Why Caring for Your Team Should Be Your No. 1 Strategic Objective

It’s no news that recruiting, hiring and keeping quality talent is a challenge in today’s economic climate. We’ve all experienced customer service that is less than desirable or just plain frustrating. Most companies are constantly grappling with how to do more with less and increase productivity, while keeping the devoted team members happy.

So how do you do it? How do you keep quality talent on board for the long haul and inspire them to be the best version of themselves? How do you create a culture that people buy in to, a team they want to be part of, and an environment they want to be in? How do you nurture your team so they will, in turn, nurture each other and their clients?

How do you truly care for your team? It starts with empathy, a deep desire to see them succeed, and a focus on their needs first. 

After 30 years in business, SecurAlarm’s biggest accomplishment is not our number of clients, industry exposure, or financial growth. It is that we’ve remained dedicated to why we exist: We Care, So We Protect. And our WHY doesn’t just extend to our clients, partners, and community, but most importantly, to our team. It drives our decisions, how we interact and serve each other, and how we measure success. We look to our WHY every time we meet a crossroads, such as: 

• Why is our team struggling?
• Do we have the bandwidth to take this on? 
• What tools does the team need to be successful? 
• What do we want our culture to be? 

We are committed to making sure whoever we encounter feels cared for by investing significant energy into our team. We ask tough questions, listen to experiences, confront brutal facts and act on what is holding us back. And here is what we’ve learned.

4 Steps to Caring for Your Team

1.    Give the team a stake in the game. Include the entire organization in important decision-making processes and let them enjoy the benefits these decisions and changes bring.

What we do:

• Enlist small groups to weigh the pros and cons of healthcare changes.
• Invite team members to facilitate interviews and be part of the hiring process for candidates they might work with later.
• Encourage departments to plan company events that interest them and will get more engagement. 
• Implement a profit-sharing program that allows the organization to share its financial success.

2.    Invest in the team’s growth. People are unique. They require different coaching and grow at different paces. Give the team the opportunity, space, and accountability they need to practice and fine-tune their incredible skills.

What we do:

• Every team member takes the DISC personality assessment to build better relationships through understanding themselves and learning how to tailor their engagement with those around them.
• Send team members to growth events and programs and encourage them to seek out educational opportunities, peer groups, and community events that excite and inspire them. 
• Give the team clear expectations of what success looks like in their role. Deliver individualized paths to achieve short and long-term goals and increase their impact.
• Take time to understand how team members prefer to be recognized and celebrate when they overcome a struggle or meet a goal.

3.    Don’t just find out what the team needs…make it happen! Listening means nothing if the team doesn’t feel a change. Face the facts, remove the roadblocks, and implement the things that will make team members happier, healthier, more efficient, and successful. And because you can’t always deliver on everything, be transparent and don’t overpromise.

What we do:

• Get a finger on the pulse with annual happiness surveys. Ask questions that help us understand if team members feel inspired, supported and appreciated, are proud of the organization’s work, and have a good work/life balance.
• Change benefits and insurance policies to accommodate coverage we know an individual or group needs. 
• Recognize that the team just wants to do their jobs and do them well. If that means they need a bigger truck with more materials to minimize return trips, an iPad to streamline paperwork, or a better phone system to support remote work, we make it happen!

4.    Make physical, mental, and social well-being a priority. Don’t expect the team to care for others well if they don’t care for themselves. Focus on ways to promote healthy habits and behaviors and make it rewarding and fun!

What we do:

• Provide team members and their families with a wide range of free, confidential, and professional support services through our employee assistance program.
• Create spaces within the office that foster mental breaks, informal connections, and better collaboration with teammates and clients (exercise area, patio, café, breakout huddles, etc.).
• Organize a regular cadence of team, department and family outings outside of work.
• Engage in healthy competition and award prizes through our annual wellness challenge.
• Ask and listen to how the team is feeling whenever we connect. 

If you care for your team well, you will create an environment that people want to be a part of. You will arm them with experience and perspective to draw from when they care for others. And the results are beautiful...

• Our team members have attested to becoming better individuals, spouses, friends and leaders. Marriages have been saved, generational behaviors altered and lives transformed.
• Teams experience the impact they have and feel that what they do matters. They are invested in the success of themselves, each other, clients and the organization.
• Team members have the tools they need to KILL IT in their roles! They set an example for the next generation, creating a continuous cycle of strong leaders guiding the organization to success.
• Collaboration improves, efficiency increases and client experience is elevated, creating lasting partnerships built on trust and respect.

When we ask our team and clients what they like best about SecurAlarm, we almost always hear, “It’s the people!” We Care, So We Protect is more than just words; it is our driving force and reason for our existence. When this sentiment starts with our most valuable asset, our team, it trickles down to everyone we have the honor of serving.