People - You Can't Make Them What They're Not
by Alan Fairweather
Published on this site: July 1st, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Many business people and managers are spending too much
time trying to change the underperforming people who work
for them. They seem to believe that if they train people tell
them what to do or even threaten them with the sack then the
performance level will go up.
The successful manager concentrates on developing the strengths
of his team members not trying to correct their weaknesses. Sometimes
you have to manage around a weakness, but you can't make people
what they're not.
Some years ago I decided to improve my golf by taking some lessons.
A friend and I spent some hours with a professional golfer and coach
at a local country club. This was really useful to me and I did
get better. However my friend Robin hadn't a clue. No matter what
the pro told him to do, how to change his stance and his grip, he
could hardly hit the ball.
If you'd given Robin a hundred lessons and threatened him with
a gun, I doubt if he'd ever have completed a round of golf in less
than two days. Robin is a successful lawyer and makes a lot of money,
however a golfer he is not.
So if you have a sales person on your team who isn't bringing in
the sales or a production engineer who isn't making his quota, then
you have to make a decision. Is this person not producing because
they don't have the ability because they need more training or because
there's another reason?
You can read more about coaching and other reasons for non performance
in my book "How to get more Sales by Motivating your Team"
but for the moment it's important to understand that the individual
may not be able to do the job.
They may tell you they can do the job because they're unwilling
to accept defeat; however I've known people in sales jobs who shouldn't
be in sales and doctors, plumbers, lawyers and engineers who were
also in the wrong job.
What you need to do is get people who can't do the job into a job
that they can do or get them out of your team.
I joined three companies as a manager and in each case I inherited
team members who didn't have what it takes to do the job. I'd usually
find three categories of people in the teams The first group were
the 'good guys,' the ones I knew could do the job and wouldn't give
me any hassle.
The second group consisted of people who needed a bit of looking
after, watching closely and definitely some coaching.
The third group were the ones didn't have either the skills
or the characteristics to do the job and no amount of training,
or anything I could do, would change that. I would often find
that these people, due to their lack of success, weren't exactly
happy in the job anyway and were sometimes only too pleased
to be transferred to another position.
I hear you saying "easier said than done Alan" and you're
right. But the successful manager needs to address these issues
for the good of the team and the business.
The successful manager concentrates on strengths not weaknesses.
It's vital to give your people feedback on their strengths
and also on their weaknesses. However these should only be
weaknesses that you know the individual can do something about.
It's a waste of your time and effort trying to sort weaknesses
that can't be sorted. Some people just can't build relationships
with customers; others can't work as fast as you need them
to and others can't write a report to save their life.
Your most productive time as a manager will be spent giving feedback
on strengths and how to develop these even further. Many managers
spend the majority of their time with team members trying to resolve
weaknesses. They then don't have the time or sometimes the capability
to give feedback on strengths.
Discover how you can generate more business by motivating
your team! Alan Fairweather is the author of "How
to get More Sales by Motivating Your Team" This book
is packed with practical things you can do to get the best
out of your people . Click here now http://www.howtogetmoresales.com
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