Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is where smart business conversations meet real world experience, where strategies are shared, lessons are learned, and ideas come to life. I'm Emily Galindo and you're watching Biz Talk, your destination for real insight from the mind shaping tomorrow's business world only on NOW Media Television.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Hey, folks, welcome to Biz Talk, the show where we dive into real conversations driving small business growth and long term success. I'm your host, Rick Gutierrez. Stepping in for Emily Galindo, who couldn't be with us today, but we're having a great time. We're going to have great conversations and today we're talking about the tricky balance between growth and culture. Joining me today is Ms. Kimberly Diamond, a trusted business strategist with more than 18 years of experience helping companies from startups to Fortune 500s do all of their hiring, scale and lead with purpose. She is the founder of Kim Diamond Consulting and is known for helping teams scale fast without sacrificing what makes them great. So, Kimberly, welcome to Biz Talk. It's great to have you again.
So good to see you.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: Thanks, Rick. I appreciate it. I'm glad to be back.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Looking forward to today's topics?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Last time you were on the show, we had a great conversation and I say that today. What do you say? That we kick it off with one of the biggest questions facing company founders. You know, what makes company culture often slip, especially in the moment when growth accelerates and sometimes it could cause a lot of distractions and whatnot. But I think it's one of those topics that we need to talk about because it happens quite often where they lose sight of what could potentially, not potentially, they lose sight of how they started or why they started in all those great cultures. So if you're up to it, we can get into it and that way we can, our audience can get some great content from us today.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Excellent. Excellent.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Fantastic. So quick question for you.
You've been in business for quite some time, Kim, and you've seen some things out there. So I'm sure that you have seen some patterns where businesses scale too fast and their original culture starts to fade away. Tell us all about that.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: Well, yes, I was part of an organization that had to scale up very, very fast.
You're talking about 1800 people in a very short window of time.
So you know what I noticed from that pattern perspective that you mentioned is sometimes they become over obsessed with the processes and the systems and they forget about all the people that are part of this process.
So that they tend to continuously want to Adjust a process, refocus a process, and then meantime, people are getting. There's confusion that can set in, especially when you're bringing on that many individuals. And then the short term focus on the metrics rather than the cultural integrity. Again, it's. They're focusing on the numbers and forgetting about the cultural aspect that they really need to continue to build as they're growing their organization.
So, you know, rapidly hiring without having secure set core values that continue to be translated and communicated to individuals as they come on board, as well as those that have already joined the organization.
The leaders tend to become disconnected with the dynamics of the teams and the people that they're bringing in because they're running fast and furious to try to scale up with respect to resources as well as people.
So I see that those are some of the patterns.
People start to become more immersed in the reactionary environment while scaling and forgetting about the human factor and the people. And then that can create challenges when you're trying to really structure that culture.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Absolutely. You're speaking my language. I've seen many companies that have great company culture, great values and whatnot, but when they just become too focus on numbers and metrics and all of those things, they become detached from what started it all, you know, and it's hard to see that. And sometimes somebody like you needs to come in and, you know, help them refocus on those values. So how can leaders preserve those core values when a new team member joins the day to day? You know, every time you hire someone, the dynamic of the team changes a little bit. Right. So how can you help them preserve those core values and keep that dynamic the same or, you know, scale on it?
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Well, I think that you need to make sure you incorporate that in your, in your hiring practice and your onboarding. I think that's should be front and center so that people understand it. They come in with that, you know, understanding and they can mesh better with the team.
I think that the people that bring them in, the leaders that are, you know, leading these teams, they need to lead by example. They need to be demonstrating the values and daily in their decision making and how do they interact with the individuals.
I think one of the things that I noticed is a good plan is if you want to incorporate a good buddy system, so you develop a program where the newcomers set up with someone. It's not necessarily a mentor, but sort of it can be depending on the level at which you're aligning these two individuals. But if you have the buddy program that can help them Navigate, help them answer questions without them feeling like they have to run to the hiring manager for everything.
And I think it just helps them become more integrated with the team.
Another thing is, like I said, yeah. Consistently practice communication. Reinforcing the values and mission statements and company core values that you've outlined is key.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: I happen to agree. I call them the welcome committee. Right. So there could be either one or maybe two or three people that can just, you know, walk that new team member on board them and help them, you know, understand who a little bit more in depth as to who they are and you know, get aligned with the core values and all those great things. So great points. I appreciate you, you sharing that.
But along with that, Kim, I think you would agree that there's got to be some activities or some traditions that typically anchor that culture, even when there is a little bit of a system change. Would you agree with.
