The Cambridge Volume 6 Issue 1
Perspective
Beware the Talent ‘Myth’
Headlines heralding the rapid talent pools, and to disproportionately A number of theories have been offered to
evolution towards a knowledge- reward the company’s stars, meeting both explain Enron’s spectacular fall, but none
based economy, the exodus of their financial and emotional needs. more interesting than Malcolm Gladwell’s in
top talent to other countries, the New Yorker Magazine in July of 2002.
and an aging workforce are To identify the organization’s stars, the Gladwell asked the question, “What if Enron
generating talk of a next wave in the authors suggested that employers begin by failed, not in spite of its talent mind-set,
‘War for Talent’. sorting their employees into A, B and C but because of it? What if smart people are
groups. The A’s (stars), should be challenged over-rated?”
The ‘War for Talent’ concept was first and rewarded, the B’s should be developed,
introduced by McKinsey & Company in and the C’s should be put on notice to In his article, Gladwell offers evidence
1997, as a result of their landmark study, improve or be dismissed. that there is almost no correlation between
which found that a deeply entrenched ‘talent intelligence and actual job performance, and
mind-set’ in company leadership was a better Once identified, the authors in fact, more often than
predictor of corporate performance than stated, stars should be not, it’s the other way
cutting edge systems and strategies. constantly challenged, and around. In many cases,
given the opportunity to brilliant individuals are
In their book, The War for Talent, published stretch their abilities through often too self-absorbed to
in 1997 and again in 2001, the authors continuous promotion and work with others and gain
asserted that success in the modern economy increased responsibility, the group’s confidence,
was a direct result of having better talent at exceeding their limits. At and are too confident of
all levels of the organization. Hire the best the same time, the authors their own intelligence
people, and you’ll have the best team. cautioned that the company to recognize when their
should be prepared to own ideas aren’t working.
The authors explained that to attract and tolerate the mistakes that Proponents of Emotional
retain superior talent, an organization needed go hand-in-hand with the Intelligence principles
to aggressively build internal and external successes. or Tacit Knowledge
theor y would agree.
The principles of the War for An individual’s success
Talent struck a chord with is dependent upon
many in the business world, far more than simply
and seemed to make perfect the measurement of
sense. Smart people make intelligence.
smart organizations. It also
justified the lavish executive compensation Gladwell presents Enron as an organization
packages of the corporate elite, and the laden with stars, all moving in different and
premiums placed on degrees from first-tier often opposing directions, being promoted
2323 Yonge St., Ste. 203 business schools. well ahead of their abilities, and allowed
Toronto, ON, M4P 2C9 to fail (often on a gargantuan scale) with
Phone: 416-484-8408 The book hailed several highly successful, little measurement of actual performance.
Fax: 416-484-0151 leading edge organizations that embodied Gladwell shows Enron to be so enamoured of
the talent mind-set. The darling of this its own talent mind-set that even the obvious
[email protected]
new breed, held up as a glowing example of indications of problems were overlooked or
www.cambridgemgmt.com the concept’s success, was none other than ignored, with the anticipation that eventual
Enron, where the CEO himself was a former success was guaranteed as long as the talent
McKinsey partner. requirement was met.
Of course, we know what happened there... Gladwell suggests that, contrary to McKinsey’s
or do we really? findings, people don’t make organizations
E x e c u t i v e S e a r c h • D i r e c t o r S e a r c h • I n t e r i m M a n a g e m e n t • E x e c u t i v e C o a c h i n g • C a r e e r Tr a n s i t i o n
Cont’d from Page 1
smart. Often, in fact, it’s the other way demonstrate where corporate resources should Don’t waste your organization’s most
around: the system is the star. And many be applied to improve performance, and valuable and expensive asset: its people.
of today’s most successful companies, such bring a new understanding of the company’s Ask us how we can help your organization
as GE, Procter & Gamble, Southwest strengths and weaknesses in its human reach its goals by calling one of our partners
Airlines and Wal-Mart capital. ‘Performance at 416-484-8408.
share this ‘system- Alignment’ experts use
as-star’ view. By this tool successfully The War for Talent, Ed Michaels, Helen
ensuring the integrity to identify where Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod, Harvard
of their systems, each individual fits, Business School Press, 1997, 2001
they can reduce their and determine how
dependence on high to move them up to The Talent Myth: Are Smart People Overrated?,
priced talent, and the next performance Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker Magazine,
eliminate the problems level, or deal with July 22, 2002
caused by human the issues causing
errors. problems.
So what can we learn So how does one
from this? Trendy
concepts should never
replace common
sense.
attract and retain the
best talent - and ensure
that they perform
to expectations?
Careers
By rewarding your Visit our website at:
There are merits to the stars in ways that www.cambridgemgmt.com
McKinsey model, and are meaningful to
much of the research the individual but to review some of the current senior
is valid, but Enron’s reasonable to the executive and management roles
failures demonstrate that the talent concept organization, providing ample coaching and available with our clients in a
doesn’t work in a vacuum. development opportunities for those who wide range of industries.
require it, and ensuring that all individuals
Companies need stars to create the vision understand their roles, measured against
and/or drive the organization forward to strict standards of performance.
achieve its goals, but there must also be a
solid, effective system of checks and balances Finding talent is a critical component of the
to ensure that those stars work within the success formula, but it is by no means the Cambridge Management Planning
scope of the organization’s values. only one. offers a full suite of services including
Executive Search, Director Search,
These stars require room to maneuver, but A professional HR consulting firm can assist
must be provided with a framework in your organization to greater success in many
Interim Management, Executive
which to perform. Expectations and goals ways: identifying areas of weakness in your Coaching and Career Transition
need to be clearly defined and understood human resource strategy, working with leaders ser vices. Call us for more
by everyone – not just the stars – and then to align employee performance with the information:
everyone must be allowed to operate freely company’s goals, identifying and recruiting
within that framework. top talent that fits the company’s culture and
shares its values, guiding the organization Graham Carver, President - Ext. 203
One of the most useful strategies to come through downsizing, reorganization and Elesha Browne, Partner - Ext. 226
out of the McKinsey research is the tiered growth, and developing long term strategies David Howes, Partner - Ext. 210
HR model, identifying employees as A, B for moving the company forward through Chris Poole, Partner - Ext. 205
or C performers. This exercise can quickly its human capital.
Peter Shrive, Partner - Ext. 204
Terry Wray, Partner - Ext. 202
2323 Yonge Street, Ste. 203
Toronto, ON M4P 2C9
The biggest difficulty with mankind today Telephone: 416-484-8408
www.cambridgemgmt.com
is that our knowledge has increased so much
faster than our wisdom. Proud member of
—Frank Whitmore
