Tag Archives: Performance

We Only Want A-Players – But Do They Want Us? – Five Strategies

Situation: An early stage company will staff-up over the next year. In the past the CEO has recruited individuals with big company experience and solid resumes, only to find that they had difficulty transitioning to the hands-on responsibility of a small company. How do you find candidates who are highly experienced but who can also excel in a small company environment?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The best candidates are not in the job-search pool. They are currently working but open to a change. Some will wish to return to a more hands-on situation.
  • Let people know that you are looking for “the best” and have a great opportunity. Create some buzz.
    • Go to your network ask “who do you know?” Don’t be shy!
  • Look for achievers – with proven performance in companies of the size that you plan to be in 12-18 months. Check their references carefully.
  • What can we do now, while we seek the right people?
    • Use contractors and consultants. These people are more entrepreneurial, self-starting, and self-accountable. Monitor their work. If they are good, add them to your team as permanent employees.
    • Develop a milestone-based personnel plan as part of your business plan:
      • When we hit Milestone A, we will need an operations manager.
      • When we hit Milestone B, we will need channel or market development expertise.
    • Conduct case studies of how other companies in your or similar spaces have facilitated their scale-ups. What worked? What didn’t? Why?

Key Words: Candidates, Recruiting, Fit, Culture, Start-up, Achievers, Performance  [like]

The New Manager Isn’t Cutting It. Not My Fault!? Four Important Questions

Situation: I recently hired a new high level manager. To integrate the individual into the company the original set of assignments was limited in scope – to help the manager get to know others within the company. This manager seems to over-analyze things. Long hours are spent carefully drafting plans but there is little action. Did I select the right person, and how do I manage them without micromanaging?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • It looks like this person is working long hours but not necessarily productive hours. This is costing you time and money – both yours and your employees. The question is whether the root cause is the individual’s behavior or your own expectations and behavior.
  • Ask yourself the following questions:
    • Have you clearly outlined your expectations in terms of what is to be delivered, the time in which it is to be delivered, and any constraints around the projects for which this person is responsible?
    • Have you provided necessary resources, and empowered the individual to make the decisions necessary to bring projects to completion?
    • Have you scheduled regular update meetings with this individual and openly discussed project progress and obstacles to completion?
    • Have you set appropriate expectations with your other staff as to the authority of the new individual, and are you honoring those expectations in your own behavior?
    • If you have done these things, and the individual is not performing, then it is time to ask whether you hired the right person.

Key Words: Manager Performance, Objectives, Expectations, Delegation, Planning and Review  [like]

The Dreaded Performance Review: Two Methodologies

Situation: We set objectives for employees; however these objectives frequently aren’t met, and there are lots of excuses for not meeting objectives. Most frustrating, employees are eager to share good news, but hide bad news and performance issues. What do other CEOs do to prevent these problems?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • A service company’s method:
    • Frequent measurement of performance against objectives.
    • Key metrics are monitored with top staff in weekly meetings that last tops one hour. We use a problem solving approach to address obstacles and to correct performance.
    • The CEO watches the direction, and staff makes the changes to make corrections to direction.
    • The trick is in the metrics. Metrics must measure meaningful performance and be tied directly to the company objectives.
  • A light manufacturing company’s method:
    • Historically the CEO had a problem holding on to non-performing individuals for too long.
    • He addressed this by instituting objectives and eliminating non-performers. The result: reduced complacency, and improved morale because performing employees were tired of taking up the slack for non-performers.
    • Documentation of non-performance and establishing a solid case for eliminating the employee are critical to avoiding wrongful termination suits.
  • General Observation: if a company has objectives, but lacks meaningful metrics to measure performance against objectives or a regular review process to assess performance against objectives, then the objectives are meaningless.
    • The CEOs’ experience is that establishing meaningful SMART (Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic, Time-Bound) objectives and regularly assessing performance in a collaborative atmosphere are the most important ingredients to an effective performance management system.

Key Words: Performance, Objectives, SMART Objectives, Employee Reviews, Performance Reviews  [like]
<a href=”http://www.hypersmash.com/dreamhost/” id=”QT10304143″>DreamHost review</a>

How Much Rope Do I Give the New Sales Guy to Hang Himself? Four Pieces of Advice

Situation:  We hired a new sales person 3 months ago. To date, the sales person has signed some good customers, but only generated $5K in sales. How patient should the CEO be with this person, how much time should be allowed to demonstrate performance, and what metrics do other Forum members use to assess or incentivize sales performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Set 90 day targets that you expect for the individual to reach:
    • X new accounts.
    • Y in sales revenue.
    • Other measures as appropriate to your business.
    • Set these targets WITH the individual, not FOR them so that the individual has ownership of the targets.
    • Monitor frequently. If the trend is below the target, ask what the individual plans to do to meet or exceed the target.
    • Targets are best set at the time of hiring. If the individual cannot approach these numbers, then cut sooner rather than later.
  • How do you differentiate the sales person from the sales talker?
    • Based on results. Expect to see results quickly.
  • The traits that correlate with success are not traits that reps develop after they are hired. They have to have these from the beginning. Your hiring process must select for these traits.
  • There are a number of companies offering tools that will help you to identify whether candidates for a sales position possess the traits that you deem most important. Among these is TTI – Target Training International – www.ttidisc.net and Sandler Sales – www.sandler.com.

Key Words: Sales, Management, Performance, Assessment, Objectives  [like]