Читать книгу Making Perfect - Teri Ann Lindeberg - Страница 11

I thought this was a good question as it attempts to uncover the problems the company might have that may be limiting people from performing better.

FREEDOM AND TRUST

“Now I have everything, even in this crisis with the salary default, what is important that I have freedom to create things, to open new offices and I can save us money”…”I am self-motivated, just for the management to trust me more, to let me fly more”…

The two people commenting here are valuable assets to the company. If it would help them develop more trust, respect and faith in their abilities, and in what they can achieve for the company, then I feel we need to provide them more space for creativity.

In addition, I believe that these two people were, in their own way, telling me that they were motivated to do and achieve more for the company. I took this as only good news and I am excited to see their potential developed.

Employees want:

• To be trusted;

• To be given more room to grow;

• To have less management controls on them when they are not needed; and

• To prove to management that they can make significant contributions without help.

IMPROVE OPERATIONS

“Our CRM needs to be improved and full documentation written on it, there is a useless function on reporting on statistics, update the operations manual”…”Anything! Participation in operations (operations manual and systems review and overhaul, and training, IT training not sales training, I can analyze if it is effective or not effective and I can make content of tracking programs and make them into measurable results”…

Fantastic! I am a true believer in strong operations so I support ideas people may have to enhance them. Operations need to be constantly improved, as they can become quickly outdated. We try our best, like most companies do, but realize it is a never-ending task.

For me, these were very useful answers as they gave specific areas of improvement that we can work on, fix, or implement. I made notes to follow-up on these issues and to include those commenting here in the process.

Employees want:

• Strong, optimally-efficient operations; and

• To help with operational improvements.

TEAM

“The team needs to be motivated and developed”…

I believe this to always be the case. This quote is from a top manager, indicating, I believe, what she personally needs to focus on to achieve success for the company and for herself.

I notice a pattern in her answers which I find interesting. She never answers in terms of herself. Rather, she focuses on the team and what we need to do to improve team members so that the company improves. These are very selfless, big picture answers and, to me, indicative of good leadership and executive management qualities.

Employees want:

• Employees to always be the best they can be.

STATUS QUO

“The new office and new services that we have now”…”I asked for a cold-calling room and got it”…

I was glad to know that these staff members felt taken care of.

The new office referred to here was in Saint Petersburg, where we down-sized into a smaller, but nicer office space. The new services were related to out-placement and gave our staff a brand new project to focus on and sell to clients amidst a slow market.

I personally like an open-plan office as I think it promotes teamwork, accountability and a group-bonding environment. However, it can get loud at times when everyone is talking on the phone or with each other. The cold calling room was requested to enable the team to occasionally have private, quiet, important discussions, when needed, with clients or candidates with whom they are working.

Employees want:

• What they ask for;

• On occasion, privacy – for important business calls; and

• Nothing at times, because all may be fine just as it is.

THE OFFICE

“My current seating location is not great and the room is too stuffy for me and hot and there is not enough light”

This is an easy aspect to fix and look into immediately, especially as it is a one-person issue.

Some staff members have specific issues that many others do not. This person was sitting in one of our smaller, darker rooms with a window looking out onto trees. Many people like that environment as it is cozy and quiet. However, she did not. Therefore, I immediately approved moving her to our largest and brightest room, which made her happy.

Employees want:

• A comfortable work station and environment.

EQUIPMENT

“A lighter laptop”…

All of our Directors use company laptops to give presentations to clients. We are the only company in our local industry that does this and it does differentiate us in terms of professionalism. However, the laptops became a bit dated and heavy, which can make it overly cumbersome for some of the female members in our Directors’ team.

This was a high-ticket replacement item for us at that time but something we still needed to consider as the team’s happiness and comfort is directly related to their performance.

Employees want:

• Equipment that is easy to handle and use.

TELEMARKETER/RESEARCHER

“Maybe have a telemarketer/researcher to make me more productive as they can give me the names of people to call on”…

I agree with this suggestion as anything that can make us more productive is something we should look into.

We have never hired a person to simply collect names for the sales team as the Directors are responsible for this, as part of their defined role. However, this is worth considering and, perhaps, trying in order to see if we can increase our revenues.

Employees want:

• Assistance, in order to be more productive themselves and for the company.

TRAINING/DEVELOPING OTHERS

“Trainings for new or existing team members, or to participate in this and can also do an industry info session”…”Again, I am very good in sales and can train everyone in this, I am ready to share my talent with everyone”…”I can develop talents of others to provide better service”…

These comments came from three Directors and Consultants that are very good at what they do, and are high-level performers. It is encouraging that they are offering their time and talent to train others so that we may develop a better team and a better company.

