The quality of leadership in your MSP company is the cornerstone of all your operations. Leaders in your business must understand the impact of their actions on the team, and the overall productivity of your company. Good business leaders have a good self-understanding that allows them to deal with stress, manage diverse teams, pursue organizational goals and motivate the team at all times— they understand the importance of personal relationships.
People Connection
Whether you are working with introverted or extroverted leaders, you must emphasize on the need for a human connection with the team. Simple practices towards better leadership can begin with weekly one-on-one sessions; encouraging team lunches and informal work activities; creating group activities within the workplace and implementing an open-door policy. On an organization level, your company culture should focus on people-centered policies; the workspace should encourage sharing and collaboration and you should invest in up-skilling your leaders to develop their people skills.
Systemic Changes
Many problems affecting IT-based businesses point to systemic challenges that often influence the quality of leaders you attract. Audit your internal systemic processes that influence your leadership such as your hiring policy, your management, talent retention and in-house development of talent. This will help you eliminate leaders aspiring to dominate in favor of individuals who work towards harnessing their individual skills and the overall performance of the team.
While auditing your internal systems, think about leadership basics such as communication channels, feedback avenues, follow-up from the top to the bottom and vice-versa, and collaboration. For example, the frequency of meetings between managers and their team members or the time it takes leaders to respond to employ emails,
In terms of talent acquisition, what qualities do your best leaders exhibit and how do you ensure you attract similar qualities when bringing in new talent? Internal reviews will help you identify the qualities your employees like and you can observe similar patterns among the best performing teams. This data will then translate to better hiring and up-skilling decision; you have a better understanding of what to work on to improve the quality of leaders.
Purpose
Empower leaders to create meaning full work in your business. The IT industry works almost entirely with millennials, who are always looking for purpose-driven work. These employees are looking for personal and professional fulfillment and will even move to a lower paying job if it promises to help them find personal fulfillment. It is therefore crucial that leaders in your MSP work to understand the unique and personal aspirations of different team members. This way, your leadership team can revise different job descriptions to help their employs fulfill their purpose at work.
The foundation of meaningful work in your MSP company lies in how you define and implement your workplace culture. You need to align your team with your values and overall corporate goal to give your leaders an easier time. Change begins from the top; if your leaders do not enjoy coming into work every day, it will affect the morale and productivity of their teams. Once you have your leaders on board, they will help you inspire company-wide pride and passion for the services you offer.
A Gratitude Culture
Gratitude within your team is your greatest motivational tool. Begin by making your leaders feel appreciated, even through tough times and encourage them to use the same attitude with their team members. Between dealing with client complaints and solving multiple issues, you need to dedicate time to training your leaders to reinforce the importance of every employee in a way that best suits their personality. Employee retention is highly dependent on your leaders; different team members will remember how you make them feel, and this can greatly affect your talent retention rates.
In your MSP company, recognition and success go beyond money and clients. Leadership within the organization must focus on making different individuals feel respected. Admittedly, everyone is looking for respect and recognition in a different way; however, your corporate culture goes a long way in helping you develop quality leaders who bring out the best in everyone and improve overall team productivity.
