Staples

Business Coach Daniel Fitzpatrick shares ways to build work ethic and commitment when working with 26 to 40 year olds (Millennials) and under 25’s (Gen Z).

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve probably had a few bad experiences with younger staff…

They can sometimes be lazy, entitled, or even self-absorbed. Not wanting to work hard – but wanting to be paid top dollar.

There are those that want too many days off. Or worse, the ones that don’t even turn up (and your call goes straight to voicemail…!)

When staff are unreliable, it wrecks your schedule. It’s time consuming. And it costs you money. You feel disrespected. Frustrated. Justifiably so.

Generational differences are nothing new. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to navigate.

Here are a few tips that will help you draw the best out of your younger team members:

1. Keep the faith – there are good ones out there

Keep in mind that young staff are a bit like referees. You hear more about the bad ones than the good. However, it’s inevitable that millennials will be part of your team.

When it comes time to hire, here’s how to sort the good from the bad:

Good young staff are enthusiastic. Look for this when you interview so you know they’re motivated from the outset.

Uncover their patterns of behaviour. You’re looking for signs of work ethic and commitment. How long were they at their last job? Why did they leave?

If they’re fresh out of school, look for something they’ve shown commitment to in the past (like a sports team). If you can reveal their attitude early, you won’t find yourself regretting hiring them after their first week.

If you’ve got great young staff already (or you know someone that does) ask them if they’ve got mates looking for work. Like attracts like.

Consider a referral bonus to add a little motivation. If they introduce you to someone you end up hiring, give them a $500 bonus.

Most importantly, don’t settle. Finding good staff is not easy, but hiring someone who brings the whole team down will cost you massively.

Hot tip: make sure your website is up to date and your company uses digital tools. If you’re still relying on paper trails, the good millennials may think you’re stuck in a time lapse.

2. Use their love of tech to your advantage

We all know how much today’s young staff love being on their devices. It’s no doubt caused you a few headaches. But what if their love of tech could benefit the business?

Try asking them to take site photos for your social media. They know how to take a good photo and what content works. Plus, it’s one less thing you need to worry about.

If you’re looking for a good piece of software, consider involving a young team member. Have someone explain to them what’s needed and let them do the research for you.

Showing one of your team members how to do something? Ask another to video it. You’ll start documenting your training processes. This way you can start to systemise, and don’t end up having to explain the same thing every time you hire.

While using their love for tech is good – it still doesn’t solve the productivity problem. Set things up so phones can only be used in breaks (or for work purposes of course).

Make the most of the first digital generation and use their tech skills to help your business.

3. Be frequent with your feedback

Think back to when you started out in the trades. How did your first boss teach you? They probably fast-tracked your learning by dropping you in the deep end and hoping you’d swim.

That was how you were led. Keep in mind your younger staff have grown up in a world of instant gratification. They’re used to everything happening fast, so can struggle with things that take time.

It’s up to us to help them build confidence and learn patience. This just means leading them differently.

They want to know where they stand, and thrive off more frequent feedback. They’ll learn faster, and you get a happier team member turning up to work each morning.

A quality of a good leader is changing the way you communicate to serve the people you lead.

Use things like the 5min chats before meetings, the one-liners of recognition or the ‘hey good job, have you thought of trying it this way’ coaching as quick ways of giving feedback. It’s easy for you and meaningful to them, so they’ll keep working hard.

It’ll probably feel different to how you were led. But it shows them you’re interested in them. Meaning they’ll invest more in you and your business. Small, consistent wins will add up to big triumphs.

4. Everyone will work hard for something

Your first job was a measure of security. It was your escape from the academic system that didn’t suit you, and finding another one would’ve been difficult. So you worked hard to make sure you kept it.

But millennials want a job that helps them see their future. If they can’t see their next step with you, they are more willing to find it elsewhere. Studies show that 25% of millennials will have worked 5 jobs by their 35th birthday.

They want to level up in life and aren’t afraid to jump ship if they need to. So show them what they can achieve with you.

This might be completing their apprenticeship, reaching a certain pay rate, saving for a house or escaping from living pay-cheque to pay-cheque. They’ll work harder with a target in mind.

Tell them about the levels they can achieve within your business and the timeframes they can achieve it in. It shows them why they should stick with you, so you end up with loyal employees.

Learning is an important part of levelling up. When they make mistakes, train them how to do it right. Most importantly, teach them what matters most – learning from it. This way they’ll improve and you won’t have to go back and fix things next time.

