Do you read the Wall Street Journal?
It’s an excellent learning source. Last week it shared a Gallup study showing that the fastest growing companies, both in good and bad economies, gain their advantage by hiring and promoting the best middle managers i.e. team leaders.
Examples of middle managers in our industry: super foremen, supervisors, account managers, sales leaders, operational leaders, branch managers, office managers, etc.
This confirms what I tell my clients; you must directly surround yourself with A players, and also make sure “two levels down” that your divisional teams are being built for success.
A strong middle manager
- Has exceptional strengths that match the core responsibilities,
- Is able to inspire their team to meet and beat their goals (for a great example of this, read Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink).
- Can translate your company culture down the ranks.
They create a multiplying effect.
Where do you find and recruit these people in the spring, besides from the typical job boards and social media?
Recruiting from other industries – as Chris Joyce (Joyce Lawnscaping, Cape Cod) says, it is what helped him sustain his $17M growth. Actively recruiting great people you meet on the street, and opening up your job ads to widen your funnel.
Strategic hires – attracting unhappy people from other companies; they are out there, plant seeds and reap now and later. (BTW, there are a lot of mergers snd acquisitions happening which can temporarily produce unhappy employees).
Making your company equally attractive to both genders – as Chris Joyce also shared in my recent webinar. We all know there is a substantial gap in our workforce, and the companies that are able to attract more people regardless of race, sex, etc will have the advantage.
Open houses – works great for recruiting all levels, where food and bonding prepares your current team for the spring work, while allowing outsiders to check out your culture.
One of the biggest values the owner (or second in command) can bring to the organization is to make sure great middle managers are being recruited and developed one and two levels down. This will turbo charge your growth, even when the economy turns down. An A+ leadership team is the antidote to a recession.
An A+ leadership team is the antidote to a recession.
Your challenge: Hire 1-2 great middle managers this spring, and then a couple more this summer and fall, and soon you will power ahead of the competition. (Smaller companies can apply this to hiring crew leaders and potential team leaders.)
