I had another conversation with a business owner this week, which revealed just how critical it is to choose the right people for your team. Running an indoor painting business on the North Island of New Zealand can be tough work, and over the last 10 years, they've had over 67 employees. As I listened to this man talk, his words and demeanour words revealed the exhaustion and frustration from managing a revolving door of staff. The wind blown from his sails and drained his desire to keep his business going.
There has to be a better way.
How Can You Screen Your Team for Success?
Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, hits the nail on the head: "Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”
It’s about more than having a vision; it’s about having the right people to execute it. When enthusiasm, courage, and productivity are met with untrustworthy staff or ineffective screening systems, the result can be overwhelming.
“The cost of mis-hiring in a typical Fortune 500 company is up to 15 times the person’s base salary in lost revenue, customer relationships, and morale."
Bradford Smart, Topgrading
We need tools, protocols, policies, and effective screening techniques to build successful teams. Impressive resumes can be deceiving, and polished interviews will have everyone on their best behaviour. As Angela Duckworth points out in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, “Talent counts, but effort counts twice.”
Look First, Listen Later
A well-pressed suit and polished shoes certainly create a good first impression. Articulate sound bites can inspire and impress, but I pick grit and determination over a smooth talker any day. People who are hungry to learn and improve for the sake of feeling more confident and competent on the job, are worth their weight in gold.
EFCOMM, a sales and marketing company in Auckland, exemplifies effective team screening. Given the nature of the job (door-to-door sales), they use action-based obstacles and metrics to measure a candidate's willingness, courage, and communication skills before bringing them on long-term. Starting team members off on a probationary period with specific targets, measures whether the person’s talk will match their walk when it matters most.
"First who, then what—get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to drive it."
Jim Collins, Good To Great
How Odoo’s ERP Boosts Employee Satisfaction & Morale
You want people who get things done—they finish what they start, and focus on actions over words. It’s better to have people willing to get dirt in their fingernails and sweat on their brow making things happen, than to have a well-ironed suit deliver long theoretical soliloquies.
As a manager or business executive, it’s your job to create a framework that values and facilitates production. This is where Odoo's suite of applications comes into play, providing the tools you need to streamline processes.
Odoo Recruitment helps you establish clear recruitment policies and procedures. You can easily track an applicant’s progress through the different stages of your hiring process, and observe how well they meet your standards to ensure they qualify for the kinds of communication, production, and responsibility you need.
Odoo Employee can track your team member's different skills, competencies and work history once they come on board. By assigning them to a clearly structured organizational chart, you establish clear guidelines for production and communication flows, throughout your organization.
Odoo Appraisal is perfect for scheduling and organizing regular reviews and performance feedback opportunities. You can set and track team goals, create customized templates for appraisals, and review performance in any area. Clear expectations, measurable goals and support boost you team's confidence, commitment, and production.
Odoo eLearning allows you to develop effective training programs, team challenges, and project management tips for success, etc. These can be easily organized within the eLearning module, making it simple to lay out step-by-step online training programs. Track your team members' progress, measure their understanding, and test their knowledge with quizzes and assessments. Certify your team members upon course completion to validate their training and qualify them for the job.
Odoo Survey offers valuable tools for regular reporting and feedback. Setting up customized surveys and feedback forms allows you to get insights into your your team members' experiences. In a business culture that promotes open communication, these tools help create a more efficient and productive environment.
Every business should set itself up for success with a scalable ERP like Odoo. Choosing “good” employees starts with being able to create clear policies, performance monitoring metrics, regular reporting, and an environment where people are honestly encouraged and motivated to communicate in order to enhance the overall team’s success and well-being.
Odoo boasts a whole host of apps for enhancing employee relationships, but reach out, get in touch, and let’s find out which ones will work best for your business.
This is your call to battle:
Technology is moving at breakneck pace, and the future seems hard to predict. But the fundamental truths about teamwork, productivity and morale will never change. So choose your people and chart your course! Your business is the ship, Odoo the compass, and we are your battle mates in greeting the future strong and shining.