Your business has a personality–it is known as your team and the culture they represent. Lost in the shuffle over the last eighteen months of layoffs, cutbacks, and re-organizations is the fact that with these dramatic changes, your business has lost something important–its persona.
The impact of these changes are reflected in sudden shifts in customer satisfaction, losses in client retention, increased competitive threats, and a decrease in employee morale and performance. These shifts occur every time a person leaves the organization and they take a piece of your business with them. The greater the number in size of the departures, the larger the chunks that are removed.
As you begin the process of rebuilding and reclaiming your business, remember to re-capture the personality of your business. Your team works best as a team when that personality is developed and protected. Feed the culture, encourage a team mindset, and bring stability back to the organization. Activities around employee development, simple recognition and rewards, and celebrating small victories all contribute to a positive, nurturing environment. If you have experienced some level of reduction or churn, you have lost valuable intellectual property that has hurt your culture and is manifesting itself in diminished performance. You owe it to your team and your customers to rebuild the personality of your business. It is never too costly to invest in the well-being of your team. Now, more than ever, it is one of the most important activities you can engage in. I am confident the performance and the results will improve because of it.