- What jobs are companies upgrading?
- What jobs should I consider upgrading?”
These are the two most common questions people have been asking me following my last blog post “Behind the Layoff Numbers, Companies are Upgrading Their Talent.”
The answer in both cases: jobs that require “pivotal talent.” “Pivotal” is not synonymous with “important.” Pivotal talents are those game-changing employees whose performance can make or break the bottom line.
Two of the best thinkers on this subject are John Boudreau and Pete Ramstad, whose book, Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital
In a workshop I once attended, John and Pete offered a fictitious case study involving FedEx and pivotal talent. The board of FedEx pronounces Asia as their #1 growth market and key to the company’s future. Many companies make such pronouncements, and then fail to put in the people they need to succeed there. FedEx next analyzes their Asia growth processes, identifying the most important bottlenecks to that growth. (You may recall from business school that a “bottleneck” is a key constraint which, if removed, causes the entire process to work better.) A major bottleneck is the periodic assigning of landing rights at key airports in the region. By securing those landing rights, FedEx could grow in Asia; without those landing rights, growth of the entire enterprise would be compromised.
FedEx realizes that the people who secure those landing rights are pivotal to the future growth not only at those airports, but of the enterprise as a whole. Those community liaisons are pivotal talents.
How much compensation should FedEx pay to recruit and lock up the few individuals in each market with the knowledge, skills and connections to secure those landing rights? Further, what if they could poach those individuals from DHL or UPS and not only secure their competitive advantage for years to come, but also neutralize their competition?
This chart demonstrates the talent pool of pilots versus community liaisons:
Pilots are unquestionably important to the business of FedEx. Assuming the pilots have a basic level of competence, though, improving pilot quality yields little additional value. But at key airports where landing rights are at stake, the difference in value to FedEx between the worst and best community liaisons is huge.
Who are the FedEx community liaisons at your company?
Before reflexively deploying traditional strategies like across-the-board layoffs and pay cuts, evaluate your approach to “pivotal talent,” those game-changing employees whose performance can make or break the bottom line. As market conditions evolve and business objectives quickly change, you’ll need the right blend of critical skills to succeed. Focusing on your pivotal talent can provide you a major competitive advantage over the next 18-24 months.
Consider:
- What processes does your company need to win in your marketplace? Which are potentially pivotal? What are the key bottlenecks?
- At those pivot points, which are the jobs where performance quality will determine success?
- Do you have the people you need in those pivotal jobs?
If not, now is the time to upgrade. The job market, while brutal for job-seekers, has never been better for employers. You can access talent now that will set up your company for years. If you’d like to discuss whether Chen Partners can help ensure that you get the right talent in those pivotal roles, shoot me an email.
If you do have the right pivotal talent, invest in them now. Wrap your arms around them. Lock them up with incentives. Focus on their development. Otherwise, the next call they take could be mine.
