BRIEFINGS PODCAST: EYE FOR A STAR

Eye for a Star

NOTE: While this transcript has been reviewed, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript.

Jill Wiltfong:

Star performers seem more elusive than ever.

Rebecca Kehoe:

There's always gonna be employees who have that, extra, extra expertise. Who have those skill sets that set them apart from their peers.

Jill Wiltfong:

How do you define a star performer?

Mark Richardson:

Be in tip-top condition.

Jill Wiltfong:

What do you think has changed today?

Mark Richardson:

Where's the stimulation? Where's the edge? Where's the spark?

[Announcer]:

Welcome back. We return to the Workplace 100-meter dash. Let's head to the starting blocks to meet our workplace star competitors. There's Vikas, who's simply perfect in all aspects of his game. Motivated, visionary, and with a great sense of humor to boot. In short, a consummate workplace star. Next, we have Gunther. He's got great AI skills but is severely lacking in the collaboration department. Ugh. And here's Cindy. She's super-agile when it comes to taking on different roles. But always seems to under-deliver on projects. Ugh. And in the last lane, we have Jeff. He knows how to bring people together. But his ideas rarely move the needle. Huh, gosh. Seems it's much harder than I thought to find a workplace star. Set...

Jill Wiltfong:

Hi, I'm Jill Wiltfong, Chief Marketing Officer for Korn Ferry. And this is "Briefings," our deep dive into topics that corporate leaders need to care about. The world's shining stars of sport are on full display. But in the world of business, star performers seem more allusive than ever. Seven in 10 CEOs worry that their employees lack the right skills for the future. Which is perhaps no surprise, given that high performers account for just 5-10% of the workforce. One answer might be to develop more stars within an organization. But survey after survey paints corporate training as woeful, with employees routinely labeling it unsatisfactory or inadequate. It's a puzzle that urgently needs to be solved, since gaining a competitive edge today often comes down to having an eye for a star.

I'm joined today by Rebecca Kehoe, a professor of human resources studies at Cornell University who has studied the role of star performers in organizations. And we're gonna talk about this one a little bit today. Rebecca, it's really great to have you here.

Rebecca Kehoe:

Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

Jill Wiltfong:

So, let's start out with some clarity here. It's easy to see who's a star in a 100 meters by timing how fast they run. But when it comes to the workplace, how do you define a star performer? Who is that?

Rebecca Kehoe:

These are your solid, exceptional contributors who are just consistently delivering value for the organization. So, what this looks like can vary across context. But stars tend to be known among their colleagues, among their leaders, as those with exceptional expertise. They tend to be pretty well-connected because others want to be connected to stars. They want to have the opportunity to work with them, to maybe get some status spill overs from them. Maybe to get connected to the star’s contacts. So, while you're not always in a context where you can say who finished that race before you, first or second, you can see who's exceeding expectations. Who's excelling above and beyond their colleagues on a regular basis.

Jill Wiltfong:

Got it, all right. So of course, I would imagine everybody wants more stars on their team. But hiring them exclusively can get, I imagine, quite expensive, right? Their average salaries are 10, 25% or more above market rate. Besides this kind of possible cost savings, what is the advantage of developing, say, a star internally, as opposed to trying to go outside and bring them in.

Rebecca Kehoe:

You're developing a star internally; you can really specialize their training and development to what the organization needs. So, if you're hiring a star externally, you're kind of taking what you get. Taking their past experiences, their past training, and hoping that it fits well with your organization. Whereas internal development allows you to say this is exactly the skill set that we're gonna need.

[Announcer – ‘Chariots of Fire’ movie]:

Pass that, come on. Past that, go on. Go on! Go on! Go on! Come on now, keep it up, come on.

Jill Wiltfong:

That was from the movie, "Chariots of Fire," which was about this real-life story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics. When it comes to the corporate world, it does seem rare to find hands-on coaching like we saw in that clip there. Nearly 70% of employees say the training, in fact, that employers offer isn't tailored to their needs or to their learning styles. That's despite U.S. companies with more than 100 employees, spending 102 billion dollars on employee training last year. So, it's not because there's a lack of effort. Rebecca, why is corporate training missing the mark so much? Are firms just wasting their money?

Rebecca Kehoe:

I don't think there's a clear yes or no answer to that. I think first, it's a difference of perspective. So, companies are investing in training to make sure their employees have a skill set to make the contributions that organizations need today. And maybe even tomorrow, if they're a little bit more forward-looking. That doesn't necessarily always align with an individual employee's personal desire for how I want to learn, or for the skills that I wanna develop, and for my own career goals.

