In my thirty plus years of training and development within the personnel
services industry, I have come across countless owners and managers who
lament, "Well, December will be poor, what with Christmas week and all... Or Easter, you name it."
When I find them, I ask a question I already know the answer to. "How do you
know?" They tell me, "It is always like that! Every year, has been for the
XX years I have been in the business..." and so on. Folks, it is a self
fulfilling prophecy!
If you let off half your team for all of, say, your particular holiday week and maybe the
week after, well, yes, you will suffer in revenues. But, the nature of the
holidays is to relax and let things slide, and if you do, you set up
that fulfillment all over again. Of course, I don't mind giving time off
over the holidays, long stretches, even, if they have earned it! Now, there
is a progressive thought! A star performer who has a solid pipeline can
afford time off, and someone, even you, can help watch over that
productivity. But, frankly, not only do you have bills and salaries to pay,
your people have bills to pay, too, and if they are not working hard at
earning that extra time off, it is my philosophy that they might get a day
or two, but they need to bet back in harness as soon as possible!
And, don't let them whine about how hard it is to reach people. Of course
it is, and the answer is that they make more calls to more and different
people. The end of the year is a great time for new business development, setting up
relationships for next year. Too many think that business is over the last week of
the year! When I had my own firm back in the late seventies
to early eighties, I was told by several clients that they needed last
minute placements to finish off their recruiting budget, else they would
probably get shortchanged next year. My company was very productive in five
out of those seven years, before the big downturn in 1982, and even then, we
were a mile ahead of most of my competition. The money was out there, we
just had to work for it. Well, I have shared that with managers, of both big
and small companies over the years, and it is interesting to see how many
have learned that it still holds true. Not for every client, of course, but
how do you know? You make calls, you do business, and look under the rocks.
And guess what? You won't find it accepting that it is going to be slow,
sending off your workforce, and kicking back. If your people find one more
direct hire, or five more contract fills, maybe another ten temps, would
that ease that slowdown? You bet it would!
Keep going! Keep looking for new and better people, all the time,
anytime, and have a GREAT HOLIDAY! Any holiday!! The best to all of you and let's have a GREAT NEW YEAR!!
Avid reader? Lots to choose at See me at Amazon or Kindle.
George W. Tucker, MS
The PEAC SYSTEM®
Finding 'Em, Training 'Em and Keeping 'Em
(941) 297-9197
https://peacsystem.com
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