Put your business on the right track

The job market, like any other market is subject to the forces of supply and demand.

There is a general assumption that supply is much higher than demand and it is built on fake or inaccurate numbers that do not consider the various skill levels of job seekers.

This assumption keeps salaries and benefits low, despite the increased cost of living in Dubai which is now similar to any other major European or American city.

The supply and demand rule is fine if we are looking at the goods market but when it comes to people it is not enough and in fact it should never be used to determine someone's "market value" .How can you put a price tag on a person? Their attitude, psychology, motivation, business and personal cultures. People's skills or as we call them "soft skills" are of paramount importance for any business, yet recruiters get caught in the hype of degrees, technical knowledge and other certificates forgetting the importance of "soft skills".

Your employees are the greatest asset that can make or break your business, and if you can't treat people as individuals, they won't be able to treat your customers as such! Is that what you really want?

In many places, we see employees who are constantly in direct contact with customers - face to face or by phone - those employees are usually the ones who received little or no training and are not motivated at all! This explains the fair or poor customer service we receive!

Ask yourself why businesses loose their customers or have an increasing sales & marketing cost! A successful business should have most of its revenue generated from repeat custom, customer and employee loyalty is equally important.

I believe that we can be in a much better situation with just a few changes or tweaks.

How?

1. Hire the attitude and train the skill:
Your job roles should be clearly defined not just in terms of skills and knowledge needed but the essential attitude or personal traits for that specific job, you have to train your recruiters / HR officers on how to spot that right attitude or use a specialized consultant. Look out for candidates who are genuine, honest, creative, flexible and willing to learn, to participate and communicate. It takes a lifetime to acquire those soft skills and it takes a fairly short time to acquire other technical, vocational or industry specific skills. The choice is yours!

2. Treat people as individuals:
Avoid stereotyping and labelling people, and refrain from asking for a certain Nationality. We live in a global environment where knowledge and information have no boundaries. For example if you are a Chinese restaurant, looking for a Chinese National to work as a cook, you may or may not fulfil your requirement this way, but one's passport or culture is not an accreditation or proof that he or she possesses the right skills and attitude or that he or she can do the job better than anyone from a different place. But if you ask for someone who is friendly and creative who can cook Chinese food and is experienced with Chinese recipes etc... you will get a better result that may even surprise you!

3. Select and train your management team Carefully:
There is an old saying that goes: "good employees do not actually leave organizations, they simply leave their managers" It is a waste of money and time if we train employees and not train their direct managers assuming that they should already know and do not need to be trained! Managers create the work environment and the organizational culture, we need to make sure everybody in the organization is following the same standards and is part of the same corporate culture this will ensure that your company is well placed on the target list of qualified job seekers; many other companies will stay off that list even if they offer good benefits. Different people have different motivators, you must create a healthy environment where everyone feels valued and appreciated for whatever contribution they make to the business no matter how big or small.

4. Create and foster the Service culture:
Customer service should mean more to you than just a tag line printed for marketing purposes or a certain course that you send your people to. Training will definitely help but will not yield the desired results unless customer service becomes your internal culture and the only way to do business. Treat everybody as a customer including your colleagues your boss your subordinates and even your suppliers, customer service is affected by the internal supply chain, it is as simple as: "I get good service, I give good service" and vice versa!

5. Experience is not a plus point by default:
We all value our experience, it is part of who we are and we have taken a long time to accumulate it, but it should not become a hindrance or the reason behind not being flexible, not learning or becoming too resistant to change. Experience has to be coupled with the right attitude or it will turn into a negative point.

6. Create the "Learning Organization":
There are no more absolutes in our changing world everything is relative, and there is no excuse for not learning and evolving. We have to constantly learn and share the knowledge, there is no need to re-invent the wheel or suffer from organizational amnesia every time a good employee or manager leaves, some existing employees may already have the knowledge, the attitude and the skills needed for a new job role but we will never find out unless we have a way to effectively share and re-use that knowledge.

7. Be realistic:
For every job role that you have, there must be a defined value that this role brings-in as a contribution to your business; you need to strike a balance between Behaviour & Attitude + Skills and Knowledge from one side and employee's benefits on the other side. You will sometimes succeed to squeeze some candidates and get them to work for less but they will cost you more one way or another, you will simply be shifting this cost to another cost centre such as training, marketing , service recovery etc... some employees may even take the job as a step towards the next one. And if you pay someone more than the value you are getting from him or her, you will be unnecessarily wasting your money. Think long term and do not look only under your feet, ask yourself these questions: "How long would this candidate provide me with the required value if I take him or her on board? Would he or she be able to develop and do something different for the business in the future? Is he or she willing to learn and acquire new skills?"

Your main key to success is to "treat everyone as an individual".