As we say in the “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” workshop, people are the oil that keeps the gears turning in a company - and yet - who’s paying attention to the people who are critical to your business’ success this year?  Here’s three tips that Enlightened Executives should heed for their Key People - their employees, their customers and themselves!

1.  Manage your “Presenteeism” - and involve your employees:

As we recently learned at an event put on by the Eastern Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, ”presenteeism” is when your employees are at work, but not really working - because they’re focused on other things, worried or distracted or taking care of personal issues.  Almost 80% of all workers are wasting time focused on money issues right now - and the cost of presenteeism is about 7.5 times the cost of absenteeism.  Make sure that you’re keeping the lines of communication open - both one to one and in weekly meetings.  Get them involved too - and make sure that you’re recognizing success every five to seven days aka as the folks at Gallup tell us to do.   If your employees feel valued and know they’re contributing to the success of the business, they’ll be more committed. 

2.  Talk to your Customers - and learn about your market:

I think that I’ve said this a thousand times since last October.  If you’re not talking with your customers right now, you’re missing the boat.  Have a goal for each week and make sure that everyone in your organization is reaching out and touching base.  Use the four questions:  How are you doing?  What’s doing on in your industry / community?  What’s happening with our competition and how are we doing?  You’ll learn some valuable information about your brand and your product AND cement relationships at the same time.  As Bob Bloom says in “The Inside Advantage“, it’s all about imagainative and ubiquitous acts - and staying in touch is critical right now.

3.  Keep in touch with other Business Owners, share success stories and keep learning: 

There’s nothing like taking the time to check in with your peers and colleagues - but find out what’s working, as well as what’s not.  Check out our “Keys to Success” video from our “Un-Marketing” event in December to find out what other business owners have done to promote growth and increase profitability.  Take a look at this month’s addition of Inc magazine for the cover story on Jim Collins and what he’s finding in his research on how other companies have dealt with turbulance.  Download David Meerman Scott’s free e-books on Viral Marketing - all great stuff!

Will you implement these 3 tips to manage or will you simply get caught in the eye of the storm?  Let CEO Think Tank help you implement your next action.