Be a Cool Employer..
It's hard, I know – I have been there.
Working a J.O.B that you despise just so you can pay the rent and put food on the table.
You have to force yourself to put a smile on your face and walk into the office. Trying to spend as much time as possible in the kitchen, gossiping at the water cooler and squeezing another 5 minutes out of your lunch break – ANYTHING just to spend as little time as possible chained to your desk dreading the moment that the boss will breathe down your neck.
It's torture, I know – I have been there. Looking forward to the first second when your shift is over and you can go and be normal again…
But you know, the opposite of this scenario is also true. Some companies do get it right. Their employees love going to work. They even love telling others where they work and how long they have been there. If there is official company attire, they wear it with pride! Why?
Is there a middle road where employees go to work and they are not really motivated to do their best, but they are also not super unhappy? Yes, of course, it's called Bla-Bla employment. You know, when someone asks you where you work and you answer like: "I work for XYZ company", and then he says: "oh, I have never heard of them." Almost immediately the conversation changes to the weather or sports or something way more interesting than boring company XYZ.
Why this massive difference? The majority scream, 'I hate my J.O.B, some say; 'yeah I have a J.O.B' while others cannot get enough of their employer and will tell everything that has got a pulse where they work, how long they have been there and what their position is.
What can 'happy employee' companies teach 'unhappy employee' companies?
Is a free popcorn machine in the hallway and an extra 15 minutes on top of a lunch break enough to make the employees smile? Unfortunately, not.
You see, big employers are facing a new challenge, it is called the 'great resignation'. Because of the pandemic years, many people want to have a work-from-home lifestyle.
Many people don't want to follow the traditional 'work for an employer' lifestyle at all – they want to 'do their own thing'.
It is up to the employer to create a sexy workplace and lure employees back to the office with decent salary structures and other benefits. But is it enough? Yes, decent salaries are needed, but it's not enough. Company benefits are needed (when earned), but it's not enough.
Do we work to live or live to work?
Again, stuck between a rock and a hard place, right? Well, you see it could be different. Why do we have to call it 'work'? Why don't we call it a lifestyle? Maybe there is some sort of a mental red alert that goes off in your mind when you walk out the front door and you tell your spouse; "Bi darling, I'm going to WORK!
Fact: Most people are unhappy at work because they despise the type of work they do.
Fact: Most people are unhappy at work because their management structure sucks!
Fact: Most people stay at these unhappy workplaces because they have nothing else and bills need to be paid.
Fact: The salaries these unhappy people receive are just enough to keep them going. Petrol in the car, bread on the table, paying their bank loans and credit cards!
What kind of life is that?
So, what do we have now?
1 – We have a stingy employer that wants to press every single blood cell out of its employees.
2 – We have grumpy employees that would do anything to get out of the torture of bondage while being whipped with a mediocre salary month in and month out.
An absolute toxic environment.
Let's ask the 'Happy Employee Company', for help, shall we? What is it that they do different? What motivates them so much, surely it must be the money, right? Ummm, no.
You see the 'Happy Employee Company' has got a different set of values. They dance to the beat of a different drum while the dance floor is big enough for all the staff members and not just the board of directors. Their mindset is this: 'How can WE win?', and not 'How can I (the board) win'? Immediately they set themselves apart from the rest.
Look, let's get something straight: Business is about people and if you cannot work with people then you will struggle with business. If you are an employee that would like to go and do your own thing because your boss suck, then remembers to be a better boss than he is. Because ultimately when your own business starts to grow then you will have to employ people and manage them to the best of your ability.
So, if you have the guts to quit your J.O.B and start your own thing, then great well done! I HERO you. But remember this, you now have an opportunity to change other people's lives. You now have the opportunity to become the BOSS of all BOSSES! Nooooooo, please don't call yourself the BOSS, and please don't call your employees Staff members. Call yourself by your first name and call your 'staff members' Team members. You will all be part of the same team, right?
Zane Persaud
This is what Happy Employee Companies do differently:
- They hire slow and fire fast.
