Coaching - The Most Overlooked Employee Benefit

Companies are saying that executive coaching has become their secret weapon when it comes to acquiring talent. BMW of Canada recently introduced a program that included the hiring of coaches to incorporate training into a leadership – development program.

Coaching can certainly compliment leadership training in any organization and it can be a needed incentive to elevate performance and provide a competitive edge by providing another perk or reason to join. In my experience, I have found Coaching to be a key component to retaining a good to great manager or leader. Coaches can be the link between personal direction and work/life balance while expanding the communication link between the business strategy and the employee by promoting good leadership skills.

SUPREME COURT DECISION FAVORS TESTING

By Richard Hohmann Redeem 2 Free Assessments from Innovative Leadership

On Monday June 29, 2009, The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruling favored white and Hispanic fire fighters advancing the case for validated testing and assessments in the workplace in America.

In 2003 Lt. Ben Vargas was one of 56 New Haven, Conn. Fireman who passed the test for promotion to Captain of whom 15 were black or Hispanic. When the city discovered that only two out of the 56 were likely to be immediately promoted (due to lack of job openings) the city threw out the test for fear of being sued by minority candidates who might allege discrimination.

However, 17 white firefighters plus Vargas (a total of 18 firefighters) filed suit against the city for throwing out the test. The Supreme Court has now ruled in behalf of the 18 who filed suit against the city for throwing out the test . This ruling delivered the message that rejecting employment test results because of the lack of minority candidates eligible for promotion violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority, “Fear of Litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”

The 18 plaintiffs in the case studied intensively for the test, giving up second jobs and missing family celebrations. The lead plaintiff, Frank Ricci was dyslexic and had studied 8 to 13 hours a day, and had hired an acquaintance to tape-record the study materials for him.

In the case before the court, Ricci v. Stephano, No. 07-1428, the majority said there is no evidence, let alone strong evidence, of any problem with the tests. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has in reality sent a variety of messages to employers in both the public and private sector:

When using a validated job related test that has proven to be nonbiased by race and sex
that test or assessment may legally discriminate against minority groups who do not have the qualifications for the job. In this case black fireman who took the test failed to learn the necessary material to pass the test.

Would we allow Doctors to practice medicine who do not pass the medical exam? Lawyers who don’t pass the bar exam to practice law? or CPA’s who haven’t passed the CPA exam to offer their services as a CPA---Obviously the answer “NO”. Employers have the right to require people to be qualified for the jobs they are hiring them for or promoting them into and the Supreme Court has just upheld that right.

In this case the Supreme Court sent a clear message that being in a minority group who failed a validated job related test is not an acceptable basis to file a discrimination complaint.

The Supreme Court Decision further sent a message to employers that job related validated tests and assessments are usable and defensible in both the hiring and promotional processes and are clearly some of the most validateable parts of an employers hiring or promotional process as a result of the clear cut rules established for validation in the Uniform Employment Guidelines published in the Federal Register in 1979.

This Supreme Court Decision is a job win for companies like Innovative Leadership and its Achiever Series of Assessment Instruments. (www.ILDV.org), The Achiever Series are job related assessments that has been repeatedly proven to be validated and nondiscriminatory by race, color or sex which does identify individuals who do not fit the requirements of the job. The Achiever is now America’s premier job-related assessment instrument for use in both applicant selection and people development processes. There as never been an adverse finding, or settlement out of court, against any employer for its usage. Information on the validation of the Achiever and validation of tests and assessments in general and their optimum usage is available at www.whytest.biz.

Please call for more information on America’s Premier Assessment Instruments distributed by Innovative Leadership at 609.390.2830 or contact us here: http://www.innovativeleadershipdv.com/contact.asp

Richard Hohmann is the senior consultant/Vice President for Innovative Leadership of the Delaware Valley, LLC. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has over thirty years of Leadership and Management Development experience. His focus is on the effectiveness of the organization and the development of their people to enhance performance and improve productivity. He teaches managers and leaders to know what it takes to be successful and then uses a defined plan to teach them how to do it until they succeed. He has written numerous articles for national publications and speaks at many association meetings nationwide. He is very involved with his community organizations and professional affiliations.

Flight of the High Performer

It is estimated that 47 percent of high performing employees are actively looking for new jobs while just 19 percent of low performers and only 25 percent of middle performers said they were looking.[1]

Failing to take action against the potential loss of talent poses significant risks to companies. When your best people leave, it has been demonstrated that revenue drops, quality suffers, and problems increase.

