Help your Dream Team go Above and Beyond
If you want your dream team to really excel in their performance and go above and beyond their basic job requirements, then you need to be involved as their leader. Provide them with support, encouragement and tools that they need in order to be able to perform exceptionally well. When you do, you will gain more respect and your team will be more engaged and more motivated at work.
By KARINE RAYSON
Here are a few ideas on how you can achieve this:
Check-ins
Make sure that you have regular check-ins with individual crew members and different departments. Find out how they are doing, if there is anything that they might be struggling with or are unsure how to do. When you are approachable and available to meet the needs of your crew it encourages communication. This puts you in a better position to identify any red flags and deal with any problems early rather than when they have escalated to something bigger. If you are very concerned about the wellbeing of a crew member do not hesitate to contact myself or I.S.W.A.N I also have a 20 min free session for you to utilise should you need advice alternatively there is a counselling service available.
Have regular performance reviews that have clear measurement criteria
Make sure that the crew know what is expected of them. Are they happy in their job? Are they getting what they need in order to be able to do their job properly? If there is something stopping them from performing or being motivated to go above and beyond, find out what it is and help them to find a solution so that they can move forward in confidence. Help them to take steps to do something about it or make the changes necessary to be able to get back on track to achieving their objectives.
Measure your crew performance against core values and team objectives that are part of the yacht brand. This will encourage crew to perform in line with the core values and make sure they understand what kind of behaviour is expected from them. If you need to correct behaviour express it in terms of a value that they need to meet. This is a far more effective way of helping people understand why they need to do things in a certain way. When you keep coming back to the yacht brand and objectives and align that with their personal responsibilities it helps to reinforce the role they have in the yacht’s success. Read more about why people and culture services are so important here!
Professional Development
Training is an ongoing role of a leader if you are to help your team achieve success. This training should be aligned with the core values and objectives so that you are constantly working towards achieving your goals. Get creative with your training do not only focus on developing their hard skills but also look at developing team morale by doing interactive onboard workshops.
Affirmations
When your team is performing well, remember to recognise and reward success – especially with your top performers. It is so easy to take those people for granted because they just get on with the job, they know what to do and they do it well. Top performers often need just as much encouragement and recognition as everyone else. Make sure that you take the time to thank them for their hard work and recognise the care and effort that they put into their work.
As a team, when you have a success, no matter how big or small, go out and celebrate it! Do so in a way that benefits everyone and that retains the professional image of the crew. If you want your crew to go above and beyond as a team, you need to be the type of leader that leads by example and shows that you care about them as individuals as much as you care about their performance.
