This rant is for all my micro and small business CEO’s (and owners) with limited cash and a never ending to do list. You know who you are. I’ve got one question for you. Just one. A “yes” or “no” is all that is required. You don’t have to say it out loud and there’s no action necessary . . . unless you want (need) things to change.

Are you holding your employees accountable?

If yes, please go directly to the end of this article and like, share or reply with a comment so the rest of us can follow you and your success.

If no, then keep reading. First, congratulations for being honest and your acknowledgment means you are open and willing to make some changes that will ultimately help your business grow. Second, I’m offering you a few pointed questions with some follow-up tips (for free) that may help you recenter your efforts and realign your team.

Are you providing clear expectations of what is required (or not) to be successful at your organization?

• If you visit weekly with your team, are you taking the notes of expectations, or are they? Employees should be taking notes to know what is next, how to gather resources and develop their own mini timelines within larger project deliverables.
• If you and your team are remote and your main form of communication is email, consider using a weekly project status report that is shared between team members. This will help keep everyone aligned and moving toward the finish line together. No need for expensive software – refer to the statement above and ask your employees to take the notes.
• If you are a mix of in-person and remote workers – continue to mix it up. Use impromptu video meetings to celebrate wins and deliver new project awards and deliverables. Create a conversation pit (1970’s through back) to have spontaneous dialogs of importance. In other words – have gatherings when necessary – not because it is Tuesday at 9:00 am.
• Consider dusting off your job descriptions to create accountability statements and hold an expectation conversation with your employees. These are not contentious conversations, just a dialog to talk about success. Think positive, everyone wants to do well and if they don’t, they aren’t right for you or your team.
• Start with the simple things, outline 3 to 5 things that every employee is responsible for, as an example, we use; (1) weekly timesheet completion, (2) review, revise and communicate weekly project status report and (3) disseminate assigned client communication. Without fail – these are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time based. Performance measurements (and rewards) are deeply tied to meeting SMART goals.

Are you offering training and professional development opportunities to increase skills and abilities?

• Training is expensive. I get it! Work is also expensive when you don’t train your employees correctly. Look to leverage relationships with bankers, insurance brokers and non-profit agencies to help source “free” or nearly free opportunities for skills development. Maybe you barter with another organization for services. I would love to bank some accounting or social media hours if there was an organization that wanted to trade for compliance training.
• If you are looking to increase your commitment to Veterans, they often leave active duty with an abundance of training dollars available to them and their employers. You simply need to research eligibility for various entrepreneurship and skills development programs.

Are you rewarding your employees in a way that is both cost effective and meaningful?

• It’s a numbers game – you need to keep your business afloat and employees want (and should) be paid a fair wage for the work they do. How can you creatively (and legally) contain costs while offering some additional rewards? We utilize several bonus matrixes. We pay for performance and productivity and offer end of year profit sharing for the entire team.
• If you were to ask my team, they are likely to tell you – YOGA Day is the best day. We have set aside days – like no-fly days for the Air Force – we are in the office all day – no external client meetings. Messy hair, don’t care, comfy and cozy – we are super productive and it doesn’t cost a thing.
• At 90 days, new employees are able to go chair shopping with the CEO. For an hour of devoted 1 on 1 time and a few hundred dollars – the tush is cush and everyone is happy.

Holding employees accountable is for certain a two-way street. Success and fulfillment come at a price. Meeting people where they are at, participating in honest conversations, training employees to solve problems and think critically and rewarding their worth is a roadmap for growth and sustainability.