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Workplace MVP: Jim Mortensen, R3 Continuum

September 30, 2021 by John Ray

Jim Mortensen
Minneapolis St. Paul Studio
Workplace MVP: Jim Mortensen, R3 Continuum
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Jim Mortensen

Workplace MVP:  Jim Mortensen, R3 Continuum

Noting not only parallels but lessons to be learned, Jim Mortensen, President of R3 Continuum, reflected on his experience of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the current pandemic. He and host Jamie Gassmann discussed how business culture was impacted by 9/11, the actions leaders can take during traumatic events, how what was learned after 9/11 helped him better address the leadership challenges of the pandemic, and much more. Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

Jim Mortensen, President, R3 Continuum

Jim Mortensen, President, R3 Continuum

Jim Mortensen is President of R3 Continuum (R3c), a global leader in behavioral health and security solutions to cultivate and protect workplace wellbeing in a complex and often dangerous world. R3c’s continuum of tailored support services includes crisis prevention, preparedness & response, specialized consulting, evaluations, employee outreach, training, protective services, and more.

Jim is responsible for all facets of the business, including Sales, Marketing, Quality, Clinical Behavioral and Medical Services, Business Development, HR, and Client Services.

Prior to joining R3c in 2013, Jim was a vice president at Benesyst where he was responsible for Client Relationships, Product Development and Operations. Jim has an extensive background in the Health Care and Financial Services industries, including time spent at Ameriprise and UnitedHealth Group. He has a passion for leading growing organizations to provide outstanding service.

In addition to his experience in product development and operations, Jim has an MBA in Finance and is both a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and a Certified Internal Auditor.

LinkedIn

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Workplace MVP is brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. Now, here’s your host, Jamie Gassmann.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:25] Hi, everyone. Your host, Jamie Gassmann, here and welcome to this special edition of Workplace MVP. Over this last month, as we have all, at some point, reflected as a nation on the events of 9/11, it is common for most of us to recall where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the news of the attacks. I know I vividly remember where I was. And I have had conversations with many others over the last 20 years that have had the same types of recollection.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:53] Looking back on September 11th, 2001 and jumping forward to now, 2021, and the world we live in today with the COVID-19 pandemic, and hearing how employers are increasing and focusing efforts on providing mental health support for their employees, it leaves me wondering, how did employers respond and support employees in the immediate moments, days, weeks, and now years following the events of 9/11? How did the attacks change how business leaders react and respond to disruption in their workplace, particularly as it relates to supporting the well-being of their employees?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:30] Well, with us today to share his experience and key learnings as a business leader during 9/11 is Workplace MVP Jim Mortensen, who is the President for our show sponsor, R3 Continuum. Welcome to the show, Jim.

Jim Mortensen: [00:01:44] Thanks, Jamie. Glad to be here.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:47] So, let’s start out with you walking our listeners through your career journey and how you came to be the president at R3 Continuum.

Jim Mortensen: [00:01:55] Okay. Well, sometimes I talk about my career as kind of a testament to transferable skills. So, my educational background is in accounting and finance. And that’s usually where I would start in a company because it’s the most obvious kind of skill that people can grab onto. But what I would do was, I was in finance and then I went into project management, product development, client service.

Jim Mortensen: [00:02:30] And what I found was the reality is, is that, product development, client service, and finance have to work together all the time. But they really don’t know what the other one is talking about. And since I had been in all three, I kind of coalesce and get people unified in the goals that they were going for.

Jim Mortensen: [00:02:54] So, frequently, product development, people go to client service and say, “Here’s what we want to do.” And client service rolls their eyes and says, “You have no idea what you’re asking.” I’d throw some client service in ops terms out there just to say, “Yeah. I know exactly what I’m doing to you. So, let’s figure out how to to make this work.” And with that, I worked in various large companies like American Express and UnitedHealth Group.

Jim Mortensen: [00:03:24] But I, also, through all of that, would look for kind of the small entrepreneurial groups within those large companies, because what I really love to do is go into an area that is either really falling down and/or is experiencing explosive growth. And what I would consistently see happen is, when you’re going from that kind of small boutique into a mainline business, the volumes are crushing you. And they have largely succeeded and thrived almost through a lack of process. They’re very hands-on. They adjust to everything that’s going. And the challenge is, when the volumes get that high, if you don’t change how you’re doing it, you won’t continue.

Jim Mortensen: [00:04:15] So, I really love going in there and talking about we’re going to preserve the core, but to preserve that core and remain client focused and nimble, we have to change how we do that. And that’s incredible both from a tactical standpoint and from a culture standpoint. It’s a very challenging time, and I found that I just really love that kind of approach.

Jim Mortensen: [00:04:44] Well, after being in big companies, I then moved into small to midsized companies. And really, when you’re leading in that kind of an organization, the whole company is kind of a boutique entrepreneurial group and they need people who can move across processes. So, it really was a good fit for me, and that’s how I transitioned into smaller companies.

Jim Mortensen: [00:05:09] And then, when I heard about R3 and what they did, it was just such a core, in Simon Sinek’s “why”, it just really fit for me. So, I just have a passion for what R3 does.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:24] Great. And it fits well within our description of our show today in talking about 9/11 and where you were at, you know, career-wise during that timeframe, because R3 was a big responder to 9/11 in terms of the psychological first aid for employees and other victims.

Jim Mortensen: [00:05:42] Sure.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:42] So, let’s kind of dive into that a little bit and talk about, you know, on the day of 9/11 – and I know you’ve mentioned American Express – you’re working at American Express Financial Advisors. Can you share with us what was your role at that time? Where were you officed? How many employees did you have? You know, where were they located? And kind of just share a background on that.

Jim Mortensen: [00:06:03] Sure. Sure. As you said, I was at American Express Financial Advisors, and I was, at that time, leveraging my finance background. I was in charge of forecasting and budgeting for that company, which I think at that time was about 700 million a year in revenue. And I had just recently taken over that job. I had just recently gotten a new boss, who, ironically, was commuting from Toronto at the time. And I had about five employees. We were all based in the IDS Center in Downtown Minneapolis.

Jim Mortensen: [00:06:40] I was driving to work when I heard on the radio that the plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. And I think, like a lot of us, I was kind of in shock. And I remember on the drive, they were reporting about the first one hitting and I thought, “What a horrible accident.” And then, the second one hit, and we kind of all realized this isn’t just a random accident. So, I think I spent most of that day kind of in shock.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:07:11] And you heard about it driving to work and knowing the towers were the largest towers, I believe, in the country. The IDS is one of the largest towers in Minneapolis, so were there any feelings that you were feeling as you continue to your commute in? Or any thoughts that ran through your mind?

Jim Mortensen: [00:07:32] Yeah. And, in fact, we sent everybody home by about noon, in part because, to your point, the IDS Tower was one of the tallest towers in the Midwest, so we felt like we could be a target. I mean, it’s kind of like the early days of COVID, nobody really knew what was going on. And I think, also, a lot of us – I had two elementary school aged kids and my wife was at work in the schools – I think we all just wanted to be home and close to our families at that time. So, it’s a combination of that and a real concern about the security that our whole company just shut down and sent people home.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:23] Interesting. So, you know, with the employees – I know you mentioned that you shut it down and everybody went home to be with their families – what were some of the communications that were going out to your employees at the time? As a leader, what were some of the things that you were asked to do from the organization?

Jim Mortensen: [00:08:45] Sure. Well, at least in the early days, I think, we made a call that’s probably not correct, but was fairly common then, is that, there was one response for the people in New York, where our headquarters were, and a very different response for the rest of the country. So, the CEO of American Express, I think, got really good press for how he handled 9/11, because he was out there and talking and communicating with employees and creating new spots for people to work. Because the American Express Tower actually was connected via tunnels to the World Trade Center, and they used the same heating and HVAC systems.

Jim Mortensen: [00:09:42] So, actually, for a while there, we assumed everything in the American Express Tower may have been incinerated by the heat coming through. But, actually, when the towers came down, it tore off the external skin of the American Express Tower. That’s how close they were to the World Trade Center. So, there was a lot of focus on trying to find all our employees.

Jim Mortensen: [00:10:06] I remember being in conference calls in the days after that. And you’d just be waiting for everybody to check in and wondering are they all still alive. And it was really kind of a weird scenario. You know, it’s not, “Gee. Is this person late to the meeting?” It’s “Is this person still alive?” We were quite fortunate, I think the only American Express employees who were killed that day was a group of five to seven people in our travel company who actually worked onsite for one of the companies in the tower.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:10:47] Interesting. So, with your employees here in the Minneapolis area, you know, what was the feeling like when you returned to the office and knowing that there were employees that were in the tower and that there were employees that were close to the vicinity of the towers? You know, what were some of the feelings that were going through that work environment? And how did you show support to them and how did you navigate that?

Jim Mortensen: [00:11:16] Yeah. There was a lot of confusion. And, again, where I think we fell down as there wasn’t a lot of communication to the non-headquarters people, so we found out about it in drips and drabs. And, again, while I think the company did an amazing job of working with the people directly impacted, I think back at that time, it took a long time before people realized this really impacted employees across the country. And even if they did realize it, I think back in that time, there wasn’t a lot of understanding of how you help and support employees during that time.

Jim Mortensen: [00:12:03] I mean, I remember for weeks, my boss, whose family was still in Toronto – if you remember, you couldn’t fly – he’s stuck in the U.S. And I started to think, from his family’s standpoint, their dad is working in a foreign country that’s been attacked. And, finally, after a few weeks, he rented a car and drove home just to go see his family. And I just think we all just really didn’t understand completely how to deal with that. So, again, we did a great job with the people we knew were directly impacted and a lesser job, frankly, for the people who were indirectly impacted.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:12:48] Yeah. Did the organization, let’s say, like fast forward to some of the anniversaries passed in the first year or even maybe in the immediate? I know you kind of mentioned that there’s a lot of support that was provided kind of in that New York area and that concentration of employees that were more directly impacted. Did they eventually kind of catch on to some of the support that might have been needed? And if they did, how did that look and feel as they kind of progressed in their learning of everything?

Jim Mortensen: [00:13:21] Yeah. I think what they did a lot of is, as they started to recover the tower – and the tower for months afterwards was actually used as a staging area for the fire and police, et cetera – American Express had abandoned the tower and put people out to remote offices and such. So, as they started to regain the tower, they did a lot of work with people around, “Will you feel comfortable coming back to work in Downtown New York and within sight of where the World Trade Center was?” And I think they had a real understanding of that’s going to be traumatic for people. And some people desperately want that in order to recover their normal. And some people don’t want that reminder.

Jim Mortensen: [00:14:17] And, again, I see a lot of parallels to today. If you think about it, I mean, we’re having the same dialogues today, do people feel safe coming back to the office. And people love working from home, but they miss their coworkers. And I think that’s some of the same impacts we’re seeing today. I just think we’re a lot more aware of mental health issues and aware of why the employer should care and be engaged in that. As opposed to, “Well, that’s really a personal issue. We shouldn’t be involved.” Does that make sense?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:14:55] It does. Yeah. And it’s interesting, I’ve heard in some of the other interviews and kind of stories I’ve heard from the 9/11 during this anniversary timeframe where they’ve mentioned that that was really kind of the turning point for the mental health focus in workplaces. That that really was kind of where employers realized there was another part to business continuity that wasn’t just systems and operations. That it was really, you know, your people. And it sounds like you saw very much something similar within the Ameriprise that they did have to make that shift over to looking at their people.

Jim Mortensen: [00:15:31] Well, some of my experience was impacted by the fact that I was in finance and in charge of budgeting and forecasting. And what happened on 9/11 had some pretty severe impacts on Ameriprise from a financial standpoint. As I recall, every one percent movement in the market impacted our bottom line by a million dollars a year. So, I spent a horrendous amount of time post-9/11 focused on reforecasting the company over and over and over again.

Jim Mortensen: [00:16:10] And at that time, particularly in that area, it wasn’t, “How are you dealing with what just happened?” It’s, “Work lots of hours and figure out how we keep the company going.” And that’s not bad people. That’s just the way things were back then. It’s like, “Okay. Well, that happened. Now, what’s our revenue going to be next month?” That’s kind of the approach.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:16:42] Yeah. It sounds similar to our interview with Col. Williams talking about his experience in the Pentagon during 9/11 and having to go back on a plane that following Monday back at it to work. So, very much during that timeframe, it sounds like it was very similar amongst other industries as well.

Jim Mortensen: [00:17:01] Yeah. And there was nothing intentional or negative about it. It’s just kind of the culture back then and the lack of understanding of how it’s impacting. And I guess in some ways, it’s also a way some people do recover well. I think it helped me to not focus on that and instead focus on work. That’s a certain approach of maintaining my normal. It was to bury back into work again.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:17:30] Yeah. Absolutely. So, we’re going to take a moment and hear from our sponsor. So, Workplace MVP is sponsored by R3 Continuum. R3 Continuum is a global leader in providing expert, reliable, responsive, and tailored behavioral health, crisis, and violent solutions to promote workplace wellbeing and performance in the face of an ever changing and often unpredictable world. Learn more about how R3 Continuum can tailor a solution for your organization’s unique challenges by visiting r3c.com today.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:18:02] So, now, looking at you as a leader during 9/11, in your perspective looking back on that, what would be some of the changes or impacts that you had in your leadership style or how you lead or view leadership today?

Jim Mortensen: [00:18:18] It’s a great question. I think one of the things I’ve really learned, both from 9/11 and also, frankly, from working where I work now is, in periods of stress, whether it be work stress or, certainly, even more so non-work trauma, it’s really important for leaders to be visible. I think like all of us, there are times during events like that, or even death of a coworker, or something we’ve had that happen here, all of us, as individuals, get struck with the, “I don’t know what to say. What’s the right thing to say right now?” And a fairly natural reaction to not knowing what to say is to say nothing.

Jim Mortensen: [00:19:13] And leaders, in particular, to go hide in your office and say nothing is the worst thing you can do. You’ve got to be out. You’ve got to be visible. And in certain events like 9/11, like the death of a coworker, leaders have to understand that that’s a time not to put your leader face on. It’s a time people want to see you as a human being. So, it’s okay to cry, or to show emotion, or to link with people that way. That’s what people are looking to their leaders for how to handle this situation, and they want to know that their leader cares.

Jim Mortensen: [00:19:57] And I think that’s part of what I really learned from 9/11, is, those kind of events require leaders to step out, step into it, and just be visible, and be human, and deal with you have to help people understand, meet, and, frankly, accept that this is a highly emotional time. It’s a very disruptive time. And we have to work through that before we can be productive again.

