Best Practices for Assessment Selection

Companies are starting to depend on assessments to help acquire, develop, and promote the best talent.  Assessment instruments are one of the best tools to support your hiring and selection processes, people development initiatives including succession planning,  and helping to define you high potential candidate or future leader.

The challenges facing companies today include employee turnover, lack of employee engagement in the work environment, recruiting the right person for the right job, and retaining the future stars of tomorrow.   These are the major issues that affect the bottom line of any company today.

Most companies understand the various costs involved when a bad hire occurs.  It is estimated today that the cost of replacing a high achiever in any company is between three and four times the individual’s annual salary.  Your company’s investment spent on recruiting, development and retention can be a significant portion of your budget. 

Cost savings and outcomes more than justify the cost of an effective assessment process.  Here is how that assessment process can make it happen:

Communicate Clearly

As a leader, you enjoy the keen satisfaction of knowing you help others to achieve their goals while you reach your own goals. Effective communication binds all the individuals of this complex business relationships together and enables you, both as individuals and as a team, to achieve organizational goals. Several constructive attitudes form the foundation for successful communication:

▲ Good relationships. Getting along well with people is essential to effective leadership. Constructive communication – written or verbal – takes into account the principles of good human relationships. Respect and consideration for others, for example, are paramount to good human relationships. “Treat others as you would have them treat you” is a reliable guideline at all levels of human interaction. If you want others to listen to you, for example, you must listen to them. If you want to be treated courteously, you must exhibit courtesy.

▲ Mutual understanding. Achieving results through communication and persuasion requires mutual understanding. Understanding, in turn, requires a genuine effort to see things from the point of view of others. This empathetic effort earns the confidence of other people, paves the way for acceptance of your message, and increases the likelihood of a positive response.

6 Tips for Managers on Employee Relations

1.     Establish a Framework of Trust – it is imperative that the leadership exhibit behaviors and actions in the workplace that are consistent and fair.  It is important that you address their needs in a candid, reliable and consistent manner. 

2.     Clarify your Expectations – Define your expectations in a manner in which people can understand and be willing to compromise if found to be overzealous with your projections.  People know that they are being asked to do more with less but be reasonable in your expectations of them and they will be fair in their evaluation of you.

3.     Focus on your People’s Strengths – contrary to popular belief, the most valuable asset of your organization is not your people; it is the strengths of your people.  Making sure that the talents of your people are maximized to reach their potential in an integral component of a high achieving organization.

4.     Communication Channels must be Open – focus on all aspects of your communication including your non-verbal skills and make sure all your vehicles for communicating with the workforce reflect a positive yet realistic design for success.

5.     Use Delegation as a learning Experience – delegate the workload to the people that want to learn and develop.  Provide the instructions and demonstrate the skill-sets that will make them successful with the assignment and monitor their progress while being in a supportive role from start to finish.

6.     Invest in Development – People development should be the primary responsibility of anyone in a leadership role.  Managers must make sure that the work environment is conducive for growth and development.  An employee relation is helping people reach their potential enabling them to be satisfied with their career pathway.

At Innovative Leadership, we believe that the growth and development of people can make a difference with the success of your organization.  Click Here or Call 609.390.2830 for more information on our Training and Development Courses

Succession Planning, Why Bother?

by Richard Hohmann
Since I don’t have a enough time to plan on a daily basis, how would you ever expect me to plan my succession? With the economy going south and the real estate market at its lowest ebb in years, how can I ever retire and make sure the business continues demonstrating sustained growth? These questions may be going through your mind but it is certainly the time and the climate to make sure a succession plan is in place and is viable.

Most people wait too long before developing a succession plan, but most agree late is better than never. Many business owners feel that succession planning ends with an estate plan and enough life insurance in place to handle most situations. It is true that they need to be addressed but there is more to succession planning than insurance and estate taxes. There is no question that the tax liability placed on the business following the owner’s death may put the business in the ground with the owner. There may be the need to use the monies from the insurance policy to sustain the company during this transition period. It is best to work out the financial concerns before they happen. It is important that the methods to pay taxes, buy-out the deceased partner’s share, etc. are finalized before the event actually happens.

