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The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (Michael E. Gerber) What it taught me is that effective organizations invest

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (Michael E. Gerber) What it taught me is that effective organizations invest heavily in training newcomers how to do their jobs / processes. I see this everywhere; when I walk into a business and something's "just off," it's almost always because management is dropping the ball on training newcomers how to do their jobs. In my specific case, I was having trouble getting good bug reports, and my teammates were struggling with poorly written tickets. I had to take the time to explain what the process was for handing off work from QA to developers. Things moved much more smoothly after that. (IE, I had to explain that all tickets needed steps to reproduce, except in very specific circumstances.) https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About-ebook/dp/B000RO9VJK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27YLJ3RH98I6T&keywords=the+e+myth+revisited+kindle&qid=1668441250&s=books&sprefix=the+e+myth+revisited+kindle%2Cstripbooks%2C90&sr=1-1 https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About...

rahimnathwani 4y ago
You can't train people if you don't standardize first! This could be as simple as deciding what elements a big report should contain, or as complex as a multi-page standard operating procedure (SOP) for a knarly process.
mjburgess 4y ago
100% agree with this... it's very strange. The younger the business I've worked at, the more they assume incoming talent has the skills. And its exactly the opposite.
is_true 4y ago
I think the problem is that most people managing organizations don't see the value in processes.
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  It's a cultural thing. I've seen it in California companies, but not in Massachusetts companies. (In MA, people will talk about SOPs all the time.) > In my specific case, I was having trouble getting good bug reports, I just had to avoid the word "process." What I've also observed is that some people in the startup scene think processes are restrictive. That's usually a sign of a company / leader that's too immature to effectively manage through high growth. (You can't have exponential startup growth without processes.)
AlwaysRock 4y ago
My first question for recruiters is always about how a company trains/mentors employees. I have gotten maybe 5 good responses out of the 100's of times I've asked that question. It's shocking to me. Every employee you hire is going to have to be trained on SOMETHING that is new to them or specific to your company. Why dont companies spend more time developing onboarding and training programs that actually work?
- tsycho 4y ago
  While your question itself is good, it's unfortunately quite likely that the recruiters won't actually know the answer. So their answer isn't a good signal. Separately, in larger companies, there will be significant variance between the onboarding process of teams/orgs.
  - AlwaysRock 4y ago
    Sure. Recruiters wont know the answers to a lot of questions. Especially things that are not talked about often or focused on at the company. If a company is proud of their internal training program they would highlight that to potential employees and anything a recruiter can use to sell the company they will. It's true that a recruiter might not know about a companies training program and that program may exist and actually be good. But its much more likely they wont know because one either doesnt exist or isnt formalized at all and isnt a focus for the company.
- cassepipe 4y ago
  Because companies prefer offloading the cost of education onto society but then endlessly complain on how formation is too broad, that is not catered specifically to their needs while not be willing to pay for it. Ok I (hope I am) exaggerating but there seems to be something like that going on in my country
- swyx 4y ago
  what counts to you as a good response?
  - 4y ago

rahimnathwani 4y ago

You can't train people if you don't standardize first! This could be as simple as deciding what elements a big report should contain, or as complex as a multi-page standard operating procedure (SOP) for a knarly process.

mjburgess 4y ago

100% agree with this... it's very strange. The younger the business I've worked at, the more they assume incoming talent has the skills. And its exactly the opposite.

is_true 4y ago

I think the problem is that most people managing organizations don't see the value in processes.

gwbas1c 4y ago
It's a cultural thing. I've seen it in California companies, but not in Massachusetts companies. (In MA, people will talk about SOPs all the time.) > In my specific case, I was having trouble getting good bug reports, I just had to avoid the word "process." What I've also observed is that some people in the startup scene think processes are restrictive. That's usually a sign of a company / leader that's too immature to effectively manage through high growth. (You can't have exponential startup growth without processes.)

AlwaysRock 4y ago

My first question for recruiters is always about how a company trains/mentors employees. I have gotten maybe 5 good responses out of the 100's of times I've asked that question. It's shocking to me. Every employee you hire is going to have to be trained on SOMETHING that is new to them or specific to your company. Why dont companies spend more time developing onboarding and training programs that actually work?

tsycho 4y ago
While your question itself is good, it's unfortunately quite likely that the recruiters won't actually know the answer. So their answer isn't a good signal. Separately, in larger companies, there will be significant variance between the onboarding process of teams/orgs.
- AlwaysRock 4y ago
  Sure. Recruiters wont know the answers to a lot of questions. Especially things that are not talked about often or focused on at the company. If a company is proud of their internal training program they would highlight that to potential employees and anything a recruiter can use to sell the company they will. It's true that a recruiter might not know about a companies training program and that program may exist and actually be good. But its much more likely they wont know because one either doesnt exist or isnt formalized at all and isnt a focus for the company.
cassepipe 4y ago
Because companies prefer offloading the cost of education onto society but then endlessly complain on how formation is too broad, that is not catered specifically to their needs while not be willing to pay for it. Ok I (hope I am) exaggerating but there seems to be something like that going on in my country
swyx 4y ago
what counts to you as a good response?
- 4y ago