Henry Ford once said this about teamwork: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”.
We all need a team of people that we can absolutely rely on to get the job done right the first time. This is the successful working together that Henry Ford spoke of. What is the process to building a strong team?
The process involved in building a strong team and getting great work out of your team involves careful planning, preparation, and consistent implementation over quite a long period of time. You may take a ‘short cut’ occasionally and outsource various tasks to get the job done right the first time, and it may work out in your favor, but these short-cuts usually cost, both financially and in the impact it has on your team that you’re building.
What we should aim for is being able to promote personnel from within the company rather than ‘buying’ expertise externally. This commitment to your staff shows your personnel that your company is growing and that it takes care of its people by rewarding their efforts and recognising their potential to do more. This will lead to a positive atmosphere within your company, which is an ideal environment for producing great work the first time.
Here are few thoughts to consider implementing to build a strong team:
Identify the entry position in your company.
Plan a career path for new appointees that will provide them with knowledge and experience to do their job as well as the next position up. This includes planning to have a staff member cover their senior when/if the need arises.
Create opportunities for the employee to learn and develop new skills.
Review performance and training progress monthly or quarterly.
When recruiting and selecting staff to fill vacancies you must employ the best that you can afford. Ideally, the person should have the potential to perform at two levels beyond the position that they are offered. This ensures you have a team of ‘upwardly mobile’ people that are keen to grow and perform.
You will lose personnel from time to time, for various reasons, but if your pipeline of recruits is sound, your business will do better with a team of high performers that turn over occasionally, as opposed to a team who never leave and their attitude to the job is just about the pay cheque.
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