As we make our way through summer and the many unknowns; our economy, never ending inflation, new state mandates looming on the horizon; there’s still mainly one thing that has me reflecting on not only our company’s future, but the present as well. That is the backbone of our company, our employees! Without them, the wheels in my head may be turning, I may research and implement all the right processes, but still nothing would get accomplished. This past week I did a “cross member presentation” in a networking group I’m a part of. The goal is to meet one-on-one with another member and cross present their business to the group in order for everyone to gather a greater understanding of who the other person is and what their business does. I find that’s it’s always both interesting and helpful to see someone else’s perspective of your business. Like most feedback, it can help you grow both personally and professionally.

But, I was taken back when the member presenting about me stopped and said, “she doesn’t know what I’m going to say next.” Which by any stretch of the imagination I didn’t know what they were going to say the entire time, but you figure they’re going to try to introduce you personally, tell a little about the history behind your business and highlight what your business does. Then they proceed to say, “they change the lives of their 17 employees and their families on a daily basis.” This made me smile. My husband and I talk about it on an ongoing basis. Our employees are like family, and we always want them to feel that way. We feel a sense of obligation to them. We know their livelihoods are in our hands, they trust us in that capacity, and we don’t take it lightly. When building our business our clients and our employees are our number one priority and the rest stems from there.

When growing any business, having processes in place and knowing your finances (especially profitability) helps to dictate your growth and in particular what you can afford to pay when it’s time to hire. This can be a loaded question in and of itself (and really not what I’m trying to talk about or expand on today). But, what I wanted to touch on today is really a quick overview of some of the things we try to consider when hiring the right employees.

First off, every employee is different. Every employee has a different lifestyle, different goals, different skill sets, different wants and needs. So, while there are some things within a company that are across the board policies when hiring, when it comes to incentives, we like to get to know our employees and tailor an incentive program to help them succeed. Like in all life relationships, employee/employer relationship being no different, the most successful ones are the ones that go both ways. An employer can’t be a dictator and expect their employees to come to work each day with respect and eager to work just the same as dictating to your children will only get bad attitudes and rebellion. (I know firsthand as a mom of 4. I started out with my first thinking, “I’m the mom, you’ll do what I say” was how it worked. However, I quickly learned differently. Doesn’t mean I’m not still a “tough love” mom, but I learned it’s all in the approach and respect goes both ways.)

Do you know if your employee:

• Is driven by money (raises, bonuses, commission, etc.)
• Is driven by time off (they give you 200% of themselves at work, money may be great, but they’d rather have PTO to take a vacation)
• Appreciates extras like coffee and donuts once a month, an unexpected lunch or a gift card to show your appreciation
• LOVES to work hard and loves what they do but knows their limits (I know this firsthand while working for a previous employer. I didn’t care about additional time off. I wasn’t even asking for a raise. I wanted them to use that additional money to hire another person, because the load was just too much for one person no matter how much I was being paid and vacation wouldn’t help, that would only add more stress.)

These are just a few things to think about. So, when it comes to your employees, I encourage you to get to know them better and remember, the right employee does truly become the backbone of any company.