Working with small business owners for me has been a revelation. Coming from the corporate world, cosseted from the urgent matters of cashflow and paying bills, it is easy to lose touch with the daily mechanics of business sustainability. Conversely, when you are a business owner, drawn in to the day to day of the business, worried about the rent, the payroll and the sales pipeline, company ‘Culture’ and ‘Staff Engagement’ are words which don’t apply to you. Or do they?
Does your business have high staff engagement? What do I mean by that? Can you measure a company culture? Why would you want to? It’s not about surveys or measurement, it’s about a feeling. Ask yourself the questions – does my team know what it’s all about? Do they know what my Vision and Strategy is for the Company? Do they know why they are there? Are they clear about what is expected of them? Do they know what good looks like? Do I trust them to get on with it?
Or do you think, ‘I haven’t got time for this’.
Understandable, really.
I often see small businesses ticking along doing what they do, with people who are paid to do a job. Happy (ish) with the boss, happy that they get paid at the end of the month. The Business Owner – often so wrapped up in the day to day, not knowing what they are missing out on. How much more could be achieved from the team if they were engaged in the VISION and the MISSION of your company, they felt valued and trusted to do a job, and a real part of the future of the business?
Taking time out will to establish this will pay off in spades. Why not start the easy way? Have a workshop where you ask your team why they love working for you, and what could we do better as a company. This is the start point of discovering what kind of culture you have in your business. You could – from that point – then workshop what it means to work for you, and establish a set of VALUES for the company, that you and your team sign up to. Your Vision and Mission becomes What you do and your VALUES about HOW you do it. These pillars are embedded in your day to day, and becomes the mantra. You build all your HR processes, objectives, appraisals, and job descriptions around them. You and your team share the burden, and collaboration and teamwork take the pressure off you.
It’s not just about caring and supporting your staff personal goals and objectives, although that pays off in spades too. Having your team engaged in what you are all about will give them ownership of their job roles, a clear pathway to how they can make a real difference to your company will make them more productive, loyal and likely to shout about what a great company they are working for.
And that means more revenue. And profit.
In spades.