While people are an organisation’s greatest asset, it’s the ‘right people’ that contribute positively to the bottom line. Many organisations are still under the illusion that simply filling available positions is the key to performance and productivity, however this is a seriously flawed thought process that results in a number of challenges such as unsuccessful outcomes when hiring, team performance and ultimately decreases the productivity of the organisation – all of which negatively impact profitability.

Typically, successful candidates are hired based on today’s needs with little or no thought given to their growth potential and future contribution to the organisation which results in common pitfalls that affect the performance, productivity and profitability of the business.

Common Hiring Pitfalls

Hiring is the first step in developing a team, establishing performance standards and achieving productivity. The common pitfalls that occur during this process are: Defaulting to the “just like me” candidate ‒ managers tend to gravitate towards candidates who resemble traits they themselves possess or focusing with tunnel vision and fulfilling the “emergency hire” ‒ managers under pressure to produce results in rushed selections and incorrect placing of a candidate.

Mistakes in Team Creation

Hiring the ‘right’ individual is the first step to a new successful people strategy as they will be productive and make the organisation profitable; however it’s important to make the most of their talent and contribution to the team. Areas to focus on in this process include: Placing the right person in the right role – determine the value each member will bring to the team, team dynamics – avoid the “people like us” mentality to allow for innovative thinking in the team and always engage team members – to avoid them feeling  there is little or no communication from senior leadership.

Dale Carnegie Training provides five steps to follow in order to avoid the pitfalls and build a foundation of profitability for any organisation.

Step 1: build trust

Don’t criticise, condemn or complain ‒ Managers need to build trust by helping team members take corrective action without pointing fingers.

Step 2: engage team members

When team members seem to lack commitment to the project at hand, make them feel important and do it sincerely. Show them the importance of the project to the organisation and how their efforts can make it successful.

Step 3: reinforce accountability

The point is not to add more pressure on team members in an attempt to force them into taking responsibility. Instead this is the time to ask questions about why they may be avoiding responsibility.

Step 4: aligning talent and eliminating dysfunctions

Team success starts with leadership and a directive to align talent to maximize productivity. This means assigning people to roles where they can contribute, thrive, grow and add value.

Step 5: establishing commitment and keeping it

It is vital for individual managers to make sure they have regular communication with each employee. By using on-going direct communications, managers support people in their roles, coach them for improved performance and help them to see how their contributions add value to the organisation.

“Although there may be no perfect answer to the people, performance and productivity equation, there is one approach that is fundamental for profitability: get the right people in the right roles working on things that matter. Productive people makes the business profitable”, concludes Neville De Lucia, Director at Dale Carnegie Training, Gauteng.