• 48:11
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Culture, retention, gratitude, workplace culture, manufacturing, employee engagement, stay interviews, flexibility, appreciation, leadership, employee feedback, workplace happiness, employee retention, employee recognition, workplace relationships.
SPEAKERS
Damon Pistulka, Lisa Ryan
Damon Pistulka 00:07
All right, everyone, welcome once again, the faces of business. I am so excited for our show today, because we have none other than Lisa Ryan from gratitude with us today, and we’re going to be talking about the easy button for a great culture, and that is partially or a lot of just doing the work. Lisa, thanks for being here today.
Lisa Ryan 00:35
I am excited to be back with you. It’s been way too long, my friend, yes,
Damon Pistulka 00:39
it has, and that’s why we had you back for another exciting session, because everybody’s talking about culture. Everybody wants to build a great culture, and in manufacturing, retention is a huge thing for us. So let’s get started. Lisa, by you telling us a bit about your background, how you’re helping people make the world a better place.
Lisa Ryan 01:06
Sure, after a 20 plus year career in sales, my I spent 13 years in industrial sales, including seven years in the welding industry, and then I went from there into medical sales. And when my medical sales position was eliminated via group conference call with 12 of us getting canned at the same time, I said, No company will ever do that to me again. Started my speaking business on that day, which is why I know it was October 12, 2010 and I’ve been focusing on manufacturing, construction and the skilled trades for about the last 10 years, primarily because, number one, it was my favorite job of all time. I mean being around people who make stuff that nobody else on the planet thinks about totally takes for granted and the passion that are in the room of my audiences, I speak in a lot of associations, it can’t be matched. And I also really believe one of my missions is to change the conversation about manufacturing so that we attract the people that we need to do the work, and we keep the great people that we have working for us, because they have so many more options. You know, we just have to worry about them going down the street joining another manufacturer, but now they’re going to, like, drive for DoorDash, or, you know, deliver for Amazon, or become a YouTube influencer for goodness sake. You know? I mean, yeah, there are more options. It’s a job now, so it’s, yeah, a lot more options. So it makes it even more critical to create the workplace culture that keeps people
Damon Pistulka 02:55
Yeah. So this is great, because you’ve you’ve been at this for a while, and what are some of the things that you’re seeing that people are paying attention to, that they never even talked about a decade ago in manufacturing, when it comes to culture and retention and and in people, yeah,
Lisa Ryan 03:18
well, it’s interesting, because it’s not even so much 10 years ago. It’s five years ago because we are not going back to the good old days. You know, 2019 when we’re looking at a pre pandemic versus a post pandemic workforce and everything has changed. Expectations have changed. Yeah, you know, before 2020 we would never put talk about things like flexible scheduling and manufacturing in the same sentence, but now it’s an expectation. So how do we figure it out? You know, for me, in my speaking business, you know, going into 2020 on December, 31 2019, I mean, I had more business going into 2020 than I had done in 2019 it was going to be my best year ever. But I never asked myself, Gee, I wonder what would happen if a worldwide pandemic shut down my business for two years? What would I do? And it goes back to exactly with manufacturing, because we ask ourselves questions that we never thought we’d have to ask before. How can I make more flexibility in my production scheduling? How can I give people more choices? How can I listen more how can I make them feel more appreciated, more valued? How can I show them how they contribute to the mission, instead of just assuming that I’m going to hire a bunch of hourly people to make widgets on the line all day?
