Maintaining A Good Business Culture
It’s always pretty nice to be the guy who people WANT to work for. The one who hardly ever has to hire because their team are so happy and engaged. The guy who gets top-notch people responding when they do need an extra pair of hands! There are plenty of companies that are epic bosses, but the trick is, does Joe Public know who they are? This is where a social media presence can come in handy.
Did you give the guys a morning tea shout? Take a funny photo of Joe the apprentice with cream all around his gob and put it on your profile. Taking the guys out fishing on a Friday afternoon as a bit of a treat? Film the prize giving for the biggest fish including a booby prize for Stan who caught the tiddler and throw it on your insta.
Has Mark been working for you for 20 years and you are taking him and his wife out for a fancy dinner to celebrate? Take a selfie of the two of you and put it up on Facebook with a wee thank you. This is stuff you are already doing because you are an awesome boss….. so make it visible and show the world how much you love your team.
1. A similar train of thought to the above, show off how clever your team is!!! Take photos of your guys and their amazing workmanship and get it out there… your team will feel valued and your followers will see how dedicated and engaged they are working with you.
2. Use the labour calculations for each job and engage your team to use them as a benchmark for performance. Hey guys, we have 100hrs allocated to putting up the plasterboard on this house which means we should be complete by Friday at 3 pm. If we can get it done by Friday lunchtime instead then its pizza and beers on me! Oddly enough, people tend to work better with goals in front of them. And it’s nice being recognised for a job well done.
3. How about each site having its own toastie maker and coffee pod machine? Throw in a mini-fridge stocked with milk and bread and you have guys with full tummies of warm food without having to leave the site all while feeling the love from their boss.
4. Being a top-notch employer also means looking after the team’s personal needs…. Maybe book in a one on one coffee with a team member each week to see how life is treating them in general.
You will get the jump on the relationship breakdown/sick kids/financial stress and might be able to help nip it in the bud before it starts affecting their morale. Keep an eye out for things like counselling services via Xero that you could offer to your guys, looking after their state of mind can go a really long way to developing a really loyal employee who never wants to leave.