Jim Mortensen: [00:20:36] And then, the other thing that I’ve really learned through it all is, people have different ways of dealing with it. So, a question I’ve gotten from employees as well, how do we help someone so during this? And the answer is, “Well, you ask them what they’re needing. And then, you believe what they tell you.” So, the idea that you’ve got to go through grief a certain way is really kind of old school. Most people are not in denial. They’re just working through it in their own way. So, you ask them what they need and you believe them when they tell you what they’re needing. Did that kind of get out what you’re wanting to know?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:21:20] Yes. Absolutely. And I think what’s interesting about that is, really, what you’re sharing is, is that a leader has to demonstrate, just similar to any other cultural type nuance within an organization, whether it be “I really want a positive atmosphere”, well, the leader has to demonstrate that. And when you’re going through crisis or a traumatic event, like 9/11, it’s really no different. You showing them it’s okay to have that emotion, it’s okay to feel that way, I think probably provides just a sense of comfort in itself to those employees in knowing they can handle it and kind of work through it the way that is best for them.

Jim Mortensen: [00:21:59] Yeah. Before people can be productive, they have to feel both physically and psychologically safe. So, in R3, during the pandemic, the commitment has been, as long as there are not performance issues, we will not require you to be on work at the office unless and until you feel physically and psychologically safe being here.

Jim Mortensen: [00:22:26] Now, we’re in a unique position where we can do that. Not every company can. But the point is, ignoring the physical and psychological safety will not get people productive faster. It will slow it down. So, you got to start there before you can get the business going again.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:22:47] Yeah. It’s kind of like when you think of the great resignation that a lot of organizations are facing. Some of that is a reflection of that employee looking at their work life and going, “Yeah. It doesn’t really fit me anymore.” But you make a valid point that by being able to meet that employee where it’s comfortable for them and it feels safe for them, both physically and psychologically, you’re able to create that atmosphere that helps them to know this is a good place for you. You know, it probably helps with that movement.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:23:18] So, from your perspective – you know, you talked a lot about kind of culturally and just how work was back during the 9/11 timeframe – thinking about it now – obviously, it’s been 20 years we’ve got, I believe, two new generations to the workforce in that timeframe – what do you think has changed in terms of an employee’s expectation of leadership when events of this magnitude and that level of disruption happen in a workplace?

Jim Mortensen: [00:23:52] Another great question. I think even beyond big events, the whole view of what companies should deal with and what’s appropriate to deal with at work has shifted dramatically, both through the generations and through time. So, kind of I’m a late boomer and lots of things that are discussed every day in the workplace, it’s not that those aren’t topics that are important to general society. It’s that those topics have nothing to do with the business so they’re not issues for the business to take on. Well, I even realized how out of date that sounds when I say it. I mean, it’s kind of the same as the ledger paper I used to foot and cross foot because we didn’t have Excel at that time.

Jim Mortensen: [00:25:00] So, there’s been quite an evolution about what topics companies can and should be addressing. And employees expect their employers to address these issues. And some of that is, you know, “What are my behavioral health needs? I’m feeling burned out. I’m stressed out.” And they expect their employer to help with that.

Jim Mortensen: [00:25:26] And I think the flip side, if you want to be a pure what’s the return on investment of doing this? I think that has shown to be a false idea that ignoring that is because it has no impact on the business. It has a huge impact on the business, both in terms of short term productivity and, frankly, in terms of retention of employees. Employees want to know they’re cared about. Employees want to know that their company is doing things that are helpful and productive in society.

Jim Mortensen: [00:26:07] And to the extent employers do that, they garner more than just somebody working for a paycheck. And they get their passion and their commitment and their retention. And so, I think the whole shift, certainly, 9/11 started some of that. But there’s a lot of things going on that have made a dramatic shift during my career of what is expected of companies.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:26:38] Yeah. And so, with that, kind of keeping on to some of that same vein, if you were to provide some type of piece of guidance to our listeners for how they could effectively lead when an incident occurs, whether it’s a massive event like 9/11 or even smaller scale incidents can have a similar impact on a workplace when there’s, maybe, a death of an employee or coworker that was well-liked or loved – even sometimes customers, I’ve heard, can have a big impact on those work environments – if you were going to give guidance to a leader that’s listening right now on what they can do to have that impact on an employee, what would you leave them with?

Jim Mortensen: [00:27:25] Well, obviously, the business we’re in is helping employers and leaders with that. So, getting a counselor to come onsite and help employees with that, I think, is incredibly helpful. We went through it at one point where one of our employees was killed in a car accident on the weekend. I’m fortunate enough that I could pick up the phone and call one of our employees who’s probably the global expert in these kinds of things and have him guide me through it. And we brought a counselor onsite, and a lot of what it is, is just gathering people up and meeting them where they’re at.

Jim Mortensen: [00:28:10] And I remember the meetings we had, and some of it was really sad, and some of it was really funny as we would recall fun stories about the person, and a lot of it is – they call it – normalizing your reaction, just kind of meeting people where they are and letting them process.

Jim Mortensen: [00:28:27] So, I think what you don’t want to do is force people to pretend things are normal before they’re ready to. So, again, I think it’s being very in place, be out there, talk to your people. It’s a lot tougher right now with people working remote. And we see a lot of articles about how do you find out how people are doing when they’re all remote. It’s toughed right now. But just because it’s tougher doesn’t mean it’s not needed.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:29:01] Yeah. So, how have some of the employers that R3 has worked with, you know, handled this mass shift to remote and still being able to provide that support? What are some of the approaches that maybe R3 has built into their programming or their service delivery that has helped to make sure that employers can still reach them where they’re at?

Jim Mortensen: [00:29:25] Well, one of the things we’ve developed is an ability to do – we call it – onsite response. Typically, when something happens in the workplace, we will send a counselor onsite to talk with the employees. That’s not so effective if the people aren’t onsite. So, in hospitals, we’re still going in and working with the people in the emergency departments, in the ICU.

Jim Mortensen: [00:29:50] But if it’s an office where everybody’s remote, what we’ve developed then is an ability to do that through Zoom calls and things like that, so that we can still help the people process and help them process with their coworkers through the same vehicles that they use for other meetings. And, in that way, the fact that they’re not all in one spot doesn’t prevent the ability to reach out.

Jim Mortensen: [00:30:18] We’ve also, for a long time, for companies that have very few people onsite, so retailers who only have a couple of people onsite during a robbery, going onsite isn’t viable for them. We have an ability to to do that telephonically. So, we just use the technology tools we have in order to continue to provide the service. We believe onsite and in person is always the best response, but it isn’t the only response. And while the other responses may not be as effective, it’s better than not doing it. So, you try to reach people in the best way that you can.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:31:04] Fantastic. So, in looking at your career and you look at kind of over your career journey, if you had to choose one thing or accomplishment that you’re most proud of, what would you choose?

Jim Mortensen: [00:31:21] I think the thing I’m most proud of is the way we dealt with last year. Last year was, by far, the most challenging time for any company and any set of leaders. And if you think back to the start of COVID how rapidly things were changing. I remember mid-one week, people raising, “Are we going to send people home and work remote?” And I wondered why people were overreacting so much. And by Monday of the next week, we had 100 percent of our people at home. And I felt like we were too slow to react. And it was just things were changing that rapidly.

Jim Mortensen: [00:32:13] And the thing I’m proud of is that the company was able to react and respond that quickly. And through the weeks and months following, we went through a period that was the busiest we’ve ever had. And then, probably six months of the business being very, very slow. And we didn’t do layoffs. We managed to just tough it out and get through that. And we kept finding out what do people need and getting support to them.

Jim Mortensen: [00:32:48] We reached out to families and asked what their kids needed. And we had days where one person would just take over and do Zoom calls with a bunch of kids and do crafts to take some of the pressure off of working parents. We had food delivered. We had counselors available. Just all the different things the company was able to bring to the table to help our employees while our employees were providing critical support to the infrastructure of our country. So, that’s what I’m proudest of is what we were able to do during that time.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:33:31] Yeah. Fabulous. Like, you were delivering on what you promised to your customers, to your employees, which is very honorable in terms of a lot of companies offer a lot of services, but sometimes don’t always return it back to those employees delivering it. So, that’s fantastic. So, if our listeners wanted to get a hold of you, how can they do that?

Jim Mortensen: [00:33:54] Well, I’m on LinkedIn. My email address is jim.mortensen@r3c.com. And you can look at our website. I’m happy to talk to anybody about what they’re facing and what their needs are.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:34:13] Well, thank you so much for being on the show with us today, Jim, and letting us celebrate you, and for sharing your stories and great advice with our listeners. We appreciate you and I know for sure that the organization does as well and as does your staff. So, thank you so much for being a part of our show.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:34:31] And we also want to thank our show sponsor, R3 Continuum, for supporting the Workplace MVP podcast. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you’ve not already done so, make sure to subscribe so you get our most recent episodes and other resources. You can also follow our show on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter at Workplace MVP. And if you are a workplace MVP or know someone who is, we want to know. Email us at info@workplace-mvp.com. Thank you all for joining us and have a great rest of your day.

 

Tagged With: 9/11, crisis communications, crisis leadership, employee behavioral health, Jamie Gassmann, Jim Mortensen, Leadership, leading business during pandemic, pandemic, R3 Continuum, stress in a pandemic, Workplace MVP, workplace wellness

Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Barbara Trautlein, Change Catalysts

September 29, 2021 by John Ray

Barbara Trautlein
Minneapolis St. Paul Studio
Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Barbara Trautlein, Change Catalysts
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Barbara Trautlein

Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Barbara Trautlein, Change Catalysts

Barbara Trautlein, Principal and Founder of Change Catalysts, joined host Jamie Gassmann on the first day of the SHRM 2021 conference. Barbara shared her history in change leadership, the CQ® System for Developing Change Intelligence® she pioneered, the neuroscience of change, and much more. Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

This show was originally broadcast live from the 2021 SHRM Annual Conference held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Barbara Trautlein, Ph.D., Principal and Founder, Change Catalysts

Barbara Trautlein
Barbara Trautlein, Ph.D., Principal and Founder, Change Catalysts

Barbara is Principal and Founder of Change Catalysts, the author of the best-selling book Change Intelligence: Use the Power of CQ to Lead Change that Sticks, and the originator of the CQ® System for Developing Change Intelligence®. For over 25 years, she has coached executives, trained leaders at all levels, certified change agents, and facilitated mission-critical transformations – achieving bottom-line business and powerful leadership results for clients. She is gifted at sharing strategies and tactics that are accessible, actionable, and immediately applicable.

In 2015, Barbara was recognized as the Change Management Consultant of the Year by the Association of Change Management Professionals-Midwest Region.

In addition to her “hands-on” work with clients, she is a recognized expert, author, and researcher on leadership and change management best practices. It is this blend of research and real-world expertise that has made her an in-demand speaker at conferences in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Barbara holds a doctorate in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan.

LinkedIn

Change Catalysts

Change Catalysts’ mission is to catalyze change successful and sustainable change by partnering with clients to plan, execute, and enhance organizational, team, and individual performance, providing high impact, results-focused, and customized solutions through their deep expertise in Change Management and Leadership Development.

Change Catalysts is the home of the CQ System for Developing Change Intelligence. They use our innovative, proprietary models and methodologies to help clients lead change more effectively, both individually and collectively. Services and tools include the CQ Assessment, CQ Workshops, and Webinars, and the CQ Certification Program, which is approved for credits by the ACMP, HRCI, and PMI.

They have been in business for over 25 years, and their tremendous amount of repeat business speaks to their high quality and customer focus. Clients served include Ascension Healthcare, BP, Cisco, Ford, Steel Dynamics, and ThyssenKrupp.

Change Catalysts, LLC is a Certified Woman-Owned Business.

Company website

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

Jamie Gassmann, Host, “Workplace MVP”

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:03] Broadcasting live from the SHRM 2021 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in workplace behavioral health, crisis, and security solutions. Now, here’s your host.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:22] Hey, everyone. Jamie Gassmann here, your host of Workplace MVP. And I’m broadcasting from the SHRM 2021 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. And with me today, I have our first guest of the show, Barbara Trautlein from Change Catalyst. Welcome to the show.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:00:38] Thank you so much.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:40] And so, Barbara, can you tell us a little bit about you, and Change Catalysts, and what your organization does, who you work with?

Barbara Trautlein: [00:00:46] Yeah. Absolutely. So, at Change Catalyst, we’re the home of the CQ System for Developing Change Intelligence. So, we help organizations. We have people, teams, and organizations to lead change with greater confidence and competence and less stress and frustration. And so, we are a combination of a change management and leadership development firm. So, we work with, you know, many large global corporations down to nonprofits.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:01:15] I got started down this journey, my first day on the real job, I was part of a consulting team that was working at a steel mill that was in bankruptcy. So, I was 25 years old, and I get up to introduce myself. It’s a room full of all men. They’re all about 20, 30, or 40 years older than me. And to a man, they’d worked in that mill their entire careers. And I talked about how we’re going to partner together to transform them to high performance, total quality, self-managed teams.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:01:44] I look in the back of the room, a gentleman stands up, 6’5″, 250 pounds like the Hulk, stomps to the middle of the room and says, “We’re steelworkers and we don’t listen to girls.” So, that was my first day on the job as a change leader. That’s what got me down this path of equipping and empowering my fellow change leaders, and probably everybody who’s listening.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:02] That’s a fascinating story. Wow. And a little bit intimidating, I’m sure. But you probably held to your message and you were like, “No. I’ve got this. I’m fully confident.”

Barbara Trautlein: [00:02:14] Well, actually, it was very, very interesting because, of course, I had a lot of empathy for him, actually, right? Because the mill was already in bankruptcy, it was the only job they knew, it was the only job in town. They desperately didn’t want the doors to close forever. So, I had a lot empathy for the targets of the change. However, I also knew right from that first day on the job, there was a heck of a lot of fear, threat, intimidation in the change leader standing in front of the room. And that’s what got me down my now 30 plus year path.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:42] Wow. And usually that is the unknown of change, right? That kind of, you know, prevents people from being a little bit more accepting of it. And they kind of get a little bit more of that fear steps in which kind of overrides some of maybe their more natural thinking about the change that’s occurring.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:02:59] Absolutely. And as we now know from the neuroscience of change, to our brain, change equals pain. Literally, when neuroscientists place electrodes on people’s brains and introduce them to a change, the same neuro receptors fire. When we get introduced to a change is when we feel physical pain. I wish I had that information 30 years ago. It’s really fascinating, absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:21] That’s fascinating. So, now, you were one of the pre-conference speakers today at SHRM, so talk to us a little bit about what did you present on. I’m sure it had changed in the title.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:03:29] It indeed did. Yeah. So, I talked about the fact that I’m sure everyone listening has heard of EQ or emotional intelligence. I talk about CQ or change intelligence. And I believe that we all need to be much smarter about how we’re leading ourselves and others through change. So, that’s what my pre-conference workshop is all about.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:48] Wonderful. And so, if you were going to look at the curriculum of your presentation and you had to identify, like, if I wanted these three things to be taken away by this audience, what would those three things be?