Jill Wiltfong:

We are also kind of coupling all of this with this midst we're in of the so-called great unbossing. So, while we know training's important, we know leadership is important, we also know middle managers are being increasingly let go. How do you think that might affect a company's ability to nurture these star performers? Will there be an impact there?

Rebecca Kehoe:

I think necessarily yes. You know, I think on one hand, stars probably relative to more average employees, stars are going to be the ones that take more initiative for their own development. But on the other side, leaders are so important in developing a star's attachment to the organization. Organizations aren't going to be okay in terms of retaining stars, if they don't have leaders that make stars feel recognized, rewarded, and like they really have kind of have a path forward in the organization that makes them not wanna go somewhere else.

[Josh Bersin]:

Once we have AI, everything is gonna change. We're gonna develop content faster, people are going to look for information, and get training directly from the chatbot. We're going to have new ways of training using chat and prompt interfaces. And we're gonna have richer and richer VR, and other forms of content as well.

Jill Wiltfong:

That's global HR research advisor, Josh Bersin, talking about the impact AI will have on training and development. Rebecca, do you think AI will be a game changer than can help companies turn out stars at a faster clip?

Rebecca Kehoe:

I think it will be a game changer, but I don't think it's going to have that impact necessarily. I think that AI is going to increase the training offerings and maybe the quality of development opportunities for employees across the board. So, if we're talking about how many stars we end up with, there's always gonna be employees who just have that extra expertise. Who have those skill sets that set them apart from their peers. That are creating exceptional value. I don't think the difference between those employees and others are gonna change. I think the bar is just gonna raise across the board.

Jill Wiltfong:

Leave me with a prediction. Three years from now, how do you think our concept of a star with change? Based on what you see happening in the market today?

Rebecca Kehoe:

I think stars are always going to exist. I think soft skills are also going to be increasingly important. So as AI replaces employees with routine tasks, and tasks that can be more automated, employees are going to create value in ways that are uniquely human. Which means that stars, those employees that are creating the most value, are gonna have to embrace and excel with those softer skills as well. It's not gonna be enough to have the hard skills. The bar for things like working with peers, collaborating, communicating really effectively and empathic ways is going to be increasingly important, because that's what does, and will continue to set us apart from AI.

Jill Wiltfong:

Very good. Well, thank you so much for your time, and your thoughtfulness. It'll be an interesting ride.

Rebecca Kehoe:

Yeah, thanks for having me, this has been great.

Jill Wiltfong:

So, we've looked at what it takes to make a star. But after the break, we'll hear from an Olympic Silver Medalist about how to keep those stars burning bright, and not burning out. So, stay with us.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

HI, and welcome to "This Week in Leadership." I’m Rupak Bhattacharya, and here's a quick look at what else is happening in business.

[Narrator]:

They replaced a CEO with AI for one week.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

AI could one day take over the CEO role. At least, that's what 43% of the U.S., U.K., and Dutch business leaders say in a recent survey. While we may not be there yet, experts say AI should be raising the bar for what's expected of managers, including the big bosses.

[Narrator]:

The company announced it has removed 95% of the plastic air pillows it uses in packages shipped in the U.S.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

This year, one of the nation's largest retailers is shifting away from plastic packing pillows to paper ones, removing nearly 15 billion plastic pillows from the shipping ecosystem annually. However, there is some risk involved, as making the leap from plastic to paper pillows requires the building of a new supply chain that could slow the movement of goods.

[Announcer]:

Of the summer's newest trend, quiet vacationing.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

New data indicates that one in 10 employees has taken a quiet vacation, in which they take trips and show up virtually for meetings without using any of their personal days. Experts say leaders will need to assess carefully whether workers are in fact shirking responsibilities, or still meeting their objectives while working from a nice location.

For more insights on business and leadership, head to kornferry.com/insights. Now back to Jill and our episode, "Eye for a Star."

[Referee – ‘Race’ movie]:

The white flag is up. 8.06 meters! It's a new Olympic record!

Jill Wiltfong:

With us now is Mark Richardson, a Korn Ferry Senior Client Partner, who focuses on top team performance. A subject he would know all about, as an Olympic Silver Medalist in the four by 400-meter relay. Mark, thanks for joining us.

Mark Richardson:

Hey, it's an absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me, Jill.

