Yesterday I overheard a conversation of twenty-somethings who were talking about where one of their friends work. They were collectively raving about how “It’s such a cool office to work in. They have a Starbucks in the canteen. You get free food.” I didn’t catch where this friend of theirs worked but you couldn’t miss the palpable excitement they had.
Like a lot of things going on around you every day, if you observe and pay attention, it’s instructive. Look at what they were getting excited about – coffee and food and other ‘cool stuff ’ no doubt. Your team are not immune to Critical Non-Essentials so don’t think CNE’s are just for clients. One of the reasons our weekly team meetings work and why the team happily come in 30 minutes early is the free cheese & ham croissants and cappuccino’s from Pret A Manger.
The question you need to give some serious thought too is:
Have you created a cool place to work?
Are your staff visibly excited to work for your business? Do they rave about their job to their friends?
You might not be running a trendy company like Google, you probably don’t have the space for ping pong tables and hammocks, but that doesn’t excuse you. You have to figure this out.
Having a bigger purpose for your business beyond making money has a huge impact on your team’s perception of their workplace. Creating a culture that puts people first and an obsession with delivering truly unique experiences to the people who walk through your door every day. Seeing the reactions from amazed clients. All powerful stuff and definitely ‘cool.’
Ditto for running interesting client appreciation events, earning a reputation for being the best opticians in your area, taking your team to international trade fairs, taking them to OSA conferences and involving them in OSA and the future vision for your practice. All ‘cool.’
When your team see your practice growing and succeeding and they are involved in that, that is something that they can get excited about.
This is worthy of your attention and effort. You’ll see world-class performance from your team, the highest levels of commitment that will make you rub your eyes because you can’t believe what you’re seeing , and enthusiasm that will knock your socks off. I know because I’ve had all these experiences myself. Happy, fulfilled, enthused staff stick around for a long time and achieve amazing things. And the best people are attracted to work at a place like that.