The credit for the line, "Don't Send Your Ducks to Eagle School" belongs to author Frank McNair, who wrote a quick read book called Golden Rules for Managers. In his book he lists 119 lessons for leadership success. It's a catchy phrase which to me, means don't ask employees to do things at which they will surely fail. Everyone has skills sets (strengths) but like eagles and ducks there are also things (weaknesses) that we are not ready to perform successfully. The lesson: match your employees strengths with their assignments.
But there is another lesson for us here and it kicks in before the employee is hired. Management consultant Howard Coleman says, "some companies just hire to fill slots while others find people who are effective in their work and can contribute to the success of the organization." How and why does this happen? Coleman goes on to point out how badly organizations need a formalized hiring system to determine those applicants who not only have the job-related tasks but also have the temperament, motivation, attitude and interpersonal skills to be successful. The job skills may be the easiest to determine but the least reliable predictor of job success. The softer characteristics that will determine the applicant's ability to relate productively to other employees, are stronger predictors, but are unfortunately harder to identify. But that's the leadership challenge; to put in place the hiring procedures that filter out the ducks when it's eagles you need.
This lesson applies to employees at all levels of the organization from the top executive to the most entry level employee. For senior level people the challenge is, do they possess the characteristics that your organization needs. For entry level staff who will require a significant training investment in their job skills, the question becomes whether or not they have the attitude and the motivation to learn and then to use the skills they are being taught on a consistent basis. Are they teachable or do they have all the answers?
So just how does leadership fit in here? What's required is the leader's mindset or attitude about the importance of finding eagles to do the work of an eagle. Here are several leadership attitudes about managing talent that will make it easier to establish and maintain effective hiring systems:
1. Resist the temptation to go ahead and hire what the data tells you is the wrong person, even if existing staff are overworked. Hiring just to fill the position is always a mistake. Better to pay out a little more overtime than to bring the wrong person in; they'll leave soon and leave their work area in a shambles in the process.
2. Believe that you can reduce turnover, even at the entry level. If you see turnover as simply a law of nature and part of the cost of doing business, you will always be hiring and training and your product will never be as good as it could be.
3. Make sure that your human resources staff and your production staff are working together to develop a clear picture of the kind of characteristics new employees need. When this linkage breaks down both sides will feel unsupported by the other and you'll find yourself hiring the wrong people who will soon be leaving either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Having talent attrition problems? Talk to our talent retention & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.
No comments:
Post a Comment