‘I got tired of making other people money.’  Fast forward, ‘no one wants to work.’  The irony of this is amazing.  This is not to say at all that to some extent the complaints are not valid.  Do these statements evoke any emotions?  Could they be your words or thoughts?

I was very hesitant to write this article.  I do not have employees and have some of the same concerns many people have with respect to bringing on employees.  I have been an employee and have been given responsibility to manage other employees.  I have been observant as an employee with respect to workplace culture.  More importantly I have many friends in the industry, who have enjoyed exponentially more success hiring, training, and retaining employees.  Reading between the lines of many people’s expressed frustration, I can tell who I would not want to work for.  At the very least, some businesses would be just a paycheck until I can find a better opportunity.  I present two employers, Option A and Option B.

A:  Hey we’re looking for somebody that ACTUALLY wants to work!  We are a quality shop! Pay is $12 an hour!  Who wants to work and ACTUALLY come on time?  DM me here.

B:  We are currently hiring passionate car detailers to join our team.  We are interested in people looking for a career, with opportunities for advancement.  Experience is not required, as long you are motivated to learn and grow within the company.  Please send an email to a.professional.place@detailshop.com.

Who would you rather work for?  I am quite sure some people would laugh at the obvious disparity in professionalism, amongst other things.  But you would be amazed at how many announcements about hiring look like Option A.

If you can imagine being on a date and the architect of Option A spends his or her time, complaining about a previous relationship.  For one, what are you attracting in your life.  Also, what you think you want will obviously be repelled.  We know the reason why.  Even if that person is right, it speaks to what they attract/allow.  It speaks to their communication and leadership problems.  But it also speaks to that person’s lack of accountability.  Oh, the irony!

Remember when you were an employee.  Just because you went over and beyond, dealt with unfair situations, and unreasonable tasks for poor compensation, does not mean your employees should be obligated to do that.  On the surface you may be thinking tough times would force a more loyal workforce.  I would counter by saying what we are seeing is the opposite, which is fair and appropriate.

No one is obligated to care about your OWN business, but a culture change can bridge that gap very close.  Hypothetically if you are thinking to yourself, ‘I cannot afford to pay my employees what I would want or even competitively.’  Why is that the workforce’s problem?  This is not what a lot of people think.  It goes against what a lot of respected professionals would say in terms of when to scale your business.  But I truly believe the appropriate time to scale (expand) your business and how you build should be in alignment with your ability to pay your employees appropriately.  Most people make that an afterthought.  It is also quite hypocritical with respect to not only the complaints about past employment experiences, but also to the many rants and entertainment of detailing price shoppers.  Complaining about those guys that go to the other guy or girl for cheaper, while also complaining about losing employees to better opportunities is puzzling.

Ask yourself why you left your job.  Would you hire your former coworkers?  Then why are you trying to recreate that environment!  You could be recreating this experience unknowingly.  Rants of, ‘they should know (etc.).’  ‘It was time to stop being a friend and more of a boss.’  These statements leave clues to passive aggressiveness and a poor effort in setting expectations.  You may be a poor leader.  If this is leading to your discomfort, we may have a breakthrough to turn your business around.  I am not suggesting frustrations won’t happen, like all things in business.  But I have seen enough positive and negative examples to suggest this is an opportunity for many of you to improve.