VisionBridge

By:  Pam Killman, Project Manager

“So I just hit the lottery and I’m leaving for Tahiti on my new private plan in an hour. It’s been a pleasure working with you. Good luck!” says your top employee.

The odds of hitting the winning jackpot numbers are slim – actually 1 in 195,249,054. But how would you react if your superstar employee left you this voicemail message on Thursday morning?

If you’re a manager that thinks, “They’d give me more notice than that” – think again. Even an employee who loves their job who becomes a multi-millionaire overnight is no longer considering working as their top priority.

But your business must continue. Payroll is due. Press releases need to be written. Positions need to be filled. Clients need to be contacted.
How quickly could you recover from losing your superstar? Yes, every employee is replaceable. But how much does it actually cost?

The cost of losing one employee is typically 150% of the employee’s salary (higher for management positions). If your superstar employee was making $50,000 per year, it would cost $75,000 just to replace them. Costs include: who will do their job in the interim, hiring costs, advertising costs, time to review resumes, time to interview, lost productivity time getting someone up to speed, loss of knowledge. The ramifications are endless and costly.

How can these costs be decreased? This is where operations manuals come in. Developing standard operating procedures, training manuals, hiring guidelines and procedures, and cross-training all help reduce the costs of losing an employee.

Turnover is inevitable. How much it costs is entirely up to you.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”  You’ve heard the quote before, haven’t you?  Although we’ve heard it how many of us actually think about it and put it to use in our businesses?  How do we manage ourselves?

This week I had a LOT of lofty goals.  Some of them were related to sales, some to projects, and some were personal.  As a working mom, accomplishing these can be a challenge.  For example, my daughter has recently joined her school’s math bowl.  This has shifted my schedule to have me leaving work to pick her up by 3:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I love the flexible schedule I have with owning my own business, but it makes it difficult to make sure that I’m accomplishing all of the things I need to do to keep the business running.

In order to counteract my random schedule, each week I break down my larger goals into smaller, manageable chunks.  I write what I need to accomplish on my whiteboard and meet with my project manager each week to make sure that I did it.  It doesn’t matter what the kids are doing, or if a friend asks me to lunch, I know I have to have 40 sales touches this week and complete two major projects.  Measuring this and sharing these things with someone else (an employee, boss, coach, mentor) keeps me accountable.

My project manager does the same thing.  We map out her goals for the week (we even have little check boxes next to them…we are nerds) and it helps to keep her accountable as well.  Having a visual representation of them on the whiteboard really helps.  When we get distracted, we just look at the board again and are reminded to get to work!

How do you do it?

Yesterday, we were at the office of one of our favorite clients, a local law firm.  We have been working with them to develop and improve systems for the areas that support the attorneys: business development, marketing, accounting, customer service.  One key area is addressing potential clients in a professional, sensitive, respectful way. Today, one employee is assessing all potential client calls, 10-20 per day, and the managing partner feels this is an area where all other support employees could help but need training.

In order to do this, we broke down exactly what happens in a call.  This is complex because in order to screen the call effectively, there are several questions that need to be asked and some of those questions lead to other questions depending on the answers received.   We are now in the process of developing a checklist for the several different types of calls so that anyone in the company can answer client calls effectively and according to company vision.

As a business person, you can see why having this in place would be important, but did you know that it can protect you legally as well?  (Of course, I would learn this at a law firm!)  They informed me of the doctrine of respondeat superior which states that “the employer is liable for the injuries caused by an employee who is working within the scope of his employment relationship.”  The firm must be very careful to not give legal advice in the assessment stage. If advice is given, an attorney can receive disciplinary action by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.  Now, this same commission will not go after a non-legal business; however, the doctrine of respondeat superior could still apply to your company in the case of a lawsuit.  It’s another reason putting systems in place and appropriately training your employees to use them is crucial.

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town,
Not a creature was stirring and the workshop shut down.
Last year, an Operations Manual had been written with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas would be less stressed this year.

The elves were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of efficiencies danced in the heads.
And Nicole with her whiteboard and Pam with her laptop
Were preparing for their holiday and closing up shop.

When in front of the office there arose such a clatter,
We sprang from our desks to see what was the matter.
We thought about sneaking right out the back door,
But curiosity got the best of us and we could not ignore.

We could see the reindeer reviewing their plan,
Which was prepared so diligently by the VisionBridge clan.
We were a bit confused since it was only noon,
That they were packed, organized and already on the move.

And there was our client perched high on his sleigh,
He was so far ahead of schedule he stopped by to say:
“We’re much more efficient this year and so clean,
We have gifts for everyone, even the old and the mean.”

“The org charts prepared and the procedures for toy making,
And the job descriptions, marketing and field procedure training;
From the top of the flow charts, to the very last detail,
This business owner knows he can take a vacation without fail.”

“Our town is happy, healthy and in better spirits,
The elves are more jolly and in their songs you can hear it.
And we joined him in saying as he flew out of sight,
Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night!”

Happiest of holidays to you and your family!

The VisionBridge Team

I just finished reading the book Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath.  I loved the book because it can be used in almost any situation…work, home, teaching, volunteering…anytime you need to make an impact on an audience of one or many and want the idea to stick.

Below are the key elements of what the Heath’s call their “success checklist.”  These are the concepts that, if used, help make your ideas last in your audience’s brain. 

1. Simplicity. They consider this their golden rule; do not share too many points.
2. Unexpectedness. Break schemas; open knowledge gaps and then fill them.
3. Concreteness. Make it real; talk about people not data.  You can use statistics, but then relate it to a personal or emotional situation.
4. Credibility. Use outside authorities or vivid details to show that you know what you are talking about.
5. Emotions. Don’t appeal to the masses.  Show how what you are talking about affects one person or one situation.  Speak to identities and people will make their own connections.
6. Stories.  Stories give us interest and drive action.  They challenge our thinking, connections, and creativity.

Right now I am working on getting more speaking opportunities and need to build a plan.  These concepts should help make the experience a better one and help the message stick.  What about you?  How can you use some of these concepts in what you are doing?

Learn more and get your free copy of the success checklist at www.madetostick.com.