This topic came from a discussion I had with a senior colleague. We were having chat on results, academic grades and marketing skills, and then the question popped up. Which do you prefer? Due process or result-oriented? Hmmmmm. We all paused. We had been talking about the criteria for employment these days and how it affects different organizations. I went back thinking seriously about these questions. Everyone, and I mean every human being, who runs a business or an organization would want the best. The question is what do we characterize as the best? Do we mean best academic result/qualification or do we mean best in “field” result? By field I mean where the business should be and by field I mean the target audience.

Let’s start with the typical academic environment in Nigeria. Are the schools putting in enough into the students to prepare them for the professional challenges in the workplace? Are the results acquired from the tertiary institutions credible enough to make one beat his chest and say “he deserves it”? Don’t get me wrong, I am being very objective here. The truth still remains that there are many graduates with very good academic results but because of their on-the-job performance you will marvel and wonder if the result actually belongs to the owner. The result simply cannot be defended, both orally and in writing. Now how does this affect a result-oriented organization when the organization chooses to employ based on the credentials and academic grade? Little wonder these days, entrepreneurs prefer to look the other way when certificates are being presented before them as a criterion for employment but would rather look out for skill and talent. They feed you with the plans and goals of the organization and then become more obsessed with the planning rather than with the result. The ideal thing is that organisations focus more on your drive, vigour and the whole charisma that comes with the individual, not on your certificate. Your general disposition should appeal more to a goal-driven entrepreneur not your processes, not the protocols, and not all the due process. They want to see you make it happen. This is all that counts to them and this is all that should count to you.

In many civil service offices, process, protocols and due process leave a lot of job undone. A file that is supposed to take a day to be attended to and sorted out may take months, by the time the file moves from one table to the other just to get it signed or verified and get the job done, the processes becomes counterproductive and irrelevant. The protocols and processes are a waste of time, and we are told that time is money. Why don’t we skip the process and just achieve the results.

In the media for example, no one cares how well polished your shoes are as a reporter or a journalist, you are expected to be well-dressed and groomed of course, but that may not count as much as the number and quality of stories you file at the end of the day. You are not expected to be at your desk the way a banker would be expected to be, because what counts more is that you get results, it does not matter how you do it. To a media house results mean bringing in stories and relevant ones at that.

There are many entrepreneurs who know that every individual’s contribution in the workplace defines the individual’s value, the goal of management is to stimulate stronger performance in an effort to achieve improved business results. In achieving all of these, employing the right people matters. As much as any entrepreneur will love to hire a First class brain, it will only be worth it if the impact of this First Class brain is being felt at the workplace……..achieving results.

Every business must be marketed. A marketer, who has been given a target, must seek to hit his target, no one cares the process of getting it done, the only good news the boss wants to hear is that they are achieving results. Due process is necessary, but sometimes it impedes the journey of getting the required results. In some organizations, marketers are not expected to sign in everyday, that’s because the organization sees the necessity of skipping the process and achieving results.

I strongly advise that every employee drops all the protocols and processes and get working. Skip the process, forget the protocols, and achieve the desired results today. Thank me later. Cheers.

Author: Annabelle Macford Okwara