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6 Reasons Why You NEED A Business Coach TODAY

By Business Coaching Entrepreneur Motivation No Comments

It certainly isn’t easy to start a business, run it successfully and become the ideal entrepreneur that you know you’re capable of becoming. Our ever-changing world can be unpredictable, often demanding time, effort and energy – which all need proper allocation to ensure that you remain efficient in every aspect of running your business.

One thing that is certain – an unavoidable truth that every business owner is aware of – is that improvements can be made in your business, social and personal life with the help of a business coach. No bullshit.

And you know that a business coach will make all the difference in the world if:

  1. You Feel Like You Could Develop And Grow As A Leader and are in need of powerful tools and techniques to improve your relations and ability to motivate staff, as well as yourself.

I’ve been there before and it isn’t always easy to grow without proper nourishment. Being that it is lonely at the top, you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know who to look to for new ways to grow and evolve. It can be hard to juggle the many things that you find yourself wrapped up in, so finding new techniques and methods to turn you into a better leader is often the last thing on your mind.

That’s why I come prepared with modern, relatable and easily digestible advice, bringing speed and nourishment to your development. I have the experience, tools, knowledge and techniques to bring you closer to your staff and to that status of an impactful and proud leader.

  1. You Need Someone To Push You And Make You More Accountable as you would feel more driven and find comfort in having somebody around to keep you on the right track.

It’s not uncommon to find that having a friend or partner around with the same interests helps to extract the drive to accomplish more. It’s sometimes hard to be in a position where you feel stagnant and have the final say. I have people that I do running with that push me to try harder and create a sense of accountability if I dare to be lazy or feel like giving up.

You’re certainly not alone if that’s how you prefer to operate. Yes, it can be difficult to find somebody that truly understands your position, that you know you can trust and relate to, but there is a silver-lining. As someone that knows the importance of an exemplar, I can do exactly that for you, while pushing you to excel and take responsibility for your actions or inaction.

  1. The Struggle Of Work-Life Balance Is Real and you’re struggling to find that perfect ratio in order to keep you from tearing at the seams.

Time acts as a commodity when running a business and it can be difficult to figure out when to take a break or to keep pushing. I’ve made the mistake of pushing myself too hard when I was a business owner, literally to the extent of causing harm to my mental well-being.

Therapy helped with that and I now know how valuable creating the right balance is when dealing with that stress. I can relate in many ways. Don’t wear yourself thin and let someone like me help you make sense of the pressure that you feel yourself dealing with. I’ll help you understand your goals and ambitions, offering a course of action to help you achieve them.

  1. You Have Plenty Of Ideas And Great Vision, but need an objective soundboard to give you critical feedback and constructive criticism, because when you’re all the way at the top, it becomes harder to find people without ulterior motives to bounce ideas off of.

Whether it’s an employee that you think you can trust, or even a family member, the sad truth is that most people act in their own best interest. You’re in a position of power and people are aware of that, so they tend to stroke your ego, instead of being authentic.

Having to deal with sycophants can be a real pain in the ass. I know it all too well. That’s why I prefer to be blunt and avoid sugar-coating my feedback to clients. At the end of the day, we all deserve transparency and the truth. It can be refreshing to receive clarity instead of an arse kissing at every corner.

  1. It’s Hard To Determine What’s Really Important in your daily activities, what you need to focus on and what to do next.

Keeping your finger on the pulse at all times can prove to be difficult. As a business owner, it’s hard to rely on your staff to keep all of the different verticals in check, so you need to be aware of and involved in everything that goes on at all times.

Finding order within that chaos can be challenging, especially when you’ve taken on such a tremendous responsibility. That’s where I come in. I’m fully aware of every aspect of your business that needs attention, so I create and implement processes in an organised and uncomplicated manner that gives you the relief that you’ve been craving.