Damon Pistulka 04:50
Yeah, that, those are huge questions. You said them quickly, but I’m thinking back to, you know, 20 plus years in manufacturing and. And flexibility is a big one. And it was like, well, we have these shifts. Which one do you want to work right? And now it’s like, well, I don’t want to work any of them. I won’t work like this, you know. And and then you talk about choices, choices of who they work with, choices of the different places they work, contribution, you know, we really never talked about that, pre pandemic, you know, your contribution to the organization. It was kind of implied, well, yeah, I’m making stuff. I’m helping to make stuff so and then to help people feel valued. I mean, those you said it quickly, but those are huge things to try to do across an organization. So as as you’re seeing things today, who, what are some of the pack leaders really doing now, even if they’re not, you know, they’re not, the end all be all of the great culture that’s helping people do all these things. But what are the people that are really you’re really impressed as they’re taking the steps. What are the things that they’re doing now? Well,
Lisa Ryan 06:11
they’re listening to their people. They’re asking for feedback, and when their people are telling them about things that they would like to do more of, or things that they would like to do less of, or they want to grow with the organization instead of just, you know, blowing them off. Or we don’t have time, or we don’t have money for that to to listen to them, because the people that are approaching you to take on more responsibility and more, you know more training within the company. You probably know this already, but they’re unicorns. Okay, yes, we are busy. We are busy, busy, busy. So when you have that unicorn approaching you, you know of of knowing that that person could be a future leader of yours. So how do I listen to them? They’re we’re investing in our employees. We’re looking for more ways to not only take advantage of in house resources, I mean the people who work for you, they know stuff, and if you started doing lunch and learns or giving them some visibility, where they could teach their co workers other things where we’re learning together, building relationships. You know, that’s another way bringing in an outside trainer or speaker. And yes, that is a totally shameless plug, but when you think about it, someone like me could come in and say exactly what that manager just said at last Monday’s meeting, and they will hear it differently, because I’m not a face that they see every day. So we’re just always looking for ways to switch it up, to do things differently, to take advantage of the resources that are out there, both in house and out of house, and not worry so much about the cost of the investment, because I will tell you what the cost of your people leaving is going to be much more expensive.
Damon Pistulka 08:12
Yes, the cost of people leaving is a tremendous expense, especially when those are experienced people, right? Yeah. So when it comes to these, when people are trying to work on their culture, work on retention, what are some of the mistakes you see people making even though they’ve got good intentions? Well,
Lisa Ryan 08:35
it happens in in a lot of the events that I go to, you know, they’ll go to a four day conference or three day workshop or whatever it is, and come home with, you know, 24 items on their to do list that they want done now, and they try it for a day or two, and their employees don’t immediately jump through the hoops that they think that they should be because this is such a Fantastic idea, and then they’re like, Well, that didn’t work. You know, it’s like your culture took a long time to to to get to where it’s at, and it’s not going to change overnight. So what I always encourage my audiences to do is to pick one thing, to pick one thing, to commit to it. And for some people, because I talk about a lot of gratitude strategies, or strategies in my programs, some of it is, you know what, I’m going to start a gratitude practice, and I’m going to start looking for the good. I’m going to start with me, because it starts here. But other people, a lot of other people, say, You know what, I don’t thank my employees as much as I should. I want to get better at gratitude. And so with that, I share that you know, start with the apology approach. You know, Damon, I have not been letting you know how much I appreciate you and the work you do, and I’m going to focus more on. That. So when I as a manager, if I’ve never thanked you, and I say, hey Damon, great job, you’re gonna be like she’s never thanked me before, what does she want? I have a little bit of that vulnerability that you know what? This is not something I’m good at, maybe not something I’m comfortable with, but now you know that it’s not just a thing that I’m going to try for a week and then give up when it doesn’t have the immediate impact that I think it’s going to
Damon Pistulka 10:31
I really like that approach, because that apology first approach, like you said, it does first the the other person that’s offering the apology, the person that’s getting it, they go, well, this person recognized that first of all, and they’re trying to get better. And that’s that’s a big step for a lot of people, and recognizing and I’m gotta miss something I want to improve upon, and letting that person know. And then, like you said, the next time, when they come around next week, it won’t be somebody, they won’t be looking at them strange, like, this is the first time it’s like, Oh, I know what they’re trying to do. They’re really trying to help and try to be better. That’s so cool, so cool. And
Lisa Ryan 11:16
for some people, it’s easier to reach out and thank people than it is for others. You know, it’s not part of what they’re made at, or it’s not the way that they were raised. Managers will raise their employees the way that they were raised. So and you also have employees that, frankly, some of them are easier to recognize and appreciate than others, yes, but if we look at it like a science experiment, and how can I compare Joe to his own efforts? I’m not comparing Joe to Mark, I’m not comparing Joe to Sally. I’m comparing Joe to Joe, and now he knows that I’m also focusing on catching and doing things well, instead of just always harping on what’s wrong. Yes,
Damon Pistulka 12:08
and that and that approach, catching people when they’re doing things right, doing things well is so great, because it is not the boss or the leader always talking to you when there’s something wrong. You’re talking to him when something’s going right, then it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a drastic difference working in a place like that when, when you’ve got, hey, that was a great job you did on that project. And this, this and that, and that, they hear that, because most of the time, people are doing good things right anyway, and and then if there’s a time in there bad say, Hey, I know you got great effort in this, but this is one of the things that we need to look at when we’re doing this next time, because it didn’t turn out like we wanted to. It’s a it’s a much easier approach. When I’ve got 10% or the things or 5% or 2% are the times when I’m saying, Hey, this is your great effort, but we do need to change this, because it didn’t turn out like we want, compared to that’s the time, that’s the time that they get, get you have an interaction with them well.
