Recently, I've noticed a strange phenomenon: when communicating with many distributor bosses, the most discussed topic is not business operations but personnel issues. Hiring is hard, managing is hard, and retaining is even harder! Whenever the topic turns to people, bosses can't stop talking. There is rational analysis, but more often it's complaints and dissatisfaction about employees: high salary demands, poor ability, weak execution, job-hopping after learning the ropes, laziness, not being aligned with the boss, insufficient loyalty, indifference to the company, resistance to high-paid parachuted managers, and constant complaints about the company... Yes! The bosses are right; employees do have various problems, and that's a fact, and there are even more. But have the bosses ever reflected on the real cause of this situation? Is it the donkey that won't move, or the millstone that won't turn? Have we ever put ourselves in the employees' shoes? After all, employees are on the company's platform. If employees have problems, isn't it possible that the platform itself has even bigger problems? When a company has personnel issues, we shouldn't just blame employees; we should look for faults in ourselves! For example, if you say employees lack loyalty or don't care about the company, then let me ask the bosses: How many employees do you have? How many middle-level employees? Do you remember their birthdays? Do you remember their mothers' birthdays? Have you done anything for their birthdays? Who is the longest-serving employee? How long has it been since you invited them to dinner? How long has it been since you had a chat with them for more than an hour? Or do you say you're too busy and simply don't have time for these things... So, what kind of person is truly your talent?
- Virtue is more important than talent, because you can't afford the consequences "Virtue" and "talent" are the two core elements in recent discussions among bosses about hiring standards, but opinions vary on which is more important. I believe that, first, are there people who have both virtue and talent? Yes, but very few! So most companies can only choose one. Second, whether to choose virtue or talent depends on the company's management capability. If a company has a complete management system, monitoring system, and assessment system, and is relatively large, it can prioritize talent over virtue. But for most small and medium-sized enterprises, whether in management or monitoring systems, there are shortcomings and loopholes. Moreover, the company's status is not enough to attract talent to stay long-term. Therefore, in hiring, virtue is much more important than talent; otherwise, it will only harm the company. If this is true for companies, then for most distributors operating in channels, the above key points are probably even more problematic. Therefore, when hiring, distributors should focus on evaluating moral character and, more importantly, on execution ability.
- You need versatile all-rounders Because distributors' profitability and profit margins are relatively small, they must strictly control fixed costs, especially management and personnel expenses. For most small and medium-sized distributors, the organizational structure should follow simplification and flattening of management systems, and positions should be few but essential. At this point, distributors need all-rounders who are familiar with different positions and business segments, so that when work adjustments are required, they can come and fight, and win! Even for specialists, try to cultivate them into all-rounders. For distributor companies with high personnel turnover, cultivating all-rounders can also avoid the risk of vacancies caused by resignations.
- Don't hire talent that exceeds mutual expectations There are many capable people in the industry, and bosses are always looking for capable people to serve them, but using capable people requires thinking about several issues:
Can your platform accommodate a capable person?
Since they are capable, their demands for salary, power, and other aspects will be much higher than ordinary talent. Can you bear the high salary costs and the risks of over-expected authorization?
Capable people always want to move up and pursue higher and better platforms. Are you willing to give up shares to retain them? Can you build your company into a more prestigious platform?
In the era of teamwork, can a capable person integrate into the team and become a pillar?
Even if they are capable, it doesn't mean they can create value in your company. Do your resources match the resources their abilities require? If you don't have a definite answer to the above questions, it means such talent exceeds mutual expectations. To avoid losses, it's better to admire such talent from afar.
- Let both home flowers and wild flowers bloom together While using parachuted managers, also focus on internal cultivation Whether for companies or distributors, "parachuted managers" is an unavoidable topic in talent sourcing. But bosses often make several principled mistakes when using them:
Using parachuted managers with a mindset of digging for resources.
Reluctantly paying high salaries, expecting immediate results, not understanding that time and space are needed (just as a woman needs ten months of pregnancy before giving birth).
Blindly applying all the parachuted manager's concepts to the current company, without considering whether the current situation is suitable.
Often due to the boss's own reasons, the parachuted manager hasn't integrated yet and falls into a life-and-death confrontation with old employees.
Being fickle, favoring the parachuted manager, forgetting to care for and cultivate old employees, and not considering their feelings. In a sense, parachuted managers are fresh blood. The purpose of using them is to bring new ideas, improve management and performance, and also to motivate old employees and bring a sense of crisis, so that the entire management team improves qualitatively. Therefore, letting home flowers and wild flowers bloom together, and letting both inside and outside the wall flourish, is the purpose of using talent and building an innovative team.
- The right fit is the best In a sense, the boss-employee relationship is more like a marriage than a parent-child relationship. Therefore, when selecting people, bosses should consider whether they fit the current state of the company. The right fit is the best; only then can they be of one mind, loyal to each other, and go further! This article was published in "Sales and Marketing" -END-