BWSmallBiz -- Management June 20, 2008, 5:00PM EST

Matching the Right People to the Right Jobs

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He and Muller spent about 15 minutes taking the test online. They each went through a long list of adjectives—descriptors such as "dynamic," "demanding," and "persevering"—and checked off those that applied to them. A consultant then helped interpret the results. The test showed that Rees often makes decisions even with incomplete information, and that he's perfectly comfortable doing so. Muller, on the other hand, wants clear and concrete directions before acting. That knowledge makes Rees a better manager and Muller a better co-worker. Rees says he gives Muller clearer direction, and that her work is much better and her morale higher as a result. For her part, Muller says, "The way we work together is much more natural. I can read him much better now."

BE A MENTOR

Sometimes it's not the company that changes—it's the industry. Such was the case when Leon "Chip" Marrano III took over the $50 million, 27-person Marson Contracting in Bronx, N.Y., from his father.

Marrano says general contractors such as his used to control all aspects of a job, including the hiring of subcontractors. Now many developers prefer to pay construction firms a straight management fee, then collaborate on everything from design to subcontractor selection. Financial information, once closely guarded by the construction company, is now shared openly with developers. But Marson's chief estimator, Anthony Bochichio, had been with the company since 1960 and was well-schooled in the old ways of doing things, including keeping financial information confidential.

Marrano took advantage of the good relationship he'd built with Bochichio. He let him know that everyone had to change how they operated, and he made it clear he valued Bochichio's experience and wanted him to stay with the company. Then Marrano began bringing Bochichio to preconstruction meetings with architects and developers to familiarize him with the new rules of the game. Together, Marrano and Bochichio would contribute their suggestions for bringing costs down without sacrificing quality. It's worked: Marrano says Bochichio has been "great at adapting." Bochichio says he always had a good relationship with Marrano, but that "things are even better now and more open between us." And Marson found that clients really appreciated Bochichio's expertise, so Bochichio is now a regular participant in preconstruction planning.

MAKE A TOUGH CALL

Coaching isn't always as successful as it was for Marson. In such cases, business owners face some tough decisions.

Kenny Sayes, owner of Sayes Office Supplies, based in Alexandria, La., didn't realize he had issues with any of his employees until clients started to complain. Some of his customers were putting in requests for photocopier repairs but were not getting responses. When Sayes looked more closely at his copier operation, he saw weak cash flow. He soon found that some bills weren't being put through, which was Daniel Littleton's responsibility.

In 2007, after sales at Sayes' 34-person, $7 million company jumped 25%, Sayes had promoted Littleton. Littleton had been hired to link customers' copiers to their computer equipment; now he would also be dispatching other technicians and handling invoicing. When clients began to complain, Sayes asked Littleton to keep a notebook recording exactly what he had to do each day, what he got done, and what was still outstanding.

Sayes checked the notebook every few days and sat down with Littleton and other employees when there were problems. Within a month it became clear Littleton was not following through on some required tasks. "It was like baby-sitting," Sayes recalls of the fact-finding. "But I had to do it."

Sayes says he worked closely with Littleton to improve his performance and made it clear the bills needed to be up to date in two weeks. Littleton says he told Sayes repeatedly that he was overworked. And he says some of his time was still taken up going out on service calls. Littleton says: "There were not enough hours in the day for a single person to do what he wanted." Sayes says Littleton was going out on just a few calls and that the workload was not excessive.

A month went by, and the backlog remained. Eventually Sayes demoted Littleton back to his original position. Littleton quit shortly thereafter and says his replacement doesn't have as many job responsibilities as he did, a claim Sayes disputes. But things are now running smoothly. "She knows the job better than I do," Littleton says of the new hire. A sure sign that he matched the right person to the right job.

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Barrett is a senior correspondent for BusinessWeek SmallBiz.