Best Fit Model – PeopleFit’s Capability Assessment Triangle

I will propose adding a third qualifier to the two most common sets of qualifiers:

Can
1.? Knowledge, skills, experience, education – what can I do because I’ve done it before?

Will
2.? Values, preferences?- what will I do because I find it appealing?

The Missing Link
Area number three, problem solving capability, answers the question that behavioral based interviewing misses – what could I do if I had aforementioned items number 1 and 2?? It has to do with one’s potential capability.

Could
3.? Problem solving capability (information processing)?- what could I do because my mental bandwidth can contain it?

Coming Next?
What does problem solving capability look like by level and how does that align with work levels?

I’m?OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

It’s?easy to walk on water when you know where the rocks are.??? –? Gerry Kraines

I’ve found that managers are highly capable of assessing the relative cognitive capability (by work level) of their employees when they are given a work levels framework.

People Are Different, and It’s Not Just about Experience and Education
If you are an experienced?manager of multiple people, you know there are differences in mental bandwidth, and this characteristic is irrespective of years of experience, education, training and skill sets.? Meaning, there are assignments you would give to one employee, that you would not give to another, and the bigger assignment does not always go to the employee with more experience or more education.? So what makes the difference?? I would argue it is their current problem solving capability (which increases over time but at different rates in individuals).

The Theory Base
Elliott Jaques, who discovered this phenomenon and incorporated it into his Requisite Organization meta-model, called this capability, complexity of information processing.? It’s the way that?one groups, massages, chews on, and uses information to solve problems, i.e. work.? Think mathematics.? First I add single digits.? Then double.? I move on to subtraction, multiplication, division and then algebra.? If you try to teach these subjects before the student is ready, it doesn’t “compute”.

In my next post, I will begin to spell out what problem solving looks like at the different levels.? With these rocks visible, you may be able to walk on talent assessment water farily quickly.

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

The Dangers of Overhiring
Focusing on hiring the brightest candidate can lead to overhiring, which, unless you are building bench for growth, creates drag in the system over time.

Back to Work Levels
I think the ‘best and brightest’ default strategy is compensatory for the fact that we really don’t understand how to match employees to roles.? Although we intuitively know some roles are more complex than others, most lack a clear model that elucidates the universal differences in job complexity.

Problem Solving Pattern
Understanding how the work in the roles is different is a stepping stone toward thinking about the human side – the problem solving capability needed to be successful in the various levels of roles.

Talent Assessment
In my next posts, I will describe the differences in problem solving patterns.? Understanding the patterns is a key managerial leadership knowledge set which is?essential for?accurate talent assessment.

Have you ever overhired?? How long was it before you stopped congratulating yourself for a great hire, and started kicking yourself for the mistake you made?? My guess:?Six months

I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.

]]> http://www.missionmindedmanagement.com/why-you-shouldnt-hire-the-best-and-the-brightest-candidate/feed 10 http://www.missionmindedmanagement.com/undercover-boss-well-meaning-window-dressing http://www.missionmindedmanagement.com/undercover-boss-well-meaning-window-dressing#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:34:46 +0000 Michelle Malay Carter http://www.missionmindedmanagement.com/?p=687 I must admit I’m touched by the hearts of the CEOs who agree to go undercover to experience their organization on the ground floor.? They seem to geniunely care about the people, not just the publicity afforded to their organization by the show.

Systems Drive Behavior
However, in the end, their righting single incidents or donating toward a personal financial burden of an employee simply perpetuates the idea that good intentions with a handful of feel-good outcomes makes everything right.? Systems drive behavior!? If you don’t tend to the dysfunctional systems, the dysfunctional behaviors will continue.

Managers Are Accountable for the Output of Their Employees
In the show, when these CEOs come upon a manager who is failing in his/her managerial leadership duties, the CEO usurps the authority of their accountable manager by taking action directly with the manager.? To add to that, the action takes the form of “be nice now”, and as the camera fades over grateful smiles and joyful tears, everyone appears to live happily ever after.??

Creating an Accountability Leadership Culture
A clear, requisite framework of accountabilities and authorities would do more for these workplaces than all the good intentions and fatherly advice we see.

Managers-Once-Removed Should Be Accountable to Identify Talent
The CEOs often identify promising young talent, and at least once, a Training Future Leaders program is set up, but it begs the question, who is accountable for identifying talent and what is it that we are looking for?? And is it all about training?

A System for Talent Assessment and Management
An understanding of work levels could create a science-based foundation for fair and consistent talent assessment and management system.

