Sunday, May 16, 2004
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H is for:
High-fliers
In the new knowledge economy [1], companies compete vigorously for the employees they see as high-fliers.
They’re asking for trouble.
Recruitment is a notoriously imprecise art. Supposed high-fliers are just as likely to be skilled con artists – but at many times the cost of an ordinary employee.
And while you pay these exalted costs, the high flier, like everyone else, will be spending 80% of his time on routine tasks. When your high-flier makes a cup of coffee, you’re paying the price of a whole round of drinks in the pub.
The high quality 20% of his time may justify the expense. But it’s just as likely that the high-flier’s strengths are an illusion.
The ace salesman can only exist in a company where he is allowed to control his own little fiefdom, guarding his contacts to ensure that what makes him special isn’t diluted or devalued by sharing it around.
The IT expert has a natural incentive to ensure that systems are as complex and impenetrable as possible – or even that they break down occasionally (so that he can fix them).
More worrying still, the high-flier on an accelerated career path all too often lacks any real understanding and experience of life, work or people, a fact which can become all too obvious when something a little out of the ordinary happens.
Meanwhile, the high-flier can be a prima donna, difficult to manage and demotivating for other employees. His mere presence on the payroll is enough to set tongues wagging and bring a carefully constructed pay scale to ruin.
Too often, managers look for a high-flier as a quick fix to complex problems – and end up finding they’re in more trouble than ever before.
If you manage a high-flier, or are thinking of taking one on, ask yourself two questions:
1. Is he really worth all the expense and hassle?
2. If he’s really such a high-flier, how come he wants to work for you?
[1] The concept of the knowledge economy is enthusiastically endorsed by academics, consultants, people who were bullied at school for being swots and employees who feel unjustly undervalued, simply because they are incapable of actually producing anything constructive.
H is for:
High-fliers
In the new knowledge economy [1], companies compete vigorously for the employees they see as high-fliers.
They’re asking for trouble.
Recruitment is a notoriously imprecise art. Supposed high-fliers are just as likely to be skilled con artists – but at many times the cost of an ordinary employee.
And while you pay these exalted costs, the high flier, like everyone else, will be spending 80% of his time on routine tasks. When your high-flier makes a cup of coffee, you’re paying the price of a whole round of drinks in the pub.
The high quality 20% of his time may justify the expense. But it’s just as likely that the high-flier’s strengths are an illusion.
The ace salesman can only exist in a company where he is allowed to control his own little fiefdom, guarding his contacts to ensure that what makes him special isn’t diluted or devalued by sharing it around.
The IT expert has a natural incentive to ensure that systems are as complex and impenetrable as possible – or even that they break down occasionally (so that he can fix them).
More worrying still, the high-flier on an accelerated career path all too often lacks any real understanding and experience of life, work or people, a fact which can become all too obvious when something a little out of the ordinary happens.
Meanwhile, the high-flier can be a prima donna, difficult to manage and demotivating for other employees. His mere presence on the payroll is enough to set tongues wagging and bring a carefully constructed pay scale to ruin.
Too often, managers look for a high-flier as a quick fix to complex problems – and end up finding they’re in more trouble than ever before.
If you manage a high-flier, or are thinking of taking one on, ask yourself two questions:
1. Is he really worth all the expense and hassle?
2. If he’s really such a high-flier, how come he wants to work for you?
[1] The concept of the knowledge economy is enthusiastically endorsed by academics, consultants, people who were bullied at school for being swots and employees who feel unjustly undervalued, simply because they are incapable of actually producing anything constructive.
