BIS MAGAZINE/BIS Business: Networking: The key to success/Is your Business Fit for Business? Part 2

Last month we discussed how as individuals we often start the New Year with new resolutions such as losing weight, giving up smoking or getting fit, but how as business owners we rarely question the performance of our business in the same way.

Irrespective of the type or size of business there are a few fundamental “Fitness Tests” that we can carry out to see if we can improve the performance of a business. In order to do this we need to look at 4 main areas:

Last month we looked at Business Planning and highlighted the need for a plan to give our business direction.

This month we look at the People working in your business and the important contribution they can play in making your business successful.

This is a term that some may argue or disclaim as not true, but one I personally believe to be completely true.

You could invent a world beating product but if you don’t have good people to make it, market it, sell it, deliver and install it, your world beater will not pass Go! So ensuring that we use intelligent processes to recruit, train, motivate and manage a company’s workforce is absolutely fundamental to the success of our business.

Another worthy principle is to.....

This is something that we often find sadly lacking in the Costa del Sol.

How many times have we all sat in restaurants here waiting to actually be served or hoping to get our meal at the same time as our fellow diners?

This is either because the personnel in these businesses are wrongly recruited, have not been trained properly or are not motivated or committed to do the work they are being paid to do.

So firstly we have to make sure that we recruit the right people to work for our business. To help achieve this we really need to write a job specification.

This will help us to focus our minds on exactly what we want our staff

to do, what skills they will need to carry out the work, and what business

specific training they will need to work effectively for your business. It is also a useful discussion document for your applicants so that they can see clearly in black and white what the job entails and what will be expected of them.

It is often said that when recruiting staff we subconsciously make our mind up whether we like someone within the first four minutes. We have to be careful though that we don’t recruit someone just because we like them.

Conversely if we think they can do the job but are not so likeable, will they get on well with your clients and the rest of your team? It’s a delicate balance, but remember we need to recruit “the best qualified person to do the job” and that takes into account all aspects of the job!

It is always important to make sure that any additional staff are going to fit in well with the existing team and that all the team are made aware of each others role in the company so that the proverbial “treading on toes” can be avoided.

I have always adopted the approach that as an employer I am responsible for my staff and if they fail as individuals then I have failed, either because I have recruited the wrong person or not given them the skills they needed to do the job well. Of course it is not always that simple and there is always the odd applicant that gets through the net for a free ride (albeit a short one), but if we do our recruiting correctly we should be able to eliminate those at the interview stage.

Having determined our job specification we then need to advertise our vacancy in the right place, be it local paper, newsagent or daily national. When we get replies it is our first opportunity to assess them as potential employees, i.e. how do they handle themselves over the phone, what is their CV like and their covering letter or e-mail?

It also pays to devise some short tests depending on the nature of the vacancy. If you are looking for someone to work with figures then it is important to check that they can add up or at least use a calculator accurately. If you are looking for someone to be a team player then there are simple profiling tests that can be used to make sure that they can work well in a team environment. I have used a simple 15 minute test for over twenty years that is incredibly accurate if used correctly.

I am also a great believer in staff incentives for all the company, not just sales and marketing personnel. This could be a form of performance related bonus, profit sharing, sales commission etc., but the more staff in the company that stand to benefit from the company’s success the more motivated and committed they will all be to making it happen!

In the same way that we need to create our business plan to give our business direction, it is also a good idea to create individual staff plans, particularly if they are new to the company or to the type of work they will be performing.

Again this will help give them direction and performance milestones for mutual review and discussion at regular intervals.

It is important that they know that their performance will be reviewed regularly and that such reviews are a forum for both employer and employee to air their views.

Feedback from our staff is often invaluable and as employers we should promote as much interaction as possible from all our staff as they will have their own ideas on how their role and indeed the company’s role may be improved.

Staff meetings provide a useful forum for such interaction but should always be well structured with an agreed agenda, held at a regular time and date, and should run for a pre-defined time period, say 1 to 2 hours for each meeting.

So hopefully, you have the right people, they are well trained, well motivated and committed to making their job and your company successful, so remember to make them feel valued as members of your team, and if they are doing a good job, reward them accordingly!

Take them out somewhere special occasionally and treat them to lunch or dinner. Try to remember their birthdays and remember to show your appreciation at Xmas........your investment will be well rewarded!

Next month we will take a look at the different Processes or Systems that we use within the business.