Well, here we are at Thanksgiving week 2014. Another year has almost gone and this week is a time for us to pause and THANK those employees, customers, and vendors who make our business a success. Have you done that?
I also want to take this time to say THANK YOU to our many regular clients who trust us to help them along their way to success. Watching them progress with double digit sales AND profit increases is so satisfying to us. It's what makes us continue on our journey in this exciting industry.
Let me also say THANK YOU to the thousands of people who have purchased our books and DVDs and employed us to conduct workshops at their place of business. All of this has contributed to us having our best year in the consulting assistance business and the rest of the years haven't been at all bad. So, THANK YOU again.
Speaking of workshops. After a several year hiatus, we are going back "on the road" in 2015. We will be doing a workshop entitled Selling Contract Cleaning Services in March in Orlando Florida and in July in St. Louis, Missouri. This is in response to many people wanting us to discuss in person the details outlined in our book of the same name as well as to update our information on Social Media Selling. We are really looking forward to these two events.
You can register for these events by going to our web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com and clicking on the front page where it talks about the workshops. On the registration page you will see the topics we will be discussing in this jam packed day. We have just finished preparing the information and I am excited to share it with you in Orlando and St. Louis.
In addition, we will have our books and DVDs available at both locations offered at friendly discounted prices.
A lot of people have contributed to our best year ever and we are very gratified. Let me ask the question again. Have you THANKED those employees, customers, and vendors that contribute to your success?
Can't think of a better time to do it---and keep doin' it. By the way, you can sign up on our home page on the left side to receive notices of special promotions and new products. Hope you will join us. Exciting things are in the works.
Let me also take this time to say THANK YOU to the people serving us in the military around the world. Many of them will not be with family and friends on Thanksgiving and what they do to protect us is worth so much more than they receive. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
Hope your holiday is wonderful and safe. Till next time.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
WHAT I LEARNED IN ORLANDO
Well, another ISSA trade show and BSCAI convention has come and gone, this year in Orlando. Next year both events visit Las Vegas.
Lots of new stuff was on display including new robotic cleaning equipment and countless new technology advancements in managing a BSC business. Each year it gets better and better and each year I realize how much I don't know about the technology that is available to help us manage more effectively.
What I really learned in Orlando was some things never change. In attending the round tables I found people are still wanting to know,
How to I find people that will stay with me?
Where are the people that I need?
How do I train the people once I have them on board?
What kind of training do I need to do and who should do it?
What can I do to cut down on the high turnover?
Where do I find someone who can sell more business for me?
How do I manage a sales person(s)?
What should I pay a sales person--salary, commission, salary +?
I can't do it all, how do I organize my company?
And the list went on and on. Sound like anything that is happening in your company?
My advice is to tackle one thing at a time. Our last blog discussed what needs to be done as you enter the new year but it is important to remind everyone to address issues that you can solve and get help with those that hold back your progress.
Whenever I meet with clients for the first time, I start by dividing our sessions into four distinct parts which are, and in the order I have them here.
Sales--Remember the old saying--"Nothing happens until somebody sells something". It's true isn't it? Without some sales you don't have a company. So how are you going about it? It is critical that you have an organized system for bringing in business that doesn't require the owners time every minute of the day. Some of you may recall I wrote a book on this subject and will be doing 2 workshops in 2015 addressing selling in our industry. (Commercial: you can register on our home page for one of these workshops--www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Human Resources--Once the sales are brought in the door, HR has to recruit and hire the people to perform the work. This area most often seems the most neglected and really should be considered one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. Some of you may recall I wrote a book on this as well on how to find, train, and keep GREAT employees. The old methods still work.
Operations--This is where the work has to be done that was sold WITHIN BUDGET. Most operations people tell me that's impossible. Not if everyone is working together in compiling the proposal (not bid). Here is the area that creates the turnover if it isn't organized and systematized. The management part of operations is where we have focused our DVD production as we feel that the distributor and manufacturer have the capabilities to provide the function of teaching the technical part of how to clean.
