About the author Written by Leandro de Gabriel, CEO of Grupo Binternational. Specialist in talent attraction and organisational design, helping CEOs and business leaders turn strategy into results.
My mother had a phrase she used whenever she wanted to describe something sophisticated, something that operated on a different level altogether.
She would say: “This is Haro, Paris and London.”
Until recently, I never really understood where it came from.
A few days ago, however, I had the opportunity to speak at Campo Viejo Winery, surrounded by barrels and vineyards, in front of some of the most important companies in La Rioja.
While preparing for the event, I came across a story that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about ever since.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Haro became one of the first cities in Europe to install electric street lighting. At the same time as Paris. At the same time as London.
Passengers arriving by train would say:
“We’re in Haro now. You can already see the lights“
And that led me to a question:
What happens to companies that, at one point, were on a par with Paris and London… yet a few years later nobody can see their lights anymore?
Because the same thing happens in organisations. Companies that were once admired. Industry benchmarks. Places where everyone wanted to work. Organisations that attracted talent effortlessly. Until they didn’t.
Not because a better competitor appeared. Not because the market changed. But because they stopped evolving while the world carried on.
Today, I hear the same conversations over and over again: ‘We can’t find talent.” “People don’t want to work anymore.” “Staff turnover is through the roof.” “Absenteeism has become a serious issue.” “Hiring gets harder every year.”
And yet, after more than 600 executive search projects and over fifty organisational transformation initiatives, we rarely find that talent itself is the real problem.
What we usually find is something else entirely: an organisation designed for a world that no longer exists.
The Leaking Barrel
In La Rioja, I shared another reflection. If a wine barrel has leaks, pouring more wine into it solves nothing. You simply lose more wine.
And yet that is exactly what many organisations do. They hire more people. Invest more money. Launch more initiatives. Add more benefits.
And still, the same problems keep appearing.
Because the system itself is leaking. Turnover. Absenteeism. Inconsistent leadership. Disconnection. Overload. Lack of clarity. Loss of trust.
The issue is rarely the amount of talent. The issue is usually the design.
That’s why I often say: If your system pushes people out, bringing more people in won’t solve anything. It will simply make you lose money faster.
This is where many organisations get it wrong. They try to solve visible symptoms while ignoring the much deeper issue underneath: the organisation’s actual ability to execute what it has set out to achieve.
Competitive Advantage Has Changed
For decades, competitive advantage came from having a better product, better technology or greater resources. Today, that is no longer enough.
The real competitive advantage lies in building an organisation capable of executing its strategy.
Most companies have objectives, budgets, growth plans and clear priorities. Far fewer ask themselves an equally important question: Do we genuinely have the organisational capacity required to deliver all of this?
Because between strategy and results there is a bridge that often goes unnoticed: The structure and the people needed to make execution possible.
At Grupo Binternational, we have spent years studying what differentiates organisations that attract and retain talent from those that gradually push it away. One conclusion stands out above all others:
People do not work in isolation. They work within a system.
A system made up of multiple interconnected elements that determine whether the “wine” reaches the table, or whether production falls apart altogether. Leadership, beginning with genuine human CONNECTION. Contribution. Wellbeing. Culture. Communication. Belonging. Employee value proposition. Ways of working. Motivation. Together, these nine dimensions form the foundation of our methodology for competing in a world that has fundamentally changed.
When these elements are aligned, organisations create momentum and strengthen their ability to execute. When they are not, they consume enormous amounts of energy simply trying to move forward. That is when the familiar symptoms begin to appear: Turnover. Absenteeism. Conflict. Burnout. Falling performance. A leaking barrel that no amount of additional wine will ever fix.
The problem is that many organisations attempt to address these symptoms without intervening in the system that creates them. Without systemic diagnosis, meaningful results rarely follow.
As my colleagues Alfonso Roig, Daniel Cuba Santillán and Daniel Corregidor often explain, another key distinction is the difference between Push organisations and Pull organisations. In the first, leaders spend their time pushing people forward. In the second, momentum is generated from within.
The Uncomfortable Question
Most organisations know how much they sell. How much they produce. How much revenue they generate. But very few can answer a far more important question: What is each person in my team experiencing right now? Here, with a real case, I explain the “ingredients” of well-being through a real case with my colleague Karla León.
Because if we don’t know the answer to that, we’re managing people in the same way a winemaker would make wine without checking the fermentation temperature. Blind.
And that comes at a very real cost. In productivity. In fidelity. In engagement. And ultimately, in the organisation’s ability to grow at the pace it has set for itself.
Because the real challenge is not simply attracting people. It is creating the conditions that make them want to stay, contribute and grow alongside the organisation.
The Lights from the Train
We are living through a profound transformation in how people work, lead and think about organisations. For the first time, as many as five generations coexist in the workplace, each with different expectations, motivations and priorities.
Some organisations will adapt. Others will continue trying to solve new problems with old solutions, without considering the wider system to which every action belongs. And in a few years’ time, we will once again see what has happened to so many companies that once appeared untouchable.
The greatest risk is not running out of talent.
The greatest risk is building an organisation incapable of making the most of it.
Which is why I keep asking myself the same question I asked at Campo Viejo:
Will people still see your company’s lights from the train when the next major change arrives?
Because the organisations that continue to shine will not necessarily be the ones with the best strategy.
They will be the ones that have built the organisational capacity required to execute it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Organisational Capacity
What is organisational capacity?
Organisational capacity is an organisation’s ability to consistently execute its strategy through the effective combination of structure, leadership, culture, processes and people.
High organisational capacity turns plans into results.
Low organisational capacity consumes energy solving problems the organisation itself creates.
Why do companies stop attracting talent?
Companies stop attracting talent when their employee value proposition, leadership, culture and ways of working fail to evolve alongside changing workforce expectations.
What causes employee turnover?
Turnover is rarely caused by salary alone.
More often, it is the result of systemic issues linked to leadership, lack of development opportunities, excessive workload, poor communication or an absence of shared purpose.
What is the relationship between leadership and organisational capacity?
Leadership is one of the most powerful drivers of organisational capacity because it directly influences trust, alignment, engagement and execution.
What is the relationship between organisational capacity and business performance?
The greater an organisation’s capacity, the greater its ability to execute strategy, attract talent, retain people and adapt successfully to change.
The Nine Dimensions That Determine Organisational Capacity
At Grupo Binternational, we assess organisational capacity through nine interconnected dimensions:
- Connection & Leadership
- Contribution
- Wellbeing
- Culture
- Communication
- Sense of Belonging
- Employee Value Proposition
- Ways of Working
- Motivation
When these dimensions are aligned, organisations strengthen their ability to execute.
When they are not, symptoms such as turnover, absenteeism, disengagement and talent attraction challenges begin to emerge.
Key Takeaway
Most talent problems are not talent problems.
They are organisational capacity problems.
When companies manage people through a system that addresses the nine dimensions with the greatest impact on business performance, they simultaneously improve their ability to attract, retain and develop talent.
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse.
