Page 33 - Flathead Beacon // 5.11.16

TRANSACTIONS
WEEKLY BUSINESS BRIEFING
MURDOCH’S DUBBED STATE’S TOP LARGE EMPLOYER IN 2016
Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply was named this year’s Montana Employer of Choice, a distinction that is awarded annually by a collaborative part- nership through the Montana Department of Labor.
Businesses are nominated
by their respective employees,
and compete in two size catego-
ries: more than 25 employees, or
fewer than 25 employees. Local Job Services determines one winning employer from each category to compete at the state level.
The Montana State Employers’ Council, which is a division of the Department of Labor, is responsible for administering the award.
Murdoch’s started in 1994 in Bozeman and now operates an e-com- merce website and 30 stores across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Idaho. Roughly 1,400 Team Members comprise its workforce.
Murdoch’s is a retail business known for its selection of agriculture supplies, fencing, animal health products, feed, tools, auto accessories, pet food and toys, footwear, rearms and accessories, western fashion and more.
If you would like to be featured in “Transactions,” please email information to news@ atheadbeacon.com
“WE HAVE A LOT OF PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT WE’RE GROWING THIS COMPANY ORGANICALLY.”
BRAD RIDGEWAY
Healdsburg, California, in the Sonoma wine country; and the recently acquired Max and Erma’s chain, founded in Columbus, Ohio.
Max and Erma’s is a small chain of restaurants in the Midwest, Ridgeway said, with about 70 locations. It formerly belonged to American Blue Ribbon Holdings, which Ridgeway described as a billion-dollar restaurant group.
Bringing the chain to GRG is a win- win for both the chain and the group, he said, because GRG will have more time to focus on revitalizing the chain given its smaller stature compared to ABRH.
“It just t better with a group like us,” Ridgeway said. “We’re not going to expand it.”
Max and Erma’s also gives GRG an opportunity to continue its expansion eastward with MacKenzie River Pizza Grill and Pubs, which serve an array of salads, burgers, atbreads, tacos, and more.
There are 23 Mackenzie Rivers located in Montana, Idaho, Washington,
the Dakotas, and Indiana. Ridgeway said that through buying Max and Erma’s, GRG will be able to convert a couple of those restaurants into MacKenzie River locations.
“It’ll get us more name recogni- tion for sure,” he said. “We’re a rapidly growing company and it’s exciting to be a part of it.”
Ridgeway said the company intends on adding two locations in Nebraska and one in Iowa as well.
Closer to home, GRG has temporarily closed the Craggy Range Bar and Grill for renovations, which Ridgeway said will make the restaurant and bar feel more like a connected space. They’ve relocated the bar and removed some walls to open it up, he said.
Crews should wrap up work in time for Craggy to reopen by the rst week in June, he said, ensuring it will catch the summer crowd.
The new headquarters should be ready into move in by Thanksgiving, Ridgeway said, and all the new cor- porate sta will be in the same place. Many of those sta have much of the same story Ridgeway does, he said, with humble beginnings in the lowest ranks of the business before steadily working their way up.
“It’s not just my story,” Ridgeway said.
For more information, visit www.grg- food.com.
mpriddy@ atheadbeacon.com
BUSINESS IS PERSONAL MARK RIFFEY A RECIPE FOR TEAMWORK
TEAMWORK HAS BEEN ON MY mind a bit lately, so I thought I’d organize a few thoughts along those lines.
Trust is Leadership is In uence
“Every day of your life, people are doing a credit check on you...your trust” - Rick Warren
People learn to trust you when you are predictable. When they can predict how you will handle a situation, how you will care for a client, how you will advise or comfort an employee, how you will discipline an employee - as well as when or where, and how you will call out an employee for a solid or above the call e ort.
Think about that not only regarding your service to clients, but your service to your team. What example do you set for other employees? How do you talk about clients when clients aren’t around? How do you talk about other employees when they aren’t around?
People trust those who are loyal to them. Loyalty demonstrated in others is often assumed to be the same loyalty one thinks they’re getting when they aren’t around. Loyalty doesn’t mean being soft. It means being consistent, predictable
and thinking of everyone - including but not solely the company and its owner(s) in every decision and action.
Life’s Battery isn’t Self-Sustaining
Remember, the employee’s job is one of many things attached to their “life bat- tery.” Work, home, kids, spouse and many other things compete for and/or charge/ consume the energy in that battery.
If everything is taking energy from the battery and no investment is made in recharging the battery, how long will it last?
“I don’t have the right to be tired” - reality show producer Mark Burnett, meaning that he doesn’t have the right not to take care of himself.
You can probably identify things that drain your battery. Can you also point to the things done daily or weekly that recharge it? What helps your team recharge? Does your team know what saps your battery? Let them know. For me, drama and the inability to get focus time are major battery leaks.
Teamwork, Motivation and Ownership
Don’t expect every sta member to
work at the same level all the time. Dif- ferent work motivates at di erent lev- els. Energy levels swell and fade. You and other team members can impact the per- formance of others more easily than you think.
Don’t expect employees to care as much as you do, work as long as you do, work as hard as you do, or live and breathe your business like you do. Some will, but most won’t because they don’t own the place. For you, it’s an investment in your lifetime nancial future. What is it for them? What have you done to make it more than a paycheck for them? Perhaps you have some sort of employee owner- ship program, but it has to be real or it may as well not exist. Employee owners have a skin in the game and they will view things di erently as a result, just as you did before you were a business owner. Don’t expect people to act like an owner if they aren’t.
When team members show an inter- est in learning new things or deepening their expertise or skills, it’s not enough to get out of the way. Do what you can to help them get a running start. You can pay for the education, reimburse upon
success, make time in their day for it, and nd other ways to leverage their enthusi- asm and interest. No matter what you do, don’t discourage it.
A rmation and Appreciation
Management of mistakes is important. Perseverance, determination and endur- ance combine to create wins, but mis- takes teach us what doesn’t work. How we recognize, debrief and analyze them to avoid repeat episodes is critical.
Make at least weekly contact with everyone. I don’t mean a wave or a smile in the shop, but a few moments or a pre-arranged chat, email or text conver- sation about the Weekly Four:
1. I’ve made progress on ...
2. I’m having a problem with ...
3. I need a decision from you about ... 4. My goal(s) this week is ...
Keep in mind that presumption isn’t
communication. Assuming that an employee knows that their long/late hours lately are appreciated isn’t appre- ciation. Be explicit to them and their fam- ily. A short handwritten note to the fam- ily to recognize their e ort and the fam- ily’s sacri ce is more than a thank you.
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? Email him at mri ey@ atheadbeacon.com.
MAY 11, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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