Do Your Employees Care About Your Success? Posted on December 16, 2015 by Erin Posey Employee Recognition Ideas to Boost Motivation and Performance Remember when stickers were exciting, and you loved getting that extra gold star on your school work? Though you may have outgrown your love for gold stars, you can still tap into the same principles behind those stickers and leverage the power of recognition to boost productivity in your small business. The Value of Employee Recognition Think of a business as a thriving ecosystem—particularly as one that’s made up of many interdependent moving parts. Different teams in business handle different tasks, and they’re all important in their own unique way. To keep the ecosystem in its best state, every part of it must be in its healthiest and happiest state. If your employees are unhappy or feel undervalued, then their work suffers and so does the entire business. Employee recognition, in its many forms, is a key way to keep employees happy. Employee recognition reaps many benefits, including: Increased loyalty to the company A sense of ownership for one’s work Enhanced engagement within the work community Best of all: better business results As a small business owner, fostering a positive work environment is vital. That sense of camaraderie and community is what sets small businesses apart from their larger and more corporate counterparts. Just one excluded or unappreciated employee can have detrimental effects on clients. Instead, creative incentives make sure your co-workers feel valued. How to Validate Your Team Members There are three core ways through which you, a small business owner, can recognize your employees: by publicizing achievements, focusing on the positive, and connecting team members to the bigger picture. Publicize Achievements At Hatchbuck, we do a great job of recognizing each other for our achievements. And, what’s pretty amazing is that recognition doesn’t just come from the leadership team. Every team member feels empowered to give a shout-out to a fellow co-worker for a job well done, in a company meeting, for instance, or with a team-wide email. These little moments of recognition keep everyone engaged in their work and in the success of Hatchbuck. Our culture of recognition does more than motivate employees to earn praise, but it fosters an environment in which we all work hard not to let our team members – or our customers – down. Everyone loves having his or her work recognized, especially when everyone else knows about it. This encourages a healthy sense of pride and gives other employees models to work from. At your next meeting or business-wide email, test it out and congratulate an employee who’s provided exemplary work. Who knows? These public notices may even help facilitate healthy competition that can drive your business forward. Focus on the Positive Employee recognition can also take place on the individual level. Focusing on the positive when you’re confronted with a situation in which an employee is struggling is to your benefit as well as theirs. When talking with your employees about their job duties or expectations, highlight where they’re succeeding in addition to where they could use some help. Maybe they could use extra training or resources to perform at their peak. Maybe their role and daily tasks aren’t aligned. Or maybe they are in the wrong role and would excel in a different position. Instead of focusing on the negative and creating a situation where your employee becomes unengaged and fails, look at the positives and find a way to put their strengths to work. At Hatchbuck, we’re always careful to hire people not only based on their skills, but based on their character and culture fit as well. We have great people on our team, and if someone is struggling, we know we can help them succeed by making adjustments that help them lend their greatest strengths to the business. Focusing on the positive is a win-win for your business and employees, but it starts with hiring the right people. Connect to the Bigger Picture When it comes to managing my team, determining our goals is an exercise we do together, not something I do in a silo. Then, I give my team members the autonomy and resources to do their job to the best of their ability to make our goals a reality. When my team takes ownership of Hatchbuck’s success, we excel as a company. My team members bring great ideas to the table everyday and have been instrumental in creating a customer experience Hatchbuck users love. For smaller businesses and start-ups, every employee has an impact, from an intern to the CEO. Remind your employees how they impact the business, and give them ownership of their projects and the direction of the business. Employee recognition pays off in huge dividends when it comes to customer service and the health of your business. From my own experience, when our team members are motivated to be their best every day, our customers benefit. In fact, Hatchbuck consistently receives the highest ratings for customer service in the marketing automation space from software review sites like G2Crowd and TrustRadius. Employee recognition doesn’t just give your team members the warm fuzzies, it impacts the overall success of your business.
