Urgent vs. Important

Urgent vs. Important

How often do you get distracted from doing the most important things to help your business grow? 
 

Does the "urgent" often overshadow the "important"? 
 

 If you are going to be successful in your business you have to focus and execute the most important tasks.  It is easy to lose focus as a small business owner because so many things can happen during a work day; however, successful business owners know the difference between the urgent and important. 
 

Urgent matters are those "small fires" that we have to put out.  While it is true that these small fires can become a raging inferno if left unattended, you must not let the urgent keep you from accomplishing the important tasks. In order to do this you have to know what the important tasks are!

 

 Each day write down the two or three most important things that you need to do for your business that day and make sure that they get done.  Get in the habit of doing this each day so you are focusing on the important and not letting the urgent keep you from business success.

Our monthly small business workshop is this week!  Our topic is Building Your Team.  I look forward to seeing you this Wednesday from 8 AM to 12 Noon. Prospective clients are always welcome to attend a workshop free of charge to experience how Strategexe will benefit your business. If you have any questions or need additional information please let me know.  

Building Your Team - The Right People

The Right People
Once you have determined the roles that you need to fill in your organizations and have developed the job description for each role now it is time to go find the right people to fill each role!  There are two key steps to finding the right people: Recruiting and Interviewing.


Recruiting
Recruiting is the process of finding good candidates who are capable of meeting the expectations outlined in the job description for a role.  The best source for finding qualified job candidates is usually your current network.  If you have to go outside of your network to find candidates consider local job boards rather than the national job boards.  From my personal experience I have found Louisvilleworks.com to be one of the best overall job board in the Louisville market.

Interviewing
Interviewing is the process of analyzing each candidate and choosing the person to file a role.  It is very important for you to prepare for each interview by developing a series of questions that will evaluate the person’s skills set and character. If you are interviewing multiple candidates for a role be sure to conduct each interview the same way in order to accurately assess each candidates strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to the actual interview process there are a variety of skills assessments and personality profiles that you can use to learn more about potential candidates.  I have taken many of these assessment and personally used them when making a hiring decision and I amazed at how accurate these tests are.  For a list of recommended organizations and peronality profiles please email me and I will send you a list.

Skill vs. Character
What do you look for when hiring a new employee?  Do you value skill or character?  From my experience skill is important but character is the most important.  Nothing is worse than hiring the wrong person to be on your team.  It is critical that you go to great lengths to assess the skills and character of a person before offering them a position within your organization. In most cases hiring the wrong person is far more expensive in the long run than waiting to fine the right person to join your team.
If you one of your strengths is not recruiting or interviewing you may want to consider outsourcing this function to a company that specializes in recruiting and selecting new employees.  This may be one of the best investments that will every make!

Human Resource Management
Many small organizations outsource Human Resource Management (HRM) functions. This can be a cost effective step to help you recruit new employees and stay compliant with current HR laws and requirements.  There are many quality HRM organizations in the Louisville market that specialize in helping small business owners with HRM.  Send me an email if you would like for me to send you a list of organizations that I would recommend for outsourcing HRM for your organization.

For more information about products and services offered by Strategexe Consulting Group please visit our website at www.strategexe.com or contact us directly at 502-500-0259.