In a world where most companies are more concerned with bottom line profitability than development and well-being of employees who make profitability possible, it is heartwarming to see firsthand the impact created when a growing and profitable business reaches the two-year mark with zero employee turnover while consistently adding new employees to the team that are both productive and promotable.
The circle of awesome exercise
I’ve been serving a fabulous residential remodeling company for over four years. We begin team meetings with a quick exercise that gives each employee at the table an opportunity to call out gratitude and appreciation for another team member. Last week, a seven-year employee called me out in recognition for helping to create an environment where employees look forward to coming to work each day, want to learn from each other and grow, while giving their best effort in service to clients that become friends. Because the team gets to thrive in this environment, job satisfaction is high, employee growth is consistent, while turnover is non-existent.
How you can build a highly effective team of employees
Below is a quick checklist you can use to develop a highly motivated and effective team of employees:
- Candidate screening: Does your job ad and company stand out as positively unique? Does the ad consistently attract great candidates and repel poor candidates?
- Interviewing: Do finalist candidates meet with team members they would ultimately end up working with and for? Increase acceptance of new hires by empowering team members to participate in interviews and vote in the decision-making process
- On-boarding: Have you developed a 12-week new employee on-boarding process that equips new hires to effectively assimilate and meaningfully contribute?
- Ongoing development: Be deliberate in the coaching process for increasing hard (task related) and soft (people related) skills. Give team members a path for growth and coach them up!
- Ongoing team meetings: It is one thing to explain how to build a great team. Developing an unbeatable team takes consistent and deliberate discipline. Highly structured and focused team meetings produce high return on investment
Why is this important
According to Gallup Business Journal, the cost of employee turnover falls in the range of 50% to 500% of an employee’s salary. That means for every $50,000 employee, the cost of replacing lost expertise is at bare minimum $25,000 and likely higher. If watching your company’s bottom line is important, here’s an opportunity to do something about it and watch the bottom line grow!