We are days away from December 31st–which means 2021 is almost over. What to do now? If you’re looking for new ways to engage your workforce in 2022, one way is simply to “start fresh”. A great way to begin is to take the time and evaluate where you are now, then benchmark a starting place. Why? You won’t know how successful you are with various efforts until you establish where you are, what’s already been tried and, more importantly, how well was it received. That doesn’t mean you can’t try the same idea again–but establishing a starting point is critical to the next step.
Step 2 is look to the end goal. What is it exactly that you want to accomplish? And how will you know what it looks like when you’ve reached your goal? Let’s say you want improve your turnover rate. How can you improve? First you need to know, what is your current rate? Then what’s an acceptable “I can live with that for now” rate? In other words, establish the end goal. It should be relevant and attainable. So perhaps that’s a 20% reduction in turnover by mid-year, June 30th. That’s a good SMART goal!
What do I mean by a SMART goal? Ones that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and have a timeline! Gather your team together and discuss what’s already been tried. Is there a reason to retry past efforts? Have the team brainstorm a list of what else might work. Don’t worry if it the suggestions get outlandish…effective brainstorming means not evaluating whether they can work or not. Have each team member pick out what they believe the top 3 ideas are, combine into a short list, and start there. Discuss what resources (time, people and/or money) you’ll need to make it happen. Then look to your current business policies and practices and make sure they are aligned with the intent and ideas your team has developed.
Starting with the end goal in mind will allow you to work backwards on what steps will be needed to get there. And that will give you a fresh start to 2022.