The most successful entrepreneurs we serve build their success through a combination of their own hard work and by building, leading and keeping high performing teams. In this special guest post, entrepreneur business coach and consultant Mitch Pisik shares an executive summary on protecting one of your business’ greatest assets, its people.

Ike Devji

A Company Is Known By the People It Keeps

By Mitch Pisik

– “A” Players hire “A” Players

– “B” Players hire “C” players

– “C” Players will put you out of business

The primary responsibility of a business is to stay in business. A sustainable and flourishing world-class enterprise must build a world-class Team. There is no alternative. No Plan B.

How to Attract, Hire, Inspire, and Retain a world-class Team – is a challenge for even the most established and iconic companies – and certainly for smaller, newer, and start-up enterprises.

ATTRACT:

If you want to get on the radar of the best potential employees – then you better become the Employer of Choice.

– Be known as a Results-Focused Organization.

– Be known as an outstanding place to work.

– Be known as the company where your employees are raving fans.

Network throughout the community – and let people know your Philosophy of Leadership and your Vision for the Business. Have a compelling story – emphasizing your positive differentiation.

– Mentor young executives.

– Join prominent Boards of Directors.

– Be a guest lecturer at local universities.

Create ample “Friends of the Firm”: a critical mass of influential people who know you, your firm – and are inclined to assist you in your employment challenges.

– Fellow CEOs and professionals

– Professors at local Universities – who will enthusiastically recommend you and your company to the great candidates they know.

– Instituted a diversity and inclusion policy – which further accelerates your competitiveness.

HIRE:

Only offer a position and compensation that makes sense for BOTH the company and the candidate – carefully considering their current career arch.

– Hire the Attitude and teach the Aptitude.

– Whether an interviewer or the interviewee – Be interested and interesting.

INSPIRE:

It’s a Leader’s responsibility to increase the average quality of the Team with every hire.

Multiple studies have proven that a Leader should spend most of his/her time with the best employees – for multiple reasons.

Don’t treat others as you would have them treat you – treat others as they want to be treated.

The #1 reason most people leave a company is because they believe their immediate boss does not understand and accordingly doesn’t appreciate nor respect what they do.

Catch your employees doing something right. Be specific.

Create a culture with a higher purpose, and the work will have a compelling impact.

The greater the sense of:

– Teamwork

– Camaraderie

– Pride

– And a winning attitude and atmosphere

the more success you will have in inspiring your Team.

“We hang together or will be hung separately”.

Ideally your employees like and respect you. If, though, you must choose one – always pick RESPECT. Always.

People will follow…

– a Leader,

– a Winner,

– someone they trust,

– and they trust has a great plan.

The first step in inspiring employees is to hire inspiration-able employees.

A passionate and motivated employee can and will be inspired by a strong and effective Leader.

RETAIN:

Virtually everyone wants to do an excellent job. If they’re not performing, it’s almost always because

1) they are not trained

2) or they are not trained correctly.

What it takes to keep your employees happy and encouraged does NOT vary by generation as much as many people believe. New graduates are seeking much the same as those who have been in the workforce for over 30 years.

It really centers around pride. They are looking for:

– a sense of fulfillment

– having an impact,

– being part of something that’s bigger than themselves,

– and an opportunity to

o learn,

o grow

o develop

o increase skillsets,

o engage in a vast set of experiences

o and expand their

§ self-worth

§ commercial-worth

It’s imperative to play to your employees’ strengths. There’s an abundance of data that clearly illustrates that it’s a substantially more productive use of the employers’ time to focus on improving the employees’ strengths than it is to attempt to shore-up weaknesses. If the weaknesses don’t fall below an acceptable threshold – let it be.

Show you care.

“They don’t care what you know until they know that you care”.

Mitch Pisik is an award-winning executive coach and business consultant who works with Fortune 500 executives and entrepreneurs of both established and start-up businesses. He was a serial CEO, having turned around and grown four private equity portfolio companies in addition to his previous roles as an executive at multiple global companies including Kraft, Newell-Rubbermaid, Novartis, Gerber, and KPMG.

For more information contact him at Mitch@Pisik.consulting  or at 631-943-5275.