Are Your Employees Driving You Crazy?
One of the biggest frustrations business owners have is dealing with staff issues. At first, they were a “one man show”, “chief cook and bottle washer.” It was hard work but the business seemed simple.
As the business grows there is a need to add a first, 2nd and 3rd employee. Life is now getting complicated. Employees don’t seem to share the same level of passion as we do, they have lives to balance or they just don’t handle tasks the way you would like them to. As the frustration builds the owner faces the urge to scale down and go back to the simple life. This isn’t necessary when building an effective enterprise.
Business owners who are able to break through the threshold from being a owner centered business to a true enterprise recognize that the skills and specialised knowledge they started out with becomes less relevant as their business grows. There is a whole new set of skills & knowledge they must develop to have an effective enterprise.
Here are 3 simple steps to get you started building an effective enterprise
Ability to Attract, Train & Motivate Quality People
Many business owners often hire people in haste. Business is hectic and they need a body. This often results in unnecessary turnover and stress. Create a profile of your perfect employee. What are their skills, attitude and values? Be sure to have a proper job description written.
Take time to write a good job ad. Remember the phrase “You get what you ask for”. Write the Ad in such a way that it reaches out to the exact type of person you want to attract.
Once you have found the “right” person it is imperative that they be trained and briefed on your company culture, expectations and your operating systems. Take time to encourage them and provide ongoing feedback. Employees who know that they are on the right track will be more productive.
Create Systems for Everything
Document all processes and train your staff on how to follow them. This includes everything from how to service customers, performing a service and reporting systems.
Monitor Performance & Take Corrective Action
Develop Quality Control protocols to ensure that systems are followed and take corrective action if they are not. This can include having Checklists or Key Productivity Indicators (KPIs) that alerts management if employees do not follow the system.
By following the above steps you will you can cut your “fire fighting” time by up to 90% and have more time to work on the business instead of in it. You will also have less stress, be more effective and truly “build the life and enterprise you always envisioned”.
To start building the enterprise you always envisioned go to http://www.empoweredbusiness.ca/ and download the free e-Book “Enterprise Builder”. It is filled with over 30 pages of diagnostics tools and exercises to get you started today.
Tony Malyk
Vancouver Business Performance Coach
