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- [00:01]
Commercial Narrator
For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms. Every choice matters. Tremphya offers self injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self inject Tremphya, proper training is required to Tremphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them and liver problems may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about tremphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or fireradio.com@venture
- [01:01]
Venture Global Representative
global, we think about what can be done, not what's usually done through innovation. Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy.
- [01:31]
Ian Watts
The Colonels cooked up a new $10 bucket of the day just for you. Monday 24 nuggets for $10 Tuesday 8 piece fried chicken for $10 Wednesday 10 wings for $10 Thursday 8 tenders for $10 Friday 24 nuggets for. Oh, you guessed it, didn't you? $10 the $10 bucket of the day deal every weekday only at KFC. It's finger licking variable supplies last not
- [01:58]
Venture Global Representative
available on third party ordering platforms.
- [02:00]
Ian Watts
Tax extra.
- [02:01]
Justin Colby
What is up? The Entrepreneur DNA Family. We are back. And you know already that every one of these episodes is brought to you by the Entrepreneur DNA Community. That community is built for us by us. Guests like we have on right now will be advisors in the group so that we can learn exactly from them, engage with them. If you're not a part of the Entrepreneur DNA community yet, just go to the entrepreneur DNA.com get in there and light it up. Because this guest, he is a special person. He is known as a workforce transformation specialist in engagement, performance and retention in the workplace. So if you run a business and you're listening to this, you might want to listen to Ian Watts. What's up brother?
- [02:42]
Ian Watts
Hello good sir. How are You. I'm, I'm really excited to join you, Justin.
- [02:46]
Justin Colby
Yeah, this is going to be good. Listen, we have a lot of early stage entrepreneurs, small business entrepreneurs, medium sized business entrepreneurs, and I want to hear a little bit of your throughput. How did you get to the place where you are now known for your work in retention and engagement and performance of the employees, which we all know is dipping right now, right in in the workforce? How did you get to this place?
- [03:14]
Ian Watts
So to answer your question, what I like to do with your permission is to take it all the way back because, especially because of the name of your podcast, Entrepreneur DNA. I love to share my entrepreneurial journey and what the through line is for how I transition into serving larger organizations. So I was born and raised on the east side of Detroit. And in many ways my story is somewhat familiar to a lot of boys and girls. Not all, but a lot of boys and girls, particular African American boys and girls in urban areas in that my father was in prison when I was younger. My mother, my brother, who's four years my senior, and I, we lived on welfare. And not only did we live on welfare, we lived on less than $580 per month. So as you can imagine, I wanted to get as far and as fast away from that reality as possible. And I saw entrepreneurship as a way out. I didn't just want to be an entrepreneur, a successful entrepreneur, I wanted to become a millionaire. Because at the time I thought that was the answer to all of my challenges. Right? Just get money, throw money at the problem, and that wonderful hole in my heart, it would fill the poverty that I was running away from and the pain, the money would solve it all. Well, I didn't just want to be a millionaire. I wanted to get there by 30. And I would even dare say that I became obsessed to do it. And because of that obsession, I actually achieved my goal almost four years ahead of what I was shooting for. But my wife and I jokingly say that 06 was a good year. And that's because the bottom fell completely and miserably out of my first business. In 2006. It's interesting. I was on a missions trip in Uganda, Africa, expecting to come back to financial easy street learning that just like learning that the sky was falling. So the bottom fell out of my business. My wife was deathly ill with the birth of our first daughter. We had six close deaths. So it was a challenging season, to say the least. But I will tell you, it was through that challenging season that Justin, I discovered my why, which is to build businesses that bless the world. And that's important as we talk about my through line. But I'll tell you, all along my journey I was looking for mentorship and for one reason or another, it just did not work out. So I decided because it was so painful and I wanted to help to spare people from the pain that I experienced of losing everything. I was going to be what I didn't see. So I came out with two resolves. I was going to be what I didn't see and I was going to build businesses to bless the world by being able to impact the people who work in the businesses as much, if not more than those who we're serving with the products and or services that we were offering. So it's because of that that I spent the past two decades at running a business coaching and consulting company. I'm a business junkie. I live vicariously through the goals and dreams of others for better and often for worse. Because sometimes you could be more committed to other people's goals and dreams than they are. But I made the transition from serving small business owners to transitioning into serving slightly larger companies and working with HR leaders and CEOs because I wanted to have a greater impact. As I mentioned to you that season in 2006, it really crystallized what is it that made my heart pant and building businesses to bless the world by impacting the people who work in it. I can simply, simply by economy of scale, have a greater impact by working with larger companies. So that is the slightly longer route than maybe what you were anticipating for me getting from where I started to where I am now working in the HR space.
