Employees are your best asset, treat them well

Find employees who are satisfied and can see future career growth within the business not elsewhere. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By MURORI KIUNGA

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Summary

• Employees with the right talent, skills and attitude are the lifeblood of every successful business.
• Unfortunately, good workers are harder to get than working capital and most business failures are directly attributed to employees’ actions or inactions.

Nearly every entrepreneur’s headache today is how to get or retain good employees to help them achieve their vision.

Employees with the right talent, skills and attitude are the lifeblood of every successful business. Unfortunately, good workers are harder to get than working capital and most business failures are directly attributed to employees’ actions or inactions.

Ironically, most small firms do not have a human resource department to handle issues related to this important asset.

As a result little focused attention is given to it in comparison with other departments such as sales, marketing, production and accounting.

As a business owner, regardless of the size of your business your success depends on your ability to hire the right people, equip them to perform specified roles and motivate them to give their best.

Therefore one of the several hats that you will wear is that of the human resource manager. It is a responsibility you cannot entirely delegate especially when the business is small and growing.

Take time to know your employees, their aspirations, fears, and goals in life so that you can develop them.

If they know you are concerned beyond what they do for you, they will become loyal and help you grow the business.

Hire only the people you need. Do not let relations, friends or emotions influence your hiring processes.

Do not hire people because you want to help them earn a living. Hire because they add value to your business.

You can support your relatives and friends in other ways including helping them get jobs that suit them elsewhere rather than creating positions for them.

Hire employees you can afford to pay and can appreciate your offer. Hiring employees who think they are very qualified and are underpaid is a time bomb.

They will only stay with you as long as they have not found another job.

READ: Attitude holds the key to your millions

Find employees who are satisfied and can see future career growth within the business not elsewhere.

Create a positive and conducive environment. Your employees look up to you to predict both their future and that of the business.

If all you do is to complain about how hard things are and how the future is bleak because of this or that, you infect your employees with the same and kill their morale, creativity and enthusiasm.

Even when things get tough as they often get, remain steadfastly hopeful, preach it and live it especially to your employees.

Being passionate and excited about your business is contagious and an incredible ingredient for success.

Invest in your employees through training and personal development to keep up with the changing times.

When you continuously equip your employees they feel valued and appreciated.

Let your employees be part of your success story by involving them in everything you do and share good moments too. When times are good shower them with bonuses.