If you’ve reached a good place with your business, chances are you’re really busy right now! Not all startups succeed. If yours is making money, you’re still getting new orders, and you’re rushed off your feet, these are good signs. You may now be considering hiring some staff. You might do this directly. This means you’re responsible for figuring out their taxes, pensions, and other benefits. Or you might prefer to start with the services of a temp agency. Either which way, the people working for you have a job to do.
If your new staff member is customer facing, they could be responsible for the success or failure of your business. What customers see, here, and receive when they are with your new employee will determine if you make a sale or not. And if they don’t like it, they’ll tell their friends about it. Social media is a public way of making your feelings heard quickly to a mass audience. If they’re talking negatively about your company, you could be in big trouble.
Customer facing employees should be in uniform. When you use a company like Prudential Uniform Services, you know your employees will be easily identifiable as working for your company. They’ll look smart and presentable. And their own fashion preferences will be irrelevant to how they will be perceived by your customers. Work clothes also protect your employees. This can be very important in some roles.
Your new employees need to have excellent communication skills. You might choose to script their greeting, so it is consistently welcoming and friendly. Effective communication means they are also listening. They can identify what it is the customer wants to know. They need to be able to read facial expressions and body language. This can be just as important as understanding the local language.
Thanks to Flickr.com for this image
New employees may take a while to pick up ideas and practices you have been swift to develop. You need to give them a period of development and training that is fair. Even when they are ready to work with customers, regular monitoring and appraisals can help pick up any issues. Positive feedback and rewards will also help motivate your staff. You want to encourage them to do their best and push the best practice.
The team you recruit need to be ambassadors of your brand, your company, your products and your services. They need to be proud to be part of the team, and keen to spread the word in a positive manner. Staff find it easy to feel proud of where they work if they are given responsibility and opportunities to excel. This means you will always have a role as manager to help your employees do their best for your business.