Introduction
A company can only be as good as the people who comprise it. The key to finding success in whatever industry is knowing how to build long-lasting teams that understand how to work together to achieve great things. This is precisely why office leaders need to take it upon themselves to not just ensure that they hire the right people, but that they hire people who can work seamlessly with one another under the umbrella of an organization. It’s not just about hiring the most skilled and most talented people possible. It’s more about cultivating a system that allows for the people within the organization to maximize their potential and find success, both as teams and as individuals. In fact, according to this Gallup piece, employee productivity decreases by as much as 21% when they are left to do isolated work.
HR professionals should be at the forefront of hiring the right people for the job and of cultivating a company culture that allows its employees to thrive. When it comes to building a solid and formidable team that’s designed for maximum efficiency and productivity, here are a few of the best practices that every company should look to employ.
Define What Makes a Great Team
First, you need a solid idea on what exactly makes a great team. As an organization, you must have a fundamental understanding of what your team should look like, what the objectives are, and what roles its members will have. You must also determine the overall structure of the team and how it’s supposed to function on an operational level. Most importantly, you need to know what kind of individual would fit best within that team to promote optimal synergy and camaraderie. Here are a few examples of metrics that you can set for your team:
- Attendance/Punctuality
- Efficiency
- Initiative
- Collaboration
- Communication, etc.
These metrics offer you tangible goals that you can use to steer your team towards the right direction.
Get to Know Your Team
One of the best ways for managers and HR professionals to know how to get the most out of their employees is to get to know their employees better. It’s important to remember that even though employee performance ratings are measured through numbers and metrics, there are actual human beings that are driving those numbers. It’s important that you take the time to understand what makes them tick, what their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses are, and what positions they would most likely thrive in.
Set Clear Definitions for Roles and Responsibilities
This is a crucial step in ensuring that everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. Establishing clear roles and responsibilities for team members will give them a sense of direction, purpose, and structure in the way that they approach work. Even something as simple as letting them know what their dedicated work hours should be can go a long way in helping them understand what is expected of them. This is why features like the Empower module in the Payruler system can be so beneficial in helping employees stay accountable to themselves. It allows them to stay on top of their job performance so that they can live up to what is expected of them.
Encourage Collaboration and Connection Between Team Members
As previously mentioned, it’s not enough that you merely hire some skilled and talented people. It’s even more important that the members in your team know how to connect and collaborate with one another. These days, organizations are built on the power of collaborative efforts between talented individuals. This is especially true for companies that operate with numerous organizational units. It’s important that these units are able to seamlessly work together so as to constantly stay aligned with regard to pursuing organizational goals and objectives. This kind of familiarity can also breed proficiency in their output. A 2006 Harvard study determined that heart surgeons performed better when they were surrounded by teams that they were familiar with.
Honor the Contributions of Every Member
A little show of gratitude and appreciation can really go a long way in boosting employee morale and disposition. Even something as simple as letting employees know that they’ve done a good job on a certain project can be very effective in making them feel better about themselves and their place in the company. Studies have shown that around 90% of employees who have received recognition from their higher-ups have developed higher levels of trust in their bosses. But more than just letting them know of what a good job they’re doing, companies can even offer tangible rewards for employees that can come in the form of bonuses or awards.
Consistently Gather Feedback
Feedback is crucial to the development of any kind of organization. Earlier, we discussed how you need to get to know your personnel in order to find out how you can maximize their potential. In the same vein, you need to know what your personnel think about how the company is handling the management of its staff. Ultimately, gathering feedback is almost like developmental research. It’s trying to find alternative perspectives on how to improve internal structures and systems within the company to make sure that it functions better. Promoting open feedback will also encourage employees to be more honest in expressing themselves with regard to how the company is conducting its operations.
Conclusion
Lastly, it’s important that companies understand that team-building isn’t something that is achieved over the course of just one weekend or as a result of a single seminar. Team-building is an ongoing process of cultivating company culture and strengthening internal systems. There is always going to be room for improvement and it’s essential that everyone buys into the concept of working towards that ideal system of operation within the organization.
Ultimately, a bulk of building teams is centered around developing a people-first kind of company mentality. That is exactly the kind of messaging that has always been put forth by Sanitary Care Products Asia (SCPA). This is the brand that is behind household name products like Sanicare, Tisyu, and Cheers. Recently, Payruler was awarded a grant via the SCPA’s HIIGENE Program. Learn more about the award in this article.