To lead is to measurably help others succeed. What is the top way you seek to grow your business? You say growth is not a priority? Not really? But you don’t want employee retention either? That is the route to a slow death.
Have you defined a business growth strategy? You would be surprised how many of our clients say they are happy with their size and therefore don’t have a growth strategy.
That is a big mistake in our opinion. In the life of a business, there are only two options … you can either keep up or surpass your competitors through a business growth strategy or lose market share.
Business growth obviously can be planned in various degrees. If your business is at the size you desire, a minimum or status quo strategy may be the best for you.
In any case, you need to execute some form of a growth strategy to at least maintain the status quo.
We believe that developing and growing your staff should be at the heart of any plan to grow business. If you want to grow business by developing your people, consider these 7 tactics:
Your team is your business, quite literally. It is only as good as the weakest link and your ability to provide strong and effective leadership.
You, as a business leader, must be a talent hound for future hiring, be a strong mentor and coach, and continually work to build your leadership skills and a staff that works effectively as a team.
You will need to delegate effectively and continuously rotate your people throughout business roles. Being successful with these tasks and you will be amazed at how quickly your team will develop.
Employee retention … leadership skills
What would you say are the most significant leadership competencies?
Are they ones that you continue to hone and develop? Do they hold the keys to future successes in your business?
I have been in the military and business world for forty years and often get asked what I believe are the most important leadership competencies.
It takes time and practice to be a top line leader. You are not borne with leadership competencies.
And you are never done developing them.
My experience leads me to this list of 10 business leadership competencies that most successful leaders all share. They rank as the most significant to success as a leader in my perspective.
If you want to be a better leader, work on continuously developing this list of leadership competencies:
Lead with questions, not directions
Continuous learning
Maintain a work-life balance
Boost team self-esteem
No fear of failure
Collaboration
Balanced listening
Foster team players
Inspire and motivate
Have patience
Employee retention ideas … organization culture
Organization culture is a very integral part of any business as the best companies pride themselves on their employees, community stewardship, and a stimulating workplace.
This culture is passed on to customers, who are more likely to go out of their way to stop at such businesses instead of a competitor because of the values they share with the company.
You even see the culture in most of their creative marketing.
It’s also important to recognize that culture comes from the people—it is the people. Think about the individuals within your organization—what are their personalities like? Who are they outside of work? What tickles their fancy?
All of these things lend to the culture of your organization, and ultimately your products.
Culture matters … a lot more than you may believe. You can either spend time finding employees who share your organization’s values or deal with managing conflicts that arise due to opposing values.
Ignore culture in the hiring process and all other hiring initiatives will be diminished, if not lost altogether.
Grow your staff … hiring is the key
We believe that one of the most difficult, yet most important elements of any business is the hiring process. The message is simple … some people are better than other people.
More importantly, some people are a heck of a lot better than other people.
During the hiring process, you really must take into consideration many candidate behaviors, attitudes and strengths. Even the person who is the most talented, sometimes they don’t have the right personality and team chemistry to add to your team.
Remember this: hire for attitude and culture mix and train for the skills you want.
Are your employees giving your company their all? Do they believe that what they’re doing is important? Do they feel appreciated? Do they show up for work each day filled with passion and purpose?
If so, you should share employee engagement lessons with this community.
A red flag should go up if you answered “no” to any of these questions. Why?
Business owners who aren’t taking care of their employees are missing out on significant cost-savings and profits.
Here are some surprising statistics we found recently. Only 31% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs.
Wow. That fact means that 70% are not that actively engaged. And this is amazing to us.
Highly engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company.
People that are actively engaged in helping move the organization forward.
88% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their organization’s products, compared with only 38% of the disengaged.
72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged.
When thinking about these stats, pay attention to the impacts on business performance. They are truly significant,
You should always be in a talent search mode, even if you are not yet ready to hire.
Never let your organization be put behind the talent 8-ball, as great talent is rarely available on a moment’s notice.
Some of the best hires we’ve made over the years were people that we spent months, and in some cases, years developing relationships with.
