Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools to market your business. Usually we rely on friends and people we know to tell us what to do, where to go and what to buy, and now we even rely on people we don’t know via social media. As a business, marketing yourself can be a really big part of what keeps the wheels turning, making sure you have enough customers to generate the business and keep it going.

If you’ve got employees, have you ever considered that those employees are more than just people who work in your company? The people who see the inner workings for themselves and experience the company from the inside are your in-house tribe and they are valuable in more ways that just showing up physically to work.

Consider that your in-house tribe will TALK. They’ll tell their friends and family about where they work, those friends and family will also tell theirs that they know someone who works here and there, and they’ll talk about what it’s like. That information goes from one individual to another translating into potential customers or even potential staff. That means that your TEAM is actually the most effectual marketing department you can ever have.

Think about this: The friend who works for a big shot IT company might rave about their job, but at the end of the day they close their laptop and go home. Their friends won’t get to enter into their world. As people who work in restaurants and food companies, we know that we actually CAN invite our loved ones into our circles to see first hand what it is that we do. There are so few industries in which that can happen. And if we are proud of what we do and where we work, it will spread and grow and spread even further. Isn’t that just beautiful? Let it sink in!

So how can you make yourself stand out as a business without compromising on getting the job done?

• Make time for a team break in the day. This can be difficult especially with all-day dining and shift patterns. However even a 15 minute team coffee break could be implemented if co-ordinating a staff meal is too tricky. This really creates a feeling of togetherness which will really benefit individual morale and team playing.
• Make sure each staff member takes a break during the day especially if it’s a double shift.
• Individual reviews ensure that staff know that you are invested in their growth and wellbeing
• Quarterly catch-ups with your whole team to check in on how they are doing can help staff feel valued
• Get transparent with business goals and where you’re at. This creates compassion and understanding between the employers and employees.
• Asking the team to book a meal with their friends/family. Sometimes we underestimate the impact this can have for employees, dining in at the restaurant can show an employee who’s behind the pass what goes on on the other side! We all learn to appreciate each others roles.

My initial plans for CT was never to create a job advertising platform for fun or at all really. Deep in my heart I want to know that people are finding jobs that make them reignite their passions, make them feel that that they are supported in their roles and allow them to go home feeling valued. There’s something very special about a workplace that can do just that. We want companies to find staff who stay and staff who, if they leave, leave on good terms with new skills and the impetus to work elsewhere and shout loudly and proudly about their last job.

All of this goes far beyond money or pay, these things are not quantitative. You may not see the results instantaneously, but together we will certainly see the benefits in the long term.