Inject some life back into your company culture with these 4 simple strategies:
Before you walked into your business this morning did you feel compelled to say a prayer or cross your fingers in hopes your teams’ core enthusiastic energy will materialize? Perhaps you’ve invested in a new device (Be sure you check out my article Top 5 Questions to ask before investing an aesthetic device..) or are launching a new division and have noticed the team you have in place is seemingly resistant to change. Having the right kind of support is going to be mission critical to achieving your goal, and brace yourself for this epiphany… attitude is everything! I have a hunch that I’m not sharing breaking news when I highlight the fact that the first step to creating raving loyal fans is fostering a culture of raving loyal team members. Positivity is contagious (and so is negativity). If you have an employee(s) that is feeling dissatisfied or lacking initiative, it may be time for a company culture audit.
Below are my top 4 tips for injecting some life into your company culture:
1. Evaluate Employee comp plans
As the millennial generation enters the workforce, employers are experiencing a significant shift in core motivations. Back in the good ol’ days when you and I were earning a job, we were highly motivated by financial stability and growth opportunity. Times have changed. The overwhelming majority of young employees (Millennial and Gen Z) are highly driven by purpose. They are focused on being a part of a company with a mission and expect flexibility, understanding, and patience when it comes to their employment. If you are still negotiating contracts built purely on financial reward, you may be doing your team member (and your bank account) a disservice. Take a moment to reboot and re-evaluate what is currently rousing your team to want to work. The answer may surprise you.
2. Employee positions
All too often I work with a business owner who has no idea that his receptionist is dying for a consulting role or his medical assistant would be more fulfilled at the front desk. If you’re sensing a less than beaming level of enthusiasm from your staff, it may be time to ask yourself, “are the right people in the right roles”? Having monthly or quarterly one on one meetings with each team member will provide an environment to foster this type of communication. Be open minded and you will inspire your team to do the same! If they feel like the thing that really fires them up is unattainable it may show up in the form of apathy or disdain for day to day activities. Rouse your employees with big picture conversations that spark creative thought around growth.
2. Incentives
I’ll begin by stating on record that I do not endorse handing out incentives or paying commission to everyone in the practice as a means to get them motivated. If they are not already satisfied or motived by making money, throwing more money at them will NOT solve the motivation issue. I have worked with flourishing practices who creatively think outside the box about incentivizing staff by implementing a bonus or reward system for activities versus sales. This method breaks down mental barriers to achieving goals. For example, if a revenue goal is $20k for the month, incentivize for the 2 treatments per day that will get your team there. Or if your goal to book 2 five-start reviews per week, incentivize for that. Keep it simple and directly related to results.
3. Training
A wise person once told me “If you’re not learning you’re not growing”. Most of my physician clients could win Olympic medals for their investment in their continued education and passion for learning new skills. But as a business owner, do you challenge your team by actively seeking out and providing advanced training for them? Think about what your operation would be like if you had the world’s most skilled team- an irresistibly warm & talented front desk coordinator, a ninja sales consultant, a fine-tuned bookkeeper, an accomplished nurse injector… how much more active and efficient would you practice be? If you have the right people in place, invest in them! Empower them to invest in themselves and provide the time off or sponsorship for them to attend one conference per year to cultivate new skills and bring fresh ideas back to the business.
4. Hire the right people
Let me repeat this one. Hire the right people. Not the right people at the time you are looking. This is the #1 biggest mistake I see practices make when it comes to employment. They become desperate for an employee to fill a gap and opt in to “right now” instead of “right” for the long term. I am not naive to the fact that a business needs staff to operate. I am also confident that if the wrong person creates a sour experience for a patient that will cost you significantly. Patients are ten times more likely to share about their bad experiences than their good ones. Wondering why you aren’t growing an organic word of mouth following? Check your team and check up on them regularly. I recommend investing in a secret shopper experience evaluation annually (Be sure to check out my article “Give your patients JLo experience” to identify any holes in your operation that may be costing you valuable time, money and patients. If you have the right people on your team, cherish them or someone else will!
About Kaeli Lindholm
About Kaeli Lindholm
Kaeli Lindholm is the founder and president of KLC Consulting, a visionary business development & strategic coaching company bringing fortune 500 leadership systems to high-growth aesthetic practices who are poised to disrupt their markets.
Widely recognized as a brand revisionist, Kaeli believes achieving ‘category of one’ leadership requires taking a differentiated approach. Her coaching and teaching programs challenge the status quo, including the very construct of business success. Paired with significant revenue growth, clients describe the benefit of working with Kaeli as “game-changing”, “both guide and exceptional partner”, and “provides value well beyond monetary measurement!” When you partner with Kaeli you will make an empowered transformation in your business and life.
Kaeli’s signature programs include the POP Aesthetic Leadership Academy and the Aesthetic Business Accelerator Conference, POP|CON where aesthetic practice managers go to master the formulas to stimulate six and seven figure leaps in their business through mastery of controlled transformation to systems, strategy, and teams. Catch Kaeli on her award winning podcast, The Fierce Factor
Join Kaeli’s free Facebook group The Tribe of Fierce Aesthetic Leaders for access to weekly strategic advisory trainings, interviews, pdf downloads, and other value rich resources to help your business disrupt!