People Second

Hello and welcome to episode number three of the Strategy Corner, where our goal is to get you to take action. I’m your host, Michelle Zink, the owner of Intentional Solutions Corp. Today, we’re going to talk about the people component from the EOS perspective. This is a continuation from last week’s podcast on structure. If you didn’t listen to last week’s podcast, I recommend that you go back and listen to it because it does talk about the structure. It helps you to understand structure first, then people.

For those of you who haven’t listened and want to continue on with this episode, I’ll just tell you that I am an EOS implementer and I utilize EOS, which is the Entrepreneur Operating System, with my clients when I’m working with them on business strategy. If you like this episode, you can go back and listen to episode number two, where it does talk about the structure first and then you can understand more how this people piece fits in.

For everyone who has listened to episode number two, you’re ready to move on to people. And for those of you who haven’t listened to episode two, let’s just move on to people and you can go back and listen later. People make our companies great. In Jim Collin’s bestselling book, Good to Great, he talks about the concept of the right people in the right seats. In EOS, we help people determine this by first determining the core values of the organization, and then secondly, we utilize a tool by EOS called the People Analyzer.

First, we’re going to jump into the core values. When I looked up core values on Google, the definition I got was, “Core values are the fundamental beliefs of a person or organization. These guiding principles dictate behavior and can help people understand the difference between right and wrong.” To me the things that stood out with core values was the definition, “The fundamental beliefs of a person or organization.” The core values help you share with people what your company stands for. It helps others see if they fit within an organization. If they believe in what you believe in.

Core values are the innate beliefs of the organization. These are things you can’t make up. These are things that you already have within your organization. And by having core values determined and documented, you now have the ability to define the right people for your organization.
Now we’re going to jump into the tool by EOS called the People Analyzer. It’s designed to clarify whether you have the right person in place or not. You can download the People Analyzer template on www.EOSWorldwide.com/people, and I will have that link below in the show notes. You begin to use the analyzer by putting the names of people you’re going to analyze in the left column. You can start with anyone. When I work with clients, we actually utilize this by first starting with the executive team, and then we move on to other departments and groups within the organization, but the executive team is first.

Then we list the core values across the top. If you have five core values, you’d have five separate things up top. Or if you have one, you’d have one listed. And then you move into a unique thing which EOS calls Get It, Want It, Capacity To Do It. At the top, after your core values, you type in get it, in one block, want it, in another block, and capacity to do it, in the third block.

Get it means that they truly understand their role, the culture, the systems, the pace and how the job comes together. Want it means they generally like the job. And then capacity to do it means having the time as well as mental, physical, and emotional capacity to do the job well. After you go ahead and you put those things on the top, you begin to actually rate each person listed according to your core values, the get it, want it and capacity to do it, by giving them one of the three ratings.

The first rating available is a plus sign and this indicates he or she exhibits that core value or gets it, wants it, has the capacity to do it, most of the time. The second rating available is a plus slash minus, and that means that sometimes he or she exhibits the core value and sometimes he or she doesn’t, so that would be a plus minus.

The third rating available is a minus sign, and that’s when he or she doesn’t exhibit the core value most of the time. That means this person is not exhibiting that particular core value or getting it, wanting it, or have the capacity to do it most of the time. You want to go through and for your executive team, if you’re going to go ahead and play along and utilize them to start. You’re going to want to go through each person’s name and each person is going to write down their plus, their plus minus, or their negative, underneath the core values and get it, want it, capacity to do it.

Now that you have your core values and People Analyzer filled out, you’re armed with information that you can use to determine if you have the right people in the right seat. If you have individuals on your list that have mostly minus signs next to the core values, and the get it, want it, capacity to do it, that gives you an opportunity to truly look at the individual and see if they’re a right fit in your organization. It could be that if they have pluses with the core values, but some negatives when it comes to capacity and wants it, the person could be in the wrong position. A great company fit but could be in a wrong position.

If you have someone who has a lot of negatives when it comes to the core values, but a lot of pluses when it comes to the gets it, wants it and capacity to do it, that person might be in the right position, but they might not be the right person for the organization. Because if the person doesn’t fit in with your culture and doesn’t see where you’re going, then you’re not going to get any traction or make movement within the organization. It really gives you information that you can utilize, an executive team, and talk with your HR person, to see if you have the right people in the right seat within your organization.

Okay, now we move into part of the program where we have calls to action. Number one, you need to develop your company’s core values with the help of your executive team and owner if you don’t have them. If you already have them documented, congratulations. If you don’t, that’s your first step. Number two, download the People Analyzer from the EOS website, fill it out and complete it. Again, I recommend you start with the executive team because most likely the individuals on the executive team meet the core values, and get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it. So, it’s a great place to start.

And if you get a chance, please go to iTunes and subscribe to the Strategy Corner. And you can also go to my website, www.IntentionalSolutionsCorp.com and sign up to get my weekly blog post, which also has a link to the latest podcast. And if you’d like to learn more about developing core values or the People Analyzer, please go to my website, as I mentioned, www.IntentionalSolutionsCorp.com, and hit schedule complimentary conversation. Until next time, remember, action takes you from dreaming to creation, and when we are creating and growing, you are happy and abundant. Let’s take action.