Fit is everything!

Ask any manager who has had to deal with a bad egg in their company what happened, and you’ll get an earful. If they work with people at all, and what manager doesn’t, they will have a store of examples of how much was achieved by having a good team, an even more of how disastrous a bad fit can really be. A manager needs a good team working under or for him.  When a project or service is promised clients, having everyone work together on the same page, getting along is critical.

In support of job descriptions

Once you have determined exactly what the person you are considering should be producing and you know the results you want them to achieve you need to determine how this fits in with the current structure of the company.  “Who should this person report to?” is one of the many questions you will need to ask yourself.

Sometimes when working on this step you will find you do not have the company structured in such a way as to allow for expansion or worse yet you have no real structure at all.  Probably the worst scenario is where you have one “boss” that makes all the decisions and everyone reports to that one person.  I can tell you that person will be overworked and have a terrible temper.  This is very often the case with small business.  An owner does not have too much difficulty controlling his/her business with as many as 6 staff working for him/her. Add another 6 and you will find the place is quite disorganized, the owner is swamped, often working 14-15 hours a day, losing temper easily and wondering why all this work is being done just to pay bills and staff.  The owner is then often faced with “Should I downsize?”  “I made more money when we were smaller,” and other such ideas.  This is simply a problem of structure!

So how should a company be structured so that it will be able to handle expansion easily?  There is a “popular” method, a “flat” management system that absolutely DOES NOT WORK!  You do not need to try this to find out.  I am sure that this is the invention of someone that has no idea how to run a business or knows nothing of the laws of life or people.  That doesn’t work and neither do “committees.”  Most of us have found this out for ourselves.

There is a proper way to structure your organization and it has everything to do with the production of a product.  What are the steps you take in sequence to get your product to the market?  When you’ve worked that out you will have tackled half the battle.  It is quite amazing how many people do not think in sequences.  I observed a group of people working on a government construction project and witnessed the most oddball sequences you can imagine.  They laid the floor with beautiful ceramic tiles, then tore out the ceiling.  Well you could imagine what happened to that floor in the process!  And what do you know, they had to re-do the floor! (Now maybe a government can “afford” that much waste but can you?!)  There is a correct sequence to getting out products or services.

You need to work this out and make sure your company is structured in such a way that communication, supervision and production can flow!   If you think people will work without supervision you will be sadly mistaken, so you will need people to supervise groups.  Thus you end up with groups within groups.  Small groups are more easily managed–you can manage the managers more easily than the whole group.

There is a great deal to know about this subject.  Properly structured you can move your business into heights you never imagined and have fun doing it!  Improperly structured and you will find yourself tired and working yourself half to death.

Though we’ve covered the subject of creating job descriptions here, the subject of structure must be addressed if you want duties you outline to contribute to increased growth.  If you find yourself “growing” with less and less profit despite all your hard work, realize there is something wrong with your structure. The time spent on re-structuring can make the difference.

Then you will KNOW what kind of people you will need to fill these jobs.  And when you use testing in comparison, you will come out ahead!

Would YOU know?

 

There you are, sitting in front of someone, considering him or her for a position.

Perhaps it is a candidate to be hired, or someone you want to head up a project or division in your organization. Even a seemingly small task requires the right person to head it, or you risk failure.

Who is Right or Wrong?

How Do Others Affect Your Business?
Who Is Right Or Wrong For Your Business?

There aren’t too many aspects of life that don’t involve other people. In fact, other people are such an integral part of our lives that it’s safe to say the choices we make about the people we interact with are the primary influence on our success or failure.

In business, brilliant ideas, good planning, competent and efficient execution, plenty of money, good promotion and marketing – no matter how many things you’re doing right and how many advantages you have – everything can be destroyed, or nothing can get off the ground in the first place, if you are associated with the wrong people. 

Productive Job Descriptions

Now that you know the importance of creating job descriptions for a new position, here’s a new perspective.

Using this knowledge you can not only better determine what the description of the job should be but how you can measure whether a person is performing well on the job or not.

The concept of the “Valuable Final Product.” 

The word “valuable” means that other people will consider it has value and can be, therefore, exchanged for other things of value, like support or a paycheck or goodwill.    The word “final” means that nothing else follows.  It is a finished thing.  

Creating Job Descriptions

 A job description is a major part of creating confidence for a new person on a position.  Filling a position that was held by another and for which the leaving employee can turn over their hat is not very complicated.  But what about a new position; one that you want to create?

How often do you find yourself a little confused over the description for the position?  You know you need help and you want to lighten the load for some key staff—but where do you start.  Have you ever kept adding personnel because everyone was “overloaded” only to find you seem to be getting less and less done?  And what about the situation where the more staff you add the more “work” seems to be piling up? All of this cuts into your bottom line.

When an employee quits – what’s left behind?

I’ve been reading blogs and listening to talk shows. It surprised me that there were so many of them busy discussing quitting one’s job.

Quitting a current job is a necessary step to new adventures and personal achievement.  A new start can be intoxicating and exciting.

This is not always the case.  Too often chaos has been left behind and no one benefits.

From the viewpoint of the company they left behind, it puts everything at risk.  That shoulder to the wheel is gone, what expertise they contributed is now missing.  And now a new person has to be found and maybe even trained.  An expensive task.

