Is There Religion In Your Company?

Last week our Presidential candidates were speaking about the role of religion in their lives. We see and hear this every day from the news media, and the pollsters seem to feel that religion will have a large impact on the election. Most, but not all, Americans are affiliated with an organized religion. What does this mean for your glass company? How does religion affect how you operate your business?

The answer is it shouldn't.

I know, treat people fairly and honestly; do not lie or cheat; and don't say bad things about other people, or religions. These may be religious tenants, but they are rules that we should all live by....no matter what or if there is a religious factor in your life.

So, what is this blog about?

Religion is a significant part of most Americans life. Let's see where religion does impact our businesses. The largest impact is on hiring. You cannot ask some one's religion; you cannot ask what Church they go to; you cannot ask if they keep a special diet proscribed by their religion; you can't ask their opinion on religious beliefs; and you cannot make being a follower of a certain religion a prerequisite for hiring.

You can ask if someone is honest, loyal and all of the Boy Scout Oath characteristics. You just can't ask about religion.

You should ask if the potential employee can work overtime...if they have any work restrictions. If you have a "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification" (BOQ), that says an employee must be available on Friday nights, and a Jewish person will not be available on Friday nights, you may pass on this person. This has to be a legitimate need. Not just a made-up need to help you screen people. If you are hiring for a week-end shift, and the applicant says he cannot work on Sunday Morning, from 9:00 to noon, then you have the right not to hire. But, if you hire someone for a Mon-Fri job, and later you ask for Sunday O/T, you can't force someone to come in on Sunday, if they say their religious observations conflict. You can't punish them, or fire them for not coming in on Sunday, (or Friday night if Jewish) if you didn't tell the employee at the time of hire that there may be O/T at these times.

Yes, you can hire people of all one religion. You can put religious signs or icons in your showroom. You may mention Biblical quotes in your advertising, or have them written on your truck. But, you may not make being of a certain religion the only criteria for hiring. If you only advertise for help-wanted in Church newsletters, or on Religious Radio Stations, your applicants may fit your desire. The biggest mistake you can make, though, is turning someone down, who may otherwise be qualified, and wants to work for you at your stated wages, because you don't know, or disagree with their religion.

It is OK for you to give a discount to your local church when they need glass work. You don't have to give a discount to every Church that calls you. But if you give every religious group a discount, don't hold back if a Church you disagree with asks for a price. Legal or not doesn't matter as much as the bad publicity you can create.

You can close on religious holidays. It is your right to run your business as you see fit, but be sure to pay everyone the same for the day off. This may be no pay...that is OK as long as you do it consistently through your company. If you give employees an option to work on Good Friday, you should also offer the same option for other religious days, such as Ramadan or Passover. Don't get carried away with this...you can probably find an obscure religious holiday on just about any day of the year. Know your workforce, and set this policy accordingly.

You should also be aware that there are organized religions that don't celebrate holidays. If an employee is a member of the Jehovah's Witness religion, they won't accept a Christmas Bonus. If you give this as a performance bonus, it is OK. If you put "Christmas Bonus" on the check, it will not be cashed. You should be aware of your co-workers so you don't embarrass yourself or your employee.

If your business niche is to service religious buildings, then advertise it. Tell about your expertise with stained glass, for instance.

You can do a lot with your personal religiosity in your business. You can and should set an example of personal ethics and integrity. You just can't discriminate in hiring or in pricing with customers.

Getting Rid of Your Smoke-Filled Office

We discussed the costs of smoking in your company. One study says that a smoker costs a company, your company, $3,500 a year in lost work productivity and increased costs. Another study says over $6,000. Whatever. It costs you and it costs your employee. Yet, you do have the opportunity to save this money, and help your employees and maybe yourself.

Don't think of yourself as the 'morals police'. This is not a campaign to impose your way of life on your employees, but a way to make your company more efficient and profitable. More than half of the people who try to quit smoking don't succeed. Don't be upset or vindictive if your employees don't succeed. Try again next year. Don't think of this as a waste, you have made it better for the next year's program. Encourage the stoppers, but say nothing to the one's who continue. An owner or manager should never belittle an employee over this.

Plan this smoking cessation carefully. To begin, announce the program will start a couple of weeks down the road. Get people used to thinking about. If you have positive reinforcement, your employees will look forward to it. Put up signs saying "Two weeks from Monday you will feel better", or "Next Monday you will be able to breath". Always start on a Monday, so that the employee's time is taken up with work. If you start on a Friday, over the weekend, people will back slip. The Monday start gives them 5 days of support before they are home for the weekend.

Have your financial plan ready before you announce the program. Call your health insurance carrier and see what they cover in smoking cessation. Some pay in full. If yours doesn't, how much is the deductible, and how much is the co-pay for the nicotine patch? Usually, the worker needs to spend between $50-$100 out of pocket. I would offer to pay this for each employee, up to a maximum point you will set. This is a small investment for a big return. On your posters, make one that says "A one-pack-a-day smoker will save $2400 a year".

The best things you can do to initiate a smoking cessation campaign are:

1. Go to smokefree.gov on the Internet. They offer realistic and easy tools to help. There are plenty of free booklets for you to download and hand out to your team (in English and Spanish). They offer free advice, both real world and medical, and personalize support if needed. Use the Internet or call 1-800-QUITNOW, (800-784-8669).

2. Google the phrase 'stop smoking', and you will find many other groups with information and help, both for the smoker, and the company trying to implement a program.

3. Be positive. Support success, don't berate slipping back.

The best other resource you can get is to call your local chapter of the American Cancer Society (cancer.org), American Lung Association (lungusa.org), or the American Heart Association, (americanheart.org). All three of these groups will definitely help you set up a great program.

Be supportive of the program. Have plenty of sweet mints and candies available. If possible have cut up carrots or celery available to munch on. This helps control the oral sensation of not having a cigarette.

Encourage the rest of the company not to smoke in front of or near someone trying to stop. For the first week or two, don't let the employee go to job sites that are smoke filled, like restaurants or bars.

Have lots of cold water and juice available. Drinking a lot helps flush the body of nicotine quicker. The quicker it is out of the body, the easier to quit.

Avoid coffee breaks where smoking was the norm. Avoid fat-filled foods, you will gain some weight stopping smoking, and watching your diet may help offset this.

Eat slowly, so that your full meal time is taken up by eating, and you have no time for an after meal cigarette.

Exercise a lot, this helps the body rid itself of nicotine and other smoking chemicals. Find out if your health plan offers gym or health club benefits and promote this with your employees.

Post this phone number: 877-44U QUIT (877-448-7848), a live person will talk with you from the National Cancer Institutes's free smoking quitline.

Enough for now. Remember, you as a leader can influence the outcome. Be supportive, be proactive, and you and your company will come out ahead!

Cigarettes Are Bad For Your Business...But Peanut Butter Cups Are Perfect!

Of course I am prejudiced, I don't smoke and I do eat peanut butter cups.

Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way: smoking is bad for everyone's health and is very bad for your business. If your state bans smoking in indoor places, enforce it in your business. If the decision is yours, implement a no-smoking policy as soon as you can.

Why?

Smoking costs you, the owner, a ton of money. Here's why---

• Lost Productivity. A smoker will spend 10-15 minutes per day lighting up, looking for ash trays, pausing with that first puff, and taking two minutes talking with each person that comes over to borrow a cigarette.

• Safety. Two men are carrying a 72 x 100 mirror. The one with the cigarette let's it fall from his lips, hitting himself on the knee. The natural instinct is to brush the ash off before it burns him. OOPS...a broken mirror at best and a cut on the other guys forearms at the worst. You can't yell out a warning if your lips are stuck around a cigarette. You are not looking at your surroundings if you are lighting a cigarette. Cigarette butts all over the floor present a slip factor. Driving your company van and lighting up will cause higher accident rates

• Higher Insurance Rates. Your health insurance will be higher as you will have higher claims. Many auto insurance policies give a Non-Smokers discount of up to 10%. Most life insurance companies give a significant discount to non-smokers. Studies have proven that a smoker takes longer to recover from an injury or operation. The longer an employee is out, the higher is your worker's comp premium. Your property insurance carrier may give you a discount if your property is a non-smoking facility.

• The Bucks. A smoker who does a pack a day spends, on average, $35.00 a week. If your employee stopped smoking and kept this money, this is equivalent to $1820 after tax, about $2400 pre-tax, or about $1.25 an hour. Save a couple of hundred on personal insurances, save on dry cleaning and replacing clothes with burn holes, and the average one-pack-a-day smoker saves about $2.00 an hour. By working on smoking cessation programs, some of your employees will be getting more take-home money, which means less pressure on you for wages.