Let’s look at the intangibles. Things like good will, trust, and respect for the new management team must be established over time. Even if it is a family member or key employee that takes over the company, trust development takes time…and time is money. Clients will have concerns about receiving the same quality of service and attention. The best way to eliminate these concerns is to develop customer loyalty to the new regime before the person retires or becomes deceased. It is imperative that you transition in the new management team prior to the old guard riding off into the sunset. Take the time to introduce your clients to the next generation of ownership while exceeding their service expectations. A Win-Win combination!

It is imperative that the new management team or generation of ownership is ready to assume the role. Many newly anointed family members have no real business experience or have never experienced any other work environment and tend to be rather poor in “street smarts”. Many times we revert back to the “let’em sink or swim, no one taught me how to do it!” or “let them gain the experience through failure”. I guess we now know why most businesses don’t last past two generations.

Here are a few steps to help Succession Planning work for you:

1. Evaluate the stage that your business is currently in.
2. Evaluate the stage where the business needs to be to sustain the opportunity for the next generation
3. Evaluate the people in place to ensure sustained growth and development
4. Recruit and train the next generation in ownership
5. Select the leader for the company; don’t divide equally.
6. Prepare the company for the transition; communicate the plan
7. Design an implementation plan for succession and stick to the timeline

Succession planning is not an easy task. It is time consuming and needs the input from your most trusted advisors; your spouse, other family members, your lawyer, your accountant, your financial planner and your business consultant and maybe some others. It takes time and money to create an effective plan of succession but I guarantee you one thing, if you don’t, it will cost you and your loved ones a lot more.

Call me at 609.390.2830 for a complimentary consultation on the development of Your Succession Plan or click here to get started now!

Blended Learning - For Employees and Managers

What are the advantages of Blended Learning?

One of the most obvious advantages of blended learning is the ability to maximize effectiveness by matching the best medium for each learning objective or course segment. What’s the hard
evid­ence that a blen­ded learn­ing approach can deliver benefits? When Amer­ican Express
con­duc­ted a study of the ROI on dif­fer­ent types of train­ing for 2000 of their man­agers, they found that blen­ded learn­ing delivered a 12% increase in pro­ductiv­ity.

"The term blended learning is used to describe a solution that combines several different delivery methods, such as collaboration software, web-based courses, EPSS and knowledge management practices. Blended learning also is used to describe learning that mixes various event-based activities, including face-to-face classroom, live e-learning, and self-paced instruction." - Purnima Valiathan

Here are some of the ways learning can be blended:

1. Classroom - Good for workshops, coaching, exercises on activites and paper-based tests.
2. Self-Paced E-Learning - Good for simulations, online case studies, interactive learning modules, email
3. Live E-Learning -  Good for application exercises, online coaching, interaction between students, online feedback, assessment, chats and instant messaging (source: Blended Learning by Ron Kurtus)

The coupling of an effective Learning Management System with an application and action delivery system plus experience facilitation can really make a difference in almost every sized company.

Innovative is pleased to offer on of the most comprehensive Online Learning Training and E-Learning Programs for employees. Our partnership with leading producers of online training courses allow us to offer a low-cost e-learning solutions to small and mid-sized organizations. We’ll help you select the courses your employees need from our catalog of more than 7,000 high-quality courses. Click here to learn more.

How to Show Gratitude in the Workplace

Originally Found on GreatWorkplace.Wordpress.com

Does your organization have a culture of gratitude? Each day there are countless opportunities to show gratitude to others in the workplace. Supervisors, leaders, and coworkers can all help build a culture of gratitude by acknowledging the contributions of those around them in specific and genuine ways. Here are some ways to foster gratitude in the workplace:

1. Formal recognition programs are a common way employers build a culture of gratitude in the workplace. Formal annual, quarterly, monthly, or even weekly awards can help build a culture of recognizing the behaviors and results your organization seeks.
2. Having a method of peer recognition is important in developing appreciation among coworkers. Create a program or initiative that encourages peers to recognize and thank one another for their help.
3. On-the-spot rewards and recognition allow employees to be recognized at any time by supervisors, management, or even peers through some small reward, such as a gift card, ticket to local event, or other valued recognition. Spontaneous rewards and recognition can be welcome surprises for employees.

