Because when you have an engaged, motivated and enthuastic team, who love the work they do, they produce great work, meet deadlines, collaborate well, improve processes, come up with new ideas, stretch themselves and most importantly deliver great service to your clients.
Sounds perfect doesn't it?
And most people when they first start a job are enthusiastic, keen and looking forward to their new role, however extensive research shows that within 6 months 86% of employees have lost that enthusiasm!
Because maintaining the engagement of your team takes work.
In the blogs below you will discover some to the key areas to focus on when it comes to maintaining the engagement of your people including:
How many times in your firm have you turned to another manager and said, ‘We need to start holding the people in our firm to account’? This is normally a reaction when something has gone wrong, a deadline has not been met or a client has been let down… When a member of your team falls short
Read MoreYou know this because you have changed, learned and adapted to the ever changing and unpredictable environment you are in. You have probably done this at times in a reactive way, because a certain circumstance has forced the change. And how has the mindset of you and your team influenced the ease and success of the changes? So,
Read MoreThe future of your firm relies heavily on the commitment and dedication of your team. If they are unhappy in their work, your firm will underperform. Have you ever stopped to address this issue? The performance of your team is linked to the overall health of your firm – it is intrinsic to your future – so surely
Read MoreAs a business manager or business leader, you guide your firm every day, every week, every month. What would you say when asked about the purpose of your firm?You might say:To ensure the team are happyTo deliver to our customers on timeTo deal with customer complaints efficientlyTo have a quick turnaround of ordersTo make a profitAll
Read MoreIn his book ‘The Advantage – Why Organisational Health Trumps Everything Else’, Patrick Lencioni states:More than anything else, values are critical because they define your business’s personality. If I asked you what the personality of your firm was, what would be your response? He also states that with the right values in place you will attract the
Read MoreWhat can we learn from Google, Apple, Dropbox and other uber-successful businesses about recruitment processes that result in high-quality and highly motivated new recruits?Kim Scott led the AdSense team at Google and was also a faculty member at Apple University. She was a founder and CEO of a tech start-up, has coached the CEOs of
Read MoreYou may have been using the same system for performance appraisals for many years and, on some level, it may have worked for you… But would the answer be the same if the members of your team were asked what they thought about your firm’s appraisal system? There is a great deal of science surrounding the performance
Read MoreWhen you do more work and better work in less time you will better impress your clients, win more clients and grow your profits. Chances are, when your firm does more work and better work in less time, you’ll beat your competition hands down. So how do you increase your chances of winning? Use your brain the way
Read MoreYou love it when a team member uses their initiative – every manager loves employees with initiative! When one of your team uses their initiative it generally means they have done what needs to be done without having to be asked, even if it is not their job. Firms encouraging initiative in their team will get more
Read MoreThe immediate need to work from home caused by the pandemic in March 2020 changed the way we all worked as a nation. For some working from home was a challenge, many had never done it before and been used to the daily commute and the 9-5 routine. Others had done it before, but on a very
Read MoreYour people are capable of so much more. It’s not uncommon to be frustrated by the performance of people within your team. It’s OK to grind your teeth about how much more of a burden this puts on you, the partner or manager. What if I was to say when you install individual accountability processes in your
Read MoreIt’s so easy to get bogged down with the day to day business of just getting the job done. In fact, like most business owners you probably spend most of your day locked in meetings, on the phone, answering emails, dealing with issues from your team or clients. This probably leaves very little time for you to
Read MoreWhen it comes to your firm’s survival, and even growth, in these difficult times, the enthusiasm and commitment of your team is paramount. If you want your firm to stand out from the competition, you need to have gold standard, exceptional employees. But how will you achieve this in your firm? It’s a firm’s leadership that dictate
Read MoreChange when successfully managed in your firm can lead to dramatic results. Results that right now will help your firm survive and thrive the uncertain future ahead. To achieve these results Jonathan Haidt, an eminent psychologist, suggests change works best when both the emotional and the logical sides of our brains are engaged He believes that the
Read MoreRecent advances in the study of the brain have shown the brain to be far more elastic that we previously thought. Research shows that every time you are pushed out of your comfort zone to learn something new, complicated, difficult and right at the edge of your learning capacity the neurons in your brain form stronger,
Read MoreIt’s a fact that one or more people in your firm are doing things that either hold your firm back or are failing to do the things that would drive your firm forwards and give you the security about your firm you need at this time. Your job is to get these people to stop… STOP doing
Read MoreHow much better would your accountancy firm be if you could create the best environment and structure to get the best results from all your people? I’m sure within your team you have highly motivated, enthusiastic people… however it may be that even they need help finding the discipline and the structure to get things done. Let’s
Read MoreThink of a conversation with someone you’ve been putting off…. Got it… You know you should tackle a discussion with this person, but it never quite seems the right time. Or maybe you’ve had the conversation before and it has gone badly, or maybe you fear that talking about things could make the situation worse… So now
