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| Off White Papers |
Right Under Your Nose
By Frank Monahan
One of the great advantages of having an above average sized nose is that I have become
very good at finding things right under it. And looking right under your nose is exactly what
your company may need to solve it’s compensation problems. Hear me out.
For many companies, the solution to all that ails their program lies somewhere out there.
The thinking is this: if only we could discover the other guy’s secrets out there, we could fix
our problems in here. There are a couple of problems to this kind of thinking.
First, the companies out there may not have a clue about what they are doing. Of course,
these companies would never admit that they do not have a clue even if they knew they did not
have a clue. And secondly, if they really did have a clue, they really might not want to clue in
other companies to this clue.
So, it boils down to two basic possibilities. Either a company has a clue or it does not. If it
does not have a clue and yet is convinced it does, then all who follow are likely to be clueless
themselves unless, of course, they just get very, very lucky and accidentally stumble into
clueness. And if the company knows it does not have a clue, why would any other company
want to follow it?
But let us suppose a company does have a clue. I doubt it would want to share that clue for
all to know because that would mean it really didn’t have a clue in the first place. From time
to time it may release tidbits that may actually be accurate. But at the end of the day, they are
tidbits nonetheless. And tidbits are not the same as the full clue. Not by a long shot.
As you can see, any way you slice it, the stuff out there is suspect. And while I think it is
important to be aware of the tidbits and even the purported clues, the real secret lies right
under your nose. Do you have an attraction problem? You probably have enough data right
under your nose to help you identify where and how much of a problem you have. How about
a retention problem? Once again, you are probably chock full of relevant data right under your
nose. I’ll bet you look right under your nose, you’ll be able to see if you’ve got good people
going out the door. And who better to tell if you have motivation problem, you or some
clueless company out there?
The real secret to finding things right under your nose isn’t so much about knowing where to
look as in knowing how to look. It is, after all, right under your nose. The key then is in the
ability to sift through the obvious and drill down until you get to the rich nuggets of insight.
Then the answer to what ails your compensation program may well become obvious.
Take it from me, someone who has considerable experience analyzing data and finding
nuggets right under my nose. Then again, I may have a bit of an unfair advantage.
© Frank Monahan 2009
By Frank Monahan
One of the great advantages of having an above average sized nose is that I have become
very good at finding things right under it. And looking right under your nose is exactly what
your company may need to solve it’s compensation problems. Hear me out.
For many companies, the solution to all that ails their program lies somewhere out there.
The thinking is this: if only we could discover the other guy’s secrets out there, we could fix
our problems in here. There are a couple of problems to this kind of thinking.
First, the companies out there may not have a clue about what they are doing. Of course,
these companies would never admit that they do not have a clue even if they knew they did not
have a clue. And secondly, if they really did have a clue, they really might not want to clue in
other companies to this clue.
So, it boils down to two basic possibilities. Either a company has a clue or it does not. If it
does not have a clue and yet is convinced it does, then all who follow are likely to be clueless
themselves unless, of course, they just get very, very lucky and accidentally stumble into
clueness. And if the company knows it does not have a clue, why would any other company
want to follow it?
But let us suppose a company does have a clue. I doubt it would want to share that clue for
all to know because that would mean it really didn’t have a clue in the first place. From time
to time it may release tidbits that may actually be accurate. But at the end of the day, they are
tidbits nonetheless. And tidbits are not the same as the full clue. Not by a long shot.
As you can see, any way you slice it, the stuff out there is suspect. And while I think it is
important to be aware of the tidbits and even the purported clues, the real secret lies right
under your nose. Do you have an attraction problem? You probably have enough data right
under your nose to help you identify where and how much of a problem you have. How about
a retention problem? Once again, you are probably chock full of relevant data right under your
nose. I’ll bet you look right under your nose, you’ll be able to see if you’ve got good people
going out the door. And who better to tell if you have motivation problem, you or some
clueless company out there?
The real secret to finding things right under your nose isn’t so much about knowing where to
look as in knowing how to look. It is, after all, right under your nose. The key then is in the
ability to sift through the obvious and drill down until you get to the rich nuggets of insight.
Then the answer to what ails your compensation program may well become obvious.
Take it from me, someone who has considerable experience analyzing data and finding
nuggets right under my nose. Then again, I may have a bit of an unfair advantage.
© Frank Monahan 2009