The Right People

With growth a business needs to seek out the right people to support that growth. This adds a complexity to the management role which only increases with the prosperity of the organization.

It becomes a bit of “good news – bad news” scenario. The good news is that business has increased enough to require an expansion in staff. The bad news is that if the wrong people are selected they can slow or even halt progress.

Many firms still hire or promote by position title. The identified need is for a manager; supervisor; coordinator; etc. Accordingly, that is the position advertised both internally or externally. Unfortunately specific job requirements for these positions can vary significantly from firm to firm. As a result, applicants may not be the individuals really needed in the position. In selecting the right people it is critical that there first be a clear understanding of what that person is specifically going to be asked to do.

There is also the need to ask the question “how will the employee be behaving in that position, as part of the organization?” Not an easy question to be sure, but definitely worth answering.

One solution to the dilemma is to describe clearly and in specific observable terms exactly what the person hired or promoted needs to do. With that description in hand the position title and job level be clearly determined. You may find it is totally diffent than you had originally thought.

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 4 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email to betterway@newmanlearning.com.