Letting Go: How to Move from Micromanager to Small Business Leader Posted on November 6, 2015June 27, 2016 by Jonathan Herrick You started your business, so who could possibly know more about your business than you? Right? After all my dad used to say all the time, “If you want something done, you need to do it yourself.” But as your business grows, you need to hire, train and retain great employees. Leading your employees and keeping them accountable is a huge part of running a thriving small business. However, the difference between “Leadership” and “Micromanagement” is often a murky one. As an owner, you want to focus on the vision and mission of your business. So you strive to encourage your team to run with day-to-day tasks and projects. But when it comes to actually handing over the reins to your employees, it can be tough to let go of control. In Scott Berkin’s Open Letter to Micromanangers he shares a great analogy on owners and leaders who are a bit too controlling: “But if you are in fact a micromanager, you started over-managing the first day others worked for you. You have no idea what they are capable of. You’re probably treating at least one potential Seabiscuit as if he were a toy pony at the county fair.” The term “micromanagement” carries a lot of baggage with it, and for good reason. It is estimated nearly 80% off employees have suffered from being micromanaged (aka having to complete the dreaded TPS Reports). 1/3 have changed jobs because of being under the thumb. After all, people don’t leave their job, they leave bad owners and leaders. Are You a Micromanager? If you don’t fully trust the opinions and skill of your top employees, then you are probably micromanaging them. Here are a few rock-solid signs you might be overdoing it: Hovering Are you lingering to see which employees are checking Facebook or waiting to see how your employee adjusts to the new project? Shoulder monkeys never make good leaders. Constant Feedback Yes, it’s good to give regular feedback, but if you are not waiting for the project to be completed, then you are probably too close to the process. What if your significant other was “helping” you cook in the same way you are helping guide the project? Would the level of suggestions make you want to hand over the spatula or would you have room to feel you were still the chef in the kitchen? Becoming the “Client” You know those pesky clients that keep asking for little changes, often ending up miles away from their initial direction? Well, sometimes owners do this too. If you are pushing for small changes and then find the project ends up in a completely different direction, then you probably took the helm and drove the bus off-course. Yes, that’s micromanaging. You’re the Bottleneck Do all decisions or approvals have to go through you? Are your employees constantly waiting on you before they can respond to your customers? Do you take back delegated work before it’s finished or ready for review? By making daily processes completely dependent upon one person, your employees are stifled and can’t fully develop their potential. Also, while you’re jumping into projects, you lose valuable time you should be spending looking ahead, working on the big picture items needed to fuel growth. Letting Go “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General Patton Micromanagement kills creativity and innovation, ruins employee retention, and hinders the customer experience. The reality is, when your people feel like “Big Brother” is watching their every move, they are less likely to think or step outside the box to deliver a memorable experience to your customers for fear of reprimand. So if you find you have good intentions, but are a bit too overzealous when it comes to leading the troops, here are 5 simple ways to move from dreaded micromanager to respected leader: Know Your Style First, it is important to understand that there is not a ”One-size-fits All” kind of leader, but a variety of them. According to the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, there are four different kinds of leadership styles: S1: Telling (relying on a unidirectional flow of information to the group) S2: Selling (convincing the group the leader is worth following) S3: Participating (the leader shares decision-making tasks for a more democratic approach) S4: Delegating (the leader parcels out tasks to qualified team members) To be a great leader you need to adapt your leadership style to your team to get the most out of them, in every situation. Hire Smart If you don’t trust the people working for you then you will be more inclined to micromanage them. So when it comes to adding new team members, hire 9’s and 10’s don’t settle for 3’s and 4’s. Find employees that are problem solvers and can run with initiatives. To quote the great Theodore Roosevelt: “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” Coach and Teach Most small businesses owners wear a ton of hats and employee training is delegated to baptism by fire. While there’s a lot that can be learned from on the job experience, it’s hard to hold your employees accountable for results if they lack the proper training and support. A solid training program starts with the proper new hire training and continues with ongoing coaching and mentorship. By investing in your people personally and professionally, you’ll spend less time doing their work and more time equipping them to excel. Leverage Technology Often, owners and leaders micromanage because they don’t have a clear picture of the process and how it is producing results. The right tools give you data and insights into each employee and what you can do to best support them for success without becoming BIG brother. Learn to Delegate Think about all of the items on your plate. Prioritize key projects you should be involved in and decide what tactical items you could move to you team. Once you decide to delegate, give them the autonomy to complete the project and deliver results. Let your employees know you fully trust them and step in only in an emergency or when asked to. There is a good chance they won’t do things exactly the same way you would do it, but if you are looking to grow your small business you hold the key: Moving from a micromanager to a leader. And everyone wants to follow the leader. I know there will be tendency to want to do everything yourself, but remember: Teams, when allowed to flourish, will always deliver greater innovation and productivity than a single individual. Learn to let go of any tendencies to micromanage, and you’ll be rewarded by increased productivity, more engaged employees, and happier customers.
