Be the business everyone wants to work for

You've seen the lists, they come out every year: the top ten companies to work for, the most desirable workplaces for employees or the start-ups that offer the best staff perks.

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You've seen the lists, they come out every year: the top ten companies to work for, the most desirable workplaces for employees or the start-ups that offer the best staff perks.

Reading these lists can be a depressing experience for business owners who don’t supply pinball machines, exercise-ball seats, full-time wellness coaches and artists in residence for their T-shirted millennial workers.

But even more important than these Silicon Valley-style perks is the culture in a business: the abstract glue that binds an organisation together and gives its members a sense of belonging.

This, and the need to create such a culture, can be daunting to small business proprietors. “What many small business owners don’t understand is that there are actually three different skill-sets that are required to be a successful business owner,” says Lisa Wiking, small business and leadership expert at Motivational Leadership.

1. The technical skills to deliver whatever it is that the business does – such as being a good mechanic or hairdresser.
2. The ability to run the business, understand how it works; the numbers and the accounts.
3. The culture: it’s the people skills, the leadership skills, to attract the right people to work for the business, to engage them and retain them.

Many small business owners have the first two skill-sets, but may not believe they have the third. “You’re not expected to be a natural leader, you’re not expected to know this stuff automatically, but from my perspective it seems to be a lock in people’s thinking, that they don’t believe they can improve this area,” says Wiking.

The problem is that if the environment does not work for the business’ employees, they will leave. “If they don’t understand how to engage and inspire their people, they can create an ever-revolving door of people starting and resigning, starting and resigning.

This problem can be magnified for small companies, Wiking says, because long-standing employees can become critical to the business, with a great deal of its knowledge base in their head. “It can almost destroy a small business if that sort of person leaves,” she says.

Economically, and for the success of the business, business owners need to understand that their people are their most valuable asset, says Wiking. “This is especially the case with the newer generations in the workforce.

“Today’s individual wants to feel valued and appreciated, and want to make a difference. When you’re interviewing prospective employees, you’re not just interviewing them: they are interviewing you. They want to see what you as the business owner have to inspire them to want to work for you.

“Leadership is such an abstract concept, and it usually scares the crap out of people – how do you just, ‘be a better leader?’ We have to break that process down into small, actionable items.”

The first thing to do, she says, is to be very clear on your vision, goals and strategy for the business – and get it on paper. “Most small business owners have some version of a vision, goals and strategy in their head, but it’s not usually set down on paper. For an employee to take ownership of, and be inspired by, the vision, goals and strategy, it has to be clearly documented and communicated to them, and there for reference in the future.

“Then, it’s about making sure that the role that you’re recruiting for is matched with the right personality. From there it’s about making them feel valued and appreciated from day one, so preparing for the induction process, communicating their training schedule, how their skills will be developed, the business’ expectations of them, and how their progress and development will be monitored and rewarded.”

The business owner needs to have a schedule for reviewing the employee’s performance and behaviour, against the expectations that are set: holding them to account, asking them what is happening, and how things can improve; or alternatively, acknowledging and praising good performance.

Above all, the business owner needs a process, she says. “It’s about, ‘put this in your diary, hold this meeting at this time, ask these questions, when you see it not happening, say this – put in place some scripts, if necessary. If acknowledging someone, saying, ‘well done, good job,’ or ‘we have a bit of a problem,’ doesn’t come naturally to you, diarise it. You’re managing people, you can’t duck it,” says Wiking.

It’s not about pay, she says. “People will work for less in a really good-quality environment, where they feel cared for and nurtured, and where their bigger vision is encouraged.”

If all of this is done well, the company can become known as a great place to work. “That in itself starts to attract better people – and customers. The bottom line is that getting the culture right pays for itself over and over again,” she says.

Originally published as Be the business everyone wants to work for