I expect you have similar thoughts and complaints as many of my clients around hiring and training staff.
“It’s hard to get good people.”
“I just spent 3 months training them and now they’ve left.”
“I keep having to train the same thing over and over again because people don’t last.”
“I’m sick of answering the same questions and having to repeat myself over and over.”
If this is familiar to you, there are some things you can do to make your life easier.
It starts with your recruitment process.
You need to be crystal clear about the role and the K.E.S.A.Q. (Knowledge, Experience, Skills, Attitude and Qualifications) required to succeed in the role.
You need to identify the critical “Must Have’s” and stick to that when interviewing and selecting people.
Before they start, develop a structured learning program so you and they know what they’re going to be learning and when.
Identify their preferred learning style (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic). In other words, do they prefer to read procedures or see things done, hear verbal instructions or just get in and have a go themselves? Yes, people can learn, even if it’s not their preferred style, however if you can train in their style, they will learn more quickly.
Have workflow diagrams available for your processes, so people can see the bigger picture and where their work fits into the overall process. This also helps with teamwork as people understand how their work impacts those whose tasks follow theirs.
Have your procedures documented in a way that is easy to understand and easy to find. If your team don’t know where or how to find procedures, they’ll complete their tasks to the best of their ability, but this may not be the way it’s meant to be done.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, check your mindset and your belief systems. If you believe good people are hard to find, guess what, that’s exactly what you’ll manifest.
If you expect that people can’t learn, that’s also what you’ll get.
You can lessen the burden of hiring and training staff (over and over again). Your team’s success is directly related to you personally as much as it is to the degree that you have your recruitment and training systems in place.
Your task this week, if you’re up for it, is to monitor yourself and audit your recruitment and training systems. If you find gaps, create a plan to fill the gaps and then start implementing the plan.
I’ve been watching some of the personal trainers at the gym as they walk around with their clients.
They seem to laugh and joke with their clients and then when they make eye contact with us “non-clients” they just seem to stare.
Wouldn’t you smile at everyone?
Just from a marketing perspective, if I was a trainer I would be making sure I engaged with the “non-clients” because they could very well become clients.
If I was going to choose a trainer, I’d choose someone whom I felt comfortable with. I’d choose someone who seemed friendly.
I don’t get it.
What is it with people in the gym? They just don’t seem to smile.
One of my clients tells me that he doesn’t make eye contact because he just wants to go and do his thing and work out. It’s a stress relief for him as much as a physical thing.
Okay. That’s reasonable.
But the trainers?
If we delve into their psychology, perhaps they’re insecure too. Perhaps they’ve got imposter syndrome and think we’re judging them for the exercises they give.
Who knows?
Which is why I am fascinated by people.
What we see on the outside is often not a reliable indication of what’s going on inside.
We get taught as children to wear masks. To show up in an acceptable way. To do as our parents tell us.
Today we celebrate 14 years of writing a weekly thought and we haven’t missed one single week in all that time.
I am very proud of this achievement.
I am very proud of my commitment.
As I reflect back over the years, having started my business in October 2006, both the business and the Weekly Thoughts have evolved.
When I first started my business and attended networking events, people would ask me who I worked for.
I didn’t know what to say, so I said, “myself”.
That wasn’t a great answer.
They asked what I did.
I told them, “I help business owners streamline their systems and processes”.
They would reply, “Oh, you’re an IT person.”
“No.”
What I found was that when I finished a project and left the business to continue, the new systems often fell over.
Why was this?
It was because the owners and managers didn’t know how to lead and manage their people.
Evolution number 1 – I started coaching them one to one.
Evolution number 2 – I invested in more leadership training and offered small intimate intensive Leading Yourself and Leading Others experiences.
Evolution number 3 – as I learned more about mindset and neuroscience, we included Possibility into our framework of People and Process.
Evolution number 4 – changing the name Possibility to Potential.
Evolution number 5 – realizing that my clients are wanting High Performing Businesses with high performing people, high performing processes and high performance potential.
