Keep Them Happy

Three years ago we went to our employees and asked “How can we make your job more enjoyable?” They responded with three succinct requests: give us job security, profit share and extended benefits. Tall order? Well, I am proud to say that we have had no layoffs in three years, our crew chiefs take part in a generous profit share and we subsidize a solid extended benefits program. In short, we gave our employees what they asked for.

The company has changed a lot in three years. We have added a marketing manager, operations manager and a production assistant. Not to mention that the business has changed from a sole proprietorship to a partnership. And, we have grown from eight field staff to thirty. Phew!

With all this growth and opportunity you would think that everyone would be happy. Well, some are and some are not. There have been a few grumblings from the field and it seems that the needs of our employees have changed.

In essence it seems that our field staff is looking for one thing: the highest possible hourly wage. We have the best painters in the city and they deserve a great remuneration package. The problem is that we have positioned our company to take on lower margin work in the off season to keep everyone working, provide excellent benefits to lower after tax dollar expenses for our staff and profit share to maximize annual earnings. We accomplish all of this by offering fair hourly wages at the market average not above.

Now what do we do?

Our first step was to have every employee answer a satisfaction questionnaire. Unfortunately, the answers to the survey made the matter more confusing. Our next step is to hold two separate meetings, one with the painters and one with the crew chiefs. The purpose of the meetings is to gain a better understanding of each groups needs. The outcomes are two fold: the field staff tells us what they want and the field staff understands the potential implications of their desires. Should be some fun meetings!

I know that in the end the entire team will work together to com e up with a manageable solution. We always do. And then ion three years we will do it all again.

I will report back with the outcomes from our meetings.

Welcome Bloggers

Welcome to my blog, Stir Stick: “Mixing it up in the world of small business”. Get it? My business is painting; we use stir sticks to mix paint. I know, pretty lame.

Anyways, what should you expect to read on my blog? Well, one thing that you won’t see is perfectly scripted, typo free writing. But, hopefully you will find my entries on small business to be insightful, sometimes funny and always honest. Most importantly, I am interested in your comments, feedback and engaging in some “blog” dialogue. Talk to you soon.

Yours truly,

Dave

Bumping Up Against Our Values

At Wolfgang we have three corporate values:

Exceed expectations

Take pride in what you do

Respect the individual

Our values may not be original, but they are solid. We try to preach these values daily. Our instructions to new employees are simple, “If you feel that Wolfgang’s values are being compromised, come directly to the owners”.

Occasionally our values are really put to the test.

A few months back two long term painters had made decisions that clearly compromised our values. Both painters were well liked, productive and oozing skill. Furthermore both employees we pegged as future stars. But, their “bump up against” our values forced a decision: stand by the Wolfgang values and terminate or compromise the company values, “problem solve” and keep them on board.

The last thing we wanted to do was loose two great employees, in the middle of our season, in a tight labor market. But, we also knew that not terminating meant paying “lip service” to our values and in doing so compromising our employees trust in management.

In the end, we terminated both employees. We made the right choice. But, at the time, this was not an easy decision. I had worked closely with both these employees, letting them go was gut wrenching.

Our staff seems on board with the decision. One employee stated; “I am glad to be part of a company that has the strength to stand up for what they believe”.

Nobody said that small business was easy.

Thought I was a Good Coach

Coaching is difficult. I can remember my old Boss and mentor saying “I learn something new about coaching everyday!” I always thought, “Wow, you’ve been in business for thirty years, you must be a slow learner.” The tables have turned.

We have this fantastic crew chief. Let’s call her Jackie. Jackie is a star in every sense of the word. Jackie has been with Wolfgang for three years, she produces quality work on or under budget, she provides fantastic customer service and most importantly she possesses a phenomenal attitude.

Over the years I have had many opportunities to coach Jackie. A lot of our coaching events involved problem solving around productivity and maximizing Jackie’s profit share. After all, every employee is motivated by money, right?

After our coaching events I would check in with Jackie and ask “what are you taking away from our time together” Jackie would generally respond to my questions with intelligent answers. Amazingly, Jackie’s answers were always the ones that I was hoping to hear.

I often thought to myself, “what a great job I am doing with Jackie! She is doing a wonderful job for us and she is satisfied with her job. I wish we had more people like Jackie!”

Imagine my surprise when my newly hired Operations Manager informed me that Jackie has been frustrated for a long time. Jackie was annoyed that every time we worked together the conversation centered on productivity and profit share. Moreover, Jackie revealed that she is not motivated by productivity and bonus; she simply wants to produce quality work and to be seen as a key member of the Wolfgang Team. How many entrepreneurs have dreamed of hearing those words from their employees?

So, what did I learn? First, my new Operations Manager is a better listener than I. Second, not all our employees are motivated the same way. In Jackie’s case she is motivated by producing quality work and being a leader on a great team. Third, as her coach, it is my job to recognize Jackie’s needs and to coach her accordingly. Good thing my new Operations Manager is her new coach.

Everyone in our company is motivated for different reasons. That doesn’t mean that we are not aligned. On the contrary it means that we have an open and strong corporate culture.

I learn something new about coaching every day!

Remembering the 80/20 Rule

I always read the 80/20 principle to mean concentrate on the few things (the 20%) in life that are truly important and you will be happy. When I started Wolfgang the 80/20 principle was top of mind. I chose to run a business so that I could spend more time with my family and control my income. My basic strategy was to work on areas where I provided the most value and hire the right people to take care of the rest.

The first two years were great. I was making good hiring decisions, the business was growing 15% year over year and I was taking every second Friday plus an additional month off. Sweet! Then something happened and the company started growing 50% year over and year. Probably because I was making good hiring decisions and taking time off?

When Wolfgang took off, I stepped further back from operations and sales. Smart move, I needed to spend more time on strategy and alignment. Unfortunately, I freaked out and started to feel guilty about not working as hard (time in the field) as I had in the past. So, to compensate, I started micromanaging in order to feel like I was working “harder”. Every second Friday off got the axe, eight hour days turned into twelve hour days and then my vacation time started to shrink. Guess what happened to our growth? Wolfgang stalled.

This year I hired a coach to skill me up and help me feel more confident in my new role. Also, I have made a key hire in our operations divison, gave him lots of support and let him do his job.

Most importantly, I am spending more time with the family. Last week we headed to Parksville and spent three days exploring tidal pools. In short, I am spending more time working on the important (the 20%)aspects of my life.

Guess what the business is trending to grow by 60% this year!