One of the greatest responsibilities of any business owner is to build a strong team and push it towards better performance.
There is a wide range of team-building factors to consider, from the hiring process to the choice of employee collaboration software.
Here are a few tried and tested techniques for building a successful team.
Promote a Culture of Learning
According to research studies, 41% of employees believe career growth is vital to job satisfaction. On the other hand, only 29% of them are satisfied with their career advancement opportunities.
That is why you should promote a culture of continuous learning in the workplace. You can do that by offering a wide range of professional and personal development courses.
Many employers mistake the learning process as something that only happens in formal education institutes such as universities or colleges. However, learning is a lifelong process that happens every day. As an employer, you have the opportunity to help your employees grow professionally by offering training courses. These courses will not only show your employees how important professional development is to the organisation but will also give them the necessary skills and knowledge to advance their careers. Learning techniques for adults can be difficult, but with the right resources and support, your employees will be able to successfully complete the course and reap the benefits.
The expansion of e-learning has made employee training simpler. Online courses are convenient, allowing your staff to adapt the learning process to their specific needs. They can participate via multiple devices and from locations, which is particularly important to distributed teams.
By investing in employees’ career and professional advancement, you prove you appreciate them. You will boost their self-esteem, engagement, and loyalty to your brand.
Build a Unique Company Culture
Every business, either big or small, has a unique culture. Over time, your team members will develop communication and behavior patterns.
Building a company culture often starts with the hiring process.
Sit down with your HR team and build a hiring and recruitment policy. Apart from analyzing the candidates’ experience and knowledge, focus on their soft skills, such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, attitudes, collaboration, etc.
Perform a detailed employee background check, as well. Never hire the first candidate available. If your initial candidate pool does not deliver the desired results, consider revamping your hiring criteria and building a new list of prospects.
Communicate Transparently
No matter if your employees work on-premise or remotely, start by scheduling regular one-on-one meetups. Talk to your team members about both their professional and private challenges. Ask them questions related to the workplace culture and environment.
Sure, keep in mind that not all employees will express their problems and concerns during 1-on-1s. That is why you should also create anonymous employee satisfaction surveys. Make it clear that the survey is anonymous. That way, you will encourage employees to provide honest feedback.
Finally, keep in mind that sending performance reports is just as important as employee feedback. Provide regular employee performance analyses. Deliver them weekly or monthly to keep your employees engaged and motivated.
Encourage Employee Collaboration
Employee collaboration is the nerve center of your team.
The goal is to streamline employee communication, ensure operational agility, and minimize disagreements and frustration.
Fortunately, with the rise of cloud team collaboration tools, breaking down the silos between your teams and ensuring exceptional employee communication is simpler than ever.
Optimizing technologies in the workplace is particularly important to teams operating remotely.
Some of the tools to invest in are:
- IM apps like Slack for real-time employee communication. Apart from providing seamless communication via various devices, Slack also allows employees to create multiple channels. For example, your Sales and IT teams can have separate communication channels. That way, they can communicate about the topics relevant to them without overwhelming other departments.
- Project management tools, such as Basecamp, provide higher project transparency. Your employees can create multiple tasks and to-do lists, add people to projects, assign tasks and deadlines, and provide feedback in real-time.
- Video conferencing tools are crucial for every team working remotely. That way, you will host better one-on-one and group meetings, while your remote staff members will not feel underappreciated.
Reward your Employees
When onboarding new candidates, set clear performance goals, values, and expectations. Make them clear to everyone. That way, your employees will know what you expect from them and behave accordingly.
To keep them engaged, you need to reward your team members regularly. Always choose incentives that are relevant and meaningful to them. For example, apart from monetary rewards, such as bonuses or raises, you can also keep the rewards process more personal. For instance, praise an employee publicly, create unique gifts, or host an office party.
Consider investing in an employee recognition system. That way, your employees can track their achievements from the platform and even suggest rewards on their own.
Conclusions
A strong team is crucial to business growth.
That is why you need to keep building it strategically.
While this is not a list of ultimate tips, it will serve as your strong starting point.
Eve Anderson is a marketing specialist turned blogger. Interested in sports and exciting travel destinations. Love to share content that can inform people.