The Right People: Why Talent Alone Isn't the Answer

Most leaders think they have a “people issue.” In reality, they often have a clarity issue. What does this mean – and it’s not about modifying your eyeglasses prescription. My experience tells me that it begins with having clear expectations for the role and what success looks like. It’s articulating in a way that is easy to understand and understood by the manager, the candidate as well as the peripheral influencers that will weigh in on the success of the role. And yes, every company has influencers who always have an opinion on matters that they typically are not involved in.

This clear understanding helps to create alignment around what is most important for the role. As we know, people sometimes confuse being busy with being effective. As a leader, one of your roles is to identify those misaligned situations and help the parties to re-set before the situation goes off the rails.

In instances when a senior leader speaks to me about an individual who is underperforming, most times it’s a lack of alignment and expectations that are the primary culprits. Upon hearing the discouraging update from a leader, my first inclination is to ask whether or not they have actually spoken with the individuals and shared their concerns. The typical response is “no, not yet.” Making things worse, when I speak to the individuals, they usually indicate that they’ve been trying to meet with the manager to get more clarity or direction. As you can see, a frustrating scenario for both parties. Not good.

A secondary issue is that the individual is usually well qualified for the job and is unfortunately now viewed as underperforming. This creates a real pickle for the business and the team.

Some firms like to use personal behavior profiles to help make a good hiring decision and add clarity to the process, and those can certainly be useful. But in my view, this problem is not about qualifications or strategic fit. This is about one to one and team communication, culture (I know, a big buzzword) and accepted norms within the organization.

This situation is further complicated when it’s not a new employee, but rather a promotion for an existing team member. You’re taking a known entity who has done well in their previous role and placing that person into a new position, often times with the same lack of clarity as described earlier for the new hire. I know it’s never happened in your company but think of the best bindery operator being promoted to the bindery supervisor. Or it could be taking your most senior sand productive sales rep and “promoting” them to be the sales leader. You tell them both good luck, and if they have any questions to come see you. The reality is, they don’t know what questions to ask, and if they did, they would feel sheepish in asking because it would create doubt in the manager’s mind of whether they made the right choice in promoting them. A circular threat that won’t go away on its own.

In the next few posts, we’ll discuss the steps that leaders can take to further improve these situations for their business.

Mike Philie helps owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry validate what’s working, identify what needs to change, and create a practical path forward.

PhilieGroup | mphilie@philiegroup.com | LinkedIn

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