The Org Genome
What competencies are to people, capabilities are to a company. The Org Genome translates your business strategy into the organisational capabilities - and the leadership competencies - required to execute it.
The strategy-talent gap
Most strategies fail because of a talent mismatch
One of the main challenges organisations face is ensuring that appropriate and sufficient talent is available to support the organisational and business strategies needed to obtain competitive advantage.
Many strategies and initiatives fail due to a difference between the talent required for success and the talent acquired by the organisation. The Org Genome closes this gap by making the connection explicit - translating strategy into capabilities, and capabilities into the specific competencies leaders need to demonstrate.
You can also use the Org Genome in reverse: translating your existing talent's competencies back into strategies that are most likely to succeed given the people you already have.
Two critical questions answered
Do we have the talent to implement the strategy?
Translating strategies into competencies allows you to compare the talent you have against the talent you will need to effectively execute the strategies.
Should we modify strategies to better align to our existing talent?
You can also use the Org Genome to identify which strategies will be easy to execute because they play to the strength of the talent you have - or which will require extra effort because they are not aligned to existing strengths.
Research foundation
Built on Porter's Five Forces
The Org Genome is based on the 5 forces that shape competition and therefore strategy in any industry. The strategies adopted should counter threats and leverage opportunities created by your operating environment. The competitive forces model was developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
How much leverage customers have over pricing and terms
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
How much leverage suppliers have over your input costs
Threat of New Entrants
How easily competitors can enter your market
Threat of Substitutes
How easily customers can switch to alternative solutions
Rivalry of Competitors
The intensity of competition within your existing market
The process
From strategy to competencies in three steps
Peopletree Group facilitates an Org Genome workshop with the leadership team. The output is a clear, actionable link between business strategy and the talent required to execute it.
Strategy Translation
The leadership team selects the business strategies that will drive competitive advantage from a library of 70+ strategies across 8 capability clusters. Each strategy is grounded in Porter's Five Forces and validated against your operating environment.
Capability Mapping
Selected strategies are translated into the organisational capabilities required to execute them. This answers: what does this organisation need to be good at? The result is a clear capability profile - your Org Genome.
Competency Derivation
Each capability is mapped to the behavioural competencies (from the Talent Genome) that leaders and teams need to demonstrate. This creates a Leadership DNA - the specific competency profile required at each level to execute the strategy.
The framework
8 capability clusters, 70+ strategies
The Org Genome organises all competitive strategies into 8 capability clusters. Each cluster contains multiple strategies, each of which maps to specific organisational capabilities and leadership competencies. Select the strategies relevant to your business and the framework does the translation.
Market Position
How the organisation establishes, defends, and extends its position in the market
Customer Management
How the organisation acquires, develops, and retains customers
Supplier Management
How the organisation manages its supply chain
Innovation Management
How the organisation generates and commercialises new ideas
Operational Efficiencies
How the organisation optimises its internal operations
Talent Management
How the organisation builds the human capability required to execute strategy
Strategic Alliances
How the organisation builds partnerships that create competitive advantage
Business Development
How the organisation grows its revenue base
The output
Leadership DNA
The final output of the Org Genome process is a Leadership DNA - a set of strategic capability statements that describe what the organisation needs its leaders to do, and the specific Talent Genome competencies required at each level to do it.
Leadership DNA profiles are created for each management level (executive, senior management, middle management) and can be used as a lens for assessment, development planning, succession, and recruitment.
Four development lenses
This multiple-lens approach is an improvement on the "silver bullet" / single profile for a position that tends to aggregate too many diverse requirements.
Company A - Leadership DNA
6 strategic capability statements derived from selected Org Genome strategies
Build sustainable relationships
Building and managing strong key customer/stakeholder relationships to increase engagement and long-term loyalty.
Diversify offerings
Creating service differentiation in terms of flexibility and speed of delivery to be recognised for customisation.
Harness the power of information
Adapting IT to new business opportunities and leveraging business intelligence to enter new markets.
Leverage volume and spend
Using high volumes to create returns in low-margin segments and leveraging buying power for preferential pricing.
Maximise operational efficiency
Leveraging economies of scale in distribution to reduce costs and increase efficiencies.
Optimise the value of talent
Investing in the development of current and future leaders to build a continuous leadership pipeline.
Each capability statement maps to specific Talent Genome competencies at executive, senior management, and middle management levels - creating a heat map of strengths and development areas across the leadership team.
The complete system
Two genomes. One integrated system.
The Org Genome and the Talent Genome are designed to work together. The Org Genome translates strategy into organisational capabilities. The Talent Genome translates those capabilities into the behavioural competencies that individuals need to demonstrate. Together, they create a complete, research-based chain from business strategy to individual performance.
Capabilities for companies
Translates business strategy into the organisational capabilities required to compete. Based on Porter's Five Forces and a library of 70+ competitive strategies across 8 clusters.
Competencies for people
Translates organisational capabilities into the behavioural competencies individuals need to demonstrate. Based on 98 peer-reviewed studies across 18 clusters and 60 competencies.
Applications
Where the Org Genome is applied
Strategic talent planning
Use the Org Genome at the start of a strategic planning cycle to identify the talent gaps that will prevent strategy execution before they become a problem.
Leadership development
Build leadership development programmes that are directly tied to the strategies the organisation needs to execute - not generic competency frameworks.
Succession planning
Identify which leaders have the competency profile to step into roles that require specific strategic capabilities - and where development investment is needed.
Recruitment profiling
Define role profiles for senior hires based on the strategic capabilities the organisation needs - not just the job description of the person who previously held the role.
Merger and acquisition integration
Use the Org Genome to compare the capability profiles of two organisations and identify where talent gaps or overlaps will affect the success of an integration.
Strategy review and alignment
Use the Org Genome in reverse - assess your existing talent and identify which strategies are most likely to succeed given the competencies already present in the organisation.
Ready to translate your strategy into talent?
Peopletree Group facilitates Org Genome workshops with leadership teams. The output is a Leadership DNA that connects your business strategy directly to the competencies your people need to execute it.