We have experienced one of the worst recessions since the recession in the early eighties when the interest rates exceeded twenty percent. But, things are starting to look a little better.

Oh, it won't be a dramatic recovery but a rather slow, long drawn out one. Still, many businesses are now starting to reconsider hiring more employees.

Many astute leaders took the opportunity presented by the recession to weed the garden and upgrade their work force. Most businesses that survived this latest recession are much stronger as a result of it. Unfortunately some failed and did not make it. We must now be cautiously optimistic as we close out 2010 and enter into 2011.

That includes revisiting our hiring practices to make sure we learned from past mistakes. We need to make sure we don't recreate the same culture or level of complacency that we had to address in dealing with the recession.

Hiring practices will now require a more novel approach that gets right to the point of determining both competency levels and fit within the organization. A comment I often made during the height of this recession to CEO Strategist clients is simply --- "Average Performance is No Longer Good Enough." Burn that thought into your brain not only for determining value of current employees but include it in your thought process for new hires as well.

Start with Your Current Team

Hopefully you based any layoffs or reduction in force based on competency and fit and those currently employed by your company are the cream of the crop.

Many if not most organizations consider employees their most valuable asset. Unfortunately many don't walk the walk.  Anything the organization can do to retain and enhance those assets should be a top priority.  Employee development is one of the most important aspects of building and maintaining a successful organization.  This is especially critical as we recover form a recession.

Research proves when employees fail in their positions in more than 90% of the cases the failures are directly attributed to some aspect of human behavior.  Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills.  They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position.  If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential.

The Winslow Reports – Employee Selection & Employee Development Tools --- Miracle on Ice -- (It worked for the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team)

I found the Winslow Profiles & Reports Human Behavioral Assessment System and have been using and recommending it for almost two years now. This is an Internet-based system to measure the personality, behavior and attitudes of employees.  It provides feedback to organizations on their employee's behavior compared to the behavioral requirements for their specific position.

Winslow Reports™ are the result of extensive research and development initiated in 1968. The assessments provide employers with information used for hiring, promoting, succession planning, employee development, training, motivating, retaining and other employment issues. The Applicant Selection Programs assist organizations in selecting the best available applicants for any position from entry-level clerk to chief executive officer. The Employee Development Programs enhance the performance of current employees, by focusing on their behavior and performance in their current position with the organization thereby increasing sales, productivity, profits and reducing labor turnover.

This is an excellent tool to use not only in the hiring process but it provides tremendous value in determining if your current employees are in the right seat on the bus or whether they could provide more value in a different function. The user-friendly system enables management to administer their assessment activity and have total control over the process.  E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like to schedule an Online Demonstration and receive "Two Complimentary Personality Assessments".

Our Culture is Unique

During the hiring process, many business owners and  managers unknowingly seek the person who "fits in". Our culture is unique is a quote I often hear from many different companies. But, fits in to what? Without using some form of benchmark, tool or process, you run the risk of hiring average people or someone who may have succeeded simply because they were in the right place at the right time. In sales we refer to that as being a member of "The Lucky Territory Club".  Without analyzing the position and applying certain criteria necessary for success, you increase your chances for low productivity and turnover.

There is a lot of talk about employee development but very little specific training is available. It seems like success is dependent upon surrounding yourself with the right people and hoping they have the skills necessary to do the job. Compassion often prevents us from replacing those that don't have the skills in a timely fashion and very little coaching and mentoring support is available within the company.

A sad commentary considering that employee development and teamwork skills are critical to the effectiveness of the management team. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.

Pay Attention

Many company executives pay far too little attention to this part of their businesses,  employee development. Often the mindset is that this is the "touchy-feely" stuff that's a non-revenue producing necessary evil. That can't be further from the truth and it becomes even more important during a recovery period. What you can't afford is not having the absolutely best employee base as possible that performs well above average. That is how you gain market share and create competitive advantage.

During the interview process look beyond past success; why were they successful? What did they do behaviorally within that position that made them so successful? Does their past behavior match what is critical for the position you're trying to fill.

A bias that exists in many companies is admitting that employees are the most precious of corporate assets will lead to an anarchy on which owners and managers will fall at the mercy of the workforce. Well, shake your head in disbelief if you want to, but the reality of the situation is that you are at the mercy of your workforce.

The rules have to continue to change. If you aren't willing to admit that and get your head in the game then you won't be able to leverage what you have learned from this recession and be in a position to increase your competitive advantage.

Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution's "Leadership Strategist", founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that has helped hundreds of clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com.  Don't forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.

www.ceostrategist.com