PUTTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES

by Paul Cormier, President, Cormier Strategy Advisors Inc.

June 2013

A few years ago I read a book called First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.  The book, which focused on what the world’s greatest managers did differently, was based on decades of research by the Gallup Organization.  One of the insights of the book was that great managers selected for talent instead of skills or experience.

The easiest way to explain the difference between skills, experience and talent is with an example provided in the book. A skill is a capability that can be learned and transferred.  Arithmetic is considered a skill for an accountant, for example.   Knowledge is what you are aware of – what you know and understand.  For an accountant, this might be the rules of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.  A talent is an attribute that “carves your recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour.”  Gallup found, for example, that one of the most important talents for great accountants was the innate love of precision.  Lots of people possess the skill and experience to be an accountant, but what differentiated great accountants from mediocre ones was the talent attribute.

Practically, how can managers today put that lesson to work for them?  I think there are five key steps to doing so.  The approach sounds much simpler than it actually is.  It requires some hard work and some good thinking, but I am convinced that it leads to superior results.

The process involves:

1)     Carefully defining job positions and the required responsibilities.  These need to be clear and concise – one page that defines what you truly expect the role to deliver.

2)     For each role in a group, look at the responsibilities and together with the corporate culture (which will define what an employee will and will not be encouraged to do in an organization), select the key talents that will define an exceptional employee.

3)     Select key talents that might be missing from specific job roles but necessary for the group to thrive.  These talents are the intangibles or X-factors that might ensure that groups take the proper big picture view of their world.  Make sure you have some people who possess these talents even if it is not critical to an individual position.

4)     Do a critical talent assessment on each team member.  Are they in the right role or is there another role more suited to them.  Are the right people in the right places?

5)     If there are gaps, address them through culling those who don’t fit and recruiting those who do.  When recruiting, specifically interview to identify those with the talents to thrive in their roles, instead of the just the skills and experience to fulfill their roles.

One of the absolute keys to implementing such a plan is objectivity and the ability to avoid the pitfall of associating the talents required to be successful at a role from the talents of that person currently in the role (unless they are truly a star).  To do this, the manager, incumbent and key internal clients are all useful participants in defining the key talents required to excel at the role.  Multiple perspectives will help define the attributes that truly lead to success in a given role.

Putting people in the right roles sets them up for success and leads to higher results for your organization.  It is the difference between an organization that thrives and one that just survives.

Paul Cormier is President of Cormier Strategy Advisors Inc., a firm which provides clients with strategic consulting, project management and short-term management services.