I want to today talk about hiring in the new economy, however, before I go there, there’s a little story I ’de like to share. I’ve been a coach for 10 years now and about three months into my coaching practice, there was this organization I was very curious about. They’ve been around for over 80 years at the time. They were icons in the industry, a pioneer, and one of their stores was not too far from where I live. Being a new coach, and understanding that success leaves clues. My thought is that an organization that’s been around for over 80 years and being a pioneer in the industry, is going to reveal some things on how to build a brand.
I decided to visit this store in Pompano Beach. I walked in and the manager was sitting at the front desk, talking on the phone with his feet up on the desk, and didn’t even acknowledge me when I walked in. Next up in this organization, was that they have this special room for special products. I walked in filled with curiosity. I wanted to ask questions to learn more, actually empowering the person to sell me about her knowledge of this area. I started asking her a couple of questions and she actually got annoyed and gave me an attitude. I left that room and approached the salesperson out on the floor. I asked him, “I’m curious, this company has been around for 80 plus years. They’re a pioneer in the industry. They carry a brand and story to tell. What was it about it that made you want to work for this company and represent them?” And he looked at me, said, “I needed a job.”
Wow, I have to tell you, I left that organization being a little bit confused, thinking I was going to walk in and get empowered about how this brand has been around for 80 years and I walked out totally confused about what I was missing?
Now being a new coach, my coach challenged me. She asked, “What are you going to do?” Well, “What should you do?” I said, “I should call the organization up in New York.” “Are you going to do that?” My response was. “I’ve been a coach for three months. This company’s been in business for 80 plus years. What am I going to say?”
I’m here to tell you, it took me a whole month just to gain the courage, to make the phone call. When I eventually made the call, I spoke to the second in line as the original owner had passed. I started telling him about my experience visiting one of his stores. Of how I was really excited about his brand and being the pioneer in the industry and when I walked into the store, I was totally disillusioned based on the three engagements I had with the staff. His answer to me blew my mind. He said, “You know, Mike, probably this is the answer you don’t want to hear, but sometimes you just have to fill a seat.” I replied, “fill a seat, an 80-year-old brand, a pioneering industry, a story to tell and your hiring process is you just sometimes have to fill a seat?” Wow. Safe to say that discussion went a little bit further from that point.
However, the reason I bring this up is that over the last year hiring has been very tough. I used to hear; I can’t find any good people out there. Now I’m just hearing, I can’t find any people, period.
So I’m here to say, use this example I just shared to not let your guard down knowing right now you have some seats to fill. Don’t get too anxious, stick to your culture, stick to your hiring process to find the right people, to fit into your organization, to represent your brand with pride. So, essentially what this conversation today is, it’s a warning. Don’t let your guard down, stick to your guns, hire the people that fit into your culture to represent your brand. Don’t be that example that I visited 10 years ago. Next week, I will share how to hire on attitude and train on skills.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com