Read MoreWe all manage change in our personal lives – leaving home, getting married, buying a house, moving jobs… these are all completely normal changes, although some of them are large and can be unpredictable. Our job is to manage these changes and the transition from something old to something new as smoothly and as positively as
Read MoreYou know that the success of your accountancy firm comes from your ability to be able to grow, develop and move with the times, especially in times of great challenge. External circumstances and an unpredictable environment will often force great changes to happen in order for your firm to survive. And how has your mindset and the
Read MoreHiring the right employees can make or break your accountancy firm. The recruitment process is stressful – you already know this. You and your firm’s reputation can succeed or fail based on your selection. It’s clear that interviewing is a time-consuming process which can distract you from the day-to-day job of running your firm. Do you have a
Read MoreWhen was the last time you reviewed your client list? The full list… When you look closely at it, you’ll see an imbalance The chances are that 20% of your profits will be generated by 80% of your clients… It might be slightly less, it might be slightly more – but the imbalance will be there… Look at how
Read MoreDo you really want your firm’s mission-critical tasks to happen without a checklist? Even the cleverest people use a checklist… A renowned surgeon was asked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to come up with an initiative to help save lives in operating theatres all over the world. After looking at a variety of alternatives, a simple
Read MoreAre your firm’s internal meetings as productive as you’d like them to be? Internal meetings within your firm should be designed to help you make or implement decisions. Productive internal meetings should help you move your firm forward and grow into a firm you’d be proud to own and run.But remember the meeting is not
Read MoreMulti-tasking… If you ask most members of your team, they will say they multi-task regularly – they want to sound productive, efficient and effective in their role. And it’s one word that appears on every CV you have ever received! But the reality is, if you want a job in your accountancy firm done well, accurately and completed
Read MoreThe definition of initiative: the power and ability to follow a task through energetically and show enterprise and determination in performing the task. Good stuff, don’t you think?‘power and ability’‘follow through energetically’‘enterprise and determination’Would your accountancy firm be more successful, more profitable and more exciting to work in if these three things showed up in more
Read MoreThe success of your accountancy firm relies heavily on the performance of your team. If they underperform, so will your firm. Employee satisfaction is key in any business, and when employees are not satisfied with their job, they lack enthusiasm for the day-to-day work they are doing and therefore lack enthusiasm for the business for which
Read MoreWhen a colleague lets you down, misses a deadline or agreed target or gives you less in their performance than you were expecting, what do you do?Say nothing – the poor performance carries onSpeak up, holding them to account and possibly create a conflictHaving this accountability conversation isn’t easy – it’s awkward, uncertain, uncomfortable and
Read MoreWhen a colleague lets you down, misses a deadline or agreed target or gives you less in their performance than you were expecting, what do you do?Say nothing – the poor performance carries onSpeak up, holding them to account and possibly create a conflictHaving this accountability conversation isn’t easy – it’s awkward, uncertain, uncomfortable and
Read MoreThere is a general belief in the business world that most internal meetings are pointless and result in little or no action or accountability… So, is this the fault of the meeting or is the person running the meeting to blame? In his book ‘Read This Before Our Next Meeting’ Al Pittampalli states: “One mediocre meeting after another
Read More‘Deep practice’ (training intensely and right at the edge of one’s capability) in sport is expected for the athlete to be the best they can possibly be. However, in the world of business the commitment to training people using ‘deep practice’ is often avoided as it is viewed as costly both in terms of time and
Read MoreHow do you influence the behaviour of some of the most challenging people in your team? For success, you must influence a change in behaviour of the few people in your business that are holding you back. This is not simple. It’s complicated and it takes time… You run a successful accountancy firm…now you want it to grow…
Read MoreWouldn’t it be great if you could get more out of your team? In fact, you probably know you should be getting more from them. You also know that some of them, when teamwork is involved, work much harder than others. How do you ensure consistency across your team? To get the best from them, your people must
Read MoreThere are specific skills to handling a difficult conversation well, however in the heat of the moment it can be hard to maintain the level of focus required to manage those skills. One way of dealing with this challenge is to prepare well for the conversation and setting out with a clear purpose in mind. Making notes
Read MoreHere’s a great story about change involving a man called Jerry Sternin, the principles of which can be applied to your accountancy firm… Jerry arrived in Vietnam in 1991 with his young family. His remit from ‘Save the Children Fund’ was to transform the lives of millions of severely malnourished children living there. Jerry had very little
Read MoreHow does change happen within your firm? It is through several targeted initiatives or part of your everyday work? Your firm’s success depends on your ability to constantly improve what you do and how you do it. The Japanese call this ‘Kaizen’ – constant improvement. The word translates to mean change (kai) for the good (zen). Businesses that follow that
Read MoreLike many partners or senior managers, do you find the recruitment process in your firm a lottery? For your firm’s success, it’s critical that every person is right for their job. But how can you ensure you’re hiring the right person for the right job? Do you use a specific recruitment process? If you treat recruitment as just another
