The Guerrilla Leader

"One who commands an army but does not know the techniques...will not be able to control men." - Sun Tzu THE ART OF WAR

"We have met the enemy and it is us."-From some comic strip whose name I can't recall.

Whether you are a location manager for one of the corporate chains or the owner of a small family firm you can and should heed the advice of our dear friend Mr. Tzu up there.

You see, we can be our own worst enemy.

Many managers or owners fail to live up to or acknowledge one shampoo simple strategy for major business success.

Treat your employees BETTER than your clients.

I see the dumbfounded looks of disbelief already!

Client families come and go, but your employees are there forever...at least you hope the good ones are, anyway.

"But Dan," you protest, "clients pay our bills."

"No" say I. "Your employees that serve them, make them happy and wow them so that they tell all of their friends. THEY pay your bills."

Without good employees, chances are, you're nothing.

I've seen the absolute destruction of one of the most talented staffs a funeral home could possibly want (by the owner's own words!) by incompetence and indifference to their employees.

Case in point - the firm in question used to have two employee appreciation parties a year. One in the summer and one around Christmastime. As of this writing, they've had none since 2003.
This is something the staff is keenly aware of, and has been brought to management's attention, and yet absolutely nothing has been done. No company appreciation for 4 years, despite record-breaking business growth.

Does that seem like wise or competent management to you?

I'll add something else...this same group thinks nothing of letting a few years go by without raises and then making small token raise amounts when they do get around to it.

How do you think those employees feel? Loved? Appreciated? Or taken advantage of?

As I watch this destruction as an observer from the sidelines, I cannot help but think of something that one of the employees told me. One of those rare quiet days, the funeral directors were sitting around enjoying the respite and shooting the breeze when the owner sashayed in the door. With exaggerated finger-pointing he called out gaily "overhead, overhead, overhead" as he motioned to each director.

I was told that the response to this "joke" was stunned silence from the staff. He might as well have slapped each of them in the face. For only a day or two before, when the staff was backed up against the wall handling more services and arrangements than they should have been able to, he didn't walk in and say "thank you, thank you, thank you" or "profit, profit, profit!"

He is his own worst enemy. Don't be yours.

Thanks for staying tuned...I've got lots of ideas for low cost and easy ways to reward your staff and help keep them motivated. Just send me an email with "employee rewards" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com