GUEST: Rapport Benefits Group Principal, Chris Free -- http://rapportbenefits.com/
Chris Free on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-free-b337714
A theme that runs through my conversation with Chris can be summed up with a Richard Branson quote: “Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of the clients.”
Rapport Benefits Group keeps winning “Top Place to Work” awards because Chris and his business partners take this wisdom to heart, and they run their buiness in support of their employees. I’ve talked to their employees. They love woking there. And the company keeps growing. Business is good.
Here are a few highlight points from our conversation.
Make sure employees are well respected and treated.
Your employees are the face of your company.
Take care of your employees and they will take care of your clients.
Longevity of employees leads to great client relationships
Loyal employees are engaged with their work. If your employee is worried about personal, at-home things, they’re not productive. Let them address their life in the timing of life, and they’ll produce.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often cited when looking at student productivity in school. It’s just as relevant on the job. Basically, if you’re hungry, or worried about your well being or that of your family, you’re not going to be able to focus on matters higher up the hierarchy -- like writing a report or serving a client.
Chris told us, “We ask them about their goals. We help develop them to achieve their goals -- career and non-career goals.” We want you to fulfill your life. As we do, you’ll perform for our firm.
Create a place where people think, “Maybe I don’t want to get out of bed and go to work today, but what if I miss something cool?”
You can foster great relationships with people whom you turn down for jobs -- by referring them to jobs that’d be a better fit.
If you help people promote themselves out of your employ, you’ll have a brand ambassador for life.
Don’t create the environment for work that you’ve been disappointed by in past workplaces.
Set clear and accurate expectations.
Look for outcomes, not features.
How do you stand apart? Get out of the office. Get involved with people. Be in the community.
Cultivate a qualitative over a quantitative focus.
Theme music by: Miguel Juarez
Midshow break music by : Allan Loucks www.TinEar.com
GUEST: HopeSparks CEO, Joe LeRoy -- www.hopesparks.org
Here’s a distillation of some of the practices Joe told us that he and his team are using to ensure MIGHTY GOOD WORK at HopeSparks.
If there’s one thing that really stands out as a theme woven through everything that Joe shared with us, it’s this:
HopeSparks takes an intentional approach to everything they do, and to every decision they make. They take great pains to ensure that every action the organization and its people take doesn’t just make sense in the moment, but is connected to the culture they aim to build and to the mission they exist to serve.
The theme of intentionality affects the flow of information:
It affects hiring, firing and transitioning.
Leadership is like being a drummer. You don’t get the accolades. Most people hardly know how valuable your contribution is, but if you stop playing, it becomes clear how the music hangs on and is governed by the rhythm you set.
“It ignites me to see people succeed here in this organization as staff members or team members... That’s what happened to me as a staff member.”
-- Joe LeRoy
Theme music by Miguel Juarez. Midshow break music by Allan Loucks at TinEar.com.