Question: Do I have the right people to meet my company’s upcoming challenges?
Answer:
Once you’ve gone through your strategic planning, your next step is to ask yourself that very question. Who you have on your team is as important as the business plan, because without the right people to execute your goals, you’re not going anywhere.
First, you need to identify what challenges you foresee, and who you’ll need to solve those challenges. There might already be people on your staff who have expressed interest in moving into a certain direction. Supporting them is the best solution, if possible, because they are already familiar with your product and company. This is also a great way to show your employees that you value their loyalty because you look to them first when positions open.
If you do not have a qualified person on your staff, then figure out what type of person you need to bring on board. Being able to create a coherent and realistic job description is a difficult thing to do. However, this process is crucial to finding the right person. Once you’ve gone through your “friends and family” network, the next step would be to work with a search agency. This can save you time by helping you qualify who you really need, as well as identifying and recruiting the right candidate to match your corporate culture.
Regardless of what areas you want to “beef up” in your company, the concept of “emulate vs. eliminate” is important.
Meaning, there are those employees you’d like to have more of, and those you’d like to replace. For example, within sales, you have stellar salespeople who outsell everyone and bring the right energy and dynamics to the team and those who might be hitting their numbers, but are never going to be “stars.” What can take your company and profits to the next level is to identify those who have the type of skills you’d like to emulate, and hire additional people who have the same qualities, then replace those who are not going to perform up to par.
Remember the old 80/20 rule, in which 20 percent of the people create 80 percent of the results? If you can increase that ratio, you’ll have a better chance of meeting your upcoming challenges.
Written by Kanani Moser of TriStaff, an executive recruitment firm that focuses on the technology space and is a sponsor of the Chairmen’s RoundTable.
