May is very stressful month for school age kids, no matter what age they are. My daughter Katy is finishing her freshman year, and has finals, final projects, end-of-term tests, make up work from her surgery, cheerleader practice and lots of goodbyes to graduating friends. Last week she said to me “Mom, I woke up with tears in my eyes today. I knew I wouldn’t get through the day without crying, so I made sure to wear waterproof mascara.”
We have a saying around our house that goes like this: “Prior preparation prevents poor performance” and we refer to it as the 5 P’s. Katy woke up, assessed her situation and did something to set herself up for success.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if your employees did this?
One of my clients had an employee who went on maternity leave and left a long, detailed list with her assistant on what to do for what projects. The leave went great: business went on; clients were happy. Contrast that experience with another client whose employee took a vacation, during which my client discovered all sorts of work that wasn’t done. Clients were furious, and my client spent the whole week in “clean up” mode. The employee was subsequently fired.
Assessing an employee’s ability to be prepared begins in the interview process. Did they do their research on your company? Did they come with a list of questions? Did they attempt to think about themselves in the role?
Your A-list hire will be prepared so that you can be prepared. Clients are happy. Business grows.
And no one ends up with black smudges on their face.