I know retaining and recruiting technicians is HARD WORK right now.
But if you have a technician who you know, deep down, doesn't really fit... then you must fire them. Growing an MSP is hard enough without trying to do it with the wrong people.
Of course, you're probably not going to do this, because:
- Of the recruitment thing
- You'll be worried they'll sue you (brandishing this article as evidence you were plotting against them), and
- You don't want to feel you are acting on a whim
So let me help you put together a solid case against that person today, so you can pop this to the back of your mind for a few days. And then fire them on Monday morning.
Have you read or listened to Traction, the introductory book into the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) system?
It's a process designed to bring order to the chaos. To know what you want to achieve with your business and put in place a structure to make it happen. There's a lot to do and you may end up implementing your own version of EOS, but that's OK. If it helps you conquer the chaos it's good.
One of the things in Traction is about having the right people in the right seats. And you can assess them with this little tool, the People Analyzer.
(Image from https://www.systemhub.com/winning-management-system-creation/)
You start by figuring out the core values of the business, which are probably your own personal core values. When I ask MSPs about this, I hear things like:
- Take ownership of problems
- Genuinely empathise with clients
- Be totally transparent, even if that means having difficult conversations
Take an hour away from devices and distractions in Starbucks to figure out what your core values are.
And then measure each of your team against those core values. Score each person with these ratings:
+ means Mostly, yes
+ / – means Sometimes
– means Mostly, no
In the example above, you can see Sally Jones scores 'mostly yes' against all core values. She's a keeper. Unlike John Smith who scores 'mostly no'.
"Don't take off your coat John, we need to talk" 😃
The Bar is what you consider acceptable. Some of your core values may be non-negotiable; others may be desirable skills to work towards.
Go on, I challenge you, measure your staff by this. Doesn't take that long.
