Take Time to Say Thank You —Cagle
Bits and Pieces
NOT TO wave the proletariat flag, but here’s a little something to kick around as you ponder year-end bonuses and holiday parties (hey, no snickering there in the back) for your faithful employees. Believe it or not, you’re being assessed at the moment, and a negative report card could end up costing you some incredibly talented people.
Business is business, and it would be incredibly redundant and obvious to get into detail about how difficult a year 2009 has been for everyone. But, as you ponder the 2010 budget and blue print an attack that will enable your company to separate from the pack as the economy improves, you first need to make some kind of acknowledgment to the people who have worked hard and sacrificed all year.
That employee sacrifice has taken on many forms: less money, fewer hours and not quite as many co-workers at their sides. They bore the brunt of belt-tightening.
Clearly, though, this is not the year to be tossing Ben Franklins to and fro, so how can you make some kind of year-end gesture that acknowledges employee efforts? Well, it’s time to be creative.
No one’s expecting you to piddle away several grand on a catered affair at the local country club. Round up the exec and sales teams to host a covered dish-type of thing either at the shop, someone’s home, or even the local fire hall (small towns with volunteer staffs usually rent them out cheap). Use decorations; make it festive. Play holiday music. Hang mistletoe. Plan activities. Fun is the operative word.
Perhaps your employee rolls aren’t as massive, so maybe you can dole out $50 gift cards. If you know what they like, get a specialty card. The one week’s pay bonus is nice, but when a modest gift is thoughtful, that has the tendency to trigger an emotional response.
If you need a less humanitarian reason to pay homage to your people, consider this: As the economy and the job market improve, those employees who emerge from 2009 dissatisfied with the circumstances and conditions under which they toiled may set a New Year’s Resolution to find work elsewhere. Any boss can seem like a hell of a nice guy when all is right with the economy, but the true measure of a person’s character is how they react under difficult circumstances.
You want to cultivate people who would go to war with you, not shoot you in the back.
The sweaty folks in the trenches need to know that they matter. Don’t let 2010 kick in without letting your people know the critical role they played in keeping the company afloat in 2009.
DON’T WAIT FOR MAÑANA: This magazine and Compass Capital Partners have created a free M&A listing service for printers looking to either sell their businesses or acquire firms. The service features anonymous, brief descriptions about the buyer or seller.
All new submissions and responses to existing listings must be filed by a company’s CEO or CFO, and e-mailed to Harris DeWese, chairman and CEO of Compass Capital, at HDeWese@CompassCapLtd.com. The service is completely free and does not require an engagement agreement with Compass Capital.
DeWese will also provide, if desired, complimentary and confidential telephone consultations to those parties using the service.
It says here that any opportunity to gain insight from the Mañana Man should be seized upon.
MORE M&A: Our old amigo, Jim Cohen of Consolidated Graphics (CGX), has thrown his hat into the blogosphere with “Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing Industry: Observations from the Front Line. You can read Jim’s blog at http://printingindustrymergers.blogspot.com/. Check it out today.
FROZEN TREAT: When the Phantoms minor league hockey team looked to relocate from Philadelphia because its arena was being phased out, the AHL team found a new home in Glens Falls, NY.
Fellow Adirondacker Finch Paper decided to show a little hometown pride by dropping its logo into the Glens Falls Civic Center ice. The logo can be seen on the right wing side of the faceoff dot.
FEELING WOOZY: Hats off to Al Fischer, a print shop operator from Massapequa, NY, who donated his 320th pint of blood in September.
His is one of only two donors to have reached the 40-gallon mark. According to Long Island Blood Services, Fischer’s donations have helped nearly 1,000 people.
Fischer, 75, trails the all-time donator—83-year-old Maurice Wood, by a mere six pints. At the standard six donations per year, it would take more than 53 years for someone to reach 40 gallons. PI
—Erik Cagle