France and John have been in business for over 15 years. They’ve tried taking on team members but can’t seem to get good people. What should they do?

There are five common mistakes in team building to avoid:

  1. Hiring friends and family- Of course you love them and enjoy spending time with them but that doesn’t, mean you should hire them. They often see their job as a personal favour to you rather than their professional responsibility.
  2. Owners doing every job they can – “saving a wag can cost a fortune”. The owner’s job is to work “on” the business not “in” it. They need to oversee the entire operation, not micro manage individual duties. The temptation is to try to do everything and fix every problem which disempowers team members.
  3. Not having a proper hiring system in place. The days of a simple interview after reading a CV are gone. Hiring should be a process not a rush to get someone. The company is not practicing due diligence if they are not screening properly.
  4. Failing to define the culture- Without this it is easy for team members to feel lost and unsure about their role in the business in general. Once there is a vision and mission statement, points of culture can be communicated to the team which will spell out what acceptable and what in it for them.
  5. Letting problems fester- the best of teams will have conflict sometimes and it’s the owner’s responsibility to deal with them as soon as possible. Have a grievance procedure, know what questions to ask and know your team members.