I made over 150 survey calls in one week. I wasn’t trying to find out which companies were the best companies, but I stumbled across it accidentally. What I found out applies to most industries.
- The best companies win the prize in multiple categories: revenue per employee, profit per employee, how long employees have worked there and how well employees are treated.
- The best companies already have a good reputation. People know who they are. The same is true for the worst companies. Most people know who to avoid after they have been in an industry for a year or two.
- The owners of the best companies trust others. They are willing to share their secrets even with a stranger like me. They understand that there is a magic in their company that cannot be reproduced simply by telling someone else how they did it. The owners of the worst companies are constantly fearful that someone will steal their employees, customers and operational secrets. They have good reason to fear. They lose employees and customers regularly and have to work much harder for every dollar they earn.
You can run your own survey without making 150 calls to company presidents. Start asking people you work with, “What companies are the best in our industry?” Ask any salespeople you meet, “Who is your toughest competitor?” Look around. There is no reason you should be employed with anyone but an industry leader.
Something To Do Today
Make a list of companies in your industry or geographic area in your job journal. Start keeping notes about comments you hear about each company. Discount what you hear if someone is a jerk or a bad worker where they are now. If they are a great person and worker, take a lot of notes. You’ll soon know who’s who.
————————–
Tomorrow: Please discriminate against me
Later: How to get a friend a job
A fair non-compete