Anyone else fed up of hearing and seeing the constant doom and gloom in the media? The rising cost of living. The energy crisis. Rising inflation and interest rates. Incessant speculation of a looming recession. All on the back of almost three years of disruption from COVID-19.

Running a business against this backdrop isn’t easy. We are still experiencing the ripple effects of changes in working practices. Even those office leaders who were previously anti-homeworking, wanting people to be at their desks Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, are seeing that this isn’t conducive to a happy, dynamic, and productive workforce.

Whatever you say about the pandemic, it did something positive in terms of making everyone reconsider how they live and work. The balance of power shifted from employer to employee – with greater demand for flexibility and work/life balance. Hybrid working has become the norm in most offices. But these changes have not been without challenge to the average SME business owner. They are struggling with retention and motivation of employees, and even those who might have previously disregarded the importance of employee engagement, are waking up to the fact that they need to embrace it for their survival.

This is unchartered territory for many leaders, and they are seeking the mentorship and guidance of experienced professionals to help them navigate the new business landscape. Where a few years ago the bulk of our work at DICE was focused on business strategy, we are being increasingly called upon for support with developing workplace cultures which help to retain and attract talented employees.

It is well known that those who seek professional business advice will prosper beyond the current climate. So if you are a business owner and would welcome some advice on transforming your company in response to the increasingly challenging environment – we can help. Don’t leave running your business to chance!

DICE stands for DEVELOP, INSPIRE, CREATE, EMBED and this is exactly what we do with business leaders.

• We help you to DEVELOP a game plan – getting clear on your vision and strategy for the future
• We INSPIRE your team spirit – embedding the values, behaviours and culture that will stand you apart from the competition
• We CREATE your team players and arm them with the leadership skills they need to play their best game
• We EMBED a winning mindset and ensure there is a lasting legacy in your business long after our work together ends

Get in touch to find out more.

If we walked into your business and asked your employees to describe your company values, how confident are you that they could? The usual response (from companies we don’t work with!) is, “umm, let me just check the website” or if we are lucky the vision and values might be somewhere displayed on a wall – at worst the company doesn’t even have a set of values. What does this tell us about a business? Most likely that the leaders don’t see company culture as an important driver for commercial success.

Culture is an umbrella term which is often described simply in the world of business as ‘the things we do around here’. Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says “Culture does not make people. People make culture.” So, can you really systemise your approach to changing the culture in your business? The answer is yes.

Business owners with foresight understand that their working environment is a strategic asset linked to growth and not something extra. Businesses operating in this way build trust and confidence with employees, their customers, and other stakeholders.

Most likely you will have at some point in your business sat with a Marketing expert who has asked you what you liken your business brand to be if it were a person. Whilst creating your external brand is undoubtedly important, at DICE we believe that it is looking under the bonnet inside your business to see what makes it tick when the magic can really happen.

How do you want people to feel, act and behave in your business? Have you ever stopped and thought about that? How do people behave when you or other members of the leadership team are not in the room?

When we are working with a business owner who wants to proactively change their culture, this is where we start. Quite often we start compiling a list of behaviours we don’t want to see, or things that are frustrating the owner about the way people do their work (lack of accountability and ownership being number one almost always!).

We aren’t really into buzzwords here at DICE, but the phrase ‘Human Capital’ is one that is widely referred to in the HR world – recognising your employees as an asset in your business. Growing your business successfully relies on developing your human capital. The saying ‘The way you treat your staff today is the way they will treat your customers tomorrow’ brings this to life.

We work with business owners to help them develop values which outline the behaviours and ways of working they want to encourage. We go as deep as that business owner wants to, including outlining the mindset they want employees to express and sustain daily. We then work with that business owner to embed these behaviours by building them systematically into the way things get done. It is an approach that worked for Netflix (check out their famous Culture Deck to see how) and it will work for you too.

This is most successful when involving the whole leadership team and there is a collective responsibility to making it a success. Investing in the collective capability of the top team can impact the whole business as they support the development of others. You know when you are succeeding when the values expressed internally reaches your customers – that is when you have truly systemised your business culture.

If you would like help with systemising your culture and the way your people do things in your business – get in touch.

Employee retention and talent attraction is a major challenge we are helping clients address this year. Post pandemic, people want different things from their jobs, and life more generally. They got used to a different pace and far more flexibility and employees can, and are, voting with their feet. Whilst we would always say it is healthy to have a degree of attrition in your business, there is a balance to be had.

So, what can you do to stay ahead of the game when it comes to attracting and retaining people?

