What is keeping you up at night?

I don’t’ know about you, but if I haven't had a good nights sleep, it affects my whole day!

Especially at the moment while I’m training for next months London Marathon.

Not being rested affects my speed and endurance

And my mood

For the entire day!

How much worse is it when your business is keeping you awake and then you have to spend the day dealing with business challenges whilst exhausted?

Like my client Claire who was drowning under the weight of trying to do ALL THE THINGS.

She had a never-ending list of tasks that were required to take her business to the next level, however, they never got touched because she only had the capacity to focus on delivering to her current clients.

Every time that she sat down to relax (or sleep), all she could think about was the list of things that she hadn’t achieved.

And so her business started to feel like an anchor, rather than a sailboat.

Have you ever felt like that?

When that legacy-building, freedom-giving business you dreamt of feels so very far away.

After taking Claire through our unique systems and processes, we were able to establish achievable objectives and goals for her business growth. We hired a team member and a contractor to increase her capacity and give her peace of mind so that she could sleep peacefully and have the energy need to build her business.

She was able to make small steps every day to move forward and within a month, was able to launch a new service to her customers.

The first step was having fierce clarity on her business and personal objectives, so that she knew what to focus on, but more importantly what to say 'No' to.

I share more on getting unstuck in this LinkedIn live.

Is Your Management Style Killing Your Business?

My client Greg was feeling totally overwhelmed with running his business; ensuring the quality of his products, managing his staff, keeping his clients happy, keeping up with the invoicing, admin, marketing and all the other essential things.

So when I sat down with him to make a plan to lighten his load, so that he could scale his business I thought he’d need a hiring plan, then he told me there were four office based staff as well as his manufacturing team!

When we discussed what his team actually did, it transpired that he’d hired people with the right skills (admin, marketing, fulfilment) but didn’t trust them to deliver to his exacting standard, so everything went through him!

Greg was the funnel that slowed everything up!

So after looking the structure and responsibilities of those on his team. I spent some 1-2-1 with his team to get their ideas on improving the business and I got a ton!! They were insightful, detailed and his team were more than ready to implement them.

Then I asked why these ideas hadn’t been shared with Greg and I was told, “as far as he is concerned, the only good ideas are his own”.

“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say!”

— Andy Stanley

Greg and I talked at length about how he could empower his staff but still be confident that the outcome would be of a high standard.

Using our Leading for Growth systems and processes, we set objectives and had his team create project plans, so that progress could be tracked and reviewed at every stage.

Greg was able to get some time back to focus on business build activities and fun family time and his team were able to work to their full potential.

A total win/win!

Staff are an investment of time and resource. It’s so vital that you ensure that your team are challenged and there is value for you to have that person in your team. It’s a mutual transaction. I personally believe that anyone who works with me should be better at the end than at the start.

How are you bettering your team and your business?

Learning and developing in a role is a key reason why people stay with an employer, so is having autonomy. Build a team that can grow with you.

Grab our FREE guide to Hiring to make sure you hire the right person with the right skills at the right time.

Is it weak to ask for help?

When you have a business challenge is your first thought, ‘How can I fix it?’ or ‘Who can help me fix it?’

I’ll bet you generally go into the solve-it mode, I used to do that too…and being totally transparent sometimes I still do!

As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to release the reins and allow others to work on your ‘business baby’. You’ve put so much into building up your business you want everything to be perfect.

Both in my corporate and entrepreneurial life, I have struggled with delegating the time consuming administrative and technical tasks to others, as I was SURE they couldn’t do it as well and/or as quickly as me, and if I was going to have to teach them and then check it afterwards, I may as well have done it myself!

But I wasn’t doing myself any favours, I was busy being busy, my business wasn’t growing as quickly as it should have been because I was trying to do ALL THE THINGS, and my team wasn’t learning or developing.

The whole idea of recruiting and building a team is to free you up to do the high-value stuff, like speaking with potential clients and delivering excellence to your paying clients, it should also mean that you can go on holiday WITHOUT your laptop, iPad and iPhone, take the afternoon off to relax in the spa, or go to your children’s school play without worrying about what’s happening in the office.

When I’ve broken down the reason why most business owners lack trust in their team, it’s because they fear they’ll get things wrong, that they’ll change the winning formula that has gotten them this far.

Like my client Alice, who was struggling to focus on building her business because she was caught up trying to get the day-to-day things completed.

Her company mobile phone would not stop ringing, as her managers referred any difficult customers to her rather than dealing with them themselves.

This meant that the majority of her customers had her number and would just call, rather than talk to the manager for the relevant store (even though they’d be seeing them face to face regularly). The head office line hardly rang, so Alice’s assistant wasn’t inundated with calls. Alice felt trapped.

After spending some time with Alice it became apparent that her caring and maternal nature had meant that her managers didn’t even attempt to solve tricky problems, they just called Alice for the answer.

My first suggestion was to change her mobile number and remove it from all the business literature. Each store and store manager had a telephone number and there was a number for head office too.

We delivered our signature management training programme to the managers and their deputies, created a peer coaching group and created a crib sheet for the managers to be sure they understood the policies and processes so that they took ownership for managing issues and didn’t need to disrupt Alice, except for emergencies.

