Three ways to rocket your team’s performance in the year ahead

So when you take a look back at how your business performed last year, are you satisfied with what was achieved? A little reflection is always useful, but now’s the time to start thinking about the future. No doubt you have big plans for the next 12 months - targets to meet and goals to smash?  And if you want to ensure that these plans become a reality, then you’ll be only too aware how important it is to give some serious consideration to making sure you get the most out of your staff.

Sometimes though, this can be much easier said than done. Every business owner knows that improving performance could be key to overall growth, but you’ll need some solid strategies to make this happen.

You’ll be pleased to hear then that we can help at The Human Resource. Let’s take a look at three ways to rocket your team’s performance for the year ahead:

1       Provide challenges that are stretching but achievable

No one ever achieved great things by just coasting along without a challenge. Your staff should be stretched, but there’s a fine balance to strike. Give them too much to handle, and you’re not going to get the desired outcome. It might be time to assess your staff’s performance objectives, and consider whether they’re really fit for purpose.

Your line managers will play a big part in making this a success. They’ll know their team members best, and so you need to make sure they’re capable of helping their people to set goals, and just as importantly, ensuring they believe that they can achieve them.

2       Outline the value of the work outside the context of the business

If you’ve done any reading or research into best practice when it comes to managing a team, then you’ll know that it makes sense to encourage everyone to realise how their work helps the business to grow and meet its objectives. In other words, your staff should understand how what they’re doing fits into the bigger picture.

You can take things a step further than this though. Are your people aware of ways their work makes a worthwhile contribution, profits and growth aside? Most businesses have some kind of social impact, and this can often be a great motivator for staff. Does your organisation make a positive contribution to the community? Are you changing the lives of your customers and clients?

3       Recognise achievements as part of day-to-day business

Most of us can take huge amounts of personal satisfaction away from simply knowing that we’ve done a good job. Often, this alone can encourage us to strive to be even better. But let’s be completely honest here. Most of us also enjoy being suitably rewarded for our efforts.

This isn’t necessarily about financial incentives, it’s about rewards that are proportionate to the achievement. It’s about applying the same principles across the board. It’s about considering your reward and recognition processes as a whole, rather than just worrying about budget restraints. And ultimately, it’s about getting to the stage where ‘the annual performance review’ isn’t a one-off activity, but part of an ongoing dialogue.

Team performance is important, and this is your chance to make sure that you’ve laid the right foundations for the year ahead. Are you ready, or are you lagging behind?

If you’re keen to rocket your team's performance this year by providing stretching challenges for your people, communicating the value of the work you do and recognising achievement,  or if you're concerned that employee motivation could be damaging your business, then we can help at The Human Resource. Get in touch today by phone on 07884 475303 or email enquiries@thehr.co.uk.  

Three Difficult Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before 2016

By now, it’s highly likely that you’ll have asked yourself the big, important, and very obvious questions about how your business measured up during the past year. You’ll know how much you increased your turnover and profits, and how far you met the goals you set for the business at the start of the year.

Planning and reflection sessions can be hugely useful, but sometimes, it's easy to miss the less obvious measures of what you are and aren’t achieving. If you’re serious about making 2016 a success, you need to delve a little deeper and consider the questions that probably haven’t even crossed your mind.

Your planning for 2016 isn't complete until you've asked yourself these three 

important (yet difficult) questions: 

Are your line managers really capable?

It’s safe to say that your line managers are, in so many respects, the backbone of your business. They deal with day-to-day issues, they handle unexpected events, they make sure your policies are implemented and adhered to, and they keep things ticking over when you can’t be there. So it’s crucially important that they can perform to the absolute best of their ability.

Carefully consider where there’s room for improvement, then create a plan that will help you to get to where you want to be. This might involve training, coaching, or something completely different like re-allocating responsibilities. It’s important to note here that identifying problems when it comes to capability isn’t about pointing the finger. You need to avoid knee-jerk reactions. 

What mistakes with employees have you made in the past twelve months?

