Talent Management in the current climate Brewing up ... - Ashridge

In harsh economic times, according to business mythology, senior leaders
need to know the right path; to show the steady hand of experience. They need
to get back to basics. Nothing, in our view, could be further from the truth.
The urge to run for the seclusion of the boardroom is dangerous. Something
far more demanding is called for. In our experience, fully engaged participation
offers the most potent way to build on the collective intelligence and insight
of all your staff whilst at the same time securing the ownership you need to
allow difficult decisions to be made and implemented effectively.
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Surviving turbulence:
the creative brilliance
of crowds
Daily contacts with organisations
across the globe are telling us
that, in almost every boardroom,
some very tough decisions are
being made. Management teams
are being tasked to cut costs and
find new ways to get cash in the
door. Businesses are becoming
more focused on their customers
and their real sources of business
advantage. They are trying to get
concentrated effort from everyone
and, to some extent, fear is helping
them to get it.
At the same time we notice that
something sinister is happening.
Perceived power is being
concentrated. Decisions are being
taken in the corporate offices and
revealed to waiting and anxious
staff. Many people in businesses
feel powerless. Both the economic
circumstances and the response of
their employer appear to be equally
remote and mysterious forces.
In our experience, fully
engaged participation offers the
most potent way to build on the
collective intelligence and insight of
all your staff whilst at the same time
By Chris Nichols
securing the ownership you need to
allow difficult decisions to be made
and implemented effectively.
Parent-child dialogue
in crisis
A trick is being missed here and
organisations are falling into the
classic ‘parent-child’ dialogue
trap. When a crisis strikes, large
groups of people can become
dependent, looking for a ‘superior’
to sort the problem out for them.
In organisations this takes the form
of groups standing around the
coffee machine or gossiping in the
lunchroom, discussing what ‘they’
– the senior management – are
going to do.
Top management often plays
into the game by taking a parental
stance. The critical, controlling
parent says: “We have to raise our
game, put in the extra effort. We
must all do more and better”. The
gentle, nurturing parent reassures:
“Stick with us and we will find our
way through. We are a strong firm.”
The management team then lock
themselves away and try to navigate
their way through the storm.
What this game guarantees
is that the management team
reinforce dependency. The game
strips the organisation of its most
crucial resource, the adult energies
and abilities of its whole workforce,
who are pushed into a position
of dependent compliance. It also
puts the management team into
the position of having to ‘sell’ their
solution to the staff: “We need to
get buy-in” is a common call. It
is, after all, not uncommon for
‘dependent’ employees to rebel
against their parental bosses.
A route to shared discovery
We believe there is a better way.
In these difficult times, something