Read MoreYou know your firm’s performance will improve when the skills, knowledge and abilities of your people improves. And if, as a partner or senior manager, you’re convinced about the value of a structured appraisal process to your firm, then you must get wholeheartedly involved in every review until they become part of the culture of your
Read MoreWhich daily business habits do you have? Driving to work the same way? Parking in the same spot? Having a cup of coffee as soon as you get to work? Checking your emails as soon as they arrive? Having the same meeting at the same time every day? These are probably, until now, actions that you
Read MoreYou might have been lucky in the past and made successful decisions without following a proven process. However, should you leave the future success of your firm simply to chance? Without even realising it, our natural decision-making process has natural flaws… One of these flaws is creating just 2 options, thumbs up or thumbs down. This creates a narrow
Read MoreDelegation – something that nearly every partner or manager talks about doing, but rarely does well. How many times have you said to yourself or to one of your team ‘I need to delegate this task’ or ‘I shouldn’t be doing this really, someone else should’? Yet, you end up doing it – every single time. Why? Because there
Read MoreHow many times in your Accountancy firm have you turned to another manager and said, ‘We need to start holding the people in our firm to account’? This is normally a reaction when something has gone wrong, a deadline has not been met or a client has been let down… When a member of your team falls
Read MoreHow do the internal meetings that happen within your firm make you feel? Are you concerned that they seem to be ineffectual, unnecessary and only happen by habit? According to a 3M Meeting Network survey of managers, 25-50 percent of the time people spend in meetings is deemed as time wasted. Effective internal meetings should result in collaboration,
Read MoreComplex problems cannot be solved by simple answers. “The most important capacity we possess is our ability to influence ourselves and others. Learn to see every important challenge you face as an influence challenge”.
Read MoreLike Mulder and Scully from the X-Files, we all know the truth is out there! Mulder based his belief on his gut, how he felt and his previous experiences. Scully based hers on science, facts and something real and tangible. In fact, for the truth to really be fully recognised you have to have a little
Read MoreThe 80/20 rule (as a rule of thumb) states that 80% of outcomes can be attributed to 20% of all causes for any given event. It’s is also known as the Pareto principle, as it was first used by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto to describe the distribution of wealth in Italy in the 19th Century.
Read MoreEvery accounting firm I have ever worked with would like to hire a superstar or two (or more). I’ve lost count of the number of firms that see a transformation of results when one or two high-quality people join the team. Similarly, I’ve seen the grief, stress and lost profits that follow hiring the wrong people. The only
Read MoreManaging employees’ performance reviews is an integral part of the work that all managers must undertake throughout the year. When did you last conduct them? How did they go? Performance reviews are as important as managing financial and other resources of the business, but do you treat them like this? ‘Just getting them done’ will not create the
Read MoreLife would be a lot easier if we just knew how to make good decisions, but research shows we all make a lot of bad ones. Improved success in your firm requires better decision-making processes. The chances are your natural decision-making process is not something you have given too much thought to… however, the chances are you
Read MoreInternal meetings are the lifeblood of every business. Many people view them as the way people within the business communicate, a place where all the decisions are made, and the most important issues of the moment are decided… However, in reality this is not always the case… How many internal meetings have you attended this week that have
Read MoreYou might have a new project or idea which needs support from your team… …or you might have a business challenge or a recurring frustration that you feel is holding your firm back and stops you from making that ‘big business’ win. You may want to share your idea or challenge with your team, but you know
Read MoreIn our personal lives, we generally manage change in a way that is achievable and realistic. Who would plan for a big wedding to be held only two weeks after the engagement? Who would buy a house that was unaffordable or move in if it was not ready? We manage and plan these changes to ensure maximum success,
Read MoreDoes anyone really relish the idea of appraisals or performance reviews? Probably not, but the benefits of using performance reviews to improve your people’s skills, performance and abilities cannot be denied, provided everyone in your firm takes them seriously. And if you repeatedly improve your team’s skills, knowledge and capabilities, you’ll
Read MoreSuccess is all about hard work. As a partner or manager in an accountancy practice, you know this. You have worked hard to build a successful accountancy firm. But what if you worked hard in a different way? Could your firm be more successful? Dan Coyle, in his inspiring book The Talent Code, visited hotbeds of talent production
Read MorePositive, constructive appraisal processes with clear goals and parameters can work brilliantly in your accountancy firm. Done right, the process can be a success for even the smallest firms, all the way up to multinational corporations! But where to start? First, it’s really important that your appraisal process suits the culture of your firm.Read here how you can
Read MoreIt’s not uncommon to be frustrated by the performance of some people within your team. It’s okay to grind your teeth a bit about how much more of a burden this puts on you, the leader or manager. Here’s what’s possible… There’s one sole-practitioner accountancy firm I work with who have taken the ‘social loafing’ message (see
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