Time and again, business owners make the same complaints – it’s impossible to find good staff these days, or they can’t get their staff to understand and do just what they want.
Let’s get to the point. If it keeps happening repeatedly, it may be time to ask if the issue is with every staff member you hire, or with the way you’re running your business. It’s not an easy pill to swallow, but being honest with yourself is essential for business success.
A few simple ideas might make your professional life a lot easier, and increase your business popularity and profits. Consider a business owner with 10 staff members, who is still doing most of the day to day running of the business. What’s the point of that? Either they should find something else to do and put some faith in the fact that they’ve trained their employees well enough, or they should let the staff go and do everything themselves.
But I digress. Let’s get back to basics. Most business people understand how important systems are, and that they are responsible for companies running smoothly and profitably. With effective systems in place, staff members must simply be hired and trained to run them.
The point is, you need effective systems to be operating in your business in order for you to get the most out of your team. Stop banging your head against a wall or reinventing the wheel – take a look at the absolute basics, from answering the telephone to producing products. If you don’t have clearly defined systems your staff can follow, they won’t be able to understand what you want.
Take some time to determine the process for each aspect of running your business on a daily basis, and create a simple system for it. Then, turn it into a checklist and train all current and incoming employees on what to do.
It’s far more than just a matter of looking at personality profiles and hiring the people indicated as being best suited to each role. It’s about bringing those people together, teaching them exactly how you want things done, being clear in your communication and sticking to the plan.
Throughout that process, and when the tasks are understood, you can work on developing rapport with your team members. Creating synergy can be challenging, but it becomes easier when your staff knows what is expected of them and, accordingly, are happier on the job.
Synergy happens when team members are sincerely committed to a common goal. One great way to ensure your team are all on board is by enlisting them to assist in the systemisation process. Caring about their experiences and input, as opposed to just dictating the way you want everything done, will increase their sense of ownership and loyalty to your business. However, if you just state that “this is the goal” it’s less likely they’ll buy in.
That sense of ownership proves useful time and time again, when initially developing your systems and when getting your employees on board to execute them. The successful business owner is surrounded by employees that feel they have a part in the bigger picture. They can make suggestions based on what they have seen or experienced. The unsuccessful business owner has staff that constantly say “I don’t know. You’re the boss.”
Be aware of what you’re teaching your team. By clearly defining systems and expectations, and opening up communication, you’re empowering them. This in turn allows them to work confidently in your business, leaving you to work on the bigger picture, networking and expansion. As a result, your success and your profits will increase.
However, by encouraging the belief that no one can run things as well as you, and everyone must defer to you instead of relying on systems, you’ll find yourself in a trap with unconfident employees, too scared to think for themselves while you toil in day to day operations and wonder why things won’t improve.