- [07:05]
Justin Colby
Well, listen, HR is a fickle place, right? I mean, depending upon especially in the small business space, a lot of times businesses are too small to have a full department that they need it. Right. Like yes, they're making money, but they actually need this. You know what is the most common. I want to focus on HR as a moment time because I think people don't really know how to define it. Help us define what HR is in what you do within the space.
- [07:34]
Ian Watts
Sure. So HR stands for human resources. So I think it's really key that we embrace the idea of humans being a resource because what most entrepreneurs especially earlier stage. And I get it, I know what it's like trying to get to break even. I know what it's like looking to build a company and you need to get to a level of scale. So as you are trying to hold onto your dollars, I can totally Appreciate the fact that most people, most earlier stage entrepreneurs, don't necessarily see their people as an asset or resource. They kind of see them as a necessary evil, for lack of better terms, right? But once you begin to grow your company, you realize that most companies don't have a strategy problem, they have a people problem. And so to build a great business, you have to be able to do so with great people, right? I don't care how great your systems are, you still need people to oversee those systems and constantly iteratively make adjustments to do things and make it quicker, faster, better, more effective, more efficient to respond to the needs of what's going on and the market. Because creative destruction is real, right? So as we talk about innovation and entrepreneurship, you need to make sure you're on the bleeding edge of what's next. So you have to have sharp people, you have to be nimble, and you have to have people who have the capacity to grow with you, but they have to have the desire to want to be there with you and go through the es and the flows. So we have to view our people as the assets that they are. And the better we pour into our people that are, the better output we're going to give, we're going to receive. So Gallup, which is the largest organization that compiles data and measures employee engagement, says this, and they do, I believe it's called the Gallup 12. So they do a survey every year and what they find year after year is that companies that are higher engaged or who have higher engaged employees are 20% more profitable. So maybe some of your people have heard this. Engagement equals ebitda. So if you have great people who are highly engaged, they perform better, they stay longer. And your profitability, you've just given yourself a bump of 20% in profitability just by viewing your people as the resources that they are so that you care for them properly.
- [10:00]
Justin Colby
So isn't engagement drastically down right now?
- [10:05]
Ian Watts
Engagement is down. We're finding that we're seeing some of the lowest engagement in history. And here's. And we only see that accelerating. So when you look at what companies like Oracle have done, right, I just did a post on social media. Your services are no longer needed. So we're talking about thousands upon thousands of real human lives that are impacted. And here's the mistake that so many companies make. After you've gone through a massive layoff like that, trust and engagement plummets. So, yes, you believe that you are becoming much more lean and much more efficient, but sometimes you do so at your own peril. Now, I'm not saying that layoffs are always wrong or always bad, but they do always have a deep impact upon the people, not just who are being laid off, but the people who stay. So, yes to your question. Again, I'll restate. Engagement is the lowest we've seen in decades.
- [11:08]
Justin Colby
Don't most, you know, I don't know where I read this. Don't most people feel like they, like there was another survey. I don't want to misquote it and I don't know where I read it, but some. Somewhere it says something about, like, I would not have quit my job if there was a better culture or it could have been prevented if they cared more about me or cared more about what I was doing. Like, isn't there also this sentiment in the workplace workforce that, like, if someone would have given a damn, I would have stayed longer?
- [11:42]
Ian Watts
So to your very point, let me ensure that I am quoting this properly.
- [11:47]
Justin Colby
I for sure was not.
