Harmony in the Workplace Through Effective Matchmaking

Recent news that eHarmony's Elevated Careers may produce an effective way to match individuals and companies as an extension of their relationship building capabilities is quite exciting. While I'm not a fan of on-line dating in general, I believe that it serves a purpose and provides avenues for screening potential partners that may not otherwise be available. As the CEO of eHarmony knows, matchmaking is tricky business but they have a solid track record to speak of.

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A Story of Organizational Incompatibility

Many years ago I realized that a company I worked for didn't match my core values. It was very early (within a few months) in our relationship when I made this discovery. I found myself questioning my decision to work there. My boss was an outstanding individual who knew how to handle experienced professionals so the typical perspective of having a terrible manager didn't hold water in my situation. The company and I just didn't have much in common except for the transactional relationship of converting services into cash and benefits for customers and for me. While I was "Type A" driven to resolve challenges and develop new customer solutions and relationships quickly, the culture was much slower and preferred lengthy deliberations. A fundamental mismatch was very clear.

During my investigation into the mismatch, a book published by Dr. William Bridges The Character of Organizations was recommended as a way for me to understand more about the organizational culture and how I could fit into it. Bridges brought forth the idea that organizations have a character profile much like people. In order to create successful matches, there must be compatibility or an awareness of compatibility limitations. He leveraged Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a foundation to build what he called the Organizational Character Index (OCI). OCI could be used by individuals and organizations to help define and build stronger teams with longevity as a natural result.

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Once I read the book and amid much soul searching, I knew what I had to do. I had to learn the "People" profession. From there I would create an on-line tool that would help to reduce the negative impacts of mismatches between individuals and companies. If I was having such challenges as a top performer, then others must surely be even more severely impacted. I investigated the time, money, and effort wasted by companies and individuals and I learned how typical matches were made by spending time in the trenches.

Thus began my journey to the present.

It's been many years since these realizations took hold. My passion burns brighter than ever before because workforce challenges are beyond severe. As the workforce continues to be impacted by accelerations in technology innovations, globalization, insane competition, demographic inequalities, and new generations coming on-line, better matches with better mixes are more important than ever. My goal is to help create harmony in the workplace through effective matchmaking. It all begins by asking the right questions enabled by the right tools and insights.

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Research shows that:

• >70% of PRODUCTIVE life span is spent WORKING
• The rest of the time is spent sleeping, watching TV, eating, drinking, personal care, and on other unclassified items (BLS - American Time Use Survey)

• >70% of U.S. Workers are not fully engaged in their WORK and are not reaching their full potential (Gallup State of the American Workplace)

• >70% of U.S. Workers spend LESS THAN 10 YEARS with their employers
• Average tenure is now under 5 years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control (2012); US BLS American Time Use Survey (2013); Gallup (2013)

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The implications of effective matchmaking in the workplace impacts both top and bottom lines of companies and individuals. Hard questions and answers should be resolved up front before too much time or money have been spent on either side. Traditional mechanisms are not effective. However, tools that can bring together the internal (hidden) profiles of companies with the personalities of potential candidates is a natural progression of the available insights that have been gathered over the years. Just as published information about individuals doesn't go far enough to make effective decisions, neither does published information about companies. Additional rigor must be applied. Automation of this process will be a major breakthrough that will benefit everyone. The trick is to obtain accurate "inside" information about organizations which many are reluctant to give up for valid competitive reasons. eHarmony's Elevated Careers seems to be on the right track.

Companies like LinkedIn along with Glassdoor, Monster, and CareerBuilder - to name a few - all have a similar opportunity to crack the code when it comes to determining the best possible matches between individuals and companies. Big Data and algorithms are plentiful.

The question is who will get there first... 
 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lillian Gregory is a passionate advocate for Women in Leadership and Women in Technology. Connect on LinkedIn. Follow on Facebook or Twitter.