How Do You Keep Employees Engaged, Particularly In A Slow Economy?

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Length: 11 min, 7 sec

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Mark Olson, president and part-owner of channel vendor APG Cash Drawer, and Jim Roddy, president of Business Solutions

BSM: This recession has been particularly challenging for leaders of VAR companies, in part because never has an economic downturn received so much media attention. Our employees get gloom-and-doom forecasts everywhere they turn. You’ve worked in the channel for over two decades, so this isn’t your first recession. What’s the number one action the leader of a VAR company can take during a difficult economy?

Olson: One of the most important things you can do is communicate. There’s an old saying that’s come out again recently that the future is not what is used to be. Your employees need to know what’s going on. In difficult times, leaders tend to talk less than they might normally want to or might normally do. They’re focused on “what is it we need to do to focus on the business and go forward?” In reality what leaders need to do is share the blunt reality of what’s going on and the truth, and whenever possible, make sure you’re talking faster and more often to the organization than maybe the rumor mill can communicate.

There are positive things that you and your team can focus on. If there’s something that you can find that’s positive for your company to focus on and share with each other, I think that’s a positive thing. I find it’s really valuable to make sure that you’re measuring stuff because that’s a great way to communicate it. If you just say, “Well, it feels like our customers are loyal,” it doesn’t have as much impact as if you can quantify it in some way.

BSM: How many group meetings do you do? How many manager meetings do you do? How many 1-on-1 things do you do?

Olson: We do all of those. The top management team meets monthly. We have a weekly meeting, “The Huddle,” in which we share a lot of information. We have a monthly meeting with all of the employees and talk about how the business is doing. We share information about what’s going on – success stories. I personally spend a lot of time kind of wandering around talking with people because I find that I get a better perspective of what’s going on. I personally think that you can’t communicate with your employees too frequently, and you’ve got to make sure you’re hearing the blunt reality of what’s going on.

Employees can handle bad news as long as you’re honest with them, credible with them, you’re straight with them. When we have an all company-wide meeting, we have this green-colored, 3-by-5 card that we pass out a few days in advance. It’s right next to our suggestion box. People can write down any question they want and stick it anonymously in the box. We pull them out, we read them, we don’t screen them. Oftentimes people have thoughts on their mind but they’re too shy or nervous to raise their hand and ask a question in a group meeting. That’s one way to help make sure that, as an organization, as a leader, you’re hearing the blunt reality of what people are thinking and feeling.

This is only a portion of this exclusive interview. For the complete podcast, go to above media player.