Recommended Solutions:

• Implement a Career or Professional Development Process including Assessments to demonstrate areas of improvement or interests

• Implement Leadership Modeling or Leadership Training Processes that demonstrate the company’s interest and commitment to the growth and development of the high potential

• Implement a communication vehicle or forum for personal development and presentation of innovation

• Cross train in areas of interest as opposed to their current role and responsibility

What other suggestions would you have for solutions?

_____________________________________________

[1]Flight of the High Performers, Risk & Insurance (10/08) Vol 19, No. 12, P.32 Michael O’brien

Why. . .Why. . .Why? The Need to Understand.

By Richard Hohmann

At the most basic level of alignment, companies must make sure that employees understand how the company makes money. Employees need to understand the basic financial facts about not only how the company makes money but how revenue drives profitability, and how cash flow can inhibit growth or how cost reduction can impact success.

Since mid-level managers are the ones left holding the bag in terms of communicating with the workforce and we better make sure that our managers have a high level of business acumen so that the employees can have confidence that the decision making process is based on something more than a gut feeling. Understanding the financial thread that ties everything together in the company better not only be understood but communicated to the employee. The engaged employee wants to know why. Why did we decide to do that, why did we layoff people in our most productive department, why aren’t we advertising in the Wall Street Journal? People want to understand and the best way to get them to understand is to talk the talk – business acumen.

Workers just might start to understand how difficult it is to be successful in reducing costs when healthcare costs have risen in double digits for the past five years, fuel costs have doubled, and fortunately have come back down to a reasonable rate. People need to understand that their performance in their role directly affects the success of the company.

Let’s start talking to and training our Middle Management and employees about Business Acumen, Decision Making, Problem Solving, and basic finances. Provide a real foundation for not only communication, but for action plans and for people development that leads to organizational effectiveness.

It is really getting rough out there and you need to keep your key employees informed. Your employees count on leadership to be the visionary and they want to know what you see as well as what they are reading in the newspaper or hearing on the TV. Now is the time to communicate that the strengths of your people make the difference in organizational effectiveness. We all need to improve our skill-sets and competencies when times get rough but we must understand why we need to do that.

Where have All the Leaders Gone?

One financial advisor stated that we are in the middle of a very dark tunnel. If that be the case, I guess I can say that I don’t see light in either direction. The economy has offered some hiccups but no demonstrable change and it does not appear to look like there will be any major change in the very near future. We are in a bail-out mind-set and it is kind of frustrating when most small or even mid-size companies have no real safety net to protect them from making bad decisions. The job market is much worse today than it was even two months ago. So where is the light going to come from?

Possibly the most frustrating thing for leaders and managers is that they have to personally manage the employees so that they stay engaged in their jobs and don’t get distracted by the lack of sunlight. I would go even further to state that much of the leadership prefers to stay in the dark and not come out into the light, if there is any, and address the issues straight forward with their employees.

A recent survey from the public relations firm of Webber Shandwick noted that 71% of workers felt leadership should be communicating more about the current economic conditions and 54% of the workers have not heard anything from their leadership on how these conditions might affect their company and positions. On top of that, it was interesting that almost 75% of the workers said they had heard their colleagues and co-workers talking about the subject, but not the leadership of the company.

Where have all the leaders gone? Maybe they don’t realize that it is a tunnel and mistook the current environment for a cave. I really believe that leadership today is scarce and middle management is being forced again demonstrate that they are the glue holding the worker to the strategy of the company. Engagement is more than having fun in your job. It is an understanding that your contribution is significant in regard to the overall effectiveness of the organization. This engagement process must incorporate the alignment of individual goals with those of the company, demonstrate why performance management can make a difference, and the really great companies focus on their strengths to get them through the rough times and they do this by planning.

Public ESM Graduates

Making of an Effective Manager Graduates! Congrats!!In Alphbetic Order: Jerry Barberio, Sakeenah Davis, Nancy Haig, Audrey McCant, Deborah Parker, and Donna Woodlin

Fatal Errors in Business

I was leafing through the business books at my local Borders and came across a title that caught my eye, The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them by Jim Muehlhausen, CPA, JD.(Maxim Communications, 2008).

The first Fatal Error noted was, “Hiring Your Competitor’s Rejects”. The statement reflects the fact that when you hire experienced people, you are really hiring your competitor’s rejects. The author goes on to say that most employees are better at interviewing than they are performing the task. It is important that interviewing be a process not just an instinct or “gut feeling” The candidates ability to fluff up the resume or speak well during an interview should only make the interviewer play up to the competition.

The interview is a process and it consists of several face-to-face sessions, testing, background check, and whatever other features you add to your process. In our management development course, we ask the participants if they would prefer to higher the experienced employee with a defined behavioral style and good technical skills or an inexperienced employee with an attitude that reflects a willingness to achieve and collaborate with the ability to learn at a rapid pace. The response is most often mixed.

