I had a conversation with a client recently about somebody in their team and what their role might look like going forward.
We spent a bit of time talking about the person. What they were good at, what else they could take on, where they might fit as the business grows.
And then I wondered whether we were looking at it the wrong way round.
We had a person and we were trying to design a job around them.
Perhaps we needed to forget about the person for a moment and ask what the business actually needed in that function?
I think this happens quite naturally as businesses grow.
When you're small, you don't sit down and design the perfect organisational structure. You hire somebody because you need some help. They turn out to be good with customers or operations, so they start doing more of that. They're quite organised, so something else gets handed to them. Six months later they've picked up another responsibility because somebody needed to do it.
Before long, you've got a role that makes sense to everyone inside the business but would be almost impossible to explain in a job advert.
There's nothing particularly wrong with that. In fact, in the early stages it's probably unavoidable.
But there comes a point where I think you need to look at the business with fresh eyes.
If none of these people worked here today, how would we structure it?
That's an interesting question.
Because suddenly you're not thinking about what Sarah is good at or what James has always done. You're thinking about what the business needs at this stage of its growth.
Once you know that, you can come back to Sarah and James and whether they are the right fit for the next level role?
The same conversation got us talking about values.
Best practice would be advocating the values in the recruitment process itself - to attract candidates that align with the vision, values and ways of working you want. Not as something they discover once they’ve got the job. They're part of the conversation from the beginning.
It made me reflect on how businesses actually use their values.
Most owners I meet have some. They're usually perfectly sensible things – accountability, honesty, teamwork, communication, whatever matters to that particular business.
But when do they actually become useful?
I think it's probably when they help you make a difficult decision.
Imagine you've defined exactly what you need from a role and you've got somebody who can unquestionably do the technical part of it.
They're very good, in fact.
But the way they behave is completely at odds with the culture you're trying to build.
Would you still keep them in the role?
That's a much harder question than coming up with five values for the website.
And perhaps that's why these two conversations felt connected to me.
As a business grows, you have to become more deliberate about what you need from people. Not just the tasks you want them to perform, but the way you want people to operate while they're doing them.
Otherwise the business can gradually become shaped around whoever happens to be there.
Their strengths. Their weaknesses. Their preferences. Their personalities. Their values and behaviours.
And one day you look at the organisation you've built and realise you're not entirely sure you'd design it that way if you were starting from scratch.
So here's something you might try.
Take your organisation chart and mentally remove all the names.
Don't think about the people for a moment.
Just look at the business you're trying to build over the next few years.
Would you still draw the boxes in the same places?
And when you start putting the names back in, do the people in those boxes fit not only the job you need them to do, but the business you're trying to become?
Not just competencies, capability and experience. Commitment, values and attitude fit too.
I suspect that's where the more interesting conversation starts.
Book a FREE Growth Strategy Session and let’s look at where your business is now, where you want it to go, and whether your current team and structure are set up to support that next stage.
P.S. If you’re curious about how your business is performing across some of the key areas that drive growth, you can also take our Business Superpowers Scorecard.
It takes just a few minutes and gives you a snapshot of where your strengths are - and where there may be opportunities to improve
