Imagine this: You’re a business owner, and your goal is to assemble a team of A-players, the kind of individuals who not only excel at their jobs but also drive your business to new heights. But how do you identify an A-player? And once you do, are you ready to compensate them accordingly?
Consider the following analogy. You have two cars to choose from: a Suzuki Jimny and a Porsche Taycan.
The Jimny costs $39,000, and the Porsche costs $175,000. Now, imagine if you could get the Porsche, with all its superior features and performance, for just 20% more than the Jimny. Wouldn’t you seize that opportunity? The same logic applies to your team. An A-player might cost you about 20% more than a B-player, but they will deliver three to four times the output.
However, there’s a catch. You need to know which team member – or in this case, car – is right for your business.
Just because the Porsche is a better car doesn’t mean it’s the right car for you. If you need a car that can handle all terrains and is easy to repair, you might actually want the Jimny – or a Land Cruiser Sahara, if you’re willing to pay a little more.
So, the key is understanding what A-players look like for your company. It’s not enough to say you want the best; you need to define what ‘the best’ means in the context of your business. In other words, you need to write a narrative, a story that describes your ideal team member in detail.
Let’s take the role of a dispatch manager, for instance. This person needs to have excellent forklift skills, adhere to safety protocols, handle a frontline team well, and be assertive but not confrontational. They need to balance authority with approachability and uphold high standards of work. They need to be a problem solver who can turn a 30% decrease in incidents and a 20% increase in on-time deliveries into a tangible sense of team morale.
Writing a narrative helps you get clarity around the role you’re trying to fill and sets the behaviours and examples expected once you’ve hired someone. It paints a more vivid picture of what you’re looking for than a position description. It’s not just about skills and experience; it’s about how those skills and experience will be used in practice.
Remember, hiring the right A-players for your team is not just about finding the best people. It’s about finding the best people for your business.
And to do that, you need to know what ‘the best’ looks like in your context. So, take some time to write your narrative. Be clear on what you want and need. That way, you’ll be more likely to find your A-players – the ones who will drive your business to the next level.
- Hugh Reardon
