Does Your Team Need New Shoes?
Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right!
- Paolo Nutini
I know a business owner who has experienced extremely high employee turnover, difficulty recruiting good talent and a workforce that is performing inconsistently? Does this sound like your business or team?
Like a dull ache in your hip that you’ve been dealing with for several months, the source of a team issue can be difficult to pinpoint. Usually business owners put a band-aid on their issue and don’t take the time to investigate the underlying issue causing the problem. In this case, the business owner put a higher emphasis on recruiting and building a candidate pipeline to address staffing issues that resulted from the turnover. Unfortunately, that approach never truly addressed the problem of continual turnover.
We specialize in identifying the source of your team issue with our Team Effectiveness diagnostic. In our experience, the source of most team performance is attributed to one of the following:
- Direction of the Organization - a department or team needs to understand the direction of the organization and understand how their work and responsibilities help the organization reach its goals.
- Alignment on The Direction – Leaders and team members need to prioritize their work and activities to focus on items that most directly impact the organization’s long-term success; not the seemingly urgent issues that arise every day.
- Commitment to the Work – All employees should understand expectations and be held accountable to meet those expectations. Employees should be committed to completing their task, supporting their team, and contributing to the organization’s success.
- Trusting Team Members – Strong trust throughout the organization leads to higher performance. When employees trust one another, they are more willing to share concerns, increase their effort and complete work at a higher level.
A high amount of turnover in an organization might occur for a variety of reasons, or might be limited to one single factor that is permeating throughout the organization. Think of the hip pain referenced above – maybe it is caused by arthritis, a faulty hip, an issue in the spine, or many other factors. Or, it might be simply caused by exercising in an old pair of shoes without the proper arch support. The point is, it is always better to understand the source of the pain that you are experiencing and then determine the best approach to resolve the pain; or making the conscious decision that you will just need to continue to live with it and stock up on Advil.
Don’t let your team problem go undiagnosed. Complete our free diagnostic to help you understand if you are going to need a major surgery or just a new pair of shoes!
