Is It Time To Change Personnel?

It is that time of the year again in the football world when team officials decide it’s time for a change.

We saw a few weeks ago where the regular college football season came to a close and several athletic directors made changes with respect to their coaches. In this part of the country, it was a big move. Even though the Nebraska Cornhuskers had a 9-3 record, the athletic director did not like the fact that team was floundering in mediocrity.

Today, I expect more personnel moves as the NFL season ended yesterday.

At the same time, other teams are finishing the season and will be evaluating all areas of their team and processes. It is a time for players, coaches and team officials to meet one final time and begin the process of planning for next year.

At the same time, those teams that have experienced success will continue to plan for their upcoming games and will take a closer look at their personnel in a few weeks.

Over the last few weeks, I have looked at the process of planning for 2015 and there are thousands of articles out there about what companies need to do to find success in 2015.

Does your plan include personnel?

Change can be good

Often times, this single factor is overlooked. Many times companies settle for minimal output from their employees and set the expectations low. Over this past year, I witnessed first-hand how simple personnel changes can have dramatic effects on departments and productivity. It can be quite a game-changer.

Stretched employees

In addition, many employees are performing the work of 2-3 people and are trying to add more tasks to an already tight working schedule. These type of people are valuable people to their particular company. These people need to be challenged and rewarded accordingly.

Brand recognition

In addition, there may be some very recognizable people at your company that clients have grown accustomed to from a contact standpoint. These type of people are the face of your brand and they interact on a personal basis on behalf of the company. These type of people are those in your account management, sales, and client service teams.

Where should your focus be with respect to personnel?

Are you challenging your workforce?

It is more important than ever to establish goals and objectives for your workforce. Employees need to understand how they are being measured. Often times, this is not happening and as a result there is a lot of confusion from the start. Define expectations upfront and make sure they are communicated and understood.

Watch distractions!

How are people losing focus? Today, it is hard to keep employees engaged. Social media, the Internet, smartphones, and texting are just a few of today’s distractions. Some people are so addicted to their devices, they cannot go more than hour without looking to see if someone need them or is talking to them.

Define company-wide and departmental projects

Make this part of your culture. When people know which projects are priorities for a company or department, it helps set the tone that work needs to be completed in a timely manner. It is also a great way to measure progress and keep people on task.

Reviews

Consider meeting regularly with your team members. Don’t wait for a whole year to review one of your team members. Meet regularly and look for signs of discontent and under performance.

Summary – Personnel Changes

As you hear about changes occurring with various teams changing their personnel, take a minute and think about your own situation.

Do you have the right people in place at your company to take you to the next level?

Is there anything you need to change with respect to resources or personnel to improve a particular department?

Are you giving credit where credit is due in your company?

Do you have a good plan in place that maximizes the talent of your current staff to meet and exceed client expectations?

Making personnel changes and investing in your current staff can be a difference-maker. Make sure you have not ignored your people with respect to your 2015 planning!

[Photo Credit: Haonavy via photopin cc]

Is It Time To Change Personnel?