Ten Minutes to Increased Employee Morale

Ocean State Job Lot is one of those fun stores where you just don't know what you'll find (or what you'll catch). They carry overruns and overstocks that manufacturers are trying to unload; at great prices. I pop in every so often to explore the bargains and the people.

On yesterday's visit I came upon the woman who was "in-charge" of the cashiers. Back in my high school days, when I worked at Waldbaum's, they called that person the Front End Manager. For purposes of this blog entry we'll call her that.

The Front End Manager picked up a microphone and made an announcement that two of the employees should "take their ten"; obviously meaning ten minute break. I decided to cause some trouble, uh, I mean have some fun.

"What can anyone possibly do in ten minutes; pee?" I asked the woman.

She chuckled.

My cashier rolled her eyes and went off on a tirade about how ridiculous it was and how right I was and how they get two ten minute breaks and a 1/2 hour lunch on an eight hour shift. Miss Front End Manager joined our conversation. She too thinks this is a silly amount of time, (Heck Waldbaum's even gave us 20 minutes; time to pee and wash your hands.) I was so glad that she didn't see the policy as okay. The three of us kept laughing.

But the kicker was when the elderly woman behind me, I'm thinking she was in her 80's, made this comment..........

"It would take me ten minutes just to walk to the bathroom."

Everyone laughed. I did my job; opened up an opportunity for a bit of levity to be added to an otherwise unhappy worker's day. For a brief moment morale and camaraderie increased. It is that easy. You can and should do it - often.

Laughing at absurd company policies is fun. Rewriting them with a humorous slant is even better; and one of the tips I offer in my 50 Ways To Have Fun At Work Tip Booklet.

Stupid Banking Rules Lead Fun Motivational Speaker to Flee Bank

now

The Stupid Company of the Month Award

goes to........

Bank of America

Congratulations Bank of America; you have just received my Stupid Company of the Month Award.

Yep, this morning I closed out a small personal checking account. My business account and my main checking account are next.

This small account, which I maintain for a disabled relative, does not meet your direct deposit or minimum balance requirement and therefore is no longer free. It was free until recently. Now while I do not consider $5.95 to be a hefty fee and I would even be willing to pay it, I am insulted when I am told I can have the exact same type of account for free if I close this account and open up the exact same type of account - because that is the current "promotion." But I would need to close and open; no type of flagging or converting of my current account can be done; this is what I was told by the Customer Service Supervisor last week. When I asked this person if he sees the stupidity in what he is asking me to do, he remained silent for a few moments and then shared how the online banking business is completely separate from the branch level banking business and that different promotions are offered by each and that he totally sees the logic. Leadership at BOA should be happy to know that one of their supervisors tows the company line; no matter how stupid the policy.

So Bank of America, I did what I was told to do......I closed the account and opened up three new free accounts within walking distance of my home at a competitor bank where size doesn't matter. When I replied to the question why I was leaving BOA, your customer service representative replied in disbelief "another one" and did nothing to try and retain my business.

Your award, should you choose to collect it, is a $5.95 credit towards a keynote or training program of your choice. I would suggest a communications program; whereby staff are encouraged to bring their real issues and concerns to management when they think policies lead to loss of a customer.

Motivating the Big 3 Leadership Through Self-Help

Well, Nancy Pelosi is pissed at the Big 3 CEO's for arriving in Washington to beg for money on their million dollar corporate jets.

I think I better mail a copy of The Only Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need to those three CEO's. I think they're going to need it,

Did you ever hear of something called the telephone?

I've got a spam blocker on my email. It requires you enter a verification the first time you send an email to me. I love it. If you're interested in learning which one I use, click here.

Now realizing that nothing is 100% accurate I check the junk mail folder twice per day. On a rare instance something important is there and the person did not get the verification email; or for all I know their spam blocker stopped my verification email from getting through. Did I lose you yet? Remember the fun days when auto responders went on infinitely????

A sampling of those blocked emails include

• Some King or Prince offering me enough money to bail out the world if I give him my bank account number
• Motivational offers to make me thinner than a rail by drinking pond scum
• Humorous offers from other speakers telling me how they have "THE" system to keep me booked year round; which always produces this thought in my head: if they know how to do that, shouldn't they be too busy to sell me that service?
• How I can get on Oprah
  

Well the other day I saw an email that said "why are you ignoring my emails" with an email address that looked familiar. It turned out it was from a friend who changed their email address and obviously ignored or did not receive the spam verification. I opened the message and read this email asking me if she had done something wrong and could not believe I was ignoring her.

