At the beginning of Q4 each year, I take time to look through every aspect of our business to determine what changes need to be made for the upcoming year. I look at our staff and their production. I do salary surveys to ensure we are in line and able to retain and attract top talent. I look through all goals that were set and see where we won and where we fell short. It’s impossible to plan for tomorrow if I don’t know what went right and wrong today.
Our Staff is the most important asset we all have. This sentence is so important it needs to be repeated. Our staff is the most important asset we all have. It is our responsibility to hire the best talent and give them the tools to succeed. It is our responsibility to hire the right skill set for the job and it is our job to make sure they know our expectations and any goals they will be measured on.
How many times have you seen a great employee fail simply because they had no plan to follow? How can we create a plan if we don’t know what worked or what failed? It is our responsibility to provide the road map for success.
Asking the following questions can help you prepare for a successful New Year:
1) What is the condition of your team? Do you have the right people in the right places? What has changed within your organization and are you recruiting to the changes. Do you have the best team for the job?
2) What has changed with salaries in your market? Are you competitive with your salaries and benefits packages? Can you attract the staff you NEED or will you have to settle for what you can get?
3) What changes in the market will impact your business? Who are your competitors? What new lines of business have opened in your area that can pull your staff?
4) Are your goals clear and understood? Does your team have the tools they need to be successful? Do you have buy-in from your team?
5) What are your staff and company strengths and how to you build on those strengths? Where is your staff and company the weakest or most vulnerable and how can you turn those into strengths?
6) What worked last year and what failed?
7) Are you ready?
The sooner you can answer these questions and prepare for tomorrow, the sooner you will be ahead of the curve.