Efficiency of employees determines business profits.
 
Today I woke to the buzzing and pounding of a chipper truck. The truck, chipper and crew was parked directly in front of our driveway. The chainsaw was whirring, limbs falling. The employees of the unit stood watching, as the brush pile grew larger.
 
There were five men in all. It certainly did not seem like the operation's efficiency was at its peak that is for sure. The man with the saw rode high up into the sky in a bucket truck. His job seemed to be simply to operate the bucket and cut the limbs from the overhanging trees.
 
One man wearing the bright orange colored safety vest sat on his lunch box by the side of the road. Our guess was his job was to direct traffic. We could tell by the orange flag he had placed in the cone, which sat in the middle of the street. Never did see him wave a flag, stop a car or actually move off his lunchbox for that matter.
 
The other three men each took turns picking up one branch at a time. Walking over to the chipper, they were careful to shove the branches into its grinding steel teeth. All three were cautious to remove their hands and arms before it chewed up the limbs to the end.
 
None of them would have been following my grandpa's words when he said "step it up" that is for sure. Their actions were more like "slow as a turtle" in the heat of summer. Watching the way they went about their work reminded me of cutting wood with my dad. Now there was a system with true efficiency.
 
No stranger to cutting wood and pulling brush.
 
What seemed like an eternity turned out to be only about an hour or so. The odd part of watching this comedy is that I grew up helping my family cut wood. You see we used oak wood to burn in our heating stove.
 
My dad had a system, a well thought out system with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. He was in charge of the chain saw cutting down the small trees, and then cleaning off the leafy shoots. 
 
Dad cut the logs into manageable pieces; mom would carry them over to the pick up. My sister would pass the log to my other sister and then to me. My job was to stack the logs in even rows.
 
There was always a rotation of jobs. Each sibling had each job for fifteen minutes to half an hour. This ensured that no one got overly tired.
 
Within one day of working together, our family was able to cut, clean up, load and unload, then stack enough wood to last us the winter. The efficiency of the day's work made for a profitable, warm winter.
 
Working as a family teaches how to build business profits.
 
Although I hated helping out in the fields as a kid it taught me the basics of how to build business profits. You must always start out with a plan, a well thought out plan.
 
Next, you should use enough workers to get the job done efficiently. By employing too many, we waste not only their time, but also our money and valuable resources.
 
When on the job, we always were working. There was no time or place for slackers. In fact, if dad caught you slacking…you got the privilege of cleaning up the brush and completing your assigned job.
 
Everyone welcomed break time, always. Hot cocoa and donuts re-energized us giving us the desire to keep going. Today, we look forward to stepping outside the office for a hot cup of coffee and a piece of fruit or light snack.
 
We learned early on that when we worked together we had the privilege of enjoying the reward together. All winter long as we sat by the fire we could tell a story of being together cutting that wood that was keeping us warm.
 
Just like our family, business profits depend on everyone doing their part. You must employ just the right number to get the job done but not too many to waste precious resources.
 
So, if you are an employee think about what you give to your employer. Do you give 110% or are you a "slacker"? If you are a self-employed business owner as I am, do you give "you" 110%? On the other hand, do you find yourself slacking, too?
 
For any employee's efficiency to produce business profits, we must show up and give 110% all the time. The rewards of working in a "well oiled" business are profits in the bank.
 
Here to Serve,
Carla J Gardiner
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