How to overcome ‘people’ issues in two steps

People are at the foundation of every great business whether it’s traditional retail or a healthcare practice. In order for a team to achieve the business vision, that team must be surrounded with truly great people from top to bottom.Leadership teams know this but some aren’t aligned on how to achieve it. Things get muddy when it comes to deciding on the correct actions and right time to successfully execute those actions.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q: Always keep the greater good of the company in mind when faced with a tough decision. }}In a survey of business owners, 82% cited ‘people issues’ as their number one frustration. That’s because teams don’t take the time to define what it means to be a great person within their team. If they have a general idea of what a great person looks like then the next challenge is to be consistent in applying that definition to every role in the company.Practice owners and managers who don’t do this could find they have 22 different people issues at any given moment, which is an extrely overwhelming feeling. To overcome this, leaders must understand that there are only two people issues, not 22.Right person, wrong seatThe term ‘right person’ means an ployee who fits into the culture and who truly cares about the business’ vision. On the other hand, ‘wrong seat’ means that an ployee doesn’t match the role for which he or she was selected.Maybe it was a good fit at one time but something has changed. Perhaps the role has grown or adapted in some way where it now requires different skills and abilities than it did before. Now that an ployee may not be able to understand what the business needs, he or she may no longer want the position or perhaps lacks the skills to do what is required.How to handle the wrong seat{{image3-a:r-w:300}}When an ployee is the right person who shares the business core values but who is clearly in the wrong role, managent should look to find a different seat that’s a better fit for that person’s talents.The challenge is when there is no seat or position available for th. This can sometimes lead to a redundancy – a decision like this is simple but never easy. Always keep the greater good of the company in mind when faced with a tough decision like this.Wrong person, right seatObviously, ‘wrong person’ means the person doesn’t fit the culture – they don’t share the business’ core values. Or sometimes they feel like a fit for the role but certain behaviours show otherwise.Some of these ployees act one way in front of their boss and another way when the boss isn’t around. These people are inconsistent at best… and that’s the nice way of putting it.The ‘right seat’ means a person who is extrely talented, skilled at what they do, day in and day out. They may even be one of the top performers for their role in the company. They understand the bigger picture of what they need to perform, they want to do it and they have what it takes to get it done.How to handle the wrong personWhen someone is the wrong person, they can be like cancer to an organisation. Even if they are not seen on a day-to-day basis, they will kill the culture long term. Tolerating th in your business will cause great people in the company to become de-motivated – they won’t work as hard when they see poor behaviour tolerated by managent and, ultimately, they will leave the organisation.The challenge is to place ployees in the right seats and give th the opportunity to excel but if this isn’t possible, it’s crucial to move th along.Managers may worry about the effects of retrenchments upon revenue and profit but keeping the wrong person will do more damage to the company over the long term – they may put the reputation of the business in question, cause key people to leave and monopolise managent’s time and energy.No business is perfect; however, overcoming people issues begins by aligning the right people with the right roles.