- [11:48]
Ian Watts
No, no, no, but you're, but you're hitting the nail on the head. So employees who feel that their organization cares about them as a person are three and a half times more likely to be engaged. But here is the interesting thing about this. Only 24, according to Gallup, only 24% of employees strongly agree that their organization cares about their well being. So there's a huge disconnect between how you can create massive engagement three and a half times more versus what people are actually receiving. And yes, people don't leave their jobs first. The first thing they stop doing is they stop caring. Right? We call that quiet quitting. So I stopped caring. I disengage performance slips, then I leave. Right? And most people, most employers are not finding or catching people in the right window so that they can turn things around by doing things simply like demonstrating that I see you, right? I'm treating you like a human being and not a human doing. So I created a proprietary method that helps companies do just that. It's called the Axe method. When your people are convinced that you care about me as a person and that I am more than just a cog, that I'm more than just a human doing, I'm actually a human being. When you help them achieve their greatest aspirations, which is the A in the Axe method. So helping people achieve their personal goals and dreams, irrespective of what their role is with the company. When you can help people discover and demonstrate their calling, which C is calling in the Axe method, when you can transform their lives not just professionally but personally, when people can say that when I come to this job, not only am I doing the things have they worked with me to help me achieve what it is that makes my heart pant, what it is that keeps me up at night staring at the ceiling, dreaming about. Because most people are doing things they didn't necessarily dream about when they were younger. Most of the people who are working did not dream about doing the actual jobs that they're doing. They have aspirations that go well above and beyond what their current role is or even what they aspire to within the company. But when people can reframe that, when I come to this job, it's not just a salary and benefits. They're helping me achieve my goals and dreams. When I come to this job, I'm doing work that's meaningful. And they've helped me discover and demonstrate what I'm uniquely called to do. Because here's what we know for those of us who, and I'm sure many of the listeners of your podcast, in particular many of us, know what it's like to achieve everything that we thought that we wanted and get there and feel like, is this it?
- [14:33]
Justin Colby
Yeah, it definitely is. Not fulfilling at all.
- [14:36]
Ian Watts
Yeah. So then we have to really begin to wrestle with doing some introspective work to discover what am I uniquely called to do? Right. How am I called to serve? So when your employees can reframe the job as a place that their goals and dreams are being fulfilled, the greatest aspirations that they can discover and demonstrate what they're called to do because of the training and one on one coaching, where their lives are transformed, where they're better not just professionally, but personally. When I go home, I'm a better husband, I'm a better wife, I lead my kids better. And where I feel like I'm supported to the uttermost during life's most critical moments, when I lose a spouse, or when I go through a divorce, or when I purchase a house or my kids go to college. And so we built in structural, systematically built in communications where we are aware of that, just to demonstrate that, hey, listen, we really want to pour into you. So when you do that, I think the beauty of the Axe method is to create a deep sense of reciprocity. So how is it that you create engagement? How is it that engagement equals ebitda? How is it that we can boost performance, the discretionary effort that people are putting into their work well above and beyond what their job description says? How is it that I can keep there, keep people working for my company to the extent that it's in their best interest. Sometimes we need to wish people well and send them along. Whole separate issue altogether. But you do that by creating a deep sense of reciprocity because you've been so valuable, you've been so transformative in their lives. I think all of us have either had or would have liked to have had someone in our lives where, when we had blown it and when we had fallen on our faces and we didn't know how we were going to make it, or when we were striving for a goal or dream and we were discouraged and we didn't feel like we can keep pushing. We have all either had or all would have liked to have had that person in our lives that encouraged us, they helped to pick us up and dust us off. That would help us get back along the way during our journey, during life's most critical moments, if we had that person, what is it that we wouldn't do for that person if they were to call upon us? Right. They were so instrumental in our lives, we would want to pour out and do all that we could to be a blessing to them because of how transformative they've been. Now imagine having a company full of people with that type of excitement for enthusiasm, for a commitment to doing that for your company because of what you've done for them. I think that's the real beauty of what we want to create with the Axe method and creating a deep sense of reciprocity.
- [17:21]
Justin Colby
Out of the four acts, what is the one most commonly missed or skipped over that can create a company to fail?
