Play Your A-Team
After going 15-1 in the regular season, the Packers looked like a tough team to beat. Sure, their defense was ranked at the bottom of the league, but their offense was one of the best. So… like almost everyone else in Packer Nation, I expected Green Bay to make it back to the Super Bowl to defend their title. But instead, the New York Giants outplayed Green Bay and ended their season.
However, for a lot of fans, it’s not officially over until we voice our opinions and become Monday morning quarterbacks. We spend the day-after rehashing the game, the team, and the coaching. Although I’m already over the loss, I’ll admit that the post-game “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” conversations are somewhat cathartic.
And now that the season’s over, the conversation shifts to which players need to be replaced and what positions need to be acquired in the off-season. Essentially, we focus on our favorite football team’s personnel and identify all the strengths and weaknesses at each position.
So how does that apply to your company’s team? How often do you conduct a personnel analysis on your own team? Would you consider most of the positions on your team to be pretty solid?
Here’s a quick way to answer that last question. Think of all the people on your team and the positions that they hold. If you were able to double your business tomorrow, how many of your current employees would you want to clone to fill the new positions? (It’s hypothetical… so yes, you have the ability to clone people!)
As you probably guessed, you just identified your A-Team. But what about everybody else? What are you going to do with all the people who don’t make the first team? Are you thinking about moving them to a different shift or position? Sure, that might provide them with a little more supervision or different responsibilities, but these employees still need to do the work.
So what would happen if you had to clone these employees? How many non-performers can your dairy afford to keep on the team? Most managers would agree, your business can’t afford to carry many, if not any, weak performers.
Unfortunately, the reality is that you’re probably limited by a busy schedule and a shortage of quality applicants to do much about your weak positions. But what happens to your dairy and its performance if you don’t spend enough time building your team and improving its performance every year? No, your season won’t come to an abrupt end. But, you will probably end up losing… time, money, patience, sleep, and enthusiasm for the business.
Regardless of your company’s size, the reason you have employees is to help you do all your work and improve your bottom line. From now on, find the time to develop to your employees. Focus on building your A-team.