10 Management Tips from US Airways' Hub

by Ted Reed - Originally found on TheStreet

In a down economy, the US Airways(LCC_) hub in Charlotte has been an oasis of growth as well as a model of efficiency. For that, many credit a station manager who knows how to get the most from her employees.

Terri Pope, Charlotte station manager since 2000 and US Airways vice president for airport customer service, "knows how to get people to buy in," said Cinde Monsam, senior manager for station administration and one of Pope's four direct reports.

"What I learned from her and what she does better than anyone else is that she reads the needs of people, not just her employees but also her managers," said Monsam. "She knows when to push for an idea and when to back off, because she listens to people's voices. The loyalty she inspires by doing that is incredible."

Terri Pope

Recent growth has pushed US Airways' Charlotte departures to about 640 from about 400 in 2004, making Charlotte/Douglas the country's 11th biggest airport as well as the carrier's most profitable hub. US Airways employs 6,500 in Charlotte: Pope directly oversees 2,000 who work in the airport. Additionally, as the airline's highest ranking Charlotte official, she is the face of US Airways in Charlotte.

At a recent meeting, where US Airways Charlotte managers reviewed their 2010 performance, Pope concluded by saying that that a few years ago, she was not so proud of that role. The carrier underwent two bankruptcies and often ranked badly in on-time performance and other operational metrics. "We were looked upon perhaps not as highly as we should have been," Pope said.

But now, "When I walk into chamber meetings or corporate headquarters or any meeting, I just glow when someone asks me what I do," she said. And quickly, she credited her staff. "I can't tell you how much I respect you, for what you bring to this wonderful hub of ours." That's one insight into what makes Terri Pope a unique leader: she puts employees first. Here are her ten guidelines:

Beyond Performance - Leaders Get Results!

I really encourage everyone in a leadership role to read, "Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage" by Colin Price, Scott Keller. Their book focuses on organizational health, which they define as the ability of any organization to align, execute, and renew itself faster than your competitors can. According to the authors, as we work more and socialize less, our sense of meaning and identity is increasingly derived from the workplace. More and more people are looking for that sense of “belonging, which was originally defined by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need.

Job satisfaction in the US has dropped from 61% in 1987 to less than 45% in 2009. Productivity during the same period has increased more slowly than in any fifteen year period since 1950.

As our economies emerge from the recession, the ability to lead and manage organizations in a way that motivates employees to be more productive than ever is extremely important. In other words, the health of any organization must encompass all the human elements required to achieve sustainable success.

The process for organizational health is defined by the authors as the Five A’s;

Employee Engagement is Performance and Productivity

Managers have more impact on engagement then their companies.

In Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to be the Best…and Learn from the Worst by Robert Sutton, the author noted that about 75% of today's workforce reports that their immediate supervisor is the most stressful part of their job. It has also noted by several surveys including the initial work by Gallup that immediate supervisors have far more impact on engagement and productivity than whether their companies are rates as great or lousy places to work.

What is the biggest Leadership Obstacle to Middle Management?

I am starting to realize that the biggest obstacle to middle management is without question, senior management. Most managers today show a greater loyalty to their department while the loyalty and respect for senior management is waning. The result becomes a real disconnect between upper and middle management. This disconnect is directly related to employee engagement.

Upper management is responsible for providing the direction of the company. This strategic responsibility is quite a task but senior management expects total commitment to the vision, mission, and strategic business objectives from their middle management and all employees and it is unreal. This lack of commitment is demonstrated in most employee surveys or employee engagement data. It is well documented that the American worker tends to trust their immediate supervisor as opposed to the company’s senior leaders.

