3 out of 4 new appointments fail

Hiring and retaining the best people is one of the most critical jobs the owner or manager of a company has. In surveys, most rate their success at about one excellent hire out of four. The other three either weren’t a good fit or didn’t have the ability that their training or resume indicated.

That’s a huge problem. As Jim Collins wrote in his indispensable management book “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't,” getting the “right people on the bus and the right people in the right seats” is the most essential task in business.

While good hires energize those around them, bad hires become energy drains. Bad appointments dampen productivity and suck up management time and attention.  

Often, it’s not skills or credentials that predict success. What really matters is whether the prospective candidate fits the job. Do they have characteristics that match those of your top performers? It sounds a bit squishy, and yes, hiring may be part art, but it’s also a science. You can assign metrics to the characteristics that make a difference in performance and better predict candidates’ success.

Here are five tips that may help you hire and retain top performers.

1.   Use a structured hiring process that goes beyond resumes and interviews.

We begin by determining the applicant’s basic employability characteristics: integrity, reliability, and work ethic. This assessment helps screen out people who are not likely to perform well or fit your performance culture. 

2.   Get an objective understanding of your best people.

Study your top performers; develop a performance model--a benchmark-- for that position. Once these have been established then look for a close match between the applicants’ scores and the performance benchmark. You can use the information to coach employees, determine training needs as well as for promotion and succession planning decisions.

3.   Develop customized performance models.

 One size does not fit all. Slight differences in the model may have a big impact on performance. Start with critical or problem positions where productivity or turnover may be an issue. Be certain that your performance metrics are objective and clearly identified so you can differentiate between top and bottom performers. The model that derives from this process will help you improve performance in all your positions.

 4.   Have your supervisors and/or management also take the assessment.

This way, they can better understand themselves and their direct reports, and coach them toward increased productivity. The reports give supervisors a “user’s manual” for each direct report that shows challenge areas, how to motivate them and how to get a better performance.

5.  Repeat for every hire, for every position.

More input will produce better benchmarking. If this sounds like reverse engineering, it is. This method has proved to be highly reliable, helping achieve good hires three times out of four versus the one out of four times.

 This approach will definitely help you to consistently identify, hire, retain, and manage great employees.

For any retail training requirements, please contact us at training@mretailing.co.za or visit our website www.mretailing.co.za