Note: This post was written by SuccessFactors’ Director of Customer Results, Erik Berggren. Erik is leading a team focused on understanding - through detailed, data-driven analysis - how specific talent management behaviors drive business results – and then working to build those learnings into our product for the benefit of our customers. I’m excited to host his thoughts here, and I look forward to sharing more of our new knowledge via this blog in the future. So please enjoy Erik’s contribution and as always, I encourage comments. We want to know what you think. – Max
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I read the McKinsey Quarterly Article “Competitive advantages from better interactions” with delight today. It is a great article and raises a few interesting issues for me.
Let me explain.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work in numerous countries around the world on dozens of projects as a management consultant. Sometimes, working in different industries and across disparate geographies makes you feel like you are traveling in time, as it occurs to you that some places are just so far behind others when it comes to business practices.
It is always correct and sometimes popular to promote the idea of relentless teamwork. But frankly, I don’t believe it. My hypothesis is that there is a diminishing return on the margins when it comes to teamwork. There is such a thing as too much. I have had consulting experiences in which an idea or new concept was evaluated by senior executives based on a “did she see it?” or “was he involved?” analysis. The obvious assumption in the thinking is that the more interaction, the more “teamwork,” the better the result.
Recently, we conducted some rigorous research leveraging our vast customer data on performance and talent management behaviors, including the aggregate usage of more than 1.5 million users. We studied in detail the financial performance of our clients both in terms of profitability (Return on Equity) and in terms of top line growth. The idea was to understand what over and under-performers were doing in terms of steering and measuring teamwork as a core competency.