Seek feedback

We bet you regularly ask for feedback from your customers about how you’re doing and what they want, so why not do the same with your people? Knowing what your customer wants helps you to adapt and meet their expectations. The perception, which tends to drive a fear about asking employees what they want, is that it all becomes about money or demands that cannot be met. This isn’t true. Having the conversation isn’t about taking requests- it’s about understanding things from your employee’s perspective, getting under the skin of what motivates them as an individual, what they hope to achieve in their career and how the business might be able to support that. Very often there are win/wins to be had simply by getting to know your people better.

Make it safe for people to be honest

The concept of psychological safety in the workplace has become mainstream post-pandemic. People want to be able to feel safe to share their thoughts, feelings and what is going on for them in work and where they can see potential improvements. Managers and leaders need to encourage this within their teams, but we know they themselves might not always feel comfortable doing so. Ensure there are channels for employees to be able to share ideas and speak up about concerns. Have different mechanisms for this, including something where people can share their views anonymously if they need to. The key to this is in the swift acknowledgement of any ideas or concerns from leaders in the style of a ‘you said, we did’ approach. Creating a culture where people are comfortable being honest and are confident that their ideas get progressed and concerns get addressed will go a long way in helping you motivate and retain your people.

Care more about them as people, not just employees

Like it or not, as leaders the old British ‘stiff upper lip’ is a thing of the past and gone are the days when work and home life were separate. Many of us have embraced the flexibility that hybrid working has given us but that in turn has led to more blurring of the boundaries between the two. Like it or not, life is messy – as humans we have emotions and things happen to us and people around us that we will always have to deal with. From bereavements to relationship breakdowns, sick children or ageing relatives. If you are a people manager you need to be comfortable talking to people about how they feel and what is going on for them, both in and out of work. If you, or any of your people managers, shy away from having real conversations over time it will have an impact on your bottom line. It might start with the odd day of absence; it might be an employee going off for several months with stress – it all costs you time and money in your business. We aren’t suggesting you run counselling sessions with employees (although many businesses are seeing the benefits of offering this), we are simply saying that it is vital to have a degree of emotional intelligence amongst your people managers so that people don’t bottle things up and they know that they are cared about as a person, not simply as an employee.

Encourage everyone to be a recruitment consultant!

Your people provide you with the biggest opportunity to promote your company to the outside world. If you are a great place to work, your employees are your best brand ambassadors to help attract and retain talent. When you have vacancies, encourage your employees to share them on their social media accounts. We have heard of employees finding potential colleagues from supermarket checkouts! When people love where they work, they feel valued and empowered and will talk about their job to family and friends. Incentivise them to recommend suitable people for vacancies – you never know where your next star employee might be hanging out – get your people on the case!

Whilst these might not be the ‘golden bullet’ you are looking for in terms of an immediate fix to stopping people leaving or joining your business, they are proven ways you can help to reverse the tide. Get in touch if you are struggling with recruitment and retention of your people.

Starting your own business can be a daunting prospect – especially in the current climate where there is constant doom and gloom in the media, with incessant speculation of a looming recession. But in fact, if there was ever a time to make your dream of becoming a business advisor a reality, it is now.

The global COVID-19 crisis made everyone reconsider how they live and work. Businesses initially had to make dramatic changes to their working practices, and previously anti-homeworking leaders have now embraced the benefits that this offers, both to their employee satisfaction and to productivity.

The balance of power has shifted from employer to employee – with greater demand for flexibility and work/life balance. Hybrid working has become the norm in most offices. But these changes have not been without challenge to the average SME business owner. They are struggling with retention and motivation of employees, and even those who might have previously disregarded the importance of employee engagement, are waking up to the fact that they need to embrace it for their survival.

This is unchartered territory for many leaders and they are seeking the mentorship and guidance of experienced professionals to help them navigate the new business landscape. Where a few years ago the bulk of our work at DICE was focused on business strategy, we are being increasingly called upon for support with developing workplace cultures which help to retain and attract talented employees. It is well known that those who seek professional business advice will prosper beyond the current climate.

Business advising and coaching is regarded as a crisis and recession-resistant profession. The demand for business advice tends to rise as business owners seek expert advice on transforming their companies in response to increasingly challenging environments.

We are optimistic that now is the best time for DICE to expand our network of Area Directors. We have all the tools and methodologies that businesses need right now to be able to thrive, not just survive. So if you are contemplating your next move and considering starting your own business – this could be the sign you’ve been looking for.

As a DICE franchisee you will be trained and given access to a huge suite of tried and trusted methodologies, strategies, and templates, including a CPD accredited leadership development programme. The key is to get you up and running so that you can help clients to improve their businesses as soon as possible.

