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Want to Grow Your Business Quickly? Focus on Employees First!
Happy Employees Produce Happy Customers
According to Cuban immigrant and entrepreneur, Chris Izquierdo, if you want to grow your business quickly you need to focus on having happy employees.
Get your FREE Transcript Now!
When he launched DevFacto Technologies he based the company on his belief that happy employees lead to happy customers. Eight years later, he’s got the research to prove it. The company’s net promoter score (NPS) moves up and down in sync with its eNPS (employee net promoter score). They track both scores monthly. In today’s interview, Chris discusses some of the many tactics they’ve used to keep employee engagement levels high.
1. Start With The Why
Work with your team to make sure everyone buys into the company’s mission, and why customer service is a key part of that. Reinforce the message regularly. Make sue new employees are fully tuned in to the company’s “why”.
2. Move To The How
Get all your employees involved in the “how” step. DevFacto, for example, has a 3 day staff retreat twice a year to discuss how things are going, and how they could be improved. They also have group meetings where employees share examples of how they went the extra mile for customers, and the best of those are shared in the company newsletter.
3. Provide Good Working Conditions
Despite the enormous amounts of research showing that interruptions kill productivity, most companies try to save costs by using open office plans and cubicles. They may try to convince themselves that it is better because there will be more employee interaction, which spurs more creativity, but I have not seen any research showing that the increase in interaction/creativity is enough to offset the loss of “flow” each time an employee gets interrupted. That’s why DevFacto provides private offices with natural sunlight for all employees. You do need to provide other ways to ensure that interaction isn’t completely lost. At DevFacto they have:
* A daily 15 minute stand-up meeting to make sure everything is going smoothly.
* A games room
* A nice lunch room
* iPads on the walls showing what’s happening in the other office locations, and making it easy to chat with staff in other cities.
* 4 p.m. “Beer O’Clock” on Fridays
4. Hire The Right People
Technical skills are crucial when you run a technology company, but they aren’t enough. For those who pass the technical stage of the employment process, potential new hires are then brought on a social outing with several other employees. They want to make sure that the new hire is someone they’d enjoy working with.
5. Monitor
If it seems that someone is routinely working more than 40 hours a week, senior management will have a discussion with the staffer to find out how they can help with the workload. Does the employee need more training? Are they bad at scheduling their time? Have they taken on too much? There are times when a project will need long hours to meet a deadline, but this shouldn’t be happening all the time. Let’s face it, burned out brains don’t produce great work. Nor will they help grow your business!
View all episodes
Happy Employees Produce Happy Customers
According to Cuban immigrant and entrepreneur, Chris Izquierdo, if you want to grow your business quickly you need to focus on having happy employees.
Get your FREE Transcript Now!
When he launched DevFacto Technologies he based the company on his belief that happy employees lead to happy customers. Eight years later, he’s got the research to prove it. The company’s net promoter score (NPS) moves up and down in sync with its eNPS (employee net promoter score). They track both scores monthly. In today’s interview, Chris discusses some of the many tactics they’ve used to keep employee engagement levels high.
1. Start With The Why
Work with your team to make sure everyone buys into the company’s mission, and why customer service is a key part of that. Reinforce the message regularly. Make sue new employees are fully tuned in to the company’s “why”.
2. Move To The How
Get all your employees involved in the “how” step. DevFacto, for example, has a 3 day staff retreat twice a year to discuss how things are going, and how they could be improved. They also have group meetings where employees share examples of how they went the extra mile for customers, and the best of those are shared in the company newsletter.
3. Provide Good Working Conditions
Despite the enormous amounts of research showing that interruptions kill productivity, most companies try to save costs by using open office plans and cubicles. They may try to convince themselves that it is better because there will be more employee interaction, which spurs more creativity, but I have not seen any research showing that the increase in interaction/creativity is enough to offset the loss of “flow” each time an employee gets interrupted. That’s why DevFacto provides private offices with natural sunlight for all employees. You do need to provide other ways to ensure that interaction isn’t completely lost. At DevFacto they have:
* A daily 15 minute stand-up meeting to make sure everything is going smoothly.
* A games room
* A nice lunch room
* iPads on the walls showing what’s happening in the other office locations, and making it easy to chat with staff in other cities.
* 4 p.m. “Beer O’Clock” on Fridays
4. Hire The Right People
Technical skills are crucial when you run a technology company, but they aren’t enough. For those who pass the technical stage of the employment process, potential new hires are then brought on a social outing with several other employees. They want to make sure that the new hire is someone they’d enjoy working with.
5. Monitor
If it seems that someone is routinely working more than 40 hours a week, senior management will have a discussion with the staffer to find out how they can help with the workload. Does the employee need more training? Are they bad at scheduling their time? Have they taken on too much? There are times when a project will need long hours to meet a deadline, but this shouldn’t be happening all the time. Let’s face it, burned out brains don’t produce great work. Nor will they help grow your business!