Optimizing People: How Are You Doing?

Recently I heard a Profit Analyst say “You can’t maximize revenue until you optimize people.”

But how are we supposed to know if we are optimizing our people??

Let’s take a look at something that had a profound impact in my business - with the hopes that it will be useful to you too.

If we open up the Employee Lifecycle and divide the 6 stages in half, we get two crucial elements in any business; Recruiting & Retention.?

You gotta bring ‘em in and then you gotta keep ‘em.?

If an organization did these equally well (perfectly "balanced“), it would score a "3" in each stage.? Those scores added across would equal 9.?

Using the boxes below, take a minute and score yourself in each area.? Keep in mind, the score must equal 9.

For example, in the top row, you may do a terrific job in Attracting talent due to strong brand recognition and give yourself a 5.? That would mean you would only have 4 points left to assign to Recruiting and Onboarding. Let’s say you score yourself a 3 and 1, respectively.

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Furthermore, these numbers are ALSO a multiplier. Meaning, when you multiply them together, they reveal the strength of your optimization of people.

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Again, if your business is perfectly balanced (scoring a 3 in each stage), 3x3x3 = 27 which is the highest score possible.

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If you use the example from above, that would be 5x3x1 which equals 15 - about half of the optimal score.

You will see, no matter which way you configure the numbers, unless you are perfectly balanced in each row (3x3x3) your business is not optimizing people at the rate it could be.?

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For most of us, this shows us what we already know – we are likely great at certain aspects of the Employee Lifecycle but dropping the ball in others.

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The key is to figure out where your weakness lies and spend some time and resources improving that area.

Even in this tough economic climate, we can never invest enough in our people if we want them to do the best work of their lives. ~ Pat Fallon, chairman and cofounder of Fallon Worldwide

Whenever I've wanted to improve any area of my life, I've turned to books. So after you complete the Optimizing People formula above and you know what stage of the Employee Lifecycle you need help with, here are a few book recommendations for each stage:

ATTRACTION:

Book: “Give & Get Employer Branding: Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose and Belonging” by Charlotte Marshall

Why: This books makes the case for sharing your authentic culture – the good, the bad and even the ugly so that you will attract people who will thrive when facing your unique challenges.

RECRUITING:

Book: “TopGrading - How Leading Companies Win by Hiring the Best People” by Brad Smart

Why: If I couldn’t use assessment tools when hiring, I would follow every single step in this book to hire the right people. And there are a lot of steps!? (But wait, keep reading…)

Book: "Who: The A Method for Hiring" by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

Why: Thankfully, Brad Smart’s son Geoff came up with a simple 4-step method for hiring the right people with a 90% success rate. And guess what step #3 includes?? Yup… using assessment tools!

ONBOARDING:

Book: "The Power of Moments" by Chip & Dan Heath

Why: Not too surprising, there aren’t many books on just the topic of Onboarding. Since this aligns with our belief that it is often the most overlooked stage of the Employee Lifecycle, yet the easiest to improve, we’ve used the books definition of a defining moment as “a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful” and shared some ideas on page 7 in the Q&A of how to create these powerful moments.?

DEVELOPMENT:

Employee Development and Training

Book: "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink

Why: Understanding motivation is crucial for employee development. This book explores the science of motivation and how it can be applied to engage and develop your team.

Leadership Development

Book: “Leadership & Self-Deception" by The Arbinger Institute

Why: “This may be the most impactful and life-changing book I’ve ever read in my career as a CEO” said one of my clients after I recommended this book.? If you feel like you’ve read every leadership book out there, this is the one to get next.

RETENTION:

Performance Management

Book: "Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity" by Kim Scott

Why: This book offers insights into how to provide feedback: At the crossroads of “confronting directly” while “caring deeply.”? Go too far in either direction and you either become a bully or a doormat.?

Employee Engagement and Retention

Book: "The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace" by Ron Friedman, Ph.D.

Why: This book explores the science behind creating an engaging workplace and offers practical strategies for retaining your top talent.

SEPARATION:

Book: “Little Red Book of Hiring & Firing” by Nancy Roberts (yours truly!)

Why: Sure, there are books that deal with the inevitable moment of separation with under-performing employees. Yet very few can tell you how to get employees to fire themselves.? This one does! (You can find it on Amazon here: https://tinyurl.com/2x57xest )