In last Sunday night’s episode of Channel Ten’s Shark Tank – John McGrath gave some very sage advice to one of the entrepreneurs – he said “I think you are both the biggest asset … and liability to your business.” John is a measured guy – and he did not say this lightly. A leader, founder, inventor, entrepreneur needs people around them to tell them how it is… often we can’t see this. And if we ever want to grow and enterprise then we will need to understand the impact that we have on those people around us.
We need star performers – but we also need people to play their best game at work – as a manager our aim is to nurture their unique talents for the good of the team. When we invest so greatly in the team – it can be devastating when they resign. It would probably rattle you to know that based on a global survey run by Talent Trends in 2014, only 15% of people are actually satisfied with their current employment. That means up to 85% of your people – including your best sales person or manager – could be actively looking for another job. As the leader it is up to us – to make a difference.
Can you afford to keep wonderful people from walking away?
I understand that not every business owner feels like they can afford to give all their people annual bonuses or launch costly employee incentive schemes. The good news is that those initiatives aren’t actually as effective at improving employee engagement as people think. Those things alone won’t attract and retain great people. Someone else out there can pay more than you do. But if you have an amazing company culture – one that connects people to a bigger purpose, amplifies the accomplishments of every individual and is truly committed to both customer and employee and happiness – then you have a competitive edge.
Part of that means up skilling your leaders and teaching them how to recognise and bring out the best in their people.
One of the goals of RED is to make it easy and affordable for small and medium business owners to invest in their people and help them thrive. Redii, RED’s flagship recognition software, was designed with the philosophy that leaders who amplify the accomplishments of their team members not only win their effort, they also win their loyalty. Employees who are recognised regularly throughout the year – even for small achievements . That means they’re up 21% more productive than their disengaged colleagues, score 10% higher in customer service metrics and are 83% less likely to leave their employers.
So when was the last time you recognised the people in your team for doing a great job? Was it at the annual Christmas party last year? If it was, then the positive effect of that moment wore off a long time ago. For ongoing motivation, productivity and connection, work recognition into your everyday vernacular.
If you need help doing that, then the team Redii is here, at your service. Use Redii to send thank yous, award your people and give them a tangible record of the times they’ve done a great job and helped your company thrive.