Setting the Tone for 2013

The New Year will be here in less than a month. (Wait! Wasn’t Halloween just yesterday?) Have you set goals for your office yet? For your team members? Have your employees started looking ahead and planning for the coming year?

Read below for some tips on how to help your office staff members get ready for 2013.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to call a meeting or otherwise let your employees know what company and/or department goals you have for 2013. After all, you can’t expect your team members to know where you want to take your firm if you don’t tell them.

Too many of us don’t come up with goals, plans or priorities. Setting these goals doesn’t mean you’ll reach them, of course, but you can’t reach new heights without placing them in your sight. Goals, as the saying goes, are dreams with a deadline. Deadlines are wonderful: Things get done.

If you’re a department head, be sure to explain to your team members how your department fits in with the company’s overall goals. What will your team need to accomplish this year to help your company meet – or exceed – its goals?

Meet with each of your team members to craft action plans for each. Be sure these plans include steps that will help your department as well as the company as a whole reach its goals. The action plans also should include meeting professional goals that each team member will set for him- or herself.

No department or company will meet its goals if its employees don’t believe in them. You must get buy-in from your team members? Buy-in basically means that your employees feel that meeting the goals is important on a personal level. So you’ll need to think about “what’s in it for them” to meet the company’s/department’s goals. What could they be? How about raises? Additional training opportunities? What about chances for advancement? Determine what these buy-in hot buttons might be for your specific situation and be sure to communicate them to your staff members.

Meet regularly (quarterly is a good idea) with your team members to discuss how everyone, as well as the department/company as a whole, is doing in regards to making progress. You’ll want to meet more often with individuals to see how they’re doing. You can meet monthly, or you can require that your staff members send you progress reports each month.

If one of your goals in 2013 is to expand your insurance office, call upon the recruiters at Insurance Relief™. We can source skilled and reliable professionals for your temporary needs or direct-hire needs as you grow. Contact us today.