Get Your Staff behind You ...

While some large organisations can offer generous bonuses, overseas trips, company cars and extensive opportunites for promotion, there are many less extravagant initiatives working for smaller companies.

IBS editor Jamelle Wells spoke to natural health products group Blackmores, I.T company Yahoo !, VCD Advertising and Sarah Lorden Real Estate about how they create a work environment that keeps staff happy.

While profit sharing, fitness classes, product discounts and material rewards did crop as being attractive to employees, we discovered flexible hours and involving staff in decisions play an equally important role in keeping them happy and productive.

Blackmores Health care products group Blackmores has been around for 60 years and has expanded from a small family business to a medium sized operation with a factory in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. It employs around 150 staff in its plant at Balgowlah in Sydney's northern beaches and a warehouse at Brookvale.

Blackmores claims its committed to looking after its staff and from the moment you walk into their plant at Balgowlah you get the feeling they really do mean it. Little things like the selection of four different types of milk for my coffee in the staff canteen, the heavily discounted array of healthy snacks and the staff gym contribute to the impression the company goes the extra mile. The work environment here is relaxed yet quietly efficient from the reception area to the factory floor.

Managing Director Darin Walters is late for our interview because it's a staff members birthday and he's presenting them with a bottle of champagne. This is apparently done for all staff on their birthday.

According to Walters Blackmores approach to staff is common sense rather than paternalistic "We think of ourselves as a company with individuals and this means keeping staff informed about decision making and financial results." Blackmores boasts an exceptionally low staff turnover with some people staying on for 10-20 years.

The downside to this says Walters is that because turnover is so low a conscious effort has to be made to get new blood into the organisation. He says in a smaller company it's also hard to always give people the promotions they want. One solution is to try to enrich peoples jobs by giving them different things to do and special projects He also stresses that the company never loses track of its commercial edge.

"From time to time we have restructuring and redundancies just like any other company. Sometimes job functions change out of necessity. The health product market is highly competitive and steady she goes is no longer good enough " Blackmores recruitment process is all about involving existing staff in the final decision.

" We look at skills, drive, enthusiasm and we do reference checks. But the ultimate decision is highly influenced by peer reviews. We have panel interviews for the final stage of the recruitment process. " Walters says when there are problems with an employees performance, if it can't be sorted out the employee will have to go. "Otherwise the team efort is undermined and we destroy trust from the staff we have "

Blackmores has a policy of filling jobs internally and promoting people from within. Production staff are able to stagger their hours to allow for child care arrangements and outside study. If you're a smoker the company will pay for your quit for life program.

Blackmores also offers income protection insurance if staff members are unwell for long periods of time. 100 percent of their salary is paid for the first three months, followed by the insurance company ensuring the staff member receives 70 percent of their salary for the next five years. Blackmores Enterprise Agreement includes a salary deduction scheme to encourage staff to contribute to charities.

Employees have 0.5 percent deducted from their salaries and the company matches this amount. Monthly social functions and a staff liaison committee aim to help improve the standard of working life and the overall performance of employees via two way communication between the committee members and management.

Staff are rewarded with a share of profits at the end of the year and recently they were offered interest free loans with which to purchase Blackmores shares. The company holds an annual family day to encourage families to interact and staff discounts are available on all Blackmores and Vita Glow products.

Walters says running the $70 million dollar a year business and keeping good staff is a balancing act "Our goal is to maintain drugless and environmentally friendly solutions for our customers. Our brand name has the highest name awareness in Australia in the supplements industry and we've built it on trust, ethics, potency and purity. We beleive the brand name and the way we try to run the organisation should be the same."

When we asked a couple some of Blackmores staff what they liked about the company, all replied the fact that they could talk to managers and supervisors with ease. Health and Fitness Manager Soozi Stokes has been with the company for 11 years. She started in sales and then moved on to window dressing before taking over the gym. Stokes says she's appreciated the flexibility with hours to enable her to study in between. Her enthusiasm for her job is obvious.

"They won't get rid of me although sometimes I work them so hard in the gym I think they'd like to." Pito Handherley has been with Blackmores for 10 years. She started in dispatch and now works in the kitchen. "I like it here because you're expected to work hard but it's relaxed and friendly. You can approach managers here like you can any other worker."

Blackmores Tips To Keep Staff Happy
1. Keep them informed about decision making
2. Give staff special projects
3. Include existing staff in the recruitment process
4. Facilitiate flexible working hours where possible
5. Keep the communication chanels open between employees and management
6. Make sure staff are aware of financial goals and results

Keeping good staff in the highly competitive I.T. industry can be a daunting task with more jobs available than skilled workers. Internet media group Yahoo! Australia seems to have found the right formula for success. In just two years, Yahoo ! has grown from one person to a team of 25 General Manager Tony Faure says much of the growth attributed to employee satisfaction.

"Placing trust in staff and providing them with the freedom to achieve success is fundamental to boosting employee morale and ultimately the productivity of the business."

"You must empower your staff to make their own decisions" When you phone reception at Yahoo! staff members are both enthusuastic and helpful. Faure himself is passionate about where the companys coming from and says the challenge to business owners is simple "The trick is to exercise control but have enough faith in your staff to respect, admire and trust the steps they take to become successful."

Yahoo's philosophy is if staff feel satisfied with their input they will strive harder to achieve better results, in turn boosting the productivity of the company.

"People who feel good about what they do, do a better job." Flexible working hours and allowing people to work at home when necessary are some initiatives Yahoo! believes lead to greater productivity. While Faure admits placing trust in staff is a challenge, it comes down to choosing the right people.