Barbara Trautlein: [00:03:58] To understand change intelligence is the awareness of our style leading change and the ability to adapt to be optimally effective across people in situations. So, what I wanted people to walk away with was an understanding of their own style of leading change, their strengths and their gaps, because what can we really change is only ourselves. So, start with ourselves. Like Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see.”

Barbara Trautlein: [00:04:21] Then, how can we use that information to build change intelligence teams and organizations? Because HR plays such a mission critical role. So, I wanted people to walk away with what’s the biggest frustration leading change? The number one topic is overcoming resistance to change. I talked about how can we reframe resistance from our enemy to our ally and use it as a powerful source of information that, again, we can use to adapt our style so we can give people what they need to get it, to want it, and to be able to do it. In other words, collaborate to lead change together.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:56] Wow. And as we know, the one thing that’s always a guarantee is that there’s going to be change.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:05:01] Absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:02] Especially over the last year. We’ve seen a lot of that constant change. So, I’m sure your presentation was absolutely fascinating to sit through and really appreciate you being with us on the show today.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:05:11] Thank you so much. Absolutely. And thank you so much for asking. Yes.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:18] Absolutely. And so, for those who want to be in touch with you? How would they be able to get a hold of you?

Barbara Trautlein: [00:05:22] They can absolutely go to my website, which is changecatalysts – with an S – .com. And there’s lots of free resources there. So, download two chapters of my book, see TED-like keynote talk, and then they can reach out and get in touch with me directly.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:05:40] And so, I’m really thrilled to work with the HR community, because so often what happens is that change is planned. It’s about to be rolled out. It gets thrown over the wall to human resources to communicate about, to train about. And HR professionals see so readily what the landmines are. And so, how can they, again, help avoid those landmines for their organizations? How can they get a seat at the table earlier? I think by becoming more change intelligent themselves, HR professionals can then be the light that transforms their organization to be more change capable.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:06:18] Awesome. Wonderful. Thank you again. It’s great chatting with you.

Barbara Trautlein: [00:06:21] Thank you so much for having me.

 

Tagged With: Barbara Trautlein, Change Catalysts, Change Intelligence, Change Intelligence: Use the Power of CQ to Lead Change that Sticks, Jamie Gassmann, leadership development, managing change, R3 Continuum, Workplace MVP

Kayla Curry, Organization Impact

September 28, 2021 by John Ray

Organization Impact
Nashville Business Radio
Kayla Curry, Organization Impact
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Organization Impact

Kayla Curry, Organization Impact (Nashville Business Radio, Episode 32)

Organization Impact CEO Kayla Curry joined host John Ray to discuss some of the challenges small and midsize businesses are facing now with turnover, hybrid work, and onboarding new employees. Kayla also discussed ways Organization Impact addresses these issues for clients, success stories, and much more. Nashville Business Radio is produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.

Organization Impact

Regardless of your product or service, your employees are the deciding factor in whether customers choose you or your competitor. At Organization Impact, they help you identify the talent, skills and strategies that define your competitive advantage and drive success.

Their learning experiences use an interactive teaching model that engages participants in a way that is fun and energetic yet also enables real learning and application to the workplace.

Workplace life can be hard. Regardless of your role, their team is the sounding board & guide to help you move forward in your goals. They provide coaching services to professionals in a variety of roles.

Their consulting services offer solutions when you need the benefit of best practices and expert insight into your business strategy.

Company website | LinkedIn

Kayla Curry, President/CEO, Organization Impact

Organization Impact
Kayla Curry. President and CEO, Organization Impact

Light bulbs are one of Kayla’s favorite things. More specifically, light bulbs coming on in people’s heads. Kayla is a thinker and practitioner in today’s marketplace. She helps organizations drive growth by creating and sustaining their competitive advantage. Through strategies that develop the critical talent, skills and capabilities, employee and customer engagement grow resulting in bottom-line results. Her industry experience spans 20+ years in both the corporate sector and non-profit world where she has worn hats such as Director of Organizational Strategy, Director of Human Resources and Director of Staff Development.

Kayla’s experience allows her to walk alongside your team to identify your people development needs then helps you discover a hands-on approach that advances your organization’s vision and profitability. She is president of Organization Impact, LLC and a member of the Society of Human Resources Management, Association of Talent Development, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Donelson/Hermitage Chamber of Commerce, L’Evate – a leadership community, and the Workforce Magazine Business Intelligence Board. Kayla holds a BS and MS in Organizational Communication from Murray State University. She is a DiSC Trainer, a certified StrengthsGenius facilitator, Registered Corporate CoachTM, and a certified John Maxwell Trainer and Coach.

She is the author of three books: “Leadership Shorts: Practical Tips When You Are at Wit’s End”; and the #1 Amazon bestsellers “The Complete Experience: Unlocking the secrets of online reviews that drive customer loyalty”; and “Unstuck: 10 Proven Strategies for Breaking Through the Barriers to Small Business Growth.” Organization Impact is a member of the Better Business Bureau.

LinkedIn

Questions and Topics

  • What are some of the biggest challenges facing employers right now?
  • What skills are critical for leaders in today’s marketplace?
  • What are some best practices companies are utilizing to retain staff?
  • What are some of the biggest issues facing teams today?
  • How is the nature of the workplace shifting?

Nashville Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the Nashville studio of Business RadioX®.  You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Tagged With: Human Resources, John Ray, Kayla Barrett, Kayla Curry, Nashville Business Radio, Organization Impact, people development, workplace

Mallory Kalajian, The Tom James Company

September 27, 2021 by John Ray

Mallory Kalajian
North Fulton Business Radio
Mallory Kalajian, The Tom James Company
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Mallory Kalajian

Mallory Kalajian, The Tom James Company (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 393)

A perfect fit and a seamless process with no supply chain issues make bespoke tailor The Tom James Company more popular than ever. Clothier Mallory Kalajian joined host John Ray to discuss their custom clothing process, what’s hot right now, tips on how and when to refresh your wardrobe, and much more.   North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The Tom James Company

Tom James Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of custom clothing. They make high-quality custom suits and custom dress shirts for busy professionals in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. They also provide all of the furnishings needed to complete your custom look. Their highly-trained bespoke tailors at Tom James of Atlanta come directly to your home or office, saving you valuable time.

Crafted using your exact measurements, custom clothing is the perfect expression of who you are – or who you intend to be.

It’s about getting what you want. The right fit. The right fabric. The right details. The right style. Their personal image consultants, also known as clothiers, help you choose from over 2000 custom fabrics. The Tom James Company can help you build your entire wardrobe, including suits, dresses, shirts, trousers, denim jeans, sport coats – even custom tuxedos.

Your Personal Clothier meets with you, at the luxury of your own schedule, in your home or office. Your time and convenience are their highest priorities.

You and your Clothier select the perfect attire for your business, casual, social, and formal needs – choosing from exclusive fabric and a wide array of custom features and options – all made to your personal measurements.

Using a pattern that is solely and exclusively yours, Tom James crafts your garments to your exact specifications in our own facilities responsibly. From Sheep to Suit, Tom James controls the entire process.

Your Clothier hand-delivers your garments, making any final alterations that may be needed. Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

Mallory Kalajian, Clothier, The Tom James Company

Mallory Kalajian, Clothier, The Tom James Company

Mallory Kalajian grew up in Alpharetta, Georgia, the oldest of two children to her parents Andy, President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, and Kay, an RN at a private OB-GYN practice. She grew up training for twelve years in classical ballet and other styles at North Atlanta Dance Academy in Johns Creek where she discovered her love of performing and the ability to connect with others through art.

She attended Kennesaw State University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a major in communication and public relations and a minor in dance. While in college, Mallory was hired as a jazz instructor at North Atlanta Dance Academy, professionally choreographed musicals for both Alpharetta High School and Dunwoody High School, and worked at Sephora as a makeup artist and beauty class instructor. Her experience at Sephora solidified her interest in luxury goods sales, so when she was approached about The Tom James Company by a long-time dance friend, the decision to build a business as a clothier and image consultant was easy.

Tom James is the world’s largest custo1be of custom clothing for their lifestyle, from casual looks for the weekend, to business casual, business professional, and formal attire. Mallory visits her clients in their home or office to offer a very convenient experience, world-class expertise and service, and an unbeatable selection of fabrics and garments from Tom James’ vertically integrated woolen mills and tailoring shops.

Mallory consults with her clients to design custom clothing to the specific needs and preferences of the client while considering multiple factors to keep them relevant and appropriate. Mallory finds great purpose and satisfaction in serving her clients, creating memorable experiences, and making them look and feel awesome and get many compliments, all while building a business that can help her reach her own goals both personally and professionally.

In her free time, Mallory enjoys live music, exploring new cuisines, travel, spending time in nature, and learning to ride motorcycles.

LinkedIn | Instagram

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray, and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

 

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.

Tagged With: A&S Culinary Concepts, clothier, custom clothing, custom tailoring, Mallory Kalajian, North Fulton Business Radio, renasant bank, The Tom James Company

Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Donna Fitzgerald, ProSymmetry

September 24, 2021 by John Ray

Donna Fitzgerald
Minneapolis St. Paul Studio
Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Donna Fitzgerald, ProSymmetry
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Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2021: Donna Fitzgerald, ProSymmetry

Donna Fitzgerald, Chief People Advocate at ProSymmetry, joined Jamie Gassman at the Workplace MVP Booth at SHRM 2021 to discuss resource management and how to adapt to current conditions to get strategy executed.  Donna presented at the Strategies and Innovation Theater during the conference. Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

This show was originally broadcast live from the 2021 SHRM Annual Conference held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Donna Fitzgerald, Chief People Advocate, ProSymmetry

Donna Fitzgerald
Donna Fitzgerald, Chief People Advocate, ProSymmetry

After advising PPM clients for ten years at Gartner, Donna’s only goal was to find a company whose mission matched her own. Her future employer of choice had to develop software that solved real-world problems and improved employees’ working life. When Prosymmetry hired her to write a white paper, she knew she’d found the right company. An additional advantage of working for Sean is that Donna now has the work-life balance to enjoy buying beads and making jewelry in her spare time.

LinkedIn

 

Tempus Resource by ProSymmetry

Tempus Resource has reshaped resource management for the world’s leading companies. Tempus Resource is a purpose-built resource forecasting and capacity planning solution. It is a standalone platform for all resource management and strategic decision-making activities.

Company website

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

Jamie Gassmann, Host, “Workplace MVP”

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the SHRM 2021 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in workplace behavioral health, crisis, and security solutions. Now, here’s your host.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:22] Hello, everyone. Jamie Gassmann here, your host of Workplace MVP, and we are broadcasting from the SHRM 2021 Conference here in Las Vegas, Nevada. And with me today is Donna Fitzgerald. She’s Chief People Advocate from ProSymmetry. Now, Donna, I understand you also have another title. Can you share that title with us and talk to us a little bit about how you came into this role?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:00:49] I’d be delighted to. So, my other title is Chief Product Evangelist. But what I found with the H.R. space is that it just implied I was only interested in pushing a product, and that is – anyone who knows me that’s so not me. Because the reason, after I retired from Gartner, the reason I came back to work was because I really felt that no one was taking a look at the fact that people weren’t liking their jobs. The engagement rate was – disengagement rate was going up, and we’ve got great work and great jobs, but we’ve got to clean up some of the mess so that we can get the right people in the right place at the right time. And, the best way to do that was software. And, software in this case really has changed the world, and people need to stop looking at it as we’re shilling something, but more saying now with SaaS, you could buy something for very inexpensive comparatively, and it’s going to let you do things you’ve never even dreamed to do it.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:55] Interesting. So, you came out of retirement.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:01:58] Out of retirement.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:59] And joined ProSymmetry. And so, now, are you, and I understand you’re working with a product, Tempus Resource. So, are you kind of part of the development of that? What’s your role with that?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:02:11] Well, so, I worked for Gartner for 10 years. I was a research vice president, and one of the things that the team at ProSymmetry wanted was not only my years and years of knowledge in what we could do to help people better get to the right work, how we could make strategy get executed. So, I’m not really working as a product manager, which I’ve done before, but more as a chief advisor and somebody talking to our clients because clients have business questions. And, I spent 10 years on the phone answering those questions at Gartner.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:51] Right. Well, there’s so much power in talking with your client directly, right, and hearing what their challenges are and what they’re experiencing. So, now, I understand – so we’re here in the expo and I know you presented at the Strategies and Innovation Theater.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:03:04] Yes.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:04] So, talk to me about what was your presentation on.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:03:07] So, one of the things, and I think it’s really important for everybody to understand, is if we want to get strategy executed, which is what we have to do in the post-COVID world, we can’t just keep pretending it’s business as usual. We’ve got to keep looking at what’s the right thing to do right now knowing that an event might happen and we’re going to have to change our minds. So, we’ve got to be agile. We’ve got to be flexible. We’ve got the knowledge to do this today, what we need, and this was the important message. We need finance, we need H.R., we need the PMO, and we need resource managers to all get-together and work together to solve the strategy to execution pipeline and not burn people out.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:02] Yeah.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:04:04] H.R. brings something to this. That the typical, you know, let’s just look at projects [inaudible] because it starts reinforcing career growth. It starts making sure that people get reskilled and upskilled, but not in an onerous sense, in a sense where they can say, “God, I really want to do that for a living,” or “I really want to learn that.” And, that’s what gets me excited.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:27] Like helping them find their passion almost.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:04:28] Absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:29] Yeah. Because you get a different caliber out of your employee when you’re putting them in something that they really enjoy.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:04:37] I’ve been privileged to actually manage quite a few programs and projects in my life, and I’ve had such incredible creative teams. And, now, when I talk to people that they’re burnt out and they’re quitting, and now if you burn out a software developer, they leave the profession. And, we can’t afford that.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:05:01] So, I’m going, “Why do we want burnout, unhappy people when I worked with people who loved what they did and knocked it out of the park?” And the same caliber of people. So, what’s the difference?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:15] Yeah. Interesting. From your perspective, in the conversations you’ve had with clients, in the research you’ve done on this topic, what do you think are some of the reasonings for the burnout? Is it workload? Is it just the balancing of home and life? What’s driving that?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:05:33] It is the workload, but not for the reason people think.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:39] Interesting.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:05:40] So, I talk to lots of people who say, “Well, you’re on this for 25%, you’re on this for 25%, you’re on that for 15%. And then, you know, I will kind of find something else for you to do because, oh my god, you’re underutilized.” And, the answer is no, you’re being driven to distraction. Because if you have to do brain work and software development and engineering, which is really the areas I focused in, that’s brain work. You kind of can do two things, maybe, in a day if you can break for lunch.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:06:21] I talked to clients who tell me, “Oh, well, we have an estimate of a thousand hours,” and I go, “Is that a thousand hours of work by one person over a certain period of time?” “No. Maybe, we’ll assign four people.” “Well, do you realize if you assign four people, that’s 1700 hours worth of work mathematically?” And, they go, “Ha? Ha?”

