Why we build, instead of buying
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This should go without saying but disclaimer: The information provided below is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or other professional advice. You should consult with a qualified professional for specific advice tailored to your circumstances.
If you’re interested learning more about this topic, we have courses: how to build talent covers this, as does talent planning or you can find all of our courses here.
This is part of a three part series. Part one is here, and part two is coming up.
What is building?
You need to excuse me, I’m about to thrash a metaphor. The idea of building- putting matter together into a form, into a structure, such that they cease to be their component parts, is almost part of our DNA. Houses are made on wood, plaster, metal, wiring, but they are much more than these component parts, but a new entity, put together by design and with purpose.
It’s put things together, binding them into a new thing, not just a collection of parts stitched together.
Organisations are also entities that far exceed just combinations of people, desks, chairs, logins and so forth. They constructed and maintained for with intent and purpose, and we are one of the key builders in this process. And not only do we build for now, but we also build for the future.
In this article, we are talking solely about the process of building internal competence through learning and developing. While recruiting external talent could also be fairly described as building, that we will address in the ‘buying’ article.
What is the building question?
This the question, that everyone has, but very few conscious answer. How much are we growing our own talent, and how much are we buying it in- i.e. going to market? Everybody does some combination of the two, but few balance this on purpose.
Why to build: replicating what you’ve got
The problem with people is that they are people, not robots. People resign, retire, get sick, get hit by the proverbial bus. For organisation to have long term resilience, redundancy (no not that form) needs to be built into the system. All teams need to have the capacity to provide cover, either permanently or temporarily.
To demonstrate this let’s discuss a good tool for L&D, short-term job rotation. Everyone needs to go on leave, so while they are away, often someone else needs to cover their role. Moving someone sideways, or up, temporarily for a period of training and cover the incumbent’s absence has a number of benefits, including ensuring at least two people in the company can do that work. For everyone role in the company (including the CEO) you want someone else who could do it reasonably well, and a couple of others who could do it in a pinch.
Why to build: building what you’ll need tomorrow
What the organisation needs today is not what it needs in the future. Not that long ago, skills such as shorthand, wood turning, dictation, and a tolerance to secondhand smoke were key workforce skills, but times change. Changing technology and customer demands shifts what your business needs to be good at doing, its best to get ahead of the game you need to build that competency in advance.
A good way to do this is conferences. It’s not the only way, but conferences are a good example of getting your key people out of the day-to-day, thinking beyond their daily work pressures and what might be coming up. Conferences are good places to listen to people talk about different things, new ideas, common problems and potential solutions.
Why not build
Building through training and development opportunities works best when you have a) time to do it, and b) good clay to work with- i.e. someone suited to do it. But that might not be the case- your needs might be immediate and urgent, and you need to address the skill gap now, in which case buying might be the best option i.e. hiring in the needed skills or getting in contractors.
Alternatively you might not be have someone well suited to grow and develop, which is entirely possible. I would however caution the risk of stereo-typing on age here- it’s easy to assume older employees are less likely to want to learn and innovate, and assume only young employees can learn and develop.
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