Help them enjoy their job by being approachable. If you work hard, help your team out and can have a laugh at the same time as doing your job, chances are you’ll see the same in your team.

5. Where are you at as a leader?

If you want your staff to perform, they’ll always need nurturing (regardless of their generation).

It’s easy to sit back and blame young people for underperforming. Reality is, as a business owner, the more you take responsibility for building your team, the better the results.

Yes, millennials have their generational challenges. But so does every generation.

Let’s face it: Good leaders adapt.

How are you leading your team – the way you were led, or how they need to be?

Getting the best out of them means meeting them at their level first. Then fueling them to deliver on what you need.

Need a plan to move your business forward with confidence? Book a free strategy chat with me here:
www.nextleveltradie.co.nz/nextstep

Daniel Fitzpatrick

Business coach Daniel Fitzpatrick looks at the 5 tell-tale signs of bad systems in a tradie business.

If you’re struggling to systemise, you’re not alone. At a certain size of business, the moving parts are harder to control and you run out of hours in the day. That’s when systems save your bacon.

Which of these tell-tale signs does your business have?

1. You’re overwhelmed with work

You’re busy. Working big hours to fit all the pieces together. Business has become all-consuming. Your family is missing out.

And if you’re being honest? Jobs are a bit out of control. They aren’t being well-organised. When schedules change, or staff are off sick, it’s even worse.

We’ve all been there. But if this is happening to you month after month, it’s a red flag you’re taking on too much work.

You’re likely mis-judging your capacity. An easy trap for tradies to fall into.

Obviously you know what projects are lined up. But until all jobs are visible in one place you can’t truly get a handle on how much extra you can accommodate.

Rely on a good scheduling system. Build in a buffer so you can be flexible enough to adapt. Only then can you get capacity right.

Hard time turning work down? A better filtering system can identify which work you do/don’t want. An improved line of questioning can help you to say “no” to customers – while still having them walk away happy.

To increase capacity, you’ll also need to hurdle the skills shortage with a hiring system that attracts quality staff. So you can take advantage of the current boom and grow your business.

2. Your cashflow is hit or miss

It’s close to the 20th. A few people haven’t paid you. Now you need to pay suppliers and staff. But there’s a cashflow gap.

So you scramble to get the money in. Who can you invoice now? Who can you chase? Who can you delay paying?

If you’re a husband/wife team, prepare for a late-night argument about who is to blame.

Or ring the bank and beg some guy who doesn’t understand your business to stump up the money to tide you over. It sucks.

And it’s all down to not having robust enough cashflow systems.

If only you’d billed work out earlier, been in touch with late payers sooner, or structured progress payments to better suit your timing. These aren’t the whole answer but stack the odds in your favour.

Do cashflow right and next time the 20th rolls around you’ll have better options. The trick is to make cashflow as predictable as possible, minimise surprises.

It’s having a nice cash buffer in the bank for rainy days. It’s seeing ahead, knowing what’s gonna be in your account when – and how much is yours after all the bills are paid.

Work the system diligently and you’ll almost always have enough cash in the bank. So if someone doesn’t pay on time, you’re okay.

3. Employees making costly mistakes

A customer calls, there’s problems with the job, they’re not happy. Re-do’s cost you time and money and hurt your reputation.

You arrive onsite and realise things are wrong. You have to pull up your team, commit more time to correct things. Even worse you feel you can’t leave site, you need to be there to make sure all goes smoothly from now on.

Staff are the backbone of your operations. It’s essential they are getting things right. You need a solid team that listens, understands what needs to be done, delivers great work at a professional level.

If mistakes keep happening, it’s because there are not enough rules and systems onsite so everyone knows what’s expected.

Or if you’ve got good systems and your team aren’t using them, you’ve got an issue with buy-in.

It’s easier than you think to be the leader that gets everyone pulling the same way, motivated and taking responsibility for their part.

It all comes down to having good procedures, checklists, and follow up. So things are done right and mistakes are stopped before they happen.

This enables you to deliver on your promises, delight clients, hit targets. Best of all your time is free. You can be away from site knowing jobs are in safe hands. Or your foreman sorts it for you.

Bonus is, when you make it clear you expect accountability, those 1 or 2 disruptive staff members? They’ll either step up or bow out. Creating a strong team culture also means improved productivity, less sick leave, and your best staff won’t leave.

4. Losing money on jobs

Has your business sprung a profit leak? This might show up when you do a bit of costing on a few jobs and it seems like there’s some holes there. Or that last job took longer than you thought. So you know you didn’t make any money on it.

Basically you’re doing a lot of work but there’s not much money in the bank account to show for it.

Keep in mind: bigger businesses have bigger holes. Larger jobs, more staff, multiple jobs all add costs and leak money much faster.

If you’re regularly losing money on jobs, let’s look at your financial systems. Start here:
A) Your pricing process.

You might be under-estimating the hours. Or basing your price off old supplier costs. Are you quoting what you think the market will pay or the margin your business actually needs?

Price right – in the sweet spot. Not too low you don’t make good money. Not too high you price yourself out.

B) Your system for tracking and controlling costs on the job.

Losing margin? Projects always blowing out? Do you often find yourself doing work you feel you can’t charge for, so your margin takes the hit?

Let’s get your project management software working to its fullest. Maybe you’re not tracking target costs and hours to the level you should. Red flag is: not finding out things have gone south until it’s too late to do anything about it.

Usually, profitability can be vastly improved with just a few tweaks.

I know we’ve got this right when tradies I coach are hitting the margins they want. They grin and say “Dan there’s a lot more money in the bank now. Cashflow is way easier. I’ve adjusted my pricing, and clients agree to pay for variations with no dramas”

5. You’re buried in admin and can’t get the important stuff done

Despite your best intentions, urgent things come up, and they can’t wait. Your week is derailed by quotes you have to finish, things happen on site you have to deal with, your inbox is outta control…

Truth is: To progress the business and regain your sanity, you simply can’t be overly involved in the day-to-day runnings.

The answer is to implement a good system for how you spend your time.

You must decide which tasks are most important. Both for the business to be successful, and for you to be happy.

Schedule your priorities and work on the most important stuff first. Tasks that give you the most ROI. Dedicate specific time blocks in your week for certain tasks. So the important stuff has its place.

Part of extracting yourself involves delegating repeatable tasks (and the more simple decisions) safely to your team. Having robust systems and checklists is the only way to hand off tasks and trust they’ll be done right. This way a lot of things can happen without your direct input.

This creates more time for you. For higher-level tasks. For family time, rest and relaxation.

Stacking small wins to free yourself from working “inside” your business creates a positive chain reaction where every week, things get a little more structured, a little easier and more profitable.

You’ve built a great business. You just need to systemise to take the pressure off a bit. With systems for your capacity, cashflow, team/onsite operations, pricing/margins, and time.

Need a bit of guidance in how to proceed? Grab a free chat with me here:
www.nextleveltradie.co.nz/nextstep

 

1. Follow the Act

Termination is tough, and tricky. To act in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000 employers who want to dismiss an employee have to:
• act in good faith
• have a good reason
• follow a fair and reasonable process
• make sure the outcome is not pre-determined

If the employer doesn’t, the employee may have grounds for a personal grievance against their employer for unjustified dismissal.

2. Act in Good Faith

This means that:
• Neither the employee nor the employer should mislead or deceive each other;
• Both the employer and the employees should communicate and respond appropriately to one another in a timely manner; and
• An employer should consult with the employee before making any decisions that may affect their employment and allow them an opportunity to respond.

3. Have a Good Reason

An employer should only dismiss an employee on reasonable grounds after a fair process. The following are reasons why an employer may dismiss an employee:
• Serious or repeated misconduct – behaviour which falls outside workplace standards and/or poses a risk to employee safety, or undermines the trust and confidence essential to the employment relationship;
• Performance issues – the employee is unable to meet performance standards, and they’ve been given a reasonable opportunity to improve their conduct prior to the employment relationship being terminated;
• During a trial period – the employer does not need to provide a reason for a trial period termination in writing, but the employee can still raise a claim if they believe the decision was based on discrimination. It is best if the employer has an objective reason for ending the employment, such as performance or misconduct;
• Redundancy – the job performed by the employee is no longer necessary for the business or technological advancements have made the role redundant;
• Incapacity – the employee is unable to perform the duties required of their role due to medical reasons such as an illness or injury, and all reasonable alternatives to dismissal have been considered.

4. Follow a Fair Process

A fair process allows the employee to respond to any concerns raised by the employer, where the employer takes any explanation into account before deciding an outcome. What process is required will depend on the issue, for example a trial period termination will be different to ending employment for medical incapacity.  However, even in cases of serious misconduct, a fair process should be followed (although note some of these will not apply to a trial period termination):
• Investigate the allegation thoroughly;
• Raise the issues with the employee in writing and advise them of the possible consequences;
• Allow the employee time to consider the allegations and to seek advice or representation;
• Give the employee an opportunity to respond to the allegations and provide a reason or an explanation;
• Consider the employee’s responses with an open mind;
• Decide on the appropriate outcome.