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:06:47] And, yet we could prove it. We have the hard data. We understand the way the brain works. And, yet people keep doing it, and that’s why we get burnout.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:06:58] So, when I was younger, people worked on a product, they worked on a project, and this is what Agile’s trying to do. But Agile has a hidden problem. That they’re just letting people randomly pull things down off the backlog that may have nothing to do with the same product. They may be helped tickets, they may be this. And, again, you’re not actually working to complete a body of work, and it’s the completion that makes people fulfilled.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:07:35] Oh, absolutely. Like, they’ve conquered something. You know, seeing that product come to conclusion makes a huge difference. You know, if it sits idle or it continues to just, you know, extend out, people tend to feel almost defeated and overwhelmed.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:07:50] I wouldn’t be able to recite it full, but there’s something from the Tao Te Ching that talks about governance. And, it says that if the emperor does it right and quietly, at the end people will stand up and say we made this.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:11] Wow.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:08:12] And, that to me says why would we take that away from people, especially when it’s cheaper, faster, better?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:23] Yeah. Interesting. So, with your product and that strategy, you know, from the kind of almost like that full kind of pipeline or the chain that you were mentioning, you know, talk me through what – how does that help an individual, like a business that’s trying to manage this or get to a better place? What are some of the things they can help them to solve?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:08:43] Well, fundamentally, the first thing you look at is resource capacity planning. So, I take companies. You tell me what your strategy is. Now, most companies according to H.B.R. have between three and five strategies. So, let’s figure out how much of people’s time, because people are the scarcer resource than money in today’s economy so that’s critically important to understand. So, how much in terms of people hour do you want to put into each of those strategies?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:09:17] So, when you have the people hours, you can say, “All right. How much work can we do with assigning people to get things done?” We don’t need 15 projects starting in January, all running scattered with people all over. And then, something will go wrong. It’s the first rule of project management. One of those ideas is going to be a disastrously wrong thing, which we all do.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:09:48] Well, then the house of cards doesn’t work. But if we say we’re going to do this and then we’re going to do this and then we’re going to stop. The reason I fit in the Agile Movement since the beginning, basically the ’90s, and the reason we who advocated Agile were advocating it was because every time you ship software, you change the nature of reality. Fundamentally, software is evolutionary.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:10:20] So, that says, if you tell me I want something that does a, b, c, and then I want d, e, f, and I tell you, no, I’ll give you a, b, c, then you lived with it for a month or so, and then I’ll give you d, e, f. They’ll never ask you for d, e, f. They will never – they might ask for f. But they’ll ask you for two other things because once they lived with it and see it, they realize, “Oh, well, now that I can do that, this is what’s really important and I didn’t see that.” And, I can see this because I’ve been basically around software for the last 42 years.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:11:00] Wow. Wow.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:11:02] And, this rule has never been violated in my work and career.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:11:06] Interesting. So, you’ve kind of watched it, like, evolve into – now, I mean, obviously, software is, you know, large industry and lots of different types of software, and you’ve got A.I. and all these other technologies coming into play. So, this really could help from that project management perspective in ensuring you’re assigning resources appropriately.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:11:26] It really does. And, it makes everything a community approach. So, it’s not just, I’m going to dump something on a user group so to speak. It’s we’re all co-creating. Because having started 42 years ago, we were rolling the dice on everything and I knew the people who wrote the general ledger system at the company I worked with and they’re telling me about swapping things in and out of 16K of memory. Now, most of our listeners will have no idea what I’m talking about. No idea at all.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:12:09] But we were all in constant co-creation. Now, we’ve made a god out of process and it’s can we do it faster, faster, faster? And the answer is no, we probably shouldn’t do it faster, maybe we should just stop doing it.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:12:29] Interesting.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:12:29] Maybe, it doesn’t make any sense. Maybe, it’s the wrong thing. So, I want to help people get some of the noise out of their system, and really say, “Is this working?”

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:12:46] A friend of mine in Australia talks about outcomes. Look at where you want to be when you think it’s going to work and then slowly, incrementally, walk one step, check is it still working? You may have to go 30 degrees to the left or right. That’s life. Why would we try to pretend it’s anything else? And people are wired to do that. That’s what human beings innately can do.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:13:17] Right. Almost like a pivoting act in a way.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:13:19] It is.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:13:19] Yeah. It’s kind of, you know, over the last year pivoting has been like our nature.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:13:25] Well, your point is so fantastic because, “Oh, we can’t support people from work working from home.” “Excuse me, what was the average 30-60 days?”

Jamie Gassmann: [00:13:36] Yeah, right?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:13:37] How fast can we move? That’s who people really are.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:13:42] Yeah, amazing. Well, from your presentation, you know, it sounds like there was some great content in there. If there were like three takeaways, thinking of how you presented, three things that you wanted that audience to be left with that they take back and kind of either it affirms what they’re doing or it changes their perspective on something, what would those three things be?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:14:06] Well, I guess one of the things would be that strategy execution isn’t just a process of people working really hard. It’s part of living so that if I’m on a project, I’m there because I’m good at it or I want to get good at it, and I’ll work on something else. We can continuously evolve. If we’re careful, we structure it. We’re constantly checking. Is this what we want?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:14:44] So, I want people to know that it’s not just a financial work process. I want them to understand all of it has to do with everybody touching it and we should be co-creating it together. I know that’s kind of fuzzy words, especially for an ex-CFO. But I’ve seen it work.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:15:07] Yeah. Well, there’s power in co-creation.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:15:10] There really is.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:15:10] That collaboration of allowing the different thought processes to come into play.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:15:15] Well, and I use the word co-creation because I want to always be focusing on outcome. I do not have a, you know, touchy-feely bone in my body. I am really results-driven. We are going to get there or we will know the reason why, and that the reason why may truly exist. Failure is an option if we made a mistake.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:15:42] Right. Very interesting. Well, it sounds like your listeners at your presentation got some great content from you and definitely some food for thought as they leave this conference. Thank you so much for joining us, Donna.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:15:55] Well, thank you. It’s a pleasure and a privilege.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:15:58] Absolutely. So, if our listeners wanted to get a hold of you and learn a little bit more about the concepts you shared or a little bit more even about Tempus Resource, how would they go about doing that?

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:16:09] Well, probably the easiest way is just to email me at dfitzgerald@prosymmetry.com. And, I always have time. You know, reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m quite visible there. And, I’m very lucky that our CEO makes sure I have time to answer questions for people. I do spend a lot of time on the phone doing this, so no one should feel they’re imposing. I would be delighted to talk.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:16:39] It’s wonderful. Well, our listeners, I’m sure, will be happy to hear that, especially with the nuggets of great information you left them with today.

Donna Fitzgerald: [00:16:45] Well, thank you. It was a pleasure.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:16:47] Thank you so much.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:16:49] And, for those listening, join us at our booth 4076 and check out the podcast. And, while you’re there, learn a little bit about R3 Continuum, our show sponsor. We’d love to see you. Talk to you then.

 

Tagged With: Donna Fitzgerald, Jamie Gassmann, ProSymmetry, R3 Continuum, Resource management, Tempus Resource, Workplace MVP

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

September 24, 2021 by John Ray

IBS
North Fulton Studio
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Episode 61, To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow

On this episode, Dr. Morrow covers Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), its symptoms, and treatments. He also shares a personal story of his wife’s TIA (mini-stroke) experience, which he believes is related to a breakthrough Covid infection. To Your Health is brought to you by Morrow Family Medicine, which brings the care back to healthcare.

About Morrow Family Medicine, A Member of Village Medical

Morrow Family Medicine, a Member of Village Medical, is an award-winning, state-of-the-art family practice with offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. The practice combines healthcare information technology with old-fashioned care to provide the type of care that many are in search of today. Two physicians, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners are supported by a knowledgeable and friendly staff to make your visit to Morrow Family Medicine, A Member of Village Medical one that will remind you of the way healthcare should be.  At Morrow Family Medicine, a Member of Village Medical, we like to say we are “bringing the care back to healthcare!”  The practice has been named the “Best of Forsyth” in Family Medicine in all five years of the award, is a three-time consecutive winner of the “Best of North Atlanta” by readers of Appen Media, and the 2019 winner of “Best of Life” in North Fulton County.

Village Medical offers a comprehensive suite of primary care services including preventative care, treatment for illness and injury, and management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and kidney disease. Atlanta-area patients can learn more about the practice here.

Dr. Jim Morrow, Morrow Family Medicine, and Host of To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow

Covid-19 misconceptionsDr. Jim Morrow is the founder and CEO of Morrow Family Medicine. He has been a trailblazer and evangelist in healthcare information technology, was named Physician IT Leader of the Year by HIMSS, a HIMSS Davies Award Winner, the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce Steve Bloom Award Winner as Entrepreneur of the Year and he received a Phoenix Award as Community Leader of the Year from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.  He is married to Peggie Morrow and together they founded the Forsyth BYOT Benefit, a charity in Forsyth County to support students in need of technology and devices. They have two Goldendoodles, a gaggle of grandchildren and enjoy life on and around Lake Lanier.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorrowFamMed/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7788088/admin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/toyourhealthMD

The complete show archive of To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow addresses a wide range of health and wellness topics, and can be found at www.toyourhealthradio.com.

Dr. Morrow’s Show Notes

Covid-19 Update

“Check my antibodies” – says nothing about immunity – need a vaccine anyway.

Variants – vaccine works well so far against these new and increasingly important viruses. Previous infection does nothing to prevent infection by these variants.

“The vaccine is not a vaccine, it is gene therapy.”

“I don’t want people to get the vaccine if they live with me because then I can get the virus from them.”

HCQ has been in the news again recently. Some REPORTS, not STUDIES, said that it might help those on a ventilator.  So far, All of the SCIENCE says that it does not stop this virus.

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. It describes a group of symptoms that affect your large intestine with no known cause. IBS is common and occurs most often in women. People with a family history of IBS are more likely to have it.

Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Common symptoms of IBS include:

  • Abdominal pain and cramping that usually comes and goes, with relief after a bowel movement
  • Bloating and gas
  • Constipation and/or diarrhea
  • Feeling like you need to have a second bowel movement right after finishing one (often with no results)
  • Mucus in your stool

IBS symptoms vary for each person. You may have some or all of the symptoms listed above. You may even have normal bowel movements some days. Most people have mild symptoms, but some symptoms may be severe enough to affect your daily life.

What causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

There is no exact cause of IBS. Doctors believe that a mix of problems with your GI tract can lead to IBS. Health problems that are known to cause or worsen IBS include:

  • A breakdown in how your brain sends signals to your intestines
  • Trouble processing food through your GI tract
  • Abnormal nerves in your GI tract that are more sensitive than normal
  • A bacterial infection in your GI tract
  • An increase or change in bacteria in your small intestine
  • Reactions to certain foods or drinks
  • Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety
  • Extreme stress

How is Irritable Bowel Syndrome diagnosed?

  • There aren’t any tests that detect IBS. However, your doctor can look for a pattern in your symptoms. Also, your doctor can order tests to rule out other problems. These tests may include a blood test, a stool test, a colonoscopy, or X-rays of your lower GI tract.
  • Your doctor will perform an exam of your abdomen. They will check for bloating, pain, tenderness, or unusual sounds. Your doctor will ask you:
  • If your pain improves or gets worse after a bowel movement
  • How often you have a bowel movement
  • What your bowel movements look like
  • You may be diagnosed with IBS if you’ve had symptoms weekly for 3 months and your symptoms started at least six months ago.

Types of IBS

There are three main types of IBS.

IBS with constipation (IBS-C)

On days with at least one abnormal bowel movement, you have:

  • Hard or lumpy stools at least 25% of the time
  • Loose or watery stools less than 25% of the time

IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D)

On days with at least one abnormal bowel movement, you have:

  • Hard or lumpy stools less than 25% of the time
  • Loose or watery stools at least 25% of the time

Mixed IBS (IBS-M)

On days with at least one abnormal bowel movement, you have:

  • Hard or lumpy stools at least 25% of the time
  • Loose or watery stools at least 25% of the time

Can Irritable Bowel Syndrome be prevented or avoided?

Since there isn’t a single cause for IBS, you can’t prevent or avoid it.

Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The best way to treat IBS is to make lifestyle changes. Treatment is different for everyone. You may need to try several options to find the one that works for you. Your doctor will guide you in which options to try. They may suggest you:

Visit with a dietitian for tips on foods that are easy to digest. You may need to avoid caffeine, dairy, some fruits and vegetables, spicy and fatty foods, and foods made with gluten. Gluten foods include cereal, pasta, and processed foods.

  • Eat small meals throughout the day.
  • Increase your fiber a little at a time.
  • Reduce your stress level.
  • Get enough sleep.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Try meditation or therapy.
  • Take medicines. Your doctor will advise you about which ones may work for your type of IBS.

Living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS is an ongoing problem. It can subside or flare up, based on your lifestyle. IBS does not require surgery, and it won’t shorten your life. If you have IBS, talk to your doctor about how to manage it. Symptoms often get better with treatment.

Tagged With: Breakthrough Covid Infection, COVID-19, Dr. Jim Morrow, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, mini-stroke, Morrow Family Medicine, TIA, Village Medical

Alan Rosenbaum, Dream Vacations

September 24, 2021 by John Ray

Alan Rosenbaum
North Fulton Business Radio
Alan Rosenbaum, Dream Vacations
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Alan Rosenbaum, Dream Vacations (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 392)

What’s happening with cruises and cruise travel right now? Are cruises safe? Are resorts a desirable alternative? Veteran travel authority Alan Rosenbaum has the experience needed in an unpredictable travel environment, and he joined host John Ray to answer these questions and much more. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Dream Vacations

Alan Rosenbaum has been planning vacations since 2003. In 2003, Dream Vacations was known as CruiseOne because virtually all bookings were cruises. However, over the years they added almost everything related to vacations, so in April of 2016, they re-branded to Dream Vacations. In the past, Alan served on the CruiseOne Advisory Board. He has been quoted numerous times in trade publications and he frequently mentors new franchise owners.

Dream Vacations is a travel agency specializing in vacation destinations. This can range from a simple 3-day cruise to a custom tour of the world. Agents book destination weddings, honeymoons, and anniversaries. They also plan for groups of all kinds including celebrations, reunions, and fundraising cruises. Dream Vacations offers company incentive travel for organizations that seek to reward their best performers. Knowing clients can buy a vacation from hundreds of places, the most important aspect of the travel agency is its excellent service.

Company website

Alan Rosenbaum, Vacation Specialist, Dream Vacations

Alan Rosenbaum, Vacation Specialist, Dream Vacations

Originally from New York, Alan is now a resident of Johns Creek, GA after first having established a CruiseOne/Dream Vacation franchise in San Jose, CA.

