7 Ways to Empower Employees Through Meetings and Conversations

Written by KBA Director, Colin Wilson

We all know it’s the especially passionate staff that help us grow and expand our business. The more engaged our staff, the more they want to succeed for the company, particularly if there are goals to achieve with some sort of reward for effort or outcome, as well as good recognition and praise.

Staff want to be empowered and to empower your staff you need to have a purpose. What are we aiming for? What is/are the goal/s? Where are the ideas? Can we get input from our team to help make a difference? Tell us what the company needs to do to survive? How do we become more competitive to grow? How do we build on better customer service that will help with more referrals?

Building solid foundations in your business is the key for on-going sustainable success. Below are my 7 tips on how to empower your employees through better meetings and conversations:

1. Business Improvement Workshops – Take your team off-site to work on your business. Share your vision, values and goals with your team and give them purpose. Ask your team, what is working in our business, what do we need to improve on? Workshop your company to improve and set fresh goals. Share the company’s successes and challenges with your whole team, brainstorm for better improvements (systems, products or services) and get them involved to help build your business more successfully because they will own it.
   
   (KBA conducts our own off-site business improvement workshop every quarter which in return creates the best form of teamwork and understanding of each part of the business. Our team know what needs to be done to be a better and more successful company).
2. Bring in outside experts – staff love guest speakers, professional trainers and good facilitators. Have someone from outside your organisation assist with helping you set the focus and direction of what you’re trying to achieve. Make sure there is a good synergy and learning outcome with a message that will help drive motivation and improvement for your business. When you use outside professionals, your staff feel that you are investing in them.
3. Client events – If you drive customer centricity through your business about the value of looking after your clientele, then create an event which brings them together and encourages interaction, you’ll foster better client relations. Nothing strengthens a relationship quite as well as being able to put a face to a name, and this in turn improves client retention.
4. Staff Events – When you set goals with your team, or the business is excelling, make sure you do something to celebrate and show staff their hard work is appreciated. Your staff will feel empowered and will attend because they want to feel a part of your company and its success. A dinner or team building activity is always a winner.  Always remember to take a heap of photo’s and put them up in your kitchen, so all staff can remember the good times!
5. Team Meetings – Many companies have team meetings; however, I ask you to consider the purpose of the meeting and whether everyone needs to be involved? In my experience, mini meetings are often more productive. Meetings should always serve purpose and have a desired outcome I.e. education, motivation, ideas or general topics. Team meetings need to be open and transparent, and you can’t do all the talking. Set an agenda and delegate for better engagement and enthusiasm.  Remember, boring meetings dis-engage staff, so ask your team what they want out of these meetings and deliver to not only the company’s needs but also their needs.
6. Performance Reviews/ Appraisals – Every staff member wants to know how they are performing and what they need to do to raise the bar so they can be challenged or rewarded for up skilling their knowledge, delivering better results for the company. Too many businesses focus on the poor performance of staff as opposed to setting goals and challenging staff to reach something that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely –SMART Goals are great for better outcomes and employee growth.
7. One-on-one conversations – Pull aside each member when appropriate and acknowledge them for what they are doing well. This could be something you have seen, a customer that has given feedback on or a new product or system they have embraced and taken on board. Remember, staff like to feel that they are contributing to the bottom line of the business. Challenge and empower them with positivity. Remember, if you are always picking on staff the moment you see them do something wrong, be prepared that they will probably shut down and you won’t get the best out of them. If they are under performing, then address this by following the correct HR process. If you need assistance in this area, call our office to speak to one of our HR Advisors.

Great communication and engaged conversations is the key to building a solid business. You will have multiple personalities in your company and you will need to cater for all. We are all focused on the outcomes that make good profits for the business, but without a great team to look after your customers, you’ll find yourself in a vicious circle where it feels like you never get ahead. You need to lead your team, and coach, manage and mentor them, so they become successful and a great asset for your business, otherwise they will leave you!

It’s a new financial year so it’s a great time to make a fresh start. I hope the above has helped you with a few ideas?

If you need help in building your business then contact us at Key Business Advisors on 1300 4 ADVICE