{"id":38214,"date":"2023-10-20T14:54:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/naomi-simson-on-how-to-build-a-highly-engaged-startup-team-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:54:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:56","slug":"naomi-simson-on-how-to-build-a-highly-engaged-startup-team-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/naomi-simson-on-how-to-build-a-highly-engaged-startup-team-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Simson on how to build a highly engaged startup team – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Relate<\/div>\n

A strong startup brand comes down to every single employee, RedBalloon founder and Shark Tank<\/em> judge Naomi Simson says.<\/p>\n

Simson transformed her small business into a multimillion-dollar tech giant, and is now working towards delivering 5 million experiences by 2020.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Zendesk’s Relate Live conference in Sydney, Simson says it is a founder’s role to bring a team together and empower, inform and educate every team member about the purpose of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job as the leader is to make sure the team have the tools to get the job done [and] to align everybody to our cause,\u201d\u00a0Simson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in perfect flow, what does it feel like? That perfect oneness?\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Redballoon\u2019s team is 70-people strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job as the leader is to make sure that we know hat we stand for over and over,\u201d Simson\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

She says that a highly engaged team is the backbone of any strong business and can be the saving grace of an early-stage startup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people who have highly engaged teams, people who love what they\u2019re doing everyday, they will also have highly loyal customers,” Simson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy people make happy profits.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u00a0says that 80% of highly engaged staff will stay with the business for at least a year.<\/p>\n

On the other end, unhappy and negative staff can have detrimental effects on a brand.<\/p>\n

\u201c26% of disengaged employees are planning to spend their whole career with you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to set them free, let them go and work for the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simson outlines five key principles for building a highly engaged team.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Connected to core values<\/h3>\n

Simson says people become highly engaged when they feel connected to the business and its values, and feel like they’re part of a community and believe in what it stands for.<\/p>\n

And it all starts with one simple question: “Do they feel connected?”<\/p>\n

2. Able to learn and grow<\/h3>\n

The motivation of staff to seize opportunities for growth, listen and learn comes with strong leadership and support to do so.<\/p>\n

Simson\u00a0uses the analogy of a rowing team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about the boat, the leader is small, she is the only one who can see strategy and set the rhythm,” she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody else has to bring their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Get fit together<\/h3>\n

Whether it\u2019s a group walk or a game of basketball, getting employees active together helps to boost energy and spirit, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get people moving,\u201d Simson\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Have pride in their work<\/h3>\n

Simson says that highly engaged employees want more than a pay cheque.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they go home feeling like a winner?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

They want to do work that makes them feel proud and this must be reinforced by their leaders, she says.<\/p>\n

Thanking and recognising employees for their efforts can make a huge difference in their everyday lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you recognise people, it\u2019s mobile, social and peer-to-peer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

5. Can\u00a0contribute to others<\/h3>\n

Simson says this comes down to whether employees are willing to help and support each other and become mentors within the company.<\/p>\n

This feeds into the creation of a business and brand that is authentic, transparent and genuine, which Simson says is integral to the game of platform amplification.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take much for us to make a difference,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we create a really safe place for people, where they feel great, they will go home and share the happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

StartupSmart attended the Relate Live Sydney conference as a guest of Zendesk.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A strong startup brand comes down to every single employee, RedBalloon founder and Shark Tank judge Naomi Simson says. Simson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}