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August 23, 2021

Five Strategies to Prevent Your Best Employees from Walking Out the Door

A stellar team can help move your business in the right direction. As a small business owner, you know that finding and keeping the right staff is critical for daily and long-term success. 

But, how do you hold on to your people when America is amid a “great resignation” that affects small and large businesses? 

As the pandemic wanes and people start to evaluate their lives and careers against a new backdrop, you want to ensure that your employees decide to stay with you. Understanding why people leave jobs and knowing a few key retention strategies can help keep your best employees on board, even when the job market is sizzling hot.

 

Understand Why People Leave Jobs

People leave jobs for as many different reasons as there are jobs. As an employer, some of the transitions are expected and outside of your control. For example, an employee who finishes a degree may decide to move on to a job in her field of study. Sometimes people have new family obligations–or family commitments change–and they choose to scale back or increase work obligations. Likewise, sometimes interests just change or curiosity drives people to try new things. 

 

In these cases, there’s not much you can do as an employer. Generally, the best option is to thank the employee for her service and end the relationship positively. Doing so means you are poised to continue a good relationship with that person. In some cases, the employee may return to you later or suggest an equally great friend as a resource.

 

However, some resignations are closely linked to employer actions and policies. Many times, employers are blind to the things that frustrate employees. For example, a lack of day-to-day flexibility or a strict vacation policy might send some employees packing. Employees who feel under-appreciated or sense conflict in the ranks also may leave.

 

The key is to know which issues are within your sphere of influence and which are not. If the problem is one you can control, proactive planning can prevent resignations and keep your all-star staff on board. 

 

Communicate Clearly with Your Team Members

Like so many aspects of life, communication is the key to a productive working relationship. To know what matters to your employees, keep the lines of communication open. It may feel awkward, but a simple call every few weeks to ask your team members what’s working and what’s not working can go a long way toward enhanced communication.

 

When you call, express that you are open to feedback and changes based on what you hear. Take input from employees in stride. When an employee is brave enough to share her thoughts and frustrations with you, respect the courage it took to speak up. If the feedback hurts or is contrary to what you expected, take a deep breath and vow to consider it.

 

When team members share frustrations, ask them to suggest ways to address concerns they have. An employee with a concern often has a solution in mind, which relieves you from solving the problem. If you hear the same feedback from several employees, encourage them to form a committee to address the issue and bring potential solutions to you.

 

In some cases, employees just want to be heard and know that you care. Making the call and asking the questions is an excellent step in that direction.

 

Share Feedback

One way to show your team love is to provide feedback on the regular. No need to wait for a performance review to talk about skill development. When employees see that you have taken the time to notice their work, provide feedback, and suggest new ways to grow, they know you care and feel valued.

 

When you see an employee struggling, encouraging feedback can make a huge difference. Likewise, when you see an employee thriving, mention that to her. Finally, if you sense an employee is bored or restless, finding a growth opportunity can help provide a challenge that keeps her engaged and highlights possibilities for future opportunities.

 

Recognize, Recognize, Recognize

In the workplace, recognition can fuel your team through challenging projects and encourage them to keep up the excellent work. It also serves as a reminder that you see each employee and appreciate the work they are doing. 

 

Recognition can be as easy as a phone call or an email that says, “hey, I notice what a good job you are doing.” Another strategy is to thank people at the end of a workday or after a challenging meeting.

 

Recognition can also take additional forms. Having a wide range of recognition tools makes the practice easier for you. But, when you manage a team of remote workers, the traditional ways of thanking your team and showing appreciation may be more difficult. Team lunches, impromptu gatherings, or stops at the local cafe for a quick “well done” treat are tougher to pull off when your team is scattered all over the country. 

 

Check out this blog for tips to make recognition a habit and to find no and low-cost ways to recognize your team.

 

Keep Pay and Benefits Current 

At the end of the day, your employees are generally working to support families. So, keeping pay and benefits current is an essential factor in retaining staff. It’s easy to forget about pay adjustments when you are busy doing good work with a great team. But, if your employees have been receiving the same pay for a year or more, it’s time to do some research. Here’s how:

 

  • Ask around to find out what like-businesses are paying for similar jobs.
  • Inquire about benefit offerings, including vacation time and flexibility.
  • Compare the data you gathered to your pay structure.
  • Make adjustments as needed. 
  • Communicate the changes–and the thinking behind them–to your team.

 

Be open about pay and benefits as you talk to your team members. Explain the research you did and the cost pressures you are facing in discussing pay. If you can’t increase pay or change benefits, be open with your team about that and explore whether other forms of compensation might be mutually acceptable.

