December 2020 Newsletter
FEATURED ARTICLE

It's Time to Eliminate Employee Schedules

by Tim Fulton

I first wrote this article over two years ago. At the time, eliminating employee schedules seemed like a crazy idea to many small business leaders. Not so much today.

Here are two conversations I've had recently. The first was with my youngest son, Carter, earlier in the summer.

C: Dad, I love my new job.

T: That’s great Carter. What are you doing?

C: The job is with a financial services company, and I have an administrative project that I'm working on. My job is to work my way through a room full of loan packages, keeping some documents and throwing away others.

T: Why is this such a great job?

C: I love this job because of the flexibility. I can create my own schedule. My favorite hours are from midnight until around 5 am. I get a lot of work done with minimal distractions. The best part is that I then have the rest of the day to do what I want. It’s great!

The second conversation was most recently with one of my clients named Bill.

T: Bill, you look frustrated. What's wrong?

B: I need to fire one of my directors.

T: What’s the issue? Poor performance?

B: No. His performance is fine. The problem is that this director is unable to get to work on time. Our office opens at 8 am, and he is never here on time. He does work late and sometimes on weekends. If he can’t get here on time it’s an issue, and I must address it now. We have an office schedule and he must comply with that schedule.

T: Bill, would you rather manage employee compliance or job performance?

B: We are all about job performance! His job performance is stellar. Now if I could just get him to show up for work on time.

Do either of these conversations sound familiar to you?


SMALL BUSINESS MATTERS - THE PODCAST
Ethics expert Kevin Foster provides training nationwide to prepare business professionals to identify the personal characteristics and circumstances leading to unethical behavior. He created an 8-week Ethical Leadership Accelerator Group Mentoring Program for Next-Gen and emerging leaders who are tasked to maintain and develop the organization’s ethical culture in their managerial roles.

Kevin has been featured in two articles on ethics, governance, and compliance in Financier Worldwide Magazine, an international publication covering corporate finance and board-level issues. He is a former financial executive with FDIC-Division of Liquidation, Standard Chartered Bank, and Dr. Pepper Co., a 30-year veteran in real estate, and a former CPA with Peat, Marwick & Mitchell (now KPMG).

In this eye-opening episode of Small Business Matters the Podcast, guest Kevin Foster joins Tim and Taylor to talk about workplace ethics. Kevin openly shares about his personal journey from corporate real estate attorney to convicted felon. He describes the six circumstances that lead to unethical behavior and just how easily an employee can make a bad decision.


BOOK OF THE MONTH

You may have heard Tim say that everyone has at least one book in them. As it turns out, Tim had three.

Tim's latest book is now available on Amazon and SmallBusinessMattersOnline.com.
What if you invited a group of CEOs to a meeting...and human beings showed up? Once upon a time, there was a peer group of small business CEOs that met to help increase the effectiveness and enhance the lives of its members. Every month, the group met for a full day to share their issues, learn from speakers, and enjoy the company of other like-minded executives.

One month, the group met and tackled four very common and yet important small business issues. Because of that meeting, the members learned much more about those specific business issues than they would have known otherwise. Also because of that meeting, four members were able to successfully address their specific business issues and continue to grow their businesses. Until finally; the meeting ended, and the members returned to their businesses and their lives, looking forward to the next month.


ADDITIONAL BOOKS BY TIM 
SMALL BUSINESS MATTERS - THE PODCAST
Neil Campbell, MS is the executive director of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and supporting community alliances to reduce the impact of addiction through education, advocacy, and training. Neil is a passionate advocate for public policy around a recovery-oriented system of care and a peer recovery workforce.

In this episode of Small Business Matters the Podcast, Tim and Taylor welcome guest Neil Campbell to discuss the issue of substance abuse and the workplace. Neil shares the importance of connection to a person in recovery and the impact business owners have on an employee who may be struggling with substance abuse or recovery. Listeners learn how to address the issue with an employee, what language to avoid, and how to provide the necessary support for recovery.


SBM BOOT CAMP
2021 Recruits Report Jan. 28


Tim Fulton’s Small Business Matters Boot Camp is a must-attend for new business owners. The program shifted my style of thinking to an entrepreneur instead of just doing a job. I came away from the conference armed with the tools needed to raise the bar on how I manage my small business.

-Sue Cleere, She's Wired
The Small Business Matters Boot Camp is designed to assist small business owners and operators who face these challenges by giving them the time and tools necessary to steer their business in the right direction. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to network with entrepreneurs that are battling the same challenges and obstacles that your business faces every day.

More than 3,000 small business leaders have participated in this training nationwide. Our next program begins on January 28, 2021 with five full days of executive development on the following Thursdays:

Jan. 28 | Feb. 25 | March 25 | April 22 | May 27

Topics of discussion include:
  • Strategic Planning
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Financial Management
  • Organizational Design

Can’t commit to consecutive classes? No worries, each monthly unit/class is standalone. Attend any missed classes during the next program series, or elect to have someone within your organization attend the unit that relates to their areas of expertise.

We’re confident the Small Business Matters Boot Camp will drastically change how you run your business, but don’t just take our word for it… here’s what past boot camp graduates had to say:

For additional information,
contact Tim Fulton at tim@smallbusinessmattersonline.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

Should You Encourage Employees to Display Family Photos at Work?

In a field survey of working adults and a series of experiments, the Harvard Business Review found that people were less likely to engage in unethical behavior (e.g., padding expense reports or misappropriating petty cash) when their workspace included photos of their loved ones, rather than photos of landscapes, themselves, strangers, or no photos at all.”

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

Remember, small business does MATTER.

TIM FULTON
President & CEO
Small Business Matters
(678) 427-9436
www.smallbusinessmattersonline.com

"Dedicated to Increasing the Effectiveness and Enhancing the Lives of CEOs"