5 Ways To Build A Team That Will Accelerate Your Success
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Ask a contractor about their team and you’ll learn what they REALLY think – many view their employees as a hassle, a time-consuming drain of energy, and an expense.
You’ll hear the frustration in their voice as they say, “If only I had a more loyal team,” or, “If only I had less turnover,” or, “if only I could afford to pay for a more skilled team.”
Hang around a contractor too long and you’ll think that their employees are the cause of all the problems and challenges in their business. But I say: a team is only as good as its leader. If you want a better team, YOU need to build a better team.
In this article, you’ll read 5 very effective ways to build a better team to create a better business.
Team-Building Strategy #1: Only Hire Great People
Instead of hiring a team member that you can afford, spend the extra money and hire someone great. Someone with a long-term career goal, the charisma to lead, who will be a good fit in your team, and who has a vision for what they can do in your company.
Yes, those people cost more and you might not want to spend more. But consider the cost of constantly replacing team members or running after them to fix their mistakes. It actually costs less to pay A-players.
Team-Building Strategy #2: Find More Reasons Why People Should Work For You
You might be saying, “Even if I pay them more, I still can’t afford to pay them as much as they can make elsewhere, so why would they work for me?” Now you need to get creative: remember, there are other reasons why people choose to work somewhere.
Perhaps you have flexible shifts; maybe your small company has a lot of upward mobility so management-aspiring employees can elevate their careers sooner; maybe you offer more training than anyone else; perhaps your company specializes in something that employees can’t specialize in anywhere else. There are many reasons why someone might work for your company, even if it’s smaller and can’t pay as much as those bigger companies in your market.
Team-Building Strategy #3: Discover Each Team Member’s True Motivation
Why do your employees work for you? Yes, they work for a paycheck, but that’s not their REAL motivation. Find out what they’re spending their money on – that’s the real reason they work for you. Are they spending their money on their family? On sending their kids to college? On a classic car restoration project?
Find out what each team member is really working for and help them see the connection between doing their best at work and how their job supports their real motivations. For example, if someone is sending their kids through college, their paycheck pays for their kids’ tuitions but their job also gives them vacation time to drop their kids off at college in the fall and pick them up again in the summer.
Team Building Strategy #4: Always Be Hiring
Many business owners wait until they have a gap in their workforce and then hire to fill that gap. However, you end up a bunch of job applicants who happen to be looking for work at that time, instead of the best applicants.
Always say you’re hiring. Even if you don’t have a specific position to fill, accept applications anyway. You might even consider hiring slightly more team members than you need (which will force you to go out and get more work for your team!)
Team Building Strategy #5: Build A Strong Culture
Once you have a team, turn them from a group of individuals into a powerful team that embodies a strong culture. Create a “one-for-all” mentality through a compelling team identity. When everyone sees themselves as part of a team, instead of as individuals, they’ll work harder to give their best daily because everyone is counting on them. If they make a mistake, they’ll proactively try to correct it for fear of letting the team down. You’ll see fewer absentees, lower turnover, more efficiency.
This is an advanced strategy, and it’s not easy to do, but when done well it is very powerful. It takes some investment into hiring and training the right people, into uniforms and trucks, and into shared experiences. But when you see your team working as a team, you’ll know it’s worth it.
Summary
If you want to build a business that can grow, you need to have a team. While it’s easy for many contractors to think of their team as a hassle and expense, you now have 5 very powerful strategies to help you build and grow a team that can take your business to the next level. Hire more, hire well, find deeper motivations, and build a culture. You’ll create an unstoppable team and an unstoppable business.
- Use This Strategy To Ensure That Your Team Is Always Busy - August 23, 2016
- 5 Ways To Build A Team That Will Accelerate Your Success - July 5, 2016
- Here’s Why Your Team Doesn’t Seem Motivated - March 8, 2016
Posted In: Management, Money
