What do you need to do to get Succession-ready for the future?
There are 6 elements you need to address when you are thinking of your people in a succession or exit plan. Getting succession ready is about more than just giving your team good job titles.
Most business owners agree that staff are the biggest cost, a great asset and the cause of most problems. How many times have you made the decision to hire someone that you know wasn’t right for the business? And how long did it take you to then get rid of them – or worse, hope they would leave if you made it awkward enough?
Entrepreneurs that are successful build a supportive and talented team to create something bigger than themselves. And it’s more than skills. Building the trust and loyalty takes time – and it’s a two-way street. If you don’t trust your employees why should they trust you? One of the reasons some businesses don’t allow working from home is because of a lack of trust. Forced working from home (WFH) has changed the dynamics. More than one of our clients are experiencing higher levels of productivity.
What Does Working From Home Mean?
Let’s face it the idea of working from home means different things to different people.
For some it’s staying in their pyjamas all day. Getting dressed does not change their productivity. Many people are struggling with children being at home. Children are struggling with working parents being at home! We are all in the same boat and there seems to be a lot more tolerance for the realities of different home environments. In the future this will become accepted as part of remote and flexible working.
And the impact? Well maybe at last some of the inequality issues will be resolved. More men will work remotely without worrying about the impact on their careers. By the same token women who work flexibly will not be negatively impacted in career terms. The fact is that children get home from school at 3pm and the house turns into a crazy noisy place for 20 minutes. It happens everywhere on the planet and we have to accept it. Then get back to the work that needs doing. People are a lot more productive if they know what they are working towards.
Giving them a goal, a deadline and support when they need it, then get out of the way and let them get on with it.
Building a Team
Successful Entrepreneurs gather a collection of people with the right skills and attitudes. This enables their businesses to become greater than the sum of the people in it. Founders may be the ones who take the first brave steps to start a business. It is their ability to recruit followers, supporters and challengers that keeps their business at the top.
When you get the right people in the business things can really fly. Get the wrong people and you’re trying to move forward with the handbrake on. Hiring is a challenge in many businesses because it’s not usually well planned and often handled in a hurry. Bad recruitment decisions are made as a result of:
- Poor job descriptions
- Non-existent recruitment processes and
- Interviews handled by staff that have no training
Working remotely magnifies poor cultural fits as well as great teams.
Now is the time for a change of approach.
A strategic approach to the culture and roles in the organisation means having a rigorous recruitment process. What do you need to make sure you will be delivering what customers want and need in the future? Do you need to rethink the skills you have and the skills you are going to need? It’s easier to get someone with a great attitude and train them in the specific skills than it is to get skills and try and change attitudes.
Establish your values, lead the kind of culture you want and build the team on that basis.
If you aren’t sure about your existing team, then a good starting point is to do an audit. What skills, aptitudes and attitudes do you have in your existing team? What are they really great at – what are their strengths? How can you leverage that?
Building a world class team takes effort and focus. It doesn’t just happen. Yet so many people in senior management roles (this isn’t a small business issue) do not invest the time in developing a team. The pay back is in time, energy and profits in the future.
The essential elements of a high performing team can be distilled into the following 6 steps:
1. Leadership
2. Robust recruitment
3. Clear, communicated goals
4. Defined roles
5. Effective and frequent communication
6. Consistent effort and action
There are many more factors but getting these 6 right gives you a head start in your business.
