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.

Are you constructively nosy

What did you study? Where did you graduate? Where do you stay? Are you married?

I’d just started working with a new company and every meeting started this way. I felt like I was being interviewed all over again! But it was just their way of getting to know me – it was a way to get to know me and establish some common ground.

And after a while I realised that it was perfectly fine to be curious, I found out things about individuals that would have taken me months in other companies because we English people can be a little too polite.

I was at a virtual networking event last week and the host asked us to introduce ourselves and say what our special power was and I said: “I’m nosy”.

Now I’m not nosy just for the sake of it, I like to understand how things work and why things are done the way that they are done. Ask me to do something and nine times out of ten, I’ll ask you a question to make sure that I truly understand what you want and why you need it.

It’s because I’m aware that we don’t know what we don’t know, so if you tell me the background, I’ll be better placed to give you the solution that you need. The same applies to when I communicate with my team, I could make assumptions about their knowledge and aspirations but it is better to ask the question and be sure.

I had a client who was grooming a member of her team to become her second in command and was crushed when he left to pursue a career in secondary education; she’d assumed that his insight and interest in her pre-school meant that he wanted to continue working with under 5’s, but she hadn’t asked, it meant that she’d wasted time and hadn’t given the opportunity to others in her business. The good thing is that once she started asking the right questions of her team, she was able to identify those who wanted to progress and create a training plan to support them.

So before you start succession planning, have 1-2-1’s with your team, you might get a surprise.

Some good questions to ask are:

• What do you enjoy about your role?

• What would you like to delegate?

• What is your ideal role?

• Where would you like to be in a year?

• What support do you need to achieve your aspirations?

You don’t have to wait until it’s performance review time.

If you need assistance with your people plan, schedule a 20 minute FREE Team Strategy Call and get some actionable tips from us.

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.

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.

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

Managers, the new poor relation?

Gil’s business has been going for 6 years. It’s grown steadily year on year, and Gil built a really great team to support him and bring in the additional skills that he needed to professionalise his operations.

In the last year his team grew from a nimble 30 to over 100 staff. Far from being that answer to their fulfilment issues, product quality and customer service quality declined, while staff turnover increased.

At first the decline in quality was put down to poor hires, but when the problems continued, and a couple of grievances were received from staff, it became apparent that there was a deeper issue.

The rapid growth of the business meant that high performing staff were promoted to management positions, and given responsibilities for recruitment, staff development, budgets and production, with little or no management training or previous experience.

It was assumed that those promoted would be excellent managers, but no actual training or support was given. This led to inconsistencies in way staff were managed, which led to division and resentment within teams, and certain behaviours going unchecked. For example: when Donna asked her manager to work from home 2 days a week, it was approved informally. However when Amira asked her manager for the same, it was refused with the reason that it was bad for team morale. Likewise sickness hasn’t been treated the same, with managers interpreting the policy differently.

The newly promoted managers were also struggling to get their day job done and deal with staff, so were getting burnt out and still failing to reach their numbers.

We often find that great staff are promoted because they are amazing at one thing, but as business owners we know that a management role comes with lots of plates to keep spinning.

We helped Gil’s team support their managers with a bespoke Management Development Programme to ensure that any skills gaps were addressed, all managers had a clear understanding of their responsibilities and were provided coaching and mentoring support.

Are your Managers the poor relations?

January is a great time to review the skills of you and your managers. If you need some help, get in touch to discuss how we can help you.

Are your Job Descriptions up to date?

I have to be honest, I’ve personally never had a job description (JD) that was up to date for more than three months at a time, but that’s because I’ve always recognised that to progress my career I needed to do more than my JD.

That being said, it is always good to keep track of how roles are changing and developing within your business.

This week I met with client of mine to discuss an upcoming restructure that has come about because of business growth. We had already established the new structure and additional roles that would be needed.

So we looked at what needed to be removed from his role to ensure that he was able to focus on the important elements, which would ensure the business continued to thrive, and then reviewed the existing JD’s for his team, so we could add some additional responsibilities.