- [17:31]
Ian Watts
I would start with the A. What are the goals and dreams? So if your people are asking what, Ian, what is one practical thing I could do right now, today that would drastically enhance the likelihood that engagement would increase, discretionary performance would improve, and my people stay. If you simply started with helping people achieve their personal goals and dreams. Well, let me take a step back. If you simply took your people out one by one and said, tell me, what are your personal goals and dreams? I think if you started there, that's an amazing starting point. And if you at least a couple of times a year, were very intentional about saying, man, all right, based upon what they communicated to me, what is it that they're excited about? What type of resource can I provide? Can I get them just one book this year that would help them along in their journey? Is there a training that I could send them to that absolutely has nothing to do with now, Granted, I understand we're dealing with Entrepreneurs and people may be saying that's not very practical. Now let me preface by saying this doesn't always require money, but what it does require is intentionality, right? So let's just say I don't even have the budget for a book. Well, can you spend three or four hours outside of working hours or you can incorporate it into your work time because I think your people are what you should be focused on. Can you spend three or four hours researching some videos that you could send to your person that would help move them further faster toward their goals and dreams? Right? Can you at least, even if you don't pay for it, can you send them to a conference? Can you send them to a training that you know that will be helpful? Can you set up a time where you're not discussing company business? Just once a month or at a bare minimum, once a quarter. Hey, once a quarter I want to sit down with you and say, based upon your personal goals and dreams, what have you done to advance this? And have you thought about this, whatever that this is? I think if companies did that, large or small, you would be light years ahead of perhaps where you are right now. Just understanding what the goals and dreams are. Sitting down and asking that because most people don't know, that's a question that I would pose.
- [19:41]
Commercial Narrator
For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphy offers self injection or intravenous infusion. From the start, Tremphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self inject Tremphya, proper training is required. Tremphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions increase increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about tremphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit tremphyaradio.com
- [20:42]
Venture Global Representative
Never bet against American Grit or American Energy through Innovation. Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. So while others are busy Talking, we're busy building. That's venture global. That's unstoppable energy.
- [21:11]
Ian Watts
This message comes from Capital One Commercial Bank. Your business requires commercial banking solutions that prioritize your long term success with Capital One. Get a full suite of financial products and services tailored to meet your needs today and goals for tomorrow. Learn more@capital.1 commercial.
- [21:33]
Justin Colby
Member FDIC when you're a maintenance engineer
- [21:37]
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- [22:06]
Justin Colby
There's something about feeling like people care and there's like a hierarchy of needs and I'll misquote it for sure, but like part of it is that feeling a part of a community, feeling part of something. And I couldn't tell you which one, but I do know it's in that, right? And for a leader, the owner, the founder, the CEO or just an executive to sit down and say, ian, what are you trying to do here? You know, what would be a perfect world here at this company that could make you fulfilled, you feel like you're achieving what are your goals?
- [22:41]
Ian Watts
And just understanding that, I totally agree and I would even take it a step further, I would have two separate conversations just for the sake of clarity. What makes kind of the Axe method a little bit different is I'm not necessarily trying to, for lack of better terms, smash the two of these together. There's one conversation regarding what are your goals and dreams with the company? How can they help you fulfill what you like to fulfill professionally? But it's a separate conversation of what are your goals and dreams in life.
- [23:13]
Justin Colby
That's right.
- [23:14]
Ian Watts
You know what I mean? And I think both are important. I think some of the better companies do a good job of, hey, let me help you with your aspirations. On a company level, I think very few companies or individuals or leaders do well by saying, hey, if time and money weren't a circumstance, whether you're working here or not, what is it that makes your heart pant? What is it that gets you really excited about striving toward for the future? I think both of the conversations are important. Some of the better companies ask the very question that you pose. What are you looking forward to within the company. I'm asking an even broader question. What are your goals and dreams in life outside of this company? I think when we get good at that, we do a great job.
- [23:58]
Justin Colby
This leads into like culture. Right. I think, you know, when I first started my door to door business sales company right after ucla, my parents were so proud. We would have, I think it was Tuesday night, no Thursday nights, we would have team night. And at the time, this is 20 years ago, it was always at a bar, some wings and some beers and just camaraderie. Now, as a head of HR type of person, you may say that probably wasn't the best choice because there were some probably pretty poor choices after a certain time period and enough beers, having. But I would tell you it made a connective tissue. Sure. Because exactly what we're talking about, which, what we're talking about is more professional and understanding, going to lunch and finding out more about the person. Same idea. Getting to know the people creates stickiness.
