Topgrading Your Teams for Success
By
Bruce Powell
Topgrading,
or the act of "filling every position in the organization
with an A-player,"1 has become all the
rage in today's business market, and rightly so given
the shortage of top talent that's looming on the horizon.
But how feasible is it for companies - especially smaller
firms with limited resources - to completely fill their
ranks with top performers?
While
larger companies have the wherewithal to hire and retain
A-players, smaller companies may question whether they
have the ability to compete in this talent war. The
good news is this: all companies, regardless of
size, have the ability to engage in certain activities
to optimize the performance of their team.
Here
are 4 ways to improve the caliber of your team:
1.
Fire your poor performers.
It's
a bold move - but firing your poor performers is the
absolute best way to initiate your topgrading process.
Topgrading
your corporate team is sort of like cleaning out your
closet - you wouldn't throw all your clothes away, but
you'd definitely get rid of the pieces that are out
of style, out of date, or simply out of sync with the
rest of your wardrobe.
Likewise,
overall performance must be considered when re-evaluating
the members of your team, and whether or not their performance
is compatible with your company's vision and goals.
While you may not have the luxury of replacing your
entire team with top performing A-players, you can certainly
remove the low performing C-players. You'll be amazed
at the resulting lift in employee morale and productivity.
2.
Align abilities with the appropriate roles.
In
some cases, poor performance can result from individuals
being put into positions where their skills and qualifications
are misaligned with the expectations of their roles.
The job that they're doing now may not be the same one
that they initially signed up for or their skills and
experience may have evolved - and their productivity
is suffering as a result.
Take
a good look at your teams - it's possible that you may
have A-players in your midst, but you may have them
mired in mediocrity completing tasks that are inconsistent
with their aptitudes. All players should be placed in
positions where they can achieve maximum success and
so-called "B-players" can sometimes blossom
if they're re-aligned into roles where they can excel
and engage with their work.
3.
Not all A-players need to be managers.
While
it makes sense that a company would want to recognize
a top performer's success with greater responsibility,
if this person is uncomfortable with management duties,
you'll end up losing an A-player and gaining a C-manager.
Let's face it - some A-players are simply exceptional
at operations and execution, and they like it that way.
Promoting these people out of their comfort zone doesn't
always work - and a failed promotion can be detrimental
to the company's long-term goal of attracting, hiring
and retaining more A-players for their firm.
Bad
management breeds a corporate culture of disappointment
and disenchantment, which leaves top performers unsatisfied
and looking elsewhere for better opportunities. People
leave bosses, not companies, and unhappiness
with management (even those who were previously A-players)
will affect employee turnover the most.
4.
Engage, retain and develop high potentials.
Despite
your best efforts to focus on employee retention, some
A-players will still leave your company - and when they
do, you must be prepared to deal with their absence.
One solution is to identify and nurture the high
potential employees already at your firm. They
may not all be A-players now, but with mentorship, education
and proper coaching, many of these individuals can be
effectively engaged and groomed to become the future
A-players of your organization.
Topgrading
may seem like a lofty goal for some businesses, but
half the task is simply an exercise in re-evaluation
and re-organization. As much as it's about attracting
new A-level talent to your company it's also about refreshing
and optimizing the human capital you already have -
something which all companies have the ability
to do (and which many smart companies have already done!).
1Smart,
Bradford D., Ph.D. Topgrading. Penguin Group:
2005.
-
Bruce Powell, Managing Partner, held senior management
roles in marketing and communications before finding
his true calling in executive search. [full
bio...]
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