A month after the phone was disconnected Alice said “I feel like a weight has been lifted, I don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner, thank you”

Delegating is always a major subject in our Management and Leadership Coaching Programmes, so I thought I’d share a few tips to help:

Play to your strengths

Know what you are good at and stick to it. When you started your business you were a team of one and had to get everything done (sales, products, accounts, marketing, logistics). Now you can buy in support, either through outsourced providers (accountants, VA, social media, contractors) or employees.

Get the right support in and give them the autonomy to deliver. Getting support doesn’t mean that you have to lock yourself into a full-time permanent contract. If you are concerned that your business might experience a downturn (or you know the support you need is seasonal), you can hire casual staff or offer a contract on a fixed-term and/or part-time basis.

Take the time to train your team

Have you ever said, “By the time I teach them how to do it, I could have done it myself!” Ten years ago this would have definitely been me, but by the time I’d had to complete that task three or four times, I was wishing that I had trained someone, ANYONE else in my team to do it.

As annoying as it sounds, you have to invest time to free up time, whether it is setting up a system, process or training an individual and this is the same thing I say to clients who are too busy to find time the hire the staff they need – it’s chicken and egg! A fully trained and empowered employee means more freedom for you.

Train your team and have them document the process and keep it up to date, then whenever you have a new joiner or promote a team member you have a process manual ready!

Block out your time

It is really easy to get distracted by the admin needed to run a business even with an administrator or VA on staff, so block your time for specific tasks.

I do write down my Must-Dos for each day and the time that I am dedicating to them. Then at the allocated time I close down my emails and put my phone on airplane mode so that I keep focused.

I use a variation of the Pomodoro method. Instead of working for 25-minute sprints with a 5-minute break, I work for an hour or 90 minutes and then take a longer break.

This helps me to focus on a particular project as I find that it can take a while to get into the zone and once I get there it can be difficult to stop (and I like to complete tasks in one hit if I can).

Change your location

When I first started my business, I worked from home and would spend the first couple of hours in the day, cleaning and tidying before I started working and then would be carrying out other chores too. Have you ever popped into the supermarket to come out two hours later?

It didn’t take long to realise that being at home wasn’t helping my focus and so I found a co-working space to work from. The change of location was just what I needed, there were no dirty dishes or laundry to distract me but lots of businesses to connect with.

Once you have a team (working alongside you or remotely) it can be easy to be constantly distracted with their tasks and challenges. I used to struggle when I overheard a conversation that I wanted to chip in on; my ears would switch on and the focus on my task would go flying out of the window.

If you are constantly being interrupted by your team asking for your help (for outcomes that they are capable of delivering) or you can’t resist ‘offering’ assistance and keeping all the real decision making for yourself, it’s time for you to find somewhere else to work from at least one day a week, to give you and your team some space to be great.

The saying that, what you don’t know can’t hurt you, was definitely true in this circumstance. If there is truly an emergency your team will get in touch, don’t worry it will be fine.

Try these tips and you’ll get the help you need to take your business to the next level.

Need help hiring the help you need or developing the leadership skills you or your team need, schedule a call to see how we can help you.

Do you want an overhead or an investment

One of the biggest myths that hold businesses back is seeing staff as a cost rather than an investment.

While we must wait until we have the income needed to cover staff costs, hiring the cheapest is very rarely the answer.

Like Julie, an amazing creative who built her business by working with interns and trainees; she came to me because she felt like she was constantly retraining her team.

The interns were great for projects and the trainees would stay for a year and then leave to take a ‘proper job’ that paid them a ‘proper salary’.

This meant that the business that Juile had run for over 10 years was beginning to feel like a burden.

She couldn’t go away on holiday without shutting her shop. She had to keep a watchful eye at all times.

It started affecting her turnover too, so wasn’t creating new items. Her loyal regulars were coming in and recommending friends but that was it, hardly any walk-ins.

Julie didn’t have time to be creative, she was focused on keeping things ticking over and making sure the quality of the finished items was high.

Using our unique systems and processes, we identified the roles and structure that Julie needed to build her business and make it less reliant on her constant presence.

We hired an Operations Manager to oversee the store, interns and trainees. Julie was able to focus on her love of designing and training the trainees. 

Once she was free from the red tape, Julie felt her creative juices start to flow again and she was able to find the time to design new innovative items.

A part-time Marketing Executive was also hired to oversee a website refresh, create and implement the social media strategy.

Even though the pandemic, the online store kept Julie and her team busy – creating items, making repairs and even creating some bespoke designs.

Getting a qualified manager made all the difference to Julies peace of mind and bottom line.

If you hire RIGHT your team should pay for themselves (and then some) through increased sales and efficiencies.

When I look at my balance sheet I think that staff costs should be under the direct product/service cost as it makes it easier the see the correlation between a growing business and an amazing team, with the right skills.

If you are ready to make your first hire or your next hire, my calendar is open for the next two weeks, click this link to book a FREE 20 Team Strategy Call, where you’ll come away with some actionable advice and tips.

What's on your bucket list?

Last week I turned 45 and inspired by a fellow entrepreneur, I wrote a list of 50 things that I want to do before I turn 50!

Do you have a bucket list?

On it are things like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and perfecting my French but top of my list was running the Iconic London Marathon and yesterday I found out that I got a spot for this year!

