Author: Emily Ludolph / Source: 99U by Behance
Why does talent matter? Because, according to a new book from Harvard Business Review, Talent Wins: The New Playbook for Putting People First, the one safe bet to make in the crazy game of business forecasting is that talent-first companies are the future of work.
When change comes and makes your tech obsolete and your business strategy caput, your make-or-break resource will be an agile, high-performing talent pool.Talent Wins is a playbook for companies ready to dive into building a people-centric business strategy.
We’ve pulled eight tips—from transforming human resources to killing the annual performance review—as a starter pack for turning your organization into a talent-first company ready to take on the future.
Look for unlikely people creating unlikely value in unlikely places.
A company’s top players are not necessarily its directors. The most valuable people are a hidden group called the two percent who generate momentum and energy that goes far beyond their day-to-day tasks. This two percent is good at getting to the heart of an issue and creating informal connections that encourage collaboration. They can tap into social networks to create buy-in and spread information quickly. Sometimes, they’re veterans that rookies look to. Sometimes, they’re fast movers. Sometimes, they’re just darn charismatic and infectiously encouraging. They all have in common the ability to make the organization healthier and more productive. What else do they have in common? Their power is probably being overlooked and underutilized. Traditional promotion structures don’t surface people with soft power skills so identifying the two percent is difficult. They’re out there. Go find them.
Reward your two percent. Do not, whatever you do, lose them.
Talent Wins asks business leaders to entertain an uncomfortable thought experiment: How many people would you trade for your best performer? If the number is more than five you’re likely underpaying that person. Don’t get married to a compensation system that lets high performers walk out the door to the talent marketplace. And don’t limit your search for the two percent to internal—your key members of the two percent may not work for you yet.
Turn your hierarchy into a talent marketplace.
Company hierarchy is an archaic holdover from the 20th century. For the rapidly-changing needs of business today, companies must remodel their talent resources to be more nimble. Tech companies and consultancies already have a model for this approach, assigning specific initiatives to team leads and partners who then build a dedicated team from the talent marketplace of the company. Instead of top- down corporate decision ladders, this flat organization is able to move quickly and without…
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