He is joining me here on Candid Conversations to talk about the plan and how companies can use it to get and retain staff.
D. Cross: Hello Cliff, thanks for having me on your blog.
Cliff T.: Mr. Cross thanks for doing a Candid Conversation. I want to start off by trying to get a sense of what you are seeing in the job market. In your press release you mention staffing and morale are at an all time low. Can you define that?
D. Cross: I would say that I’m seeing about the same thing that you’re seeing in the news. But I have spoken to several business owners over the last year or so who are struggling to hire and retain workers. Many in the restaurant industry are working them self to exhaustion, they’re doing most of the work by themselves. It’s not sustainable.
I’ve also spoken to accountants and CPAs who painted a depressing picture for me. They said that as soon as the government assistance started there was a rush of people trying to defraud the system. They asked the accounts to fudge the books and help them get more than they had coming. People are getting paid to stay home and not work, and they’re trying to milk it for all it’s worth. It has to stop, and soon. I don’t mean to imply that everyone is doing that, but it’s happening a lot.
Cliff T.: Besides the obvious, the pandemic. What else may be driving this downturn in staffing and moral?
D. Cross: I have heard in the news and from people that I’ve spoken with that it’s not just the money that’s keeping people from returning to work, it’s also respect, acknowledgement and work conditions. Which I can see and understand. Our country, and indeed the world, is going through a massive change, for better or worse, it’s changing, and perhaps employment arrangements and how we define work relationships are also going to change moving forward.
People see or have had an opportunity through the government financial assistance to voice their frustration, and they’re voicing it, loud and clear.
Cliff T.: I work in the service industry myself, yes I have a day job, LOL. I have seen some changes in my industry which in call centers. A lot of people are coming in and a lot of people are quickly leaving. Even tenured staff are saying I am done with this. Is that the sense your getting when you speak with people in general and within different industries?
D. Cross: Look, we all want self-respect and need, and if we’re not treated with basic human decency, like a human being should be treated, it’s hard to deal with, it’s hard to look at ourselves in the mirror, it’s hard to look your wife in the eyes and have her respect you when you’re treated like a subhuman, and you put up with it. I think it’s been weighing on people for a long time now.
Now people feel like they don’t ‘have to deal with it, so they’re walking out. Speak down to me again, and I’m out of here…and they actually leave.
What I’m hearing from individuals that I’ve spoken with and from what I’m reading like everyone else is inadequate compensation, poor work/life balance and burnout are top reasons why people are thinking of quitting, and are quitting.
Cliff T.: You mentioned in the press release that employees are in the drivers seat. In what way?
D. Cross: Meaning that it’s a united walk-out. In the old days – like two years ago – if you didn’t like the employment terms, you either sucked it up and took the job or you didn’t. And if you didn’t, there were a thousand other people waiting in line behind you who would take the job.
Today, there is no one else waiting in line behind you to take a job that they’ll hate. People are just saying no. And they have a cushion through the government payments that allows them to put their collective foot down and demand some respect and better conditions. So now employees can dictate the employment terms like never before.
Cliff T.: So, Mr. Cross, you are developing a plan to help businesses attract and retain staff given that employees are in the drivers seat. What approach are you taking to help companies staff and retain staff in their respective businesses?
D. Cross: First of all, we all need to get back to work. Perhaps change is needed, but this is not sustainable. If we wait much longer to return to work, there may not be businesses for us to return to. So we have to start to turn this around. And the companies that have taken positive steps to make workers happy need to be heard, they need to get the word out. People need to know about the changes.
And I have a whole strategy to go about doing that. It’s a multi-pronged approach.
Business need to start writing and communicating with our local elected officials, our congress representatives and senators to let them know that businesses are suffering and that it’s time to stop paying people to stay home. We’re a productive society, we need to work.
These payments were originally meant to help people who were forced to not work by government mandates. Now we’re passed that. We’re free to return to work.
I have a list of actions I can take with a company for outreach and to help them start the conversation with workers again. I’m not sure if there’s enough time to go into everything here, but if I can ask people to contact me, I would be more than happy to work with them to develop a plan.
