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Guest post by: Mike Yates Become an Author

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If you’ve ever read Sir Richard Branson’s autobiography ‘Losing my Virginity’ then you’ll already know that one of his main focus areas has always been the wellbeing of his team members. I read one of his quotes last week, which has prompted the subject matter for this ‘Top Tip’:
"… our first priority should be the people who work for our companies, then the customers, then the shareholders. Because, if the staff are motivated, then the customers will be happy, and the shareholders will then benefit through the company's success." - Sir Richard Branson
Now I have worked with and personally coached a multitude of business owners and their businesses and have noticed over the years that certain things come up time and time again. Top of the list are:
1) How to increase turnover and (more importantly) make more profit (no surprises there then!),
2) How to work less hours and get improved results and,
3) How the team dynamics integrate within the business dynamics (i.e. having a well motivated team and great communication to help take your business to the next level).
As with many things in business (and especially when coaching other peoples businesses and teams) the causes of not getting the results you desire generally lie elsewhere and are not immediately obvious to the owner or manager. These are generally supported by comments from the business owner such as ‘I can’t trust them to do anything’ or ‘I just can’t seem to get the right people’. Hmmmm…
Remember that, in business, communication is the response you get !
All business dynamics are continuously in a state of ‘fluidity’ and to get the end result of 1) and 2), you may seriously need to look at 3) first!
When assessing businesses, there are a number of key factors that tell me what’s good and not so good. One of these is high team turnover because:
To Get £££ turnover  Long Term= You need to Get TEAM turnover  Long Term
Now I am sure you have many plans for success this year (if not, time to get to it): ideas for the services and products you offer and how these may be improved or added to. However to deliver your ideas and generate increased revenues you will rely heavily on the business foundations - a reliable, skilful and highly motivated team. This raises an important point – no matter how hard you try, you just can’t do it alone (without your health suffering that is)

So how is your team turnover? Are people coming and going on a regular basis, and you are taking one step backwards every time you take one step forwards?

Here’s some ideas on the type of things you may wish to ask yourself for increased team retention:
• How’s your business Vision? Do all your team members understand what the business is about and more importantly your ‘common goal’ for the month’s ahead? Have you communicated this clearly?
• Do you review this on a regular basis – say every 90 days?
• Do you hold Team meetings with, maybe an external facilitator who can give you and your Team an objective outside overview?
• Do you openly discuss your performance and receive honest feedback?
• Do you receive regular daily feedback from key team members?
• How about performance reviews? (appraisals) – review quarterly?
• Do you avoid conflict and ‘hope it will go away’ if ignored?
• Do you have regular times for your team to air concerns? Or are you unapproachable?
• How much ongoing Training do you carry out with your team?
• How many times have you simply said ‘thank you’ in the last month – and to how many team members?
• What team incentives do you have in place including social events?
Now you may be thinking to yourself, “but I just want to get on – I just don’t have the time”. Well consider the time invested training team members, they leave and you just have to start all over again. What takes longer? Besides, the question may then be “how come you don’t have the time?” This may be down to planning (remember to get the end result you may have to look at another area first?)
So why not consider all of the questions above? Where are you know on a scale of 0 -10? What do you need to do to take you a couple of points higher?

To Your Success,

Mike Yates

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