How Do You Build A High Performing Team?

Hiring an employee is hard. I’m not going to sugar-coat that one. You can interview hundreds of people and find your Cinderella – the person who seems tailor-made for the role. And then as the real work starts, you start to see cracks and flaws, and realise you’ve actually hired one of the ugly stepsisters with her foot shoved into a shoe 2 sizes too small.

So how do you avoid the fairy-tale gone wrong? After all, while big businesses can manage with one or two bad employees, for small businesses a bad hire could be the end of the line. So what’s the secret to building, and then keeping, that amazing, high performing team?

Build A Great Business

‘You get the people you deserve.’ Those are the words Brad Sugars, founder of award winning coaching franchise ActionCOACH remembers his father telling him when he was first starting in business. He was struggling to find any good people to work for his business, and instead of something inspirational and uplifting, his father told him this. You get the people you deserve. If you’re an average manager with an average business, then you’ll get average employees.

It might sound harsh, but it’s very true. In the modern workplace employees can be much choosier about who they work with, and have no qualms about moving from company to company to find the right job for them. Company culture, workplace environment and career progression are all important factors for millennial workers (who, let’s not forget, are now the bulk of the workforce at 25-40 years old), and they will actively seek companies that offer them.

So if you want to attract that highly educated, experienced and motivated talent, you need to build a great business to attract them. That means learning what sort of company a great employee would want to join, what kind of leader they would need steering the ship, and then build that company. If you need a little help getting started, most great employees want a workplace that supports them completely (that includes mental health, physical health, clear boundaries and fair workloads); that is positive and rewarding to perform for; and that they can learn, grow and build a real career with. If your business doesn’t look like that yet, that’s OK, it just means you still have some work to do.

Become A Great Leader

That might all seem like a lot of work, but I’m sorry to say it’s only half the battle. As well as having a business great people want to work for, you need to become a great leader too. The person standing there with them, inspiring them and making them want to work with you. The good news is, great leaders are made, not born. Go out and read books, join webinars, take training and seminars, and look to the great leaders in your life for advice and mentoring, Become what you want to attract.

I’m willing to bet that wasn’t the kind of advice you were expecting! But the truth is, attracting top talent in the modern workforce is about more than salaries and benefits. It’s about being a company your employees are proud to work for, that values their work and their health, and showcases that at every opportunity. It’s about career progression, providing a safe and pleasant work environment, and being the kind of leader they want to follow. If you’re a winning company, then building a winning team is a whole lot easier!

And hey, if you need a little help in the actual finding of great employees, I’ve got you covered. With years of experience in the recruitment world, I can help you design a recruitment process that will produce results, and source the perfect candidates for each role for you. Just give me a call to start building your next winning team.