Employee Management | June 9, 2009

Fighting a Case of the Mondays

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 2:23 PM

If you're not an entrepreneur, you may be less than happy to come to work on Mondays. Frankly, it doesn't matter if you're a front-line player or the CEO -- we've all had our days (weeks, months, years) of being discontent in the workplace.

But Roxanne Emmerich doesn't think it has to be this way. In fact, she knows it doesn't, and the focus of Thank God It's Monday! is revealing the strategies behind a functional, happy, and fun workplace. (She's more than prepared for the eye-rolling and sarcastic comments that come whenever she brings up the idea of a fun workplace.) Her book is part parable, part anecdote, and part textbook, written from the standpoint of an industry veteran who has seen it all -- and she's not going to take your crap.

Emmerich's bottom line is simple logic: The more you love your workplace, the better your workplace. The better your workplace, the more your customers love your workplace. The more your customers love your workplace, the more successful your workplace. For her, attitude is everything. It's not about being touchy-feely or a boss telling her workers, "Be happy and get to work!" It's about communicating, taking action, initiating change, taking obstacles as challenges, and turning uninvolved employees into dedicated employees. But most importantly, it's about the celebration of positive change (following the "Hoopla" model, which is nowhere near as ridiculous as it sounds) when all of these elements work.

The book is separated into four parts: understand that you have a problem, work to change that problem, find a way to effectively better your workplace, and work to rid yourself of the obstacles to a better workplace. The focus throughout is on you as an employee or employer. What are you doing wrong? What can you do to make it better? Why are you doing something one way rather than another? She challenges you to push yourself: Don't ever take "no" or "I can't" as an answer, and strive until you -- as an individual -- reach your ultimate goal. The company is built on individuals and that is where the focus lies.

What's most clever about the book is the parable approach. Reading about one company instinctively makes you want to compare it to your own company. You recognize the types of employees and problems and attitudes that you and your people have. You read it to find your "aha" moments. "Aha, I'm doing this" or "Aha, I need to do that." (And occasionally, "Oh crap, I shouldn't be doing that.") Emmerich expertly guides the reader through a closer look at his or her workplace and then provides the tools to make all employees contribute equally, be enthusiastic and work towards tangible results.

Not just for CEOs who want a great culture, this is a recommended read for employees at every level, because as Emmerich says, anyone can work toward making Mondays at the office the best day of the week.

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Employee Management | April 17, 2009

Stop the Layoffs!

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 10:59 AM

As time wears on and the recession shows little sign of being curtailed by the government's stimulus package, companies are continuing to cut costs by resorting to their fallback plan: employee layoffs. Millions of them. The national unemployment rate now tops 8 percent. In some states, the number of those unemployed exceeds 10 percent of the workforce. If I were more political, I might start the dramatic "1 in every 10 Americans" speech in a portentous, overly concerned, Big Brother voice. But let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

My company's industry -- book publishing -- is not immune to the effects of the current economic state. In fact, quite the opposite. We're small, independent, and we produce a non-essential consumer good. For some in this business, that could be a death sentence. Larger rival companies are cutting jobs by the hundreds.
On the other hand, we only have about 30 full-time employees. And even one layoff is, in my opinion, unacceptable. It's not about who's "essential" and who's "expendable." If you've done your hiring right, everyone is essential. Cutting one person from the team is losing one invaluable resource that helps make this entire company tick. In the short term, it hurts morale and lowers the productivity of a department. In the long run it means the entire company's time and money spent trying to make up for the loss -- redistributing tasks and overburdening departments, struggling to make up the slack, dealing with the paperwork, and eventually putting additional man hours toward rehiring and retraining. And of course, the toll layoffs take on the economy are tremendous.

If we want to survive, we have to use the resources we have in the best way that we can. And the most important resource we have -- that any company has -- is our people. Without their labor and commitment, our company would not be successful. To that end, I've asked my employees to institute what I call the "lay-on" (as opposed to the layoff. Get it?). Essentially, every employee is putting in one voluntary extra hour per day at work. One extra hour to be used in the most advantageous way possible: finishing up projects, having a meeting with a client or vendor, assisting a coworker, getting hands dirty working in another department. Even cleaning a desk or organizing files, if it helps improve efficiency.

Do the math -- 30 employees x 1 hour per day x 5 day workweek = 150 extra hours. Divide that number by 40 hours per standard workweek and you have 3.75. That's the workload of nearly 4 additional employees, all without hiring a single new person. Rather than cutting expenses (and revenue), we're keeping all of our employees' benefits and increasing productivity, and revenue as well!

