EMPLOYMENT
The biggest chapter that one will ever encounter in life as an entrepreneur, and perhaps the most important until we are all replaced by AI robots, is that people are at the very heart of all companies and therefore the source of goodness and malice!
Having successfully run a business for more than 8 years, here are the 12 lessons I‘ve learned about employment:
1. You need a company culture to engage your employees under a universal mission. Even with that in place, you will still lose valuable members of staff at the most needed times. Shit happens! But we are all on a journey, they need to move onward too sometimes.
2. Strategic employment takes time and requires tremendous amounts of compassion and understanding.
3. Your employee turnover is not a reflection of your worth as a business owner or of your company’s values. Some people just don’t get it! Could be your sector, could be the world— it's not your fault!
4. It's better to have nobody than anybody— not the other way around!
5. The impact of the loss of toxic people is far smaller than keeping them. Set them free!
6. It takes one rotten apple for your fruit ball to go bad – translate this into people and you‘ve got it!
7. Offer a purpose and progression opportunities to those who have earned it. Not all deserve this help.
8. Promote from within, you know your people better than anyone who fills an application form in.
9. Celebrate the individuality of your employees within your company’s structure, change the structure if it better fits and retains the good ones, whilst still achieving business goals.
10. Ask them their plan, understand what motivates them – might be money, security or something alien to you. Let them take ownership and responsibility for their personal development. This might entice them to stay in a role longer than you could imagine!
11. Employ adults and treat them as such. Give them the respect they deserve.
Assembly:
12. Communicate, communicate and when you are done talking, communicate some more. And it's not always verbal communication.
If you require more information on how to successfully run your business and navigate employment gracefully get in touch at [email protected] to book a session with me, where we will together reshape the structure of your organisation for your company’s health and owner’s sanity!
Michaela Pontiki
