“The customer service manager is not performing well and we might have to replace him”

“The person who was with me from the inception of the company just left 1 day without giving any good reason”

“I have to always tell my employees what to do and how to do”

These are some of the common statements that we hear from the CEOs and owners of small companies.

Most of you who own a company talk about these HR problems but don’t want to pay much attention to solving these problems. According to what you have heard,having an employee handbook and giving yearly bonus is enough for employees to remain motivated. However, after having all these things in place, companies still have employees leaving without proper intimation, new joiners leaving within 4 days of joining and employees showing lack of pro activeness in taking up responsibilities.

So you conclude that bribing is the only solution to this problem and you start introducing big incentive plans and perks to keep them motivated and loyal. But this doesn’t work either.

So what do you do?

The most important and less talked about secret to inspire your employees is Trust & Communication. They are the pillars of your business and also the secret recipe to keep your team strong and connected.

We undermine the importance of communication. Whenever we ask CEOs or MDs to address their employees, “We don’t have time” is the common reply we get.

But isn’t business all about communication?

Talking with your clients, talking to your suppliers, talking to your share holders, talking to network, so why not talk to inspire and motivate your own team?

Talking is the only way you build your network, convince your clients to buy your products and it is the only way you can turn your employees into loyalists.

Products can be replicated, designs can be copied, but the only thing that stays unique is your team and that is what sets you apart from your competition. So developing and maintaining a good team should be your top most priority. Most problems and issues are solved if you have regular communication with your team and show trust in them. The only way to increase your clout and retain your top performers is by communicating with them regularly and showing trust in them. One such example is that of the Zingerman burger company.

Zingerman, a famous burger company wasn’t always doing well. They decided they needed to change the way they work and took to the approach of transparent communication. They introduced open meetings,open balance sheets , where the financial conditions were openly discussed with employees right from the cleaner to the VP. They saw a tremendous change in their work environment and their profits increased. They soon became the fastest growing company.

So how do you do implement this?

Some ideas on how to make communication & trust a regular thing in your company

• Set aside 10 minutes everyday to communicate with your employees on a one to one basis.
• Trust your employees to do their job and have minimal rules & regulations.
• Every week, instead of asking for business status, discuss the business updates and status.
• Let teams chose their area of work and expertise.

Spending 10 minutes everyday with your employees will ensure that you save those lakhs of rupees that you will incur on hiring new recruits or lose out on customers due to average performers. Only trust & regular communication will help you build a team that is fully motivated and rearing to perform. 

Try the 10 minute rule and see the change in your team.

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