- [24:50]
Ian Watts
It does. We have to treat people like people. You know, one of the things that I had to embrace early on in my leadership journey is that as leaders, we have to be chameleons. Now, for the sake of clarity, I want to give a little context regarding that statement. There are certain characteristics that we want to model because we want it demonstrated throughout the company. As we talk about building a culture and doing so with intentionality. There's certain things that we want to model. What I mean by having to be chameleons, though, is we are the ones that have to adjust to each and every team member because we all know that we're different. We have our own backgrounds, we communicate and hear things differently. So the way that I say things to this person, they may not receive it as well if I communicate the same way with this person. We all have even our own traumas. So though the message that I was communicating, you didn't think that it would be a trigger, which I know is overused, but it's real. Maybe it did. But how would you know that unless you really get a chance to sit down and understand your people deeply? Right. So at a certain point, what you realize from an entrepreneurial perspective is that you can't do all of the work yourself. The work is being done through your people. And so the greatest work is ensuring that you give yourself and your people the greatest opportunity to succeed. And that means we have to adjust to them rather than expecting them, expecting them to adjust to us. So to the point that you made about, maybe I would have had it at the bar, there is no one size fits all. Sure, they're best practices, but you know, people still, they have corporate events, but they're just saying, all right, uh, everybody's, we're going to pay for Ubers and we're going to pay for the hotel night, right? So it's not that you couldn't do it. The greater point is, however you can connect with your people best, however you can get them comfortable, where they're willing to open up to you on a human level, where they drop their shield and the swords are laid down, where people are laid bare appropriately. So, because there are certain things that we need to be careful regarding, but we have to treat people like they're actual people, with their own challenges, with their own skill sets, with their own aspirations and their own dreams and their own personalities. And we have to understand that as leaders, it's our job to be able to connect with our people deeply so that we can empower them best and get the best out of them.
- [27:24]
Justin Colby
After working with so many different industries in the field of hr, what's probably the most surprising reason people quit? Surprising to the CEO, surprising to the business owner, Surprising to the founder. What surprises them the most? That the leaders don't see it coming.
- [27:43]
Ian Watts
I think the thing that I have discovered is it's not just one big thing. It's a lot of small things over a long period of time where people are dehumanized, right? Where they didn't get an opportunity to, they can't speak up, where there isn't this psychological safety, where people don't get a chance to. So it's an accumulation of small human issues. It's overused, but it's appropriate. How would you want to be treated? Right. The question becomes, how would you want to be treated? And if you ask yourself that question for each and every one of your employees, because how we want to be treated is different. How I want to be treated, I can't necessarily impose that upon my people, but attuning my ear to the answer to that question, based upon all of my people, I think that's what's most important. So when you simply get a chance to know your people deeply, you understand when things are off. And so we don't get so far gone where somebody has quietly quit and disengaged and eventually left before we can course correct. Sometimes just. And here's what, here's. Here's to the point she made earlier. What could have helped people quit literally right now, hey, I want to be able to get A chance to take you out. I don't want to talk about anything work related unless you like to talk about it. I just want to be able to connect with you. Right. We haven't done that before. I'm sorry. Goes a long way. I am still learning and growing in my leadership. So that type of vulnerability and then just treating people like their people, it makes a big, big difference. So that's what's most surprising, is that treating people like people, it actually works, right? Not the big things, it's not the pizza parties, you know, it's not the big whiz bang events. It's these small moments overall, just like that. Just like in success in business, it's not the big things, it's the small things you do over a long period of time that will lead to the success. It's doing that consistently.
- [29:54]
Justin Colby
So then to follow up question with that, with all this lack of engagement and all the small things like is this a leadership crisis? Is it a culture crisis? Is it something no one's really talking about? Maybe, is it a cultural crisis?
- [30:15]
Ian Watts
I think, and though my answer may vary if I had more time to wrestle with this, perhaps next week. But what comes to mind is this. John Maxwell has a famous phrase who's the international renowned leadership development expert. He said that all things rise and fall based upon leadership. So I would dare say that it's leadership crisis because as leaders we are modeling the type of behavior, we're demonstrating what we want to see. And if we're modeling appropriately and if we make what we've been discussing a mandate, then I would say that the issue is a leadership issue altogether. And because culture is made up of people and people are led by other people, I would say it's a leadership challenge.
- [31:07]
Justin Colby
From my seat, I think this is the part where most founders, business owners, CEOs, whatever title we want to give them, this is the breaking point. I think there's a place where most, you know, early stage business owners to small businesses, they're doing it all still. They are literally the accountant, salesman, marketing, like they do it all. They wash toilets, you know, wash the dishes, the whole thing.
- [31:32]
Ian Watts
Cooking bottle washer, absolutely, that's it.
