The Human Bottleneck

John Whiting Executive SearchCrown & Marks

To boldly go where no-one has gone before …

SHARE THOUGHTS, RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE ON:

• What we know about the makeup of innovative people and leaders

• Significantly increase chances of identifying, assessing, recruiting and/or developing those people

• Without extra work – BREAK THE PATTERN

WHY?

• Seismic economic and demographic shifts• Increasing pressure on budgets• Lift productivity• Rapid cycle change is the new normal• The world of work is changing

Supply of Talent

Jobs are getting

And Bigger

More Complex…

Harder to learn

…

Is getting smaller

• Organisations with a comprehensive talent management strategy outperform the market by 2.5 to 3 times

• Star performer is worth 1.9 times more than a good performer

• The average cost of replacing a professional / managerial employee is $90,000

High Performers are Not Always High Potentials

… But, High Potentials are Mostly High Performers

29% of high performers are high potentials

71% of high performers are not high potentials

7% of high potentials are not high performers

93% of high potentials are high performers

High-Performance vs. High-Potential Talent

High PotentialsHigh Professionals

• Technical or managerial experts• Superior performers year after year• Depth of organisational knowledge• Trusted resources within the

organisation• Difficult to replace in kind• Widely recognised outside the

company• Love what they do, may not aspire to

broader management

• Agile Learners• Promotable outside their areas• Candidates for senior general

management positions• Easily learn new functions• Like to try different approaches• Highly curious• Deal well with ambiguity and complexity• Impatient, don’t accept the status quo• Push the envelop but willing to take the

heat

Two High-Performance Paths

High Potential

PEOPLE AGILITYCan work easily with a diversity of people

politically agile, skilled communicator, manages interpersonal conflict well

MENTAL AGILITYComfortable with complexity and

ambiguity, finds solutions to tough problems, broad interests, highly curios

SELF-AWARENESSInsightful, reflective, clearly understands

personal strengths and weaknesses, actively seeks feedback, sensitive of impact

on others

RESULTS AGILITYDelivers results (even in tough situations),

resourceful, inspiring, has significant presence, builds high performing teams

CHANGE AGILITYConstant tinkerer (never satisfied),

introduces novel perspectives, enjoys leading change efforts, willingly takes heat

of any resistance to change

Magic Multiplier of Potential – Learning Ability

Competency Building

Experiences

Potential

Learning Ability

Raw Material The “Right Stuff”

Raw Material:

Applied intelligence (savvy), emotional intelligence (EQ), Career motivation

Experiences:

Job changes, in-place assignments, hardships, people feedback, workshops, courses, readings (70:20:10) development

Learning Agility:

The ability, willingness, and opportunity to learn from experience

Prepared by Crown & Marks 28

Competency Matrix – Manager Level

Medium High

Timely Decision Making

Low SKILL RATING OF AVERAGE POPULATION

DEV

ELO

PM

ENT

DIF

FICU

LTY

EASIEST

MODERATE

HARDEST

Directing Others

Informing

Total Work

Systems

Innovation Management

Motivating Others

Self-Knowledge

Dealing with

AmbiguityDealing

with Paradox

Directing Others

Conflict Management

Composure

Perseverance

Interpersonal Savvy

Decision Quality Delegation

Peer Relations

Priority Setting

Career Ambition

Command Skills Patience

Managing Diversity

CompassionOrganisational

Agility

Business Acumen

Approachability Boss Relationships

Ethics and Values Humour

Action Oriented

Customer Focus

Fairness to Direct

Reports

Managerial Courage

Integrity and Trust

Intellectual Horsepower

Learning Agility

Hardest EasiestHigh

Low

Differentiator

Competencies

Competitive Edge

Competencies

Price of A

dmission

Competencies

DEV

ELO

PM

ENT

DIF

FICU

LTY

EASIEST

MODERATE

HARDEST

SKILL RATING OF AVERAGE POPULATION

High

Boss Relationships

Ethics and Values

Customer Focus

Intellectual Horsepower

Action Oriented

DEV

ELO

PM

ENT

DIF

FICU

LTY

EASIEST

MODERATE

HARDEST

SKILL RATING OF AVERAGE POPULATION

Medium

Interpersonal Savvy

Managerial Courage

Decision Quality

DEV

ELO

PM

ENT

DIF

FICU

LTY

SKILL RATING OF AVERAGE POPULATION

EASIEST

MODERATE

HARDESTLow

Innovation Management

Dealing with

AmbiguityDealing

with Paradox

Learning Agility

Candidates placed using this approach were:

• EIGHT times more likely to be promoted

• Retention was improved by 39% over the average

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Kim Chandler-McDonald

Mum & Dad

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