 

Be Flexible and Offer Flexibility

As the pandemic winds down, people (especially moms!) may need new and different types of schedules. Be open to looking at and discussing new options. Offering a little additional flexibility in the short term could help you retain a valuable staff member for years to come.

 

How Do You Retain Staff?

I’d love to hear your tricks for keeping staff on board. Drop me a line and share your best tips.

 

 

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July 12, 2021

Seven Keys to Conducting Productive, Low-Stress Performance Reviews for Remote Teams

If the idea of delivering a performance review strikes fear in your heart, you are not alone. Many people rank receiving or giving a performance review right below getting a root canal. That’s because performance reviews are awkward. When you have a virtual team, performance reviews can feel that much more uncomfortable because you miss out on the benefit of seeing body language.

Although awkward, performance reviews are also essential. They can become comfortable affairs that lead to rich conversations and serve as a catalyst for growth for you and your team.

Having the right mindset for performance reviews is an excellent first step to making them more effective for you and your team. Specific tactics can help ease the planning and delivery process. Read on to find recommendations for both.

 

Keep the Objective in Mind

As you start thinking about performance reviews, remember why they are essential. Performance reviews lead to better performance and greater connection. They are not designed to serve as a “gotcha moment” or a time for recriminations. It’s not a report card like the ones issued in school. It’s a chance for two professionals to honestly discuss how things are going and to look to the future to consider possibilities.

All feedback sharing, and particularly performance reviews, are a tool to deepen relationships between you and your team members. As team members, you share the same goal. But, you both have different perspectives on success. As a business owner, you want to see your business succeed and likely derive great personal satisfaction from that success. Your employees crave personal success through a job well done. In the end, you know your people and understand that they care about the success of your business. Discussing performance is simply a shared acknowledgment of your relationship and its importance for your mutual success. It reflects a commitment to each other’s development.

 

Make Feedback an Ongoing Process

One way to make performance reviews easier is to share feedback throughout the year. Like any skill, practice makes progress. If you only share feedback at specific intervals, flexing the feedback muscle will feel unnatural. You can normalize the sharing of feedback to set a tone of open, two-way feedback with your team. 

Try adding the phrase: “in the spirit of continual improvement” to your vocabulary when communicating with your team. Then, add observations of your performance as well as the groups. For example, try closing meetings with a few comments about the week and encourage employees to do the same. Encourage people to share thoughts about what’s going well and what’s not. Ask people what they are learning. Share your observations about how work is flowing and what you are learning. Be honest about the things you wish you’d done differently and point out that that it’s all in the spirit of continual improvement.

People feel heartened when their leaders are honest about what’s working and what’s not. Constant sharing promotes growth and normalizes the feedback process, especially when feedback is flowing in all directions. 

 

Establish Set Intervals for Performance Reviews

As important as it is to offer ongoing feedback, establishing specific intervals to conduct performance reviews is also essential. 

Many people find that an annual cycle offers the best timing for employee reviews. Annual reviews provide sufficient time intervals between reviews, allowing people to apply feedback from the prior year. This schedule generally works best for long-term employees who work on complex, long-lead projects.

Quarterly review cycles might be suitable for your team if your team members are less experienced, have a shorter tenure, and work on shorter-term projects. In this case, more frequent formal feedback can aid in development.

The key is that review intervals aren’t a one-size-fits-all affair. You might even use different cycles for different team members or at different points in your business. You’ll find success comes more effortless if you have a process in mind and share it with your team members, so you all know what to expect.

 

Set Yourself (and Your Team) Up for Success

You can take a lot of the stress out of performance reviews for you and your team by establishing a few rules of the road designed the ease the process for all parties.

  • Follow a “no surprise” policy. One way to reduce trepidation is to avoid holding a year’s (or quarter’s) worth of developmental feedback until the official performance review. Instead, share developmental input along the way, so employees have a chance to act on it. Any feedback shared during a formal performance review should be a repeat of themes you’ve already discussed. Establish a policy that the performance review is not a time to share previously unheard grievances.
  • Encourage two-way communication during the review. Approach the meeting as a discussion, where you and your employee both openly discuss feedback, not a lecture about all the things that went right or wrong.
  • Take stock of the entire period. It’s easy to be swayed by recency bias and focus on the projects completed most recently. But, with a performance review, it’s vital to have an objective look back at the entire period encompassed for the review. To ensure you have a complete perspective, look back at notes, consider previous projects, and add results from work done across the review period.
  • Gather more than one perspective for the person you are reviewing. If your team is large enough, ask team members to review each other and share their perspectives. If applicable, ask for customer and vendor feedback on each person’s performance. This practice can give you a fuller view of someone’s performance.
  • Ask your team members to complete a self-evaluation as part of the review process. Encourage them to include perspectives on strengths and weaknesses over the last year and set goals for the coming year.
  • Remove money discussions from the performance review. Let your team know that the review will take place in two parts. The first portion will focus on performance over the last period, looking forward to the coming year. The second part of the review process will include a discussion about pay, bonuses, and raises, if applicable. Setting this expectation makes for a more productive performance review and makes it easier for employees to hear your feedback rather than eagerly awaiting pay news.

