Wolf Gugler Executive Search

Category: Management Tools

  • What you can do to grow your business during a downturn.

    Treat your “A” players like they’re “A” players.
    Make sure they’re aware you value and appreciate their efforts. Ask them for feedback on how their perceptions of your company’s business and general marketplace. Take their input seriously. Keep them happy and disinterested in looking at alternative employment

    Consider upgrading your staff
    Can you make it through the tough times with just “average” players on your bench? Our experience dictates that tough economic times usually results in our business mix transitioning to a greater number of confidential replacement searches. The sad but true part is that through no fault of their own, a larger number of top-level performers may be available.  Tough times call for tough measures.

    Challenge your employees
    If you haven’t already, consider using cross-functional training. During tough times, promotional opportunities aren’t always available, but an assignment that demonstrates to an employee that you’re still committed to growing them often leads to loyalty during these periods.

    Hold regular employee business update meetings
    You don’t necessarily have to share your bottom line results, but keeping employees aware and abreast of the current company’s state will lead to less rumour-mongering and water cooler speculation as to how the company is handling a slowdown. It’s also a perfect opportunity to solicit their thoughts as to what retrenching measures, quality improvements or customer experience enhancements you may consider to differentiate your company from your competitors and keep the doors open.

    Practice, don’t just preach an open-door policy
    If employees are aware they can turn to you without fear of reprisal, they’re more likely to remain loyal to you.

    Upgrade your employee hiring process
    Improve your screening and reference checking processes. Ensure you have a good position profile thought through and written prior to interviewing prospective candidates. In my experience, many employers take the “ready-fire-aim” approach to hiring because it’s intrusive on their day to day functions and responsibilities. Taking the time to make an effective hire will avoid disastrous results down the road.

    For example, consider giving your finalist candidate(s) an assignment to measure their understanding of your business needs. It will help you avoid the halo effect during interviews (that is the person whose personality and joviality has you forget about asking the serious questions you need answers to).

    Be thorough in your reference checking (or call us to take care of this for you). Obtain their permission to check references and when doing so, ask the tough questions. You may be surprised as to what a referee will share when asked a direct question about performance, motivation, attendance or personal issues affecting their work.

  • The Importance of a Good Job Description

    One of the most important pieces in the entire recruitment process is the Job Description.

    When considering an addition or replacement to any staff lineup you have to ask yourself, have we clearly defined the role and responsibilities of the position?   Most jobs are pretty self-explanatory right?  Sales representatives sell, accountants count and merchandisers, merchandise.  It all seems pretty simple – not quite so.

    How many times have you heard, “it’s not in my job description.”   We can resolve this problem quite simply.  Every individual within the organization or on your team needs a job description.

    A clearly defined job description clarifies the role and responsibility so that everyone knows exactly what he or she is supposed to do and what the company’s expectations are.

    The importance of a job description:

    • Improves the corporate culture as it is clear what it means to do a “good job” and what it means to “go above and beyond”.
    • Assists in the recruitment process.  By clearly defining the role you are looking to fill, it is easy for potential candidates to understand your expectations of them.
    • In addition, the candidate gets a sense of the definitive career paths within your organization.  Individuals more junior can see early what it takes to secure a job more senior than their own, if that is the route they want to pursue.

    A good job description will:

    • Explain the major functions, duties and responsibilities of the job.
    • Highlight the specific skills that are most relevant to the job.
    • Explain what it’s like to work in your environment.

    A job description will rarely be a laundry list of every single task associated with a job.

    As a business stakeholder, manager or owner you are likely responsible for defining the roles of those who work within your organization but you don’t have to go it alone. Invite those currently executing the job to provide feedback on what they think their job is and what it should be. This can be a very revealing exercise!

    In most cases, job descriptions do not need to be overly complex especially if you are a small company.

    With excerpts from www.expertbusinesssource.com

     

     

     

     

  • Being an Assertive Manager

    There are many of us who aren’t assertive by nature, but we’ve all seen and commented about managers who let others “walk all over them”. It’s not necessary to be a bully to get one’s point across to these types of employees, and not necessary to terminate them either. Rather, it takes an assertive approach to making them understand who’s in charge and what the consequences are for poor behaviour or under-performance. Here are a few pointers that may make life easier for both parties:

    First, remain calm; showing excitement or hostility will simply escalate the situation. Second, qualify whether the employee is being difficult due to being aggressive, passive or assertive.Aggression is simply one who doesn’t budge on an issue and likes being hard on people. They’re difficult when they like to place roadblocks to productivity. These types will not take action to resolve a situation and aren’t typically confrontational. The passive person is usually noticed due to their inactions. Don’t confuse this though with someone who simply made a mistake.

    Third, do respect others’ rights and look for compromise if it’s appropriate. If you want others to listen to you, you better have listened to them, even if you disagree with them. Sometimes being an assertive employee is fine, if they  stick to the facts and don’t let a situation deteriorate into a shouting match or retaliation.

    There are different types of assertive statements that can be used in different situations:

    Factual; offer a straightforward response that makes your thoughts very clear with no misunderstandings.

    For example, “I need you to be at the meeting tomorrow by 9AM” leaves no room for misunderstandings.

    Expressive; showing your negative feelings on a specific situation, without becoming emotional, e.g. “I get annoyed when you tell my staff what you want done; in the future, I’d like you to check with me and I’ll delegate the tasks to the appropriate person.”

    Empathetic; “I know you’re swamped with customer service issues, but I just need five minutes with you to go over this sales proposal.”

    Responsive; finding out what the other person’s thoughts on a situation are, e.g “what do you think our chances of winning this piece of business are?”

    Differing; “We do expect weekly sales call reports, but yours have been monthly; we do need them weekly to track our sales statistics.”

    Understanding the difference between being assertive and confrontation can, in many cases lead to better morale, productivity and make you a respected leader in your organization.

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