Play the Hand You Are Dealt

Being it that I am in Texas right, I thought this would be appropriate, and much needed...

We all have a very general concept and understanding of Texas Hold 'Em; a form of poker. Anyone who plays Texas Hold 'Em knows, that you play the cards that you were dealt. During the course of the game you cannot ask the dealer for new cards and you cannot say, "you don't like these cards." You play, what you are dealt. To be honest, you kind of fake it 'til you make it.

Keeping that concept in mind, for quite some time now, I have been engulfed in these discussions around strategic talent acquisition. I here all the time, "well… we did not find the right fit," or "we cannot find candidates with strong technical/functional skills,'" or "we need more experienced candidates," or "they didn’t possess 100% of the competencies and technological/functional knowledge we require.'"  When I hear that, I usually want to say,  "My dear, what you are saying to me is nothing short of an excuse. And, now I wonder if you even know what you are actually looking for in a candidate."

Why is this an excuse? Because, if we go back to our reference to Texas Hold 'Em, we can only play the cards we are dealt. Therefore, when it comes to talent acquisition at EVERY level of your organization, and I mean every level - a company MUST meet their talent where the talent is. If you are finding that you do not have enough XYZ types of talent - there are 2 behavioral response to that issue:

Pay the Cards You Are Dealt: As an organization, get from behind your desk, get out, and growth that talent in your communities (this is within the scope of control)

Doing Nothing and Expecting Different Results: As an organization, you can wait for the education system or cultural differences to change (this is well BEYOND the scope of control)

If we take a look at the 2 behavioral responses we find that Playing the Cards You Are Dealt - proactively and strategically takes control of the elements of talent acquisition that are within the span of control. For example, how the organization interacts with the community, the future talent pipeline, the brand recognition, more, importantly brand understanding. The second of these behavioral responses of Doing Nothing and Expecting Different Results is hoping some element that the organizational cannot control, mysteriously adjusts itself to suit your business needs. 

For far too long, we, meaning we as businesses, shifted accountability for the short comings of our talent. For far too long, we idly waited for something outside of our scope of control to change our circumstance. For far too long, we did not play the cards we were dealt. But rest assured, we are now playing the cards that we were dealt, and now we are meeting our talent where our talent is and developing the workforce of the future that our organizations require. Knowing that the future were deal us better cards, because we learned to play this hand so well.

What is www.DuvetToDesk.com - Innovative | Intentional | Thoughtful | Curious | Productive... I’m a wild mind with a fire in my soul and a passion for life. The world according to The Professional Gal.