If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times – teamwork makes the dream work. Years (and years!) of experience has led me to value team engagement as one of the most important elements in my business. Think about how dreadful it is when one of your leading teachers calls in sick or worse, gives their notice? That sinking feeling is one of the biggest clues – your team is your support network and it’s vital to your business to cherish and nurture them.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Make them feel like they’re part of the family
It’s the dream to have a job where going to work doesn’t feel like work. Let’s strive to make your entire team feel this way. Concentrate on the way you interact with them. Make greetings warm and genuine. Check in with your team, follow up on previous conversations you’ve had with them. Schedule little casual meetings with them every few weeks, just for fun. When you’re the boss it’s easy for every conversation you have with your team to be either instructional or disciplinary, which isn’t very fun at all! Let’s sprinkle some love over our team shall we?
2. Give them a say
Ultimately you’re the one in charge of your studio but if you genuinely ask your team for their advice, they will feel like they’re really contributing to your business. If you’re opening another studio, take your headteacher with you to check out the new space. If you’re thinking of offering a new class, give your team the chance to talk through timings and options. Always give them a warning if things are going to change and make sure you take on their feedback.
3. Be a mentor
Henry Ford once said “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”
Yes, it can be extremely frustrating putting your time and effort into training a teacher only to have them leave for another studio or open their own studio. However, it’s much worse to have an average teacher who just hangs around forever and doesn’t improve and never moves on. Mentoring our teachers to be the best they can be is a win win situation.
Put your heart and soul into training every teacher at your studio and if they leave, they will sing your praises as a wonderful mentor. What a magical outcome!
4. Never pass up an opportunity for praise
Whenever you have the chance to tell one of your teachers they’re doing a good job, do it! It might be the way they make sure the studio is packed away properly at the end of their classes, it might be the way they take the time to learn all their students names, it might be the way they always show up for class on time or the way they bring positivity and light into the studio. If you think of something lovely, say it! They’ll appreciate it more than you know.
5. Hold regular Team Gratitude events
Make your gratitude official with organized events. Take your team out for lunch or throw a little afternoon tea at the studio to thank them for their work. Make it light, make it fun and make it social. You want your teachers to feel comfortable, safe and valued at work.
This month, let’s all make a few changes to put team engagement on the top of our focus list.
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All my best,
Chantelle
