Meritocracy - do you get what you deserve or want?
It wasn’t too long ago that many people didn’t get what they deserved. If you were born into a poor or uneducated family you didn’t stand much chance of making a success of yourself. Success use to come with status and commitment. All you had to do was be born into the right family.
Obviously, times have changed significantly. Anyone can make a success of themselves - success meaning different things to different people. Of course, though anyone can make a success, not everyone does, nor deserves it. Meritocracy can be seen as a system used to determine who ‘gets’ what based on their ability and talent rather than things such as networks or wealth.
One person who has this meritocratic view is Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. For example, through use of a performance management system, it can easily show anybody in the company where they stand and what they need to do to achieve their goals. Their success depends on achieving these goals. This does not only mean long and hard work all the way - it also has alot to do with attitude. For example, talented and hardworkerse who are not liked or unreliable, probably won’t get very far.
Jack not only had a system to measure people by their performance, but he also watched them grow, saw them use their talents to achieve their organisational and personal goals. And of course he rewarded them for it. He understood it was all about them, not himself. For his company to succeed, he and other managers had to forget about themselves and focus on making their people the best they could ever be.
It’s a bit like being a parent!
Meritocracy is a fairer way to run any kind of organisations, it does not seem right for people to be born or given preference to positions based on their wealth status. Though it would be interesting to see what the Royal family have to say about this!
Obviously, times have changed significantly. Anyone can make a success of themselves - success meaning different things to different people. Of course, though anyone can make a success, not everyone does, nor deserves it. Meritocracy can be seen as a system used to determine who ‘gets’ what based on their ability and talent rather than things such as networks or wealth.
One person who has this meritocratic view is Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. For example, through use of a performance management system, it can easily show anybody in the company where they stand and what they need to do to achieve their goals. Their success depends on achieving these goals. This does not only mean long and hard work all the way - it also has alot to do with attitude. For example, talented and hardworkerse who are not liked or unreliable, probably won’t get very far.
Jack not only had a system to measure people by their performance, but he also watched them grow, saw them use their talents to achieve their organisational and personal goals. And of course he rewarded them for it. He understood it was all about them, not himself. For his company to succeed, he and other managers had to forget about themselves and focus on making their people the best they could ever be.
It’s a bit like being a parent!
Meritocracy is a fairer way to run any kind of organisations, it does not seem right for people to be born or given preference to positions based on their wealth status. Though it would be interesting to see what the Royal family have to say about this!
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