I have recently been working with a business where one of the employees is struggling with his life outside of the workplace, and as a result is not performing well in his job. The consequences of this can be considerable, and in this case, not only is it having an effect on the turnover of the business, but it is also causing stress and extra work for his colleagues. So how should this be handled?

I find this a particularly difficult topic, because like most people, I can find it hard to be brutally honest, and tell it exactly how it is. However, avoiding or skirting the issue, whilst easier to say, and in the short term less painful to the recipient, may not necessarily be helping. If you think that by making things sound better than they are you are being kind to someone, perhaps it is worth thinking again. In fact more often than not, by trying to soften the blow, or by re-enforcing their excuses or self pity, you are actually preventing them from dealing with a crucial issue, and potentially allowing it to build up, until it becomes explosive, and all hell lets loose.

From a selfish point of view, we worry that we may lose friends, or be seen as callous. Whereas in reality, we should face up to the issue and tell them, because in this way we are being genuine friends or colleagues.

Going back to the business I cited earlier. They have all offered a sympathetic ear, avoided the issue, and tried to carry him through the tough time. It hasn’t worked, and now there are potential fireworks ahead. Perhaps they should have just said “Stop being a victim, face up to your issues, change your ways and things will soon start to improve”.

Do you just talk a good game, or do you actually make things happen?
Often when I start working with business owners they profess to wanting to change all sorts of things, but when it comes down to it, how much do they really want it? Is it really just words? They will tell me that they have tried to change things before, but in the end nothing meaningful is ever achieved. The temptation is for them to blame this on the ineptitude, inability or unwillingness of their team to take the steps and actions that that they have been told to take. But shouldn’t they be looking a little closer to home?

Change can start with small seemingly unimportant steps, but it is not necessarily the action itself, but how it is implemented, and the determination behind it to make it permanent and meaningful. For example I have a client who was constantly tripping over things in the workshop, because the production team was untidy and careless. They had been told countless times to pick things up, put them in the bin, or hang them up, but to little avail. However, you only needed to walk into office to see why this was not working. There were heaps of paper everywhere, people on top of each other, no obvious filing system, rubbish on the floor etc etc. So what message was that sending out? It’s OK for the boss to live in a mess, but not for the rest of us? Apart from the fact mess makes for inefficiency, mistakes, and reduced productivity (always looking for things, and therefore wasting time) it sends all the wrong signals when trying to make changes.

I’m pleased to report that this particular client “got it” and the office is now organised, and the production line for the most part tidier and far more productive. So now the team can actually see that the boss means what he says, that it applies to all, and we are starting to see changes for the better that are going to stick.

One of the hardest things to do when everything seems incredibly busy, is to find time to stand back and do some planning. When you are running about like a headless chicken, desperately trying to keep all the balls in the air the last thing you feel like doing is to stop, take a deep breath, and reconsider where you are going, and perhaps what needs to change.

When I start out working with business owners, it may quite often take a few months before they fully appreciate and understand the significance and importance of our meetings. Quite often they will cancel at the last moment, either because they haven’t progressed things and taken action as agreed, or because they organise something else at the same time (generally a meeting with a client or lead) which they still perceive as being far more important than a meeting with me. The truth is, however that whilst these alternative activities are indeed important, they are no more important than sitting down and discussing the next actions to be taken, which will then improve the way things are done, lead to greater profitability and sales, which in turn will allow them to employ new people and free up further time for the business owner. Whilst the business owners can see the sense and logic behind this, and will happily agree that pursuing the planned step by step procedures to make things change for the better is the right thing to do, they will still keep on fire fighting doing all the tasks that “need” to be done, until at some point something happens where they finally “get it”.

At that point they will start to book out time in their diary to start working on their business. This is when they can do the “homework” we mutually agree, so that at our next meeting we can assess the actions taken, and then plan the priorities to achieve the goals and changes that were planned at the outset. So how important is working on the business? Until you start on a regular basis, your role will be constantly that of an employee not a business owner.

Last week I met a lovely man, but a struggling businessman. His business has almost halved in turnover over the past year or so, and he was at a stage where he was seriously wondering whether to continue with his enterprise, or close it down and walk away.

Now of course my business is based on my knowledge, experience, training and coaching skills, so to give away ideas and tips for nothing should not really be considered good practice, however I found myself offering help and advice to a man who clearly needed a bit of a lift in life. He was extremely grateful, but also a little surprised. “How can you afford to give away this advice?” he asked, to which I probably replied something about giving him something in our short time together, so he could see how much he could potentially learn from me , if he were to use my services over a longer term.

In reality, however, there is little chance he will take me on, as he is highly unlikely to be able to create enough positive cash flow to pay me, along with his other creditors. So whilst I was kidding myself that I was investing my time, so I would get a good return in due course, in fact in my heart of hearts, I knew I was giving something away that just might genuinely help someone, without any apparent benefit to myself.

On reflection, however, I thought that whatever the outcome of our meeting hopefully it gave him something positive to work with, and I was glad that I had acted in this way. I am an absolute believer that you will always get out of life what you put in, and I know that somewhere in the future I will get my return on investment