How do you value your people in your business?

People and relationships are at the heart of life and the workplace but often get neglected.  They only get attention when a behavioural challenge or complex situation arise.

Lack of time is often cited by business owners and managers.  People are complex individuals and need understanding, which can only be achieved with regular conversations.  Setting time aside on a daily basis to really understand those around you will help to prevent many of the issues that can occur and perhaps more importantly, enable the individuals to work better for you. 

After researching typical ‘people problems’ found in several organisations, the findings were clear: every workplace has people problems and the majority of them are the same. Learning how to tackle these problems head on, will in turn lead to a happier workforce, higher productivity and increase job satisfaction.  

There are many ways to do this, and I will be covering some of them during my first webinar.  Using the Syncing Heartbeats Framework, a methodology to help you create an audit of your business that gives focused action, it will identify what gaps and challenges you might be facing that need your attention immediately. Be open and truthful with your team and ask them to do the same in their feedback.  It is important not to be judgmental to any responses, however, and try not to take the answers personally, but use them to make effective changes. 

Results from your audit will be bespoke to your business; however, the main areas tend to be:

Lack of motivation and engagement

The first people problem that was mentioned most frequently was lack of motivation and engagement. If you have a team who are not motivated to do well and who are not engaged in their work, its ultimately going to lead to a lack of profitability in your company, regardless of size, money, number of clients. Difficult clients are usually a key factor in lack of motivation, and this also creates problems for creative flow.

 

Time available to get a job done

Second to this and not far behind in being frequently mentioned is the amount of time your staff have to get their jobs done, or lack of! Sales KPI’s increase, number of emails per day increase, phone calls to clients end up taking longer than expected however the pressure to succeed created by the management is constantly behind you - expecting you to achieve more work in the same amount of time. This can lead to stress, ill mental and physical health and ultimately burn out. Before you know it, several people in the team are not at work and the majority are falling behind on their targets. This is when it starts to spiral out of control and become a bigger problem.

 

Negative attitudes

The negative attitudes of other staff members can have a detrimental effect on the whole team, which typically stems from frustration and leads to anger, sadness, lack of accountability, poor focus and making mistakes. When employee’s attitudes become negative, this is usually because they feel too regimented, or they are left to their own devices with no clear goals. Employees need clearly defined procedures to allow them to take ownership of a task!

 

Reaction to change

Not everyone accepts change or deals with it very well, which can hinder the efficiency of a team and create problems such as poor communication, disagreeable co-working, or lack of direction/focus.

 

These ‘people problems’ can be overcome by making some simple changes, such as:

Introducing clear goals to work towards

This is human nature; it is a desire to have something to work towards and tick off once completed. Job satisfaction will increase, and the work force will feel more engaged after they enter the accountability of a clear, defined goal.

 

Having the opportunity to have a change of scenery

People are likely to commit themselves to working for 8 hours a day in the same office or at the same desk (in normal working times) however, allowing them to move around, work outside or even introduce home working will work wonders for productivity and engagement.

 

Strong & consistent management

Team members will look up to great managers and leaders for guidance, organisation, planning, and focus. Having a consistent member of the team to guide everyone increases the ability for the rest of the team to be creative and approach problems differently without having to worry about the finer details. The management of people is important, but so is clear management of your business’ processes, strategy and direction.

 

Understanding change

Making changes can be difficult and it’s important as a business leader to adapt to individual’s needs and implement changes carefully.  Change can be extremely positive if managed in the correct way.  It takes focus and having the right processes in place can ensure that it is effective and a positive experience.

 

During the webinar mini-series, we will consider other ways to overcome the issues that tend to cause problems within teams and workforces.  We will also look at ways to decide whether recruitment is necessary to grow your business, and if so, how to go about it in the best way.  There are many alternative options to obtain talent within a business, and Colin Blackburn will cover this within a separate webinar which complements this series. The third and final webinar will consider the best processes for both onboarding new staff and the often-forgotten important element of offboarding them well.  These processes can be used for considering new suppliers, contractors and clients, too.

 

Wednesday 14th April 10-11am: Process + People + Purpose = Profit   

Find solutions to any existing issues and ways to prevent them happening in the first place.  You will gain:

  • A better understanding of what can cause chaos with your people and processes day to day
  • Clarity and purpose of your business’ actions
  • A methodology to help you create an audit of your business that gives focused action
  • Identify what gaps and challenges you might be facing that need your attention immediately

 

Wednesday 21 April 10-11am: To recruit or not to recruit?  And if so, how?

Consider your strategy for talent management; retention; employee engagement and people development.

Learn how to avoid the difficulties entrepreneurs face when having to take on staff for the first time and the pain of realising teams are no longer cohesive and your bottom line is being damaged.  She will share:

  • Why good talent is so important to your business now and in the future
  • The best ways to recruit good talent and suppliers
  • Strategies to approach the best way to recruit, develop and retain people 

 

Wednesday 05 May 10-11am: Onboarding & Offboarding - Processes to help your business thrive   

Processes within a business that get neglected and can cause issues.  Onboarding and offboarding carry high costs, so it is vital to your business that you get them right for staff, contractors and suppliers.  It will ensure your business will evolve with increased opportunities for continuous improvement.