• Image. The image of a smoking installer at Mrs. Jones house, with her white rug, should scare the heck out of you.

• Hiring. You will hire better people if you advertise yourself as a smoke-free business. Who wants to work around other smokers, unless they are smokers themselves?

• Health. If you are alive, you know that smoking is not good for your health. If you help people stop smoking, you get a gold star for your forehead, and a happier and healthier work force. Savings are OK, but it is even better to make your work force healthy.

Are you convinced yet? If you, as the owner smoke, then by quitting and setting the example, you become the hero and will feel better in the morning. No medical photos here, you know what smoking does.

Next week I'll go over a couple of ways to introduce cessation programs in any type of business. Peanut butter cups. however, are worth the calories and don't affect the lungs.

George Just Quit! Now What?

In last week's blog George Glazier quit. You, as his supervisor, or owner, have to decide whether to accept George's resignation, or try to keep him as an employee. You made your list of pluses and minuses, and it is a draw. Nothing clear cut; let's look at a couple of issues, and the great decider: DOLLAR$.

If George quits saying he has a job with a higher rate of pay, what are the options. If you grant a small increase, you have opened the flood gates through your entire company. Don't believe, even for a second, that this will be kept confidential. I promise you George has told his buddy, and Buddy told six people. If you give in to George, five out of the six will be in your office within a week or two.

If George's offer is for real, does the other company offer the same total package that you do? $20 a week can be a lot, but if George is losing a 401K, or a better sick day policy, or education pay-back, then you should remind George of this. (You should make it a point to learn the programs of your friendly competitors. If you tell them yours, will they tell you theirs? Most will!) If you have better programs, and George didn't understand, maybe you will salvage him without paying more.

A short interruption---most employees of just about every company, don't fully understand their benefits. In my consulting, one of the first things I do when meeting employees is to have them tell me about their benefits package. It is always a shock to ownership that they pay for benefits and the employees don't use or know about them. Since you are paying for the benefits, make sure to teach your employees how to use them. Most employees who are new to the US workforce don't know how to use medical insurance, or what a 401K is. Here is a Paul Promise--teach your employees how to use your benefits, and what the value of these benefits are, and you will have happier employees at no increase in costs.

If George still thinks the $20 a week is more important, do you want to give him the raise, while you look for his replacement? Is it better to keep him working? My opinion--Don't do it. The morale of the rest of the company will go down, you will be inundated with the same request, and just after you do give the raise to everyone, three months later, it will start all over again!

Let's look at unemployment costs. If George doesn't get the raise, and quits, you must fight his unemployment. (What--his other job didn't come through???). If you wait a month, find his replacement and let him go on your terms, then you will be paying the unemployment, and paying, and paying.

What if you tell George you were planning to give him a raise, and you will move the date up to now? Even if this is true, you will hurt the company by using this. Every one will be in the next day asking about the raise, and are they getting one? This is just about the worst answer to give.

George isn't stupid...he has come to you just after someone retires, or has an injury, or has quit to open his own business. George feels he has you over a barrel. In this case, clearly, let him move on to his greener pastures. Yes, you will be out of sorts for a couple of weeks, but in the long-run, it is worth it.

If George tries to get you to bump him up, and you do, don't be surprised if he still goes. George will probably go back to his job offer, tell them you met his demand, and will they continue bidding to keep him. It is much easier for them to change his starting salary then for you to issue a company disruptive raise. George is playing both sides, and you will always lose if you play this game with him.

There are many more variations of this gamble. If George is a good employee, instead of just granting a raise, give him extra responsibilities or extra hours so he earns more. Give George a goal, like getting a CDL, or learning how to cut heavy glass, and give him a raise after he meets this goal. If George comes to you asking how he can earn more, find a way to do this. If George says pay me more for the same amount of work, say "Goodnight George."

George Glazier Just Quit Working For You--Now What Do You Do?

George, one of your glazing crew just walked in and gave you two weeks notice; so, what do you do? First thank him for his courtesy, second, ask him why he is leaving and where he is going, and lastly to wait outside your office for five minutes. Take this time to organize your thoughts. You want to plan what to say, what actions to take, rather than react on pure emotions.

