Ok – I have a question for you now…. what are you doing about Work From Home? Currently, we are taking this in a few week’s time chunks, and re-assessing at the end of each of those chunks. It feels so informal and like we should have some sort of policy in place. What are you doing? How do you assess PTO? Does PTO exist anymore? Help a girl out here….
Now onto something I do know: Budgets, Compensation Plans, and Hiring. Are yours in place for 2021? If not, we have some work to do….read on.
I recently went to a seminar where the speaker asked how many of us come up with budgets each year. Surprisingly – only about 60% of business owners raised their hands. That was crazy to me – how do you know where you are going if you do not have a budget to keep you on track? He then went on to ask how many of us (who had a budget) – can say they hit their budget goals each year. All of the hands fell. WHAT!? How can this be? And then I started to think about it, and out of the multiple years of doing this, we have rarely hit the budget that I have set for us at the beginning of the year. His last question was if our compensation plans were tied to our budget. Ummmmm…..nope. And then I saw the light….
First, go and look at your historical data – what is your typical growth rate? What do you have to do to hit that growth rate this upcoming year? Get with your accountant and look at your chart of accounts. Then plot out each month what you will be spending in each category. Add these to a system (we use Fathom from Quickbooks). While Quickbooks is the bane of my existence, Fathom is REALLY cool. Be realistic with your budgets. Call me if you need any tips on this.
Now that you have your budget, it is time to tie your leadership team and key players’ compensation into performance metrics to hit your budget numbers. I have done this by using a double-up/double-down model. There are 4-6 key metrics determined by my budget that each person is in charge of. They have a base salary amount and then they get more money based on their 4-6 metrics being hit. If they go over the goal, they make more money. If they don’t hit their goals, they make less money. Simple as that. Click the button below to see an example of a double-up/double-down comp plan.
And last but not least, we started hiring differently. Before, we hired based on gut feeling. Now, we have a 10-step process, including assessments, to help get the right people in here. After they are hired, it is time for them to shine. They start off with a reasonable base and then are compensated greatly based on what the job entails and specific metrics. Up to 65% of their salary is variable based on their performance in some positions. The type of people we are looking for can all sell themselves. And I have unfortunately hired people who like to talk, and can sell themselves, but cannot perform. So now, if they can perform – they make a lot of money.
Here are the steps for hiring:
1. Submit Resume Online
2. Take the Prevue Assessment
3. Prevue, Resume, Social Media Analysis
4. Phone Interview
5. 3 Question real life “what would you do” homework
6. Enneagram Assessment
7. Zoom Interview (Pre-COVID – in-person interview)
8. Reference Check
9. Team Interview
10. Offer Letter
Speaking of, we are hiring! We’re looking to add more Account Managers to our team.
If you, or anyone you know, are currently looking to apply—click the link below to learn about all of our available job positions.
So now that I just word vomited you with all kinds of HR stuff – onto something fun….
There are 9 days until 2021!
