With the start of the new year, business owners should be in the throes of tearing apart last year’s performance in order to make 2016 an even better business year. Even if your company had an unimpressive 2015 or it just didn’t live up to your expectations, reviewing the year should not be a painful task for you. This is your opportunity to learn from your failures, mistakes and missteps, so you can take your business to the next level in 2016. While this isn’t the fun part of being a business owner, it is an integral part to being successful. Plus, if owning a business were easy, everybody would do it.
Note: For the purpose of this article, we are going to assume that the end of the calendar year is also the end of your fiscal year.
Employee Assessments
There are many ways to conduct employee assessments, and the methods seem to fall in and out of favor regularly. A current favorite is to have employees conduct a self-assessment as well as an assessment of their manager. Letting employees review you may be too touchy-feely, as it is for many managers; however, the employee assessments are a must. According to Gallup, employees are 30 times more likely to be engaged at work if they receive positive feedback from their boss, and 65 percent of employees said they would be happy to receive more feedback from their managers. Reviews are important for your employees’ workplace well-being and should be conducted at least twice a year.
The purpose behind the self-assessment is to have employees reflect on their careers. This self-reflection allows you to see what they see and provide a route to resolve any major issues if there are any. After they finish with the reflection, you can compare your review with the employee’s annual review, which can be an interesting conversation if the employee isn’t self-aware.
Financial Review
Numbers don’t lie. Even though you followed your numbers throughout last year, it is time to look at them as a whole. Start off by printing copies of your profit and loss statement and any outstanding invoices. These documents should be easy to access through your financial software. If not, then switch to a cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software like Sage One, so you can easily access your documents whenever you need them. It also allows you to print out numerous reports and trends. Your next step after you have your documents in hand: Analyze them closely.
Game Planning
After going over your financials and reviewing your team’s strengths and weaknesses, you should have a clear idea of what you did right and wrong during 2015. The goal now is to not repeat anything negative and increase everything positive. Simple, right?
Gather your department heads, and dig in for a long planning session. It is here that you will set the tone for 2016. Spread the word of your plan to your employees to keep them engaged and productive.
Now that 2016 is here, take the time to reflect, plan and get ready for another wonderful year of being a business owner.