Tuesday, August 01, 2006

To Deliver Your Brand--Break The Rules Of Hiring And Training

How can you become a catalyst for the development of your people?
1. Don’t just hire for experience…hire for innate gifts. If a position requires someone to help people or someone who must accurately work with figures, don’t just look for someone who has done that somewhere else. Look for someone who, for whatever reason, really needs to help people or really loves to work with numbers.
2. Teach job skills. You can generally teach someone the technical aspects of most positions, but you’ll never be able to teach someone to be outgoing, a good listener, or to be compassionate; these traits are natural gifts. Look at every position in your organization and look for individuals who possess these unique gifts to succeed.
3. Base job performance on meeting defined outcomes, not just defined steps. Set goals for every function in your organization, including delivering your brand and letting your people determine the means of attaining them. Setting standards is your primary role.
4. Focus on strengths…try to forget about weaknesses. Most business owners set some means of evaluating good behavior. Focus on what employees do well and allow them to excel since this is where the greatest opportunity for growth exists. Instead of focusing on weak areas, focus on the strengths available in the organization.
5. Don’t worry about promoting your employees…focus on their goals. Moving up in the firm is not always in the best interest of your employees. If you look for ways employees can achieve their goals, your organization will deliver a positive representation of your brand.