The one question you need to ask your employees

Know where your business is heading? Damn right you do. Ask your employees one question to ensure they do too.

As owner of a small or medium enterprise, you know what you want from your business. Whether it’s hitting a revenue or profit target, gaining traction in a new market, a reputation for quality or simply working towards the dream of a 4-day working week, your business objectives and priorities are at the forefront of your mind.

But what about those who work for you? Do they know?

One comment I hear regularly from employees is not knowing where the business is heading. Under these circumstances, it can be challenging for an employee to align his or her actions to the vision you have for your business. I find it interesting to ask individual employees the question “what are you here for?” and hearing the range of responses. Often these have very little alignment to the big picture objectives of the actual business owner.

Here’s the thing (and don’t tell your typical management consultant this): it’s not that hard to lead people to an objective. But it’s near impossible for them to hit that objective if they don’t know what it is. Or if they cannot see how their contribution links to it.

Solution: tell them. Share your business objectives with every member of the team. Show each person how and where their contribution links into the operational and strategic objectives of the business. Then set them up to deliver. You don’t have to reveal every aspect of your financial position or commercial in confidence information but don’t assume just because you know where your business is heading – or where you want it to head – that everyone else does as well. This is especially important if you have Millennials as employees…part of their work psyche is a need to feel emotionally connected to the business, its outcomes and what it stands for.

Once people are aware of the direction of the business it’s simple to align their respective contributions to your objectives through a tailored individual plan. There’s no need to overcomplicate this process; Bare Bones Consulting can show you a simple and effective individual development planning template that sets everyone in the same direction: the one you have for your business. Our HR performance management documents and processes actually work…and that means for you, your employees and your business vision.

Go on…ask your team one question: “what are you here for?”. You may be surprised.