Embrace the chaos
This is one of the many times I say, “Don’t waste the chaos!”
There’s no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube, so own it. Explain why you are looking for another job. What are you missing out on in your current situation that is making you look elsewhere?
Recently, I had a client come to me and say he needed to leave his current employer because he remained on a night shift after 18 months when he was promised a day shift after a year of employment when he was hired.
When he approached his leader, he shared he was looking elsewhere. The leader was sympathetic, yet explained there were no day shifts available for him. Instead of [having him leave], we searched for openings at the organization and found one that was a tier below where the employee currently was on the pay scale. We came up with a creative way for him to take the job opening up a tier (by offering to take on additional responsibilities) and not only did he get to stay at the organization but he also got a day-shift schedule, which is what he and his family desperately needed.
I recommend honesty and creative thinking before jumping ship. But sometimes it will still be time to go. Either way, give it your best shot so you sleep well at night. How you feel about yourself at the end of the day is the most important.
Kerri Roberts, founder and CEO, Salt & Light Advisors
Conduct calibration meetings with leadership
Standardizing the process is probably a given. I added calibration meetings with leaders in the company. All of my clients do this now, and I see lightbulbs go off every single time.
The employee completes the self-evaluation. Then the leader completes their portion of the review. (Make sure you’re using a 5-point scale—they are the best based on the research.) THEN, the leaders all meet together with each employee’s ratings up on the screen (I use Excel, but whatever works). Then a facilitator (your HR Manager, a consultant, etc.) facilitates the meeting, running through each question, highlighting the highest-ranked and lowest-ranked employees, and starts the conversation.
In the end, the “easy raters” come toward the middle, the “tough raters” come toward the middle, and the true highs and lows really shine through. Without these conversations, every leader is left to their own strengths and weaknesses in the process.
Kerri Roberts, founder and CEO, Salt & Light Advisors
Utilize AI across departments
AI has been a game changer for us with routine tasks. We utilize AI in several areas, the largest of which is marketing. I write an email weekly to my subscribers. My Marketing Coordinator takes that email and throws it into AI to convert it to a blog post and generate five social media captions.
It doesn’t take away from her value—it allows her to focus on other items. We sometimes use AI to convert that blog post into a podcast script. We place our podcast transcripts into AI to generate show notes and create an episode title for us.
On the financial side, we copy our dashboard data from QuickBooks and put it into AI to generate financial takeaways each month. It has brought a ton of value to our business without putting a single person out of work. A true gift.
Kerri Roberts, founder and CEO, Salt & Light Advisors