We aren't asking for anything big. Just a little extra time each week that is completely flexible. We let everyone figure out what works best for them -- be it shorter lunches, working from home, coming in earlier or leaving later, or some combination of options. Not only are we preventing layoffs among our employees, we are also increasing our efficiency and output, building reserves, and staying profitable. Of course, what is probably the best measure of the success of the lay-on is its effect on the atmosphere of the company as a whole. People spend less time worrying about their jobs and more focused on doing their jobs.

Consider your options. Times are tough and you are worried about your company's survival. But to thrive in good times and bad, you have always relied upon, and will always rely upon, the people who work for you. You can panic, lay off people, and help fuel the fire of a chaotic economy. Or you can ask for a little more -- and get a lot more in return.

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Operations | March 13, 2009

The Greening of Greenleaf

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 11:59 AM

Being green is getting more and more important these days. Lucky for me, "Green" is kind of a family trait. However, is my company green in name only?

Authors are paying close attention to the impact their book production is having on the world, and asking whether or not it's possible for us to be green. The very process of creating and selling books is the opposite of green. Books need paper, paper needs trees, and cutting down trees to make paper is tough to sell as "conservation," (even if it's for a book about conservation… maybe especially if it's for a book about conservation). Books are shipped all over the world (carbon isn't very green) in boxes with air packets and foam peanuts (I don't even need to explain how bad these are).

So, how can Greenleaf Book Group ensure we are being a good steward to the planet, while still serving the needs of our industry? And what are some quick ways any company can do their part to go green? Most importantly, how can it be done without spending a ton of money?

- Perhaps the biggest way we green ourselves up is by partnering with Tree Neutral. I launched this initiative last year to help us plant as many trees as we consume each quarter in the printing of our authors' books. Companies in any industry are partnering with TreeNeutral to offset their paper usage, and it only costs about $0.06 to plant enough of a tree to replace a ream of copy paper.

- Speaking of, using both sides of a piece of paper is a pretty easy one. We put bins by each of our networked printers (also a nice way to save energy, paper, and cost) where people can drop off and pick up paper that has been printed on already to re-use for internal needs (It's cheaper and greener). We collect the paper that's been used on both sides and mix it with catalogs and other paper we recycle on a regular basis.

- Authors are asking about e-books more and more, which use no paper and have no shipping costs or carbon. Right now, e-books only represent about 2 percent of the book industry, but their popularity is growing tremendously each year. We have positioned our company to be at the forefront of this growth, and are prepared to help our authors move down that path as needed.

- During company meetings, we try to use a projector whenever possible. People are encouraged to bring their laptops to meetings in order to save printouts, and we have found that even the potential distraction of e-mail (or Twitter) does not hinder the flow of the meetings.

- Don't forget the granddaddy of the green movement -- a recycling container. We provide free cans of soda in the office for staff. Right next to the fridge is a recycling container and it gets all sorts of recyclable materials (plastic, tin cans, soda cans, etc.). Each month, an employee takes the boxes and takes care of recycling them.

- My last bit of greenery is to remind you not to overlook the small things. We have a special desk lamp that rotates between employees each month as part of an award for outstanding service. We made sure to outfit it with a low-energy bulb (of course).

With some simple steps, every office can green-up. It's not a political or fringe thing anymore -- it translates into real money and it's the right thing to do.

So what are some ways your office has been able to be a bit greener?

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Operations | February 27, 2009

R-e-s-p-e-c-t

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 3:58 PM

Our company has learned a great lesson in self-discipline in the last quarter -- one that has resulted in improved morale, increased customer service, and better client relationships. I can boil it down to one word: respect.

We all remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s simple enough in theory, but I know I’m not alone in having to remind myself of its importance from time to time. Our company has worked hard to get to the point where we can choose who we work with -- we know we’re fortunate to have this opportunity and we do so carefully. Even with this luxury, like every company, we find ourselves with a small number of clients who are consistently challenging or difficult to please.

The natural reactions to difficult clients are frustration, negative talk, and defensive behavior, which are certainly not healthy. We knew this was a problem, but we weren’t sure what to do to fix it. We decided to tackle the issue head-on to avoid a downward spiral of negativity. After all, our job is to help our clients make money for both of us… they pay us to do so!

At the beginning of the year, we committed to a positive feedback campaign to focus on over Q1. We had just updated our core values, and respect ranked high on that list. The first course of action was to commit to calling each other (and ourselves) out when frustrations turned negative. This wasn’t very hard for us to do, but it was a great exercise.