ADMINISTRATION--This group has the responsibility to provide the support to payroll, financial statements, workers compensation claims, insurance purchases etc. Obviously, there is much more than I have listed but there are several accounting packages on the BSC market that can help in this arena.
So there we have it. Four distinct departments of a Building Service Contracting firm. Yes some items overlap, especially in the early days but the earlier you begin establishing the different departments properly the easier it will be as you continue your growth. Believe me, it is much easier to do when your company is smaller.
Orlando was a great convention but I also heard people lamenting over problems that the old timers had 50+ years ago. Technology places a tremendous role in our business today but the job is still done by PEOPLE and how are you working and communicating will you biggest asset. All the technology in the world won't help if you don't have good help and if you don't understand how each generation functions and how you need to communicate with them.
I hope you will start planning to attend next year's event in Las Vegas in October. In the meantime, focus on the four areas above. If you need help just click on the icon "ask Dick Ollek". Maybe we can help.
Till next time.
Lots of new stuff was on display including new robotic cleaning equipment and countless new technology advancements in managing a BSC business. Each year it gets better and better and each year I realize how much I don't know about the technology that is available to help us manage more effectively.
What I really learned in Orlando was some things never change. In attending the round tables I found people are still wanting to know,
How to I find people that will stay with me?
Where are the people that I need?
How do I train the people once I have them on board?
What kind of training do I need to do and who should do it?
What can I do to cut down on the high turnover?
Where do I find someone who can sell more business for me?
How do I manage a sales person(s)?
What should I pay a sales person--salary, commission, salary +?
I can't do it all, how do I organize my company?
And the list went on and on. Sound like anything that is happening in your company?
My advice is to tackle one thing at a time. Our last blog discussed what needs to be done as you enter the new year but it is important to remind everyone to address issues that you can solve and get help with those that hold back your progress.
Whenever I meet with clients for the first time, I start by dividing our sessions into four distinct parts which are, and in the order I have them here.
Sales--Remember the old saying--"Nothing happens until somebody sells something". It's true isn't it? Without some sales you don't have a company. So how are you going about it? It is critical that you have an organized system for bringing in business that doesn't require the owners time every minute of the day. Some of you may recall I wrote a book on this subject and will be doing 2 workshops in 2015 addressing selling in our industry. (Commercial: you can register on our home page for one of these workshops--www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Human Resources--Once the sales are brought in the door, HR has to recruit and hire the people to perform the work. This area most often seems the most neglected and really should be considered one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. Some of you may recall I wrote a book on this as well on how to find, train, and keep GREAT employees. The old methods still work.
Operations--This is where the work has to be done that was sold WITHIN BUDGET. Most operations people tell me that's impossible. Not if everyone is working together in compiling the proposal (not bid). Here is the area that creates the turnover if it isn't organized and systematized. The management part of operations is where we have focused our DVD production as we feel that the distributor and manufacturer have the capabilities to provide the function of teaching the technical part of how to clean.
ADMINISTRATION--This group has the responsibility to provide the support to payroll, financial statements, workers compensation claims, insurance purchases etc. Obviously, there is much more than I have listed but there are several accounting packages on the BSC market that can help in this arena.
So there we have it. Four distinct departments of a Building Service Contracting firm. Yes some items overlap, especially in the early days but the earlier you begin establishing the different departments properly the easier it will be as you continue your growth. Believe me, it is much easier to do when your company is smaller.
Orlando was a great convention but I also heard people lamenting over problems that the old timers had 50+ years ago. Technology places a tremendous role in our business today but the job is still done by PEOPLE and how are you working and communicating will you biggest asset. All the technology in the world won't help if you don't have good help and if you don't understand how each generation functions and how you need to communicate with them.
I hope you will start planning to attend next year's event in Las Vegas in October. In the meantime, focus on the four areas above. If you need help just click on the icon "ask Dick Ollek". Maybe we can help.
Till next time.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
DON'T HAVE TIME TO GO?
