SubscribeSMALL BUSINESS LEADER July 2008
"Lead Your Business to Success" ISSUE #107
July, 2008
In This Issue
One Page Marketing Plan
Event: Brain Exchange
Feature Article
Success Tip
Business Success System Course
Small Business Leader Marketplace
About The Publisher & Feedback
Quick Links
Past Newsletters
More About Us
Note from Marian:
As we celebrate this July 4th Independence Day, let's remember the men and women serving in our armed forces, many of whom are in harm's way. I've been a supporter of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) for many years. They deserve our thanks.
Our June Brain Exchange Roundtable was a lively learning experience for all at the table. Jasmine Sandler, Agent-cy, our guest expert, shed some light on and gave us a new appreciation for the complexity of online marketing. I guess that's why we need experts like Jasmine. And some good connections were made that evening.
July 22nd is the date for this month's Roundtable. Our topic will be "Finding Good Help: Staffing and Outsourcing for Small Business", with guest expert, Jason Boltax, HR Consultant to Small Business. The space limits us to 12, so if you can be in NYC on July 22nd sign up now to reserve your spot,
Staying focused on the theme of finding good help, this month's feature article is "The Keys to Finding Good Help". I've recently had the challenge of finding my own good help to move my business to the next level. Read more about my "staff" in my blog post, "Good Help".
The One Page Marketing Plan is a huge success. Earlier this week the press release was posted at PRWeb. I want very small business owner to know about it.
It's only been on the market a month and I'm already getting great feedback. It is such a bargain: $37 for the keys to having a marketing plan that works and gets results. Download it now, and see how easy it really is. Believe me; your business will thank you.
Whether you're grilling in the backyard, having drinks on the terrace or traveling to see new sights, have a beautiful and safe July.
To your success,
Marian Banker
Publisher
Small Business Leader
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One Page Marketing Plan
Everything you need to create a Marketing Plan specific and timely to your business. You'll be amazed at how easy it is when you know the exact steps to follow. It's more than an e-book; it's a "system"; based on the same take command principles used in all the Business Success System materials.
Read more...
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Event:
BRAIN EXCHANGE ROUNDTABLE
Topic: "Finding Good Help: Staffing and Outsourcing for Small Business"
Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: City Space Virtual Offices at 817 Broadway, New York City.
Guest Expert: Jason Boltax, President, JHB Human Capital Management.
Whether it's your first time seeking outside help, or you're a seasoned business owner with staff and contract providers trying to improve your operations and productivity, you'll find the answers to "finding good help" at this session.
Join with a small group of peers where we will learn from each other what's working and what's not. You'll have lots of time to share your experience. Put it on your calendar and join us.
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Feature Article
The Keys to Finding Good Help
By Marian Banker
Audrey had been looking for a Field Supervisor for months. She'd taken referrals from friends and family, posted at the colleges and on Craig's list. So far, no one had met Audrey's expectations. I was concerned that she would become discouraged and hire the wrong person to fill the job or would give up and continue to spend her own precious time doing the supervisor's job. So I helped her see why she wasn't attracting the right candidates.
The first thing she did was write out exactly what she wanted from this person. From that she created a specific and clear job description that was able to attract the right candidates. Once she posted it she finally found someone she believes will meet her expectations on the job.
The success of a small business is dependent on having good help. Without it, the business just cannot go to the next level.
Many owners have not had to hire or supervise anyone before, so they have no frame of reference for doing it the first time. It's an art and a science, to which I don't proclaim expert status, but over my years as a business leadership coach I've seen what works and what doesn't.
Here are the steps I recommend for attracting and keeping good help. It doesn't matter if it's an employee or someone hired on a contract basis, the principles are the same.
Know what you want and need.
I'd suggest you take a look at your entire business structure before deciding what you want and need. Where do you have gaps to be filled? The job or jobs should be organized to fill the gaps.
What tasks are you ready to hand off to a trusted helper who has an acceptable level of expertise? What is the personality of the person you believe will best fit this role? This is especially important if you'll be working closely with the person.
Action: Jot down what you want in stream of consciousness form (i.e. experience in my industry, experience managing a decentralized staff. Be sure to include the personal traits you seek (i.e. someone I can trust; someone who follows through, etc.)
Write a Job Description with built-in accountability.
Write a summary of the job and how it fits into the business. Then use bullet points to pick up the tasks and qualifying criteria identified in your preliminary draft. Regardless of whether an employee or an outsourced service, include a statement of how an assessment of service will be made based on completion of the job as described in the Job Description. For an outsourced service it would constitute deliverables. The form might be different, but the content is the same for staff and outsourced help.
Action: Draft a job description from your earlier notes. Give the job a meaningful title, write the summary, add the bullet points and the assessment section and it's done.
Let everyone know what you're looking for.
Once you know exactly what you're looking for you can tell everyone you know and everyone you meet. Be clear about the critical qualities so they'll refer the right people. Post it to the appropriate online bulletin boards and other job posting systems.