Most firms feel that there is a need for improved interviewing skills, a testing methodology for hiring and selection that results in a more effective hiring and selection process. If they feel that way, then why isn’t this going to be in place tomorrow? Because the hiring and selection process is not reflected on the bottom line, whether it is on the Profit and Loss Statement or the Balance Sheet. Most companies feel that their “gut feeling” about employees is so good, why spend the time, energy, and money on developing something we are all so good at. Companies do not realize that it is more important today to hire a person that will compliment the culture of the organization, perform at a high level, align themselves with the strategic goals of the organization, and prioritize their task list. I would like to see all the managers that can provide the “gut feeling” to hire those candidates only.

Less than sixty five percent of our intentions are followed through in terms of implementation. Doesn’t that tell you something about our hiring practices? Isn’t it time you use all the tools at your disposal to create a formal Hiring and Selection Process and leave the “gut feeling” to your competitors.

Leadership Doesn't Just Happen: Lead by Intention

When people compliment your success, do you talk about luck rather than purpose? Maybe you should remember chemist Louis Pastuer's assertion that "chance favors the prepared mind." People don't rise to the top by accident. It takes intention to become a great leader. Here are some secrets that can help you out in front:

• Broaden Your Mind. Management consultant Peter Drucker studies a new subject each summer randing from science in Acient Chine to Russian literature. Inspire out-of-the-box thinking and recapture the joy of learning by takinga class in an off-the-wall subject.


• Toot Your Horn. You don't need to become a braggart but you do need to be able to describe your strengths to others who might help further your career. Review your training and experience and pick out the traits you feel are most valuable. You'll find it easier to get the hang of touting your attributes without embarrassment if you practice describing them as if you were talking about a third person.


• Make a Stretch. Rather than waiting for opportunity to knock, ask your supervisor what you should do to prepare for a job two grades above your current position. Be honest in explaining that you're ambitious and want to build skills for a long-range future.


• Face the Music. You'll never be a strong leader until you conquer the fear of giving presentations. Take a public speaking course or join a local Toastmasters chapter. Once you get into the habit of speaking in a non-threatening environment, it will be easier to take the stage when it really counts.


• Find an Example. Look for leadership models in your company, your industry, in public life - or even in works of fiction. Learn all you can about these individuals and emulate their styles or incorporate some of their strong traits into your own style. After all, it's easier to lead if others think you fit the part.


• Take a Chance. Find projects that will take you out of your comfort zone. As First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You must do the things you think you can not do."

- Adapted from "7 Ways to Lead," by Harriet Rubin

Middle Managers are the Implementers

Today, I sat in a management meeting observing the dynamics of the meeting and watching the body language of the participants for an hour and a half. It is important when I am coaching executives that I observe the environments that can make a difference. It became evident that most of the managers in that meeting have not been told how their performance brings value to the organization and as a result they rarely pass on the value message to their employees. Employee appreciation is not new but understanding the value to the organization may be new to some. Concerns about communication, accountability, responsibility, and collaboration were expressed in one form of another by almost everyone around the table. The facilitator was particularly good today with his fairness and recognition of the other manager’s contributions to the overall success of the organization but I left with the feeling that his hands were tied in terms of getting the desired results.

It was important for all of them to realize that communication is a key element in getting people to understand what they can do to contribute to the success of the organization. At this meeting, there could have been more concrete objectives, more story-telling, more real-life examples, etc. but the defined need was to take responsibility for taking action. A commitment to take an action that may change this environment to a more positive experience.

I now know why there is no question why we call them middle managers. Middle management needs to listen to the senior or executive leadership team and while being responsive to the rest of the employees. As we know this listening and implementing position, AKA middle management, has always been the buffer between the top and the bottom. This is why middle management is often called the “glue” that binds the top to the bottom, much like an Oreo cookie.

It is my opinion that middle management is the one component that cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately, companies continue to put these positions in jeopardy when the economic climate turns cold. Middle managers continue to be the implementers of the strategy and policy. Middle managers are the change initiators. If change is not managed well, it has been shown that employee engagement never happens and low morale starts rearing its ugly head. It is my opinion that when external factors become evident and competition gets more aggressive, it is time to focus on the middle management and make sure that we are meeting their needs. Remember, middle management is the layer that attracts, retains, and develops top performers. Let’s not let the normal knee-jerk reaction occur when times get tough. Let’s focus on what we can do to develop our middle management team and allow them to implement the changes needed to satisfy the strategic direction of the company. Let’s give them the tools to do the job right and those tools involve training, career opportunities, feedback and recognition.



