My former boss and mentor Don Clifton frequently told audiences that one way you could destroy a person was to repeatedly ask them to do something for which they have no adequate response in terms of their abilities. That sounds pretty dramatic, but by not putting people into roles that fit their strengths we often do this in the workplace. This fate has sadly befallen me twice in my career, and although I wasn’t destroyed I certainly suffered. One miscast employee laments:
My talents are a mismatch with my job but I cannot change jobs right now. I would be more positive about our company if I could do something here more in line with my abilities.
Consider:
- How many employees do you have that are in the wrong job, a “square peg in a round hole”, so to speak?
- More importantly, how much is the productivity of your company suffering because good people are in jobs that are a poor fit for them?
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