As a small business owner, you’re likely balancing a lot: growing your business, managing a team, and maintaining a personal life.
It’s no easy feat.
One of the most significant challenges you may face is building and maintaining the right team. The success of your business often depends on the people you hire, how well they work together, and how motivated they are to stay and grow with you.
Why Focus on Your Team?
In today’s job market, it’s harder than ever to find and keep talented employees. Many people are switching jobs for better salaries, and your staff are free agents who might leave for more attractive offers. When you’re understaffed, your remaining team becomes overworked, leading to burnout, low morale, and eventually, more resignations. This vicious cycle of high turnover can disrupt your business, especially when new hires take months to settle in.
Tips to Build the Perfect Team
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Nurture Your Existing Team
Your best chance at reducing turnover is by focusing on the team you already have. Creating a positive work culture is essential. Here are a few tips:
- Create a Great Culture: Involve your team in defining the company’s core values. What are your non-negotiables when it comes to how you treat clients and each other? Hold regular team-building activities that suit everyone’s comfort level.
- Recognition and Appreciation: Let your team know they are doing a good job. Simple, genuine praise can go a long way in boosting morale.
- Flexible Working: More employees now value flexibility in their jobs. Offering flexible or remote work options not only boosts retention but also widens your talent pool.
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Train and Develop Your Team
Training isn’t just for new hires. Continuous development is key to a thriving team. Consider these steps:
- Ongoing Learning: Identify training needs during appraisals and offer both on-the-job training and formal courses.
- Support Career Goals: Whether employees are aiming for promotions or just want to improve in their current roles, provide the resources they need to grow.
Check out this example of the
Pink Pig career progression. - Keep Records: Track training progress, certifications, and any additional skills developed to ensure your team is up to date.
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Streamline Onboarding
Hiring new employees is just the beginning. Onboarding them quickly and effectively is crucial.
- Have a Plan: Ensure all logins, emails, and work setups are ready before their first day. Use a New Starter Checklist to help them integrate smoothly into your business.
- Buddy System: Assign new hires a buddy to guide them during their first month. This helps them feel comfortable and gives them a go-to person for any questions.
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Offer Flexibility
At Pink Pig we’re huge advocates for flexible working. Flexible working arrangements can make your business more attractive to current and prospective employees. In a world where remote and hybrid work are becoming the norm, not offering flexibility may make it difficult to retain top talent.
- Remote-Friendly Systems: Implement cloud software, meeting tools, and project management systems that enable remote work. Ensure your culture and values are still shared, even if everyone’s not in the office.
Just remember what true flexibility is though – so many companies offer flexible working, which isn’t really flexible working at all! Yes, there are various degrees of flexible working – but don’t say you’re fully flexible, when in reality that actually means you can work 10-6 rather than 9-5!
Check out our thoughts on what flexible working really means here.
Investing in Your Team Pays Off
Building the perfect team takes time and effort, but it’s one of the best investments you can make as a small business owner. By nurturing, training, and onboarding effectively, and offering flexibility, you can create a motivated and productive team that stays with you for the long haul. This strong team will help your business not just survive but thrive, allowing you to focus on growth without constantly worrying about turnover.
Now, take a look at your team and consider what small changes you can implement today. Start by recognising their hard work or offering a more flexible working arrangement. Your team—and your business—will thank you for it.
And If you want a hand with HR compliance or culture then let’s chat!
