Build vs. Buy – The Right Talent to Lead Your Transformation

Today’s show is a demonstration on securing and retaining the right talent for a transformation.  Consistent quarterly performance depends on the right talent.  It’s difficult to grow revenue faster than your industry’s growth rate and faster than your competitors. The Revenue Growth Diagnostic interactive tool will help you determine if you are likely or unlikely to make your number.

Joining us is Sean O’Brien, the Chief Administrative Officer of PGi. The CAO title is becoming more prevalent in the C-Suite, and is used to describe an executive responsible for two or more functional areas.  PGi is a global leader in collaboration software and services.  Any time you want to connect with people that you are not present with, PGi is the glue to make that happen.  Sean will demonstrate selecting and retaining the right talent for a transformation.

You began a transformation to drive up the valuation of your company.  Listen as Sean describes building vs. buying executive talent.  There’s an opportunity cost to assess based on the skills gap.  We discuss the approach to weighing the opportunity cost of building to fill skill gaps versus buying talent with the skills.  Sean describes how to take a step back and evaluate the existing executive team.

Why this topic? The revenue growth objective, during a transformation, is heavily dependent on having superstar executive talent. At times, the revenue growth strategy calls for a new set of competencies that the existing team does not possess.  Mismatch talent and strategy and suffer from significant execution problems.

Listen as Sean describes how to evaluate talent, both existing and new.  Take a step back and look at the existing executive team as if you’re looking at them for the first time.  Sean states, “in many cases, the talents, the skills, the people that were responsible for getting you to where you are today are not necessarily the ones that are going to take you forward into the future most effectively.”

Talent strategy requires you to match the capabilities of the executive leadership team to the objectives and requirements in the corporate strategy.  During a transformation the talent of the C-Suite needs to be matched to the new skills required. It’s an opportunity to re-establish that you have the right people in the right roles to take your company through that critical transformation.

The final segment of the show addresses how to prevent a brain drain.  This occurs when outgoing executives bring top talent with them as they exit.  Sean describes concrete actions to show the retained talent that they are valued.  Don’t miss the action items Sean describes.

Have expectations gone up and left you wondering if you can make your number? Here is an interactive tool that will help you understand if you have a chance at success. Take the Revenue Growth Diagnostic test and rate yourself against SBI’s sales and marketing strategy to find out if:

• Your revenue goal is realistic
• You will earn your bonus
• You will keep your job