Recipe for disaster...

Last week, I was coaching an organizational client of mine.

The situation went something like this:

He had lost a key employee 4 months ago, and now he was suddenly in a rush to hire someone. Despite repeated conversations and agreements of the need to follow key steps in the pre-hire process, like:

• Define the role.

• Write down the tasks.

• What behaviors will your reward?

• How much autonomy will this role have?

• What strengths do you need to help support your goals?

I turn around a few days later, and this client hired the only applicant he had. What?

Nothing defined. One interview. Leading questions asked, like "I need someone to follow through on tasks. You can do that, right?" Well, of course, he can!!!

Let's just say- I'm pretty sure we'll be rehiring for this position in a few weeks, especially when the Kolbe Conative Right Fit rating was an F'! An F! Even if you don't know what Kolbe is, I'm guessing you can surmise that the 'F' rating- well- it's not going to be a good fit.

So, often, I coach people who are in leadership roles within an organization- big and small- and they allow emotion not facts to dictate their decisions. And what I've then seen happen over and over again- it's like holding the rewind button- is a massive waste of time, energy and money from a productivity standpoint, revenue and training dollars- all down the drain.

During a day and age when we all have SO much on our plates, why do we constantly think we can do it all? We must do it all. Why?

Let's break it down this way.

• Think about your hourly rate.... divide your annual salary by 2,080 hours (40 hrs. week x 52 weeks per yr.)

• Next, guesstimate the amount of time you spend handling responsibilities that you SHOULD NOT BE DOING... like hiring if you're not good at it. This includes interviewing, posting a job, writing a job description, on-boarding and training- just to name a few.

• Now, think about the time you spend on revenue generating activities. So, in lieu of giving up something like recruiting that you should NOT be doing, how much is your average client fee? Your product?

Are you beginning to see the picture?

You can quantify just about any people metric you want. (For those reading this that think otherwise, please email me. I'd love to chat.)

The point in all of this is this: when you have too much on your plate, take a step back and pause. Pause for 30 minutes, 1 hour, half a day- whatever it takes. You cannot think clearly with too much on your plate, and hence end up making decisions that are not helpful, nor are they beneficial to your team, your department or your organization.

So, the next time you're in a pickle like my client, please walk away. Switch gears. Then, the next day, revisit what you were about to do with a coach, a colleague a mentor and get their opinion.

Someone once told me, "You know- you cannot see the frame when you're in the picture." And, that has always stuck with me.