Which is Fab!

But SCARY

26.2 miles IN.ONE.GO!

I’m still slightly in disbelief

But i’m fully aware of the work that is ahead of me - the runs, strength work, yoga and nutrition. Because I’ve already been preparing; I ran a half marathon on January 1st and have two more booked in the Spring.

This reminds me of the work that I do with my clients to start or build their team. 

We form the strategy, the structure, the job descriptions, adverts, interview questions and tests - then we finally select the perfect team member and after the excitement of securing the candidate…

My client gets nervous, they start thinking of all the things that they need to get set up to give the person the very best chance of success - how to get them to hit the ground running.

But then they remember that we planned for this, that they’ve already started and they have a plan. That by using our proven methodologies they are sorted.

Like my client Catherine who is a super busy creative, needing more time to be creative and less doing the administrative stuff. So we used our hiring framework to find her the best Operations Assistant and we had a strategy session to help her to step into her true CEO role, so that she could set her new team member up for success. Now she’s been able to focus on creating new lines and building her brand.

If you are planning to build or grow your team, schedule a FREE 20 minute call to discuss how we can help you, using our the Team Strategy Call

Recruit in haste, repent at leisure

Sue was in a major rush to find a replacement for her finance manager who was about to start maternity leave.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t had 5 months to prepare, it was just that time went by so fast with the business expansion that suddenly she went from not wanting to hire too early, to needing a replacement to start in four weeks.

Sue interviewed several candidates, she had a clear favourite but they could only start in 8 weeks, so she went with her second choice.

Two weeks into handover period, she discovered that her chosen candidate didn’t have as much experience as they’d said and they couldn’t use the accounts software. Sue tried to get her previous first choice back for the role but they’d already secured something else.

We work with clients who are terrified that they’ll recruit the wrong person, especially if it’s one of their first hirers or they are building a new team.

It’s not rocket science but it does take preparation, so that you can be confident in the decision that you make.

Three tips to help you recruit the right candidate:

1. Be super specific about the key skills, experience and behaviours that you need - Then make sure your interview questions and assessments are aligned to them.

2. Do more than interview, test for the skills that you need - whether it’s a presentation, case study or trial day.

3. If you are in doubt, don’t hire

Want more hiring and team management tips, get access to our FREE HR Knowledge Hub

Why HR?

Is your business your first, second, third (or more) career?

I’ve worked with childcare providers who were social workers, website designers who were teachers and holistic therapists who were accountants.

I’m a firm believer that finding the thing that you love to do, as opposed to what you can do to make money is a journey littered with lessons to get you to your ultimate destination (at least for most of us).

When I share my background, people are often surprised that my first degree was in Computer Science. Growing up I loved chess and electronics. Studying IT was an easy choice for college and university. But at university I realised that my passion was finding a solution for my clients, looking outside for the box and being creative with the solutions.

I was heartbroken when I was told that I’d need to work as a programmer for 10+years before I’d be able to be in front of clients creating solutions and overseeing them being delivered. 

So at graduation, I took an office manager role that required some skill with creating databases and it was there that I was introduced to HR. And once I started studying I never looked back.

HR ticked all my boxes:

1. There were challenges that I needed to find solutions for.

2. I had to engage with people to find and execute the solution

3. Sometimes systems and processes were part of the solution.

It was perfect for me.

What makes your business perfect for you?

When we are hiring for our team, we can sometimes get stuck looking for a person who has all the right employment history instead of looking for the transferable skills needed, for example, an ex-teacher will be able to break down complexities and make them easily understood, a stay at home mum will be a master negotiator.

Don’t overlook a candidate because they don’t have the history you are looking for. Look for the skills, you can teach the rest.

How will you change your adverts and selection process going forward to make sure you don’t miss your ideal candidate?

Need some help with your selection process? Schedule a call to see how we can help you hire the best candidate for your business.

My Management Story

About 10 years ago I was travelling across the whole of the UK, I was doing lots of great HR innovation; working with different teams looking at change management.

The organisation I worked for would win lots of work. Then we had new staff coming on board that we would have to integrate into our organisation and so I loved it. It was great fun. I was working on different projects with different people, learning loads of really great stuff.

One day I had a sales guy come to me saying he was trying to win some HR work with one of our current clients and that they had submitted a proposal that hadn't been accepted because it was a bit too technical. So, they asked for someone who understood the client to help write it. I read what the previous person had written (I had no bid writing experience) and I went to the department and spoke to some staff to get an understanding of what was happening there and we completely rewrote it. It was submitted and we won!

Then a month later my manager came to me and told me that the sales guy thought that I was amazing for how I had written the bid and how I had dealt with the client and the stakeholders. He told me that they needed someone who's going to manage the team once they come across and asked me if I would be down for that. I thought great, it's a new opportunity. It's an opportunity for me to manage a larger team.

The department was 60 people, they weren't all directly reporting to me, but they were all ultimately my responsibility.

I was so naïve!

 I’d never managed a huge team and I'd never managed a big team and at the same time had to manage making the changes that we had agreed with the client.

We agreed on a whole raft of changes to the systems and the way the team was structured.

We were implementing a brand new HR system and other systems that were going to integrate with it.

