I have recently met with three different companies who are interested in Executive Brilliance’s services and they ALL had almost identical needs and challenges. Top executives at each of these companies expressed the need for assistance in closing the gap between what management expected and how employees were performing. They need their people to step up their game and be more proactive in business development or for their managers to develop employees within their departments. This is especially important as the economy is beginning to improve.
This challenge of aligning expectations and achieving results is so common and pervasive; I thought it might be beneficial to discuss them as YOU are probably experiencing them as well. What we find at Executive Brilliance is most organizations make the same mistakes over and over again and are unaware of what they are doing – they simply know they are not achieving the business results they desire. I’ll start with one common mistake today (along with the solution) and address two more next week.
The Wrong People are Hired or Promoted
How many times do you see a top Sales Person promoted to Manager and they fail royally? Why? Their natural ability lies in the area of selling and not managing. But, for some reason we think everyone wants to be promoted or move to the next level on the Org Chart. Guess what? They may not want to and you may not want them to either!
Leaders often hire people because they like them or they may remind them of themselves. Sometimes this approach works, but many times it does not. You should hire people based on skill and aptitude, not their likability factor. To know if the person is a fit you should have a clear job description with defined expectations and qualifications. To validate if this person is a fit, you should administer specific assessments which will reveal those results for each job to be filled. Assessments are one of the first things we do when we engage with a company. This helps accelerate the development or consulting process by as much as three to six month and helps us understand the unique strengths (and areas for improvement) of the individuals we are working with.
So, begin by hiring the right person for the right position and have a valid way to assess their suitability.
If you would like a complimentary consult to discuss how to increase your likelihood of hiring and keeping the best and brightest talent please call us at 770.377.0216!
Tags: assertiveness, consulting, executive brilliance, jennifer whitaker, leadership development, leadership skills, leadership training, management training, motivation
