Insight
Make your business a great place to work
July 2024
One way of standing out in a highly competitive industry is to be recognised as a great place to work. However, achieving this status is no mean feat, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. In this article, we will consider some steps you can take to make your business a great place to work.
Start with the right people
Hiring people who are bright, cooperative, and friendly is a good start. This will help you to build a collaborative culture where everyone works together to provide customers with the best possible service, while simultaneously helping one another to develop and grow as professionals. This culture of collaboration also extends to business owners who must work with employees as well as creating an environment that encourages open communication.
Your people are your business
Make your business about your people and you will be well on the way to making your business a great place to work. This makes it critical to offer your people an environment that encourages and enables career advancement as well as personal development opportunities. Add to this a strong financial package that contains attractive benefits, coupled with the right work-life balance, and you have all the key ingredients that make a business a great place to work.
Flexible working
Consider offering a flexible hybrid work environment. This might include a compressed working week and early Friday options during non-busy times. Ensuring your people maintain a proper work-life harmony is important. So look at schedules, assignments, and workloads, and try not to take on more work than you can manage. Encourage your people to discuss their needs and how these needs might change as life changes – people shouldn’t have to sacrifice their personal lives to succeed in their business lives. Also, make time for fun activities such as sports events, lunches and dinners, and community service. You might also consider offering your people the flexibility to observe events that they hold important with personal holidays.
Demonstrate clear pathways to advancement
Ensure your people, whatever their position in the business, can see the potential to succeed. This requires a focus on building a foundation that enables people to grow within the business, move up quickly, and take on additional responsibilities. Consider offering a coaching and mentoring programme that helps people to grow their careers. Another idea is to hold twice-yearly career development conversations with every employee to discuss progress and aspirations. Encourage openness and aim to accommodate requests wherever possible.
Be family friendly
Family-friendly initiatives are so important to wellbeing and work-life balance. These initiatives might include comprehensive health cover, maternity and paternity leave, and paid childcare. Further, allowing people to work part-time does not prevent in any way someone’s ability to contribute to the business in a substantial way and their experience can be invaluable as a thought-leader and coach to others in the business. So if you want to make your business a great place to work, make it about your people. By talking and listening to your people you will quickly create a culture that offers opportunities while protecting work-life balance. This culture will also project itself outside your business, attracting potential employees and customers alike.
About the author
Steven G. Horn, CPA
Atlanta, USA
Steve is the Director of Tax Planning & Compliance and a Co-leader of International Practice at WBL CPAs + Advisors. He also sits on the Global Board of Directors at Russell Bedford International. Steve provides tax planning and return preparation services for corporations, individuals, partnerships, estates, and trusts. His specialties include performing ASC 740 calculations for public and large private companies and developing tax strategies for closely held businesses, assisting high-net-worth families, and serving as a trustee.
He is the author of the firm’s periodic tax planning updates and previously served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Harcourt Brace Publication, CPA Internet Connection. Steve is also a frequent lecturer and guest speaker at universities, international conferences, and professional associations.