Two
broad employee roles
- Organizations
tend to want all employees to fit one competency profile.
- Even though
there is recognition that people have different strengths.
- And that
teams are best composed of complementary strengths.
- In addition,
it is important to recognize that all organizations need, broadly
speaking, two types of people for two quite different types of
role.
- This corresponds
to the two broad tasks facing all organizations.
- To
discover and initiate new directions through innovation and
leadership.
- To
execute existing directions as efficiently or profitably as
possible.
- This is
contrary to the popular view that organizations are moving inexorably
from a managerial to a leadership culture, as if the former were
no longer needed.
- But, we
need both - leaders to create the new and managers to achieve
today's results.
- Leaders
need to be entrepreneurial, willing to challenge the status quo,
cast aside the familiar, take risks and constantly re-invent ''how
things are done around here.''
- By contrast,
managers need to maximize efficiency, consistency and predictability.
- HR professionals
need to enable organizations to develop and live with this split
personality, ensuring that people are in the right role - leadership
or managerial.
- If you
like to get things done efficiently, in a timely manner with a
minimum of waste, the task of execution might best suite you.
Conversely, if you prefer to start new things, think creatively,
promote new ways of doing things, then you may be best suited
to the role of inventing the future.
- For more
on these two organizational tasks see organizational
renewal.
|
