Mike Clark's Business Bites: Company owners need to build reassurance for their teams

Focus your mind and energy on what is good, true, excellent and worthy of your attention and you are far more likely to emerge stronger on the other side. Photo / Unsplash

OPINION:

People need certainty. People need relationships. People need autonomy and the ability to achieve.

There is a video circulating on LinkedIn showing how empty many of New Zealand's central streets are. Many of my clients are reporting a significant drop in foot traffic. Many clients have split their teams so that half are working from home and the other half from the office, alternating weekly.

In the business-to-business space many businesses are requesting people do not come on site. Besides the obvious impact and implications on business, there is also a significant toll on mental health.

I am increasingly noticing many business-to-consumer businesses have signs up saying they will not tolerate abuse of their staff. The stress and pressure of uncertainty, mixed with the fear-mongering of the media, is boiling over and people are increasingly dumping anger and frustration on frontline staff who are trying to follow the rules.

As a business owner there are many factors you can do nothing about, however, when we focus on what we can do to empower ourselves and our team. Much like the serenity prayer around accepting what we cannot change and the wisdom to know what we can change and the motivation to make the changes that we can see, as business owners we need to build reassurance for our team and our clients.

A useful way of doing this is to get together with your team and list all of their concerns and worries. Categorise them into 1) things we can do nothing about, 2) things we have some influence over and 3) things we can control and need to work on. Then create and execute this action plan.

If we stay stuck in the "what if…" cycle we end up wallowing in a place of victimhood and we are much more likely to feel frustrated and daunted when we look at the world around us. Making a plan, taking action and following through creates a sense of autonomy and achievement. Done as a team, this builds relationships and creates community. Other than the obvious benefit of mental health and wellness, there is also a financial benefit for business.

Team members who feel supported, safe, included, consulted and cared about are more loyal, engaged and committed. This creates a stronger culture and, because humans tend to treat people the way they are being treated, your team is much more inclined to treat customers well. This in turn builds loyalty referrals and increases the amount of money people spend with you.

There is a lot out there that sucks at the moment. There is also a lot out there that is awesome. Focus your mind and energy on what is good, true, excellent and worthy of your attention and you are far more likely to emerge stronger on the other side.

Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at the Think Right business training company.