Her attitude was starting to wear on her fellow team members. My partner manages Sally's office and asked me to get involved.

I sent Sally a note and asked her to meet me at a local coffee shop so I could pick her brain.

As we sat down together, I could sense Sally was nervous. I began by telling her that we valued her as a team member and appreciated the work she'd done for us over the last few years.

Then I asked her what we could do to help her better enjoy her job, because it was obvious that the changes we'd implemented were making her unhappy.

Sally shed a couple of tears, admitted that she was having some issues at home, agreed that she didn't like change, but felt like she was coming to terms with the new phones, computers and company objectives.

We sat for about an hour and discussed not just business, but things outside the office.

Sally's attitude changed overnight. Giving her a little attention was just what she needed. People like Sally need to be reminded how much they mean to the business.

If you have a Sally on your staff, it might be time for a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop.

“Brenda” has been with us for a few years. Over time we saw that her attendance had become erratic and her quality of work was not up to par.

One Friday when Brenda was not in the office, our operations manager discovered on Brenda's desk some policies that were 60 days old.

The operations manager called us. It turned out that policies in a locked cabinet also had never been processed.

On Monday when Brenda returned to work, she was instructed that the operations manager would be meeting with her at 3 p.m.

Prior to the meeting, my partner and I reviewed the information from the operations manager and discussed the approach to our meeting with Brenda.

At the meeting, Brenda was defensive. She said although she was working as hard as she could, no matter what she did she was still falling behind.

We talked about processes and work flows, and identified a few things that might help her. Our operations manager then pulled the policies that were found in her desk.

As we reviewed the policies, Brenda pointed out that a few of the policies had been processed; she had emailed them to the client, but simply not had time to mail the hard copy.

Brenda's system was sound, but her process was flawed because her documentation was inconsistent.

After that meeting, Brenda's work improved dramatically. That little bit of attention changed her ability and helped us understand that there were a few processing bottlenecks in our organization.

Both Sally and Brenda worked in the same division within our company. They performed the same job, but were now both struggling to keep up with the other divisions.

It became obvious that this division needed another team member. The revenue generated by the division warranted another part-time employee who could also help with another division.

This Friday, both Sally and Brenda will be in one of our offices together, reviewing workflows while informing each other of their own workflow and software tricks.

We will eventually regroup and have a “family meeting” to share our plans of adding another team member, which will help Sally and Brenda focus on their best skills: customer service.

We'll be moving the rating and processing functions to our new employee, mirroring what we do in our other divisions.

Our agency has found that the more we treat your employees like family members, the more they reciprocate with quality work and a positive attitude.

As with your family, not everyone will be happy all the time. Keep an eye out for changing behaviors and address them as soon as reasonably possible.

Related: Read “Splitting Sales“

Bringin' Sexy Back

Leaving the Nest