BENCH STRENGTH, DO YOU HAVE IT?
Having bench strength is a key component going into 2020, the question is, do you have it?
3 questions you should be asking yourself to determine your level of bench strength.
- Do you have a number of employees that are currently being groomed to fill vacant leadership and other key positions when the need arises?
- What is the internal placement rate should you move someone from the bench? For example, if a key employee resigns, and an internal candidate fills the role, is there ANOTHER internal candidate to take that person’s place?
- In the absence of an internal candidate to fill a key role, is there someone internally that can step in temporarily while a recruiting search takes place?
Yes, to all these? Congrats, we applaud you, and you can stop reading. No to these? We’re sharing tips on HOW to start building your bench.
- Don’t be afraid; if you have the budget to hire now vs wait a few months, get recruiting! The lead time is longer than you think, our analytics show anywhere from 40-85 days. With holidays and vacations, get the word out that you’re looking; most likely a start date will happen well after the first of the year anyway.
- Look on your current bench and quickly create individual development plans. Your team member should know where they are and where they are going, acquiring important skillsets to improve and move forward in the future.
- Assign challenging tasks NOW to team members. Pair them up with someone who is considered more experienced and provide guidance, assign high-impact tasks, and create action learning assignments that will have relevance when the time comes for them to move up.
- Communicate! In any sport, it’s unlikely that a player in the game is unclear as to what is expected of them during every second of each game. There is communication between players, between players and the coach, between the coach and the players…everybody is sharing the same vision and knows exactly the purpose. No gray areas when it comes to helping build your bench strength.
Let’s finish 2020 strong, and keep the conversation going! Reach out to us if you'd like to strategize, we're here to be of service to our Hort and Landscaping communities.
Cheers,
Suzanne