Our company has attracted over 140 technology employees to Livingston, Montana by focusing on three key things:

Key 1: Enforce a top down philosophy of recruiting, hiring and retaining only the best. In today’s world most goods and services are viewed as commodities. All levels of your organization must understand that having the best employees is what separates you from your competition. If any manager in your organization thinks that just any warm body will do you have a problem.

Key 2: Create organizational alignment with regard to hiring criteria. If you don’t know what you are looking for, how can you find it? Get your key people together and make sure you all identify and agree upon hiring criteria. You will be amazed what a difference it can make when everyone agrees what qualities make a great employee for your company.

Key 3: Develop and adhere to processes to ensure that only the best are hired. You can’t just hire from the gut – no one is that good. Develop and adhere to a process from the first contact through the offer letter and beyond to make sure you get only the best, every time.

Big or small, three steps are all it takes to get the employees you need to succeed in hiring the best in any economic environment.

First, how incredibly important it is to take time out of the busy life of running a business and spend time focusing on how to make the business better. Throughout the retreat, franchisees came together to discuss important strategies for growing their business and shared best practices to help each other succeed.

The second point was the overwhelming sense of family that was shared among the participants.  Sharing activities from horseback riding to whitewater rafting, they worked together as one big team and treated me, a vendor to their organization, as if I was a part of that team.  I was reminded by their generosity and fun-loving spirit that business doesn’t always have to be about business to be beneficial at an event like this. 

Thanks to Assisting Hands for inviting me to be part of the experience and the reminder of the real meaning of running a business—the people.

Throughout the history of the United States job creation in mass has come from a few key areas. One solution has been to go to war. During World War II for example, 17 million jobs were created (it effectively ended the great depression). However, I’m doubtful I can convince our small town to invade the next town over as a job creation tactic.

Another solution has been to spend money on infrastructure. Our federal government is currently spending boatloads of money to stimulate the economy and job growth. I hate to be a downer but the last major study of Federal Highway funding (2004) showed that the equivalent of 34,000 jobs were created by a $9 billion expenditure (about $264,000 per job). Not a great return on an investment in my book and I am doubtful our town wants to borrow $26.4 million to create 100 jobs.

The best solution to job creation has historically been small businesses. Small businesses have created 60 – 80% of all the new jobs in this country over the past 30 years. If that is still the case (I have no evidence to the contrary), why don’t we focus on creating an environment that encourages small business job growth? That environment to me would include lower taxes, less regulation of business and better access to capital for people who want to start or expand businesses. While not revolutionary ideas, they certainly seem out of favor now.

So I think I will stop engaging in the endless loop of discussion about “economic development” and start trying to convince my small corner of the world to create an environment favorable to job creation. To me, it’s the jobs (stupid).

It is important to spend the time to get to know your future employee. You have to dig in and bypass the nice suit and the canned interview answers to see the real person. Here are a few things to watch out for when looking for that perfect hire:

1) Are you desperate to fill your position or is the person desperate to get a job? Either one is fraught with peril, not to mention very unattractive. Both parties will usually see and hear what they want to and ignore any potential warning signs that it is not a good match.
2) Does the candidate bad mouth their former employer? Even if it might be warranted this is a big red flag for many reasons. One being if their former employer was so bad and they were so good why did they stay there? Two, you may as well sign yourself up to be the next in line for the bad mouth train.
3) Don’t hire with your gut. You hear employers say “I went with my gut on this one”. Well you may as well throw a dart at a wall full of resumes and hire that person. Your gut may give you some inkling about someone, BUT you have to follow that with doing your due diligence to prove or disprove what your gut told you.

So when you interview the next “A player” for your company, remember to start off with the goal of really getting to know that person and determining if there is a long term match there, not just filling the empty chair in your company. Everyone will benefit from it.

While the old saying that “the customer is always right” may be true, there are times we need to step in and do what we do best: make them and their print job more successful. Have you ever tried to tri fold a book mark, tab and mail it to your self-made mailing list? These are situations that we guide our customers through on a daily basis, with a high success rate.

