“Don’t ask your people to do things they are not very good at.” ~ Steven Caldwell

When first working with clients, one of the biggest challenges is helping them with their organizational structure.  Many companies put and keep people in positions they are not very qualified to do or simply do not have the skill sets for.  Eventually these people either quit, are let go or, worse yet, linger in this position for years dragging the entire organization down with them.

Any business, your business, demands that you understand the fundamental requirements of every position and you find and assign the best person for that position based on those requirements first and nothing else.  As your business grows, the need to keep great people engaged, motivated and confident there is an opportunity for them to grow increases.  However, simply promoting anyone as a reward for their longevity or previous performance is not the answer.

To keep your team and business strong and your most talented and capable employees engaged for the long-term create a program for developing and educating them.  Here is the process I encourage clients to follow:

1. Have a clear definition of the roles, responsibilities and desired behavioral traits of every key position.
2. Know the personality, behavioral traits, and skills of every one of your team members.
3. Know what their professional goals and aspirations are, as well.
4. Make a commitment to continual development programs for these people to help them learn the skills necessary to reach and accomplish their professional goals.
5. Be honest with them.  If they do not possess the behavioral skills necessary to be effective in their “dream job” let them know that and what they need to work on to possibly get there.
6. Give them the opportunity to learn, develop, and demonstrate those skills in their current position, not practice developing them in their desired position.
7. Recognize that not everyone will be able to get to their “dream job” and help them identify and embrace their strengths to be most effective at what they do best.

The effective development of your team is one of the five critical factors to sustaining effective revenues in your business.  Make the investment to put a strong development program in place and stay committed to putting the right people in the right position doing the right things in your business.  The alternative does no one any good, including you and your business.

Dave Cooke has recently launched his program the Sustainable Revenue Formula™ (SuRF), which provides businesses a comprehensive formula for effective and sustainable revenue growth.  If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the white paper, “Revolutionizing the Future for Today’s Business”, please contact me: dave@salescooke.com.