Funtion Four: To CONTROL

Take a step back now. Can you see, in full view, the tireless work, thus far? Many think, now is the time to relax; I doubt that Ray Kroc ever thought that. The minute you let your guard down, a bit of control is lost, motivation drops below sea level, organization slips a bit, and a plan becomes dusty and forgotten. Do not think for one minute that the job is complete. Evaluation of the plan under way results in controlling the plan and the organization of it.

All angles must be viewed. Feedback from those involved is crucial for the validity of the direction pursued. Charted progress and weighed achievement is necessity when review is in full swing. Structured meetings of the many minds such as cross-functional teams, executive leadership, and departmental kumbayas become the display case for project and/or product analysis. These essential gatherings chart time and development, as well as reveal shortfalls in predetermined timelines, budgets, or sightedness. Controlling the spin of any project controls the potential for failure or missed marks.

This function allows for resolution and change that is compulsory. How is it that nearly 98% of all technology start-ups fail? Poor Management! Think about it, poor management results in failed businesses, lost capital, time vanished, and considerable heartache. 80% of all start-ups fail by year five. That is a considerable amount of time invested in a project, business, or department. How is this possible? The answer is still poor management.

Let’s talk a bit about poor management. CEOs, Directors, or Managers are responsible for managing the resources, namely people and money. If a Manager fails to properly manage an employee, he fails the system. If a CEO/President fails to manage the capital, he fails the system. If an employee fails to meet a deadline or falls into bad habits (like overspending), the system fails, not just the employee. The parts are all interrelated. It is a system. Mismanagement of money, mismanagement of people = system failure.

Control. This follows the plan, is preceded by the organization, and is in line behind directing/motivating. Crisis prevention and issue aversion are part of the ongoing process of management. It doesn’t have an end date. Marketing projects, recruitments and sourcing, or staffing assignments may have deadlines or necessary completion dates but the “business” does not. You are only as good as your last search. When you hit a stumbling block, recall these basic functions. Did you plan well, enough? Did you carry out the plan? Was there impetus to drive completion? Were the steps monitored and controlled?  This is your challenge.

“The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.” ~Agha Hasan Abedi

by rayannethorn

Function Three: To Motivate

The crowd roars in the background and stadium lights flood the field. The smell of freshly cut grass mingles with popcorn and dogs. An announcer calls out the first batter’s name in muffled tones and eager anticipation fills the stands. The batter crosses in front of the dugout to home plate, accompanied by cheers and jeers. Wringing the bat in his hands, tightening his grip, he checks his stance and settles his feet. He brings the bat back with the full intent of achieving his team’s goal – to win.

Everything up until the swing is planning. The actual crack as the bat makes contact with the ball is organization in action. This connection moves to action – action which is motivation and direction. The run to first base paves the way for the next batter and moves the team forward, each act brought about by the organized plan. The coach sits and views all this with a watchful eye making adjustments as needed or encourages passionate play to continue. Direction is necessary to maintain organization and pursue victory.

Evaluating each play and each player is the job of the manager. Was that the right next step? Is he in the right position? The coach and manager must communicate and supervise. Sharing concerns with the team must be coordinated and constructive in order for it to have impact and value. Whether you are a sole proprietor, only recruiter, part of a team, or managing the team, directing and leading from within – the 360° Leader – sees needs and defines action. Through example and motivation, goals are chased with zeal and are within grasp.

Leadership finds its way to the center, whatever role is held. The leader, the manager, the director, or the motivator are the lead-off batters, clearing a path and holding the torch, not only for visibility and clarity but to pass on when the time is right. The control of resources plus focus are imperative in the game – keep your eye on the ball. And players have to reach – motivation pushes employees to reach. Don’t wait for the ball to come to you, go to it. Meet it head on.

As the team moves through practices and takes the field for the big game, a level of trust must be in place. The relationships among employees, the amity held with clients, hiring managers, or candidates must reflect the commitment brought to each game. The game plan reveals the barriers early on, they are surmountable. The playing of the game displays shortcomings, they can be rectified. The desire to win, the direction taken to make it so, comes from within and it is achievable.

“My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” ~Hank Aaron

by rayannethorn

Function Two

Function Two:  to ORGANIZE

Plans are the start of something big – if you follow through and decide a course of action; commit to the response to those plans.  That response will be the next step:  Organize.  The implementation of plans gives reason to the decided-upon strategy.  The purpose of the organization has been determined and the next door is ready to be opened.

Proper time and consideration must be spent on this function.  Carefully building upon the set plan is fundamental in successful business building.  This requires gathering resources and creating the precise combination.  Having enough ready capital and back-up funds becomes more important during times like we are currently experiencing .  The right skills and experience represented creates additional validity to the plan and its organization.  Current technology and precision in the form of “tools” add further value to the organizational process.

