SMALL COMPANY HAS BIG IDEAS ON GIVING

"We're not a big company but we want to make a big contribution to our community" says Naomi Neilson Howard, CEO of Native Trails, Inc. at the kickoff meeting of the company's new Community Trails program that pays employees who contribute time to qualified San Luis Obispo county charitable programs. Employees can take paid time off to volunteer up to 16 hours a year, in lieu of doing their usual job.

"Native Trails has always been about making a positive contribution to the lives of our employees," says Howard, who started her business on her kitchen table while attending Cal Poly and feels fortunate to be able to live and work on the Central Coast. "Now we want to make it easy for each of our employees to make a contribution to their community."

The workers responded very positively to the chance to get involved. "I've met many people that have needed help. I always had it in my mind that if one day I could do something, I would. Well now it's my chance to do so," commented one employee, after learning about the volunteer program.

While the charities in San Luis Obispo County get much-needed volunteers, Native Trails expects the program to help build teamwork and a sense of community among its 32 workers.

The program was introduced this week at an employee luncheon that featured speakers from five of the area's leading community organizations including the American Red Cross, Food Bank Coalition, Woods Humane Society, American Cancer Society, and Hospice of SLO County.

Lydia Hunt, of the local American Red Cross chapter hopes it will encourage other companies to get involved. "I think it's very important for people to volunteer. It helps them to better understand their community and the services that are available, if they ever need them. Most of the employers in this area are smaller companies, like Native Trails. I hope this inspires them to do something like this."

Naomi Neilson Howard hopes so too. She's volunteered to share her experience with other local companies about how to implement a similar program.

In addition to supporting volunteers, the company also helps raise money for local charity groups by matching up to $500 a year in employee charitable giving through a payroll deduction program. In addition, each employee who contributes 30 hours or more a year can earn an additional $200 donation from the company for their favorite charity.

Native Trails is a privately-owned company based in San Luis Obispo. The company produces artisan crafted copper bath and kitchen fixtures using environmentally responsible materials such as recycled copper and reclaimed wood. Its products are sold throughout the U.S. and in Canada. For more about Native Trails, Inc. visit www.nativetrails.net

Recession - Keeping Your Business & Your Employees Moving Forward

When you can't get through the evening news without hearing another commentator asking another expert if we are in a recession you can assume we are heading into, in the midst of, or on the way out of the dreaded abyss.

So what does it all mean for your business and your employees? Whether it is ultimately called a recession or something else, there are too many associated variables for anyone, expert or otherwise, to predict with certainty what will happen to you, your company and your employees. Take a deep breath, make a realistic assessment of your specific situation, develop a plan and keep moving. Fear and inertia are your worst enemies in challenging times. You don't control the nations' economy so leave the hand wringing to your competitors and focus on making the choices and changes necessary to ensure your company doesn't become a statistic.

This is the time to get an overall picture of your business and your industry. Know the current cash position of your business, sales trends in recent months as compared to prior years and the status of your economic universe, whether it is local, national or international. Getting a current picture is not the same thing as getting caught up in the paralysis of analysis. If you see red flags try to pinpoint the cause. Just because the buzz on the street is recession doesn't mean you should make excuses for a weak sales team or ignore an outdated marketing strategy.

Try to avoid the coffee shop blues. You know, where you sit around with your colleagues and complain about how bad things are out there. True or not, that time can be better spent on activities that support your business. Make a sales call, finish a proposal or visit a client.

Look for the opportunities because even in the worst of times there are success stories. The foreclosure market has spawned new marketing opportunities for those who took immediate action when they recognized the boom market was taking a turn in the other direction. A recent news story showed one entrepreneurial real estate agent who takes real estate investors on tours of foreclosures in a tour bus.

Negotiate everything. If you are in the market to buy a product or service this may be the best time to make your available resources go a little farther.

Evaluate your pricing strategy and your target market. Recessions don't last forever but if you make poor cost cutting or pricing decisions under pressure you may find yourself facing unintended consequences long after the economy picks up again. As things shift in the economy plan to make adjustments but maintain a long-term perspective too.

Keep marketing at the forefront. Business graveyards are littered with companies that took a short sighted view and pulled back on marketing to save money only to become a distant memory in the minds and wallets of their customer base. Rethink your marketing strategy, find ways to make every marketing dollar do more, but never abandon marketing in hopes that you will get back to it when things improve.

Spend your time on what matters most and what makes your business tick. This isn’t the time to start doing the filing yourself to save money if your strength lies in making sales. You will be costing yourself far more than you will save.

Employees are also a critical consideration when the economy is shaky. If business is affected then the economy is hitting individuals hard too. Just when you need your team at peak efficiency you may find yourself addressing issues with distracted or distraught employees. There are a number of proactive things you can do that may minimize the impact and keep things on target.

If your business is under financial stress be sure to keep your employees in the loop. Nothing will start people heading for the door faster than a sense of secrecy and fear. You may think you are hiding it well but employees know when things are off kilter. If the situation is challenging then engage your leadership team and other employees in the process. You might be amazed at the ideas that emerge when employees know you view them as keys to the success of the business. Make sure employees know the leadership team is looking forward and solutions oriented.

Be sensitive to employee financial challenges. Take a look at creative ways to provide support. Maybe you can offer an employee who has a long commute the option of telecommuting for one or more days a week. Be aware that younger employees have probably never experienced a real economic downturn before and may be anxious about the unknown.

If you have decided it is strategically necessary to downsize then take steps to streamline your operation. Fewer employees mean more opportunity for burnout among those who remain. Sometimes organizations cling to antiquated processes out of habit or simple inertia. Fewer people available to carry the load can create the opportunity to introduce more efficient methods. That can mean a leaner and more responsive organization.

