By Dobbie Newman
Every Saturday morning for the past year, I have been reviewing the Wall Street Journal’s summary of the week’s best-belling books, as reported by Nielsen BookScan.
Many bestsellers have come and gone over that time period, but what continues to endure, is the type of books found on the Hardcover Business list. They are not about hidden business secrets or a recently discovered financial formula that will guarantee millions of dollars overnight. Most of these books that endure on the list are largely about the people – the life blood of all businesses.
They are about understanding yourself, others or the characteristics of successful people. They are also about improving skills for:
- Leadership
- Forming effective teams
- Building a winning culture
- Developing people
I have often asked myself why this is the case? Why are all of these books about the people within a business context?
According to Deliotte’s 2015 Global Human Capital Trends report, companies are struggling to attract, retain and develop leaders at all levels within their companies, yet they are largely unprepared to address these issues. In fact, according to the report, culture and engagement was rated the most important issue overall across a multitude of industries.
Furthermore, Gallup consistently reports on the dismal levels of employee engagement not only within the U.S. but reports even worse numbers worldwide. In fact, Gallup estimates that lost productivity due to actively disengaged employees cost U.S. businesses $450-$550 billion each year.
So why is it that so many companies are willing to invest in new equipment, technology, assets and systems that help to improve their business performance, yet they are often reluctant or ill prepared to invest in tools and systems that focus their people? These issues are typically viewed as “squishy” and therefore hard to define or repair. How do you measure success?
Well, it may feel squishy but there are very real and concrete success measures related to hiring, developing and retaining a strong team. Gallup among many others has recently reported that businesses who focus on and invest in talent selection and improving employee engagement show consistently improved top and bottom line financial performance.
The TTI Success Insights®, 2016 Trends Article, explains the use of talent assessments for selection dramatically improves a business’s good hire ratios. U.S. business spending in this category has consistently been on the rise. The Wall Street Journal reported that the percentage of large US companies that are using online assessment tools for talent selection has risen from 26% on 2001 to 57% in 2013. They project this will continue to increase to 75% by 2020. Talent selection is not just for big business. This “Big Data” approach adds value at affordable rates even for small and medium sized businesses.
These self-help business books only stay on the best seller list because people continue to buy them. It follows that people must be buying them to want to solve these problems within themselves. Business leaders and employees alike are looking for ways to improve their relationships with each other in order to drive more successful business outcomes. The next step is to make the right investments to improve company odds for realizing that success.
Are you ready to invest in your talent?
The Oval Group has been providing talent insight to individuals and business leaders for over 10 years. The Oval Group is an authorized supplier of TTI Success Insights® talent assessment, a world class developer of talent selection tools that have been proven to dramatically reduce bad hires and enable improved employee engagement.
Business Is Easy…People Are Complicated®
Success Insights® is a registered trademark of Target Training International, Ltd. Business is easy . . . people are complicated® is a registered trademark of The Oval Group LLC.