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Your business’s success depends on many factors, from good planning to resources and the trust you place in the people working for you.
Any good boss wants their employees to succeed and improve —it benefits the business, after all. Keeping your team happy can lead to an increase in productivity. And because the employees are more productive, your business can expand and grow, too.
It’s a synergistic process that involves budget allocation, business growth, finding clients and keeping your employees happy and ready to work.
If your business is already established, you may be wondering how to grow your brand even further. The right marketing strategy depends on your resources and the investments you are willing to make.
Want to grow your business and help your employees thrive? Here are 11 tips to consider.
Give your business an online presence
Web presence can increase sales and traffic, which is why having a website is non-negotiable for any modern business.
Although web design is very important, content usually plays a bigger role in getting clicks and retaining visitors and clients. It needs to meet your client’s demands, so you need to develop a strategy. You can find someone to help you with that.
If you’re someone located in, let’s say, New York, you can get in touch with website designers to help your business shine online. Simply look up the best companies specialized in website design New York has to offer.
A quality website increases reach and opens the door to online sales. You can use your website to sell your services or products online. Besides design, it is vital to apply SEO optimization strategies and techniques, which help your website gain organic traffic and attract your targeted audience; read more about on page optimization here.
And it can help your employees, too, because you can nurture better communication between your teams, suppliers and clients, improve productivity, and extend your reach.
A good website gives you a competitive edge over other businesses that don’t have a web presence.
Practice good communication
A positive working environment is integral to your business. An honest and open team that works in harmony is more productive. Consider explaining your work ethic, vision and business goals to your employees.
Make a habit of communicating with them, especially when you go through uncertain times. Meetings face-to-face are very important, especially in smaller businesses, because they helo you build a relationship with your employees.
Focus on exchanging feedback
When communicating with your employees, be it face-to-face, over the phone, or in video calls, remember to give feedback. And ask for feedback, too. Input from your employees can improve your business.
Whether you’re the one giving feedback to your employees or instructing your managers to do so, don’t forget to include positives and negatives. Keep in mind that meaningful feedback is useful throughout the year.
When giving negative feedback, keep things fair and focus on specifics. Ask for your employees’ side of the story, too.
You can only improve as long as you work on your business’ shortcomings. Rely on your employees to give you their perspective on how to improve your business operations. Sometimes they can see gaps and solutions you can’t see yourself.
Understand and recognize your team’s value
Give your employees credit when it’s due by rewarding them for reaching business milestones, whether it’s meeting certain sales goals or contributing with great ideas.
When it comes to rewards, you can consider bonuses or other perks. Some employers prefer to give out performance bonuses while others turn to team buildings, company dinners, fitness packages or concert tickets.
If your employees are happy, your customers will have a better experience, too.
Encourage your workers to have a fulfilled life outside of working hours. Provide them with robust benefits packages and prioritize wellness. Show that you care about them and their health.
Take the time to train and educate your team
As times change, so do the different industries. Your business must keep up with the times and changes. So, invest in your employees’ skills.
Increase productivity and engagement by offering your employees training and workshops. You help them learn things that, in turn, will help your business grow.
Mentorship programs, focused reading, job shadowing and workshops are just a few examples. Semi-formal learning methods are becoming the norm, replacing classroom-style training.
Delegate your team
As a business owner, you can’t do it all. Although it may be hard at first, learn to trust your employees and give them more responsibilities.
Empower your employees by giving them more critical tasks, for example. They will appreciate you trusting them to contribute to your business’ success.
Of course, before delegating tasks, evaluate your employees’ skills and capabilities. If necessary, ensure they have the required skills and knowledge.
Consider mentorship programs
Long-term employees are usually the ones who know your business from the inside out. They’re the ones that helped you build your brand and know the most about it. They can be good mentors to the newer members of your team.
Assigning mentors to new employees can be a complex task. You need to evaluate your veteran employees to realize who would fit the position the best.
Internal mentorship programs have positive effects on your employee morale and on their resume. They encourage the exchange of skills, knowledge, and ideas. At the same time, they demonstrate that you have trust in your veteran team members.
The new team members will benefit from these programs, too. They will get to learn from the best people in your team and grow.
Listen to your team’s ideas
Communication is important, but it’s as much about what you say as it is about how you listen.
Listen to your employees and understand what they’re trying to say. Show empathy and focus, pay attention.
Listening to your employees can take your business further. You can’t force innovation, but you can show your employees that you value them and their ideas.
If the people that work for you are afraid that their ideas will be rejected, mocked or stolen by someone else, they’ll be less likely to reveal them.
Work on showing everyone working in your organization how they can benefit from sharing their ideas. Create a safe space for your employees to speak freely and without fear.
It doesn’t mean that you have to follow every idea, but it can be a way to find something that benefits your business.
Encourage a flexible working program
Chances are, not all of your employees are fans of the traditional nine to five schedule. Some of them may require more flexibility when it comes to working hours.
The latest workplace trends show that flexible working hours and work from home can be just as efficient as time spent in the office. Work from home performance can increase up to 13% compared to working in an office. And remote work can increase productivity up to 77%.
By creating a hybrid schedule or allowing remote work, you retain younger employees who don’t like traditional working hours or who have families to take care of.
A flexible workplace benefits older employees and those who take care of family members, too.
Think about your employees’ wellbeing and insist on maintaining a healthy work/life balance. Set boundaries, solve problems during work hours and don’t call your workers late at night. As a leader, practice this yourself and teach your employees to do the same.
Pay attention to customer service quality
Your customer service team must pay attention to your clients and treat them well. Clients are the people who support your business, after all. You have to prioritize their needs and treat them well to retain them.
Train your customer service team to support the clients to the best of their ability. Invest in training programs if need be.
With better service, clients are more inclined to stay loyal to your business. . A bad experience can drive them away —9 out of 10 clients will go to your competition if they’re not treated well.
Optimize your resources
Like any other business, you probably have a set of objectives that you need to meet. To do so, create a thorough business plan and allocate resources to every aspect of your business.
Regularly review that plan and your progress. Find a strategy that encourages business growth. If a certain section of your business needs more attention, use that plan to assign enough of your resources to meet the target.
Resource optimization can mean increasing your marketing budget, investing in better equipment, or recruiting more employees so your existing team can focus on specialized tasks.
Conclusions
The 11 tips listed above can help your business and employees thrive.
Pick the ones that best fit your needs and work on adapting them to your specific case.
Most importantly, remember to support your employees and help them advance their skills — their growth will allow you to grow your brand.
About the Author
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.
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