How to Provide Direction to Middle Management:

1. Senior officers, you need get out of your office and be with your day to day decision makers - In a previous article, I noted that observation and open discussion with managers and staff are competencies or skills that senior managers tend to avoid. Senior management must eliminate the lack of trust and to do that they must inspire their management team and staff to believe in the direction, etc. Getting buy in from your middle management team is imperative for sustained growth.
2. Mentor middle management - The middle managers must feel appreciated and the best way to do that is to be mentored by a senior manager, which moves the mid-level manger toward the strategy side of the equation. The middle management of any organization must comprehend the business strategy for them to be able translate the direction that is easily understood by the entire work force. If this cascading flow of communication gets interrupted, then it becomes impossible for anyone within any organization to connect the dots resulting in employee disengagement.
3. Develop middle management - It is well documented what skills and competencies are needed for managers to be high achievers; but when I talk to most middle managers, they tell me that they have had little or no formal training. We are entrusting the success of our companies to people who do not know what it takes to provide positive feedback, cascading communication channels, an engaging work environment and everything else it takes to make a successful company. We assume that exemplary performance at a lower level or specific role will automatically make them highly productive managers.

I hate to tell you but leaders and great managers are made not born. In most employee surveys and/or engagement data, we find that most concerns of employees focus on their immediate supervisor not doing what they should be doing….communicating the business strategy while translating it to define the full value of everyone’s role, responsibility, and actions needed to create a successful company.

With the rapid departing of the baby boomers and disengagement still hovering around 30 percent, isn’t it time to focus on developing your future leaders. This leadership must be developed in the middle of the company and mentored upward so that the strategy and implantation will always do exactly what it is intended to do……bring the desired results.

Now is the time for senior management to act and gain success in their company through developing their management and then the middle management’s individual productivity results in organizational effectiveness. It’s not magic but it is a necessity.

Article written by Richard J. Hohmann Jr., Lead Coach for Innovative Leadership, a strategic partner with Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni, & Kelly, PC, and also a member of the Collaboration Team for Leadership Management International. Richard can also speak at your next organization’s meeting, to invite him to speak call 609-390-2830. For Management Training Solutions click here: http://www.innovativeleadershipdv.com/training_overview.asp

How to Assess What Training Your Employees Need

This training needs assessment works best in small to mid-sized organizations. It will give you a quick assessment of the training needs of an employee group. It helps find common training needs for a group of employees.

Difficulty: Average Time Required: Approximately 1-2 hours

Here's How:

1. Gather all employees who have the same job in a conference room with a white board or flip charts and markers.
2. Before the meeting ask each employee to write down their ten most important training needs. Write specifics, like disciplining an employee when late or communication with other management.
3. Then during the meeting, ask each person to list their ten training needs. As they list the training needs, you capture the needs on the white board or flip chart. Make a tick mark when there is a duplicate need, some may seem a little different, but may be the same underneath the surface.
4. When all training needs have been listed, use a weighted voting process to prioritize the training needs across the group. In a weighted voting process, you use sticky dots or numbers written in magic marker to vote on and prioritize the list of training needs. Assign a large dot 25 points and smaller dots five points each. Distribute as many dots as you like. Tell needs assessment participants to place their dots on the chart to vote on their priorities.
5. List the training needs in order of importance, with the number of points assigned as votes determining priority, as determined by the sticky dot voting process. Make sure you have notes (best taken by someone on their laptop while the process is underway) or the flip chart pages to maintain a record of the training needs assessment session.
6. Take time, or schedule another session, to brainstorm the needed outcomes or goals from the first 3-5 training sessions identified in the needs assessment process. This will help as you seek and schedule training to meet the employees' needs.

Note the number one or two needs of each employee, that may not have become the priorities for the group. Try to build that training opportunity into the employee's performance development plan.

Tips: Training Needs Assessment can be, and often needs to be, much more complicated than this. But, this is a terrific process for a simple training needs assessment.
Make sure you keep the commitments generated by the training needs assessment process. Employees will expect to receive their key identified training needs met.

To discuss your employees needs call Innovative Leadership at 609-390-2830 or email us at info@innovativeleadershipdv.com

Management and Leadership Training Sales Training Performance Coaching

The Process for Employee Alignment and Achievement

Here are ten steps to take today and in the future to align your employees so they will positively effect your bottom line while achieving their goals.

