This month I am going to try an experiment.  I am going to make a bold statement, tell you some powerful stories and then present you with a challenge that I think may change the way you and I do business together.

 

So here’s my bold statement:  I believe that every answer you ever wanted or needed already exists somewhere in your circle of influence.  That means all those nagging problems that have challenged you can be resolved once and for all.  All you need to do is find a way to draw the answers out.

 

To support my lunacy, I want to share three powerful stories that just may send shivers up your spine. 

 

Last October I was speaking in Winnipeg when I met the man who hired me in person.  At some point in our conversation he shared with me that he was from Brantford Ontario, to which I responded that I was, too. He then shared that he was born there in 1962. So was I. Finally I told him I had lived on Seneca Crescent, he said he, too, had lived there. That’s right. For the first five years of my life, we were next door neighbours!  There I was, a Mississauga, Ontario resident, doing business with a man in Winnipeg who now lives in Edmonton, and discovering that we had lived side by side as kids and probably used to play together. Small world, isn’t it? 

 

Next story.  My niece came to Toronto and suggested that she and I should go see the rock group “Nsync”.  I said “sure,” but wondered how we would get tickets.  She suggested she could ask her Uncle Neil.  I wondered who Uncle Neil was.  Was he a promoter?  Did he work for a big corporation?  How could Uncle Neil get us tickets to the concert?  “Uncle Neil is a musician,” she said.  Now I know everyone in our family pretty well, but I had never heard of Uncle Neil.  What band would Uncle Neil be in that would offer us the influence to get tickets?  Well, it turns out that Uncle Neil is Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush — arguably one of Canada’s largest rock groups ever.  I am forty-two years old and I never knew Neil Peart was a part of my extended family.  Small world, isn’t it?

 

Final story.  My wife is a scrapbooker.  She loves creating family albums.  One day, while working with my Dad, she stumbled across a picture of Grandma Skene, my Grandmother, standing in front of the Church of Skene in Scotland.  Now you could probably imagine that if you were Grandma Skene and you went to Scotland you would likely go to the Town of Skene and stand in front of the Church of Skene and have your picture taken.  But there was something special about this picture. The minister whose name was on the church sign was my wife’s grandfather.  That’s right nineteen years before my wife, from Vancouver, and I met, my grandmother was standing in front of her grandfather’s church in Scotland and we have the picture.  That’s how small the world is.

 

I tell you these stories because I truly believe the answers to your biggest challenges are closer than they may appear. In fact, I can tell you that it is likely others who read this column are struggling to solve the same challenges or have already solved them.

 

So here is what I want to propose:

 

If you have a question or insight that is focused on employee retention or recruitment, send me your thoughts.  If I can, I will work these questions and insights into future columns connecting you with the more than 20,000 people who read Workplace News. Ever since I started writing this column I have felt that I represented a one-dimensional expression of opinion, my opinion.  While I may be smart, I am nowhere near as intelligent as the team of experts who have faithfully read this column every month.  You can call me Dear Abbott (male for Abby) or whatever else you wish, but I feel I can add more value to you by taking time to learn and share our readers’ knowledge. 

 

So let me ask you:

 

• Do you have a great business practice?

• Have you encountered a challenge that has stumped you?

• Is there something about the way the world is changing that scares you? 

 

Let me know what’s on your mind so that between us all we can make an exponential difference.  Intelligent people think about the same things. We just happen to think about them differently.  If you really want to learn and grow, start by sharing. The results will pay us all back in spades.

 

Addendum...

 

Well, I learned a valuable lesson this month: never encourage sharing unless you are prepared to do it yourself.  That’s right. Immediately after I had submitted the first part of this article, my editor said, “Great stuff, but why don’t I give you extra space and you can show us what you mean?” So here I am back at the keyboard on a Friday night, feverishly typing to live up to the challenge that has been placed before me.

 

When I refer to “sharing,” what I mean is the sharing of lessons learned, best practices and the great people who have crossed our paths. So with that in mind, here is my contribution:

 

• Many years ago I was presented a business card that had braille on it.  When I asked the person why, they said it’s a great way to capture attention and communicate that you are a caring organization.  I tried it and it works.  I have done it for years. People never forget my business card,and they remember who I am and what I stand for.  If you are interested, just contact the CNIB and they can help you out.  This is one of the simplest and most brilliant marketing ideas I have ever seen. It cost approximately fifty dollars and speaks highly of the type of company you represent. 

 

• Learn to celebrate employee arrivals, not just their departure.  I have always found it funny that we have big parties and give gifts when people leave and do very little when they arrive.  As a best practice I have had great success with giving new hires a personal welcome card from me and a fifty dollar gift certificate for Chapters.  My intent is to reinforce the excitement that we have for them joining our business and to make sure we remind everyone that we are a learning organization. 

 

• It’s a little known fact that our brain must convert everything we do into pictures before it can process the information. This gives great credence to the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  I saw a brilliant demonstration when a vice president who was working for me took our business plan and drew it in the form of a pictorial journey.  She literally created a mural that indicated what our journey next year would look like.  She had exit ramps to signify layoffs we had to do and onramps to show where new employees would be joining us. She had construction zones to indicate where we would be doing process re-engineering, and toll booths to remind employees of our need to aggressively collect our receivable.  This entire sixteen-foot mural contained more insight, more direction and communicated more news than any five hundred page business plan ever would.  I can still see the employees standing around talking about our journey and reminding each other what each of them had to do. 

 

• Finally, I always like to ask, who do I know that others might want to know? Then I offer to make the connection.