The Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce and the X and Y generation coming up behind the boomers are not sufficient in numbers to fill the positions left by the retirees. In fact, I will make a bold prediction at this point. Within the next few years, if you lose a quality employee to a competitor your chances of replacing that employee with a similarly qualified person will be slim to none.
However, as in life, this situation creates an opportunity. It will allow you to become a better people manager and compete more effectively against big box business. And that means you can attract and retain quality employees and be envied by your competitors. It may surprise you to learn that right now, your key people are probably being head-hunted by your competitors. It’s becoming a war out there to recruit quality people and every company is fair game.
So, how do you keep ahead of the curve and make sure your key people stay with you over the long term? You need to turbocharge your employees. To be fair, no matter what you do you will lose some people for a number of reasons, so you may as well prepare for that eventuality. However, I believe in being proactive and creating a level playing field, so here are a few strategies that will serve you well when communicating with your key people.
When stepping up to the challenge of addressing poor employee performance, you need a plan of action. But in order to create an action plan, you must first answer some tough questions to find out precisely what you are dissatisfied with.
Ask yourself:
• Is my business as successful as I would like it to be?
• What am I doing to keep customers coming back?
• What kind of manager am I?
In order to develop highly motivated employees, you first need to create a successful organization and become an empowered and progressive leader. This means continually questioning your own actions and behavior. It is only by doing this that we can understand how we perform, work and live, and lay the foundation for how we can improve.
With your new vision in mind, you begin by communicating to your employees exactly what results you are working toward. Then, working backwards from your goal, determine what you and your employees need to do right now, and on a daily basis, in order to achieve it. Suggestion: how about having a ‘goal book’ that you consult daily?
Here’s another insight: your dissatisfaction about the gap between your people’s performance and potential may arise from the fact that you are not creating an environment conducive to that behavior.
The main role model they have to look toward is you – their manager/business owner. If you give them no direction, no communication, no feedback, then most people would naturally become dissatisfied, lazy and uninterested.
Article Author: Roy Prevost is an internationally recognized retail trainer, keynote speaker and customer service activist. He is the author of Turbocharge Your Retail Business: How to Outmaneuver and Outperform the Big Guys. Roy has spent the last 25 years working in and with thousands of businesses worldwide helping them grow their business and increase revenues by showing them how to compete in a hyper-competitive world through relationship building and going the extra mile with customers. He is passionate about turning business owners into ‘Customer Service Superstars’. Click Here to receive your complementary guide: 10 Topics to Discuss Before You Hire a Web Design Company.
Article Resources:
Turbocharge Your Retail Business: How to outmaneuver and outperform the big guys by Roy Prevost
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/
Photo Source: courtesy of Stuart Miles | Free Digital Photos