Category Archives: Talent

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Put Employees First!

I was absolutely thrilled to see this recent article over at Knowledge @ Wharton India that said that “Winning More Business in a Recession Means Putting Employees First”. In the interview with Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies — a company which grew 21% year over year in operating profit and revenues, he noted that their customer satisfaction rate rose 43% and that they were rated #1 in employee satisfaction. Simply put, a happy employee goes the extra mile to make customers happy. And a happy customer is much more likely to buy again than one that isn’t.

‘Nuff said. But if you want more, you can read the 5 page article.

Eight Things Good Bosses Do

A recent article over on the HBR blogs covered the “12 things that good bosses believe” which, while important, don’t necessarily help a new boss understand what she has to do to be a good boss. So, in this post, I’m going to tell you the eight things that good bosses do. In time, you’ll understand why and adopt the same beliefs, but when you’re new, sometimes actions have to come first. So, without further ado, here they are:

  • Human ShieldThey protect their people from intrusions, distractions, and idiocy of every stripe and shade.
  • EmpowerThey empower their people to make decisions and take charge, they don’t micro-manage every little detail.
  • Manage the MundaneThey do the distractive busy work and fire fighting that would keep their people from accomplishing their jobs.
  • Give Away the GloryNot only do they enable their people to win, but they credit their people with the win.
  • They ListenThey don’t assume they have all the answers. Moreover, they assume that the answers they do have come with an expiry date — an expiry date that activates as soon as a subordinate gives them a better answer.
  • They Accept MistakesThey know that sometimes their direct reports will make mistakes and use it as a learning opportunity to create a better employee.
  • They Take, and Encourage, Managed RisksThey know you can’t win big if you don’t take a risk once in a while.
  • They Make Decisions and Follow ThroughThey understand that their employees will come up with a number of approaches to solve a problem, some good, and some not so good, and that they will have to make the final decision. They do it with confidence, and, for better or worse, follow through and get it done. And if they make a mistake, they admit it, post-mortem it, and use it as a learning opportunity.

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Five Indications of Leadership Potential

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review on “the leaders we need now” noted that Generation X will produce executives who bring a distinctive sense of realism to the modern corporation as they possess skills and attitudes that are especially suited to today’s challenges which are both new and unpredictable. Traditional leadership skills — setting direction, having the answers, controlling performance, and running a tight ship — are less relevant in an environment of constant change. These days, leadership is about creating a context for innovation and inclusion in the face of ambiguity and the unexpected. And the leaders in Generation X can bring that to your company. But how do you identify them?

The article outlined five traits that tomorrow’s leaders will need to possess to succeed. Keep them in mind when scouting for your future talent:

  1. Desire to Increase Collaborative CapacityWhereas baby boomers were “organizational men”, generation X are “networked people” and want to build the strong, trusting, relationships that are essential for mobilizing intelligence.
  2. Insight to Ask Compelling QuestionsTomorrow’s leaders need to embrace participation in the search for answers.
  3. Embrace Complexity Oversimplifying challenges will no longer work — true leaders need to grapple openly with complex issues. Absolutes need to be rejected with the realization that there’s often no “right” answer.
  4. Focus on IdentityLeaders strive to create a corporate identify that ties everyone together.
  5. Appreciation of DiversityIn the global marketplace, a company will have to embrace diversity to succeed as each marketplace, and each consumer, is different. An organization will only be able to succeed if it is able to capture and integrate diverse perspectives from diverse individuals.

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Do You Make These Six Common Talent Management Mistakes?

It might be a “jobless recovery”, but the talent war is here as firms have to do more with less. Are you ready for it? Or are you making these six common talent management mistakes, as highlighted in a recent Harvard Business Review article on “How to Keep Your Top Talent”, that will cost your organization your top talent?

  1. Assuming that High Potentials are Highly Engaged
    • 12 in 60 (20%) believe that personal aspirations are not in line with organizational plans
    • 15 in 60 (25%) intend to leave your employ within the year
    • 20 in 60 (33%) admit to not giving 100%
    • 24 in 60 (40%) have little confidence in coworkers and even less confidence in the senior team

    Your high potentials have great expectations with respect to

    • personal goals,
    • corporate goals, and
    • the caliber of teammates and leadership.

    If the employee’s goals aren’t compatible with organizational goals, if the employee doesn’t believe that her goals can be realized, if the employee doesn’t see the same level of aspiration and commitment from her teammates and leaders, and doesn’t get challenged regularly, she’s probably not going to give 100% and is probably keeping her eyes open for a new opportunity if she’s not actively looking already.

  2. Equating Current High Performance with Future PotentialWhile a high performer is driven to maintain performance, chances are you’re expecting high performance in future roles that are more significant and challenging than your employee’s current role. More than 70% of top performers lack critical attributes necessary to succeed in more senior roles. Only a subset of your high performers have future potential, and they will need training to realize it.
  3. Delegating Down the Management of Top TalentWhile it’s true that line managers know their people best, it’s a bad idea to delegate management and training of true high potentials to line managers. These employees are your future and should be treated as a valuable long-term corporate asset. Top talent must be trained and groomed by senior managers if it is to grow into larger, more senior roles, within the organization.
  4. Shielding Risking Stars from Early DerailmentBy being too cautious and too focussed on success, emerging talent is never truly developed and tested. This puts the business at greater risk in the long term as it ends up with a sizeable cadre of middle managers who are unable to shoulder the demands of the company’s most challenging opportunities.
  5. Expecting Star Employees to Share the PainThe decision by a senior executive team to freeze or cut salaries and performance based compensation across the board may seem fair, but it erodes the engagement of the star performer. Under normal circumstances, a high potential will put 20% more effort than other employees in the same role — and in sales or cost savings roles, such as strategic sourcing, their contributions will tend to be significantly higher than the average employee. The reality is that, in tough times, it actually costs less to create meaningful differentiation in compensation than to slash across the board and risk losing key employees.
  6. Failing to Link Star Performers to Corporate StrategyA star’s confidence in her manager and her insight into the firm’s strategic capabilities is a key factor in her engagement. An organization that goes “radio silent” with respect to strategy runs the risk of alienating a rising star when she is needed most.

So how can you identify and properly manage top talent? Check out the “10 critical components” (subscription required) of a talent development program identified by the authors of the HBR article on “How to Keep Your Top Talent”.

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Are You Ready For Change?

Take this short 3-question quiz to find out!

1. Is Management Ready for Change?

Management must be ready and willing to demonstrate their commitment to change and keep their resolve through good times and bad. If the rank and file don’t see commitment, they will believe it’s just the fad of the month and ignore the effort as they expect it will be forgotten in a few months anyway when the next fad is announced.

2. Is Talent Ready to Step Up?

Management has to be ready, but the rank and file have to be willing and able to implement the change. If your employees aren’t committed, aren’t trained, and aren’t capable of implementing the change, you’ll be stuck at square one until they are.

3. Are You Ready to Communicate?

Regular and consistent communication is key to success. Efforts will need to be carefully coordinated, and this won’t happen without crystal clear communication. If you’re not ready to communicate, you’ll be stuck at square two indefinitely.

The reality, as clearly pointed out in “driving a turnaround in tumultuous times”, the case study on PolyOne Corporation that we will cover in our upcoming post on coming back from the brink to cash in the bank, if you can’t answer yes to these questions, you won’t have the basic building blocks for change and any change management initiative you undertake will just be a waste of time. Sorry, but that’s just how it is.

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