The Masterchef Approach to Talent Management
Posted by: Simon / 16.12.2011
Fans of TV reality show Professional Masterchef will have seen
Aussie chef Ash Mair win last night in one of the closest finals in
the series. What makes this programme different from the normal
reality freakshow - and a good example of how to manage and develop
talent in any industry - is that it takes those who are already
trained in their chosen field and sets up a method of developing
their talents by giving them real life situations where they are
both mentored and challenged to improve their performance.
The selection process is not through interview or psychometrics -
the chefs are given a basic skills test before they can progress to
actual cooking (scarily, quite a few apparently qualified chefs
fail this). They are not only mentored in specific culinary skills
by working with Michelin starred chefs, but also learn about
customer service and marketing (challenges have included
taking over a hospital canteen, and producing menus for
children where extra credit is gained for whose dish is chosen
most), working with key stakeholders and opinion formers (by
cooking for food critics) and benchmarking themselves against the
best in the industry.
The key though is that they are always given constructive criticism
and challenged to improve, while being given the support to do
this. By working with the best, they are then assessed to see what
they have learned and pushed to do better. And while there is
a competitive edge, both the other finalists (and indeed others
knocked out earlier) will also see a tremendous boost to their
careers.
At a time when management is being increasingly criticised for poor
performance, and businesses need to develop their staff to give
them a competitive advantage, perhaps it's time to look at the
Masterchef model as a way to do it.
There are currently 0 comment[s]
View Comments
Add Comment
Share Article:
Facebook •
•