[00:06:21] Speaker C: Yes, yes. And I've seen that time and time again and we actually noticed that when we were scaling up, like I mentioned. So we put into place, you know, some touch bases, you know, obviously, you know, weekly, monthly through team meetings, keep continues, continue to review the shared goals, the visions, the processes that you're trying to accomplish.
And in that same token, you're going to celebrate and acknowledge milestones and in anniversaries. So just keeping that cohesiveness going by those touch points, you can, you know, I think it's important to build out that open communication right up front so you can get feedback, you can, you know, they feel comfortable sharing feedback about their experience and you know, you can set up. We've often done it before you 30, 60, 90 day plan where there's different activities that you continue to keep them engaged and they can continue to speak freely about their experience and become more, feel like they have a safe place to have those communications and become more of a team player and more integrated into the culture.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Yep. I couldn't, I couldn't disagree more. I mean, I couldn't agree more. That is really great insight. And I mean everything that I was thinking of saying right after you, you basically said it. So I appreciate that.
But you know, it's, it's really hard to find sometimes great leaders.
Right.
But when you do have a leader, sometimes that leader also needs, you know, a little bit of coaching, a little bit, you know, upbringing, if you would, on how to lead a team properly. And so what would you say that the leader, you know, would have to deliver to the team to make the team feel that they are part of the same Story or be on the same page as to where they're going for, you know, especially during that explosive growth.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Yes, I think it's again, very important to continue, continue to share what's happening, transparency, talk about the progress that you're making, help them understand how they're contributing to that process versus them just being a number. You know, they got hired and now they're over here and you're just moving forward.
So you want to continue to foster that open communication, keep them engaged with what's happening with the organization. Like I said, the progress that you're making, where you need to go so that you can foster inclusivity, inclusivity with them. And that way that they will feel more comfortable giving feedback and telling you how things are going. It's very important because they're in the process day to day. We are always looking forward.
What's the next step? Well, we still need to understand what's happening at the immediate moment.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: And I think you also need to foster that and you know, share their thoughts and get ideas from them as you're doing it. Because again, everyone's moving 100 miles an hour as they're trying to scale up in most of these cases and they get lost in some of the processes like we talked about.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So can you share a moment when the culture felt, you know, a little bit threatened and what you did to save it as you work with your clients?
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Sure.
So I'll go back to that instance that I mentioned to you a few moments ago. The company that I work worked. I was brought on to build a recruiting team. They had a very aggressive service level agreement with a client. They needed to hire 400 people very quickly within 30 days. And then they need to continue to hire people at 100 people a month until they met the 1800 people that they needed to, to work through this project.
So it was again, fast paced, moving, you know, trying to make sure that everybody's still staying engaged. And, and we just wanted everybody to.
And initially we were in survival mode. We're like, we just got to get this done. But once we got over the first initial hiring, scaling up, then we created a process and a cadence so that everybody could be engaged. And it wasn't just hiring and for, you know, the next group of people, the next group of people, we had to make it. And we did create an environment where everybody was engaged, your recruiters, your team leaders, the new people.
Because without that it would have just become chaos.
So, you know, we went from surviving that first month to shifting and creating the cadence and keeping, you know, the process going. And we were successful in hiring the people that they needed to complete that project within the window.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Amazing. There are so many moving parts, right, for a company, for an organization and, you know, sometimes losing sight of one of those, you know, working platforms, it's, it's really, it's really hard to stay on top of everything. So I'm glad that people like you do what you do to come in and help those leaders, those founders of those companies, you know, to help them stay on track and whatnot. So we've come to the end of this segment. Kimberly, I think your insights are like, right on point, but there's got to be many leaders out there who are watching and want to learn more. How can they get in touch with you? Is it online? How do they connect with you or follow even some of your work?
[00:11:34] Speaker C: Sure. You can find me online at K Diamond Consulting, www.kdiamondconsulting.com. you can also find me on LinkedIn. So please feel free to reach out. I'm happy to have a consultation. I talk through recruiting processes, onboarding processes, interview processes. So any of those services we can provide and we're happy to do so. So that's feel free to reach out. Happy to talk with you.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Fantastic. All right, Kim, we're going to take a quick commercial break, but we are going to be right back with more conversations with Kim. So stay right there folks. We'll be right back.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around and we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business.
You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that move business forward.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Hey, folks, welcome back to Biz Talk. Hey, real quick. If you love what you're watching, don't miss a moment of Biz Talk or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows live or on demand, anytime, anywhere. You can Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to all of your full lineups of bilingual programming, both in English and in Spanish. So if you prefer, on the go, catch the podcast version and the show's right on NOW Media TV website as well. NOW Media TV from business and breaking news, lifestyle, culture, everything in between. Now media TV streaming 24. 7 ready whenever you are. So we are back in Biz Tok and we Are having a great conversation with Kimberly diamond, founder of Kim Dimon Consulting, and hiring a hiring expert who has helped companies build teams that stick around and thrive. In this segment, we're going to be talking about hiring talent that lasts, not just, you know, filling seats. We're talking about longevity and hiring the right talent. So, Ms. Kimberly, welcome back to the show. Good to have you again.
[00:13:44] Speaker C: Thank you, thank you. Glad to be back.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. So one of the things that we always talk about there is obviously all kinds of things that happen in the world of business. Right. So the discussion for today is, you know, the problem that many are facing and especially those founders of those companies that, you know, sometimes getting a little bit too busy, wrapped up on a day to day and whatnot and losing culture. We talked about that in previous segment. But one of the things that we want to talk about today, as I mentioned, is, you know, hiring the right talent is a huge part of having and continuing with that culture. And sometimes it's a little harder than what we think in hiring the right talent. Sometimes we got to go through a lot to find the right people. Right. So what are the biggest hiring mistakes that lead to early turnover, especially in small business?
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Well, in my experience, I think one of the, one of the upfront things is not clearly defining the role. The expectations, the company values, those are very key things. People need to understand what the role will entail, making sure that they're in alignment with that, with their skills and experience and then, you know, the expectations of the position as well as your company values and how all that works together. I think that if you don't do that up front, you are putting yourself in a position of misinterpretation.
In that case, you can end up losing the individual because they didn't understand the position thoroughly, didn't feel they could meet the expectations, what have you, or they just don't fit the company.
So that's definitely an upfront process that you need to get in place right away when you're looking at hiring individuals.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more. I mean, sometimes there's even not just the process, but there is a series of questions that when hiring, you know, depending on the answers of those questions and you know, it could tell you whether they're, you know, guided in being a good fit or potentially not. So with that being said, hiring managers, you know, sometimes they just look at a resume, they look at skills and whatnot. But how can they go beyond skills to evaluate, you know, evaluate, you know, cultural fit during interviews?
[00:16:02] Speaker C: Well, one of the key things they can do is create behavioral based questions. So there are scenarios and everybody's very familiar with the star method, situation, task, activity, result.
So you would build those questions around the responsibilities of the role as well as your organization. So you would build them out so you could get a deeper understanding of their skills based on their experiences.
And also that helps with the cultural fit. You know, you're asking them to better understand how they work with the team through some of these questions.
Again, it's really helpful when you're trying to understand their cultural fit because of where they've worked, how they have worked, who they have worked with. In these behavioral based questions, you get them to describe to you the scenario.
So I would focus on that. It helps you learn a little bit more about their personality.
There's also assessments that people can take to understand better their personalities. We're all familiar with disc and strength finders and so on. So those are, you know, a couple of ways that you can really help to understand them more. Outside of just ticking the box for.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: The skills, there's nothing like getting a really good glimpse of someone's personality type. Right. So you know whether they're going to be a good fit or not. So I completely agree. So my next question, we kind of touched on it a little bit on a previous segment, but I want to dive in a little bit more into this because I think this is an important point.
So what are some of the most effective ways that a company can welcome new employees so that they feel engaged from day one? We talked about, you know, a welcoming committee or an onboarding committee and whatnot. But what have you seen out there or what have you consulted or coached some of these companies to do?
[00:17:55] Speaker C: You know, like I said, it's that sending them up for, like I said, A 30, 60, 90 day plan, you know, that's really. It helps them understand what are they, what are they expected, what's expected in the first 30 days and walking through that at the end and after 60 days and 90 days and also incorporating lunch and learns with leaders, I think that helps them open up the forum for them to ask questions and learn more about where the company is headed, what their thoughts are. And then they can also align their, their skills and their aspirations. Okay. So, you know, I think that that's one of the key things is to really keep those touch points when you first bring an individual on board.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Do you think that surveys, you know, leaders, founders providing surveys to the employees, you know, could help the founders or the leaders, the Hiring managers kind of have a better impact. So get into understanding as to what the employees are needing or what they're seeking for.
[00:18:56] Speaker C: Absolutely. I highly recommend, you know, biannual surveys. I think you need to give a person a certain amount of time. Now, some companies, you might want to do it the first three months and that way you can. That way you can also understand if your process is making them feel comfortable or if there's some challenges behind that. If you wanted to do the survey and then do a survey later in the year to see if there's anything that has changed, I absolutely agree. In those surveys, I think that they really help the organization understand some areas that they might be missing the mark or areas that they're doing very well.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I think the surveys are great.
I mean, everyone's got to have an open mind to continuing to grow and to continuing to learn, especially listening to the employees, because those are the ones, those folks are the ones that are helping the company, you know, mission, vision, culture, and all of those good things.
Do you believe that there is a possibility that even hiring managers, leaders, or even the business owners should do continuing education to, you know, elevate their skills as well, to do perform their jobs a little bit better or how often should they do continuing education?
[00:20:07] Speaker C: I think they need to look at it based on the role of the individual, where they're starting. You know, I think that obviously education relative to their role, but also offering them education outside of their role so that they can expand their experiences and their knowledge. So I think it's very important for organizations to provide that learning and development environment in a, on a consistent basis. I know a lot of them have good intentions and some of it only stretches over certain functionalities, but I think they really need to start from the, from the very entry level position all the way up through, you know, senior leadership.
When it comes to learning and development, we never know everything, that's for sure. And obviously in this ever changing environment we have currently, that's it's crucial that you are able to continue to expand your skills. And it's great when an organization offers it.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree as well. I mean, everyone's got to have certain level of, you know, continuing education just to continue to get better. And as long as everyone's got that open mindset to continue to learn, culture will continue to be great and the company will be great. So I know that you've got to have like a story where a hire, a new hire who became a culture champion and what do you think made that possible?
[00:21:26] Speaker C: Well, back to that organization that it was a startup organization that we scaled up. So obviously we're hiring a lot of people very fast. And as the more people, then you need to add the additional layers, right? These people are coming in basically as customer service individuals. You're expanding that, then you need to expand your structure to support that. So what we noticed is if we let them know that they have an opportunity to come in as a team player, potentially move into a supervisor role, have a team underneath them and so on, and then potentially a department lead with having that information for them in the forefront, letting them know this is a growth opportunity, then people were very intrigued by that. They were wanting to say, okay, I want to do this. And in order to do this, then they needed to be that type of cultural leader, a team ambassador, and they needed to display those appropriate leadership qualities and behaviors. And a lot of people took it, took it and said, okay, I want to do this. And so we were promoting people, you know, within a few months to supervisor level roles to have a team underneath them. And I think that because we, we opened that door right up front for them. That was key. We didn't, you know, they didn't have to come to us and ask us how we could do it. It was open to them right now.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: I totally appreciate you sharing that. I'm a firm believer that throughout the onboarding process, you know, these new hires, they basically have to be let in first and foremost. And part of that is making sure that they understand that this is what we do for a living. This is what we do to provide for our families. This is what we do to make this company great.
So ensuring that new hires understand that taking pride and ownership in everything that we do is got to be first and foremost. And part of that is diving in and becoming one with the culture and values and orders those good things so that everyone can continue to prosper and do some really great things, especially when it comes to those three month reviews and all of those good things.
Kimberly, that was an impactful segment and very great advice for those that just are now tuning in and want to get better at the hiring game. How can they get in touch with you?
[00:23:42] Speaker C: They can reach out to me at www.kdiamondconsulting.com or you can reach me on LinkedIn there. There is a section where you can reach out and book an appointment. We can talk about your situation and I'm happy to give insight where I can and offer, offer some of the services that we have here for, you know, interview training. We obviously offer recruiting. We offer process assistance. We also work with you on, you know, possibly walking through some of the vendors that you're utilizing.
So feel free to reach out to www.kdiamondconsulting.com.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Awesome. All right, Kim, we're going to take a quick commercial once again, but folks, stick right there. We're having great conversations with Kimberly Diamond. We'll be right back after these messages.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around. And we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business forward. You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that move business forward.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Hey, folks, welcome back to Biz Talk. Thank you for sticking with us. We are having a great conversation with Kimberly Dimon, who is a strategist, advisor and founder of K Diamond Consulting. So far, we have talked about growth and hiring, but what happens when the market gets a little unpredictable is one subject that we have not yet touched on. And we, we're going to touch on it today. So we are excited to have Kim diamond back on the show and we're going to have some really, really, we're going to go in depth into this conversation here, Kim, because I think it's absolutely necessary because there's a lot of companies out there that are, you know, just lacking a little bit when it comes to unpredictability and, you know, things get a little rough and whatnot. They seem to lose a little focus more on like, what are we going to do? And they're focused more on the problem rather than also the. So we're gonna dive into that a little bit.
So welcome again. Kim.
First question I have for you is how can leaders move from feeling reactive to taking intentional steps during a disruption?
[00:25:53] Speaker C: Well, first, I've been there.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: I think you and I both been there.
[00:25:58] Speaker C: Yeah, it's very, it's very easy to, to immediately go into reactionary mode, you know, and sometimes it is what it is and you have to follow, follow that for a moment. But it should not be the pace or, you know, the direction.
I think it's absolutely important that you set strategy in place so that you can be more proactive.
If you don't plan and you don't consider potential challenges, then you'll continuously be in reactionary mode. You'll continuously be putting out the fires. So I think that if you sit down and have a plan and you also understand what potential challenges you might face and prepare, then I think you can start to get more into a proactive mindset versus a reactive. And I had that experience back, you know, like I said, scaling that organization up, it was very reactionary in the beginning because of the, the pace at which we were doing things.
But we did become more proactive as we got that cadence set and got our strategies and structure in place.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
You know how in many different parts of business, you know, from military to fire department, you know, schools, sometimes they do fire drills just to stay sharp and stay ready and all of those great things. Right. But in the world of business, what daily or weekly or maybe even sometimes monthly rituals or drills help teams stay ready when conditions shift quickly.
[00:27:35] Speaker C: You know, I think that they need to, I need, I think what you need to look at is also cross functionality, cross training. So when things do come up, it's not so siloed to, to one person.
I hope that makes sense. So if you are cross trained and you can do a couple of different things, you can pivot and you can do that without, you know, if you learn that and you create a process to say you, you know, can, you know, to cross train them like you're talking about fire drills. So that to me is like, you know, let's, let's go through this scenario if this is to happen. For example, when we were hiring, if I need my recruiter to now step in and do a different functionality to get this process completed, could they do that? Could they shift? And they could. And it was because we played out those scenarios in advance. So kind of like a fire drill ready. So if we need to move our resources around, we are capable of doing that and not create enough for it to be so, you know, chaotic and so unstable.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Yep. The key words right there are cross training.
A company that has a great culture of ensuring that all employees know how to do each other's job or each other's role is huge. I mean, you never know what can happen to a particular employee. Another employee can come in, step in and just absolutely not knock it out of the park because they've been trained to do that. Not only that, but the employee becomes more valuable to the company as well. So there's a multi purpose there for the reason of cross training. It's huge. I mean, I could not agree more with you. That's important.
So my next question is for you is how can businesses serve their customers Consistently, even amid shifting supply chains, regulations or demand, there's got to be a way for a business to continue that consistency with their customers. I know that the headaches go on behind the scenes, but the customer should never know what those headaches are. Right. So how can businesses continue to serve their customers consistently?
[00:29:52] Speaker C: Well, I think they just again, they need to have their prepared team, their workforce, they need to again understand the expectations of the customer and be able to foresee potential challenges and bottlenecks. And if you look at your team, you look at the expectations, who's the best player for this particular function?
That way you'll stay ahead of it versus just waiting for there to be a hiccup.
You know, it's always, I think it's best to try to analyze and anticipate in advance even, even outside of what your customers expectations are because we know things are always happen and come up and all of a sudden the timeline has changed and the customer is questioning and we don't want to do that. So I'm always of the mindset, prepare in advance about what could happen and be able to make that adjustment very quickly to keep in line with the agreement or the client's expectations.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And then the other side of that too is as a business owner, you definitely want to have a backup to that supply chain.
Right. So you can give 70% of your business to one supplier, but you also want to have another 20, 30% to another supplier. In case anything happens, you have a couple of different suppliers that you can count on that are going to be able to deliver. So that way customers can get that consistency moving forward. So I appreciate you sharing that, but I thought I'd share that as well because from the business side it's great from the employee standpoint, but from the business side, the business owners need to have a contingency plan as well.
[00:31:29] Speaker C: We did, we did, we did for hours as well. So that you make, made a good point. You know, obviously in the recruiting space where we were scaling this up, yes, we had our team of recruiters, but we had outside staffing, support vendors to be able to help us. When we were, we were like we had to meet a number, we had to hire 100 people a month and we had to continuously, every day look at our numbers and see where we were. How are our resources working? Were they working? Did we feel we were going to or do we need to reach out to that supplier for that additional pocket of individuals that we needed to add to the team?
So we did use third party Providers as well to make sure that we.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: Were hitting our customers expectations absolutely 100%.
It's a must to have a backup plan in every scenario.
So when should leaders decide to pivot and what don't they want to overlook during that process?
[00:32:29] Speaker C: You know, I think they need to pivot when they, I think they obviously need to use metrics. They need to be looking at their metrics and getting a handle on those so that they can really see where the changes are happening and therefore they might need to to pivot on their resources and who they're utilizing.
So I think that that's a very crucial. If you don't have metrics, you don't have ways to measure what's happening just to help you forecast what's going to happen, then you're just kind of running blind. So I think that that would be the key thing. Whatever those metrics look like for you, you know, it depends on what the situation is. But build those out so you can follow those and see where those trends start to start to make their change. And then you might need to make your pivot there and move to a different resource or move to a different process, whatever that might look like.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I happen to think that if you're thinking about making some changes, then you probably should.
It's one of those rules of thumb.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: Right, I agree. Yes. And you see that if you see it, you probably should. Don't let it get behind, don't let it get away from you at the that point.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Right. So in this particular case, if you are thinking that you should probably, or thinking about hiring a consultant, you probably should. And call Kim, I had to do that plug there for you.
But Kim, you know, before we go from this segment, I'd like for you to share a time when your outlook shifted from your opportunity and what catalyzed, I guess, the shift.
How does a company, what I'm trying to get at, not necessarily your business from a company, how do they go from thinking, okay, we need to make a change to actually pulling the trigger? Because there's a lot of times that people do not listen to their gut feeling or their intuition and they just kind of procrastinate a little bit. So when you come in and you help them get through that, what's typically the process?
[00:34:31] Speaker C: Well, obviously you want to sit down and assess what's the pain point, what's the challenge right now and really outline what process makes sense next steps. You know, you want to create that step process. You don't want to just come in and start throwing things up against the wall, you know, so it's, it's analyzing what's going on. Where, where are the pain points? Where can we make some adjustments?
Do we have the right people doing the things that they need them to do, or do we need to make some adjustments there? So you just look at all of that and analyze what they've been doing, and does it really align with, you know, the process that they need to, potentially need to be doing? Because some people might be doing one thing where they really should be doing, you know, potentially another based on the analyzation of their process.
So I look at their processes and see if they make sense. Are they.
Are they time consuming? Are they. You know, there's a lot of things that go into, into those processes, and if they're. Or. Or they're miss, you know, time misspent, those are the things you want to look at. And then, and then I think it's really key to understand who's part of this process and is everyone on the same page and in alignment with that, that direction in their role, though, I think that sometimes people tend to let those things slide, and then all of a sudden they're in this, like, I just really have such a mismatch of people and I'm not getting anything accomplished. I've had many people say that I've hired this person, but I haven't. They're doing what I need them to do. And I, and, And, you know, so those are the things that I start with. I start with analyzing the process.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Amazing material, amazing insights, Kim. I mean, you have a wealth of knowledge, and I can see how your clients are benefiting from having your expertise when you come in and give them a hand. But there are many people that are listening to us right now that could potentially just now joined us. So what's the best way to get in touch with you so that they can learn more about your services?
[00:36:32] Speaker C: Sure. You can find me at www.kdiamondconsulting.com and that's Diamond D Y M O N D. A lot of people want to spe spell it DIA and you can reach out there. There is a place for you to send an email to ask, to connect, and we can talk through your. Your current situation. Is there areas that we can help you improve on? Are there resources that you might not know about that we can help you with? And obviously we can help you with your recruiting efforts?
[00:36:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. All right, Kim, we appreciate all of your knowledge. We're going to take a quick commercial break but we're going to come back and have one more set of conversations or questions with so folks, stay right there. We'll be right back. You don't want to miss this.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around and we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business forward. You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that moved business forward.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: Hey folks, welcome back to Biz Talk. If you are loving what you're watching, don't miss a moment of Biz Talk or any of our favorite or your favorite NOW Media TV shows. Live or on demand, anytime, anywhere. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku and or Apple iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming, whether it's English and or Spanish. If you prefer to listen on the go catch the podcast version on the of any show right on the Now Media TV website at Now MediaTV for Business and breaking news to lifestyle culture. Anything that you want to listen to now Media TV is streaming 24 7. Ready when you are. So again, welcome back to Biz Talks and we're having Great conversation with Ms. Kimberly diamond who is an expert at hiring the right talent and setting the right cultures, helping companies set the right cultures and mission and visions and all of those great things. So, Kimberly, welcome back to the show. We're having a great conversation, so I'm happy to continue it.
