How to Build a “Best Places to Work” Company
December 28, 2022
A real estate company I ran for a number of years was named one of Crain’s Best Places to Work in New York City several years in a row. Getting there took a focus on something that might surprise you.
It’s not free coffee or yoga breaks or other perks that motivate your people. People are motivated by doing work they can be proud of, by being part of something bigger than themselves, and by being recognized for their efforts. Becoming a company that your own employees sing the praises of requires you to recognize that your people are your company, and to honor what they need in order to perform.
#1 on the list of what your people need is structure. Here’s why:
We all want to feel successful, and people need to know what a “successful” day looks like.
Am I successful if I sell 10 subscriptions today? Or receive a certain customer service rating? Or win three new client accounts? The only way for your people to know if they are being successful, and for you to know if they are delivering what you need them to, is to have clearly communicated expectations, accountability measures, and performance management systems. In family-owned and founder-led companies, these basic items are sometimes lacking, or missing altogether.
Without structure, a relationship-based culture takes over.
When no one is measuring or managing an employee’s performance, that employee is not connected to a common goal. Instead, they are motivated by the relationships, toxic and otherwise, that they experience in the workplace. The workplace culture, in turn, can become dysfunctional and riddled with turf battles. Teamwork lags, and this can pull the company’s level of client service down. If you are experiencing any of these issues, look first at your accountability and performance management systems to see if they need some tightening.
You need to know who your stars are.
Once you start measuring what your people are doing, you start to see who the real performers are—and those who are actually dragging you down. The sobering news here is that your people already know who is who, even if you don’t. Without accountability and performance measurement systems in place, self-promoters can get ahead because of their superior communication skills, while hard workers with their heads down go unrecognized—and this breeds cynicism among your staff. Bringing transparency to employee performance gives you the information you need to set things right, and injects the culture with a sense of fairness. As an added bonus, you will find hidden gems among your employees who have been waiting for the chance to step up and show you what they can do.
Does it take more than structure to build an award-winning company? Absolutely: You will need a brand vision, the right people in the right roles, a high-performance culture, and more. But none of this will succeed until everyone in the company is clear about their role and the level of performance expected of them.
If you’d like to discuss your aspirations for your own company, contact me at jz@zurawgroup.com or 917-604-2790, or visit www.juliezuraw.com.