When people come to work for you, most of them are buying into your vision around what you can do for them. In my Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip this month I’ll explain how setting a vision for your business involves not only where your business is going, but what people are doing on the inside of it.
Staying close with your people is the key to retention because you need to be clear about what you’re doing to help them achieve something meaningful, not only in their business life, but also in their personal life. Created progression will give them a real reason to be part of your company.
One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is failure to build a framework around their ideas. They never create a plan for what they want to accomplish, and they never plan for their people, either. So if you tell a salesperson you’re going to sell them a portion of the business someday, what does that really mean? When will that happen, and how will you prepare them for the added responsibility of being a business owner?
It’s important to have quality conversations with your people about timeframes and expectations. Otherwise your people feel stuck in what I call the “Never Never” where you never set benchmarks and keep stretching out the time before they can take the next step. One day your competitor will come along and give them that career progression plan they desire. Overnight your best salesperson will walk out the door.
You must get close to your people to understand what they want to achieve and give them a path to do that. Know the skills you want them to acquire, then build clear structures to help them progress. Setting a vision for your business is up to you to do. Built into that is the idea that you’re building your business to sell. Ultimately the people who are working inside of your business will become your best buyers.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.