He is a husband and the father of two grown daughters.  He has enjoyed cruising for over 25 years and I have over 13 years of experience as a Vacation Specialist.

Whether you’re considering a short 3-day getaway or a world tour, Alan looks forward to sharing his excitement and enthusiasm for cruising while providing valuable information and advice.

LinkedIn | Facebook

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray, and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

 

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.

Tagged With: Alan Rosenbaum, cruise vacations, cruises, customized travel, Dream Vacations, John Ray, North Fulton Business Radio, resorts, travel agent, vacations

What You Need to Know When You Terminate an Employee

September 24, 2021 by John Ray

TerminateEmployeeDLREpisode21Album
Dental Law Radio
What You Need to Know When You Terminate an Employee
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What You Need to Know When You Terminate an Employee (Dental Law Radio, Episode 21)

In Stuart Oberman’s experience with clients, the biggest problem he sees with employee terminations is the absence of a plan, and more specifically, lack of documentation. In this episode of Dental Law Radio, Stuart outlines what a solid employee termination process should include to avoid the significant long-term costs caused by emotional, seat-of-the-pants actions. Dental Law Radio is underwritten and presented by Oberman Law Firm and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, it’s time for Dental Law Radio. Dental Law Radio is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a leading dental-centric law firm, serving dental clients on a local, regional and national basis. Now, here’s your host, Stuart Oberman.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:25] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Dental Law Radio. Well, this is going to be sort of part two. Last week, we spoke about how to hire an employee and some of the things that you need to include in the new hire package. And I mentioned then that it’s easy to get married; it is tough to get divorced. Well, today, we’re going to get divorced. We’re going to talk about what you need to know when you terminate an employee.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:57] And we get these calls all the time. What do I need to know? What do I need to do? How do I need to do it? And where are my pitfalls? And I will tell you, your biggest pitfall is not having the documentation upfront, and then not having a plan when you plan to terminate. And in today’s world, firing an employee is complex and challenging. You have a lot of scenarios, wrongful termination, discrimination issues, willful termination, quitting, resigning. So, before you even think about firing an employee and will not take you long to figure out that you need to fire an employee when you make up your mind to do it, there are signs, a lot of times, already there.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:55] So, again, the process is complex and challenging. And then how to end the termination is often the most difficult part. But I want to take a look at some key steps that you need to look at when you involuntarily terminate. Not a resignation, not those kinds of things, but when you’ve got to make the hard decision, is “I’m cutting you loose. Now, I’m going to make a plan to do it.”

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:23] So, first and foremost, you’ve got to document the process. You have to create a plan. What is your strategy for termination? We’re going to get into that. Who do you communicate the termination to with your key staff members? There are some people in your office you never want to tell you’re terminating someone because that person will find out in 15 minutes. So, you have to understand who and what positions you notify. And then, one thing you have to do is notify your IT administrator or your provider. And we’re going to go into that in a little bit because that is a key process.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:09] So, documenting the separation of an employment process is very difficult. And I will always say, and I’ve said it in the past, when I talk to the dental schools, talk about things in writing, if it’s not in writing, it never happened; if it was not in writing, it was never a procedure; and if it was not in writing, it was never a processed. So, what happens is when you compile detailed documentation, it shows you followed the company policy through the discipline and termination process, you were already ahead of the game.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:44] Now, that’s assuming that you have a process. So, if we’re talking about all this, and you don’t have an employee manual or process for terminating, that’s your first step. What does your employee manual say? How detailed is it? If you have an employee manual that has no instructions, it’s 20 pages, I would urge you to shred it. Call us and get you another employee manual because that is a key denominator in this whole process here.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:14] So, you have to figure out what your effective date of the termination and record it. What day did this happen? I do not want you to rely on text. “Well, we have a text message that says they were fired on August 1st.” No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s not going to get it. Did you document the termination? Supporting details. Did you have performance reviews? Did you have a warning and discipline, action or process? Did you provide an official termination letter to the employee, including the date of termination? And did you outline the benefits?

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:58] Now, I’m not talking about a 36-page letter to the employee, but something in your file documenting that they received notice, and here is the separation notice, and then here is what’s going to take place benefit-wise. So, one key area is that when you fire an employee, you got a void. Who’s going to fill that position void? “Well, we’ll get around to it.” You can’t do that. You already got to have a plan in place once that employee is fired. And when you make the plan, you’ve got to outline the process and functions of that employee’s responsibility. Who’s going to take over that? Because statistically, you, as a dental practice owner, spend more time in the chair with the patient contact-wise than any other profession, face to face. You do not have the time to do this as an afterthought.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:57] So, what happens is that when you terminate, again, you’ve got to figure out what are the key steps that I’m going to talk to my employees about? Do you have an HR reporting process? Who is that person they’re going to talk to? What is the procedure? Do you have a benefits person? Do you have a CFO who they need to talk to?

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:23] One of the most important things I want to mention right now is your IT person, whether they are in-house or whether they are a third party. When you make the decision to terminate an employee, one of the first people you’re going to call or should call and sit down with and talk to is your IT person. You’ve got to outline what access that employee has; what access they will not have; how do you cancel the computer; how do you get their phone systems back to the office, if you will; what is on their cell phone; how do you disable passwords; how do you block access? So many employees in today’s world have access after hours. How do you block that record? How do you determine whether or not that employee has downloaded your confidential information?

Stuart Oberman: [00:07:26] Again, you must have a nondisclosure agreement and a confidentiality agreement, like we discussed in part one of this podcast. How do you delete two phone messages off their phone? Where do you go with the data? That’s absolutely critical. This is one of those important steps that you can do because as soon as you terminate that employee, there are times you’re going to have to do it over the phone. There are some cases, there’s just no way around that. And I will tell you, when that person hangs up on the other end that you’ve terminated, I will tell you, they’re going to go right to their computer, and you need to shut off access immediately.

Stuart Oberman: [00:08:12] Now, what protocols do you follow? Well, how many protocols? You got to have protocols. What’s the separation package look like? Do you have a termination letter? What are the benefits? What’s related paperwork? Who is going to be their contact in HR? Do you want that former employee calling you and asking you for information? Of course not.

Stuart Oberman: [00:08:40] One of the things you’ve got to take a look at also critically from a employment law standpoint is what money do you owe them or bonuses after they are terminated? I hear so many times. “Well, Dr. Smith did some really, really, really bad dental work. I’m going to withhold about $4000 from his pay because I know there’s going to be recalls, redos, remakes.” Wrong. You can not hold money like that.

Stuart Oberman: [00:09:13] Now, if you have an employment contract that states that you can withhold a certain amount of money for a certain period of time, that’s a different scenario versus you’re a lousy employee, you’re going to cause me money after you leave, and I’m just going to withhold money from your paycheck. That will get you in trouble really quick with the Federal and State Department of Labor. So, on that employee’s final paycheck, my strong recommendation is you evaluate the final amounts, and you determine what that final amount is. If you’re going to withhold any type of compensation, you better have a really, really good reason.

Stuart Oberman: [00:10:01] Now, one thing to consider also from a benefits standpoint, does your policy manual say that they’re entitled to unused vacation, sick time, PTO time? What does your manual say? “Well, it doesn’t say anything. I don’t have that information.” That is a very, very poignant sticking point. And when that person retires, all that has to be outlined. You cannot wait to do this, or decide this or make a sort of unrushed decision after they’re terminated. So, before that employee is terminated somehow, someway, you need to make sure you’ve got their updated contact information.

Stuart Oberman: [00:10:51] One thing that absolutely drives me crazy is that employees or doctors, a lot of times will have a — I’ll use the words Gmail accounts, Yahoo accounts, Comcast account, and it’s not to single out any of those companies, but what happens is, is that the employees have their own accounts. And what happens is, also, they change their passwords without telling our doctors or employers on those accounts.

Stuart Oberman: [00:11:27] From an IT standpoint, once that termination takes place, I will tell you point blank, you’re going to lose access to that employee’s email address because they’ve changed the password. And now, you are at their ransom. What’s going to happen if that employee somehow puts the Facebook account in their name? Is there a procedure for that? What does your IT company say? Do you even have an IT company? These are the things that you’ll be long litigating items after the termination process if you do not have it squared away. Now, I would urge you to have an email address that is tied to your website and not separate Gmail accounts. Again, there’s nothing wrong with Gmail accounts, but it is very difficult if everyone has their own separate island in a dental practice or any kind of employment.

Stuart Oberman: [00:12:35] So, you’ve got to start notifying patients that this person is no longer there. And they’re going to ask why, and you’ve got to develop the company policy as to why they are not there, which is very short, sweet, to the point. You never ever give away details, You never tell exactly why. I don’t care what the situation is, but it’s got to be across the company lines.

Stuart Oberman: [00:13:06] So, one of the things we also need to take a look at is keeping employee records. You must have a secure, centralized HR to house the employee records. Never, ever, ever in your lifetime do you have employees that have control of their own personnel files because what’ll happen is when they leave, I will guarantee you that those files are gone. So, do you have backup files? Who has access to your backup files? Are you using iCloud storage? Are these records safe from interruption, natural disasters, fires? Whatever it may be, these are all contingencies. And again, I cannot stress this enough where you have to have total, total strict confidentiality with this documentation as to who the employees who are concerned.

Stuart Oberman: [00:14:11] So, those are just really a couple of things that we want to do as far as the termination process. It is very complex. Do you want to have a severance? That’s a whole another conversation. That’s a whole another day. How much do you want to pay? “Well, I don’t want to pay anything.” I will tell you, there are sometimes where it is cheaper to get rid of employees with a monetary substance and a full release of liability, and a separation notice, depending on their age. It will depend on what kind of document that looks like meets the requirements. But again, it is so much easier to get married than it is divorced, and you’ve got to have these records in order to ensure a smooth transition in the termination process. And it can get rocky, folks. As a firm, we’re on both sides of that fence. We will represent employees, and we will represent employers. So, we get really both sides of that avenue. So, we’ve got a pretty good look as to what should be there and should not be there.

Stuart Oberman: [00:15:19] Well, folks, thank you for joining us today. Two-part series, hiring checklist and what you need to know to terminate employees. Critical steps, you need both. Thank you again. If you need to reach out to us, please feel free to reach out to me at stuart@obermanlaw.com. 770-886-2400. And we will see you soon on the radio.

 

About Dental Law Radio

Hosted by Stuart Oberman, a nationally recognized authority in dental law, Dental Law Radio covers legal, business, and other operating issues and topics of vital concern to dentists and dental practice owners. The show is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® and can be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.

Stuart Oberman, Oberman Law Firm

Oberman Law Firm
Stuart Oberman, host of “Dental Law Radio”

Stuart Oberman is the founder and President of Oberman Law Firm. Mr. Oberman graduated from Urbana University and received his law degree from John Marshall Law School. Mr. Oberman has been practicing law for over 25 years, and before going into private practice, Mr. Oberman was in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 Company. Mr. Oberman is widely regarded as the go-to attorney in the area of Dental Law, which includes DSO formation, corporate business structures, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, advertising regulations, HIPAA, Compliance, and employment law regulations that affect dental practices.

In addition, Mr. Oberman’s expertise in the health care industry includes advising clients in the complex regulatory landscape as it relates to telehealth and telemedicine, including compliance of corporate structures, third-party reimbursement, contract negotiations, technology, health care fraud and abuse law (Anti-Kickback Statute and the State Law), professional liability risk management, federal and state regulations.

As the long-term care industry evolves, Mr. Oberman has the knowledge and experience to guide clients in the long-term care sector with respect to corporate and regulatory matters, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). In addition, Mr. Oberman’s practice also focuses on health care facility acquisitions and other changes of ownership, as well as related licensure and Medicare/Medicaid certification matters, CCRC registrations, long-term care/skilled nursing facility management, operating agreements, assisted living licensure matters, and health care joint ventures.

In addition to his expertise in the health care industry, Mr. Oberman has a nationwide practice that focuses on all facets of contractual disputes, including corporate governance, fiduciary duty, trade secrets, unfair competition, covenants not to compete, trademark and copyright infringement, fraud, and deceptive trade practices, and other business-related matters. Mr. Oberman also represents clients throughout the United States in a wide range of practice areas, including mergers & acquisitions, partnership agreements, commercial real estate, entity formation, employment law, commercial leasing, intellectual property, and HIPAA/OSHA compliance.

Mr. Oberman is a national lecturer and has published articles in the U.S. and Canada.

LinkedIn

Oberman Law Firm

Oberman Law Firm has a long history of civic service, noted national, regional, and local clients, and stands among the Southeast’s eminent and fast-growing full-service law firms. Oberman Law Firm’s areas of practice include Business Planning, Commercial & Technology Transactions, Corporate, Employment & Labor, Estate Planning, Health Care, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Privacy & Data Security, and Real Estate.

By meeting their client’s goals and becoming a trusted partner and advocate for our clients, their attorneys are recognized as legal go-getters who provide value-added service. Their attorneys understand that in a rapidly changing legal market, clients have new expectations, constantly evolving choices, and operate in an environment of heightened reputational and commercial risk.

Oberman Law Firm’s strength is its ability to solve complex legal problems by collaborating across borders and practice areas.

Connect with Oberman Law Firm:

Company website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Tagged With: dental practice management, firing employees, Oberman Law, Oberman Law Firm, Stuart Oberman, terminate employee

Decision Vision Episode 135: Should I Create an Email Newsletter? – An Interview with Michael Katz, Blue Penguin Development

September 23, 2021 by John Ray

Miichael Katz
Decision Vision
Decision Vision Episode 135: Should I Create an Email Newsletter? - An Interview with Michael Katz, Blue Penguin Development
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Miichael Katz

Decision Vision Episode 135:  Should I Create an Email Newsletter? – An Interview with Michael Katz, Blue Penguin Development

Do you need an email newsletter? How long should it be? What should you write about? Although written off quite a few times, email is still not dead. Mike Blake’s guest Michael Katz, email newsletter authority with Blue Penguin Development, discusses the strategy of email newsletters, how to make them effective, how to make the most of the content, and much more. Decision Vision is presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Michael Katz, Chief Penguin, Blue Penguin Development

Michael Katz, Chief Penguin, Blue Penguin Development

Blue Penguin Development Inc is a marketing and advertising company based out of Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

An award-winning humorist and former corporate marketer, Blue Penguin founder and Chief Penguin, Michael Katz, specializes in helping professional service firms and solos talk and write about their work in a way that is clear and compelling.

Since launching Blue Penguin in 2000, Michael has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week Online, Bloomberg TV, Forbes.com, Inc.com, USA Today, and other national and local media.

He is the author of four books and over the past 20 years has published more than 500 issues of “The Likeable Expert Gazette,” a twice-monthly email newsletter and podcast with 6,000 passionate subscribers in over 40 countries around the world.

