How to Have Outrageously Happy Team Members!
TranscrIpt:
Hey guys! Welcome to this week’s episode. I’m your host Sherri Wilson, the owner of Genius Communication. And like the name says, I help business owners communicate, brand and persuade in a way that makes them more money, prevents problems, and solves problems! And, today, I want to talk about your team.
When I started Genius Communication, I quickly recognized a conflict within businesses between the “old school” business owners and the millennial generation that grew up with completely different values and perspectives of what the workforce should look like. Both have their pros and cons. However, research shows that there are specific things you can have in place that will keep your team happy, thriving, and loyal. I’ve discussed these in my other podcast, “Healing Community. Healing Business,” with my co-host Greg McNeil. But I’m going to briefly state them again here.
do these three things
Back in the 1940’s then again in 2010 or 2012, researchers sent out a survey to business owners and their employees at different businesses asking them to rank the importance of ten job-related criteria like vacation pay, good pay, appreciation, clean workplace, etc. What was fascinating is that the business owners almost had the list literally flipped upside down compared to their employees. What did employees rank as their top three most important job conditions? Appreciation, being kept in the loop, and consideration for personal needs. What this tells us is that it really hasn’t changed at all. Employees want the same thing. And they are requiring it where before someone might have put up with a rude and insensitive boss in the past to support a family. Today they just find another job or start their own business.
The best advice I can give you is demand the highest performance from your team but do it in a way where they KNOW you appreciate them, you communicate well (not just bark out orders), and you help them during personal crises the best you can. It doesn’t mean you coddle them or even babysit them. If they are not performing, fire them. I always say that you must hire slowly and fire quickly.
The Two Cultures
As stated, in a recent podcast with Greg, we discussed two types of culture that I wanted to bring over here to this podcast because I felt it was so important.
Collective Culture. The collective culture has been around for thousands of years. It is very tribal and centered around “who we are” and “this is what we do.” You see this in nations that have been around for thousands of years. One example is the nation of Israel that was able to reform after being scattered for over 1900 years. This type of culture is very intentional on preserving its traditions, principles, faith, and values. They eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and think the same way. I’m sure you can see that there are good and bad things in this type of culture. One bad thing is they can tend to resist beneficial change and get left behind because the world is ALWAYS changing. The good things are that there’s a common pursuit as a culture that is protected and cohesive.
Individualistic Culture. This culture is more centered around personal freedom, pursuit, and growth. There’s an independence and a challenge to the collective. Every person is free to pursue happiness within the bounds of law and not hurting others in the process as much as possible. It’s a free enterprise society that sparks innovation and achievement. And like the other culture, I’m sure you can see that one of the bad things is that the more independent aspect can produce division, unhealthy competition, and polarization.
combine the two
The solution is to combine the two cultures. Create a collective culture centered around, “This is who we are. And this is what we do.” Set your values, follow your principles, and create your own traditions to form a strong bond in your organization. Communicate these things ALL OF THE TIME. Celebrate those things. Allow those things to be the filter for every decision, interaction between team members, you, and customers, and for every product or service you offer. But at the same time allow each team member to express who they are as an individual. Ask them questions. Show appreciation how they best receive it not a cookie cutter Christmas card with some money thrown in each year. What to they like? Coffee. Cats. Both. Use those things as filters for ways to show them appreciation. Follow up on any personal crisis they’ve been walking through.
Conclusion
Every person who works for you in a person full of dreams, goals, and aspirations of who they want to be. Yes, I know you have hired them to do a job. But it just doesn’t make sense not to do the things I’ve suggested because you will have high turnover and high disengaged employees who could care less about you or the company because you clearly showed you could care less about them. And money doesn’t solve everything. You can throw huge salaries, vacations, and benefit packages in the mix and still find people are leaving. Why? Because no amount of money will replace courtesy, respect, and appreciation. You didn't hire sex workers who get paid to perform. You’ve hired fabulous people that if you create a culture that promotes community and individual expression, you will see a marked difference in where your business goes but also your profit margins.