Would you call Richard Branson a manager or a leader? Bill Gates? Richard Branson? Herb Kelleher? Great companies are led, not managed and that is the truth behind the last rule of thumb for serious business growth. Leadership is the ability to inspire others to be as good as they can be. So, if you are going to lead your employees and business towards serious growth, one thing you should never rush into is recruitment.
You are only as good as the people you hire.
If your brand is your biggest financial asset, then your employees are your business’ most important asset. It makes sense, firstly, to find the right people, and secondly, to take great care of them. I truly believe from many years of hiring hundreds of people that you can get the best out of them if you give them the opportunity to be all they can be. If you do this, they, in turn, will help your business be the best it can be. Take care of yourself and you are likely to have serious business growth.
Nobody arrives alone
I learned this lesson when I was very young working for the Hilton Hotel Corporation in London. One day I was walking in the hotel lobby and the front desk manager called out “Sims, come here”. This was his style. Well, his style didn’t fit the way I wanted to be treated and I said to him, “You can call me Jack, or Mr., or Sims, or Jackson, (which is what some people call him) but never call me ‘Sims’ again or I’ll use your title.” also “. He couldn’t believe I said it, but the truth is, he never did it again. This is when I started learning how to take care of employees: give them the respect you would expect them to treat yourself.
Hire someone for life or don’t use them at all
There is another aspect of popular judgment, and this is based on a lifetime of hiring and firing experience. The thing is, when you hire someone, you should be hiring them for life, not short term. And guess what, there are some people in your company right now that shouldn’t be there. You may not know who they are, but I can assure you that the rest of your staff knows who they are. Yes, you may have to fire some employees.
The staff comes in three flavors
The employees are divided into three very distinct groups. The first two are growing your business. The third group drains life from them.
1. Your core management team. Let’s say they are about 10% of your total employees.
2. Your employees. These are the majority of your staff, they’re about 75-80% of the staff and they’re engaged, doing a great job, day in and day out.
3. The nomadic. Most companies have some of these. These are the people who show up because they got a paycheck and are likely already listed on Monster.com. They flit from company to company, job to job, and don’t do business with any of them.
The best thing you can do for your company and the majority of your employees is to get rid of the nomads. Better yet, don’t let them in in the first place. And you know what your employees will say when you fire a Bedouin? “What kept you up?!”
Recruitment is a process, not an event
Without a doubt, the best thing you can do to lead your business is to spend more time on hiring. Staffing is something you have to work on all the time if you want to see some serious growth in the business. Part of the hiring process is that candidates must be interviewed by at least three different people to determine if the candidate will fit your culture. Your culture is a very important part of your brand and it can make or break your success.