My response: Did you ever hear of something called the telephone? (yes, the Dr. House side of me came out in the response; I can't always be Julie. Huh? What? If you've been to one of my programs you know what I'm referring to)

No response yet; written or verbal.

Have we forgotten how to use the spoken word to connect with people? Have we forgotten there was a time, not so long ago when there was no email, texting, and twittering. Sometimes I really think we have; and it is some of what we'll be laughing about tomorrow during Weekly Recess.

But in the meantime, pick up the telephone and invite someone to lunch or a cup of coffee today. Let them hear your true voice.

Boost Employee Morale, Engagement and Communication. Weekly Recess starts Wednesday

Have you signed up for Weekly Recess yet?

Office mate pissing you off?

Boss out of control?

Your motivation to do anything is dwindling?

Economy has you frightened about career uncertainty?

Wondering what to do with that dysfunctional team?

Looking to boost employee morale?

Seeking creative ways to stand out?

Wishing once and for all your employees would become more engaged?

Leadership needs a swift kick in the you-know-what?

You're looking for Communication versus Backstabbing?

There's No Need To Fear........

Weekly Recess is here

(Yes, I am sitting here watching Underdog as I type this.)

So whether there's a hot topic on your mind or you just need to take a Recess from the daily work grind, join that Fun Motivational Speaker Rich DiGirolamo for a bit of pointed fun and humor each Wednesday at 12:30PM EST. Weekly Recess has been designed with you in mind.

Sign up today at http://weeklyrecess.com/; and don't forget to tell a friend or two. It is free!

Motivate Employees; Engage Employees. Bailout Style

Companies and Associations who hire me to keynote at their conferences and meetings are looking for a few things. First, they tell me they're looking for something fun and motivational; but at the same time they are also looking for:

• Increased morale
• Increased employee engagement
• Employees/Members who will bring innovative and creative ideas to the table
• Employees who will stop whining (yes, I am hired to stop that) and remember they have a job to do
• Simple easy ideas to bring teams closer together

Now the good thing is I study the above issues and I spent a good part of my career in the corporate world; so I bring along the experiences of other organizations as well as my own experiences/ideas.

You with me????

And now for a BRILLIANT RICH IDEA.....................

It seems you can't get away from the dismal news these days about the economy. Even if you don't read the paper or watch TV inevitably you will run into a doom-and-gloomer employee who will tell you the world is coming to an end.

Well I have an idea; as it relates to engagement. Since employees already feel they are owned by their employer and the employer is looking for more engaged employees I think the solution is clear................

All companies should offer a new Employee Benefits option entitled Engagement Bailout. Here is how it works:

• Your employer bails you out of all debt. You are now free and clear. No mortgage. No credit card bills. No loan sharks named Guido hunting you down.
• You will now also stop complaining about the chain around your ankle attached to the leg of the desk. You smile that you have a job and never, ever, ever again think an ill thought about the place you call work.

Oh, by the way, your pay is cut significantly; the good news is you don't need it.

Could it work? Leave your thoughts; Human Resource Professionals encouraged.

_________________________________

Rich DiGirolamo is a Humorous Speaker who works with organizations who help others. If you haven't booked Rich for an event, you're missing out on the best secret in CT.

Challenging the actions of your Leadership can be fun; but have a solution to offer

Last week I received a voice mail with the message "Call me back NOW." The tone appeared irate, agitated and alarming. I laughed. I knew what the call was about.

You see, I had challenged the actions of the President of an organization where I volunteer my time - and he didn't like it. Challenged? Hardly. Questioned? Absolutely. It has taken five months to get a banking issue resolved - an issue that should have been resolved in about one week.

So off I sent an email which I knew was going to be interpreted the wrong way, even though I put the following words in that email:

"I am not angry and do not put tone and inflection in the wrong places when you read this; I am confused, stating fact, and want to know what I can do to help you get this resolved."

So I returned the call; and heard nothing but blame being passed around. He was going on and on blasting one of his volunteers. I held the phone to my hear repeating these words in my head as he talked: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

At the end of the trashing of another board member (his trashing of the other board member), I offered him a two-step process to get this resolved immediately.....................

Step One: Stop wasting time pointing blame
Step Two: Go into the bank and get the necessary documents.

I do find it amazing how so many organizations; those which are volunteer based as well as those who employ people, spend more time passing the blame versus finding the solution and fixing the problem.

Do you know what I mean? Does this message need to be passed along to someone in your organization?

