We were chatting and I asked them what they thought the number one thing was that made the difference. They said it was the people that they worked with. Now that can be a bit of a glib answer, but then I recalled listening to Rob Fyfe (ex CE of Air New Zealand) when he spoke at a Napier City Council event a number of years ago.
Fyfe posed the question, was it important to be customer focused? Everyone nodded yes, but then he came straight back at us and said while thinking about customers was really important (go figure!), the most important thing in his business was the people that worked at Air NZ. He wanted them to be raving advocates and fans of the business, way before any customer.
It’s always stuck with me and you can read lots of other examples about this sort of approach.
So over a coffee or two I asked the business owner I was chatting with to outline how they developed their team, to a stage that the business didn’t solely rely on them. Here’s what they told me: (article continues below)
Leadership had to be committed to fostering an employee-centric culture. That wasn’t just the business owner, but the senior leaders as well. This involved leading by example, actively engaging with the folks on the team, understanding what made them tick and prioritising their well-being.
Transparent and open communication helped them build trust and ensure everyone feels heard and valued. Regular updates, feedback sessions, and an open-door policy was critical they said. Simple things like:
Investing in the development of folks through training, mentorship (both internal and external, right across the business, including the owner) and really thinking how they could show folks that the company is invested in their growth. They also make sure they have time to have a bit of ‘fun’ and recognise how all the team is doing. They go out of their way to find and recognise the ‘good stuff’, have person of the month awards and bonus systems.
They understand that supporting work-life balance is crucial for employee satisfaction and productivity. Now this can be hard at times, but they have initiatives like flexible working hours, working from home, understanding that people have commitments outside of work like kids' school events, and they try to support that.
The aim is to build a culture where everyone feels valued and respected. Does it always work like that? Of course not, but just because something can be difficult isn’t a reason not to try different things and think in different ways.
They know however, if the team feels valued, the commitment to the business at both a culture and productivity level increases.
Remember, they want to build a healthy work environment and that doesn’t happen by chance.
These things are sometimes hard to quantify, but they run an internal net promotor score (would you recommend to your family or friends that they work here), they have a low staff turnover rate and the place always has a good vibe to it. On top of that, there is the boring metrics like sales & GP increase, productivity, rework and the list can go on!
Now building a system like this doesn’t happen overnight and it’s not without its challenges, but the reality is that if it was easy everyone would have a world class business!
So go on, challenge yourself, forget about putting customers first (but definitely a close second), build a strong team and think of ways that you can build an employee-centric business.
