The more often we go out with our team and spend time together after work, the less negativity spreads within the team when they don’t like something. This also goes for spouses. As often as possible, invite your team’s spouse along to outings. Their spouse is their cheerleader when they’re having a tough time. Give their spouse something to cheer for and help them to like the business as well. If their husband or wife thinks that you are a good owner and likes that they get invited to things and can tell what kind of person you are and is friends with your wife or husband, when things get tough they will give you the benefit of the doubt. I made a post on Facebook about working hard and giving it. You’re all every day and you will be noticed and it was very interesting to see the response. So many people had negative things to say about their employer and how they were never noticed. Taking your team out is a great way for them to feel noticed and rewarded. It doesn’t have to be expensive either. -Breakfast at IHOP -Batting cage -Tickets to a baseball game -Bowling -Rent a movie theater and invite the entire family -Take them to lunch anytime you do a ride along -Bring their favorite drink when you meet them at a job -Watch the fights at Buffalo Wild Wings -Barbecue swim party at your house for families Pro tip: Bring your kid or spouse with you. Let your team get to know your family. It’s good for kids to see their mom/dad work. And it’s great for your spouse to know as many of your team as possible since you probably talk about the team with them at home. Plus it tightens the circle even more. And for this example, I got to write-off taking my kid to a baseball game. Win-win

We’ve all seen how a bad worker can wreck our business. One of the most important aspects of managing employees is to cut out cancerous employees as soon as possible. Second to that is to curb bad behaviors the moment they show up. Before I say what’s next, I must note, it every employee who seems bad, is bad. Use the information below to weed out the bad ones faster. Every time you fire someone go back and ask yourself some questions about that employee -when did things start to go south? -how did their behavior change? -What were the signs that they were going downhill? (Examples: showing up late to work, not taking constructive criticism, ignoring your phone calls, griping with other employees, taking long breaks, being on the phone a lot, asking for pay raises frequently, complaining about their personal life, quality of work declined, sales numbers declined, customer, service, declined, etc.) -Who did they turn to with their frustrations? -What actions could you have taken if you recognized them immediately? -How much did it cost you to keep them around from that date until the day you fired them? (not their wages, but rather the losses you incurred, and any opportunity costs of what could have been.) Keep this list and review it regularly so you can spot negativity in employees, take fast, action, and cut them quickly so they don’t damage your business. THE HARD LESSON I LEARNED: My business feeds my family. When I allow an employee to do less than what’s expected or to make me miss opportunities or revenues, that employee is literally stealing that money from my family. I must protect my family at all costs by keeping high standards among my employees. If I do not take action, then it’s me who is robbing my family of what could have been. I now hold this standard above all others.