End of the Year Review

The end of the year is coming up quickly and with it, all the loose ends to tie up. You have tasks to complete and end of the year activities to review. Also, pausing to reflect on the year, from a leadership perspective, is important for an employer and employee. Too, you need to take time and reflect on yourself and how you are handling the holiday stress. Here are some suggestions to help you keep things running smoothly.

Your Employees
 

As the end of the year closes out, how are your employees holding up? Do they feel as if the year was successful or could it have been better? How about your customer service team? Do they feel as if they accomplished the goals that were set at the beginning of the year? If the group dynamics aren’t meshing, you may have to let someone go. Also you need to review outdated practices, ineffective policies, routines, and meetings which have lost their purpose. Ask for suggestions on what to improve or do away with, but make the final decision yours. Check on how your employee’s energy, enthusiasm, and perspective are doing. Will you need to do some mentoring, coaching, retraining, or just find a new perspective for them?

Other Tasks
 

Make your schedule for the end of the year inventory. If you have actual physical inventory, consider hiring temporary additional staff so not to use trained staff that can be used in other areas. Decide whether to send holiday greeting cards to important key customers, suppliers, and service providers, expressing your appreciation of their patronage. Order cards as early as possible to allow enough time for preparing and mailing. While you’re at it, establish and publicize your holiday hours of operation. There can be a lot of variation in practice among small businesses and it’s important to notify all your customers, employees, and suppliers of your holiday hours schedule.
 

Schedule an appointment with your business accountant early, say early December at the latest. You can review year-to-date financial information with the accountant, so he or she can suggest actions which may help reduce your income tax liability.

Finally You
 

What about you? Have you changed as an employer this year? One suggestion to find out is to draw a line down a center of a piece of paper. List your defining characteristics you believe you had at the beginning of the year. Now list the characteristics you think you have now. Are there any changes? If so, was the change good or bad? What do you think are your strong points and which are your weaker? Do you think your employees would agree? How can you improve your weaker points to become a better employer in the upcoming year?

With the hectic pace of the holidays, it’s easy to get burnt out. Keep in mind why you own your own business. You wanted to create a better future and increase your income. However, if you don’t step back and enjoy yourself, the fruits of your labors are for nothing. Enjoy the company of your friends and family, be the best employer and motivator for your company; this is what true success is all about.
 

Photo courtesy of morguefile.com