Michael has an MBA from Boston University and a BA in Psychology from McGill University in Montreal. He is a past winner of the New England Press Association award for “Best Humor Columnist.”

Company website | LinkedIn

Mike Blake, Brady Ware & Company

Mike Blake, Host of the “Decision Vision” podcast series

Michael Blake is the host of the Decision Vision podcast series and a Director of Brady Ware & Company. Mike specializes in the valuation of intellectual property-driven firms, such as software firms, aerospace firms, and professional services firms, most frequently in the capacity as a transaction advisor, helping clients obtain great outcomes from complex transaction opportunities. He is also a specialist in the appraisal of intellectual properties as stand-alone assets, such as software, trade secrets, and patents.

Mike has been a full-time business appraiser for 13 years with public accounting firms, boutique business appraisal firms, and an owner of his own firm. Prior to that, he spent 8 years in venture capital and investment banking, including transactions in the U.S., Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Brady Ware & Company

Brady Ware & Company is a regional full-service accounting and advisory firm which helps businesses and entrepreneurs make visions a reality. Brady Ware services clients nationally from its offices in Alpharetta, GA; Columbus and Dayton, OH; and Richmond, IN. The firm is growth-minded, committed to the regions in which they operate, and most importantly, they make significant investments in their people and service offerings to meet the changing financial needs of those they are privileged to serve. The firm is dedicated to providing results that make a difference for its clients.

Decision Vision Podcast Series

Decision Vision is a podcast covering topics and issues facing small business owners and connecting them with solutions from leading experts. This series is presented by Brady Ware & Company. If you are a decision-maker for a small business, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at decisionvision@bradyware.com and make sure to listen to every Thursday to the Decision Vision podcast.

Past episodes of Decision Vision can be found at decisionvisionpodcast.com. Decision Vision is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.

Connect with Brady Ware & Company:

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Welcome to Decision Vision, a podcast series focusing on critical business decisions. Brought to you by Brady Ware & Company. Brady Ware is a regional full-service accounting and advisory firm that helps businesses and entrepreneurs make visions a reality.

Mike Blake: [00:00:21] Welcome to Decision Vision, a podcast giving you, the listener, clear vision to make great decisions. In each episode, we discuss the process of decision making on a different topic from the business owners’ or executives’ perspective. We aren’t necessarily telling you what to do, but we can put you in a position to make an informed decision on your own and understand when you might need help along the way.

Mike Blake: [00:00:42] My name is Mike Blake, and I’m your host for today’s program. I’m a director at Brady Ware & Company, a full-service accounting firm based in Dayton, Ohio, with offices in Dayton; Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Indiana; and Alpharetta, Georgia. My practice specializes in providing fact-based, strategic, and risk management advice to clients that are buying, selling, or growing the value of companies and intellectual property. Brady Ware is sponsoring this podcast, which is being recorded in Atlanta per social distancing protocols.

Mike Blake: [00:01:09] If you like to engage with me on social media with my Chart of the Day and other content, I’m on LinkedIn as myself and @unblakeable on Facebook, Twitter, Clubhouse, and Instagram. If you like this podcast, please subscribe on your favorite podcast aggregator and please consider leaving a review of the podcast as well.

Mike Blake: [00:01:27] Our topic today is, Should I create an email newsletter? And in doing this topic, I almost think like what’s old is new again, back to the future, retro, however you want to call it. Email newsletters, I think, have been declared dead more times than your typical cat or Rasputin, take either one.

Mike Blake: [00:01:52] First, it was spam blockers. And the next was social media. Of course, social media was going to obviate the need for email newsletters. And then, of course, everybody told us, if we don’t send people things in the analogue world and handwrite them, then nobody’s ever going to read it. And the list goes on and on.

Mike Blake: [00:02:12] And to coin a phrase from, about, five years ago, “And yet they persist”. And I think they persist for very good reason, is that, they’ve taken all kind of all comers. And in spite of that, in spite of many attempts and ongoing attempts to disrupt that world, email newsletters continue to thrive. And perhaps the best indicator of that is the fact that Atlanta’s own homegrown startup Mailchimp was just bought by Intuit for $12 billion. Mailchimp basically exists to help people and companies publish email newsletters.

Mike Blake: [00:02:53] Now, why does a tax company want a newsletter company? I’m not sure. I was going to say I’m not in that business. But I guess working for a CPA firm, I technically am, but I’m not. And I don’t even do my own taxes although I’m a CPA. And I don’t understand the strategic rationale for that deal or the price that they paid. But, you know, good for Ben Chesnut and his team, they’ve worked hard on that company for a very long time. They certainly deserve to see the fruits of that labor. And that’s a big feather in the cap for those of us who believe in the Atlanta startup ecosystem as I do.

Mike Blake: [00:03:33] And so, you know, I think that this is a topic that requires and I think many of us will benefit from this discussion. And helping us with this is is Michael Katz, who’s an award-winning humorist and former corporate marketer and Founder and Chief Penguin of Blue Penguin. And he specializes in helping professional services firms and solos talk and write about their work in a way that is clear and compelling.

Mike Blake: [00:04:01] Since launching Blue Penguin in 2000, Michael has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek Online, Bloomberg TV, Forbes.com, Inc.com, USA Today, and other national and local media. And you can tell that he had nothing to do with my introductory comments. He is the author of four books. And over the past 20 years has published more than 500 issues of The Likeable Expert Gazette, a twice monthly email newsletter and podcast with 6,000 passionate subscribers in over 40 countries around the world.

Mike Blake: [00:04:33] Michael has an MBA from Boston University – I grew up in Boston. A B.A. in Psychology from McGill University in Montreal – home of my favorite actor and yours, William Shatner, or at least birthplace. He is a past winner of the New England Press Association Award for Best Humor Columnists. Michael, welcome to the program.

Michael Katz: [00:04:52] Great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Mike Blake: [00:04:55] So, you know, there’s so many ways to communicate in the written word now with our intended audiences. And I actually think it is helpful, it may sound like the most inane question in the world, but I do think that the definitions have been blurred and it is important. In your mind what makes a newsletter a newsletter? And what separates it from other forms of written – I’m going to say – mass communication. I probably cringe at saying that, but it is sort of a one-to-many kind of communication model. What makes a newsletter a newsletter?

Michael Katz: [00:05:31] Well, I think it is pretty blurry. I mean, I always think of it, it’s just a glorified email sent to more than one person. Maybe the email that Target sends to you telling you you’ve got 30 percent off and the email that your accounting firm sends with useful information, they’re both technically newsletters and people pretty much use them interchangeably. So, you know, the definition really hasn’t gotten any clearer over the years. It sort of depends what business you’re in, but I think it applies when you send it by email to a number of people and generally not personalized beyond, you know, dear name.

Mike Blake: [00:06:12] You know, it’s interesting, even I would not have thought of the Target virtual flyer being a newsletter. But I guess it is, right? And that definition between advertisement, newsletter, blog post, something else, I think, has been blurred. And I guess I’ll follow up with this question, is that distinction even meaningful?

Michael Katz: [00:06:41] I think the distinction is, is this a thing that lands in your inbox or is it somewhere else, social media, video, all that? So, you know, I think as you were saying, Mike, earlier, it’s written and it shows up in your email. And so, that then becomes the question. So, is that still valuable or not? But I think all those things, I suppose, are the same species, email and newsletter.

Mike Blake: [00:07:05] Okay. So, those of us who are listening to this podcast, they may well be hearing newsletter and wondering, “Oh, my gosh. Do I have to basically now become a professional writer? I didn’t like writing five page essays in school. And, now, I got to do something every week or maybe more than that.” Is there an ideal length in your mind for a newsletter? Can newsletters be short? Do they need to be long form? They need be very long form? What’s best practices in determining just how much content goes into a newsletter?

Michael Katz: [00:07:41] Yeah. I always say one word is perfect. However, you have to get over two bars at least, again, in the world that I live in. So, again, I’m not doing the Target 30 percent off. I work exclusively with small professional service firms, financial planners, consultants, recruiters, coaches. So, these are all people who are selling themselves or their small firm, essentially. And so, those kind of newsletters are information-based. They’re not about an event. They’re not click to buy kinds of things, like click here and buy it. They’re really about – and we’ll talk more about it – getting in front of a group of people. So, yes, shorter is better because I can get your stuff sooner.

Michael Katz: [00:08:26] However, two things. One is, you have to tell me something that I will read it and have learned something. So, I’m always saying, you’re looking for me to read it and go, “Oh, there’s something I just learned about accounting, legal, management, consulting, whatever.” The second thing is, I think you want your newsletter to be long enough that you include some of your personal voice story experience. Because if it’s just information, well, I can get information by Googling it.

Michael Katz: [00:08:56] So, if you can say something that includes something useful and enough story – which I know we’ll talk about – then I think that’s good. I would say that for most people then, you’re talking 500 to 800 words to get that in there. But even among my own clients, there’s variations there.

Mike Blake: [00:09:18] So, how do you decide what goes in? And I’ll preface this with kind of my experience with this podcast, and you’ve done a lot more of these things than I have, so God bless you, I don’t know how you do it. But the question I’m asked most frequently is, how do you decide on the topics and how do you kind of keep it fresh? And my answer to them is, “Well, for me, I just keep a running note in every note. And every time something pops in my head, I write it down. And then, if I’m really stuck, I’m not afraid to revisit something if I think somebody else can bring a different voice to the same topic.” How do you decide what goes into your newsletter?

Michael Katz: [00:10:06] So, my point of view is, I’m trying to help my readers not need to hire me, which sounds counterintuitive. But what I mean is that – and this is true for any profession that I’m working with – help them learn not to need you. So, if you took a very simple example, suppose you’re a carpenter. Your newsletter should be about how to use a hammer, how to buy wood, how to climb a ladder. It’s very simple stuff. And, yes, if I got and received and retained a thousand newsletters like that, I suppose I would know as much as my carpenter.

Michael Katz: [00:10:42] But the truth is, you’ll never give away your business with those 500 or 700 word tidbits. But it has to be useful so that I read it like everybody thinks about what do I say to promote my business. Which is fine, that’s why we’re doing it. But your readers don’t care about your business. They are only going to read it, and stay with you, and tell other people about it if they find it useful.

Michael Katz: [00:11:06] So, that’s the sort of basis of it always, you have to match up to the audience that presumably would hire you by giving them something that will make them live their lives better or do their jobs better instead of running out of information. I mean, I’ve written 500 newsletters. I have, like, 30 ideas. So, it’s funny, I mean, I don’t republish them. And, by the way, that’s where stories come in.

Michael Katz: [00:11:30] But I’ll address a similar topic with a slightly different angle or something. Nobody says, “Wait a second. Four years ago in April, you said the same thing.” It’s sort of like, you know, if you have a personal trainer at the gym, the guys told you a thousand times to keep your back straight when you do pushups. You don’t say, “Wait a second. You already told me that.” So, people need repetition anyway. That’s fine.

Michael Katz: [00:11:56] The other thing is, even your most loyal readers will probably read every other one, so it’s fine. You’re trying to be out in front of a particular population over and over again with useful information and some personality because, again, your goal is that they refer you or maybe they hire you. So, it’s sort of easier than you think. I always say, if you know enough to be in a profession, you’ll never run out of content. My longest running client, an attorney, we’ve been doing a newsletter for 18 years and still publishing.

Mike Blake: [00:12:29] You know, you bring up that topic of what’s the likelihood that somebody’s going to remember a topic? I guess that’s right. In fact, I would love it if somebody has actually listened to this podcast with enough intentionality and frequency that they could spot any kind of repetitive material. And, frankly, I think I might actually buy a steak dinner if you sort of organically did that. Because I don’t think I have the kind of following like somebody, a dragon con, who shows up and questions one of the actors like, “In episode 192, how do the physics work when the spaceship went from galaxy to galaxy?” I don’t think I have that kind of following.

Mike Blake: [00:13:09] So, it probably is okay to kind of recycle stuff. And if you put a slant on it, so much the better. But you’re right, the portion of the population that’s going to have encyclopedic recall of all of your newsletters is a pretty small one. And if they are, you’ve probably already got them hooked anyway.

Michael Katz: [00:13:27] Right. I agree.

Mike Blake: [00:13:29] So, I’m going to go off script a little bit because your narrative brings to mind what I think is a really innocent question. And that is, can you recall the most memorable newsletter you either received or published? Either one you’re really proud of, or one you helped somebody publish because I know that’s what you do, or one that you received that maybe you said, “I really got something great out of that newsletter that I still use. I got it ten years ago. I still use that today.”

Michael Katz: [00:14:01] That’s a good question. And my answer is no, but here’s why. Because the value of a newsletter is a cumulative event. It’s like if I said to you, “Can you remember the best work you ever had?” You’re like, “How do I know?” Like, “Oh, yeah. It was like a Tuesday five years ago.” It’s the same thing. And I often have to talk people down from this, even people who are thinking of hiring me to say, “Look. It’s not a Super Bowl ad. You’re not going to publish a newsletter and have your phone ringing off the hook.”

Michael Katz: [00:14:34] And I do always use the exercise metaphor, that, exercising five times, you may as well not do it at all. But without question, if you exercise regularly for six months, you’ll get results. The same thing, it’s an ongoing event where people start to know you. They start to remember what you’re writing about. And then, one day, somebody needs what you’re selling. So, one important thing about a newsletter in its regularity is, it takes timing out of the equation.

Michael Katz: [00:15:04] So, the problem with advertising is you have to keep doing it. Because if you see a car ad today and you just bought a car last week, you have zero interest. Or if you’re planning to buy it in a year, zero interest. So, the reason that car people, for example, have to advertise constantly is because there’s always a slice of the population that’s ready to buy a car. So, they waste a ton of money on everyone else who isn’t.

Michael Katz: [00:15:26] Well, the newsletter, and particularly if you’re a small professional service firm, you don’t have advertising money, this is putting you in front of people over and over again. And so, one day they’re tired of their financial planner, their accountant doesn’t return their phone calls, whatever. They say, “Do you know anybody who could help me with this?” The newsletter acts as that constant prompt in front of them. So, visibility is a big part of what’s going on.

Mike Blake: [00:15:53] I think that’s really smart. And I actually kind of want to pause a little bit on that, because I’ve talked to many people, for example, in the podcast – I don’t have a newsletter. I eventually have to come out with one, but I don’t have one yet. But I think with the podcast it’s the same – I’m frequently asked, “How much business have you gotten out of it?” And my answer is, “Frankly, I have no earthly idea.” Because nobody is going to listen to my podcast and then pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I need you to do an appraisal of my company.” It’s just not going to happen. And podcasts, in particular, really don’t work that way.