Call Me!
So I’m sending a shout out to Larry O’Donnell of Waste Management, Coby Brooks of Hooters, Joe DePinto of 7-Eleven, and Dave Rife of White Castle:?? You’re OK.? Your employees are OK.? Let’s fix the system!? It’s clear you have both a head and a heart.? Let’s put them to use toward designing systems!

Executive Leadership Defined
Creating and tending to the system is executive level work.? Through this, you ensure your operational organization is designed correctly and a leadership system is in place to ensure employees have what they need.? PeopleFit can provide you a framework from which you can make informed and intentional decisions in the areas of organizational structure, talent management and managerial leadership systems.

What to Do About Attitude Problems

As I’ve said before, high capability does not always mean high performance, especially when an employee is bored and mismatched to his role.? Some of a manager’s biggest problems come from those who could do the role but don’t, won’t, or make everyone miserable in the process!? Unfortunately, organization’s frequently show their young, high potentials to the door, rather than harnessing their capability for the organization’s benefit.

A Managerial Leadership Diagnosis Tool
When we conduct Talent Pool Evaluations for clients, managers really appreciate being given a diagnostic list of behaviors – both positive and negative – that they might observe in an underutilized employee.? PeopleFit research shows about 20% of employees are underutilized and could be handling higher level roles.

This post is the first in a series of 4 diagnostic lists.??In this series, we’ll?explore:

1. Possible Negative Manifest Behaviors of an Underutilized Employee
2. Possible Positive Manifest Behaviors of an Underutilized Employee
3. Possible Negative Manifest Behaviors of an Over committed Employee (not yet cognitively capable of the work level required of the role)
4. Possible Positive Manifest Behaviors of an Over committed Employee

Read over the list and let me know if it holds true to your experience.? Does it shed light on a current situation?? Is this you?

Negative Behaviors a Manager Might Observe in an Under Utilized Employee

• Complains of being bored – despite having work to do.
• Is in a different class than peers ? considered arrogant, impatient, or showy.
• Does not respect your authority.
• Questions or gossips about your capability as a manager.
• Does not want to pay his dues.
• Tries to tell you how to do your work.
• Is cynical, condescending, and/or complains about how things should be.
• Becomes unmotivated or apathetic after 3- 9 productive months on the job.
• Goes over your head and/or seeks guidance from higher level managers.
• Lackluster performance – despite capability.
• Works on things other than what you have assigned.
• Exploits the system. Finds loopholes. Bends the rules.

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

Image credit to Despair Inc.? This poster is available for purchase.

Red Herrings

What is a Manager’s Job?
So if it is not a manager’s job to motivate, what is a manager’s job??

1. To effectively match people to roles (use a science based model to hire well),
2. To practice effective managerial?leadership,?(click here for a list) and
3. To create work enabling conditions.

When you do this, motivation will be a natural outflow of the conditions you have created.? Your job is to create the conditions.

Newsflash: Humans Are Wired to Work!? They Need Not Be Coerced and Bribed
Humans are wired to work!? If they are not motivated to work in the job they are currently holding, then that was a poor hiring decision.? If they are thwarted and frustrated when they try to work because they are working within faulty systems, fix the system rather than bribing them to push through the pain and craziness of working within a broken system!

Don’t Believe It?
I came across this video yesterday of some college students working quite diligently, not on their coursework, but working nevertheless.??My 11-year-old son is very bright but?is not much for?academics. This is the kind of activity I fear my college tuition check will eventually fund.

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I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

Thank you for your continued?support and readership.? Please send a link to a friend!

Here were the most-read posts published this year:

• Managerial Accountability is not MISSING it’s just MISPLACED
• If You Want Accountability, You Must Grant Authority
• Job Analysis Via Time Span of Discretion – A Universal Level of Work Measure
• Employee Engagement Kiss of Death – Ignoring Performance Issues
• Young High Potential Leaders -?Use Wait Time to Build Character

And our all time most-read posts:

• I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money – Why You Should Deliver Sensitive Messages in Person
• Exceptional Customer Service Flows from Sound Organizational Design
• Innovation Snobbery is Not Serving Organizations
• Where Jack Welch Got It Wrong – The Mandatory Annual Low-Performer Cut
• Not All Work is Equal – Exploring Work Levels 1 – 4

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s keep contending for fixing the system!