I was full of energy to implement the changes but I forgot that while the organisation that I worked for had agreed to do the work and while the client had also agreed, nobody had really spoken to the team about it.

So while I was there working with them trying to get this new stuff in place, they were still trying to run the day to day and so whenever I was trying to get them to do work they were saying well, “look I've got this backlog of this, a backlog of that…”, “I've got no time to think about the new stuff because right now…”

So I found myself coming in early and staying late trying to do all the additional things that we promised the client, rather than getting my team to do it because it just felt like a struggle. It really felt like I was pushing water up a hill.

I had to take a step back and think what am I gonna do? I have committed to doing this and when I commit to doing something it needs to get done.

How am I gonna make this work?

I took a step back to assess this. My thoughts were that if a manager came to me and said I'm talking to my staff and I can't get them to do what I need them to do I would need to understand where the problems lay. Is it with the team or with the manager of the team. I soon realised that I hadn't approached it in the right way.

I had taken this team and I hadn't taken the time to get to know them or for them to get to know me and so I changed the structure of my team meetings. Instead of only looking at the KPI's (key performance indicators) that we agreed with the stakeholders we talked about what their frustrations were? What were the challenges? What is causing the issues and then I could start to look at how the new system and efficiencies we put in place would help to solve that. This was how I was able to get their buy-in and their time.

One of the biggest challenges is when you tell someone to do something and they have no understanding of why. You need to explain what you need to be really clear on the reason why we're making this change, e.g. The reason why we're doing this thing is so that when we have 20,000 clients instead of 5,000 clients we can still manage to fulfil the orders

Once people understand what you're doing you’ll get them on board and they will come with you.

The other thing that I was I did was, get some quick wins to address some of the challenges they had. There were some people who had only have one screen and I needed to have a dual-screen. The whole office space needed a bit of refreshing. This actually made a huge difference.

 As you go forward in working with your team, take the time to get to know them, take the time to understand, their frustrations. the struggles of the people on the ground with your clients.

They will have a really great insight into what the clients need and their struggles as well

Shortlisting and Telephone Interviews

Last month we looked at how you attract the very best candidates to apply for your roles. This month we’ll be covering Shortlisting, Interviews and Onboarding.

This week it’s all about what to do with all the applications that you have received.

The first thing to say is that you should reply to each application, even if it’s just a standard email that you send to all unsuccessful applicants. Just because they aren’t a fit for you now, they may well be in the future. So make sure you give them a positive experience of your company.

Now to shortlisting; the best way to ensure that you treating all applicants equally is to have a scoring matrix based on the essential and desirable knowledge, skills and experience that are listed on your fantastic JD.

You can essentially tick the boxes where the relevant knowledge, skills or experience is evidenced and at a glance (or pivot table, if you are so inclined), see who matches your criteria, rather than assuming a degree of knowledge or basing your decision on your gut – just in case your selection process should ever be queried.

I would suggest that you start off telephone interviewing your top scoring 4-6 candidates.

The aim of a telephone interview is to form a rapport, check some basic information, ensure that the individual is truly interested in the role and that your salary matches their expectations. The conversation should last no more than 30 minutes.

The telephone interview should include the following:

·       Your name and role within the organisation

·       An overview of the company

·       An overview of the role and the expectations

·       Find out what interests them about the role

·       Confirm their current employment status

·       Check their salary expectations

·       Check if they are interviewing with any other organisations 

Then, either arrange a face to face interview or let them know when you’ll let them know if they will be invited for an interview. 

Let us know how our shortlist plan works for you.

Next week, we will be covering face to face interviews and assessments.

Variety Is The Spice Of… Amazing Teams

This month we’ve been looking at attracting the very best staff for your business, as we go into February and take you through the shortlisting, screening, interview and onboarding process I wanted to pause and make sure you and your team are trained to select the best.

It is important that all people involved in the recruitment process are trained in both effective recruitment and unconscious bias.

There are hugely talented individuals looking for roles that can flow with their lives, a bit like you when you started your business I think!

Your ideal candidate may not come from traditional backgrounds; they may be older, younger, disabled, have caring responsibilities but what they can do in a day may take someone else a week!

Like Dionne who had worked for years as an Executive Assistant for multinational organisations and had taken some time out of the working to care for her elderly parents, she was ready to return to work but still wanted to be flexible so that she could enjoy her life's passions, Dionne struggled to find a role that matched her needs and then she got an administrator post with a Tech startup, where she was able to work from home 2 days a week (which meant she could still have lunch with her local friends and get to her judo class on time). For the Tech start-up that she joined, they got an experienced staff member who kept them organised, systemised online filing system and made sure they never ran out of coffee or printer toner! James the CEO never imagined that his ideal candidate would look like Dionne, but in fact she exceeded his expectations.

Unconscious bias is about how our background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes and cultural context can have an impact on our decisions and actions without us even realising. Have you ever had an experience when you are introduced to someone and the moment you hear their name or their accent you have made an assumption about them? Or been surprised when the voice and the face don’t match?

That is unconscious bias and it can mean that the college or university that a candidate attended or the way they pronounce a word may predispose you to like or dislike them and their responses.

