Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

I was sitting in a class being led by Barry Deutsch  that addressed hiring and retaining talent.  I'm going to say that what I took away from the class is not what he wanted me to take away. That said, I still found the session entertaining because the look of fear from the people in the class around what he wanted them to do was priceless.  In one of our discussions on people, he talked about employees that have the case of the E and E's - Explanations and Excuses . (I love when speakers come up with a mnemonic or something catchy that resonates with a current situation that I am in). Everyone that reads this knows the type of people I'm talking about. Or, if you work in an environment that is solution driven and has a high caliber of talent, you have no idea what I'm talking about. I salute you.  When dealing with people that have a case of the E and E's, the easy thing to do is avoid them. I mean, if you keep going to the doctor and he has no cure as to ...

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage an organism.  In business, look at your organization as an organism under a microscope.  There are a variety of ways that toxins can get in, but the primary way would be through the people that you hire. Companies that have lax hiring standards, no real onboarding program, and free-for-all processes have a higher risk of absorbing negative toxicity.  Companies that have very stringent hiring standards, an in-depth and prescriptive onboarding program, and a culture that helps its employees thrive are usually toxin-free. A person that is a stimulant in one organization can become toxic in another organization. Is that the fault of the employee or the employer?  Culpability lies on both sides of the table. The problem is getting both parties to admit it. 

I know of a company that splits attrition into two categories: regrettable and non-regrettable.  "We are either sad that you are leaving or happy to see you go." Within the "sad you left" category there are sub-categories: what can we do for you to stay, or it's okay that you are leaving and you can come back if your other opportunity doesn't work out. If you have to split employees up into these kinds of categories something is severely broken. That something is the recruiting process.  If a company has standards that the recruiting process upholds, EVERY employee that leaves should be regrettable. If you have a good performance review process, there will naturally be people that will not perform. No hiring process is perfect.  But you hope that those people are the exceptions and not the rule. There have been a number of studies on the costs of turnover and it's not a small number. "Experts estimate it costs upwards of twice a...

Organizations that are in hyper growth mode put the pedal to the medal when it comes to hiring. If you are cranking out widgets, that means you hire more widget crankers.  The more specialized the widget, the more specific the skill set has to be for the widget cranker.  A lot of companies grow their employee base through referrals.  You have friends. Then there are friends of friends. Then you have friends of friends of friends.  But honestly- how many of us can vouch for the friends of friends of friends?  Would you really go to bat for the 1,000th friend on Facebook?  I'm not even sure I would vouch for my 10th closest friend.  I love when companies run referral campaigns without: Vetting the quality of the employee that made the referral; and  Conducting pre screens, screens, and interviews without identifying the standards that are in place What you end up with is a whole lot of people trying out for the NBA...

In this month's issues of Success Magazine , there is an article by John Maxwell titled "Choosing Wisely".  In it, there is a quote from SonyCorp. co-founder Akio Marita: "No matter how good or successful you are, or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire."  Maxwell goes on to say that, "when you hire, sometimes the the person with the right skill set  does not have the right mindset to be successful in your organization."   Another interview with Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappo's, reiterates the same message. It's why he built a company with an obsessive focus on culture. He learned from selling his previous company that culture matters when it comes to company growth and employee productivity.  When a company is in hyper growth mode, recruiters will not understand whether a candidate has the right mindset or attitude to be successful at the company during the interview process. Af...