Mind Tools for Managers

Chapter 12Hire and Develop Good People

A lot of the work you do as a manager is in the here and now – making decisions, solving problems, chairing meetings, and dealing with difficult situations. But as you take a more long-term perspective on your role, it quickly becomes clear that one of your most important jobs is hiring and developing good people. Indeed, one of the best ways to make a lasting impact on your organization is to recruit and surround yourself with highly talented people, so that they in turn attract other good people.

To get people development right, you need to adopt a subtle but important shift in perspective. The traditional logic of management and organization starts with a definition of the work to be done – the work is broken down into specific jobs, and people are then assigned to those jobs. This mechanistic approach is often efficient, but it treats people as replaceable parts, so it rarely gives them the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

The alternative logic is to think of management as “helping your people do their best work.” This means focusing first on the skills, motivations, and aspirations of the people working for you and then on how you can harness these to the greatest effect. Of course, you still have to make sure that all the necessary work gets done, but this shift in perspective helps you keep the needs of your people foremost in your mind as you manage them.

In this chapter, we focus on five tools and techniques to help ...