To be a great manager you need to have great personnel! To be most profitable, managers need to find the qualities that are most successful for your organization and then hire the “right” people. 90% of job interview outcomes are based on “intuition” which for many managers gives less than ideal results. How can successful managers maximize their results by placing the best candidates in ideal jobs?

Benchmarking for Success

Can you identify the top 10-20% of your work force? Besides the technical experience or background training, what are the qualities that these “winners” have in common? What is it about “Style” or their “Values” that make these people most successful in their job description for your organization? If you could measure or assess their “winning characteristics” you could look for, hire, and then train the best people who would have the best chance of being successful. (You might also want to “benchmark” your lowest performers to find the possible characteristics that would not be a good fit for your organization. This will help you to avoid a costly hiring mistake.)

When I am consulting with an organization, I recommend two assessments to start the benchmarking process. The first assessment is an advanced DISC (from TTI) which will help you to pin down the “style” of your top (or lowest) performers. This will tell you the “How” of their success. The assessment speaks in terms that are not psychological but oriented for business. The second assessment is called PIA&V (Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values). This describes the “Why” of top performers. What drives them to succeed in this position and for your organization? Once you identify the “How’s” and the “Why’s” of your top performers, you can get a better idea of what it takes to manage them, to motivate them, and to keep them from leaving your organization. (Preventing unnecessary turnover is a huge money saver and can enhance your group productivity.)

There are some additional assessments that can be used to benchmark your best managers or salespeople. These more targeted assessments will give you the cutting-edge information you need to lead your key personnel and management team. All of these assessments will be helpful for improving internal/external communication, increasing sales, improving customer service, and building more effective teams.

With this benchmarking information you will be better able to make good decisions about who to promote within your organization or who to hire for top performance. If you are not benchmarking your top personnel now, get some additional information about how this can be tailored for your specific requirements.

L. John Mason, Ph.D. is the author of the best selling "Guide to Stress Reduction." Since 1977, he has offered Executive Coaching, consulting, and training. He is certified by TTI in using the Advanced DISC and the PIA&V assessments to improve hiring, retention, communication, sales, and customer service.

Please visit the Stress Education Center's website at http://www.dstress.com for articles, free ezine signup, and learn about the new telecourses that are available. If you would like information or a targeted proposal for training or coaching, please contact us at (707) 795-2228.

If you are looking to promote your training or coaching career, please investigate the Professional Stress Management Training and Certification Program for a secondary source of income or as career path.

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