Career guru Kate Southam, wrote on her Cube Farmer blog last week “Whether it is a pair of shoes or a job role, wrong fit hurts”.
The wrong fit hurts employees and the companies they work for, their colleagues and their customers. The discomfort they are feeling radiates in all directions and can have substantial negative impacts on your business. Discomfort degenerates into real pain when you have to deal with a resignation or dismissal.
Why choose to go through the pain when there’s a much easier way?
Kate says: …with shoes, you are more likely to know your size. With jobs, people don’t often sit down and work out their ‘size’ before they go shopping for a new role.
We say: Far too often, managers don’t sit down and work out what they’re really looking for before they go shopping for people to fill roles.
We see the results of this ‘mutual mystification’ around us daily with disinterested and unmotivated staff.
The most common manifestation is in poor customer service. Other symptoms are bullying, absenteeism and even outright sabotage.
If you’re serious about avoiding pain, this article is a good starting point.
If you need more convincing that the upfront work will be worth the effort, see this article about customer service (SMH, 28 July 2011).
And if you really don’t think you have a problem because your staff aren’t complaining, it might be time to revisit this blog post.
We would love to help you ease the discomfort. Better still, we can show you how to avoid it. Contact us for more information.
Susan Rochester has been managing director of Balance at Work since 2006. Susan has a natural tendency to balance analytical thinking with an optimistic outlook to set direction and solve problems. She is an effective facilitator and constantly creates new and more effective ways of doing things, motivated by helping others to achieve their goals.