It is thrilling to take the mystery out of your business by learning how each department works.
There are many entrepreneurs who operate businesses and have no idea how to do all the jobs required to make their businesses work. While this may be necessary and practical for a large company, if you own a small business, it is important for you to learn how to do all the jobs your employees do. There are many reasons why this is important:
* no employee should be indispensable
* you should be able to jump in and work if needed
* it is easier to evaluate a task if you know how to do it
* you can train employees if you know what they need to do
* knowledge is power and helps you gain employee respect
Indispensable – When an employee is the only person in an organization that knows how to do a task properly, that employee is difficult to remove from the organization. An entrepreneur in a small business cannot allow this to happen. You must learn how things work in your company. An entrepreneur may be tempted to keep an employee who is indispensable when that employee should be fired. By learning how to do all the jobs in your organization, you help ensure that your company can continue to operate even after an employee leaves.
Fill In – If a business is a small one, an entrepreneur may be called upon to fill in when an employee is out of the office. Keep in mind that employees can be out of work for a variety of reasons ranging from illness to court dates to vacation time. Work should not stop just because an employee is out of the office for some reason. An entrepreneur who knows how to do every job within her organization can jump in and fill the void left by an employee who is out of work.
Evaluation – One task that entrepreneurs are called upon to do is evaluate employee performance. These evaluations are most commonly associated with pay increases but should take place on a regular basis. It is very difficult to properly evaluate how an employee performs a task if the entrepreneur does not have a clear understanding of what it is the employee is supposed to be doing.
Training – Employees, even experienced employees must be trained to do jobs in an organization. After all, even if the employee has done similar work in another organization, that employee must be trained to do it for your organization and with your customers. In order to train employees, an entrepreneur must know what it is the employee is required to do. Proper training is often the difference between running a successful business and operating a failing business enterprise.
Power and Respect – An entrepreneur who knows how to do all functions within her organization has a certain amount of power and respect in the workplace. While employees may not expect the entrepreneur to do all the tasks required to operate the business, they do recognize those who do and those who do not. Employees cannot hold their skills and talents hostage when the entrepreneur knows how to perform their duties. As the saying goes, “knowledge is power.” Knowledge also gains a person respect and admiration, both of which are qualities an entrepreneur should want to receive from employees.
In conclusion, it is thrilling to take the mystery out of your business by learning how each department works. So, the question for you this thrilling day is, do you know how to do each job in your business?