If
you’ve ever wasted a day sitting through a completely unnecessary training,
especially one you easily could have taught, you’ll likely agree that great
employee development is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Time and money are
wasted when training isn’t personalized to each individual’s verified needs,
causing more individuals to tune out or become frustrated. Sophisticated talent
management systems offer development options that address the distinct needs of
each individual; therefore, personalized training and development plans can be
made to meet that person’s specific needs. When employees are in the wrong
positions, or are lacking key skills necessary to succeed within the company,
the affect on the company’s bottom line can be catastrophic.
One
of our DISC-certified consultants was hired to help a company that had
experienced three consecutive years of poor performance. In one year alone, the
company’s losses totaled $2 million, and the company’s lender had given them 18
months to reverse the trend. Under these extremely volatile circumstances, the
consultant had a keen action plan to realize significant change:
•
The turnaround process began with job benchmarking. All employees needed
to be in a job based on fit, not emotion. Benchmarking positions created a
foundation for superior performance, and if the employee or candidate didn’t
align with the benchmark, it wasn’t a good hire for the company.
•
Two new sales people were hired using the job benchmarking technique,
and the VP of sales was replaced. The rest of the sales team all matched the
skills, behaviors and motivators that the sales benchmarks required, and
results from DISC assessments indicated that the revised team fit the profile
required for star performance potential.
•
Development plans were customized for each employee, including tasks for each person to address the skill gaps the assessments identified. These
resources expanded the employees’ understanding of their own capacity beyond
their current performance.
•
In some groups within the company, weekly professional development
seminars were used to establish a common language of performance. For other
teams, single event workshops were delivered to quick-charge skills for an
immediate return.
By
the time the client reached the lender’s deadline, the company had experienced
a $2.2 million turnaround, posting a profit for $200,000 for the following
year. From that point forward the consultant has worked with the company to ensure
that onboarding of new hires automatically has an employee development focus so
the type of turnaround necessary in the past never happens again.
To learn more about using assessments in
your company’s employee training and engagement, contact us at darrell@vantagegroupinc.com or 616-676-3330.
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