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In the era of full employment, we will have trouble filling seats. All of my clients, and everyone I speak to cannot fill all of their jobs. Newspaper is not working. Job boards are not working.  What can you do?  Here are a few ideas.

Address what you are looking for. Do you really need that degree? Examine why. You may not need it. There are lots of good people out there who want to learn new skills. Getting people with experience is a challenge. Consider whether or not your crew leaders and managers can train those people. Look for traits that will make them successful and ask the right questions.

The Adirondack Thunder has made the ECHL playoffs for the third year in a row and the team has announced the schedule for Round 1 of the 2019 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The playoffs, presented by SmileDirectClub, will begin on Friday, April 12, at Cool Insuring Arena in downtown Glens Falls. Adirondack will take on the Manchester Monarchs in Round 1 as the Thunder finished in second place in the ECHL’s North Division while the Monarchs came in directly behind them in third.

The Thunder and Monarchs will play a best of seven series in a 2-3-2 format, beginning with Games 1 and 2 at Cool Insuring Arena on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13, with both games dropping the puck at 7 p.m. The series will then shift to SNHU Arena in New Hampshire for Games 3, 4 and 5, occurringon April 17, 19 and 20.

All entrepreneurs share one secret.  Whether you have just started your company — or are running one you started a while ago.  The secret is in the mantra, ‘Succeed Anyway”.

They understand that we all live in an imperfect world.  And, that life is not fair.  They may not even have a clear picture of their goal. Yet, they keep moving forward. That separates them from the pack.

The entrepreneur does the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.  Their focus is on two aspects. Strengths and opportunities.  Not their weaknesses, they merely want to be aware of them and mitigate them. Not the threats. They cannot do much about threats.

Rarely do toxic employees add that trait to their resume or job application.  We all know they exist. Yet, too often managers fail to address the issue.  Toxic employees chase good employees out the door. Who wants to work with someone they cannot be around?

They are not hard to spot. The complain about their job. They complain about coworkers. They hate their boss.  Too often we look the other way. No one that I know likes firing people. So, we ignore them – but, at what cost?

Research has shown that 54% of your good people are likely to quit when they are working with toxic ones.  That means each toxic person is likely affecting half of your workforce! What should you do?

I have been an email user since 1986. I worked in the tech industry and we were early adopters of email. Of course, there was not a public internet then. So, we used email within the company. And, we quickly learned email etiquette. It is an art that is long forgotten.

First, let me say that email does not take things off your plate and put them on mine. “I sent him an email.” That is not an excuse to wait until I get back to you. Follow up if necessary — even by phone!

Second, it is not meant for discussion. That is what meetings are for. Email does not support nuance well. Nor does it allow for me to see your facial expressions. And, too often, it leads to misunderstandings and escalation.

BY JENNIFER FARNSWORTH

For Susan Porlier, finding success has come with doing what she loves to do. She always knew she loved animals, so she found a way to make a living n that field.

Now, it’s been over a decade since she first opened Bellyrubs Doggie Daycare and her passion for dogs is still fueling her success. She has two sites, at 44 Feeder St. in Hudson Falls and 1089 Saratoga Road, Gansevoort.

“I have been in business for 13 1/2 years. I now have two locations and 14 employees. I never in my wildest dreams thought my idea of a doggie daycare and boarding facility would take off like it did. We also do dog grooming and training,” Porlier said.

Porlier said she always looked after family pets. She came to a point in her life where she decided to give up her career in the medical field and pursue her dream of opening her own daycare and boarding facility.

“I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I never went to college. I have always loved animals, so when I came up with this idea, I finally knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I am truly blessed,” said Porlier.

The first reason is that you simply do not trust each other.   In “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, Patrick Lencioni writes that the absence of trust is the biggest reason teams do not work well together.

This is because we are not often trained to be vulnerable and to trust the people we work with.  We ascribe bad motives to what others do.  We snap to judgment of others.  You need to build trust to make good decisions. 

The second reason is a fear of conflict. We were taught in kindergarten that everyone must get along. Even if that means holding back on contrary views.  If we don’t trust each other, we cannot have a good debate about options to solving problems.  This hurts the team because we do not bring our best ideas to the table.