Anyone else ready for the weekend? We apologize for clogging your inbox with a second b. newsletter today. Last Friday’s version was inadvertently sent to many of you. We are so confident you will enjoy this issue, we wanted to make sure you got the correct version ASAP. Hope you enjoy. Is it 5 o’clock yet?

We hope you had a great week, but Jeff Bezos had a better one. Prime Day 2022 was Amazon’s most successful ever with over 300 million items sold (up from 250 million last year). That equals 100,000 items per minute, according to the company, which touts $3 billion in small business sales during the two-day acquisition bonanza.

It’s proof that, despite inflation, consumers will flex their shopping muscles for the right deal. So, did you spend big? We aren’t saying we got caught up in the hype, but we might be all stocked up on probiotics until 2027.

Paid family leave: New parents love it, but their co-workers might not.

Religious inclusion: Commandments for a diverse modern office.

Better Call Saul: The acclaimed series can make us better salespeople.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Americans are divided on many issues, but paid family leave (PFL) remains amazingly popular: More than 80% support it for new mothers, and nearly 70% support it for new fathers and workers caring for ill family members, according to Pew Research Center.

PFL isn’t just good for employee morale; it’s increasingly the law. Right now, 10 states plus Washington, D.C., provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave, and the Biden administration continues discussing a national PFL program. That’s great for employees who need it, but what about their co-workers who have to shoulder extra burdens for three months?

Minimize employee burnout at your company — and foster a smooth transition — by following these steps:

Determine Your Options

The steps you take may vary depending on the position, but it’s a good idea to scope out possibilities: Will you hire temporary employees through an agency? Seek out independent contractors? Or let remaining employees pick up the slack? 

Make sure the division of their duties doesn’t overload other team members, which can lead to resentment.

Develop a Roadmap for Training

Whether you plan to outsource job duties or divide them between members of your team, you’ll need a training plan for replacements. Ask the employee who’s taking leave to document their daily activities and duties. Leverage cloud-based apps to ensure that employees have access to documents and files as needed.

Enhance Other Employee Benefits

Consider providing flex time to employees who are covering for a colleague on leave, giving them more freedom as they wear multiple hats. 

And don’t forget to reward them for going above and beyond; if you’d prefer not to offer a cash bonus, consider a gift card for gas or dinner for two at a local restaurant. (The cash bonus might be more appreciated, though.)

(Source: Shutterstock)

In 2019, a Florida woman who got fired for refusing to work on Sundays sued her employer for religious discrimination — and won $21.5 million. So, making reasonable accommodations for your employees’ faith isn’t just good karma; it’s good business. Rice University professor Dr. Eden King, a former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, explains how.

Forty-one percent of U.S. adults consider religion “very important” to their lives, according to Pew Research Center. Workers with diverse religious identities have different needs, so follow these tips to remain inclusive.

Provide Flexibility

The same holiday and work schedules don’t help all workers in the same ways. In April alone, many workers across the globe celebrated Passover, Easter, or Ramadan.

Offer and encourage flexible policies that allow workers to take time off for holy days or milestones that matter in their religious traditions. For example, a 2019 study found that Muslim workers felt more included when employers made room for practices such as prayers and fasting.  

Embrace Authenticity

When workers feel comfortable being themselves, they are happier and more engaged at work, according to a meta-analysis of over 60 different studies. If they feel they have to hide something important about themselves, they may be anxious and withdrawn.

So create an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing not only weekend activities like what movie they saw, but also “I went to prayers on Friday” or “my son celebrated his bar mitzvah,” as these experiences can also promote well-being.

Promote Respect

Some religious ideologies or traditions may seem at odds with others. But people don’t have to share exactly the same beliefs to listen to and respect each other. Providing opportunities to describe or share religious traditions in a safe environment can promote new understanding.

(Source: AMC)

Even during his early days as a low-paid public defender, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) knew how to apply sales techniques to create solutions. 

With Better Call Saul back from hiatus this week (and the series finale coming up), let’s look back at a thrilling scene from the second episode — in which Jimmy deters Tuco Salamanca from slashing the Lindholm brothers’ throats — to grasp the four steps of solution selling:

1. Understand the prospect. Tuco wants justice for his grandmother after the Lindholm brothers mistakenly target her in a staged skateboard accident; Jimmy realizes that simply pleading with him won’t save their lives.
   
   
2. Evaluate pain points. Recognizing Tuco’s soft spot for his grandmother, Jimmy explains how the boys’ mother is a widow who works long hours to provide for them.
   
   
3. Build trust. Jimmy expresses admiration for how Tuco is tough but fair; Tuco getting his justice is the implicit outcome of this scenario.
   
   
4. Provide the solution. Jimmy negotiates the punishment down to Tuco merely breaking the brothers’ legs, emphasizing how they wouldn’t be able to skate for six months. This would demonstrate Tuco’s aforementioned toughness — and fairness — to his crew.

Jimmy ultimately provided an end-to-end sales solution where he controlled every aspect of the negotiating process. And the Lindholm brothers lived to see another day.

Licor Beirao is the most popular liqueur in Portugal. Its recipe is a closely guarded secret and makes a delicious aperitif neat or on the rocks. At 22% ABV, it’s about half the “punch” of vodka, and it retails for $15 to $25. Next time you make a Manhattan, substitute the bitters for Beirao, and you might just have your new favorite drink.

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Written by Dawn Allcot, Dr. Eden King, Antonio Ferme, and John Busby. Comic by John McNamee.

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