Hiring “A-Players” Isn’t a Strategy

Read time: 3.5 minutes

Your business can grow without hiring the best talent possible.

The unicorn. The all-star. The bad ass.

Small businesses focus on hiring process steps to get these people because it seems like they solve so much. Sometimes, they spend a lot on job recruiters. It’s a long-term trap.

In the startup phase, it can feel like a lifesaver.

But you’re not a startup anymore. And now you’ve built your business where you rely on talented, jack-of-all trades type people.

Here’s an approach I recently used it with a client who runs a healthcare company to reduce labor costs and increase revenue by 20% over 6 months. It’s helped them build a more resilient company that keeps growing without depending on any one person.

Let’s dig in.

Talent reduces repeatability.

The more talented a person is...

The less likely someone else can do what they do.

If you’ve ever asked them, how do you do it?

They will often say... “I don’t know, I just do.”

When they train someone, it takes a long time.

They train by exposure because they can’t standardize what they do.

Repeatability comes from clarity.

If you want consistent results, you need to do it the same way every time.

Often when I talk with people about it, I hear …

“Well, we can’t standardize because our clients' needs are different.”

Or “We can’t do it exactly the same way.”

Perhaps your clients need different things. How do you know that for sure?

The ability to standardize comes from getting clear about your business and your offerings.

Optimization drives clarity.

Even if you’re not intentionally optimizing for something, you’re still optimizing.

In most cases, it’s survival.

Survival strategies are reactive, gutfeel, keep your head above water approaches to running your business.

Intentional optimization strategies are targeted, focused, and measurable. They purposefully decide what to improve, what to let stagnate, and what to kill off.

The System

1. Know Why Your Company Exists and Where it's Headed

Yea, I get it, everyone says to have a mission statement and core values. It’s been so bastardized over the years that it’s now cheap and routine advice.

Don’t do it for the sake of doing it.

You need to be clear why your business exists and where it’s going.

This is the foundation for everything else. Don’t skip it. Don’t just create good-looking marketing material.

2. Productize your Offering

The main reason you’re relying on talent is because they understand at their core what it is you’re offering. You probably didn’t even need to explain it, they just got it.

By reframing or redesigning your offering into a product you’ll have anyone quickly understand what you offer. That goes for both your employees and your customers.

It simplifies sales, marketing, and delivery.

It takes effort and iteration.

Many companies don’t do this because it feels hard. It feels easier to take the A-player and just have them do it.

The problem is eventually you’ll stop being able to deliver what you’re selling at the quality that has made you successful so far.

3. Clarify Accountabilities and Give Authority

Many jack-of-all trades hires can jump into just about anything and produce results. That means you just have to let them at it and they’ll figure it out.

When you have many of those people, it gets messy. Everyone is trying to do different things, with different opinions. Or, they’re not doing things because they’re afraid to step on someone else’s toes.

Clearly define every role in the business, without thinking of the person who will run it. Pick one metric that can sum up the performance of that role. Document the boundaries of what that role needs to control in order to be successful.

Then, assign people to roles. One person can have more than one role, two people cannot have the same role.

4. Plan in 90-Day Chunks

Things change. Fast. The point is to prevent moving the goalposts too often and keep people focused.

2-3 focus areas every 90 days for your managers. If it’s too much, then just 1.

You’ll know it’s too much if they don’t finish any one completely.

Conclusion

Consistently delivering satisfactory results without relying on a single individual will always outperform inconsistently delivering incredible results.

You can begin to eliminate single points of failure in your business and reduce the need to hire only high performers.

It starts with creating clarity and focus. Eventually you’ll get to writing standard operating procedures and checklists.

You will get the opportunity to care for your employees, not tap into their reserves all the time.

It will also free you up to focus on what matters to you, inside and outside the business.

If you’re ready to get out of the day-to-day so you can grow your small business, let’s talk. Schedule a call.

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