How are you measuring success and performance of your new hires? Do you go by a gut feeling, or do you have something more substantial in place?
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We’ve been talking about the hiring process in the last few episodes. By this point, you’ve done the work, and found a good fit. But now that you’ve hired, how do you know if your new hire is worth it?
In this episode, I’m talking about Key Results Areas (KRAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): how they relate, and how they can help you evaluate your new hire based on data.
Managing Performance
As a leader, you are going to have to manage the new hire’s performance. A common mistake is to hire and assume someone is going to perform, but this is a complete assumption. You hired because you want to scale your business. This means you have to separate yourself from directing and move into the leadership part of your business. You must lead this new talent.
“There is no such thing as pulling an expert into your team.”
You might think that if you hire high level talent, they will come into the business ready to go on Day 1. But the reality is that you are going to have to manage this person; they won’t automatically know what is important to you. So how do you manage this?
Key Results Areas
You need to create Key Results Areas (KRAs) for every role in your business.
A KRA is defined as something for which you are completely responsible for. If you don’t do it – it doesn’t get done. It is an activity that is completely under your control. It is an output of your work that becomes an input to a contributing factor to the work of others.
For a business owner, a KRA is a metric that indicates that your hire is doing exactly what you want them to do. It can be a metric or a milestone, but I encourage you to put a number on it if you can.
Create Measurable Goals
Create goals for the first 30-60-90 days for your new hire, and define what success looks like for them.
“Often we hire on our gut intuition, which is not the most strategic way to acquire the best talent. Having a structure like this in place will make this an unemotional process.”
When you create these goals before the interview process you can then give them a chance to demonstrate previous work experience and accomplishments. This will lead to satisfaction on both ends, because:
- Both parties are clear.
- The new hire can hit ground running; they know what they are running toward.
- You’ll be able to evaluate performance based on numbers you have already set.
- Will make performance trackable, and provide a structure for reviews.
- If it’s not working out, you will have facts to lean on in the case you need to separate.
Key Performance Indicators
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a metric that is used to evaluate a company goal. The
KRAs for each role in your business should align with the KPIs of your business. This will help each role understand how their work contributes to the team. You should:
- Track these KRAs by creating a document that your team can update weekly; this becomes your company dashboard.
- Create KRAs for every single role in your business. This will help you feel certain that you’re making the right hiring decisions.
As small business owners, it’s tempting to hire and do things really quickly without using these frameworks, but I promise that if you take the time and do the work, you will be much happier with your hiring decisions in the long run!
Weekly Ops Activity
For this week’s activity, I want you to create a goal for your marketing and assign a KPI. Then determine what KRAs will support the goal.
This will help you understand what to look for in the person who will assist you with marketing in your business. Post this information in The Ops Insiders Facebook Group.
Previous Episodes Mentioned
Episode 32: Step By Step To Onboard Your New Hire
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