Winning in business while feeling disillusioned with the rest of your life is not a great way to live. While making a profit, creating jobs and delivering great service are all noble causes, I believe that there is a core purpose that is often forgotten by many business owners. The real purpose of your business is to give you, the owner, the life you want.
I also believe it is possible to set up your business to give you the time and money freedom you need to live a great life. If you want a great business – one that runs calmly, effectively and profitably without your day-to-day involvement – you need a great team. When you have a great team, you can serve more customers, make more money and take time away from your business, knowing that things will be looked after when you’re not around.
Building a great team isn’t just about hiring warm bodies to fill roles; it’s about creating a powerhouse of motivated individuals working toward a common goal. In this blog, we’ll explore 6 key areas you have to get right to build a team that will give you the life you want.
1. Start with an Effective Recruitment Process
Hiring the right people begins with having a clear and effective recruiting system. Many business owners fall into the trap of rushing the hiring process, only to deal with mismatched candidates later.
Here are some strategies to develop an efficient and effective recruiting system:
- Define the role clearly: Write detailed job descriptions that outline responsibilities, required skills, and the personality traits needed to thrive in your company.
- Make the job appealing: Boring doesn’t work for marketing – and it doesn’t work for hiring, either. You need a USP not just for your marketing, but for your recruiting as well.
- Make sure you attract enough people: Most businesses don’t do enough to attract applicants. In a market like this when potential employees can have their pick of multiple job offers – you need to do even more.
- Leverage referrals: Your current employees or professional network may know talented individuals who would be a perfect fit.
2. Get the Right People Doing the Right Things, Right
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins emphasises the importance of getting “the right people on the bus.” We like to take Mr. Collins’s metaphor a bit further. Not only do you want to get the right people on the bus, but it’s also important to get the right people doing the right things.
To get people doing the right things:
- Set clear expectations: Provide detailed job descriptions and explain how each role contributes to the business’s success.
- Implement systems: Document your processes by creating checklists and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). This doesn’t have to be huge binders of “employee training manuals.”
- Delegate effectively: Match tasks to the individuals best equipped to handle them.
- Recognise and reward good behaviour: Celebrate exceptional performance, or behaviours aligned with company values. Implement rewards like bonuses for outstanding work
3. Create a ‘Customer First’ Organisation
Customer experience is a major differentiator for small businesses. Training your team to provide exceptional service creates loyal customers and enhances your brand reputation.
Here are some implementation ideas:
- Focus on the fundamentals: Start by clarifying what “customer first” means in your business. Provide examples that align with your brand values.
- Offer services common in other industries but not in yours – that way customers feel as if they’re being treated to a luxury.
- Invest in role-playing exercises: Simulate real-world scenarios to prepare your team for diverse customer interactions.
- Celebrate Wins: Highlight moments of excellent service to reinforce positive behaviour.
4. Develop a Structured Training System
Well-trained people are more effective and more productive at their jobs. As your company grows, some of them will become ready for additional responsibility. This is a key part of building a business that can operate without your personal involvement.
Here are some implementation Ideas:
- Assess needs and set goals: Conduct a skills gap analysis to identify current weaknesses and future needs. Align training objectives with business goals to ensure relevance and impact.
- Create a structured framework: Consider the different needs – onboarding for new hires, role-specific training and management & leadership training.
- Leverage technology: Invest in a Learning Management System (LMS) to centralise training materials and provide accessibility. Use e-learning platforms for self-paced modules.
- Encourage peer-to-peer Learning: Encourage team members to share their expertise during lunch-and-learn sessions.
5. Become an Effective Leader
Your team will look to you for guidance, especially during challenging times. Strong leadership fosters trust, accountability, and a positive work environment.
Key leadership traits to cultivate:
- Build self-awareness: Understand your leadership style, using tools like 360-degree feedback tools. Ask your team and peers for constructive feedback to identify areas for improvement.
- Set a clear vision and goals: Communicate a compelling vision for your business and break it down into actionable, measurable goals to keep everyone aligned
- Lead by example: Demonstrate honesty, accountability, and commitment in everything you do. Show how to handle challenges with a positive attitude and determination.
- Invest in continuous learning: Read leadership books, attend workshops and seminars, learn from coaches & mentors
6. Promote a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Promoting a culture of continuous improvement in your business is a powerful way to enhance efficiency, and innovation and keep your business competitive.
Here are some implementation ideas:
- Make improvement everyone’s responsibility: Encourage initiative by getting employees to propose ideas for improving processes or solving problems, not just managers or leaders
- Encourage small steps: Focus on incremental changes rather than overwhelming transformations
- Set metrics: Break down larger objectives into smaller, achievable milestones. Track progress using measurable indicators tied to business objectives
- Recognise contributions: Regularly acknowledge individual and team successes to keep motivation high.
Conclusion: Business freedom comes from having a great team
Having a great team expands your scope. It spreads the load across many shoulders. It shortens your to-do list and gives you back time to see the bigger picture and to live the life that you want.
But building an effective team to run your business is a journey, not a one-time task. Sometimes it pays to hire some help closer to the top, like a business coach who brings experience, expertise, perspective, and tools to solve the problems you’re facing right now.
If you’d like some help growing your team – or growing your revenue – or making things in your business run more smoothly and more effectively – let’s get on a call to discuss coaching. You can book an initial 15-minute call with me here at www.TimeWithShane.com