W hen I speak with leaders of business about challenges and opportunities, there are usually two themes that rise to the surface. The first revolves around revenue, market position, branding, etc.—any and all of the topics that relate to revenue growth. The second dominant topic is people. There are impassioned discussions around building a team, motivating an organization, and the obstacles and lack of resources to do that.
I’ve focused a lot of late on marketing, advertising and revenue growth. Let’s spend some time on the people side of the equation. When a group of Hartford area executives did that recently, the conversation was anything but inhibited.
Everyone agreed that it begins with the hiring process. Jim Collins of “Good to Great” fame describes it as getting the right people on the bus. Simply put, invest the time up front to hire the right people. Understand your company culture, what and who drives success currently, and the characteristics associated with success. Then focus your attention on hiring people who have those personal characteristics that would align well with success in your organization.
While no two organizations are alike, two suggestions that resonated with many in the group were competitiveness and urgency. They defined competitiveness as the internal motivation or drive to get things done, and to be the best you can be at doing it. Urgency is an external recognition of a situation, realizing the importance and need to get things done quickly and accurately. The group concluded that building an organization with competitive people who propel that competitiveness with a sense of urgency produces tremendous advantages for the company in the marketplace.
Cut Through The Fog
Another best practice that helps with empowerment and motivation is the ability to set clear expectations. Leaders frequently have to tell rather than ask so that the desired outcome is clear to everyone. Part of that process is setting clear expectations and communicating those expectations clearly. The stronger the clarity of expectations, the higher the probability that you will get what you ask for. An added benefit of hiring the right people is that the more you expect, the more you will get.
In day-to-day activities, recognize accomplishment. Embrace progress as it occurs, with a preference for gradual improvement over delayed perfection. Sustainability is the key. If individuals and teams are self-motivated, that is the engine that drives empowerment. The fuel that sustains empowerment is recognition.
An often overlooked best practice, but one that strongly supports clarity and fairness, is keeping score. Enlist input and collaboration from team members, identify measurements that rate performance and drive desired results. What are the one or two metrics that really matter in your business? Measure them at the team and individual level, using a scoring method that employees can recognize and work toward.
Three simple practices – hiring the right people, clearly setting and communicating expectations, and recognizing accomplishment – are great foundation blocks for building a great organization. And as in any complex structure, movement in one area will always impact something else. In business, focus and success in hiring great people and empowering and motivating them drives growth and revenue.
Ken Cook is managing director of Peer to Peer Advisors, an organization that facilitates business leaders helping each other. You can reach him at kcook@peertopeeradvisors.com.
