One of the biggest mistakes that small business owners make is in hiring.  Too often they don’t have a clear process to add people to their team.  If the right person is hired they can be a great asset.  If the wrong person is added, or is placed in the wrong position, it can be extremely disruptive to the organization.

Putting in place a clear process for adding team members is essential to grow your business and grow your profits.

Five D’s to Making The Right Hire

• Define what your business culture is.

What are the attitudes that you want in your business? What actions are you looking for? What is the level of competency that your business needs?

• Determine the type of employee your are looking for.

Know the type of person that you what in your business. Several qualities that I look for are: are they humble, are they honest, are they learners, and are they smart?

• Describe the job in detail.

This is an area that small businesses often overlook. I know you can describe the position to the potential team member but having it written provides both you and the applicant with clarity. Using KRA’s (Key Results Areas) is a great way to clearly define if a team member is winning in their job.

• Due Diligence

When you ask for a reference check with the person listed.  In today’s world most people won’t give you a bad reference.  What you need to hear is if the reference is enthusiastic about the person.  Try to find out if this person has Linchpin qualities.

• Dinner

A great way to get to know if this is the type of person you can spend a lot of time with is over a relaxing meal.  Involve your spouse in this time.  They can have some good insights into their character.

Hiring the right person for the right position may take longer but will lower the risk of needing to remove them from your team later.

Question of the Week: What would you add to making a great hire?

Quote of the Week: “Great vision without great people is Irrelevant.” – Jim Collins

Culture is making the invisible qualities of your business visible. Choosing the right areas to focus on can cement what you want your business to stand for.

Business culture blends beliefs, values, symbols, and myths that make up the way your business operates.  These core beliefs affect the way your business conducts business every day, using standard operating procedures.

5 Core Values to Build Your Business Culture

• Integrity

Are you a trust brand?  Is your business known for getting results?  If you tell a customer something, do you follow through? Is part of your core principle integrity?  If integrity isn’t part of your core value you will not have a business very long.  The number one quality of successful people is they have fanatical integrity.

Actions and attitudes make up the culture of a business.  None of us like working in a business that has bad culture. We all can recognize bad culture.  The question is what makes a great business culture and how do we make a great culture?  Having a good culture in business will help a good business become great.

The values that make up a business will either be directly chosen or will take shape on their own.

Force Culture

When you fly most people have a carry-on bag.  This bag needs to be stored in the overhead bin.  It never fits well. You have to force the bag to fit.  Fairly often the contents of the bag have to be forcefully shifted around to go into the bin. Culture is not any different than the bag; to reach the desired culture people may need to be shifted around or out.

Teach Culture

Teach what you want your business culture to be.  If you want incredible customer service to be part of your business, that has to be taught.  Businesses that have a great culture have high levels of communication.  Overshare what you are thinking about your business and what you want your business to be.  Understand what your team member’s personalities are and how your customers see your team. Don’t be afraid to communicate the obvious to teach the desired culture.

Recognize Culture

Too often we find what is wrong with our team members. That comes easily.  Too often that is the way leaders we worked for were taught.  To promote a great culture in a business find what is right.  If a team member takes care of a customer well, recognize them for doing a great job.  People repeat what they are recognized for.

Attack Culture

If your business has bad culture, attack the problem.  If you have a problem with someone being late sit in their chair until they arrive to work.  They will get the message.  The biggest problem is if you don’t attack a problem, by default you are sanctioning incompetence.  Champions on your team will leave.

Repeat Good Culture

The culture that you desire has to be repeated.  You can’t just stand up and say this is what I want.  The desired results have to be repeated over and over again. As you improve the culture of your business, it will become easier to find champions to employ.

To create a culture that is positive, customer centered, and focused on doing what is right in your business takes time.  From the very first contact with customers to the end product focus on teaching the desired culture. Turn your business from a good organization to a great organization.

Question of the week:  What are some of your key focus points you can implement in your business?

Quote of the Week:  “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” – Simon Sinek