“Imagine where my business would be today (and what my life would be like) if I got this right 10 years ago!” It was this statement from a customer that really got me thinking about the broader impact of getting the people side of business right.
Increased profits? more time to work on the business? more time with my family? more time for me? ….now I was starting to see the picture.
We all know people are our most important asset but we also know that people are the most difficult part of business to run. There is no user manual and certainly no silver bullet to fix all – but there are a few practical secrets to maximising the performance of your people that can really make a difference to business performance and lives of business leaders.
Fact: If we can improve the engagement of our people, we are much more likely to get discretionary effort (that’s your magic 10-20% more) and our people are more likely to stay with the business.
The good news is that the most effective ways to engage people has very little to do with money and a whole lot to do with how we spend our time as leaders. Let me share with you five practical secrets for maximising the engagement and performance of your people.
Secret #1: Define “Great”
This starts at the top with a clearly articulated vision for your business, paint a picture of the future that your people can get excited about. Then we get to the important bit – work with your teams to define what “Great” looks like for every person in your business. This includes:
- Defining the 4-6 key areas of responsibility that will make a difference (not all the tasks that take up a large portion of people’s time)
- Identifying the measures of success
- Making your company values meaningful to each individual (Integrity for a Sales Rep will have a different meaning to Integrity for a Fork Lift Driver)
- Identifying the Professional Skills required to do the job well
If you can effectively engage your people with this concept you have an effective “blue print” for all other people initiatives that will serve to maximise the performance of your people.