Once a strategy is understood and the resources aligned, accomplishment becomes a procedure of time.  Routines must be set and each resource utilized at peak efficiency.  Routines only become routine by making them routine.  Say that three times fast. A routine can only become a habit by incessant practice.  Understand the numbers:  what you need to achieve in order for the plan to be working.  Those parameters must be identified early on and kept as the blueprint you refer to over and over again.

The system is paramount.  Each resource is an integral part of the system.  An old theater adage is, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” This is true  in systems, as well.  A systems-thinking approach will accurately divide labor, as well  as the other  resources necessary to keep the machine well-oiled and functioning – routinely.  If the organizational or departmental or individual goals are to be on target, the map needs to be followed.  This close attention will also point out areas that are failing and drive innovation or change to the plan, making it more suited…, better.

Practice does make perfect. Preciseness breeds preciseness.  Preciseness bears excellence.  We’re halfway there, don’t give up on your plan, don’t let laziness and lack of attention foil your ability to organize and stick to it.  Create a personal tradition of quality in all you do, in your attention to your own desk.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle

Function One

Function One:  to PLAN

All great businesses and strategies start with a plan.  A plan is a blueprint or script, if you will, to assist in achievement of reaching a goal or objective.  The “plan” can be as simple as a calendar with events charted and scheduled in order to attain a prescribed point of development.  It can also be as complicated and detailed as a 250-page in-depth business plan.

How do you plan for your day? your week? your month? your year?  For your business? For a particular recruitment or departmental goal?  For a company objective?  Depending upon your job function, planning may already be a part of  your work life.  Many sole proprietors fail to really plan for their businesses. They fail to seize the opportunity to make an impact it their own work lives and/or their lives away from work.  You see, planning is a significant step toward building your business or book of business and also building your life – your time away from your business.

Put it down on paper or on a word doc and implement it into your life, work, and play.  If you have an outline for your day or week, is it not more probable that you will stick to it?  Calls are more likely to be made on time, fewer appointments missed. Deadlines will be made, follow up and follow through will actually take place and become routine.  Having missed a few appointments myself, this is fitting counsel and simple enough to implement immediately.

A full-blown business plan is dissimilar yet an incredibly vital part of building a business or charting a different course for individuals, departments, or company.  Having detailed goals and a strategic outline for success is fundamental for said achievement.  In addition to a business plan, organizational and marketing plans will further define goals and objectives.

In my recent study about Ray Kroc, it became very clear how imperative “planning” is and has been to the success of McDonalds.  The McDonalds empire would never be where it is today, had Mr. Kroc not very carefully laid out a plan and insisted that the franchisees strictly adhere to the approved guidelines.  The result of Kroc’s planning:  28,000 restaurants producing exactly what the customer expects, every time.

Thoroughly mapping the course of a recruitment or business approach, defining the details of a search or process, and identifying departmental objectives that coincide with those of the organization are steps in the direction of triumphant management.  Harvey MacKay, author of How to Swim with the Sharks, understood that, “Failures don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.”

The Old-Fashioned Tech of Management

There are several different processes of management, but four key functions that  provide for the whole  have been identified as Planning, Organizing, Motivating, and Controlling.   Whether you work a for-profit or non-profit, these four elements are imperative to ensure smooth operation and for the goals of any organization to be met.

PLANNING ~First and foremost, management must make a plan.  Setting goals is an invaluable task that must be done to establish order within a department or organization.  Planning is the base function and foundation for management.  Planning requires looking into and understanding the present state of the company or department and deciding where you want the company or department to be.  Once the desired future has been determined, strategic planning must take place in order to get to where the company to that future.

Planning is a never-ending story.  The minute planning ceases, the company or department will begin to deteriorate.  Internal and external factors must be considered when planning is on the table.  There will be times that long-term planning must take the back seat when short-term planning becomes a necessity or even an emergency.

ORGANIZE  ~Once plans have been made and are ready to be implemented, organization comes into play.  It is impossible to organize until plans have been set; once set, then organization has purpose.  Organization combines the resources available to the team or company.  These resources might include money, talent, technology, and tools.  The compilation of these resources is the most efficient way of accomplishing company and/or departmental goals.  Management will systemize the division of labor and resources, as well as determine where authority and responsibility lie once organizational efforts have been established.  Organization is the next logical step when planning has reached a certain point.  Being that planning never ceases, it can be logically be assumed that organization is an ongoing task, as well.

