Three Key Steps For Grooming New Superstars © / Ernest F. Oriente / Business Coaching Section / ComPortOne of Rockford Illinois

Three Key Steps For Grooming New Superstars ©
by Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach

Grooming new SUPERSTARS is the easy part. The tough part is having a system to hire the best candidates today…who will be the leaders for your company, tomorrow. Follow the three steps in this article and the dream of having a powerful farm-team is just months away!

Hiring the best: An artist would say, "give me great clay and I’ll craft beautiful sculpture". The same goes for grooming the new leaders for your company. Start with a clear and concise written job description and a written interview game plan, to be used by each person conducting the interviews for your company.

This game plan for hiring future leaders should focus on the critical success factors of your company and your high standards for hiring must never be compromised.

In addition, use validated written assessments in your interview process as these tools can be custom-built for your company and will "benchmark" the behavior and values of your current leaders. You can then compare the behavior and values of your current successful leaders, to each potential new hire and numerically be able to measure and compare any variances.

Tip from The Coach: If the above step is closely followed, your company will already be 75% on-track and the rest of the grooming process will be easy. Please note, hiring great people solves most business problems and makes for a solid foundation insuring future company success.

Developing fast-track training. Develop a detailed training checklist for all newly hired employees. This should include: an orientation for the first day, a daily plan for the first week, an outline for the first month, and a recap of the first 90 days which includes your specific company expectations for their performance.

This sets the tone for a strong introduction to your company and within 90 days, every new hire should be fully trained and operating at peak performance. Many property management organizations use this powerful training system during the initial interview process to attract superstars and identify those not ready to play at this world-class level.

Tip from The Coach: At the 90 day mark, have your manager or supervisor conduct a thorough employee review and summarize an "action-step" required for improvement or growth. Then, have your manager/supervisor use this employee review for a short monthly meeting to track the progress being made, until the anniversary of the next formal review. Those who are making the most progress on their action steps are your best prospects as future SUPERSTARS.

Grooming future leaders. Allow a new employee a minimum of 18-24 months to master his/her current responsibilities. If after the first 12 months, your manager or supervisor sees great potential and can validate exceptional performance in a particular individual, schedule a meeting with this person and ask them to share with you their vision and plans for the future.

If this person has professional goals consistent with those of your company, begin to assign projects for this person to handle, specifically those which can be presented directly to you.

An example might be to assign this person a research project to evaluate major employer trends or an analysis of how to better compete with your competitors. If these projects go well, then assign larger more complex projects or a group presentation so you can see how this person interacts with his/her peers and managers.

These projects are a critical step for grooming a future leader, as you will have several months of evaluating this person’s performance, long before a promotion becomes official. This also takes the pressure off the individual seeking advancement, and allows them a safe place to grow and develop, with your support and guidance.

Tip from The Coach: As you assign each project or presentation, be very clear in your expectations and coach this individual before and after each assignment is completed. When coaching—be honest, be truthful, and expect this individual to make the necessary adjustment along the way. The best future leaders will be smart, quick to shift gears and happy students. When you find this special person in your company…make certain they never leave.

Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Fax a quick note on your letterhead to 435-615-8670 and The Coach will fax you back a free invitation to be a participant on an interactive LIVE telephone teleconference. On this call we will discuss the tips from this article as grooming future SUPERSTARS is a profitable subject!

Author’s note: Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach, founder of PowerHour®, a professional business coaching service delivering customized training, by telephone, in management, marketing and sales for property management companies, apartment locator/corporate housing services and publishing companies worldwide. We specialize in global distance learning by telephone, using our state-of-the-art conference call system for interactive and dynamic TeleForums. Twice-monthly TeleForums link 10 -100 executives/ professionals/ individuals who are geographically dispersed, in a time efficient and profitable format. PowerHour® is based in ski-town—Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit our TeleForum website: www.coachingsuccess.com. To receive a FREE property management success newsletter send an E-mail to: ernest@powerhour.com. Recent PowerHour® articles have appeared in 1500+ business/trade publications and websites.

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