Resource Management Innovations

From The Sherpa’s Tool Box: Talent Is Never Enough

  There is a war for talent that is developing as you read this. The Conference Board of Canada, Industry Canada, Gallop, Ipsos Reid (you get the idea) advises us that there is a skills deficit approaching 2 million skilled workers in Canada as the Baby Boomer generation retires with no replenishment wave behind it. This is roughly 10% of the U.S. deficit which roughly equals the European deficit. You can Google that … but it is only a casual mention here. This is coming at a time when we still struggle with the whole cultural issue of immigration, while we work to increasingly secure our borders. If you are in a leadership or management position today or in the near term … you will find it increasingly difficult to source and retain qualified staff. That is where we are headed in this blog.

  My Dad used to say that “good judgment comes with experience and experience comes from having exercised poor judgment”. In choosing your mentor, consultant, shepherd, Sherpa in these next months and years … you may want to choose someone with a bit of grey rinse in their hair. I say that to say this … ‘Talent Is Never Enough’. The counsel I provide my clients in this area is that once you have defined Vision (where are you going) and Mission (how will you get there) … you now have the data you need to define the skills and experience necessary to migrate the gaps in your business plan from Current to Desired State. Access to those skills and experience will now become increasingly restricted.

  There are however two critical characteristics of your hiring practice still to be defined. Beyond Competence, you will need to (first) define those Character and Chemistry requirements that will be necessary to not just hire but more importantly retain your staff. When land was the scarce resource nations battled over it. The same is happening now for talented people. Before you rush to scoop your competitions best staff … take the time to define your Character and Chemistry requirements.

  Character (for example) will help ensure that I don’t confuse your money for mine. Chemistry will ensure that we can work together. Employees join companies but they leave supervisors. You can read of some of our attrition interventions in the RMI Case Studies … the point being is that we define the policies and practices for our clients that I call our 3C’s. Those being Character, Chemistry and Competence. In that order. If you bring me the spiffiest skill set … but you are on a collision course with life, well this just isn’t going to work out. If you meet all of the competency requirements and I really quite like you … but you can’t show up on time clean & sober, then you can't work here. We're funny that way.  That is what leads to a full 83% of employment terminations. Incompatible character & chemistry. Only 17% of employment terminations result from insufficient skills and experience. The lesson here is … if you bring me the first two, then with training and opportunity I can top up your tool box.

  In his book of the same name ‘Talent Is Never Enough’ author John C. Maxwell provides critical insights for both employer and employee. He writes: “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” That is where we can help. Put the coffee on and call us over.

Cheers;

Rick @ RMI
 

Posted By: Rick Kneeshaw 2010/03/19
Categories: From the Desk of the HR Manager