Hiring and Firing OR Keeping Crazy, Donkey and Dufus Off of Your Team
When you first start, it’s just you. But eventuallyy, you need a team.
1. Turnover is bad for business.
Proper hiring creates a good team, and a good team lowers
turnover. You are trying to get thoroughbreds in the stable. You want rockstars in the company. A good team lowers turnover. Turnover is expensive in lost productivity and in morale within the team. When the good people leave, everybody wonders, “What is wrong?”
We began meas
uring two types of exits: life change (had a baby, move, etc) or turnover. We source the reason for the exit.
Team members leave or are let go most often because they should never have been hired in the first place. Do a better job hiring. Take more time when filling positions. Most peopl
e are doing the business and are inconvenienced by interviewing people. We get in a hurry and hire the wrong people.
Every single person is in marketing. They affect our reputation. Even the leaf blower is in marketing. It takes 60-90 days and 9 interviews to get hire by
the Dave Ramsey organization. We don’t want crazy, donkey or dufus in our organization. A proper hire performs better, is less likely to cause problems, and will be more likely to stay.
2. Components to a good hire.
When posting a position, give enough information for candidates to rule you out without wasting your time. Word your posting in such a way as to attract the personality and character traits you want.
The EntreLeader’s 12 steps to a proper hire:
- Pray. “God, please send the person you want. Keep your crazy children away.”
- Advertise and get referrals. Good people run with good people.
- 30-minute interview. The first one should be a drive by. It should be quickly. Listen 20 minutes and talk 10.
- Resume and references. Useless. Resume will give you background and education.
- Personality test. Run the DISC. Not a deal maker or breaker. Puts people in 4 different styles. It’s got to fit the job. It has to fit the team. You look at the strengths and weaknesses of the chemistry. Kindness requires clarity. You have to see how this person will fit with the leader.
- Do you like them? Talent is not enough. Interpersonal skills trump talent every single time.
- Do they light up when they talk about the position? You want somebody that light’s up!
- Personal budget and mission statement. Can they pay their bills on what you pay? I love my people. It is my job to serve them by making sure they can pay their bills on what they make.
- Compensation calculations, benefits and policy review.
- Key Results Area (KRA). Have a job descriptions. Write down 3 things that describe what winning looks like. Give details about that. If they are not winning, then they know they are not staying around.
- Spousal Interview. Go to dinner with the spouses. Wives tend to have a crazy antenna. Try to find crazy and avoid it.
- 90-day probation for the company and the person. You don’t want to keep people that don’t fit. You won’t know until they get there.
The EntreLeader is looking for a team member with a combination of opportunistic motivation and philosophical motivation. They see the train is going somewhere and they see they higher calling. (Where there is no margin there is no ministry.) Never sell a J-O-B. You don’t want people that just collect checks. Always have an opportunities available; sell “work that matters.” Set short initial interviews that are no longer than 30 minutes. If the candidate is preoccupied by benefits and compensation, you will never be able to do enough to keep them happy.
3. When team members fail.
Team members eventually have to perform or they have to leave. We pour into people. Our policy is to treat people how we want to be treated. This answers a lot of questions. When I address things, I am kind, but I am very clear. I do not sugar coat things.
Start by identifying the root cause: leadership failure, personal problem, incompetence.
4. When the failure is caused by leadership.
Good news: Leadership failure is a variable that’s easily fixed. The problem is YOU – fix it.
– Do they know their job? Write down what the person needs to be doing. KRA.
– Did you hire someone who didn’t fit the position?
– Were their KRA’s clear?
– Were you there to train?
– Were they given the tools to win?
– Were conflicts left unresolved? Some people shut down when there is drama.
5.When the failure is caused by a personal problem:
People matter. Do unto others.
The first action step is to quantify the extent of the personal problem. It may be a small problem. It may be a big problem. You have the power to do the right thing. The reason why a lot of employees aren’t loyal to companies is because companies are not loyal to their employees. If you treat you team like family they will act like family. Do you need to pay for them to get some professional help?
Incremental progress on the problem must be seen so an expectation of future performance be there. Otherwise, they have to work somewhere else.
6. When the failure is caused by incompetence:
Make all errors here on the side of giving too much grace, which is what you want. Sanctioned incompetence demoralizes. The Entreleader must take action to correct the problem.
Repairable incompetence is caused by lack of skills. We can help fix that. There can be behavior modification, training, and mentoring.
Non-repairable incompetence includes moral failure, lack of integrity and laziness.
7. The root cause is determined…now what?
If the business already has debt, develop a three-to-five-year strategy to eliminate it by allocating a percentage of monthly profits to debt reduction.
When an EntreLeader operates his business using these financial principles, it greatly insulates them from risk and increases the probability of success.
The EntreLeader allocates a percentage of profits to:
– Debt reduction (if you have debt)
– Retained earnings for emergencies or opportunities