Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome back to the Total profit podcast. I'm T2 and I'm here with my always sharp and sometimes savage co host, Tommy P.
And today we are tackling one of those topics that nobody wants to say out loud, and that is the people problem.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Yeah, let's face it. Some of your biggest margin killers are walking around in your payroll.
Not because they're bad people, but they just aren't in the right seats or they were hired in a panic.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: So this episode is for every business owner who's ever said, I just need a warm body out there. And we get it.
Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. But warm bodies don't build healthy businesses.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: No. Here's the deal.
Labor is your biggest cost, your biggest lever. If your team is inefficient, under skilled, misaligned, you're paying for those mistakes, those delays, those callbacks, and potentially creating a bad culture.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: And a bad culture just leads to turnover, burnout, and even worse, it will repel your best people. And that's a cost you don't want.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Exactly.
It's not just about having people. It's about having the right people doing the right things the right way.
[00:01:34] Speaker A: So, Tommy, what does a bad hire actually cost?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: The stats that I've seen say it's anywhere from 10,000 to $50,000. But let's just deal with this straight on.
You think of the lost time, job site damage, team morale, customer trust. It all adds up.
One bad hire can set a project or your whole year off track.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Okay, so let's fix it. What should a smart hire look like?
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Yeah, great question.
So start by defining the role based on the outcomes, not just the task. So tell this new hire what you expect out of them.
What does success look like in 90 days?
And build your interview around that.
And make sure their pay lines up to your margins that you need to hit the other thing. This is a good time to go in and make sure those standard operating procedures will fit that employee so they have a written reference on expectations.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: So no more hiring just because you're slammed.
And in desperate times, hire because you've got the margin to sustain it and because they will move the needle. So when we say move the needle, we're talking about defining that role based on the outcomes, not just the tasks that you want them to do. They need to have goals and reach and be working toward those goals.
Yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Here's the tough part. If you know somebody's not a fit, you have to fix it.
Keeps keeping someone because they're loyal or you feel bad is just setting yourself up for margin sabotage.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Loyalty is important.
There's no denying that. But so is sustainability. And you have got an obligation to your business and your customers. Your business has to survive if it's going to keep paying everyone and continuing to be available for your customers.
So.
Right. Yep. So this week's challenge is to audit your crew. Which members of your crew are moving the business forward, who is draining your resources and where do you. Where do you maybe need to rethink rules or some of those performance expectations?
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Have a real conversation this week with one of your individuals. Like T2 said, whether it's a tough check in, if it's a deserved thank you, or just pivoting team members to help with those efficiencies, you got to get the people in the right seats. And when we refer to the seat reference, we're using it from the book by Jim Collins. Good to great.
Where the seats are in the bus and the bus is the business. So if you have the right people in the right seats, the bus will move itself.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: And a quick shout out to our sponsor, performance margin. This is the tool that helps you align your people, your pricing and your profit all in one place. Because strategy without numbers is just a guess.
So share this episode with someone who's got people challenges or someone who is the people challenge.
We've all been there, right?
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Yes. And taker tool.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Don't get too excited.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: It's all under control and it's gonna be fine.
