Tweet

Getting Maximum Results from Small Business Employees

Written by: Janis Pettit

Article Overview: A small business owner from the UK recently e-mailed me with this question: " I currently have a small business staff of 8 and expected that when I arrived at this point I would have more time for strategic planning and my personal life. Instead, I constantly have to oversee everything. Do you have any suggestions as to how can I get better results from my employees so I can trust that things will run smoothly when I’m not there?"

Getting Maximum Results from Small Business Employees

A small business owner from the UK recently e-mailed me with this question: " I currently have a small business staff of 8 and expected that when I arrived at this point I would have more time for strategic planning and my personal life. Instead, I constantly have to oversee everything. Do you have any suggestions as to how can I get better results from my employees so I can trust that things will run smoothly when I’m not there?"

Many times I’ve heard small business owners complain that even after they grew to the point where they could finally hire a sufficient staff, they were still working ridiculous hours. They didn’t understand why their employees never seemed to do the job right, and the owner felt the need to micro-manage to be assured that things were done properly. Sometimes, just when an employee was fully trained and performing well, they left, or sometimes operations became dangerously dependent on one or two key employees. How do we make our employees real team players?

With the right systems in place, you can train employees to do the job you need them to do, and to do it exceptionally well. We often make the mistake of trying to find the person with the best resume or skills, instead of finding the person that’s also a good fit for our style, values and culture (big companies do the same). For example, if you value loyalty and initiative, and the person you hire has a great resume, but has changed jobs every time a better opportunity appeared, or needs to be micro managed, that’s not a great match. To create a business that runs like a well oiled machine, even when you’re not around, there are certain steps you must take.

Make sure that each job function is very clearly defined. You know, step by step, exactly what you need each employee to do. Make sure that each employee has detailed, written job guidelines which include such items as:

* a detailed description of all job responsibilities
* procedures for completing these responsibilities
* clearly articulated expectations
* clearly defined company values and mission
* specific ways you would like employees to interact with customers and fellow employees
* consequences for not following the guidelines
* incentive programs for doing a great job.

This is more than an employee handbook. In a small business where one employee may fulfill several functions, the system you’ve established for completing each task needs to be written down as a frame of reference.

Initially, it takes some time to define and document each role in your company. But this time is well spent. When interviewing, you can use these guidelines as a baseline to help you make the right hiring choice. Training consumes less time and money because the employee is given a clear, written explanation of what the job entails. And if a key employee leaves you in the lurch, training a replacement is much less stressful. This is the reason that franchises are able to produce identical units that all maintain the same quality of service. If it works for McDonald’s, why wouldn’t it work for you? Franchises also often cross train. Particularly in small companies, cross training can help relieve the stress of absent employees or unfilled positions by allowing each person to fulfill several functions.

Next, it’s essential that you meet regularly with your staff to find out what their assumptions and expectations are about you and their jobs, and to motivate them to be excited about your mission and vision.

Let’s look first at assumptions and expectations. How do you feel when you assume an employee will complete a task in a specific way and they fail to do so? Sometimes this happens even after you let someone know that what you expect of them. Usually when there’s a gap between expectations and results, there’s been a breakdown in communication. We often assume things about others without letting them know (my husband would agree with that!). That assumption leads to an expectation that another will act in a certain way. If they don’t we become disappointed or angry. This is the point at which some owners fail to resolve the communication problem and instead begin to micro manage or just do it themselves. Employees become silently dissatisfied and begin to be less productive or look for another position. Providing a regular forum to discuss assumptions and expectations can have amazing results in creating a high performing, motivated team. Ferreting out assumptions and expectations is an integral part of any management coaching we do, because it’s so effective in building strong teams.

Recently, I wrote about the importance of being passionate about your business and communicating that passion to your employees. If you can help them become aligned with your vision, how you plan to achieve it and how important their help is, you will empower them to work harder. Organizing regular awards programs, praising a job well done, showing that you respect their abilities, values and time will often motivate more than monetary incentives. Just like in other parts of your business, it’s important to have a plan for how you’ll motivate your staff. And finally, find a way to help your employees by providing quality-of-life perks. Companies such as SAS have been quite successful at this and I’ve spoken directly with employees who are very appreciative. Even if your business is very small you can find creative ways to accomplish this goal.

The basic systems described here, combined with regular performance assessment, are essential to any business owner who wants to achieve some level of independence. Building a stronger employee support infrastructure is a great goal to have for 2005 if your goal is to have a business that supports your life and not the other way around.

Related Articles
  Employee Trusts
  Why PEO’s Help in an Uncertain Employment Environment
  Height Weight Chart - Gauging Your Life Insurance Risk Factors
  International Trade Loans
  Run an Effective PPC Campaign for Your Legitimate Internet Home Business without Wrecking Your Budget

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Biz Plan Competition - i just wanted to say that posting Small Business Events on CanadaOne is a great resource. Thanks Julie!
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

African Technology Development

Top Ten Home-Based Businesses

Reverse Mentoring

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.