People Performance – Sorting weeds from flowers

As I enthusiastically set to work preparing my garden for the spring, it struck me how similar gardening is to talent management. Let me share a few thoughts with you about what we can learn as managers and leaders.  And improve people performance.

Deciding whether a plant is a weed to eradicate from the flower bed or a specimen to nurture is dependent on the outcome you want: buttercups and daisies make a delightful show in country meadows while in the suburban lawn they are a menace. A bramble in the right position is a blackberry bush providing delicious fruit for crumbles and jam – in the border it’s a prickly nuisance. Ivy provides an attractive green covering for walls and fences, but also invades and strangles.

Each plant has its own preferences for soil pH, sunlight and water and finding the ideal situation is not always easy. As gardeners we sometimes attempt to force something to grow where it is not best suited.  It may do OK for a few months but in time it will begin to deteriorate.  Constraining the roots of a shrub in a patio pot will hold back its growth; planted in the open ground it will achieve much greater potential.

In my garden, some plants, usually hardy, have not survived the harsh conditions of this winter – their resilience has been tested to the limit and they have withered and died.

If we view the garden as a metaphor for workplace, our employees are the plants. Recruited for their characteristics – be it the beauty of their flowers or foliage, their hardiness or ability to provide fruit to sustain others – they will thrive where the conditions are right for their needs and contribute the most to the performance of the business.

So let’s learn the important lessons:

Decide the outcomes you want to achieve in your organisation/team – the business plan and strategy, the roles that will contribute to this and the talents that are needed.

• Recognise that each position needs people with specific characteristics – and different people are ‘wired’ to thrive in these situations – what to some people is a boring and routine task that they wouldn’t last a week doing will be someone else’s ideal job.   And, it’s not just about the job, it’s also about the ‘fit’ with the culture of the organisation, the team and your style of management.
• Realise that talent is a characteristic that is innate – and recruit people whose underlying competencies fit with what you need – you can develop knowledge and skills but behaviours are harder to change.
• Recognise that the talent individuals have will only blossom if they are given the right conditions in which to thrive – what ‘food, water and sunlight’ do you need to provide to get the best from your people? Nurture your seedlings through communication, clarity, encouragement and feedback.       Be careful not to constrain their potential – seek to empower.
• Identify the weeds – those whose talents are not the right fit for your organisation and, like the ivy, may be ‘strangling’ the performance of others.       A ‘tough love’ attitude to help an individual realise that they are not in the right job can initially seem harsh but is often the starting point to setting them on a course for future success in a different place/role.
• Recognise where you might have ‘planted’ your talent in the wrong place or where the conditions are constraining it – moving it earlier to a situation where it can thrive can prevent stress related illness, save you money in re-recruitment and contribute to the bottom line.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, you might like to check out the following book which inspired some of the themes here:

First, Break all the Rules – What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, Pocket Books (2005)

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Get in touch to find out more about coaching  

If you’re interested in developing your self awareness, communication or management skills, confidence, time management or just getting focus on your goals, do get in touch to discuss. I believe everyone has the potential to improve their performance, motivation and happiness – coaching works because you become accountable to an external person who is a source of encouragement and support – as well as challenging your barriers.

Email Zoë Whitby: zoe@zwcoaching.co.uk

Call on: 07919 201128

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