4 types of employees.
by steven e. sacks
in the years following the great recession, companies have decided to do more with less. how they decide on whom to keep is open to much debate.
more: 4 ways to boost job satisfaction | how engaged are your employees? | managing difficult personalities in the workplace | set your staff on the right course | how motivation is like bathing | be a talent magnet | make crap a badge of honor
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are the decisions performance-based? are they built on special favors? are they established on the hope that someone has the potential, but is not readily apparent?
firms that misjudged what they thought was talent now have to settle for mediocrity lest they have to start over and replace the individuals. the society of human resource management conducted many studies about the burdens to companies that need to replace their people. a leaner workforce can be exacerbated by less than stellar performers. the more competent or star workers now have to fill the gap and lead the underperformers. is it any wonder why the staying power of leaders is not what is once was?
“everybody has talent, it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is.” – george lucas
organizations have to hustle to keep it all together. at one point during the great recession, offering competitive salaries, bonuses, benefits and the like were the dangled carrots, but now they seem to have lost their allure in hopes of keeping the best performers. what is (are) the missing piece(s)? is it the vision, values and mission of the company? is it the promotion of actually “walking the talk”?
maybe a revisit of the goals of the organization and the roles everyone plays is the missing link. the more people you get involved in the direction of the firm, the better chance you will retain and eventually attract the best of the best. there’s no guarantee, however.
the pursuit of talent recruitment and retention
much has been written in journals, trade publications, blogs, etc. that the best ways to beat the competitors is by securing the best talent available. there is no secret sauce. in fact, the formula for recruiting and retaining the best people is a combination of
- leaders who know how to inspire and to share information,
- a “tone from the top” by leaders who have no differences in their philosophies and
- a culture that has been formed and baked into the work environment.
it’s curious whether every cpa firm can achieve this (or, if in fact, want to pursue it).
check out the book “the talent section and onboarding pocket tool kit: how to find, hire and develop the best of the best.” it covers such topics as the job market isn’t what it used to be (and neither is the talent); h.r. landscape: lean, flat and stretched to the max; and where is the talent and what is it thinking? the topics should give any human capital manager professional or chief talent officer food for thought.
the hierarchical nature of firms separates the top dogs from the rest. but this dichotomy breeds dissension and can only be cured by allowing everyone to be treated like a leader. this elevation of people to roles of decision makers can only cultivate goodwill. this reduces the “us versus them” syndrome and brings out the best in all people. as a result, the best of people creates the best results. everyone learns and collaborates together.
this is not a newfangled way of operating, but it takes leaders out of their comfort zones. if leaders look long-term, they will see that this can only deliver positive results in performance, which then translates to a more robust bottom line.
leveraging the employees you already have
the author ken blanchard has written extensively on situational leadership. he has identified four types of employees, each having his or her own ability to contribute to the organization. the predicate for this type of leadership is to develop people and their work groups, establish rapport to bring out the best in their people and, most important, employ a common leadership style across all units in an organization, irrespective of whether the organization is regional, national or international. blanchard, in his thesis, describes four types of workers:
- enthusiastic beginners, who are low in competence but high in commitment
- disillusioned learners, who are still relatively low in competence and also low in commitment
- reluctant contributors, who are relatively high in competence but low in commitment
- peak performers, who are high in competence and commitment. these are your potential disciples.
as a leader you should evaluate how you can use your style to meet the needs of each of these types of workers. of course, your peak performers are the least of your concerns; you can wind them up and they’ll go all day.
it is the other types of workers on whom you need to focus your attention so that you can create a roadmap allowing them to transform from enthusiastic beginner into peak performer.
by closely monitoring your people and taking the right measures to get them more engaged, you can recruit and retain the best talent, whether in good times or bad. if you show you are invested in their success, why would there be a reason for them to leave?