Investing in a DICE franchise will give you all of the tools and support you need, so you don’t have to go it alone. We support you every step of the way with assistance in marketing, sales and building your personal brand, which means you can get going growing your own profitable business. Simply put, we have done all of the hard work, so you don’t have to!

A DICE franchise offers:

• an exciting, yet affordable opportunity to run your own business
• flexible working hours to fit around your other life commitments
• low start-up costs and a good return on investment
• In-depth training and detailed operations manual
• Ongoing access to programme materials and access to resources
• Initial marketing and promotional materials and ongoing business development support
• Microsoft Teams licence, personalised DICE business email address and access to IT support
• Your own DICE territory in which you can service unlimited clients

Get in touch to find out more.

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Sound familiar? Basically, no-one took responsibility, so nothing got done. It’s a story that plays out time and time again in businesses where there is a culture lacking accountability.

Getting people to take responsibility for their work is one of the most effective ways you can accelerate growth and achieve more results. But how do you go about doing that?

One of the things we do when we start working with a client who has this issue is to review the main business areas and tasks to find out ‘whose job is it anyway?’.

We explore all ‘back-office’ functions such as HR, IT, Finance, Compliance. Then there is the day-to-day business of operations management, sales, marketing, and customer feedback – everything that is generating today’s revenue. We then explore everything that is helping your business to grow in the future such as your strategy, vision, senior team skills, etc.

We typically sit with the senior team and ask them to put the name of the person in the organisation who is ultimately responsible for that function. It can only come back to one person – not a team or an individual. This is such an eye-opening exercise, particularly in an SME, because inevitably what happens is that the business owner’s name will be assigned to most of the tasks and there will be a difficulty assigning just one name to most of the areas and tasks because they are shared by more than one person. 

Doing this exercise creates what we call an ‘a-ha’ moment where it becomes clear where people are doubling up on tasks and where there are obvious gaps. It also opens the business owner eyes to where they are spending most of their time and why they might be feeling like they are the proverbial busy fool!

Doing this exercise with a senior team can help them to realise why things have been stagnating or how they can unblock certain areas of frustration. Letting go of responsibility can feel scary for some and this is where the culture of the organisation has a big part to play. Creating a culture of accountability and ownership doesn’t happen overnight but there are some steps that we have proven to be effective with our clients, which are:

• Set targets – make each task measurable and give people a clear target and timeline to achieve it.
• Clear communication – don’t assume people know what to do or when to do it. Before people can take responsibility, they need to understand exactly what they need to do.
• Provide support – make sure everyone has the resources they need to be successful in what needs to be done – particularly when they are faced with something they haven’t done before.
• Follow-up – help people stay focused by providing regular check-in points. One of the main reasons why targets get missed is because there is a lack of follow-up. When people know there are regular check-ins they’re less likely to procrastinate and miss their targets.
• Encourage openness – if people are falling behind then they need to be comfortable to share why. Create a culture of honesty so that people can share their challenges and support one another to come up with solutions.

Remember, as business leaders you ultimately cast a shadow and are a role model to the rest of the business.  So, to avoid having your team become Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody, it starts with you committing to becoming the kind of leader who takes responsibility for your own life and leadership.

If this resonates with you and you’d like some help with driving greater accountability in your business, we can help!

Steve shares his thoughts on motivating your people as a leader.

As people leaders, the ability to motivate and inspire action is a crucial but what do we think about when we realise our people need motivation?

“I’m not really a speaker”

“I can’t really explain what I mean”

“Others can do it better than me”

We may lack confidence in certain areas but if we stop and think about the best way to motivate, it is none of the above. Motivating people is not always about rallying the troops or leaving a legacy as someone who delivered a compelling speech remembered by all for the rest of time. To some this may well engage but to others, well it simply won’t.

Behind a desire to motivate there is a reason to do so, it’s basically a strategy to get people from we are to where we need to be, it’s an exaggerated push or a glorified act of encouragement. Well, we need to know where we are right now and then set where we want to be in the future so if we simply motivate our people along the way then we’ll get there, right?

In principle yes, but in reality, categorically not!

There is one key element to motivation for every individual and every group at any given level and that is simply clarity.

Get back to basics on our strategy. Understand where we are now, where we aspire to get to, and then through a milestone mentality plot our pathway toward success. This clarification arms people with the direction we need to head in but importantly, the true sense of clarity comes from the three factors that epitomise the very word:

1. What is it we need to do?
2. How are we going to deliver it?
3. Why are we doing it?

To motivate people, you need to arm them with this clarity. If our people are clear in all the above, then they will be motivated to get the job done. The trick in landing these ingredients is to present the message in the way that you as a leader are comfortable with whilst considering what your audience needs and wants from you. If you want the best from your people then know yourself, know audience and align the two together.

