Detox o'clock - detoxing your business

It is January, so of course it’s time to detox. Everyone’s at it! My Instragram feed is full of nutritious fat busting recipes and high intensity exercise routines with hashtags like #detoxrocks #eatclean.

As if all the excesses and usual binges in the run up to Christmas weren’t bad enough, I travelled with my family to India this Christmas. Who can resist the gastronomic temptations and gorgeous array of Indian food there? Not me I tell you, no way! I came home feeling (in a word) “HUGE!”. On returning to work I felt low in motivation, low on energy, I was making bad dietary choices and groaning at the thought of exercise. I knew something had to change.

DETOX o’clock!

I will spare you the finer details, but I’ve now reached the end of my 21-day new year detox, it’s been tough but worth all the effort. I feel like a new person, cleansed of those Christmas and travel indulgences, full of energy and committed and ready to stay on track for the rest of 2017….well, most of it.

But surely it doesn’t stop there. Now I’m turning my attention to other aspects of my life, primarily my business – how can I detox my business?

Here’s my 6 step detox plan for cleansing, energising and preparing your business for 2017.

1. Time to SWOT your game. Take time out to seriously think through your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Make some good notes and have a plan to communicate your strengths to your team or within client marketing, deal with your weaknesses, explore your opportunities, and mitigate the risk of any threats.

2. Ask your customers for some feedback. Avoid en masse 6-page questionnaires, simply give your key clients a call and ask how you are doing. Positive feedback is a huge motivation boost, but constructive feedback is way more important. If you aren’t doing something right, or could be doing something better, or your product has certain flaw (perish the very thought) you want to know about it. Do the same with your suppliers, you need them as much as they need you, are you a good customer to them? If there is anyway your relationship can be improved upon, you need to find out.

3. Set some goals. You’ve done some reflection and spoken to your customers and suppliers – you are now feeling enlightened. That’s a great start to a detox, but it is now that the work really begins. Execution will need more energy and effort, so set yourself some serious goals with strict deadlines to steer your renewed vision into action. Make sure you block out time in your diary over the coming weeks to make this happen. E.g. one of the weaknesses you identified was time management in your accounts team due to recent increased workloads. Schedule a meeting to talk to them about it, schedule some dates for training (shameless plug: HR Connected offer a superb ½ day Time Management course)

4. Gel the team. If there is any negativity or backbiting in the troops deal with it positively and swiftly. Negative, moody or aggressive employees can be hugely toxic in the workplace. You may need to arrange mediation or some team building training but first and foremost you need to be clear; this is a business not a playground, everyone needs to be professional at all times. Set time aside to listen to your employees 1:1.

5. Once your team are in harmony, share your business plan and let them know how they help you achieve it. Following your SWOT analysis and reflection and planning, you are clearer on what you want to achieve this year, let your team know so they can work in the same direction as you. Even better if you can cascade goals in their direction. Less effort for you, and a brilliant boost to their ability to achieve this year.

6. Benefit review. What are your compensation plans like? Is there room for improvement to motivate, attract and retain employees? Think wider than just salary levels; pay reviews are just a short-term motivator. There are great consultants out there who will spend an hour with you talking through popular benefit options and how much it might cost. In keeping with the detox theme, arranging regular fresh fruit deliveries from a local supplier can work absolute wonders and costs very little.

You may find this all takes longer than 21 days, but it will be worth it. You will reap the rewards feeling much clearer, more energised and motivated, all set for success in a clean and lean 2017. By all means, if you are feeling particularly smug with your new focused approach for 2017, do as other detox gurus do and insist on Instagramming a Company photo with the hashtags #detoxrocks or #newbeginnings #feelingsmug to inspire others to follow.

Wendy Roberts is the director of HR Connected, with more than 20 years experience in HR & Training. Although not a natural blogger, Wendy does have a real passion for employee engagement and how this can positively and significantly impact business performance.

HR Connected offer consultancy in a whole range of employee engagement and leadership solutions as discussed above. We also deliver in-house training courses on time management, stress awareness, assertiveness and many other skills to support your business.

Email wendy@hrconnected.co.uk for more information.