12 Ways To Create -- And Keep -- The Workforce You Want

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.