Lisa Ryan 13:12
And I think the other thing you ask about mistakes, it was, you know, you know that you have three to 5% of your employees, and they are going to jack you no matter what you do. They’re going to find ways around it. They’re going to subvert the system. They’re going to get away with as much as humanly possible. But unfortunately, we have 95% of our employees who are good, honest, hard work and trying to do the very best we can, and we treat those 95% like the 5% that we know are trying to Jack us. I mean, what if we just aired on the side of giving, of treating everyone as if they were good, hard working folks that are just trying to do the very best they can. Because what happens is, over time, that three to 5% they start to self select, yes, yeah. I can’t be around these positive people. I gotta get out of here. Yes.
Damon Pistulka 14:13
Well, and the other thing, and this is, this is something that I that I’ve was talking to somebody about recently, about kindness and and, and, you know, and we gratitude was, we’re weaved in the conversation. It doesn’t mean, as a leader, that you need to accept poor performance. It doesn’t mean that those people need to stay around. I mean, you can be very, very grateful for the work that’s getting done and and, and all all that we’re talking about, recognizing when things are going well, but if that person is not the right person for the role, still doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go, you know, Damon, you’re not the right person for this role, right? And we’ve talked about this, and it’s, it just doesn’t seem like it’s the right fit. So we’re going to be done. And that’s you. It’s a, it’s a a good human thing to do, because if somebody’s not in the right role, they’re not happy either, right?
Lisa Ryan 15:06
And how many times, and every audience that I speak to, you know, and I ask this question, because nobody likes to fire anybody, you’re not only impacting that person, but you’re literally taking food out of the mouths of their children. But how many times when you fired that person and then you see them five years later at the grocery store, and they’re like, You know what? That is the best thing that ever happened to me? I mean my losing my medical sales job via group conference call. You know, it turned out my my friends would say, oh, Lisa, it’s a blessing in disguise. I’m like, Oh, honey, no surprise. I mean, or no disguise. It was the best thing that could have happened to me, because it led me to doing what, exactly what I should be doing, what I’ve been placed on this planet to do. That
Damon Pistulka 15:59
is, I am so glad you brought that up, Lisa, because it is, you know, the people, if you’re not happy in a role and you’re a marginal performer in that role, you will be better. It might be a temporary inconvenience or temporary pain in the butt, but you will be better after that and and it’s it when you really think about that as a leader and going, This person is not in the right place, but they’re staying in here for maybe the wrong reasons, or they don’t think, whatever, but it’s not fair to them or the organization if they stay here, and it really does, really does help that, and Like you said, later on, they’ll more than likely be happy that it happened. Yeah,
Lisa Ryan 16:44
and sometimes you have employees who are really good, loyal employees, but they get, you know, an offer from that they just can’t refuse down the street, and then they go to that other company and they’re like, Oh, this is why that company has to pay me so much money and they want to come back to you, yeah, because they realize that it’s not the be all, end all of the pay. Mean, I had one, one guy in my audience shared that they had an 85% boomerang rate from people who left the organization found out that the grass was not greener, and wanted to come back to that organization. And 85% boomerang rate, that is the mark of an amazing culture to work for, because people, when people have an awesome job, they think that all jobs are awesome. Yeah, they go out into the real world and they find out that all jobs aren’t awesome, yes,
Damon Pistulka 17:44
yes, and that’s awesome. Hey, that that’s really a great measure too, because if you have people that are boomerang and want to come back, that means you’ve done something well in your culture. That’s for sure. Yeah, good stuff. So culture and the easy button, we kind of played with it in the title of the show today. Everybody’s trying to look for hacks. Everybody’s trying to go faster. You know, better. What are, what are some reasonable things that you’ve seen that help to accelerate building culture the way that someone would want it to be.
