Gloucestershire SME, Speedy Skips, have recently invested time and money into their leadership strategy. The new leadership approach focuses on not just engaging management but all employees, listening to all staff to support business growth and align with their business vision. It’s refreshing to learn about and provides a positive example of how strategic change can not only support business growth but staff morale and productivity.
CitrusHR Consulting spoke to Branch Manager, Gareth Pittaway at Speedy Skips. Gareth informed us they are going to be rolling out the new approach in the coming months, one of the initiatives they are going to set up is a ‘Meet the Boss’ session, where drivers (individually or in small groups) will have the opportunity to talk openly and provide their feedback and comments on a more regular basis.
Gareth stated; “in order for our business to move forward, our drivers need a voice and we need to listen”. Gareth gave credit to Stuart Barnes at Quolux, who helped guide them and provide them with the tools to implement the new leadership approach.
Our experience working with small businesses reinforces the message that staff at all levels need to understand how they contribute to the overall business success, and be given an opportunity to make a difference. That doesn’t need to cost a fortune, or be complicated, simple and effective steps could include:
- Meet the boss sessions- giving staff exposure and opportunity to feedback
- Suggestions schemes- offering small rewards like gift vouchers for ideas that are adopted
- Continuous Improvement focus groups- where a cross section of staff meet to discuss and solve a problem
- Visit other companies- speak to suppliers, neighbours or business contacts and arrange for staff to visit and see how other people do things most Companies are happy to share their knowledge.
The common theme in all these suggestions is ‘listening’ and by giving your staff a voice, you give them the ability to influence, which has a huge impact on motivation and is one of the key factors in avoiding work related stress.
We love hearing about successful local Gloucestershire firms, as a small growing business ourselves it’s interesting to learn of local business success and growth stories. What is your success? We would love to hear from you.
Speaking of celebrating success the Gloucestershire Business Awards nominations are now taking place… if you’re local and have a business worthy of nominating, then you can nominate here.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss enhancing staff morale and productivity, please do get in touch with us at CitrusHR Consulting call us on 0844 854 6704 or email us at info@citrushrconsulting.com