What was interesting was that some of the tasks that the CEO was doing were already in his teams JD and that there was even one individual who did not have a job description at all! Needless to say that has been rectified and we have formulated a plan of action, for consultation and implementation.

It is really hard 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 then for under-performing a task that they morphed into with no training or support.

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

• Job Title
• Who the role reports to, and other key stakeholders
• Where the role sits within the team, department and business
• Key areas of responsibility and the deliverable's expected
• Required education and training
• Soft skills and behaviours necessary to excel
• Location and travel requirements

And Remember NOT to include:

• Internal terminology, jargon or acronyms
• Anything that could be considered discriminatory
• Writing a Wish List

As a business owner you wear many hats, it’s important for your personal growth, as well as that of your business to ensure that you have an effective and efficient team, where responsibilities and objectives are clear and transparently communicated. Having up to date job descriptions is a big part of that.

Why you need to be flexible with your work space options

I have spent a big chunk of my career working for clients based all over the UK and Ireland. Traveling with my life on my back – Laptop, Mobile Phone, Tablet and Docs!

My office is wherever I can find Wi-Fi or have reception on my mobile – I’ve never had pictures of my family on my desk and can’t remember the last time I had a desk drawer filled with spare shoes, tights and emergency snacks! I’ve gotten used to making myself comfortable wherever I am. Which is pretty useful in my line of business and to be honest, I really love it!

Interestingly for me, it was losing that flexibility in my last corporate role that partially led to me deciding to make Eden Mayers HR Consulting a full-time business, rather than a part-time side hustle!

Flexible working as a way of saving space, creating efficiencies and reducing overheads are being implemented in the majority of companies at the moment. The issue in many organisations is that they haven’t been flexible in the past and so some staff don’t want to work from home and some managers don’t have the skills to manage a workforce they can’t physically see.

On the other hand when I speak with small business owners, often the cost of office space needed to add to their team, can put them off of expanding and I have to remind them that they don’t have to have office space to have staff and they can also consider outsourcing work, too!

Did you know you can have employees who work from their own homes?

You have an obligation to ensure that they have the correct equipment, including a proper chair and workstation. You have to be clear about their objectives and how you monitor success, but with the right framework in place, it is possible and cheaper than expanding your office space.

If you need some help to grow and scale your business, without the cost or commitment of an additional work-space; here are some things to think about:

Does the role require expert knowledge or qualifications?

The cost of employing a full time Accountant, HR Manager, Legal Counsel etc; can be very high. It may well be better to look to outsource these types of skills until you are of the size that can bear the costs of the overheads (including training and development).

Is this a long term or short term need?

Work that is short term, may be able to be packaged as a project and outsourced or advertised as a fixed term contract. If it is a long term need then looking for an individual to employ or a contractor may be a better option.

Is it a full time or part time role?

Often we believe that all roles need to be full time and permanent. There are a lot of highly qualified individuals that wish to use their skills but cannot commit to a full time role. If you can be flexible to open yourself up to a wider skills pool, who may well be open to working from their own homes.

Can the work be carried outside traditional working hours?

Work that isn’t time bound can generally be delivered from anywhere in the world. This opens you up to work with night workers or skilled individual in other countries.

If you need some assistance getting the right policies and procedures in place for a home based worker, book a risk free call and let’s discuss how we can help you to grow your business

Why you need diversity in your business

I really want this job but, what if they don’t like me?

What if don’t fit in the culture?

Should I wear a tie to the interview?

Amazingly qualified and experienced friends and clients often come to me, concerned about whether the role that they really wanted on paper is the one for them; and mainly the concern is around cultural fit.

My response is always “Be yourself. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable. It’s easy to see if someone’s faking and you want them to like and appreciate the real you, otherwise you’ll get the role and be unhappy and so will they”.

Cultural fit is definitely important, but cultural fit is very different to continually recruiting a particular type of candidate.

