he Summer Olympics start August 8, and you
just might be surprised to know that there are several lessons that HR professionals
can garner from the event. Before you dismiss the connection outright, think about
the Olympic model as one of the most effective motivation processes in the world.
What better example is there than a system that motivates tens of thousands of individuals
to make extraordinary sacrifices and to develop themselves beyond the capabilities
of athletes who preceded them? The Olympic model routinely brings out record-breaking
human performances. Unlike the corporate model, where professionals are paid thousands
in salary and benefits just for showing up, the Olympics motivate without money
and only reward performance. As with most sports, competing in the Olympics offers
little statistical chance of even winning a medal, so it only makes sense to study
the Olympics to see if there are any motivational principles we can use to set records
with employee performance.
The Olympics and HR share the same ultimate goal, which is
getting the most out of human talent. Other things that HR has in common with the
Olympics include the use of metrics, a continuous improvement process, teamwork
and the use of technology to enable greater human performance. Both the Olympics
and business are competitions (although it is often forgotten that business is so).
By studying this model, which has operated successfully for decades around the globe,
HR can capture some operational principles that can be modified and then applied
to the way that HR manages employees. Here are four of those key principles:
Competition is a powerful tool. Thousands participate in the
Olympics, and millions watch them. That demonstrates that the competitive model
excites people. Just to get a berth on your country’s team, you must successfully
compete against your own teammates. In direct contrast, HR tends to discourage both
internal and external competition, because it prefers harmony and it doesn’t like
the discord associated with the heat of competition.
Unfortunately, avoiding competition means lower levels of
excitement and productivity. Some firms have embraced the competitive model. While
firms like Google and Microsoft use contests to identify potential hires, MGM Grand
has really mastered the science, employing "black box" competitions to seek out
and identify talent anywhere within a function regardless of tenure and experience.
In the food and beverage department, for example, any employee
can sign up to compete in tournament-style culinary challenges in which winning
contestants move on to the next round. Contestants are provided black boxes that
contain ingredients they must use to prepare an original dish (anyone who has watched
Iron Chef knows how this works). The challenges allow employees new and old, with
and without experience, and from anywhere within the function, to showcase their
skills and abilities to complete truly job-relevant challenges.
In the recent past, black-box challenges have enabled a 23-year-old
sous chef in a nonrated venue to be promoted to executive chef in a four-star venue,
and a wait-staff member to be promoted to general manager, both having proved their
ability to manage all aspects of the job through various challenges. Not only do
the challenges enable superstars to shine, but they also remove all doubt among
other employees why someone got promoted.
Performance-based hiring is best. In the Olympics, you don’t
make the team based on seniority, education or experience. Selection is based solely
on the person’s performance in real-life trials. Corporations could benefit by shifting
some of their emphasis away from interviewing and instead give candidates real problems
or simulations to solve, as Microsoft, Google and GE have done.
Reward superior results, not effort. In the Olympics, medals
go exclusively to those who produce the top numbers. There is no "show-up pay" or
guarantees. Although dozens might compete in a grueling event, only three will be
recognized and rewarded with medals. HR, by contrast, tries to utilize the "soccer
mom" model, where everyone gets equal praise and some reward and the differential
between the top and the average performers may be marginal. HR also can over-praise
intangible factors like effort, heart, loyalty, commitment, perseverance and values.
The lesson is that dramatic differentiation in rewards sends a clear message that
exceptional performance is the goal. Average results have little value because only
exceptional results can teach us how to change the process so that all can improve.
Compare yourself with the best in the world. In the Olympics,
the standard is an external "best in the world" standard. You compare everything
you do with the holder of the continually improving world record. HR metrics, rather
than being internally focused, also need to be compared directly with the best HR
results in the world. Winning requires comparing yourself with the results produced
by the world’s best firm—and then beating them.
The overall lesson to be learned from the Olympics is that
it’s not the shoes that create champions, despite what the advertising slogan says.
Obviously it takes talent, but it’s equally important to have great managers and
superior processes to select, develop, motivate and get the talent to work together
as a team. Sounds a lot like HR.
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