Motivation within its own right is such a powerful quality in any given leader but to get to a position of motivating people you must strip the message back and give both meaning & direction. Clarity delivers motivation!

Steve shares his thoughts on why your culture is the fuel running through your business.

Think of a car built for success, it possesses an appearance which catches the eye, a driver that knows where they are taking it and is fully competent steering it in whichever direction serves as the very best route to destination. Now lift the bonnet and see the all the parts in all the right places primed and ready to run efficiently along its journey.

But then put the wrong fuel in it, how far would it get you?

Let’s look at running a business the same way, a facility fit for purpose and striking on first impression, a strategic and visionary CEO who drives best practice at the forefront of their mindset. You open the doors to find a workforce trained and wholly competent on how things will need to be operated, but the culture simply does not flow through the ranks. The engine is clogged with things like toxic behaviours, a lack of responsibility, a workforce that doesn’t want to be there.

How far can this company move forward and grow?

Creating the right culture for your business is paramount. The analogy I use is a simple enough one to comprehend but the implementation is where many businesses fall short on delivering against it. Though you can break each section down, no one particular element can work effectively without the other, whether that be by having a fit for purpose workplace to function from, the right leadership to drive the numbers forward or a highly skilled workforce that deliver against the ongoing challenges and pitfalls that lie on the road ahead.

Ultimately it is the strength of your culture that determines your all-round capability.

To create one that is positive and buoyant you must ensure the buy-in of all your people and create a sense of ownership and pride in what they do. This responsibility is a gift to your people, and it is what inspires them to go the extra mile. Whether it is answering the phone at 5:02pm on a Friday afternoon to help that customer in need or making the call to that complainant before they go to a competitor.

If you thought about your job as CEO as solely being to generate a sense of belonging, a purpose in what your people do and how they go about doing it, what would you do differently?

Creating freedom within a framework for people to operate in is key. It may appear like small things but appreciation and support along the way is massive! They are all vital ingredients in progressing your people not only professionally but as an individual as well. We spend a large chunk of our life in work, making people smile whilst they are doing their jobs is a must for me.

The trick to creating a healthy culture is to value people and pass over that sense of belonging. This doesn’t happen by accident but there are simple things you can do to move you forward on the journey. You hold the keys to unlocking the performance of your people and making your business fire on all cylinders.

Put simply, good culture is simply good fuel for your business – fill the tank up and watch the business go!

Kate shares her thoughts on reward and recognition.

Speak to any business owner at the moment and they will tell you that the competition for recruiting and retaining talent is fierce. Recognising and rewarding employees has always been a key part of effective leadership but now, more than ever, the way organisations show that they value their people is a key differentiator – and I am not talking money.

Even before Covid-19 hit the world, we were in the midst of a social revolution, where belonging, purpose and quality of life were taking over from traditional status driven markers such as job title and high salaries. Today’s workforce want to work for organisations who have strong values and beliefs, where the culture is focused around the employees and not the hierarchy, where they have a voice and can help to shape the future of that organisation. Things like flexibility of working hours and opportunities to develop and learn, which might have been offered as incentives or rewards are now a basic expectation. Put simply, if you don’t help them grow, watch them go!

Recognition helps employees see that their company values them as individuals, as well as their contributions to the success of their team and the organisation overall. This is particularly key when going through periods of change or growth as it helps employees to build a sense of security in their value to the company, motivating them to continue great work. Communications also has an important role to play– regularly sharing news about how the company is performing against its aspirations and making the connections between individual employee achievements and the bigger picture vision for the organisation.

At our core as humans we crave recognition. It’s all very well having self-satisfaction in completing a task but how great does it feel when someone takes the time out to recognise a job well done? This can be as simple as a ‘thank you’ from a peer or a Manager taking time to give someone a call. The thing to remember is that there is no ‘on size fits all’ when it comes to recognising and rewarding employees. My advice is to get to know your people, find out what motivates them, what their ‘love language’ is (Google it – it’s a great team discussion to have!) and create a reward and recognition programme that works for your greatest asset – your people.

Kate shares her tips to building a culture of psychological safety.

According to a Google study called ‘Project Aristotle’ the secret behind high-performing teams is psychological safety. This was a term coined by Harvard Business School Professor, Amy Edmondson. Amy Defines psychological safety as ‘a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes’.

There have been lots of reports which suggest that leaders who create psychologically safe work environments are more likely to retain top performers and be more innovative. Like all successful cultural initiatives, it must start with the leaders at the top so that others can follow.