Next, we resolved to have every employee recognize the positive attributes of a client and/or their project through a company-wide email. We assigned each of our 32 employees one day to send out their positive feedback over the course of the first quarter… so the entire staff received a couple of e-mails of this nature each week. The results of this campaign were overwhelming! Each positive feedback e-mail shared interesting stories about our customers that the employees not working directly on a project wouldn’t have otherwise known and brought the entire staff closer to our clients.

The measureable results from this initiative include improved customer service, client satisfaction, and client relationships. What I can’t measure, but can attest to, is the improvement in office mojo. The positive vibe is contagious and drastically improves workplace morale.

This is an easy policy that I recommend everyone institute. In a culture where it’s cool to be sarcastic, pithy, and snarky, it’s not a constructive behavior in the office. Why be negative when it’s just as easy to be positive -- and it has great side effects!

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Employee Management | February 3, 2009

Finding the Right Incentives

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 1:24 PM

I’ve spent my life working with incentives. Knowing how they work and using them effectively has proven to be one of the most powerful forces in history. Ignoring them is catastrophic.

For me, it started early. My parents explained that if I was good, Santa would bring me presents. Unwilling to test the limits of Santa’s forgiveness, I was a pretty good kid. In school, the teachers said if I earned good grades, I would be more successful. If I didn’t study, I would pay the price and wouldn’t be able to get a good job when I got older. (You can insert your own entrepreneurial joke about being unemployable here.)

Employees are the same way. If you incentify your sales staff with a commission on revenue, you’ll get big sales numbers, but profits are not the focus. If you don’t incentify your sales staff with bonus for reaching their numbers, you’ll see they rarely meet their numbers. So, I’ve found that paying salespeople on gross profit rather than revenue, and additionally with a kicker when they reach their numbers, is a good thing.

If you are unclear about the value of incentives, you can run a simple test. Pick a really absurd idea and tie money to it. Tell your employees that every time they answer the phone on the second ring you’ll give them a dollar. You’ll quickly see that you’re paying money every time the phone rings, because people will quickly go where the money is. If you want people to take specific actions, give them an incentive to do so -- it doesn’t have to be money, but I’ve found it usually does the trick.

Most of you with any business experience know this. I’d even say that most people without business experience know it too. Which begs the question -- why hasn’t our government figured this out? The prevailing wisdom (if you can call it that) in Washington now is that the best way to stimulate the economy is to give the average person $500. The theory is that it’ll give people money to spend, they’ll put it into the economy, and we’ll bounce back.

But the theory is flawed. While it may be admirable to give people money, it won’t stimulate the economy. Most of it will be saved, and what’s left won’t be enough to create jobs. We’ll just add more to our deficit and still be in a tough spot. We’ll also be teaching people to expect handouts from the government. The incentive is to reach out a hand and expect someone else to take care of you. Not a worthy lesson or behavior to teach. Remember that this money has to come from somewhere. (If you haven’t read Atlas Shrugged, now would be a great time to do so.)

One point we can all agree on is that jobs are the cornerstone to any sort of meaningful recovery. If that’s the case, why not incentify business to hire? Why not give a tax break to the people who can actually create a change? If I were to pay less in taxes, I would invest that into the business. It would go to hire more talented people. They’ll produce more, create more, and generate more income. These new employees will enter the workforce and spend their money on rent, food, and hopefully even a little savings. But the dramatic impact of a new job is much more meaningful than a simple handout from the government -- one that we’ll all have to pay for. A tax break for employers would incentify me to hire and incentify people to get work. And a paycheck beats a one-time $500 check.

It’s time to start using incentives to get what we want. Do we want more people to become dependent on handouts from the government (and our future)? Or do we want to teach people that creating jobs and wealth is better for everyone? In your own business, make sure that you use the right incentives to create the right behaviors, and encourage your government to do the same. It’s the single best path to success -- and ignoring it is a path straight to failure.

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Business Planning | January 15, 2009

In Praise of the Office Barber

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 1:05 PM

I'm kind of a time-management nut. I like to make the best use of every minute in the day -- with two daughters under the age of two at home, I want to spend as much quality time with them as possible.

I should first admit that for me, part of the appeal of saving time is the game of it. When I'm on hold, I put the phone on speaker so I can do things around my office. I have two computers on my desk, so I'm never waiting for programs to load or download files. I work hard to be efficient -- and I want to pass my favorite tip on to you.