But one of the best parts of my job during the last eight years is getting to know our customers, and finding out that they do a ton of cool stuff!  I have worked with:
Hunting Guides and Outfitters
Alpaca Breeders
Glass Blowers
Ski Resorts
Funky Artists (stone, glass, paper, steel, copper)
Wind Farms
Ear Candle Makers (if you don’t know, Google it)

So always keep your customers top of mind, and don’t forget that they are the core of your business. And take the time to get to really know them and their business. You might be surprised at what you find out, and earn a customer for life in the process.

Of all the leadership training / studying I’ve done (and with too many degrees, and nearly 8 years at some of the best leader developing companies in the world, I’ve done more than I probably should have) my favorite is still situational leadership.  Simple concept, yet fiendishly difficult to apply consistently.

The upside, if you can do it well, most of your “people problems” will magically go away.  About two years ago we rolled out the model and supporting training to the managers and team leads within PrintingForLess.com.  To start understanding the model, Wiki has a good overview, and for great training, see this site.

It was eye opening for many, and so helpful that we continue to provide training and support to almost every new team lead in the building so they can learn to flex their style and get the high level of performance from the team that everyone wants to give. Give it a shot and see what kind of leadership you can cultivate in your workplace.

 But first, a little context. The Community Closet is a non-profit thrift store serving Park County in Livingston, Montana. Since 2005, they have been providing low-cost, pre-owned, clothing and household items to those in need in the local community.

 In addition to donating merchandise to schools and other non-profit organizations, the Community Closet board of directors distributes store profits to Park County non-profits, civic organizations, and individuals in crisis. One of these non-profits includes the Livingston and Park County Food Pantry – and Community Closet typically donates $1000 each year. But due to the poor economy of late, and the increase in demand at the food pantry, they wanted to give even more. The store set aside this past January as Food Pantry Month, and committed to donate 10% of revenues to the food pantry.

 To promote their Food Pantry efforts, they came to PrintingForLess for help in designing both a postcard mailer and a print ad for the local newspaper. They spent just over $1,000 on their marketing campaign (postcards, postage and newspaper ads combined) and shared the following results with us:

•  An average daily revenue increase by 20% compared to January of 2009;
• Total, January 2010 donations to the Food Pantry were $2,184.00 with a cash donation increase of 114%;
• Many donors commented on the Food Pantry program when they came into the store with their thrift donations; and
• The Community Closet was able to build positive awareness in the local community.

Caron Cooper – the Executive Director of the Community Closet – was ecstatic with the results they generated from their advertising campaign, and made the comment that she had never before seen such a direct correlation between their advertising efforts and results (increased revenues – and in this case, an increased donation to the food pantry).

 Kudos to the Community Closet for a job well done and for being such a positive influence in our community!

Here at PFL, we value training our new employees. So much so that we pay them to train for four weeks before they are even out on the floor, test them, have graduation requirements and other full time employees who are expert in their departments take time to train them. Why? Simple–if we are not learning as a company, we will fall behind. A business learns as its people learn.

Take a look at this short list of questions, and see if any spark an idea for your company:
-How can you use training to improve company culture?
-What can we focus on in training that we are currently lacking or can strengthen on the floor (sales, efficiencies, etc.)?
- Are we seeing leadership opportunities for the trainers, and recognizing future leadership needs in the class?

Don’t look at employee training as a part-time thing. Employees are an invaluable asset to your business–that is a no-brainer. But, investing in them strategically and looking down the road is the smart way to get the rewards that pay off now and in the future.

Today, we’re expected to do so much more with less and although technology allows for greater speed and efficiency, there’s nothing like the motivation you get when you have to deliver for your teammates.

Truly interdependent teams take advantage of the strengths, while downplaying the weaknesses, of its members. And, when there is trust among members, asking for help or feedback is never perceived as weakness. Trust allows team members to stay focused on results.

A lot has been said about teamwork. My favorite thought leader on teams and teamwork to date, however, is Patrick Lencioni. His book and subsequent workshop called The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team provide a clear model and attainable set of principles that can work at any level of your organization.

Developing real teams and teamwork is tough and takes a significant ongoing investment of time.  However, the pay off in company results, individual effectiveness, and employee satisfaction is well worth it.