The biggest mistake that companies (managers) make, is underestimating what is really required for success in the role.

We think we are saving budget, when we are squandering opportunity. We think we can get by, temporarily, short-cutting, settling for resources that cannot make the grade.

“We knew he wasn’t the right person,” Marcia explained. “We had another candidate, perfect for the position, but the timing didn’t work out, another company countered and won.”

“So, you settled?” I asked.

“He was okay in the beginning. He worked a bulletproof system without a lot of decisions to be made.”

“All he had to do was drive the system?”

“That’s the problem, our customers began to want new things and holes appeared in our system,” Marcia was shaking her head. “By the time we noticed the flags, we lost two of our best customers.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Right now, triage, just to patch things up, but in the long run, we need someone who can look at both our internal systems and our external customers. We need someone who can, not only follow the system, but monitor how well it works and change it to match our customers. Our customers change, want new stuff, over time, the whole market will change.”
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Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or register, follow this link.