Keeping it from them won’t help…
Do you ever wonder if your employees care?
Do they “get it” when you have to make policy changes?
Do they see you as heartless when you make budget cuts?
Does the community see your company, your organization as active and interested in the growth and vibrancy of the community?
If these are some of the questions you struggle with, then time spent learning about how to engage the hearts and minds of your employees is worth your investment!
Who better than your own team members to help you make tough decisions? Who has more at stake than your team members in the health and growth of your company? And don’t you want your business to have a great reputation in the community where you live, work and serve?
You may wonder how to engage your team. Let’s look at one topic for discussion….budget. Here are some important factors to consider.
- Give your employees credit for having interest and understanding what you are talking about. Think about it, they manage budgets at home so why wouldn’t they understand pieces of the company budget?
- Pick the most relevant things to discuss. They may not have an interest in everything, but labor costs or supply costs will be of interest and areas where they have ideas to contribute.
- Make it relatable. For example, if every minute of overtime saved yields savings of x amount, tell them so when you start cutting back on overtime, they know why and what savings are expected.
- Repeat the conversation. So if x saved yields y results, talk about it in many forums and meetings.
- Make your communication with the team predictable. Is it a morning huddle? Is it daily, weekly or some other frequency? Does your top leader hold town hall meetings? Perhaps quarterly?
- If there is a need for follow-up, make sure it happens and in a timely way.
With more than 32 years’ experience in leading teams from entry level to middle management, from sales to bargained for teams, let me work with you to create a feedback rich environment. Having employees as your advocate for streamlining the business and processes, saving money, targeting budget cuts and being an extension of the business in the community is all possible. Contact us today to start the conversation and see the difference that can be made.