Lisa Ryan 18:23
You know what? And this is it’s so not rocket scientist, but thank your people for doing their job. Because if you don’t, somebody else is going to you know the Gallup organization. You’re probably familiar with the Q 12. It is Gallup’s basically 12 statements that they can determine if an employee is going to be engaged or not. One of the these statements is, I have a best friend at work. Now, you notice, Gallup does not say I have a good friend, or I have people I tolerate. They say I have a best friend. Because when somebody has a best friend, it’s tougher for them to leave. So we create the culture that allows those types of relationships and friendships to happen, so that people can develop those connections. But another one of the statements is I have been recognized or praised for doing good work in the last seven days. Now, again, Gallup is very specific as far as the information, the numbers that they choose. So why seven days? Why not 30? Why not 45 because seven days is where you’re going to get the biggest effect of the dopamine effect dopamine is that feel good emotion, when we feel valued, when we feel appreciated. So the thing that I recommend to my clients and audiences is at the beginning, if this is new for you, literally have an Excel spreadsheet open with all of your employees names on it, and as you’re walking around the plant and you say something nice. Somebody, you acknowledge them, you compliment them, whatever it is, little hash marks so you can see physically, until you develop the habit and it becomes more natural, we look for ways of you know what? How can I just not fool myself into thinking, Oh yeah, I’m grateful all the time, because, for the most part, we believe that we are much, much more grateful than we actually are. But if we’re doing little hash marks, okay, I can see that I said five nice things to Charlotte this week, but I only said one to George and I said none to Sam. So yeah, the numbers don’t lie.
Damon Pistulka 20:43
That’s a great I mean, it’s simple, and it’s simple things like that, like you’re saying, until you build the habit and build the the the habit now you think, and the skills to really to be able to walk around and be and do it and do that. And I think leaders need to make sure that they’re taking the time to not. I’m going from point A to point B, especially in manufacturing, because you may be going to a different department, you may be doing things, but you’re if these are people that you should be interacting with, that movement across the facility should take you, and I’m not saying could should take you longer because you are intentionally planting seeds along the way that help your culture. Yeah.
Lisa Ryan 21:26
I mean, you can let you can learn a lot about your employees just by walking through the plant and saying, hello. I mean, if I walk by Mary and I’m like, Hey, Mary, how you doing? And she’s like, I am okay. And Mary’s usually super chipper, you know, I can go, Mary. I you know, I can either go to my office because I’m busy, man, I got things to do, or I can stop. And I could say, you know, Mary, you’re not your normal self today. What’s going on? I don’t know that today was the day that Mary was going going to give her notice, but because I stopped, Mary might say, You know what, Lisa, Lisa really is pretty cool to work for. I think I’m just having a bad day, and I’m going to tough it out, versus me going to my business because go into my office because I’m busy, and it’s like, you know what? She doesn’t care about me. I’m just another number. I’m done, yes,
Damon Pistulka 22:18
yeah, and it, it’s so much being a good human. I think it really is. We forget about this in business many times, and there are a lot of people that we work with, there are a lot of things that we have to do, but it really comes back again to are you creating a community in your business where there are people in it that their families, their their hobbies, their things that they like to do, is all kind of intertwined together, like you said, Gallup doesn’t ask I have a best friend at work for no reason or that they received praise in the last seven days. I mean, there, there are really solid facts behind why they’re asking those things and the importance of them. And, you know, you can just feel it in in businesses when you walk in, if you have leaders that are doing that and and really talking to people about it, knowing that Steve likes the fish or his favorite baseball team is not the Braves or something like that, you know, but it’s, but, you know, it those are the big things, or they’ve got, or they’ve got a child, that’s, that’s, you know, that’s playing sports, getting ready to graduate, whatever it is, and those things are so important to be able to converse with those people, because, like you said, It helps them feel more a part of the company. Helps them feel more recognized for what they’re doing. But it also when there are things that are going on, we can help as leaders in businesses. I mean, we can help because people we live life, right? It could be the day that that you said, walk by that person and she wasn’t having a great day, she could’ve had something really bad happen, and and could be dealing with something very bad, and it’s men or women. Doesn’t matter, but you can make a difference in someone’s life. And it, I tell you, it came around to me in a stark thing this lat in 2024 I was able to help somebody in a business, and this person came to me and and told myself, and someone else had held and said, Listen, if you guys want to come and start to help me, I was planning to take my life. Wow, and it wasn’t, I mean, it’s not like we were there counseling. It was there. We’re encouraging and helping and really trying to do those kind of things. And it ultimately, it helped. And these little things make a huge difference at the right point in time for people.
