Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Instagram
Pinterest
Marketing With Roger
  • Start
  • Books
  • The Collection
  • Book Reviews
  • Podcast

How to Get Employees Excited About Your Business Vision

August 31, 2010enfusenBusiness ConsultantNo comments

I read an article today and I wanted to get feedback from other readers about what was in this article.  The article was from Inc Magazine and was about getting employees excited about your business vision.  While I thought the article had some good ideas all of these ideas seemed to be geared towards large organizations and analysis from elite organizations.  This can sometimes be good but often I ask myself why don’t they write these articles to that small business owners like myself can easily interpret and implement the ideas?

I want to breakdown this article and then apply it as I see it to the small business world. Small Business World

About the Owner: The article starts with the idea that ‘to a business owner their venture is their baby – If only they could get their staff to think the same way’.  Well that’s all fine and dandy to talk about.  Here is the bottom line – It’s never going to happen.  People will never feel they have the same investment in a business because to put it very simply – they don’t.  If you as a business owner are striving to get your staff to work as hard as you are then you are only disappointing yourself.   Don’t fall victim to the any motivational hoopla that tells you different.  A good measuring stick is the 80% rule – If your staff is working 80% as hard as you (the business owner) then you have a great staff!

Clear Communication: In the small business world you have to approach communication differently then in a large corporation.  If you have lets say 10 employees do you think it is important for everyone to understand your latest sales proposal to a new client?  While this might depend on the type of business we are talking about but in most cases the answer is no.  The reason for that is that a small company needs to be more reactive then a large business.  The owner of a small business will on most cases make all the major decisions with out consultation.  This is OK!  As your company grows and your staff expands you will see opportunity to involve more people.

Keeping an Open Ear: I do like this par of the original article.  I’ve met a lot of business owners who have their office on a separate floor from their team.  This kind of hands off approach is a recipe for disaster.   I personally have an office in my call center so that if my door is open I can hear each and every phone call.  I’ve also in the past sat down at a desk in my warehouse every day for a month so I could get a feel for the happenings in my bookstore.  You have to be present to manage.

Small Business OwnerMeasuring Engagement: Here is where they got really technical and referenced a study done by MIT.  Wouldn’t we all love to have our businesses evaluated by an MIT Grad?  Well actually I wouldn’t.  While having all the respect in the world for these amazing grads I still think a business owner of a small business with the proper tools will understand their business better.  To measure engagement with your staff you need to watch, listen, and learn.  My favorite method for this as a business consultant is to let the staff member teach the owner how to do a task.  During this instruction period the owner is not allowed to correct any mistakes that they may perceive.    What does this do?  It gives the owner the perspective of the staff and it gives the staff a level of interaction that allows them to develop confidence in their skills.  When this type of training is implemented in a small business comprehensive results show improvement in all business elements.  Most importantly profitability.

Are all Businesses Created Equal? They should simply delete this section of the article.  I work closely with numerous non-profits and I don’t think many non-profit executives at a chapter level would agree with the statements made in Inc’s Article.  Staff members at all levels are more concerned about time off, pay, and how not to do work (in 80% of cases).  This is not a non-profit nor it is it a small business problem – it is a problem for everyone.

Maintaining Engagement as your Business Grows: As your company grows some staff members will gain seniority and a level of experience that is vital to the continued success of your company.  If you choose to continue growing your relationship with these members you need to be sure to support this growth with renewed goals and challenges.  If you let them slide into laziness it will only be your fault as the business owner.

Is Employee Engagement Exploitative?  This is true.  In the rare case that you find a staff member who is in the 20% meaning that are truly motivated, they want to do more, and they have personal goals in mind then you need to cradle their ambitions and reward them for their success.  In todays world where I’ve had people quit because they could collect more money from unemployment you have to face staff members with a sense of entitlement.  This entitlement sentiment is anti-productive and can be contagious if found in your company.  As a small business owner you need to know when you owe a staff member (for accomplishment) versus when a staff member thinks you owner them (because of an entitlement sentiment).

I intended for this post to be somewhat controversial.  So I’d love to hear what you have to say.  The people who sometimes live in the large corporate world want to dictate to small business owners how they should run their business often don’t understand the small business world we work in.  As the owner of a Multi-Million Dollar Company that I started with my own hands I feel my review of this article is fair and more relevant to the world of a small business consultant.

To view the original article from Inc. Magazine please visit: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/how-to-get-employees-excited-about-your-business-vision.html

Related Post

Business Consulting and the help of Product Develo...
Who Needs to Contact a Business Consulting Firm?
Business Plan Review
How the Business Consultant Can Help With Advertis...
An Overview of a Business Consultant
Tags: How to Get Employees Excited About Your Business Vision
enfusen
enfusen
Roger is the Founder at Enfusen. He was #40 on Entrepreneur Magazines Most Influential Digital Marketers in 2016. His past companies have made INC Magazines Fastest Growing Companies in 2011, 2012, & 2013.
Previous post Business Plan – What would you like to see? Next post How to Make Money Online [Podcast MP3 Audio]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Let me send you my best (and most controversial) stuff…

I’ve spoken to some of the top innovators, investors and peak performers in the world…

And I’d like to share what I’ve learned, and continue to learn, for free.

Every weekday, I’ll send my latest stories, ideas and exclusive interviews straight to your inbox.

Sign up below for Roger Confidential, my tell-all FREE weekday e-letter.

Recent Posts

  • 2017 Digital Marketing Industry Report: A Sample
    2017 Digital Marketing Industry Report: A Sample
  • 2017 Digital Marketing Industry Report: A Sample
    2017 Digital Marketing Industry Report: A Sample
  • How to send mass personalized emails using Google Mail Merge
    How to send mass personalized emails using Google Mail Merge
  • How to send mass personalized emails using Google Mail Merge
    How to send mass personalized emails using Google Mail Merge
  • Scale your agency from $0-$1 Million
    Scale your agency from $0-$1 Million

Categories

  • Ask Roger
  • Auto Auctions
  • Being an Entrepreneur
  • Blog
  • Boating Information
  • Bookstore
  • Business Consultant
  • Companies
  • Cooking With Roger
  • Economics
  • FSBO : For Sale By Owner Real Estate
  • Goodwill Donation News
  • How to Scale an Agency
  • Management
  • Marketing & SEO
  • Marketing Training
  • Mobile
  • Motion
  • Non-Profit Information
  • Photography
  • SEO
  • SEO Training
  • Sustainability Renewable Energy
  • The 4 P's
  • The Project: Drop Shipping
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • August 2018
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • May 2014
  • December 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • October 2009
  • July 2009
  • January 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007

Welcome to the blog of Roger Bryan.  Keep up to date with the latest trends in Data Driven Marketing, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and the occasional book review!

Marketing with Roger
526 S Main St, Suite 801F
Akron, OH 44311

  1 888-722-7926

 (1-888-RCBRYAN)

Site Navigation

  • Blog
  • Book Reviews
  • About Us
  • Book Clubs
  • Contacts
  • Sitemap

List of Books

  • The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
  • Start Writing Your Book Today by Morgan Gist MacDonald
  • Evolved Enterprise by Yanik Silver
  • The Great Work of Your Life
  • Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
  • The New Solution Selling
  • Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich

Follow me on Twitter

Tweets by RogerCBryan

  • Start
  • Books
  • The Collection
  • Book Reviews
  • Podcast
Copyright 2018 Roger Bryan. All Rights Reserved.