Here are my top 5 tips to build psychological safety in the workplace:

1. Listen and be fully present

If your employees feel that you don’t pay attention when they speak or that you don’t value their thoughts and opinions, they’ll be less likely to open up to you. Demonstrate your engagement by being present during meetings – switch on your video camera, ignore emails and your phone. Be fully with them in the room – whether that is virtual or actual.

• Ban blame

If something doesn’t go to plan, it can be easy to jump into the habit of looking for someone to blame. The blame game doesn’t help people feel safe to speak up the next time they see something awry or do something wrong. Instead of “What happened and why?” ask “How can we make sure this goes better next time? Notice the focus on the collaborative language: How can we make sure this goes smoothly next time? We statements turn the responsibility into a group effort, rather than singling out an individual for a mistake.

• And while you are at it, squash bad-mouthing

There’s nothing more of a psychological safety killer than people bad-mouthing one another. When leaders allow people air-time to speak disparagingly of others, it can become contagious. Employees will think that either they’re supposed to talk bad about others, or that others are probably talking about them. If you have a team member who speaks negatively about peers, talk to them about it. Let them know that you work together as a team and bad-mouthing will not be tolerated. 

• Involve people in decision-making

When making decisions about the business, take time to engage with employees and ask for their input/thoughts/ideas. This will help them to feel included in the decision-making process and may also lead you to make better decisions as often the most innovative ideas are hiding inside the mind of someone you least expect! As a leader, letting people know you value and trust their opinion is one of the most powerful things you can do to encourage psychological safety. Make it ok to speak up. No idea is a bad one! Once a decision is made, communicate the reasoning behind it and let people know how their feedback played a part. Even if your employees don’t agree, they’ll appreciate the honesty and transparency behind how the decision was made.

• Show vulnerability and invite challenge

If you are the ‘boss’ or a senor leader in a business, you wield a lot of power whether you like it or not! Unless you lead by example by showing vulnerability and saying when you got something wrong, and encourage challenge and debate for your ideas, you can quickly find yourself surrounded by ‘yes people’. Whilst that might feel comfy, it is not a great place to be if you want to build a winning team and business. Invite your team to challenge your perspective and push back. When employees feel psychologically safe, they feel empowered to give feedback—up, down, and across. Healthy conflict leads to better decisions and greater accountability—making it a win all around.

Not sure if your employees feel psychologically safe? Why not ask them to encourage a conversation about it? See what their ideas are to improve the way you do things and take steps to improve the culture for the better.

Whilst there are plenty of interesting articles about AI and the future of automation in business, the truth is that there aren’t many business owners that can foresee a day when people will be totally eradicated from their operation. This goes some way towards explaining why the coaching industry is reported to be worth $2BN globally and a whopping $366BN gets spent each year on leadership development around the world.

A Wiki definition of leadership roles are ‘those that facilitate execution of a company’s strategy through building alignment, winning mindshare and growing the capabilities of others.’ Big corporates continually invest in the development of their leaders and succession planning for their key roles but what about smaller businesses? Is there really a case for leadership development when you run an SME?

If you want to grow, then the answer is yes. When businesses are going through a period of (often rapid) growth, a critical factor in its success is the strength and quality of the leadership team. Without effective leaders, businesses can get held back and growth becomes dependent on the owner or founder. To take a business from being the idea and creation of one person, to something that is shared as the professional focus of a group of people is no mean feat. It requires the ability of the founder to trust and empower others to deliver whilst they continue to innovate and focus on the areas for future growth.

This is where the leadership development and coaching world naturally collide. Often a founder needs help from a coach to be able to step back from the core tasks and trust the team beneath them to take ownership for their individual parts, and unless it was initially set up with the skillsets in mind for growth, the team beneath them will need leadership development. This doesn’t have to be in a traditional hierarchical way – more businesses are recognising the need for leadership skills to be spread throughout the organisation. Whatever structure is right for that particular business, creating a culture where autonomy and accountability is encouraged at all levels is key.

One of the biggest challenges I see amongst SME leaders is finding the right balance between operational and strategic tasks. Unlike a big business, there usually isn’t the luxury of different tiers of management to be able to free people up for the ‘blue-sky thinking’. Getting your hands dirty as well as inspiring and motivating the team is par for the course but ultimately this will stifle your progress.

A successful SME leader knows when to step-back, empower and coach staff to deal with problem solving on their own. This is an investment in the long-term leadership potential of the business. The saying goes that ‘what got you here won’t get you there’ so if you are serious about growing your business, it might be time to give us a call!