Solving Your People Puzzle – Business Leadership And People Management
If we ask 10 business owners or managers to name their three top challenges, eight of them will come back with something along the lines of:
- I’ve got not time – I’m working like a dog!
- I can’t get good staff – when I do hire, I end up owning a dog and barking myself!
- I’m always short of money – not only do I work like a dog, but I’m living like one!
OK, so I exaggerated the emotion just a tad, but you get it that the majority name their three key challenges as: Time, People & Resources.
I’ve given plenty of space in past articles to managing Time using our proprietary Time Management System (if you missed those articles, just browse through our Business Improvement Articles to find more info), so today I’m focusing on Challenge #2 – what I call “Solving The People Puzzle” – and on a specific aspect of that puzzle, namely “Your role in solving your staff puzzle”.
How Do Your Score in Attracting, Selecting & Directing Staff?
I hear you when you cry, “It’s hard to soar like an eagle when I’m surrounded by turkeys!”, but my question is, “Were they turkeys when you hired them – or did you make them that way?”
On the assumption that the sole reason for which you’d read this article is to find some answers, let’s check what you already know – it might be fun to score yourself as we go, from 0 (“I forgot to do this”) to 4 (“near genius”):
Questions
- Before hiring, how well did you specify the exact, measurable outputs and any other results you required from this position?
- How well did you specify the personality, characteristics & behaviour normally associated with people capable of producing those results?
- When you composed the advertising for this position, how closely did you tailor it to attract “the one ideal candidate”?
- How well did your advertising paint the Vision you have for your business so that you attracted people looking to be part of something great?
- How successfully did you tailor your assessment process to quickly identify A, B & C grade candidates?
- How well did your interview process discover the goals and aspirations of candidates so that you could easily identify those aligned with your own?
- How convinced were you of your chosen candidate’s initial commitment to your and the business’ goals?
- How thorough was your process for introducing them to your Vision, your Mission, your Values, your Goals and your Code of Conduct?
- How would you rate the on-the-job training they received in their first month to ensure alignment of their performance with your needs?
- How accurately and regularly has their performance been measured and timely and constructive feedback provided?
- How well have you conveyed your desire and the opportunities for your new candidate’s personal and professional growth since joining?
- How would you rate your understanding of why your candidate initially joined and why they continue working for you?
- How would you rate your overall performance as mentor, coach and guide to this candidate during their employment?
Let’s count your overall score (out of a possible 52):
Now, I can provide all sorts of fancy diagnostics to your score, but all that really counts is your answer to one final question: “Given your score, are you still surprised by the results you are experiencing with your staff?”
OK, enough rubbing salt in the wound. Let’s look at the potential for getting better results by coming up with some “better answers” in the form of some success strategies for building better teams, in the next article…..