We all have biases, so it is important to realise what they are so that they can be addressed. As well as taking part in training, there are mechanisms that can be used in the shortlisting and interview process that keep you honest by ensuring that you only pick candidates based on their ability to perform the role as an effective part of your team.

I’ll be talking about the skills and tools you need to recruit effectively live on our Facebook business page at 9 pm GMT on Tuesday, to watch live or catch the replay like our page here and turn on the notifications.

If you need some support or training to get your ideal candidates on board Schedule a call to discuss how we can help you.

We will talk about how you get the evidence that you need to make an educated decision on who to select for your role and be legislatively compliant next week

That’s not in my JD!

It is really hard to effectively, recruit, set objectives and monitor success without having an up to date job description as a foundation document. Also when dealing with under-performing staff it is important that their job descriptions are correct, as you could be disciplining them for under-performing a task that they morphed into with no training or support.

Writing a job description is a fine balance of getting the important stuff in but leaving enough room for additional tasks to be absorbed without you being asked for a payrise. Remember, additional tasks shouldn’t generally require additional salary but additional responsibility could require additional remuneration.

A JD doesn’t need to be pages and pages, or a To Do list! Just ensure it covers the following:

• Job Title

Check out the terminology that other businesses in your industry and try to align your job titles to them as that is how most candidates search for roles, for example in the banking industry fraud investigators are often called forensic accountants

• Who the role reports to, and other key stakeholders

You should be able to highlight who the role reports to, givng an indication of seniority and any management responsibilities. Letting candidates know what relationships they are expected to develop is also important, especially if there are external businesses or authorities that need to be communicated with on a regular basis.

• Key areas of responsibility and the deliverables expected

These should be closely aligned to the objectives that you would be setting for the successful candidate. There should be 3 - 5 high level responsibilities and/or deliverables, e.g:

1 - Responsibility for the Customers Services department, a team of c30, with 4 direct reports and an annual budget of £750,000

2 - Provide an excellent customer services experience for all customers, via phone, email, live or chat

3 - Continuous improvement of the service

• Any required education and training

These are the ESSENTIAL qualifications or experience needed to be successful in the role

• Soft skills and behaviours necessary to excel

E.g. Attention to detail, organisation and time management, flexibility, negotiation, influencing, emotional resilience, etc.

• Location and any travel requirements

Where your offices are located and if any travel is required and how frequently 

 And Remember NOT to include:

• Internal terminology, jargon or acronyms

Give the full name for departments, technologies and protocols 

• Anything that could be considered discriminatory

E.g. Youthful, young, active, etc

• Writing a Wish List

You do not want to scare off potential candidates by including desirable skills and experience. Stick with what is needed to be successful in the role, otherwise you’ll be reducing your applicant pool.

I’ll be talking about creating your compelling job description live on our Facebook business page at 9 pm GMT on Thursday, to watch live or catch the replay like our page here and turn on the notifications.

If you need some support to get your ideal candidates on board Schedule a call to discuss how we can help you.

Next week we will be looking at how you shortlist your applications, to ensure you only interview the very best candidates.

Do you dread managing staff?

There are two distinct types of business owners, those who strive to build a business large enough to support or team and those who never want to manage a team ever. Like EVER.

Sometimes it is down to a traumatic past management experience or other times it’s the belief that no one will be able to do it as well as you.

Can you relate …

It happens in the corporate world too.

Simon was an IT genius, so when his boss left and the role was opened up for internal candidates, we were all waiting in anticipation for his application to hit our inboxes, but when he hadn’t expressed an interest in the role 24 hours before deadline I thought I’d have a chat and check everything was ok. Simon told me he loved his role and had no interest in managing a team, taking on their issues and spending less time working on the systems he loved.

I could understand where he was coming from, I went through the same challenge with my first large scale senior HR role and so I was able to share that as a manager it is your responsibility to get things done but that doesn’t mean you have to do it. It is in your gift to develop others by delegating tasks and using your skills and knowledge to improve the department. I also promised to ensure he received the management training he needed should he be successful in obtaining the role.

After our talk Simon did apply for the role and was successful, he was recognised for his outstanding contribution and with coaching and an awesome mentor is now Head of Department.

Do you feel fearful that managing a team will dilute your fun and control?

The truth is, the power is in YOUR hands.

Management is a skill like any other, you have to learn the theory and then apply it practically to hone your skills. Everybody makes mistakes, you haven’t gotten to where you are with your business without making mistakes, so you have to accept that your team will make them too. The important thing is that you give them the feedback needed to improve.

If you are wary about adding to your team or delegating more responsibility, here are three tips to help you:

1. Be clear about the outcome, you need to clearly demonstrate what good looks like. Don’t get bogged down in the detail your team may well have a more efficient way to reach the goal

2. Allow extra time, give a deadline with some wriggle room so that if things need to be tweaked you have time to give feedback and get your team member to action rather than do it yourself.

3. Give positive feedback, everybody likes to hear ‘Well Done’ and it motivates them to continue striving for excellence

If you need some help with getting the Managment Fundamentals right, contact us here to see how we can assist you.

Is it Stay or Go?

Scott had employed Ian for 9 months and as time had gone by he was getting more and more dissatisfied with Ian’s attitude and lack of interest in taking more ownership and responsibility as part of his role.

