21 Dec 2021

The Great Re-evaluation: Starting 2022 Off Right in Your Business

The idea of “The Great Resignation” continues to exist across the United States as we head into 2022. We touched on this previously, but throughout discussions with business owners, I have found a few things for business owners to consider:

  1. First, only resilient businesses will survive and thrive in this environment. What is a resilient business? For starters, one that has prepared for times such as these, without even knowing what times like these are going to be—sound financials, leadership, operations and a culture that is built to drive the business to survive, not just react. Businesses that have ignored financial acumen, leadership development, efficient operations and building great cultures are going to find themselves behind the eight-ball and may not survive when key members of their teams walk out the door for good. Business owners who think they can stay in the mode of treating their employees like numbers and simply squeeze a little more from the lemon of a business that it is will be the first ones to complain when that fateful day occurs. Have a talent pipeline? Know what one is? Can you define it? Measure it? Do you manage it? Better start now if you don’t. Not putting as much energy into your talent pipeline as you are your sales pipeline is a recipe for disaster.
  2. Second, things have changed. For everyone. Own up to this new reality. People’s lives have been turned upside down, shaken, stirred, and ripped apart by a variety of factors. Imagine with all this chaos in an employee’s personal life, they show up to a crappy workplace with a jerk boss and a culture of overbearing bad attitudes. Would you stay? Nope. And people are pulling that trigger like never before. Stick your head in the sand and hope for the best or actually step up and realize that you, the owner or leader, may be the problem! Blaming your team for leaving a bad business is simply silliness. “Suck it up buttercup” won’t cut it anymore.
  3. Third, start now. Start fixing your business now. Don’t wait for 2022. Don’t wait for next week. Do it now. Find help. Yes, seek out a business coach. Find a mentor. Ask your customers what you need to do better. Do it. I’ve watched several businesses “sit and wait” to see what occurs. Disastrous. Deciding to do nothing is deciding to fail. Brutal truth. That won’t work anymore. You’re going to find yourself at the helm of an empty business with only the deadwood left. The deadwood you should have let go long ago but believed they were worth it because they were cheap. Now the ones that carried your business and you took for granted are leaving…and you’ll be left holding the bag.
  4. Last, commit yourself to business discipline. You owe it to yourself, your employees, your customers. What good will you be to your customers if you are not around? It’s time for owners and leaders to face the reality of the situation, look around and learn from others and truly make a commitment to change. It will not be easy. In fact, it may be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. But so is closing a business. Do you know your current financial state, from top to bottom? Have you taken a pulse of your people or are you still afraid to ask? Have you made any recent investments in your people, your leaders, your teams? Have you actually refreshed your business model, your offerings, your pricing, your processes, your business engine? It’s time for a tuneup. Holding out for a later time is simply going to cost you dearly whether you like it or not. Invest in your people, now!

I am here to HELP! Let’s talk. Please reach out to me today!

This quote is ever more true today than it was two years ago. Read More about our rapidly-changing world: