The Bullpen Concept for Your Hiring

By: ActionCOACH Team

Date: 01 / 11 / 2024

The Bullpen Concept for Your Hiring

One of the biggest challenges that any business owner has is hiring the right people for the job. That can be compounded when an employee leaves without any notice. The business owner then goes into scramble mode trying to hire a “Warm Body” to fill the vacuum left by the departing employee. Many times these types of hires meet with disastrous results. So how do you overcome this issue? By using the “Bullpen Concept.”

Allow me to illustrate. It’s the bottom of the 7^th inning and the starting pitcher has put a couple of men on base and may be tired. What is the first thing the manager does? That’s right; he calls down to the bullpen to get a relief pitcher warmed up. The manager goes out to the mound, gives a pep talk to the pitcher, and goes back to the dugout. If the pitcher does well, the bullpen relief pitchers sit back down. However if the starting pitcher continues to struggle, the manager comes out of the bullpen and replaces the starting pitcher with a fresh relief pitcher.

“Always Be Recruiting”

Now let’s translate this into your business. When you have an employee who is struggling or unreliable, it puts an extra amount of burden on your business. You train them, coach them, motivate them, but they just never improve. However without a stable of potential candidates in your “Bullpen” you are at the mercy of their employment with you. Now imagine if you were continually interviewing for talent in your business even if you didn’t have a specific opening? You would then have a “Bullpen” of potential future employees that you could call and quickly hire if the need arises. One of my favorite mottos is A.B.R. “Always Be Recruiting.”

Let me give you a real life story. A commercial plumber was having a difficult time with unreliable employees who would flake out and disrupted his business. They knew they could do that as the owner had no other option but to keep them on board in order to get jobs completed. I then started having him continually interview plumbers even though he did not have an opening. A few weeks later one of his plumbers failed to show up for work. I had him go through his bullpen and a few phone calls later he had the plumber replaced. Several days later the old employee came back expecting his job to still be there. To his shock he had been replaced. This also sent a message to the team that they could no longer get away with poor performance, and absenteeism dramatically fell off.

Remember to develop your bullpen, and A.B.R.!!!!

Reason #1: Different styles and methods of business coaching don't work for everyone

It's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Every individual brings their own experiences and values to the coaching dynamic, so results will vary. Additionally, some individuals might need more than just a coach. They might also need specialised knowledge or communication strategies specific to their industry or target audience. Below are a few key factors to consider:

Reason #2: There is no clear focus or vision (talk about time dedication here too)

cIt's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Business coaching is an effective tool for developing a clearer focus and vision for growing your business. A good coach will help you to take a comprehensive look at your strengths, weaknesses, and available resources that can be used to reach those goals. They will also help you draw up action plans with step-by-step instructions to get there.

By providing honest feedback and being patient throughout the process, a business coach can make sure that you’re on the right track. This will enable you to set realistic milestones and tasks.

These tasks may need dedicated time outside of coaching sessions. For example, a coach might help a client develop a marketing strategy or implement new systems for managing employees. However, if the client does not have enough time to devote to these tasks outside of coaching sessions, progress will likely stall.

Both the coach and the client must have enough time available to reflect on past experiences, brainstorm new solutions, and test out different strategies. If either party is rushed or distracted during coaching sessions due to other commitments or obligations, they may struggle to fully engage in this process.

Effective business coaching also requires a commitment to regular meetings and ongoing communication. If either the coach or the client does not have enough time to dedicate to these meetings, progress may be slow or nonexistent.

It's important to recognise that business coaching is an ongoing process that takes time to yield results. While some clients may see improvements after just a few sessions with their coach. Others may need months or even years of consistent effort before they begin seeing real changes in their businesses.

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