The Marines taught me to love the simplicity of short hair. The big problem was getting it cut so often. After I met my wife, she told me that I couldn't cut it myself anymore (even though it's not hard when you keep it short). I spent a lot of time trying to find a barber that was good but not too expensive. Once I found the right one, I'd spend a few hours getting it done -- driving there, waiting, getting the cut, and then going back home or to the office. The wait was often long, and rarely was there a good barber nearby. Add to this the fact that I can't go more than three weeks without a cut, and I was wasting some serious time on some pretty short hair.

So, I figured out a better plan. During a haircut a few years ago, I asked my barber in Austin if she ever did house calls. She was open to the idea, but said that there are some regulations against hair cutting outside of barbershops. Seriously, no matter what your political leanings are, you have to agree that if the government is regulating who and where you can get your hair cut, regulation has gone amok. Despite the risk, she agreed to come to my office two weeks later to cut my hair. (Rest assured that my barber gave me permission to share this story.)

It was seamless. She came and set up in the men's room, brought all her own supplies, and cleaned up after she was done. I didn't need to stop working until she was ready for me, and as soon as I was done, I was back at my desk. I add a few bucks to her tip to cover travel costs and can schedule it when I have time.

I save at least an hour every few weeks between driving time and waiting time whenever I get my hair cut. Some of my employees, who would otherwise have to burn a lunch or spend time on the weekend, now also get their hair cut at the office. The benefits to me, to my staff, and to my barber are all easily measurable.

At a time when we all need to work harder than ever to help pay for the bailouts of companies much bigger and weaker than our own, an extra couple of hours a month can be really valuable. We should be constantly working to cut wasted time and increase our efficiency -- it's the best way to make more when your time is limited.

If you have great time savers, comment away. After all, every minute counts!

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Marketing | November 26, 2008

Gifts That Really Say Thanks

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 1:06 AM

My dad is a bright guy -- he's been feeding me good business ideas for a long time. One of my favorites is something I adopted four years ago and has worked incredibly well for me ever since.

That idea? We give Thanksgiving gifts to our clients and vendors. (Don't forget your vendors -- check out my blog from October 2007 if you need a refresher.) In the past, we¹ve given mugs, specialty coasters, and staplers. This year, we sent everyone jalapeño plants with our logo on a tin pot. On the other side of the pot, we also branded our non-profit organization, Tree Neutral, since it is a "green" gift.

Along with the pot, the soil, and seeds, we also printed a specialty card that fit into the box. One of the luxuries of running a publishing company is that I have very talented, full-time designers who are very creative. They design a new card every year that is both funny and clever. We even get requests from our recipients to buy cards they can customize for themselves for the next year. The point is that it's a person gift that is unlike most other holiday gifts.

The idea of a Thanksgiving gift is great for three reasons, all of which are "Blue Ocean" type ideas. The first is that ours are some of the first gifts received every year. Rather than being one of many that arrive mid-December, our gifts arrive in mid-November in the season of "thanks." They are memorable, if for no other reason than they are arriving before the flood of gifts. Second, we avoid holiday issues. Most of the December holidays are religious in nature and rather than potentially offend or cater to a specific group, we avoid it all together. The spirit of the gift is simple -- we're thanking everyone for a great year. Third, rather than the traditional holiday gifts of food or other consumables, we give something that has a good chance of staying on someone's desk for several months.

This trend is growing in popularity, so I figured I'd get on record as being a visionary for it -- even though I stole it from my dad. If you send gifts during the holidays, consider this approach. ­You'll be surprised how well it works.

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Business Planning | October 30, 2008

Why I Love Recessions!

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 5:03 PM

The sky is falling. The economy is in the tank. Your 401(k) will soon be worthless. No one is spending. Job cuts are swift and deep. We're all going to die painful deaths. Right?

Nope. Sure, it's a tough time, but now is the best time in our lives to make real money. People who are paying attention to the market, the economy, and the world can make lifetime of wealth in the next few years. It just comes down to the right perspective.

What are the great ideas that people will use now to make billions? What new technology can be used to make it easy? Right now you can find a ton of great buys. Real estate, equipment, A-player employees, inventory, technology, and even competitors are all on sale. Take advantage of this downturn to buy even cheaper and at a greater value than you normally would.

For example, if you are thinking about pulling back on marketing efforts now, don't. The same way you want to get more value for your purchasing, you can get more value for your marketing.

There are two big forces at play in your economy at any time -- your business and that of your industry. If everyone in your industry is cutting their marketing budget by 50 percent, you might be tempted to do the same. But imagine if you keep it at the same level. You're basically getting a 100 percent increase over their spending. This is a great time to honor your commitments and continue your marketing plan, all while gaining market share! Plus, your vendors will remember that you stood with them during the hard times and helped them make it through the downturn.