Over the years, most of my work has been word of mouth.
People would say to their colleagues, “You need to speak to Shirley”.
Speaking to some clients recently, asking them why they work with me and what benefits do they get, they all answered with a similar answer:
“I came to you because I was stuck. I didn’t know which way to turn. I didn’t know what to do. You listened to me. You didn’t interrupt. You allowed me to speak and then you reflected back what I had told you. Much like a mirror. When I heard myself through your voice I could easily evaluate what was going on. I found the answers and if I didn’t find the answers, you gave me the tools to find the answers.”
I just love that I can help you find your answers. You have them inside of you.
Sometimes we just can’t see the label from inside the jar.
So this week, I want to thank you.
Thank you for being part of our community.
Thank you for allowing me to help you find your answers.
This week’s inspiration comes from one of my favourite clients and his Operations Coordinator.
As I sat wondering what this week’s thought would be, Ray called to give me a business progress update.
He started the conversation with, “I changed my life today”.
“What did you do? Sell the business?” I asked.
“No”, he replied. “I was vulnerable with my team and shared my vision for the business. I wanted them to see things from my perspective.”
“Amazing!”
Knowing Ray as I do, I asked him what the turning point was.
“I have to give credit to Kim” he said.
“When I shared my vision, she responded with ‘You have to dress for the job you want’”.
“As soon as she said that, I knew she was right. I had to start acting as if I was the CEO of the type of business I envision.”
“I took action straight away. I restructured. I delegated (not abdicated) and empowered the team. I’m feeling good after coming from a place of feeling wrung out.”
Hearing this made me feel so happy too.
I was happy for Ray. I was happy for Kim. I was happy for the team, the customers and the suppliers.
It’s a great reminder. Thank you Kim.
You have to dress for the job you want.
In a way it’s similar to “Act as If”.
We know that in order to have what we want, we have to be fully aligned to the result. When you dress and act as if you already have it, your unconscious mind will go to work to ensure the external matches the internal.
Are there things you want to do that you talk yourself out of?
This was the case for David last week.
As we talked he shared that he wanted to become a business coach.
He had experience, results and big achievements in Sales, Systems and Strategy.
He’d worked in the real estate industry and manufacturing.
“What’s stopping you?” I asked.
“Well, I can’t really go into the real estate industry”, he replied.
“How come?”
“There are so many other coaches in that industry already” he said, as he began to list half a dozen names.
I knew the people he was referring to and even added a few more names.
“And they’re not all the same”, I said.
“No”, he agreed. “Some you either love or hate but there’s no room for me.”
“That sounds like a limiting belief”, I offered.
“Yes, but….” He replied.
I remembered the story of Kirsty or Kristy. I can’t remember her name or all the details but what I do remember is that she was a real estate agent in Darwin who moved to Tasmania and absolutely blitzed the industry.
She had had the same thoughts initially. That there were already too many agents, so how could she be successful and yet she was. In fact, she became so successful by doing things her way that she ended up teaching others.
So what has this got to do with hamburgers?
As I explained to David, “I don’t always want a hamburger”.
He looked at me quizzically.
“Do you sometimes get takeaway food?” I asked.
“Yes”, still puzzled.
“Do you always get the same thing or do you mix it up? For example, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Fish and Chips, Mexican, Middle Eastern Kebabs, Chinese, Indian?”
“I mix it up”, he said.
“Exactly! You don’t always want a hamburger”, I said.
“All those examples are choices of convenience foods.”
“All the coaches in the real estate industry that you mentioned are choices.”
“Principals and agents don’t always want hamburgers.”
There is plenty of room for everyone.
He is based in New Zealand.
All those coaches can’t serve everyone and everyone doesn’t want the same thing.
I encouraged him to go for what he truly wants and to let go of the things he is telling himself that are stopping him from getting what he wants.
The same goes for you.
Listen to the silly excuses you are telling yourself that are stopping you from going for what you want.