On Engagement
“The really good marketers will become much more clever about what they do, and engage with people more effectively.? Conventional media will lose a lot of those marketers, because the marketers don?t need the media as much anymore.? Coca-Cola used to need Time magazine or television to reach consumers.? Now Coca-Cola can sponsor contests and get people to put Coke badges and links on their own Web sites.”

Why the War for Talent
On the War for Talent issue, I’ve said that high potentials no longer need hierarchical organizations to find employment.? They can work for themselves.?

Organizations, by their ignorance surrounding requisite work levels and human capability,?often force their high potentials out the door by not providing them with leadership aligned with their capability?or?work appropriate to their capability.?

Tweaking?Ms. Dyson’s quote for My Purposes
Organizations will need to become much more clever about what they do, and engage employees more effectively.? And by clever, I mean, designing work-enabling, trust inducing people systems.

What Doesn’t Lead to Lasting Engagement
What’s NOT effective when it comes to engagement?? Compensatory techniques e.g. perks, teambuilding exercises, bonuses.

We Don’t Need to Motivate, We Need to Provide an Appropriate Work Environment
Remember, I’ve said people are wired to work.? They do not need to be coerced.? They only need (1) work suited to their level of capability and interests?and (2)?as leadership suited to their level of capability.

Here is what Ms. Dyson has to say:

“Many people work much harder on a World of Warcraft role-playing team than they ever work in a paid job. They are very skilled and they do painstaking work, usually for only brownie points and recognition, because that work gives them a feeling of control and camaraderie.”

“It?s a mystery, and as an investor and as someone who?d like a better-run world, I?d like to solve it. Whatever makes work unpleasant, it?s often not really the nature of the task itself; it?s the involuntariness, and the fact that you can be punished by the person running the game.”

Ms. Dyson – it’s the system!!!!? We put employees in impossible situations every day and then blame them when things don’t go well.

All of the Accountability with None of the Authority
One of the things we do to induce dysfunction is we mismatch accountabilities and authorities.? We ask employees to be accountable for things for which they have no control.? This is fundamentally unfair, and fairness is necessary for engagement.? Ms. Dyson, you referred to it as “involuntariness”.

Ms. Dyson, you provided an example here when you were discussing Internet security and the ISP’s role:

“Until the costs of abuse are assigned to entities capable of stopping the abuse, it?s not going to get much better.”

Organizational Systems and Structure are an (Unenforced) Executive Leadership Accountability
What have I been saying for years here at Mission Minded:? Until executive leadership is assigned accountability for designing and implementing work-enabling, trust inducing people systems, it’s not going to get much better.

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system!

Who is Right?
I’ve said before, you and I can argue all day about whether the room we are in is hot or cold and never come to agreement.?? However, together we could stroll over to the thermostat and agree the that room is 70 degrees.? A common Requisite vernacular allows managers to say, this role is at work level three.? I’ve seen Susie demonstrate level-three capability when she successfully planned and executed?this 18 month project.

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
This three-minute BBC skit reveals the pitfalls inherent in lacking a common language.? It’s a little longer than I normally post, but worth it, especially if you are a Hugh Laurie (aka Dr. House) fan.

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Have you ever experienced a communication failure?

According to the AP and the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse grew up destitute in Somalia, the oldest of 12 children and the product of a violent, lawless nation where his parents scraped together a few dollars a day selling milk and tending to a small herd of camels, cows and goats.”

“He eventually joined a gang of pirates who laid siege to an American cargo ship and took the captain hostage before three of them were killed by Navy snipers. Muse survived but was stabbed in the hand with a knife, telling a crew member after the attack that it was always his dream to come to America.”

The 18 year-old has?made it to America, charged with piracy, conspiracy, and brandishing and firing a gun during a conspiracy.

Cognitive Trajectory Appears Early
I’ve contended that high potential shows itself at a young age.? My children could tell me in kindergarten who the “smartest” kid in class was.? They are pretty matter of fact about it.? Research shows that those on a high potential cognitive trajectory will continue on a steeper cognitive development slope than most throughout their lives.? Interestingly, we think once we hit adulthood, all differences are nullified and?anybody can be anything with a little training and determination.

Although this philosophy is used as encouragement and liberation, I think it leaves many feeling frustrated and inadequate and others prideful and judgmental, but I digress.

A Mother Knows
Back to the?AP story, “The details of Muse?s life are murky, with his parents in Somalia insisting that he was tricked into getting involved in piracy. His mother said he was “wise beyond his years” ? a child who ignored other boys his age who tried to tease him and got lost in books instead.”

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

What has your experience been?