Don’t just eliminate the tools that help develop people, like training, education, and incentives.
When looking for training for your middle managers keep these points in mind:
Focus on programs and processes that guarantee results.
Use programs and processes that are time-tested, research-based, and results-oriented.
Use programs that that focus on the adult worker and are designed to change behavior, not just focus on behavior.
Make sure that measuring results is part of the plan.

It is estimated that 20% of all new hires will either rise to the top or fall to the bottom and remaining 60% will be productive and be engaged but only if your middle management team is committed to their success. Their achievement can make the difference with both performance and productivity and it must be acknowledged and recognized by their manager. Providing the tools and career path for people to achieve is what makes the difference between a good employee staying or walking out the door.

Innovative Leadership has a public course, open for enrollment, starting September 17, 2008 from 3-5pm. Click Here for more information

Congrats, MORE GRADS!

Congratulations to the newest "Making of an Effective Manager" graduates. Each grad earned 6.6 continuing educational credits.
Also, available as New Jersey State Nurses Association: 67.1 contact hours,and State of New Jersey Board of Accountancy: 28 CPE. Read more about this course here

Adults Learn Differently

I have been training managers for over thirty years and I still find that most organizations have not realized that adults learn differently than children and for training programs to be successful, we must understand the methods needed to help managers realize their potential growth.

As Lisa Haneberg notes in her new book, “Developing Great Managers”, ASTD-2008, people who facilitate management and development programs must be well versed in management training theory (MTT): She lists the main tenants of MTT as follows:
· Managers are too busy therefore the training must improve their abilities to succeed or it won’t be worth the diversion. In addition, shorter training sessions are easier to fit into a manager’s busy day.
· Managers often suffer from fuzzy priorities, competing priorities, scope creep, and meeting overload. Management training should acknowledge and assist with these challenges
· Many managers feel overwhelmed and stressed. The best management training programs will reduce feelings of stress and being overwhelmed.
· Many managers work well below their capabilities. For managers to try new approaches, they need more training about how to conduct their days and why the techniques are recommended.

Most training programs do not address the basics of adult learning:
· Adult learners cannot be forced to learn
· Adult learners resist forced attendance at training sessions
· Adult learners are invested in their careers and achievements
· Adult learners take responsibility for their progress and appreciate clear, concise feedback on their development
· Adult learners responds well to real-world examples and applications
· Adult learners come to training with a years of developed behaviors, experiences, and knowledge
· Adult learners may be on the defensive when their supervisor recommends training
· Adult learners need to feel that the new information and skills directly relate to their job role and help them achieve their goals

In 1999, Innovative Leadership made a conscientious decision to make sure that all our programs and courses satisfy the basics of adult learning and MTT. We focus on an “application and action” methodology for learning. All of our training has a basic foundation that is research-based or validated by demonstrated results. We find that challenging the status quo is fun, but introducing something for fun is a waste of time and resources. We use a proven process for adult learning and facilitation.

We incorporate video and audio to reinforce the issues or key points of discussion. We find that people learn and retain more if they can “see it”, “feel it”, “taste it, and “smell it”. Many of our videos and audio are usually entertaining in nature but reinforce the research or content needed to be learned.

We also find that the facilitators of any adult training program must make the connection between the new material being introduced and the application of the learned material into the workplace. We tend to differ from the academic community in this regard since we use facilitators that have previous management experience so that this connection can be related to a real workplace environment and not a text book hypothetical.

Our public workshops bring management personnel together from all types of industries and we have found in our post – course evaluations that this small inter-disciplinary group found the open discussion on how the learned material was applied in their workplace environment was just as important as the learned material itself. Sharing the knowledge of how to apply the learned skill and seeing things from a different perspective are certainly two of the most beneficial components of our unique adult learning process.

We realized long ago that people development requires a learning environment where conversation is the key ingredient to adult learning. We focus on creating conversations whereby managers learn about techniques and then tell others how they have applied their learned materials in their work environment. We provide several tools that may help the mangers implement their newly learned information in the workplace and we evaluate and allow them to re-design the tools for a more effective outcome.

Speaking of outcomes; isn’t that what learning is all about? All of our programs are goal-oriented and give the participant the opportunity to set goals that will provide success for them as managers with a system to measure the results. Most workplace environments today are results-oriented so we need to focus our managers on improving their skills to produce a desired outcome, using the tools to implement the application for the learned materials, measuring the results in terms of performance and productivity and measuring the results for sustained growth.

You can choose any training company, program, or material. When you choose a vendor or program, please ask yourself the following questions prior to the selection:

• How does the management training program meet the standards established by MMT and satisfy the basics of Adult Learning?
• Is your management development program goal-oriented?
• What tools does your management training program provide to measure personal growth and development?
• Does your management training program provide a process for implementation or application?
• Is the ROI for your management training program available upfront and how is the success of your management training program measured?
  
