The end of the year is a natural time to get staff together to talk about where the company is going and their place in the plan. But what is the right way to do this? If you have an end of year speech coming up for your company or team then here is what you need to know.
The 3 don’t dos, reversed to be the 3 dos
1) Don’t make a speech as such, as much as you’d like to, the better format is to ask your team to make some contributions eg: ” I’m not going to make a speech this year ( sighs of relief maybe) instead I’d like to have you guys have-a-say about our 2015 as a team , so” eg: ” what was the most rewarding thing for you this past year” OR ” of the tasks you worked on throughout the year which did you find gave you the most satisfaction” pre-select up to 3 scenarios/individuals you know of that you believe will share, ( IMPORTANT aspect ) about what a colleague did. Aussies can be coy about what might be perceived to be big-noting themselves, but are comfortable with someone else telling their story. You’ll only need 3 people to have a say you can expand on what they share by reinforcing that the business is about people making-it-happen and getting the ‘buzz’ from doing so. then respond with a Thank You we all need to feel like we have achieved for ourselves which in turn achieves for the good of the business format.
Next..
2) Don’t thank them for making lots of profit, thank them for being the best they can and thereby ensuring the business stays viable and therefore is a strong employer which means a strong provider of Life-style income opportunities. The Team then realise that the need for profit is a given, BUT when they see you as truly believing in the philosophy of ‘ if I help you succeed then I will automatically succeed’ they are more motivated than ever before pride can be the greatest inspirer of all.
Which leads to…
3) Don’t tell them who was best at any aspect of the business and then reward them in such categories there are NO bests, BUT there are ‘noticed behaviours’. You can recognise the consistent behaviours throughout the year which led to the outcomes, BUT not the outcomes alone. And the BEST way to do this is via Customer/Client feedback . As this reinforces that there is ONLY ONE BOSS and that is the Customer, they pay the wages and provide the funding for expansion and security for the team NO ONE else does, just the Customer. So don’t anoint a single employee of the year, find multiple people who have influenced the outcomes. Remember, it is usually the ‘attitude’ which created the exceptional performance, and THAT is what you are recognising. AND look deeply to find the guy who came up with what seemed like a minor solution, but in fact became the catalyst which enabled a cascading of events to achieve the outcome it all started with an “I’m going to nail this” attitude.
This process will help set-up your 2016 to be your Best Year Ever Remember: Businesses don’t succeed, People DO
Give me a call if you’d like to chat about how you might utilise this 3 point format AND/OR download as a Gift my Audio CD,
Making the Shift from Management to Leadership (mp3)