Mike Blake: [00:16:32] But it’s the cumulative reminding people that you’re out there, that you have this expertise, you have that service so that it’s much more likely that that need is going to meet availability. And so, it’s about impact. It’s not so much about it’s important and it’s urgent. But there’s a third dimension out there about impact. And when you do a newsletter consistently, I think there’s a very similar philosophical ingredient to it or foundation to it that it’s not about the newsletter that you published today. It’s the aggregate of newsletters that you have published and continue to publish over an extended length of time.

Michael Katz: [00:17:13] Right. In fact, I’d even say, the person who calls you because they heard one podcast is suspect. That’s not a good client. That’s like, “What can I say to a woman in a bar to get her to marry me?” Nothing. Anyone who would say yes is bad. You want someone who’s listened to your podcast for a year. Because, first of all, you’ve screened out all the people who would actually hate you if they hired you. Because they’re like, “I like this guy.” And the people who don’t, go away.

Michael Katz: [00:17:46] Because my entire business is based on my own newsletter. No one ever gets in touch with me who isn’t kind of pre-qualified. So, it’s very effective in that way. And the best clients are the ones who’ve been listening for a while and finally say, “Hey, we’re ready to hire you.” I mean, it’s the easiest sales call you’ll ever get, an inbound call like that.

Mike Blake: [00:18:08] So, as I said in my introduction, newsletters, they’ve been declared dead a lot. And they’re still here and you’re still here. You don’t look dead to me. You don’t sound dead. So, why have they survived? Why do they continue to thrive? And I think they thrive, see if you agree with me. Why do they continue to thrive where there’s so much competition now for our attention?

Michael Katz: [00:18:38] Yeah. Well, you’re right. I mean, it’s so interesting how much it’s changed. So, I started doing newsletters in 2001. And the biggest objection I received from potential clients was that not enough of their clients and customers had email. And, like, blogs came out. That was going to kill it. Then, it was the whole spam thing. I mean, it’s amazing to think that Congress got together and passed a CAN-SPAM Act. That spam was so bad that there was a law passed about it. And then, social media came.

Michael Katz: [00:19:14] And I have to say about, maybe, whatever it was, ten years ago when social media sort of started, I was concerned. Like, you know, I don’t want to be so selling this thing that’s like a dinosaur. And so, paying very close attention what’s the next thing, looking around. And I think a couple of things. One is, nobody is in charge of email.

Michael Katz: [00:19:37] So, the problem with social media – and there have even been some very high profile examples – they can kick you off if they want. They run the whole thing. Like, nobody knows what the algorithm on LinkedIn is or Facebook to get you in front of different people. It’s a secret. So, you could be very popular on LinkedIn, and tomorrow they change the algorithm, and now it drops.

Michael Katz: [00:19:59] So, you don’t own the real estate if you build a business on any of the social media platforms. There’s somebody in between you and the recipient. Email is a completely distributed system. Nobody is in charge of email. So, the only people who decide whether my newsletter is read and opened are the people on the list. So, that’s very powerful.

Michael Katz: [00:20:21] Secondly, it shows up in your inbox. So, it’s funny, sometimes if I’m talking to you a live group, I’ll say, “Okay. Raise your hand if you’ve checked LinkedIn today.” And you get, like, half the group. “Raise your hand if you’ve checked email.” Everybody. So, as much as email is dead, it’s sort of like the day you can sign up for a social media account without an email address, I believe it’s dead. It still is the default in our life. It’s not even do you have email anymore. There’s things you can’t do. I can’t make a doctor’s appointment anymore without an email address. So, even though I’ve been wondering will it die, it still continues to be very compelling.

Michael Katz: [00:21:05] And, again, because my newsletter will sit in your inbox until you delete it, I think that’s also more powerful than a post on LinkedIn, which in the time we’ve been talking, if somebody posted, it’s already gone. You know, it’s pushed down. So, it’s funny, it’s like skinny ties – for no good reason, but if you wait long enough, I guess – I don’t know if something will replace it. But I’ve never found anything that says effective in all the ways we’ve been talking about is email, so still a lot.

Mike Blake: [00:21:39] Yeah. That’s a really interesting description. I hadn’t thought of either of those things. But it’s right to me. Social media, we don’t own the real estate. We don’t control who sees our thing, who sees our content. And we try to read the tea leaves in terms of what’s going to to gather the most, first of all, visibility, and then engagement, which is entirely a different animal. But then, this notion that, in a way, email has become like broadcast television. The way that you described it, I think that’s so smart.

Mike Blake: [00:22:26] And I guess it resonates to me because several years ago we cut the cord. No cable T.V. But we still do subscribe to the Netflix, Hulu. I have no idea if we’re saving money. We’re probably not, if I’m totally honest about it. But one of the the reason we still do that is because you can’t just sort of turn on Netflix and a program appears. You have to be with the modern television model. You have to be intentional about what you want to watch. Unless you do cable and then you can do that. That’s what we want to do.

Mike Blake: [00:23:02] Email is kind of the same thing, right? It’s so ingrained. Like you said, you cannot make a doctor’s appointment, you can’t do almost anything you want to do in life. The phone book has been replaced by email in some regard. And so, if you’re a functional adult in the society, you are actively managing and looking at an email account. And that’s the way in to everybody is through that channel. And I had not thought about that until you raised that before. That’s really interesting and that’s really important.

Michael Katz: [00:23:33] I think it does somewhat depend on the population, too. So, you know, everyone I work with is – I don’t know – 40 or older. Whereas, you know, I have a 22 year old son, I have to text him to tell him to check his email, even though he has an email account. It is possible if you’re talking to that audience – and who knows the sort of next generation that it moves on – at least for now, you know, my people are the middle aged and older, we’re still very much tied to email.

Mike Blake: [00:24:06] Yeah. I’m with you. I’m on the older side of Gen X myself. So, email is going to be my primary conduit. And I have a teenager and I kind of do the same thing. But what he’s finding is that texting amongst themselves and his friends is fine. But for the really important stuff, he misses a lot if he doesn’t check email. For what it’s worth for now, you and I are still controlling the world. In 20 years, it maybe different, but we still rule the world with an iron fist.

Mike Blake: [00:24:39] So, let me switch gears here, and it’s a little bit more the how. So, there are services out there, as you know, where you can send out a newsletter that’s basically canned content. Somebody writes it for you and then you put your name on it, you say that it’s yours. What do you think of those? Is there any value to those in your mind? Is there a value case to a certain kind of customer? Are they really valuable? What’s your view there?

Michael Katz: [00:25:08] I think there’s value there. I mean, again, because the option of not doing that is you’re invisible. So, even if I never open your email, but you show up once a month or whenever, and I, for whatever reason, don’t unsubscribe, at least I know you’re alive. So, that’s better than nothing.

Michael Katz: [00:25:33] There’s a few things missing, though. The problem is, you know, back in the day when it was print emails, and the insurance industry was famous for this, where you could get your photo and your contact information onto something they mailed. Well, back then, it was valuable to have someone give you some information about buying insurance, for example. Today, I can get any piece of information I want on anything in a minute with Google. So, if all you’re sending me is canned information, number one, it’s not unusual in any way. And number two, it’s not even your point of view.

Michael Katz: [00:26:10] So, this sort of funny thing going on, people sign up for your newsletter because they want the information. But what I’m trying to do is get them to know who I am or who my clients are. Because if you’re selling a professional service, the problem is the people who are your prospects and even your clients cannot tell how good you are relative to the other options.

Michael Katz: [00:26:31] It’s like you don’t have the slightest idea how medically capable your own doctor is. You don’t even know where he or she went to medical school. You’re like, “I don’t know.” And if I said, “Do you like your doctor?” So, again, I often will say to an audience, “Raise your hand if you like your doctor.” You get a lot of hands going up. “Keep your hand up if you know where your doctor went to medical school.” Nobody. So, why do you like your doctor then, or your accountant, or your auto mechanic? “I like the way they talk to me. I like their point of view. I like their personality.”

Michael Katz: [00:26:59] It has nothing to do with their capability. Yes, you have to be capable. But everybody who’s worth worrying about is capable. In fact, if you’re in an industry like yours, Mike, that’s where certification is required, CPA, medical school, you know, whatever. It’s actually harder to distinguish yourself because I know as long as I hire a CPA, I got somebody who’s over the bar. So, the differentiator is not capability. Again, you have to be good enough. It’s all this soft, squishy, non-professional business stuff.

Michael Katz: [00:27:35] And so, to me, what a newsletter ought to be is story and personality wrapped around useful information. Because over time, people get to know you. What’s funny is when I write a newsletter, let’s say, for myself, I’ll write about my family just took a trip to Colorado. Nine out of ten of the comments I get relates to someone else who went to Colorado. It’s not about the business thing. If I only wrote a newsletter and just told you about a family trip, you don’t subscribe.

Michael Katz: [00:28:05] But when I wrap this around the useful information, the soft stuff is what they notice. And, ultimately, I think that’s why you hire me versus somebody else or don’t hire me because you don’t like me. But again, I’m happy about that. You’re better off if we wouldn’t get along to go elsewhere.

Michael Katz: [00:28:24] So, it’s a really weird thing, but it’s extremely powerful because that’s really how word of mouth works anyway. People just passing other people around. And the newsletter done this way is just a very scalable way to do this, you know, to network, essentially.

Mike Blake: [00:28:43] And, you know, that’s interesting how you bring the individual voice into that, and I agree with that. And you’re right, it is in the accounting industry very challenging for people to separate themselves. And you ought to be really careful and say I’m the best accountant in the world. That’s a hard position to sustain or quantify. But you can always make yourself different. But you can’t make yourself different unless you’re actually communicating with somebody that they can see how you’re different. And I don’t think it’s all that effective to just say, “Well, I’m different.” You have to lead people to their own conclusion that you’re different by acting differently.

Mike Blake: [00:29:30] So, I want to get to creating a content in a second, but I do want to cover another model for newsletters, which is not a canned service per se, but maybe a newsletter that’s based on curating somebody else’s content. Like, you’re a big reader and you’re doing a service for your readers who don’t have as much time to read and gather information as much as you do. So, you’re going to kind of aggregate information on behalf of somebody else. In your mind, how effective is that kind of newsletter content strategy?

Michael Katz: [00:30:05] So, I think of it as a long a continuum. So, all the way to one side is, I never publish anything. As far as you know, I’m dead. Next step is, here’s a newsletter where it’s got my picture on it and my contact information, but it’s totally candid and I had nothing to do with it. But way better than nothing. I mean, because, I think half the game is showing up.

Michael Katz: [00:30:25] The curated one is one step further because, now, at least you’ve had input into what you decided is important. The downside is, you’re hosting other experts, essentially. So, I don’t know anything about how you think. I don’t know anything about your voice, your story, your personality. I just know, “Okay. He or she said these things matter.” What I want to get to is one step beyond that, which is, this is my point of view.

Michael Katz: [00:30:48] Again, if you’ve been a CPA for 20 years, you know a lot of stuff. And the other thing is people will think, “Oh, so I have to write something that’s never been said before in the world of accounting? I mean, we all have one or two things, maybe, and that’s it.” You got to remember your audience. If I’m a reader of your newsletter, I don’t know anything about accounting. I don’t want to know a lot about accounting. I just want a little insight that goes, “Blah, blah, blah. Here’s what you need to do.” It’s accounting 101. It’s embarrassingly simple.

Michael Katz: [00:31:21] Again, in that carpentry example, how to buy wood. Another carpenter would be like, “Well, no kidding.” But to me, as a homeowner, I don’t know. So, super simple. A little nugget that makes me go, “Oh. Okay. I just learned something. I’ll come back next month.” And, again, if you include that with some personal story, which, by the way, the only unique thing you have in terms of information is your story. Like, nobody can tell the story I told about going to Colorado with my family. I’m the only one on Earth who can do it. Anyone could have told the insight – whatever it was, I don’t really remember – that came with it.

Michael Katz: [00:31:56] So, it’s the more custom, I think, the better. Because, again, you’re trying to not just be known as an accountant. You’re trying to be known as that guy, Mike, that I like. And maybe one day I will hire him because I’m kind of sick of our accounting for whatever reason.

Mike Blake: [00:32:12] So, when I think of newsletters – this probably reveals my age. Again, I’m a Gen Xer. That’s the way it is – I think of newsletters that have maybe three or four articles in them and they have sort of a professional publishing format and so forth. Is that best practices now? Does a newsletter have to talk about three or four different things to kind of be worthy of the name? Or can you send out a newsletter that, in effect, is one message?

Michael Katz: [00:32:46] So, now, we’re getting into stuff where it’s like I don’t think there’s a must be this way or must be that way. As long as you satisfy useful information wrapped inside personality, I think you’re there. Because the other question is, should I make them click to read it or should I put the whole thing in the email? Pluses and minuses on both sides. It’s funny how in the same breath people will say, “Nobody has time to read anything. Should I have five articles?”

Michael Katz: [00:33:15] I mean, I wasn’t kidding when I said one word is the best. Because although I don’t think length equals quality, there’s reality that if your newsletter is too long, I think people stockpile them, which kind of adds up to never read them.

Michael Katz: [00:33:30] I have a friend/client, the only person I’ve ever met who can satisfy the useful information and personality in 300 words. I don’t know how he does it. But his newsletter is so short that when it arrives, I read it right away because I know it’s going to be short.

Michael Katz: [00:33:47] So, I think it’s okay to have the several stories. But, again, my goal isn’t to be a publisher. It’s to generate business. So, I just want to make sure I tick the box of useful and story. And so, I’m inclined towards the main article. There’ll be some tidbits like, “Hey, you know, we just won this award.” Or, you know, again, with my clients, that might be another section. Or I have someone who does, like, a book of the month that she reads, she’s an attorney. But there’s that one main article, and I find that works pretty well and it gets read as a result.

Mike Blake: [00:34:27] So, you talked about – and I agree – that it’s important for a newsletter, if possible, to reveal as much of the voice of the creator of the newsletter as possible. What do you do if you’re not a particularly good writer? Some people are good at math, some people are good at writing, some people want to be good at writing, and others couldn’t care less. Are newsletter just sort of closed off to you? Or is it a massively hard slog if you just don’t fancy yourself as a writer?

Michael Katz: [00:35:04] Okay. So, I’m going to use another exercise analogy.

Mike Blake: [00:35:09] Please.

Michael Katz: [00:35:09] So, like, ten years ago, I had knee surgery. I had my ACL replaced. And afterwards the physical therapist said, “Okay. You’ve got to go to the gym and get on an elliptical machine because you can’t run for a while.” And I never used an elliptical machine but I did belong to a gym. So, I go in there and I looked, and there’s, like, four different kinds of elliptical machines.

Michael Katz: [00:35:31] And so, I go up to the front desk and there’s the guy, and it’s huge muscle guy with just tiny little T-shirt reading a muscle magazine. He doesn’t even look up at me. And I go, “Hey. Which of these elliptical machines is the best one?” And he said what I believe is, like, the most wisdom I’ve ever heard, without looking up, he goes, “Whichever one you’ll stay on the longest.” The reason we have multiple machines is because some people like this one and some people like that one. The point of exercise is more of it too.

