Come As You Are - Developing Employees

If a person does not have the talent or experience needed to help a business or department operate better, there must be a good reason to provide a job offer. There is potential along with some other attractive attributes that garnered the attention of the interviewers. Ultimately this is a project on top of the ones that are expected to produce results for the company. It requires management, extreme oversight and guidance - all of which take time that most claim to not have.

As NFL team executives gather and pick players from their draft board today, part of the evaluations that have taken place over the last nine months is knowing that playing a position in college is different than playing professionally with stronger adult bodies. The speed and explosiveness from college can transcend but the ability to play within the rules of a team's playbook at a professional level can be troublesome. In these cases, the potential and the attributes combined can sway a General Manager and Player Personnel team to take a chance and draft a developmental player.

Here's how to be prepared for what is involved in developing employees.

Know the turnover rate and the areas that experience the most churn. For positions that have less longevity, create a blueprint with a skills map that can be used to develop employees in this area. The employees that learn in this area will more than likely be committed to the company, work harder, be dedicated to prove themselves, and stay longer.

Set a timeline for the development project. No company can afford to develop an employee forever. There has to be a timeline for when that person must show themselves worthy or be shown the front door. If the goal is to outperform competitors in a region by next year, that's three to six months allotted for the person's growing pains. If the team's goal is to prepare for a veteran to retire or experience dwindling performance in 2 years, the position coordinators have roughly one training camp and one season to devote the time to this player.

Create a performance tracking plan with key milestones. You must be able to evaluate how well the person is doing, what is being learned, how effective the work has been, the ability to work with others, and the displayed character. The plan should be transparent and discussed frequently to allow improvement in areas deemed as weaknesses as well as maintain strengths.

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Posted in: developing employees,effective hiring,employment,employment practices,Hiring,hiring and firing,New Employment,NFL Draft,sports business,talent acquisition

NFL Black Mondays - Insensitive or Smart

BLACK MONDAY

Black Monday is the day after the last games played during the NFL's Week 17.  

The season has ended and owners are not pleased to have missed the playoffs and a quest for the Super Bowl.  Depending upon the organizational structure of the team, the coach and/or the General Manager can be fired for missing the mark across numerous areas - losing seasons, poor coaching, inadequate draft picks, and volatile personnel selections.  After all the future of the team depends on great talent acquisition, playing towards the strengths and dimming the weaknesses, and understanding when change is necessary to find the way to win.  More correctly put - the future of the Head Coach and the General Manager rests on the ability to determine the best solutions to develop or maintain a championship-caliber team.


If every CEO truly evaluated his company's staying power based on its performance or lack thereof, there would be more focused and motivated employees dedicated and committed to excellence because being fired is a viable option.  It appears to be okay in the sports industry, especially the NFL.  But in corporate America, would this be insensitive or smart?

It is smart because it would force every job to be created and supervised with clear measurable goals that could not be sidestepped.  While performance evaluations are an antiquated way to track the development of an employee and work best for organizations that force camaraderie, collaboration and teamwork, clear metrics like the number of products and amounts of services sold, ROI on marketing initiatives, reduced expenditures, customer satisfaction ratings, and number of systems or applications created are well-defined.  It would remove the under-performers quickly so that they don't have the chance to stay on payroll with no function.  It would also remove the shock that government and large Fortune 500 employees experience when there are layoffs that potentially cut into their pension-earning benefits.  

The insensitivity only comes into play based on how the firing is done.  A text message, voice mail, or conversation immediately before a major publicized event is unprofessional and disgracing.  However, advanced notice is great with a constraint to allow 2 hours to remove belongings in quiet while others are not around with a bonus and payment until the end of the contract or whatever is negotiated for the severance package.  
A person who did not perform to the boss' liking is may be a better fit for another organization.  Rex Ryan will more than likely do well with the Buffalo Bills, Jim Harbaugh will succeed with the University of Michigan after his stint with the 49ers, and John Fox may find his way with the Chicago Bears after missing the Super Bowl run with the Denver Broncos.

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Posted in: Black Monday,effective hiring,firing,hiring and firing,leadership,Leadership Skills,NFL,sports business