Cultural fit is about an individual’s alignment to the mission, vision and values of your organisation. If transparency is important then a candidate that would hide hard facts from the client won’t be a good fit,

Having a diverse workforce is about having individuals from different backgrounds, places of education and industries to add flavor, innovation and insight to your organisation. Our experiences shape the person we become and gives us experience and resilience. That is invaluable for any organisation.

I remember when I decided I’d never wear a suit again! I was fed up feeling buttoned up and hated wearing them, so I opted for other smart options and I really don’t think anyone noticed the change. But when I interviewed for my next role, I worried that I wouldn’t be viewed as professional. Until I turned up and my pop of colour and style differentiated me from the sea of black and grey suited wonderfulness. I still needed to know my HR stuff but they also got a bit of my personality too.

Try to leave your preconceptions at the door when you are recruiting and when you are deciding who to promote or who to delegate to. Focus on the skills, the potential, the values and drive that will build your business. Remember we all change over time, so what used to be a challenge, could now be a strength.

Diversity is the key to building your business. People who come from the same background may have the same outlooks, you need to embrace diversity in your team to be able to engage with your ideal clients and to keep ahead of the competition. Getting new blood into your business and listening to the opinions of you existing staff will bring innovation, as well as bandwidth.

Remember that you need to focus on:

-       The Skills you NEED

-       The Experience you NEED

-       The Potential for GROWTH

-       The Values of YOUR Business

If you are planning to add to your team make sure you get our free recruitment cheat sheet.

This FREE document provides you with all the information you need to ensure your interview is carried out in a manner which is both professional and legislatively correct.

Reunion Reminders - Why organisational culture is vital to your success

Last week I attended a reunion for the company where I had my first full time HR Role. It was where I learnt the importance of building relationships, finding out all the details before making assumptions and that you can’t do everything!

It’s also the organisation where I felt the most supported to build my skill set and included in the business, not just a cog in a wheel but a vital part of the business family.

As we mingled in the private room of a central London pub, WHILE the England V Belgium match was happening. I was amazed to see most of the graduates that I’d been instrumental in hiring and find out where they were 11-12 years down the road. There were marriages and babies of course, but also such a variety of roles and industries – I felt really proud that our graduate programme had produced a set of successful and NICE people, who are making a tangible difference in the world.

Everyone I spoke with regarding the organisation – who unfortunately was acquired by a larger consultancy and so no longer exists – said that they loved the culture and that they tried to take the values with them. What better accolade could you want!

As small business owners we don’t focus so much on the culture internally but the brand externally, especially as initially we don’t have a team, but if we consider the environment we wish to cultivate before we begin adding to our teams, it will influence the way to recruit, who we recruit and how we communicate.

This week in our, Free Facebook Group, our 1 minute HR Tips have been about how to motivate your team. Some of the elements discussed would be amazing perks to talk about with potential candidates, if you are starting or building your team.

Things to consider when creating or improving your organisational culture include:

• Clear & Honest Communication – Is your communication clear? Are you sharing with honesty? No ambiguity.
• Being Proactive – Are you looking ahead and taking your team on the journey with you?
• Recognition – Are you recognising greatness within your organisation? Does your top employee know it?
• Is there a bonus scheme in place? If so are the prerequisites and calculations clear?
• Have you assessed your team dynamic? Do you know the type of team members you have?
• Is EVERYONE in your organisation on the same page?
• Do you want to give back to the community as an organisation?
• Do you want to make time for some fun and festivities?

These are some of the things to consider, as you build your organisational culture.

Use these questions to assess your culture and If it is not where you wish it to be. Start to initiate change with just one item on this list and see the improvement it will make to your productivity and morale.

Can you train well on the job?

When I studied for my Masters in HR, I loved the fact that they related the theory to the practical work that you would need to do as a HR professional. At the time of my studies, I was working for a small management consultancy, so I was involved in everything and could apply my learning almost instantaneously. Apart from one area, union negotiation!