Lisa Ryan 24:53
Yeah, I mean, we have no idea what our employees went through five minutes before they. Showed up at the plant. Yeah, we don’t know that they’re having marital problems or addiction problems or problems with their kids or anything. So just taking responsibility for us walking through the plant and saying hello and not letting you know somebody’s bad attitude change the way that we treat them because, again, we have no idea what they’re going through, and we may be the only kindness that they get all day or that they get all week at work. And so it’s just these. Again, it’s just these little things, which is why I, you know, I kind of shake my head sometimes, because I just figure that as long as there are crappy bosses out there, I’m going to have a speaking career. And from and from the stories I continue to hear, bad bosses are not going away anytime soon. The ones that I work with, the ones that are most successful, are the ones that are already doing things well and they want to get better. They’re emotionally intelligent, they realize their strengths and weaknesses as a boss, and they are willing to do what it takes to change or hire people, to kind of hone them in so that they succeed in spite of themselves. Sometimes, you know, especially an owner of a business there, mean, this is their baby. This is so much to them, but it doesn’t have the same people may love the job and love the company, but not with that same level of intensity. So we have to realize that these are people behind the machines. These are people behind the products and the services and everything else we do, and every single one of them is wired completely differently, and the only thing that we can do is the best that we can do, to connect with them, to recognize them, to let them know that they matter, just like you let that one client of yours know that they matter, and you saved his life in the in the scheme of things,
Damon Pistulka 27:16
yeah, it’s, it’s those kind of interactions. You can tell that too, when, when you’re going to these organizations where there is that caring, and again, I go back to caring doesn’t mean you tolerate bad performance. Caring means you care for people. There’s three different things. And I, myself, a decade ago, was confused on that fact and and when you see it, you see the other side of it. You see what kind of cultures and really the kind of organizations that can be built around those values and those those habits that once you get the entire leadership team understanding that it’s a huge force, yeah, because it’s you said, there’s a lot of people that have that are not good leaders in all these other businesses around,
Lisa Ryan 28:09
yeah, and it’s just the little things I had one of my clients, I remember he was talking about, part of the interview process when they were bringing in a new manager, is they would take them through the plan, and they would specifically leave like a napkin or a pop can or something on the floor in the shop, and they would walk by it because they wanted to see if that potential candidate would pick it up and put it away if they just walked by it. They’re like, this is probably isn’t the person for us, because they were looking for the people that were constantly going above and beyond. So it’s just, you know, it’s just these little things, these little interactions that we can do to, I tell people all the time, again, you know, it doesn’t matter your role in the in the the organization, we all have the opportunity to make someone, someone’s day, a little bit better, or we can make it worse, and that’s because we are having a bad day, and we feel really good at the end of a blow up, because we’ve released all that we have potentially put holes into relationships that can never be fixed now, yeah,
Damon Pistulka 29:24
yeah, you said one thing there that I really, really, really love, and that’s his. It doesn’t matter what you do in a company that you can help to create the right culture doesn’t matter and and it is about caring. It is about doing it, but it’s hard if, if you’re Adam of a very small minority trying to do the right thing and treat people the right way. But in most companies, a few, a few people moving in the right direction makes a huge difference.
