Pay for Results, Not Efforts

Hey what’s shakin’, welcome back. I’m Rick Jordan. And today we are going all in. I have something really powerful for you today that I hope will shift your mindset, shift your perspective, give you a different lens on things and that’s why you’re going to want to share this out with three people, at least today, because I know that you know three people that could benefit from this. 

So here, if you’ve running a business, we’re going to talk about why you pay people, okay? And what you should expect of them and if they don’t do this, or if you don’t follow this to the letter, if you don’t stick to this guideline, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt, and just get frustrated and overwhelmed. Because you’re gonna wonder, “Why are my people not performing?” And it’s really coming back to you because you’ve got this skewed perspective that people are coming, and it’s okay to pay them to do their job. 

Now hear me on that, because we’re gonna go into this right? We’re all in business to make money, right? And if you’ve ever been in a management role, if you’ve ever had anybody worked for you, a subordinate, or supervisors, something like that, or even, let’s just say a project, at your place of employment that you’ve worked, and have been assigned to be the lead on that project, and you have other people that are supporting you to get that thing done, or you have to communicate with different departments, and maybe even external vendors, all of that, especially applies to vendors, no joke, as we get into this too, because there’s a key phrase that I want you to remember this thing, save it in your in your memory and live by this, if you’re ever in any kind of leadership role whatsoever that involves money, that you’re paying people to do something for you. 

Here’s what it is… As a manager, as an entrepreneur, you pay for results, not efforts. As a manager, or an entrepreneur or a leader, you pay for results, not efforts. If you do anything else, if you think “Oh, well, they’re giving it a good try, you know, or whatever.” Now, I’m not talking about a, a ramp up period or something like that when somebody is learning ways of your company, especially if it’s sales or something like that, or if it’s a new role, and they have to be trained on your way of doing things, your company culture, your systems, your processes, all of that. Because even if they’re being trained, if they’re consuming that information, and they’re learning that and absorbing it, that would still be a result, because that’s progress forward, right? If somebody fails, it’s okay for them to fail, as long as they have a solution to overcome that.

I once heard somebody describe this, it was a mentor of mine that expressed to me that when you release the reins of somebody, allow them to have control over a certain aspect of your business, or a certain aspect of your responsibility in the business you work for and you give them some kind of authority with it within certain parameters or whatever, a certain departments, a certain area, a certain group of people, you give them that leadership role, or you give them that responsibility to accomplish certain things. Those individuals are there to get that job done. They’re not there to try. They’re not there to, you know, give a best effort and say “All right, we went after it.” They’re there to produce a certain result. 

So when it’s on you, as leadership as the entrepreneur, to have your individuals, your people get something done, you have to be crystal clear. You have to say, “This is the outcome that I need.” And it’s okay. And it should be, especially if you’re an entrepreneur, and you’re starting to try to scale that those individuals have authority to be able to make decisions on the how. You are determining the what, like setting the course, this is where we need to end up and then you just manage based upon performance, which is based upon KPIs, things that are measurable, but all those have to do with an outcome. And when people fail, because they will, they absolutely will. You know, so if you’re saying you pay for results, you don’t pay for effort, right? You can still fail and still get that result, because failure could be on the way to achieving that outcome. 

Are you hearing me on that? So I’m not saying just because somebody screws up as a reason to fire them. They may have to try a couple of different methods to try to determine what that “How” is to achieve the outcome or the result that you as the manager as the entrepreneur expects of them, they might fall on their face a little bit on the way. And that’s okay because you can see them grow, when I’m talking about somebody that’s just putting an effort, but that actually cannot get past that. So, if they try once, and they just throw their hands up in the air, they say, “Oh, well, you know, I did it. It’s just not possible, right?” And you’re like, “No, this is the outcome I need. This is the result that I need, can you get me there?”

And if they can’t come up with an answer to that, that’s when you know that they’re not right for it, that you are paying them based upon effort from that point on, if you keep them around, the people that will continuously push and understand that, you know, “Hell or High Water” ever heard that phrase? I don’t know how that popped in my head right now. But hell or high water, in order to get to that outcome, whatever they have to go through, they’re going to make it happen for you. You are now paying them for results, you are now paying them for an outcome because that is the right spirit, the right mentality that they need to have. 

You know, if you find yourself as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, and people are dragging their feet along, and they’re just like “You know, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying to get it done.” And you hear it so many times, there is a threshold and I hope you identify it soon enough to where you recognize that you are paying them for results, not for efforts. Otherwise, you’re just wasting money. 

Think about a vendor, right? Think about somebody cutting your grass at your house. Okay, if they come by and they only cut half of it. Are you going to still pay them if they come by and they do a crappy job? “Oh, well, they tried. You know what? They just ran over my rosebush with the lawnmower. But day it’s tried, they’re doing a good job of putting in a good effort, right?”

This goes back to the stupid like trophy stuff today where everybody’s a winner, WRONG. Why do we frickin’ keep score if everybody’s a winner? It makes no sense to me. You have winners, you have losers. There’s no middle ground, winners and losers, no middle ground. When it comes to something like this results or effort, no middle ground. You’re either wasting money, or you’re paying money, good money to get a result. And then you have ROI, return on investment. 

If you’re paying somebody for effort and just letting them drag along, there is no return. It’s no longer an investment. When you do that. Because there is no growth, there is no outcome. Now you’ve crossed into the territory of stupidity. If you continue to do that, because there is no return on that investment. It’s no longer an investment. It’s wasted dollars, because there is no return. Because all there is effort, they may be good people, oh my gosh, they may be really, really, really good people, which this is one of the things that always emotionally grabs me when it comes to these situations because I want people to grow but some people have limits. 

People can continuously push forward and improve their skills and just move themselves into a better place in life. Everybody can do that, for sure. But sometimes people will just not be the right fit for a certain role. That’s just the truth. That’s a fact. And that’s up to you to decide. Because if you’re paying them for effort and Job A, but they’re better suited for job B where they’re going to get your results, shift them over. 

I know this isn’t rocket science, but this is like a kick in the pants for somebody who’s listening right now to a lot of people that are listening right now, because you recognize that you might have people in the wrong role or you might have people just in the wrong place with you period or you might recognize that you actually have some really good people and they’re producing results. Compare that to some of the people that aren’t and then you can make the choice from there and go ALL IN.

Episode References: 

Hell or High Water

ROI