Best in Class

When an organization or product achieves a level of successful performance that exceeds the majority of the competition they establish a new benchmark for everyone else to strive for.  While not everyone wants to be best in class, those who do can look to the benchmark as a goal as develop strategies to reach it.  External benchmarks and internal standards together provide direction and meaning to business, work and life in general.  Without such guidelines individuals and organizations drift from day to day or project to project producing average results at best.  Most of us have dreams and aspirations to be more than average so to achieve that it is important catch ourselves when we begin to drift and veer off course.  We all need to identify the benchmarks or destinations on the horizon to guide us.

On a personal level this came to my attention when a friend, perhaps in need of an eye exam, nominated me for the honor of Best Dressed Man in Omaha voting sponsored by Strictly Business magazine.  With the many young fashionable guys nominated I clearly don’t expect to win, however the nomination itself established a new benchmark for me.  While I did not go out and buy a new wardrobe, I have found I am more self conscious about what I choose to wear and I look less like a drifter than I did a few weeks ago.

On a business level the Aberdeen Group recently published a review of best in class organizations using assessments to drive better talent decisions and impact business performance.  As we have reviewed this benchmark with clients it has provided fresh perspectives on their current processes and helped them develop action plans to improve results.  If you would like to have a copy of the Aberdeen research to review your own talent management processes please contact us.

To vote for the Best Dressed Man in Omaha go to http://www.strictlybusinessomaha.com/24/112.2024/vote-who-is-the-omaha-area-s-best-dressed.aspx