Ron’s small firm was involved in a lengthy bidding process for a major, high profile project. There was a lot riding on it. They wanted and needed the business and Ron invested quite a bit of money and other resources into it. Initially his staff was excited about it, but the enthusiasm quickly dwindled after… Continue reading When employees disappoint…
Category: Employees and Management
DON’T Make These Common, Costly Hiring Blunders
After 7 years at a large firm, Alyssa opened an architecture practice in downtown Manhattan. Within a year, she found herself working 12 hour days and started to think seriously about hiring an assistant. After winning a large new project, she knew it was the right time to put someone on. Thinking it would… Continue reading DON’T Make These Common, Costly Hiring Blunders
Avoid Summertime Burnout
Wow – it seems like the weather just gets warm, then before you know it, the summer is over. Have you taken or at least scheduled your summer vacation yet? I know it’s hard to even think about taking time off when you’re running a business. You may feel that you don’t have enough hours… Continue reading Avoid Summertime Burnout
It can be overwhelming
Walter is a busy landscape designer in a large southern city. On the surface, Walter has a wildly successful business. His designs and installations have appeared in magazines ranging from Martha Stewart to Architectural Digest, he’s gotten all kinds of accolades and his services are in demand, but underneath things are a bit out of… Continue reading It can be overwhelming
Customer “Dis” Service: Is this any way to run a business?
This is the first in a series of articles about customer service mistakes. I invite readers to send me your stories and if relevant, I will post them here. This is not a complaint site, but merely a venue to use these blunders as lessons on delivering great customer service. Company names will not be… Continue reading Customer “Dis” Service: Is this any way to run a business?
Hiring Good Employees: Why Performance Trumps All
Hiring good employees is yet another task that falls on the shoulders of the overwhelmed small business owner, who may be unprepared for and inexperienced in how to make the best possible hiring decisions. But making sound hiring decisions is critical to the success of a small business or professional practice, because resources are often… Continue reading Hiring Good Employees: Why Performance Trumps All
Hiring Strategy: Right Brain or Left Brain?
It seems to be a natural tendency for business owners to hire someone because they think that they’re bright and capable of doing a whole host of different things. This makes perfect sense, since they’re usually short on cash and long on things to be done. But I’d like to suggest that this line of… Continue reading Hiring Strategy: Right Brain or Left Brain?
Employee Retention: Why Resolving Staff Issues Is So Important
An employee retention disaster at a local coffee bar reminded me of how critical resolving staff issues is to the life of a business. It all started (publicly) when regular customers found that Gorilla Coffee on 5th Ave. in Park Slope was closed because all ten of their employees quit, enmasse. Instead of being able… Continue reading Employee Retention: Why Resolving Staff Issues Is So Important
Why Employee Satisfaction Is Key To Client Satisfaction
A recent post in the NY Times entitled “The Secret To Having Happy Employees” got me thinking about the relationship between happy staff members and happy customers or more significantly, unhappy staff and unhappy customers. In my mind, client satisfaction is clearly tied to employee satisfaction. In the post, Jay Goltz talks about the two… Continue reading Why Employee Satisfaction Is Key To Client Satisfaction
Delegation Skills; Do you have to do it all yourself?
Amanda runs a small graphic design firm in Atlanta. She is the head designer and does most of the sales, works hard to keep her clients happy and does invoicing, customer service as well as trying to balance the books and keep projects on track. Amanda started the firm about 8 years ago, and worked… Continue reading Delegation Skills; Do you have to do it all yourself?