Sarah Ayers, a local blues singer posted on Facebook – Anchorage 21°, Allentown 11° wtf - the New Year has brought us a spell of ice and snow like the Led Zeppelin song about the Vikings - as we  journey to new lands both in our personal and professional lives.  The gyms suddenly get busier making it more difficult to book a bike in a spin class, weight loss industries and advertisements increase, and closets get organized – a trend of rapid change of old habits echo the extreme temperature blanketing the country.   

It is a philosophy which is the subject, too often, of heart to heart conversations with owners who have experienced some growth, and moved employees into advanced roles without both accessing the applicability of the fit, clearly defining the role, and managing the change.  While intellectually knowing that setting up the infrastructure for growth is vital, and seeing the quality, efficiency, or profitability challenged results - decide to go the bucks and bring in a ‘knight in shining armor” to save the day. 

What on the outside appears to be a challenge for recruiting, at root is a Performance Management and Organizational Design void.  This strategy should be brought to sight in order to set the company, and the newly defined role and employee up for success.

This is crystal clear from the outside looking in, and an articulation that I have previously had to, and continue have to, coach owners on.  Access the risk, manage the change, and recognize their piece in shifting the culture is the key.

When there is a clear divide (typically between office and production) the perception is that by bringing in the right new hire, or management position to ‘fix it’, all will be healed. Imagine a rock split in half, and you glue it together.  Eventually with climate change stressors – it will split again – perhaps not evenly, but certainly.  Healing as compared to mending a divide requires a culture shift on both sides of the house. 

Managing risk starts with addressing the root cause.  Bringing someone in to manage a “broken process” without this only enables a culture of avoidance, acceptance of mediocre, and does not set the stage for your new hire to be successful.  It further deepens the fissure when leadership does not role model and hold all accountable by the same standards. If there is an elephant in the room, call it that and begin closing the gaps and shifting the culture.

A knight riding in on a white horse only works in fairy tales, create an environment which drives success for all your employees, even the ones you haven’t yet hired.

New Year resolutions may lead to a defeatist internalization, an “I can’t” attitude.  Believing that one person will come in and save the day - effect a change and shift the patterns of relationship-systems within a company is a bit unrealistic. Realize that the pattern that isn’t working, didn’t just develop yesterday, and it most likely won’t get fixed in a day by a knight in shining armor. The knight in shining armor begins with you.