[00:38:40] Speaker C: Thanks, Rick. I'm glad to be back as well.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: Absolutely. So there are many in the audience, Kimberly, who are facing some closed doors or potentially closing their doors.
They're looking at, you know, issues. They're focused on problems, not possibilities. And it often feels like, you know, they're stuck in their old ways and maybe they're failing and the business is failing because they're stuck in their old ways. Right. So I think this is a topic that many go through and it's not talked about a lot. So I think this conversation here is going to be great for a lot of people that are listening that could potentially be going through the same thing. What do you say?
[00:39:21] Speaker C: Yes, I think this is a very important topic because I think that this does happen quite often and it's overlooked and it's very important.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So a lot of times I know that you're a hiring expert. You help companies hire employees that are going to be lifelong employees and they're going to come in and dive in and become one with culture and all of those good things. But there are many times that not only from the employee standpoint, but also from a business, a business owner standpoint.
What do you think are some of the mental blocks that keep employees stuck in fixed mindset patterns, keeping them from being the best version of themselves?
[00:40:04] Speaker C: Well, I think it's.
I think it's fear of failure, you know, or possibly making a mistake that would reflect on them personally.
They maybe have had past experiences where they have done, you know, reached out, stepped forward, taken a risk, and they were either ignored, you know, or they're. Or they were, you know, they weren't encouraged.
They were, you know, basically like it's just kind of fallen on deaf ears. So I think that. Or they did something and that individual or person that it affected or was part of didn't, you know, their response was not of a positive nature. Okay. So it made them fearful to again extend themselves or request for growth. There's various areas that I think people get fixed mindsets of. I better not rock the boat.
What if I don't do well?
[00:41:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
Sometimes, you know, some folks may get stuck because they feel like they've either hit a plateau and they don't know how to go beyond that or get over that hump and whatnot.
There are many people who think that reaching their quota or their goal is where they need to be.
But there's also another mindset shift to where, if you really think about it, when you set a goal or an employee. Employee gets a quota and they hit it, well, the possibilities are now endless because that. What. What once was a goal actually is now the minimum. Right. So there's.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: Right.
It keeps increasing. And to what point does that become extra stressful?
[00:41:49] Speaker B: Yeah, if the person can't. Yeah. And it's up to us, you, me, and, you know, business owners, to allow those employees to not only know but feel of what they are capable, not only in that business but in life, if they're able to reach such things and help them with those mental blocks.
I appreciate you sharing that. So how can. How can leaders spark curiosity and employees trying to experiment when there is fear of failure? Like if there's. I happen to think. Kim, I don't know if you agree or not, but I happen to think that if leadership is driving from a fearful space, then that energy is going to go out into the employees. Right.
[00:42:36] Speaker C: Absolutely.
So I think it's great if leaders share with their team the times that they had a failure or learned a lesson so that it creates that understanding of it's not just me or, oh, wow, you know, you. You as a leader, you actually, you know, you had a failure and you had to learn and you learned from your failures. And now look at where you are. I think that that opens up the personal side of things for people to feel more comfortable understanding that, you know, some sometimes things don't work out like you anticipate them to.
And I think another way that they can really support that is they make small, manageable experiments to reduce the fear of failure so that the failure is not. And I hate the word failure, you know, if they miss the mark, that it's not catastrophic, it's not going to bring anything down. But, you know, at the same time, you know, obviously it's a. It's a learning opportunity to look at options and to understand where did we go wrong and what do we need to adjust to make it work. But if you make it small and manageable, the risk factor is reduced. Therefore, I think the fear is reduced.
[00:43:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I believe so.
It all starts at the top. It starts with leadership.
My next question, Kim, it's a good one because I happen to think that this is something that is not asked quite a bit. And so I think it's great that we're going to talk about it because. Because if leaders could just understand that it's not necessarily all about making sure that everything is perfect. And the employee or the sales folks, it's not about perfection. It's about growth.
So what type of recognition or praise reinforces growth rather than perfection?
[00:44:36] Speaker C: Well, yeah, you acknowledge their efforts. Not just like you were just saying, you acknowledge their efforts. Not just, just the results. Right.
So that they understand that, you know, what they're doing and the efforts that they're putting in, they do matter and hopefully they are achieving their results. But like you said, it's, you know, it's. Recognize that they're thinking outside of the box when they do, encourage them to create, you know, and be innovative.