  1. Your Motivation Is Starting To Dwindle and you need a catalyst to give you more clarity, joy and hope in what you do.

As time progresses, you find yourself with less and less motivation, enjoyment and interest in what you do. You might not know what the next step to take is and require a change of pace or direction to keep you hooked. I know that feeling all too well. It took me years of doing the same routine until I snapped and my motivation shattered.

Finding new and interesting ways to make things exciting is something that I have also struggled with in the past and it’s something that I’m always helping clients deal with. Sometimes a refreshing new perspective, strategy or change in pace is needed and I can bring you that energy and relief.

By refreshing your perspective and re-igniting your passion, I bring new perspectives and approaches to catalyse your personal development. You’ll see and feel business through a shiny, new lens.

Bonus Reason #7:

+ Your Company Lacks A Differentiating Factor that will advance your growth and separate you from the pack.

Everything that you do has the chance of reaching a point where it becomes stale and sometimes it can feel like there’s an expiration date looming in the near distance. You find that everything is coming to a stage of mediocrity and your business feels boring and needs a certain something to help it stand out from the competition.

It may seem like your business is similar to milk at this stage; it was delicious, full of promise and packed with nutrients, but all milk spoils and begins to stink after a while. And I can change that. I’m not saying that I’m Jesus or anything, but I can certainly change your business from bitter milk to a fine wine; even tastier, far more beneficial, sought after and on a path of maturation, rather than expiration.

If you seek moments of greatness, sparks of excitement and enthusiasm, a fresh perspective, and more enjoyment around running your business – then I think it’s time…

… It’s time to get off your ass and mount that stallion; take charge and embrace the speed, comfort and strength that you know you deserve.

I’m certain that you could do with some real coaching, from a real business coach that knows how to keep it real. Make sure you get in touch – you know I’m what you need:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growth Is More Than Just Profit!

By Business Coaching Consulting Leadership Motivation No Comments

Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the martial art Aikido, once said: “Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.”

And I couldn’t agree more.

Growth is fundamental to our existence as human beings and even more so as business owners. It takes discipline, focus and ambition to initiate growth in not one, but all of the many facets in our lives.

Seeking challenges and development on a personal level strengthens us in many ways; it moulds our understanding and sharpens our intellect, it builds our intuitions and perspectives, it breaks down barriers and gives way to opportunities, and it brightens our pathway to an often opaque future.

While business owners are hard-wired and driven to achieve growth in profits and revenues, seeking growth in other crucial areas of business and life is just as important.

So what other areas should every one of us be nurturing and focusing on?

Let’s take a look.

Five Important Areas That Should Always Be Growing 

As a business coach, I engage with many different clients that have a staunch focus on growing their businesses mostly towards a better top-line and profits but find that not enough interest is placed on personal growth, staff growth, networking and credibility, and the processes that drive success within their business.

Businesses should inherently be on a journey of growth, while also providing value for their shareholders. It’s important for many different areas to constantly be in a state of growth and development for not only the staff, the clients and the entrepreneur, but the owners, too.

It’s so important for every business owner to constantly be challenging him/herself, building on new and existing areas that are always in need of progress.

So what areas should we work on growing and improving?

Personal Growth:

The number one investment that anybody can make is in themselves. Putting in the energy, time and effort to enhance and develop yourself is one of the greatest things that you can do for your business and for your life.

We all determine what personal growth means for us on an individual level and what I might deem important for my growth might differ from the next person.

Whether it’s spending money on education, learning and exploring new skills, reading more to better your understanding, or spending time with interesting people that you don’t generally interact with – each and every one of us should constantly be striving for personal progress.

There are different areas of personal growth that you should always look at improving and enhancing, such as expanding your network and engaging with other entrepreneurs, or specialists in different fields to build beneficial relationships; taking courses or lessons to advance your existing skill set and any other interests that you might have; and working on your lifestyle to either spend time discovering or enjoying your passions and interests, as well as taking care of your health in terms of diet and exercise.

