To find great people you have to have a solid hiring system. To manage them effectively, you have to take a systematic approach so you are interacting with your people consistently. To retain them involves a combination of hiring the right people and then managing, recognizing, compensating and developing them. Define your system for managing talent and follow it as seriously as you would when you systematically install new technology for a client.

David Russell, CEO of Success With People and author of the book "Success With People--A Complete System For Effectively Managing People In Any Organization," shows you how.

1. Systematic Power
Sharon was hired as an executive by what appeared to be a thriving solution provider with a strong value proposition for certain vertical markets. Shortly after coming on board, Sharon learned the company had no systems in place for effectively hiring, managing, developing and retaining great people. The result was that management of employees was very inconsistent, often unclear and uninspiring. Employees had jobs rather than careers and the company was fighting two lawsuits by former employees.

SOLUTION: You want to have full employee engagement so revenue soars and profits are strong. Systematic power is a commitment to have systems in place for hiring, managing, developing and retaining talent.

2. Understand How You Make a Difference
A few years ago, I was teaching about 20 people. I asked if any could state their company's mission statement from memory. One young man raised his hand. He confidently and passionately exclaimed his company's mission statement, which was a single sentence that clearly defined how the company served its clients. The difference between this young man and others in the audience was that he believed in the value of his company's services and was pursuing a career, rather than just having a job.

SOLUTION: Extend the vision of your company through focusing your people on why their work is making a positive difference in the world. Not only will this increase their passion to deliver excellence, but it will also strengthen their desire to stay with your company long-term.

3. Live It, Observe It, Improve It
Many VARs have their employees using their products and services so they understand firsthand the value their solutions provide to customers. This is known as "live it."

Because of the service orientation of VARs, they typically also have people who observe how clients use their solutions. This is "observe it." The combination of the two provides VARs with the ability to identify unique ways to serve clients better.

Most VARs, however, fail to fully exploit what they learn, which is what we call Improve It. VARs let themselves get so busy with trivial matters that knowledge of how to improve their solutions is often forgotten.

SOLUTION: Establish and practice a process to capture customer comments, consider requests for enhancements and develop improvements.

NEXT: Give yourself a break -- no, really.

In contrast, one study by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwarz (authors of the book, "The Power of Full Engagement") showed that workers who take breaks every two to four hours to clear their minds, have a healthy snack and/or exercise, actually return to work more focused and can handle more stress.

One person who practices this is Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City public schools. Klein blocks out chunks of time where he can freely read and think through his next moves and strategies without distractions. He also considers problems by walking, sometimes three to four miles with his wife, to thoroughly explore solutions.

SOLUTION: Take a break in the morning and afternoon to go for a walk, visit a bookstore, do some stretching or other activity that removes you from your primary work environment to mentally, emotionally and physically focus on something else.

5. Success Plans
Consistently, when I survey top VAR executives, they say one of the leading problems is the ability of their people to achieve key objectives each day. We're told technology will save us time. This isn't a universal truth. More often than not, technology encourages us to take on more work than we should.

Success plans are a to-do list. Consider doing them weekly. Plan your week on a Friday or over the weekend. Each day has several "do it now" objectives that have key, measurable results. You absolutely have to do them each day unless you make a conscious decision to replace them with something that's more important.

SOLUTION: Try a weekly success plan. If you can accomplish just one "do it now" objective each day, you will finish the week knowing you achieved significant progress toward your annual goals.

6. Pass the Baton on Job Responsibilities
A VAR gets sued in an employee dispute. The court asks for a copy of the company's policy manual and job description to confirm the employee's contested responsibilities and performance standards. Without a job description to lay the foundation for how performance is measured, your company is unnecessarily vulnerable to employee lawsuits, which can become a huge loss of time and money.

Too many VARs have job titles, but no documentation of a formal job description. The belief is that everyone knows what to do. This is a big mistake. Job descriptions transfer job responsibilities to employees and lay the foundation for how employee performance is measured. Job descriptions also help employees understand their career path in your company so you can retain them longer.

SOLUTION: Write clear, detailed job descriptions.

