Of my 4 P’s (People, Product, Process and Planning), PEOPLE are the most important single contributor to growing your company. As Scott Pollack puts it, …” companies that place an emphasis on human capital, measuring it, and treating it as a pure asset will stand apart. The workforce is the primary way to drive revenues.”
In small to mid-sized organizations, people-related costs are often the company’s highest combined expense, when you add up salaries, incentive pay, health insurance, benefits, car allowances, etc…It’s your job as owner, CEO, or department manager to make sure they are also your biggest ASSET! As Richard Branson, founder and CEO of Virgin Group states, “…your people are your product.” Recruiting and retaining the very best talent available for EACH position MUST be Priority #1. This effort must take place 24/7, 365 days a year…NOT just when there’s an opening!
On several occasions over the course of my corporate career and private practice, I was placed in a turn-around situation. The company, division or department was in severe financial stress and decisions had to be made quickly in order to raise cash and then return the company to profitability. Since employee costs were often the highest single budget category, this process always involved deciding who to keep and who to release in order to “save the patient”.
After quickly gathering all the information I could on individual employees, managers, I ranked each as an A, B or C as follows:
A- Star performer…Outstanding!
B- Willing and able to become an “A”, but needs experience and coaching
C- Corrective action necessary to become at least a “B”
As you’ve probably guessed, in a turn-around situation the C’s are the first to go! Thankfully, the vast majority of my clients today are not in financial distress. However, I still encourage them to use this technique to quickly get a read on the quality of their team at the start of a Growth Initiative.
I also suggest that they ask themselves the following question:
“If everyone on your team turned in their resignations on the same day, who would you fight the hardest to keep? The names appearing on that list are your A-Players.”
Knowing the strength of your current team is one of the first steps to building your Dream Team (A-Players at EVERY position)!
Best
-Rick