When you have the right people in the right seats life is beautiful

Next to selling something someone wants to buy, hiring the right people, and making sure they are in the right seats, is perhaps the most important thing you can do.

When you have the right people in the right seats life is beautiful. Work gets done, on time, on spec, just like it’s supposed to. When you have the wrong people, or they’re in the wrong seats, life is pretty miserable. The work doesn’t get done, or is done poorly. You are constantly on edge because you can’t count on the person and co-workers are unhappy because they have to pick up the slack.

So, how do you ensure that you’re getting it right? EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, offers a simple solution called “Right People / Right Seats”. In this article I’m going to focus on getting the right people in place. Next month I’ll discuss making sure they’re in the right seats.

The right people & core values

Think your best employees – the ones you really cherish. Now, think about the Core Values of your company. The characteristics, the traits, that you hold dear. I’m willing to bet that your best employees personify those core values. These are the “right people” for your company.

If you’ve not established your Core Values you should. They help define who you are as an organization. What you stand for, what you believe in. They describe your company culture. Core Values are characteristics like integrity, teamwork, customer-focus, or diversity. The 4-6 most critical characteristics of your company.

There is a whole process around defining Core Values that I’m not going to describe in this article. But you should absolutely go through this exercise. Once complete, you can apply these Core Values to your staff as a means of identifying the Right People.

People Analyzer™

EOS utilizes a tool called the People Analyzer to help determine this alignment. Below is an example for three fictitious employees:

With the People Analyzer, the Core Values are shown in the columns. You and your team will use a plus / minus grading scale to identify how well each employee exemplifies each Core Value. A “+” means that the employee consistently displays the Core Value in question. A “-“ means that they rarely do. And a “+/-“ means that sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

In this example, I’m using the EOS Core Values. As you can see, Maria is a star. The team gives her +’s across the board. David, not so much. In fact, he doesn’t get a + on any Core Value. Finally, Curt is somewhere in between. The leadership team needs to establish what EOS calls “The Bar” for this exercise. This is the minimum score to confirm that an employee is aligned with your Core Values. In this example, the team has set The Bar at three “+’s” and two “+/-‘s.” A “-“ is not Okay. If an employee gets a “-“ for any Core Value this is a problem.

It's a problem on a number of fronts. First, this person isn’t aligned with what you say the company stands for. That means they are not on the same page when it comes to the critical values you hold most dear. Second, other employees have, no doubt, already recognized this fact. The longer the “David’s” in your company are allowed to operate however they’d like, the more you lose credibility.

The dilemma

One of the biggest dilemma’s you might face using this process is the employee who scores below “The Bar” but is very effective at the technical aspects of their job. In the example we’ve been using, let’s say David is a Sales star. But he gets minuses in 3 of the 5 Core Values. David needs to be counseled to change his behavior or he has to go.

If David is allowed to stay, while continuing to disrespect the company’s Core Values, the rest of the company will suffer. Fellow employees see that your Core Values are meaningless. And they are likely suffering due to David’s behavior. It’s a tough dilemma with a clear answer. Start to quietly find David’s replacement, while working with him to change his ways. Either way, something has to change to ensure you’ve got a team of “Right People.”

Conclusion

Build a staff that aligns with your Core Values and you’ll have a company filled with the Right People. But that’s only half the equation. You’ll also need to make sure they’re in the Right Seats. I’ll describe how to accomplish that in my article next month.

Todd Thompson is President of Brighton Avenue and a Professional EOS Implementer. Todd’s focus is on business and marketing optimization. Todd focuses on helping companies grow by providing business and marketing consulting services. Todd has held leadership positions in several Fortune 100 companies and has led 6 firms in the last 26 years, participating in multiple successful exits. He can be reached at todd.thompson@brightonavenue.com or 216.496.7013.

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