DC Velocity - May 2015

AND THEN?

Going a step further, how important is emotional intelligence (EQ)? How good is the young prince, the king-in-waiting, at understanding the needs and styles of others?

How important is this? It affects the probability of success at every level and in every organizational function.

IS TIME ON YOUR SIDE?

Then there’s the added complication of timing. Having some time to work with unties your hands a bit. Is the need yesterday, or next year? Can you provide serious training and development to elevate the baseline of essential qualities in an internal candidate? Do you have interim assignments that relate to key elements of the new position’s skills and experience?

What are the risks in hoping that the rookie’s strengths
will outweigh the weaknesses? Does the candidate have the
heart and soul needed to work like a rented mule on shor-
ing up the gaps? And the IQ/EQ capacity? Are you willing
to bet your career on a known-to-be-imperfect solution?

If there is no time, the case for finding fully qualified outside talent gets stronger. Although there still might be developmental needs—there is likely no perfect candidate—the overall fit could be much better.

AND YOUR FINAL ANSWER IS?

Even with all of today’s personality assessment tools (think Myers-Briggs et al.), these mission-critical people decisions remain a bit of a crap shoot. So, you’ve got to be prepared to start all over when the new supervisor doesn’t pan out, or the all-star global supply chain VP turns out to have a weakness for slow horses and filling inside straights.

Art van Bodegraven may be reached at (614) 893-9414 or avan@columbus.rr.com. You can read his blog at http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/the_art_of_art/. Kenneth B. Ackerman, president of The Ackerman Company, can be reached at (614) 488- 3165 or ken@warehousing-forum.com.