BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
GrowtH takeS stroNg roOTs I
Support your employees to expand your business.
By toM borG
n Irrigation & Lighting magazine’s recent Industry Outlook Survey, a majority of the participants re- sponded by indicating that 2022 was going to be the year of strong to very strong growth for their green industry company.
If that is true, then what will these companies need to do to make that growth a reality? Just saying it will be a tremendous growth year won’t make it happen. In some of my previous articles, I have discussed the
concept of business paradigms. A business paradigm is the problem-solving system you use to run your business. Each business is a collection of many paradigms. Which paradigms are you using to run your business? Which paradigms will help you expand your business and which ones will prevent you from expanding it? In 2021, many green industry businesses had trouble
hiring enough quality employees. One of my clients was no different. At each of the meetings we had, we discov- ered a number of concerns. One of their beliefs was that there were no good em-
ployees available to be hired. Tey believed most poten- tial employees were taking advantage of unemployment benefits. Tey believed that most potential employees were lazy and did not want to work. It became clear that this kind of thinking was preventing them from doing the things that were going to attract the right kind of people to work for their company. You might’ve heard the statement, “If you always do
When IT comeS to improVing YOur compaNy, YOu don’t haVE enoUgH time ANd moNEy not TO do ThE thinGs neCEssarY to imPrOve it.
22 Irrigation & Lighting Spring 2022
what you’ve always done, you always get what you always got.” But truth be known, a more accurate way to word that statement would be, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get less than you always got.” Times are constantly changing, and if you keep doing the things you have always done, you will be left behind. Many of your competitors are constantly striving to get better. It won’t take long for you to fall far behind your competitors who are moving forward.
BuildinG your TEam
Te best place to begin is with your own team. What are you doing to make sure your present team stays with your company? My colleague Mel Kleiman advocates the use of “stay interviews” as a way to prevent your team from looking for greener pastures. During that stay in- terview, ask them what they like about your company and what needs to be improved. What do you need to stop doing as a leader? What do you need to start doing?
When you stop to analyze your hiring situation, re- member to use the theory of the leaky barrel. Imagine in your mind a large barrel with an open lid. Your goal is to fill this barrel full of water. Unfortunately, the bar- rel has several holes punched in the sides of it. As you pour water into the barrel, you see some of it spouting out through the holes. You scratch your head and ask yourself, “What was I thinking? How can I expect this barrel to hold all the water I was pouring into it with all of those holes allowing it to escape?” Tis is an excellent analogy to help you understand
the importance of building an employee retention strat- egy before you begin to even look for new candidates to fill the jobs within your green industry company. Building an effective employee retention strategy takes time and work. Don’t give the excuse that you don’t have the time to build one. When it comes to im- proving your company, you don’t have enough time and money not to do the things necessary to improve it. Let’s take a look at three areas you need to include. Te first is employee engagement. Are your employees and leaders truly engaged in what they do with your company? Do they know what your company stands for, why it does what it does? Do their values align with your company’s mission statement? Do they support the vision of your organization? How do you find out if your team members are truly
engaged? You ask them. Maybe it’s time to change or modify your company’s mission and vision statement. Te best way to do that is to get everyone together and reexamine it. Tear it apart and create a new one. Having everyone’s input will help them own and support it. Te second part of building your employee retention
strategy is to improve the trust and communication in your organization from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. Open and frequent communication in one-on-one
situations, as well as in group meetings, is a must. When you have clear and on-going two-way communication, you have more trust and engagement. I advise all of my clients to begin with a Talent In- sights Assessment. Tis scientifically validated instru- ment measures a person’s driving forces and behaviors. When everyone in your organization understands the driving forces and behavior style of each other, you are on your way to better teamwork and job performance. With the proper debriefings, this instrument can be one of the best tools in your toolbox for employee retention.
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