No one is perfect. Running a business is a steep learning curve, whether you’re completely new to entrepreneurship, or you’ve been in the game for decades. The world is constantly changing and adapting, and you need to make sure that you’re keeping up. What worked just a few years ago won’t necessarily bring about desirable results right now.

So what mistakes did you make when it comes to the people in your business 

during 2015? Think about operational issues, as well as the bigger strategic picture. Did you make any recruitment or promotion mistakes? Are your employees on board with organisational goals? Does everyone understand and embrace their role in achieving growth?  Only when you get really honest with yourself, can you start to work out how you won’t fall into the same trap twice.

What do you need to do to grow as a leader?

It’s easy to overlook your own personal development when you’re trying to grow a team. It’s crucially important though. How can you be expected to get the most out of everyone else, if you aren’t constantly improving and growing yourself? This should be a consideration throughout the year, but it’s easy to drop the ball, and now’s a good time to reflect.

Of course, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution here. You can’t just book yourself on a training course and assume you’ve ticked the box, or download a generic management book and promise yourself that you’ll get stuck into it. Your approach needs to be tailored to your needs, and it must be an ongoing process rather than a one-off task.

Asking the right questions can be a huge source of growth in your business. Obviously though, you need to get really honest with yourself when it comes to working out the answers. Jot down your initial thoughts. Then scrap them and work on being really truthful. It’s not necessarily easy, but the powerful tactics rarely are.

Top 6 Ways to be a great employer

When you hear that XYZ Company is known as a great place to work, you know they’re doing something right  - but what?  Find out here. 

It will only happen with a lot of leadership focus and time, but it’s well worth it.

If you get things right, over time your reputation for being a great employer will get out there and the pay-off is huge. Top quality people will beat a path to your door and fewer people will leave.  People will do their best in their job. You won’t have to pay a premium in salaries and bonuses because people know that time spent with your company will be enjoyable and rewarding in other ways. With the growing levels of commitment and enthusiasm in a great employer culture, you can expect to notice improvements in absenteeism, service levels and productivity, making a real difference to your bottom line.

So what characterises a great place to work? It varies hugely but generally it’s a bit more than a tablefootball and free fruit on Fridays, although they may be a small part of it.   For example, employees in the top 10 companies in Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work 2016 say:

·         Strong, friendly work culture - Work life balance is seen as very important by all - Very supportive management team - So many perks! Free breakfast once a month, travel, health etc.

·         I find the most important aspects of most jobs are (a) whom I work with, (b) what I work on, and (c) whom I work for—in that order. At Expedia, I've been happy with all three. My co-workers are fun, competent, and have a decent work ethic. The projects are technically challenging and relevant to the company. And the engineering department I work in is well-run, fast-moving, and the values are all in the right place.

·         Ethical and socially engaged. Good work/life balance. Technically challenging and fascinating work. innovation and proactivity recognised and rewarded. Very friendly.

In a nutshell it’s doing what you say you’re going to do, having a consistent set of behaviours that people sign up to.  If you want all the business benefits of being known as a place where people want to work, this is what you need to get right as employer:

· Treating people with respect. Not a soft option as that includes being open and honest and that can be tough, but most people can cope with proper feedback delivered well.

· Recognition. Everyone appreciates recognition for a job well done provided it’s warranted. Simply telling everyone they are “Great” is vacuous, doesn’t fool anyone and quickly becomes a joke.

· Trust. Most people want to do a good honest job. Yes you need to take sensible precautions against the one in a hundred who doesn’t, but don’t punish everyone in advance for the possible shortfalls of the few.  Deal quickly with anyone who doesn’t meet your standards.

· Work. The quality of work is critical. Give people good quality work that is right for them and they will generally flourish. Push people to their realistic limits and watch them grow. Most will surprise and delight, some will struggle and you recalibrate what they can do, but most people want to be challenged.

· Career growth. This can be tough in flat organisations but you can find ways of giving people scope for growth, for instance by representing the organisation externally or putting them on projects that build skills. Career growth doesn’t have to be hierarchical.

