Don’t give up on the no-hopers : Reverse talent-spotting helps to get the best from underperforming managers

Purpose – Presents reverse talent-spotting as a way of getting the best out of underperforming managers. Design/methodology/approach – Examines the usual ways in which organizations deal with no-hopers and puts forward a more effective option based on a case study of an employee of a local authority social-service department. Findings – Explains that organizations usually hope that the disaffected and incompetent will be forced out during organizational restructuring, but often they are simply redeployed, passing the problem on to another department or team. The ambitious high-flyers do not hang around but the square pegs in round holes do, so it makes more sense to focus on the square pegs. Practical implications – Describes how senior managers invested in a group of underperforming managers the sort of time and energy that they normally reserve for those they see as future high-flyers. The group responded positively. They became less cynical, more open-minded about changes in the organization and more confident in their own skills and knowledge as managers. Social implications – Details how every organization has people with talent and ambition who will show themselves to be capable and will succeed but what separates the best organizations from the rest is how they develop the underperforming individuals. Originality/value – Shows that concentrating management time and effort on underperformers, who tend to stick around in an organization, can often be more rewarding for the organization than investing in the high-flyers who will be more likely to leave.