Three T’s–Train, Transfer, or Terminate

When you are thinking about enhancing a professional selling team, and professional development, there are really three choices: Train, transfer or terminate.

Train – Do you have realistic goals and measures? Did your team participate in the creation of them to make sure they are “SMART” goals? Once the goals are in place, have you invested resources and time to train on best practices?

Transfer – Does the particular employee do a good job, maybe not the right fit for the role they are in? Are there alternative roles they could do well in? Whether in your department or someone else’s? Consider a transfer. This can lead to a great fit for the employee and better morale for the rest of the team.

Terminate – This should be an absolute last resort. You or your predecessor hired this individual, they must have seen promise in their skills, motivations and capability. Does this employee know their goals? Are they clearly spelled out both in 1:1s and in writing? Have you shown them “how to” when it comes to areas of improvement? To be fair to your company, and to the employee, and to yourself, make sure there is an action plan for improvement and a path to success spelled out. 90 percent of the time, employees don’t know what they aren’t doing “right” and when it’s made clear more than half the time can usually turn it around.

Know your team and individual employees strengths and weaknesses and consider the three Ts!

Good selling