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Archive for the ‘Training and development’ Category
Finding top talent for your business may be a matter of looking more closely at who’s working for you now. Why do so many companies fail to do this?
Routines and established habits of working together can lock in anyone’s perceptions, can’t they? But moving forward into tomorrow is all about questioning current perceptions, taking things apart and putting them together again in new ways. Why not try this with your employee talent pool as well?
For example, Anita is your talented IT project manager. She’s an ace at keeping projects on track and meeting deadlines. That’s what you see and know about her talents. Maybe what you don’t see is that she’s burning out on the project management front, and feeling like she’s overdue for a career change. A little in-depth exploration may reveal that much of her success is due to the fact she has great talents in persuading, developing, and reading people – skills that may be just what you are seeking for that new HR/Recruiting position you are thinking about creating.
Organizations often miss the opportunity in front of them to reevaluate their own employees’ talents on a regular basis, and discover talents already within their ranks. Performance reviews are usually based on today’s job performance, not necessarily on what the employee is capable of performing in the future.
By reassessing your current employees’ talents, you may find you also create new energy throughout your organization. Who wouldn’t want that?
For example, you may find out that Mark doesn’t really have any inherent talent for one of the major tasks in his (overloaded) marketing job description: writing company blog entries. He hates that part of his job, but he’s not complaining because it’s a tight job market these days! However, you discover that Lauren’s talent assesses high in creativity, and she loves to write. So you move that task out of Mark’s job (for which he’s delighted and more productive in his other tasks) and offer it to Lauren (which reignites her, too). Now they’re both reenergized through engaging more of their individual strengths at work.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Consider that you may already have the talents you seek. Consider assessing your employees’ talents and viewing them in a new light for further opportunities and possibilities.
We encourage your participation and comments.
Author: Hiring by Design™– copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
The up and coming “Y” Generation, often referred to as Nexters, comprises a powerhouse of creativity for the workplace. It will pay to learn how to leverage the Nexters’ expansive talents for recharging the world economy – but you may have to adopt some new steps for your own work style routines.
Gen Y – do you work with members of this youthful segment of our population born between 1977-1990? Or are you one of them yourself? Either way, there is a definite need in our workplace today for exceptional talent and there is a LOT of talent to be tapped from the Nexters! Just contemplate a few of their key generational values, how they can energize an organization, and ask yourself how you can facilitate their success to benefit everyone:
NON-TRADITIONALISM. It hasn’t been done that way before? No problem for a Nexter. They move readily beyond tradition, questioning why something new hasn’t been tried before. They may have the right answers – but are you listening?
COLLABORATION. Teamwork is important to Nexters, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of their need for individuality, variety, and a fast pace. Nexters move more quickly than most and don’t like being slowed down. Are you mistaking their fast pace as a signal they don’t want to be part of the team?
INDEPENDENCE. One way Nexters demonstrate this value is through their adeptness with technology. Give them a problem to solve, and they seek alternatives everywhere, at the speed of light! They relish challenges. Are you giving them enough challenges to address independently?
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. This generation has developed a keen sense of the consequences of corporate and governmental policies. Listening to their viewpoints on these subjects is important to them, and to your organization because of the undeniable power of social media (the Nexters’ domain) to influence the world. Are you soliciting their viewpoints regularly?
Leveraging the Nexters’ talents will provide a major source of innovation and energy in the international workplace now and in the years ahead. Ignoring them – or worse, misinterpreting their strengths – could lower your organization’s performance.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Discuss this article with your management team. How is your organization working with the generation mix in your workforce – Nexters in particular? Where can you increase your success?
We encourage your participation and comments.
Author: Hiring by Design™– copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Signs of optimism are beginning to appear more regularly in our economy. Though we hear the words “slow but steady” in the news, the slight upturn opens the potential for a fresh, new perspective on the subject of talent. Are you planning for a talented recovery yet?
Your organization may have been one of many who released a fair amount of talent from your ranks in order to survive the economic downturn. The employees still at work often are under extreme pressure to perform multiple jobs. Signs of fatigue and disengagement are being reported in survey after survey. One of the latest claims only 52% of employees are satisfied with their jobs and the remainder are not happy at work (Sibson Consulting). This indicates a major adverse effect on employee engagement, which Sibson Consulting defines as: employees knowing what to do and wanting to do it.
But look – the road to economic recovery we’ve been impatiently seeking is starting to take shape on the horizon. What if, in a few months, we are verifiably traveling on that road at a steady speed? Imagine what your organization will need to prepare in order to pick up momentum and accelerate into the future. One item that immediately comes to mind is an engaged workforce – people who know what to do in order to attain organizational success, and are eager to do it.