Action: Make a list of people you know you'd like to tell about what you're seeking. Contact those people by phone or e-mail to give them your update. Plan to make it a part of your conscious communication any time you're talking about business.
Pre-qualify
Know what you want; know what you don't want. Use that as the criteria to review resumes or proposals. If you're not finding any that pass the pre-qualification process, it's a clue you need to refine the job description.
Action: Have your pre-qualification list ready for when interest starts coming in. Follow-up only with those that pass the pre-qual. If none pass, update your criteria and try again.
Qualify
Here's where the decisions must be made. Do a check of your original criteria against what your final candidate(s) offer. Is it enough? If not, you should keep looking. It's better to continue things as they are a bit longer than to hire the wrong person. I'm a big believer in Jim Collins' philosophy in his best seller book, Good to Great: it's critical that you hire the right people.
Once you believe you've found the right person, find out what motivates him and be sure you can and are willing to provide that motivation. If you do you'll have a satisfied and productive employee. For more on this subject read my Business Success Article, "How to Attract and Keep Productive Employees".
Action: Finalize the terms with your candidate. A win-win arrangement is always best. If you haven't done so before find out what motivates the person. It might be the potential for profit sharing, a possible bigger role in the future, flexibility and freedom in their schedule. It's now your job to provide whatever that is. If they are satisfied they will be free to spend their time focusing on the job at hand. It's just human nature.
Listen to your instincts. If something troubles you about a candidate either resolve it, or pass on that candidate. Chances are you'll find out what it is once they start. You don't want to go there.
Get the person on board and on the team.
Many small business owners drop the ball by not integrating new staff properly. It's easy to just dump a job onto a new person with little instruction or orientation. And if the owner doesn't know what motivates the individual it's a recipe for dissatisfaction.
Action: Make sure the new hire understands his position on the team, what is expected of him, and frequency and method of reporting. If, like Audrey, you hire a Field Supervisor to maintain productivity of your field staff, a method of regular written reporting is the best way to know what's going on in the field at all times. It provides the discipline and structure that every successful business must have.
Set Clear Goals and Milestones
The new person needs to know the vision, mission and goals of the business owner. They have to buy in and feel they have an important part in making it happen. This will go a long way toward their feeling valuable to the team and having pride in what they do. It may sound corny, but it happens to be true.
Action: Make sure they know your company goals. And have the employee set goals for himself in coordinateion with the company goals. When all the pieces fit together well the business can work like a well oiled machine.
Finally, set milestones with timeframes where performance will be compared against job description and achievement of personal goals. Follow-up.
Provide Encouragement and Review
Don't wait for the annual review to give this person feedback on how they're doing. They need guidance and know they have your support. Definitely set up a regular time to meet with them, even if by phone, as a checkpoint against desired goals.
Perfection doesn't exist in anyone who is human. Errors will be made. Help them learn from their mistakes. Encouragement helps more than criticism. Of course, if errors become a way of life, it's time to take a harder look at the situation.
Action: It's definitely worth your time spending at least half an hour a week reviewing work, answering questions and giving feedback for the first couple of months or whatever you consider the probationary period. Doing this will let you know early on whether or not you've made the right decision. If not, you haven't wasted a lot of time and resources before cutting your losses and moving on.
Bottom line: the clearer you are about what you want and the clearer your communication about expectations, the closer you'll come to getting it. Be patient and know that the right person is out there for you.
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If staffing is an issue for you I suggest you take a look at the Business Success System Course, where we address your current issues immediately with a strategy and a plan.
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Success Tip
Success Tip: If you're ready to hire an assistant it can be helpful to start by writing your own job description first. Include only the tasks you want to keep because they use your strongest assets and are the tasks you enjoy and are good at doing. Assign everything else to the assistant. You may not have the luxury of handing off everything in the beginning, but use this as your guide.
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Business Success System Course
Want your own Personal Roadmap to Business Success? Take Command of Your Business with the Prime Strategies Business Success System Course. Gain the confidence to make well-calculated strategic business decisions in spite of challenges and crossroads.
Included is a step-by-step guidebook, interactive tools to organize your thinking and your actions, plus coaching audios to support you as you take each step in the system. It's totally risk f*r*e*e because it comes with a 100% satisfaction *guarantee*. Learn more...
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Small Business Leaders' Marketplace
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About The Publisher & Feedback
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER:
Marian Banker has been publishing Small Business Leader since January, 1999. Her focus is on bringing to the busy entrepreneur a quick look into the current world of small business from the perspective she's gained through coaching, consulting and training entrepreneurs in both service and product based businesses.
Marian offers individual coaching, business support groups, seminars and workshops on topics of critical interest to small business owners. Her monthly Lunchtime Telephone Roundtable has proven to be a popular way for business owners to come together around a specific business topic without leaving their office. See notice about this month's topic in the content above.
To learn more about her services, visit http://primestrategies.com.
FEEDBACK:
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