office that don't involve any kind of monetary compensation.
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: I mean that's great. Then you could really increase sales without having to give anybody a raise if you think about it.
Katie: Hey. (Laughter)
Esther: You know, not that you don't wanna - you know obviously -
Katie: No.
Esther: - reward hard work, but think about all the - you know, how much happier your employees could be.
Katie: Exactly, especially if you're still stuck in a rut or you're really struggling with economic downturns. I mean it is nice to know that there are a lot of creative ways that you can keep your people happy.
Esther: Right.
Katie: So for instance, I mean they talk about very simple things like giving additional days off. I know that I have a friend of mine that works for a large, large energy company, and one of her favorite things about her job is that she gets this like roaming holiday that she gets to pick, and everybody in the company typically picks their birthday. So every year they have a day off for their birthday and they talk about it -
Esther: Cool.
Katie: - like you know, it's a fun thing and it's one day off. It's one paid extra vacation day that's completely their own.
Esther: That's great.
Katie: And like we're talking about on the radio, like she's crazy about it. (Laughter)
Esther: Yeah. I actually love this, "Promote good health." Setting up a company gym membership or wellness plan is so key. Can you imagine? I know for my company, we actually provide free gym memberships is you go at least eight times a month.
Katie: Oh my gosh, that's wonderful!
Esther: So anyone could have their gym membership paid to 24 Hour Fitness or Hank's Gym, or whatever -
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: - just for going eight times a month.
Katie: That's excellent.
Esther: And that really promotes good health and keeps your employees healthy and keeps them in good spirits.
Katie: Exactly, and not as sick. The insurance companies would be happier like - (Laughter)
Esther: Exactly. So the next thing is productivity which obviously is very important. And productivity does not mean playing on Twitter all day.
Katie: Awww.
Esther: Productivity does not mean updating your Facebook status every five minutes -
Katie: No! (Laughter)
Esther: - that is not being productive.
Katie: Right. (Laughter)
Esther: Does not mean checking your email every time an email comes in.
Katie: Right.
Esther: So what's important to get your productivity going and moving along in the right direction is you've gotta get everybody on board. This is why I love this in the article. It says, "Those new systems will be worthless if every employee doesn't use them." So make sure that once you put a system in place, everyone's embracing it. You've gotta really promote it. The management has to use your new system -
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: - whatever plan you put in place, everyone's gotta jump on it. It can't start from the bottom up, it's gotta start from - and go top, down.
Katie: Yeah, yeah, and I mean literally it has to start from the top, top, top. So if employees are seeing their CEO and President can totally slack off and not use a new CRM tool or you know, whatever new processes are in place. Like yeah, I mean it's just not - it's not going to happen.
Esther: Right.
Katie: And they also talk a lot about stepping back and really taking a look as a leader of an organization on how you're handling your employees. Are you letting employees get to their work? Are you micromanaging and driving everyone crazy so they never look at the big picture and get the big stuff done? So just make sure that you are not yourself part of the problem, because you are probably an incredibly intense, passionate individual, and sometimes that can get a little crazy. (Laughter)
Esther: Yes! You know you want people to do what you want 'em to do, but you gotta give 'em the space to do it.
Katie: Exactly. You've hired the right people hopefully, so now just let them run, let them breathe.
Esther: Right. Something else it says, there are three steps that you can take right now and they are, "Some people will always be suspicious of change so ignore them."
Katie: Ignore them. (Laughter)
Esther: "Employees need the same fire in their bellies as the leaders when it comes to change so hold meetings on implementing your plan and really letting employees engage in the discussion." That's so important. You know, give them a chance to give input and feedback unto your plan.
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: You can't just say, "Do this plan."
Katie: Exactly.
Esther: You've gotta give them a chance to give feedback.
Katie: "Here is the new business plan in stone, you will do this!" Instead of going in on a whiteboard. You know, everyone has a beer in their hand at happy hour and they're just going at it and making it their own.
Esther: That's right. And then the third step is to, "Give employees room to create change." That's a big one. I mean think about how powerful that is. "Give your employees room to create change within your organization."
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: That's so powerful.
Katie: That is.
Esther: So you know, it says, "They're always busy enough. When extra assignments add stress they're more likely to fail." So the employer need to ask, "What support do you need to make this project happen?"
Katie: Yeah.
Esther: So critical.
Katie: I know my CEO, whenever I'm trying - you know, I come up with a crazy, new idea that I wanna do. Typically what will happen is I'll go in and I'll be all nervous and I'll have this plan and we'll talk about it, and he'll look me in the eye and he's like, "What do you need to do to make it happen?" And then he'll smile and then he'll say, "Okay, go ahead and get it, and tell me how it goes."
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: I'm like, "Okay."
Esther: Ah-ha, sounds good.
Katie: "Done." (Laughter)
Esther: There's actually a book I just read that I think everybody should read, even you know, CEOs can learn from this book. But really it's good for people who are moving up in the workplace and it Seth Godin's new book called Linchpin, have you read Linchpin yet?
Katie: I have not yet.
Esther: Oh, it's phenomenal. You will love it.
Katie: Of course it's phenomenal, Seth is amazing. What is it about?
Esther: But the book is about - I mean this is the tagline, "Be indispensible."
Katie: Oooh.
Esther: So the book teaches you to be indispensible in the workplace. It's talking about really how we're moving away from this factory mentality of just being a cog in the workplace.
Katie: Right.
Esther: I mean a factory environment could be an insurance company where you're micromanaged and you have to meet a certain goal by a certain date every month, every year, every quarter, whatever. So that's a factory mentality. It's talking about how to really create art. Everything you do is art -
Katie: Wow!
Esther: - if you put your heart and soul into it. So by creating this art in the workplace, you will become indispensible to your company.
Katie: That is so cool.
Esther: It's a great book. Highly recommend it.
Katie: Can I jump in on the book recommendations?
Esther: Sure.
Katie: 'Cause I love books. We both love books.
Esther: Yeah.
Katie: We're crazy about 'em. There is a fantastic book that really cuts to the chase about a lot of interesting ways to deal with personality conflict and you know, how to be a good employee, how to be a good boss, and just cut the crap and just get down to it. The book is called It's Called Work for a Reason! Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault.
Esther: Ah!
Katie: And it's written by a guy named Larry Winget, and whenever you see the cover of the book, you'll know exactly he has the word damn in it because he's this crazy punk rocker, shaved head guy, with a cowboy shirt on. (Laughter)
Esther: Awesome.
Katie: But basically it just covers in very plain, cut to the chase language, how to, in any sort of work environment - how to focus on your product, how to focus on making the lives of the people that you work with better, stronger, faster, more amazing. And at the end of the day just really helping your company blossom no matter what.
Esther: Well I guess that wraps up show 32 of the BusinessMakers Overtime Show. You can catch us on Twitter at twitter.com/overtimeshow. You can catch us on Facebook at facebook.com/thebusinessmakers. And of course, at our wonderful website thebusinessmakers.com/overtime.
Katie: And while you're visiting thebusinessmakers.com/overtime, you can also jump on the thebusinessmakers.com/31days. That's the number 31 days plural - days, and sign up for our fantastic 31 days to a better business email project where we'll be sending you out, and when I say, "We," it's not just Esther and I, although we'll definitely be involved, but you're gonna hear from all of the BusinessMakers team and more, about different tips and tricks to make your business phenomenal.
Esther: It's basically business boot camp if you believe that.
Katie: It is, it is. It's gonna be good.
Esther: So get on board, join us. You're listening t the BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld -
Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.
Esther: And we'll see ya next week.
Katie: See ya.