The Cash for Clunkers program ended a few weeks ago with nearly 700,000 cars taken off the road, replaced by far more efficient vehicles. While the benefits gained verses the $3 Billion spent by the government is still being debated, I couldn’t help but wonder if Cash for Clunkers might not work in the workplace, too.Imagine how businesses might respond if the government offered a financial incentive to replace under-performing employees with more talented, efficient ones.
Which employees qualify as Clunkers? I’m referring to the employee whom you hired several years ago – the high potential candidate who arrived to work on day one filled with promise, a positive attitude, lots of motivation, even though he was a little wet behind the ears when it came to experience. After a few months, this employee became a keeper, a top performer, a cherished employee. But just like the car clunker, the shine eventually faded and the ride got rough.
The employee’s performance is inconsistent at best and you constantly seem to be fixing this and repairing that. You’ve found yourself avoiding new projects and postponing strategic initiatives because you were afraid this old clunker couldn’t make the journey. Once considered state of the art, his skill sets have become outdated and the cost of retrofitting him with new skills keeps increasing with little improvement.
You’ve tried different working arrangements, shifting team assignments, and changing managers. You’ve offered promotion, demotion, probation, counseling, and warnings. You’ve invested in trainers, coaches, workshops, seminars, and even a psychologist. With each passing day, his reliability becomes more questionable and his attitude is polluting office morale, releasing productivity-killing emissions into the work environment. But for some crazy reason, you keep him employed, just like “good ole Bessie” in the driveway. You have fond memories of good times together and you treat him like a member of your family.
Then finally the government offers an “Employee Cash for Clunkers” program, ponying up the opportunity and money to exchange tired, burned-out, and attitude-killing workers for a new more efficient, more productive, and more positive employee.
The program has a short window and it’s being offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Inventories are also limited in the talent pool because many of the most talented people are already employed. Only unemployed and new graduates can be hired. Poaching proven employees from competitors is not covered under the Employee Cash for Clunkers program. There are a few great candidates waiting to be hired but they won’t last long. You’ve got little time to act and only one opportunity to make the right choice. And you certainly want to avoid exchanging one clunker for another regardless of the incentive program.
Which employee would you consider to be your “clunker?” Think – what’s his or her name? If any one of your employees handed in his or her resignation today, which one would offer you all relief and little angst?
What type of employee would you replace him with? What expectations would you have? What skills would he need? What new projects or responsibilities could you give him? What could you do differently if you could replace your Clunker Employee with a Cash Cow?
Now I hate to burst your bubble but it’s unlikely there will ever be an Employee Cash for Clunker program. Nonetheless, the long term rewards for upgrading your talent right now far exceed any incentive government could offer. Many high potentials as well as proven performers are just sitting on the proverbial job parking lot waiting to be picked up. Humbled by the Great Recession, many talented people are offering their services at significantly discounted salaries in exchange for an opportunity. The talent inventories are at their highest levels in years and as the economy reboots, the best deals will disappear as quickly as inventories. Like the stock market, if you’re waiting to time the bottom and the top, you’re likely miss both and regret your decision for years to come.
Start your own Employee Clunker Exchange today. Don’t wait. Identify your clunkers right now. Which employees are costing you more than you gain? If you don’t know, find out. While the right metric will be company, industry, and/or company culture specific, one measure that I found helpful in nearly all situations is Profit per Employee. While all employees do not sell, every employee is responsible to contribute to the bottom line. Develop outcomes and metrics for each employee. Don’t go crazy with this. It’s a simple exercise. Just ask this question: by the end of the next 12 months, what do I expect him or her to accomplish? (If you don’t know, you can’t expect the employee to know either. In which case, you might have a classic, not a clunker, right under your nose and you didn’t even know it.) Then hold every employee accountable for expected outcomes.
Identify your requirements for a replacement. Before you go employee-hunting, determine how much experience, education, and skills you need for an employee to succeed. Do a job analysis. Again – don’t go crazy. For most positions, this shouldn’t take more than a few hours, even less sometimes, to identify the goals, responsibilities, and core competencies.
Get the word out. It’s now time to set the recruitment wheels in motion to recruit candidates who fit your requirements. Upload your opportunity to job boards. Announce your opening on social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook. Place an ad in Craigslist. Many of the strategies I just recommended are free or low-cost. If you’re concerned about being overwhelmed with resumes, use an online applicant processing system (APS) to rapidly screen out unqualified candidates. In this market, now is not the time to compromise. Cast as wide as net as possible. There are a few needles in the current haystack but there is also a lot of hay! An APS will automatically handle the “resu-mess” caused by high unemployment and online job boards and allow you to focus your time and attention on only qualified candidates. Spend some time on LinkedIn, posting the job to groups and asking for referrals.
Time is running out. The talent market is as good as it will get for years to come. Talent inventories won’t last forever. Act now. Exchange your clunkers today.
