Are your team choosing you? How to keep your staff, happy.
We all know that in the dating world it pays to be picky. It pays to understand what you want from a potential partner. From the relationship to their personality.
Are they tall, short, dark, fair, bald, slim, intelligent, fun, etc. Do you care?
In the online dating space you have to get good at weeding out the wheat from the chaff. Many people have a list of green (and red) flags they look for when dating. - physical, emotional or how available they are, age of their children, location, profession, salary. And their profiles reflect this - humour, what they are looking for, and even add their Myers Briggs letters to their profiles.
It shows that they are very clear about what it is that they want and what they have to offer.
They're also really clear on what they really don't want - what their red flags are.
Setting clear expectations of yourself and of the potential match.
In the dating world you have to be slightly cut throat to be able to sort through the smorgasbord of options out there.
Very few of us do the same at work.
Are you clear on what your staff or potential employees want?
You may want them to love the business as much as you do, to pour their heart and soul into it, as a shared passion - together forever (or at very least a ‘LTR’)
But are they after a ‘friends with benefits’ situation? They will give you what you want and need in the hours they work, but maybe they have a side-hustle, or a second job - and this gives them the variety they need?
Are you expecting the same level of commitment from those who actually want a more casual thing - to work with other people too?
Do you look for the long term potential in all of your hires?
Post Covid hiring
After 30 months of stress, uncertainty, incessant change, working from home, hybrid working, and managing teams many of us are battling with the great exhaustion.
People are no longer wanting the same for their careers, they want a better work life balance.
Or you may find that your team is wanting more from you in terms of professional and personal development.
Have you listened to the younger generation in your team? How often do you put yourself in the shoes of your Gen Z staff? Or actually asked your Gen X team members what they really want now?
If you want to be recession proof and be able to grow your business then you need to be aware that a millennial will see their role in the workplace slightly differently to Gen X or Gen Z.
You need to develop a sense of understanding of what they want and their life priorities.
The generational gap
What you expect from the younger members of your team may differ largely from what they want from their expectations.
How many of your team are running a side business?
Are they there to pay their bills?
Do they have other priorities in their lives right now?
Are ambitious and plan to work their way up the ladder?
Or will they use their job as a stop gap to gain some experience and move on?
And what is it that YOU want?
It's very easy for you to do the same for yourself. Are you swiping left or right for yourself as a leader?
Take a moment to consider:
What are your red flags in life?
Where are you swiping left?
What are your green flags?
Where do you swipe right?
Have you had a chance this summer to reflect on who you are really?
What you really want from your life?
What you are prepared to say no to?
Do you have the strength to say no?
These are BIG questions.
Did you actually clarify to yourself what that list entails in the same way that it's really important to have a vision for where you want your business to go, and what you want for your own life?
It's equally important to have a list or an understanding of what you no longer want.
If you'd like some help auditing this process or if you'd like some help understanding how to swipe right more, enable your team to work happy or recession proof your business then please do get in touch.
Understanding the personality types in your organisation means that you can easily map out the distribution of the tasks to the correct team members who are not only capable of completing the task well, but that they will enjoy doing it too - as it is working to their strengths.
Learning how to liberate your team, and enable them to work to their natural skills and talents will create happier, more motivated, more productive teams who will want to stick around.
- better leadership means
- better team dynamics and
- reduce staff turnover and sickness
Are you seeing them?
But are you REALLY seeing them?
Do you recognise when they are underperforming, or that they are operating under extreme stress?
Are you aware of the warning signs that things may not be tickety boo?
We all fall into certain personality types and our behaviour will change in extreme situations.
As a Connector/Creative/Nurturer* (ENFJ) at nature I know I am an effusive and persuasive communicator, connecting the right people and resources to deliver my vision of the future. I also know that I am a natural people pleaser and can often say yes to everything, and fail to bring effective challenge to those I care about. I can be too nice, and take the burden on myself. Knowing this, I can spot the signs, and put measures in place to curb the unhealthy tendencies and lean more into my own strengths. My team also know this about me and are better placed to support me - as I am them.
Do you know how your behaviour under extreme stress can affect your team?
I recently delivered a workshop for a group of leaders to uncover everyone’s key strengths and weaknesses. As we talked about how they behave under extreme stress for the group they all felt exposed and vulnerable. Some of the information was sobering to say the least, not only because it hit the nail on the head but also admitting that you behave in a certain way can be a tough pill to swallow.
But knowledge is power.
So despite the cringe, a little nervous laughter and being laid bare, having this knowledge is SO empowering. As a leader, a team member, and also being to recognise when you may need to react appropriately in certain situations.
One leader laughed nervously and said ‘for the first time in my life I feel seen. It feels strange, but really good’
Being able to spot when a team member is under stress and being equipped with the knowledge on how to deal with the situation with grace and empathy is extremely empowering.
We are all only human after all.
Understand your natural leadership voice
Once you have the keys to unlock your potential and understand your own leadership voice you will be much better equipped to unlock the potential in your team too.
You will better understand what it's like to be on the 'other side of you'
Your team will understand each other, be better able to work together and you will get the best out of each team member.
If you want to SEE your team and be able to be the leader you aspire to be whilst promoting team collaboration then the team performance coaching within the 5 Voices framework would work well for your organisation.
Send me an email to hear more about our workshops and how we can benefit you and your team.
* If you’d like to know your own 5Voices Leadership Voice, take my free assessment here.