A company’s purpose sets the tone for prosperity, profitability, and establishing a unique selling point that will set the company apart from its competitors.
I recently read an article on the Harvard Business Review’s (HBR) website recounting the experiences of a new chief operations officer at executive search firm Egon Zehnder. MANCOSA feels these values will allow entrepreneurs to take South Africa into a new age of rebuilding our economy.
Strategic hiring
The article points out that research shows a considerable gap between the performance of the best knowledge worker and the average one in complex jobs: 240% for an insurance salesperson and 1,200% for a partner at a professional services firm. It’s therefore critically important to invest enough time and effort in hiring and to assess candidates not just their intelligence, skills, experience, and potential but also their values.
Egon not only encouraged his clients to do so; he practised what he preached, looking for only the strongest candidates and carefully vetting them. Before joining the firm, the author of the HBR article was interviewed by 35 partners, including all executive committee members, over a week, and Egon checked my references personally. Until he retired, he personally met with and approved every new consultant hire at some 70 offices around the world — for 36 years — and his successors have continued the tradition, no exceptions allowed.
The article adds that you can’t preserve and grow a culture of purpose unless your people share common values. So, while looking for exceptional people (double degrees from top schools, international expertise, high emotional intelligence, etc.), Egon would also check that they were keen to work in a highly professional, ethical, and collaborative firm.
A focus on people’s potential
The article points out that once you have hired strategically and dealt with the bad apples, how do you handle underperformers with the right values? Here’s where leaders must dig deep to understand individual potential profiles because these people are diamonds in the rough — incredibly committed players who can become much better versions of themselves to drive organisational performance.
Twenty-first-century talent spotting — a research-based strategy for hiring well I helped to develop at Egon Zehnder and which we deployed both within our firm and in client work — involves looking beyond experience, past performance, and even current competence to the key indicators of potential (the right motivation plus curiosity, insight, engagement, and determination) and then offering tailored opportunities and developmental support to unlock professional growth. In today’s extreme VUCA world, this is the only way to ensure a dynamic, purpose-aligned workforce.
Values-based succession at the top
The article adds that too often, charismatic leaders, often founders, are seen as standard bearers for the company’s purpose, and it falls away when they depart. Values-based succession protects against that risk and ensures the virtuous circle can continue perpetually.
At Egon’s last partners’ meeting, before he retired from working full time in 2000, he quoted Thomas Jefferson: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” He encouraged us to ensure that, even as new partners arrived, leadership roles shifted, and new challenges arose, we would stay true to our three pillars of purpose. And he helped us do so by setting the precedent for carefully choosing one’s successor.
The article points out that, every three years, all Egon Zehnder partners used to vote to elect a Chair, who then decided whether to split the role with a CEO. Egon was always re-elected as Chair and acted as well as CEO. However, a few years before he knew he wanted to retire, he chose to split the role and appointed Dan Meiland as CEO. This was a partner who had been carefully assessed and developed and was a true guardian of the firm’s purpose and values. When Egon decided to step down as Chair, Dan was naturally elected to replace him. Several years later, Dan followed a very similar process to cede way for his successor, John Grumbar, who in turn did the same with Damien O’Brien. While there have been some minor changes in the firm’s governance since then, all further successors until today were hired strategically many years before, later elected partners, then adequately exposed to the firm’s global challenges and opportunities, and finally chosen as Chairs or CEOs by the partnership with a clear focus on values.
Of course, this succession process is unique to Egon Zehnder. But the lesson holds. Every company should plan succession to ensure those in line for the top job fully live up to the organisation’s purpose.
Where does MANCOSA fit in?
MANCOSA agrees with the insights in the HBR article as they are key components of success when it comes to entrepreneurship. Focusing on the above strategies can establish your company in a hypercompetitive environment.
MANCOSA adopts several international best practice principles and embeds these in the numerous courses that provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to realise their dreams of owning a business. Additionally, we run several business incubators where mentorship and guidance are provided to equip entrepreneurs with additional skills associated with the experience of running a business. These include some of the human resources best practices discussed above, as HR policies can be a major driver of entrepreneurial success. These policies are also evident in MANCOSA’s customer service, which it prides itself on.
Loshnee Bridgmohan
Marketing manager at MANCOSA
