Get your staff …

If your staff always arrive late, their tardiness needs to be changed. For a start one must realise that your management style may contribute to the problem or, at the very least, may allow for the problem to fester.

The working habits of the staff members will need to change and as you are the only person (in a small firm) who can institute the changes, the following steps might help you to improve the situation:

• Realise that the nature of many staff members motivates them to push the boundaries;
  
• Separate the valid reasons for late-coming from the invalid;
  
• Communicate the rules of your business;
  
• Set the example;
  
• Create a culture;
  
• Find an accurate way to record the correct time of arrival;
  
• One minute late is one minute late;
  
• Find an easy way of receiving reports on your staff members' arrival habits; and
  
• Apply the concept of auto-communication.