Downsizing can also create an opportunity for businesses in need of additional talent. When other companies are forced to layoff talent you may find yourself in a position to reap the benefit.

Prepare your managers to expect employee stress to spill into the workplace. Be sure they understand the difference between being supportive and being overly involved. Offer them training on coaching employees who are facing stress.

If you know one of your team is facing a critical financial situation and you have an Employee Assistance Program be sure to steer the employee there for professional assistance. It can help take the pressure off of both of you to put some of the stress in professional hands.


Keep customer service a core value. When marketing dollars get tight your best source of referrals should be the happy customers you already have. Keep in touch and let them know you appreciate their loyalty.

Stay in touch with the business community. If you belong to business organizations stay active. It may be tempting to pull back when you are dealing with the challenges of a changing business climate but community and business associations can be an excellent source of support and referrals.

Finally, take the difficulties you encounter in an economic downturn as long-term lessons. It can be an opportunity to build your confidence in your ability to lead your company when you have successfully navigated through rough waters. A recession can be a great lesson in adapting to unexpected challenges and doing more than you thought possible with fewer resources than you thought you had to have. Who knows, looking back on it someday you may see it as the secret to your success.

Personality Alignment 101

Workplace Personality Management Skills

One of the greatest challenges in management is how to get maximum production from the different personality types within the workforce. A manager needs to bring harmony to the chaos and what works with one personality type may totally alienate another. This article explores the latest tools available to help the manager understand their own style and the other personality styles within their team. These tools help the manager understand how to interact with the other personality types to create better business results. This creates a work place that is a more enjoyable for both the Manager and the Employee.

Have you ever had an employee who just didn't seem to click with you? Or perhaps you've been the employee, frustrated with your own supervisor's management style. It can be difficult to know how to overcome this barrier effectively.

In my role as a coach to managers and supervisors, I've noticed a basic assumption that most of them have, which is: "I should know how to do this." If you take a moment to examine this expectation, that two strangers brought together because of shared professional ability should immediately click and work well with each other, it's clear that it just isn't realistic.

Starting from the beginning then, how do you build an effective working relationship with the people you supervise? And does it really matter?

The quality of the relationship between Manager (executive, director, supervisor, team leader) and employee significantly impacts employee performance. Managers and employees who understand each other's style are highly productive and engaged. However, Managers who are "out of sync" with their employees often cause low productivity, dwindling morale and high excessive employee turnover.

*A significant factor that drives employee engagement and productivity is their relationship with their boss.

* Research consistently shows the primary reason employees leave a company is because of conflict with their Manager.

The more a Manager understands an employee, the more effective they can be. There are many ways to build a foundation of understanding. The first key is to understand yourself. Take a few minutes to make an honest assessment of your management style.

How do you communicate with those you supervise? Do you prefer email, phone, in-person? Do you like small talk and pleasantries, or do you get right to business?

What is your style of feedback delivery? Do you give ongoing feedback? Do you wait until something very positive or negative has happened to warrant an actual meeting or memo?

What are your expectations for updates on work duties? Do you expect regular status reports, or do you expect the employee to just get the job done when you assign them a task?

How do you respond to questions from employees? Do you like people to approach you as questions come up, or do constant interruptions just irritate you? Do you prefer to have questions emailed to you in one batch?

There are no right or wrong answers on these. The important thing is to understand your style, so you know your own strengths and weaknesses. From there, you can start to use these same questions to evaluate your employee's work style. These are just a few questions to get you started; there are many other things you can measure and assess in understanding your work and management style.

However, if you do have an HR Manager or other coach or mentor available, I highly recommend that after making your self-assessment, you then look at areas where you can refine your style to be more effective. Do you have an employee who loves to stop at your desk and chat about inane questions? If you prefer to be business-oriented and direct in your interaction, rather than just cutting the employee off, you may shift your style to meet in the middle. By asking a simple question, whether weather-related or weekend-plan related, and really listening for a minute or two while they answer, you can establish a relationship with that employee that's going to help them feel more appreciated and engaged.

Another valuable tool that YPP uses with its own corporate employees and with many of our clients is an assessment designed to measure this very issue. At YPP, we use the Profiles WorkForce CompatibilityTM, which is a valuable management tool that combines insight into the unique working characteristics that can impact the employee/manager relationship, along with actionable information on how the employee and Manager can best work together. Click here for more information about this assessment tool.

Every employee/manager relationship is unique and requires a different management strategy to achieve best results. For example, the relationship and management strategies between a highly decisive boss and a highly decisive employee will be significantly different than the relationship the boss has with a less decisive employee. The decisive employee thrives on quick decisions, while the other will be more methodical in their decision-making approach, potentially conflicting with the faster-paced Manager. A "one size fits all" management approach used for both employees will likely result in frustration for everyone.

There is no best-practices manual for understanding today's workforce, but understanding, knowing and tailoring corporate job offerings to a changing workforce puts an organization and its decision-makers in control in order to raise engagement levels.

Engaged employees are excited and enthusiastic about their jobs. They resist distractions, tend to forget about time and routinely produce significantly more than the job requires. They enjoy searching for ways to improve circumstances and volunteer for difficult assignments. They also encourage others to higher levels of performance. Finally, they are proud to be involved with their organization and are more likely to stay with the company. In the end, there are many benefits and advantages to understanding engagement levels. Companies with this knowledge have higher retention rates, superior customer service and realize enhanced bottom-line results.

By knowing your own style as a manager, knowing your employees' styles, and taking decisive action to bridge the two, you are actually contributing to the bottom line of your business. Whether accomplished by careful observation or assessment, the maxim "know thyself" is essential for every manager to follow.