If the economy were to accelerate rapidly in the next few months, how would your current workforce be able to handle the increased business? Perhaps now is the time to plan your acceleration. Where to start? Begin by assessing your current talent pool’s rate of engagement and identify the gaps that need to be filled in order to support expansion. What other resources, systems, equipment, etc., would you require to dash across the start line?
EXECUTIVE TIP: Review these ideaswith your management team. Begin planning your “talented recovery” and get ahead of the curve.
We encourage your participation and comments.
Author: Hiring by Design™– copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Not much can beat the excitement of the first day on a new job! While new employees’ enthusiasm is usually high in the first week, the tone of the next several weeks is critical to securing their long term personal commitment to your company. Wait a minute, though – did you complete a quality PRE-BOARDING process? If not, you may lose your new hire at the next bus stop.
Hiring a new employee has always been an important decision, and the current slowdown in 2010’s economy makes it even more important today. Budget boundaries, business forecasts, growth opportunities, and the need for top talent all must come together in the right combination. When the result is a job opening, it draws applicants like bees to honey. After the new seat is filled, both the company and the chosen candidate are excited to begin the onboarding process for successful integration.
Sometimes, though, it’s already too late. That’s usually when an organization has not adequately planned for success BEFORE hiring. In that case, disconnects will be discovered during the crucial onboarding process, and the new hire may not retain his/her motivation to perform.
There is a lot of talk about “onboarding” new employees, and there is no doubt that it is a key strategy for hiring success. But I believe there is a strong case for “pre-boarding” as well. My definition of pre-boarding includes careful preparation and coordination before and during the hiring process. In short, EVERYONE involved in the hiring process needs to be traveling the same route on the bus and giving the new hire the same directions. Pre-boarding means everyone who has contact with the final candidate relays a coordinated view of the job so there are no disconnects afterwards. This is accomplished through assuring common clarity. Each interviewer must have the same directions about job expectations, job description, reporting structure, team connections, coaching and mentoring support, company culture, and a mutual understanding of the subsequent onboarding plan. When quality pre-boarding is achieved, chances of keeping the new hire motivated throughout the onboading process, and beyond, are much higher.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Review how well your organization performs throughout the entire new hire process – from pre-boarding to onboarding. Where can you increase your success?
We encourage your participation and comments.
Hiring by Design™ copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this blog to your friends and colleagues and to come back often.
Get the latest tips, strategies and best practices in recruiting and hiring top talent, retention, leadership, executive coaching, management and other areas critical to your success. Get all this in our FREE monthly publication.
Mentors within your organization have the power to develop or demoralize your talented employees. “Masterful” mentoring is not automatic – it needs planning and skills development.
Mentoring is an interpersonal process through which information and knowledge regarding successful workplace performance are exchanged, usually from an experienced employee (often a manager) to another employee with high potential. The important objective is personal and professional development of the organization’s talent base.
Some people are naturally good at mentoring, but most people need at least some instruction on how to do it. Simple approaches such as “Follow me around – I’ll show you how it’s done,” or, “I’ll tell you step-by-step how to do this job,” are less than effective, and may achieve the opposite objective – demoralization!
Setting expectations and preparing your internal champions for mentoring high potential employees is crucial. Here are some ideas with which to begin:
Define precisely what you want to achieve through an internal mentoring program, and determine how to measure it. Review the results and report on them at regular intervals so your mentoring program maintains its focus and importance throughout the organization. Word spreads fast when programs derail.
Select qualified mentors who demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills. If they have poor skills in these areas, consider offering them coaching before, during and after their mentoring assignments.
Offer orientation sessions for mentors to clarify the mentoring process, and how it differs from “managing” and “coaching.” Consider including exercises, questions and answers, a role play, a quiz and a mentoring handbook.
Build in regular feedback sessions for mentees (those employees receiving the mentoring) to discuss progress with someone other than their mentor. Address any issues promptly.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Review your mentoring program’s effectiveness to date. This important process is a key to building the strength of your talent base. It needs a powerful internal advocate to plan and support its ongoing success.
Hiring by Design™ copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this blog to your friends and colleagues and to come back often.
Get the latest tips, strategies and best practices in recruiting and hiring top talent, retention, leadership, executive coaching, management and other areas critical to your success. Get all this in our FREE monthly publication.
Your “A” players – your top performing employees – are the mainstay of an organization’s success, and retaining their loyalty is a real priority.
Work ethics and attitudes have changed, giving the most talented employees more power and more choices than ever. Because of this, dissatisfied employee defections to a competing company can result in big financial losses for the organization in terms of lost sales, production, and contacts.