MOTIVATING  ~Once planning has been established and organization has begun, motivation becomes necessary to carry out said plans and maintain the established organization.  Motivating (or directing) is also necessary in order to determine where each company or team member should dwell within the organizational confines.  Motivation plays a significant part in influencing how each organizational or departmental goal is to be reached.  Included in this process is open communication and supervision. 

Building relationships of trust and camaraderie will aid in the efforts of management in leading the company and/or department to success.  This can be achieved through communication – supervisors communicating with employees, and executives communicating with supervisors, co-workers to co-workers, team members to team members.  These are all part of the motivating/directing function.

CONTROLLING  ~Controlling involves evaluating the efforts of the organization in goal achievement.  Providing feedback from every corner plus follow-up and follow-thru to evaluate progress and achievement.  Cross-functional team meetings and departmental gatherings allow for comment and response or in determining when a change of course is necessary.

This function allows for resolution and change that is compulsory.  Through this process, predictors are in place and crisis can be prevented and/or averted.  This is a continuous process in that the company and department will forever need to be challenged, controlled, and managed.

Reach goals and attain success through faithful participation in a management process.

I’ll Take Cake

Candidate interface. Client interface. Knowing the goals of both is necessary and easily deemed tiresome. Not exactly the most exciting part of the job. Candidates and Clients: when you discover a lack of cohesion between the two, do you push on, hoping that deficiency goes away quietly into the dark? Sometimes the rug isn’t big enough under which to sweep the insufficiencies.

Finding the balance in a candidate where their areas of strength coincide with the needs of the Hiring Manager or department can be tedious but that is part of the gig, right? Knowing needs and also deciphering the needs you don’t know can be difficult but not impossible. The sometimes mind-numbing task of debriefing the Hiring Manager to ascertain every nuance of the job or team is, unfortunately, elemental to drive success in hiring.

Recruiting 001,  requires you, as the recruiter/staffing agent/HR professional/search consultant/talent acquisition specialist/personnel officer to discern this basic before you even start. How can you possibly identify a valid field of potential candidates if you don’t truly know the position and environment into which you are hiring?

In conducting professional reference interviews, do you ask the universal question, “What would you say John Smith’s strengths are?” And, of course, the converse follows, “If John Smith had an area that needed improvement, what would that be?” Discovering the weaknesses of a candidate can be a little more difficult than having a former supervisor extol the virtues of said candidate. Weakness is such a strong word and strength is so passé.

I love the deadly answer for both – “He is a perfectionist.” Of course, aren’t we all? It is even more precious when it comes from the candidate, himself. Discovery. Detective work. Sorcery. (sourcer-y) Magic. Archeology. Digging up the bones for the dog to chew on. Asking the right questions.
Not such a simple task but not that difficult either. It is as simple as…, cake or death?

by rayannethorn

You can go now, the light has changed.

Been battered and down for so long
it’s hard to know which way is up
until I saw the light and realized
I am not alone.

Escaping loneliness has proven a formidable task for me. I have worked my entire life to develop enriching relationships with those around me. I am a pleaser and a hard-worker, I enjoy music & art, I love theater and find that I can never get enough. An ever-growing love is writing – it has been a strong medicine that has gone a long way to help mend the cracks in my facade. It has also been a bitter pill to swallow as my writing has transformed from dark, brooding stories & poems to somehow deeper, but lighter fare that my soul seems to be feasting upon. I really cannot write enough these days and have some pretty lofty writing plans/goals for myself over the next two years.

Find that one thing that makes your soul perculate. What is it for you? What is your one thing? Changes cause fear but also build character and bring strength. Can you imagine being in the same place you were a year ago? How about five years ago? Maybe even two months ago?

Serenity comes about through acceptance of our past and present. Finding that peace is a challenge for any human that faces their past, stands down the present, and moves toward to future with shameless trepidation. Deep breaths, understanding who you really are, and trusting that there is a purpose for today, and what you meet in it, circulates the joy necessary to maintain a life in repair. Love who you are and recognize the path that only you can travel. That recognition lifts the fog of fallacies allowing you to see the flowers and happiness that line your way.

The light is before you – smile at it and proceed.

living out

Learn as if you were to live forever and live as if tomorrow were your last day… ghandi
Can we ever know all we should? Living is about learning, growing, and ultimately, changing. The one constant in this crazy world in which we live? Change. We have to continuously learn in order to keep up. Technology is always evolving; providing new ways to communicate, educate, and enforce.

Find your constants and follow your dreams…
~love who you are and practice self-control
~love what you do – work or play
~love who you are with – they may be gone tomorrow
and live your life out, let go of regrets and sweet will be your reward.

by rayannethorn