Christie Lawler, Founder & Owner of CJL CONSULTiNG, offers key insights from her #NCB2021 conference session on working with, and learning from, millennials and GenZ employees.
Everyone has had that horrendous boss. You may have even had more than one. But ask yourself, are you that boss to someone else? I guarantee that in my career I’ve seen horrific humans in action as bosses… some were obtuse and had no idea that they were running the three-ring circus from hell. Some were purposely spiteful and mean because they hated themselves. And some were so sick and twisted that they enjoyed watching others wince when words or actions cut too deep. Don’t be that boss!
Be the boss that everyone loved, because your employees will never forget how you made them feel. You’ve had the good kind: the boss that asked you if everything was okay, the boss that had your back when you made a mistake, the boss that promoted you every chance they got. Be that boss – here’s how...
Major in the Minors
The small things matter. Paying attention to the minor details makes a huge impact. This can be anything from remembering your staff’s birthdays by setting reminders on your phone to remembering the name of their pets. Making an effort to show that you care about them as humans, and not just employees can have positive ripple effects on the overall culture.
RELATED: A Marketing Expert Tackles Your Toughest Questions
Different is Good, Generous is Amazing
This is the story of the amazing boss. I’ve been lucky enough to have two of them and they were each amazing in their own ways. They were totally different than other bosses because there was genuine personal investment from them toward my personal and professional goals. They wanted to watch and help me succeed. They were so very generous! With their praise, their support and always finding ways to deliver praise. Generosity doesn’t have to be financial to be impactful, be generous with kindness… it lasts longer.
Generate Your Own PR
If you treat your team well, they will tell others and this is the best kind of gossip. Aim to have your name assigned to positive gossip coming from your staff. We’re all familiar with the concept that good news travels fast, and bad news travels at light speed (or that a happy customer tells one or two other people, but an unhappy customer tells 10?). Well, an unhappy employee spreads that bad news just as much as that irate customer who hates pickles and found them on the sandwich anyway. Point being, it doesn’t matter what the truth is, make sure the story behind it is positive. This is a completely controllable variable in most instances. And while bad days happen and so do crazy people, the effort to curate a positive message is always a worthy endeavor.
RELATED: What’s So Virtual About Virtual Brands Anyway?
Signatures with Significance
This refers to the menu. You know how when staff is in the kitchen making family meal and they are tweaking the menu items or creating their own? Are you paying attention? They are actually creating a signature item and you have the opportunity to jump on it and turn it into a signature menu item. Here’s the kicker: give that member of the staff the credit! That’s right. In print, for all the world to see. Sara’s Signature Sauce, Charlie’s Mind-Blowing Cheeseburger, Beth’s Life-Changing Bourbon Smash… you get the idea. This hits all three of the above tips in one dynamic method to attracting and retaining top talent.
Embrace Change
Remember how other generations used to talk about ours? It wasn’t always very kind. We’ve kinda done that to the generations coming behind us as, if I’m being honest. But why? Is it the fear of change, of being replaced, becoming dated or antiquated? Well, that is all completely under our control. Adapt or die right?
RELATED: What to Expect at #NCB2021
Those of us enjoying the smallest of generational groups (Gen X) were the original adopters. We went from landlines and Atari to live streaming and Clubhousing! We used actual typewriters! And we remember white out not just as nail polish! So, when it comes to embracing change, we’ve got this too. There is so much we can learn from the next generations and they would love to teach us! And what better way to stay relevant and on our career track than to embrace what is coming next? Wouldn’t you want to work for an organization that makes practical use of technology to improve profitability and time investment rather than handwritten tickets and a literal cash register? See where I went with that? The only thing guaranteed not to change is that change will never stop coming.
The bottom line, be one of the heroes in someone else’s story. And when one of your team members writes a book one day about effective management and leadership, you won’t be given a terrible nickname and wonder if anyone knows that the “terrible boss” is actually you!
Christie Lawler is the Founder & Owner of CJL CONSULTiNG, a beverage marketing agency that houses a nonprofit organization – The WITI Group, and a line of infusion and mixology products – JAB MiXOLOGY. She is a public speaker, host of the Lawler Out Loud: Mixing Up the Mainstream podcast, and a member of the Female Founders Collection. She is also a CORE Ambassador and an advisory board member for “The Bar” with Datassential, and serves on the Glancy Wine Education Foundation Board of Directors.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest industry news and trends.