There is a difference between being a sharp business person and taking advantage of a situation by being “creative” and doing things that are beyond the law or ethically wrong. One can get into trouble by engaging in such activities either on purpose or by lack of oversight. We will focus here on what one knowingly does. One can justify these types of behaviors by saying that they could not have survived or prospered if they did not engage in them. Although that may well be true, if you were to be caught would the ramifications be worth the risk? Some people are high risk takers, but if they are not careful or lucky there’s a good chance they’ll be caught. The question is do you want to sacrifice your business and your reputation by your risky behavior? Here are two examples.

Let’s assume you are providing a prompt payment discount of 5% for invoices paid in less then 15 days, which is more generous then most such discounts and have enticed many customers to do business with you. But your definitions of what qualifies as 15 days as your “start” and “end” dates were very atypical and buried in a 20 page Terms and Conditions memorandum that no one actually reads. This, as opposed to the customary “start” date of the invoice postmark date and the “end” date as their check remittance postmark date “. Many clients thought that they were in compliance, only to be told that they did not qualify for the 5% discount. This unethical practice (scam) may work in the short term, but result in the loss of business in the long term, as your reputation suffers as dissatisfied customers post comments on Yelp and other social media.

An example of an illegal practice would be to do business in a state without the required business license. Let’s assume you did only a few percent of your sales there and you assumed that since they never bothered you before about a business license no one would check on your license now. But with state budgets running very thin, they are now looking for every penny they can and that decision opened up your entire business to the long arm of the law. You were found guilty of fraud, convicted and penalized by preventing you from doing business in that state for the next 5 years. This caused you to pay past due fines and penalties worth several times what you “saved” over the last several years.

We will next talk about recruiting people that fit your corporate culture.

We welcome your questions as to the challenges you face in order to grow.

To see all articles in this series please go to http://optimal-mgt.com/blog.

Optimal Management is the premier management consulting company to the staffing industry. We act as mentors to owners and managers to maximize their sales, profits and value of their company. We become an extension of our clients operations and are there for all of their staffing and business needs, from sales, marketing and compensation plans, to finance, M&A, general management and everything in between.

Everyone has things that motivate them and what motivates one person might not motivate another. Clearly you want people in company you can be motivate in a way that increases your sales and profits. If you have some people who are not working in harmony with this objective, you have several choices:

1. Ignore the problems and accept the fact that some people work ethic is not in sync with yours

2. Improve your staff performance, letting them know what you expect and training them as necessary to achieve your goals

3. If you are unable to succeed, re-staff the organization with those people who are motivated so the company grow and make more money.

For any company to be successful you can’t have people doing what meets their personal needs but not those of the company. Some people will do as little as possible and avoid responsibility. This is called a government mentality; keep your head down, don’t make waves or cause trouble by raising the bar for other in the organization. For companies with a poor supply of candidates due poor working conditions, requiring just a minimal skill, only able to afford to pay minimum wages are happy to find anyone happy just have a job. In this case one is satisfied with whomever they get to start with. They can improve their lot by trading up when possible and playing on the fact that these folk are just happy a job and that will have to be motivation enough for them to demand minimal expectations, such as reporting to work on time, not causing trouble, etc.

Most businesses can demand more of the people they hire and letting those who set a poor or perform at minimal level stay on, brings down the performance of the entire team. It is therefore important to find quality people and set high standards and those (who after your best efforts) can’t or unwilling to improve are then replaced. The question is how do you motivate these people? For some it is time off if they meet their goals, for other it is recognition or promotion, for most people it is earning more money, consistent with the results that they deliver. This translates into a “win-win” comp plan, where those who deliver the most are most amply rewarded. Some people need help to accomplish this. This is done by having capable mangers able to motivate their staff by telling them what they are responsible for achieving they how they are expected to do to achieving this and training them as necessary. After one has tried everything and results don’t improve the employee and the organization need to part company. The ex-employee can get a new start and the company can hire a better fit.

We will next talk about avoiding illegal and unethical activities.

We welcome your questions as to the challenges you face in order to grow.

To see all articles in this series please go to http://optimal-mgt.com/blog.

Optimal Management is the premier management consulting company to the staffing industry. We act as mentors to owners and managers to maximize their sales, profits and value of their company. We become an extension of our clients operations and are there for all of their staffing and business needs, from sales, marketing and compensation plans, to finance, M&A, general management and everything in between.