Getting Staff That Can Help You Build a Formidable Company

By Soko Directory Team / Published January 27, 2016 | 7:52 am

These are the people that you choose to work with. These are your employees. These are the people who depend on you for their livelihood but your company depends on them for its livelihood. My teacher of business used to tell me that a business or a company is not built of concrete walls or by the products behind the concrete walls but by the people working behind those walls.

People, therefore, are the company’s only sustainable competitive asset that unleashes their full potential when motivated. Motivate the people you choose to work with and you will be left shocked by how fast and effective motivated people can work. The ability of your business or company to wade through the economic ups and downs and remain afloat solely depends on the kind of people that you choose to work and associate with.

A good business is a business that goes far but not that which goes fast. If you choose to walk alone in the world of business, you will go fast but you will not go far, on the other hand, if you choose to walk with others in this treacherous journey of business, then you will go far. So, which one do you want? Going far or going fast? However, how far you will go will be determined with the kind of people that you will choose to work with.

If one chooses mediocre staff, the results will no doubt be mediocre. If one chooses to work with hardworking and industrious staff, the results will be satisfactory and possibly exceedingly so. You can have the best products and the best company, but if you will have poor staff that does not know how to relate with your customers and clients, then your company will fail. What do people see when they look at your staff? Do they see your company’s values in them? Do they see quality? Do they see competence? Many customers will judge your products by looking at your staff. The simple rule here is that your staff is the first person who interacts with your customer. How they appear will define whether you get the business or not.

What do you have to do then? It is simple. Recruit the best. Make sure to ask yourself the following questions when you’re recruiting the people who will work with you:

Are the qualified to handle the job required of them?
Are they equipped with the skills necessary to take on the responsibilities demanded by the position you’re considering them for?
Do they have any experience for the job? This shouldn’t be a deciding factor. It just tells you how much supervision they’ll need.
Do they have a passion for the job they’re doing?

Some people argue that there is no ‘passion-ometer’ to measure whether an individual has passion for whatever job that they may be looking for. The easiest way to conquer this is by judging them on their performance. What value is that person adding to the company or your business?

Don’t be superficial when choosing who should work for you. Looks do deceive, especially for the ladies. I am not advocating for discrimination against the ladies and ladies should not take to the streets in protest because of this but many employers in he past have recruited wrong people basing their choices only on looks. Let looks not feature on your criteria for selecting good employees.

Do not compromise your business by taking a neutral position when it concerns the skills of whoever you want work for you. Don’t cripple your company even before it starts its journey.

“The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Do not recruit simply because you want to fill a position in your company or in your business. Know that an employee is an investment. You are going to spend money on them and, therefore, you have to make sure that your money goes where it deserves to. This implies that the staff has to be productive. To do this effectively, separate friendship and family ties with business. Do not hire someone simply because he or she is your friend or your family member and sacrifice professionalism and quality at the altar of tribalism and nepotism. If it is a must you hire your sister for instance, who has studied theology to run your business, then take her back to school to undertake a business course. Always remember that it is in no customer’s best interest to follow and subscribe to products, services and company whose employees use crafty ways, display openly the unprofessionalism in them and hastily sell products and services that they themselves barely understand.

Article by Juma Fred.

About Soko Directory Team

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system.Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory

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