So Scott contacted us and when we spoke it was apparent that there had been niggling concerns from the start of Ian’s employment but they weren’t addressed as he was ‘doing his job’ and the was ‘no time’.

Ian hadn’t been given any objectives or outcomes to meet when he joined, there were no scheduled review meetings (there was nothing to review!), Ian had been left to his own devices to carry out the tasks detailed in his job description and the probation period clause in his contract of employment meant that he was automatically confirmed after 3 months.

Now I can’t say 100% who was to blame about Ian’s lack of motivation, but in resolving the situation, it was apparent that there wasn’t a strategy in place to get Ian working in the way that Scott wanted him to.

Having an induction strategy is vital to being able to have enough evidence to decide should you new employee stay or go.

Here are some practical tips to get the evidence that you need to confirm, extend or fail an employee during their probation period and remain legislatively compliant:

Probation Clause

First things first, ensure that your probation clause states that it is only completed when confirmed in writing.

Clear, SMART objectives

During the first week of employment set objectives for the first 3-6 month, ensure they are clear and easily monitored.

Regular Reviews

Meet with your next starters once a week during the first month and at least fortnightly thereafter. Have a template to ensure you are reviewing how they are progressing against your objectives and well as ensuring that they have been provided with the support and training that they need to succeed.

Evidenced Feeback

Give clear objective feedback, so that there are no grey areas, it’s not how you feel, it’s what the evidence is showing you. For tips on having that ‘difficult conversation’ read our article here.

Extend or Terminate

If your new employee isn’t achieving the objectives that you have set for them, and you can demonstrate that they have been given the support and training needed to be successful. You have to decide whether to extend their probation period or terminate their contract. If you’ve been having the regular review sessions as discussed above and there has been little or no improvement, terminate, However, if there has been an improvement and there are just a couple of minor issues it may be worth expending the probation period for a month or two.

Document all of the above

Always, always, always ensure that you document your objective and review meetings.

Our Management Fundamentals online training will provide you with the practical skills you need to manage, motivate and develop your team, check out the details here.

Giving new staff the best start

Throughout the recruitment process, we focus on creating an amazing candidate experience. It’s a two way selling process; we want the best person for our organisation and they want, well they want what they want!

So once you’ve negotiated these waters, made an offer and had it accepted ... WAIT! Before you tick the task off your to do list, ask yourself “What’s Next?

Often there is a gap of a month or more between getting that offer accepted and an individual starting with your organisation, so how do you keep them feeling warm and fuzzy, as well as helping them to settle in once they do start?

Here are a few pointers:

Give them a Buddy

One of the best experiences of on-boarding that I had was being given a ‘Work Buddy’ before I’d started. I received weekly emails in the lead up to my joining date, was invited to payday Friday drinks before I was actually on payroll! Had someone to ask silly questions like where is the nearest sandwich place and is there a good place to get a lunchtime pedicure or how does my new boss like to the communicated with.

Day 1 Brilliance

Make sure their first day runs smoothly. I worked for one organisation, where on my first day the receptionist was waiting for me, my desk had my laptop, phone, note pad and other items and when I checked my emails, I have my induction meetings scheduled for the next few weeks (it included a trip to an international office). Everything was so smooth, I was able to hit the ground running and had access to all that I needed.

Induction Plan

So touching on Inductions, nothing is more frustrating that starting a role and having to find your way around an unfamiliar landscape unassisted. I remember starting a senior role with an organisation, and I didn’t receive my laptop until three days in. I had deliverables, but no way to deliver them! It was very frustrating and I felt like they were unprepared for me. Don’t worry I soon changed the starter process!

Having a detailed plan to introduce a new employee to key stakeholders, systems and processes cuts down on the time it takes to get a person up to speed, and allows you to see how long it should take for them to be fully utilised.

Warmest Welcome

A welcome lunch on the first day/week is always good. Getting to know someone socially is always good and it helps to build team rapport. I worked at one organisation where every month they had a welcome afternoon tea, where you had to speak with at least three people you hadn’t spoken with before, it was a really good way to get to know people in different departments.

Implementing an on-boarding process is a great way to engage with staff before they even start and show them how valued are as an addition to your team.

Contact us to ensure your onboarding process is as fabulous as your business is.

Retaining Top Talent

Priya’s accountancy firm had been running for 4 years, she had painstaking built her business from scratch; knew each client personally and had recruited and developed her team so that she as certain that her clients were receiving an excellent service.

Then Richard one of her longest servicing employees resigned.

She was distraught, “I’ve poured so much into developing him, why would he leave?” she asked. “He seemed happy, what if this is the start of a exodus?”

Ever felt like this?

Losing a valued employee can be a business owners worst nightmare. It’s takes a lot of time, effort and resource to recruit and onboard new team members.

Priya and I met with Richard to get some feedback on his decision to leave to business, turned out that he found a new job, closer to home, that would enable him to spend more time with his young family.

While he wasn’t about to change his mind about his resignation, he did give us some valuable insight in to the team and we used them to communicate effectively with staff and build team morale.

Worried about losing a valued team member? Here are a few tips to help you:

1. Build and maintain great relationships with your team; have a open and respectful relationship with your team, spend time together and show genuine interest in the things that they are interested in.

