Howard Erlich, from whose writings I’ve learned a lot over the years, once offered this insightful advice to organizational leaders: “I think we might issue a slip of paper to all collective members. On it I would write ‘diffuse power’ and ‘empower everyone.’” Last week I wrote about the latter. Here, I’d like to share […]
Many organizations see training as something that happens at the beginning of employment. However, really great organizations recognize training is important at every stage of an employee’s tenure with their company. Perhaps the thought of continuously training your employees leaves you feeling overwhelmed and thinking, how do I find the time to train? This is […]
When you start a new job there’s always a lot to learn—right? That has certainly been my experience, and every manager I’ve ever talked to about staff training has agreed. So when we’re interviewing prospective employees, it makes sense to evaluate not only the skills and knowledge that they bring to the table, but their […]
Have you ever caught yourself saying, “once things calm down a bit, I’ll …(fill in the blank)”? I don’t know about you, but those “calm times” I keep waiting for don’t ever seem to arrive. So if I don’t just make time for whatever it is I want to accomplish, it’s never going to get […]
How do you welcome new hires into your organization? Do you hand them an apron and point them in the general direction of the deli counter? Do you have them attend several days of classroom training before they ever talk to a customer? Do they learn about your organization’s history and vision from someone in […]
Does this scenario sound at all familiar? “OK, I’m supposed to teach you how we make a sandwich. It’s really simple – I’m sure you already know how to do it. But anyway, just watch me for a while, and then I’ll give you a chance to try.” A few minutes later: “Any questions? I […]
Understanding these three types of systems—and deciding how they can work for you—is one of the best investments of time in your business that you can make. In an earlier article, we discussed the importance of creating a corporate culture of appreciation and training around strong systems as well as finding the right system to […]
Are you focusing enough on your business procedures? In this two-part series, you will learn about four types of systems and how understanding them can help your business run more smoothly and successfully. Like every organization with more than 15 folks working in it, we have a lot of systems at Zingerman’s. Which is a […]
Rather than simply cataloging past behavior, spark passion and purpose by defining what both you and your employees want to achieve in a year. It all starts with creating a vision of success. If you put together a list of universal management frustrations—the areas where, despite our best systemic intentions, we consistently fall short—offering timely […]
This may seem too simple to even mention, but I’m going to say it anyway: The work that we do in our merchandising makes a significant contribution—for better and for worse—on the quality of the service experience our customers get from us. As you know if you’ve read many of my other columns, a positive […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the first article in this series, A Guide to Planning Effective Promotions, we presented a guide to planning successful promotions. In Part 2, we talk about techniques that can make your promotions hum. Successful promotions should be fun, but they must also sell product. Here are a dozen techniques that can contribute […]
Organizing promotions is a less-than-glamorous subject. Good promotions are all about creativity combined with nuts-and-bolts stuff that “everyone already knows. But without good nuts and bolts, it’s tough to build the solid, successful businesses we all want to operate. We’ve been running promotions for so many years I sometimes take them for granted. Yet promotions […]
