When someone is in the right role at a company, they usually thrive. Can you imagine if Tom Brady was a kicker or if Mozart was a janitor? Neither can I! Everyday companies like yours probably have qualified and talented candidates in the wrong roles. There are Accountants that should be working with clients, managers who shouldn’t be overseeing others, and people who should rise into leadership.  The question is how do you correctly evaluate those within your organization so you can find bad fits and make adjustments. How can you even find these misplaced employees?

In order to find these people in the wrong positions, the first thing that you must figure out is a person’s role preference.

Role Preference Matters

Role preference is the manner in which a person wants to serve the team. Every person in marketing, for example, has a different role. In order to be successful, we all have to stay in our own lane and have defined responsibilities. Even if someone is “strong” in one area, that doesn’t mean it’s their preference. Here’s an example of why finding their preference is more important:

One of my friend’s kids was a pretty good high school quarterback.  He had the prototypical build of a high-level Quarterback at 6″2″ 225 lbs with a strong arm and a great brain for the game of football. In his Sophomore year of high school, he was the Varsity starter. There was a clear-cut path to play in college and maybe have a shot at the pros. The problem was that he didn’t want to be the quarterback.  His preference was another position.

Mid-way through that season he asked for a position change and the coach obliged. In his next two seasons, he was named All-State at his new position.  He went to college at Yale and they switched his position again. He didn’t complain because he was a “team player.”  When their team started to struggle, they put him back at his preferred position and the team started to thrive again. The coaches were able to see his raw abilities but had no idea what his preferences were. Once he got placed into his preference, he flourished!

Reflect

Do you have people in the right roles? If you answered “yes” how do you know?  If you don’t know, start to ask your employees what their preferences are if they could do anything in the company. You might be surprised by what you hear!

About Us

With over 90 years of Logistics experience, Top Talent is a recognized leader in Talent Acquisition for Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain., Let us put our team to work for you. To learn more about successful strategies for getting those impact players and game-changers on your team, reach out to us today.

– Michael Monson
President and CEO
Top Talent LLC
Email: mike@toptalentllc.net