'Tis The Season Keeping your employees productive during the holidays.

The winter holiday season is traditionally the busiest time ofthe year for most businesses, with parties, decorating, giftexchanging and year-end administrative requirements all competingwith the seasonal demands of your customers and the general needsof your business. With all the distractions, how can you keep youremployees on track?

The first step is to decide exactly how productive youremployees need to be, says Peggy Isaacson, a human resourcesconsultant in Orlando, Florida. "Think about what productivitylevels are really necessary," Isaacson says.

Next, review previous holiday seasons to determine whetherbusiness suffered. "What were the hassles last year?"asks Isaacson. "Was too much time spent on party planning?Were you short-handed because too many people took time off? Whatdid your customers complain about?"

With this information, you can develop a plan that allows you tomaintain productivity and avoid repeating your mistakes. Make it acompanywide effort; people are more willing to buy into a solutionthey've helped create. Isaacson says you may need to come upwith a fair way to allocate vacation time, and you may want to setlimits on gift-giving and parties.

Finally, be especially sensitive to your employees during thestressful time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year.Remember that as challenging as holidays can be in the workplace,they can be even more difficult on a personal level. Look for waysto help relieve stress, such as having lunch catered or paying fora massage therapist to come in and give back and neck massages toemployees.

"Above all, talk to your employees frequently, and let themknow how much you appreciate their efforts," says Isaacson."This is something you have to do yourself--don't delegateit, and don't just write a memo. Walk around and make personalcontact."

Once January arrives, provide your employees with feedback tolet them know how well the plan worked--and start thinking abouthow you can make next year's holidays even better.

Power To The People

Do-it-yourself energy.

Astorm knocks out your electricity, or temperature extremescause your energy bill to skyrocket. Are these necessary evils youjust have to deal with, or can you do something to preventthem?

With a product recently introduced by Torrance, California-basedAlliedSignal Power Systems, even small businesses now have analternative to their local power company for electricity. TheTurboGenerator is a miniature power plant that generates power fora variety of businesses, from small factories to retailers. TonyProphet, president and CEO of AlliedSignal, says the TurboGeneratorprovides two key advantages: cost savings and reliability.

In many areas of the country, purchasing electricity issignificantly more expensive than converting natural gas intoelectricity at your point of use. Also, having your own on-sitepower generator allows you to convert the extra heat the systemgenerates from operating into free thermal energy. And because youown or lease the system, you're not subject to the powercompany's rate changes.

On the reliability side, with your own generator, you'll notonly have power during utility company outages, but you'll alsohave a consistent source of power without brownouts or surges.

Although the cost to buy and install a TurboGenerator is a hefty$50,000, the equipment can also be leased. According to Prophet,the purchase cost will likely drop to around $30,000 in the futureas product pricing matures. While that sounds like a significantinvestment, Prophet says at current pricing, the system paybacktime is 18 to 36 months; by 2002, that should drop to 12 to 24months.

Follow The Leaders

Imitation is fair game when you're building a successfulcompany.

Do you have trouble relating to billion-dollar companies? Youshouldn't, says Patrick Kelly--and he should know. Kelly isco-founder and CEO of PSS/World Medical Inc., a billion-dollarmedical supplies and equipment distributor in Jacksonville,Florida, and author of Faster Company: Building the World'sNuttiest Turn-on-a-Dime Home-Grown Billion-Dollar Business(John Wiley & Sons).

Kelly is quick to point out that PSS, whose 1997sales hit $1.3 billion, began as a small entrepreneurialventure. "We didn't start this company to growa billion-dollar business," Kelly says. "Thatwas never our intention. I got fired and needed a job, so three ofus started this company. Our goal was survival. But because we didso many things right, the company became extraordinarily successfuland we got dragged along with it."

Just how did he know what to do? It was partly intuitive, basedon his own experience and knowledge of human nature. But mostly, hesays, he got his ideas from other companies--and he encouragesother business owners to do the same.

"I stole everything I use," Kelly admits. "Iattend seminars, I listen to resources, I read four to six businessbooks a month, and I steal ideas. If you're going to remaingood at what you do, there are certain things you can learn fromother people and what they did to make themselvessuccessful."

Kelly's book teaches readers to adapt his techniques totheir own companies. He says the keys behind PSS' successinclude:

• Structuring an open-book company so every employee knowsexactly what's going on and what their role in the operationis.

• Focusing on what customers value--what they're willing topay for consistently over a long period of time.

• Avoiding getting bogged down with policies and procedures thatdistract you from your company's real goals.

• Giving employees the authority to do whatever it takes tosatisfy customers.

"Build a structure that self-governs," Kelly says."Set a clear standard of what it takes to service the customerand how to treat each other, and then in those parameters, peoplewill make the right decisions." And when they do, your companyis sure to grow.

Keeping Tabs

Sometimes being a know-it-all really pays off.

It's a business nightmare: A key employee is suddenlyunavailable--perhaps due to illness, resignation or a familyemergency--and you need to know what's happening with his orher work. Unfortunately, all that information left with theemployee, and you're left floundering.

How can you prevent such a nightmare from becoming areality?

At Bud Bailey Construction Inc. in Salt Lake City, the solutionis a project database that tracks all client contact, from theinitial meeting with a prospect through all the stages of a projectuntil completion. Owner Bud Bailey says the system allows managersto track projects, measure sales and plan resources. It also meansthe information is available even when a key member of the team isnot.

Use of the company's database is mandatory, and failure todo so is treated as a performance issue and addressed withappropriate discipline. "It's an expectation of thejob," Bailey says.

Prior to creating the database, Bailey used a paper system toaccomplish the same objective. "We had a standard form thatlisted all the information we needed to know about a client andproject," he explains. "When that form was filled out, itwas copied and kept in three different locations: with me, thebusiness development manager and the secretary of the division. Ifsomeone needed to access information, they could go to one of thosethree people, pull the form on the client and review it."

Bailey believes such information sharing creates a strongercompany, improves overall communication and makes a keycontribution to customer service capabilities. Most important, iteliminates dependence on any single person, and that ought to helpyou sleep better at night.

Contact Sources

Allied Signal Power Systems Inc., 2525 W. 190 St.,Torrance, CA 90504, fax: (310) 512-1561

Bud Bailey Construction Inc., 244 W. 300 North, Salt LakeCity, UT 84103, (801) 521-0060

Peggy Isaacson & Associates, fax: (407) 290-6404,prtprsoff@aol.com

PSS, 4345 Southpoint Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32216,pkelly@pssd.com