· Fairness. Not to be confused with equality; but treating all people by the same standards. There is no room for favourites or special privileges as that quickly leads to cliques forming and groups being set against each other.

If you get these right, over time your reputation for being a great employer will get out there.  Being known as a good employer isn’t some woolly nice to have.  It sets you apart in a crowded market and delivers tangible business results. It also makes life a lot more pleasant. What’s not to like?

For help with getting all these principles firmly established in your workplace in 2016, contact The Human Resource on 07884 475303 or info@thehr.co.uk

Weathering the winter storms

We’re having more extreme weather more often, from severe flooding, as in Cumbria and Lancashire this week, to violent winds, to deep snow.  These are dramatic times when public transport is cancelled or heavily delayed, the road system comes to a grinding halt and schools close.  The only people able to get into work might be those walking from their home round the corner.  

In the same way that we expect local authorities to have grit and spreading trucks ready before the roads are frosty, so making your contingency plans as an employer will head off future problems. 

Create a policy and communicate it clearly

If it’s difficult or impossible for your people to travel to work because of the weather, most problems are avoidable if you make sure they know what the arrangements will be in advance.

Now is the time to decide on your bad weather policy if you haven't done already. Then: make sure everyone knows about it, and implement it fairly and equally across all areas of the business.   An employee handbook written by The Human Resource will include your bad weather policy and will be useful to refer people to at such times.

Your managers will need to be clear about their responsibilities, and equipped to deal with questions and decisions consistently.  You could discuss the policy and its implications with your managers at your next direct reports meeting.

Review your working from home arrangements

Allowing people to work from home can be a great solution to disruptive problems like bad weather, especially for key people.  It can keep things going so that your business is able to keep up-to-date with essential work and meet minimum service level agreements.  

Whether this is realistic will depend on your operational requirements, employees’ job responsibilities and home set-up.  Many jobs adapt well to being e-enabled remotely, but for others it’s not practical.  We recommend that you delegate responsibility for agreeing who can and can't work from home in an emergency to your line managers, working within a pre-agreed policy. 

For people working from home in an emergency, organize beforehand:

•  How they will communicate with their managers and team
• How they will access their work email from their home PC
• Access to work databases, intranet etc
• How to divert office phones to the home or mobile number of people working at home
• Security measures for handling sensitive or confidential information outside the usual work setting
• How managers will ensure that standards are maintained

Decide whether to pay staff if they can’t get into work

The majority of your staff will do everything within their power to get into work despite extremes of weather.  But if travel disruption means that it will take someone over four hours, they’re very unlikely to be motivated and productive after travelling for so long in difficult conditions.  You may also have employees who could walk into work in about 15 minutes but who choose not to when they see a heavy blanket of snow. 

People working from home should be paid as usual.  But if working from home isn't practical, you could allow people to take the time from their holiday entitlement, or to make up the time later.  

In the last resort, if people can’t get to their usual place of work, the employer isn’t legally required to pay them.  When the only option left is to deduct pay, make sure you apply the same policy consistently throughout the company.  Consider business needs, but make sure that you’re also being fair and equal-handed.

Set up an emergency process to let people know if the workplace can’t open

Very occasionally the weather may be so extreme that it looks unlikely anyone will be able to travel into the office at all. 

Perhaps one of your employees lives round the corner from work and can act as key holder and open up the workplace, if you make arrangements beforehand?

If not, as the business owner you’ll need to decide early in the day whether or not to open the workplace, so that there’s plenty of time to contact people before they set off.  Cascade your decision down to your managers, and give them responsibility for contacting their team at home.  This means that your managers will need to ensure they have numbers for their people so they can phone them in emergencies like this.

I know of a determined employee who set off early for work one morning after a blizzard to walk to her office five miles away.  She battled her way along deserted snowbound roads, even the gritting lorries couldn't get through.  Eventually four hours later she arrived at the office.... to find it closed. No one had let her know the office wasn’t opening. She had to turn round and walk back....

Many potential issues can arise for businesses just because it's winter, and you can minimize their impact by taking time to anticipate what you might have to deal with and ensure you’ve done all you can.

