This question and answer series of articles provides scenarios for business owners to find answers to business frustrations. Today I talk about getting new staff to cooperate.
Q: How do you get new staff, especially the young ones, to do the work the way I want it done?
This is becoming a common cry, particularly from baby-boomer bosses. The times are a-changing. They were when Bob Dylan voiced it in the mid-60s and they still are. Use management styles practiced forty years ago and risk being labelled a dinosaur. Don’t just expect that the young people entering the workforce will think the same way you do or did. The more senior and mature business owners need to recognise that your newer, younger recruits don’t necessarily come equipped with the same inbuilt set of work ethics and values that you started out with, but they can be taught them.
Explain and set up your expectations right at the start of the relationship. Even before you do that, show them the big picture of what the business is there to achieve and where you intend it to go. Then make sure they understand their role within that context. Give them objectives and standards, as well as key performance indicators. All of these can be set out in Job Agreements – as opposed to position or job descriptions. A Job Agreement by its very name indicates that there is agreement that this is what is expected of them and what their job entails. Make sure it shows the key objectives and the actual work expected of the role. Set out the standards in the areas of quality and quantity of work, timing, attitude, behaviour and appearance. In other words, be really specific so no-one can say to you, “I wasn’t told that,” or “That’s not part of my job,” or even “You can’t make me do that!” Make sure that they understand acknowledgement, rewards and consequences.
Watch for the final article in the Q & A series…coming next week!
Until next time…
P.S. Learn more about working ON your business–talk to the coach! Click here to connect with me!