Environments for success

At an abstract level, if you look at businesses, especially ones with a focus on human capital, competition happens on a different level than the mainstream assumes.

We consider individual talent contributions to the overall goal of a business as drivers of competitive advancement.

The question arises: if all talent is hired based on the same criteria - qualifications, for example - and all talent fulfills the criteria to a certain degree, then why do some businesses advance and others don't?

We believe the success of talent is not only dependent on what they bring with them, but on the work environment in which they act to achieve the organization's objectives.

Tangible and intangible resources available to employees within companies can both drive talent performance.

Beyond foosball tables and bean bags for recovery, employees need the right tangible and intangible resources to perform.

At its simplest form, tangible resources entail the right furniture in office settings, for example, and the right tools in trade settings (there should be a focus on tools that don't force workarounds for the task at hand). Hiring support personnel, access to funding, and up-to-date computer hardware, among other things, provide a solid foundation for talent.

To really drive performance and lead in the competitive market, intangible resources need to be openly available within an organization. Support systems in the form of channels for knowledge dispersion, alignment with individual intrinsic motivators, attention, employee recognition, etc., can lead talent to perform at a superior level.

Success isn't about hiring the "best" people. It's about creating an environment - both tangibly and intangibly - where talented people can actually perform at their highest level.

Companies that provide the right resources and systems will outperform competitors, even with similarly qualified employees.