I firmly believe that the best trainers can often be the talent within your own company. This is especially the case when they are training others about a role or task which they, themselves, already do very well. I made notes to take all three of these people up on their offer to help train others in the team.

Employees want:

• To train others, in their areas of expertise; and

• To share their knowledge to help the company perform better.

GETTING TRAINING

“Getting help on writing highlights, using the database, etc.”…

This is someone asking for help in specific areas and I think it is great that this person wants to improve. I made a note to immediately follow up on this.

Employees want:

• To perfect their skills; and

• Training to improve their job performance.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

“All is good, I would be interested in my growth plan”…

It is very clear that this person strongly desires, in a polite way, upward movement in the company – as she has mentioned this a few times in her responses. As I feel she is good at what she does, is smart and is respected within the team, I decided that I would definitely give consideration to her future career trajectory within the company.

Employees want:

• To grow and develop with the company.

MORE TIME FOR SALES

“I feel that the best use of my skills and experience is in front of clients and senior managers, presenting, selling and negotiating on behalf of the company, I enjoy this side of the job immensely. If I could be in front of clients more often I believe we would all benefit”…

This Director commenting is very good in front of clients and he just keeps getting better at it every year. There is a fair amount of administration that goes with the role of Director; all of which is quite necessary. However, I feel that the company would indeed benefit if this person was in front of clients more often.

This Director, in his prior submissions, is also seeking a sales management role, which I think makes sense as he is deserving and talented, and would necessitate that he be in the field with the team more often.

Employees want:

• To focus on what they do well; and

• To specialize in their areas of expertise.

ANALYSIS

“It is harder to sell now so I would be willing to create analytical reports for PR purposes and for clients”…

Employees need to feel useful, even in down-market times. I believe this person probably could create a very good analytical report containing recruitment-related information, such as compensation and benefits surveys, industry-specific analyses and market trends. I made a note to take action on this.

Employees want:

• To use other talents they have, and are not using, to benefit the company.

NEW SERVICES

“I would like to be a part of the management team to create new services, if the market needs it”…

Creating new services is a lot of fun at times so I understand this person’s interest. Having said that, I am not sure if we are going to create any more new services in the nearest future as, at the moment, I am leaning more toward focusing on our core business areas. However, we do occasionally explore the idea and I made a note of this person’s interest and potential participation.

Employees want:

• To be creative and to build and develop new products for the company.

KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

“Already taking on another sector, also KAM, more client work, but not sales, same as before, more opportunities to meet clients, KAM and trainings”…”KAM role”…

We do not have Key Account Managers, per se. We have Directors that sell, oversee client recruitment projects, update clients on our progress, and handle any issues that may arise during the course of a search. Our Consultants source, screen and present candidates to our clients, arrange client candidate interviews and assist with the negotiation process when job offers are extended. Both roles are extremely vital to providing our clients with a very thorough service.

It is clear to me from these responses, and those in earlier chapters, that the Consultants’ team, overall, would really like a Key Account Management role created for their division.

As before, I made a note to look into this. Again, this requires some thought and a strategy in regard to potentially changing our current role structure, compensation elements and parameters – but I feel it is certainly worth considering.

Employees want:

• To provide better services to clients;

• To have more access to the company’s clients; and

• To get out of the office, on occasion, and visit clients.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

“Attracting new clients via candidate relations”…

This was an encouraging answer as it came from a Consultant who, while not responsible for new client sales, nonetheless is offering to assist with our sales efforts. I would point out that candidates are a great source of client leads: both from within the company they may currently work for, and from interviews they have with other companies in the market who are hiring.

Employees want:

• To help the company develop more business.

NONE

“I always use my full potential, even now during this crisis I am busy”…”All is fine”…”Staffwell has given me a lot of opportunity to grow and I am very happy with this, I have all I need”…”Nothing”…” Nothing needed”…”The company gives me new responsibilities and Angela often gives me new work when the accounting rules change”…”All is used now”…”We respect the staff a lot, there is no discrimination, I feel very comfortable at Staffwell, I am happy and will do anything to help”…”The chance you gave me to come back to the company is doing that”…”Now I am stimulated and it is important that people like my work and I am now working from 95 to 99%. The PR Director title was important for me and so was the salary increase, as it made me feel needed and appreciated”…

A lot of staff and management answered they were content with what they had and where they were right now. This showed me that, overall, we were doing pretty well in terms of employee motivation, and there was a fairly high satisfaction rate among the group.

