Team Selection, Training and Management are key to an organization’s success

It will seem obvious to most that untrained and unsupervised staffers can wreak havoc on your organization. However, you would be surprised at the number of organizations that do nothing to address the problem. Many choose to blame the community where they operate for an untrained workforce and take little responsibility to improve what they can within their own structures.

We do need our educational systems and family structures to produce individuals capable of being positive contributors to the community. However, we also need each and every business and organization to take on the responsibility for the continuing education of these individuals once they are hired or otherwise engaged in the workforce.

Effective management of your staff is essential to ensuring the workplace runs smoothly and efficiently. This also helps to ensure that the right employees are in the right positions. Staff that are well-managed and receive continuing training and evaluations are better prepared to do their jobs and to serve your customers. This can lead to better profits, more satisfied clients and an increase in repeat business. The reverse of this is also true, poor staffing can result in a chaotic, unorganized work environment, which has the potential to make your organization lose valuable business and staff.

The process begins by hiring the right people for open positions. When you conduct successful interviews, and ask potential employees pertinent questions that relate to your organization, you get a better feel for who will best represent your needs. Hiring efficient, knowledgeable employees will help you attain a reputation for quality products and service. Hiring undependable or unknowledgeable employees can turn off customers and make you lose business.

The next step is ensuring your organization is properly staffed. This is measured by employees that are able to complete the duties and responsibilities of their jobs in a timely manner. If you are overstaffed you will lose money by employing too many individuals to accomplish the various tasks required to keep the organization running efficiently. In contrast, if you hire too few employees you risk overworking current employees. This can lead to poor job performance and high attrition rates, resulting in wasted resources related to training and finding new employees. Think through what you need to provide proper services to your customers who ever they may be.

Even the best employees won’t perform to their full potential if they are overworked or are trying to do the job of several people, which can lead to irritability and impatience with both other staff and customers.

Once you have the staff on board you need to focus on training them on all aspects of their job and give them insight into other positions in your organization. This will develop well-rounded individuals who have a working knowledge of their positions and those of their colleagues. Knowledgeable employees are better able to answer customer questions, handle problems and deliver better quality service. Untrained employees that cannot help and send people away without answers or information will create frustrated customers.

So be sure you are taking time to evaluate your organization to ensure you are helping to contribute to the quality workforce needed in our community.

Editor’s note: Mr. Christopher is the executive director of the Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce. His column appears on the first of every month in this publication.