Who would choose to be a business leader today? In the midst of the deepest recession in living memory and with the prospect of a slow recovery and public sector cutbacks you are left with the job of picking up the remnants of your organisation, with much depleted reserves and a workforce that is frustrated, overworked and ready to leave at the first opportunity.[1]
For managers who feel constrained within compliance dominated and cost reduced regimes, focusing on people is often a long way down the agenda. And yet, now is the very time that a change in approach is essential.[2] There’s still a long road to recovery ahead, and ingenuity and drive are badly needed from all of our people.
Getting the best out of people is a subject that has fascinated US business writer and speaker, Tom Peters, for many years (2003 and 1992). In times of uncertainty and change, putting your people into a position where they are free to use their judgement and apply their skills and knowledge to solving problems will pay much greater dividends than trying to organise and control them in traditional ways. He looked to organisations that were wholly dependent on their talent for insights into a new way of organising and argues that leaders must see their role as being Connoisseurs of Talent. Their job is to find and nurture the best people, and to put them into a position where they can do their best work. The focus is much more on what people can do rather than on what leaders know.
Excellence into action
To help leaders who want to adopt this ‘talent centric’ approach, my colleagues and I have constructed a conversion kit that provides a structure that leaders can use to look critically at the way work is organised and executed in their business or team. This approach, which we call the Future Shape of the Winner™, takes a holistic view and acknowledges the interdependence of several key elements which affect the organisation’s overall performance. Ultimately, success depends on finding the right balance of these interacting elements to optimise people’s ability to add value, giving them sufficient scope and the necessary self motivation to do great work.
We often use a gyroscope to illustrate the dynamism and balance fundamental to this approach (see figure 1):
Figure 1: Gyroscope illustrating key elements of organisational success
Having attracted the best available talent, the leader’s primary role is to have a continuous awareness of the context in which those talented people are operating, and then to work tirelessly to adjust and amend that context in ways that will improve the overall performance of the organisation.
To do this, organisations are looked at in three ways:
- elements which set direction and align people in pursuit of that direction;
- elements which define and then deliver the brand promise to customers; and
- elements which support the work of people so that they can be productive.
What shape are you in?
For leaders looking to incorporate the ‘Future Shape of the Winner’ approach into their repertoire, here are the kinds of questions that we recommend they ask.[3] The leader’s opinion is only one point of view to be considered. Equally important are the opinions of those key colleagues that they need to engage. If these questions can be asked using an appreciative enquiry approach[4], increased interest and buy in will be generated for the changes that end up being proposed.
Alignment questions
- Do we have a dramatically different and energising ambition that is shared by those we most rely on to deliver it?
- Are our leaders focused on finding, nurturing and mobilising the talent we need to be successful?
- Do our people engage personally with their work and deploy their full repertoire of talents, whatever their role?
- Do our performance measures drive the behaviours and value adding activities we need for the sustained success of the business?
Customer questions
- Does our brand promise differentiate what we offer our customers, and are we targeting the best possible parts of the market for us to exploit?
- How personally connected are our people with our brand promises? Do people see it as their job to ‘live’ the brand and deliver the right customer experiences?
- To what extent are we partners with our customers in business success? Do their day-to-day experiences of dealing with us live up to the brand promises we make to them?
Productivity Questions
- Do our organisation structure and workplace networks, formal and informal, combine to provide a platform that supports our people working together productively?
- Do our people exert themselves to make the whole organisation work at the highest possible level of effectiveness?
- Do we use techniques and methodologies that anticipate and facilitate great outcomes from our work, for our clients, our people and the business?
Action agenda
Using the input of managers and non-managers, those questions that generate the most energy for change can be used to create a balanced management change agenda. The more participation that can be gained from directly affected employees, the greater the ownership of the new agenda, and the more likely it will be that lasting performance change is the outcome. Good luck!
[1] The Economist, 20 May 2010, ‘Overstretched’
[2] Johnson, Chris, 2 June 2010, The People Bulletin, ‘In Search of great leaders’
[3] www.futureshapeofthewinner.com
[4] Lewis, Sarah, 2 June 2010, The People Bulletin: ‘A very good place to start’
Sponsor
Top 10 job board secrets
Ignite your online recruitment campaigns by choosing the right job board and employing the trade secrets to a successful campaign.
Whether you're a first-time recruiter or a seasoned HR professional, the challenges of the online recruitment market remain the same: How do you choose the right job board? What are the secrets to maximising the return on your investment?
Find the answers to these questions and more by downloading reed.co.uk's exclusive free guide.