So, as I said in the press release, will it work? I know it will work better than us doing nothing. We have to start somewhere, and if we don’t, the consequences may be bigger than we’re willing to accept.
Remember that there is a new balance that we all now have to strike. This is all new, so we’ll have to learn what that balance is as we go.
Cliff T.: Where are you in the development of this plan, or should I say have you begun to use the plan with businesses?
D. Cross: Yes, I have a written out a plan that I can share with businesses who contract with me. It’s going to be a lot of work and these are things that companies can do on their own of course, but as a copywriter, that’s my business, to develop written material, to develop plans for marketing and outreach, to convince people to take action, and I have started those conversations with two or three business so far.
Cliff T.: This sounds quite challenging and very interesting. What message do you think employers need to address when it comes to employees needs and how will you help businesses deliver that message?
D. Cross: Well, businesses need to convey the positive changes that they’ve made as a company, and how that translates to a better work life for employees. So I would have to start by asking the companies I work with, what changes have you made, and do you think that’s going to be enough? If not, there are no shortages of ideas that can easily and inexpensively be implemented that would have a positive impact on workers.
Next it would be a series of outreach actions, such as press releases, interviews on TV, radio, and blogs like yours with managers, CEOs and company owners so they can start communicating with people.
We can create a series of blog posts and articles, videos, op-ed pieces in national publications, conversations at city council meetings, public conversations with local activists.
As I mentioned before, send letters or place calls to your local congress people, senators, mayors and city councilmembers. And much more of course. This has to be a full-fledged - frontal assault. The information has to hit people on a personal level, it has to be compelling, and of course, it has to all be true.
Cliff T.: What prompted you to jump and see if you could help facilitate the Great Return, was there an a-ha moment?
D. Cross: Yes, I kept reading headline after headline, I kept hearing from activists and employees, I kept seeing businesses struggle. I kept seeing a crime wave take over our country like never before. I read several headlines such as, “the Great Resignation” and I kind of joked to myself, “what will the “Great Return” look like, when will that happen, and how will that happen?”
And that was my a-ha moment. I did have doubts at first, I thought, who am I to do this? Then I thought, why not? It has to start somewhere. Someone has to at least speak up and put these ideas out there. Hopefully they’ll catch on. So why not me? I just hope it has a positive impact. I think that’s what we’re all hoping for in our lives, to make a difference, a positive impact in our community.
Also, this is such a huge and far-reaching issue and everyone is paying attention to it at the moment. So I thought that if I had a voice that the whole world was listening to for a brief period of time, I would think of something important or meaningful to say, I would try to make a positive impact, not just complain that things are unfair, but put a plan of action out there; because what’s happening now isn’t working.
Cliff T.: Now I know that you are the head of ContentCopywriter.net. Are you deploying resources from your firm to help with the Great Return?
D. Cross: Well resources for me simply means my time, creativity and hard work and time spent to develop a specific plan for each company and put it into action. I’m going to continue my own outreach as well.
Cliff T: In what way is ContentCopywriter.net involved in the project?
D. Cross: We’re helping companies think through this whole thing and to come up with an actionable plan to get people to return to work.
Cliff T.: It sounds like you have really taken on a big challenge, then again as they say go big or go home. Mr. Cross thanks very much for taking time to explain how your helping employees and businesses connect and I hope the Great Return does succeed.
D. Cross: Cliff, thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about this and help promote the idea and effort. If there’s anything else I can do, I am always open to discussions and ideas.
Please reach out to me any time, and I encourage people and companies to reach out to me to discuss the Great Return and any other copywriting projects they may need help with. Please ask people to contact me at: david@contentcopywriter.net
Thanks again Cliff, you’ve been great. You’re really doing an amazing job with these Candid Conversations. We need to have more of them. If there’s any way I can help with your efforts, just let me know.
David Cross of ContentCopywriter.net is on a mission to help connect employees and businesses in an effort to rejuvenate the work force. You can find out more about ContentCopywriter.net by heading to their site at https://contentcopywriter.net/.
Mr. Cross wrote to us from Pasadena CA.