This is generally the time of year that I hear from contractors that they just don't have the time or money to attend the annual BSCAI/ISSA annual convention, this year being held in Orlando, Fl., November 4-8. That is when I begin my speech on why you they need to go.
Why am I asking them (and you) to spend time away from your business and invest money that is so hard to come by, especially in the early years of trying to establish a credible company? Let me give you a few reasons why you should join if you haven't and go, if you weren't planning on it.
1. You get to meet other contractors from all parts of the country and the world. You find out that you are not alone in the problems you have and by talking with others you find out how they handled those problems in their company which may help you when you get home. I found BSCAI members are more than willing to share information and it helped me immensely in growing my business profitably.
2. You will find out that there are a lot of things you are doing RIGHT and that you're not so bad after all. You'll go back to your hotel room at night telling yourself, "I need a lot of help but I'm doing some things pretty darn good".
3. By joining the association (if you haven't already), you can become involved in various committees to learn about different phases of the industry. This can be extremely valuable in furthering your education. Not only that, but you find yourself making lifelong friends that are an outstanding resource for knowledge.
4. As time goes by you may even find yourself wanting to get involved in becoming an officer and eventually president of BSCAI. I had the privilege of spending several years as a board member, officer, and eventually President of BSCAI and I can tell you this was, by far, the greatest learning experience in my business career. I not only learned about my industry, I learned a lot about people. By the way, if you want to talk further about becoming involved in the association and what it did for me, come by my CONSULTANTS IN CLEANING, LLC table on Friday or Saturday (or both) and I'll be happy to talk with you about the benefits.
5. The annual convention is not the only event. You have the opportunity to attend other scheduled events during the year that provide even more opportunity to expand your circle of friends and expert resource people to draw knowledge from as the need arises. These events were invaluable in my business career for not only having resources to draw on but for developing wonderful friendships.
6. The annual ISSA trade show (this year in Orlando) provides you the opportunity to visit with manufacturers and see firsthand what products and equipment they have that can reduce your costs and increase your profits. Here is also the opportunity to see what is NEW that can enhance your expertise.
With the rapid changes in the way we do business today it is critical that we constantly keep up to date with our industry.
This year there will be an array of new technology to see along with robotic equipment and the list goes on. Just this week I attended a webinar on a new software package for managing a BSC company. Impressive.
All it takes is ONE IDEA for you to take home and implement and your time will have been paid for. With the expansion of roundtable sessions this year the opportunity is even greater than it has been in the past.
Take the time to learn and become a better professional at what you do. You will benefit, the industry will benefit, and maybe most importantly, your customers will benefit from the added expertise you have acquired.
By the way, tune in each day leading up to the convention, to www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts
where I interview the various speakers for this year's convention and have them provide bullet points on the presentations they will be making. Really some interesting speakers this year.
See you in Orlando in a couple of weeks?
Till next time.
Why am I asking them (and you) to spend time away from your business and invest money that is so hard to come by, especially in the early years of trying to establish a credible company? Let me give you a few reasons why you should join if you haven't and go, if you weren't planning on it.
1. You get to meet other contractors from all parts of the country and the world. You find out that you are not alone in the problems you have and by talking with others you find out how they handled those problems in their company which may help you when you get home. I found BSCAI members are more than willing to share information and it helped me immensely in growing my business profitably.
2. You will find out that there are a lot of things you are doing RIGHT and that you're not so bad after all. You'll go back to your hotel room at night telling yourself, "I need a lot of help but I'm doing some things pretty darn good".
3. By joining the association (if you haven't already), you can become involved in various committees to learn about different phases of the industry. This can be extremely valuable in furthering your education. Not only that, but you find yourself making lifelong friends that are an outstanding resource for knowledge.
4. As time goes by you may even find yourself wanting to get involved in becoming an officer and eventually president of BSCAI. I had the privilege of spending several years as a board member, officer, and eventually President of BSCAI and I can tell you this was, by far, the greatest learning experience in my business career. I not only learned about my industry, I learned a lot about people. By the way, if you want to talk further about becoming involved in the association and what it did for me, come by my CONSULTANTS IN CLEANING, LLC table on Friday or Saturday (or both) and I'll be happy to talk with you about the benefits.
