Since launching your company, your goal has always been to grow and improve. However, now that your business is expanding, you may be confronting the unexpected challenge of how to bring your team along with you. The following suggestions should be helpful to promote happiness and productivity in your staff throughout your evolution.
Keep company culture central.
Your culture is the core set of beliefs and principles that guides your mission. As your operations change, this culture can be the compass that you and your staff use to stay on course and true to your essential identity. Today’s workers remain loyal to employers who “walk their talk,” so make it a point to remember who you are and what you believe in no matter what.
Promote accountability.
As your business expands, job descriptions will naturally increase and be modified. As a result, you and everyone on your team should be expected to take responsibility for their performance. While that will sometimes involve your negative feedback if something is not done properly, accountability also occurs when you praise a job well-done or provide employees with opportunities to learn and enhance their skill set.
Institute a hierarchical structure.
In the early days, all members of your tiny team may have had equal say in decisions and even the delegation of tasks. However, this model is not tenable in larger organizations. The reality is that people are happier when they know what is expected of them and who to go to if issues arise. To that end, implement a simple structure of sub-teams whose leaders are clearly defined.
Entrust your staff with crucial responsibilities.
Once you have split tasks into teams and decided who will manage each group, the onus is on you to relinquish control. This can be difficult, especially for people who are used to managing everything on their own. However, it is vital that you demonstrate your faith in your managers by allowing them to succeed or fail without your interference. When you undermine them and taint their ownership, you give everyone mixed messages and sow the seeds of resentment.
Create documentation of company procedures and processes.
Now that your business’s reach is expanding and you have more staff, you can no longer be everywhere at once. You most likely will not be involved in every set of interviews or all hiring decisions. Therefore, you need to come up with a document distributed to all employees that clearly sets forth your company’s mission, policies, practices and employee responsibilities.
Get technology involved in your daily operations.
You are probably already using a smart terminal to accept customers’ payments and assist you with the running of other aspects of your business. If you are not already utilizing your POS’s employee management system, this moment of growth and change represents the perfect time to start. That’s because it can automate time-consuming tasks such as scheduling and provides you with a way to keep tabs on each worker’s productivity in real time. Even though your company is getting bigger, you can still have the proverbial eyes in the back of your head.
Increasing your store’s scope has been your goal since the beginning. Now that it is actually happening, it’s important to combine change with a commitment to your core values and practices. When you provide them with the support they need for the long term, it will be your motivated team of dedicated staff members that will help you to take your company to the next level.