My company was not unionised, there were not any union members in the organisation, so while I got the theory of negotiation and how long it could take, I really couldn’t see it as being a reality for me, as unionised organisations were big and largely nationalised when I was studying. So I filed it away and left the knowledge in a DEEP recess in my mind!

Fast forward 3 years and I found myself working for one of the largest international consultancies and negotiating redundancies for IT staff in the manufacturing sector with THREE angry union representatives.

Now it wasn’t the fact that they were angry that I struggled with (their jobs were on the line, so they had every right to be angry). It was the fact that I didn’t know how to respond, how to defuse their anger and find a solution that everyone could sign up to.

Luckily for me I wasn’t alone, my much more experienced colleague was there, and as he spoke I took note of his tone and the words he used to defuse the situation. When one particular individuals behaviour became unacceptable, he adjourned the meeting and spoke ‘unofficially’ with a few key individuals. It took two more meetings but in the end an agreement was made.

The next time there was a union related issue, I led and my colleague supported and gave me feedback. That training has stayed with me for my entire career. I’ve built relations with union representatives and am able to smooth difficult paths, without tempers becoming frayed.

I am definitely a person who learns by doing, the technical term is kinaesthetic. I can read all the books in the world, but I need to roll my sleeves and get in there for it to stick.

I think this is true for a lot of people and from a business owners point of view, on the job training has many positives:

• It’s not too costly
• You can quickly assess if the training is working
• It helps to keep staff motivated
• It can free you up to do other things

You still need to have a plan of action for on the job training and documentation to support it, e.g. process maps (although you can get your trainee to do that to check they really get the process).

Good ways to train on the job include:

• Shadowing
• Attending Meetings
• Listening in on calls
• Drafting communication
• Minute Taking
• Providing Holiday Cover

If you think on the job training would be great for you team, but are unsure where to start, contact us and we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can assist you.

Do you have the time to Coach?

Studies show that whenever you take your children away on holiday or spend significant time focus on them, they will have a developmental leap; either physically or mentally.

Every time my husband and I take our girls away, we see a leap. In February we took them to Butlin’s (UK family orientated holiday park).

We went on walks, to the pantomime, saw live shows, met the Telly Tubbies, ate ice cream and generally had fun. At the end of the five days; my three year old had progressed with her physical ability, running, jumping and climbing, while my five years old's verbal dexterity and understanding evolved. It was really great to see, but as a mum I also thought “soon they won’t need me anymore!”

Now I know my girls need to progress and develop, and if they were not I’d be a different kind of concerned, but there is a part of me who loves being needed – MOST of the time!

Teaching new skills and giving the opportunity to test them out, takes time and patience. Which is why I think my girls develop when we aren’t in a rush and have time to answer lots of “Why” questions and eat waaaaay past dinner time because the girls want to peel the potatoes! They learn by doing, asking questions (there are no silly questions) and making mistakes.

Coaching your team is a lot like that. You need to ask questions, rather than give answers. Be accepting of the fact that someone else isn’t going to carry out a task as quickly or in the same manner that you would.

For a long time I would do all my employee statistics myself, I would spend at least three days a month deep in the spreadsheets manipulating the data and ensuring I understood why the differences occurred and what things we needed to address. Then, I my additional responsibilities meant that something had to give. I handed my precious statistics work over and when I received the report and asked penetrating questions, I wasn’t able to get the answers I needed. The temptation was to take it back and do it myself, but instead I took the time to explain what my senior team needed to know and we reviewed the calculations and made some changes together. The next month I had better figures and a faith that my spreadsheets were in great hands!

Coaching is definitely more time consuming than telling, but it can be really freeing for you.

Some good coaching questions to ask are:

What would you do?

Why?

So what?

How does that make you feel?

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

The next time a team member asks you for an answer (unless its time bound or something only you would know) try asking a coaching question and see what happens. It will take time, because it is a change to our natural inclination to help others.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes in the comments section below.

