Concessions

Last Thursday the Greater Lawrence Chamber of Commerce (GLCC) secured Barry Collier, Butler University Athletic Director, as the guest speaker for their monthly Rise and Shine breakfast meeting. The combination of one of my favorite events with a sports figure I actually admire, was too tempting to forgo. And I was not disappointed.

The Rise and Shine is a monthly meeting that combines good discussions, a hearty breakfast and an opportunity to learn from interesting speakers. This is all accomplished before 8:30 in the morning. I enjoy the GLCC staff and the attendees at this meeting, and the addition of Mr. Collier to the agenda gave this meeting a gold star in my calendar.

My admiration for Mr. Collier is not based on his win/loss record as a basketball coach; it is on his ability to build quality programs without sacrificing the standards of the University.

On this early March morning when Butler was vying for the Horizon League Championship in Basketball, much of Mr. Collier’s prepared remarks were what you would expect. However, there was a very enlightening insight that Mr. Collier shared with the group that galvanized my respect for him, Butler athletics and Butler University.

Mr. Collier shared that Butler implements an extensive evaluation process of each student/athlete prior to offering them a scholarship. The purpose is to assure that the student/athlete is a good fit for the University and has both the athletic and more importantly, the academic capacity to succeed. While many Universities can make this claim, few can back it up with statistics such as grade point averages and graduation rates. Butler can.

However, this was not the part of Mr. Collier’s oratory that caught my attention. It was when he stated (and I am paraphrasing) Butler University does not make concessions along the way. This was such a powerful statement and a wonderful business lesson.

Let’s look at the hiring of employees. How many times do we just hire a body rather than conduct a search based on detailed job responsibilities and personality traits deemed necessary to a successful hire. We then compound this error by making excuses when the employee fails to meet our expectations. We are making concessions to a bad hire.

Through the implementation of the Butler process, we can dramatically improve chances of success. When making a key hire, list out the job responsibilities and expectations of the position. Further, determine the personality traits that the successful applicant should embody. These “standards” can then be used to structure the interview. Finally, when the right applicant is hired, hold them to these standards without concessions.

A successful hire is properly screened, trained, coached and nurtured.