Surprisingly, the main reason top talent leaves one company to work for another is not always because of salary dissatisfaction. Current studies reveal it is often because some aspect of what attracted them to your company initially deteriorated to the point that whatever the new company offers them seems more attractive! And you won’t know it until they’re gone – unless you stay connected.
Problems can be addressed by managers on the lookout for problems large or small. Things that may appear trivial to others, such as conflicting working styles, can cause major breakdowns in communication and result in job dissatisfaction on all sides. When conflicts are left unaddressed to heal on their own, the result may well be unwanted letters of resignation. People’s feelings about such matters, large or small, simply cannot be ignored without consequences.
The rules have changed from yesteryear when employees remained committed to their jobs for a lifetime, and resigned to putting up with daily irritations. Today’s management teams should be vigilant in spotting and resolving dissatisfaction in the workplace before it pushes “A” players out of the game.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Explore ways your organization can promote a culture of teamwork, respect, individual recognition, and a continuous loop of valuable employee feedback.
We encourage your participation and comments.
Hiring by Design™ copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this blog to your friends and colleagues and to come back often.
Get the latest tips, strategies and best practices in recruiting and hiring top talent, retention, leadership, executive coaching, management and other areas critical to your success. Get all this in our FREE monthly publication.
Success in today’s work environment depends largely on talented people who are willing to propose creative ideas and take risks. Encouraging and rewarding personal accountability increases their motivation.
Due to the speed with which our workplace continues to change, “Follow the leader!” has taken a back seat to “Try something new!” Dictatorial leadership and micro-management are being shunned by talented people who view multiple career moves as a normal part of working life. Top talent now produces results for leaders who recognize them for their valuable creativity, listen seriously to their suggestions, and hold them personally accountable for results.
More and more people accomplish their jobs through networked teams, creative collaboration, flexible work arrangements, outsourcing contracts, and a “results only” focus – all of which emphasize the prized talent of personal accountability.
A culture of personal accountability instills energy and individual commitment into an organization through valuing top performance. The message is, “YOU matter, and YOU determine your organization’s success. Give us your best effort!” Organizations can encourage a culture of personal accountability in many ways, for example through:
Hiring people who have demonstrated a high level of personal accountability elsewhere. You can achieve this through a combination of effective talent assessments, reference checking, and behavioral interviewing.
Getting to know your people’s unique personal strengths and talents. These are the best indicators of what they will most naturally be personally accountable for achieving. Regularly seeking input, suggestions and commitment from your key people. People who play a role in formulating plans are more committed to achieving the results.
Giving feedback, recognition, and rewards to people who achieve successes. Timely recognition fuels increased personal accountability.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Review how your organization can maximize its culture of personal accountability, creativity, and risk taking to enhance retention of top talent and promote continued success.
We encourage your participation and comments.
Hiring by Design™ copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this blog to your friends and colleagues and to come back often.
Get the latest tips, strategies and best practices in recruiting and hiring top talent, retention, leadership, executive coaching, management and other areas critical to your success. Get all this in our FREE monthly publication.
The coaches in your organization take your lead in representing and driving your business culture throughout your talent pool. Are you keeping them informed and accountable?
Corporate coaching, whether delivered by internal or external coaches, is well established as a valuable tool in accelerating talent. But what many leaders overlook is the power of corporate coaching to convey leadership messages that shape and drive business culture. In times of rapid and continuous change, all effective resources that integrate and guide your business forward must be leveraged – including coaches.
Coaches specialize in improving your top talent’s managerial performance and dramatically sharpen natural talents and abilities. They also act as a conduit of your organization’s leadership messages. The combination of credibility and support a coach offers directly to your employees can be highly influential in motivating people to understand, internalize and act on current leadership initiatives.
It is the coach’s job to insure that your talented employees fully understand how the success of your organization is achieved through their unique contributions, and how that success can be maximized. Coaches are also very skilled at discovering the common ties between what the organization AND the individual employees want to achieve. This is why it is essential that leaders begin to leverage the work their coaches can do for them throughout their organization by aligning talented employees with key initiatives.
EXECUTIVE TIP: Assure your organization’s coaches are current with your leadership messages and consistently incorporate them into their work.
We encourage your participation and comments.
Hiring by Design™ copyright protected worldwide. All rights reserved.
Please feel free to forward this blog to your friends and colleagues and to come back often.
Get the latest tips, strategies and best practices in leadership, executive coaching, management, recruiting, hiring top talent, retention and other areas critical to your success. Get all this in our FREE monthly publication.