One of the absolute best ways to develop yourself and your business is by having a business coach, so keep that in mind when you’re looking for a place to start.

Your People: 

Taking the time to grow and develop the people that work for, and with, you is just as important. Your employees are absolutely critical to the success of your business and investing in them shouldn’t be considered an expense.

If your staff are constantly growing in terms of their skills, network and knowledge, then your business will become far more efficient and productive.Giving promotions or raises isn’t necessarily enough to motivate them to get the most out of their roles, but educating, training and exposing them to new areas of growth will go much further in creating a far more enjoyable and powerful work culture.

It’s important to realise that supervisors, managers and other staff members also need to develop their approach to leadership to get the absolute best out of their team, as well as themselves. Take good care of your people and they will do the same for you.

Processes and Policies:

Having outdated processes and policies can slow down your business and the functionality of your staff and your returns. Seeking new ways to improve your processes through the use of technology and other tested strategies will enhance productivity, employee and customer satisfaction, as well as reduce risks.

Tasks and processes that often require a lot of repetition waste plenty of time and effort. If certain processes can be automated or approached more effectively, then looking into modern methods should be prioritised to get the best out of your staff.

The same applies to the satisfaction levels of your employees and your client-base; if employees are able to focus on more important processes within your business, then they can produce much better results for your company and for clients.

By avoiding outdated technology and processes, you also avoid far more risk. Human error, fraud and slow information transfer can be harmful to your business in terms of both security and revenue. Growth in this area should be a high priority for you, as it will make operations far safer and smoother for everybody involved.

Clients:

Spending the time to grow your relationships and interactions with clients is highly beneficial for any business.

The experience that your clients have with you will either make or break your brand identity. Evaluating which of them you love and which of them you hate can help tremendously in your approach to growing the relationships that you have with them.

Loads of research and literature exists to prove just how important customer/client satisfaction is for any business and ensuring that you constantly strengthen your interactions with them is absolutely essential.

Remember that existing clients are more likely to spend more with you and that word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool in this day and age, so treating them in remarkable and unforgettable ways will go far in the development and growth of your business.

Exposure and Credibility:

Making the effort to develop your credibility and the perspective that outsiders have of you and your business is a very important facet of being an entrepreneur.

If people are to see you as unreliable, inconsistent, or unremarkable, then you’re sure to have problems. The first thing that comes to anyone’s mind when talking about your business can ultimately shape its success.

You need to constantly be building your credibility and exposing yourself to different audiences in strategic and impressionable ways. Leaving a good and lasting impression on anybody that you interact with, whether staff, clients or strangers, will strengthen your position in their minds and improve the perspective people have of you and your brand.

Growth in this area can come in the form of achievements that your business has made, through positive and impressive testimonials, as well as your ability to be authentic, reliable and consistent.

Seeking growth in areas other than just profit will make you a much better business owner at the end of the day.

So make sure that you focus on these different aspects of your business and embrace the benefits that come with the nourishment and care that you provide to your clients, staff, processes and yourself.

My role as a business coach is to give you all of the necessary tools, supplements and nutrients that are essential for your growth as a business owner. Let me be the person to bring about those improvements in your business, as well as your life and I’ll see to it that you attract success in everything that you do.

When you’re ready to bloom, then be sure to get in touch:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

 

 

Doing It For You, To Doing It Together – To Now Doing It Yourself

By Agency Business Coaching Innovation No Comments

The vast majority of my clients run service-based businesses. This means that they sell time in some form or fashion – be it through consultants, graphics designers, or media specialists – and are quite used to taking a traditional approach when a client approaches them; “you need something done, we’ll do the work.”

But over the last couple of years, there’s been a large migration towards the productization of particular services; an attempt to convert a service into some kind of product or process for the client to be more involved in.

This new approach allows for the service provider to make the same amount of money according to the result, as opposed to the time it takes to provide the service.

It’s a clever new strategy that changes the narrative from ‘I, as the provider, do it for you’ to ‘we, the provider and client, do it together’ to ‘you the client, can do it yourself (with a bit of help)’.

Giving You The Tools To Do It Yourself

With technology transforming the way that we do things, especially in business, it’s safe to say that there will be newer and more effective ways to provide solutions to clients. Many service-based businesses are finding exciting ways to wrap their service into some sort of product that the end-user can use to produce results by themselves.

Traditionally, the provider would have to engage in manual processes that take up a lot of time, effort and engagement. However, over the last 10 years or so, we’ve seen technology involve the client in more and more of the processes required to get the job done – with the provider and client working together to save both time and energy.

Now with artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing becoming an integral part of our lives, we see these processes move into the hands and space of the client. This means that, with a bit of guidance, the client can do the work by themselves and have better control of the outcome.

One of the biggest questions that sit on the minds of these companies is “instead of charging time, how do we charge a flat price and automate some of the production within that service that the client is either aware, or unaware of?”

This has led to different companies discovering a loophole in the system and taking full advantage of it: Instead of the traditional approach of the provider doing the thinking, research and hard work, there’s a shift towards pushing the client to do most of the heavy-lifting with assistance from the provider.

An example of this is in providing the service of conducting interviews to gain insight that will later be put into a report. Instead of spending hours in a room asking the same repetitive questions and writing down a shit load of answers – making use of Google Forms to extract that information is far easier to do and brings about the same results.

Other than the ease-of-use, it’s a major time- and cost-saver for the provider.

With technology advancing these processes, instead of charging for time, you charge for the output – resulting in the same profits, but less work from the provider.

By adopting this method, service-based businesses are able to help guide and advise the client on the best route to take when they need a specific problem solved. It not only helps the customer create a more suitable solution for him/herself, but also makes the job far easier to do for the provider, while freeing up time to do more tasks and make more money.

Sure, it might not be suitable for every business, as some services need special expertise to execute a task, but this approach has certainly made a significant impact on the service-based industry as a whole.

And as a business owner, this is great news for you.

Making it a priority to determine whether or not your service is capable of a similar conversion will improve efficiency, productivity and overall profits.

With the ever-expanding landscape of technology, certain jobs will become far easier to do through automation and it would be pure sacrilege to not look into this new approach.

If you’re too conservative and prefer the traditionalist approach, then you might just lose out on these new opportunities for growth – as well as the advantage of being at the forefront of introducing new productised services to the market.

There are so many examples of these productized services, including: design-as-a-service, where you’re able to make your own custom designs through application-based tools and templates; marketing-as-a-service, where you can market and sell products/services through simple and effective features on the web; and even customer-support-as-a-service, where one company handles customers from different businesses, while still providing them with a great customer experience.

The world is quickly adapting to this approach and you should consider jumping on the bandwagon if you want your company to remain relevant in the years to come.

Let customers and clients do it themselves.  

Sure, there might be a few coaching-as-a-service companies out there, but none can quite compare to the way that I do things.

You see, technology hasn’t quite captured the essence of a highly-effective, caring, energetic and experienced business coach, just yet.

Maybe it will happen someday. But, all I know is that I’m here to stay and can make a superb difference in your business and your life.

Get in touch and I’ll prove it to you: +2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

The 8-Layered Approach To Business Strategy

By Business Coaching Entrepreneur Strategy No Comments

In unpacking the most suitable strategy methods for my clients, I make sure to have them thoroughly understand this approach and how to apply it to their thinking in order to achieve some kind of business objective in the next 12 months.

This strategic approach is split into 8 layers that provide insight and analysis into the goals and measurements required to get some solid work done within a particular window period.

Let’s take a strong, hard look at how exactly it works and in what ways it will help your business shine.

 

The Situation, The Victory Conditions And The Goals

 

When looking at this multi-layered approach, there are first a list of questions that need to be asked and key information that needs some sort of identification.

Taking a look at the very top of the approach, you’re welcomed by the need to identify the current situation you’re facing in your business:

This is done by taking a look at some important factors like understanding your risk analysis using all of the right tools; where you sit financially from a cash-flow and liability perspective; understanding what the market looks like in terms of risks and trends; ensuring that you have the right product set for the market at this particular time and where you are in terms of producing your product; and finally, what the current state of your suppliers and staff look like.

Begin with confronting and truly understanding the current situation you’re in and answer all of those particular factors that apply.

The next piece to look at is your shareholder’s victory conditions:

Identify and think clearly about what the shareholder wants to achieve long-term (around 3-5, or 5-7 years); then mid-term (the next 12 months); and begin to unpack what winning and success looks like from a shareholder’s perspective in the next year of engaging in this strategy. When identifying what’s needed at this stage, you look at what winning looks like and by a set deadline, ensuring that you have all the necessary goals that need to be achieved at a particular time.

The third fundamental piece of information that you need to provide before moving on would be the actual business goals:

In finding the best way to go about this, make sure to break it down into a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal); what would be the single measurement to confirm that you’ve won or succeeded in the next 12 months? Would it be winning a certain account, getting x amount of people or clients, achieving x amount of turnover – it needs to be something that’s measurable.

Take it further and find your SMART goals (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and Time-based) and then set those objectives based on each business vertical, such as sales, marketing, operations, HR, finance, the product and the rest of the departments in your business.

After identifying your situation, victory conditions and goals – you can now decide what the initiatives are that you need in order to achieve these objectives.

 

Initiatives, Thrusts And Impact vs Effort

Based on the situation that you’ve analysed, the victory conditions that you’ve identified and the goals that have been set; it’s time to decide on the key strategic initiatives that will be run over the course of a year.

This takes your 12-month goal or objective and has them broken down into four key strategic initiatives that become a quarterly break-down of the year (3 months per initiative). Each of those quarterly initiatives can be divided further into thrusts for each quarter, which refer to the particular things that need to happen in each quarter to get closer to achieving the final year-end goal.

If you manage to complete all four initiatives, you’ll complete your goals.

It’s important to list what you’ll be doing in each thrust (usually 2-3 thrusts per initiative) and achieve them to move on to your next 3-month initiative. However, this can become a little bit difficult to manage all of these things, while running the business on a day-to-day basis.

So, I suggest putting those thrusts into an impact vs effort quadrant, where you can determine whether each thrust is either: low effort and high-impact; low effort and low-impact; low-impact and high effort; or high-impact and high effort.

You’re looking to find the low effort, but high-impact work and pay attention to that, leaving the high effort, but low-impact work to do last.

We want results that we get the most amount of impact from, while doing minimal effort. This has you focus on that first, then on high-impact, but high-effort work; thirdly low-impact, but low effort; and lastly, work that is high effort, but low-impact.

It becomes easier when you can decide which of those thrusts are more important to work on now and which ones can be focused on or left for later in the year.

 

Tactics, Resources, Sprints, Then Control and Measure

Once you’ve established and categorised the thrusts into appropriate positions and which of them will take priority, you can shift your focus toward deciding which tactics, resources and weekly measurements are needed to get those thrusts done.

There may be a need for particulars to get the jobs done, like: people, money, tools and applications, time allocation, smarter marketing – paying attention to the tactics necessary for completing the thrusts in the most effective way.

After identifying those required tactics and particulars, I suggest breaking it down into weekly sprints; figuring out what you’re going to be doing every week (sometimes bi-weekly) to try and push the business forward to achieve the thrust. Then at the end of each quarter, to re-evaluate those initiatives and take another look at those thrusts.

And last, but not least, as you’ll find in every strategy is the control measurement phase:

Identifying when you start doing these weekly sprints, how well the implementation of these actions are working and what other actions need to be taken to achieve the desired results. Paying attention to the what, how, who and when; how do you know it’s actually working?

You don’t want to get ahead three months, look back and say, “that was a waste”. So, it is important to step away from it on a monthly basis and look carefully at what’s been done over the past four weeks and ask yourself if you’re closer to achieving the thrusts and whether or not you need to speed things up, slow things down, realign, or just cancel.

Like with every strategy, you can (and should) always adapt, accordingly.

There you have it!

An 8-layered approach to a solid strategy that will have you achieving your goals like Christiano Ronaldo.

Speaking of goals: you should include me in one of them. Get yourself a powerful and kick-ass business coach that will take your business all the way to the top.

We can hang-out sometime, have a chat, a meeting, a sit-down and discuss where you see your business going in the next couple of years.

It’s so easy to reach me (almost too easy):

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

STOP re-inventing the wheel.

By Coaching Entrepreneur Motivation Skills

Across all of my clients, all of whom are business owners, there are similar frustrations relating to their businesses and growth challenges. They have all adopted the “innovation “ hype and are desperately looking for new ways to re-invent their companies, products and systems.

 

There is nothing wrong with innovation but not a single company has checked all the basic boxes that every company, regardless of service or product, should have.

 

You see, every retailer, manufacturer, agency and professional needs to have accounts, measurement, sales and/or marketing, procedures and systems for themselves as well as legal compliance.

 

There is an unwritten law that states that 80% of every company is the same and the remaining 20% is made up of product, service and culture. 80% is the same. Eighty percent!

 

So why are you spending so much time on getting the 20% right when the 80% will keep you alive and thriving for longer? Getting your accounting in order, your sales in order and your internal communication sorted will allow you to sell an average product with B-class employees for a long time, freeing up cash to allow you to work on the 20% that matters in the long term.

 

Now I’m not saying you should employ B-team staff and sell second-class services but having an amazing product offering and the world’s greatest team won’t automatically mean you will have a successful business.

 

What you don’t know, you don’t know, but why are you spending so much time, energy and often money, trying to work out new systems which have been refined a million times over by a million other businesses? Stop trying to re-invent the wheel when all you should be doing is peddling faster and beating the opposition.

 

Your business has the following major functions in some respect regardless what you call the roles:

 

  • Finance and accounting

  • Reporting

  • Human resources and culture

  • Sales – New business and retention

  • Marketing

  • Public relations

  • Production

  • Procurement

  • Distribution

These make up the 80% I mentioned earlier. If you can get these running well for your business and best arrange the right people around this, you have a business that will make money often in spite of the product and related market. There are very few, truly unique businesses out there, yours included, and that is okay. I would rather back a “me-too” business that has great structure, concise reporting, a strategy that is implemented and staff that get things done than a business that has the smartest business model and service, that lacks the other 80%.

 

Take a look at your 80% and ask yourself:

“Why am I always trying to re-invent this wheel when I could ask someone to show me how to do it?”

8 Ways to Make Your New Staff Onboarding Process better.

By Coaching Entrepreneur Interviews Motivation Skills

Hiring is good–it means you’re growing. But when a company doubles or triples in size in a short timeframe, onboarding new hires can quickly derail the schedules of your managers and existing employees. How can you make sure you’re training hires to make the right decisions without slowing down the entire team?

 

1. Record your foundational materials and assign each employee a mentor.

The biggest thing is to record the foundational training that repeats for each new employee. There’s no reason to have your company’s trainer do live trainings one-on-one or even in small groups when a video can do just as well. Transcribe these video and audio recordings. Reading is still the fastest way to take in information, so organize your training library so that employees and contractors can go back through multiple times at their convenience. Repetition is the mother of all learning, but repetition has to be done right–otherwise, it’s a waste of your company’s resources.

Once the employee has gone through the foundational training material, assign them a mentor. They’ll address unique questions and give insights into the trainee’s specific role and how best to fill it.

2. Create a web-based one-stop shop for new hires.

A membership site is a great way to get new hires acclimated quickly. This should be a destination for new employees to find everything they need to know about working at your company, including standard operating procedures, what technology the company uses (e.g. performance tracking apps and communication tools), company values and even the most popular post-work hangouts among coworkers. You can also include quizzes for tracking progress.

The idea is to make the onboarding process as smooth as possible and set new employees up for success by giving them vital information before their start date. By the time they do get started, they should be able to hit the ground running.

3. Slow down and test before you hire.

Hiring is difficult. The best answer is to slow down. If you try to take on too many people too quickly, you will inevitably hire people who are not in sync with your organization’s mission and values. People are the life force of any organization, and if you make a mistake it can cost you far more than if you slow down the process to find the right people.

At my company, we rely on a best-in-class intern program that is operated in association with institutions such as the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The interns have access to the executive team, the board and our partners. The program allows us to field test potential employees by offering each intern a real-world problem to solve.

4. Clearly articulate your vision on day one.

Be very explicit about your company’s vision, values and culture. By doing this you’ll know that new team members align with your vision, and they’ll be able to contribute more quickly. You need to give new employees a good foundation based on your vision and then empower them to make decisions about how to achieve that vision.

5. Train your employees to train others.

Time is the most important asset we have in our lives, and especially in the business world. Highly skilled employees can transfer their knowledge to new hires, expediting the process that it would normally take a new employee to get up to speed if they are only trained by management. Allowing new hires to “pick the brain” of senior employees is beneficial to both the employees and the company as a whole.

6. Hire multiple people at a time.

As an entrepreneur, there is nothing more important than your time. So whenever my company hires, we hire in multiples of at least two. By training multiples of the same position, you maximize your time and provide an environment that promotes sharing and learning together. We have found that these employees make a much quicker impact than hiring/training one at a time.

7. Don’t skimp on having a leader do some training too.

Your other team members can help a new hire get up to speed, especially with company culture and day-to-day basics. However, you or a manager should spend some time in the first week or two orientating the employee and drafting up the first order of business for the new hire.

While you don’t need to hand hold, it’s imperative that you invest a little time upfront to help them fit in. You’ll waste much more time and money with a high turnover rate, so it’s worth a little extra time at the beginning. In fact, many HR and retention research validates this point. After they’ve got some orientation, make sure to draft up some work they can get started on so they’re busy and feel like their work is meaningful.

8. Develop a comprehensive training program now.

Give every new employee a ramp-up period to get up to speed with your product, the market and the nuts and bolts of their specific role. You should also have comprehensive training materials ready for every employee you bring on. These materials should include information about the competition, functional learning and Q&A sessions with other relevant members of the team. Having a great training program also helps attract the best employees, as these are the ones who want to learn and grow along with your company.

 

This article originally appeared on http://www.inc.com/

The Law of Three: You should know this!

By Business Coaching Interviews Skills

When you start the process of interviewing for new staff members, you should always refer back to the Law of 3:

  • Interview at least three candidates for a job, comparing and contrasting their qualities and characteristics. Check their suitability against your stated requirements. You would be amazed at how often people forget to do this.

  • Interview the candidate you like three different times: the true person is revealed once you get beyond the initial interview.

  • Interview the person you like in three different places. Brian Tracy of the American Management Association says that people have a “chameleon complex.” They appear a certain way in your office in the first interview and then seem to act and react differently when you move them to different environments.

  • Have any candidate that impresses you interviewed by at least three other people on your team.

  • Check at least three references from the candidate. Ask specific questions around their strengths and weaknesses and whether the referee can tell you anything to help you make a better hiring decision. Ask them whether they would hire the person back. If the answer is not an unequivocal “yes,” be cautious.

  • Check references three deep. Ask the given reference for the names of other people the candidate has worked with and talk to those people, too. You may be surprised at what you learn.

Interviews are the start of the most important function in almost every business and should be taken seriously and never rushed.

Should you want more info on building a successful interview process, please contact me here