Behind every great business is a fantastic team. The most successful businesses are powered by a team of hardworking, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic people. The kinds of people that don’t just come in and get the job done, but that offer up brilliant ideas, support each other, work efficiently and always go the extra mile to get the job done. When you have a team like this, running a business becomes easy, and even fun. Often it runs so smoothly that we don’t notice how much people do until for some reason they take time off, and that well-oiled machine goes off the rails.
Behind these hardworking teams, however, keeping them on track, motivating them, supporting them, and making sure they’ve got the tools that they need to work at their best, is a great leader, or a team of great leaders. TTC has best leadership courses to manage teamwork.
Being an incredible leader or manager means supporting your team, and there are a few different ways that you can do this. You can support them by caring for their mental and physical health, by helping them put their families first, and by investing in their futures with an established training and development plan. You can offer them great perks to make them feel valued, and you can pay them a fair wage. Unfortunately, many small businesses make the mistake of neglecting staff support, believing it to be an unnecessary cost for the business.
The good news is, there are many cost-effective and affordable ways to support your staff, and many of them are far better than more expensive options. Let’s take a look at some.
Listen to Them
Perhaps the best way to support your staff, in all areas, is the cheapest. Listen to them. Listen to them when they have ideas that could help your business, but also when they have personal issues, whether or not they will affect their work performance. Operate an open-door policy, give your staff time to talk to you, and be an approachable boss, and they’ll feel more supported and cared about.
Invest in Training
If you are going to spend money supporting your staff, the best place to do it is training. Investing in a good training program supports your team in their journey, but it also improves your business and reduces turnover.
Training can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Wahoo Learning can offer plenty of advice on creating a training programme on a limited budget. By outsourcing to Wahoo Learning you might even be able to make money from your training programmes, but first, you need to understand and appreciate their importance.
Pay Attention
Being an attentive leader is a valuable investment of your time. It gives you a chance to spot issues, to notice when people are unhappy, or when the equipment or processes that they work with aren’t efficient, and to understand more about the jobs that you ask your team to do. Be present, pay attention, listen and suddenly offering support becomes much easier.
Prioritise Work-Life Balance
Ask any employee what they would like more of from their jobs and two things will come up more than any others. First, more money. Second, a better work-life balance or more flexibility. If you can afford to offer fair pay rises, that’s fantastic, but if not, flexibility is usually equally appreciated.
Take a look at your schedules, talk to team members about what they need, without assuming that flexible working is the same for everyone, and do what you can when you can. This makes your team feel valued, and with the right recruitment processes and cross-training options, it might not cost you a penny.
Make Sure Your Employees are Part of the Big Picture
Do your employees know where you want to take the business? Do they know what their role will be? Do they understand their importance to the whole picture, or how they can create growth? Check in with employees often, talk about the future and how they fit into it, and make sure they are free to express opinions and ideas.
Offer Small, Budget-Friendly Perks
You might not be able to offer huge bonuses or other financial incentives, but you can probably offer an extra tea break during a tough day. You might be able to create initiatives like a work book club, or an after-work sports team. These social perks can create a feeling of community and improve the atmosphere, allowing your team to support each other, as well as you support them.
Create a Common Area
A break room is great, but a workplace common area is another fantastic addition. This isn’t for breaks, but teamwork and communication. Create an open space with comfortable seating, notepads and pens, whiteboards and books and hold sessions here. Create an environment where every idea is respected and heard and encourage teamwork, and communication as much as possible.
Supporting your team is worthwhile, and often the biggest expense you’ll need to make is with your time, not your money.
