Are your people succeeding on their own? In other words, are they successful even when you are not around?  Or do you have a “when the cat’s away the mice will play” team? One of the traps of a small business is that we feel we always have to be there, looking over their shoulders, or constantly following up. Actually, these behaviors are the ones that will impede your growth and cause turnover of staff.

What do they need in order to be successful on their own? Just 3 things.

Initiative. Do they see what needs to be done and do it? This is a tough one as some do it naturally and others have to be taught. If a person needs to be taught initiative help them assess what they are seeing/hearing/doing to determine if any action is needed on their part. Patience is required to maintain and reinforce the behavior.

Accountability. People taking responsibility for their actions – both the good and the bad. There are several ways to create this and the most important is to let them know it’s ok to bring an “error” forward as long as they learn from it.  If an error has severe repercussions regardless of its impact of the organization – people will hide and try to bury it or blame someone else. This is not productive for you, the organization, or your clients. The key here is to let them speak and determine the best way to resolve an issue going forward.

Work Ethic. Are your people the kind who strive to get the work done in the best way possible? Do they believe in their value to the organization and don’t want to let anyone down? If so, they have a strong work ethic. This is one of those traits people will show when they are in the right position. I have seen people who didn’t appear to have a work ethic in one position and it changed when they were in a position they enjoyed.

Ensure your team has these traits and they will succeed whether you are around or not. Your clients will be happy, you will have teamwork, and you can focus on growing the business.