Why can’t they just do their job? We know leaders can think this about struggling team members, and we know some say it aloud, like two CEOs at a recent seminar we hosted on leveraging AI and selling successfully in today’s digital landscape.
When the seminar discussion moved to sales team performance two people said they wished that people would just do their job. Frustration when regular tasks do not get completed is natural, and a leader’s response is to look for a solution. People issues can be deep and complex but before throwing up your hands in frustration make sure you have a good match between the position and the person. In this case, the CEOs gained significant insights into what they could do to change success patterns in their sales teams by focusing on the people and their roles.
We outline four areas to focus on to ensure a person’s success in a role. Before you hire, or if you are working with someone who is not performing, do the hard work of creating a proper job description that captures items 1, 2 and 3, and then do your best to ensure that the proper support (item 4) is in place.
4 Job Success Factors
1. Profile Match: This comes first because up to 50% of success factors for a sales person (and we believe other positions) relate to profile match.
- Do not skip or breeze over profile requirements. We can all adapt, but a big picture person who makes quick decision will eventually burn out if they are doing data entry every day.
- Numerous assessments are available to measure personality profiles, many specifically designed for jobs like sales, customer service, analytic work, executive leadership etc. Use these to design the position requirements and find the right candidate.
- The specifics are too many to mention here, but they will include analytical versus big picture thinker, outgoing versus reserved, team player versus independent, emotional intelligence, pace, decision making style, attention to detail …
2. Motivation:
- Create clear goals and metrics for success including an aligned compensation plan.
- Sit with the person for a human-to-human conversation to determine if their personal values and goals align with those of the company and the specific position. If you get this right, it will help bridge short-term gaps in other areas.
3. Skills & Knowledge:
- Many of these requirements can be learned if you are willing and patient enough to bridge identified gaps.
4. Support:
- Expand this as far as you need to ensure success but be sure to consider onboarding; tools; processes; manager competence; coaching or mentoring.
With focused thinking to get the requirements right and patience to find the right candidate, successful execution of your plans will move to the I don’t need to worry about this category.
