Laura Schroeder opens her post, “The Grass Isn’t Greener” this way.
“Imagine you just spend a fortune recruiting exactly the right candidate, as well as offering a premium over market price to their salary in order to attract them to the role. In doing so, you’ve offended at least one internal candidate who’s always been a loyal solid performer but now hates you and is looking for a new job. To add insult to injury, the new person’s performance is mediocre for the first two years at which point they leave for a better offer.”
Sound familiar? Laura outlines seven reasons why that happens. She misses an important one, though.
With all the emphasis on a “War for Talent,” too many companies spend too much time, effort, and money trying to find and acquire that elusive, perfect talent. It’s time and money and effort they could spend helping the talent they’ve already got perform better.
There’s a lesson for us in Russell Conwell’s classic tale, “Acres of Diamonds,” about a man who searches the world for the diamonds that will make him rich. Finally, impoverished and frustrated, he commits suicide. Meanwhile, the person who bought his farm finds “acres of diamonds” beneath the surface of the fields.
Maybe, instead of searching for diamonds, we need to consider our human capital as an investment that we should grow. Investopedia defines a financial “Capital Growth Strategy” as one that:
“seeks to maximize capital appreciation, or the increase in value of a portfolio or asset over the long term.”
That’s a good goal. It works with the key difference between physical assets and human assets. Physical assets depreciate. They decline in value from the moment you acquire them. But, human assets should become more and more valuable the longer they stay with you. There are four things you can to do maximize that growth in value.
Invest in systems that help people be more productive. Great systems can help ordinary people achieve extraordinary results
Select and support supervisors who see their primary role as helping others succeed. Train them to maximize their coaching skills. Evaluate them on how well they help team members grow and develop.
Invest in training. As Sharlyn Lauby points out, “It’s Cheaper to Train than Recruit.” Go beyond today’s training and invest in tools for individual learning and personal knowledge management.
Invest in development. Offer people opportunities and suggestions that help them develop. It’s to their benefit and to your benefit.
It may turn out that the grass isn’t greener after all. And the diamonds we’re seeking could be right there in the back yard.