Lisa Ryan 29:55
Well. And there’s some people, you know. And if, if leadership or. Ownership is not getting it, and they refuse to change. And, you know, I do. I work with a lot of HR professionals. They’re like, I just, you know, I don’t know what to do. I want to change the culture, but I feel like my hands are tied. At that point, I’ll tell them, you know, you may have to make the difficult decision for yourself, because the stress that you are going through is not worth it, and unless they are giving you the, you know, the the tools and resources you need and so that you’re not stressed out, and you’re not taking all of this home to your family. You know, sometimes really good employees have to make difficult decisions, yes, and it’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s just, you know, we look at our own sanity and our own mental health and realize that, you know what, sometimes the money just isn’t worth it, you know, because if we have a heart attack or stroke out or something. Was that stress worth it? No,
Damon Pistulka 31:05
yeah, and those are very real possibilities that that in your right. It is, it is there is a time, if you’re in the wrong situation, there is a time to make that change, and it is because it is hurting you. It’s hurting your, your family, friends and your ultimately your career, because you won’t have the career success when you’re not in a place that is really, you know, the culture, the people, the the opportunity is right for you.
Lisa Ryan 31:30
Yeah, yeah. Remember, you know, back in the day when my medical sales position was eliminated, I thought my husband would be like, Oh, girlfriend, you are going back to work because, you know, I was in medical sales. I made a lot of money and but I think he saw the whole Happy wife, happy life thing. I mean, I was so, I mean, I starved for the first four years of my speaking business, but I was, I was on to something, and it was like and I realized, because I would say, I could never live on less than six figures. Yes, I could, and I did for a long time. We realized where our priorities are, and thankfully, my husband is actually on Sunday, it was 29 years of wedded bliss, but he’s still my biggest cheerleader when it comes to what I’m doing, you know. And thankfully, all the 15 years later, it’s paid off,
Damon Pistulka 32:34
you know. And you you say that, and so many people that have truly found what they’re doing. It usually doesn’t come easy. No, and, and so I think people sitting there in a position that they may not be in the right culture, they want to build the right culture. It takes work. All this takes work, and it takes some of it is sacrifice that you have to you have to do. But, and as we talked about, culture is not something that changes quickly. No, we just need to be consistent, and we need to keep moving in the right direction, because that that over time, it will make a huge difference.
Lisa Ryan 33:13
Yeah, and we build trust with our employees to let them know that this isn’t just another program. Yeah, that this really is, you know what we’re what we’re striving for, what we want to accomplish. Because, again, you know, you can feel culture. You walk through any plant, you walk through a restaurant, a hospital, anywhere that you walk in. And you can feel if people like working there or not, you know. And so think about the message that you’re sending to the applicants who are coming in to interview with your company. Does it look, does it feel like a place that they would want to work or not?
