[Ron Sutton]

Part 1 of 2

I've been in business my whole life. Just different stints or "adventures" as I refer to them. While there are a lot of keys to a successful business, attracting, developing & keeping good people are the top of the list.

While I don't claim to be the Wiz of Biz, I've had some success in this area of business & keeping key people long term.
• My key fabricator Lloyd Moore was with me 8 of the 9 years at Ron Sutton Race Engineering.
• John Musto was with me 13 of the 15 years at my consulting biz & bought the biz.
• Randy Chastain (who some of you met) was with me all 8 years at my multi-car race team operation.

While I know I'm FAR from perfect as a person, leader or business owner, I'd felt I should share a few key things I learned from my mentors, business training & experience ...
1. Business is about people. Period.

The keys to sales are finding outside people (prospective clients) who have a want or need ... getting crystal clear on their want/need (consultative process) ... and if your products and/or services truly fit ... make it easy for them to buy from you. (If your products & services are not a good fit ... pass ... even if they're willing to buy. Otherwise it will not end well.)

Crappy people provide crappy products, services & customer service. The keys to providing great products and/or services ... as well as great customer service ... is having great people. The keys to recruiting are finding great people to come inside our organization (prospective employees) who want to work somewhere rewarding & positive ... and have a place that is rewarding & positive to work (workplace culture). Then balance recruiting people (marketing/selling) with vetting them (making sure they are right for your team). We want to make our operation attractive to quality people, but not too quick or easy to get in.

2. We can't hire the people we need. Get over it. We need to hire good people, with the right beliefs & develop them into the people we actually need. To expect people ... any people ... to show up & do work they way we want & need is unrealistic. The key I learned was hiring sharp people with good attitudes & the correct aptitude for the position ... and provide them with training & hands on experience in a fashion they can learn ... and over time ... become the productive person we need them to be.

FYI: At my racing teams, I knew we couldn't hire people that worked at the high level we needed, so we had a full blown training program that consisted of 29 training classes. We trained a LOT of guys ... and watched them "sort out" over time. Most washed out ... some stayed a while & contributed ... and a few really shined. Those we nurtured & kept long term.

P.S. I had a guy ask me one time … “What if you train them & they leave?” My response was, “what if we don’t train them … and they stay?”

3. I found the 45/45/10 rule my Mentor taught me about people to be pretty accurate, in that:
a. 45% of people have negative mindsets, don't care & sabotage themselves & others.
b. 45% of people are conformers & will conform to the culture they are in ... negative or positive. they will work up to, or down to, the standards of the organization.
c. 10% of people flat out care ... about themselves, their career, their world, other people, the company they work for, etc.

Positive minded people hate to hear 45% of the population is that way. But in my experience & observations of the world & life, I have found what my mentor said to be true.

My Mentor taught me to shoot the 45% that don't care … and bury the bodies. Hire the other 45% that conform & build a positive culture for them to work & learn to care in. And of course … hire the 10% that care ... get them engaged in our overall visions ... and develop them into key assets inside our organization. My mentor taught me that we build a successful enterprise around these 55% ... if we provide them what they need ... and keep the cancerous 45% that don't care OUT.

During the hiring process, I occasionally found great people with excellent mindsets, attitudes, outlook, motivation, etc ... that did not have the aptitude for the position I was filling. These are 10 percenters & I looked hard to see if could build a different position around them, knowing they would make a positive difference in my company. Accept the fact we can't build our company out of 10 percenters only. There are not enough of them ... they don't fit well into all the roles we need ... and they're not perfect by any means. They're good people ... but just people ... with strengths, weaknesses, pros, cons, wishes, hopes, needs, etc. But I tell you ... I've gone to extreme lengths to recruit them.

I met a gal named Bobbi Bradley at a trade show once & after spending a half hour talking business (she worked for a company selling trade show booths) I knew she was a gem ... even amongst other 10 percenters. I didn't have an open position ... but I asked her anyway if she was open to a job offer ... and she said no. So I stayed in touch every month or so ... for two years. No exaggeration … not even a little … two years. When I heard she was in the job market ... I took her to lunch, toured our business with her, sent gifts to house for her & her husband, invited them both to dinner with my wife & I, etc, etc. She ran the office & operations of my consulting company for nine years until she retired. Directly & in-directly she was responsible for a 20% growth in my business. I sold that company soon after she retired.

4. A positive culture matters ... and it doesn't just happen on its own. We have to work at building a great place to work. The 55% want to work at a place that is fun ... so make it fun when we can. They want to be rewarded, so reward them when it merits. They want to be recognized for their contribution ... so recognize them every time it is worthy. They want to be respected ... so always treat them with respect. And this is key … encourage our people to do that with each other.

5. Low standards lead to failure. We don't get what we want ... we get what we tolerate. We don't always achieve every goal ... but we always achieve our "standards." We don't usually set out to define our standards. Our standards are defined by our action ... or inaction. If someone comes in late several times & you don’t deal with it … IT MUST BE OK to come in late. If you tolerate it … that becomes the standard. If your folks produce products with inconsistent quality … and you don’t rally the troops to address it … IT MUST BE OK … and the standard is set.

If we have a lot of waste, inventory shrinkage, customer turn over, complaints, etc, etc, etc. … and we don’t tackle these problems with the team … they become the standard. If we have a person, or persons, treating other people in our company with disrespect … it must be ok … because we allow it. We can’t stand idly by and expect the business, team, culture, sale & profitability to improve themselves.

Page 2 in the next post.