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Getting on the Bus:

Retain the Best...and Cut the Rest!

In the book Good to Great author Jim Collins makes a very intriguing analogy of a business and a bus. The overall goal of any company according to Collins is not to figure out where to drive the bus but to put the right people (employees) on the bus and then figure out where to drive it. Jim Collins states that a business may not know exactly where they are going in the future but there is one certainty: if a business has the right people on the bus then management can figure out how to take the bus somewhere great. I was amazed when I first read Jim Collins' book because it reduced to writing the principles that I've used for quite some time in the running of my own businesses. But into everyone's life, rain must fall! I also subscribe to the author's theory that we must also get the wrong people off the bus before we can move forward. A huge part of the success of my business can be attributed to taking the discipline in choosing the right people. Throughout the years, honing our abilities in choosing the best of the best and to retain the brightest talent has enabled us to grow our company. But more importantly, we have found mechanisms to either a) improve those employees that are not productive or b) slow the bus down and throw them off.

This is not like the biblical story, where the shepherd leaves his flock to protect the one lost sheep.

The only way to allow your fantastic employees to perform at their highest level is to make sure they are not slowed down by their fellow employees who are not engaged. I've seen time after time the detrimental effects an employee who is not pulling their weight has had on hardworking employees.

The moment that management feels as if they have to tighten the reins on a worker or ensure that a weaker employee is not back to their bad habits, then that means you have made a hiring mistake. My company is not burdened with most of the petty issues that plague most businesses. If you come to work late or you are consistently on personal phone calls, or we catch you playing on the internet, then as Donald Trump says, "You're fired!"

These employees can always go to work for your competitors, where they can languish in their mediocrity while your business continues to grow and thrive.

A good company must expend its energies into developing the right people and growing its business. If a company must spend their time on petty personnel issues, then they don't have the resources to grow their business.

Now I realize it may sound callous and you may fear you will be perceived as being insensitive to your workers. And perhaps many larger corporations have the resources to invest time and energy into employees who don't seem to care. It may be that these larger corporations buoyed by continued investments or stock price increases can survive with employees that just don't work. But in my small, medical business as well as those of many of my clients, I cannot take the risk of allowing ineffective employees to slow down my business. My time and money are too valuable to spend on the wrong employees, who just don't care.

Our management's time would be better spent taking care of the business and nurturing the employees that are stellar performers. In my business, if one sheep can't cut it, my greater responsibility is to the flock. I simply cannot risk the health and well being of the entire flock to try to salvage the weaker, straying sheep. The good of the flock comes first and one rampant sheep could bring down the entire herd. Letting the wrong people hang around and bring down the right people just isn't good business. While this policy may seem cold and callous to some, it is necessary.

I started my own business to; 1) earn profit 2) help my customers and patients, and 3) provide an income for my employees. Those are my three highest goals. My goals are not to nurture lazy employees that just won't or can't work. Let's face it; if a business is dealing with a problem employee oftentimes this em-ployee is not happy with the business to begin with. Letting problem workers go is the right, humane thing to do.

Such a unique style of management in no way means that employers cannot take care of their employees or not be sensitive to their needs. It simply means that their time and energies are directed and focused on great employees. A company that can fully appreciate and reward their employees can do so much to improve the lives of their staff. Imagine if you no longer had to spend time on problem employees and you now had all of that time to spend on engaging and rewarding everyone else. In the long run following such a direction creates a fantastic, fun environment for all employees.

Airborne Amputees