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Don’t take short cuts with your people- get a high performance team.
Don’t lose focus on what really makes you business work successfully. Taking short cuts by cutting out your more costly staff could be your biggest mistake, particularly if they are the most productive and the most effective. When every hour and every small action counts you simply need to best people on your team.
Now is the time to make your team a high performance team.
So how do you get a high performance team?
- Recruit wisely. Get the best person you can. Be prepared to wait for the best candidate. The most common problem is thinking you need to fill the position as quickly as possible. There may be some short term pain while you want but it more than worth it. We all know the real price we pay when we get a non-performer.
- Pay the price. If you want the best person then pay the right price. Good performers are worth their weight in gold. A good sales person van be worth 3. A good product developer can be worth 3. So why try to save 15% on salary to get a poorer performer?
- Retain good people. Happy employees contribute more and stay longer in the business. Ensure the rewards are motivating for the person and make the rewards a real win-win for the company and the person. There are many great rewards schemes out there and we have seen many reward schemes change a business’s profits in a relatively short period of time (if you can’t thing of one then give us a call….!). In a recent study it was discovered one the key reasons why people left their jobs was because they were not given the right opportunities to contribute.
- Delegate. Don’t do it yourself because you think you can do it better or quicker. Business owners who are able to overcome this see their business profits grow beyond anything they could accomplish alone, see their own stress levels dissolve, and see the value of the asset they own grow exponentially. If you are wanting to leverage the resources most effectively them delegate as much as you can. This gives your team members the opportunities to grow and be rewarded for their performance.
Now it is the best time ironically to get the team you really want. There are a lot of great people out there waiting to be picked up and willing to help you develop your business like never before - Ensure you stick to your long term strategy. Short term operational efficiencies become a fixation, and the slashing of spending, regardless of benefit, seems the obvious thing to do. But don't forget about your long term strategy. This is an important as ever in tough times. These are the long term plans that give today’s decisions a meaning. Strategy ensures that decisions you make now, in tough times, do not sacrifice the businesses long term survival. It also means that time, energy and resources are not wasted on wild goose chases.
- Employees do not need negative pressure. They know how bad things are: they need to know you have a plan to get them through it. The only hope for most businesses is to work together as a team. That will not happen while the team members feel it is all down to them, every moment of every day.
- Managers, and owners, become “grabby”. Every decision gets taken behind closed doors, and the staff are treated like the proverbial mushrooms. There are two negative effects here: firstly, again, the staff feel alienated from the business and its future. Secondly, a very good source of ideas for improvements, savings and growth – ideas that may well save the business – are not considered, because they are not asked for. As an owner or manager you do not have a monopoly on good ideas, at any time. This is even more vital in difficult times.
Many of the businesses we have worked with are well placed to survive and thrive after this recession. This is not because they ignore the problems and hope they will go away, nor because they panic and take drastic action like firing staff. Rather, they deal with the actual issues as they arise, with a mind to their strategy.
Two types of businesses do better in recession: those with higher margins, and those with diverse income streams. What any business can do is put prices up and find more customers in different markets.
Your offer must be truly compelling to do this successfully.
Don't Panic
Don’t run around like your hair is on fire! Stay calm, be prudent and plan for the long term, and you’ll get through this, like plenty of businesses got through previous tough times.
Contact us now for a free review of your strategies for these changing times. This 2 hour meeting is at no charge. Ph (04) 920 1594 or email:
enquiry@progressivebusinessinternational.com
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