Your employees and their mindset is key
A frequent question we get from new clients that have engaged our help on their business exit planning journey is, “I don’t want my team to know I’m thinking about ever selling my company in the future so how do I get them helping me take preparation steps without the risk of them worrying about me possibly selling?”
A very valid question that we address in this way. Look at your team in two groups – the first is the very senior members of your leadership team and although they don’t need to be brought in to the “tent” early on in your exit preparation planning, they are the first group that will be brought in one day when the timing is right. The second group of employees are all other members of your team that we will help determine whether they are brought in just prior to an exit event or whether it might wait until a transaction is about to or has happened. For both groups, even without discussing any plans the owner has about thinking of selling one day, there are steps that can be taken to get employees in the right mindset of supporting your longer range exit preparation plans:
- Ensure each department is supervised by a manager that is connected directly to your strategic plan. Help each supervisor understand how their role and their team’s role fit in to the bigger picture of progress you’re looking to make with your company. Do this by discussing key elements of your strategic plan in terms of what you’re looking to improve and build at your company and discuss with them how their department fits in to help drive this. Also discuss specific actions and related key performance metrics that you want them managing to within their department so together you can see progress versus just motion.
- Help your leadership team, and all team members of your company, see the bridge between what your company does and what value this brings to your customers. Far too many employees work at companies where they don’t fully understand or appreciate the benefit your end customer derives from working with your company. More and more employees today want to see that their company is delivering something of value to the market (and even society as a whole) and as the owner/CEO, it’s your responsibility to help them know what this is. If you want your employees caring about what your business does and you want them coming up consistently with ideas for improvement, then improve their engagement by helping them understand and even get excited about what value your company brings to the market.
These two steps can help you connect your team to your exit preparations and associated strategic plan without having to raise the topic of selling. Too many employees are just doing a job without any idea of how it connects to the bigger picture of what a company is trying to achieve, never mind what value customers derive. Connect these dots and you’re well on your way to having a team with a value building mindset and one that helps you build long term company net worth. And speaking of mindset, here is a thought provoking video we published to help owners with their exit preparation mindset (Exit Planning Mindset - Growing Company Worth)
