Good is the enemy of GREAT

Jim Collins, author of ‘Good to Great’, makes the statement that ‘Good is the enemy of great’ as a reference to an endemic problem which causes companies to under achieve and fail on a consistent basis.

 I’ve taken to referring to this management problem as ‘The War on Talent’, basically because it both sounds cool and indicates that it’s an issue that needs to be fought in all organizations, and at all levels. It  does sound cool though, right?

 We’re all very conscious of the fact that business is globally competitive, and becoming ever more so as time goes on and more vendors for every industry enter the marketplace. Why then are so very many companies prepared to accept mediocrity in their single most essential area – their people?

 In his book, ‘Good to Great’, Jim Collins uses a great – and now quite popular – analogy:

Think of your business as a bus. In order for that bus to get to it’s destination, for your company to succeed, you need to get the right people on the bus, get the wrong people off the bus, and put the right people into the right seats.

 According to an 85 year research study from Psychological Bulletin, of the workers in any field at any time, 16% are poor performers, 68% are average performers, and 16% are superior performers. In management roles, the same study concludes the following:

• Average performers are 48% more productive than poor performers

• Superior performers are 48% more productive than average performers

• SUPERIOR PERFORMERS ARE 96% MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN POOR PERFORMERS!

Can you imagine the impact upon your business of getting those poor performers off your bus to make room for a further 16% of great people? Even if they are replaced by ‘average’ performers, you’re seeing an increase of productivity close to 50%.

Would you accept it if your telephone lines only worked 50% of the time? Or if only 50% of your invoices got paid? I know I wouldn’t. There isn’t a business in the world that should remain content to be running at half of their potential – what does your bus look like?

Don’t lose the war on talent – arm yourself against it.

The Real Cost of Hiring

As much as I dislike research, an important part of my industry – and therefore job -is being hyper aware of statistics, reports and analyses and the effects that they suggest or represent.

By compiling and comparing several reports and research papers, we are able to understand and document the real costs of hiring and replacing staff – and the figures are shocking to the uninitiated. How much of the bottom line impact of HR are you really aware of?

First, let’s take a look at some of the costs we can all relate to.

• Time spent writing job ads
• Cost of running those ads (print, online etc)
• Time spent screening, interviewing, reference checking
• Applicant communication and administration
• Hiring, training and orientation
• Compensation during the training period
• Lack of productivity during the training period

This all really starts to add up. According to research published by the Government of Alberta, the average cost of hiring for any position is 25% of the job’s annual salary. Try adding up the number of hires you’ve made in the last 12 months and see what they cost your company using this model.

Now for the really scary part… What if you hire the wrong person?

Harvard University Publishing tells us that the cost of a bad hire ranges from 50% to 150% of the annual salary. The Government of Alberta says 70% – 200%.

Fact: 56% of new hires at Executive level fail in the 1st year.

Fact: 66% of new hires overall fail in the 1st year.

The most frightening part of all is that these ‘failed hires’ don’t necessarily leave the company that hired them. They stay and continue to be a drain, sometimes for years. Do you have staff who consistently fail to meet expectations?

Fact: Staff turnover in North America costs business more than theft and fraud combined.

Have you or your company taken sufficient action to protect against these entirely preventable losses?

Look me up on LinkedIn and Twitter 🙂

Recruiting Top Talent

The goal when recruiting for any position, regardless of the size or orientation of your company, is a simple one. To get the very best person possible. Like most goals, however, it is far more easily stated than accomplished – especially when given the limited size of our local population on Vancouver Island.

When you set out to find your next employee, where and how do you begin your process, and where does it end? If you’re like most companies, you probably begin with a posted advertisement on one or more of any number of websites or classified advertising platforms, and wait for applications to start coming in. True, it’s the traditional method, but is it a viable strategic method of attracting the very best candidate(s) for the job?

I believe that, in any field at any time, the best candidates – let’s say the top 20% in their field – are not the people actively looking for new opportunities. Why? Because they are busy reaping the rewards that their talent and work ethic provide, enjoying successful careers, likely with one of your competitors. What then are the chances of one of these top performers reading and responding to your ad?

There are, of course, exceptions. Some companies have such excellent marketing and brand recognition that great people come to them, for most though the onus is very much on the recruiter to be proactive, not reactive. A cliched term, but no less true for that.

Do you have practices in place that enable you to go out and find those candidates who can have the most significant impact on your business? If not, is it possible for you to identify and implement those practices?