The Most Important Shareholder Meeting You Can Hold
When I was a kid, I remember being told that the average Goldfish has a memory span of 3 seconds. Later on, I learned that this was erroneous. In fact, the average Goldfish has a memory span of about 11 months. They’ve been known to be able to learn and perform specific tasks such as going through a “complicated” obstacle course. I’ve gone through life insulting myself on occasion making the reference of how I personally have the memory span of a Goldfish, and the attention span of a gnat. Gnats are a story for another day.
Although Goldfish have a better memory than I do, it still makes for a great reference point. And maybe you share the same feelings. Whenever I speak with my wife after work, she, without fail, asks the question “How was work? Anything new?” The hard part is that yes, most likely something was in fact, new that day. But there’s a good chance that I have forgotten what that “new” thing was. I have a terrible memory, but my wife really likes to know what is going on in my work life, and vice versa. So the question then becomes “How do I get my wife all of the information about what is happening with my work?” And “BAM!” that’s where the idea came to me.
Who’s your most important shareholder? Most CEO’s would say “Why, it’s the Board of course!” I submit that it is not. It is, in fact, the spouses of your employees. Each day I have conversations about work with my wife. In fact, I feel bad for her. In jobs past that I haven’t enjoyed, she has had to endure my whining, griping, and grumbling about how I can’t stand my job! And without fail, she is the one that encourages me to find something that I will enjoy. Why do people leave their jobs? Studies have shown that people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad bosses. But why do I actually pull the trigger? My wife. She is my greatest supporter, and my biggest fan. She wants me to be happy, and encourages me to find something that makes me happy. I never make a decision without her.
Your top employees are no different. So this is where the idea hit me. If my wife has such a big influence on my success, why wouldn’t my company involve her in the business? I’m not suggesting that you have to hire my wife and me as a package deal, although I will touch on that subject in a future article. What I am suggesting is that you involve my wife in the quarterly shareholder meetings. Or at least a “Quarterly Shareholder meeting” style meeting.
This will give my wife, and of course me, as the employee a unique look at the business. They will be able to see the financial review of the company. They have a glimpse into our product roadmap. And they can also see what changes are being made internally.
So why would I do this? Your company depends on three things to survive.
1. Employees
2. Product
3. Consumers
I must have all three to succeed. But the most important is the employee. Everything starts with the employee. If my employees are not taken care of, what do they do? Go home and complain about it enough until their spouse or significant other encourages them to move on. So what is most important to that employee? Their family. It’s why they work.
When you involve the spouse into the quarterly shareholder meetings several things will happen.
First, my spouse gets to see the inner workings of our company. They will get insight into our business and how we function. They will get to see where the company is headed. This encourages buy-in. They will encourage the employees to remain, and encourage them to be a positive part of your team.
Second, this shows the employee and their spouse that you care about them. You are sacrificing your time and efforts to allow them to see a vulnerable side of you, their leader. You allow them to see that their opinion matters to the success of your brand.
Third, and this can be the most frightening, but also the most fulfilling. You can then hold breakout sessions to allow for deeper information and questioning. This is really where you get to sell your brand! What makes you unique as an employer? What are your personal leadership philosophies? How did you arrive at the amount that you recently gave them for their financial compensation? What is your performance review process? And also, this is a great time for them to ask you questions about the company and your processes.
This is idea is radical. It’s supposed to be. Aren’t you tired of just hitting the status quo? The idea tends to frighten the CEO’s and managers. That’s a good thing! When your employee’s spouse comes in to ask you questions, it does make you very vulnerable. You might have to answer for some decisions that you made. But what will really happen, is a cultural shift. If you know that you don’t just have to answer to the board, but also to your employees and their families, you will change. You will need to be more prepared. You will have to start thinking differently.
Why did you go into business in the first place? The title? The pay? Fine, but shouldn’t the humanity be part of it? When you lose sense of humanity, that’s when you fail. Remember the three most important things to run a business? Your employees have to come first. My wife and I are a package deal. She may not be working for the company, but you can bet your sweet bippy that she influences every decision that I make.
