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Tag: succeed at work

  • Looking to hire someone or are you looking for a job? Read this!

    Looking to hire someone or are you looking for a job? Read this!

    Do to some recent involvement in hiring processes I felt like it would be a good time to share some insight on what I have learned. As an employee or an employer the following information will help you find a good fit. It is amazing at how little thought is given to the pairing of workers and jobs. You would not ask a quarterback to play defensive end or a goalie to play center, so why do we throw people into positions they fundamentally are not geared to handle?

     
    Your customers pay you in the short run; your employees pay you in the long run. I don’t remember where I came across this this but it speaks to the gravity of your team dynamics and a business’s ultimate success or failure. Sports analogies seem to work best so I will continue to lean on them. Each year a lot of people pay close attention to what players their football team has drafted…why? This is because it is the talent that ultimately feeds into the team’s ability to perform. Really good coaching staffs find the players that they believe will best round out their current lineup. Super stars are nice but in many cases they don’t help the team perform on the whole. This is why you will see #1 draft picks traded off for any number of other players.

     
    A well balanced team that has strong players in each position will constantly out perform a team that was simply thrown together. In your organization if you are not being intentional about what players are needed, or which positions are at a deficit you may be setting yourself up for failure. At best you are not maximizing what could be. The sad thing is there is no way to quantify an opportunity loss by persisting a poor team. A good team on the other hand is quantifiable. You will look at your bottom line and be surprised at how your profits doubled when all you did was fire that trouble maker and replaced him with a good hire.

     
    A good employee will pay you in the long run because that is the perspective they have. They are looking around the corner to see how their actions are affecting others, and how what they do today will affect what happens tomorrow. A poor employee wants to punch a clock do as little as possible and leave the second their shift is up. There are positions that require this and for those you can pay the bottom dollar because anyone can do the work. For the positions that are a bit more involved or specialized you will want to keep an eye out for the employees that knock the ball out of the park. When you find one of these be quick to pay them what they deserve, they are already paying for themselves in ways you may never know.

     
    Fire fast and hire slow. By now you should be getting the idea that the people you hire are some of your biggest assets. No one know this better then Dave Ramsey. I recently went through Dave’s book Entreleadership and one of the areas that jumped out to me was his approach to personnel. To get into the specifics of Dave’s process you will need to read the book but on the surface let me tell you there is a lot to be said for giving your work force the attention it deserves. A good hire is worth their weight in gold, a bad hire is like cancer. So why would we not fire fast and hire slow?

     
    Fire fast. Firing someone is not fun but I can tell you keeping someone around that shouldn’t be is even less fun. By allowing someone to stay on your team that is a cancer will make your life miserable and bring down the moral of your entire group. It will also play into your productivity and eat into your bottom line. One thing to keep in mind when firing is that you will be doing yourself and the individual you are terminating a service. By allowing them to stay you are actually hurting them. It is obvious they are not a good fit, letting them go frees them up to find something that is.

     
    Hire Slow. Most people take time to make big commitments and bringing a new member to your team is a big commitment. A long vetting process may not sound like fun and will likely require you to go without the help you need right now but in the long run it will be worth it. If you can’t find the person you need in many cases you will be better off leaving the spot empty than settling for whoever walked in the door. This is also why you should always be on the lookout for good people. Jim Collins refers to this as getting the right people on the bus. He goes over this dynamic in detail in his book Good to Great.

     
    The right people don’t need a lot of direction or supervision. The time you take to make sure someone is the right fit will pay large dividends in the long run. This will require you to be very intentional when defining the jobs and positions you are looking to fill. Don’t expect to make a good hire if you haven’t taken the time to first understand everything you are calling them to do. The less you understand about the position you are looking to fill the less likely you will be to find an appropriate candidate.

     
    When you do hire begin with a probation period. This is a widely used practice that makes it safe for both the new hire and the company as they begin their working relationship. The employee has the right to walk away at any time and the company doesn’t have to carry the full cost of the employee benefits. Have a stated period of time such as 90 days at which point you can sit down together and decide what to do next. If one or both of you is on the fence it is the perfect opportunity to go your separate ways.

     

    Align the position with the employee’s aspirations. People are not machines and can’t be expected to fit in the box you create for them. Shape positions around your people, not people around your positions. This will allow the company to get its needs fulfilled and it will encourage and energize the employee. People want to spend their time doing what they enjoy. Conversely they don’t want to spend time doing things they don’t enjoy. If you force someone into doing a job they hate they won’t be doing it very long or very well.

     
    Working with people is delicate endeavor but can be one of the most rewarding things you do. Your people are your team and your responsibility. Much of their success and failure will hinge on how you lead them.

