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Brad Hall, Managing Director of Hall & Company
So many articles have been written on the importance of hiring and retaining world-class talent that one may wonder what is left to say about the topic.
It is true: good DNA in strategically critical positions is necessary to secure a company’s competitive advantage. But talent alone is like epoxy, a two-part adhesive consisting of a resin (basically liquid plastic) and a hardener. Epoxy exits the tube in two streams, neither of which has any value by itself. But when mixed together, they form an incredibly strong adhesive.
Similarly, talent alone has little economic value. It must be mixed with “talent utilization” to produce industry-leading performance.
I worked closely with one large Chinese global company that paid substantially above-market rates in order to hire world-leading talent. The strategy worked, of course: with enough economic incentive, recruitment is easy. We hired the #2 executive for the training function of a leading tech company, and the Chief Information Officer for the government of a major western country.
Sitting on the sidelines
But that extraordinary talent was largely ignored. The newly hired high-end talent (HET) did not integrate into business processes. They were not invited to key meetings or involved in important decisions. They existed outside of the company’s mainstream activities.
These new high-end hires were recruited to infuse global best practices into the Chinese company. They were excited to join, and to help build an industry-leading team of professionals.
Many of them saw opportunities for improvement, but were never given a chance to talk about them. They learned that their real job was to sit on the sidelines and watch colleagues make the same mistakes they had been making for years.
Would an All-Star footballer be satisfied with higher pay if he had to sit on the bench and watch?
Felix was an Account Director in France. He told me he was a “Ghost Account Director.”
I said, “A ghost? What does that mean?”
“It means,” he replied, “that my Chinese team members go to the Chinese country manager for instruction and approvals. They don’t know if I spend my day at work or at a coffee shop. To them, I’m invisible.”
I asked, “Do we pay you well?” He answered, “I make far more money than I have ever earned.”
“More money and less work,” I said. “You should be happy.”
“No!” he said. “I hate it, and I’m leaving.”
Resin, without hardener.
How we solved the problem
What was our solution?
First, hiring managers were held accountable for retaining and fully utilizing high-end talent. New hire failure was recorded, and used as evidence that the manager could not be trusted to manage high-end talent. It was made clear that the role of the manager was to do the following:
Second, each new hire was given a 90-day plan to learn the business and build relationships with stakeholders inside and outside the team, as well as with key country executives and also customers. The plan included weekly coaching sessions for the first month, and bi-weekly meetings thereafter.
Third, at the end of the 90-day period, new hires presented their learnings in a formal 30-minute presentation to their team colleagues. They described how they saw their role, and listed the standards by which they would be measured in order to be considered successful. They talked about areas where the team could improve. Finally, they explained how they planned to create unique value for the team.
The result: staff turnover plunged from 40% to between 21% and 24%. That’s not fantastic, but for a global Asian company at the time, it was quite good. The company also became the #1 most desirable employer in China and the #16 IT employer in the world.
Performance is the goal
In the end, the goal is not to hire great talent, but to achieve great business performance. That requires two things: industry-leading talent in key positions, and full utilization of that talent.
Like epoxy, success requires both ingredients.
Buying talent is necessary, and it is easy.Utilizing talent is far more difficult. When utilization succeeds, managers are at the core of that success. They must ensure that new hires work on tasks that leverage their strengths, enabling them to become great assets to the team. Furthermore, they must ensure that talented employees have the decision-making power they need in order to innovate and grow.
Contact us! transform@huawei.com