5. The annual convention is not the only event. You have the opportunity to attend other scheduled events during the year that provide even more opportunity to expand your circle of friends and expert resource people to draw knowledge from as the need arises. These events were invaluable in my business career for not only having resources to draw on but for developing wonderful friendships.
6. The annual ISSA trade show (this year in Orlando) provides you the opportunity to visit with manufacturers and see firsthand what products and equipment they have that can reduce your costs and increase your profits. Here is also the opportunity to see what is NEW that can enhance your expertise.
With the rapid changes in the way we do business today it is critical that we constantly keep up to date with our industry.
This year there will be an array of new technology to see along with robotic equipment and the list goes on. Just this week I attended a webinar on a new software package for managing a BSC company. Impressive.
All it takes is ONE IDEA for you to take home and implement and your time will have been paid for. With the expansion of roundtable sessions this year the opportunity is even greater than it has been in the past.
Take the time to learn and become a better professional at what you do. You will benefit, the industry will benefit, and maybe most importantly, your customers will benefit from the added expertise you have acquired.
By the way, tune in each day leading up to the convention, to www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts
where I interview the various speakers for this year's convention and have them provide bullet points on the presentations they will be making. Really some interesting speakers this year.
See you in Orlando in a couple of weeks?
Till next time.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
WRITING EFFECTIVE EMPLOYMENT ADS
A Building Service Contractor asked me the other day what constitutes an effective recruitment ad to place on ZipRecruiter, Craig's list or in the local newspaper. A great question and after some more probing we determined what the best ad might be for his situation at the time.
It has always been my objective in writing employment ads to use the opportunity to do some marketing as well as let potential employees know that we are an excellent place to work. Sometimes I would add in some wording to confuse my competitors.
First let me suggest you spend the money and do the ad right. Many companies will spend thousands of dollars securing a new customer and then tell HR to keep costs down in recruiting the staff to service the new customer. Didn't you sell to the customer how great your employees were? If so, shouldn't you spend the time and money necessary to find the best people?
First, we generally ran ads that said something like 25 IMMEDIATE OPENINGS. Now for those of you that say you only have 5 openings now, my questions is, do you have 20 people you would like to get rid of if the right applicants came in the door? If your answer is yes, you have 25 immediate openings. Use whatever number you wish but here is another reason I put a number of immediate openings.
Many of the people we employ don't have the greatest confidence and /or self esteem. If they look at an ad that says "we need an employee to work from 6-10 PM Monday through Friday", that will probably say something like "there is no use me going for that job because it will probably be filled by the time I get there. But if you use a number like 10 or 20 etc., they may look at that and say, "I can get one of those 20 jobs, and a person, who otherwise might not apply, could quite possibly become a valued employee of your company.
Sometimes we also ran ads that had as their heading BUSINESS IS BOOMING. People like working for a successful company and this lets everyone know you are a stable organization. By the way, one side benefit of running an ad with this heading is your competitors will wonder what is going on at your company. They will try to figure out which new account you got and then check their accounts to see if they are in trouble anywhere. It's fun to do. Keeps them on their toes.
While recruiting new staff members can be very discouraging at times it can also be a lot of fun. Put some excitement in your recruiting and it may even change YOUR attitude about finding those badly needed great employees.
For more on the subject you can get our book--FINDING, TRAINING, AND KEEPING GREAT SERVICE EMPLOYEES. It's available at www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Don't forget to listen to our daily pod casts highlighting the BSCAI convention speakers. You can hear them at www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts.
We are really looking forward to the convention in November in Orlando. I hope all of you are planning to attend. It represents the second best learning opportunity for our industry.
Till next time.
It has always been my objective in writing employment ads to use the opportunity to do some marketing as well as let potential employees know that we are an excellent place to work. Sometimes I would add in some wording to confuse my competitors.