  Make sure your management training programs meet those requirements. If they do, you will see enhanced performance and improved productivity from your management team. It is the measured results that make the difference in achievement.

A Blueprint for Challenging Times

I find it interesting that many companies react to this turbulent market much like a child reacts to a thunderstorm. The company hides it head under the pillows, waits the storm out hoping that it ends quickly and that there is no real damage. I have spoken to many Human Resource Professionals and asked them if their challenges for 2008-2009 have changed because of the poor economic conditions or other external conditions. The majority feel that their challenges have not changed and there is no need to do anything differently. It sure is dark under that pillow!

In SuccessFactor’s whitepaper titled “Winning Through Talent”, they report that the four strategies that successful companies use when faced with decreasing revenues, shrinking budgets, and disengaged employees amid these uncertain times are:

1. Rapidly align your workforce with changing economic conditions
2. Optimize your workforce
3. Identify and invest in your best employees and
4. Dramatically improve communication across the company

In my terms, those four recommendations translate to:

1. Implement a Strategic Development Process in which all employees feel they play a part and understand the direction the company is moving in.
   
2. Improve Productivity and Performance Through Training and Development using proven methods with defined outcomes
   
3. Identify the Strengths of Your Employees and Maximize Their Development in relation to the direction of the organization and its future needs.
   
4. Learn to Understand How We can Communicate Better with our managers, our peers, and our subordinates to gain clarity in direction and desired outcome.

We all agree that we must maximize employee performance and be more productive in this highly competitive global market. We also agree that we must continue to be results-oriented so that we provide our customer with superior services or products. Isn’t it time that our people development professionals step forward and change the environment by being proactive and not just reactive? We need to develop the strengths of all of our people focusing on the most talented and while integrating your people development plan with the strategic planning process of the company. People development plus process-oriented effectiveness equals productivity.

So, isn’t the blueprint for success the synergistic effect produced by focusing on people development and process orientation, and then monitoring how the implementation process affects the result?

Have you started your people development process? If so, any recommendations, and if not, what is holding you back?

Engagement is not Enough

I have to give credit for the title to a book, Engagement is not Enough, I most recently read by Keith E. Ayres published by Advantage. He writes that the current strategies being used to increase employee engagement are not working. Even with all the effort, a nominal increase in employee engagement has occurred and based on continued research by the Gallup Organization, less than 1/3 of the workforce is engaged.

In this book, Keith attempts to lay our a step by step process for developing the leadership skills needed to turn an average group of employees into that passionate, spirited high performance team. He points out that there are three primary reasons leadership training fails to achieve results: 1) Most leadership training is an event and to become an exceptional leader, you will have to develop the skills with consistent application over a period of time, 2) Most leadership training does not develop emotional intelligence and to become an exceptional leader, you will have to manage your emotions and behave in a way that brings out the best in everyone, and 3) there is no accountability for the training in terms of holding the leader accountable for applying the learned material and demonstrating that they present changed behaviors.

When I read something like the above, I immediately think of the Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation which includes four levels of outcome evaluation; 1) Reaction, 2) Learning, 3) Behavior, and 4) results. How many companies focus on the results of training?

I had the opportunity to meet with an organization that has over 4000 employees and they prefer to do all of their training with internal staff. They have recently undertaken a Leadership Development focus and have scheduled one day per quarter for the Leadership Training. This is another example of a Leadership event that will not provide the desired results.

I just find it hard to believe that the champions of people development, whether it be the Human Resources Department, Organizational Development or Effectiveness Departments, or the Training and Development Departments, do not focus on results.

What do the results of your training look like? Do you realize that training events don’t necessarily provide the desired outcome? Development of a learning process that includes repetition, application exercises, case studies and more can make a major difference in the bottom-line.

Our expectations of training are now tainted because of this lack of development. We now expect to get no results, changing of behavior is impossible, employee engagement cannot be enhanced, productivity is not related to performance, and to create processes isn’t feasible. It’s time to change that outlook on training!

Isn’t it time the champions of learning stand up and state that the reason nothing is changed is that we haven’t done anything differently? We are still training the employee as if they were children and we are still getting the same results.

So are you going to change the development process or are you going to stay the same and receive zero results from the lack of development?

Training is a Waste of Time

This weekend, I opened the latest issues of Training and Development and my eyes were immediately draw to the title “Why most training is Useless”, written by David H. Maister. My initial “gut” reaction was to say, “Oh no, another article that I have to read and prepare a defense for.” As I continued to read, I started to become more in tune with the ideas presented and certainly started leaning toward the author’s point of view.

