The patterns of extraordinary organizations
Rick Smith and Jim Citrin
October 2003
There is something that is much more scarce, something finer by far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognise ability.
Elbert Hubbard
Is your organization extraordinary?
The unfortunate truth is this that few organizations today can answer in the affirmative. Our research of more than 2000 executives representing over 1000 companies, showed that a small minority of organizations have succeeded in creating an environment that is attractive to the very best, accurately identifies and rewards them, positions them in the right roles and allows them to achieve their full potential of success.
To be extraordinary, a company must seek to fill its ranks with the very best, providing its professionals with the knowledge of success and empowering them to take control of their careers. It must create a culture of success, establishing a strong value system based on empowerment, proactive behavior and integrity.
By rethinking its core approaches to attracting, selecting, developing, assessing and rewarding its employees, an enterprise can emerge as an extraordinary organization benefiting from the success of its individuals. How you answer the following questions goes a long way towards highlighting opportunities that may exist:
- Does the culture tend to foster the success of each individual employee, or stifle it?
- Does the company accurately assess, recognize and reward employees for accomplishing the right things, achieved through desired behaviors
- Given the organizational competencies required for success in the marketplace, do sufficient resources exist within the enterprise, and are they properly aligned to meet the challenges?
Far too many organizations do not foster a culture of success. Our research shows that less than ten percent of employees feel they are in the right job. Shocking &;#8211; but easy to understand when you consider that relentless pressure to reduce costs has resulted in many organizations completely abandoning career development for employees, often leaving them to survive or fail on their own.
Mentorship and apprenticeship too are discouraged in favour of producing immediate results and those that have played the mentor roles are feeling insecure and demotivated.
But there are exceptions. Some organizations have gone to great lengths to create a culture of success and are benefiting from exceptional productivity, innovation and performance in their workforce.
Attracting, retaining and developing the best talent is one of the most critical challenges facing organizations today. Markets are in a state of continuous change; global and virtual competition has made the battle for success and survival voracious; and employees are feeling unmoored from their companies. Talent is now the business world's most valued asset but attracting and retaining that talent requires three critical factors:
- Create a success culture – attracting the very best, and providing the knowledge, tools and an environment that empowers all of your employees to increase their own career success.
- Assess and reward performance – institute the proper blend of differentiated rewards and precise and consistent performance evaluation.
- Close the gaps – periodically review the alignment of resources against market requirements for success, and take action to stay ahead of the curve.
The opportunities for improvement that exist within most organizations may be even more significant than those for the individual. By applying the five success patterns at organizational level, companies should find valuable productivity and performance gains.
This extract is taken from The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers by James M. Citrin and Richard A. Smith, published by Random House.
Are you an extraordinary executive? Take the
quiz to find out. Visit the 5 Patterns website for more information and to order your copy.