 

Create a Comfortable Environment

Another way to reduce the stress associated with performance reviews is to create a comfortable situation for you and your employee. Here are some ways to do that:

  • Schedule the review well in advance. About a month before the review, send an invitation to the employee so she can plan accordingly. Setting time aside makes it easier to focus on the review and shows that you see the review process as part of a meaningful conversation rather than just another task.
  • Set aside enough time to talk. A good rule of thumb is to add 30 minutes to what you think you’ll need. That way, you won’t feel rushed, and you’ll be able to have a fuller conversation. If you are only sharing positive feedback, resist the temptation to cut this short and only schedule a brief review. Sometimes the richest conversations come about when time is available to talk. You can always end the call early.
  • Share a written summary of the feedback in advance. Giving the employee a chance to review your feedback before the formal review leads to a more productive conversation, an opportunity to ask questions, and a fuller discussion of performance. It also means that you won’t have that awkward feeling of reading a review to your employee during the time set aside for the review.
  • Use a comfortable format. If you regularly use Zoom or other video conferencing to connect, do the same for the performance review. This isn’t the time to try out new video conferencing software. An old-fashioned phone call is a great option if that makes it easier to talk more openly. Meet in person if schedules and distance allow.
  • Be open to hearing the employee’s perspective on your thoughts. Her thoughts can provide you with greater insight into her performance and give you hints for coaching opportunities.

 

Arrange Your Own Performance Review

When you run the business, feedback on your performance can be tough to gather, and a formal performance review may not seem feasible. But, both are essential for your growth. Encourage contractors and employees to review you and offer feedback on areas where you excel and those where you can improve. This can open your eyes to some blind spots you might have in your performance and help you grow as a leader. 

As you make the request, share this document with them and remind them of the no surprise policy. You will benefit when your team is open and honest with you.

 

How to Handle Negative Reactions

Despite your best intentions and after following all the guidelines outlined here, you may still encounter negative reactions from employees during a performance review. While it can be unsettling, try not to take it personally or to respond in kind. When employees are upset by performance evaluations, it shows they care and take their work seriously.

In some cases, it may be best to pause the review and let the employee take some time to regroup before finishing the discussion. Depending on the feedback, the two of you can decide the best way to move forward with the review and your relationship.

Finally, don’t shy away from performance reviews to avoid adverse reactions. Reviews are critical tools that can help your business grow, help you develop as a leader, and help your employees as they work toward personal success.

 

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June 14, 2021

Is an Online Business Manager the Missing Asset for Your Small Business?

As your business grows, you may find yourself stretched in many directions. At first, a virtual assistant takes the steam off by lifting administrative tasks off your plate. Now your team has grown, your customers are increasing, and you have ideas for the future. But, there’s only one of you, and all your time goes to managing the day-to-day operations of your growing venture.

Enter the Online Business Manager (OBM). Of the many roles that can help your business grow, an Online Business Manager may be the most consequential. Finding the right OBM frees you from worrying about the day-to-day and lets you move fully into the mode of the visionary executive. Adding this role to your staff frees you to focus on pursuing your vision. It can also create more time for your family, free up energy that’s currently going toward running the business, and give you the mental space you need to grow your business in new ways. 

 

What is an Online Business Manager?

An Online Business Manager takes over the daily operations of a business. In this case, the word online refers to the location of the business manager, not the nature of the company.

Many businesses use an Online Business Manager, including those that operate online and those with more traditional operations. Online Business Managers have a skill set that can be used to help run any type of business. 

 

What Do Online Business Managers Do?

An Online Business Manager essentially serves as a Chief Operating Officer for your business, so you can focus on being the Chief Executive Officer. At the most basic level, Online Business Managers lead a team. They understand your objectives for the business and are focused on leading all elements of the team to understand that vision and bring it to life. They accomplish many management-related tasks, including:

  • Project management ensures that all the trains run on time and the team stays focused on meeting deadlines for new and ongoing projects. Project management is critical as you introduce new products and new processes. 
  • Operations management includes keeping an eye on ongoing operations, troubleshooting issues, and establishing processes for better workflow.
  • Metrics management including creating ways to give you a numbers-based look at your business and developing ways to use metrics to measure business outcomes and progress toward goals.
  • People management including answering questions from team members and helping to ensure career growth and job satisfaction for employees.
  • Client management Online Business Managers may work directly with select clients as account managers in some industries.

