When faced with the need to improve, different companies take different
approaches. Some dramatically increase advertising; others renovate or even relocate
the store, while others focus on elevating the quality of the store staff and,
in turn, their effectiveness with customers. If a store’s staff is not up to
par, it is a tragedy for the company to spend lots of dollars attracting
perspective customers to a newly renovated location in a great location with
top of the line merchandise and then have the way the staff treats or persuades
that prospective customer to rent to sour the experience. Once a customer has a
negative experience, it will take a great deal more money and effort to get him
or her back, if at all.
Statistics show the cost of staff in most stores is about the same as
the rest of the store expense, including advertising, which is significant. Any
other expense of their size would have a great deal more research and scrutiny
before it is made. Making sure the monthly salaries and benefits of store staff
are invested in those who can become top performers and deliver the results
needed is wise business. The salary and benefits of a poor performer is
typically about the same as a top performer. If pay is relatively the same for
all, how do you ensure that what you invest in keeping the stores staffed is a
good investment? The first, and most important, step is to begin with people that
have the right attributes to be successful.
A great example of this approach was depicted it in the 2011 movie MoneyBall which showed how the 2002
Oakland Athletics, facing financial challenges changed their approach toward
scouting and analyzing players to be able to select the right players at a
lower cost to create a winning team. While they didn’t have the financial
resources to buy big-name players, they used an innovative, “sabermetric” approach,
instead of the relying on traditional stats, such as, batting average or
traveling scouts to decide who to draft or acquire. This innovative approach took
a team faced with possible extinction to a team that finished #1 in the
American League West in the same year. Their reasoning was to focus on, even if
it’s not obvious, what creates runs because runs win ballgames. A good measure
of a player's worth to the team is his ability to help his team score more runs
than the opposing team. They identified the attributes of players that helped
teams score more runs and based their hiring of players on the individual’s level
of those key attributes. What would be an approach like this do for your
company?
This sabermetric approach in business works equally well. By
identifying the key attributes of employees that differentiate your top
performers, and using an objective measurement tool to determine the level of
these attributes in those you consider hiring, you can maximize your chance of
hiring more top performers. We have always focused on hiring hard-working and
honest employees. With the changes in the RTO business, while those values are
still absolutely essential, they are not enough for a person to be a top
performer in today’s more challenging environment. If you know the way your top
performers think, behave and what motivates them, in addition to having a high
level of integrity and work ethic, you have a set of attributes that can predict
future performance. If you have a way to accurately and objectively assess or
measure the levels of these attributes, which predict future performance in
applicants, you can dramatically increase the probability of selecting, with the
appropriate training and development, one who will be your next top performer.
The quality of the employees in a store is probably the most
significant factor in determining its results. Years ago, when discussing with
a client why the performance of a store was poor, he would ask, “Is that the
man or the land?” While there were many store managers who were women, the
question was, “What was the real, or root, cause of the store’s poor
performance level?” Is the problem with performance of the manager and staff or
the location? Was it due to the store’s physical location, furnishings and
condition, or was it the quality of the store manager? Almost always, the
reasons for the performance could be traced back to a specific individual’s lack
of performance. Top performers, no matter which store you put them in, soon had
a high performing, profitable store. When poor performers were transferred to
successful stores, before long, the store’s numbers began to slip and profits
dropped. It’s smart to ensure every store is staffed with a top performing
manager.
Understanding Job Fit
You may say…if this person was a top account manager and they will also
be a top store manager. Not True!
A professional athlete isn’t good at all sports just like a candidate
isn’t good at all positions. Michael Jordan was a great fit for basketball but
not baseball. That’s where job fit comes in.
Job Fit
Assessments have a number of uses, though-.
1.
Screening: Good Pre-hire assessments provide a
cost-effective, easy way to quickly screen out applicants who lack the
fundamental qualifications and behaviors you need
2.
Selecting: Used to evaluate prospective
employees to identify high potential candidates, or current employees who are
considered for promotion
3.
On-boarding: Assessments provide insight into
the capabilities and behaviors of the candidates and enable them to be
productive faster
4.
Promotion/Progression Planning: Customized
Performance Models ensure promotions to other positions are successful
If you invest the time and effort to clearly define the performance
attributes for each position it will enable better staffing decisions which
will maximize your chance of hiring top performers. Knowing you can identify
top talent, frees you to take action to replace not just poor performers, or
those who leave, but also mediocre performers you may be hanging on to. These
tools can give you the confidence to upgrade your staff to the level needed to
excel in today’s competitive and challenging RTO business. Today it is a wise
investment to ensure that you can hire a person with the attributes needed to
be successful.
Hiring the right person for the right job (Job Fit) is one of the most
important decisions you will make for your company. The right person will increase revenue; the
wrong person will cost you- not just in the expense of hiring a replacement but
in lost revenue.
For the copy of the “Your High Performer Attributes: Guide to Being Able
to Identify and Measure the Attributes Needed for Success in Your Company”,
email Wayne@outlawgroup.com
Look at what has been spent in salary and benefits so far this year.
Don’t you want to be sure it is invested wisely for staff that can make the
company successful.
