Kejian 168
Business & Management Resources
Archive for December, 2008
Are you the leader you would like to be? Do you have the necessary passion and competencies to become the leader you have the potential of being?
There are probably more books written on leadership each year than any other subject. They are written from a lot of different perspectives by a lot of different people who all seem to point out, consciously or unconsciously, that there is no single model of leadership. Compare a Mahatma Gandhi with a Jack Welch. Compare a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a Sir Winston Churchill. Some of the great leaders we knowby name, while others we know by results. Consider the passionate leaders of such outstanding organizations as Fannie Mae, 3M, Nokia, Gillette, and Sony. Read the rest of this entry »
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In most cases, the departing sales professional possesses certain competencies and attributes that have made them successful. Many sales mangers, when faced with the task of replacing these folks, search for someone just like them. This is a mistake.
Succession planning is the approach taken to evaluate the changing needs of the sales assignment. Review and analyze what demands the last salesperson faced and determine what has changed. Is the competition different? Is the marketplace different? Are your products and services changing? Is the required technology different? How about size and complexity of the territory and marketplace? What about global issues? What unique new competencies and attributes will be needed by the salesperson coming into the job that the past salesperson could get by without because of his or her experience and years of service?
Legacy planning, on the other hand, is different. One of the key findings that came out of the significant downsizing of the 1980s and 1990s was the fact that the majority of knowledge on how to do the job disappeared with the individual being downsized. Perhaps some of the first to recognize this were the managers in federal agencies during President Reagan’s term in office. As they reduced headcount, their effectiveness decreased.
Organizations operate on three communications levels. The first is the formal processes built into an organizational design. These are the SOPSs (Standard Operating Procedures) or M&Ps (Methods and Practices).
The second is the informal communications that bypass formal processes to get the work done more quickly. This conversation is in the hall or at the coffee machine, and it contributes a significant amount of functionality to a business. In fact, studies have shown that this is the channel by which the bulk of the work gets done.
The third is the social network or relationships that exist within a business. Friends network and help friends. Just watch who goes to lunch together or parties together outside of work. They may not realize how much communication pertaining to business functions take place in this environment, but the amount is amazing. Consider the last time you or your associates played golf. Business topics were part of the entire day’s conversation, and a lot of action items came out of the eighteen holes.
To solve this problem, excellent managers track the career progress of their sales personnel and determine when they are likely to move out of the organization. In preparation for this event, a plan is put in place to capture what these people do to be successful in their territories or assigned responsibilities. Perhaps they tutor a younger person. Maybe they document historical patterns of the customers. Whatever the process, make sure you capture what they know before they leave. This is legacy planning.
Preparing for turnover will allow you to stabilize the disruption that it causes. There will always be turnover, but some elements have created an environment of necessary change that has led to higher turnover rates. The new elements include:
- The need for constant change to keep a business healthy
- Value migration of customer wants and needs
- Technology
- Pace of business functions
- Definition of competition
- A changed relationship between an organization and its employees
- Mobility
- Demographic and cultural shifts
As you look back through the department’s records, try to determine what the turnover rate has been and, if the trend continues, what it might be in the future. Also try to determine the level of experience of the departing salespeople. Were they new hires, experienced, or ‘‘old pros”? Is the ratio changing? If the results are correct, you can now estimate the number of new employees you will need to fill in for the departing ones on an annual basis.
A goal is a vision of an end result that could or would be produced by an effort. Goals give us directions and milestones throughout our lives. Let’s look at three of the most important types of goals.
Organizationally Directed Goals
Of course the most obvious goals team members have, and the ones that will support the others, are the goals you and the organization have assigned to them. They can be a certain sales revenue attainment, skills development, gross margin attainments, problem resolution success, new territory expansion, product portfolio acceptance, and so forth. If sales professionals are going to be successful in their role, they must meet and exceed these goals. But another reason for achieving these organizationally directed goals is linkage to their other goals in life. What do you know about their other goals?
Personal or Life Goals
What do your team members want out of life? A personal goal could best be described as what a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. These goals might include financial security for their offspring, seeing the world, contributing to new knowledge, a certain level of religious attainment, etc. Even if you believe in reincarnation (my views seem to change as I get older), you only have limited chances in this life to achieve your overall personal goal.
Professional or Career Goals
What do team members want out of their careers? This may or may not be tied to the jobs they are currently doing and the company by which they are currently employed. Somewhere in their minds, maybe from a seed generated back in elementary or high school, they have a goal of what they’ve imagined they could be someday. It may be to write a great adventure novel or to open a charter fishing boat service in the Caribbean. Whatever it is, they will either be happy that their present activity supports growth in that direction or frustrated that it presents so many obstacles. You get only two or three chances in a lifetime to achieve professional goals.
If personal goals are dependent on achieving professional goals, we had better pay close attention to what it will take to help people in their career plans. The result, of course, is that they will justifiably feel that we are supportive of everything that’s important to them in life. To help them feel successful, we need to get a few more answers to key questions so that we can develop a career plan, not just a sales plan, for each member of our team.
- What competencies and attributes are required for the achievement of professional goals? What can you do to make your salespeople successful enough to advance toward their professional goal(s)? Up until now we’ve been concentrating on the skills necessary for them to be successful in their current role, but what about preparing them for the future? As their sales manager, you need to have a clear understanding of where they would like to go and what it will take to get them there. Visualize the future role they have in mind, hopefully in partnership with them, and identify the characteristics and competencies required for them to be successful in that future role. Read the rest of this entry »
Many corporations prefer that the human resources department handle dismissals to avoid any legal problems. You may not have this option. If you’re required to let someone go, please do it respectfully and intelligently. They are human beings and are experiencing one of life’s great unpleasantnesses.
First, no dismissal should ever come as a surprise. If you have been counseling the individual and have set very well-defined milestones and goals, he or she should clearly understand when the recovery period is over. Don’t waiver or avoid the issue. It just makes it harder in the end. Here are a few tips:
- Meet with your HR personnel first to get guidance.
- Make sure, once again, that you have all your facts straight.
- Retreat to a quiet location for the dismissal, but do it on company property if possible.
- Be precise and firm. Don’t drift around the subject.
- Be prepared for a defense or pleading. If you have done your homework, these will not change your decision.
- Do not blame it on others or add your regrets.
- If you believe it will be strongly emotional, have another person standing by outside the office.
- Do not tell the person he or she can keep working for a while. This won’t do any good and might intentionally or unintentionally damage your operation.
- Collect all the company property immediately.
- Document everything.
- Make sure the person can get home safely.