Tweet

The overuse of "people" as competitive advantage

Written by: John Madigan

Article Overview: A short piece focusing on having the right systems in place to effectively manage your talent, and thereby provide competitive advantage, rather than constantly focusing solely on the recruitment of individual talent alone.

The overuse of "people" as competitive advantage

Despite being an HR guy, I’m frankly tired of hearing that “people are your competitive advantage”. It appears to be very fashionable now to refer to your human capital as your last or best source of competitive advantage. I’m all in favor of talent since it’s at the center of our name and services. And, don’t get me wrong, hiring the right people is vitally important to the success of your enterprise (said the long time Staffing guy). However, your real competitive advantage lies in the systems you build, sustain and continually improve to consistently deliver winning performance. One of these systems is how you find, select, on board, develop and manage the performance of your talent---in my view your talent management system.

Look at a high performing organization today, The New England Patriots (except the last few games but go with me here). Are they successful simply because they have better players? In absolute terms, they may or may not have better players than many other teams. I think they are better because they have developed the right systems to deliver winning performance, and that’s the key. The right systems to deliver winning performance. The scouting talent subsystem (they are finding the right talent), the selection subsystem (they are picking the right people from those they scout), the on-boarding subsystem (that’s how Randy Moss was integrated into the team and became productive so fast). And, let’s not forget the performance management and accountability subsystem (the front-line coaching staff and the job they do) and the leadership subsystem (coach Belichek and others).

So, it’s not simply the people who take the field that make the Patriots, or any other high performing organization, function so well. It’s the integrated system (meta-system perhaps) that delivers the right talent for winning performance.

All organizations need to look at these various systems to make sure they support delivering winning performance and that’s more than hiring great talent. Without the right systems in place, high performance is not sustainable.

Related Articles
  Competitive Advantage vs. Your Business Model
  Competitive Advantage in a Down Economy
  Competitive Advantage
  Is Ford's auto-xchange the "Real Deal?" (Survey Response 6)
  Drawing the line between blog and SEO content

Article Tags: absolute terms, accountability, belichek, coach, competitive advantage, games, integrated system, job, leadership, long time, management system, meta system, new england, new england patriots, performance management, performing organization, randy moss, talent management



Related Forum Posts
Re: i get really, really pissed off when . . . . - Nice topic for venting! I get really, really pissed off when... I see people taking advantage of others. A lot of people have this "something for nothing" attitude. They want something just because they WANT it, not because they have something to offer others. I find that frustrating because the world is a reciprocal place. No one will be happy to give to a person who is pushy and demanding that you buy something. Or if they do buy, they resent it. So when I see people trying to take advantage of others, it REALLY makes me mad.
Definitions of merger - Thank you. I hope that helped. I'm sure you had your gains working with such fine team at Aberdeen Lyle. The financial aspects of a merger or acquisition are not the only considerations that make a transaction successful. It is the "people issues" that can make the difference between realized opportunities and unfulfilled expectations. That's why the HR function that can meet the needs and expectations of its employees during this transition period can become a company's most valued business partner. Because most mergers and acquisitions set off rapid change, a company that addresses cultural, organizational, and HR issues up front will have a head start on gaining the competitive advantage and enhanced shareholder value it seeks. In short, it's all about the right people in a company where reputation and experience speaks for the company.
Re: Alexa Ranking Goals - Thanks for the update Evan. I will set my new goal at 100,000 for now. No TJ, I am actually not a very competitive person. Obviously I like to win and succeed but not so much in the way that I think of when I picture a "competitive person" in my mind. But maybe you and I have different definitions of what we think one is?
Re: What is your biggest challenge? Today? - [quote="christew":jd3bkcbd]There is more writers than writing jobs which creates a competitive market which keeps prices pretty low.[/quote:jd3bkcbd] Very true. Just go to any freelance site, and you'll find a ton of freelancers bidding on projects. Because it's so competitive, the price ends up being very low. Most of the time it's people from India that get the job because they're willing to do it for almost nothing. The question of quality comes into play at this point. If you can find a writer that's willing to write an article for you for say $1, what kind of quality do you think you will get? I personally wouldn't expect much, but then again you never know. There's no way I could afford to spend that much time on a project and get paid very little. I just can't compete with the competition, especially on GetAFreelancer. That's why forums are a major source of where my jobs come from. There are people that may be cheaper with the services I provide, but that's okay. I've proven that I can provide a very professional and quality service, and a lot of the time people are willing to pay more knowing they're going to get that quality of work.
Re: How To Pick Keywords To Rank For - I think you should do both. Go for the less competitive (long-tail) keywords while you are working your way up on the popular ones. If you get enough of the long-tails you can do well. But it only takes one or two popular ones to make a lot of money. Personally, I like to go for the gold and do everything I can to rank for the big time keywords. However, not everyone can do that so going for the less competitive terms is good too.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to Ask for a Flexible Work Arrangement

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.