     

  • Characteristics of a Good Entrepreneur

    Many of my posts stem from ideas or issues that arise in my life, this one is no different. Yesterday a series of events played out that made me want to discuss the characteristics of a good entrepreneur. To be frank these characteristics are also ones found in all productive people.

    The event yesterday had to do with a promising individual that received some push back for their efforts. As a result the individual was upset, and rightfully so, because they believed they were doing everything they should be doing only to have the door slammed in their face. Does this sound familiar? If it doesn’t right now some day it will.

    As entrepreneurs, or in the work place there will come times when no matter what you do it will fill like you are fighting an uphill battle. You will need to have discretion here but there is a good chance you are indeed doing exactly what you need to be doing. Whether it be the market or other people that push back you are bound to get it even with the best ideas or with your best efforts. In my situation I was able consul the individual and remind them that their inherent value will prevail regardless of circumstance.

     Luck, a Zero Sum Game.

    In his recent book Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All Jim Collins discusses the zero sum nature of luck. His team found that comparable organizations with differing performance were exposed to the same number of “good luck” circumstances as they were to “bad luck” circumstance. His assessment determined that circumstance played less of a role in how a company preformed than did the company’s response to the circumstance. Said another way it’s not what happens to you that matters but rather how you respond. In the case of the pre-mentioned individual I reminded them about this reality and pointed out that we always have a choice to dwell on misfortune or use it to fuel our next step.

    Inherent Value Over Clever Play

    This point is especially pertinent for those of you in a work environment. If you are currently working under an employer and are working your way through the ranks it would be prudent of you to understand your inherent value. What is it that you specifically bring to the table that others don’t? I am not talking about responsibilities mind you; I am talking about your specific characteristics. A good employee does what they are told at great employee leverages their strengths for the betterment of their organization.

    In highly competitive environments leveraging your inherent value will server you better than trying to out maneuver your competition. If you allow yourself to get caught up in the games people play you will only be hurting yourself in the long run. People that play games in the workplace are a cancer and may see short term recognition but will never see long term success. We can’t fake who we are, our performance is a direct consequence of our character not the result of strategic plays. Here is a link for more tips on succeeding in the workplace.

    Direction

    That said, you need to know your direction. Where are you now and where are you headed? If you can answer this you are on the right track. You would be surprised at how many people don’t know where they are headed. Having a direction is the first characteristics of a good entrepreneur. You will never run into a successful business man or woman that isn’t thinking a few steps ahead. They can do this because they know where they want to be in 5,10, 20 years.
    (Warning! Shameless plug coming…) In an effort to help entrepreneurs find their focus I created a process modeled after the Theory of Constraints thinking process in my eBook; “Zero Risk Startup”. (…Shameless plug over).

    Truth be told finding ones direction is not the easiest thing to do. Even if you have an idea of where you are headed you probably don’t know the specifics of how you are going to get there. So, don’t be discouraged if this proves to be challenging, it should be. The mere fact that you are taking the time to put things in black and white will help you down the road.

    Persistence

    I have heard it said that the single common thread among successful individuals is persistence. With enough persistence you can achieve anything. Edison and the light bulb, Gates with Microsoft, and the forefathers of our nation all pushed through tremendous challenges to achieve their goals. If you push hard enough long enough there is nothing that can stand in your way.

    There is an analogy in the Theory of Constraints that talks about a crack in a brick wall. In addressing your challenge (the wall) your initial goal is not to knock it down or blow through it, you simply must make a crack. If you can make a crack you know it is only a matter of time before you will be through. Personally I have found this quite encouraging especially when I started building websites. It took a while before I made my first $1.00 online but once I did I knew I had found my crack and only time stood in my way.

    Willingness to Work

    Lastly I want to mention that nothing will come to you if you are not willing to work for it. There is no 100% passive means to succeed. The closest you will get to passive income or success will come in the form of a flywheel. After a fly wheel gets spinning it doesn’t take much to keep it going but more work is required to keep it from stopping. This means you probably won’t see a return for your efforts right away but know that with time fruit will come from your continued hard work.

    My Dad is a superb example of someone with a great work ethic. He could have retired years ago but chose not to because he feels (and I agree) that a man needs his work. When he could hire out a job he did it himself. When there is a job to be done he leans into it rather than shying away. Think of the successful entrepreneurs you know and ask yourself how hard do they work? I will guarantee they work hard.

    As a side note I have seen in recent years a decline in younger generation’s willingness to work and a rise in their sense of entitlement. I don’t know why this is but finding good help is becoming a harder and harder task.

