How’s Your Culture?

First, I’m sharing information that readers of my Sound ADvice newsletter received October 30th and if you’d like a free email subscription, just let me know.  Then I’ll add some additional insights…

Today’s #1 concern of most business owners is not what their competition is doing, when the next recession will arrive, or how much business Amazon may be taking from them.   Most business owners and managers will tell you their #1 concern is… finding good employees!

Ask yourself, “If the perfect person walked through my door today and was looking for a job, what would I do?”  Would you ADD this new-found superstar to your team, or is there someone on your team that you would “offer an opportunity to find a new career”, i.e. replace them?

The cost of emotionally disengaged employees is staggering, and the number of disengaged employees is huge.  In America, a Gallup Research Poll found that 70% of employees would consider a better opportunity if one was presented to them.  They also found that 51% of employed people already have a resume put together and are actively looking for their next job or career.

One consistent sign of any great company is the longevity of its employees.  Smart business owners understand it’s a far better investment to pamper, reward, recognize, support, train, pay your current employees well, and keep them than to continue hiring, training, and rehiring unengaged employees.

The things employees want most vary from survey to survey, but they include flexibility, opportunity, defined responsibility, attention and recognition, autonomy, and purpose, to name a few.

As a business owner, gauging or rating your employees’ happiness isn’t easy.  A quick way to do this is to have each employee take a simple survey.  This simple, non-threatening exercise will answer nearly everything you need to know about their level of engagement, and whether or not you need to put the HELP WANTED sign out front of your business.

Consider asking your employees these two powerful questions to find out if they are happy, or if they are part of the 70% that would consider a better opportunity:

1) Do you feel like your supervisor cares about you as a person?

2) Do you feel like there is an opportunity for you to grow here?

Caution:  DO NOT have your employees put their names on the survey.  I can almost assure you that you will know who they are by their answers.

If you would like the complete list of 11 Survey Questions to Measure your Employees’ Happiness Level, click here or contact me

Since 2013 I’ve worked for WOWO radio, which is owned by Federated Media.  Started out as one of 5 on the advertising sales team for WOWO, was asked to lead our team in 2020, added three more stations sales teams to manage in 2022 and then at the end of 2023, recruited myself back to ad sales for WOWO and our sports talk station, The Fan.

This is not my first job in radio advertising, but it’s one that I plan on doing until I retire.

Why?

It’s a culture thing.

That includes happiness, but it also includes freedom and support.

We are currently short staffed on our sales teams at Federated Media in Fort Wayne which is one of the reasons I’m back in sales instead of management.

We have 4 sales teams, one for each radio station.  That includes WMEE, K105, 989 The Bear and WOWO plus the WOWO team also sells our other talk station The Fan.

One of my most challenging duties as a General Sales Manager was recruitment.

We have high standards and that starts with taking an online talent assessment to see if we are a good fit for the candidates that apply.

My last summer in management, I hired two for the Bear and only one is still there.  I reviewed over 400 applicants to get those two.

Right now, we have 10 total for all stations, we should have 16 to be fully staffed.

One of the things sales people hate is unnecessary meetings and so most weeks we are fortunate to only have a couple of hours each week that we need to be at the office for a meeting.  The rest of the time, we’re out taking care of clients and finding new clients.

Well last month we were “pulled off the streets” as the saying goes for a half-day session with our sales consultant.  As I was looking around the conference room, I saw a bunch of individuals that while small in number (10 instead of 16), they are all the right people for right now.  Everyone there is doing their job and doing it well.  Not perfect, none of us are.

But myself and the other 9 sales people along with the 3 managers in the room are the core for producing revenue.  Some have more than two decades with Federated Media.  Some just over a year.  Some have left and then came back.  That’s a good sign when someone leaves and then decides the grass isn’t greener out there and they return.

By the way, in the 11 years I’ve been here, I’m guessing there are around 30 people who used to work for our sales teams but don’t anymore.  That online talent assessment isn’t a predictor of an individuals success, it’s just the qualifier to be considered for employment.   Before I was in management, there were some managers who hired people that according to the talent assessment, were not a good match and none of those people lasted even a year.

One last reflection on all this… I was talking to a co-worker who rejoined Federated Media last year and is now with my station, WOWO.  He’s one of the ones that has been with Federated Media for more than a couple of decades, and previously he was on the WMEE sales team.  I asked him how many different managers he’s worked for in his years here and 8 was the answer.  Some of those changes were due to management realignment changes and the last couple were due to management changes we went thru with WOWO.

As he and I were comparing notes, while an individual manager can set the tone for the culture, the best staff are also adaptable and self-motivated to succeed no matter who they are reporting to.  Those people you will want to keep and build your culture around them.