Even in the midst of a pandemic, it’s important that small business owners to review their business plan for this new year, especially with an eye towards what employee roster changes may need to be made in order to successfully meet the business goals for 2021.

For business owners and leaders, the importance of the team(s) you’ll lead can’t be overstated. Your team will either enable you to meet your goals for the year, or challenge your ability to do so. Consider if any of the following pertain to your employee plans in the coming year:

• Promoting from within
• Adding/hiring from outside
• Disciplining an employee for repeated policy violations
• Terminating an employee who refuses to address behavior and/or performance issues

It’s important to build and foster a company culture in which employees want to come to work (whether in person or remotely), collaborate with co-workers, be creative, feel appreciated, excel at customer/client service, are highly productive, and feel a part of something special that is making a difference in the world, or at least in their part of it.

But team building also requires regular employee roster changes. And just like in football, this is the time of the year when coaching/leadership changes are made along with looking at free agents, sizing up the new draft picks, and letting go of under performers or those with behavior issues that don’t fit the culture of the company/team.

As you consider your business plan for the year, here are four questions to contemplate for your company’s culture and success in 2021:

1. Who in your company is ready for new and/or more responsibility?
   Give them an opportunity to grow and become a leader. Promote them and then back fill their position.
2. Who has not been pulling their weight and causing issues amongst the team?
   The problem won’t just go away – you have to address the situation. The team is looking to you as the leader to address the situation and provide a more pleasant and productive work environment, relieving them of the internal and ongoing stress the situation causes. If an employee cannot trust or work with a co-worker, then they lose trust in the company as well, resulting in lower overall productivity and morale. When left unaddressed, other team members you don’t want to lose will most likely move on to another opportunity.
3. Is there a new role that needs to be filled with some outside expertise the company currently does not have?
   Bring that new skill set into the company, and not only will you see results from this new employee, but you will see an increase in morale and productivity from current team members who have struggled to do tasks that they are not suited for. Team members can now focus on what they do best, increasing both their productivity and morale.
4. Do you have an employee consistently violating company policy?
   If you have a policy, you need to hold employees accountable to that policy. Other team members are watching how the situation is being handled and are expecting the company to not make exceptions or show favoritism to any one individual. It’s time to address, document, and potentially terminate the employee.

Employee roster changes take thought, planning, proper documentation, and execution, and can sometimes be challenging, but the end result more often than not brings a renewed, positive energy to the team. Teams that are built on trust, respect, integrity, accountability, quality, and high performance make for more engaged and productive employees. In turn, that increases customer/client satisfaction, quality of services or products, and a positive working environment for all.

What changes might you need to make to your 2021 team roster this year?

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For assistance with your employee business plans, contact Close Hr.