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As companies grow, there are more tasks and more problems. Often, old problems are not fully resolved before new, unprecedented ones arise. In business, smooth sailing is only an ideal state; the larger the company, the higher the complexity of management.
As the overall manager of the company, the boss's energy, time, and even professional expertise are limited, making it impossible to face all problems. At the same time, some bosses begin to enjoy life or shift their ambitions—they want to climb mountains, travel the world, convert to a certain religion, or become a grandmaster... After repeating corporate management work for many years, they simply lose interest. However, the company still needs to operate. Facing an increasingly large company and more problems, the boss has four options:
- Become a superman;
- Improve the company's operating mechanism, with clear goals, well-defined system processes, and adequate resource allocation to achieve semi-automated operations;
- Establish an internal talent development mechanism, promptly promote and supplement relevant positions, so each person does their job, thereby partially reducing and alleviating the boss's pressure and workload;
- Simply spend heavily to bring in top talent from outside.
Among these four common solutions, the fastest is to directly recruit top talent from outside, parachuting them in to serve as senior leaders, directly relieving the boss of some burdens. However, while this is the goal, actual results often fall short. Externally parachuted senior managers often cause problems: some leave shortly after; some are incompetent; some intensify internal conflicts; some scatter the team; some embezzle; some leave and become direct competitors.
Top talent brought in at great expense is not ordinary employees. If used well, the value they produce can be enormous, but if problems arise, the consequences are also severe. Therefore, in recruitment and use, greater caution is naturally needed. Strictly speaking, before bringing in top talent, there are several questions the boss must clarify:
- Is the expert's capability purely individual, or does it rely on the support of the company's backend?
- How can we ensure the expert survives after joining the company?
- How can we ensure the expert meshes and integrates with current employees?
- How can we ensure the expert's own safety factors?
- Can we ensure we have the ability to manage this expert? The higher the level, the harder to manage.
- Have we arranged an exit route for the expert in advance? You must be able to send off the gods you invite.
Only after fully clarifying all the above questions is it not too late to arrange the introduction of top talent. If even one question lacks a clear answer, it leaves a safety hazard.
Of course, why bring in top talent from outside? Besides conventional work needs, every boss has some special considerations deep down, such as diverting attention, killing with a borrowed knife, balancing internal relationships, or creating internal conflict points. However, under normal circumstances, for safety reasons, when introducing external experts, the following three stages can be referenced:
I. Contact and Integration Stage
Mainly understand four aspects: work capability, re-learning ability, character, and integration with current employees.
Methods:
- Attend internal company meetings to understand the company situation;
- Set specific market research topics to explore their learning and thinking abilities;
- Participate in company physical activities or welfare activities; physical activities can directly reveal their work style and effectively integrate them into the current employee team.
II. Semi-Involvement Stage
Semi-involvement means not entering full-time, but appearing in the company as an external consultant. External consultants generally do not conflict with current employees' interests, making it easier for employees to accept them.
Since they are external consultants, they naturally need to do some work. The ideal work arrangement is training. The consultant comes a few times a month, and each time gives a small training session. Training is a task that directly tests a person's knowledge capacity and expression level, and it also builds their professional image in front of employees.
III. Low-Profile Entry Stage
After the first two stages of assessment and integration, formal entry can be arranged. However, do not go all at once by directly appointing them as deputy general manager or general manager. Instead, arrange a more ambiguous position, such as the boss's assistant. This position is subtle, has fewer conflicts of interest, and employees will not have high expectations for it.
This position may seem ordinary, but the work cannot be ordinary. At this stage, experts must fully prove their practical work ability through events. For example, independently contract a piece of "private land" or tackle a recognized internal problem, making employees sincerely convinced. This assistant not only has theoretical knowledge but also practical skills, solving real problems, and gradually building authority. For the expert, while demonstrating practical work ability, they also solve their own survival problem in the company.
IV. Clear Promotion Stage
After full integration and establishment of authority between the expert and employees, the expert becomes familiar with the company, products, and market, and has goals, plans, and ideas for work. Only then is the time for formal promotion.
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