Most people would like to think
that they were at the helm in their business
making all the important decisions but in actual fact the people who have a big chunk of control are the ones who
are dealing with your customers at the coalface each and every day. Yes, that would be your staff and they can
make or break your business by the actions they take and the decisions they
make on your behalf.
Most small business owners who have a team tell me it is one of their
biggest ongoing challenges. Getting
their staff to do what they want seems impossible to them and this leads to
masses of stress and frustration. So the
question I often have posed to me is "how can I make my staff do what I want
them to?" The answer to this is very
simple. You can't make your staff do
what you want them to unless they want to do it! And for that to happen your team have to
feel that they are appreciated and valued by you and that you share a common
goal.
Before your staff will come on board and follow your vision you need to
put in some groundwork first. You have to take
the time to build a great employer employee relationship. You can never forget that
your staff are simply human beings with emotions and wants that need to be
addressed if they are going to be loyal and hardworking employees.
There is no such thing as the perfect boss as they too are human beings
but there are many things that you, as an employer, can do to align the visions
of your staff with yours.
5 Sure Fire
Ways to Reduce Employee Commitment to your Business
1. Deny them their
entitlements. Pay them late and forget
about their superannuation contributions. After all, they don't need to pay rent,
mortgages or buy food and if they do that is their problem. They should feel honoured just to work for
you.
2. Never give them a lunch
break. They don't need to eat! Eating and resting is highly overrated and not
necessary to keep up stamina and enthusiasm.
3. Criticise or reprimand them
in front of other people especially staff and customers. Everybody needs to be
told when they are doing something wrong and what better time to do it than
when there is an audience.
4. Never provide positive
feedback for work well done. Why should
you? They get paid to do the job don't
they?
5. Never say good morning, good
night or thank you - ever. If you start
down this track they might begin to think you care about them as people.
5 Even
Better Ways to Build Employee Loyalty and Support
1. Take the time out to get to
know what makes your team tick. Spend some quality recreational time with your
team and get to know them as individuals.
Learn about what is important to them and develop ways to incorporate
this into your business strategy.
2. Reward them for performance
above and beyond the norm. Employees have a knack for doing just what they have
to do to keep a job and the boss off their back. If you want "above and beyond" performance from
them you need to find ways to reward it.
3. Share your vision and goals
for your business. Everybody needs to know what path they are travelling on in
their life. Your employees need to know
and understand what your passion is so that they can appreciate why they are
expected to do what you want from them.
4. Run regular team
meetings. Encourage their input and
reward great ideas. Some of the best
ideas can be generated by your employees because they are usually the ones
interacting with your clients and hearing their needs and concerns.
5. Tell your people when they
have done a great job. Never pass up an
opportunity to find an employee doing something right. People will nearly always live up to your
expectations of them. If you tell them
they are great, they will try always to be great whereas if you tell them they
are terrible you have just set the benchmark for their future performance.
Managing people is without a doubt one of
the hardest parts of business ownership but if you want this valuable asset to
be working with you and not against you then you must begin to value them and
to recognise that as normal human beings, they too need to feel valued for
their work and to be given the recognition that they deserve when they have performed
above normal expectations.
As a business development coach, I specialise in working with small and
solo businesses owners and their key staff to keep them motivated, on track and
profitable across all areas of their business.
I am always pleased to hear from readers of Making Change Happen with
feedback, reflections, suggestions or differing points of view. I am also happy to offer customised, in-house
adaptations of any of my material for your team or business.
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We had always thought that running our own business would be fairly simple. Unfortunately there was a lot more to it than we had ever anticipated. It seemed impossible to ever get our business off the ground even though we knew it had huge potential. We were working very long hours, were struggling with many responsibilities, had difficult clients and lack of money was always a source of stress and disagreements.
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