Damon Pistulka 33:55
Yeah, yeah. I gotta. I got a question for you that I gotta ask so name, and you don’t have to buy name, but ex, just describe some experiences where you’ve walked into places where they had a pretty darn good culture, but they were also doing some pretty darn hard work, and people were having to really put it in but you saw that it was you could tell it was different. There’s an off the wall question, but I’ve seen it before, and it’s really something when you see it in action
Lisa Ryan 34:36
well, and I think it’s just again, people who are so they’re so passionate about what they’re doing, because they know that what they’re doing makes a difference. The product that they’re manufacturing is making a difference, because and then and they are as well. So when we are like, I. Had one of my clients who manufactures springs, you know, I mean their springs literally, and everything, and so these, they’re sitting there going, well, how can we let our employees know that, you know, their products are making a difference. So they actually took a picture of one of the springs that they were making, blew it up, put it on the poster and showed it as the part of the week. So now the employees got to see, you know, what that spring turned into, that it was, you know, life saving hospital equipment, you know, components or things like that, that they could have that pride of I made that I was at one one meeting, and it was for machined parts. And one of the companies there, they actually made the buttons that when you’re on an airplane, you know, when you go to to put the seat back, yes, they make those buttons. And they were just like, so excited. We made those, you know, again, all the things that we take for granted. But I think that what comes to mind more is a what not to do. There was a company, they were going through, a wanted to do a big culture change everything, right? They had all the books, they had the resources, everything. They put together an employee experience committee, and I was working with that committee, you know, it was all from different departments around the company, and they, their task was to find out, what do employees want what this particular plant employees were allowed to wear shorts from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But, you know, sometimes it’s warm before Memorial Day and sometimes it’s warm after Labor Day. So the employees were like, well, why can’t we wear shorts whenever we want, you know, and it’s like, and not wearing the welding shop or anything where it was a safety issue, but, you know, it’s like my husband, if it is 40 degrees and sunny in December, that man’s in shorts, because that’s just what we do. Yeah. So the whole thing was, you know, let’s treat them like adults. And it could have been a huge win. It could have been just like, You know what? We’re going to treat you like adults. You can wear shorts whenever you want. And the owner said, Nope, you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. And he completely kiboshed all of the work that we had done. I mean this, this happened a long time ago, and I still it was the only client that I had to fire, because I knew that nothing was going to change. What what was said was one thing, but what was the actions that were being taken and the ability to move forward, it wasn’t going to happen because there was too much ego that got in the way. So sometimes we have to realize too is that we have these young people coming into the workplace, that they are wired for technology in a way that most of us, people who have been around a little while can’t even imagine and they see the world differently, and sometimes, just listening to them, are you going to implement everything they come up with? No, but what if they’re right? Yes. What if they can take a process that you’ve been doing for, you know, 40 years, and turn it around overnight, just because they see a simple thing using technology, you know, it’s just, it’s a changed workplace now, and we have to figure out how we can change in order for us to succeed, to move forward.
Damon Pistulka 38:58
Yeah, and, you know, it’s, I think, that the organizations that embrace the different generations working in one place and really concentrate on going, Okay, I know we’ve got people that are young, we’ve got people that are in the middle, and we got people on the other end that are a bit older, when we figure out how to get them working together, right by talking to those people and going Listen the old people have to have to continue to keep learning and help and help understand this new technology or new and new ways of doing it. And the young people need to be listening to the old people are asking questions. Why are we doing things like this? Yeah, because there’s lessons to be learned both directions, and it’s a huge thing, what you just brought up, because especially, especially with things like AI and the way it’s changing, and even just simple technologies as as a digital immigrant, that’s like people before the computers or what. All in the early stages of em to now, there’s just things information is so much easier automation, other things are so much easier for us now that there could be a gold mine right under our nose. Absolutely,
Lisa Ryan 40:14
absolutely. I mean, in 3d printing, what we used to have to, oh, to find or go to Amazon or go to a junkyard. It’s like, yeah, yeah,
Damon Pistulka 40:26
yeah. There’s so many things, so many things now. So before we wrap up here, Lisa, what are some of the things if, if you were going to be able to leave one piece of advice with a leader today about where they should start for building a better culture. Where should they start?
Lisa Ryan 40:49
You know, in my last book, not my my most current one, but my last book called Thank you very much, gratitude strategies to create a workplace culture that rocks. There’s a chapter in there. It starts on page 85 on stay interviews. Exit interviews are great because they denote a pattern, but they’re also a little late. It’s like, Hey, why are you leaving stay interviews? And there’s a bunch of questions in the book. But what do you like about working here? What resources do you need? What would you change if you were me, what would cause you to leave having those conversations with your employees now, while they’re here, number one, they feel connected to you because you care enough to ask these questions. Never, ever, ever ask a question that you don’t really want the answer to Yeah. So if you say something, and then they give you an answer, and then you fight just a fair or argue, you’ve just completely ruined it. So we, we go into these state interviews with a thank you for sharing, we grin and agree. Thank you for sharing or poker face, because an eye roll, fighting again, anything they don’t understand why we have to do what we do doesn’t matter. We listen and we take action based on what the feedback that we get. That would be the very simplest way for you to start the process, just like it would be a sort of employee engagement survey, but just with a lot more personal connection, taking the time to talk to your employees and see what where they are and where they want to go,
Damon Pistulka 42:44
stay interviews. I love it, and then to bring put your book back up there so we can see it. Mention the tile again, where they can get it. Thank you very much. By Lisa Ryan, yep, and gratitude
Lisa Ryan 42:58
strategies to create a workplace culture that rocks. And it is on Amazon, of course.
