Serving Business Owners Nationwide
To state the obvious, uncertainty is the only certainty for the foreseeable future. It’s an unusual time and I know we’re all hoping for the best. Unfortunately, the business forecast (not to mention “real-life”) suggests we’re headed for significant economic turbulence. So, this may be a good time to talk about how to approach your compensation strategy should a recession result from current conditions. In reality, these principles apply…
You have hired good people. You believe your business model is sound. Your strategy is solid. You think you pay a “fair” wage. You allow people flexible hours and they can work from home when necessary. They can take as many vacation days as they want as long as their work gets done and they participate in an above average benefits package, including some things your competitors don’t offer….
“Tis the season” to figure out how much bonus your employees are going to earn this year, is it not? For some of you, that’s not a big deal. You have a formula and your people will be paid a benefit accordingly. However, I suspect others of you are lying awake at night trying to figure out how much you’re going to share. You don’t have a formula, your…
Are all profits created equal? No, they are not. Some are good and some are bad. Years ago, in his book, The Ultimate Question, Fred Reichheld made the distinction: “Too many companies these days can’t tell the difference between good profits and bad. As a result, they are getting hooked on bad profits. Whenever a customer feels misled, mistreated, ignored, or coerced, then profits from that customer are bad….
Every company wants to hire great people. But not every business has the same level of success in their attempts to do so. In fact, most organizations work hard at developing recruiting strategies for securing top talent, but see little fruit for their efforts, while a select few seem to be able to attract more quality applicants than they can possibly hire. So, what accounts for this dichotomy? Why…
Businesses in virtually all industries have initiated significant renovations of their performance management systems in recent years. Gone are the rigid employee appraisals at year end. In their place are flexible, future-facing tutoring and coaching methodologies. The focus now is on helping employees develop and succeed in the hyper-change environment all companies are experiencing. These changes have not come without growing pains, however. And one of the biggest sources…
Most chief executives have growth ambitions for their businesses that are unfulfilled. Seldom do they think their companies are achieving their full potential. This feeling is exacerbated by the pressure these leaders feel to perform well against the intense competition they face. Their frustration is heightened when the people around them don’t exhibit a shared vision of the company’s future or an equal commitment to its fulfillment. One of…
There is certainly no scarcity of studies you can read that attempt to explain what motivates employees. And those studies have been commissioned largely because every business leader in the world wants to know the secret to getting his or her people fired up about driving company growth. However, my observation is that often the best way to resolve some enterprise “mysteries” is to simply apply a little common…
I once had a phone conversation with a CEO of a company who ultimately became a client. He was baffled why he was not getting great performance from his top employees. “My strategy was to attract the best talent by paying salaries at the 90th percentile of the market. I assumed that by attracting great people, performance would just naturally follow. It hasn’t happened. Why not?” This chief executive’s…
If you lead a business, you likely have a good sense of what your company can achieve. But you recognize that your vision cannot be realized if you’re be the only one who holds it and is passionate about it. You need people around you who are as committed to its fulfillment as you are and possess the wherewithal to make it happen. Beyond that, they must have unique…
Tom Jordan is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Certified Value Builder Advisor (CVBA), and Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS). He is the published author of How to Exit Your Business With No Regrets and the creator of the Exit Readiness Trilogy™.
