The One Question That Strikes Fear into the Hearts of Leaders

Many Leaders Aren't Asking the Right Questions to Find, Retain Top Talent

“Do you have the talent to take your company to the next level?”

It’s a question I like to pose to C-suite leaders I meet and speak with. It’s usually a query that strikes fear into their hearts.

Most executives today are wrestling with finding and retaining that talent — but they are not asking the right questions on how to get there.

Here are a few vital questions business leaders need to ask their teams to discover if they are ready to fight the rising war for talent:

• How do we define talent?
• What are the key jobs the impact the overall productivity and success of your organization?
• What are the key accountabilities for those jobs?
• What skills and experiences are needed to accomplish the key accountabilities?
• Are we holding on to our best talent?
• What are the issues that cause turnover?
• How do you measure performance?

As experts on the Science of Self™ and how people power an organization’s productivity, performance and profits, we are constantly asking these questions and then collecting data to help understand the factors at play. Using this type of  predictive research analytics will help you get a hold of what needs addressing.

It may be that hidden internal stress factors are causing turnover in one department. It may be that a leader with low EQ is causing a rash of expensive inefficiencies. It may you have a significant number of talented people who find themselves in jobs that do not match their behavioral style, core motivators or skill set.

But until you look under the hood, you won’t know.

Once you do know, leaders can take this information to their CEO or chairman for an in-depth conversation about the realities — and how they plan to address them.

In most cases, organizations would greatly benefit from first focusing on eliminating bad hires. The time wasted on handling a bad hire or trying to manage a bad hire to success equates to a tremendous amount of lost time and money.

What could your well-intentioned management have accomplished if they did not have to spend their time dealing with a bad hire? They could have been coaching their star performers to further excellence instead or encouraging their second string to become starters.

Either way, start by taking stock of your company’s talent in a real way, and then go from there.