First let me suggest you spend the money and do the ad right. Many companies will spend thousands of dollars securing a new customer and then tell HR to keep costs down in recruiting the staff to service the new customer. Didn't you sell to the customer how great your employees were? If so, shouldn't you spend the time and money necessary to find the best people?
First, we generally ran ads that said something like 25 IMMEDIATE OPENINGS. Now for those of you that say you only have 5 openings now, my questions is, do you have 20 people you would like to get rid of if the right applicants came in the door? If your answer is yes, you have 25 immediate openings. Use whatever number you wish but here is another reason I put a number of immediate openings.
Many of the people we employ don't have the greatest confidence and /or self esteem. If they look at an ad that says "we need an employee to work from 6-10 PM Monday through Friday", that will probably say something like "there is no use me going for that job because it will probably be filled by the time I get there. But if you use a number like 10 or 20 etc., they may look at that and say, "I can get one of those 20 jobs, and a person, who otherwise might not apply, could quite possibly become a valued employee of your company.
Sometimes we also ran ads that had as their heading BUSINESS IS BOOMING. People like working for a successful company and this lets everyone know you are a stable organization. By the way, one side benefit of running an ad with this heading is your competitors will wonder what is going on at your company. They will try to figure out which new account you got and then check their accounts to see if they are in trouble anywhere. It's fun to do. Keeps them on their toes.
While recruiting new staff members can be very discouraging at times it can also be a lot of fun. Put some excitement in your recruiting and it may even change YOUR attitude about finding those badly needed great employees.
For more on the subject you can get our book--FINDING, TRAINING, AND KEEPING GREAT SERVICE EMPLOYEES. It's available at www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Don't forget to listen to our daily pod casts highlighting the BSCAI convention speakers. You can hear them at www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts.
We are really looking forward to the convention in November in Orlando. I hope all of you are planning to attend. It represents the second best learning opportunity for our industry.
Till next time.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
ARE YOU LISTENING?
Hopefully by now you have registered for the upcoming BSCAI convention held in conjunction with the ISSA trade show in Orlando, Florida. This event held each year can be the most important time you spend in your business. With about 700 exhibitors, 15,000+ attendees along with over 20 hours of peer led sessions at the BSCAI educational portion, the learning that can take place is tremendous. This will be my 45th convention.
So why did I title this blog post, Are you listening? A simple answer is that we are providing daily pod casts to give you an opportunity to hear most of the speakers at the BSCAI portion give an overview of the session they will be presenting. This year several new speakers are presenting on several new subjects so it should be an exciting time.
So, if you are not listening, here is the link for you to get the information--www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts. While on the sight you can sign up to receive an e-mail each time a pod cast is posted. This is the easiest way to not forget to listen to any of them. By the way, when you sign up you will NOT receive any advertisements from anyone. You receive only the e-mail letting you know their is a pod cast posted.
Today, Tuesday, the 7th, the pod cast features Steve Shuchat from Sydney Ohio discussing the Bidding and Estimating Seminar that he and several other BSC professionals will be conducting on Wednesday, November 5. Each year this is one of the most, if not the most attended sessions at the convention. Listen to Steve discuss the agenda.
Another benefit of listening to the tripodcasts is when you register for the BSCAI convention, whether a member or not, you get the early bird register rate just for being a tripodcast listener. All you need to do when registering is enter the code TSD in the promo box and the fee will automatically appear at the reduced rate. Saves you $100. A hundred here and a hundred there and pretty soon you are talking big money.
Be sure to get your hotel reservations secured as soon as possible as the rooms go fast. There are several great hotels in the area close to where all the functions are and shuttle buses run every few minutes from many of the hotels.
So, will you be joining me and other BSC professionals in Orlando? I hope so because we all become better professionals with the valuable information we gather.
Let me encourage you to come my the Consultants In Cleaning, LLC table on Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8 at the Hilton. No, you don't need to buy something and there won't be any pressure. Just come by and say hi. We truly enjoy visiting with other professionals in our great industry.
Hope to see you there. Till next time and don't forget to listen to our daily pod casts---www,youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts.
