I know most of you are busy counting down the days to the Infohrm Annual Conference the first week in October. Thank goodness we have the 2008 Summer Olympics for the next two weeks to help us pass the time.
Today swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps secured his second gold medal on his quest for eight in the 2008 Summer Olympic games. Have you ever really stopped and thought about what that means? Most other swimmers concentrate their efforts on one to four(ish) races. This allows them to focus their efforts accordingly and hone a specific stroke/skill set as well as ensure their energy doesn’t run out over the two week course of the games. You have to remember, swimming in one race doesn’t equal one set of laps across the pool. You must qualify for the privilege of competing in the final race by first racing in heats. Usually, more than half of the contestants are weeded out in this step.
Now consider that Phelps is competing against athletes whose sole focus is that specific race, but in ALL EIGHT RACES. Plus, he has to qualify by also swimming in the heats. Any one race would be more than most average people could fathom; eight is unimaginable even by most Olympians.
How does he do it? No doubt, Phelps is a gifted athlete – one of the best of our time. However, Phelps also has a few tactics to help him to victory that we can learn from as HR practitioners.
The question we should ask is: How do you prepare your best athletes to maximize their performance when it matters most?
- Phelps doesn’t swim in every heat. In the Men’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay, the “B team” swam the qualifying round, allowing the best swimmers to conserve their energy for the finals. HR lesson learned: Staff each job with the right skill level. You’re paying top performers top dollar; make sure you’re spending that money wisely and allowing them to have the bandwidth to do their jobs.
- When he does swim heats, Phelps conserves his energy. In the 200m Freestyle heat, Phelps came in third place behind his American teammate Vanderkaay and a South Korean swimmer. He did not have to win the heat; he only had to be fast enough to qualify for the finals. HR lesson learned: Don’t require your top performers to give 100% effort 100% of the time. It’s not always necessary, and they will burn out over time. Understand what is most important for that job and what can be “average” and guide your employees to understand the difference.
So, I will continue to cheer for Phelps and the rest of the US team, all the while keeping an eye out for the tricks that enable their success.
Tags: high performers, hr strategies, maximizing skills, Workforce Planning