1. Separate the strategic and tactical thinking processes

2. Define the business strategy in all areas of the business (Revenue, Operations, Personnel, and Financial)

3. Make everyone aware of the business strategy and plant the seed that will allow them to achieve those goals

4. Make sure clarity of the business strategy is established for all

5. Break the Strategic Business Plan down into goals by business unit, division and/or department (Eat the Elephant in small bites)

6. Develop a goal-orientation culture within the company

7. Formulate specific, time sensitive, prioritized goals that provide each employee with a clear sight to the strategy, department goals, and reflect upon their own roles and responsibilities.

8. Let the employee develop the metrics and reporting structure that will continue to provide clarity and measure achievement

9. Set process meetings to determine your success or failure with opportunity to recommend changes demonstrating their value in the process

10. Be satisfied that the overall business strategy must be changed to reflect the highly competitive and volatile marketplace.

Achieve Greatness - Each Employee has a Major Impact on the Bottom Line

Today I visited several companies of various sizes in a variety of industries and I would like to tell you that it is not a very bright picture for Strategically-Oriented Human Resource Professionals. The majority of executives continue to have an “accountant” attitude toward business. . .cut costs. . .cut expenses. . .cut people. . .more cuts.

I even heard of one CFO that feels people development is a waste of time and doesn’t have any understanding of the ramifications of almost 65% of his management team is retiring in less than 24 months! Forget succession planning; let’s just go with massive hiring and selection without talent development. Other HR Professionals that I visited today are now back to only performing a variety of administrative duties and no longer have a budget for people development or anything else for that matter. On my next to my last call, I visited with an HR professional whose executive management team anointed her the saver of the company. She was told that they wanted her to be part of the executive leadership team in the development of a new management team that would take the company to the next level. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to sit and listen to her plans and ideas for accomplishing her goal.

Upon arriving home, I became I read on an article titled, "Alignment Drives Employee Engagement and Productivity" available from Taleo Research. It points out that the HR role is key in driving the process and selecting the tools needed to achieve alignment. It also demonstrates that statistically most managers do not see HR as being up to the task. In the majority of companies I visited today, their managers felt that way as well.

The fact of the matter is HR cannot execute the strategy without the commitment of the front line managers. Most HR professionals would also agree that aligning talent to business, providing current job roles and responsibilities, and measuring performance creates an environment where the employee’s passion for the business can grow and drive the overall performance of their company.

Isn’t it time for the executives and cave dwellers to wake up? Numerous studies have proven that goal alignment and engagement improve productivity and company performance. When your employee is engaged, and aligned, each employee can have a major impact on the bottom line of a business.

Engagement improves productivity, creates top performers, and improves employee retention while alignment ties the business strategy to personal goals, improves engagement and promotes achievement. But we must be forward thinkers and align the two; it provides focus and a clear line of sight for all involved while decreasing lost productivity and increases revenue per employee. The impact of all of this lies in productivity and process improvement, risk reduction and organizational impacts.

So what’s left for us to do; train the management and employees to be better goal setters? It is believed that only 15% of all employees really think that their goals will help them achieve great things. An employee achieving great things will impact the bottom line and insure that the company is achieving great things. Your front line managers define the culture for achievement and the employee demonstrates that a results-oriented company will achieve greatness.

Funding Cutbacks Curb Achievement

Some of the new barometers for Training and Development in 2010 are starting to show signs of improvement. It sounds like we can expect to see old times again for training and development shortly. But I still feel that businesses sense the pressure of the economy. In my travels, I have not heard that many companies have opened up their training budgets. The economy certainly plays a major part of the decision making process to fund employee training. Most companies have reduced their workforce while also reducing or eliminating resources that provide learning opportunities like meetings, courses, etc.

Funding these programs and realizing the fact that training and development can often makes the difference between companies who are the industry leaders and others who are on a lower tier of success.

What has all this reduction in training and learning opportunities done for your workforce? The 2009-2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey reported that employee engagement levels for key personnel dropped almost 25% as a result of restructuring, and employee benefit cutbacks, including professional development and training, indicating a significant slump in employee morale and productivity!