On a pad, layout the pluses and minuses of George's resignation. Ask yourself:

1. Are you and your company better of with or without this person?
2. Is he as good on his job as you hoped he would be when you hired or promoted him?
3. Is he reliable?
4. Do you think he is trying to bluff you to work a counter-offer to stay at a higher rate of pay?
5. Does he care about the company's best interests? Or does he only care about what's in it for him?
6. How is his safety record?
7. How does he get along with customers? Co-workers? Management?
8. Do you have a person in mind who has asked about employment at your company?
9. Is the reason he told you a valid reason for leaving your company?
10. Is there a problem that you are trying to fix and if he knew about your efforts to fix it, would he stay?
    

This is a lot to think about in five short minutes. Here's my take on these questions:

1. Are you better off? This is the biggest of four key questions. 'With', then keep going. 'Without', then don't waste any more time. Accept his resignation and move on to the next important issue of running a glass business.

2. Is he as good? 'Yes' here; keep going. 'No' here; again, don't waste any more time.

3. Reliable? A 'yes' here is a plus. A 'no' here is a deal-breaker---let him go.

4. The counter-offer bluff? 'No'--keep writing. 'Yes', let him go now. Even if you think he is underpaid, if he didn't come up to you earlier and ask about a raise, or ask if he could work O/T, or ask if he could learn more to earn more, then he is not serious about working for you. You will only encourage this type of blackmail with other employees if you give in to this action.

The next six questions are not as absolute, but any one may be absolute to you. Consider these as parts of the puzzle. Three or more negative answers should tell you to accept the resignation.

5. Does he care? 'Yes', he cares about the company is a plus. 'No', he only cares about himself earns a minus sign.

6. Safety? A 'good' safety record is required, and is a neutral answer. A 'weak' or 'poor' safety record is negative.

7. Working with people? If he gets along 'well' with all three groups, it is a plus. Any group that he doesn't get along with gives a negative rating to the whole question.

8. Replacement? A 'yes', you do have a person in mind who would be an equal or possibly better than the current, is minus on trying to keep the person. A 'no' is neutral, only meaning you have to look at other characteristics.

9. Valid reason? A 'yes', means you should listen to him and see what his concerns are, and maybe you should talk in depth to see if these are serious, if they can be resolved, and if it would be a benefit to the company to have them resolved. Even if they are valid reasons, if they have not been brought up before, and the first complaint you are hearing is the resignation, something isn't quite correct. If you don't feel comfortable, or just wrote a 'no', place a minus on the score sheet.

10. Fixing a problem? A 'yes' says, tell him about the problem from your point-of-view, and what you think will be the solution. There may be parts of the solution you can't discuss, like you are planning to replace his supervisor. All you can do is tell him you are working on something, and you hope he gives you the time to act. If you can't tell the solution, ask if will stop in after you implement your changes, and see about a rehire. If he is not interested in listening, give him a minus.

OK, your five minutes are up. You ask him to come back in, and what do you do? We'll talk about various options next week; and how to tip the scales in your favor.

You Can't Get A Good Bagel in Western New Hampshire, And Other Problems Of Life

It is just one complaint after another…it’s too hot, it’s too cold, the glass is warped, the other guy is ten cents a foot cheaper.

When I ran Floral Glass, we had customers who complained about everything, and those who found a way to make lemonade when life rained Sunkist. Everyone has problems, and the last thing anyone wants to know is that you are having one of those days. Here are some thoughts on how to keep your face smiling, rather than frowning.

• Set realistic goals. Two weeks ago, I had a lot of flying to do. Some people had a goal of landing exactly on time, and if we were ten minutes late, they would be upset. Many upset people on that day. I set my goal as being able to walk off the plane after landing. As long as there was no crash, I had a good flight. I knew up front that every leg of the flight could have been delayed. I scheduled enough time between flights to allow for this. I could have been home an hour earlier, and the cost would have been being under tension for the whole day. Not worth it.

• Order glass from your supplier with enough lead-time for them to do a good job. When your tempered shower doors are a rush, there may not be enough time for proper inspection, or to polish a slight chip. If you quote every job as rush, you will be disappointed way too often. If your customer insists on a rush, explain to them the difficulties and extra costs involved. If they still want a rush, get paid extra for it, and the extra dollars will cover your grief.

