One of the biggest challenges for business owners is trying to keep employees engaged. According to a recent report from Gallup, despite a steady rise in employee engagement over the last decade, between 2019 and 2020, it decreased by about two points. This dip is certainly not a surprise, considering everything that’s happened between 2019 and today. But even with the uptick in engagement throughout the 2010s, in 2020, employee…
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If you’re a business owner in the skilled trades, you’re probably used to feeling like you’re constantly chasing a revolving door. Employees come and go as the wind blows, and skilled trades talent always seems to be in short supply, to say the least. As senior employees start to retire, you need to have people ready to take their place. Many of you might be thinking that this is just…
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One of the most important skills to learn as a business owner, manager, or supervisor is how to effectively communicate with your team. This involves many aspects, including things like how to clearly articulate ideas and expectations, how to promote mutually beneficial relationships by speaking to your team in the right tone, and how to properly delegate responsibilities. But despite being one of the most important leadership skills for successfully…
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It’s lonely at the top. When you’re the leader, you seem to be carrying the weight of the world and the future of your whole business on your shoulders. Most leaders spend their days barely surviving emotionally, but nobody talks about it. In fact, I bet if your employees and colleagues knew how you feel most of the time, they would be shocked. Starting and growing a company comes with…
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I’ve been working as an HR professional for decades, and I can tell you that my colleagues and I have never seen anything like the ‘Great Resignation’ we’re now experiencing. American workers are quitting their jobs like never before, and can expect this trend to continue into 2022. When this pandemic started, there was so much we couldn’t predict, and I don’t think anyone predicted this ‘turnover tsunami.’ That said,…
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Building your ‘A’ team is one of the most important jobs you have as a business owner or manager. Get it right and you are well on your way to a profitable business. Get it wrong, and you’ll waste a lot of time and money on recruiting and training new people, adding unnecessary stress and overwhelm to everyone else on your team. There’s no doubt that attracting and choosing the…
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Given the looming turnover crisis experts are now predicting, it’s more important than ever to keep employees happy. But in order to keep them happy, you have to know what makes them happy. And the only way to know what makes them happy is to ask them. A picture is worth a thousand words, and since a ‘stay’ interview is a first-hand picture of what your employee is thinking and…
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There’s no doubt that managers have a lot on their plate these days. Between managing remote work, divisive politics in the workplace and an increasingly diverse workforce, they certainly have their work cut out for them. The reality is that in today’s world, the workforce is diverse in just about every way you can think of – which is great because diversity strengthens your business. But it also means that…
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Our world has changed. In 2021, that’s certainly an understatement. And perhaps nowhere is this more visible than in the workplace. If you’ve noticed that office talk has gotten a lot more political recently, you’re not alone. If you’re wondering about your rights as an employee or responsibilities as an employer or manager, keep reading. Talking Politics At Work There’s no doubt we’ve seen a big shift in how we…
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It’s an all-too-common problem for team leaders and managers: dealing with an employee who isn’t performing well. Maybe they’re always showing up late or calling in sick. They require constant supervision and don’t seem to care about their job, turning in sloppy work. And remote working during the pandemic may be exacerbating the problem. This difficult employee isn’t only a problem for you. It’s a problem for your best employees,…
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