Geoffrey Thompson, pioneer of family entertainment through his long-term involvement at Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been quoted as saying "nearly all businesses survive or fail because of people" - not interest rates, or falling or rising costs, or brands, or strategies but people, because it is our people who shape our responses to such challenges
Our responses allow our customers to judge us in comparison to others in the market and then make decisions about where and when they will spend their money.
The utilisation of our human resources as real people and not insurance numbers or 'headcount' provides us with real challenges in a bracing business climate.
We would always recommend in any business environment a classically formal approach to the recruitment, development and retention of good people.
1. Take recruitment exceptionally seriously. If you are not confident in your ability to recruit the people who will make your business a success then find someone in your business, or employ somebody from outside, who is.
2. Use a succinct appraisal system where, with team members as a two-way process, you can review performance against specific, measurable and agreed goals. We have found quarterly reviews to pay the most performance dividend. Where applicable always link pay to performance.
3. Train and develop your people to meet their current needs, but also think wider and build a plan to train a select few to handle the future challenges of your business. Use the appraisal system to explore personal needs or development areas. Always try to build on obvious strengths. For instance, if you find you have an excellent negotiator seek out an advanced negotiation course for them to attend and in this way push the boundaries of your high performers.
As another part of a suggested approach, here are 12 different methods, one for each of the next 12 months that we have seen team leaders use thoughtfully to utilise and develop people and build stronger businesses for the future by creating great places to work:
1. Get your best people to speak at industry conferences with the aim of being seen to lead thought.
2. Get your best people to join industry bodies with the aim of leading commercial initiatives that will benefit the industry and its employees as a whole.
3. Encourage your employees to come up with business improvement ideas.
4. Run an exchange programme with a core customer to exchange staff members for a specific time or project.
5. Create some non-monetary awards that recognise the efforts, ideas or performance of your team members.
6. Create a workshop with a core customer to examine industry or channel challenges with the aim of seeking a solution and finding better ways of working.
7. Encourage your people to understand more the total costs and revenues that are involved in running your business. Select some to value as partners for the day and encourage them to come with money saving or revenue generating ideas.
8. Work a team building event around a national or local charity to create a 'community contribution' outcome to the day.
9. Support your people and get involved when they organise charity events on a personal or team basis. The old running shoes or bike are always close at hand.
10. Use the scale and buying power of your business to secure better deals with suppliers for your people -holidays, travel, insurance, all will make a difference. No more so than right now.
11. Take the lead and establish a climate for creativity in your business with the aim of creating competitive advantage. You will need to find time to listen to ideas and debate. Encourage risk taking by finding a way to tolerate failure and then finally make space to trust people as they strive to deliver new things.
12. When things get tough become more, not less available. People always notice and appreciate availability never more so when they know the pressure is on.
James Caan, chief executive of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw and also of 'Dragons Den' fame advises in a recent article in The Sunday Times that he inherently places a high value on his staff. He says: "In the highly competitive business world it makes good sense to maximise the probability of success by enabling employees to be ambassadors of the brand."
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