In most of the companies, a reduction in the workforce usually elevates the workload of the remaining staff while adding stress and frustration to those having to put in the extra time. Companies are put in position where they must start focusing on their key employees and start developing a Talent Management process that will enable them to retain their top producers and hopefully develop their high potentials. It certainly is a vicious cycle that creates a revolving door to top talent when the economy comes back.

Are you prepared for the exodus?

Leadership in business today needs to focus on their current staff and analyze their talent needs for the future. Funding for training compared to losing a key employee to the competition is nominal. The same is true compared to losing a high potential staff member that will be needed in the future. It is important that companies realize that people are applying for a position that leads to a better future and they feel it is the company’s responsibility to provide the opportunity for a career. Talent management is key to the future of all businesses and the funding for people development should never take a backseat to anything else.


Richard Hohmann
Senior Consultant
Innovative Leadership Business Consultation
Phone: 609.390.2830
E-mail: rhohmann@innovativeleadershipdv.com
Website: www.ILDV.org

Reinforce Teamwork with Performance Appraisals

Why should workers strive to help their teams succeed then their performance appraisals - and salary increases - focus on individual achievement? If your company uses team performance rather than individual performance, your appraisals must reflect those objectives.

Make sure to follow these pointers:
- Set both individual and team goals - Work with employees to get two sets of goals - one addressing individual performance issues and the other addressing team performance. For example, you may want employees to take the initiative in their individual duties rather than over relying on you for guidance. But when they're operating as part of a team, they need to work cooperatively with other team members rather than striking out on their own. Make clear that difference roles have different expectations and it's important for workers to adapt well to each situation.
- Link pay to team performance - How important is a given work team's activity to the overall performance of your department? Does it account for 20 or 50 percent of your workload? Determine what weight should be given to team activities, then rework pay and bonus structures to reflect those percentages. If 50% of an employee's time is spent acting as part of a work team, then 50% of the employee's compensation should be tied to the team's performance.

10 Business reSolutions for 2010

1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis for 2009 and analyze your sales, operations, people, and financial commitments.
2. Conduct a Customer Satisfaction Survey to define benchmarks in your core competencies
3. Develop a Strategic or Business Plan for 2010.
4. Meet quarterly with your professional advisors (Accounting, Legal, Business Consultant, Financial Planner, etc.) to review progress and determine action plans.
5. Focus your energies on your talented people
6. Complete a course or take a workshop for self-improvement and/or business development
7. Focus on your strengths, the strengths of your people, and your processes.
8. Prioritize your tasks and make sure others do as well.
9. Remember that time management is personal management.
10. Celebrate success; offer praise and recognition to your top producers.

By Richard Hohmann, VP of Innovative Leadership
Business Consulting - Leadership/Management Development, Strategic Planning and more

10 HR Resolutions for 2010

1. Conduct an HR Self-Audit on your department.
2. Create a Leadership Development Strategy
3. Build better relationships with other departments
4. Establish and evaluate your Training Programs in regard to Level (Kirkpatrick) achieved.
5. Revitalize your Employee Orientation Program (Onboarding)
6. Focus on retaining great employees
7. Become more goal and strategic-oriented
8. Start using metrics to demonstrate the improvement in the profitability resulting from your department.
9. Conduct Organizational Needs and Employee Satisfaction Surveys to define baselines and benchmarks
10. Make sure your compensation plan compliments your performance management process

By Richard Hohmann, VP of Innovative Leadership
HR Services by Innovative Leadership

10 Management reSOLUTIONS for 2010

1. Make sure the business strategy is understood and clear to all employees
2. Make sure the employees understand how their value and job roles contribute to the overall success of the business
3. Improve your communication with employees
4. Help people reach their potential through coaching and/or mentoring
5. Make sure you are consistent in your message and actions
6. Focus yourself and all the employees on the “High Payoff Activities”
7. Become more goal and results-oriented
8. Understand that you are responsible for employee engagement.
9. Focus your energies on people development and career enhancement
10. Understand that the tools of accountability (data, metrics, analysis, assessments, and performance evaluations) are neutral and need to become the tools that high achievers use to understand and improve performance.

