Does your team leave you feeling frustrated?

Many business owners put a lot of thought, time, and energy into hiring. They craft a set of requirements, look for referrals, review resumes and interview candidates.  They evaluate skills, read references, and carefully make the best hiring decision they can given the information available. And then they hope for the best…

But often, after a few weeks or months, business owners feel:

• Frustrated by the lack of results and wonder how to make the most of the team
• Concerned about how much they are paying for how little they are getting in return
• Stressed because managing the team actually limits their ability to work effectively
• Bogged down in the details and tired of the challenges

The fear begins… that they will have to go through a nearly endless cycle of hiring and firing until they find the right people to get the results they need. It doesn’t have to be this way.

The cure for your frustration is hiring profitably.

As I talk with business owners and study teams, I notice patterns.  The frustrations associated with hiring and building teams are common, and so are the solutions.

Situation :: Talent and ability aren’t giving you good results.

You hired talented people and you know they have the ability to do the work you set before them.  You give clear, detailed instructions and try very hard to give your team the tools they need to be successful. But, somehow they always misunderstand your intentions and fail to deliver what you expect. The quality of the work is good, but it just misses the mark somehow.

It’s as if they speak a different language or have different priorities for the work. You’re SO frustrated…and no matter how you try to improve your communication, things don’t really improve.

Analysis: Your team has the skills, abilities, and tools to succeed. But, they don’t truly understand your requirements. That’s not the issue. Your problem stems from a mismatch of core values.  Your priorities and those of your team don’t line up. They are lovely, talented people, but they don’t feel as strongly about the mission of your business as you do.

Situation: You feel like you’re losing control – and not in a good way.

You really don’t like to micromanage. You wish you could just assign tasks and responsibilities and leave the rest to your team. But, you can’t because you simply can’t trust people to take action. So you hover over them, asking questions and micromanaging every step in each process.  You are tired of constantly following up and “babysitting” people, but it seems to be the only way to get things done properly and on time.  Delegation feels like a fancy way of losing control, and you just trust your team enough to let that happen.

Analysis: While it may be true that you simply hired the wrong people, this situation is more likely an indication that you haven’t inspired your team and shared the mission of your organization.  They need to understand the importance of their work, see how they impact your customers and your entire organization, and feel empowered before they will take ownership of their role.  

Situation: You are the bottleneck in your business.

You decided to build a team because the workload in your growing business was becoming overwhelming. You never had time to be creative, launch new products, or think strategically about the future.  So, you hired a few experts to help you with key tasks you could delegate. But, things haven’t worked out as you’d planned.

You thought your team would work independently and seek out one another to collaborate and solve problems.  Instead they come to you every time they have a question, a challenge, or need guidance.  They rarely interact with one another, and instead you are the bottleneck in your business. Instead of creating freedom, you’ve simply made more work for yourself.

Analysis: Each member of your team has a relationship with YOU, but they don’t have relationships with each other.  Rather than working together, each one looks to you as the source of direction and guidance. This problem could have been prevented by a system of intentional onboarding – so everyone understands their place in the team.

Hiring profitably moves beyond skills and abilities to include core values, patterns of performance, and intentional onboarding.

If you’re feeling frustrated with your team, bogged down in the details of getting work done, and unsure of the value the team is creating for your business – you need to adjust your hiring and onboarding process.

Hiring profitably is one of three super important skills you will want to develop so you can scale your business and build a high impact team. This month I’m offering a FREE training – Hiring Profitably – the Essential Step You’re Missing – and I’d love you to join me!  You can learn more here.