Capability – how do we measure this?

Have you ever been in a role where you aren’t happy? Do you have staff that “just don’t get it” or who aren’t performing at the level you need them to be at? When assessing ourselves, our staff, or even a role for which we are hiring there are three components of capability to consider:

1. Skills & Knowledge – experience
2. Values – internal motivation
3. Mental horsepower – how “bright” are they

We tend to focus on Skills & Knowledge when evaluating fit for a role. But the other two components are equally, if not more, important in our evaluation. The reality is that if someone has the right values and mental horsepower they can be trained with the appropriate skills and knowledge. Unfortunately you cannot train for internal motivation or mental horsepower.

An entrepreneur I worked with (let’s call him Dave) had an outstanding assistant in his business named Heather. Heather had a several years of experience with the firm, was excellent interacting with clients and other staff and had tremendous product knowledge. In their regular coaching sessions she shared that she would like to make more money. Dave agreed to think about it and that he would get back to her shortly. When Dave had some time to review the situation he listed a number of points:

• he couldn’t afford, or justify, paying Heather more in her existing role
• he didn’t want to lose her as she was a valuable employee
• he could use another salesperson but these roles weren’t salaried, they were straight commission

Dave decided to sit down with Heather and explain the situation so that they could make a decision together. Heather understood the ceiling in her current role and when Dave began describing the sales role she became more and more excited. She really liked the idea of commission income as “it had no ceiling!”. Dave was comfortable that Heather would be successful in sales because of her experience, product knowledge and relationship skills.

Fast forward six months. Dave is calling me to update the situation and to get my help. Unfortunately in the six month span Heather had only generated commissions equal to about 25% of her earlier salary. Dave was really feeling badly for her and Heather was beside herself. I asked Dave what happened and where he thought Heather was struggling. Dave explained to me that Heather was really struggling getting in front of prospects. He felt he had tried everything – from coaching to observing a top salesperson in the firm. In their progress meetings Dave set out specific actions she needed to follow but nothing seemed to work. He was upset that he was going to lose a key employee and Heather was equally upset that she might have to leave to take another job.

I asked Dave if he felt Heather had the skills and knowledge and he said most definitely. I asked if she was bright enough and again he answered in the affirmative. I then asked if Heather seemed motivated to get out and meet new people, to find prospects on her own? He quickly answered that this seemed to be her biggest issue. This was a classic example of a person in a role in which they weren’t internally motivated to do the things they needed to do to achieve success. No amount of training can change this.

I asked Dave if he had ever thought of a hybrid role in his organization that could support the sales team. He hadn’t and was intrigued. I went on to explain that salespeople aren’t always the best relationship managers and that perhaps if he had a role focusing on this area he would increase his retention rate as well as have a support role for his salespeople, potentially increasing his close rate. This role could have a base salary with some variable compensation built-in based on sales.

Dave took the idea and ran with it. He quickly transitioned Heather into this role and she was thrilled. Fast forward six months and Dave shared with me that Heather was having an incredible impact on his organization. Client retention was up to 96%. New sales were up 15% YOY and his salespeople were thrilled to have a resource like Heather. Best of all Heather was happier than she had been ion months and was on track to earn more than her old salary in this new role. Dave learned a tough lesson in all of this and assured me he would look at all 3 components the next time he was hiring for a role.