How are Online Business Managers Different from Virtual Assistants?

When contemplating the addition of an Online Business Manager, it can be challenging to differentiate between the OBM role and a Virtual Assistant or VA. Many VAs take on some of the tasks that an Online Business Manager might do, and some Online Business Managers start as VAs.

However, the roles are fundamentally different. VAs complete tasks based on directions. For example, you tell your VA that you need to take a trip to Oregon to see a potential customer for a meeting. Your VA organizes your travel and sends out meeting invitations, saving you an enormous amount of time and potential hassle.

By contrast, your Online Business Manager is a strategic partner. She sees the tasks that she must tackle to achieve your goals and dives in to lead a team to do it. For example, you tell your Online Business Manager that you’d like to grow your business in Oregon. Knowing that goal, she (or someone on her team) researches potential customers and presents opportunities to you.

Once you select the potential customers, she will help you prepare for the meeting. After the customer is landed, she will develop processes to help ensure the quality delivery of products and services. As she does that, you are free to move on and consider additional business strategies, find new customers, and explore new business lines.

 

Do You Need an Online Business Manager?

An Online Business Manager makes sense for many businesses, but not all. The role is usually a need that a company grows into instead of one that’s added right away.

While the timing for adding this role can vary, the following indicators tell you it may be time for you to leap.

  • Time Constraints

Many entrepreneurs launch a business to have more personal time and find a better work-life balance. But, the business grows quickly and takes up any free time. This scenario can lead to frustration. An Online Business Manager can help restore the joy you once got from your business.

Also, serial entrepreneurs running several businesses often need Online Business Managers sooner rather than later. An Online Business Manager can take your existing business and run it while you nurture new ideas. The same goes if you have multiple revenue lines and need someone to manage one or more of them so you can focus on other work.

  • Capacity Limits Impede Growth

If you find yourself turning away work because you are too busy servicing existing work to add more, an Online Business Manager can solve that problem for you. The increased revenue an Online Business Manager makes possible can easily dwarf the increased cost of bringing her aboard. 

  • Reduced Personal Growth

If your business has matured, but you are still doing many of the same tasks you did when your business started, it’s time to bring in an Online Business Manager. As the CEO of your own company, it can be challenging to look after your own growth. But, it’s a hugely important consideration. If you stop growing because you are always doing the same tasks, you may lose interest in the business. An Online Business Manager can help free you from running the business and let you return to the areas where you have the most passion.

  • People Management

Many entrepreneurs are surprised to realize that managing a team brings frustration instead of joy. Even the best people will come to you with questions and concerns, and it can take time and energy to respond thoughtfully. Not responding thoroughly or thoughtfully can hurt team morale and reduce effectiveness, which can harm your business. An Online Business Manager can solve that problem for you by managing your team, answering questions, and helping promote career growth among your team members.   

  • Revenue Plateau

All business ventures will hit a revenue plateau at some point. These plateaus are incredibly frustrating when you don’t have the time to push past them or incubate an idea that could increase revenue. Bringing in an Online Business Manager to run the business can let you return to operating at a more strategic level by pushing barriers aside.

 

What is Typical Pay for an OBM?

People new to considering OBMs or COOs are always curious what the going rate is and with good reason. Wages will vary dependent on industry, experience, expected tasks and more but a reasonable range to start with is $25 to $45. 

 

Signs That Your Business is Not Yet Ready for an Online Business Manager

Just as there are sure signs that you need an Online Business Manager, there are also indicators that you aren’t there yet. Most importantly, if your cash flow doesn’t support the role, it’s best to hold off until you can make the financial commitment. An Online Business Manager can help you move the needle from your current financial place to the next. But, you need a certain amount of financial stability before you can do that. 

The second meaningful sign that you aren’t ready to add an Online Business Manager is that you aren’t prepared to surrender control of some element of your business. If you know (or suspect) that you will micromanage an Online Business Manager, potentially creating more work for yourself in the process, don’t hire one. 

Instead, work on giving up some level of control by working with a seasoned VA and grow to the place where you can give some level of control over to your Online Business Manager. The art of delegating is genuinely an art, and it takes some practice to do it effectively.

 

How to Find Your Online Business Manager

If you’ve read this and decided that it’s time to bring an Online Business Manager on board, visit HireMyMom and consider HireMyMom’s Concierge service.  We created the Concierge Service for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process. If you are ready for an Online Business Manager, this is the right route for you. With our full-service Concierge Service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you from start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s) sourced from a wide array of qualified applicants who will be dedicated to helping your business succeed and grow. 

 

 

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