People - You Can't Make Them What They're Not
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.