Your Business Reflects You !

Over the years working with dozens of different businesses, I am struck by how a business reflects the attitudes and behaviours of the owner. I am also struck by how few owners realise this simple fact.

I have heard it said by owners so many times, "you can’t get good people to work any more". I immediately look at the owner to see why they might have trouble getting good people to work for them.

What I find when I ask about their beliefs reveals that they do not trust anyone and do not expect people to want to do a good days work. The owner sees it as a battle of wits to stay one step ahead of their staff.

Is it any wonder that a business owned by someone with this attitude becomes a place of cynicism and mistrust.

Without invoking the old adage of paying peanuts and getting monkeys, I have met owners who place a completely disproportionate importance on the cost of salaries and yet they will happily pay too much for services such as, electricity, computer supplies etc. but begrudge their staff every penny of their salaries and delay paying bonuses until the last possible moment.

If the owner does not respect the contribution made by staff why should the staff bother to make an effort?

Successful owners pay to get the best people they can and then train them well. This means their staff can deliver top class service to customers and owners can happily delegate whenever possible.