by Rick Duree
I’m painfully blunt with people. Have been since I was a kid. I don’t keep secrets or play games. I call it like I see it and put all my cards on the table. (I’d make a horrible politician.) When hiring for a new position at my office, I don’t lowball people just to see what I can get out of them. I try to make every deal I make a win-win all around, whether it’s a building lease, an employee salary, professional contract services, etc. I don’t believe in win-lose deals. They don’t exist in my world. If it’s not a win-win, it’s a lose-lose all around. No exception.
A few years back I noticed some picketers outside a major grocery chain in my town. I walked up to them and asked why they were picketing. They cheered, almost in song, “For our quarter raise!” They then added, “The CEO and board of directors make way too much money.” That was pretty much the extent of their argument. They handed me some basic reading material and felt like the debate was over.
I really should have moved on at that point, but I really wanted to know about the issue, so I started to play devil’s advocate in hopes of getting to the root of the problem. “Well,” I said, “if the CEO and board of directors make no money at all, you’ll probably get a quarter raise across all the employees in the company. But then many of the board members would quit, leaving you without quality leadership and direction.” They didn’t accept my premise or even seem to care. I went on to explain how grocery stores live on a 2% profit margin and that the local newspaper had just reported that if the strike went on for four more weeks, the grocer would literally go out of business because of lack of revenue. If that happened, their jobs would be gone and Wal-Mart or some non-union shop would take over the grocery section of the town, leaving their union forever weakened and them looking for work.
No dice. The picketers went back to chanting. It was they vs. management, and they knew in their core they were right on this. It seemed to me like these unions were cannibalizing their own jobs. But to each his own. I went back home and followed the story’s progression over the next few days on the radio and television. It was reported that the costs of the health insurance the grocers were providing to their employees had spiked over the previous few years (we all know about that). To cover the higher insurance costs, the grocer had to refuse the quarter raise.
Two weeks later, as the grocers were about to file for bankruptcy, with bankers breathing down their necks, the unions agreed to go with a contract that looked very similar to the one the grocer had offered months earlier. In the end it was much ado about nothing and it cost the employees and the grocer a lot of money in lost revenue. When someone signed and shook hands, crowds immediately formed at the stores across the county and began buying up all the goods they’d done without for the last few months. The whole deal was a lose-lose-lose all around.
In our days on this Earth, all of us will change our occupational hats several times as opportunities swerve and bounce us through life. As entrepreneurs and managers, we need to help our employees feel like they have a stake in the business. They need to feel like they’re partners with management in the success of the company. It’s our job to create a healthy enjoyable company culture where all are part of the family, valued and rewarded for jobs well done and consistently offered opportunities for advancement and personal development.
As employees, we need to understand the needs of the business we work under. If we aren’t making the company stronger, we’re making it weaker. Be proud of what you build, what your labor produces. Perform a full day’s work for a full day’s wage. We’re all in this life together. Let’s make all of our endeavors win-win for everyone no matter what side of the table we’re sitting on.
A self-made entrepreneur, Rick Duree launched four successful businesses and had four kids by the time he was 30. A professor of entrepreneurship, inspirational speaker and community builder, he founded the Duree Center for Entrepreneurship, where he actively mentors young creators ramping up their startups. He is also the author of “The Entrepreneur’s Bible: 52 Proverbs of Profit.”
Submitted 8 years 269 days ago