Here is a great article on talent management by our friend Christina McGuire at ODImprints. Check out Christina’s web site at: www.ODImprints.com
What’s Wrong with the Old Career Path? Based on “First, Break all the Rules”
By Christina McGuire, owner, ODImprints
Sooner or later every manager is asked the question, “Where do I go from here?”
The employee wants to grow. He wants to earn more money, to gain more prestige. He is bored, underutilized, deserves more responsibility. Whatever his reasons, the employee wants to move up and wants you to help.
What should you tell him? Should you help him get promoted? Should you tell him to talk to Human Resources? Should you say that all you can do is put in a good word for him? What is the right answer?
There is no right answer – any one of these answers might be the right one, depending on the situation. However there is a right way to approach this question – namely, help each person find the right fit. Help each person find roles that ask him to do more and more of what he is naturally wired to do. Help each person find roles where her unique combination of strengths – her skills, knowledge and talents – match the distinct demands of the role.
For one employee, this might mean promotion to a supervisor role. For another employee, this might mean termination. For another, it might mean encouraging him to grow within his current role. For yet another, it might mean moving her back into her previous role. These are very different answers, some of which might be decidedly unpopular with the employee. Nonetheless, no matter how bitter the pill, great managers stick to their goal: Regardless of what the employee wants, the manager’s responsibility is to steer the employee toward roles where the employee has the greatest chance of success.
On paper this sounds straightforward; but as you can imagine, it proves to be a great deal more challenging in the real world. This is primarily because, in the real world, conventional wisdom persuades most of us that the right answer to the question ‘Where do I go from here?’ is ‘Up’.
It Doesn’t Have to be This Way.
This system (of promotion – up) is flawed, for it is built on three false assumptions.
The first fallacy is that each rung on the ladder represents a slightly more complex version of the previous rung. Consequently, if a person excelled on one rung on the ladder, it is a sure sign that with just a little more training, he will be able to repeat his success on the rung above. The best managers reject this. They know that one rung doesn’t necessarily lead to another.
Second, the conventional career path is condemned to create conflict. By limiting prestige to those few rungs high up on the ladder, it tempts every employee, even the most self-aware, to try to clamber onto the next rung. Each rung is a competition, and since there are fewer rungs than there are employees, each competition generates many more losers than winners. Great managers have a better idea. Why not resolve the conflict by making prestige more available? Why not carve alternative career paths by conveying meaningful prestige on every role performed at excellence? Why not create heroes in every role?
Check out Christina’s web site at: www.ODImprints.com
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