March, 1996
THE EXECUTIVE CHEF OF A FAMOUS RESORT once confided that his dining room's elderly clientele enjoyed a wide variety of seasoning on their meat - as long as it was salt.
Many of today's corporate managers seek a similar uniformity in their hiring practices, hoping to clone themselves and their employees. Over time, however, employee cloning can result in organizational stagnation and inefficiency. Since most companies operate in a highly competitive marketplace, with increasingly demanding shareholders, preservation of the status quo may be a big risk indeed.
When position openings occur, for reasons ranging from retirement to corporate reorganizations, opportunities exist to bring in the kind of people who can truly make a difference in the future performance of an organization.
They can make that difference in a number of ways. For example, a new executive, manager or professional may be able to bring:
- Fresh perspective by coming from outside the company or its industry;
- A heightened sense of urgency and focus;
- New skills or knowledge acquired in a different setting;
- A radically different management style;
- Awareness of untapped domestic or international markets; and/or
- Vision and confidence that will energize those below.
As just one example, two large banks merged last year and sought a new identity for the combined institution. This task would be the direct responsibility of the Director of Marketing, and the institution's search firm successfully sought that person not from the banking world - but rather from the marketing organization of a major consumer products company. The last thing the employer wanted was to create an advertising and public relations program that would make it seem like just another bank.
By all means, if the organization ain't broke, don't fix it. Often, however, an honest evaluation of strengths and weaknesses will lead to the conclusion that either deficiencies exist or opportunities are being missed.
Benchmarking, for example, might reveal the fact that the company's plant operations are second to none - but the competition is running circles around its customer service organization. In similar vein, an analysis of the new strategic thrust into global markets might reveal that the current sales organization is ill-prepared to implement it. In another case, poor morale in the purchasing department might be traceable to a management style that inhibits individual contribution and responsibility.
Each of these hypothetical situations suggests a different solution. The customer service problem might be addressed by recruiting someone from the competition, the strategic opportunity by hiring a sales manager with strong international background and the morale issue by bringing in the kind of "cheerleader" manager who likes to delegate responsibility and reward individual achievement.
Opportunities, when significant enough, can create the need for brand-new positions in a company. Deficiencies, on the other hand, may suggest the need for a new approach to an existing task. If serious enough, a deficiency may in fact warrant the removal of the incumbent position-holder. And when vacancies occur for other reasons, such as retirement or resignation, companies have yet another opportunity to make a difference in future organizational performance.
Whether creating new openings or filling existing positions, hiring authorities are well-advised to ask themselves some variant of the following question: "If money and time were no object, what would the preferred candidate do better than anyone else in the world?"
At levels in the organization where tasks are performed, specific skill sets are usually of paramount importance. At managerial and supervisory levels, broad functional experience becomes more important than specific skills. At the highest levels of organizational management, vision and leadership may outstrip both functional experience and skills.
Because traditional position descriptions do a better job of describing jobs than describing the people to fill them, Sanford Rose Associates uses a proprietary process with its clients called "Dimensional Search." By separating skills, functional experience and personal style, SRA search consultants help clients clarify the attributes that will enable candidates to make a difference when they come on board. In other words, if purchasing department morale needs a shot in the arm, Dimensional Search avoids the presentation of managers who like to sit behind closed doors.
On the other hand, when organizations fail to clarify their expectations in advance, expectations are never met. The company invites in candidate after candidate - each of whom looks good on paper but lacks that certain something which the hiring authority can't quite express. The "perfect candidate" thus becomes a constantly shifting target.
Search consultants, separated from the daily distractions and competing demands of life in their client company, may be able to view the organization and its personnel needs more objectively. Likewise, they can test these needs in the executive marketplace.
Some executives prefer the prestige and perceived security of working for successful, well-oiled companies. Others thrive on the challenge and risk of turning around a troubled organization. A company, division, business unit or department that is in the first category may be able to attract top talent for a song. Conversely, the troubled organization may need to pay top dollar (in terms of base compensation, bonus potential and/or stock grants) to attract the turnaround artist.
Good search consultants also know the dynamics of particular industries. Companies in high-growth markets, as has been the case in the semi-conductor industry, find themselves in fierce competition for top talent and pay a premium for it. Companies in rust-belt industries face a different kind of problem: attracting people who want to work in smokestack America.
Someone once said that companies have no sense of humor.
Nonetheless, the hugely successful comic strip Dilbert has attracted 30 million readers by poking fun at corporate life. (In one recent strip, Dilbert and his co-worker Wally wonder if the Boss will ever catch on that the laptop computer they gave him is an Etch-a-Sketch. In another, competitors steal the company's strategic plan and collapse with laughter on reading that synergy is to be the company's secret weapon.)
Interestingly, some 50,000 fans sent E-mail messages last year to Dilbert creator Scott Adams, most frequently asking, "When did you work for my company?"
Might it just be possible that a few corporate bosses are actually shaking their bogus laptop computers in order to clear the screen?
As Tom Peters observes, too many companies like to brag that "we're no worse than our competition." If synergy is failing to make your organization better than the competition, consider making good people your secret weapon.
They are hard to find, are often happily employed (perhaps by one of your competitors) and cost money to attract. But if they can make a difference to your operation, they may well be worth their weight in gold.
If you work in a large, multi-unit organization, others – including the corporate Human Resources and MIS Departments – might appreciate copies of this issue. These can be ordered from your Sanford Rose Associates search consultant.
©1999 SRA International, Inc. All rights reserved, including electronic reproduction or alteration. This SRA Update is published for the clients of Sanford Rose Associates.