It's one thing to seek out people to hire with the expertises you need, in order to gain competitive advantage for your business, it's entirely another matter if the competitive advantage goes, not to your firm, but to your competitors!
In my book, Other People's Problems, I talk about all the extracurricular baggage a person can bring into the workplace. One of the worst things you can do is to hire somebody and not find out as much as possible about them, not just as a worker, but as a person, so you can detect trouble on the horizon.
When you hire someone, their personal life - their divorce, their juvenile delinquent kid, their gambling habit, their criminal activities, etc.-can introduce a real drag on your firm's fitness to compete. This is why it's often a good idea to hire people on a contract or for a project. Not only can you see how they handle their job duties, you can also get to know them a bit as a person. This way, you will be in the position to offer permanent employment only to those people who will not be bringing personal problems into the workplace.
In a small firm, there is no way you can stay competitive if your personnel are on the phone a third of the time, wrangling with their bank manager or with the lawyer for their ex-spouse.You just don't have the resources, either human or financial, to counteract the damage. Because sadly, if the people you hire are distracted by their domestic and other personal troubles, the only companies who will benefit are those you compete with.
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
To some, work is a four-letter word!
Success in the workplace is often as much about expectations as effort. In my book, Other People's Problems, there is a chapter entitled "There's Work And Then There's... Work!" (www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/other_peoples_problems/9268001)
In this chapter, I look at one of the biggest obstacles you will face in hiring for your small business, namely, that what people have done in the past, for the dollars they earn, may be completely at odds with what you expect for the same or similar dollars. Conversely, people who have been relatively well paid for not doing that much over the course of the day, will be seriously shocked when you require them to work a full eight hour day.
Of course, this is not a problem confined to smaller companies. Several years ago, a client, who was Senior Vice President at a major insurance company, told me how, after he came on board, his secretary - whom he had inherited from his predecessor - came and complained: Since you joined the company, I'm having to work from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day! He had simply looked at her and replied: "But those are your hours..."
It's very rare in any small company that there will be so little to do that people can move at a snail's pace or sit around and chat. While it's not a given in large organizations and bureaucracies, such as government, that people have nothing to do, if you've ever been in these environments and observed quietly what goes on, you will often see a slower rate of effort being put forth by the employees.
This is why, when hiring for smaller firms, it's a good idea - as much as is possible or allowed under the law - to hire people on some sort of contract or for a shorter-term period, so you can try them out and see how they work. Many times, people will be seeking out employment in a smaller environment precisely because they like to be busy and want the time to go quickly - one of the benefits of having a busy workplace.
However, not everyone feels this way about work, which is why it's important to find ways to sort those who consider 'work' a synonym for joy from those who consider work to be a four-letter word!
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
In this chapter, I look at one of the biggest obstacles you will face in hiring for your small business, namely, that what people have done in the past, for the dollars they earn, may be completely at odds with what you expect for the same or similar dollars. Conversely, people who have been relatively well paid for not doing that much over the course of the day, will be seriously shocked when you require them to work a full eight hour day.
Of course, this is not a problem confined to smaller companies. Several years ago, a client, who was Senior Vice President at a major insurance company, told me how, after he came on board, his secretary - whom he had inherited from his predecessor - came and complained: Since you joined the company, I'm having to work from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day! He had simply looked at her and replied: "But those are your hours..."
It's very rare in any small company that there will be so little to do that people can move at a snail's pace or sit around and chat. While it's not a given in large organizations and bureaucracies, such as government, that people have nothing to do, if you've ever been in these environments and observed quietly what goes on, you will often see a slower rate of effort being put forth by the employees.
This is why, when hiring for smaller firms, it's a good idea - as much as is possible or allowed under the law - to hire people on some sort of contract or for a shorter-term period, so you can try them out and see how they work. Many times, people will be seeking out employment in a smaller environment precisely because they like to be busy and want the time to go quickly - one of the benefits of having a busy workplace.
However, not everyone feels this way about work, which is why it's important to find ways to sort those who consider 'work' a synonym for joy from those who consider work to be a four-letter word!
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
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