So why did I title this blog post, Are you listening? A simple answer is that we are providing daily pod casts to give you an opportunity to hear most of the speakers at the BSCAI portion give an overview of the session they will be presenting. This year several new speakers are presenting on several new subjects so it should be an exciting time.
So, if you are not listening, here is the link for you to get the information--www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts. While on the sight you can sign up to receive an e-mail each time a pod cast is posted. This is the easiest way to not forget to listen to any of them. By the way, when you sign up you will NOT receive any advertisements from anyone. You receive only the e-mail letting you know their is a pod cast posted.
Today, Tuesday, the 7th, the pod cast features Steve Shuchat from Sydney Ohio discussing the Bidding and Estimating Seminar that he and several other BSC professionals will be conducting on Wednesday, November 5. Each year this is one of the most, if not the most attended sessions at the convention. Listen to Steve discuss the agenda.
Another benefit of listening to the tripodcasts is when you register for the BSCAI convention, whether a member or not, you get the early bird register rate just for being a tripodcast listener. All you need to do when registering is enter the code TSD in the promo box and the fee will automatically appear at the reduced rate. Saves you $100. A hundred here and a hundred there and pretty soon you are talking big money.
Be sure to get your hotel reservations secured as soon as possible as the rooms go fast. There are several great hotels in the area close to where all the functions are and shuttle buses run every few minutes from many of the hotels.
So, will you be joining me and other BSC professionals in Orlando? I hope so because we all become better professionals with the valuable information we gather.
Let me encourage you to come my the Consultants In Cleaning, LLC table on Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8 at the Hilton. No, you don't need to buy something and there won't be any pressure. Just come by and say hi. We truly enjoy visiting with other professionals in our great industry.
Hope to see you there. Till next time and don't forget to listen to our daily pod casts---www,youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts.
Monday, September 29, 2014
IMPORTANT NEWS FROM TRIPOD
We are excited to announce that Tripod is back on the air as of Monday, September 29, 2014.
From then until BSCAI/ISSA convention time we will have a pod cast every Monday through Friday. All you need to do is go to
http://www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts
and you will hear today's pod cast AND YOU CAN SIGN UP TO RECEIVE AN E-MAIL EVERY TIME WE POST A NEW ONE which is 5 days per week until convention time.
Monday's was a visit with Paul Greenland the BSCAI convention co chair this year. You will want to hear what he has to say.
Tuesday is Claudia St. John who is one of the BSCAI Infinity partners as she talks about a new sharing session that will be conducted at the convention this year. Don't miss this interview.
Hope to see as many people as possible at the convention in Orlando.
From then until BSCAI/ISSA convention time we will have a pod cast every Monday through Friday. All you need to do is go to
http://www.youtube.com/user/Tripodcasts
and you will hear today's pod cast AND YOU CAN SIGN UP TO RECEIVE AN E-MAIL EVERY TIME WE POST A NEW ONE which is 5 days per week until convention time.
Monday's was a visit with Paul Greenland the BSCAI convention co chair this year. You will want to hear what he has to say.
Tuesday is Claudia St. John who is one of the BSCAI Infinity partners as she talks about a new sharing session that will be conducted at the convention this year. Don't miss this interview.
Hope to see as many people as possible at the convention in Orlando.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
GROWING PEOPLE?
I probably have heard a gazillion (that's a lot) times from Building Service Contractors something like, " I have this new project and don't have anyone capable to manage it or "I am afraid to grow right now because I don't have anyone to supervise the projects if I do make the sales". Sound at all familiar? So my question, as it is to those who I talk to in person, "What are you doing to develop the future leaders in your company"?
I remember several years ago my company was a finalist in a large project that encompassed several buildings in a campus type setting. In addition to making a 2 hour formal presentation we were asked to schedule another appointment with the selection committee so they could interview the project manager we would be putting in charge of their account. That part of the process didn't go so well. In fact, it went terrible. The person we took to the interview was a very nice individual but he was not ready for a project of this magnitude, but he was all we had at the time and had been with me for several years supervising smaller projects. I was embarrassed. Our employee didn't fare well in the interview but whose fault was that---MINE? He did his best, I just hadn't been doing my best to help him succeed which in turn provided success for our company.
