Cause when the going gets tough....will the you be going?

[Disclaimer: I work for FreshBooks.com and I am pretty lucky cause FreshBooks is one of the best places to work in the entire world. That being said this post is my opinion and only my opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone else besides little ole' me]

One of the best things about my job are that I get to talk to hundreds of people every week about their lives and their jobs and it gives me a clear picture on what is going on in the world.

So using this insight I have to tell you all that I am really surprised by the fact that one of the real results I am seeing due to the economic downfall is that some companies are treating their own staff poorly. Now I understand layoffs if they are for financial reasons but I don't understand when employers don't recognize that their own people are their most valuable resource.

My CEO at FreshBooks is a handsome guy named Mike McDerment and he always talks about how "if you take care of your staff, your staff will take care of your customers and your customers take care of your business."

As you can see Mike is not just handsome but also pretty sharp because this makes sense in any economy but in this current climate it rings more true than ever.

Simply put, When times get tougher it is easy to panic or even give up and some people will...and this will create huge opportunities for the folks who are willing to jump on them and not give up.

So how do you do this, well...best way is to treat your staff well...heck, dare I say like family and show them that if they work hard and stick out the hard times you are going to stick with them and you are all in this thing together. A great example of this is how when you hear celebrities talk about their humble beginnings and they always say "I never know we were poor because my parents always provided something for me". Something doesn't have to be a tangible thing and a lesson that employers don't always understand is that you can show appreciation for your people in hundreds of ways that doesn't include spending big money. By doing fun low cost things to keep spirits up all year round no matter what the economy is like will motivate your staff to, like Mike says "to take care of your customers".

I could go on and on and get very preachy with this but I feel this is an important message to get out there. Yes the economy is going in the wrong directions...Yes the next year may not be like a Beach Boys song but the facts are that new business is going to be everywhere because people will be looking for new options and new vendors so no matter what you do or what industry you are in there are going to be little pots of gold lying around and if you have a motivated staff you may just find them.

...and if this hasn't motivated you to re-examine your company culture/general staff happiness maybe this will help to get you amped to do great things.