Damon Pistulka 43:08
Thank you very much. I gotta get that down, because I know there’s a couple people that will enjoy it, I know. And you talked about a new book. Let’s talk about that real briefly. What you got coming up.
Lisa Ryan 43:20
Yeah. Well, this book gear up for greatness. How to transform workplace culture with the six gears of gratitude. I have been wanting to write a business fable forever. They’ve always been my, my favorite kind of book, who moved by cheese and the Go Giver and all of those the greatest salesmen in the world. So I had the story that was kind of it was starting to surface, and I started writing it, my first work of fiction. And it I really got to know the the characters, and I had so much fun. So the first part of the book is the actual story of James Peterson, who takes over steel tech manufacturing, and the company is really it’s a toxic environment. And then he meets Frank, the wizened old maintenance guy who takes him through the six gears of gratitude and that whole process. But at the end, there is an implementation guide. So I couldn’t get away from my non fiction roots. Yes, I just had so much fun with it. Like, at the end of the book, there’s actually a Where are they now?
Damon Pistulka 44:37
Section awesome. Just
Lisa Ryan 44:38
my friends were like, Lisa, we have never seen you so excited over a book. I’m like, I never thought that writing fiction could be so fun. And I see again, not that I have the talent of a JK Rowling to create universes and, you know, and magic, but that. A pretty darn fun book to write That’s
Damon Pistulka 45:03
awesome. Well, share, share it with us one more time on the screen, and it’s released now. Or will it be released?
Lisa Ryan 45:08
It is, it is also on Amazon. This is my
Damon Pistulka 45:13
greatness. Yes, another one. Thank you so much for sharing that with us today. And those, those books that intertwine this story really help you learn better, too. I believe,
Lisa Ryan 45:25
yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean, I tried to put a lot of real world situations in there. Obviously it wasn’t all, you know, smooth sailing and everybody buying in right to begin with. So stuff,
Damon Pistulka 45:40
good stuff. So what do you have on the horizon before we leave today, what’s new and exciting is going to be for for the 2025 for you,
Lisa Ryan 45:51
um, you know, I’m, I’m just continuing to do what I do. I think that one of the the best things is that when my husband took a new job three years ago, he now works for a company culture where, mean, before his last company, it was really sucking the soul out of him. Yeah, it was bad, no. And so he’s been with this new company. It’s coming on four years in August, and Scott’s been traveling with me, so I really look forward to the fact he’s at the end of this month, he’ll be going to Savannah. In July, he’ll be going to Natchez, Mississippi with me, and in October, we’ll be going to Seattle. Because he’s never, I’ve never been to Natchez, but I’ve been to Savannah in Seattle, and he has not. So I think that it’s you know, you do with you what you love, with the person you love. It really makes things even better. Yes,
Damon Pistulka 46:52
it does. Yes it does. That’s so awesome. Lisa, well, thanks so much for being here today. Lisa, I really appreciate you stopping by and talking about the easy button for the great culture. And really the easy button is do the work and sharing your experiences and sharing your books with us. Thank you very much. One of the books, yep, you’re up for success. The second one, and thank those are available on Amazon for those people listening, and I want to thank everyone that was out there listening today. I can see on the screen, we had listeners. I can see my shoot, you were dropped a couple comments in there and talking about Scott Raven, I’m Scott did some commenting earlier. My shoot again. Thanks so much for being here. Those of you that didn’t drop comments. We appreciate you being here. And if you got in late, you want to go back to the beginning and listen to Lisa from the beginning and learn about the golden nuggets she dropped, about how you can really do some simple things to build a better culture. Lisa, thanks so much for being here today. You are very welcome, awesome, awesome. Well, we’ll finish up offline. We’re gonna say bye for now. Everyone else, have a great rest of your week. Bye.
