That well of talent is ever dwindling, we have the choice to recruit from the outside or develop internally, on the open marketplace the competition is fierce and we compete with the integrity of our Brand, our benefits and our opportunities.
We might be successful in landing a top recruit or two. Maybe, we get a few qualifiables, who we can bring along. We can then look to our internal resources and the programs and initiatives afoot to develop our own folks. Hopefully, we have something in place, for talent does not have much patience.
Matter of fact, many look upon themselves as independent contractors " eying each assignment as a chance to learn something new, add to their portfolio of expertise and exposure, and then move on. We may have a short window of investment and return.
It is always interesting to consider what successful leaders say about their approach to business and employees. The New York Times wrote a profile on Barney Harford, the CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, on August 15, 2014. He had some insights. He looks for “T-shaped individuals " people who can go really deep in their particular area of expertise and also go really broad and have that kind of curiosity about the overall organization and how their particular piece of the pie fits into it”.
Some of the characteristics, beyond obvious professional expertise, include passion, energy and curiosity. For cutting edge companies, these factors obviously lend to a strategy and atmosphere for creativity and innovation " huge drivers for success.
For Mr. Harford, this is also reflected in how he approaches his reward system. “The completely wrong approach is to spread those budgets across the organization like peanut butter. You need a really good process to make sure you’re allocating compensation based on people’s career trajectory " their performance and their potential.” We all struggle with that search for that perfect, yet illusive, Performance Review Program.
He did emphasize one aspect of his “T” approach, which we all too frequently forget in our businesses " ensuring that our people know about the other parts of the organization, “…so that they can connect the dots between what’s going on in their area and what’s going on elsewhere, and then use those insights to improve the what we do things”. Too often we are caught in that “silo” or protected turf, our energies directed inward rather than towards organizational success in the marketplace.
Admittedly, there is no silver bullet out there, but the culture you foster will dictate the results you get. Mr. Harford seems quite intuitive, noting, “I am pretty good at seeing around corners”. It must be nice. Most of us are jumping at shadows!
John Hendrie is the author of the LRA blog, focusing on anything and everything about customer experience. LRA Worldwide is the leading global provider of Customer Experience Measurement services for multinational companies with complex customer interactions. For over 30 years, LRA’s innovative brand standards audits, quality assurance inspections, mystery shopping programs, research, and consulting services have helped ensure our clients deliver consistent, memorable, and differentiated experiences to their customers. Many of the world's preeminent global hospitality brands, as well as companies in the gaming, dining, healthcare, sports and entertainment, real estate, retail and travel industries choose LRA to help them measure and improve the customer experience. For more information, visit www.LRAWorldwide.com.
