The Happy Burro

(Sixth in a series for Managers - to end this year and prepare for next year)

In the last post, Be A Net Exporter of Talent, we discussed the importance of engaging, developing, and promoting your best people. If all goes well, you’ll be providing outstanding talent throughout your organization. That means you’ll have positions to fill. This strikes fear into the hearts of even the most seasoned managers. Here is some help:

THE JOB POSTING

You write the job posting. That’s right, not your Human Resources representative or the recruiter. Some key areas:

1. Hire for the organization, not just for your specific job.

2. Hire someone that can be a long term fit for the organization, not a short term fill for your current opening.

3. Take time to review what competencies and behaviors are key for the position - and re-write the existing job description to fit.

WORKING WITH RECRUITING

Meet in person, if possible, and lay out what and who you’re looking for. Don’t accept less. It is a disservice to your organization, your existing team, and yourself, to just accept what the candidate pool offers. If you have specific minimum competencies, keep the job open. Some short term pain will be worth it in the long run. Remember, the most important work you do is the hiring of employees.

BE PREPARED

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew exactly who would be replacing each person on your team? Or who you were preparing to take on your position when you move to your next challenge? It is possible!

1. In your quarterly review with your manager, discuss who you think would be best to replace you. If your manager isn’t open to this kind of talk, keep the list to yourself. Hopefully, you’ll be able to guide your manager to be reviewing all of their direct reports for the best replacements - you would just be helping them with some recommendations.

2. Quarterly, meet with your peer management team and put up the department organizational chart. Review each direct report of each team. Facilitate a discussion about three key questions:

A. Who should we look at replacing in the organization? These are possibly poor fits, under-performers, or those that will be moving onto other challenges in the next 6-12 months.

B. Who do we want in our organization? You know who the stars are in other departments. Put a plan in place to get them to work for a while in your area.

C. Who do we think will be approached by other departments or companies in our department that we are not prepared to release just yet? Put a plan in place to increase their engagement and opportunity.

YOUR BEST WORK
It is never easy to have to replace key employees. The time you will spend hiring, training, and developing new staff will take a lot of your time. Guess what? It is supposed to - it is your job.

The Management Year-End Series

1. Learning from the mistakes of previous years.

2. Setting SMART goals for your team.

3. Show you are committed to making this team work.

4. Stellar development plans for everyone.

5. Becoming a net exporter of talent for your organization.

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NEXT - Onboarding your new people.

Joe Raasch :: Dec.07.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: 4 Comments »

(Fifth in a series for Managers - to end this year and prepare for next year)

You have every position on your team filled. You’ve learned from the mistakes of previous years. Each employee has SMART goals set for them. You’re committed to making this team work. They all have stellar development plans in place. Now you just need to keep them so you don’t have to go through the organizational and management pain inherent with having to hire someone!

Right? Sort of. Your work as a manager is just beginning.

Know When To Hold ‘Em

Your best people need as much attention as your more challenging employees. And no, you do not have to treat each employee equally. You do have to treat them all fairly, and AS equals. This means some people will be ready for their next assignment in a shorter time than others. For their own good, a few employees may need some organizational maturity to prepare for the next level. Have direct, open conversations with employees so they know why they may not get opportunities immediately. When you both agree on the plan, you’l be pleased with the results.

Know When To Fold ‘Em

This isn’t easy. There are three key areas everyone needs to apply best to their work: skill, will, and resource.

Skill - the knowhow, the technical ability, to do the job.

Will - the desire, the ‘can do’ attitude to get things done.

Resource - the utilization of the right tools and methods.

If one of your employees is missing one of these and just doesn’t appear to fit their current role, help them find one that does fit! This may be a difficult situation - though it will be ultimately liberating for you and your employee. You get to upgrade your team and continue down the road of productivity, and the employee gets to apply their skills where they are best utilized. Your first option should be to look internally. If all else fails, allowing the employee to look externally is the answer.

Know When To Go ‘ALL IN’

These are your best people. Know this: Assume your best people are being courted by others in the organization - and other organizations. Because they are. If you aren’t doing everything in your power to support, develop, and engage these ’stars’ someone else will.

Results

Your goal is not to hold on to your people as long as possible. The goal is to get as much productivity as possible and to improve the team while you have them. Once you get into a rhythm of exporting talent to the rest of the organization, your star as a manager will rise too. Employees will want to work for your department. Other managers will come to you for their next star. This is a great place to be! You will be supporting your team and your organization with the highest service possible.
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NEXT: Succession planning!

Joe Raasch :: Dec.04.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: 4 Comments »