The Alternative Board With Jason Zickerman

posted by David Wolf on Mar 2, 2009 | Comments (2) | Permalink | Trackback URL

Our guest on this segment of the Smallbiz Brain is Jason Zickerman, the president and CEO of The Alternative Board—-under his leadership, the Alternative Board creates, manages and facilitates advisory boards in communities throughout the US—-comprised of local business owners, presidents, CEOs who run non-competing businesses. Each month the members of these boards meet (led by an executive coach) to share expertise, engage in problem—solving for each other’s businesses and challenges—-all in his unique, fully confidential setting. Jason has some ideas around employee issues that many businesses are now facing because of the recessionary environment we’re in—-

Here are some of the questions addressed in this segment:

1. To lay the groundwork for this segment, let’s learn more about the Alternative Board itself: How was it original created and deployed?
2. What are the logistics—how do Alternative Boards really work for small business owners?
3. The company has experienced significant growth since you arrived about 7 years ago. Why do you think it’s been so successful?
4. How many Alternative Boards are there today?
5. Is TAB a franchise-business model?

Since the recession began in December of 2007, the economy has lost nearly 2 million jobs—devastating for both the employees let go and the business owners forced to do layoffs. We’re sitting together in January 2009—-clearly one of the most challenging periods in terms of the US and global economy—-and for those who own and operate businesses. One of those challenges is managing the people in the equation—-employees who are let go and employees who are left behind to continue working in the business.

For business owners, you’ve culled the “best of the best” tips from the Alternative Board 3,300 business owner member network to help move employees forward after a layoff. Let’s walk through some of these tips and dig into them a bit:

• Nip it in the bud— Be proactive and clear about outlining and prioritizing new or revised workloads. Don’t wait for your overwhelmed employees to come to you confused about their new responsibilities.

• Eliminate Work that Doesn’t Work— You can’t do the same volume of work with less people. Owners must prioritize both tasks and customers. Require employees to cease doing non-essential work. Restructure your workload to produce better results by working smarter.

• Say & Show Your Appreciation- Reassurance from the employer to the survivors is a vital moral booster. Also, consider offering incentives that demonstrate the company’s commitment and appreciation to the employee.

• Make Your Power Players Accessible—During turbulent times, executives need to be visible to help reassure and motivate employees. Make sure the power players have answers to frequently asked questions related to layoffs and restructuring.

• Watch for Extreme Cases—Alert managers to watch for extreme cases of depression. A list of the warning symptoms of depression should be distributed to managers so that they can assist in the early identification.

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