Establishing business and individual needs

When I decided that it was time to move my business from my side hustle to my full time gig, the first thing I did, was to up-skill. I invested in my development and achieved Chartered status for the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). It was a way to ensure that I had the paperwork to support my skills, I knew that I could do it, but I wanted to be able to prove it.

The other thing I did was sign up with a business start-up service and attended all of their courses to make sure I learnt the basics of running a business. All of this played into my business plan, helping me to do my research and set the business goals.

Now, we all know that our business plan is a live document, we have to constantly review and update it to keep up with the needs of our clients and stay ahead of the competition. This means learning new skills, developing our offerings and making strategic partnerships, so that you can scale and grow your business.

It’s important to know where you want your businesses to be in the next year to three years, so that you can put a plan in place to be prepared for the increased clients and the changing landscape.

To do this effectively, you need to know what skills you currently have within your organisation, the skills you would need to execute your plan for world domination and then see where any skills gaps would be. You can then look at adding to the skill-sets of your team and yourself to make sure that you are ready.

You may also consider recruiting new staff to help give you capacity. For example, I plan to recruit an apprentice in the autumn, I’m excited about mentoring and developing an individual to become an effective HR Professional, but I’m also excited about building the capacity within my team, so that I can take on more clients and take a break, knowing my business baby is in safe hands.

Developing staff has always been a challenge for small business owners. We are typically small and lean and so can often need to develop staff while keeping them doing what they do best. Then there can also be a fear that staff that have been developed may take their new shiny skills and go and work for someone else.

However, studies show that staff who feel appreciated and invested into, stay with an employer longer.

“employees who are ‘engaged and thriving’ at 59% less likely to look for a job with a different organisation in the next 12 months”

Gallop Research

So what are you doing to develop your team? To keep them 'engaged and thriving'? It doesn’t have to be a traditional classroom based course, take them out of your office for days at a time or cost a fortune.

When I first started studying HR we used ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ to discuss motivations for individuals, if you’ve never seen it before, check out the image below. The theory is that there is a set of basic, psychological and self-fulfilment needs, for each individual and that you need to start with the basics as a foundation and then add the other elements.

It’s a good argument for why a good salary and benefits package isn’t enough to retain your staff, but also why fulfilling work is the key.

For the rest of the month I’ll be looking at how we can build our teams, increasing their capability, motivation and happiness.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below and we will try to address them this month.           

When you need to have that difficult conversation

This morning I was showing my husband some new abs exercises and he was saying that he was finding some of the moves challenging (I was sharing the torture I have to endure at my boot-camp class!), when my amazing five-year old put her hand on his shoulder, looked him deep in the eyes and said “Daddy, you just need to keep practising and you’ll get better”. We laughed because she sounded like me at homework time! I try to make homework fun and give feedback that builds my girls confidence and encourages them to keep pushing for excellence.

This can be very similar to dealing with staff issues, it can be hard to balance providing constructive feedback that motivates, rather than frustrates. And of course everyone is different, which means you need to flex your style of delivery to ensure that your word will be heard as intended.

It’s always best to address issues as they occur (or as soon as you are aware), rather than storing them up for the next scheduled meeting or performance review. I always say that if someone is over achieving or underachieving they should know about it before going into a formal meeting or appraisal (unless it’s a gross misconduct issue).

We all know that no one is perfect and we all make mistakes, so expecting perfectionism from your team is unrealistic. However, there are basics that need to be delivered, processes and procedures that need to be adhered to.

So, the first step in dealing with staff issues, is to ensure that they are aware of what is expected of them through establishing SMART objectives and having an employee handbook that details policies and procedures, around behaviour and the sanctions for not adhering to them.

Does your team have SMART objectives set? If you need a reminder on setting objectives, check out my video here https://youtu.be/OojcB63lVy8

Does your team know what is expected of them? And how their work relates to the success of your business?

It is important to get confirmation from your team that they have heard and understood what you told them, I generally get my team to send me their objectives after we have discussed them, so that I can be sure they have understood what I relayed and not made an assumption.

