Inspiring Others is an Effective Way to Grow the Business
18 March 2008
Margaret Miles-Bramwell, founder and chairman, Slimming World
Mark Shaw, founder and chairman, Jupiter Design
- Inspiration is the most important part of the day! Your role as the business founder is to provide such inspiration. If you are unable to offer this staff will become switched off and the business won’t grow. You have to live it and love what you are doing.
- Have a clear vision for the business, what it is and where you want it to go. Define your USP.
- Communicate this vision to your staff through talking to them, company newsletters, social events etc.
- Lead by example. Open up the office and be the last to leave at night; you must be prepared to go the extra mile in the early days.
- Create a culture of trust and respect. Treat everyone the same. The company culture that you, as the owner, establish in the early days of the business will live on. It is a magic formula, however, which you have to protect.
- Slimming World view training and staff development as fundamental. 42% of the salary budget is spent on training. You demonstrate how much you value your people by investing in them.
- Business partnerships never work ! There is usually only one entrepreneur in each partnership. Differences of opinion as to how to run the business always emerge….
- Recruiting the right person is vital. It’s easy to appoint someone but difficult to get rid of them. If in doubt don’t appoint. Get references. Or ring up referees and ask one question "Would you employ this person again?"
- Sales people interview the best and are often the worst employees. Conversely, those who often do not interview well prove to be the best employees in terms of being the most focussed and reliable.
- Think about alternatives to interviews – a short project, a day spent at the business, a chance to spend time with prospective colleagues, etc.
- Rewarding Achievement
- Ask an employee to write down what you can expect of them during the year
- Get them to keep a scrapbook of evidence over the year and meet with them regularly to review it
- Award a bonus based on level of attainment of targets
- In the case of Slimming World performance is celebrated through employee "Oscars", staff trips, the Summer Ball, Employee of the Year awards and social events, etc.
- There are limits to some people’s potential and sometimes you need to make hard decisions about getting new blood into the business.
- If people are trusted they will grow in their jobs and assume responsibility. This means that you can dispense with a tier of unnecessary "regulatory" management. However you need to lay down clear ground rules otherwise people become confused as to what they can and can’t do.
- Question every rule within the business. Do we really need this rule?
- Your employees often construct an image of you that ranges from "Hero" to "complete arsehole"! You need to show to people what you are really like and display humility in being open about your mistakes and weaknesses. Entrepreneurs often get carried away by their own success. It is beneficial and humbling to try to learn a new skill where you are a complete beginner.