Your team is the foundation of your business. When you have a team that’s capable, motivated, and loves their job, they’ll work hard for you and help grow your business. To attract amazing people to your company and keep them there, you need to give them good reasons to work for you. People with a great work ethic generally have a lot of options. When you have someone that is intelligent, highly motivated, capable, and hardworking, they tend to be in pretty high demand. Chances are it’s easy for them to get a job because they have a great track record and a strong list of positive referrals.
So how do you attract and keep amazing people for your business? Our CEO, AJ shared his top 6 tips.
1. Share your core values.
Your core values let people know what you’re all about. They tell people what you stand for and what drives your company. They also help paint a picture of what your corporate culture is like. So people can get a good understanding of whether or not they’ll fit in. When someone identifies with your core values, that’s a hint that they’ll be a good fit for your team.
2. Trust in your team.
For an entrepreneur taking the risk of hiring someone, it can be easy to fall into the habit of wanting to check on everything your team is doing. The problem is that from the perspective of the worker, it’s taken as an insult to their competency. By micro managing your employees, you’re telling them that you don’t trust them to do their work on their own.
No one likes working in an environment where they don’t feel trusted to do their job. Show your employees you trust them. Give them enough guidance to get started, then let them show you that they can do what you hired them to do. Have faith in people. Give them enough latitude to show you that they can do their job. Understand that people aren’t perfect. There will be some mistakes along the way. But they’ll learn from those mistakes and become a better employee because of them. Give them some guidance and let them know it’s okay to come to you with questions when they’re stuck. Mentor them and let them grow.
3. Offer flexible working options.
Where it makes sense, offer your team some flexibility. Let them work their own hours, work from home some days, or have the option to travel while working. Trust them enough to let them work when they’re most productive and most comfortable. Obviously for certain instances, working from home or working flex hours isn’t doable if they need to be face-to-face with customers or available during specific hours to help customers. But where it makes sense, give your team some leeway. Set parameters for when you need them available and what deliverables they’ll be measured by, then trust them to figure out the rest on their own.
At Marketcircle we let people work flexible hours and work from home twice a week as long as we’re able to achieve our objectives. As a result, our team is happier and more productive. We feel trusted and empowered because we’re responsible for getting our work done on our own schedule. We’re also more productive because we’re able to work during our own most productive hours, which is different for everyone. Some people work better during the morning while others work better later in the day.
4. Keep an open dialogue.
People like to know that they’re valued and that they have a voice. Every so often, schedule a casual one-on-one checkin with the people on your team. This is just a casual touch base to see how they’re doing, how things are going with the team, and make sure they’re happy with their day-to-day activities. This is a great opportunity to air out any frustration they’re feeling so you can help de-escalate any stressful situations so your team is happy and able to perform their best.
Be open to their feedback. Maybe they have some suggestions that would benefit the company or some ideas about your existing processes. Maybe they have a suggestion that isn’t best for the company, and need you to give them context as to why it isn’t a great option. Be open to listening as well as addressing any of their concerns. When people feel valued, they’ll work harder.
5. Offer employee benefits.
Offering benefits gives you a competitive advantage to other companies. Benefits are a big perk and motivating factor for people to apply to a new position. The bigger pool of applicant, the better chance you have at finding someone that’s a good fit for your business. It also shows you care about your employees and their well being. Benefits are an indication of the values and morales of a company. It shows you want to make it easier for them to have a healthy lifestyle. It’s peace of mind for your employees, especially ones with children. There are group benefit plans for small businesses so it doesn’t need to cost your company a lot.
6. Organize team building activities.
People like feeling like they’re part of a team. Group activities are a fun, stress-free way to let people in your company bond. For a lot of people, liking or disliking their job has more to do with the team they’re on than the actual activities they do at work. When you work with amazing people that help motivate you and make you feel appreciated, it inspires you and makes working more enjoyable.
We like to do casual group activities like playing soccer once a week. Not everyone will make it out to every game, but it’s something fun to do that a lot of people really look forward to. We’ve also done group outings like go to a baseball game, bowling, and go-carting. Sometimes we keep it casual and have a picnic or play some trivia. Getting together outside of work helps boost morale and gives people an opportunity to get to really know each other. It helps bring our team closer together and as a result, we work better together.