2. Communicate your team mission and aspirations; ensure that everyone in your team knows how they fit into the aspirations for the business and what their path to growth is.

3. Ask for feedback; it is important that your team feels heard and they their ideas are taken into consideration as you grow and scale your business.

4. Measure morale regularly; team meetings and employee satisfaction surveys are a good way of checking in.

5. Understand what motivates each individual; everyone is different and that may mean communicating and creative incentives differently to suit individual personalities .

Need help recruiting and retaining your team, DM us and we’ll be in touch to schedule a quick call to see how we can help you

Employment Legislation Update - April 2019

April is always busy time for Employment Law Updates, here’s our list for the coming weeks:-

Implementation date: 29 March 2019

Technical amendments to employment law to ensure smooth Brexit take effect

The Government introduces legislation to ensure that employment laws continue to operate effectively on the day the UK leaves the EU. The legislation makes minor technical changes, including amending and removing inappropriate language and references.

Implementation date: 1 April 2019

National minimum wage rises

The hourly rate of the national living wage, the rate for workers who are aged 25 and over, increases from £7.83 to £8.21. The national minimum wage for workers aged at least 21 but under 25 rises from £7.38 to £7.70 per hour. The rate for workers who are aged at least 18 but under 21 increases from £5.90 to £6.15 per hour; the rate for workers aged 16 or 17 rises from £4.20 to £4.35 per hour; and the apprentice rate rises from £3.70 to £3.90 per hour. The accommodation offset increases from £7.00 to £7.55 per day.

Implementation date: 6 April 2019

Employment tribunal award limits increase

The maximum amount of a week's pay for the purpose of calculating the basic award for unfair dismissal and a redundancy payment, which increases to £525, and the maximum amount of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal, which increases to £86,444.
The order applies where the event that gives rise to the entitlement to the payment occurs on or after 6 April 2019.

Requirement for payslips to state hours worked where pay varies

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) Order 2018 (SI 2018/147) provides that, where an employee's pay varies by reference to time worked, employers must include the number of hours for which the employee is being paid on his or her itemised pay statement. The change is designed to make it easier for hourly paid staff to ensure that they are paid correctly and to address underpayments.

Statutory sick pay rises

The rate of statutory sick pay rises from £92.05 to £94.25 per week.

Lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions increases

The lower earnings limit for primary Class 1 national insurance contributions increases to £118 per week.

Increase in minimum contribution level for pensions auto-enrolment takes effect

The minimum level of employer contribution into a pensions auto-enrolment scheme increases from 2% to 3%, with an increase to the employee contribution from 3% to 5%. The total minimum contribution increases from 5% to 8%.

Maximum penalty for aggravated breach increases to £20,000

The maximum penalty that an employment tribunal can order for an aggravated breach of a worker's rights rises from £5,000 to £20,000.

Implementation date: 7 April 2019

Statutory maternity pay and other family-related statutory pay rates increase

The rates of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay and statutory shared parental pay from £145.18 to £148.68 per week.

Three things NOT to do when Interviewing

I got an excited call from my career coaching client Lola, she’d got an interview for a role that she really wanted and was so excited! We prepped questions and techniques to stay relaxed and off she went. I then received an emotional call from her after her interview, the first thing she said was “I DO NOT want to work THERE!”. Turned out that the panel threw question after questions at her, didn’t smile or show any positive body language, or even offer a glass of water! Her experience put her off that company for life!

Here are THREE things that you should NEVER as an interviewer: 

One – Don’t make it all about the candidate’s skills 

Remember that interviews are a two-way sales process, don’t just throw out “Why do you want to work for us?” and “Why are you the best person for this role?” questions. Tell the candidate about your company, why it’s a great place to work, who’ll they’ll be working with and most importantly how you see the role developing. 

Two – Don’t be a scary interviewer 

Interviews are stressful enough without adding to the situation. We’ve all been in that sweaty palm, heart racing situation (sometimes as an interviewer!). To get the best out of a candidate, you want them to be at ease. Make them feel comfortable and indulge in a little small talk to develop a rapport. You’ll get more genuine responses and better insight into what they’d be like to work with. 

Three – Give feedback 

Even if a candidate isn’t right for you right now, they may be later on, or be able to recommend someone to you. They’ll only do that if they’ve had a great candidate experience and a big frustration for job hunters is a lack of feedback; after all how can they improve if no one tells them what needs improving!

Spend 5-10 minutes on the phone or writing an email with specific feedback, give 2/3 positives and 2/3 areas for development.

If you are planning to start or build your team get our FREE recruitment cheat sheet, giving you all the do’s and don’ts of interviewing to keep you legislatively compliant, with sample questions for you to ask.

How a lack of sight gave me insight

Ever come to the sudden realisation of something that’s been creeping up on you?

On the last Sunday of December 2018, while driving my daughters to church, I realised that I couldn’t see properly out of my left eye. Now I’d been seeing weird lights out of the corner of my eye for a week, but I put it down to overwork and figured it would pass.

But that Sunday, I looked to my left to change lanes and realised that I had no peripheral vision! As soon as I caught up with my husband, I had him take me to the hospital and the next day I had emergency surgery to repair my detached retina.

