Waikato Business News July/August 2021

62 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2021
Would you work for you?
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
Would you work for you? This is an
interesting question and certainly one to
reflect on if you are employing staff.
> BY SENGA ALLEN
Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM
www.everestpeople.co.nz
In today’s tight labour market,
none of us can afford
to lose great people. How
often do you as a business
owner take time out to think
about your staff and actively
ask questions about what
it is like to work for your
company? You might get an
inkling when an employee
hands in their resignation, but
of course this is far too late!
As business owners we regularly
review our sales operations.
We also know all about
the importance of cashflow.
However, the people component
of business is equally as
important as the operational
and financial streams. How
much more effort do you
think your employees would
contribute if you understood
what made them tick?
Research has shown that
up to 30 percent of bottom
line performance can be
attributed to how well leaders
in a business manage and
motivate their people, and the
direct line manager has the
most impact on an employee’s
sense of job satisfaction.
A recent client was losing
staff faster than they could
recruit replacements and
automatically assumed it was
about money.
As it turns out, this
couldn’t have been further
from the truth. It was in fact
the team leader who was
having the greatest effect on
staff turnover. People found
him impossible to work for
and generally left within six
months of starting. Some
employees intrinsically work
harder and more productively
than others, but the higher
their work ethic the quicker
they leave under poor leadership.
As a business leader
you need to understand how
you and your managers are
doing in terms of motivating
the best performance possible
from all employees.
There are of course several
ways you can get inside the
heads of your staff. The most
obvious is that old favourite
- the performance review.
Done well, this type of process
provides employee and
manager with an excellent
mutual opportunity to openly
discuss how things are going
and what can be improved
on from both sides. However
due to bad planning, poorly
designed systems and inadequately
trained managers
who don’t give feedback at
any other time, most bosses
and staff dread the thought
of the annual review. Generally,
staff come away feeling
dissatisfied. They seldom
speak up about what’s really
bugging them or more importantly
what could increase
their productivity at work.
One on one interviews
and, less frequently, focus
groups are also used. These
forums certainly have their
benefits but where there is a
possibility of being picked
out for individual comments,
staff will tend to hold back
Research has
shown that up to 30
percent of bottom
line performance
can be attributed to
how well leaders in
a business manage
and motivate their
people, and the
direct line manager
has the most impact
on an employee’s
sense of job
satisfaction.
from saying what they think.
We’ve all worked for a boss
who analysed “who said
what” rather than the message
being given and therefore
missed the point altogether.
One of the most effective
communication tools is a
“climate survey” to find out
how staff view the key elements
that drive success in
your business. Carried out
by an independent third party
this is an anonymous process
that allows staff to feel
safe in voicing their opinion.
As long as the results of the
survey lead to immediate and
visible implementation then
staff gain confidence in their
ability to make a difference,
motivation increases, and
culture improves to the point
that constructive communication
with your staff becomes
a daily habit.
At the end of the day, no
matter what tool you use, the
important thing is to sit back
and take stock every now and
again. It might sound very
basic, but really talk with
your staff or if you feel a
little anxious about this get
an independent HR specialist
to come in and interview
your people. Staff are often
bursting with solutions in
businesses that simply don’t
have communication channels
to allow these ideas to be
voiced.
When someone does
resign, seize the opportunity
to find out what the person
liked about working for you,
what they didn’t like and
what could be improved for
people who remain. Disciplinary
related terminations
aside, never close the door
on a departing employee.
You never know when they
might want to return to your
door with more skills and
experience that could benefit
your business.
Stepping out of
your comfort zone
TELLING YOUR STORY
> BY VICKI JONES
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
How often do you look around at other businesses and how they
promote themselves and think “I wish we were brave enough to
do that”, or feel like you’re stuck in a marketing rut?
Doing what you always
do gets you what
you’ve always got,
they say. That’s not always
a bad thing. If it’s working,
why change it? Congratulate
yourself instead. If you’ve
got your targeting just right
and you understand your
audiences and what works for
them – good job.
If you’re telling them what
they need to hear about your
product or service and also
giving them a clear vision
of what your business and
brand is all about, even better.
You’re nailing it.
But we really shouldn’t
pat ourselves on the back too
freely, not without taking the
time to make sure our message
isn’t getting stale. Or that
the way we present our brand
isn’t stuck in a long-gone era.
Doing things differently
can be a challenge. Change
is hard. For someone who
happily packed up their life
to move to the other side of
the world and then, more
recently, quit a stable job to
go it alone, you wouldn’t
think I’d describe myself as
overly cautious about doing
something differently. But I
am. I’m a consummate overthinker,
frequently guiding
myself down the safer path for
fear of getting lost.
If you do switch to a different
lane, make sure you have
a good reason. Being bored or
personally wanting to change
things up isn’t a good enough
reason. Overtaking the competition
is a fair enough
objective, as is getting to
your destination quicker, but
make sure you’re still driving
safely.
The new New Zealand
Post branding is an intriguing
example. I was on their marketing
communications team
during the early stages of the
last update. There was a lot of
brand strategy work around
product brands, but the main
logo was also reviewed. At
the time, it got a simple design
update to make the icon and
typography more contemporary,
which was a fair call as it
was clunky and dated. But the
envelope icon was sacrosanct
back in 2000 because, despite
the knowledge that the business
was rapidly changing, it
symbolised the heart of the
NZ Post, and customers told
us so in no uncertain terms.
But now, reflecting a major
shift in focus, the envelope is
gone, replaced with a symbol
that represents a road for
delivery, rather than a letter.
(Personally, it makes me think
of an S-bend but, hey, I get
where they’re going.) They
even front-foot it in their
advertising, with a kid asking
the delivery guy where the
envelope’s gone, handing him
the opportunity to tell us all
that they’re about more than
just letters nowadays.
It’s interesting that the
name still contains ‘Post’, but
that change would be one step
too far outside the comfort
zone for the organisation, I’m
sure, and too big a change for
customers. For brands that are
part of the fabric of our community
like them, history and
nostalgia are often stronger
binds than any functional references
can ever be.
Understanding your customers’
comfort zone is
equally as important as being
authentic about your own
parameters. For example,
how about if your business
is targeting a more mature
and conservative audience.
You may choose to update an
old-fashioned looking brand
identity to bring you more up
to date but if the design and
marketing you use to tell your
story goes too far in its trendy
modernity, you risk some
alienation.
It would take a brave
retirement home to decorate
its foyer with a graffiti wall
or to start using language in
its ads that you’d need Urban
Dictionary to translate. But
stepping outside of the messages
of safety, care and wellbeing
has seen this particular
sector create a new comfort
zone for its marketing.
They now focus on championing
the young-at-heart,
community and fun, with
Ryman being one of few
in the category to take an
edgy and more sophisticated
approach to their advertising
storytelling. I don’t know if
this reflects the brand experience
– I’m not ready to
investigate retirement living
options quite yet! – but it certainly
makes them stand out
from the crowd.
Just like with most marketing
decisions, authenticity
to your brand and building
connection with your target
audiences are the main drivers
of any move outside your
comfort zone. Consider how
far you can push things, how
brave you can be, how deep
the risks you can take.
Consider consequences,
but also consider pushing
your boundaries. Doing something
you’ve never done, may
get you something you’ve
never got before.