I have found that most companies expect training to provide a “quick fix” and they utilize the training as an event to “kick-off” a change initiative. This type of thinking will certainly lead to failure if the desired long term effect is a change in behavior or culture. It takes much more than training but when used properly, training can be the most positive factor in the achievement of the initiative.

I have spent the last ten years in the business of training and I find that it is as difficult as ever to get anyone to view training as a process as opposed to an event. The reason we don’t usually see training as part of the process is that we have no strategy or plan to implement the change over time. We expect our trainers to sprinkle “fairy dust” over the participants and almost immediately, their company’s productivity and performance will elevate beyond possibilities.

I have only found a few companies where the leadership had a good understanding and visualization of the outcome resulting from the training. They know “what matters most!” but they aren’t willing to focus on a plan of action and implementation process to achieve the desired outcome. Most companies just ask, “What do you have for team building, conflict resolution, harassment, or what do you have to improve communication? We want to change behaviors and the culture but we don’t know what we want to look like.” We just want to get better and the prescription calls for training.

I find that most training programs do not have any research-driven basis for application and most training does not focus on the application of the knowledge learned versus the amount of information delivered. I can honestly state that most companies that pay good money for training do not see the learned materials being applied in the workplace to help achieve the desired outcome. The key word is application and as the author states, “helping people develop as managers doesn’t mean discussing management or leadership. It means putting people through a set of processes in which they have to experience, try out, and develop their emotional self-control and interactive styles”. I have yet to hear a customer ask me about how programs allow the participant to apply the learned knowledge in the work environment to improve their skills or competencies needed to make them a better manager.

The right approach is to focus on the outcome and then determine the best format to present the knowledge, demonstrate how they can apply the knowledge, and monitor the results whether it is a behavioral or a culture change. Our unique adult learning process is much more effective than event training, yet we have never been asked what format we use to initiate change or focus on desired behaviors. Awareness is an event, planning is an event; implementation requires a process of application and understanding to provide a desired result. The process you choose is the most important ingredient, yet most don’t even care. The learning process you choose can make your training initiative not only immensely powerful, but effective as well. I really find it ironic that most executives are process and results-oriented except when it comes to training. Training is a process that needs to satisfy the needs and desired outcome for any organization or company.

Is your training initiative an event or a process? I bet I know the answer.

Talent Management Means Competent Leadership

Talent Management is an entity that has been slowly evolving within many corporations. Most corporations list the following practices as part of their overall program:

• High potential employee development
• Leadership Development
• Professional Development
• Succession Planning
• Career Planning
• Learning and Training
• Performance Management
• Competency Management
• Retention
• Employee Engagement

Talent Management should concern itself with competencies. Companies should focus on the competencies that make a difference today and will continue to make a difference tomorrow. It means fitting the “right person” to the “right job” and then measuring their impact on the company’s strategy or goals.

In simplest of terms, Talent Management is people development associated with organizational effectiveness. Most companies do not have a clue about what Talent Management means to them and what competencies will provide sustained growth and success. It is important that they focus on their Strategic Development plan now and don’t wait until it is too late. It will be too late when they do not have the people who are able to learn and perform the roles and responsibilities needed for sustained growth. Do we have the people that can respond to the rapidly changing, highly competitive marketplace?

Most companies have not yet assessed the talent within their organization. How can the learning and training components be applied when you don’t know what is needed to develop the people. People are starting to talk about succession planning only because a lot of key people are leaving the workforce for retirement or alternative careers. I joined a pharmaceutical company in the late sixties and within three weeks, the company has decided that I was a “High Potential”….an HP as we called it back then.

A fast track of combined learning and training programs were laid out before me while at the same time, my performance was monitored as if I was under the microscope. It appears that many companies have strayed away from labeling “high potentials” and providing a program to accelerate their careers within the company. Now, I know some companies have accelerated programs and call these designated potential leaders something, like top producers, achievers, or whatever.

It just seems like the same old story. We have been concerned about this problem for many, many years but we have done nothing to provide a fully integrated set of human resource functions that can be called a people development process. We hesitate to assess anyone or anything because it will cause conflict and we can’t have conflict when we need to retain good talent.

Is Talent Management really meeting the needs of most companies? What are we waiting for? The leadership of our companies must step up and focus on a Strategic Development Plan that includes people, processes, and performance. The integration of those three entities often results in employee engagement, motivation, and success.

Human Resources in many companies is defined as the human capital experts. So, when are these so-called experts going to jump up and down and give their leadership team a real assessment of the culture, the people, and the potential to more forward while sustaining growth and reaching goals? It will probably be when all the Talent has left.

Leadership Modeling in the Ethics Dept.

