How to link talent with value

Finding resourceful individuals for different roles in an organization could be tough. But once you do that, equally important is linking the talent to value- something which many leaders find hard for one reason or another.

Here, we look at strategic methods to scale that seemingly mighty mountain.

Set the team agenda or vision

One of the important factors that drive performance is a strong vision a team or an organization pursue. More than the idea of getting a task done, an inspiring vision that envelopes their day-to-day actions could be significant for team members. There’s nothing surprising about it since it’s only human nature to need something overarching to believe in, so that we could moore our actions in it.

A team’s shared vision is a constant inspiration for the team members

For instance, on a personal front, those who believe in the ideal of family are willing to go the extra mile to ensure their family’s well being. On a societal level, we have the example of soldiers and activists whose actions are fueled by the ideal of patriotism.

There’s no reason why this inherently human behavior wouldn’t hold true in an organizational context.

However, the problem is that overlooking the importance of a vision, we fail to see beyond the day-to-day actions. So, how do you define or discover a shared vision for the whole team or organization?

Temenos Vision Lab or TVL is a unique session developed by Temenos+Agility that aims at this very same thing. Led by some of the finest transformation managers, and developed using 25 years of business consultancy experience, TVL helps a team realize their Compelling Shared Vision.

The individual psychology of the team members as well as their skills, aspirations and value systems all factor in in this exercise. Meaning, the vision born out of the session comes from among the team itself. For this reason it resonates strongly with the team.

Sales Talent- an example of linking personal values with  shared vision

Now that you have seen what shared vision is and its significance in an organizational context, you may benefit from an example of how personal values align with a shared vision to produce positive results. For such an example, you don’t have to look beyond a successful sales team in an organization.

By default, the sales talent has both inner and outer dimensions. The inner dimension includes understanding the product or service thoroughly, while the external dimension involves selling the same to a customer.

For the latter to be effective,  three things are important: a belief in the product they are selling, the shared vision the team pursues of which sales is a part, and the personal values they bring to the process. If the shared vision is inspiring enough, it would naturally bring forth their personal values to the sales process. Once the values get aligned with the shared vision, the conviction of the sales process- and by extension the efficiency of the sales process-improve.

Define personal vision

Now that the shared vision is realized, the team members should be given the leeway to pursue an individual vision. This is a tricky proposition since the personal vision should in some way align with the shared vision of the team.

One of the main agendas with TVL is to help individuals realize their True Personal Vision. This discovery process is based on the belief that a vision is born in your own self. The problem is that sometimes we get inundated by information from the external world that we get distracted from this vision which resides- either like a finely cut diamond or in its crude form-within ourselves.

TVL uses multiple proprietary tools and sessions that help change agents wade through the ocean of confusion and strike upon their True Personal Vision. Influence Maps, for instance is a tool that helps you map all the influences- inner and external- which shaped your behavior or characteristic.

Using the tool, you get a better understanding of your own self and what matters the most to you. Then, there is the Clean Slate session which helps you weed out negative thoughts and mental processes which pull you back as a change agent.

Match talent to roles

By this point, as a leader you are sure of the overall vision the team is pursuing and also the strengths of the individuals who make up the team. In this latter, the visual tool of influence maps plays an important role.

Using this simple medium, the team members are encouraged to literally visualize their profesional/personal journey so far, their triumphs and tribulations and how they achieved the former and overcame the latter. Not only that, they would also visually depict their future aim using the medium.

They then share their narrative with the others in the team. This enables a stronger understanding among individuals in the team, more than what most other processes could.

Matching the right talent to the right role ensures better future for the organization

Now that you know the individual attributes of team members clearly and also the team vision, it’s easy to identify the roles required to reach the team vision and also the right team member for each role.

Related to this is also the idea of context- the professional experience of the team members- the knowledge of which also helps you match the right person for the right role. Such an exercise ensures a possibility of greater value.

Operationalize

The operationalization process is equally important in kicking off and maintaining the business activities that each change agent should perform pertaining to his or her role.

Even with the best laid plans, things may go wrong on one front or another. You may, for instance find that someone is not performing as well as they should. This calls for intervention.

You would have to draw upon your soft skills as well as process knowledge to ensure a smooth operation. In this context, soft skills are often overlooked. In fact, a study shows that soft skills training delivers ROI of 250 percent while improving productivity and retention by 12 percent.

The bolstering of communication which a deeper understanding of team members TVL enables also helps in this regard.

Equally important is to avoid leadership blind spots. What makes blind spots tricky is obvious- you may not know if you have them. But that’s not to say that you couldn’t prevent or tackle them. You can explore that idea here.

Banner image: Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash