Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/80263
Building a Solid Bench of Talent By Jason Bader, The Distr ibution Team Jason@Distr ibutionteam.com Inmy own experience, Ihave watched several talented individuals fail in a company because they could not assimilate into the company culture. After looking around the company, an ugly truth surfaced:We were unable to move forward because the company had failed to build a solid bench. Many of you might suggest that we could have just gone outside the com- pany to find an acceptable candidate. This was certainly an option. There were probably some very skilled man- agers that could have come in and done a reasonable job, but they would always be lacking one crucial compo- nent—cultural familiarity. Just how important is culture in a lack of performance and direction from one of his branch managers.He wanted to make a change.At the same time, the company was contemplating the possi- bility of opening a new location. The opportunity was right and the company had existing sales in the territory. I con- vinced the client that we should clean up the current branchmanager problem before shifting focus on the new oppor- tunity. Bad things happen when you I 26 FEDA News & Views wasworkingwith a private client last year on some personnel changes.The client was getting fed up with the take your eye off the ball. Before we made a hasty change, we decided to take a look at the existing talent pool for an acceptable replace- ment. Since most privately held dis- tributors prefer internal promotions, we started reviewing potential candi- dates.This is where our plan came to a grinding halt. There were no accept- able internal candidates in the local branch. Undeterred, we decided to look companywide, since the locations were within a reasonable distance from one another.Again,we hit a dead end. small, privately held distributorship? I'm not sure if this one warrants an answer. At the risk of stating the obvi- ous, it matters a great deal and is often the glue that binds all the distribution functions together. It dictates how we treat the customer,what we are willing to do in the name of customer service, how we price products, how much inventory we stock, how we compen- sate employees and a myriad of other distribution questions.The culture of a business is more than a vibe. It is often the key element that dictates success or failure. In my own experience, I have continued on page 30