If you’re a successful executive or business owner, you’ll know that your employees are your most valuable assets.
When you’re a growing company, it’s not possible to do everything yourself and you rely on the efforts of a dedicated, committed team to take your ideas forward. Without a good team behind you, everything is even harder work. So, what’s the magic recipe? How do you make sure that you have the right people in your organisation? Here are our suggestions for a future-proof dream team.
Make a list of roles you need to fill
It’s important to know where you’re heading as a company. Think about your vision for the next five years and who you want on board in order to achieve this. Take time to visualise what you’d like your business to look like, regardless of your current structure. Formalise this by making a document, enabling your employees to see what the future holds and helping them to prioritise which goals and aims they’re working towards.
Now that you’ve been through this process, you’ll know what skills you need within your team. Look at the gaps and decide whether you need someone new to fill these or whether you can train your existing team. Consider reaching out to people in other organisations who have caught your eye, use freelancers or follow a more traditional recruitment process. Search for inspirational workers and make sure they fit the profile you’re looking for in interview.
Market your company to be desirable
In order to attract talent, it’s important to have a strong brand. Ambitious employees will be looking for companies with an edge, who stand out from their competitors and are exciting to work for because they’re innovative and passionate about what they do. Your brand needs to communicate this, so look at how you appear on your website, social media and in your job advert.
If you’re serious about building your dream team, you’ll need to be proactive and reach out to talent pools. For example, you could book a space at a university fair to pitch vacancies to bright young graduates. It’s possible that you’ll need to change the way you hire in order to find the right people – talk to your HR team or agency and get involved in the entire recruitment process.
Embrace technological change
Every business needs to keep up with technological change – this is transforming many industries from accountancy and financial services to marketing – so check that new staff are up to date with the latest trends and processes. It may be that one of the gaps within your company is a digital skills gap, so test for these qualities when it comes to interviewing candidates. For some companies, technological advances will mean the need to create a whole new job role. It’s worth bearing this in mind when you’re mapping out your dream team. Have you looked at where your industry is heading and taken this into account?
Encourage your team to keep learning
Even as you’re hiring new staff, it’s important to build trust and confidence in current Employees. After all, one of the things that attracts candidates to work somewhere is the prospect of joining and flourishing within a lively and energetic team. To do this, keep communicating and make sure you’re using everyone’s strengths and abilities in the best way.
Look at existing employees and how you can develop them, as well as how you can motivate them. For example, do you have a reward system in place to encourage progress, new ideas and those who display initiative? Your dream team is likely to be diverse and made up of many different types of people, it’s important for everyone to get on. Sometimes personalities can be just as important as peoples’ CVs.
Make sure you’re growing as a leader
If you’re expecting your employees to take on new ideas, you’ll need to do the same. So, once you’ve nailed down your aims and goals for the future, ask for feedback. Or how about setting yourself some new challenges, such as raising your profile by speaking at a networking event or creating a reading list for the year?
Be aware of your own weak spots and what influences your decisions. As the leader of a growing business, there will be times when you’ll need to make hard choices, for example, letting go of members of staff who aren’t performing. Look for role-models and find someone to mentor you too so that you’re receiving supporting and advice – this will benefit you when the going gets tough.
About the author
Kate Allen is the MD of Allen Associates, one of Oxfordshire’s leading independent recruitment agencies, that specialises in Marketing, Finance, PA/Admin and HR roles. In 2018, Allen Associates launched their first London office, specialising in Marketing, HR and PA/Admin roles.
Allen Associates also offer guides to businesses, containing top tips to help your recruitment and hiring process. They also offer guides to candidates, to help then with their job hunt.