I think that that really helps them with the expectations. And. And it's kind of like you were just talking about, you know, raising the bar all the time. Right. I think that we need to recognize when we've. They've reached that bar, encourage them. I think public acknowledgement these days is, you know, obviously we have social media, so putting that information out there for their rest of their organization to see their accomplishments is also key. You know, people often feel that they're only getting attention when they're doing something wrong or missing the mark versus getting the attention when they're doing something right based on their efforts and their contributions as a whole.
[00:45:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, it's. It's not all about perfection. Trust me. I know. We know we want the best product and services to our clients and to keep that consistency also that we talked about earlier. But it's also about learning how to grow within that process as well, which is great.
So how can feedback be crafted to feel supportive, safe, and inspiring?
I think this is also a good one. A lot of managers, a lot of leaders forget that this needs to be crafted in a way that lands well with everyone on the team.
[00:46:24] Speaker C: Yes, Yes. I mean, I think it's always good to start with positives. You know, when you're addressing their areas of growth, you know, you don't want to start out with the areas that they can improve on. Let's start with the positives. What have they done and how, you know, how have they grown in their role? And then talk about the opportunities for that additional growth and what they may, you know, go from there.
I would say you want to focus more on their behaviors and actions versus their personal traits.
Right. So personal traits. Some people, you know, some people do a fantastic job, but they, you know, their personal traits might. Might reflect, you know, differently. It's kind of hard to describe what I'm trying to say here, but behaviors and actions more so than personal traits. Okay.
Is something I think that you would need to focus on. And also, I think a collaborative language is the one I really hone in on, which means that, let's see how we can do this better. Let's do it as a we and not putting it solely on them, and then offer suggestions and improvements as a collaborative effort with the individual.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the key word there is collaborative. I'm passionate about a collaborative culture where people can be open, honest, and transparent and just be able to, you know, and feel that they can be open, honest, and transparent and be able to grow in that way with everyone on the team. So I think it's. I think it's crucial.
So there are times where, you know, some teams go from, we can learn from this to, we just did this. So can you share a time where there was a team breakthrough, where we went from, this is not working well. We can learn from this. And then they went to, we just did this. We got this done.
Can you share something, a little story about something like that?
[00:48:30] Speaker C: Yes, actually, a couple. This has kind of happened a Couple of times in my time.
Oftentimes we are introduced to new systems.
So in recruiting, it's always been at the applicant tracking systems. So this is an example. I've seen it happen multiple times where we're getting a new one because things are not working as efficiently as we would like. And sometimes that system is a good system, but sometimes it's a system that's challenging.
So I've seen where we've gone together and said, okay, you know, we have to learn this new system. Is this really going to, you know, improve our work situation? And so we've gone in as a team and we were able to give advice and input on that system and what our thoughts were. And then once it was agreed upon and we moved forward, we worked as a team to. To go through the implementation. So we often would do a co pilot and we would work together. We'd each take sections, and that way, again, it's like, do we really have to learn this? Is this really going to benefit our, you know, our work situation, our role as we sit here as a recruiter and, you know, kind of that pushback a little bit. But ultimately, we came together as a team to go through it and determine some areas that might need improvement. And in doing so, we came through and said, okay, we did this, we implemented it, we've learned it, and yes, we've been able to structure it to help our better our situation be more efficient.
And just overall, our daily life was better at work because we had a better system. And we. We felt proud that we were able to get through that. But initially it was kind of like, is this really going to work? Can we really learn anything from this versus where we were?
And I can tell you, each time, it was always an eye opener.
[00:50:20] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
Well, Kim, we've come to the end of the show. We want to thank you for being on the show. I mean, we've talked about a lot of different things from. This was a very actionable conversation, actually. I think from scaling culture to hiring for fit, leading through uncertainty and building a mindset that embraces growth, your experience and what you bring to the table today is completely invaluable. And I think you are doing some really amazing things. So thank you for being here.
[00:50:49] Speaker C: Well, thank you for having me. I certainly did appreciate it. It's always great talking to Rick. Thanks.
[00:50:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's good to see you again and look forward to seeing you in future shows as well.
And for our. Yeah, absolutely. For our viewers at home, remember, success isn't just about strategy. It's about the people you surround yourself with and the mindset that you build together. If today's insights hit home for you, take a step. Review your hiring process. Reflect on how you lead with sometimes uncertainty and or spark a new cultural ritual that helps your team grow stronger together. My name is Rick Gutierrez. This is Biz Talk Now, Media tv. Until next time, take care of each other.