7. Right Person, Right Job
If I had $20 for every time a VAR told me they thought someone was a good hire but that they didn't work out, I could fund an IRA. Too often, VARs hire by gut feeling and emotion, rather than balancing their insights with facts.

People are not your greatest asset unless you have the right people in the right jobs. When you take a systematic approach to hiring, you increase your ability to hire great people rather than hiring convincing interviewers. The first three steps are how to Establish Your Foundation for hiring; the next four steps explain how to Qualify the Candidate; and the last three steps lay out Onboarding, which is how you bring new employees into your company and get them started.

SOLUTION: Define your hiring system and follow it consistently. Keep the process moving so you can sign the best candidates. Follow through on your commitments after the hire to increase employee retention rates.

NEXT: What your compensation plan says about your company.

The bottom line is compensation communicates more about your company values and your personal integrity than any other aspect of your relationship with your employees. Now this does not mean you can abuse or ignore your employees, but pay them well. It does mean that you have to pay people what you would want to be paid if your roles were reversed.

SOLUTION: Consider compensation that's a combination of base pay, benefits and performance pay. The performance pay can also have a partner-pay component for results-oriented employees to create new revenue streams for your organization. If you don't balance your compensation but go with high salaries, then employees often lack the incentive to perform their best, and you have a significant risk when your utilization rates drop due to economic or other conditions.

9. Listen More
"I manage with a long leash," the vice president of marketing tells me. "We only hire senior people," another partner tells me. Often, the problem is the same: Managers are not involved in making the employee a success. The No. 1 reason employees quit is a poor relationship with their bosses. Listen more means you meet with your employees one-on-one at least once a month. The goal is to just listen. If they need your help, guidance or advice then give it to them, and follow up without fail.

SOLUTION: Start today to meet once a month with each employee who reports to you. Do it just to listen. Also consider meeting with one client a week for the same reason. You'll not only increase your knowledge of your business, but you'll also gain valuable insight into what your clients find important, which allows you to properly allocate your people to fill needs and provide services. This, in turn, increases revenue and profits.

10. Goals That Work
In general, VARs and their employees do a poor job of setting and achieving goals. Instead they live day-to-day reacting to customer events and business needs (sales) rather than applying their knowledge and skills to positively respond to opportunities.

Remember Maximus in the movie Gladiator? He wasn't just a great warrior, but a very effective leader. The first test for him and his fellow slaves was when the Romans sent chariots out to attack them in the Colosseum. With no time to prepare, Maximus gives the men instructions that are simple, direct and limited to one action. First he tells them to huddle together. Then step-by-step he gives orders on how to defend and attack. Each time, his directive focuses on a single action. The result is that his men prevail over the Romans against overwhelming odds.

SOLUTION: Define your system for writing goals. Ask each employee to write one goal. Meet and confirm a final version. Follow up to provide support and encouragement so they can succeed. For additional direction on how to write goals, visit Free Stuff on www.successwithpeople.com.

11. Halftime Reviews
A recent study concluded 65 percent of employees have not received recognition or even a compliment on their work during the past year. How would that make you feel?

I call performance reviews "halftime reviews" because the atmosphere of the meeting must be like halftime at a sporting event and you are the coach. It's the time to review what's going wrong, what's achieving results, and what needs to be done to achieve success.

SOLUTION: Using the employee's job description and goals as a foundation, have quarterly miniperformance reviews and an annual review to demonstrate to the employee that you're committed to their success. Affirm the employee's achievements and, to a lesser extent, point out how you overcame obstacles together. There shouldn't be any surprises. The review also serves to document performance in the event of an employee dispute.

12. Coach--Do Not Play
Coaching but not playing means you teach your people how to think, rather than just tell them what to do, or do it yourself. Yes, on the front end you have to develop training materials, take the time to train people and monitor their progress. However, this is the only way your organization can sustain long-term, healthy growth.

One large IT organization that was interviewing departing employees discovered 90 percent quit because their managers were not helping them to develop. This was in an organization that had hundreds of online courses and budgets available to employees.

SOLUTION: Choose one responsibility you have and develop a training program. Pass the baton on that job responsibility to someone else. Train them. Observe them performing the task (very important). Follow up and hold them accountable to excellent performance. Then replicate the process so your company can grow.