5. Put it in Writing

The employer should put the reasons for the dismissal in writing unless terminating employment under a trial period. If they don’t, the employee can ask for a written statement of the reasons for dismissal and the employer has to provide one within 14 days of the employee requesting a reason, provided the employee requests one within 60 days of becoming aware of the dismissal.

6. Check the Notice Period

An employer should give an employee appropriate notice of the last day of their employment as specified in the employment agreement unless they are dismissing for serious misconduct.

But if there is no notice specified then the notice period must be fair and reasonable, depending on how long the employee has been in the business, the job they do and how long it may take to hire a replacement.

7. Dismissal Without Notice – Serious Misconduct

An employee may be summarily dismissed if, after a fair investigation and disciplinary process, they are found guilty of serious misconduct. This is conduct that destroys or significantly undermines the relationship of trust and confidence between employer and employee.

In cases of serious misconduct, an employer may be able to dismiss a worker without giving notice or paying out the notice period.

8. Redundancy

A genuine redundancy is when the employer no longer needs a certain job to be performed by anyone. The employer must consult with the employee and make sure there are no other jobs within the business that the employee could reasonably do before making an employee redundant.

9. Final Pay

An employer should pay an employee any outstanding pay for hours worked since their last pay, unused holiday pay and any other additional entitlements due to the employee as per the employment agreement or as part of their termination package, on their last day of work.

10. Record Keeping

An employer must keep records for each employee that contain their personal details, their employment agreement, the job they do, the hours they work and details of their pay and annual holiday and sick leave entitlements. You must keep wage and time, and holidays and leave records for the preceding six years, even if the employee is no longer with the business.

 

Reproduced with thanks to Employsure employsure.co.nz | 0800 568 012

Business Coach Daniel Fitzpatrick takes a look at four ways of thinking that will get you to the next level a lot faster.

If you’re like most tradies and have a lot on your plate right now, it’s easy to forget about how your mindset impacts your success. And simply go through the motions every day. Ticking off your long list of to-dos.

You want to be making progress but it feels like you’re bogged down by what’s urgent. And not necessarily getting to what’s most important.

So, how can you ensure you’re on the right track and progressing towards where you want to be? Such as running a thriving, growing company with an amazing team and reputation that is second-to-none (with plenty of space for regular family time and holidays!)…

Start by understanding these 4 mindsets that separate successful business owners from the rest:

1. They take responsibility for the big picture

Hal Elrod says: The moment you accept total responsibility for EVERYTHING in your life is the day you claim the power to change ANYTHING in your life.

It’s true: When you don’t take total responsibility for something in your business, then you’ve given up the power to change that thing. It’s unlikely to then go in the direction you want it to.

Ever started a job and took ownership but a few things got away on you… Like when you discovered there were a few extras involved that were not allowed for in the quote… But it was just easier to carry on and deal with it later? In the end your margins disappeared and it was too late to negotiate with the client coz the job was finished…

Taking total responsibility (even when it means having the hard client convos in the middle of a job) saves a whole lot of headaches later.

Another big one is taking complete responsibility for your financials. This means consistently being ahead of the game: Knowing exactly what’s coming in, what’s going out, and what’s left.

Yes, it’s a good time to be in the trades right now. But good times don’t necessarily lead to a better business. Even when you’ve got more work coming in than you can handle, you still need to be focused on building the fundamentals of a strong business.

Ask yourself two important questions:
• What’s out of control to fix right now? (eg. cashflow – there’s a whole lot of debtors you haven’t followed up and that’s why you’ve got no money)
• What are you letting coast by that you need to get control of because it’s gonna bite you in the future? (eg. your foreman is being difficult)

If you can really get a handle on those loose ends, when you get to the end of the year you’ll be much happier with the results.

2. They make financial decisions based on the ROI not the cost

Fact: Not all costs are the same. When you make a financial decision, it can either be seen through the lens of it being a cost or an investment.

For example, implementing new project management software will cost time and money initially. But will save you time and improve margins and control in the long term.

Therefore, just viewing it for its initial cost could hold you back from investing in something that would later benefit you. The more growth focused approach is to analyse your financial decisions based on the ROI, the overall effect.

You gotta think: For what I put in, am I getting a greater return back?

Making financial decisions in this way can save time and frustration, and play a great role in taking your business to the next level.

