It is this time of year that organizations and individuals begin to think about the positive changes they want and need to make, in order to make the new year “the best ever”. Although you may already have some of those plans in place, ready to go, there may be more that you can do and prepare for than you think.
People: Hire, retain and train.
Hire. It’s a big issue right now for companies, finding people. Unfortunately, there are no silver bullets for that at the moment. However, there are some long-term strategies to consider. Unless you are looking for a highly skilled individual or someone that requires a very specific skillset, keep an eye out for good people during your daily travels. Where you stop for breakfast, where you service your vehicle, where you shop or wherever you go day to day, keep an eye out. You might just find someone that is frustrated with their current position and looking for a change. Even if you don’t need someone right now, have a list of people “in the wings” that you can call when a position in your organization opens up.
Try different methods to find good people. If you’ve never done it, try using a recruiter, advertise in publications you’ve never tried, go to networking events, send a message through LinkedIn to people that you trust, post ads in different areas than you’ve tried in the past.
Retain. Remember the adage, “People don’t quit companies, they quit people”. If you own or manage an organization with employees, like it or not, you’re in the people business. Treat your people like a good customer and you’re on the right track. A misnomer is that to keep good people you must pay them more. Not necessarily true. Studies show that although pay is on most employee’s minds, other factors often dictate whether they stay or leave a company. Other factors become important such as: culture, working conditions and their environment, how they are treated, what tools they are given to perform their role, how much autonomy they are given, whether or not they are trusted and how they are valued. Keep in mind that your organization is being judged by every employee that you have. Recognize your company’s weaknesses, make the necessary changes and your people will notice. Improve the culture of your company and even look at the working conditions in place. Is your place of work a place that people talk about positively and one that new people would find enjoyable to work at?
Train. Being in the training business I sometimes get asked by an owner or manager, “What if we invest in training our people and they leave to go to a competitor?” Although this may be a concern for some, my typical reply to that question is, “Good point. But what if you don’t train them and they stay with you?” See the point? As an owner and manager throughout my own career I’ve always looked at it this way – my job is to make my people better. If I can do that, we can grow as a company. Without that, the company stays the same, with little chance to grow. Training and cross-training is essential in today’s business climate. There is simply too much competition to play it safe and not invest in your people. And, don’t do it once. Continue to do it and never stop. The most successful companies I work with invest in their people every month through training, sending them to programs and conferences and continually look for creative ways to make their people better. Start and never stop.
Process. Systemize, repeat and document.
Within companies there are many systems to consider implementing. To name a few, an organization could have systems for quoting customers, ordering systems, billing systems, sales process systems, marketing systems and even systems for following up with customers. Some of the obvious advantages of having systems are repeatability, trackability, the ability to recognize when the system is off and the ability to get better and better at something. Typically, the more systems you have the better. Look at it this way, if you were going to franchise your business, you would have to have everything systemized so the new franchise could duplicate your success. Even if it is not your goal, if you look at your business as if you are going to duplicate it as a franchise, it will force you to put working systems into place. If your organization could be run without you at some point, you’re doing it right.
That leads to the conversation about documentation. Too many small companies keep everything in their head. The way they sell, the way they negotiate, the tricks of the trade that have made them successful along the way. Document these behaviors and tricks of the trade so they can be duplicated and handed down to others in the organization.
Strategy. Create, inform and reinforce.
If you look inside some companies, they are successful in spite of themselves. Meaning, they do great work, have great customers and make a good profit. But, some don’t have much of a strategy for growth. They may not have a plan. They are growing by accident. Sometimes I’ll refer to this as “bowling through a curtain”. They are “hitting down some pins” but they don’t really know where they are headed next and aren’t truly aiming at anything. Sometimes they have a good idea of where they want to go, but their people are not informed.
Creating a strategy takes an understanding of why you get the business you get and why you don’t get the business you don’t get. If you aren’t positive why people buy from you, ask. Ask your good customers what they like about you; why they selected your company; why they continue to trust you with their work. As example, if you find out that what makes your company shine is its ability to stay on top of jobs and not get sidetracked, consistently finishing up as promised on projects, use that as part of your strategy. Market to this advantage, implement it as part of your sales process, look for people that value that service as part of your questioning process and marketing materials.
Once you’ve built the strategy, inform your people and reinforce the strategy. Interview new people with it in mind, make sure everyone understands why the strategy is in place, ask for new and creative ways from your people for further implementing the new strategy. Create an entire culture around the strategy and watch it grow. One of my favorite business quotes is, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. A good strategy can be difficult to implement if the culture isn’t what it should be. If there is one new thing you can do with the new year, you might consider working on company culture. Without a good culture, everything in this article won’t matter. If you need help, there are some good books on building a better culture such as, “Surrounded by Idiots” by Thomas Erikson and “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek.