The 5% That Determine Your Company's Success
A lot of people believe that hiring the right people and giving them the right resources are paramount to the success of your company. Sure, those are important aspects to consider, but it's much more than just laying out a hand-crafted plan for success. There is an industry magnitude to this wisdom that we must also focus on: personas. Personas are not bad or good, they exist in both camps by necessity. They represent a small percentage of your total employees who make up an overwhelming majority of everything you do as well as what you're capable of achieving. The end goal becomes having these people at your company and having them running circles around their competition in whatever field they choose — whether it's customer service or software development.
As the size of your company grows, it becomes increasingly harder to know the true personas of the majority. This is where knowing your 5% comes in.
The 5% that determine your company's success: The Most Important Employees To Hire
You've been hired for a job at your new company, and after a series of interviews and tests, you're about to be introduced to an executive team that will make or break you. Your first impression won't always be the last impression, but it will have an impact. That presentation should not be wasted on explaining just how they were capable of hiring you and the rest of their social media strategy — they'll get all those details later. This presentation should be about you and your expectations, because every single executive wants to be reassured that they've hired the right person. If your first presentation is not effective, you're lost on their radar and will never be a person of interest in their eyes again. This isn't a "do or die" situation because there have been many people who have recovered from bad first impressions, but the point is simple — the stakes are high.
This is where the 5% come into play: chances are you'll be meeting with executives that know exactly what they want out of their employees and can find them in any industry if needed; as long as you're willing to change for the better.
This 5% is not an exact figure, and it does not reflect the performance of individual employees equally across the board. Since this is a company-wide discussion, I will use the generalities of my own experience as a basis for these 5%.
The first thing to consider is your most important employees — they might be the ones that have already made a lasting impression on you throughout your initial interviews. The other thing to consider is how much of a difference they make in all areas of their job and how much better they could potentially make it. For instance, the most important people in customer service are the ones that give great service to the customers. But going a step further, one of the most important people in customer support at a high level is one that talks to other executive representatives about raising quality service among all departments.
What kind of personas do you look for at your company when selecting new employees? For every position, what are the main things you look for in candidates?
I don't have a simple answer to this question because it's not as simple as choosing a specific talent or skill set. In most cases, I consider the candidates to determine if they'll be team players, high-performing individuals and great people to learn from. If I can't spot these qualities in how they act, how they ask questions, what they do and their overall demeanor, then hiring them won't work out well for me.
The level at which the employees remain with your company depends on their performance and the amount of effort they put in. The higher up you go at a company and the more important you become in a position, it's harder to let someone go or transfer them around. You actually have less flexibility to do that than lower level positions. This is why you want to make sure you're hiring top performers and leaders who will give you the results you want.
It's simple, really — your 5% are the most important people to hire at your company, as they determine your company's success. While it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly who these people are, there are some signs that will help you determine them by their actions and general habits. That's why understanding your 5% is an important part of running a successful business.
What is the difference between success and failure at your company?
Success is achieving the goals that are set out by a company, whether they be business or social in nature. Failure, on the other hand, is when those same goals are not met or exceeded.
Failing to achieve your goals as a company or organization can be attributed to many different things — not having the right people in place with the right ambition and drive. In addition, your execution and understanding of all aspects of your business may be lacking, which will lead to poor performance overall.
You could also fail because you don't have the resources needed to succeed: money, people and supplies, just to name a few.
Ultimately, you won't always know what your goals are as a new company; the only goal that matters is profitability. You need to find out what makes your competitors successful, and why it's resulting in their commercial success. This is the easiest way to determine exactly where you stand and how you can compete with them.
You can also set internal goals for your employees, centered around their performance and personal character. Internal goals can help motivate employees to perform better throughout every aspect of their position — if they're not in line with these goals, then they may not be right for the job.
When it comes to success vs. failure, your company will always be a work in progress, and there will always be new goals and new needs that need to be met.
Where should I place my focus for achieving my goals?
Each person has different goals, whether they're business or social in nature. For example, your top employees may want to make more money, get promoted within their department or even change their position with the company in order to advance.
In a vacuum, you can create charts and charts with outlines of how each employee decides to achieve their goals — but it's important not to forget about other people in the company that might also have separate objectives. This is why it's important to focus on the 5% at hand and make sure they're being successful, but remember that there are always hurdles to overcome and when you might need to re-prioritize your goals.
In most cases, the number one goal of any company is profitability. Everything else — whether social or professional in nature — will have to come second. The only thing that matters is hitting your profitability goals, and this can be done by either diversifying your products or joining new markets and finding new ways of making money.
Because of these factors, it's not too hard to determine who you should be hiring and who you should be promoting within your company.
Conclusion
It's important as a leader to understand what your 5% are, in order to determine who they are and why they're so vital to your company. Not every company will have the same personas in place, but you should always be able to find a way in which your most important employees can make a huge difference in the success of their department and the company as a whole.
That said, I recommend that you take some time thinking about this article or even writing out your own list based on what you've learned here. Go through each point and determine how it applies to your situation at work.