Once you know that you and your team are on the same page, you are in a much better situation when it comes to dealing with any performance issues that arise.

Here are some tips to help you to discuss poor performance:

• Listen before you speak – Get the back story, make sure there are no extenuating circumstances. Remember that sometimes your team needs your support more than your wrath!

• Be prepared - Stick to facts. Provide examples of issues and show what good looks like.

• Don’t get emotional – The majority of the time people aren’t purposely making mistakes, they will feel bad, don’t make it worse by adding your feelings to it.

• Set clear objectives going forward and review them at least weekly, to ensure that improvements are being made.

Next week we will look at the difference between conduct and capability and the best ways to address each type of performance issue

Are you loving on your Biggest Asset?

I don’t believe that any entrepreneur would deny that their team is their businesses biggest asset.

Even if you have an amazing product, without your team how would the world know about it?

There always comes a time in the growth of your business, where you come to the realisation that you need those with expertise that exceeds your own to boost the growth of your business. As it will enable you to focus on the areas that you are highly skilled in; but once you’ve found those amazingly skilled individuals, how do you keep them motivated and loyal?

We know that competitive remuneration is a must - after all, we’ve all got bills to pay! - no one who knows their worth is going to take a job paying less than the industry standard, but what else?

I want to look at starting well, by mastering the on-boarding process …

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 ... 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 be 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 was prepared with my laptop, phone, note pad and other items and when I checked my emails, I had 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 than 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 even receive my laptop until three days in. I had deliverable's, but no way to deliver them! It was very frustrating and I felt like they were unprepared for me and had left me to fend for myself, with no support. 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 get value from your new employee sooner.

Warmest Welcome

A welcome lunch on the first day/week is always good. Getting to know someone socially is always useful and it helps to build team rapport. I worked at one organisation where every month they had a welcome afternoon tea; you were tasked with speaking to 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 they are as an addition to your team.

Is your team engaged?

My friends used to call me a party planner! I was always arranging staff events and refreshments were always part of the deal!

You see, in a former life, I used to spend a lot of time trying to find the magic formula for retaining great staff. Improved communication and employee engagement has always been in the top 5 list of staff initiatives for our clients, regardless of size or industry.

The major question that employers ask is how to engage with staff at the most efficient price point. Often the biggest expense is the staff Christmas (and/or summer) party; but not everyone likes to party or to drink, so what other things can you do?

Most recently a client of mine held sessions with staff and asked what interested them most, the variety on the list was astounding:

• Business briefings
• Employee/team of the month
• Volunteering opportunities 
• Mentoring
• Lunch time learning sessions
• Parties
• Pay day Friday drinks
• Charity events (coffee mornings, Christmas jumper day, etc)
• Charity activities (running, 3 peaks, etc)

The interesting thing was diggings down into how staff like their hard work to be recognised otherwise all your efforts go completely over their heads and they feel unappreciated even though you are putting in all that hard work.

I’ll be taking about employee engagement activities in the next few weeks and how to monitor their effectiveness.

But first things first, what motivates you and your team? How do you like to be appreciated (on top of your renumeration)? 

Do you know when to quit?

I’ve been fighting a cold this week, trying not to let it take hold!

I’m a runner and my first concern when I feel unwell is always will it stop me from running. The general rule is that if the cold is limited to your neck and above (and you don’t have a fever) you can exercise, but if goes down to your chest, you should rest!

This go/no go reminded me of a lot of the projects that I work on with my clients, often with there are defined progress meetings that while reviewing the progress that have been made, also reassesses the viability of a project and whether the parameters have changed. Sometimes this means that projects are paused temporarily or shelved completely.

This is how we work with our advertising; we test different adverts, assess their success and then decide whether to continue, pause or stop.

Establishing these 'go/no go' meetings, prevents us from wasting valuable resources that could be better utilised elsewhere.

