SECTOR INSIGHT
7 ways to build an amazing team
Having a great team is the way to expand profitably . Benjamin Dyer , CEO of Powered Now , the app which helps the trade with their paperwork , looks at some of the things to do and things to avoid in both recruiting and getting the best out of people .
» THERE IS A HUGE CHANGE WHEN you move from being your own boss to being other people ’ s manager . It means more paperwork and you need to win twice as many jobs to keep afloat . But you have to grasp this nettle if you are really ambitious for your business .
Success in any trade business requires good quality workmanship and that critically depends on your staff . Getting the management of people right is hard but incredibly important , so here are my top tips .
Tip one : Imagine how good life could be
Imagine life if your staff always did a great job for your clients . Wouldn ’ t it be fantastic if problems were sorted out before you even heard about them ? Is this just a dream ? No . I have experience where this has happened . This should be the motivation for putting the effort in and it does indeed take a lot of effort .
Tip two : Recruit the right people
Recruitment is tricky and there are a whole series of easy mistakes that can be made . I will list some of the most common ones :
• Only recruiting people like you . They might be members of the same rugby club , support the same football team or have gone to the same school , but none of that matters . Talent and willingness to work hard is the point
• Recruiting serial job hoppers . If they are always changing job , there will be a reason . They are either useless or they get bored too easily . You will have the same experience with them as previous employers . Everyone is allowed one mistake but otherwise avoid people that change job every year
• Not giving yourself enough choice . Recruitment is hard work . Settling for the first person that comes along may save time in the short run . But it will cost you in the long run , so try and make sure you have as many people to choose from as possible . Choice improves quality and the time invested is always worth it
• Not taking up references . Always call a previous boss on the phone , even if it was a holiday job . Chat to them for as long as you can – as each minute passes it makes it more likely you will get the unvarnished truth
I heard a story recently about someone who was slapdash in recruiting on the basis that they could easily let people go . That ’ s crazy . Not only did they waste time on recruitment and induction , but bad staff damage your reputation and waste opportunities . There is also a legal risk in dismissing staff , even before two years has passed .
The truth is you only ensure getting great staff by recruiting carefully . So , beware of pressure to act in a hurry . Bad staff will upset customers and lead to disputes and refunds . They will also demotivate others who will start to wonder why they bother .
One of the most positive things that you can do when recruiting is to see their work for real . Persuade candidates you are close to employing to come in for a full day ’ s work before you make a final decision . Or if that ’ s not possible then see if they can work a few hours on a Saturday .
Tip 3 : Find the hidden gems
It ’ s been said that if you recruit someone who isn ’ t that smart but has lots of experience , then one year later you still have the same . If you recruit someone bright with limited experience , a year later they are still bright but have experience too . It ’ s worth thinking about .
Employing people that used to have their own business can be very fruitful but it ’ s important to make sure that they didn ’ t fail because of poor workmanship .
People who are bad at estimating , can ’ t sell and can never stand up to customers all struggle to run their own businesses but can be great employees . If they join you , they will probably be both grateful and very unlikely to leave and steal your clients .
‘ Success in any trade business requires good quality workmanship ’
Tip 4 : Praise and correct appropriately
Here are my tips on how to praise and correct staff to get the best out of them :
• Praise your people whenever you can and do it in public
• ALWAYS and only criticise staff in private , never in public . Publicly humiliating people is the single most demotivating thing you can do . It can create sympathy for someone who actually needs a kick up the backside from colleagues to do a better job
• When there is a problem or someone has done a poor job or made a mistake , approach them straight away and in private and with an attitude of trying to help them
• When rebuking people be very straight and unemotional about it and make it totally objective . So don ’ t say things like “ You were an idiot when you …” Instead , pitch it like “ The client wasn ’ t happy with the work and refused to pay . Frankly , I wouldn ’ t have been happy myself , do you see my point ?” then “ What can we do to avoid this in the future ?” Criticism does need to be constructive so that they have a chance to improve . You also need to act as the adult and stop any frustration from showing
• If a client has complained , but you believe your staff have done nothing wrong , NEVER dump on them . Show moral courage
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JAN / FEB 2022
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