If you'd like help with any employment policy issues like this one, give us a call at The Human Resource for a no-obligation chat on 07884 475303.

Tactics for a happy office Christmas party

Now it's December, plans for the work Christmas party are well underway by now.  Maybe the business is doing so well that it's an extravagant themed event at a top venue.  Or a bit more modest, inside the average company spend of just over £100 per person?  Or on a budget, where the party venue is a very large meeting room, everyone brings some food to share, the more senior staff chip in to buy the alcohol, there’s a quiz and some head-to-head physical games  - like races on swivel chairs or ‘eat the most jelly babies in a minute’.

As the business owner, your intention here might be to give people the chance to enjoy themselves and feel a sense of greater belonging to the company.  You might see it as a social gathering for people to let their hair down and get to know their colleagues a bit better.  Or even to celebrate that your company has managed to navigate its way through the choppy waters of your industry this year to remain in business.

What you don’t want to do is to lay on an occasion that creates toe-curling, career damaging embarrassment for anyone, where productivity is damaged by people taking sick leave the next day, or worst of all, where you have to dismiss someone. 

So here are some simple tips you can put in place to keep it a happy Christmas party:

Work with the party’s organizer – the brave individual who has researched, booked and fine-tuned your Christmas party, with tricks up their sleeve such as:

• timing the event so that the following day is a non-working day
• a fun quiz between competing tables to inject a little competitive spirit, with a few curve-ball questions to ensure everyone has the chance to be involved. 
• keeping the food flowing to absorb the alcohol, the stodgier the better.
• limiting the amount of alcohol the company pays for. When people need to buy their own, they’re less likely to over-do it.
• if there are feuds and factions, separating people on any seating plan.
• making sure people know in advance what the company is providing in terms of drinks, transport and accommodation.

Most important of all, give a big thank you to the organiser.

Be visible. If you’re the boss, attendance is practically mandatory. Make a point of staying as long as possible - even when the event is a bit dull. Being ‘fashionably late’ or leaving after half an hour will give people the impression that you don’t really care about the party...or them. Arrive with everybody else in the first 30 minutes and spend the first part of the evening mingling and socialising.

Spread the joy. The office party is your chance to meet people in different parts of your organisation who you might not see often. Keep moving and limit conversations to 5 minutes. When introduced to someone, like an employee you don't know, make it count. Christmas parties are a time to exude bonhomie and appreciation. 

Don’t talk shop. Avoid in-depth discussions about business and head off employees keen to talk shop by steering conversation towards parts of your personal life you’re happy to share. It might be hard to put a complete ban on office talk but remember to enjoy your Christmas party for what it is – a social gathering for your people to let their hair down and get to know their colleagues a bit better.

Keep the tone inoffensive Good-natured banter at the Christmas party, with inhibitions loosened by alcohol and laughter, can sometimes cross the line into grounds for a discrimination or harassment claim. Banter about race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or religious beliefs can land both the joker and the company in hot water if a colleague feels uncomfortable or intimidated - whether the colleague is the target of the joke or not. You and your senior managers will be very aware of the large financial penalties for such tribunal claims, and need to be ready to step in with a quiet word to the perp if you spot inappropriate or offensive jokes or teasing. If you turn a blind eye, you’ll be contributing to the wrongdoing. And no mistletoe.

Deal with punch-ups and threatening behaviour Every so often, rather than being the place for Christmas cheer and goodwill, fighting might break out.  Or afterwards, a complaint of sexual harassment or bullying might be raised. Readers may be surprised to hear that employees drunkenly telling their boss what they really think of them, snogging co-workers in cupboards and photocopying their bottoms have also been known to happen. Such behaviours will require investigation and if proven, disciplinary action taken. This applies whether or not the event is on your premises or at an external event.

Above all, make the most of the event. It’s a time to shine and be seen by connecting with your people, raising morale and helping to build relationships that will last... well, at least into the New Year!

We hope your Christmas party is incident-free, but if it isn’t, do contact The Human Resource for advice and practical solutions on enquiries@thehr.co.uk or 07884 475303.