- [31:35]
Justin Colby
And then they start to grow enough, they get to a point of growth, not scale even, but growth enough, where they realize they gotta replace themselves. Like it has to happen. There's no other real option. But then they gotta hire. And what I've seen in my world again, the entrepreneur DNA community, if no one's a part of that yet, or if you're new to it, get over there, become a part of it. Because Ian will be an advisor in it. It's just the entrepreneur DNA.com Go there, it's 50 bucks a month. It's less than a gym membership. I seen this so many times with all these entrepreneurs is now they have to hire and now they feel like they have to manage. So my question to what I'm saying is, are there hiring mistakes that could have been avoided out of the get that would keep people around longer?
- [32:25]
Ian Watts
Absolutely. Well, the first challenge is not beginning with the end in mind. And so as entrepreneurs, the first goal is we gotta get to break even. Right? So I get that. And after we've gotten to break even, we have survived before we ran out of money and now as we think about, okay, now we want to build this thing, most entrepreneurs are not beginning with the end in mind, saying, okay, in three years, in five years, in seven years, here is what I believe this is going to look like. So most people are taking a bottom up approach and it's really reactive in nature. And I understand we have to take both a bottom up and a top down approach. But most people are, they spend so much time working in their business and it's cliche, but it's true, they don't spend enough time working on it. Is if we're creating a business in a box, and if you were doing that, you would take a step back and say, all right, if I want to design this intentionally, not just based upon my immediate and pressing needs, what would this look like? And so when you don't do that, you run into a world of challenges. So you're hiring the wrong person. You're hiring for an immediate need, but you're not doing so with an eye toward what I'm going to need in six, nine, 12 months from now. So if you're doing it intentionally, you step back and say, okay, based upon where I see my business, here's what my leadership team needs to look like. And this will not be an exact science. It most certainly is iterative, but we go much further, much faster if we take the time to design what our organization and what the infrastructure needs to look like. So that when we are looking for talent, we know exactly what the criteria should be. And I will tell you this, if you are a first time entrepreneur and perhaps you have not had any corporate experience, you just need to get some help doing it because inevitably you're going to screw it up. And even with help, there's still no guarantee. But you Increase the probability, the likelihood that you will get it right by designing it the right way, by understanding, okay, I can't just bring in my friends for this, and I need this skill set right now. But this is going to plug this hole. But I also have these four or five other things that I'm going to need more immediately. So I need to design this thing on purpose. Here are the systems. As I think about all of the systems that a business needs. So let's just walk through it quickly, right? Marketing, how do I position myself and how do I generate leads? Sales, how do I convert those leads into dollars? Operations, how do I promise to deliver what I have just sold? All things money. Finance, Accounting, combination of the two. Let's just say money. How do I bring money in? How do I invest it back out? How do I manage this for effectiveness? People, what is my process for deciding? One, how do I even decide when I'm going to bring someone in? Right, because you want to lead with revenue. At what revenue inflection am I going to bring this position in? And then this position and then that position? And when I go through the hiring process, what does that look like? And then technology, how do I undergird everything that I'm doing so that I can make technology my slave, so that I can operate as lean as possible as I scale? So designing those systems, even if you just took an Excel workbook and said, okay, for marketing, what are all of the things I'm going to do to position myself? Then? What are all of the things I'm going to do? And we just list this down. If you go through that, it makes it much easier, and then you get really clear on what are the things that only you should keep, that you should not delegate and most certainly shouldn't abdicate. And then what do I need right now that's on fire versus what's going to be the most strategic hire? So even though this thing is pressing, this might be a fire that I need to let burn, because strategically, this is the best move. So just thinking about it, strategically, I think is the biggest challenge. And I know that's a bit more broad and not as tactical as your people might like, but beginning with the end in mind, saying, here's how I want to design it, here's how quickly I see myself getting there. Here are my immediate needs. These are my next three hires in this order, and these are the skill sets that I need.
- [36:40]
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- [38:41]
Justin Colby
The thing I would add to this is there's a lot of people, especially in the small businesses. You know, 500 to a couple million dollar small business. They hire because they just don't want to do the work anymore. And that is a damn sure way to find people that aren't going to stay because you're not. Alternately, to your point, they're not hiring for the end in mind. They're not hiring for a reason. They're just hiring because I don't really feel like doing this anymore. I have so much on my plate, I'm just going to hire. There's no real care to it. They're not really taking in consideration of who am I hiring, why am I hiring? How long can they be with me. Are they going to see the vision and the upside or they're just hiring to fill a seat? Right. So I see that break all the time in, in this community when people start to hire. The other thing I see, and I want your perspective on is when hiring, does offering higher income and benefits just keep people longer and.
