Find the best talent
Once you’ve identified what you are good at and determined how toleverage those advantages, you then have to surround yourself withthe best talent. When Silva came on board about two years ago, heneeded people who were going to be able to fulfill the company’sgoals, which meant he had to make changes on the executive team.
He says if you are facing a similar situation, you shouldn’t automatically write off everyone from the previous regime.
“I may have a physical asset or a people asset that actually all I haveto do is reprogram, change,” he says. “The person hasn’t been told thatthis is what I want them to accomplish, and they may be very capable.In fact, they may be demoralized in the job they’re in and you realize,hold on a second, there is a real capacity there.
“You explain it to them — ‘Guess what, the history is the history. Letme explain to you; this is what I need you to do. These are the skills Ineed. You’ve got them. Let’s see you excel.’ People will step up andexcel.”
If you do have to replace people, you have to be very clear aboutwhat you want out of the person and the position when searching tofill the position.
“Put together a great job description where you truly set down yourexpectations for the job, what you expect them to do and what skillsyou are going to need for the person,” he says. “We all sometimesassume we know what it’s going to look like. Until you put it down inwriting, it’s truly hard to draw the line and go, ‘I like this personbecause he or she meets all the requirements.’”
Before the interview process, start by asking yourself what the position is that you are hiring for, what you want the person to do and howthat fits in to your overall business strategy. Once you do that, write itall down.
“That will help you frame what that job is,” Silva says. “Then youlook and say, ‘OK, I need someone who could do that. What skill setsam I going to need in that position?’ You force yourself to go throughthat process. Now you’ve given yourself a filter to use.”
HOW TO REACH: Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., (813) 283-7000 or www.checkers.com