Importance of right talent placement in an organization… Lessons from nature
When we talk of the human resources management function, the roles that come to the top one’s mind are hiring and firing. Previously, indeed, the contributions of an HR manager were centered on the recruitment function. These days we talk of HR being more than that, being a strategic function that adds value to the business over and above recruitment. In simple terms we have come to understand human resources management as a broader and strategic function, a business enabler that contributes to the entire business strategy. We have seen profitable businesses miss their core values because of the employees they have. Unfortunately mostly these days when we hear of talent placement or employee placement, it is more or less synonymous with outsourced hiring agency services rather than what it is supposed to be, ensuring that the talent is where it’s supposed to be in the organisation and creating value.
Instead of focusing on the hiring and firing, these days we talk about managing talent or talent circle management as a key component in HR. Now breaking down the word “talent” is key. I have come across various definitions, but the one that speaks more to this write-up is the one that says talent is a natural skill or ability in something. It goes without saying that when talking about talent, we are usually talking about a positive attribute to the organisation.
How do you place this natural skill or ability in something to get the best outcome in the shortest period possible? How do you ensure that the owner of these special skills is comfortable and satisfied? And in turn, goes an extra mile to deliver the results willingly.
Talent placed in the right place blooms and bears more fruit. Talent placed in the wrong places withers, destructs others, and even invites infections that you did not even think of.
Nature has been there since time in memorial. One wise person once told me that for you to understand how to navigate a lot of things in life, study the natural layout, the natural process, and the logical arrangement. The natural world provides great learning and understanding for HR practitioners. Once again imagine the layout and the positioning of various plants, trees, and species in their natural setting and how they bloom and bear fruits.
Looking through the natural settings of a forest, the animals, plants, flowers, and ground cover it has, it provides how important it is just to get it right. Most bright and blooming flowers require sunlight for them to open up beautifully. Therefore, you tend to find these nearer the entry points of the forest. These flowers attract bees, butterflies, and ants. Similarly, you will often find the tallest tree very deep inside and not necessarily at the entry points of the forest. These tallest trees often house the best hunting birds that have superb flying power and eyesight. Birds like eagles or hawks or all birds of prey generally build their nests in such places. Nearer the entry points we tend to find trees with lots of branches. The branches bend in most amazing ways in search of space and sunlight. The trees that bend and spread in search of space and light provide an interesting view of how the misplaced talent struggles to deliver and grow. They give simple examples of downsides of wrong employee role placement in an organisation.
Animals that do not require much to hide from prey hunters tend to live in the foot of the forest. If you study the placements of things or animals through nature, you can only get to understand why they are there. Certain animals will be found in the forest below the foothills of the mountain; some will be bold enough and walk out of their habitat and even mingle with humans; some can even be domesticated; and some you dare not even think of domesticating. You will find some animals up high in the mountains, deep in the forest, some high in the tallest trees, and some only can be spotted during daylight. Some can only be seen during the night, for example, owls. Some, like butterflies and bees, will only be seen in their large numbers when flowers are blooming.
On the National Geographic Channel there was a documentary about bats, which live in a vertical cave with a few protruding rock outcrops. As bats do, they would fly out at night to hunt and return before dusk. Eventually the bats attracted snakes, which viewed them as a food source. Obviously the challenge was how to catch them. Eventually the snakes adapted to hanging on the outcrops and would catch the bats as they fly out. To date, they are the only snakes that have been found that catch prey while hanging from an outcrop. Similarly, we have seen those trees that bend into interesting shapes and have been wondering what it took for them to bend like that.
When we place some people in roles, teams, or groups, in order for them to perform, they really bend to suit the needs of the role, be they the job attributes and skills. Some have to relearn. What do they give up or what do they gain? This shows there is more to the recruitment process. There is a need to match the person to the job. The bend should come from necessity other than preventable reasons.
I am an amateur gardener interested in edible forests. Recently I came across the term ‘companion planting.’ In simple terms it means planting different plants and crops for various reasons, including maximizing space. Some plants are good at nitrogen fixing; some are good for disease and pest control. And some are good for cross-pollination. Some provide homes for insects that feed on plant aphids over and above maximizing the space one has.
In a similar manner, as we place the newly recruited employees, we also need to consider, if it is in a team we are placing them, how will they enhance the team dynamics? Are they the pollinators, the new idea mills in the team? Is the person going to add nitrogen and energize the team to grow? Do they have that infectious positive attitude to the extent that just adding that one person to the team will be a great disease and pest control agent? What happens when you put too many pollinators, or too many nitrogen fixers, or too many pest and disease controllers in one team, one department, one organization? What will be the implication of planting those trees that grow so tall and without the ground cover? As we hire and place human resources or talent within the business, do we think about the implication of these, or do we only think of the skills and experiences the candidate is bringing? The soft aspects are what I am comparing to the lessons nature teaches us every day.
With the above insights about nature placements and timing, what could be key learnings for an HR manager about the importance of employee placement? Back to the forest lessons, rarely will you find tigers in open spaces, for example, deserts; rarely will you find bats active in the daytime; and rarely will you find strong climbing plants in the sun and independent.
There are lessons to be drawn from the flowers that bloom in the shade; some employees need not be placed in the most visible roles for them to give their best. Even under someone’s leadership, they will bloom, remain green, multiply, or deliver their best.
Lessons of tree support. Rarely will you find hawk or eagle nests at the foot of the mountains, and rarely will you find crocodiles in clear waters. Likewise, lessons from the National Geographic Channel, a few misplaced employees will adapt and make the best out of the situation, either through personal disposition/attitude or need to survive. Behavioural science literature has taught us that though they will perform, there is a possibility that they may get to resent the organisation.
Often times, we talk about recruitment being a costly exercise. For a business to fill just one position means a lot in terms of man-hours/time for preparing the job role advert and the interviews; money for the adverts and communicating to candidates; and not forgetting time taken to induct and train the person to fit the job role. After spending all this, the end game is choosing the right employee. If this employee’s skills, aptitude, and interests are not matching with the job, chances are you have a new set of challenges. These challenges include poor performance, taking time to settle on the job, low motivation, and dissatisfaction.
In the end, placement becomes critical to ensure that the new employee performs to the maximum level without bending too much out of his competency zone. I strongly advise each one of us to think through Dessler’s (2008) definition of employee placement as the process of assigning a new employee to a position within his or her sphere of authority, where the employee will have a reasonable chance of success every time we are getting and placing new employees or even evaluating the existing staff. When we talk of placement, my management practice lecture professor, James Chipeta, examples of square pegs in round holes or round pegs in square holes always come to mind. In the short term, you may be able to force a round peg into a square hole, but it will never be an exact or comfortable fit. However, if you opt for the modification, it will still take time. In the end it is prudent to think through any employee placement and his or her fit in the job role and the impact on the organisation.