Lead and motivate your staff

Here's how leading and motivating staff has helped my business to grow

PJ Locums is a privately owned recruitment agency placing overseas healthcare personnel in the health and social care sectors. Co-founder and managing director Julie Anne Murray describes how developing and applying leadership skills has transformed the business.

What I did

Change the mindset

"In the first year my two partners and I were too busy getting the business off the ground to focus on leadership.

"A discussion with our bank was the wake-up call. They were concerned that while we were growing, we hadn't planned ahead and therefore risked being unable to cope. We needed a new mindset, so we began working with a business coach, Mark Grant of Action International. His input started us down the road towards organisational change."

Start with the basics

"We began by restructuring, and having been a co-founder I became managing director. This encouraged me to delegate and concentrate on leadership issues. With input from management and employees, I redefined our mission statement and objectives, wrote a three-year plan and made sure our goals were communicated throughout the company.

"I also introduced new policies, processes and measurement. Everything we do now has a system behind it, a process to follow and a measurable target. This is important because it allows other people to take over the day-to-day activities and frees my time to focus on key strategic and tactical matters."

Inspire, involve and reward

"We introduced weekly company meetings, staff surveys, team-building events and away-days to gather ideas and get feedback. Training, appraisals, promotion and career progression have also been addressed.

"Money isn't everything, but it's important. We introduced bonuses and a new commission system to encourage staff to meet and exceed performance targets, which they regularly do.

"We involve people in decision-making and try to create an open and collaborative working environment. The company culture is based on trust, teamwork, communication and shared goals. Staff feedback confirms this.

"However you do it, the proof of leadership is in the performance of your company. In the last 18 months, our growth has accelerated dramatically, with turnover up from £1.25 million to £3.6 million."

What I'd do differently

Don't make excuses

"It's easy to avoid leadership issues by convincing yourself you're too busy and your efforts are required elsewhere. I was certainly guilty of that in the early days."

Address work-life balance

"When you're leading and motivating staff to achieve business goals, you can lose sight of a life outside work. We had to force ourselves to ditch the 'work all hours' mentality."

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• The importance of leading and motivating
• Giving direction to staff
• What motivates employees
• Using leadership to create a motivated workforce
• Team building
• Leading your staff through change
• Here's how leading and motivating staff has helped my business to grow

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