I don’t like the word “workers” when referring to employees. To me, it feels a little demeaning, not recognising them for the invaluable role they play in your business. The 5Ms of resources required for business (being Material, Machines, Money, inforMation and Manpower) are all managed by people. This is the one real differentiator in your business, the only thing that cannot readily be replicated by others.
When I worked at Sappi Usutu in Eswatini, a colleague used to say that he wanted to replace feet with heads. One can either do that by firing and hiring, which in itself could be a hit and miss, or by developing your talent pool. This requires planning, patience, time and effort.
The first step is to make sure you have a talent pool. Recruiting the right calibre of people to your business predetermines this. Invest enough time and energy in the recruitment of staff. Have a recruitment process and stick to it no matter the urgency of filling the vacancy. I have certainly burnt my fingers when I circumvented the process. Regard the cost of proper assessments before appointments as an investment and not an expense.
Next is to develop your talent to the point where they can get the job done. The ideal employee should possess the required expertise, attitude and capacity for the task at hand. This cannot be a broad-brushed approach. Deal with individuals individually when developing them.
And lastly, learn to delegate effectively. Always make sure the desired outcome of the task is clear, the levels of acceptability of quality decided and communicated, the applicable timelines defined, constraints and boundaries identified and the lines of responsibility, authority and accountability are drawn.
What better way of celebrating your workers is there than to empower them?
So say the bosses
John Maxwell is a leadership expert and author of many books on the subject of leadership development and growth. According to him, the credibility of a leader begins with personal success and grows into helping others achieve personal success: “Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.”
Marnus Broodryk dedicated a whole section in the 90 Rules for Entrepreneurs to building a team and looking after them. Because it really isn’t only about you. With great freedom comes great responsibility. Know that your staff and their dependents rely on you to run the business competently and with due care. And to do so you need them.
The Sologix solution
Our approach to business coaching is geared towards developing the leadership skills and abilities of our clients. Organisational leadership is proportionate to the strength of the leader, and this requires a commitment to improving daily. People skills, planning abilities, creating a vision and dedication to success are factors that can be worked on to become a better leader.
We encourage our clients to surround themselves with people equipped to do the job, delegate to them and stay out of the way. Equipping people includes developing individual training plans based on their levels of competency, need and potential so that they can be trusted to perform the tasks assigned to them effectively and efficiently.
The best way to achieve this is to get a baseline to work from. Perform individual profiling and assessments on all staff earmarked for growth, including yourself as the entrepreneur. The first objective is to ensure that a person-job-fit is possible – you shouldn’t force a square peg into a round hole. Then, for each staff member, you need to establish a personal development plan. It is worth spending money on doing this properly – both the assessments and executing the development plans. After all, these are the greatest trump cards in your deck. By doing this you not only get to celebrate the freedom of the entrepreneur but also celebrate your workers by truly empowering them to reach their full potential.
Engage with Sologix to help you on this path. Join an online course or contact us for personal business coaching by sending us an email here.
