I’m on holiday. Do I incentivise or demand to keep staff in line?

Dear Aunty B,

I run a small business of 19 employees with four departments. Each department has a day-to-day manager and I’m the owner. Very soon I’m departing for a well-earned five week break overseas and while travelling I won’t be easily contactable.

I’m concerned that my managers will not run my business the same way as if I’m still here and will not keep their team members in line.

How should I go about getting my managers into a position where they will look after the company for me? We have a great culture, I pay my staff well and reward them often. Should I try and offer an incentive or should I just demand they do their job (nicely)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
David

Hi David,

Gee. Where are you going? The far side of the moon? I can pretty much contact people anywhere in the world whenever and wherever I am. But look, good for you. You deserve a year’s break. A lifetime break! So take your five weeks and disappear. But do you know something? You are in for a rude shock. Your team are going to do just fine without carrots and sticks. And here is why. They are grown-ups. You pay them well, reward them often. What you need to do is this: give them more autonomy, show them the future and offer them the opportunity to lead.

First you are going to examine your own leadership style. You have four managers reporting directly to you. That means it is nigh impossible for you to grow the business for two reasons. You are in effect a hands-on business owner/operator with your managers dependent on you. Unless you are there with your shoulder to the wheel pushing the whole thing, the managers slow down. They are not focused on how to grow the business but you shoving them in the back. And one more thing: under the model you have, there is no time to stick your head over the horizon and work on strategy and growth.

What you are going to do is this. First ban the word day-to-day manager from your vocab. They are your key leadership team. They not only manage their departments. They are responsible for growth of their department, for their input into the leadership team and ultimately a key part of the company’s growth.

Second, while they have their own KPIs, budgets, etc to meet, they have a vital part to play in the company’s future. That means they all attend meetings on the company’s strategy and growth. They must feel driven to contribute more.

Third, you need a GM. Those managers report to the GM. This means that you get to spend more time away from the office building relationships with key stakeholders and on field trips to study best practice and gather ideas. Others will be strategy breaks: time away from the office to work on new directions.

Of course you need to do this to drive the business forward. But the leadership team also needs to feel that sense of momentum and get excited about where they and the company are going. Once they see the future and get a strong sense of their essential contribution, they then act to drive growth for you, and you at last can take your shoulder off the wheel and just watch that it turns in the right direction.

Start this process by taking them to lunch one by one and then as a team. Explain to them that they are part of the key leadership team you are building and that ultimately there will be a GM. Explain how you will choose the GM. Tell them that you expect to be away from the office more, building the business and that that you have full confidence they will step up to the challenge. Ask them what they see as the key challenges while you are away and how they will meet them.

Then off you go on your holiday. You will soon see which of your leadership team steps up!

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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