We’ve all heard it before: “A company’s most important asset is its people.” Because of this sentiment, it’s a tricky balancing act for a growing business to add more people to the team while simultaneously preserving their culture. In the past year, I’ve worked with many clients in this exact same position, but we’ve partnered with them to come up with recruiting strategies that turn this potentially scary proposition into an exciting one!
It all comes down to People Performance. Simply put, People Performance is about understanding who you have, what they bring to the table, and why they are there. We believe you can’t build a great recruiting strategy before you understand the “who,” “what,” and “why” of the company. The same goes for your HR infrastructure as well; we build a plan that works not only for your business but the people in it.
Asking our growing clients these types of questions allow us to define their plan. This plan can include helping to redefine certain roles and expectations, guiding the performance evaluation discussions, performance coaching, and – my personal favorite – mentoring.
Mentoring is all about finding the match between growth and accountability, and it aligns perfectly with the People Performance philosophy. The first step is to set a goal and a strategy by asking questions such as:
- What does the company expect to get out of the program?
- Who will be involved?
- How will we measure success?
Next, we build the structure and foundation of the program and set expectations. We do this by creating training, establishing the appropriate criteria, and refining the necessary goals before launching the program. After the program is launched, we check in periodically to ask for feedback and watch the growth take place.
Having a great mentoring program is one of the coolest ways to uncover talent. Sometimes the company itself may be too close to the problem to see the solution, so that’s why it helps to get an outside perspective. Seeing my clients grow and prosper is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, and we at Achilles Group are proud to offer it.
– Christina Harmon
