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.

Growing Pains are SO Painful!

When I was a teenager I dislocated my knee, not doing anything particularly adventurous! I had a growing complication; my bones and the ligaments supporting them, were not growing at the same rate! I managed to dislocate my knee three times in four years. Every time was painful, I had my leg in plaster from my thigh to my ankle for 6 weeks and then had to have physiotherapy to rebuild the muscles that had wasted away. I hated being on crutches and unable to be as active as I wanted to, but the things I remember most is the first time I was able to be active again.

There are all sorts of changes going on an Eden Mayers HQ – We are changing office location, working with more and more amazing entrepreneurs and our career development offerings (because not everyone wants to run their own business) is really scaling!

It has meant making decisions about where to focus our energies and deprioritising some things I really want to do, to focus fully on other things I really want to do!

Change is hard, but I’ve learnt through years of supporting others through change, that there are a few things you need to help it go smoothly:

Detail the Rationale – Be clear about why the change is necessary.

Detail the steps – Have a clear plan, with steps for part of your change project.

Celebrate each milestone – Don’t wait until the end to celebrate, each achievement is worth celebrating and having some fun will energise you for the next step.

Take a break – Change can be all consuming, it’s good to do some tasks that are unrelated to it. Also, taking time to step away, can give you more perspective.

Try these tips and growing pain won’t be such a pain.

The Art of saying ‘No’

I believe that most people have a default “Yes” switch (although we all know someone who’s default is “No”). We are by nature people please'rs.

We like to help out or make someone happy. I’m a mum, I like to see my children with smiles on their faces, however for their sake and my sanity “No” at times is the correct answer. When you are working with and for others, saying “No” can feel like breaking an unspoken rule.

Below are a few tips to help you …

• Ask questions – Get the full picture of what you are being asked to do.
• Don’t answer right away – It’s easy to feel pressured to respond (some cries for help require immediate action), but if you can, take some time to assess the situation and formulate your response.
• Respect your time and talent – Remember you need time to deliver to a high quality, have a proper plan for your delivery (Hint: not sleeping to deliver on time isn’t the answer).
• Offer an alternative –  It may be a different time or person, it could also be directing them to a website or organisation where information can be accessed.
• Own it your decision – Be polite in your response, but don’t get into a circular conversation about why you can’t help. A simple “sorry, I can’t help right now, but if you can wait until next week, I can spend some time with you and help then”.

Your “No” can also be a more finite one, “No, I don’t want that job” or “I don’t think we’d work well together” or “No I don’t agree”, but follow the tips above and be clear and your “No” will be respected.

Do you or your team need to work on your management skills? Doors open on our Management Fundamentals Self Study course on November 1st. Find out more about the course and join the waiting list here before it closes tomorrow and get access to an exclusive offer.

From Running to People Management

You don’t have to speak with me for long to know that I LOVE to run. It’s my favourite way to start my day, my ‘Me’ time, a place to reset, take in Gods handiwork and prepare for my day.

While I was running this morning mentally responding to a client’s employee issue (it’s where I do some of my best work!), I thought about how there are three key similarities between Running and People Management:

1.       Preparation

The night before I run, I get all my of my things ready for my run; clothes, trainers, playlist, charge my phone, watch and headphones. It is easy to be distracted from my run if I’m racing around trying to get my things together.

The same applies to People Management, you need to know; Who are you managing? What motivates them? What you want to communicate? How are you going to take them on your journey?

2.       Have Objectives

I always know how far I’m planning to run, which route I’m going to take, what pace I want to achieve and what time I need to be home, so I’m on schedule the rest of my day.

You should set focused measurable objectives, not just “Bring in more clients” but “Increase our client base by 10% in the next 60 days” and review and measure them regularly, not just on the objective due date.

3.       Be Adaptable

The weather can be one of the most challenging elements to runners. Some mornings, I need to grab my waterproofs and change my route from the trail to the road, other mornings I need my sunglasses, sunscreen and hat.

Do not be blinkered, there may be ideas that your staff have that you haven’t thought of or risks that need be addressed and mitigated. Always keep an open mind.

Need assistance managing your team or training your managers? We are launching our Management Fundamentals workshop as a self study course on the 1 November 2017,  join our waiting list here to get an exclusive bonus offer from us prior to formal launch. You can find out more about the Management Fundamentals self study course here.

Distracted from Action?

I keep receiving emails about business planning, the most interesting that I read, stated “Don’t let your life get in the way of your business” and it made me think, I’ve spent years in the corporate world facilitating and talking about work/life balance, why can I not balance it all? That’s one of the reasons why we started Eden Mayers!

Obviously, life happens and your business still needs to function and be profitable.  I have to say that I write this while my 4 year old is curled up asleep on the sofa, having been sick the past few days, so the article probably hit a nerve! I think I’ve got a pretty good balance, I work when my children are in school/childcare during the day and then if needed again when they are asleep.

