LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
5
KEY ATTRIBUTES OF A
SUCCESSFUL MANAGER
BY : ANDY BUYTING
O
One of the most popular training workshops I run as a Certified Scaling Up Coach centers around the five key attributes of a successful manager . As the CEO of Tulip Media Group , I know from experience that understanding these key attributes has improved the success rate of our own and our Client-Partners ’ management teams . Hiring managers applying these five key attributes to your management hires will help your company build and optimize high-performing teams that accelerate company growth . In this article , I want to share these attributes with you .
# 1 - HIRE LESS , PAY MORE
Former CEO of General Electric Jack Welch abides by an excellent philosophy . He believes that fewer people paid more will optimize your business . Here ’ s why : the work of a single “ A ” performing employee can do the work of 3 to 5 “ B ” performing employees . If you hire exclusively “ A ” performers and pay them above industry average , you will ultimately be paying less for the same amount of work done more effectively and , in many cases , more efficiently .
A great example of this approach comes from The Container Store . The Container Store , as most of you know , is a retail store targeting home and office organizations . The retail industry is renowned for entry-level jobs with low wages and a high rate of employee turnover . However , The Container Store sees the value in paying more for a smaller team of high-performing workers . When hiring staff , The Container Store CEO Kip Tindell recognizes that one high-performing person ’ s productivity is equivalent to that of 3 average performers , and he applies this ideology to the hiring process .
Only 3 % of Container Store applicants are hired . If shortlisted for a position at The Container Store , a candidate must go through nine interviews and complete around 260 hours of training before they ever set foot on the sales floor . The compensation for candidates that prove they are high performers by successfully completing the rigorous hiring process is well above $ 55,000 per year . In the early 2000s , when McDonald ’ s was closing locations in Manhattan due to a labor shortage , The Container Store in Manhattan received over 400 applications for 30 positions .
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