Brilliant people don’t just appear in your office one morning and start working perfectly in your business. It takes some skill and a proven process for attracting and retaining talent (great talent!). Rest assured, you don’t need an HR degree or a great deal of recruiting experience to attract a winning team. Building Great Businesses has a five-hour recruitment process that will bring in the talent but first you need to ensure that your business is one that will appeal to great talent – they have to be attracted to work there and to stay there!
For an owner-led business, a better team is not a motivation exercise. It is a recruitment rhythm, clear roles, useful standards and enough leadership discipline that good people know what they are joining and why they should stay.
Why must a business be attractive to talent?
Good or bad, the people you get and retain are the people you deserve! And, if you want a great business, that doesn’t depend on you being there all the time, then you need a winning team. The more work you put into becoming really good at recruiting and retaining talent, the better the result will be for you and your business. Never underestimate the potential of a team that works well together towards your company vision… especially if they can do it while you’re on a beach somewhere with no internet access.
BGB’s business coaching programs include a five-hour recruitment process and team systems that help owners build a business that can run without every decision coming back to them.
Six keys to a winning team that will attract and retain talent:
Key Element One – Strong Leadership. Your Team will look to you for guidance, growth, decisions and development. No matter which leadership style you have; strive to hand out praise, champion the team’s new ideas, teach people, make timely decisions, listen to your team and be enthusiastic about the business. These are the actions common to history’s successful business leaders.
Key Element Two – Common Goals. The company Vision, Mission and Goals should be shared with everyone in your team (new and existing). Before anyone signs up to a job, they want to know what they are getting involved with, what you and the business stand for and how you are all going to reach the said objectives. When recruiting team members – whether from inside the business or from outside – the vision statement is emphasised, explained, and delved into at great length.
Key Element Three – Rules of the Game. When it comes to business operations, employees and teams are often left in the dark about what they are actually required to do! Just like a professional football team has a playbook that defines the boundaries and areas of measurable responsibility for each team member – your business also needs a rule book so they know their unique and specialised roles, and the team keeps winning.
Key Element Four – Action Plan. Everyone in your team needs an action plan for success. Give each person a title, a job description, KPI’s and a clear plan for their success. Explain how others will support them in their role. Supporting the team with tools, training, technology, and systems ensures that the talent stays motivated, and this means the owner or entrepreneur can run the business without being run by the business.
Key Element Five – Support Risk Taking. If you are not open to some degree of healthy risk-taking within your business, it is almost impossible for your team to succeed. Every new product, a new way of marketing, a new niche or an internal business process seems too risky… until it works. To build effective teams in your business, led by example, and be open to change, calculated risk and new ideas.
Key Element Six – 100% Involvement and Inclusion. The best teams have everyone in the team doing their job and doing it well. Sometimes, team members even need to go ‘above and beyond their exact roles. It’s a wonderful experience to work in a team where everyone really does deliver on their responsibilities and just a little more beyond. Make sure, as the leader, that you’re inclusive in your management style and also make sure that individual team members actively involve themselves – this is a two-way street!
How will I know when I have a great team?
The end result of a successful team is synergy. This means that the sum of the teamwork is greater than the separate parts of the team. In business terms, this means that the return on investment is greater than the contributions made to that investment. People have innate chemistry. If we combine that natural chemistry one way we get an explosive, disastrous outcome from opposite polarity. Combine it in another way and we get increased energy, vitality, and success from magical magnetism.
Build Your Dream Team with BGB
At Building Great Businesses, the team work is practical: attract better candidates, recruit with a clear process, set role standards, and keep accountability visible. Our business coaching programs give owners the recruitment and team rhythm to make that stick.
If the team still depends on you to chase every role, decision and standard, start with the operating system behind the team. Read the business systems coach page or book a 15-minute strategy call to talk through the team bottleneck.
Frequently Asked Questions About Building Your Dream Team
How do I attract great talent to my business?
Attract talent by: (1) Demonstrating strong leadership, (2) Sharing clear vision, mission and goals, (3) Creating “rules of the game” (clear roles and responsibilities), (4) Providing action plans with titles, job descriptions and KPIs, (5) Supporting calculated risk-taking, (6) Ensuring 100% involvement and inclusion. Great talent wants to work for great businesses.
What’s the secret to retaining talent?
Retain talent by creating a winning team culture with: strong leadership that champions ideas and teaches people, common goals everyone understands, clear rules and responsibilities, individual action plans for success, support for innovation, and inclusive management. When people feel valued and have clear paths to success, they stay.
How long does it take to build a dream team?
Building a dream team is an ongoing process, but the first 90 days should show whether the basics are taking hold: clearer roles, better recruiting conversations, cleaner onboarding and less owner-chasing. Full team maturity takes longer because people need rhythm, feedback and repeated standards.
Do I need an HR degree to build a great team?
No, you don’t need an HR degree. You need a recruitment process, clear roles, useful standards, leadership rhythm and a culture good people can trust. Our business coaching programs help owners install that work without turning the business into corporate theatre.
What’s the difference between a good team and a dream team?
A good team gets work done. A dream team creates synergy—where the sum of teamwork is greater than separate parts. This means ROI is greater than individual contributions. Dream teams have natural chemistry, increased energy, and deliver exceptional results. The 6 key elements create the conditions for synergy.
Ready to get started? See how BGB helps owner-led businesses build a company that works without them, or book a 15-minute strategy call.
P.S. whenever you're ready, here are 4 ways I can help you get unstuck and moving forward:
1. Want to escape the 80-hour rat race?
Grab a free copy of my book. I wrote it to show you how I built a business that runs without me. So I could get my time, my family, and my life back. → Get your copy here
2. Need more consistent cash coming in?
If you're a solo operator and want to grow fast, our Business Class program helps you double your revenue in 6 months, or you don't pay. → Learn more
3. Already making decent money, but the business still leans on you?
Our Elite Program helps you build a team and systems that take the weight off your shoulders. You get the full Black Diamond System, plus a business that works while you don't! → Find out how
4. Not sure what you need, but know something has to change?
Book a free call. We'll look at where you're stuck, find what's holding you back, and map out a simple next step to get you moving. Did I mention it's free? → Grab a time here
