At any given point in life, an individual has a set of talents and abilities completely unique to them. Think of it like a thumbprint, or strand of DNA, made up of skills, interests, and natural inclinations.
When a person’s vocation aligns with their innate ‘work DNA’, the person will experience more fulfillment in their job and experience states of flow more often. Not only does this make the person happier at their job, and more pleasant to work with, but it leads to better outcomes — whether they’re a biologist or greeter at Home Depot.
I call this an individual’s Highest and Best Use of Talent.
We’re woefully bad at this
In the two decades plus of my working life, from slinging coffees as a teenager to managing leadership teams responsible for hundreds of employees, I’ve rarely met managers who spend much time thinking about the Highest and Best use of each individual team member’s talent.
It’s not because they don’t want the end result. No CEO or leader doesn’t want to get more out of their team, in fact, many pay out the nose for fancy consultants or executive coaches to improve individual and company performance.
Instead, IMHO it’s because we are used to hiring for a title, not the actual job to be done.
Matching motivations, interests, skills, and proclivities
I believe that when a person's role aligns closely with their main motivations, they tend to achieve better results. On the other hand, understanding your own motivations as a professional allows you to focus on work that matches them, leading to a higher return on your efforts.
While there isn't a universal theory for this idea, I've tried to break it down using a simple framework: the 5 Ws and 1 H.
An individual should ask:
What skills are required to do this job well?
Does the Why behind the company’s vision tie into your life’s purpose?
How does the work need to get done?
Where does the work need to be done?
Who are the people you’ll be working with?
When does the work need to be done, what is the rhythm of your workday
A hiring manager should ask:
What skills are required to do this job well
Does the Why behind this role tie into the company’s main mission/purpose?
How does the work need to get done?
Where does the work need to be done?
Who are the people who this hire will be interacting with, and what is the team’s group dynamic and what are the personalities at play?
When does the work need to be done (what is the rhythm)?
Then instead of just hiring based on experience and (assumed) skill, you look more holistically at the individual and who will mesh best within the six criteria required to succeed in this role.
This is not an easy fix, it takes spending a lot of time contemplating (a) what a role really needs and (b) what you as a person really need / excel at. Something that I try to ask myself at least on a monthly basis when thinking about each person on my team:
Is this the Highest and Best use of X’s talent?
Usually that questions alone will reveal a lot about the match between professional and role.