top performing employees

The Recipe to Having Top Performing Employees

Every business owner wants to have the best performing employees but sometimes having people with high skills is not good enough to have them perform well. There are other elements involved that affect performance.

Here is a simple recipe to follow and will ensure that you get superior performance from your employees.

  1. Hire or promote the right person for the job

This is easier said than done but with modern tools and good ways to attract skilled people it can be achieved. Sometimes you get ample candidates, so it is crucial to have enough information to make the right hiring decision. This means verifying their skills and assessing their fit for the company and the job. Company fit is done through getting to know the person in interviews but for the fit for the job you need an assessment tool like the PXT Select that measures thinking style, behavioral traits and interests for the job. These are matched against a performance model for the position.

The right training for the job means ongoing skill development and training on systems, behavioral and team training as well. These skills are becoming more important than ever as companies face complex problems that need collaboration to solve.

Employees need proper direction and understanding of how they can contribute to the evolution of the organization. Leaders need to communicate the vision and then manage performance through ongoing coaching and follow-up. Good leaders identify the support employees need to achieve what is expected and they make sure it is provided.


Following this recipe and doing it well will result in high performing employees. The key is to stay focused and strive to continuously improve the ingredients in each step of this recipe.


top performing employees
freelancers

Tips to Hire Good Freelancers

Freelancers can be a great asset to help you free time for important work and projects. They can also provide expertise that you or your staff do not have, and you may not require on a permanent basis. They can also fill in for employees who take a leave of absence or fall ill.


There are many platforms that specialize in helping you hire the right freelancer and make it easy to manage the projects.


I use Upwork most of the time but have used fiverr on occasion as well. Freelancer is another popular platform. I like Upwork as I can post the job and quickly start getting proposals in my inbox. I can also search for freelancers with the skills I need and invite them to submit a proposal or express interest in the job.


Hiring using these platforms is easy but you need to be prudent on who you hire as you can be disappointed if you do not follow certain precautions.


Here are the steps I follow to hire the right freelancer.

  1. Use a reliable platform that offers as communication and file management system and handles the payments. I like the fact I can keep all communications including video chats within the platform
  2. Post a clear job or project description. Upwork provides examples of good job postings
  3. Ask questions for people to answer when they submit a preliminary proposal. This will help you create a shortlist of candidates
  4. Ask for a cover letter. This will help you to see how they communicate in your language and how well they communicate in writing
  5. Conduct an online video or audio interview. This will help you get a feel for the freelancer and see how punctual they are
  6. Check the reviews on their past jobs
  7. Ask for a detailed proposal once you have had a discussion so you can check their understanding of what you want

I have learned from experience that applying the above steps results in much better hires. It does not matter where people live if they can do the work remotely. What is important is their skill set, their attitude, responsiveness, and the ability to take responsibility and keep commitments. This can be gauged using the steps listed above.


Here is a sample of a recent job posting I made:


Video Editor – Business videos

I am looking for a video editor to edit select videos for my YouTube channel.  The videos are expected to be published on a bi-weekly basis. They range between 4 and 7 minutes.  
Hiring a video editor would allow me to generate more business and thus produce more videos.  My goal is to increase the number and frequency of videos produced.

I require a good editor who can understand my message and cut the videos down to the essence. I would also like the editor to bring fresh ideas and approaches to the videos to make them more engaging. The qualities I am looking for are creative, reliable, understanding of business approaches and responsive.

If this job interests you, please send a letter explaining why you think you are the right person for the job. I will then schedule interviews with selected freelancers. I will also request a test project to help me assess your work if you are one of the final prospective freelancers.


employee training

Top Three Reasons to Incorporate Video as part of Employee Training

There are many reasons to incorporate video into your employee training programs. Here are three reasons I think are most important to consider.

  1. Consistent message. Video delivers a consistent message to all learners so everyone sees and hears the same thing, rather than having to learn through various instructors who may have different delivery styles and training techniques. Trainers today need to be facilitators and help the participants learn the content in a fun and engaging way. Video can deliver the subject matter from an expert and the facilitator then conducts exercises to help the trainees understand and use the content to develop the proper skill set for the job.
  2. Rich media experience. Video provides a rich media experience for the participants. The more mix of media and activities you can bring to the learning experience the more engaged the learners will be in the training process. You want trainees to be actively involved in the learning and engagement and enjoyment go hand in hand. When you combine video with audio, powerful slides, games, interactive exercises, role playing and the like, people will be attentive and dialed into the learning experience.
  3. Enables self-paced learning and spaced repetition. People’s learning style and pace varies, and recorded video content can be used in a workshop but can also be made available to the participants to review after the session. Most everyone has used YouTube videos to learn a task or solve a problem. Someone recently told me that her and her husband hunt and I asked if they skin the animal themselves. She said her husband does it and I asked where he learned, and she said YouTube videos. Spaced repetition is a known method to increase retention of the subject matter and when combined with self-paced learning empowers the learner even more.

These three reasons should be enough to convince you to incorporate video in your next training program. Video today has become easier to produce than ever before and you can even use your phone to create high quality training videos. The key thing is to make sure the content is to the point and is well presented. You also do not need to hire actors and technical people to make the videos. Tapping into the creativity of your employee could provide them a fun and artistic outlet for their hidden talents.


strategic planning

Solicitation from Salespeople can Help with Strategic Planning

I have been getting more direct solicitation online from salespeople lately and I find that this can be helpful for strategic planning.


Salespeople can be useful to educate you about new technologies and services that can strengthen your business, especially for online sales and marketing.


Since the COVID 19 pandemic has caused major business disruption, online marketing, communication and selling has become crucial for businesses to survive and thrive. Those that have been well-equipped have seized the opportunity to grow their sales online. Amazon has seen a huge surge in sales and their stock price as well.


Zoom is becoming a trade name for online meetings and presentations. Yet the company is fairly young compared to competitors like Webex, GoToMeetings and Skype. This shows that an incumbent can enter a crowed market dominated by giants and still make a name for itself and take over the market.


Strategic planning has always been an essential activity for business owners and directors and more so now than ever due to the opportunities and threats created by the rapid changes occurring in technologies, business, environment and health. Salespeople can help you evaluate what can help you seize opportunities and avoid disasters.


Often business owners would shield themselves from salespeople for fear of wasting time and being sold something they really do not need. But now more than ever is a good time to selectively listen to those that your gut says you can learn from and perhaps profit from their solutions.