Business Opportunity - Leverage Your Employees!

As a business asset, they don't sit well on the P&L statement. They aren't valuable like a piece of machinery, or an office block. There is no assignment of currency with which you can measure them. But living and breathing within the walls of your premises are the biggest asset you could think of - your people.

Here's why...

Your people are:-

  • Your Face
    They are like a big advert on a bus or a hoarding. Whatever you want them to be - they are you, in whatever way they feel at the time. One slip and there goes a lifetimes worth of business (have you ever worked that out over 20 years - try it!)
  • Interactors
    They are one side of the two-sided interaction between your business and your customers, clients and suppliers and anyone else you can think of. This interaction is not just a choice, but a reflection of how your are within your business. So their 'interaction' is down to you and you alone.
  • Proactive
    Great at the day job, your people can give more. They can think ahead and develop a knack of being pro-active for you. Using them as one big team you suddenly have 10 pairs, a hundred pairs or even a thousand pairs of eyes and ears, noticing and responding to things, on your behalf.
  • Choosers
    They choose how to interact with your clients, customers and suppliers. And in that choice; in that very moment, they are able to make successful and long-term relationships - or not. They have the choice.
  • Synergistic
    They can contribute to you much more than the bare bones of their 'being there'. If you build the right relationship with your people they will spin and bounce ideas off you like no tomorrow. This is a very rich asset for you to utilise.
  • Weight Lifters
    They can take some of your burden away. If you treat them fairly, honestly and trust them, your people are able to take on new roles - and give you time and energy, which will leverage your skills in your business to there most effective.
  • Prospectors
    Great employees, onside with you, can be brilliant for developing new clients or customers. They will work on your behalf, if your behaviours encourage them to fight for you. Too often employees expend energy fighting against their organisation.
  • Sensors
    When in the flow, as your people will be when they work in the great culture you have in your business, they will 'smell out' business. They will create freqently returning customers and sell each one of them more. In that enabled relationship they are a money-making machine.
  • Recruiters
    They will wear your business or organisation on their sleeve - so if you need great employees to show up for you, working on your existing people is a first, vital step. They will recruit for you!
  • Your Life
    Great employees make a great team. A great team make you enjoy that 40% of your life you spend at work. If you treat them well (see below), you will reap rewards far beyond the financial value of what the cashflow is - or the profit outturn. You will lead a happy and fun life at work, full of laughter and joy - what more could you want? By the way - your business will do very well too!

    So what do you need to do. In my experience, not much. Do these things and you will have a brilliant teams about you.

    • Say 'Thank You' often

    • Be very clear in your expectations

    • Be interested in your people fully

    • Be honest and trustworthy

    • Deliver your promises (or don't make them)

    • Be consistent and very fair

    • Keep your people informed

    • Model the way you want your people to be

    • Be a part of the team - join in

    • Fight for their cause

    Working with people can be such fun and so rewarding. It ain't hard either - but you can do it if you focus, one changed behaviour at a time. Step by pleasurable step!

    Copyright 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com. (Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - it would be good if you could include a live link)

    ...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 2

    In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how... Read More

    Learning To Let Go

    If you have the entrepreneurial spirit (which clearly you have!),... Read More

    Quality Standards with ISO 9001

    Standardizing Quality SystemsThe ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was... Read More

    Take Control of Your Paper in 3 Easy Steps

    Do you have piles of paper on your desk. Many... Read More

    Recruitment - Do You Know What Youre Looking For?

    The time will come when you'll need to interview someone... Read More

    The Myth of the Management Team

    Every business has problems. That is why the average life... Read More

    An Original Perspective on Waging Conflict as a Way to Promote and Restore Self-dignity

    Conflict is a fact of life for all of us,... Read More

    Great Groups! - Getting a Group to Think Like a Genius

    Great Groups! - Getting a Group to Think Like a... Read More

    5 Steps to Identify Core Processes

    Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week,... Read More

    Safety Policy Sample Outline

    Writing a safety manual is a tough job and most... Read More

    Contract Management Software: the Solution to the Problem of Coordination

    Charles Petrie, from Stanford, released a short article entitled "The... Read More

    Time for Change - Clearing the First Hurdle

    "Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump... Read More

    Truth or Consequences: How to Give Employee Feedback

    In the bestseller, Good to Great, Jim Collins discovered that,... Read More

    Time Management Tips for Managers

    Late last year I was presenting a workshop for the... Read More

    Employee Retention: Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business

    The retention of highly skilled knowledge workers is one of... Read More

    You Cant Afford the Luxury of Disengaged Employees

    In today's business environment with increases in staff reductions and... Read More

    Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

    Organizational structure can inhibit or foster creativity and innovation. The... Read More

    3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change

    As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape,... Read More

    Your Biggest Problem in Business? Work Ethic

    US Work Ethic Issues and Lack of serviceWell many... Read More

    Crisis Management Tips

    The term crisis management has different connotations. In this article,... Read More

    Managing People - Why Is It So Difficult?

    Managing, supervising, being a team leader is the hardest job... Read More

    Top 7 Methods to Empower Employees

    How many times have you asked someone to do something... Read More

    Interviewing: How to Stay Out of legal Hot Water

    Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and,... Read More

    What are Your Best Practices?

    Best Practices StudiesThese studies can be defined as inquiries into... Read More

    Five Essential Hiring Practices

    Recruiting and hiring are often done in haste, leaving the... Read More

    Got A Meeting Planned? Ask This Question

    Meetings ? they are a fact of our business lives.... Read More

    Re-Discovery Procedures for Building Effective Management Systems: Phase V

    Now we turn the corner to our final phase: Re-Discovery.Last... Read More

    Communicating In Chaotic Environments

    How do you, or would you, communicate in a chaotic... Read More

    What is the Most Difficult Part of an Improvement Program?

    Answer: Starting one.Most of us realize that there is probably... Read More

    How to Deal With Salespeople

    If you are an executive, you may sometimes feel like... Read More

    Be a Change Agent ( Part 1)

    Aligning business organizations to be successful in the present and... Read More

    How Your Business Can Pick A Software Developer

    Eventually, your business is going to need to have some... Read More

    Dissenion Down On The Cubicle Farm

    How content and satisfied are American employees? Not very!According to... Read More