Did you know that there are reasons a person leaves?  To be sure there can be bad conditions one has to reject so that they can survive better.  But have you noticed or taken a look to see if really was so bad?

Or maybe it was made bad by the person now loudly leaving? Take a closer look, did that person make mistakes, make little nasty comments to people around? Maybe incomplete tasks that might have been detrimental to the overall completion of a particular project.

These and many more like that are often reason enough for a person to have to find fault with you and your company, and so justify a departure.

Warning Signs

Here are some of the warning signs to look for:

Low production – expectations are not being met.  This is especially true if it’s a change from what normally has been happening in a section of your company..

1. Upsets in an area – “office” politics gone wild.  Personnel might not be getting along, or avoiding each other, or any such indication of difficulties.
2. Complaints being registered, accusations made and overheard snide or snippy comments.  Something is going on.
3. Sudden absenteeism, even if random times, and it hasn’t really happened before.

All of the above can be detected in advance and resultant damage prevented.

Test them!

Test your staff on a regular basis – like performance assessments or to detect specific situations.  You need a picture of what is currently happening with your employees, and detect any potential risks.  Doing this routinely could help you ensure a smoother working relationship for all, and maybe prevent the surprise of the person who feels he must leave in a hurry.

2015 and profitability awaits.

Questions about employees?

You have a business and want to succeed. In order to expand you need to hire employees to do the work. But, while you are an expert at what you do, you may often fail to pick the right person and can run into trouble. So what DO you need to know?

Here are some of the questions often asked but have no answers for:

1. What kinds of people cause trouble?
2. What should I watch out for?
3. How can I handle it if I have already gotten into trouble?
4. How can I deal with office “politics”? Is there any way to get rid of it?
5. I want a happy productive atmosphere how do I go about getting it?
6. My good employee seems to be sliding, what should I do?
7. I suspect they drink or do drugs; what can I do about it?
8. Who is causing the problems?
9. I’m swamped and I see others idle; but I’m busy, how can I deal with it?
10. What if they’re just playing card games on the computer?
11. How do I handle the lateness?
12. Why do some seem to be sick all the time?
13. My business is suffering; can I do anything about it?
14. When do I need a lawyer?
15. How do I better structure the business organizationally?
16. What about job descriptions; should I spend the money to get formal ones done?
17. How much should I pay the person?
18. What is the standard salary range for this position?
19. How can I find the reliable people?
20. How can I know if a new person will fit in?

Having the answers to these questions will simplify your choices.

How we can help

If you have a question and you don’t have an answer maybe we can help.  Call me let me know what you need and want.  Find out the tools we offer to take the guess work out of hiring and prevent future troubles. Call now!  604-568-7442

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Wendy Smith is the President of Accurate U-MAN Hiring Inc, dedicated to helping you get the right person in the right place for 22 years.  Accuracy counts!

How to tell if they DO have a clue.

It’s unfortunate that this picture makes us smile.  Humor is often a recognition of some outness we can reject, so there must be some truth in the original idea.  And sadly there is.

People without a clue cause trouble for all.  They aren’t sufficiently PRESENT to get the job done.  They don’t really hear what they have been told to do or how to do it, and are likely to start off blindly with what they think is required.  Or they have a preconceived idea of what they thought they heard you say.  Or maybe they have the viewpoint they know better than anyone about what needs to be done or should be done.

None of these scenarios are conducive to success in business.  A company’s goal is to reach targets and achieve viability. Having people aboard who don’t contribute to that is counter-productive, and downright risky.

It’s covered under the idea of correct estimation and attention. One must have their attention ON the scene at hand and be able to estimate what would then need to be done.

To be successful, one must be able to size up a scene correctly and accurately enough to then be in a position to make a good decision. This point measures the ability of the person to correctly estimate people and circumstances. Not everyone is clueless, but knowing in advance helps, doesn’t it?

If you want an Accurate picture of any person you are considering, use the U-TEST!

Test your people knowledge

Could you be fooled?

If you are going to work with people you should know about them; their attributes and behaviors.  An in-depth understanding of people can ensure your goals get achieved, for each project or the whole company.

How well do you know what a given person will do?

Candidate or employee, here’s a check of some key personality points.  Check it over, test your know-how.

1. It’s possible to know enough about a candidate during an interview or two. True? or False?
2. What percentage of a group can you count on to get the job done?  20%?  60%?  100%?
3. What percentage of any group is truly destructive to the group’s survival?  2%?  10%?  20%?
4. What is the key indicator that a person WILL be destructive? Tone?  Track Record?
5. What would show most clearly that you could trust someone? Experience?  Certainty?
6. What is the average tone of reliable people? Cheerful?  Conservative?
7. How can you tell when a person is likely to be focused?  Looks? Performance?
8. What trait shows an ability to get things done?  Stability?  Drive? 
9. Can a person really change?  Yes/No
10. An emotional person probably won’t do a good job.  True? or False?

How did you do?  Email me your answers and I’ll send you a brief rundown on each point.  Feel free to ask me questions, too.  I promise you will be smarter for the effort.

Lorraine Taylor
Admin & Marketing
lorraine@u-man.ca
Accurate U-MAN Hiring Inc.
B-2800 Douglas Road
Burnaby, BC V5C 5B7
T: 604-568-7442 F: 604-568-7448
www.u-man.ca