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In contrast, a few guys where my brother worked went around office recruiting players for their new softball team and they joined a league. They signed up anybody who said they would play. They didn’t get a coach and never practiced. During games, they asked people where they wanted to play, not what their abilities were. As a result, outfielders couldn’t catch fly balls, infielders couldn’t catch ground balls, and they lost almost every game.
My message is simple. Pro sports teams take time to analyze demands of each position. They use best tools they have available to compare players to demands of those jobs. They have tools in place to monitor a player’s progress. They realize sooner rather than later if a person lacks raw ability to perform at a specific position. They also realize when that same person has raw ability to succeed at a different position. They have programs in place to train, coach, develop, and promote upcoming players before they need them.
Why don’t more companies learn to do same thing? There are plenty of good skill, attitude, and personality assessment tools that an employer can use to build models of jobs and measure individuals against those jobs. Generally speaking, mistakes in hiring could be brought to a halt. Poor performers could be promoted or moved laterally into different positions that played to their strengths. Training efforts could actually pay off and benefit company and its employees, particularly when tailored to individuals’ deficiencies and company’s needs.
Copyright 2001, Mason Duchatschek
Mason Duchatschek is the president of AMO-Employer Services, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri, and co-author of the book Sales Utopia: How to Get the Right People, Doing the Right Things, Enough Times. His phone number is 1-800-245-0445, and his company’s website is www.amo-es.com.