Solving the talent problem - A decision approach

Leadership supply, a/k/a the “war for talent,” is a perennial item on every executive’s agenda. CEOs and other leaders devote considerable time and resources to finding, developing and deploying the people they need in critical jobs throughout the organization. But the conventional tools—recruitment and retention efforts, training programs and the like—often do no more than keep a company in the game. Essential as they are, they rarely help an organization pull away from the competition. And they’re woefully inadequate for acute challenges such as expanding rapidly in a new market. A more fruitful approach, is to approach the talent issue from a different viewpoint entirely—that of decisions. Ultimately, any organization’s performance depends on its decision effectiveness. Consistently high performers make good decisions, make them quickly and execute them well. They know which decisions are most important to creating value, and they make sure that those decisions get the attention they deserve. Decision effectiveness correlates tightly with financial results.

The framework followed is:

1. Identify the positions with the biggest impact on decisions

That depends on how the company creates value and on how it plans to grow in the future. A position as head of global IT, for example, will be more important in a company that relies on IT as a competitive advantage than in a company whose priorities lie elsewhere. Often, however, the key positions are not high-level jobs at all, because the critical decisions must be made and executed farther down in the organization

2. Assessing Talent

Who are the best people for these positions? Today’s organizations often require a different set of skills than those needed in the past. Work is more collaborative. Also, there is a need to tighten the entire performance management system

3. Matching individuals with jobs—and reducing the demand for talent

Once you know your critical positions and your top performers, you can assess the degree of overlap.

While most companies understand the importance of leadership supply, they still find themselves struggling with practical ways to put the issue squarely on the table. A decision focus gives them a means to do so. It also sends two powerful messages. Decisions are what matter in this organization, and both people and processes will be evaluated on the extent to which they contribute to good, speedy decision making and execution. That kind of clarity frees everyone up to concentrate on getting things decided and done—and in the process, to improve the organization’s performance.