It’s often said that people are our greatest asset. The flip side is true too—some employees can become our greatest liability. As Jim Collins states in Good to Great, success comes from the right people doing the right things.
In the past 40 years, we have seen a levelling of the playing field in business. Companies in almost every industry have near equal access to materials, know-how, buyers, labour, and capital. So, in today’s business environment, what are the sources of competitive advantage.
Those who have employees who are more engaged, accountable, collaborative, and committed to the vision will win.
We believe that winning organizations are those that attract, engage, and motivate people differently. The firms that have employees who are more bought-in, accountable, collaborative and committed to the vision will win. This fact was confirmed by the pioneering work done by the Gallup organization in the early 2000s that was reported in several articles and books including Marcus Buckingham’s “First Break All the Rules.” The research continues today and repeatedly confirms that organizations with highly engaged workforces outperform their competitors on a variety of factors including growth, client acquisition, retention of employees, product quality and customer satisfaction. Employers in the top quartile of engagement are a whopping 21% more profitable than the average in their respective industries.
If you believe this to be true, then it follows that as a leader you should be spending most of your time and attention finding and developing top talent. However, we know from the research that most businesses don’t have best-in-class hiring processes in place, and most managers don’t spend near enough time coaching and providing feedback.
Those that do recognize that finding, coaching, and developing their people is “job one”.
Top 4 Foundational Human Resource Management Processes:
- Hiring and onboarding follow a clear process, and no steps are skipped. Hiring includes proven interviewing techniques and comprehensive testing for culture and values fit.
- Every employee has unmistakable clarity about how to be successful in their roles, and metrics compared to those targets are reviewed and discussed frequently.
- There is no tolerance for mediocrity or violation of core values. Issues are addressed in a timely manner and escalated such that repeat offenders are removed from the team decisively.
- Employees are supported with the training, tools, and resources they need. Management’s job is to help them be successful.
Research also shows us that managers who lead with the heart get more out of their people. Employees reach their full potential when they work for employers who make them feel psychologically safe and authentically cared for. The number one reason for an employee leaving is not the role they are in, it is the relationship they have with their direct manager.
Today we covered the fourth theme but be sure to stay tuned for the next three blogs in our Predictable Business five-part blog series. Each blog article will be covering one of the four themes listed above so you can better equip yourself to reach predictable success.
If you’re eager to start today, you can download our full guide now to start learning how to achieve greater predictability in your business with bonus access to an assessment quiz. This will help showcase how ready you and your organization are to thrive in these times of uncertainty, identify some areas of opportunity, and contains further advice with some suggested action steps.
Next Steps
If you’re ready for a more customized approach to human resource management, the Results team wants to help! Book a chat with a member of our team for professional advice to improve business strategy and execution.