One of my favorite Wall Street traders, Art Cashin, recently said, "Don't bet on the end of the world… because it can only happen once." Remember this when you get scared.

We have a choice now. We can complain, pull back, and live in fear until the media tell us we can breathe easy. Or we can recognize that this is the time when fortunes are made. This is the time when entrepreneurs turn small businesses into booming enterprises by taking smart risks. This is the time we have been waiting for!

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Finances | October 22, 2008

Another #&*! Stimulus Plan?

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 4:39 PM

You have to be kidding me. Our government is now saying we need another stimulus plan? Why, because the first worked so well? This is a crazy idea that only shows how illogical our government is.

I understand that many people are feeling the strain of the downturn in economy -- we'll all see tougher times for the next several quarters. But this is not the time for the government to borrow on our behalf to try to stimulate the economy. Nor is it a time for the fear-mongering that will soon come saying that the economy will collapse if we don't bail everyone out of this downturn. That's why it's an economic downturn -- government can't fix economic cycles. The economy will recover. Another stimulus will just delay the inevitable failures that have to happen before the next boom.

The last stimulus was a flop, mainly because people did two things with their checks -- save or pay off debt Very few dollars were spent, and given the latest news in the economy, even fewer will be spent this time.

If the government wants to do some good, they can focus on cutting pork. If they feel compelled to do something else, they can try a different kind of stimulus package.

We all know that the roads and bridges of this country are in horrible shape. Congress can invest in our infrastructure and not waste all of the stimulus. The cost of a full overhaul of our infrastructure has been estimated at $1.6 trillion over five years. That used to sound like a lot of money to me. But given the big money we're spending now on bailing out all sorts of companies, why not the roads and bridges we drive on every day?

Think of the economic boom it would be to the country -- hardworking Americans would be employed and there would be a ton of money pouring into small construction firms and contractors. They would have steady jobs while we fixed a major problem that will soon cripple us.

Of course, we couldn't do every road, but even if it's small portion of the worst ones, we could keep money in the country by paying people who worked for it and would spend the money in America.

Congress needs to stop trying to fix the economy and let capitalism run it's course. But if they insist on trying to stimulate something, why not do something that could actually help our country?

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Success | September 30, 2008

Finding the Who

Posted by Clint Greenleaf at 6:41 PM

I just finished reading an advance copy of the book Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street, which was officially released today. Wow, it's good. Really good.

Geoff and his father Brad Smart are well-known as the team that popularized Topgrading, a thorough interview process that takes the success rate for new hires from the average of about 50 percent to just over 90 percent. I don’t know of a business owner alive who wouldn’t love to increase the effectiveness of the interview and hire more effectively.

Smart and Street are experts in their field -- they are paid huge sums of money to do this for some of the biggest and best companies in the world. Their research estimates that the average hiring mistake costs employers 15 times the salary of the incorrect hire. The number sounds absurdly high, but when you include salary, lost productivity, and opportunity costs, it's plausible. Frightening.

Who is a fast and simple read, but is heavy on content. It begins with a discussion of what they call voodoo hiring, or the process most business owners use during the interview process, and it was painful for me. I'm guilty of voodoo hiring and I'm guessing most of you are, too. Much of my process is guessing and gut feel, and is done over too short of a period of time. It's not hard to see the need for a change.

Next comes a simple explanation of why hiring "A" players is so important. They define an "A" player as the right superstar for the job, a talented person who fits in well with your company culture. B and C hires cost you money; an A hire makes you rich.

The meat of the book is about the four keys to what they call the A Method: Scorecard, Source, Select, and Sell. I can't do justice to the brilliance of the system in this short review, but here are the basics. The scorecard is your blueprint for the job -- not a description, but the criteria you will be using to judge the person who is ultimately hired. Source is how you find your candidates, primarily referrals, and recruiting. Select goes over the four interviews that need to be conducted -- screening, Topgrading, focused, and reference. Sell is important and often overlooked, selling your top candidate on taking the job. With great people in demand, you need to fight for your best people.

Many of us have read Topgrading -- it's a long read but describes the theory well. Even so, countless managers still have trouble implementing the system. Who bridges that gap and helps us see the whole process, then implement it well. This book just became required reading at my company, Greenleaf Book Group, and the process is our new hiring process. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve hiring practices and remove a huge piece of the risk.

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