Pillar 1 of 6

Talent Blueprinting

Right people, roles, hiring, onboarding and capability for the commercial challenge.

Purpose

Define the commercial roles, judgement and capability the organisation needs for its current and emerging growth challenge, then hire, onboard and develop against that blueprint.

Intended outcome

Commercial roles are clearly defined, selection assesses commercial judgement and client-centred behaviour, and new people become effective within a defined timeframe.

Typical frictions

  • Roles and accountabilities are inherited rather than designed.
  • Selection rewards industry experience and product knowledge over commercial judgement.
  • Onboarding transfers product content rather than the client approach and operating rhythm.
  • Capability development is generic training activity disconnected from live business challenges.

Observable symptoms

  • Performance depends heavily on a small number of individuals.
  • New hires take unpredictably long to contribute.
  • Managers are promoted for personal results rather than capability to build others.
  • The same capability gaps recur across successive hiring rounds.

Diagnostic prompts

  1. 01What commercial challenge are you actually hiring for over the next 18 months?
  2. 02What does high-performance commercial DNA look like in your market, in observable behaviour?
  3. 03How would you know, at 90 days, whether a new commercial hire is on track?
  4. 04Which roles are fit-for-service against your future commercial model, and which are not?

How the audit tests this pillar

  • TB1Commercial roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are clearly defined and aligned to the organisation's current and emerging growth challenge.
  • TB2Recruitment and selection consistently assess the commercial judgement, client-centred behaviours and capability required for each role — not only prior industry experience or product knowledge.
  • TB3Onboarding enables new commercial people and managers to become effective in the organisation's client approach, commercial language and operating rhythm within a defined timeframe.
  • TB4Capability development is based on observed commercial requirements and live business challenges, rather than generic training activity.

If this pillar is under pressure

Clarify role architecture, define High-Performance Sales DNA and assess fit-for-service against the future commercial model.

Next: Execution FrameworkRun the Mini Audit