"Our interview process is longer than most," says Faure. Yahoo! also involves between five and ten of the current staff in the recruitment process - another example of the the commitment to group involvement.

"Hire people for what they're good at because people generally enjoy doing what they are good at. You must provide new staff members with a strong collective goal - direction is imperative to boosting morale "What drives people is providing a strong collective sense of what they are trying to achieve."

Faure says a big pitfall for small business owners is failing to realise the importance of staff morale and focusing only on the dreaded bottom line. "Really your people are your bottom line. We believe that expanding the company and producing better results will result from developing an awesome team"

YAHOO! Tips To Keep Staff Happy
1. Place trust in employees
2. Empower them to make their own decisions
3. Choose the right people for the job
4. Provide strong direction
5. Understand the importance of good morale
6. Emphasise the importance of a solid team effort

Being able to acknowledge your staff have lives outside the business goes a long way to building staff morale according to George Betsis, founder of Paddington based advertising agency VCD.

"You must recognise the issues in their life which are important to them and show compassion and understanding when it happens," says Betsis. This philosophy has helped the Paddington based company expand from two to twenty people in just four and a half years.

The company handles a stable of top contracts and Betsis stresses the importance of involving staff in all aspects of the business. "We expect people to perform and we want to hang on to people who are good. Fostering a spirit of openess within the company helps do this."

For VCD keeping employees informed about what the company does and the direction it's headed in is important.

Betsis calls this adding 'transparency' to the business - alerting staff to the position and direction of the business. By transparency he means sharing the financial details of the company with staff - such as profit and loss and balance sheets.

"You can't believe in what a company does, until you know how it does business," Betsis says. Another step is to provide staff with challenges and a mission in which they can work towards. According to Betsis this envokes passion and commitment which leads to greater productivity.

Part of providing this framework for passion is commitment is to create a set of company values which all staff agree to strive for. These values help to illustrate VCD's philosophy of knowing their staff as people not just workers.

"Knowing your staff as people helps to build trust which is imperative to the productivity of your business." says Betsis "Pampering them with gifts, christmas cards and dinners shows you are being thoughtful and thinking of your staff as human beings."

VCD Advertising's Tips To Keep Staff Happy
1. Show interest in employees family members
2. Be open with employees
3. Show consideration for employees personal interests
4. Provide strong leadership
5. Hire people who are passionate about what they do
6. Set realistic financial goals for your business

Sarah and Kate Lorden are successfully making inroads into the Sydney Real Estate market, currently one of the most competitive real estate markets in the world.

The Balmain based company started out as a two person operation in 1996 and in just three years has grown to accommodate over 20 staff and more than $250 million in residential property sales. Sarah says good staff have been an integral part of the business and she places great emphasis on making sure she's chosen the right people in the first place.

"When employing people you need to be satisfied people will be prepared to reflect the high standards of business practice you've set. You need to set the example you want them to follow."

Sarah says when hiring she doesn't necessarily discount staff that don't have previous experience in the industry because this might be just be taking on someone else's bad habits or preconceived notions. She looks for people with varied but strong customer service backgrounds as they will bring to the position other vital skills.

"As an employer you must provide staff with appropriate training on an ongoing basis. Further, you must be prepared to provide all the necessary and latest technology to ensure the team are well informed and educated. This might include access to the internet, industry reports and statistical databases. Pave the way for your staff to make informed and educated assessments."

Sarah also believes its important to give people the proper back-up they need to get the job done.

"For example to ensure your sales team remains motivated the necessary support staff must be in place. Engage the services of professionals that fall outside your area of expertise such as photographers and copywriters, so the sales team are free to do what they do best....in our case sell Real Estate."

Sarah says her sales team are set targets and are rewarded with a commission if these are met. But the company also treats staff with smaller non monetary rewards. Recently a staff member was on holiday, increasing the workload for remaining staff, who were treated to a facial as a thankyou for temporarily taking on the higher workload.

"I also like to involve staff in the decision making process within their own department. It's important to listen to their opinions, input and ideas. The different perspectives can be surprising, in fact the best ideas usually come from within the company. It's important to involve employees in decisions which will ultimately affect them."

Asked for a recent example of how staff were involved in decision making Sarah replied when a staff member left the company, other employees were consulted about what should be done to replace them and what skills were needed to top up the existing team.

Flexible work hours are high on the priority list for this company "As long as staff are performing well, we don't mind if they need to do personal business during the day, because equally at the other end of the scale sometimes they might be requred to work until nine o'clock at night to keep a client happy.

We like to think our staff are highly motivated and will show a great deal of initiative in organising their time" Sarah emphasises the strong connection between staff performance and the performance of your business "You need to constantly question methods and techniques to find better ways, constantly re-evaluate your businesses performance. As an employer make sure the lines of communication to your staff are always open and that senior management is accessible."

She maintains much of her philosophy about staff has come about from her own previous experience working for other people. "I know how competitive the real estate industry is and how it feels when no-one seems to appreciate your successes. My approach to running the business is very hands on".

As the company grows, Sarah acknowledges it will become more difficult to balance employee satisfaction with productivity, but says it will be a matter of reassessing along the way.

"Corporate image is great but nothing beats an exceptional sales result as far as promoting your own business is concerned. Employees are your investment in the future of your business. If your staff are succeeding then so is your business."

Sarah Lorden Real Estate Tips To Keep Staff Happy
1. Staff who perform well are motivated staff.
2. Involve staff in decision making
3. Set realistic targets and reward staff when these are met.
4. Provide training
5. Maintain flexible work hours
6. Keep the communication channels open