Change agent
I am a big believer in adaptation and change.
You should always seek to be flexible and keep several alternative paths in front of you. Always be on the lookout for ways to reinvent ways for self-improvement.
Our most favored quote on change and adaptation is from Charles Darwin: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Just remember to substitute success for survival and you will have a very valuable tip.
The bottom line
Never be done with your hiring and building your staff. Remember that life is a continuous learning experience for you and the team.
It is the foundation of business growth.
Team building and talent development takes work and a consistent process, but you will be pleasantly surprised the impact it will make on your business.
Do you have a hiring or team building experience to share? A question or comment?
Are you devoting enough energy to build a growth team?
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
It ain’t what you don’t know that will hurt you. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. A good quote from Mark Twain. Does your business pay attention to ways to improve your staff retention and loyalty?
Like making employees feel they are making a significant contribution? And giving them more ways to develop new skills and experience?
More than 100 studies have now found that the most engaged employees — those who report they’re fully invested in their jobs and committed to their employers — are significantly more productive, drive higher customer satisfaction, and outperform those who are less engaged.
A Towers Watson global workforce study found that only 20% of employees are truly engaged in their work — heart, and soul. As a student of management for over 40 years, I’m depressed by the fact that so many people find work depressing. Wow, that really is a number that will impact a business in lots of ways, yes?
Engaged employees who are satisfied with their jobs and feel that they’re making a contribution to their organizations and helping customers are more likely to work hard for their company’s success.
It is therefore imperative for organizations to make sure that they achieve and retain high levels of employee engagement.
It’s a disconnect that serves no one well. So what’s the solution? Where is the win-win for employers and employees?
The answer is that great employers must shift the focus from trying to get more out of people, to investing more in them by addressing their needs. This includes getting them to bring the best of themselves to work every day.
We have all heard the importance of developing engaged employees at our workplace, but too often the articles are full of theoretical discussion instead of practical steps to make it happen.
Here are some simple steps to consider when looking for win-win in employee loyalty and engagement:
Employee loyalty should not be viewed as an either/or proposition, should it? Employees and their careers often are not fully in concert with loyalty to a company.
And that is not a bad thing.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive, especially when employee skill development is in alignment with what the business needs.
Remember that employee loyalty is never forever. So when you lose talent it doesn’t mean those employees were not loyal.
Employee engagement and loyalty … focus on relationships
Often employee loyalty is based on relationships with management and fellow employees. It’s the reason they choose to leave or chose to stay. So work to create a strong relationship with your people.
One way to do this is to make your expectations clear and make sure employees have the resources and skills they need to fulfill these expectations and to grow the experience they desire.
Staff retention ideas … build jobs with variety and autonomy
Think back to your career experiences. Most of us have preferred to have a variety of job experiences that permit maximum growth and development.
Jobs that provide variety and the freedom to make decisions engender awesome loyalty. A commitment to job variety, freedom, and change is not easy for a business.
But it is truly a win-win for the employee and the business.
Employees values versus company mission
My career started with IBM and its lifetime employment pseudo-contract. It was a great way to instill employee loyalty. But things have changed considerably since those days, even for IBM.
Even then, and certainly now, lifetime employment was not the only way to instill loyalty. Emphasizing a company’s purpose and mission also engenders loyalty.
A human face on a business mission and then living that mission can go a long way to build employee support and loyalty.
When a business helps its employees develop expertise and skills that help them be more marketable both internally and externally, it represents a big win-win.
But it is often very difficult for the immediate managers involved, especially with their most valuable employees.
However, when they understand and appreciate the bigger business benefits, it is often easier to convince these managers.
Management needs to help their employees identify links between their own career goals and those of the ones of the business. This is a big step in the loyalty-building process.
The bottom line
Once business leaders recognize that employee engagement is directly related to optimal customer experience and will have an impact on their bottom line, they are more willing to invest in it.
But they should be careful not to spend all their allocated dollars on one-time initiatives but focus more on their individual employees, making each feel valued.
At the end of the day, how you treat people is what they’ll remember. Employee’ engagement is built each day.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
