As we see the green shoots of recovery, it is a very exciting time for businesses to plan ahead, to expand into existing markets or to branch out into new ones. Certainly, we are increasingly seeing the tide turning too in terms of what our clients are looking for from us as they move away from survival and into revival.

We are seeing less conversations surrounding redundancies and cost cutting and more about how we can help businesses to maximise the performance of their employees so that their workforce have the skillset and the business has the performance management mechanisms in place to manage and develop their teams’ performance effectively and efficiently.

Get it right and watch your growth plans flourish. Get it wrong, and you might reduce your growth opportunities, your customer service levels may dip, you may lose clients and you may waste thousands of pounds due to absenteeism, under performing employees and having to replace disgruntled employees who have skills which you don’t want to lose.

Now is a critical time to make sure that your employees are pointing in the right direction to enable you to achieve your goals and get those profits rolling in.

So, let’s get down to the specifics, what would be our top tips for getting your team on track.

1) Recruitment – Make sure that you have a clear vision as to what you want your future business to look like and make sure that this is reflected in your recruitment processes. It’ll be worth it in the long-term.

2) Goals – Make sure that you have clearly defined Company goals, that are clearly communicated and understood by your employees, and that they know how they contribute individually to the achievement of those goals.

3) Reviews – Have regular reviews with your employees to make sure that they understand how they are performing and whether they have any development areas.

4) Training – Make sure that you provide opportunities to your employees for additional training and support to help them to develop and to support your growth plans. This doesn’t just mean going on a training course, it could also mean “sitting next to Nelly”, eg, matching your employee up with one of their colleagues to share their skills and knowledge.

5) Make sure that you have robust contracts of employment and HR policies and procedures in place which are not just legally compliant but also support your future goals.

By investing in your employees at an early stage, it may mean the difference between reducing your opportunity for business growth, potentially losing your best employees and building stronger working relationships with your employees, your clients and increasing those profits.