Michael Katz: [00:36:05] It’s sort of the same thing that you’re trying to do something you don’t hate. So, I can talk all day about why newsletters are great. But if you’re going to do it yourself without help and you hate writing, you’re not going to do it. So, find something else. Maybe you’re a good talker and so podcasts is better for you. Maybe you’re good on camera and video or social media, whatever. You have to pick marketing tactics that you, at least, can tolerate – the same thing, some people hate running, some people like swimming – or you’ll never do it.

Michael Katz: [00:36:41] Because the rest is really sort of nuance. Is a podcast better than a newsletter? I don’t know. The point is, keep showing up. Keep doing it. I don’t think you have to be a great writer, though, as long as you’re willing to do it. It’s funny, I’ve had so many people over the years say, “I’m a terrible writer.” No one has ever said to me, “I can’t talk to other people. What do I do?” It’s sort of the same thing. This isn’t like you’ve got to be Stephen King here.

Michael Katz: [00:37:08] In fact, I spent a lot of time unteaching people to stop writing like they’re writing marketing. Like, they get into this mode of it’s either a super formal or it’s like, “Hey, dude. Let’s kill it,” and the guy is, like, 60. I think your newsletter – because, again, it is an email – it’s inherently informal. So, your newsletter, I think, should sound like you speaking, as close as that as you can get. And since most people can speak coherently, if you do that, you’re good. Now, you may need an editor because you don’t want it to look unprofessional with punctuation or misused words, but that’s okay.

Michael Katz: [00:37:52] Most of my clients, the arrangement is some people I interviewed them and they never touched a keyboard, that’s fine. But I have other people where after we’ve figured out all this voice and, you know, it’s the design and the Mailchimp set up and all that, every month we talk about, “Okay. What’s the topic going to be?” We’ve already identified a bunch of areas. We go back and forth on, “Well, yeah, I think that sounds like three topics. What if you did this one?”

Michael Katz: [00:38:19] They write the first draft badly. I always say, “I don’t need you to write it well. I just need the raw material. Give me enough information that I can do it.” I don’t do any research. And, by the way, neither do they. Because, again, you don’t need to do accounting research. You could talk forever. And then, I fix it. So, I’m essentially a writer.

Michael Katz: [00:38:40] But as long as they just give me the blah, I then take it and fix it. But, again, whereas there’s other professionals I know who do the whole thing themselves. So, you can do it. But you’ve got to do it. It’s like you can’t go to the gym twice. You’ve got to keep going.

Mike Blake: [00:38:57] Has the advent of mobile devices changed at all how you do, or how you create, or think about newsletters as a medium?

Michael Katz: [00:39:05] Yeah. I mean, you know, when it starts to become a thing – I don’t know – five or six years ago, we had to get rid of the newsletters with the side column, which was sort of the standard, because it has to look good on a phone. And then, there’s this term responsive, meaning your newsletter response to whatever device it’s on. So, the same newsletter will work on a computer or a tablet or a phone. And, you know, the Mailchimps of the world have made that automatic, so you don’t have to worry about it.

Michael Katz: [00:39:35] But half of the world, at least, is opening email on a phone. I don’t know what percent will actually read it there. But you have to make sure you know the font is big enough, that you don’t have graphics that don’t work on a phone, so you just test it. But it’s not a problem, but you certainly have to account for it.

Mike Blake: [00:39:56] So, I want to switch gears here. An important driver of success in a newsletter, I would imagine, is having an audience to send it to. And it seems to me that building an email list – well, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m sure there are listeners who are listening to this right now that think, “You know what? Newsletter sounds great. I don’t know who I’m going to send it to.” Is there a special order of operations? Or how do you come up with a mailing list? Or are there tips? Do you think about building a mailing list really quickly? And then, how you do that? Any content? I mean, is the newsletter only a game, I guess, for somebody that already has a big mailing list?

Michael Katz: [00:40:46] No. Because, again, I’m working with professional service providers. No. None of those people have mailing lists. But you’re mailing lists are the people you know. I define people you know as, if you call them up, you wouldn’t have to introduce yourself. So, it’s not everybody you went to college with. It’s not the membership list of your professional organization. That’s spam. But it’s the humans on Earth you know. I find like the average middle aged person knows, like, 400 or 500 people. They always say, “Oh, I only know 50”. But now we sit down, it’s your college roommate, it’s your brother-in- law, it’s former clients. We’ll talk about what’s the value of your brother-in-law here?

Michael Katz: [00:41:26] So, people make two mistakes. One is, they just get every email they can get and now they’re seen as a spammer. Don’t do that. The other is they think, “Who might hire me? They only have, like, 15 people.” It’s a word of mouth game. So, the way I get hired as a marketing consultant, yes, sometimes it’s a potential client. But more often than not, you know, four out of five, it’s somebody else. My brother-in-law who reads my newsletter and finally knows what I do for a living after how many years, and a friend.

Michael Katz: [00:41:58] If you think about how word of mouth works, it’s two people sitting in Starbucks and somebody goes, “I’m just so sick of my accountant. He never calls me back, blah, blah, blah.” And then, the other guy goes, “Look at this guy’s newsletter, call him.” What’s funny is when people refer professionals like that, they don’t even necessarily know how the professional works, what they charge, how good they are. If I said, “I need a guitar teacher,” your brain goes, “Who do I know? Call this guy.”

Michael Katz: [00:42:27] So, if you take those 500 people, your brother-in-law, your college roommate, colleagues, more business people, and you’re in front of them every month, talking, whatever it is you do, what happens is they refer you. So, when I start a newsletter with a new client, I’m like, “Give me those people. Again, only people you know.” The first time you publish, out of 500, 50 of those people are going to unsubscribe. And, yes, you’ll get one person maybe.

Michael Katz: [00:42:51] Although, it doesn’t even happen anymore, who’s angry that they’re on the list. It happened ten years ago and when everybody was like, “Spam. Don’t spam me.” Now, for whatever reason, like when was the last time you heard somebody complain about spam? It’s not even a thing anymore. But, now, you’re off and running with your 450 people. And, yes, it’s good to add people because it’s a leaky bucket. Every month, people move or whatever. But you don’t need to, like, aggressively grow your list. In fact, I don’t know a way to do that that isn’t spam.

Michael Katz: [00:43:19] But I practice what I call aggressive opt in. When I meet somebody, I go, “Hey, can I do my list?” And we connect. So, I’m adding onesies, twosies all the time. You will get some people who wandered over to your website and sign up. But not a lot if you’re the average professional person. So, you have to kind of work it intentionally. But what’s amazing is, you only need, like, 500 people you know. Yes, if you’re selling products, you need 50,000 people. If you’re selling professional services, I mean, if I get 20 new clients a year, it’s all I can handle.

Michael Katz: [00:43:54] So, the numbers are small. And, again, it works very well for this population, which is different than if your target needs to do all kinds of stuff like this. It’s really not a list size thing. It’s a quality thing. Quality of the list.

Mike Blake: [00:44:09] Is there an optimal frequency for publishing newsletters?

Michael Katz: [00:44:12] Everyday. I think, again, for a professional service newsletter – once again, just to say – it varies. If you owned a bar, it’s probably once a week on a Thursday afternoon. But in my world, almost everybody I work with, it’s once a month. So, it’s only 12 times a year. And I say only, because it has to be manageable. I publish my newsletter every two weeks, which I think is perfect in terms of effectiveness. But most people can’t sustain that because they have real jobs. Once a month is a nice rhythm to that. It gives you time to get it ready, publish it, and then get some breathing room for a couple of weeks and start again.

Michael Katz: [00:44:57] It’s funny, like, 18 years ago, I would say to people, “Once a month, and your troubles are over.” Now, I say, “The least you can do it, I think, is once a month because there’s so many other things out there that you’ll be invisible if you back up to the default, which is quarterly.” I don’t think that’s enough anymore. But it’s more than enough – well, it’s enough. I mean, again, all my clients do it that way, mostly. And they all regularly, because people share their success stories, like, “Hey, I just got a new client. They read some of my newsletter.” You know, it happens all the time. So, it’s a good pace.

Mike Blake: [00:45:30] So, we’ve talked a little bit about, in effect, a long tail of newsletters and how you measure performance. But it also seems to me that one of the benefits of newsletters is that, unlike podcasts, for example, there’s a lot of data out there that can give you insight in terms of who’s opening it and who’s reading it, that sort of thing. Are those metrics that you follow? Do they matter to you? And if so, what do you really pay attention to? What do you use? And maybe what’s overhyped too?

Michael Katz: [00:46:02] Well, I think newsletter data is overhyped, because the only thing you can measure is opens and clicks and bounces. So, because that’s the only thing you can measure, that’s what we measure. But the truth is, if I’m not selling sneakers or something, what’s the difference how many clicks there were? It doesn’t matter. What matters is, has anyone ever said, “I called you because of your newsletter”? And I’d say even there, yes, you get these direct connects, which are great. I love when a client tells me that or I get that. My favorite call is somebody goes, “Hi. We’ve been reading your newsletter for two years and want to talk to you.” That’s a client coming up right there.

Michael Katz: [00:46:47] But people like to measure stuff. The thing is, with opens is, first of all, it’s inaccurate in many ways. And, by the way, Apple just made a change to their privacy policy. So, every Apple device is going to look like it opened your newsletter, so everybody is going to become even more irrelevant. But we’re not in a click to buy world. We’re in a relationship building world. So, it’s almost like if you went to a networking event and measured how many hands you shook, it kind of relates to did you make your way around the room. But it’s not really what you’re measuring.

Michael Katz: [00:47:21] So, although I do provide data to my clients, and people ask about it often or usually before they hire me, I’m not even sure they even look at it after they’re up and running. There’s a certain leap of faith, though, because it’s relationship building. It’s hard to connect A to B.

Michael Katz: [00:47:40] Part of the reason I work only with small firms now – I used to work with big companies – is because I got tired of having to defend it. Because if you’re the marketing guy in a big company – because I used to be – you got to defend everything you spent to the CFO. If you owned the business, I don’t need to explain to you the value of relationship building. So, I’d much rather work with someone who goes, “Yeah, I get it.”

Mike Blake: [00:48:03] So, we’re talking with Michael Katz. And the topic is, Should I create an email newsletter? Does the time of day that you send an email newsletter out matter?

Michael Katz: [00:48:19] Not anymore. I mean, back in the day when we all closed our computers at 5:00 on Friday and didn’t look at them until Monday morning, I think so. But it’s very much a 7 by 24 thing now. I try and avoid the times people are in heavy delete mode. So, even though it’s 7/24, people do sleep. So, you wouldn’t want to send a newsletter overnight.

Michael Katz: [00:48:40] Like, my wife wakes up, reaches for her phone, and starts deleting. She’s trying to clear the day so when she gets in front of her desk, she’s got less stuff. You don’t want to be in that pile because the bar is higher. I also avoid Mondays, because even though, yes, it’s 7/24, we do sort of slow down.

Michael Katz: [00:48:57] So, to me, a newsletter, any time between, like, 9:00 in the morning or 8:00 in the morning, I try to do in the morning rather than in the afternoon. But I have no data for that. And then, you know, Tuesday through Friday, again, for a business newsletter. But I have never found a difference in any measurable way that says, you know, middle of the week, middle of the day is better. But this kind of stuff, I don’t think matters.

Mike Blake: [00:49:26] One piece of advice you hear pretty frequently when engaging in digital marketing is to reuse that content if you can. If you’ve got a newsletter article, make it into a YouTube video, podcast, whatever, do you – no pun intended – subscribe to that theory? Or do you think that content needs to be more kind of siloed?

Michael Katz: [00:49:49] I totally agree. In fact, the best thing that happened to email newsletters is social media. I mean, when I first started doing a newsletter, you’d send the thing out and then it evaporated, it was email. So, if you subscribed to my newsletter 30 seconds after I sent it out, not only did you not get that one, you didn’t get any of the other ones because it was in the days before WordPress, where you could easily put the thing on your website. So, initially ,it was just email, send it, gone.

Michael Katz: [00:50:18] Then, the blog is invented. Now, you could send it, but also post it on your website, same content, though. But the nice thing is it now lives on your website, Google likes it, people can check it out after the fact. So, that was the state of the world for another five or six years.

Michael Katz: [00:50:34] Now, in social media, for example, with my newsletter. I put it on my website before I send it, now it’s a blog. Then, I send it, then I record it, now it’s a podcast. I don’t interview people like you’re doing, I just record it. But there’s a lot of sight impaired people, people who prefer to listen. What do I care? It adds 30 minutes to the process. So, now, I have a podcast. It’s on my website. It’s on iTunes. Then, I take it and I chop up little pieces of it.

Michael Katz: [00:50:59] And for the next year, I cycle it through my social media – which, for me, is almost entirely LinkedIn – with all my other newsletters. And then, it expires in a year. It’s just a little bit of a segment of it, an image, and I link it back to the thing on my website. So, I’m getting people who missed the first one. I mean, even your best readers, you know, if you’re open rate is north of 35 percent, you’re doing well. So, that means two out of three people don’t read each one at best. So, they see it on social media. I published a book, it was just 29 slightly changed newsletters.

Michael Katz: [00:51:38] So, it’s great. The hard part is writing it once. Then, how many different ways can you just spray this around over and over again? And, yes, I suppose – as I was joking earlier – there are some people who are like, “Hey, wait a second. I read this before.” But most people don’t. And this way you get way more mileage for your hard work of writing it once.

Mike Blake: [00:52:01] Michael, this has been a great conversation. We’re running out of time and I want to be respectful of yours. There are probably questions that we didn’t cover that somebody would have asked or didn’t go as deeply as somebody would have liked. If someone wants to contact you for more information about this topic, can they do so? And if so, what’s the best way to do that?

Michael Katz: [00:52:19] My website is just michaelkatz.com, and they can subscribe to my newsletter or contact me there.

Mike Blake: [00:52:27] Well, great. That’s going to wrap it up for today’s program. I’d like to thank Michael Katz so much for sharing his expertise with us.

Mike Blake: [00:52:35] We’ll be exploring a new topic each week, so please tune in so that when you’re faced with your next business decision, you have clear vision when making it. If you enjoy these podcasts, please consider leaving a review with your favorite podcast aggregator. It helps people find us that we can help them. If you’d like to engage with me on social media, with my Chart of the Day and other content, I’m on, LinkedIn as myself and @unblakeable on Facebook, Twitter, Clubhouse, and Instagram. Once again, this is Mike Blake. Our sponsor is Brady Ware & Company. And this has been the Decision Vision podcast.

 

Tagged With: Blue Penguin Development, Brady Ware & Company, Decision Vision podcast, email marketing, email newsletter, marketing, Michael Katz, Mike Blake, professional services marketing

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