By Richard Hohmann, VP of Innovative Leadership
Making of an Effective Manager Course 2010

Critical Business Success Factor

Many experts feel that even though every company is different, it is important for each to develop a succession plan that includes hiring from within, conducting a developmental opportunity or audition, providing a defined plan with time lines for anyone to assume a leadership responsibility, and disclosing the process or succession plan to the shareholders.

Most succession plans do not take into consideration that different environments require different leadership competencies or skills. So, if we narrow our development process than we may never have the right person ready to assume the leadership role in any company. Companies need to consider what most professional sports teams do as a major component for success and that is a strong bench. Most championship teams, whether it be in basketball, baseball, or even football have a great bench or understudy for their key positions. Companies, like professional sports teams, must have a strong bench of candidates who can lead or “step up to the plate” under a variety of scenarios.

Many companies use different forms of people development processes. Some companies call them Leadership Academies or Institutes, and/or High Potential Candidate Schools. Despite the different names, the end result is the same: development of people toward a higher level. As a business owner, you need to provide a constant flow of internal talent but you also must be aware that when people don’t get the higher position, they do have a tendency to leave the organization so the funnel better continue to be adequately filled at all times.

It is also important for companies to deliver some kind of transparency to their shareholders, customers, and internal personnel. The ideal succession plan should minimize uncertainty, which is not a bad thing in this economic climate, and continue to promote the “real” culture of the company. The depth of the company’s disclosure should be predicated by the need at the time and situational circumstances.

Also, many experts believe that the succession plan must take into consideration the corporate culture to the extent that every company should have a corporate culture that transcends the exit of any leader or person. Most companies do not really know what they smell, taste, and feel like to their internal and external customers. The best way to determine the current culture and the culture employees want is to conduct an Organizational Needs Inventory (ONI) assessment but most companies don’t do them.

So, succession planning is just a more formalized name that can be defined as a process to help companies develop their people to meet their future needs.It certainly sounds like it is time for a Leadership Program! Let's get started!

Let It Be...Let It Be

Let it Be was in fact the last Beatles album released in 1970 and the song was written by Paul McCartney which was inspired by his mother. I read a recent article that authored by Michael O’Brien titled, “Tardiness is on the Rise” and was published online by LRP Publications.

That exact song title came to me immediately upon starting to read the article, but as I continued to read on, the content contained in the article got my juices flowing.

It was noted in an earlier survey that more than 1 in 5 workers say they arrive late to work at least once a week and another 10% say they are late at least twice a week.

Some people believe that the rise in tardiness is directly related to the economic times and is more of an employee defense mechanism. People are now relating tardiness to specific behavioral patterns normally associated with procrastination. Behavioral change is possible and can be accomplished in good or bad economic times.

Other experts think the reason for tardiness has more to do with demographics as opposed to individual behavioral styles and the climate of the economy. Billy G. Blair, President and CEO of Change Strategists, Inc., a Los Angeles-based consultancy, and author of All the Moving Parts: Organizational Change Management says that the increase in lateness may correspond to an increase in the number of “millennials” in the workplace. She also says the “factory model” of being in a certain place at a certain time and predetermined duration is outdated. The “factory model” may be outdated but in many businesses today, coverage remains an important responsibility for the worker. Flex-time may help support the needs of the employer and the worker but random flex-time rarely provides a viable resolution for both.

Wake up! Work does not necessarily begin wherever you are, and the customer is not always available at the times you would like them to be. It just might be that in some workplaces today, consistency is more important than flexibility. Focus your culture on the customer, not the millennial. Oh, well, I guess I should Let it Be!

Article written by Richard J. Hohmann Jr., SeniorInnovative Leadership, a performance improvement company that integrates business consultation, training and development, and coaching with Leadership and Strategic/Forward Thinking to enhance organizational effectiveness and people development. Richard is a member of the Collaboration Team for Leadership Management International and a strategic partner with the accounting firm of Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni, & Kelly, PC. For more information visit www.ILDV.org. Business and Management Consultant for