The Right Person For The Job?
December 22, 2020
by Shannon Simmons

One of the biggest challenges I have had in my journey as a business owner is hiring. It’s this weird dance of the applicant trying to convince you they are THE most qualified, THE most enthusiastic, with THE best work ethic you have ever seen.

And you are trying to figure out all the reasons why they aren’t. In my experience it often comes down to making a gut decision. I’ve been right on those, and I’ve been wrong. 

But if your hiring process is solid, and you know how to filter through the pretenders, there are gems to be found. Really good people, with great work ethic, who put in their all to grow and get better. When you find someone like that, it’s your job to keep them!

And the key to accomplishing that is to the second step on the “Order” level of the Fix This Next Business Hierarchy of Needs (BHN).

Need #2: Role Alignment:

Question: Are people’s roles and responsibilities matched to their talents?

Another way to ask it is this; Do you have the right person doing the right job?

When you hire, you hire for need. It just makes sense. If you need a coach in your gym, you put the word out in the marketplace that you are hiring a coach. 

But what if you find out later that this particular hire is an absolute superstar when it comes to sales? And has the ability to lead? And is hungry to learn and grow?

You see, it’s usually not until weeks and months after you bring on a new team member that you actually know who you really hired. Get rid of the ones who don’t fit, and help the ones that do fit, shine. 

The “superstar” I mentioned earlier is a real live person, and her name is Meagan Sbat. I hired her as a very part-time coach, but she didn’t stay there long. She eventually became the GM of one of our gym locations, and a couple of years ago she bought that location from me. Good decision, Dean. I have watched her flourish and navigate this pandemic as well as anyone could. She even just recently moved the entire gym into a bigger location so she could serve her clients better. Truthfully, she is absolutely the right person at the right time for owning and operating that gym. I am pretty sure I would not have had the guts to do what she has done. Under her leadership Get Fit NH has thrived.

In her case, I found the right person for the job. By recognizing and developing her skills and talents, the whole business got better. And she isn’t the only success story at that business. About a year before we sold the business, I started working with one of our coaches, Adam Gray, on program design and development. That was harder than you think because I am very protective and picky about program design. But he too has stepped up and developed a world class coaching program. And again, the business is better for it.

Sometimes that story won’t have a fairy-tale ending. Sometimes the hire doesn’t work out and you need to let them go. Other times you will end up developing a person only to have them leave because they have outgrown your company. I am not saying that’s easy to take, but you can and should take pride that you helped that person flourish and succeed. 

Here’s your action step for today. Take some time to think about your team and if they are really enjoying and flourishing in the role they currently occupy in your company. Would someone be better suited in a different role? Is it time to create a role that would benefit both parties and drive the business forward? Is that task you are holding onto really something “only you can do”, or is ego getting in the way of letting it go?

When you have the right people doing the right jobs they are happier, customers are happier, and you are happier.

Who can argue with that?