Staff in small-medium business need special qualities to succeed. Small business isn’t an infant big business. Qualifications and experience need to be supported by the capacity to “fit” the unique small business environment.
Employees Must Be Generalists. In a small business, all employees, tradespersons, administrators, operators have to do other than what they specialize in. If an accounts clerk has to placate a dissatisfied customer, so be it. If the receptionist needs to check credit suitability, that’s OK too. In small-medium business the usual practice is for technicians and tradespeople to include selling among their duties.
An employee cannot simply say “That’s not my job” or “there’s no one here to handle that right now”. If your staff are too specialist, arrange some cross training to increase their value to you, improve their self development and enhance your customer service.
Customer Service Is Everyone’s Job. This idea isn’t new. Trainers and consultants spout it all the time. But in a small business it’s not only true, it’s essential. There’s no customer service or customer relations manager in a small business. Everyone must know how to respond to a range of customer service issues.
To the customer the person he or she speaks with is the business. A customer with a query or complaint must feel respected and welcomed. A small business is far more vulnerable to complaints from angry or unhappy customers than a large business. “I’ll call you back” or “I’ll get back to you” are inadequate responses. There must be a system that staff follow that guarantees customers a response within a certain time. If staff don’t know exactly what to say, use prepared scripts that they can follow.
Find Employees Who Like Small Business. This applies particularly to other managers and specialists. Unlike big business, small business doesn’t have a small army of people to delegate to. Managers and specialists must expect to be required to “get their hands dirty” as well as “manage”. Both managers and specialists must be prepared to assist colleagues when necessary.
People working in small business should enjoy the variety, the excitement, the immediacy and the unpredictability that’s inherent to some extent in almost all small business. They should also be tolerant of the foibles of colleagues. Small businesses, even with 20-30 employees, are fairly intimate places. There’s little room for personal aggravation.
Your Relationship With Staff. In small business, the relationship between the CEO and all staff is unique. Some staff may try to capitalize on it by self promotion. Some may simply be slightly uncomfortable that their performance and behaviour is so readily observed by the CEO. Others will be uncomfortable that, as they see it, other staff are more popular with the boss than they are.
As CEO in a small business, you’ll be far more aware of individual employee error and limitations than in large business. Make sure you keep a balanced perspective.
Conclusion. It’s great to employ the “best” people available. But they must be comfortable in the “rough and tumble” of small business too. It’s yet another area where the unique needs of small business are different from large business.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, you might like to read my FREE, 42 page Special Report, “5 Proven Methods For Improving Employee Performance On The Job”. It’s yours to keep. You’ll also get a free bonus eBook about setting Performance Standards for employees. Just go to http://www.leonnoone.com and they’re yours. I work with small-medium business managers to improve on job staff performance without using training.
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