- [39:38]
Ian Watts
Absolutely not. Okay, I didn't mean to jump in so quickly.
- [39:41]
Venture Global Representative
Go ahead.
- [39:42]
Justin Colby
Well, so does money, higher income benefits keep people longer? And if not, why?
- [39:51]
Ian Watts
Here's the deal. Salary and benefits will be enough to bring people in. It's culture that gets them to stay. I'll repeat that because it's really, really important. Salary or higher income and benefits will bring people in, but it's culture that gets them to stay. We are human beings, right? And at a certain point, most of us get to the point where we realize, this is not making me happy. And if you're going to spend a third of your waking life, I mean, think about that. We spend a third of our lives at work and some people will grit their way through it. But I think more and more, especially in this day and age, we have made the connection that money does not equal happiness. More people are much more interested in being fulfilled. So if that means I have to take a little bit less money, but I can work every single day by doing work that's meaningful and doing with people that I enjoy, with people who I feel like care about me, that's what's going to get your people to stay. Even when some of them, it's in their best interest to leave. And I would even dare say that you should encourage them to that end. Right. Because when you care about me, you don't just care about me within the context of this company.
- [41:06]
Justin Colby
That's right.
- [41:06]
Ian Watts
You care about me as a person. And as much as I love to keep you, the reality is this. It's better for you to go because based upon your skill set, your capacity and what you've communicated that your goals and dreams are, it will be better suited for you to leave. And you still have to beat people off with a stick because you have treated them so well. So it can be golden handcuffs for a little bit, the money that brings people in. But ultimately it's going to be the culture, it's going to be how they're treated, the contributions that they're making and how fulfilled they are that's going to keep them.
- [41:40]
Justin Colby
I think a different way of saying the same thing is you might keep them longer than someone who pays less, but they're not going to be engaged.
- [41:48]
Ian Watts
Absolutely.
- [41:49]
Justin Colby
This goes back to the start of our episode. They're going to be there for a paycheck in covering their medical bills, right? Like, they are not there because they're loving it. They don't feel a purpose, they don't feel fulfilled. They're literally like, oh, I'm gonna ride this gravy train until I friends that have W2s that have a pretty high title with some very large income, they're like, I do literally the minimum that needs to be done to show like, I'm worthy of the title, but there's not a ounce of me that goes beyond it. And I'm like, yeah.
- [42:25]
Ian Watts
And one. One thing that I think is important to note is cliche, but it's true. You can buy a hand, but you have to win a heart. You can buy a hand, but a hurt has to be won. And most people think that fulfillment has to come from the actual job. That's not actually the case. You don't necessarily have to be in love with the product or service now. You can't be vehemently against it, right? You can't do something that's in conflict where you have this cognitive dissonance, where your values and beliefs are not in alignment with what's being offered. That's a recipe for disaster and it's not sustainable. However, you don't necessarily have to get your people to love the product or service that you offer. If you can touch them on a deep level and they can reframe their job as a place that's life giving, right? If they can feel good about offering something of quality to the public, but they feel great about who you are and how you treated them and how you make them feel and the fulfillment that they have by coming to this job every day and working with the other, other team members that have their backs, that they know I'm more than just a number, I'm more than just a cog. Again, I am in fact a human being and not a human doing. And you care about me on a human level, I'm going to be three and a half times more likely to not just do enough to get fired. You know what I mean?
- [43:57]
Justin Colby
It's what you're saying. I'm going to switch us a little bit. Same vein. I think there's a lot of blood in the streets when it comes to companies retaining employees. I think they are cutting costs at a fast level. And I want to hear your take on this. And I think there's a Lot of harm being done to humans that don't have a protective net. So the entrepreneur DNA is a community built around business owners and C level sweet individuals. I believe everyone needs to recognize one quick thing fast. No one's coming to save you. And if you don't have a side hustle, if you don't have a business that you can start on your own, on the side while you're still working. Now I'm not going against him saying, saying, you know, I'm not trying to intentionally at least say quit your job. That's not what I'm saying.
- [44:44]
Ian Watts
Sure.
