• Work is better than welfare.
• With a little help, big things happen.
• Eighty five percent of the people leaving welfare get their first job in a small company.
• Pay what you'd have to pay to fill the position from traditional sources.

• Provide a learning environment.
• Use tough love on all employees.

What do you think: Is Cheryl going to make it in business?

Possible answer: Yes, because she has vision and her goals are doable and she doesn't expect it to be easy or quick. She is working at something that she knows and on top of that, she cares about people and they feel it. Plus, her barbecue is delicious. Her advice to anyone on welfare is if they really want something, they can achieve it. She said, "You can do it. Work hard and focus on what you want."

You think back? What contribution did you make to Yates Corner?

Answer: Your tax dollars are helping Cheryl. The chances of a woman with Cheryl's background going straight to a bank on her own and getting a loan are about zero. With help from Judy Loden, of the Trinity Valley Community College Small Business Development Center, Cheryl got a loan from the bank. They taught her how to put a business plan together and prepare to meet the banker. Judy said the reason she worked with Cheryl is she could see that Cheryl had, "the determination within."

Read more about Small Business Administration programs and the Small Business Development Centers then visit www.sba.gov.

Possible Answer: Here where I live in San Diego, California, we have a program called "Ready, Willing & Able." Partnering with Smart Workforce Solutions it trains and places people who have left welfare. They help match find the right person with the right job and they will teach the business owner how to do the paperwork for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit.

As Betsy said, this is not charity. It is the Federal Government giving business owners an incentive to hire people who have been out of the workforce and are now returning. You can call 1-800-U-ASK-SBA. They will connect you to the local community SBA office who has put together a program in your community.

Note: There are other special groups of people to think about when you are ready to hire. At Madison Park Greeting, Judi Jacobsen hires immigrants and offers on premise English classes. She also looks for "displaced homemakers" because they make great employees. And, her warehouse manager is deaf, so, she looks for others who communicate in American Sign Language. At Dawn Sign Press, half of the employees are deaf and in the program about Bill Malleris we saw others with disabilities working effectively. Matt Seeley of Quality Bending and Threading believes in immigrants. He says his employees who are new to this country are more eager to learn than his American-born employees. Bob Orenstein agrees with Matt. All of his warehouse workers are Croatian by birth.

You think back: What did Albert say about minimum wage?

Answer: If that's what you would pay if you went into the marketplace to fill this position, then ok, but, don't offer a person who is coming from welfare less than you would offer another person.

Albert and others we have studied have found that being cheap with people may work in the short-term but it never works over the long haul. I am committed here to teach what people need to know to build a business that will last a lifetime or more. Once you have the right product or service, the people part of business is the hardest part.

For more study our special called, "The People Part." And know that is every one of our Master Classes you'll find wisdom about working with people.

You think back: Can a small business afford to fund employee education?

Possible answers: Albert says yes and explains, "We work with people on education. If you don't have a bachelor's degree, if you don't have a high school diploma, we'll send you back to school and we'll pay for it. Some employees have gone during working hours and we've paid them for that time. It's that important to us. I don't remember a situation where we've invested in education that I didn't feel like the company got more than a fair return."

You think back: Are diplomas and degrees the only education Albert encourages?

Answer: No. He teaches employees how to spend and manage the money they are earning and how to earn more money. Ninety-five percent of the employees are enrolled in the company 401(k) plan. Albert's goal is for every employee to become part of the "affluent class." Each Friday morning he serves a hot breakfast and offers a training class on a variety of topics but all focused on personal growth and wealth accumulation. He says, "people are becoming members of the free enterprise system, they're saving, they're investing, they are building trust and for the first time in their lives are earning more money than they need to spend.

Coating Sciences Inc. pays tuition to nearly any course any employee wants to take,
Tires Plus has its own "university," and Sundance Catalog does on-site computer skills training. Developing the workplace into a learning place can bring profits to new highs.

Key Idea #6. Tough love is needed to manage a person coming from welfare.
Everybody needs the learn the basic lessons of cause effect.

You think back: Does Albert feel so sorry for new hires from welfare
that he is soft on them?

Answer: No. Remember he said, "This is not welfare. This is work. There are some rules and conditions that we all have to go by. I think that what you have to do is be patient in the education piece of it by contiguously informing and making people aware of what ramifications of action are. For example, once people understand the dire condition that they can put an organization in if they're late, if they're still late, well, then, that means that they don't care. At some point, you have got to disengage and remove yourself from that relationship. It really is a situation called tough love. It sounds a lot more favorable for those of us in business to say that you continue to work with people."

You think back: Is a person easily fired from On Target?

Answer: No. But, they have a progressive discipline program. Albert explains, " The first time a person is late, we sit down and talk with them and we let them know the ramifications of being late and what type of impact it has on co-workers and the enterprise, because everybody that's hired has a very important role to play in the enterprise. The second time, we actually write it up and put it in your personnel file. The third time, we'll suspend you for a couple of days. If the fourth time it happens and you're still late, we terminate your employment, and we figure out that one didn't work.

You think back: Should a company lower its standard to accommodate an employee learning curve?

Answer: No. I love what Albert says about this, " Just because an organization has a big heart, doesn't mean that it has a small mind. It has to keep its eye on the bottom line. W hen people are late, it's bad for the culture. If it's permitted too much, what'll end up taking place is the culture becomes that of being late. We're in the delivery business. We have to be on time."

What I learned from Albert is the rules really matter. People want to take pride in their work and want rules by which to play the game. It is entirely fair to have discipline and structure that every person must conform to. Did you know that UPS drivers can't have hair touching the shirt collar, or sideburns below the ear lobe, and they must wear either white or brown undershirts and only the top button of their shirt can be undone and their shoes must be black or brown and polish able? And they must carry their keys on a key ring on the pinkie finger and when they bend over to pick up a package, they must bend from their knees and "bring the butt down"?

Sounds like a lot of rules. Do they work? I think so. UPS is an effective company that has grown by having plenty of rules in place.