New rule: Hire passionate people.
Old rule: Rank your players and always go with the “A’s”.
Ranking Employees
This approach to Human Resources is a byproduct of the internally focused obsession with “efficiency” and “productivity”. In these environments, Lean and Six Sigma (and other such improvement philosophies) become a monster and living, thinking, feeling people are reduced to statistics on a spread sheet and a slice on a pie chart.
This not the way to bring out the best out in your people nor is it the way to stimulate loyalty from your employees.
Find the “Right” People
Instead of “grading” and ranking people, first you need to be sure your recruiting mechanisms are designed to be a filter that lets the right people in and keeps the wrong people out. The “right” person is someone who naturally shares and believes in the values of your organization. Secondly, this person will have natural enthusiasm and passion for the mission of your company and their individual contribution to furthering that mission (i.e. their job).
I read an article the other day about how to “motivate” your employees. The author argues that the key to motivating your employees to be their best is by using the techniques of: job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. These three techniques will only pay of in the long run, only when you have hire people who are naturally passionate about what it is your company does. It’s the difference between “I love my work” and the “it’s just another job; it pays the bills” attitude.
Job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment will provide maximum benefit to those employees who genuinely believe in the overall purpose and motivation of the business – they will associate job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment as new ways to contribute to the team. For those employees who see their work as “just another job”, in the long run (in most cases), changing where they work or changing what they do won’t suddenly create passion in them. If an employee isn’t driven from within, you can’t manufacture this drive externally.
Natural Enthusiasm
This passion for your company and their new job cannot be faked or manufactured. It exists naturally or it does not exist at all. It’s not possible to make a meaningless, unfulfilling job meaningful by changing the environment or work pattern – you’ll be creating the illusion of career growth or job satisfaction, but it’s still an illusion!
People who work for Microsoft, Apple, Toyota, FedEx, Nordstrom and Merck, for example are historically beyond passionate about their work and the company they work for. They are fanatical. It sounds a little bit scary but it’s true. It’s like a cult – you either fit in or you don’t. You either absolutely (genuinely and naturally) love what it is we’re about or you don’t. If you don’t fit in, no hard feelings and we wish all the best for you, but you might want to seek employment else ware.
These companies have figured out ways to filter all recruits so that only the “right” ones get in and succeed and all the wrong-fits are screened out very early in the hiring process.
These employees need no motivation. Association with the organization, what it stands for and their ability to contribute to the company’s success is satisfaction enough.
In these environments, there is never a need to rank employees against their peers. Instead, the employee is graded against themselves. All evaluations and reviews are geared towards increasing their skill set, so the employee has new and increased capabilities to simultaneously grow and contribute to the mission.
Passionate Side Effects – Increased Profit
The biggest side effect for having the right employees working for your company is superior levels of customer service, which automatically creates buzz, viral marketing and rapid word-of-mouth referals, which brings to you new customers at a much smaller investment.
Passion Rolls Down Hill
Again, you can’t manufacture passion. It has to be natural and real and it absolutely has to start at the top – president, owner, founder, CEO, etc. Every successful company always has at the top a passionate, visionary leader who radiates with natural, balanced enthusiasm. Charisma, tough negotiator, problem solver, multitasking skills, etc., all pale in importance to a leader who absolutely believes in what the company is trying to accomplish, other than making a dollar. This conviction is what creates the environment that causes other passionate people to follow.
Copyright 2006 Christopher A. Gayle & Capital Genesis LLC ©. All Rights Reserved.