3. They fixate on their goals but are flexible in their approach

Any significant goal will have curveballs on the way that try to shunt you in a different direction. The winning attitude is to be firm and fixated on your goals. But also to be flexible in how you achieve them!

Imagine a key staff member has left and you need to find a great replacement. It’s hard to find staff right now. Thinking outside the box might mean training an existing team member up into the role, or offering to pay moving costs to attract someone outside the region.

There are always going to be turns and bends in the pursuit of our goals. But it’s not an excuse to stop. Instead, it’s a reason to find a different way. As Ryan Holiday says: Stop looking for angels. Start looking for angles.

Where are you currently stuck in your business? What isn’t working? Spinning your wheels and hoping things will improve might not be the best approach.

Even if you’ve had success in the past, what’s gotten you to point A might not necessarily get you to point B.

So, look for a different way. Find a new strategy. Create opportunities and get after the results you really want.

4. They don’t expect themselves to have all the answers

Tradies sometimes think: There’s no task too big to handle if I just grind it out.

However, when it comes to nailing down the nitty-gritty of your business, you’ll run into a problem: You can’t read the label from within the jar.

How often have you seen someone stuck on how something’s going to work, but then someone else has come over and almost immediately found the solution?

As billionaire real-estate investor Gary Keller says: Any time in your life you are hitting up against the ceiling of achievement, you’re missing a person.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a different set of eyes sees different things. So, stop and think: How are you taking advantage of different eyes and minds in your business strategy?

Do you have a different set of eyes on your financials? Have you got other minds working with you to help take your business to the next level?

Having someone who you regularly sit down with to go over various aspects of your business will force you to show up and think strategically. Which will ultimately help you move forward and stay the course. So, take advantage of it!

Let’s wrap this up
The mindsets of business owners who succeed and those who don’t are very different. Make sure you can say you’re on the right side!

Remember: Take responsibility for the big picture. Make financial decisions based on the ROI rather than the cost. Be flexible in how you get to your goals. And don’t go it alone.

If you have trouble with any of these areas, contact me for a free online chat to see how I can help you fast track your way forward. Book a time here:
www.nextleveltradie.co.nz/nextstep

 

Daniel Fitzpatrick

Our modern working environment can unfortunately, present many psychological hazards. Depending on how employers handle these hazards, these psychological threats can massively impact the mental health of workers.

The hazards can potentially cause the worker to suffer a psychological injury or exacerbate a pre-existing condition.

Hazards in the workplace can include:
• The physical workplace environment
• The nature and complexity of the
work itself
• Work procedures
• Behaviour of workers towards
one another
• The structure of the business
• The potential exposure to violent
or traumatic events can be a trigger for stress
• The introduction of work restrictions that are beyond the control of the business

Any business must do its best to commit to supporting the overall mental wellbeing of its workers.  This means ensuring that the risk of psychological and/or psychosocial injuries in the workplace are eliminated as far as is practical and that these are effectively and proactively managed through a risk management approach.

In this post, we will be looking at the 5 essentials of a robust mental health plan and why they are so important to implement for your business.

Why is a Robust Mental Health Plan so Important?

Every employer wants productivity, business growth, and satisfied customers.  Satisfied customers go hand in hand with satisfied staff. What makes satisfied staff? Being able to cope with a workload, feeling confidant and valued in their role, and getting along with their colleagues, are key attributes to a healthy workplace.

If we look at statistics, we can see that workplace mental health compensation claims are associated with above-average absenteeism and higher than average compensation claim costs than other types of claims. Compensation claims for mental health in Australia are around $24,000 compared to $9000 for other claims. Adding to this, a typical time off work for mental health caused or exacerbated by the workplace was 15.3 weeks compared to 5.5 for other claims.  Between 2010–11 and 2014–15, around 91% of workers’ compensation claims involving a mental health condition were linked to work-related stress.

The most common reasons for mental health issues arising from the workplace are work pressure, or work-related harassment, or bullying.

So, we can see that businesses that do not have a robust mental health plan can incur significant human and financial costs.

The Five Essentials

IDENTIFY MENTAL HEALTH RISKS

Firstly, identify the psychological triggers in your workplace, inspect the workplace in action on a normal day, is there anything you can see? Observe how workers interact with each other / public / equipment and see if you can spot issues yourself, and importantly ask managers and staff to observe too. This might feel odd at first but seeing how staff interact with their workplace is crucial in keeping staff content in the workplace. Using surveys is an excellent way to get feedback on employee issues and satisfaction. If you have reports or reviews in your business, these are also a great way to monitor staff mental health.

