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2016-02-25 11:03:41
Jon YoungerTelma VialeNorm SmallwoodAaron Younger
February 23, 2016
Leading public and private sector organizations are increasing their dependence
on external expertise. The benefits are compelling: increased flexibility,
speed, and innovation as well as cost management. As organizations confront new
competitive challenges and disruptive technologies, an agile approach to talent
provides both a means of rapid strategic change, as well as a way to increase
strategic capability. But the selection of external talent project-based
consultants, technical advisors, and gigsters is often challenging.
Selection 101 is obvious: expertise, relevant experience, cultural fit,
availability and cost. But beyond these basics, we have found a set of five
fundamental principles to direct the choice of who, what, and when. These
principles can make a big difference in getting the right people on board:
1. Make your external talent strategy transparent. You can only select from the
agile talent you attract, which suggests that you must have a talent strategy
that is clear and attractive to the quality of external expertise you need. As
many have commented, top consultants and gigsters have many options and are
primarily drawn to opportunities that are meaningful and challenging, and where
the organization and its leadership provides a productive and respectful
environment for external talent.
However, a good agile talent strategy needs to be communicated as effectively
internally as it is externally. Employees want to know how the choice of
external vs. internal talent fits into the overall resourcing and business
plan. If unclear, internal staff may engender suspicion about why the
organization has chosen to go outside rather than inside, why leaders are
seeking temporary or part-time assistance rather than full-time expertise, and
whether there are deeper implications for example, does it suggest longer term
changes in terms of organization performance and career concerns?
2. Ask who can do the real job: 1X, 3X or 10X? Organizations bring agile talent
on board to achieve a result they feel unable to achieve without reaching
outside for assistance. But it is important for leaders and their Procurement
or HR colleagues to honestly and explicitly determine the level of contribution
that is required, and ensure the chosen external expert is up to the task. Does
the task require an effective external resource (1X), a particularly strong and
experienced agile talent (3X), or truly senior and amazing expertise (10X)?
Too often leaders bring in the wrong external colleagues to save cost or time,
and the individuals recruited lack the experience or talent to achieve the
level of innovation or impact required. Or, conversely, management imports a
truly extraordinary talent for the type of assignment that should be handled by
a lesser resource, one who may be more available, less expensive, or more able
and willing to facilitate a transfer technical capability than a true star. In
short, the selection process needs to specify the contribution needed, and to
ensure that the chosen resource delivers.
3. Define table stakes and differentiators. Individuals bring a mix of skills,
experiences and qualities to the organizations that employ them. In selecting
agile talent, it s crucial that hiring managers understand the difference
between table stakes competencies and the critical few competency
differentiators that are essential for success at the level of contribution
required (e.g., 1X, 3X or 10X). Table stakes competencies are those one can t
get in the door without. But to deliver the outcome for which the organization
initially decided to seek external help, what critical few competencies or
experiences are truly needed? That is the question that needs to be answered
early and honestly, and the basis upon which agile talents are best selected.
4. Involve the right organization members. Choosing agile talent ought to
involve the individuals who will depend on the external resource, and those on
whom the agile talent will depend. But organizations are often weak in this
aspect of the selection process. Problems we typically see include:
not involving individuals who are key to the external s success in completing
the assignment;
involving too many people in unproductive or unfocused ways;
taking too long by being sloppy about the decision criteria either too many,
or too few, or not outcome-oriented;
focusing disproportionately on social criteria, making selection a beauty
contest (who we like best);
choosing safe ( Nobody ever got fired hiring ___ ) instead of fully meeting the
challenge.
In the final analysis, a good selection process for agile talent is ultimately
nothing more or less than a disciplined effort to determine who best has the
competence and expertise to achieving the goal.
5. Keep selecting through frequent review. We have been on both sides of agile
talent as executives hiring external experts and as consultants advising
leaders. Our consistent experience, from both sides, is that agile talent
relationships are more successful when performance is measured rigorously,
frequently, and both sides honestly review progress with clear criteria for
continuing, changing, or ending the relationship. More often is better than
less often. The process of regular, rigorous, review should be laser-focused on
a real agenda: the competencies figured as crucial differentiators, and how
well progress and client acceptance corresponds to expectations and agreements.
This mechanism helps organizations to avoid the error of continuing a
relationship that isn t delivering sufficient results.
Agile talent assignments vary tremendously, from the anthropologists advising
Google/Alphabet to the consultants supporting SAP implementations, or the
part-time designer of Christmas cards for Hallmark. But while the work may
differ, the selection process ought to align means and ends as tightly as
possible. Using these five principles, leaders and their advisors in Purchasing
and HR are likely to do a far better job of selecting the agile talent they
need, and more nearly establishing the conditions for project success.
Jon Younger is a partner of the Agile Talent Collaborative and the author of
several books in HR and talent management, including Agile Talent (HBR Press,
2016). He can be reached at jon@agiletalentco.com.
Telma Viale is director of Organization Development for SRI Executive and can
be reached at tviale@sri-executive.com.
Norm Smallwood is co-founder of The RBL Group, a strategic HR and leadership
systems advisory firm, and the coauthor of several books including Agile Talent
(HBR Press, 2016). He is a partner in the Agile Talent Collaborative and can be
reached at Nsmallwood@RBL.net.
Aaron Younger is a partner in the Agile Talent Collaborative and can be reached
at Aaron@agiletalentco.com.