Many businesses are used to having large departments as their norm. Take a look at any business with a sizable market share – they probably also have gigantic teams! These businesses can feel more like a machine with too many cogs, too many components, too much friction in the function! And sometimes it probably feels like if just one screw were to malfunction, the whole giant team could come to a standstill. While we know that generally speaking, every employee brings their own talents and effort to the business, as business owners, we have to ask two important questions:
- Are we hiring for quantity or quality?
- How many is too many?
You know the idiom: too many cooks spoil the broth. If one cook is enough, why assign five cooks to the soup? That’s the fundamental concept of talent density. Teams that are developed with talent density as a foundation are generally small, closely connected ones, where each employee is a high-performing future leader in the making. Talent density is the recruitment concept that focuses on quality over quantity. And though it makes obvious sense, most businesses lack talent density. (‘Small’ is contextual to your business of course! Small in some places might mean four people, in another 20+)
When you list a job vacancy, the goal is to get someone who can do the task and brings the right experience to the position. We’re not quite as good at assessing how efficiently they can do the job, how self-sufficient they will be, and how their talents vibe with the business’ long term goals. Not to be overly crude, but the recruitment goal is often to simply replace the old screw with a new one. Talent density asks us to reassess the whole situation. Maybe we don’t need to replace the screw, but invest in a better machine.
This is why Netflix is a pioneer in “talent density” driven recruitment. At Netflix, leading with talent density means stringent hiring processes and tougher assessments. Instead of hiring three people to do specific tasks that are all part of one job, the business prefers to hire just one high-performer. This also means above industry standards pay for the recruit and beyond-satisfactory perks. Ideally, a complete win-win situation for both the hire and for Netflix! Talent density is how you can also create this positive-sum game for your business.
Benefits of talent density
No points for guessing correctly! Talent-dense businesses are likely to save huge amounts of time, energy, and money. Think about it – it makes more sense to hire less, if we’re hiring better. Maybe harsh but true: it costs time, energy, and money to have a workforce that needs supervision and handholding. High-performing teams that can effectively carry out their own functions help a business minimize operational costs while also increasing their productivity and, hence, revenue.
Let’s take a second to reaffirm that there’s nothing wrong with training, upskilling, or performing skills assessments to help your employees grow! Recruiters shouldn’t expect candidates to be 100% ready for the gig either, but when your employees aren’t motivated to learn and lead that the learning curve becomes too steep. With a workforce that takes its job seriously and passionately, you shouldn’t have to give them a reason to engage and perform other than providing a supportive workplace.
Research shows that employees that are highly engaged at work will have 22% more productive and that’s definitely the goal, right?
And yet…only one-third of the American workforce is fully engaged at their work. This means there is a clear gap; employees and employers are not finding their right match. Fortunately, this problem, too, can be solved by hiring for talent density. For a wide variety of reasons (including ones not in your control like the economy) this glaring gap means that employees are simply not ending up at jobs they like, and that’s how you get disinterested and unengaged employees, which in turn leads to higher employee turnover. Attrition also chews into your company's operational costs, as onboarding new talents is a more expensive task than retaining tested ones.
Another point in favor of talent density is that it helps preserve your core values. The bigger your team is, the harder it gets to mobilize and align every stakeholder. With a smaller group, you will not only be able to drive those values deeper but also make changes faster. In fact, when we hire for a talent-dense team, we naturally start by hiring people who already align with our brand values.
So, if you are hiring for a new vacancy, talent density should be both your compass and your goal.
How can companies increase their talent density?
Start with clear goals:
To shake up the system, start by digging up the roots! If the goal is to have teams that are talent-dense, your recruitment strategy has to change. However, even before that, the goal needs to be introduced and reaffirmed in your HR team. Most businesses around the globe are accustomed to hiring people for jobs and probably have some strategy already in-place to that effect. If you have multiple vacancies, now is a good time to reassess the requirements. Remember, the goal is not to load all the duties and responsibilities on one person when you really could need two – the goal is to hire talented thinkers who bring innovation and performance to the table.
Better assessment:
Now that you have your goals defined, we’ll want to set a process and respective metrics in place to measure talent density. The recruitment drive may have to change significantly to ensure only the right fit candidate gets hired, and then track that employee’s lifetime with the company. The right fit for a job is someone with the right skills, knowledge, and commitment to it. Critical to consider is that not everyone who can do a job is the right talent for you. The right recruit for your company is someone who shares your vision and values too!
Combine the requirements of the job and the brand to get your match, which may mean you also have to change your approach to doing interviews. Don’t just test the candidate for their skills, but also for their creativity and core values. The way to attract the right talent is to get to know the person behind the resume.
Keep in mind that sustainably lean teams are often a product of longer but deeper assessments, which means while you’ll end up hiring less, you’ll be hiring correctly.
Better collaboration and communication:
For lean teams to truly work, communication and collaboration have to work harder. Even a talented bunch of people won’t be able to deliver results if they work in silos and not in synergy with each other. A big test for hiring with talent density is when all the talents you’ve selected work well together. Remember you’re right sizing your teams, so a smaller number of people should be able to collaborate and communicate quicker too.
Keep an eye on your new recruits for their teamwork and coordination skills. Your managers can help you identify the weak areas of each of their reports, thus giving you a clear roadmap on how to go about talent development.
Post-hire development:
Talented as the employee may be when you hire them, everyone needs to stay on top of industry trends, best-practices, and new tools and technology. Part of making a team high on talent density is to give them the right tools and opportunities where their talent can grow and excel. Businesses looking for high-performers are intuitively focused on making each employee sharper and smarter during their time with the business. In fact, employees tend to stay longer with businesses that invest in them!
At PowerUp, we are making the leaders of tomorrow, today. Join a community of ambitious and curious learners and find guidance from industry experts. Right here!
Recognition and rewards:
Talent grows when it is fueled and fed. Recognizing your top performers will make them feel appreciated while also enabling the rest of your team. When we reward our employees for their work, we set new benchmarks and incentives. We inspire the team as a whole to do well, where each individual will want to raise the bar.
Most businesses do the bare minimum and stick to reviews and maybe an annual promotion. You could come up with your own reward systems without re-inventing the wheel. Gift vouchers, paid trips, and extra days off work are all great incentives. (Editor’s note: I once had a boss ask me during onboarding how I’d like to be recognized in the future: publicly or privately?)
Give and take feedback:
Businesses that are built on talent density know very well that their employees are their greatest assets. Not taking your employees’ opinions and suggestions seriously is a big mistake, especially when you have committed to building a culture around talent. When you are working with the leaders of tomorrow, their leadership has to be encouraged today.
Businesses should conduct regular skills audits, team reviews, and check-ins with employees across different bands and levels to ensure there is maximum employee satisfaction. This would benefit the business in two ways: one, your employee would be more proactive and engaged; this helps bring down attrition; and two, it helps you monitor your strategies, team performance, and get perspective.
Get started with talent density
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