I've been spending a lot of time recently, just like a lot of other MBA students I know, doing research for two papers that I'm currently working on. I've come across a lot of articles during all of this research that have nothing to do with what my papers will be about, but are intriguing and I end up reading anyhow. I guess that's yet another form of procrastination that I have to some how tackle in the future.
The one that I just got done reading is about the value of a 'portable' career, and recruiting 'star' players for your organization based on research done by some Harvard folks on the NFL. If nothing else I figured it would make for a good segway from watching football to making some school work happen on a Sunday.
I would have liked to be able to read the actual study, but you have to pay for it and I'm not all that excited about paying for any more articles, books, etc. at least until next month. It is, however, a pretty good overview of what the study was all about with a quick question and answer question.
It actually got me thinking about the Treadway Tire Company case study, because it talks about when you should actually go out and recruit star talent or cultivate that talent from your current crop of employees. I think many companies believe that they should be looking elsewhere for their next star manager, sales person, etc. when they could be training the people they've already got to eventually be that person. After all, anyone who is a star somewhere else, unless they are ridiculously lucky and extremely gifted, has had to grow up through the ranks of another organization and fail over and over again until they eventually became that star.
Not to bring too many sports into the mix, but I think that the Phillies are an excellent example of a good balance of this. They have cultivated most of their now big-name talent through their farm system, but have also gone out and gotten that star talent for certain positions that has propelled them to the top of their league yet again this season. I wasn't going into this post trying to reference as many sports as possible, but I think it'll make for a nice Sunday blogging theme for the rest of the semester.
Jeff, That is a great point. Whether to raise from within or hire from outside. I think that it depends on the situation but if done right hiring within is probably a more financially beneficial strategy. On another note, I think you could have gotten a few more sports references in there.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI think that a Sunday blog about sports is a great idea. I agree with you about the training of employees. I think that if companies looked at the potential of their workforce then they may not have to go to outside resources to find the “right people”. With the right tools and resources employees can become superstars. Managers would never know this if they did not give their own workforce a chance. Some people have so much potential but managers often overlook them. Managers can be focused on getting a specialist to do a task, which may be costly and someone that already works at the company can do the job. I think that it is important for a company to at least give their current employees a chance at handling different tasks and taking on more responsibility. If there is a proper amount of training for the individual they can become a very valued worker. On the sports note, the Phillies have had great success with the mix of talent they have from the Iron Pigs and also acquiring new talent from other teams. It is key for companies to find their mix of talent and utilize these individuals to make their business a success. Phillies clinched another NL East Championship! Go Phils!