It is important that managers are role models for the employee when it comes to ethics.

Why? It is important because ethics in the workplace can affect an employee’s productivity.

It has now been statistically collaborated that business ethics can improve productivity. In an article published in the July 7^th issue of HR Magazine, Volume 52, titled, “Corporate Ethics Affects Employee Productivity, a survey of almost 2000 employees, showed that 73 percent of all employees have witnessed unethical behavior while on the job. It was also reported that thirty six percent of the respondents reported unethical behavior negatively affected their job performance. Forty three percent of those surveyed reported that they would personally get involved with resolving the situation while forty eight percent stated that they would get their management team involved with providing a solution to the problem.

Leadership and Management Development courses that focus on performance enhancement and improved productivity are incorporating business ethics modules or content into their curriculum. The role of a leader has always been centered on integrity, honesty, hard work, and fairness. It is important to the employee that their manager exhibits ethical behaviors in the workplace. So important, in fact, that those employees need ethical leaders to be productive. Leadership means influence and when managers understand that their behavior and the behavior of others can have a major impact on performance, productivity will continue to climb.

Employee involvement, motivation, and their commitment to the mission, vision, and purpose in any company centers is enhanced by their leaders’ ethical behavior.

So now, I'd like you to share: As a leader in your company, what are you doing to be a role model for your workers?

Richard Hohmann
Senior Business Development Strategist
Innovative Leadership
609.390.2830

Confusion in the Ranks

I have read article after article regarding the importance of employee retention. I have also read in a recent survey the American Society of Training and Development that the following are ranked according to how the best companies measure performance; 1) Productivity Improvement, 2) Ability to Retain Essential Employees, 3) Quality of Products and Services, 4) Customer Satisfaction, 5) Employee Satisfaction, 6) Sales and Revenues, 7) Overall Profitability, 8) Cycle Time Reduction or Improvement and 9) Other.

In another article, “The Hidden Talent Retention Strategy” by Michael Laft, which appeared in Training and Development (December 2007 Issue) stated that 75% of managers are unaware of a retention strategy in their office. Appearing in the December 2007 issue of Training and Development, it has been shown that even when companies are making an effort to engage workers or make them happy, the managers are not aware of the company’s actions and this is not being communicated to them.

The number one non-financial reason why workers leave their jobs is an opportunity for advancement, followed closely by work-life balance and more interesting work. This was noted in a survey conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators.

Even though most articles written for the HR circles are telling everyone to align your people with your business strategy, they are not telling the management team of the respective company to do the same. Almost every article on employment is demonstrating that there will be an imminent shortage of executives and that most companies expect competition for talent to intensify. Senior executives have frequently acknowledged their failure to pay attention to these issues and now seem to understand that their retention strategies cannot focus solely on the top performers but all employees. We need to engage workers of all ages, nationalities and genders who want to work for your company and remain there for as long as they can.

The problem is that managers treat talent in a most reactive manner. Managers and companies alike must think of the workforce as a collection of segments that actively create or apply knowledge. Companies need to make sure that performance reflects the workplace expectations of both the worker and the company. Companies need to instill a deep commitment to its employees. A commitment must start at the top and should cascade downward through the ranks. Managers must try to integrate a hiring and retention program with their strategic business plan and communicate this integration to all employees on a daily basis. These employee retention strategies must be incorporated into the culture of the company and be expected in terms of core value or competency.

When we find that talent is being nurtured at all levels of the organization or company, we can be reassured that we have been successful in creating a real retention plan that exhibits the real values of company and its commitment to its people and their values.

Contact Innovative Leadership at your convenience for information on our integrated Hiring and Retention Process that can make a difference in motivating, retaining, and even hiring your next top producer or “star” employee. www.ILDV.org or 609-390-2830.

Top End Turnover

Corporate Executives are on the move…..out the door. CEO turnover increased by 50% in 2007 compared to the previous year. Nearly a third of the departures were against the CEO’s will. The average tenure of CEO’s is down almost 25%. Tradition reasons accounted for some of the terminations but non-traditional reasons accounted for majority of departures. Turnover was highest in the telecommunications industry and financial services businesses. It should also be noted that this group also includes companies involved in the sub-prime meltdown.

