Maintain quality across your business systems
Finding the balance between micromanaging and overdelegating to staff can be a difficult one to achieve.
Most small businesses find it challenging to know how to direct staff when they expand and hire new staff members. But knowing this is essential for business success.
Take a systems approach
A systems approach is when you identify the factors or systems that overlap.
By viewing each system as part of a larger system, you can begin to see just how easy it is for the quality of the experience to vary for your customers.
Using a systems approach will ensure the following:
- No details are missed.
- The client is always valued.
- Staff know what to do and when to do it.
Let’s take, for example, a fitness centre that offers a range of exercise classes. The times are varied throughout the week and the instructors all have the same basic qualifications.
There will be systems for payment, entry to the venue, how the levels of classes work, interaction with other clients and the personality and experience of the instructors.
The first step to achieving quality in business systems is to look at the customer experience. What has to happen within your business for all of your customers to have positive experiences every time they interact with your staff?
What has to happen within your business for all of your customers to have positive experiences every time?
Maintain the quality
Some employers make the rookie mistake of assuming that just because employees have certain qualifications, they will automatically know how to complete the work to the standard you, as an employer, expect.
This brings me to some tips to help you maintain quality business systems.
- Provide clear induction
Induction for staff has to be relevant and repeated as many times as required. It should never be a ‘tick and flick’ sheet. Induction is the chance to train your new staff in the way you want them to work. They are more likely to create positive working habits if their induction is handled in a competent and encouraging way.
Induction is crucial and should not be taken lightly.
- Regularly check the basics
If you find yourself being removed from the ‘coalface’ of the business as you expand, you will undoubtedly be dealing with HR issues more and more.
Go back to the basics for all of your staff. They may have developed poor habits in your absence or feel undervalued because no one is commenting on their work.
You have the opportunity to lead by example – take it. Staff feel motivated to work harder using the systems in place if you are also using the systems. If you cut corners, so will they.
- Provide a mentor if quality is lacking
Performance management doesn’t necessarily need to be a big problem. If you find some staff are not understanding the tasks required of them, introduce a buddy system. Match staff based on factors such as time in the business, personality and past performance.
If your staff are feeling valued and supported, they will bring more positivity to the systems they’re involved in – this improves the overall quality of your business.
Emily Innes, Managing Director, Clear Systems Consulting