ASSESS MENTAL HEALTH RISKS

Initiate a formal process for the assessment of mental health risks.   Like other health and safety risk assessments, write down all the risks to mental health in your workplace. Is it the pressure of a high workload that never ends? Is it rapidly changing deadlines? Is it ‘banter’ between employees? A high volume of customer complaints? Lack of breaks? Mental health stresses can be subtle and individual so be sure to take your time with assessing the risks.  Perform a risk assessment that can be a written record in your business, so managers are aware of the triggers and can help staff cope. Having this written document will help you manage your plan effectively.

CONTROL THE MENTAL HEALTH RISKS

Of course, it’s not always possible to prevent constantly changing deadlines, negative customers, workplace banter, or high work volumes! So how do you manage these risks to mental health? Planning and prevention is key. When you know what the mental health hazards are, (from that all-important written risk assessment!) You can start the journey to prevent these risks. Controlling these mental health triggers may always be a work in progress, as risks change and fluctuate constantly and as the business and workplace evolve.

REVIEW YOUR PRACTICES

Monitor and review your risk assessment regularly, is controlling the stress hazards working? Be honest and invite honesty from employees. Remember that a workplace with good mental health is a successful growing business.

OPEN DIALOGUE

An open dialogue is fundamental to a robust mental health plan. Open discussion between employers, staff, and managers is crucial in identifying risks, assessing risks, controlling risks, and reviewing risks. Staff need to feel they can highlight issues, (they as individuals) feel are stresses without being seen differently (as perhaps problem maker or a negative colleague etc). This open dialogue will be your greatest tool in identifying risk, assessing risk, and putting into place control measures to manage employee stresses.

In summary, consider that the most common reasons for workplace mental health issues are work pressure, work-related harassment, and bullying. Identify, assess, control, and review your mental health hazards and use open dialogue in your business to facilitate this.

If you need HR support as a business owner, we at Employsure offer a tailored service where we can assist you in building a robust mental health plan. We also offer free initial advice too, so feel free to get in touch with us 24/7 to see how we can help your business grow.

 

Reproduced with thanks to Employsure employsure.co.nz | 0800 568 012

I was recently helping a client to price a proposal for a significant contract.

She had done everything right. The team she assembled had read the evaluation criteria and addressed all of the items that required addressing in the Request for Proposal (RFP).

She had enlisted the right expertise to help her define and cost the services that she was going to need to provide. The team had looked at the cashflow side of things to come up with an appropriate payment system that would ensure that the contract would be cashflow positive through the contract.

The proposal was excellent.

The client was shortlisted and asked to present to an evaluation team. The client’s team did a sterling job of presentation. A short while later, they were told that they were the preferred Service Provider and asked to attend another meeting.

At the meeting the team were congratulated on their success and told they were not the lowest priced tenderer and nor were they the highest. The problem was that while the Customer could see that the service that my client was going to provide was very high quality the price was too high and was there anyway that it could be reduced to fit the budget?

There was great discussion and some options kicked around that gave my client some options to work on.

My client and her team went away and worked on this. They found that they were able to meet the requests of the Customer, restructure their payment system, remain cashflow positive and make a more than acceptable return.

This is a great story but unfortunately not such a common one when it comes to pricing proposals. Often, you don’t get that second chance to submit.

A guide to success

Fortunately, there are some things you can do to give your proposals the best chance for success. Here are some easy tips to help you be as successful as my client:

1. Read the documentation thoroughly and make notes of requirements and evaluation criteria. This gives you an idea of where to put the most effort in your written proposal.

2. Make sure you know the deadlines for submitting pricing and also the award timeframe. If the deadlines are too close for you to give the proposal proper attention, do not be afraid to ask for an extension. Do this as early as possible.

3. If there is some external information required, such as insurance costs, quotes for materials, costs of bonds and so forth, that take time, get those requests off early.

4. If you are uncertain on some aspects, get help from others that know about them. Sometimes this will cost you money but it will be money well spent.

5. When pricing, think about how much margin you are prepared to accept for this project. This can be in dollar terms or a percentage and may be set at different levels depending on how much you need the work, how many competitors are pricing the job and so on.

6. Always submit a bid that complies with the Customer’s requests and if you have some alternative ideas that may be better for the customer, then submit them as an appendix or alternative bid.

