Small business

Control: why it’s a big hurdle to small business workplace flexibility and how to get over it. Meet Jack.  He’s an over-worked underpaid small business owner.  But please don’t feel sorry for him; he’s happy.  After all he’s a man on a mission.

The mission of course is making his business a success.  Well there’s not much option to that is there?  He’s poured his heart, soul and cash into this business, he’s got a family to support, he’s got customers and employees relying on him and he can’t very well just pack up and get another job can he?

It’s fair to say that the pressure of making the business a success has made Jack a little single minded, possibly even something of a control-freak. But hey, isn’t Jack just protecting the very thing he has worked so hard to build?

Jack is no different to most small business owners.  They like to be in control.

The trouble is that ‘in-control’ often means taking an almost helicopter-like approach to employees; hovering over them to check that they are doing the right thing.

Now, irrespective of whether a business wants to introduce flexible working arrangements or not, the helicopter approach is probably not the best way of handling employees.  But when it comes to some of the more common flexible working arrangements the helicopter simply won’t work at all - so Jack and his fellow small business owners often dismiss them.

And that’s a shame because there are so many good business reasons for the likes of Jack to completely embrace flexible working arrangements, for example:

• small businesses often find it hard to attract and afford the right caliber of employee but flexible working arrangements give small businesses an affordable differentiation
• remote working enables small businesses to tap into the best talent irrespective of where it is located
• flexible working hours allow small business owner to retain great employees even as they make transitions into motherhood or retirement
• variable working periods allows small business to staff its peaks without having to wear the staff cost in the quiet times

So how can Jack, a small business owner with a helicopter-like approach to staff, bring flexible working arrangements into his business?  What can he do to feel comfortable that the employee who is ‘out of sight’ is working hard and making the right decisions?

Well it starts with a few must-haves for the business, the employee and Jack:

The business

A business must have the following to enable unsupervised employees to make judgment calls that are in the best interests of the business:

• clear goals for the business so everyone understands where the business is heading
• a clear purpose for the business so everyone understands why the business is in business
• a clear strategy so everyone understands the broad way that the goals are going to be met

The employee

Employees must have the following to be able to work more efficiently and with less input from the business owner:

• clear goals around what the employee is expected to produce; their output
• a clear understanding of the purpose of their role; that is clarifying the outcome of the job to be done, rather than the tasks

The Business Owner

The business owner must, if he wants to make flexible working arrangements work:

• understand his employees as individuals and know what makes them tick
• have a rigorous hiring process which looks at the character of prospective employees as well as their competence
• understand that people will volunteer their best efforts when they have a clear purpose
• want to make flexible working arrangements work successfully

So can a business owner like Jack change his style, adopt flexible working arrangements and still feel in control of the business?  Very much so. And the benefits to the business go beyond the direct benefits of having employees on flexible working arrangements.  In fact some of the most profitable small businesses today are run with teams of remote workers working, what can best be described as, ‘funny hours’ - and they are profitable because of the flexible working arrangements, not despite them.

Julia Bickerstaff
Julia Bickerstaff runs two businesses:  Butterfly Coaching and The Business Bakery.  Her first book “How to Bake a Business” published by Allen & Unwin goes on sale 1 April.  She is the finance expert on Channel 7’s Kochie’s Business Builders and is a regular writer and speaker on small business matters.

Julia was previously a partner at one of the world’s largest professional services firms, Deloitte and seven years ago she became one of the first Deloitte partners to have a flexible working arrangement.

Julia is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in economics from The London School of Economics (London University).

You can find out more about Julia at  www.juliabickerstaff.com,  and her businesses at  www.thebusinessbakery.com.au and  www.butterflycoaching.com.au