HIRING THE
RIGHT PEOPLE
I have
long believed that staff are not a company’s biggest asset - they are
the company. Without them, nothing would ever happen.
Thankfully, there is growing awareness that looking after employees is an
investment not a cost. Recently published research studies and articles suggest
that time, effort and money put into effective people management produces increased
morale, lower staff turnover, improved efficiency and greater customer satisfaction.
In short, it is money well spent.
But unfortunately, most companies still approach human resource management
in the same way they manage everything else in their company, and that is from
the inside out. Very few seem to understand that the aim of effective people
management is to get the right people doing the right things and that, therefore,
effective people management must begin with the customer.
A customer driven approach to people management would begin by finding out
what kind of experience your customers want when they do business with you.
Next, this information would be used to determine the kind of people you would
need to hire, if your customers were to get that kind of experience.
This generic person specification would, of course, include the skills, knowledge
and experience staff must have to be able to do the job. But even more importantly,
it would include the attitudes staff must have and the behaviours they must
display. I agree with Herb Kelleher, the founder of South West Airlines who
used to advise managers to “hire for attitude and train for skill.”
Changing people’s attitude is much harder than teaching them new skills.
Besides, it is much easier to get staff to do the “right” things when you have
hired people with the “right” attitude and who have a history of behaving the “right” way.
And what is the “right” way of thinking and behaving? You need to hire people
who understand that the aim in business is to have profitable customers who
stay with you for a long time and, therefore, who realise that looking after
existing customers so that they come back again and again is the Number 1 priority.
When hiring new staff, look for people who are friendly and polite, and who
have a positive attitude towards life in general. Negative or surly people
destroy both the customer’s experience and the morale of staff who work with
them. Their sour attitude sucks the people around them into a big black hole.
Your new recruits also need to be can-do people so they can help you find
solutions to your customers’ problems. They also need to be enthusiastic and
adaptable so they will accept the constant change that will inevitably take
place in your business. They also need to be keen to learn so that they will
willingly increase their knowledge and skills to the benefits of both you and
themselves.
In a crowded and competitive market place, you need to stand out from your
competitors. This is easier to do if you have hired staff who are prepared
to go the extra mile. You want people whose goal is not simply to serve, or
even satisfy, their customers. You want people who are committed to making
their customers successful and who will do whatever it takes to do that.
Remember that no matter what business you are in, you are really in the people
business. Since the most important people in your business are your customers,
it makes sense to find out what kind of people they would like to do business
with.
These will be the “right” people to hire.
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