Do you know when to quit? Are you assessing the progress that your business is making and directing your resources in the right direction? Are you skilling yourself and your team to be able to be the most effective?

Take some time out to assess your companies progress in 2017 and see what needs to change and stop in 2018!

Why Mentors Matter

There has been a lot of press about bringing the US model of having mentors to help with career development in the news lately, I found that interesting, because I can remember organising mentoring programmes in 2005. However, in speaking with some of my colleagues who work in HR, I found that while some Graduates and Interns are often matched with mentors, those with some work experience are not.

My years of experience working alongside senior managers, employees and entrepreneurs, I’ve found one thing to be true ‘No man (or woman) is an island’. Everyone needs support and a listening ear at some point. In order to have a successful business or build a successful team within your business you need to mentor and be mentored.

As an entrepreneur it’s important to have a mentor, sometime more than one! Entrepreneur’s are often driving their business forward, focussed 100% on the tasks in hand.  Focus is a good thing but sometimes this can mean that you focus on the things that you are good at to the detriment of other things that you should be doing or reviewing.

You need someone you respect who can cast a critical eye, keep you accountable and teach you the lessons that they have learnt so that you don’t have to learn the hard way! Mentors can also open doors, introduce to you to their network and potential clients.

A great mentor will help you set your targets and keep you accountable, remind you to invest in yourself, and tell you the truth when others might not.

Within your organisation having a mentoring programme that is outside the traditional line management structure, gives your employees an opportunity to have a relationship that is focussed on developing their career, rather than their immediate objectives and gives them a safe space to explore their aspirations. Employees who are mentored tend to progress quicker, be more motivated and more loyal to the organisation.

Being a mentor is also enriching, you don’t realised how much you know until you start imparting your knowledge to others. So invest some time and reap the benefits of a more motivated, driven workforce and a more balanced you!

Why you should treat your employees like customers

I spend a lot of time deciphering issues between managers and staff, and also colleagues through mediation. Sometimes it’s a breakdown in communication, sometimes its lack of understands and sometimes it’s one person thinking that the other is a mind reader!

We are often surprised at someone’s behaviour or response to things, but to those who know them best, it is virtually impossible that the individual would have reacted in any other way.

While we invest a lot of time in the recruitment process, finding out about the persons experience, management style and even psychometric testing; what do we do after they are employed to understand the way they work and what motivates them, beyond checking they have achieved their targets?

If we treated our staff in the same way that we treat our customers, making sure that we understand as much as we can about them, it makes even the difficult conversations easier as you can adapt your style to your audience and prepare better for the reactions you might receive.

Here are a few tips to help you:

Build relationships

It goes without saying that in order for someone to open up to you they need to have a relationship with you. You have to create a safe environment so that if a staff member has an issues inside or out of work, they fell comfortable talking with you. You can start by really listening to them when you ask what they did at the weekend or how their family are, remembering their favourite band or the ages of their children can go a long way.

Know what makes their faces shine

I once had a HR Assistant who loved working with entry level staff, she really enjoyed getting graduates their first job and supporting them as they navigated their way in the corporate word. Working with them truly made her day. Knowing this made it easy to motivate her and I knew that I never had to worry about my graduate programmes once she was involved. Understanding what makes your staffs face shine is the key to retaining your key employees.

Don’t make promises that you cannot keep

The saying “under promise, over deliver” springs to mind! Be clear about the conditions for promotions, pay rises, working from home, etc. A lot of hurt feelings and resentment can be avoid if we are clear in our communications, with a customer you document what they receive from you in return for a fee. You start in the same way with your employees but do you continue that in your 1-2-1’s and performance review meetings?

Show your appreciation

When you have a great customer, you offer them exclusive deals and keep in touch to ensure that you are front of mind when that need your services. Your staff are the key to your customer’s satisfaction, make sure that they feel that appreciation, it doesn’t have to be a financial reward but something well thought out.

Need help engaging with your staff, our management fundamentals course is a great place to start, find out more here.