Now the interesting thing about the surgery is that they put a gas bubble in your eye to help the repair set and that completely covers your pupil so you can’t see at all! I’m four weeks post-surgery and the gas bubble is still covering about 70% of my pupil.

They say that if you lose on of your senses your other senses become stronger, I’m not sure about that but I can say that I am having to be far more intentional in the things that I do and how I do them and that has caused me to look at things differently. For example, I have lost my depth perception, which means that things aren’t where I think they are. This means I have to touch the table before I put my glass down or it may hit the floor. My phone has not made it to the table several times (thank God for screen protectors)!

Sometimes in our rush to get things done, we only look at the surface and don’t look at the depth of an issue. We get carried away with what we assume an issue is and then wonder why the solution didn’t work.

I had a client come to me for assistance with staffing issues, but as the conversation continued and I delved into the situation. I could see how inconsistencies in behaviour and not addressing issues had led to some of the issues. So rather than starting a formal disciplinary process we reviewed the team job descriptions, set clear SMART Objectives and had meetings with staff to clearly communicate to new way forward for the business. Three months later the business is going from strength to strength, as boundaries have been set and reinforced where necessary. 

Disciplining a couple of members of the team wouldn’t have fixed the underlying issues and may even have made the atmosphere in the office worse.

Are you taking the time to really look and listen to assess the depth of the issue or challenge before you move forward?

Need some strategic HR support? Contact us to discuss your needs.

Ready for the Party Season?

Dan wanted to do something nice for his team of twelve, they’d had a really busy and stressful year. He’d been given a £15 budget per team member, which he used to arrange a Christmas meal and paid for the drinks with his personal card.

After the meal the team moved to a nearby bar, where Dan put his credit card behind the bar and cocktails’ and tequila shots were consumed, while the team danced and enjoyed themselves with other patrons at the bar.

The next day three members of Dan’s team called in sick and HR received a complaint for inappropriate behaviour from one of the younger members of the team.

One member of his team’s party sickness trigged the sickness absence process. The investigation into the complaint resulted in a member of the team being moved to another department, which affected team morale and Dan was reprimanded by his boss for not sticking to the budget assigned and exposing the company to possible legal proceedings.

The repercussions from the night out lasted well into the New Year!

The annual Christmas party is a great way to show your appreciation got your team, however they can also pose a risk. Typical tricky scenarios include fighting, drunkenness, offensive remarks, broken promises, inappropriate sexual behaviour and similar.

A lot of these scenarios can be down to excessive consumption of alcohol lowering inhibitions and providing additional confidence.

Check out this article about how some flirting led to a libel case.

When you are planning your event, try to:

• Include an activity in the festivities

  Taking part in some fun team building activities (e.g. bowling, escape rooms, cooking lesson), to encourage conversation and removes the focus from just food and drink.

•  Remember not everyone drinks alcohol

  Ensure there is something for those who don’t drink alcohol to do and something nice to drink

•  Limit the drinks paid for by the company

  Welcome drinks, wine/beer with meal are fine. Try not to have an unlimited open bar.

• Ensure that any employees under the legal age to drink do not have access to alcohol.

• Don’t make moving onto another venue extend the corporate event.

  It’s fine for individuals to choose to move on, just don’t make it a business driven decision or cover the drinks bill

• Ensure everyone has the means to get home safely.

Let us know what fun you’ve got planned with your team this Christmas.

Are you always getting excuses?

“She always comes in with an excuse. Traffic, overslept, ran out of time, the client said …. It’s exhausting … I can’t rely on her and it’s costing me business”

It’s amazing the amount of business owners that struggle with getting some members of their team to take ownership and deliver what they need consistently.

Being able to trust your team to get on with things, while you get on with the CEO tasks that you have is vital. If you don’t have time to plan for growth, it won’t happen. And keeping track of what everybody is supposed to be working on, is time consuming and exhausting, not to mention the fact that most people don’t react well to micro management.

And then the next thing you know you are doing EVERYTHIING, despite having a team to support you. Have you experienced this? I know I have!

Its two sides of the same coin …

You need to trust your staff and your staff need to feel empowered and supported in their decision making and that happens over time, because you don’t want a renegade who just makes decisions without understanding the consequences.

So how to get your staff to take ownership, so you have freedom to focus on the things you need to do:

Lead by example

You have to demonstrate the behaviour that you want to see in your team. Let them shadow you when you deal with client issues. Let them see how you prioritise and sacrifice to get things done.

Give them the outcome not the blueprint

Let you team know the end goal and let them find their own path, you never know they might find a quicker, cheaper alternative path.

Ask for the solution to the problem / Issue

When your team come to you with an issue or problem, try asking them for solutions, rather than offering the answer.

Allow them to fail

This is a hard one, but failures teach goo lessons. Sometimes you have to let things slip and observe how an individual fixes the issue without you being there as a safety net.

The only way to stop receiving excuses, is to refuse to accept them. This means that there will be difficult conversations and there may be individuals that are unable to withstand the pressure or additional responsibility. However if you set the standard and demonstrate the behaviours you expect, you will have a responsible, motivated team; which will enable you to take your business to higher heights.

If you need help developing the right behaviours in your team our Management Essentials Training course is available for online self-study or we can tailor it to your policies and procedures and deliver it in-house, contact us to discuss your needs here