"Nothing
needs reforming so much as other people's habits."
~ Mark Twain
THE
SLIGHT EDGE…IN BUSINESS, IN THE WORLD
Smarty
Jones, America’s favorite racehorse of the current season,
nearly won horse racing’s triple crown, losing by only a
length in the third race of the series, the Belmont Stakes.
Undefeated
in 6 previous major competitions, the horse virtually led all
the way over 514,800 inches of track in the combined races, and
missed the triple crown by about 96 inches, or about 2/100ths
of one percent of the total. That tiny percentage of failing to
lead, according to some sources, may cost the horse’s owners
as much as $100 million in lifetime breeding fees!
In
business, to stay on top, we run the same kind of risks. Studies
show that, to beat your competition, you need not be twice as
good as they are—you always need to be 3% better!
Usually,
the measure of whether we are that critical 3% better depends
on how well we have selected, trained, and developed our employees.
The
route to competitive excellence can be a great deal smoother if
we can select good employees, insure that they are a good match
to the jobs we provide, train them with foreknowledge of their
individual thinking styles, and manage them with well-developed
management skills.
Employers
who use valid, reliable assessments in pursuit of these goals
are virtually always ahead of their competitors. The gaps are
often far greater than that magic 3%, and widening over time of
use. Consider this fact: If your employee group is continually
getting better, and your competition is just staying the same,
you will gradually pull away and be leading the field! The graph
to the right is the formal, statistical illustration of this phenomenon,
but the cartoon to the far left makes it crystal clear: As long
as you are always 6 inches ahead you’ll be OK!
Assessment
Leaders can help you decide which assessments will contribute
the most to your own efforts to develop a “slight edge”
over your competition, to put you ahead of the field and keep
you there.
Remember
that a few inches of distance can mean a lot of money, in horse
racing or in the real world of your competitive business! You
must always, always be ahead...
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ARE
YOU HOLDING YOUR MANAGERS ACCOUNTABLE?
RETENTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY—WHERE
ARE THE NUMBERS?
In conducting research on business performance across
a wide cross-section of business types and sizes, three gaps in
management information have loomed large:
Your
managers may be the single largest influence on your retention
success—you need good numbers to evaluate them!
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PERFORMANCE
REVIEWS—WHO ARE YOUR TOP PERFORMERS?
One of the persistent criticisms
of performance reviews, rating second only to the fact that they
do not get done regularly, is that they correlate poorly with
“hard” measures of productivity and performance.
How good
are your own appraisals of “top performers?” How well
do your managers do in rating their own people as “top”?
Inconsistent
performance reviews produce obvious and costly problems: Poor
placement decisions, low morale, increased turnover and risk of
legal actions are only the tip of the iceberg. A consistent, fair,
and data-based set of performance measures can go a long way toward
reducing all of these negatives, and give your managers a tool
to improve their performance!
Once you
have the metrics, you have set the stage for checking perceptions
and bringing them into line with reality. Try this exercise: Ask
your managers to rate their people, according to a very simple
ranking: Top 1/3, middle 1/3, bottom 1/3. Arrange the employees
in a simple grid according to their ranking, then follow with
the employee’s performance metrics. You may be surprised
to discover that the manager’s rankings have little to do
with the metrics crucial to your company’s success!
Once
you and your managers know who their real “top performers”
are, you can begin to build on their strengths, while helping
your “non-top” performers improve. Knowing what to
shoot for is the first step in hitting the target!
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UP
THE ORGANIZATION—A REMINDER REVIEW
In the early 1970’s, you would have had a difficult
time locating a manager anywhere in North America who was not
familiar with this book by Robert Townsend. Out of print now,
but readily available from used book suppliers, the wisdom of
Townsend’s funny, readable tome is still fresh and applicable.
On meetings:
Never make them mandatory—why would you want someone there
who did not think it important? Hold them in a room with no tables
or chairs, no coffee or cookies—they’ll say what they
need to say, and it will be over.
On hiring
talent: Don’t hire Michelangelo to paint the Sistine ceiling,
and then have a bunch of schoolboy artists tell him which colors
to use!
The
copyright date may be aged, but the wisdom is timeless! Find this
book, read it again, and experience an enjoyable refresher course
in the basics of business!
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LET
THE DATA MAP THE CAREER PATH — A CASE STUDY IN TITLE &
ESCROW
In the title and escrow business, tradition has long
determined a career path. To become an escrow closer, the hopeful
candidate will usually serve a 3 to 5 year term as an escrow assistant
in the best century-old traditions of apprenticeships everywhere.
If the assistant works hard and well, the promotion will usually
follow. Unfortunately, the rigors of the assistant position also
effectively reduce the number of candidates surviving to become
escrow closers, Many of those who eventually get the promotion
fail at the new job and frequently leave their company or the
industry altogether.
This successful
Title & Escrow concern followed the usual model for years,
until they noticed something while using the
ProfileXT
in developing success patterns. The patterns generated by the
top escrow assistants were markedly different than those generated
by the top escrow closers.
Moreover,
when discussing these rather surprising findings within their
own ranks, they identified a major difference between the primary
functions of successful people in each job. Escrow assistants
were primarily clerical and administrative in activity, while
escrow closers performed sales and customer service functions,
with some administrative duties.
As these
results became apparent at the leadership level in the company,
an opportunity for a break with tradition presented itself: What
if, when new hiring was taking place, job candidates were identified
according to their match to each of these distinctively different
jobs?
Identification
of those individuals likely to succeed as closers would allow
a reduced training cycle, producing a productive closer in half
the time that had been required under the apprenticeship model.
Candidates
who were a great match to the escrow assistant job could develop
in that career path. They would never feel the inherent pressure
to “move up” to the job with a large sales component
with which they exhibited a poor job match.
The company
is in the second year of development along these revised career
paths. Promising new escrow closers are producing new business,
and quality escrow assistants are becoming professionals in an
endeavor well suited to their strengths. Overall, the entire escrow
team is stronger, and more productive, with lower turnover in
each job category. The two job pattern graphs are presented below,
with the usual caveat:
These
patterns may be very different in a different business or setting,
and should not be used beyond the setting where created.
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