Afterward as I analyzed the meeting, it became very apparent to me that I was not providing the opportunity for my people to grow and if I wanted to grow my company, I needed to grow my people and so the company quarterly supervisors/managers training and education workshops were created. Every account supervisor AND their assistant was invited to these important growth workshops. They were held on a Saturday, included a lunch, and usually held on the university campus continuing education center so we could create an atmosphere of advanced learning. Worked very well for us.
You'll notice above I said AND their assistant because we wanted to involve as many people in the growth equation as possible. This also gave us an opportunity to evaluate the second in command so we had some candidates for future new account leadership. I found I had to take the lead in getting the second in command to these meetings as the supervisors didn't necessarily want them there for fear I would want them to lead another building and then they would have to train a new assistant but the whole reason for having them there was to develop talent in the organization so our sales staff could sell with confidence.
We had a great time in these meetings. Variety was the order of the day. We had supervisors teaching various aspects of cleaning, our distributors teach carpet spotting procedures, our insurance agent providing workers compensation safety information, even management teachers from the local university. I miss those meetings. It was something I always looked forward to. After all, what can be more exciting than spending a day with the people that work hard to earn a living for their family---AND MINE.
As I write this we are just starting the 4th calendar quarter of 2014. Let me suggest that some sort of management development program be created for your company in 2015. It is amazing how many good people you may have in your organization able to take on more responsibility after some additional training. They just haven't been identified. So, identify them. If you want some ideas on how to put it together just contact me and I'll be happy to suggest some ideas. Just hit the " ask a question" icon on our web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Start today to grow your people. Your future growth depends on it.
Till next time.
I remember several years ago my company was a finalist in a large project that encompassed several buildings in a campus type setting. In addition to making a 2 hour formal presentation we were asked to schedule another appointment with the selection committee so they could interview the project manager we would be putting in charge of their account. That part of the process didn't go so well. In fact, it went terrible. The person we took to the interview was a very nice individual but he was not ready for a project of this magnitude, but he was all we had at the time and had been with me for several years supervising smaller projects. I was embarrassed. Our employee didn't fare well in the interview but whose fault was that---MINE? He did his best, I just hadn't been doing my best to help him succeed which in turn provided success for our company.
Afterward as I analyzed the meeting, it became very apparent to me that I was not providing the opportunity for my people to grow and if I wanted to grow my company, I needed to grow my people and so the company quarterly supervisors/managers training and education workshops were created. Every account supervisor AND their assistant was invited to these important growth workshops. They were held on a Saturday, included a lunch, and usually held on the university campus continuing education center so we could create an atmosphere of advanced learning. Worked very well for us.
You'll notice above I said AND their assistant because we wanted to involve as many people in the growth equation as possible. This also gave us an opportunity to evaluate the second in command so we had some candidates for future new account leadership. I found I had to take the lead in getting the second in command to these meetings as the supervisors didn't necessarily want them there for fear I would want them to lead another building and then they would have to train a new assistant but the whole reason for having them there was to develop talent in the organization so our sales staff could sell with confidence.
We had a great time in these meetings. Variety was the order of the day. We had supervisors teaching various aspects of cleaning, our distributors teach carpet spotting procedures, our insurance agent providing workers compensation safety information, even management teachers from the local university. I miss those meetings. It was something I always looked forward to. After all, what can be more exciting than spending a day with the people that work hard to earn a living for their family---AND MINE.
As I write this we are just starting the 4th calendar quarter of 2014. Let me suggest that some sort of management development program be created for your company in 2015. It is amazing how many good people you may have in your organization able to take on more responsibility after some additional training. They just haven't been identified. So, identify them. If you want some ideas on how to put it together just contact me and I'll be happy to suggest some ideas. Just hit the " ask a question" icon on our web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com.
Start today to grow your people. Your future growth depends on it.
Till next time.
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