Throwback: From Chaos to Clarity - Revolutionizing Performance Reviews at Action Holdings

In this episode, Josh conducts a strategy audit for Andrew Gilliland and Dave Hunt of Action Holdings, an e-commerce asset management company in Tampa. The conversation explores their unique business model, challenges in hiring and team management, and the need for more frequent, effective performance reviews. Josh introduces a simplified review system focused on self-assessment, manager feedback, and clear KPIs, recommending reviews every four months. The discussion highlights the importance of aligning team roles, measuring creative work, and maintaining a strong company culture to drive growth across their portfolio of e-commerce brands. **Chapters:** Introduction to Action Holdings (00:00:00) Overview of Action Holdings, its e-commerce brands, and the company’s background and structure. Not an Aggregator: Business Philosophy (00:01:11) Clarification on why Action Holdings is not an aggregator and their selective, family-like approach to brand management. Biggest Challenges: People & Team (00:02:20) Discussion of main business challenges, especially hiring, team management, and putting the right people in the right roles. Performance Review Frequency (00:03:44) Realization that annual reviews are ineffective; shift to four-month performance review cycles for better alignment. Plan of Alignment and Growth (00:04:46) Introduction of a simplified, rubric-based performance review system with self and manager assessments every four months. Performance Review Rubric Details (00:06:48) Explanation of the rubric: culture fit, problem-solving, performance, and KPIs, including self-assessment and manager scoring. Implementing Core Values and KPIs (00:07:51) How to document core values, create scoring rubrics, and establish measurable KPIs for each role. Simplifying the Review Process (00:10:31) Key takeaway: simplify the review process to make it easier for both managers and employees. Challenges with Creative KPIs (00:11:20) Discussion on the difficulty of setting KPIs for creative roles, especially in marketing and design. Defining Measurable KPIs for All Roles (00:12:09) Strategies for creating measurable KPIs for any position, including creative and customer service roles. Evaluating Value and Role Necessity (00:14:30) Assessing whether roles are necessary based on their measurable contribution to business revenue and goals. Final Thoughts and Advice (00:16:05) Closing remarks: encouragement to take risks, think big, and seek expert guidance for business growth. **Links and Mentions:** **Tools and Documents**  "Plan of Alignment and Growth Document": "00:05:53" **Key Concepts**  "Rubric for Performance Reviews": "00:06:48" **Advice and Insights**  "Quarterly Performance Reviews": "00:04:37" **General Recommendations**  "Get Josh on Your Calendar": "00:16:06"  "Encouragement to Take Risks": "00:16:13" **Transcript:** Josh 00:00:00  Today I am speaking with Dave Hunt and Andrew Gilliland, and we just conducted a strategy audit for their business. And you get to listen in on all the takeaways that we found for them. Let's start here. First, Andrew and Dave, why don't you guys just share with the audience. You know what it is that you guys do. You have multiple ecommerce brands. Tell us what it is that you have going on. Yeah. So. Andrew Gilliland 00:00:25  in in simple terms, we have a holding company, called Action Holdings. We are an e-commerce asset management company based in downtown Tampa, Florida. the business was started five years ago, but I've been doing e-commerce since I was 8 or 9 years old. and we formulated Action Holdings to organize the various brands that we've launched, acquired. and we'll build in the future. So that's a little bit about Action Holdings. Josh 00:01:03  So it's like you're almost like a mini aggregator in a way. You've got multiple brands under one roof and you're trying to scale them. All right. Andrew Gilliland 00:01:11  So I get this question a lot. And the short answer is not quite. So we do not consider ourselves an aggregator. we it's kind of like a family owned set of brands that we're managing like our babies. So we say no to that question when it comes up, because a lot of aggregators are taking in these assets and kind of just throwing them into the Wild West, Fashion Holdings doesn't do that. We look for very specific deals that we are confident we can provide specialized attention in to grow. Josh 00:01:49  Awesome. I love that, and I think that's important. Like you're approaching it with a very specific, you know, target and you're you're not just acquiring anything just to acquire it, right? I think that's super important. And that definitely showed up in the way that you guys approach your business plans as well, which I think is impressive. So, Andrew, why don't you kind of lead off with, you know, stating what was kind of one of your biggest questions that you had walking into the audit, and what were your hopes of what you were going to get out of the conversation today? Andrew Gilliland 00:02:20  Yeah. Andrew Gilliland 00:02:20  So the as I said to you, Josh, our team is good. We're above average at most of the e-commerce related things that we do. But people has been one of the biggest challenges for our company, making sure we're bringing in the right people, putting them in the right seats, and doing the best that we can to grow our team and business. so that was one of the biggest challenges that we came in with. you walked us through all of the behind the scenes of Hadley designs, and showed us simpler ways that we can effectively lead and manage our growing team. And we are going to implement the, I forget the name of the document, but what you showed us as a simpler way of handling performance reviews, hiring and firing so that we can attract and retain a level talent. Josh 00:03:29  I love it. Dave, what were some of your biggest questions coming into the strategy on it? Dave Hunt 00:03:34  Yeah, I think people was definitely, for me, the biggest thing. beyond, like Andrew said, the right people, the right seats. Dave Hunt 00:03:44  I find we've struggled with timing. Right. How long do you give someone to fit that role? And one of the biggest takeaways I took was, you know, Josh, you're saying every four months we're reviewing these things. And previously we were we were almost looking at it, I want to say on a yearly basis. we did yearly reviews and now looking back and it makes sense. Why would that work? Because if you wait a year to evaluate whether somebody is in the right, see if they're meant for the company, if they align with not only our core goals, but our overall strategy. you're too late. and we've had that bite us before. So looking at that, I like the idea of, you know, quarterly or four month periods where we're really taking a deep dive into the alignment and making sure that the right person, right seat, right time for them to be with us. Josh 00:04:37  Yeah. I think that that is every, business leaders like struggle is how do you get the right people sitting in the right seat? Right. Josh 00:04:46  And that is much easier said than done. But there's logic in how you approach these situations. And I know you guys have heard my podcast, and even in my presentations where I talk about how the process I use to go find and attract a level talent into your business, but then the rubber really meets the road when you bring this person onto your team. And yes, the traditional like, hey, we're going to do an annual performance r...