May 1, 2014- ISSN# 1545-2646
Draft Season
In professional sports there is a time each year when the teams draft new players for their respective organizations. It is a time when “Experts” give their opinion on who will be drafted first, second etc. Which team needs what role and who is available in which round of the draft. There is even a current movie out about the football draft and others have been made about the same topic in baseball etc. This whole aspect of “The Draft” plays itself out on fantasy leagues in many sports.
The interesting part of this is that the actual draft is a culmination point of a lengthy process of culling lots of data on numerous players so that decisions can be planned only to have to re-plan once a different team selects a player other than what the “Experts” expected.
As business leaders it sounds a lot like business as usual in daily operations of an organization – planning out the future based on lots of data on numerous product and/or services being delivered by various people in multiple parts of the city, state, country or around the world. All of it changing when the competition enters a new market space. Your top employees leave to start a competitive business. Your new hire elects to call in their first morning on the job and tell you they took a different/better offer. The list goes on and on.
So what can be done?
It emphasizes the need to get focused and execute on the daily operations so you have time to manage the items that you can not control. As business leaders you have lots of opportunity to have influence on future outcomes. The questions is – do you strategize them or just react to them?
This week become a talent scout for your business. Look first at the talent you have in your business. Are all roles filled with the best players you can attract from the market? Do the players fit into your business system? What roles could be upgraded if you cold find and attract the talent to your business? What are the pros and cons that potential candidates will look for when you are attracting them to your organization? What benefits do you offer beyond salary etc.
You can not run a successful professional business by only filling roles when a player gets injured or you trade them. You need to constantly and consistently be recruiting and seeking out the best talent for your business. As part of your scouting plan, make a list of all your employees and rank them from top to bottom. Decide where there are holes in your offense and defense and then what is it costing you not to be able to fill those gaps. Use that information to identify the top three candidates you need to look for in the upcoming employment draft. Unfortunately it is a year round draft in business and not just once a year.
It is not fantasy in your business, it is real world and has real consequences for poor choices.
Need some help with your scouting, draft preparation or talent management? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2014
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