Finding and attracting the right people for your business are some of the key steps in building a strong team to deliver on your business objectives. However, that’s just the start. Ensuring that your team have the knowledge and leadership skills to deliver on your goals is another. So what are the key factors in building a dream team for your business? In short? Form, Norm, Storm and Perform.

Attracting the right talent to your business is an easier process when you have a strong employer brand. Many employees are searching for companies that will invest in their learning and development. Generally speaking, businesses that have a great employer brand can attract and retain the best talent and generally have a positive working culture. In attracting employees to your business, you need to search for capability, culture fit and someone who is likely to commit to your business for the long term. Employee attraction and retention forms part of the overall workforce planning strategy.

Form
When a team initially comes together, there is often a degree of uncertainty as individuals come to understand each other’s roles and where they fit in the overall structure. This process is the same, regardless of whether the team is a cross-functional team working on a project or a team from the same business unit. It’s the role of the Manager to establish leadership within the group and also build relationships with their staff. Ensure that you set expectations early with your team and that you focus on rewarding them for achieving outcomes.

Storm
Quite often the initial hesitancy that employees feel will subside and they will start to feel comfortable in their roles. This period can involve discussion over any areas that are unclear to employees and quite often there is a jostle for leadership. For this process to run as smoothly as possible, it’s important that employees have clear roles and are aligned to the overall goals and objectives of the team and that they take ownership for their areas of responsibility. This might include asking questions such as:
• What do we really care about in performing our job?
• What does the word success mean to this team?
• What actions can we take to live up to our stated values?

Norm
You know the feeling when you are really ‘hitting your stride’? That’s the ‘norm’ phase of group work. In this phase, the objectives of the team are clarified, the leadership structure of the group is working as it should and group rules have been established.

Perform
When the group is performing well, it should feel like a ‘well-oiled machine’ – internal politics are resolved and the group is focused on achieving outcomes.

If you would like support with effective workforce planning, speak to the HR Consulting team at Flexi Personnel.