Brian's Business Tips

Running any businesses has it challenges, but some would argue the most difficult of all is keeping your staff motivated and effective in their particular job role.

It doesn’t matter whether you work in a larger corporate or small business, at some stage you will encounter difficulties and just when you think everything is humming along like a well oiled machine… wham! you get hit with a “left fielder” and your stuck trying to resolve these issues that have seemed to come out of nowhere.

Here is a few things I have learned (but still putting into practice), and when I use them I see a significant difference.

Beat the Drum’

You need to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Your staff need to see you! Make yourself seen and give them a beat that they can march to.

Create the Beat

Some people use goal setting, others use incentives or bonuses, but for some it’s a simple & common mission. It doesn’t really matter which one of these you use and in most cases it would pay to use all of them if you can. It’s always good to define some kind of mission so that everyone has a common focal point for the future. But the future always looks so far away, which is then why you need to give them smaller goals with some kind of incentive or bonus attached. These should be run consistently and not just for sales people. I would suggest monthly incentives with some kind of bonus attached. 1 month gives people enough time to strive for the goal and gives you (as the manager of business owner) enough time to think of what you are going to use the following month.

Meetings

Meetings can seem counter productive but they are useful if used properly. Here at bloo we have weekly meetings that start at 8am on a Monday morning. Punctuality can often be an issue where you have different people rocking up at different times. We have Zero tolerance for this kind of behavior and have adopted a “fine” system. If you are late for the meetings, you then have to buy coffee for the rest of the group. This is always nice if you’re on the receiving end but not so nice if you have to constantly be purchasing coffee’s. We have found this to be an effective method of ensuring punctuality. I still personally question whether Monday mornings are the best time to run meetings and will let you decide on the best time for your business. But just make sure they are weekly and that you have relevant material to cover off. Try to delegate here.

It’s important not to be the only one talking at your meetings so make sure you get others involved by getting them to talk about their particular division or updates.

One-on-One’s

These are so important. I only realized this recently. But you need to have 1/2 to 1 hr allocated to each of your staff each month. You will learn things about your employees that you wouldn’t otherwise know in an open forum. If they are comfortable and you give them every opportunity to speak their mind, you will learn about them and about your business. This really helps to prevent surprises with staff. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably grown to hate surprises in business.

Incentives & Bonuses

Try to make these decent ticket items that people actually want. That doesn’t mean they need to cost you an arm and leg either. It all comes down to knowing your staff (which your one-on-one’s would have helped with!). Come up with an incentive and an achievable way to get there. Then stick it up on all the walls around the office so they don’t forget about it (and neither do you). Remind them of it daily and use it to create a bit of healthy competition internally. This creates a good atmosphere and keeps some fun in the business.

If you’re just starting and things are a little tight..

Don’t let that stop you! We also have come up with the following awards that we hand out each month. They are a simple A4 (laminated) design that takes 5 minutes to do. The trick is to look out for just about anything you can reward people for. And make sure it’s laminated. Gives it a sense of importance.

Highest Sales

Highest Yield

Highest Customer Satisfaction

Customer Service Award

Technical Breakthrough Award

Potato head Award

(This one is important for a laugh. If someone does something stupid, they get this award. I’ve had it and it pays to get it once or twice yourself to show that we are all in this together and to teach people that it’s ok to make mistakes, recognize them, have a laugh at yourself and move on)

I hope these tips help out with day to day management of your business and help reduce any staffing issues and increase staff retention.

Regards

Brian Gillett

MD – bloo.com.au