- [44:44]
Justin Colby
I just think, and I want your perspective because you live in the HR seat. People need to be thinking about how do I protect myself right now? How do I continue to make money? And if, if Ian is right right now and saying, you need to, you know, people are going to let you go because they really care about you. That might be one fact, because they can see you're not really. They also might just let you go by caring about you, but they don't have any other choice.
- [45:11]
Ian Watts
Right.
- [45:12]
Justin Colby
And that I think is, I mean, you probably know more stats than I do, but tens of thousands of jobs have been, if not, you know, hundreds of thousands over the last 45 days. And I think it's just the terror is going to continue in the workspace.
- [45:26]
Ian Watts
It is going to continue. I do think though that as history repeats itself, you're going to find these massive layoffs and then you're going to find that many companies have over indexed with the layoffs because AI is phenomenal. But the reality is AI cannot replace real leadership. Right. That is a human centered proposition. So. But to the point broadly, more broadly speaking, to the point that you made, the entrepreneur in me is extremely insecure for others based upon what we're seeing in the market. I think we do ourselves a disservice if we're working in a corporate environment and we're not thinking about what else we might be doing, how else we might be able to, even if we say, even if we don't take it a step to the step that we're starting our own business, at least you need to be retooling your skills. That's at a bare minimum.
- [46:34]
Justin Colby
Bare minimum.
- [46:35]
Ian Watts
Right. But, but the entrepreneur in me is saying, I love the idea of you at least freelancing your skills. Maybe you don't want to build a sustainable and scalable business. You want to build a practice type company where it's just you, maybe you and one other person that you bring in where everything is based upon your individual efforts. I'm fine with that. But I so wholeheartedly agree with you that if you don't see that the writing is on the wall and that you really need to be doing some preparatory work because there are very few industries that are safe. You need to be thinking about if I, if my job were to be eliminated and they're in across all industries, there's a strong possibility that within each industry there are segments of that that you literally don't need the same type of personnel that you used to have. It's really, really tough. It's a hard thing to say, but. But creative destruction is real, Right. So a breakthrough in one industry that crushes an old one creates new opportunities. So if you could get on the bleeding edge of that from an entrepreneurial perspective or just by simply retooling, I think you would do yourself a great kindness.
- [47:49]
Justin Colby
I love what you said. Sharpen your skills. Right. Like, I'm not one of those that like fear monger this whole thing, although my personal belief is it's going to get a lot worse.
- [48:00]
Ian Watts
Yeah, that's not fear mongering. I believe it's just being real, it's being aware, it's cognizant of what's going on in the environment, but it's why,
- [48:08]
Justin Colby
you know, and you've been a consultant and a coach for so many years and, and as have I. And I think everyone needs to lean into, leaning into meeting Ian Watts, connecting with Ian Watts, leaning into the entrepreneur DNA, if nothing more. Harness your skills, refine your skills, forge new skills. Right. I mean, you and I have done consultant work that what you were just saying is like, you don't maybe need to go start a business, but how can you sell yourself and the value that you have over 15 years working in X industry and say, hey, I can consult with so and so and you make an extra 10 grand, 15 grand, 20 grand, they absolutely away. Right. Put it down, you put in this. Oh, shit, savings, Right. That's what Ian's talking about. And you know, to kind of close the interview. I'd love for people to be able to reach out to you, talk to you a little bit about their business, hr. Being an employee, maybe not knowing what to do. How can people find you?
- [49:05]
Ian Watts
Sure. So if your people are interested in getting help with hr, right, all things hiring, engagement, performance, retention, you could go to two places. My website is employees success company.com. that's employees success company.com. or check me out on LinkedIn Ian m. Watts on LinkedIn.
- [49:24]
Justin Colby
Yeah, dude, this guy is special. You know, he is also going to be in the community, the Entrepreneur DNA.
- [49:31]
Ian Watts
Absolutely.
- [49:32]
Justin Colby
Dot com. So if you aren't, I, we both implore you. It's less than a gym membership every month. You can sharpen your skills. You, you can get advisement from Ian and so many other incredible individuals, myself and others get in these groups, get around these people. It's going to help you over the next 18 to 24 months. But Ian Watts will be there, brother. I appreciate your time. Get over to his website, check him out. And then. I am Justin Colby. This is the Entrepreneur DNA. If you thought someone should hear this, share at least two of your friends. Appreciate it. There you guys.
- [50:02]
Ian Watts
Thank you, sir.