Talent Magnetism

Citation

(2014), "Talent Magnetism", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 28 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-12-2013-0095

Talent Magnetism

Article Type: Book review From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 28, Issue 1

Roberta Chinsky Matuson, author of Talent Magnetism, once met her dream employer. "The moment I walked in the room, I knew we were destined for one another," she writes. She describes it as "magnetism – that moment of irresistible attraction."

Talent Magnetism: How to Build a Workplace That Attracts and Keeps the Best, is a manual which aims to help managers to be that kind of employer. You can, of course, attract top talent without this special quality but getting star performers to stick around is another matter. No company can truly be innovative and fuel growth if the best people are constantly leaving in order to fulfil their potential elsewhere. A lucky few bosses are born with talent magnetism but, as Matuson makes clear, the rest of us can hone these skills. Simple techniques can enable managers to find ways of both attracting talent and keeping it. And you do not need to be a major corporation with a big budget to do so. The case studies here provide plentiful examples of organizations of all sizes which have achieved "magnetism" status.

What’s worthwhile?

Roberta Chinsky Matuson practises what she preaches. Through Matuson Consulting www.matusonconsulting.com she helps leaders to clarify their goals and make their enterprises better places to work, via a process of helping to "align people and process with the business goals of the organization". Her book outlines chapter by chapter the processes involved. Each chapter is followed by a 50-100 word "Rule of Attraction" exercise. Here, she challenges readers to focus on specific points they have read about, complete a written exercise based on an issue covered and to empathize with employees by putting themselves in their shoes. How, for example, might you feel about applying for a job with your own company? She also provides brief pen portraits of magnetic leaders in US companies.

What’s inside?

Matuson is a great believer in a direct approach to finding out what employees think. In her opening chapter, she suggests that anyone who cannot determine what really attracts people to the organization should simply ask those who have recently joined about what initially drew them there; employees who have been there for a while should be asked why they stay. Neither is she afraid of expressing views that might not find universal favor. Because people are sometimes more comfortable speaking to a third party about such matters, she thinks that consultants can be beneficial. They know when they are getting a stock answer and can get more swiftly to the heart of the matter.

She goes on to ask if employers are really keeping pace with a changing workforce. They need to ask themselves what they can offer workers in order to attract them and to help the business grow. Of people who suggest that talent is overrated she says that they "are often the ones who have a tough time finding and keeping it" (p. 12).

Employers must accept that we now live in the era of "fearless flyers" (p. 18), the millennials who know, unlike the earlier generation of baby boomers, that jobs are not for life. That might frighten some employees but for others it offers a kind of liberation; they are more willing to take risks by moving elsewhere because they are not held back by fear. Bosses will therefore be better off helping people improve their skills rather than worrying about investing in people who might not be with them in a couple of years’ time.

Matuson is keen to explode work-related myths which are often an excuse to treat workers shabbily. For example: "People are lucky to have a job" and "people will work for peanuts" to which the answer has to be: "only as long as they have to before they get a better offer elsewhere".

She emphasises the difference between recruitment and attraction. The first is merely the process of finding the right person for the job. The second occurs when an organization’s pull "brings people into its field". The knock-on effect can be employees who, because they have a real sense of purpose become "evangelists" for the organization, radiating a positive energy when you deal with them (p. 43).

Magnetic leaders, she points out, are more concerned with the well-being of the workers rather than their own wealth. She cites the (doubtless scarcely credible to many readers) story of the CEO who was so well liked that when he treated himself to a Bentley, employers congratulated him rather than making snide comments and deciding that was the moment to ask for a raise.

In a misfiring organization, some changes cannot be rushed to put things back on track. Nevertheless, Matuson believes that you can come up with a solid employment brand in less than a day (p. 67). By asking questions about why workers choose to work here and why they stay, you can take the first steps to creating a truly magnetic employment brand. What is the company’s culture really like? Do expressions such as creative, rewarding and innovative come to mind? Step back and think about what can be done if the feedback does not quite match that terminology.

A particularly significant lesson is the need to avoid extremes. Some organizations are good at bringing people in because they have so much practise, turnover is way too high. A significant investment in recruitment programs is not matched by any effort to measure human happiness. On the other hand, low employee turnover is not always in itself a good thing. Like low blood pressure, it can be sign that the [corporate] body is not functioning efficiently (p. 199). The big question, which often has an uncomfortable answer, is just who has decided to stick around and are they really the people the firm needs?

Matuson therefore offers reasons why every organization requires some employee turnover, ranging from the need for new blood and new ideas to challenging the status quo. This might occasionally involve identifying employees who should move on. The "rule of attraction" segment comes into its own here. If this person left tomorrow, would anyone even notice? Has this person reached his maximum potential and can do no more? Can this person take us where we need to be? All this has to be handled sensitively. As Matuson says: "The day it gets too easy is the day you should give further consideration to whether you are the type of leader others would be proud to call their own" (p. 222).

What’s the recommendation?

Roberta Matuson says that employers should act now in addressing these issues, rather than waiting for a crisis within the organization or for some game-changing announcement by a competitor. She makes an analogy with science. As objects move further apart, magnetism weakens. Leaders removed or distant from employees will find that the attraction simply ceases to exist. The more magnetic organizations will take advantage by pulling in those people who have now moved out of your reach. Advice here might now and then seem quite obvious, especially in terms of decent treatment of employees. But it still needs to be said, as too many employees working in a "magnet-free" zone would doubtless testify.

References

Matuson, R.C. (2013), Talent Magnetism: How to Build a Workplace That Attracts and Keeps the Best, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, Boston/London, 226 pp., ISBN 978-1-85788-598-9/E-ISBN 978-1-85788-932-1.