Over The Past Couple of Years, Did You Hire Top Talent?

We are finding that many companies have hired below their standards over the past several years and need to upgrade people in their organizations. While this might sound harsh, it is a disservice to any employee to keep them in a job for which they cannot, or will not, excel.  Other employees suffer as well when they see underperformance tolerated, or worse, when they have to take up the slack.  As things tighten on businesses your competitive advantage will be the people you employ.

When you look at your employee pool what do you see?  To you see a flock of eagles or a pond of ducks?   How do you even know?  Most businesses are too weighed down by bureaucratic momentum, lack of time, or lack of resources to objectively analyze their workforce.  It is tough to say if you have eagles if you don’t know what one looks like.  If you are still interviewing to validate a resume then you aren’t making objective decisions about who you hire.  There is, however, one simple step any business leader, department manager, or supervisor can take that will help you determine which roles need some upgrading.

To understand what an eagle looks like you must profile your key jobs; those that have the most impact on your productivity, profitability, and quality.  Job Profiling is a systematic way to analyze the needs and competencies that the A-level, player, the eagle, must have in the job.  You want to objectively understand what an eagle should look like in any key position.  Once you have the Job Profile you can establish a performance-based interviewing process that more accurately predicts success of a candidate.

If you need to upgrade now is the time to do it.  Health Care Reform will likely be a reality in 2010 and its impact will be felt across all industries.  Your business can’t afford to wait to put the right people in the right roles.  Start upgrading and looking for your eagles today.