Business owners say, “Owning a business would be great but for the employees.” Employees say; “I love my job but for babysitting my boss.”
And clients say, “Businesses today don’t care about their clients like they used to.”
So how do you go from hating to loving (yes, it’s possible) your employees?
There are endless studies that prove (regardless of Kolbe, introvert, extrovert, etc.) that, on some level, we are social creatures. People need feedback and communication, and they need to know you generally appreciate that they are there and are part of the team in order to survive and thrive. And that is what we find missing, unfortunately, more than 50% of the time. In our 17 years of experience, most employees don’t work out because, once they were hired, they were left alone to try and figure it out. The connection and communication was either inconsistent or nonexistent.
The cycle of hiring, firing, training and rehiring is never going away. The need for employees is never going away. So not only should you accept it, you must embrace that your #1 job as a “boss” is connection and communication. You must build this “task” into your calendar, weekly, monthly and quarterly. This should be in the very simple form of:
1. Weekly Check-in Huddle – No more than 30 minutes per employee; schedule back to back. This is a locker-room huddle that goes over what’s not working, what is working and where the employee is jammed up or in need of support/training/direction. That’s it; hit those three things and it will make a WORLD of difference.
2. Monthly lunch date – No more than 60 minutes per employee. Schedule time to personally connect and check in with each person individually. This must start within the first 30 days. Once a month, out of the office (neutral, relaxed, casual ground) and always over a meal – ya gotta eat anyway, right? There are endless studies around the most successful business owners being those who connect with their employees on a personal level. When people believe you genuinely care, they will go above and beyond for their job.
3. Quarterly team outing – No more than four hours total. Do something fun as a team. Bug off early at 2 p.m. on a Friday; bowling, skydiving, BBQ at your home, maybe fondue. Find something that will allow everyone to bond, connect and let their guard down.
4. Annual Reviews – No more than 60 minutes per employee. Individual employee reviews. Not the dreaded, archaic version of an employee review you might know, but an empowering, growth-oriented session. (Click here to download a free copy of the “Transforming the Employee Review” webinar.)
Roughly 50% of people will make it to at least 4.6 yrs; 50% won’t make it six months. Some you have little or no control over, but after 17 years of working with team and entrepreneurs alike, we like to believe that efforts toward embracing vs. dreading your employees can change these statistics. There is no better investment that dedicating roughly 10 hours a month (average team of two employees) on your employees. The alternative is walking around with the mindset of “I hate employees,” or worse, being stuck in the vicious hiring-and-firing cyclone.
If you’re struggling with building an empowering team where you never find yourself saying “I hate employees,” email info@yeschick.com to support you with your next hire.
By Molly Hall
molly@yeschick.com
Champions of your continued success,
Molly and Laney