Donut Mondays and Free Lunch Friday: Do Workplace Incentives Make a Difference? Posted on October 26, 2015July 6, 2016 by Jessica Lunk The workplace environment has changed through the years.In many companies, even the terminology has changed. Employees are “associates” or “team members” and bosses are “team leaders” or “directors”. This change in the work environment, in most cases, is for the positive. Today’s “work” is more incentivized and even gamified. “Company culture” has become a term engrained in business spawning casual Fridays, in-company day care, and everything from bagel Tuesdays to free lunch Fridays. At Hatchbuck, we certainly have our own unique culture. The real question is do workplace incentives make a difference? We Went Right to The Top For the answer, we went right to the top, going to Hatchbuck’s Chief Sales/Marketing Officer Jonathan Herrick. Already knowing our culture it was no surprise to us that Jonathan felt company culture is critical, especially in the early start-up years of an organization. “I believe our culture has been a key catalyst for our growth here at Hatchbuck.” Jonathan explained. “I wanted to be purposeful about giving team members the power to own and drive the culture. I wanted to better align them to the purpose of the business.” Hatchbuck’s Core Values A good place to start is with a discussion of your company’s core values. While mission statements have their place, for modern companies, especially small companies, mission statements can sound corporate or disconnected. Core values, however, simply get down to it. They express what should be the focus of everyone involved, every day. At Hatchbuck our core values are broken down as follows. Be yourself. Do the right thing. Keep it simple. Work hard and have fun. Make a difference. If this sounds like something you may have learned in kindergarten you may not be far off. Core values are not complicated. They reach to the core of a company’s culture. The Effect on Our Culture We see the effect of these core values every day at Hatchbuck. We see it in the energy our people bring into the office. It manifests itself in how they seek solutions for our clients. It nurtures a culture where each person’s talents are respected and valued. It encourages everyone to find simple answers and have fun doing it. The fact is, in almost any situation, an environment that exudes positive energy is going to be more enjoyable and productive than one that is lethargic and negative. This isn’t rocket science. Creating an atmosphere where people feel valued and are encouraged is one that will likely attract and keep talented people. These people themselves add to the culture and it organically grows. But it first must be guided and nurtured. So, Do the Freebies Make a Difference? The answer is more obvious when the question is rephrased. “Can freebies help you nurture your company culture?” Of course the answer is yes. It can build camaraderie and help people be themselves. Freebies can be fun and help relieve pressure. Not every company has the ability to provide in-house day care or offer free steak dinners on Fridays. But even small companies can encourage activities and offer incentives that make the work environment more enjoyable and productive. The ROI on a couple dozen donuts can be pretty impressive.