Employees want:

• To be where they are already are, sometimes, and to have what they already possess.

HELPING

“I am able to help with anything”

I thought this was a great answer as it illustrates an attitude that I appreciate in employees. I noted this person’s availability to assist with anything, and that I may use them, where appropriate.

Employees want:

• To help the company in any way they can, or as needed.

PAID SERVICES

“I would like to try up-grading my LinkedIn account in order to post vacancies”…

I think this is a reasonable idea. I am willing to try anything, within reason, that might help us increase business. LinkedIn is a very useful business tool for networking as one can see the career history of those within your contact base, and it is fairly easy to connect with people that you may otherwise not meet or become acquainted with.

We would pay for up-grading this person’s LinkedIn account to see what the potential benefits are. If they are positive, then we will consider up-grading more of the accounts for our front office team.

Employees want:

• To try new avenues that may help enhance company results.

NETWORKING EVENTS AND CONFERENCES

“I would like to try networking events, but to go with someone else for the first time, the only thing that I know in theory is personal networking, I’ve never done professional networking but I think I could do it”…”I would like to participate in finance conferences, to understand the business and sector better”…

These comments are from two Consultants that are interested in advancing themselves, for which I can only have respect.

Professional networking, at business club events or at conferences, is a vital part of our business success and it does take practice in order to attain a certain comfort level. Most everyone we meet at such events may become a client or candidate; now, or at some point in the future. Accordingly, I decided that I needed to look into this for the first Consultant commenting above, as well as for others.

The second Consultant quoted recruits mainly finance professionals, such as Chief Financial Officers, Finance Directors and Chief Accountants. It would likely be beneficial to her, and others in her sector, to attend a finance conference or meeting to better understand the sector – and also to meet potential candidates, or clients, they might not otherwise have known about.

Employees want:

• To try new avenues to help increase their results for the company; and

• To push themselves out of their comfort zone, on occasion.

EDUCATION

“I would also like additional education in HR”…

Unfortunately, for this particular person, this is something we are unwilling to offer. She is not currently in an HR position within our company and has never performed in an HR Management role. Furthermore, the cost of the program is not a minor issue to us, especially during this period of economic weakness.

In this situation, should this person really want an HR education leading to an HR Management role, I believe that she should attend night courses at her own expense. She may get much more satisfaction in having done it all through her own efforts.

Having said all that, I may consider mobilizing our own HR Manager to give some general HR training to the team, including to this person, to promote better understanding of the role that many of our clients have in their companies.

Employees want:

• Things that sometimes have nothing to do with their role;

• To enhance their education; and

• What they are unable to get, sometimes, or with their current employer.

MORE WORK/WIDER SCOPE OF WORK

“More positions”…”Take part in new projects or trainings or to work in other sectors, wider work”…”I am pro-active, I suggested to Nadya that I work with clients and I do now, I am open to anything the company gives me, plus I also act as the help desk guy for the office”…”I like very difficult recruitment assignments, or to work in Marketing”…”I would like to be given help with recruitment tasks, to get used to it”…

When the work-load is too light and people are under-utilized in their jobs, additional work and loading people up can, I feel, only benefit the employees and the company. I acknowledged this in the comments and requests above.

The very last comment above came from one of our receptionists. I further asked her whether she had ever been given any tasks from other departments to work on while she performs her reception duties. She replied that she does not get any requests for work or any offers to contribute, where appropriate and needed.

I was quite surprised to hear this. I then asked if she knew what her direct reporting line was and the manager to whom she is subject to – to which she replied that she did not.

I immediately sorted out both issues. I assigned her a direct report and instructed the recruitment team to give her some of their administrative work to do, to aid them – but also to help develop her.

As organized as you may think your company is, I believe that you always need to walk around and check to see if it really is that way. An even more effective method, I feel, is to have one-on-ones with your staff, as I have obviously done in this case.

Employees want:

• More work, if not over-burdened, and to be busy;

• Challenging work and to try different roles; and

• To be developed for growth positions.

ACCESS TO MANAGEMENT

“Working closely with Directors and Management team in all offices as we grow”…

This person would like to work more closely with our Directors’ team and management, which could mean that one day he will also strive to be a member of one of those teams – or, perhaps, he may simply enjoy their company.

Regardless, I made a note to have Directors and management engage this person more and, out of curiosity, I also made a note to observe this person’s career progression over the next few years.

Employees want:

• Closer relations and access to more senior members of the company; and

• To be a part of the geographical growth of the company.