#5waysto Is your team working as well as you'd like? Or is there room for improvement? Let's look at five ways that we can build profitability through your team...
1. Engagement
While you may be the decision maker, if your team doesn't feel like they have a say in things they can easily lose motivation and start underperforming. Employees that feel like they're contributing are far more likely to work hard and be loyal. On the other hand, employees who aren't engaged won't extend themselves beyond their role, perform to their full potential or stay longterm. And recruiting a replacement can just start the whole process again.According to a recent study, only 15% of the employees worldwide feel engaged in their jobs. Top tips:
Ask for their suggestions - a collaborative approach to improving the workplace can ensure that your team is engaged and empowered. You don't have to adopt every idea that they have, but you might just discover that they have some ideas that are of value or that are even better than your own.
Team meetings - allow your team to feel involved and as though their experiences matter. Regularly checking in with your team can also help to nip issues in the bud.
2. Role clarity
As businesses expand, new tasks are needed and are often informally assigned to team members. This can result in a lack of accountability, lack of recognition, double-handling of tasks and ultimately perhaps resentment from your employee. An employee who feels like no one cares about what they do, will be very unlikely to perform well and could become a drain rather than an asset to your business. Top tips:
Regularly assess current roles and new tasks, responsibilities and roles - this can ensure that processes are streamlined and employees know where they should be focusing.
Keep job descriptions up to date - this not only helps with accountability but also helps to see where employees can develop further
3. Peer to peer learning
Each year businesses spend millions of dollars on training. This can be a waste of time and money if it's irrelevant, inefficient or the employee doesn't buy into it.
Top tips:
Use your team to share knowledge - by assessing the strengths of your team and encouraging them to pass on their skills to their co-workers you are empowering them, recognising their knowledge and promoting team work.
Incorporate training into team meetings - you have a captive audience here so take the opportunity to increase the knowledge your team has and therefore business efficiency and profitability.
4. Team Communication
Not all employers are natural communicators. They might know what is going on in their own head but fail to pass this on to their team. This can result in costly misunderstandings and poor communication which can divide a team.
Top tip:
Communicate with everyone - leaving some people out is a sure fire way to create divisions within your team
Communicate regularly - Think about how often you need to communicate with your team, it may only need to be once a month or it may need to be twice a week or as new information arises.
Use the right channel - Will a weekly email be all that is needed to keep your team engaged, or do you need to meet in person or via video conference? Choose a method that your team will be familiar with and that will allow you to communicate effectively and encourage them to have their say.
5. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
As an employer, your time is precious and can be limited. The temptation may be to rush through jobs in order to just get them done, but this doesn't empower your team or boost their profitability. Instead, they can end up relying on you, slacking off or lacking initiative.
Top tips:
Focus on delegating where possible - you don't need to do everything yourself and this will also enable you to develop your business
Develop your team structure - put tiers in place that can help take a load off your shoulders by empowering managers and senior team members.
In conclusion
Increasing profitability is not just about numbers, but the people in your business. Everyone wants to feel valued. When they do, they extend themselves and make your business more profitable. Imagine having a way to increase your team morale while also increasing their production. That's exactly what engagement does for a team
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