Ian Kinnery (pictured) reflects on our successful seminar on how to attract, develop and retain great leaders.
It was a privilege to speak to RG’s invited guests on July 20th. I knew that David Blair of BMC Recruitment Group would deliver a very practical and experienced introduction so my intention was simply to encourage the attendees to think differently about ‘people’.
Jim Collins believes that the number one objective is to get the right people in the right seats on the bus doing the right things, even before we decide where the bus is going. The four key decisions when Scaling Up are about People, Strategy, Execution and Cash. The order is important so I challenge everyone’s thinking on people. If our business is, at its core, really about our people, do we put enough time and effort and thought into attracting, developing and retaining the very best people?
How did Juventus land Ronaldo, arguably the world’s greatest footballer? It has to be more than money. If money is the only tool in our armoury we are only likely to attract mercenaries and that may work but will only ever be short term.
In the 21st century we need to be as competent at attracting the Ronaldos of our business world as we are at attracting the best customers. Juventus attracted Ronaldo because they knew what he was looking for, what he needed. Do we really know what our top talent are looking for and do we set our stall out to give it to them (as we might with a customer)?
Peter Drucker once said “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself” we need to constantly market our businesses to our top talent. What do top talent want and need to feel like a ‘valued member of a winning team on an inspiring mission’?
Do we provide that?
How can we design our business to attract the very top talent?
Isn’t it time we started thinking differently about people?