If you speak to enough business owners, you'll hear a common belief - 'We just need better people'…people with more experience, more skill, with at least some initiative!
On the surface, it sounds like a valid point. Trouble is, it's often wrong, because what's really sitting underneath that belief is this one:
McDonald's built a global business on a completely different idea.
With the right training, almost anyone can succeed in a complex role.
Not because the role is simple.
But because the way it's taught is.
Think about a busy McDonald's restaurant - it's fast, it's pressured - with multiple products, timings, standards - a whole host of moving parts. And yet, a 16-year-old can walk in with no experience and within weeks, be contributing confidently to the team effort.
That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because:
- Each task is set up to be learnable, with clear steps, clear standards and clear expectations.
- Each task is taught, one to one, by a someone who understands the what, how and why of the McDonald's way to do the task well.
- The new starter is given time to ask questions so they're clear, and given time to practise so they're confident.
Nothing is left to guesswork. And that clarity, plus confidence, delivers consistency.
What happens in most small businesses
In a lot of small businesses, roles don't get designed from scratch. They evolve around whoever happened to be doing the job before.
So instead of asking, "What should this role look like?" we end up with, "What did Sarah used to do?" and your new team member ends up inheriting Sarah's strengths, her habits, her shortcuts, and the bits she never quite got round to fixing.
Too much knowledge sits in people's heads and training becomes a game of 'pass it on', with consistency and standards diluted a little every time.
Then as the cracks start to show, we blame the person.
Of course sometimes that's true. But often, the real issue is that the role isn't clear, there is no one right way to perform it to standard, and training has been sketchy at best.
Experience vs. training
It's fair to say that most business owners overrate experience and underrate training.
Experience feels safer; it feels like a shortcut, but it can also come with baggage - different habits, different standards, different ways of doing things.
Fresh potential, on the other hand, is easier to shape. But only if you do your bit…
Make the expectations of the role crystal clear. Set the standard to be achieved.
And invest in the training and feedback that will give your new team member the skills and confidence to deliver.
That's the choice.
You can rely on hope - that an experienced person will fit your team and hit the ground running, or you can invest in the hiring, training and feedback systems that will turn potential into consistent performance.
Which will you choose?