_____________________________________

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A Meeting With No Purpose. Right Solution. Wrong Answer.

The rumors are flying. There will be layoffs. There will be cutbacks. There will be an early retirement package; they have to. Bonuses are going to be reduced or eliminated. Our hours are going to be cut; meaning our pay gets cut.

Yep this is what is going on in a lot of organizations right now. These are scary times for workers. Communication is critical to help people get through these times.

So when a state agency decided to bring all of its managers together; from all corners of the state; it seemed like the right solution. The managers were looking for some peace of mind - or maybe a piece of some one's mind.

Here's what they got.....................A 90 minute one-way meeting where they were told to fasten seat their seat belts; it is going to be a bumpy ride.

Hello Mr. Boss............Great idea. Right solution. Wrong answer.

The rumors are still flying. The fear still exists. Could the organization leadership really have no answers right now? Then come out and say it. Maybe those at the top of the food chain could then open a discussion and give everyone an opportunity to figure out how to navigate these turbulent times. Or maybe they do have some thoughts; but are fearful of frightening people.

Hello!!! The fright already exists.

Open, Honest Communication has never been as important as it probably is right now. I urge leaders at all levels to have it at the top of your To-Do list; and don't remove it.

Speaking of Change....How About a Secretary of Motivation and Fun

So President-Elect Obama is pulling his team together. Chief of Staff. Secretary of State. Secretary of Defense. That doesn't sound like change to me? I think we need a Chief of Motivation and Fun; and I would like to nominate myself for that. Please contact Obama if you support me.

As Chief of Motivation and Fun my first task would be a little team building exercise that is very much needed by the members of Congress. It is quite clear that this group of people need to learn how to work with one another and drop their own agendas.

How about a White House Cheerleader? My friend Michelle would be perfect for that. Let's face it, someone is going to have to inspire these people to clean up the current mess that we call the United States of America. Imagine having a cheerleader in the background wherever you go reminding you how great you are and reminding you that "we can."

I'm excited and both scared for Obama. He's got quite a task ahead of him. I also admire the man; he showed true leadership the other night when he asked for every one's help. A true leader shows their human side; and acknowledges they cannot do it all alone. So good for you Barack! Now start putting that new team together - and remember change needs to start right at the beginning. Your new chief is ready to serve. Call me - 203.879.5970

Speaking about my horrible experience could be your next free marketing opportunity

A new indoor water park opened not far from where I live. Last night my friends and I decided to pop in and see what it had to offer.

Here is what we observed:

• bright lights
• lots of fun colors
• activities that really are only geared towards those twelve years old and younger
• overpriced Dippin' Dots (but they are delicious)
• lots of screaming children - on a Monday evening? Whatever happened to "it's a school night?" (Never mind; they're off today for election day - DUH!)
• lots of screaming parents; (the place does have a bar though; probably the motivation for all the dads who were there)
• happy motivated staff
• and a manager with little sense of imagination???

Little sense of imagination?

We suggested an Adults Only night. He not only told us that they did not offer one; but in the same breath he shared that many people have suggested it too. Okay, so this wasn't an original thought, but apparently there is some interest. We chatted about the idea for a few moments. He concluded that it won't happen.

Too bad I thought. What if a bunch of adults popped in there one evening to have a drink in their bathing suits and got to laugh with their friends in a setting other than a bar, coffee shop, or someones kitchen? What if they did not use many of the water park activities because they were too old, too big, too fat or too self-conscious, but still had fun being in a fun playful environment?

But here is the bigger question...................What if they had such a "horrible" time that they went home and told all their friends who have kids about this place; and how great it is for kids? Word of mouth marketing still rules - I know it does; as a motivational speaker it is often how I get booked to keynote at conferences and conventions. I experienced it just last week. Two bookings came out of one educational training session.

So I'll be watching the economy and the water park .Let's see what happens. I'll bet if business slows down we just might see adult night at the water park. I hope I'm in town that day!

Don't Worry About Being Laid Off: Managers & Supervisors Make Great Politicians

This past weekend I found myself in the middle of a "discussion" with people regarding the lack of truth in politics. Everyone involved in the discussion agreed that politicians lie and hold back information in order to get elected.

But then I asked if this is any different than the company where most of these people are managers and supervisors? Aren't managers and supervisors holding back information, not telling the truth or not sharing information with employees? Aren't decisions being made that will impact (negatively) worker morale, productivity and performance but employees are being told the decisions are in their best interests? I asked why that behavior seems to be acceptable to them all, but a politician's behavior is not?