I do find that some days I achieve a lot more than others, so here are some strategies that I have implemented to ensure my days are as productive as possible:

Have an Organised Work Space

I work both from home and my office space. I used to find that when I worked from home, I ended up working more on the house than the business, as I cannot walk past mess and the same applies to my office. Now I make sure that before I leave the office or before bed, my working space is organised and my to-do list for the next day is completed, that way I don’t get distracted with tidying or doing things that aren’t a priority.

90 Minute Madness

I work in 90 minute blocks, where I shut down my email, turn my phone to airplane mode and focus on a task or theme for 90 minutes. I find that I am able to achieve a lot in a small space of time and it prevents my mind from wandering off task.

Schedule Email and Social Media Interactions

It’s really easy to spend your day reacting to situations, especially in HR! I find that checking and responding to my emails and social media at 9am, 1pm and 5pm, helps me to avoid being distracted.

Take a Break

It is difficult to focus 100% effectively for long lengths of time. Take 5 minutes for some fresh air and to rest your eyes. Take time to eat lunch away from your laptop and phone.

Celebrate Small Successes

It’s hard to keep focused if you feel you aren’t achieving much. Remember to celebrate the small things and give yourself a pat on the back.

It takes a while to make changes become routine, but stick at it and you’ll see the benefits before you know it!

Trying to find some extra hours in the day?

Have you heard this amazing statistic?

Small business CEO’s spend an average of 20% of their day on HR tasks

That's a day a week!

A lot of clients that I speak with cite being too busy as a reason why some essential HR things don’t get done, and the reason why they need Eden Mayers HR to whip them into shape!

The majority of their battles can be put down to one thing …

DELEGATING

Now HR is my business so I spend a lot of time on and with it, however I can relate when it comes to other elements of my business. I like numbers and data analysis but it’s the job of Daniel in my team! I do have a tendency to start some analysis and take a bunch of time working on it, then get frustrated and get shown how it’s really done (sometimes in moments) with fancy excel formulae and macros. The same applies to making changes to the website!

My business is my baby so I sometimes struggle to hand things over and then complain about a lack of time. Delegating is always a big thing in our Management and Leadership coaching programmes, so I thought I’d share a few tips to help you find those extra 4 hours in the day:

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, now you have the ability to buy in support either though outsourced providers (accountants, VA, social media, contractors) or employees. Get the right support in and give them the autonomy to deliver.

Take the time to train

“By the time I tell them how to do it, I could have done it myself!” You have to invest time to free up time, this is the same thing I say to clients who are too busy to find time the hire the staff they need – chicken and egg! A full trained empowered employee, means freedom for you.

Block out your time

It is really easy to get distracted by the admin needed to run a business. Block your time, unless there is an emergency (or holiday) I do my admin on Fridays. I schedule in time to write blogs, call clients, record vlogs, do Facebook lives, as well as delivering to clients. It means my team know when I’m available and I know what I need to achieve during the day.

Change your location

People can’t asking you things if they can’t find you. I have a few local coffee shops and restaurants that I can escape to, put my phone on airplane mode and hook onto their wifi! I can get a days work completed in half the time, when I have no interruptions. I’m on a train for 3 hours tomorrow and I already have a work plan.

Try these time saving hacks and see if you find some extra time in your day to focus on the things that really matter.

Delegate or Drown

As an entrepreneur it can be difficult to release the reins and allow others to work on your ‘business baby’!

Both in my corporate and entrepreneur 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 as quickly as me and if I was going 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, and my team wasn’t learning or developing.

The whole idea of delegation is to free you up to do the high value stuff, like speaking with potential clients and delivering 100% to your pay clients, it should also mean that you can go on holiday WITHOUT your laptop, iPad and iPhone or go to your children’s school play without worrying about what’s happening in the office. After all you became an entrepreneur to have freedom and flexibility.

I’ve had many clients say they are so busy, they need help but they have no time to find someone or they just can’t find someone who they can trust to do thing just how they want it done! Fact is, it doesn’t matter how it’s done, if the end result is want you want.

So with this in mind, here are a few signs that it’s time to start delegating:

• Its 3pm, you’ve been working all day, but haven’t completed any of the MUST DO tasks on your list.
• You’ve just spend the last 3 hours trying to make ONE SIMPLE CHANGE to your website.
• You can’t remember the last time you switched your laptop before 10pm.
• You can’t remember the last time you had a no technology day. (email/mobile/facebook/twitter/instagram).
• Some days you get to the end of the day, have been ridiculously busy but can’t name a thing you’ve done and so have no sense of accomplishment.
• Your only solution (on a regular basis) is to just work through the night, so you can get everything done.

If this is you, it’s time to consider what tasks you can delegate and then train, coach and mentor your team or find a service that you can outsource some tasks to.

To find out more, check out how we can support you here.