Jill Wiltfong:

You bet. So, Mark, that last clip was from "Race," a movie about the great Jessie Owings. Another phenomenal track and field athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics. As you well know, performing at such a high level requires intense dedication. But in the corporate world, as we look at it in our world here, 93% of workers worldwide now prioritize what they call work/life balance. Tell me, was work/life balance something you think would have been possible for you to achieve when training for the Atlanta Olympics?

Mark Richardson:

Yeah so, I think that self-regulation, the ability to self-regulate is really, really important. And it's something that high achievers do exceptionally well. So of course, you gotta be on, you got to train at maximum effort. You gotta have a high level of intent. You gotta have a huge level of focus. But you also got to do interval training. You gotta be paying attention to what your body might need. You gotta make sure that you don't get into, I guess the sporting equivalent of executive burnout. And so, making sure that you're planning those rests, those breaks, so actually that you could maximize your recovery from sessions. And also, be in tip-top condition for when you most need it.

Jill Wiltfong:

In one survey, Mark, half of workers said they're not trying to progress at their jobs at all. Which seems pretty dire. What do you think has changed today that makes moving up the company chain so unappealing for so many people.

Mark Richardson:

Whether you're a parent, or a carer or, you know, there's other things that are going on in our, I guess our spectrums of your life. And some people might think, "Well, actually I need to ring-fence and preserve those." Make sure that they're not corrupted. It's quite sad, really, because again, I think it links to self-regulation. So, it doesn't matter what level that you're at actually. There's something just phenomenal about aspiration. So, self-actualization, whatever that looks like, whichever level that you’re operating. So, what does that look like in terms of getting better, day by day? And actually, what does that look like when you compound it over months and years? So, having a direction of travel, I think is really, really important.

[Anne Hathaway as Andy – ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ movie]:

If I do something right, it's unacknowledged. She doesn't even say thank you. But if I do something wrong, she is vicious. I would like a little credit for the fact that I'm killing myself trying.

[Stanley Tucci as Nigel – ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ movie]:

Ah, Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining.

Jill Wiltfong:

That's Anne Hathaway complaining about her harsh boss in the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada." Mark, younger generators in particular seem to be leading the charge towards more carrot and less stick in how they're managed. But being too slack, maybe could lead companies to lose their competitive edge. How can leaders assess where to draw that line?

Mark Richardson:

Yeah, if you want to create the conditions for high performance, that's sustainable. It's not, again, it's not an either/or. This isn't a binary thing. The magic equation is thinking about, what's the right level of support? So, high support, but also high challenge. So, there's something about intellectual challenge. How do you stimulate? Because you don't grow and learn if you're in a comfort zone. You need to be on the upper ridge of stretch. You need to be in a place where, actually it does feel a bit edgy, it does feel different, it does feel a bit exposing. And as long as you're getting plenty of support that comes with that, and you're getting that balance right, you're helping people to grow and to develop new horizons, new opportunities, and learn and develop more. So, it's almost quite sad this notion of, "I just want lots and lots of carrot." Because, where's the stimulation? Where's the edge? Where's the spark? I think you need both.

Jill Wiltfong:

It seems only fitting, Mark, that I end by asking, if you were to compete as a young athlete, would the knowledge and the experience that you gained as a consultant on top team performance change the way you train? Or do you think you would stick to the program that you used in the past?

Mark Richardson:

I'd definitely change the way I trained or used to train. Yeah, without question. So, it's something about progression, elevation. Just the scientific methodology that you use. So yeah, I would radically restructure things. And I think it would have kept me healthy for longer, as well.

Jill Wiltfong:

Interesting. Well, very interesting conversation. Thank you so much for being here. It's always great to have you on.

Mark Richardson:

Oh, thank you so much, absolute pleasure.

Jill Wiltfong:

The Executive Producer of "Briefings" is Jonathan Dahl. Today's episode was produced by Rupak Bhattacharya, Nadira Putri, and Teresa Allan. And it was edited by Jaron Henrie-McCrea. It contains reporting by Russell Pearlman, Arianne Cohen, and Peter Lauria.

Our video segment contains original artwork by Frazer Milton, Hayley Kennell, Jonathan Pink, and Sasha Kostyuk.

Don't forget to read our magazine, available at newsstands and at kornferry.com/briefings. That's it for Korn Ferry “Briefings”. I'm Jill Wiltfong. See you next time.

Mark Richardson:

Is that better, okay? Sorry, Jill.

Jill Wiltfong:

That's okay, you can't breathe during this whole segment.