One of the redeeming qualities of NFL teams that go deep into the playoffs is that they acquire the specific talent (via draft or free agency) to execute their game plan on the field. In simple terms, one of the key drivers of all their talent decisions is their game day strategy.
However, in a recent talent white paper completed by Forbes they discovered that only 9 percent of business leaders describe their company’s relationship between strategic planning and talent management as “closely aligned”. In other words, only 1 out of 10 companies make a majority of their talent decisions based on what skill sets and experience are needed to implement their strategy.
From my consulting experience there are many factors that go into a hiring decision but the strategy of the organization is often not a key decision filter. This is an area where business leaders can learn from the NFL is that the strategy of your organization has to be a key driver in all of your talent decisions. In fact, each NFL team has one individual and a team of resources that his/her sole responsibility is providing the right talent to execute the strategy.
As the leader of a company or department, you invest hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions in payroll. It must be focused on what you want to accomplish in your company. It is proven that the greater your talent is aligned to your strategy the greater success you will achieve. So how do you accomplish this?
As a business or department leader here are the simple steps to ensure you have the right talent to delivery your strategy.
- Create a clearly defined vision for your organization. Describe in detail what you want your organization look like by 12/31/17 (3-year vision). Your vision should include descriptors as well as numbers/financials. (templates available at www.stopsellingvanillaicecream.com/resources)
- Once your vision for 12/31/2017 is completed you then design the functional organizational structure to deliver it. You start with a clean sheet of paper and design your organizational structure by function that needs to be in place by 12/31/2017 to execute your strategy and achieve your vision. While doing this do not think about your current structure or who is in each position.
- Now that the functional structure is completed you can assess the current talent you have in your organization and develop the talent plan you need moving forward to execute the strategy. That will include developing the talent you currently have and/or hiring new talent. Hiring new talent should be much like the NFL draft in that you are trying to select the specific talent needed to implement the plan.
- This simple exercise helps you create a three year talent plan for your organization that is completely aligned with your strategy.
An irony in life is that at a high level many of the processes that work for a business work in life as well. I would estimate that the same statistic applies to our individual development as well. There are likely only one out of ten people who make sure their natural behavioral style and talents are in alignment with their personal strategy or life map. I can tell you the first day in I understood my natural behavioral style was the first day of the rest of my career.
This same process works for an individual except once you have the personal vision you create the talent development plan for yourself to achieve your vision. Another way to think about it is what is the life strategy that optimizes my unique behavioral style and talents.
What the business world can learn from the NFL is that the strategy of your organization has to be a primary decision factor in all of your talent decisions. And that there should be a single individual responsible to ensure your company has the right skill sets in the right position.
To win your Super Bowl in your business, career and life you must take responsibility for aligning your talent with your strategy. If you want to see a fine example of alignment of strategy and talent, just take a look at the two football teams competing today in the Super Bowl. Without the right Talent their Strategy will not be executed and without a Strategy/game plan their Talent will not be focused. Enjoy the game. Remember, Those Who Plan – PROFIT!
Image provided by www.ucb.ac.uk
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