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Recently I attended two events that together reaffirmed for me the recipe for success in leading a successful business or any organization for that matter. Assuming you have a great product or service to begin with, what is the alluring recipe for success? It’s simple, “Surround yourself with good people and make sure they are all singing from the same hymn sheet”. In my last blog on April 15 I spoke about the importance of everyone in an organization singing from the same hymn sheet. This blog discusses the first part of the above sentence, ‘surround yourself with good people’.
As a leader you cannot do everything yourself, in fact those leaders that try to usually fail. It’s commonly known as working ‘in’ the business and not ‘on’ the business. In order for any organization to succeed, it needs to find the right people, nurture and help them grow and then give them the space to do what they were hired to do. This was reaffirmed for me at a recent HR seminar. The seminar focused on how to ‘Attract, Select and Retain’ top performing individuals.
Attracting top talent to your company is almost as important as attracting new customers. Once you know what you want to accomplish, you can then figure out what kind of skills you need to get there and create an HR strategy to attract, select and retain the right people.
To attract key performers you need to stand out from the crowd which means using strategies that will differentiate you from other companies who are also looking for excellent people. Why would a top performer want to work with you? You need to seriously think about that question before you start the hiring process and ensure you have all the answers so you can be prepared when the time comes.
Your selection process should be designed to ensure that you pick the best person for the position. You do not want to rush through this part because if you hire the wrong person it will cost you dearly. Besides lost productivity if the person you hire does not fit in with your culture they could actually harm employee morale. Careful thought should be given to all aspects of the selection process and include at a minimum; two interviews with behavioral based questions, testing and rigorous reference checks.
Once you hire those top performers you must then ensure that you retain them. The good news is that top performers attract and work well with other top performers. So if you can consistently attract good people to your organization and they have the opportunity to grow and learn alongside other key performers, the chances of keeping them in your organization are much higher. Of course you have to ensure you treat your people right. Give them the responsibility and tools to do their job and hold them accountable. Top talent actually insists on being held accountable because they know they are up to the challenge.
This quote from Brian Tracy sums it up, ‘People are your most valuable asset. Only people can be made to appreciate in value.’
- Barney Lawn,
President & CEO