• Understand that Murphy’s law (If it can go wrong, it will; and only at the least desirable time) runs your business, and the lives of your employees. With about 240 work days, someone will take a sick day just when you have an important job. The average employee will take five or six sick days per year, or will have an ‘obligation on the first day of hunting season’ and you can’t control it. How to remain calm? Expect that this will happen, and have a good program of cross-training in your company, so that pinch-hitters can step up when needed. They may not be as good as the starting team, but you will get the job finished.

• Accept the fact that you will have to replace people in your company. Moreover, it will always be someone that you think is irreplaceable, but he comes in late, hung over, and can’t read a tape measure until 10:00am. When you finally make this replacement, the rest of your employees will cheer. It is not a problem to replace this guy; it is an opportunity to improve your company!
  

• “The check is in the mail.” Yes, this is a rough one. How can you turn this happy? Most people call their customers at sixty days and hope to be paid by ninety. Call your customers on the thirty-first day, politely reminding them of your good work, and the terms that were agreed to. It seems that no contractors pay their bills without thirty days of heartburn. If you start at thirty, you will be paid at sixty, and that falls into the “I am still happy time period.”

• You're upset when your trusted vendor is undercut by a new fabricator from across town. Remember what you tell your customers when you get beat on a price--"If you buy from that guy, you will be calling me in three weeks to correct his work. He cuts too many corners to satisfy you!" When you call up screaming that your first vendor is overcharging you, be sure to compare qualities, and, probably, you will still be smiling. Yes, sometimes you will find a new, less expensive source, but do the experimenting on an easy job, and not the critical job for a fussy customer.

All That Glass In The Airport

Last week I was in airports in Kentucky, New Hampshire, Georgia, Arkansas and Michigan. They were all fairly new, kept very well, and the most common building material is (you guessed it) GLASS. It is everywhere. Daylight flooding in, people staring out at the planes on takeoff and landing, and surprisingly cool and quiet.

What a wonderful product we work with. But there is not enough WE in airport work. Only large, usually union-affiliated glaziers get to work on these projects. Let's see how every other glass shop can get work from airports.

First, don't be afraid to tackle work at an airport. Sounds easy...it can be...Call your local airport and ask to speak to purchasing. Ask what their set-asides are for small business. Ask what % of their purchases must be from a local source. Get the definition of local...5 miles from the airport, 10 miles, or maybe just the city or town the airport is in. You are not going to get the tower windows, those are a specialty to themselves, but you should be able to get on the bid list for other structural work. Sometimes it is union only, or prevailing wage. Make your own decision if you want to open up that box. But, (yes, the famous 'but') there is more work on the interior than in the structural envelope. This is where every local glass shop can get a lot of work.

Check with the airport management if you need a license to work on airport property. Let them check you out, visit you, or whatever it takes to get this license. Look at all the rest rooms in the airport. Look at all the hand rails, the smoke baffles and decorative displays. All use glass, and a major union glazier can't be competitive going in to replace one piece of mirror in the rest room.

The mother-lode is all of the retail stores. Every one has fixtures made of glass. Whether a sneeze guard at the fast food, or the display cubes at the clothing store. Here's how to get this business:

Walk through the entire airport writing down the name of every merchant, big and small. The Cincinnati airport, for example, has over 200 merchants, according to their info desk. Small airports will have a news stand, three types of restaurants and a book store. Whatever the count, give the names to the person in your office who answers the phone. When the phone is not ringing in, have her/him call each and every store and ask how you can get on the bid list for their local glass work. If the store is putting up a new front, there are glass shops that come in a specialize in that on a national basis, but the replacement of one lite is almost always the responsibility of the local manager. After the phone contact, follow up with a letter and whatever you give away that has your name and phone number.

Follow up twice a year with a note describing your services, emphasizing your willingness to repair or replace even one lite, and mentioning you are cleared to work in the airport, and you will work at odd hours, which is usually required, just like at shopping malls.

Raise your service charge to cover two extra hours of time, just to get in and get out of the airport. This may be expensive, but the stores are used to paying this. They know it is part of their cost to be in the airport. Make sure your employees are clean, neat and have their picture ID's. Have a work order from the store and a manifest of what is on your truck for a security stop.

Shopping malls can have one or two recognized glaziers who are the only ones allowed to do work in their location. This is usually based on a financial arrangement. But airports are always owned by governmental authority and can't grant that type of restrictive work arrangement. Whatever size your shop is, if you want to go after this market, you can do it.