Teaching Kangaroos To Climb Trees

There’s an Australian saying “You can teach a kangaroo to climb a eucalyptus tree, but it’s easier if you start with a koala”.  Sage advice, but how often do we find ourselves in the workplace coaxing people into fulfilling roles that they are unsuited to and then watching them fail?  The standard management responses to such situations are to keep encouraging the person in the hope they’ll do better, to yell at them in the hope they’ll do better, or to fire them for not doing better.

It’s a predictable set of circumstances, yet we see it over and over again.  Individuals are hired into roles for which they may have a flawless CV and years of relevant experience, but little natural talent, and no passion for what they are doing.  Not surprisingly they fail, or, more commonly, drift along in mediocrity until they’ve added a couple more years experience to that CV, become bored and disillusioned and headed off to a new employer, one who’ll be bowled over by the quality of their CV.

Training departments can be of help, good managers can make a difference, and inspirational leaders can encourage far better performance, but you may still have a kangaroo, clumsily doing its best around the lower branches, feeling fed up.

It’s easier if you start with a koala.  Aptitude can be far more effective a predictor of success in a role than experience and qualifications, particularly if those years of experience and study have not resulted in any real learning that can be applied to the job.

Predaptive work with organisations to help them recruit better people, both internally and externally, by focussing on what really makes a difference.  No one tool completes a robust recruitment process, it’s the blend that makes it work, and Predaptive can help you to design a recruitment approach that places real value on new employees, increases their success and their retention, reducing employment costs and business disruption.

To find out more contact:

Claudine McClean
T: +44 (0) 1789 734333
E: claudinem@predaptive.com