7. Always look at and understand the payment terms of the contract, then look at how the cashflow will work for the contract. Always offer something that works for you rather than just accepting. This may mean that you need to talk to your suppliers to get them to accept the same payment terms so that you are not needing to pay them before you get paid.

8. Always look at what it is going to cost you to set up for the project and make you get an upfront payment to more than cover this.

9. Be careful of the impact of retentions on cashflow.

Hands on assistance is available

There is a lot of pressure to get a proposal right and it can be an intimidating process to go through. Fortunately, you are able to seek expert advice on how to correctly assemble your next proposal.

If you are responding to requests for pricing or putting together a proposal and need reassurance or guidance, go to someone with experience for that assistance. Graeme from Biz Assist has years of experience in these matters so feel free to make contact with him if you need help.

 

Graeme Bratty
www.bizassist.nz

022 587 0149

Graeme Bratty operates Biz Assist Limited, a consultancy that specialises in providing small and medium businesses with wide ranging advice and guidance in how to make their businesses stronger and more efficient. He has 30 years’ experience in senior commercial finance roles and has a passion for guiding small and medium business owners to plan for and achieve their aims.

Business Coach Daniel Fitzpatrick looks at how to implement incentives that keep your staff self-driven and poacher-proof. 

Nothing stings more than losing one of your standout workers. You know who I’m talking about. The ones that always turn up on time, have a great attitude and never let you down. They’ll go the extra mile, because they take pride in their work.

Things tick along nicely. Until they ask for a ‘quick chat.’ They’ve had an offer they can’t refuse and they’re off. You ask what you can do to keep them, but that ship has sailed.

Great staff are worth their weight in gold at the moment. So how do you make sure your best staff stick around? Think about your current team. Who can you not afford to lose?

Now consider this…

1. Can your incentives pass the poacher test?

Say your best employee got approached tomorrow with a job offer. What would stop them saying yes?  Losing a valuable team member hurts.

The best incentives help you build a culture that people won’t want to leave.

Everyone wants to know where they’re heading. Help them get what they want in their lives. Invest in training them. Align their goals with your business goals. Show them how working with you gets them the career path they want. This creates loyalty and they are less likely to get poached.

Give great bonuses for hitting targets, like the team gets a certain dollar amount for completion of a job on time or early. Consider a $10K bonus if they are still with you at the end of each year.

For the ultimate employee – consider offering a profit share or even an ownership share to keep them for good. Without stating the obvious, these incentives should only be considered for your MVP’s.

2. Do you know what your staff want next?

Long-term incentives are crucial for retention. But you’ve also got to walk before you can run. Knowing what your team wants in the short-term matters, too.

Have you spent time finding out what your team members value most? Don’t assume you know what they consider good perks. Ask them and find out what they really want. They’ll give you powerful incentive ideas for now and later on.

Show them how going the extra mile will help you help them achieve that goal. One business owner I work with goes out of his way to help out his staff. In their first few months, he finds a way to contribute to their personal lives. This could be setting them up with a mortgage advisor if they’re looking for a house, or they get to leave an hour early to coach their kid’s sports team on Thursdays.

The point is, it’s what matters to them.

3. Is your incentive program breeding entitlement?

Entitlement. It’s the last thing you want in a staff member. So how do we stop it creeping in from incentives?

You might do this already – keep them random. Shout your guys the odd coffee here and there. Give them a gift card to the local tool supplier when a curveball meant they really had to dig in to get a job done on time, and they knocked it out of the park.

At the risk of stating the obvious – the key lies in the inconsistency. They’re informal gestures that say ‘we appreciate your effort.’ Keeping them unexpected is what keeps entitlement at bay. If staff don’t know they’re coming, then expectations don’t grow.

That said… random incentives are a move, not a game plan. They’re valuable, particularly if you sense entitlement brewing. But they’re best placed as the cherry on the incentive cake – not as the cake itself.

4. How often do you ask your team members for their number?

You’ve asked each staff member what they prefer as an incentive. Extend the buy-in. Ask them to come up with their own performance goals.

Go through this process together. Agree on something, then catch up regularly to help them stay on track. This doesn’t have to be long (10mins weekly should do it) but consistency is key.

For example, if your apprentice wants to work on turning up on time or improving their attitude, and you agree, hold them accountable to these performance goals by grading them out of 10 at the end of each week.

Do this with each of your team so everyone has something they’re aiming for. This way they don’t get bored, as studies show being bored in their current role is the biggest reason people look for a new one.

