Assessing the Lineup
By Marty
Shindler
Baseball season is upon us and the news is filled with
stories of teams assessing their lineups. Theyre assessing their
strengths and weaknesses to be sure the right players are in the right
positions.
Players who were Alist in prior years may not have
as big a role on this years team. Times often require a change to
the lineup in response to current competitive conditions. Trades, retirements,
additional training, and other changes on- and off-field play an important
part in the clubs success or failure.
Cut to the business pages of the same newspaper and the
stories are similar. Companies are making personnel changes at a fast
clip as they assess their lineups. Most obvious are the layoffs, many
of which have come in the dot-com and technology sectors.
This segment is getting a lot of the press, but when
companies in a variety of industries are making similar changes, it becomes
obvious that this is not a situation isolated to the tech sector. Some
layoffs are corrections for what has been termed the "irrational
exuberance" of the past couple of years.
Interestingly, the changes that have occurred to date
have not had a material impact on the unemployment rate. The layoff press
releases often include the words "attrition," "over time,"
and "early retirement." And laid-off employees still seem to
have other opportunities. Many small- to medium-sized businesses say they
are now able to attract people who were unavailable even a few months
ago. These companies are strengthening their lineups by taking advantage
of layoffs at larger companies.
Organizations must regularly assess their lineups in
light of both static and changing economic and market conditions.
Static conditions often indicate that the time is right to become more
aware of organizational needs and to make changes that can lead to growth.
During changing economic conditions, companies must be sure that the organization
is well positioned to weather the changing climate and take advantage
of opportunities that may arise.
Personnel changes are difficult for many. Certainly,
determining who should be laid off is never an easy task, even for the
most experienced and/or callous managers.
Perhaps that is why some companies, as a matter of policy,
regularly prune the poorest performing 510% of their staffs. It
helps them maintain their competitive advantage. There is no "season"
to make changes; it is a continuous process. There is no such thing as
a guaranteed job in these organizations.
But hiring new people is not always an easy task either.
There are many things to be considered, not only whether the candidate
has the necessary skills and experience to do the job. Very often, that
is not the primary reason for hiring, or for that matter, firing someone.
Among the many factors to be considered is how the candidate
fits in with the "corporate culture." When we see a news story
about an executive leaving an organization to "pursue other opportunities"
after a relatively short time on the job, it may not have been a question
of ability, but of personality.
Adapting to a new environment is often difficult. Frequently,
organizational dynamics do not easily let a new person in. Flexibility
may not be in the organizations lexicon, and diversity of opinion
may not be welcomed.
Yet hiring someone who "fits the mold" is not
always the right decision, either. Hiring "more of the same"
can often be detrimental to the organization over the long term. In a
changing and dynamic economic climate, the gadfly may make a better long-term
contribution to the organization than the "yes-man" (or "yes-person"
in todays jargon).
It is sometimes for this reason that companies bring
in entrepreneurs to set up and run new subsidiaries outside of the daily
corporate purview, allowing them to establish the organization with its
own set of values and economics, in essence creating an "expansion
team."
However implemented, it is clear that organizations must
regularly assess their lineups. It must be a continuing process to enable
the organization to meet changing business conditions.
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