Key to the success of any CSRA business is the team behind it. The challenge for business owners is building and nurturing the team.
The September Third Thursday Business Builder, sponsored by the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, was “Pouring Into Your People – Building Your Bench.” Jennifer Murphy (Founder of Inspire & Transform Consulting) and Roxanne Hyer (Founder of Hyer Education LLC) led the program.
Murphy said business leaders face tremendous responsibilities leading their company.
“But at the end of the day it is about inspiring others to dream more, to learn more, to do more, and become more,” she said. “You have a direct impact on how people feel about themselves. You have a direct impact on how they tap into their potential and the experiences they have in the work world, and they take that home with them.”
Hyer added the biggest stumbling block owners face is time, the time to accomplish goals while still nurturing their team.
“We’re very reactive to the things happening during that day,” she said, adding the solution is to develop small but consistent daily habits.
“It’s the small disciplines repeated with consistency every day that lead to great achievements gained slowly over time,” she explained. “Like the habit of, hey, I’m going to spend 15 minutes every morning checking my email before I ever start on something new. Those are habits that you have to create in order to help ensure that time is not the roadblock for being a good leader.”
Murphy used reports from studies conducted by Gallup to highlight the connection that managers have and the impact on the employees’ experience. It included studies that focused on employee turnover and engagement by involving a segment of the company employees in a development program.
“What they found was that the leaders who had participated in the development program had 21 to 28 percent less employee turnover, and they also had up to 18 percent higher engagement,” she said. “In further studies that Gallup has done, they have shown a direct correlation to your business results. When you have higher engaged teams, you’re going to be more productive. You’re going to have higher profitability. You’re going to have less absenteeism.”
Hyer said building your bench also means developing a system of cross-training employees. It includes identifying individuals with skills to be team leaders and future managers, as well as learning multiple roles to mitigate the impact of turnover.
“You have to build your bench so that if people move, which they do, people move, people change, you have someone that can step in, and we can keep it going,” she said. “If you don’t, what is the cost of having to start fresh? Having to train somebody. Needed skills in business, future needs, talent review, cross-functional training and knowledge.”
Training, said Murphy, is just the immediate goal for employees, from new hires to long-time employees. Beyond that, owners and managers need to follow through by helping workers develop.
“That word development carries weight with people. They want to grow. They want to learn,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re brand new in the company. If they’re brand new, you say this is our development plan for you for the next three months. If they’ve been in the role a year, this is your development. Let’s talk about this. Let’s create these plans. People want to know they’re being developed.”
Hyer said that extends to owners and managers themselves. Each should have development plans with short-term and long-term goals for themselves.
“Because if we, as a leader, are not willing to develop ourselves, and our team is not seeing us make those steps to develop ourselves, then what are we telling our team?” she asked.
She added that it includes being willing to accept feedback from their staff.
“If you’re not listening to what your people are saying and you’re not making adjustments for it, then they’re going to think that what they have to say doesn’t matter to you,” she cautioned.
