Ask the Coach - February 20th
By: Merrill Pierce
Dear Coach,
We are a newly formed business that is about to start hiring and building our team. Both my partner and I have worked for companies where the teams have been great as well as terrible and we want to make every effort to get it right from the get-go. What are some steps we should be taking to make the fewest errors in hiring our staff?
Thank you for your help…. Sincerely, afraid to fail
First, let me say congratulation’s on starting a new business – well done!!! The success of a small business lies in the quality of the team. But what goes into building a great small business team? No matter how great your business idea is, it will not pass the actualization phase if you do not have the right team to execute the vision. Although being a boss is not very easy, you will succeed if you have the correct group of individuals who are motivated to meet the business’ objectives.
Assembling the right people for your business is not easy. However, if you have a clear idea of how to search, places to look, and tools that you should apply in spotting the right people, you can successfully assemble a capable team with the drive that you need. Below are some factors that you should consider when searching and building a quality small business team. Hope the following steps help to provide some guidance as you navigate this crucial next step.
Excerpt from HBR 2024 article: Best Practices
Develop Clear Objectives: Before you start a business or a project, you should have a clearly rolled out plan. Business objectives give your business a sense of direction. The targets for your business can act as a benchmark when assembling your team. With clear goals, you can come up with the roles and responsibilities you require your team to perform. Then, you can assemble the best personnel to achieve those responsibilities. Some of the other questions you should ask yourself include:
What talents and qualifications do I require to meet my business objectives?
What personalities best suit my ideal team?
What type of individuals will complement my skills?
You should not be very rigid when selecting your team. You should not have a redundant member of at any time. Always have a solid reason behind your intention to expand your team. If the person you are hiring does not contribute towards achieving your objectives, it will be a waste of resources.
Hire the Right People: It is not advisable to rush during your recruitment process. It is vital to ensure that you employ a person that fits your company requirements. Once you have broken down the roles required of each employee, you should look for potential employees in the right places. LinkedIn is one of the best platforms where you can find and evaluate your potential team members. LinkedIn also lets you follow companies from where you can scout talent. You can follow up on talented individuals joining and leaving companies and thus allowing you to approach these talents immediately. Also, you can find talented team members from universities, job fairs, and social communities, among other avenues.
Build a Good Rapport with your Employees: As the team leader, you should try to know your team members. Although it might not be your area of specialization, you may be required, as a business owner, to take up the role of a human resources manager. Upon bringing in a new member into the team, you should strive to know them personally, their needs, and their life goals. Then you can easily know the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. A good relationship with your team ensures you can get the optimum out of them. The employees are also motivated to work harder since they know that their boss cares…
Share your Business Vision with your Team: Sharing the value of working with the team and its contribution to the business, in general, is important to ensure that you can encourage the optimum performance of the team. Before potential prospects join your business team, you should pitch the vision of the business to them. This way, you can induce passion and a positive mentality among your team members.
Invest in Your Team Members: As your business grows, you should also be improving the qualification and skills of your employees. It will be selfish to focus solely on business growth while your employees’ career qualification has remained stagnant for a significant period. Therefore, whenever it is possible, you should consider investing in your team. The skills they gain will help your business grow even further.
Therefore, if possible, instead of looking for a new expensive team member to serve some exclusive responsibility, you can sponsor your team members to a short learning program that will help them improve their qualifications while assisting the company. Also, events such as seminars and conferences can help your employees feel valued and thus encourage them to commit more to your business objectives.
Develop a Positive Work Environment: As a team leader, you are the core of the team. Therefore, the performance of the group is very dependent on your leadership quality. Your leadership style should be able to develop a positive work environment where everyone is passionate about the performance of the business. If you are excited and passionate about your project, you can spread the same attitude to your employees and thus cultivating a work environment where employees are motivated and dedicated to meet their personal as well as the business targets.
The best way to ensure that you maintain a pleasant working atmosphere is to consider your team members to be more than employees. You should not stick to a hierarchy where there is communication tension between the senior and the junior team members. Instead, your team should be treated like a web, where everybody is important to ensure that the operation and functionality of the team progress effectively. When communication among team members is maintained, you will be able to sustain a quality working environment where every person feels important and valued. Any conflict among team members should be resolved immediately it arises.
Maintain a Balance: It is common to find a team with incompatible individuals, yet they are both critical to the team. Therefore, it becomes essential to learn about the relationship between your team members. That way, you can understand the state of their relationship and the personality of everyone. By learning about your team members’ personalities and traits, you can know the characters that complement each other and those that are incompatible.
Understanding your team will help you maintain a balance, especially when allocating tasks and pairing up individuals. You can safely put together members and be sure that you will get the full potential out of them. If you can avoid pairing up the incompatible individuals, you can evade unnecessary conflicts that might affect the performance of your team. In extreme cases, you can also try and find a way to improve the relationship between team members who do not have a healthy relationship.
Other considerations, such as knowing your employees, listening to their ideas, and appreciating their side projects and passion, will help to sustain employees within your business for longer duration. By interacting with your employees, they develop loyalty to you, as a person, and to your business.
The success of a business does not solely depend on how great your idea is. However, the cohesiveness and performance of your business team play a significant role in ensuring that your business vision is actualized. Therefore, to ensure growth, especially in small business ventures, it is essential to learn the skills of attracting and retaining talented individuals in your team.
To build a world-class team, consider factors such as the best location to find your team members, their contribution to your business, and their compatibility with your business ideals as well as the existing team member. To retain your team, use great project management tools, hire within your budget, maintain a pleasant working environment, and be a source of motivation for your team. If you can manage to assemble and maintain a group working to its full potential, your business has a higher chance of succeeding and create a productive culture.
Wishing you success!
