Many business owners, when asked to point out their biggest problems, often say they could do more if only they had capable and enthusiastic employees.

They can never locate employees with pride, a sense of responsibility and motivation who are interested in the growth of the business.

They feel held back and frustrated because of a lack of employees and associates who share their ideas and dreams. However, often the reason they are so disappointed with their staff is that they are not really qualified to hire them in the first place.

Many owners will complain that their sales staff are not professional enough but will not provide them with compensation or adequate training from properly qualified organisations.

Others claim that employees are not productive, make too many mistakes, yet have no self-regulating systems and controls in place to minimise mistakes.

Others want to hold control then wonder why they work such long hours. This leads to employees not wanting to assume leadership, control or responsibility.

FORSYTHS CAN HELP TRAIN YOUR OFFICE AND MANAGEMENT STAFF. YOU CAN HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO WORK ON GROWING YOUR BUSINESS.

STEPS TO GROW A BETTER TEAM

1. Recognition

Recognition by everyone that the organisation’s people need to work as a team to achieve the owner’s goals.

2. Recognising the owner’s goals. Strong Leadership.

As an owner, you want to achieve the best results possible. Your staff need to have a clear idea of what you want the firm to achieve, who your clients are, how you want to achieve the results and how you want the business to be promoted by employees and clients serviced by employees. This stage should define in writing what is acceptable behaviour or unacceptable behaviour. It should form the central attitude and ambitions regarding customer service.

These goals should be discussed with all employees and a plan developed and agreed upon as to how these ambitions will be achieved.

These goals will offer direction to keep the employees focused on the owner’s needs. The goals also need to be specific, reasonable, achievable and measureable within an acceptable period. An owner should take responsibility to ensure employees receive guidance, professional development and a personal interest in their achievements in the business

3. Hiring Within

If the existing employees have a clear mission to achieve and an input into how they will achieve that mission, they will become more productive and focused employees/team members.

Existing team members should have a project. Once they are aware of the business’s goals and what is expected to achieve these goals; they should submit a report. This report should also highlight “roadblocks”. These have to be overcome to help them achieve these goals i.e. if the employee believes they do not have the full range of skills then they should develop an action plan that will enable them to achieve the target. The owner should monitor their plan and make them responsible for achieving each task required.

4. Reference Books

Once roles and aims are agreed upon and action plans submitted by employees, these should be incorporated into a concise action plan. This plan should be clear on the goals expected from them and an agreement on how others will support them to achieve those goals. The owner should initially supervise the achievement of those goals.

5. Risk Reward

It is important that employees are allowed to take decisions over their achievements and receive appropriate recognition and rewards when they achieve those goals.

6. Inclusion and involvement

7. Successful teams and businesses need to involve all team players.

Their goal needs to be public with staff and owners and employees need to be able to trust each other and share control.

Supporting the team with tools, training, technology and systems is important because it ensures that the owner can run the business without being run by the business.

Working in one’s business is restraining. Being physically present on a day-to-day basis reduces the owner to the role of head employee and allows the business to control their life.

Effective systems enable us to be free to do whatever we want and the owner can learn to operate the business from a distance so that it begins to make money as a separate and independent entity.