The 4 Fundamental Ways to Improve Employee Engagement Posted on October 22, 2015 by Erin Posey Creating a great workplace means keeping employees around longer, increasing employee advocates, and boosting productivity. Companies that are looking to improve their business activity and meet higher goals need to consider implementing a workplace that fosters invigorated workers that care about their jobs. According to Gallup, a whopping 87% of employees are not actively engaged in their workplaces. So what are other companies doing to keep employees engaged and motivated? 1. Company Direction While many employers might believe the workplace happiness comes down to salary and direct compensation, employees show different ideas about what makes the workplace worth working in. Employees list top results as: Trusting employers and management Being proud of the work they do Enjoying the people they work with What does this mean for companies? Rather than working to spend more money on higher compensation packages and paying for increased turnover rates, companies can reduce their costs by focusing on the environment of the workplace and the direction their company is heading. While each industry and type of employee will have differing preferences on what a top workplace looks like, these common factors remain constant; people want to like the company they are working for. 2. Room to Grow Employees have to have a place to move up towards if they are going to stay actively pursuing their professional development within the company. Employees of companies that offer clear and comprehensive paths towards higher levels of employment will be more engaged and motivated to improve. Professional development is often a highly desirable benefit among employees, but the training should be effective and have a specific goal that is actualized by completing the training. Generic training sessions are typically seen as boring and a waste of time by employees forced to attend them. 3. Recognition of Successful Efforts When employees do work hard to break barriers, learn new skills, or improve on their work, they should be directly recognized. Employees want to feel needed and appreciated in their workplace. Often, even hearing a compliment from a manager or being recognized among their peers for an accomplishment will go a long ways towards making them feel like a valued part of the team. 4. Expected Evaluations One big mistake made by some managers is making the workplace much more hostile and tense than it needs to be. Managers need to keep their employees up to speed with their efforts and expectations. Employees are not going to be comfortable or dedicated if they feel their job is on shaky ground at all times. An employee’s evaluation should never come as a surprise. Managers need to make sure they are clear in what they are asking and how they perceive the employee’s work. If an employee is surprised to find out they are not meeting expectations, then the manager has failed to encourage the employee to change in an appropriate way. If the employee does not realize their manager considers them a huge asset to the team, then the manager is not recognizing their efforts in an appropriate way. Managers have to make sure they are giving feedback on a regular basis and not dropping a bomb on an annual (or quarterly) evaluation. Make the workplace atmosphere an enjoyable one by allowing employees to relax, be themselves, and care about the results of their efforts. Companies that are able to provide an ideal workplace for employees are more likely to benefit from a larger top talent pool of interested prospective new hires, better retention rates, and increased productivity from workers who are engaged in their tasks.
How to Hire the Right Employee for Your Small Business Posted on August 31, 2015April 3, 2024 by Don Breckenridge There are few things more crucial to the success of a company than its people, especially for a small business. With a small workforce, each new hire has an outsized impact on the company’s culture and achievements. Brett Lewis, who co-founded Skillbridge, an online platform for business freelancers, has said, “Great people versus okay people is the difference between success and mediocrity.” Hiring the right people is also important for controlling costs. Recruiting is a big expense for a business of any size, and if that employee isn’t a good fit it’s expensive to replace them. The median cost of replacing an employee is 21 percent of that person’s annual salary according to the Center for American Progress. For employees earning less than $50,000 annually it’s about 20 percent; for positions that pay $30,000 and under—which includes more than half of all U.S. workers—it’s 16 percent. That’s significant, especially to a small business. Make sure your hiring practices allow you to find the best candidates for every position. First, write out all the tasks involved in the role you need to fill. Then add to that the personality you feel is best for the role, the salary, benefits, time commitment and the other employees that person will be working with regularly. Write out the overall goal of the position, even if it’s very general. Then include the specific skills needed for the job, whether that’s knowledge of Java, QuickBooks, Excel, WordPress, etc. Devote time to hiring. As a small business owner, you probably don’t have an HR department—and likely not even an HR person–to whom you can delegate a lot of the hiring process. Yes, it’s difficult to add this to the array of hats you’re already wearing but it’s crucial for the success of your business. So schedule it into the workday as you would any other meeting or task. Look in the right places for the right people. Now that you know what you are looking for, where do those types of candidates spend time, both on and offline? Find out by talking with other small business owners, as well as vendors, friends and family about where they find good candidates for the position you need to fill. Don’t limit yourself to active job seekers. Every employee today is a passive candidate, so it pays to look where people are already doing the job you need done at your company . If you need someone with HR experience, for example, go to human resources association meetings. If you need someone in sales, attend trade shows in your industry. If it’s someone with very specific expertise, for example, a senior financial officer who understands financial technology, try fintech meetups. Don’t be desperate. Desperation will only cause you to compromise on what you want and, ultimately, wind up with the wrong hire. So don’t fool yourself into thinking that a warm body in the position is better than no body at all—that can wind up being an expensive mistake. Wait until the right person is available for the job. Test drive. Consider hiring someone on a contract basis, which is a cost-effective way of conducting a candidate search. Contractors mean you can have the staff you need immediately but without having to make a long-term commitment. If the person turns out to be terrific then you can offer them a full-time position. And since they’ve already been doing a great job, you can be secure in the knowledge you’ve hired the right person. Hire the right employee the first time to conserve costs and drive growth for your business. Do you have any hiring tips to share with other small business owners? Share them with us on Facebook.