The 46th Super Bowl was played on Sunday, and it was a great game – a real nail biter at the end. This annual event long ago surpassed being just a game and is now more of a spectacle, a phenomenon that everyone – not just fans of NFL football – can enjoy. The half-time show always has one or more big-name entertainers, and even sometimes manages to create bigger headlines than the game itself. And each year intriguing new television commercials make their debut during this high-ratings event. Companies spend millions of dollars to reach millions of people for 30-40 seconds with their latest, and often quite innovative, advertising messages. These new commercials range each year from major flops to huge successes, some serious but many intended to be funny.
Personally, I’m usually not as interested as others are to see these latest commercials. But this year I was eager to find out if companies would continue a trend I’ve been noticing lately. It seems like an increasing number of television commercials are highlighting the importance and benefits of strong talent management practices: the need to hire, develop, and retain the best people to drive success. This blog post is the first in a series that will highlight some recent TV commercials that fit into this theme.
Super Bowl commercials have in the past focused on many aspects of business, and one famous one from 2003 even managed to combine Human Resources and professional football. Do you remember Reebok’s hilarious commercial “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker?”
This actually turned into a series of commercials, and became so well known that it actually has its own Wikipedia page. In each video, Terry Tate “gives out the pain” to those in the office who are not obeying office policies. How many HR professionals continue to identify with (or dream about?) this over-the-top depiction of how they might better enforce office rules and etiquette?
As for this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials, Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” commercial (with narration from Clint Eastwood) certainly has a business theme. But the one I wanted to comment on is actually CareerBuilder’s short Monkeys spot:
This ad is targeted at job seekers – specifically passive job seekers who currently have a job, but for various reasons (notably including one’s colleagues) are considering leaving their employer. But what struck me about this commercial was its connections to several key concerns of talent management. The central character is rightfully frustrated – so how long can the company hope to retain him as an employee? CareerBuilder is suggesting he will likely leave for greener pastures, but another – possibly worse – result would be that he gives up and joins his colleagues in their monkey-business. Rather than at least having the opportunity to replace one good employee with another, or even better to have him influence his unproductive colleagues for the better, they instead would be stuck with yet another poor performer.
What really intrigued me about this commercial is how they presented the scenario as though the central character is the only one who “gets it” – he’s the only one who sees the goofballs, the poor performers all around him. In the first scene, even his boss is a monkey! For me, this raises the critical talent management question of our time: how well do you know your employees? Are everyone’s goals aligned with the organization’s, or are some people focusing on the wrong priorities? What areas of expertise does each employee have, especially regarding knowledge, skills, and competencies beyond those required for their current role? Who are the high-potentials, the high-performers, or the low-performers – and do they each have appropriate learning and development plans to develop their strengths and/or assist in areas needing improvement?
I could go on, as the list of relevant questions is long. The good news is that with robust talent intelligence, answers become readily available. So ask yourself: do you have the talent data you need to produce insights that will drive better business decisions? Or will you end up an organization with some frustrated high-performers and high-potentials that have to deal with a bunch of monkeys, until one day soon they bolt for a better opportunity?
CareerBuilder ends the commercial with the following question for the hapless employee: “Job causing you sleepless nights?” From a different angle, I would put the same question to HR professionals and business leaders. Having robust talent intelligence about your most important business asset – your people – is how you can avoid such sleepless nights.
Watch for additional posts in this series in the coming weeks, including commercials focused on learning and development, recruiting, and other talent management practice areas.
