We all know how important it is not to slip into routine, and become complacent with our business. Walking into your workplace with fresh eyes and seeing thing as your customers see them is the difference between your business becoming dated and old or fresh and remaining on the cusp of contemporary.
But how do we ensure that our staff can follow us in our endeavour to achieve this? The answer lies in the perception of ‘being unreasonable.’
It’s a common proverb; that we’re creatures of comfort or habit and for the most part i’ve found that this is true and glaringly so in the case of employees. We do after all train and encourage habitual behaviour in staff, but this can often be the source of great resistance in business when the time comes for change.
To innovate and tighten the bolts on your business you will need to be prepared for your staff to think you’re unreasonable. Many managers and owners remain guided by their staff as to what is achievable. You need to know your business better than anyone you employ. After all it is your business, and the truth is nobody cares about your business as much as you do. Nobody.
Being perceived as unreasonable and being unreasonable are two different things, and they should never be confused. Unreasonable in its perception by employees roughly translates to “this is the way we’ve been doing it from the start”
By definition unreasonable means “Not guided by or based on good sense.” If your decision is based on good sense, your staff should be guided by you, not the other way around.
There is no reason why your business cannot attain a standard set by any other company and exceed it, but how do we get the staff onside?
The hard truth is; quite often they will not believe a challenge is achievable or quite simply not be prepared to see it out.
There are a few things we can do to ease transitions and have staff share in our vision:
Instead of trying to motivate and win all of your staff over, challenge, motivate and lead your key staff who will in turn do the same with the remaining staff.
Visit other workplaces with your staff, when staff see your vision already executed it becomes less difficult to imagine themselves behaving and operating in a different manner. Vision can be massively powerful and you may be surprised by how motivating this exercise can actually be.
Know that; you will always get what you accept. Once you have provided direction, resources and leadership accept no deviation from your required vision.
Be strong, unfortunately it’s not always easy to be a friend to all when running a successful business be decisive and do what needs to be done for your business to remain or become successful.
I challenge you to be unreasonable in your business and discover what really is reasonably achievable.
2 Comments
Louis
Hi Pete, love your post. I have work in the industry for more than 15 years, I certainly work will quite a few “tough ” bosses. I guess having high standards is why they’re successful at what they do. I agree constantly sharing the vision is very important. When staffs are are busy with everyday routine it is important to let them see 5he big picture and know why they’re doing what they do. Mentality of the business owner is also very important. Too many people mistaken being tough as being mean. People are more likely to listen to someone they respect than someone they dislike. Anyway, love your post, keep on the good work.
The Hospitality Coach
You’re absolutely right Louis, across my cafes I’ve also noticed that my ‘hardest’ managers are also my most respected and loved. It’s a peculiar thing, the best I’ve managed to explain it is similar to children and their parents. You can be hard on your kids and have an amazing relationship with them, or you can let them get away with everything and they lose respect for you. It’s a strange paradox.