The people dynamic:

Communications, Conversations & Characters

When you ask successful business people near the end of their careers about the keys to their success, having good people is always at the top of the list.

When you dig a little deeper you discover that finding and keeping good people involves a lot more than just luck. There are some consistently applied principles that lead to the type of results that you want.

Over the life of the business payroll is the biggest expense.

Getting your people on board and effectively contributing to the success of the business is an area that is critical.

If your staff isn’t contributing the way you want then there are some valuable insights in this section.

Different characters are better suited to different roles and different organizations.  Finding the right mix of characters and getting round pegs in round holes is a key to the success of the business.

One of the most challenging aspects of being in business is having someone on staff that is unable or unwilling to contribute. If someone is not performing it impacts the whole organization.

Some people will fit into your organization well and others won’t.

It is also true that some people fit in well during certain periods of time in their lives and don’t fit in at all during other times.

At ROCK SOLID™ we believe in giving people the opportunity to be successful in their work. If they won’t step up and take the opportunity or if the opportunity that your business is offering is not a good fit for them at this time then the best thing that you can do for them is to set them free. Keeping someone stuck working at a job where they can’t achieve success is actually doing them a dis-service.

A part of the role of a business owner is creating good jobs.

In fact, when it is all said and done, business owners often take the most pride from the positive impact that they were able to make in employees’ lives. Good jobs are an important byproduct of every business.

The employees also need to respond by effectively contributing to the running of the business and also building the strength of the business organization.

It can be hard to get a grip on that in the early days of in the business development project, but if they pay attention to the BOSS business owners will be well rewarded.

Making employee’s time at the business a good experience and helping them grow is an often overlooked privilege of business ownership. Using this privilege well will result in many remarkable positive benefits for the business.

It boils down to: if you want good people – create good jobs.

Good jobs are more than just pay and benefits.

It is a good idea to forget about pay and benefits when addressing this question.

There are too many people stuck in jobs they hate and they can’t afford to quit.

This effect almost surely results in reduced business performance and ongoing tension. It is not good for anyone: the business, clients, co-workers, the owners and the employee.

Try thinking about how you would attract and keep good people if you had to pay 10% less than the going rates. The atmosphere around the company, the worthwhile goals of the organization, their relationship with their co-workers & boss, the chance to do good work and be appreciated for it and the opportunity to learn & grow are all important. This is true if the job is just a stepping stone in their lives and its true if the job is their career. Jobs are products; create good jobs for people and the business will reward you.

Having said that, never forget that it is a 2 way street.

The employees are expected to contribute.

Not to take away from the above point, but shifting gears for a moment.

It is possible to predict the future of a company by the content & quality of the conversations that are taking place within it.

Conversations are a means of maintaining focus, transferring knowledge, understanding others perspectives & viewpoints, solving problems, building client relationships, developing plans, introducing new ideas, connecting ideas in new & interesting ways, strengthening & developing thinking and many other worthwhile business objectives.

It really pays to think through the type of conversations that effectively build businesses. Coaches specialize in great conversations and ROCK SOLID’s team of coaches can have a remarkable positive impact on your business. The ROCK SOLID program is a method of getting the right conversations up on the radar.

Meetings are structured conversations and establishing a good meeting format is one of the steps on the road from start up to established business. In fact, if the time is right the benefits far outweigh the costs.

Another little recognized fact is that the iconic business leaders many people aspire to be like actually spend most of their time in meetings. Meetings can be very effective business building tools.

A closing tip

In any conversation between 2 people there are actually 3 conversations taking place.

The unspoken one in person A’s mind, the unspoken one in person B’s mind and the one spoken out loud between them.

We all have a running narrative in our own minds that thankfully no one else can hear!

Effective communication takes place when all 3 conversations are "on the same page". Good listeners can quiet the narrative in their own minds. This is challenging because we all think faster than we can speak.

Working with this concept can really improve your communication and sales skills. Or you can ignore it and risk having conversations where no real communication takes place.

• The People Dynamic
• Business Character
• Conversation Leaders
• Characters
• Attention Management
• Expectations and Performance
• Communications
• Listening
• Relationships
• Conflict Resolution
• Active Managing

The ROCK SOLID Business Development Program is designed to improve the operating performance of your business and build the strength of your company.