Have you ever noticed how some small business owners seem to be a magnet for attracting and retaining quality people while others struggle to do so? Getting the right people into your business and keeping them there is not a matter of luck. It’s a matter of choice. You must choose to make hiring, developing and retaining quality people a priority – for the sake of your customers, team members, and your business.
You don’t need to be a human resource expert to build a strong team of quality people. You simply need to make the commitment and use the tools that are already available and very under-utilized by many small business owners.
Tools For Developing a Winning Team
Job Descriptions. A good hiring system will always include a job description to outline the duties and responsibilities. Remember to also include the skills and competencies that will be needed to perform the tasks. Many skills are transferable, from job to job and industry to industry. So consider both skills and tasks when hiring and ensure your job descriptions include both.
Performance Feedback Process. Employees need feedback to continue to develop and improve. A good process has two purposes. First, to facilitate discussion on goals and skills. Second, to help team members develop their potential so they can take on new challenges and responsibilities. If you won’t take the time to provide feedback, you will get the employees you deserve. The poor performers will stay, the good performers will leave.
Employee Handbook. These are more than just a tool to reduce legal risks. Sure they provide employees with written policies on such topics as discrimination, sexual harassment, and family leave. But a good handbook offers a lot more. It includes your vision and mission for the business and expectations for your team. It also provides relevant information on benefits, holidays, vacation, work hours, how performance is measured and expectations regarding the use of the internet, cell phones, and social media
While some of the policies are guided by law, the majority of the policies are determined by you, the business owner. The handbook simply provides a written method to communicate what’s important to your current and future employees.
Engage and Reward Your Team
Engaging Team Meetings. Meetings for the sake of meeting are a waste of everyone’s time, but pulling together the team with a clear purpose gets peopled engaged and keeps communication open. Pulling people together to brainstorm new ideas, work together to solve a problem or make improvements in the business can pay huge dividends beyond the bottom line.
Add some fun. Recognize individual accomplishments. Share the good news about the business: new customers, sales growth, productivity improvements, customer testimonials, and reviews. Whether you do them monthly or quarterly will depend on the business. But do them.
Performance Bonus Program. Many small businesses build their compensation around one thing – salaries and wages. While wages are important, they are fixed and generally go up annually based on individual performance. Performance bonuses are an easy way to financially reward people when and if the business achieves its financial or other goals.
Unlike wages, a bonus is not guaranteed. It is only paid if the goals are achieved. A bonus program provides flexibility since you can modify the business goals and amount annually as the business grows. Keep it simple. The best programs are easy to understand, implement and track. When done well, a performance bonus program motivates employees, helps change behaviors, and creates actions needed to achieve results.
Power Your Goals By Sharing With Team
The tools above are of little value if you don’t have written goals that you are willing to share with your team. Where do you want the business to go? What goals do you want to accomplish? Be clear on these and share them with those that can help you make it happen – your people!
And when they do, remember these words from Sam Walton, ‘Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune’.
If you are ready to build a better team, start integrating these into your business. Take it one at a time, if necessary – but do it. Then you too can be a magnet for attracting and retaining quality people!
Ready to Put Your Business on the Path to Success?
Would working with a business coach help you take your business to a whole new level? Then let’s explore the possibilities with a complimentary consultation. It’s a chance to get to know each other, discuss your goals and the obstacles that hold you back. Together we can determine if there is a good fit between your needs and my services.
To learn more or schedule an appointment, call me at (856) 533-2344 or drop me an email Joan@HybridBizAdvisors.com