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A Leader's New Year Checklist

curranrecruit
Dec 23, 2014
3 min read

The New Year is all about new beginnings, refreshing perspectives and introducing new ones. It’s the perfect time to restore, revitalize and renew your team’s commitment to your organisation and take advantage of the possibilities for positive change. In this week’s blog post we want to share some ideas to help you as managers achieve this, ushering in the New Year to set the tone for the rest of the year.

Update your materials. Is your company handbook looking a little dusty? The New Year is best time to launch your updated handbook or other internal materials.
Ongoing Recruitment. It’s important that throughout the year you keep a pulse on available talent, but the New Year is also a great opportunity to push for recruiting. Think fresh graduates and career changers.
Review your job descriptions. When were they last updated? Your organisation and some of its job requirements may have changed over the past year - do your descriptions reflect these changes? If you had an employee leave that hasn’t been replaced – do they need to be? Or will their duties be able to be absorbed by an existing employee? Or perhaps you’re launching a new product. Are you employees ready to handle this kind of product? Would further training be needed?
Start the New Year off with clear business goals, priorities and deadlines. With end-of-the-year reviews still fresh, is your team the best it can be for the New Year? Review who needs help and in what areas, or who may need to be let go. The New Year is a good time to get your team in order and put in place appointments for regular reviews. According to SHRM (2012) regular performance appraisals can help employees clearly define and understand their responsibilities and help managers distribute and achieve departmental goals.
Focus your feedback for the future. You want your staff to grow and to innovate. In almost all cases, people want to improve and do great work. Yet most workplace feedback is focused on something that can’t be changed – the past. If you want to be a more effective leader to your employees – by helping them improve - give them feedback and advice about what they can do to become better at their role.
This year resolve to learn what makes each of your employees unique. Recognising each employee’s individuality will result in a more engaged workforce, which in turn, will repay you with happier, more productive, engaged and loyal employees.
New opportunities. Talk to your staff, suppliers, partners, and customers to discover new opportunities for your organisation. Whether through a new product release, entering a new marker or finding new customers, the New Year can be the perfect time for a fresh perspective.
Get Social. Social media is evolving every day and becoming a very important aspect for all businesses today. The potential impact social media can have on your organisation is huge - are you taking part in the conversations about your business? As a manager it’s also important to be aware of what employees are saying about your organisation via social media. Do you have a policy about social media in your workplace?