Keep your team challenged by giving everyone a number that they’re accountable to. The best sports teams are great at this. The players hold each other accountable, not the coach. When everyone has their number, your guys will help each other out too.

5. How big are you on the little things?

Incentives are great. But they’re not your only tool to building a team that loves working for you.

Recognition is powerful (and definitely a lot easier). Research shows that 63% of staff who feel recognised are highly unlikely to look for a new job.

On the flip side – a lack of recognition is why 44% of employees change jobs.

One tradie I worked with had an admin person who was on a bit of a performance roller coaster. She wasn’t quite giving the boss what he needed. Productivity fell, especially when she was at home during the holidays. Deliverables weren’t meeting deadlines or required standards.

Tough conversations weren’t working. Turns out she finds it hard if she’s not encouraged. Once he said things like ‘thanks for your work on that project – I couldn’t have done it without you’ there was a huge change. She was diligent again and a lot easier to work with.

So what drove this change? Not a lot, actually. Just her boss made her feel appreciated by acknowledging what was true – he couldn’t have done that task without her. Sometimes we can overlook the power of recognising the value of what our team does every day.

This recognition doesn’t have to only come from you. Put praise from customers in your group chat. This will make your team feel great about the work they’ve done.

Recognition of a job well done can be one of the best returns on investment in your business. How often do you say ‘thank you?’

So what’s the ultimate key to staff retention?

You’ve got to pay your staff well, but more money isn’t always the answer.

Instead, find out what truly matters to them and reward them in that way. Even better, attach it to their long-term professional growth.

Make it personal. Cookie cutter bonuses and incentives can be helpful, but they only go so far.

Align staff incentives with your business goals. This gets everyone on the same page and your business ends up running with the fluency of a Formula 1 pit crew. Well, maybe not quite. But you get the idea.

Need some help to get your team performing at the highest level? Book a free strategy chat with me here:
www.nextleveltradie.co.nz/nextstep

 

Daniel Fitzpatrick

All employees are entitled to sick leave after six months’ current continuous service regardless of how many hours they work a week or whether they are full time or part time employees.

If an employee has not worked continuously for six months, then they will be entitled to sick leave if over the last six months they have worked for their employer for at least an average of ten hours per week and no less than one hour every week, or 40 hours every month. This includes casual employees if the sick leave is on a day they otherwise would have worked.

WHAT’S NEW?

From 24 July 2021 the sick leave entitlement under the Holiday Act 2003 increased from five to ten employer paid sick days a year.

When will my employees get this extra sick leave?
Employees will receive five extra days of paid sick leave depending on when they started work and first became entitled to paid sick leave. Employees who already are entitled to paid sick leave before 24 July 2021 will get their extra days of sick leave 12 months from the date they last became entitled to sick leave.

HOW DO I IMPLEMENT THIS CHANGE?

Employers need to ensure that their systems and processes are updated. This includes:
• Ensuring payroll systems have been updated to reflect the increase in sick leave.
• If you are employing new staff or creating new employment agreements (contracts), make sure that sick leave entitlements are noted at 10 days.
• Being aware of the changes and communicating with affected employees about what the change means for them.
• Updating employment agreements via a written variation letter to align with employees’ new sick leave entitlements where necessary. The new minimum entitlements will apply whether or not an employment agreement is updated.
• If you are planning to add any other variations to the employment agreement (contract), make sure that you discuss this with employees first. Remember, the employee does not have to agree to any changes that are not mandatory.

KNOW YOUR SICK LEAVE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Employers and employees should be aware of their rights and responsibilities in relation to sick leave:
• Sick leave is paid time off work if an employee, their spouse, partner, dependent child, or other person who depends on them is sick or injured.
• All employees (including part-time and casual employees) are entitled to sick leave if they have worked for the same employer continuously for over 6 months, or they have worked for the employer for 6 months for:
– an average of 10 hours per week, and
– at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.
• Unused sick leave at the end of a 12-month period can be carried over and added to an employee’s entitlement for the following year. The maximum number of days that can be accumulated as a minimum right is 20 days. Some employers allow for more than 20 days to be carried over or have unlimited sick leave entitlements.
• Employees need to tell their employer as soon as possible that they want to take sick leave. A phone call is the best way, unless the workplace has its own system.
• Unused sick leave cannot be cashed-up or be part of any final payment to the employee when they leave, unless this is in the employment agreement.
• If an employee has run out of sick leave they can ask their employer for sick leave in advance, use some of their annual holidays, or could ask to take unpaid leave.

Head to www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/sick-leave/sick-leave-entitlements to read more.