Getting the Right People in the Right Seat, Part 1: The People Analyzer

October 12, 2018

How to evaluate the right person for the job

The hardest thing to manage in business is people. The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) defines that businesses are comprised of vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction – but in practice, managing people represents probably sixty-percent of the effort. This is one of the reasons it’s essential to get the “right person, in the right seat” and use effective procedures to evaluate and enable this maxim.

Figuring out who is the right person requires you to examine your vision/traction organizer (VTO), specifically the section outlining your business’s core values. You must assess whether a person in your organization embodies each of these values:

  • Do they follow them most of the time? (+)
  • Some of the time? (+/-)
  • Or hardly ever? (-)

Look at each value and assign one of these three assessments. As shown above, these are quantified as a plus, plus-minus, or a minus.

Let’s say you have five core values. You examine a person and they get, say, a plus, plus, plus, plus, and a plus-minus. From there you see that they share most of your core values most of the time – even if they can be a little fickle on that fifth one. In contrast, an individual with a couple of (or more) minuses may not be a fit.

The right seat

The right seat part of the equation dives deeper into exact positions and their accountabilities. Specifically, it involves creating an accountability chart, which is like an organizational chart on steroids. This document has the hierarchy and the boxes connected with lines in a traditional org chart, but its most important component is the inclusion of five to seven accountabilities associated with each seat.

When someone is sitting in a certain seat (or may sit in it), you must ask the essential GWC questions: Do they get it? Do they want it? Do they have the capacity to do it? In other words:

  • Do they understand what it takes to sit in that seat?
  • Do they want to be responsible for these five-to-seven accountabilities?
  • Do they have the ability to do this job effectively? Breaking this down even further: Do they have the time? Can they actually do the work? Or are they sitting in multiple seats and are too busy with their other accountabilities?

The people analyzer

These components are rolled up into a “people analyzer.” It is basically just a sheet of paper split into columns: one for each of the core values, then one for each of the GWC questions.

The test from there is pretty simple:

  1. Does the person share each core value most of the time, some of the time, or hardly ever? Enter plusses and minuses all the way down.
  2. Then you look at the GWC questions: Do they get it? Do they truly understand? Do they want it? For the last question, you must ask the person if they want to sit in that seat. The other two are assessed based on what you know about them and what you’ve seen; do they have the capacity, the innate ability, and the bandwidth?

Once you’ve finished filling in the people analyzer, you should have a few rows of plusses and minuses. Hopefully the plusses outnumber the minuses, but that may not always be the case. This is why you must set a benchmark. How low will you go for any of these numbers? What is the bare minimum you are willing to accept? What is the expectation for people in your organization?

This test, on a more limited basis, can also be used for the hiring process. But work experience makes it especially valuable for evaluating current employees and making decisions about promotions, lateral moves, coaching, and, unfortunately, letting someone go.

This tool provides a methodical yet straightforward way to evaluate employees, giving you a snapshot that enables smarter decisions. If your core values are on point, and key accountabilities are well-defined, using it to get the right person in the right will simplify managing people.

To learn more about getting your business strategy on point, as well as how we can help you save significantly come tax time, call Provident at 1-855-693-7829 or get in touch through our contact form.

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