As a new entrepreneur, my job requires constant learning about leadership, forward-thinking views and settings goals on how to improve and grow—both personally and professionally.

I have learned very quickly that having the ‘right’ office staff is key to attaining success within the business. While being mentored by the founder of Plan A, it was a consistent message that smart businesses know that a good work environment starts with hiring the right people and not being afraid to let the bad ones go. A strong work environment leads to productivity, openness and excellent communication. This work ethic also reflects to your clients who are your top priority in receiving efficient, fast and great customer service.

During our field staff interviews, we ask candidates “what makes it difficult to do your absolute best every day?” and “what brings down your morale?”.  Almost every potential employee will respond to these questions with a very similar answer — negative team members. We as humans have such a unique power to change others’ negative thought process with positive thoughts, yet, we rarely do.  Why not?

This question leads me to my next important thought: open communication is another important key factor to maintaining a good office environment. How can an employee be trusted in an office environment with other team members? Your team and fellow co-workers need to know you have their backs. This doesn’t mean gossiping any chance you have, speaking negatively when things go wrong, or dishing out criticism. It’s about teamwork; lifting a team member’s spirits and openly letting them know that you are there to support and assist one another when they are overwhelmed. This creates a chain reaction of positivity within your office environment and a trusting work space that you want to return to every day.  

Speaking of positivity…be sure to spread it! No one wants to sit in an office all day and listen to someone be negative day in and day out. To be frank, it just brings down everyone’s morale and ability to be productive. My life coach, Louise Bergeron, often says “always make sure you are not giving someone 80% of your energy and only getting 20% in return”. The sad truth is one poor employee can take down a whole team!

If you trust your staff, you should also listen to them, especially when issues arise. Negative employees will come to you only with complaints and will be so focused on the problem that they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. The right employee will come to you with a problem AND a solution. Solution-focused individuals are the ones you want on your team! They have the maturity and know-how to recognize a problem and are creative enough to think outside the box to come up with a solution.

Plan A as a whole has some incredible office team members and we couldn’t be happier to have this team represent our brand.