- They do not micro-manage team members.
- They have a core value system that everyone upholds.
- They give recognition where earned.
- They pay the BEST salaries they can afford.
- They are open to feedback from team members and clients.
- They create a massive sense of team spirit within the company.
- During interviews they make 100% sure that potential team members can 100% identify with their core values and company culture.
- They are adamant to put people in positions where they will flourish and not just to warm a seat.
- Company growth and successes are shared and celebrated with ALL team members and not just the board of directors.
Now you might think that this is all basic stuff but it's not.
Many employers want to pay small salaries for big positions. Many employers worry only about the bottom line and how it affects the pockets of the select few around the boardroom table. Most workplaces suck because there is a toxic atmosphere hanging around in the office hallway or if working from home then you can smell the toxic Vibes on zoom calls. The 'staff members' gossip about the managers and the managers micro-manage the staff members.
Remember: Business is about people and people want to be heard and recognized. That's just how people are. "Well done, Mary! Great job!" or a pat on the back for John he secured four new clients. And DON'T call them staff members, that's so yesterday. Call them team members, ok?
So, if you are going to leave your 'Unhappy Employee Company' and start your own thing then you need to set the example. A positive, go-getter-attitude business owner will employ positive go-getter-attitude managers that will eventually manage (not micromanage) positive go-getter-attitude team members.
However, before you leave the company to start your own thing, do a self-awareness exercise. Could the problem perhaps be with YOU and not the company? Are you the kind of person that says: "Everyone is wrong and I am right?" or "Everybody is out to get me!" or "Life is hard, nobody understands me!" Are you a Victim or are you just plain LAZY? Mmmm, if so, then maybe the problem is with you and not the company? Change your attitude and change your life. Just a thought...
But sometimes workplaces do suck because the owner is a grumpy fart, the management treats the employees like staff members and in return, the uninspired employees treat the clients like cockroaches and many of the clients never return.
With fewer clients every year salaries get smaller, bonuses disappear and people start resigning which results in a high staff turnover and more negative press for the struggling company.
But this will not be you, right? You are going to quit your dead-end J.O.B and start your own company! You will be an inspirational leader that brings out the best in people. You will have a well-paid & inspired management team that will in return appoint an army of positive team members. These amazing foot soldiers will WOW all your clients so much that all of them will become returning clients.
- You will never have a ME mindset, oh no, you will have a TEAM mindset.
- Whatever decisions you need to take for the company you will NOT ask yourself how it will impact YOU, no you will ask yourself how it will impact the TEAM?
- You will look after your TEAM because you understand that they will then look after the client.
- You are going to create a company with a core value system that will blow the socks of Microsoft and put Apple to shame.
- You will lead from the front waving a Mission statement in the one hand and an AK47 in the other.
Zane Persaud
- You will be in the trenches WITH your TEAM while enemy fire is raining down and later you will be on the stage with them receiving medals of honour!
Understand this; business is not about YOU, your cool company name and your amazing logo. No, business is about how you solve a problem for others and the amazing team of people you brought together in the process. That's what business is about.
If you (the dude that's about to quit your J.O.B and start your own thing) if you are able to create an environment where the team member and the client come before the board of directors then you will have a great company.
If you (the dude that owns a company with unhappy employees) are able to create an environment where the team members don't feel like they are going to work but feel like their 'office' life is more of an extension of their lifestyles, then you have a winner.
C'mon, don't micromanage your team members, let them carry on and do their thing without you looking over their shoulders.
You see, the majority of employers suck because they cannot get the basics right. They seem to struggle to put the right personalities into the right positions while their management team has got an I mentality instead of a WE mentality.
Be different and play some dance music at a Monday morning sales meeting.
Hit the marketplace with a disruptive service offering & be consistent with price, quality, service and smiles.
If by chance you want to start an online side hustle then check out the links below.
So go out in the world and be the best version of yourself.
Adios for now.
Carpe Diem Dude.