    That’s All

    I hope that helps shed some light on the fundamental truths the lie behind good entrepreneurs. There is no special sauce just good old fashion hard work, focus, and persistence. If you can obtain these qualities I can bet you will see great improvement regardless of your situation.

  • Succeeding In The World of Work

    Succeeding In The World of Work

    Succeeding in the workplace is the same as succeeding in any free market. Unless your employer hired you for some other reason than to help them turn a profit, you are operating on the same principles as every other small business. In a previous article I touched on how you are your first business, and as an employee the same holds true.   

    Remember, you are your first company. You have an input, and you have an output. The process or you may exist within the scope of 9-5 employment but that does not change the way success is achieved.

    What is Your Competitive Advantage

    So, how does a business succeed again? By identifying a need that can be facilitated by your core competencies and maintaining a competitive advantage! What are the factors of competitive advantage? A competitive advantage exists when offering a product or service at a lower cost, higher quality, or shorter lead!

    There is no employer in the world that wouldn’t love to hire you for a lower rate, if you do quality work, and if you finish your tasks quickly. That is the dream employee. Wait, work for a lower rate..? That is in direct contradiction with the goal of a business (To make money now and in the future.) Well, yes and no. Depending on the saturation of a market there are times in which lowering your price is required in order to make a sale. This is especially true in a highly saturated job market. I would suggest against getting into such a market but some people find their passion in a place like this.   

    If lowering your wage is out of the question, which for most it is, concentrate your efforts on providing quality results in the shortest amount of time possible. Price is only one metric of your competitive advantage. In fact, if you have the ability to do a job faster than anyone else you may be able to charge a premium for your services. An example of this may be a CPA charging an additional fee the closer they get to April 15th.

    The same holds true for quality work. Perhaps you have a skill that allows you to perform a position better than anyone else in a given price range. The quality of your work could possibly push you into a new echelon. Hair dressers see this all the time. Women pay a ton to have their hair done by a quality stylist because they know they will get a quality cut. So, if you have an ability that is not common it may be possible to use that to set you apart from the rest.

    To recap the three metrics:

    1. Cost
    2. Quality
    3. Lead

    COST, How Much Should You Charge For Your Services?

    For most this question will be answered by the market. If there are other employers out there filling your same position than you can find the answer to this very quickly. The longer you are in a job or with a company this becomes more complicated.

    If you have years of experience and knowledge that others do not, you carry intellectual capital that is of value to the company. As such you deserve a premium for it. Be careful here, many people tend to believe they are indispensable and worth much more than they truly are. The business can likely survive without you no matter how special you are.

    Objectify your worth by nailing down the dollar amount you either save or lose the company. If you can put this in black and white it will help you and your employer determine how much you should be paid.

    Quality, How good is the work you do?

    Quality can be a tough metric to really nail down. To do a “good” job will mean many different things in different roles. A analytical individual may make a great number cruncher but is not well suited to be a server at a restaurant. While the person with people skills does great as a bar tender a would suffer as an accountant. They key here is to find alignment with your core competencies.

    If you get this alignment and try just a little you will do great. You and your employer will both be happier.

    The amount of emotional investment you make into your role will show. If you are engaged and excited, it will reflect in your work. If you are removed and despondent it will be very clear.

    Lead, How quickly can you get the job done?

    The turn around time on the service you provide is important. It should not come at the expense of quality, but shorter lead times equates to happy customers. Happy customers lead to a happy employer. The amount of time that people wait for you is directly corelated to the value you offer.   

    Are you someone that knows how to get the job done and does it? Or do you wait for others, make excuses, twiddle your thumbs, and waste time?

    Think about the people that you like to work with. Who comes to mind? Who do you hate working with? Now apply that same scrutiny to your work ethic, how do you line up?

    A quick caveat, the only time anyone will have the advantage in all three areas is in a new market. This means unless you are the only person who can do what you do it is only possible to have a competitive advantage in at most two of the above areas. Understand though that whichever area you focus on will come at the expense of the other two. An example of this would be a seasoned airbrush painter who can paint custom bikes. The level of quality will likely come with a long lead and a steep price. You have heard the phrase, “you get what you pay for” well, this is why.    

    If you are starting a new position understand that producing the highest quality work in the shortest amount of time may take a while. As your intuition of the position grows you will learn where you can speed things up or increase your quality. Employers know this and won’t expect you to know everything right out of the gate.        

    There you have it; the secret formula to succeeding in the workplace is the same as succeeding as a small business. Do a quality job in a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable fee and success will follow. Don’t forget that markets change, and demands change so be sure to flexible in all that you do and don’t be surprised if your obligations today are not your obligations tomorrow.