Record and update values.
One of the first things I did back in ’98 was put down on paper a vision, a mission and core values. Most small business owners might say they don’t need a vision, mission or values. But they would agree that they need to provide written guidelines on how the work needs to be done. Some have very basic guidelines and others just use an apprentice program where new people learn just by watching. They need to formalize that and instead of letting new people learn by observing, they need to force themselves to put the process down on paper, and as a result, they can have specific measures of how they’re succeeding or where they’re falling short. That will help them become a better company.
It’s important to continually be looking for the best practices from outside your own company. Participate in a CEO round table to share ideas with other CEOs or keep up on the latest business books. It’s making sure that the CEO doesn’t get so caught up in running the business day to day and that you’re taking time for your own personal development. If you’re not out there looking for the best practices and bringing those to your organization then you’re going to be stagnant.
Reinforce core values.
Every three to four weeks, I meet with all 53 employees, and every quarter, I meet with my leadership team, and we review our values and how we are doing. Have we made progress over the last quarter in working toward our vision and our mission? Are we living up to our core values? I reinforce the fact that our whole focus is customer satisfaction and that we are proud of ourselves and we want to be the best. The only way to do that is by focusing on getting better. As I review these values, it hopefully empowers every employee to live up to those.
HOW TO REACH: Eco Engineering LLC, (513) 985-8300 or www.ecoengineering.com
