All posts tagged: talent

The Competitive Advantage of Being Talent Rich

April 28, 2017 , , , , No comments

When it comes to success in business, one measure alone can accurately predict the future—wealth of talent. The more talent wealth an organization has, the more successful that organization will be.

We’ve all experienced the benefits of organizations that are rich in talent. These are the companies we’ve come to love. When we say we love a company, what we’re really saying is we love the work being done by the exceptional people in these organizations. People are the reason why Apple, Alphabet (Google), Amazon.com, and Starbucks remain some of the world’s most admired companies. That’s why having a wealth of talent is so important for all organizations. Talented employees who do outstanding work are the secret ingredients that make their companies great.

Just as there are levels of personal wealth, so too are there levels of talent wealth within companies. Organizations that are talent rich are the trendsetters and chief innovators within their industries. At the other end of the spectrum are those businesses that are talent poor. These companies scramble to be competitive and frequently struggle to survive.

The message is clear: In order for your organization to thrive, it must have great talent. And building a wealth of talent begins with assessing your organization’s current circumstances. You’ll start by determining your current level of talent wealth. Next, you’ll enrich your pool of prospective employees by improving the flow of top talent, as well as enhancing how you attract talented people to join your company. Finally, you’ll ensure that your organization can sustain success by always having highly qualified people ready to hire the moment a job becomes open.

INTRODUCING THE TALENT WEALTH SPECTRUM

Is your organization talent rich, talent poor, or somewhere in between? Accurately appraising your current level of talent wealth will guide you in taking appropriate action to improve or maintain your competitive advantage.

Determining and increasing your talent wealth begins with understanding the four levels of talent wealth.

  • Talent Rich 
    Organizations that are talent rich excel, leading the way in their industries. They don’t worry about the competition; they’re the ones other companies are aspiring to become. They’re constantly several steps ahead, generating new ideas, including the latest innovations to products and services.
  • Talent Strong 
    Talent strong organizations operate efficiently and succeed in many things they do. These companies win more than they lose, outpacing many of their competitors. They’re fairly creative, sometimes being the ones to create the latest, greatest version of a product or service.
  • Talent Stable 
    Organizations that are talent stable spend each day competing with others, laboring to maintain their position in the market. These organizations watch for the latest trends or innovations and do their best to add them to their offerings.
  • Talent Poor 
    Talent poor companies scramble to get work done. Often, these organizations struggle to remain viable. They’re several steps behind their competitors. Frequently they offer the same products or services year after year, only occasionally copying the new offerings being provided by companies in the same business.

If you’re ready to improve your talent wealth, download the free, full report on this topic from ChangeThis.com.

Scott WintripThe Competitive Advantage of Being Talent Rich
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The Emperor Has No Talent

January 9, 2017 No comments

We’re just days into the year and some organizations are off-track. They’ve set goals, and they’re already behind. Why? Their “Emperors” have no talent.

The Emperors in this case are leaders in companies and organizations. They crafted brilliant plans for the New Year. Unfortunately, they forgot an important fact — you must have enough talented people to execute your plans to reach your goals.

Not having enough qualified people always undermines strategic goals. How many people are enough? Take a moment to answer these three questions:

  1. Are our goals the same, bigger, or smaller than last year?
  2. Has the quantity and quality of our talent pool improved, stayed the same, or decreased?
  3. Based upon the answers to the first two questions, what gaps exist between our goals and the people we have to reach them?

If, in answering these questions, you’re one of those Emperors who has no talent (or not enough of it) don’t fret. You’ve spotted the problem early. By taking immediate action to close the gap you’ve identified, you’re less likely to get sacked or, even worse, having people calling for you head.

Scott WintripThe Emperor Has No Talent
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The Future is Talent Sufficiency, Not Talent Scarcity

October 5, 2015 , , , No comments

Scott's Monday Morning MessageThe CEO of Uber recently posed one of the most important questions leaders can ask about their own organizations.

Appearing during the first week of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Travis Kalanick was asked about the future of Uber. He focused on Uber Eats, an on-demand food delivery service being quietly rolled out in select cities.

Colbert, in his patently playful manner, acted as though he didn’t understand. How could Uber effectively stockpile fresh food for delivery?

After a few rounds of Colbert jabbing and Kalanick trying to explain, the Uber CEO said:

“Do you want to be part of the future or resist the future?”

Being part of the future has made Kalanick a thought leader. Instead of responding to trends, his company and other innovators (such as Apple, Tesla, and Amazon) are defining the future, right now.

Kalanick’s question, in the context of hiring, warrants time and attention:

Is your company part of the future of hiring or resisting the future?

Here are two important considerations as you ponder this question:

The Future Is About Sufficiency, Not Scarcity

There are two types of companies when it comes hiring—those that are focused on a shortage of talent and others that believe there is enough. Which one is right? Actually, both.

Focus defines strategy.

Leaders who are focused on scarcity pay more attention to the reports and statistics that prove there are shortages of talent. They create strategies that operate from a belief that there aren’t enough people to fill their jobs. Their teams can often be seen scrambling for talent, never seeming to find enough.

The leaders who focus on talent sufficiency are having a different workforce experience. They know there are more qualified people than they’ll ever need to fill their open jobs. By building a strategy that focuses on talent sufficiency, these leaders and their companies dissolve the smoke and break the mirrors. Instead of scrambling to fill seats that have been empty for weeks or even months, these companies fill jobs much more quickly.

The Future Is Fast and Only Getting Faster

Today, speed has become essential in many business transactions.

With regard to speed, Jimmy John’s, for instance, touts “freaky fast delivery.” The restaurant takes an order by phone or app, makes the sandwich, and delivers it to your office in minutes. With Amazon Dash, products like Tide and Gatorade show up at your house the same day you order them. On iTunes, you can watch movies that are currently playing in theaters.

The rise of the on-demand economy is permeating commerce and culture. Regardless of what’s being delivered, the underlying on-demand process remains the same. It is this process, when applied to hiring, that allows companies to hire with speed and accuracy.

In a wide variety of industries, including finance, healthcare, technology, staffing, and manufacturing, organizations that implement an on-demand process are dramatically decreasing time-to-fill.

 

The future has yet to be written. Which is why you can choose, right now, your focus. Sufficiency or scarcity, fast or slow—these are two of the important choices that will impact recruiting and hiring strategies and their results for years to come.

 

Scott WintripThe Future is Talent Sufficiency, Not Talent Scarcity
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Waiting for Talent is Unacceptable

June 8, 2015 , , No comments

Scott's Monday Morning MessageWe live in an on-demand world. Every day, we access more and more products and services at the click of a mouse, touch of a button, or by dialing our phones. Many companies have installed apps, websites, and other devices allowing their employees to order food, report updates, and procure supplies the moment they are needed. This same convenient access must be applied to acquiring talent.

“Downloading” the next hire should not be a reactive process where people access resumes to begin a search. Every company can increase the flow of candidates. When a more substantial pool of talent is combined with better selection, interviewing, and quality checks, companies can build a Talent Inventory, people that are ready to go the moment they are needed.

Quick and decisive hiring (filling roles with greater speed, more accuracy, and less effort) should be a non-negotiable standard for leaders to keep their jobs.

Scott WintripWaiting for Talent is Unacceptable
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