While the industry buzzes about the challenges in attracting, developing, and retaining talent, Damani Short takes a step further to question the definition of talent and its role in enabling business capabilities. He says that talent is defined as the skills, knowledge, and competencies of individuals that drive and support the achievement of business capabilities. It plays a crucial role in shaping organizational performance and adapting to evolving business needs.
With a staggering 69% of executives in the digital domain confronting organizational design challenges, the discussion sheds light on why these issues persist and how they impact the effectiveness of talent, including not only badged employees but also contractors, partners and vendors, in driving business success. Many executives feel unprepared to address these challenges effectively, leading to a high rate of failure in efforts to evolve organizational structures.
Why do efforts to redesign organizational structures often fail?
Redesign efforts frequently fail due to perceived risks, lack of adequate preparation, and the complex nature of organizational change. Over three-quarters of these efforts are unsuccessful, often because the change is complex, long-term, and not well-supported.
How does a capability-driven approach address these challenges?
A capability-driven approach focuses on aligning talent and organizational design with business capabilities, ensuring that the skills and competencies needed for success are effectively developed and utilized. This method addresses the inherent challenges by providing a structured, strategic framework for managing talent and designing organizational structures that support long-term goals.
Organizational design is critical because it directly impacts an organization’s ability to adapt, grow, and succeed. Despite being challenging and requiring significant effort, it is essential for ensuring that the organization is well-positioned to achieve its strategic objectives and respond to changing business environments.
Looking to implement a capability-driven approach to talent? Contact Lexico.
TRANSCRIPT:
We don’t hear a lot about how we define talent. How does talent enable business capabilities, as a part of, you know, the narrative. And why is that? Could be any number of things. One thing we do know is 69% of all executives in particular in the digital space report challenges, related to org design.
So I think that stat substantiates this notion that people are uncomfortable; they feel ill-equipped to really address what the org design challenge had on them. Furthermore, like just about any other change space org design and then moving towards, you know, an evolved organization structure, especially redefined over three quarters of those efforts tend to fail.
So it’s perceived as risky. Most people don’t feel fully equipped, and I think that’s part of why we don’t hear a lot about his angle on the talent thread that we’re talking about today. Also, you know, it’s really not glamorous or exciting. There’s no quick fix. It’s a long game. There’s not, frankly, a multi-billion dollar industry behind it.
Like there, there might be other topics like cloud and AI and some of these, some of these other more glamorous topics. So at the end of the day, it’s change, it’s hard work, but it’s critical work that we all have to take seriously.