You have probably seen an episode of The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan.

Most people call Cesar because they think they have a dog problem – the dog is barking, destructive or aggressive. Cesar shows that the problem normally lies in the owner’s behavior. The dog is behaving the way you would expect a dog to behave given the environment and the stimuli. When the owner changes his or her behavior, the dog’s behavior also changes accordingly.

The Davidson Group team regularly speak with companies who think they have a people problem when plagued with high turnover, low productivity or poor performance. After we do our due diligence, we usually find that they don’t have an employee problem. They have a management problem and their employees are behaving in predictable ways, given the system of rewards, punishment and feedback that are present in the culture.

There are similarities between humans and puppies. The new hire who was aggressively recruited frequently finds him or herself like the cute puppy everyone wanted but grew into the dog no one wants to feed or walk.

 

Company leaders often ask, “why can’t we find good people?” But they are asking the wrong question. They should be asking, “why don’t people who looked like good prospects during the interview process perform well once they get into our organization?”

 

These managers almost always have a good excuse as to why those two or eight people didn’t work out. “They just weren’t a good fit” or “they oversold their abilities” are popular sayings. But the best managers are wise enough to realize that if they have a pattern of hiring people who were successful in other organizations but fail in theirs, it might be the hiring process.

Organizations need to ask the right questions and measures employee engagement/satisfaction. This allows managers to make smart, timely adjustments to his/her performance management culture to create and sustain an environment where employees are voluntarily contributing at a high level. But that’s a lot harder than behaving the way bad dog owners do – relying on punishment as the primary motivator and/or withholding feedback altogether.

Contact the Davidson Group to ensure your hiring practices align with your company culture and job expectations.