In a separate survey printed in the Philadelphia Bizjournal (October 26-November 1, 2007), the CEO’s were asked to rate their own strengths and weaknesses with the following results:
Ranking

Strengths Weaknesses
Vision 1 6
Sales and Marketing 2 (tie) 5
Product Innovation 3 3
Managing People 2 (tie) 4
Information Technologies 5 2
Financial Strategies 4 1

It appears that the CEO has the vision but doesn’t always get there. I question whether or not the CEO has created a “dashboard” for himself that reflects both strengths and weaknesses and is using metrics to formulate benchmarks and to consistency re-evaluate his plan of action and implementation process along the way. It seems like many CEO’s are stuck when it comes to both the planning and implementation process. The statistics tell me that the CEO has a strong sense of awareness but for some reason the plan and implementation process are not giving the CEO the desired results.
I wrote a previous Blog on the formation of “dashboards” and this data tends to lend credence on the fact that CEO’s may not be focused on not only the “things that matter most”, but also don’t measure and monitor the metrics or trends that define the success of the organization. It could also relate that other key members of the executive leadership team are focused on the results that their departments contribute to the overall success of the organization. Sounds like our alignment with strategic objectives must be off or even non-existent. IF the disconnect occurs between the CEO and the people who work in the organization, then the end result is a “disconnect” between the CEO and the Board of Directors resulting in termination or resignation. Basically, we are back to the old adage, “Is it the People or the Process?” You can blame it on one or the other, but it is usually a combination of performance and people resulting in an ineffective process of measurement.
CEO’s better learn how leading companies measure performance and offer a goal and results-oriented culture. Ok, CEO’s, “Start your engines, monitor your dashboard, and stay focused on the finish line”…

Are You Focusing on Your Dashboard?

I am working with an organization today that is creating a Decision Support Department to integrate all the data and information available to assist in making the “best” decision. Most small businesses and mid-size companies do not have the financial capabilities or available people to create such a department. All companies have the ability to manage data, monitor progress, and formulate benchmarks…..but they don’t or, let me be kind, don’t do it well.

Let’s compare companies to automobiles. All managers and supervisors, no matter what vehicle they are driving, need to glance at the dashboard periodically and it hopefully will reflect some sort of information that will be valuable in determining how the vehicle is performing and assist them in their decision-making processes relative to good car care.
The number of gauges available to you will vary according to your role and responsibilities associated with the vehicle. Some of the managers or supervisors will be driving “Mini-Coopers” while others may be driving “Chevrolet Malibus”. Senior management may drive a “BMW or Audi”, while the CFO and CEO will drive “Mercedes”. Remember, the difference in vehicle relates to the size and sophistication of company they work for while the dashboard enables them to view their performance at any point in time with the vehicle running.

Dashboards (a millennial business buzz word) should be popping up in most businesses because we need to get back into a goal-oriented environment. Competition is hotter than ever, great employees are scarcer than ever, knowledge pools are retiring at a rapid pace, and technology is moving faster than a speeding bullet. In other words, we better have a pulse on the performance of our vehicle to make sure it can handle the long trip or the excessive weight of the trailer. We need to make sure we glance at our gauges every few minutes to make sure we don’t overheat or ruin the engine by not adding oil.

One of the competencies that are needed by the leader of a company today is forward thinking. It relates to the ability to focus on the desired outcome and formulating a plan that can be implemented to achieve that specific outcome. Outcomes are only as good as the metrics you have incorporated in the plan and measured during implementation and define the desired outcome…..in other words, metrics allow us to measure our performance.

There are all kinds of fancy software that can make your vehicle’s dashboard look like a Mercedes. Or, there is a simple screensaver program that allows you to put the Dashboard right on your computer screen. We need to get back to basics. We need to focus on the things that got us here and monitor the things that are going to get us where we want to go. By clearly establishing benchmarks and monitoring our progress by recognizing what we do that makes a difference, we will continue to be highly competitive, profitable, and here for years to come. CEO’s and Business Owners, start your engines and watch your gauge . . .you need everyone in the company to focus on your goals!

Leadership and Dysfunctional Behaviors

Leadership.

I have always related leadership to being influential in the workplace. Being able to influence the culture of an organization or being able to compliment the core competencies of an organization have always been integral components of a successful leader. I was intrigued by an article in the February issue of Training and Development that reported that 90% of leaders say dysfunctional behaviors have become acceptable in the workplace and the consequences that have resulted from this bad behavior are lower employee satisfaction, lower productivity, and decreased quality. Our organization focuses on the healthcare marketplace and we find that dysfunctional behaviors play a major role in decreased quality and lower productivity. Both patience and employee satisfaction is determined by those factors.

Is it because we don’t consider dysfunctional behavior poor performance? Inappropriate behavior in the workplace is destructive and must be considered a performance issue.
We should focus on the behavioral issues within an organization and make sure that they are addressed by our performance management system. According to a most recent survey completed by Joseph Glenny, A Provo-Utah based author and management consultant, “finger pointing” or shifting blame, gossiping, and creating territorial borders and boundaries are three of the most destructive behaviors in the workplace today. It also noted that 64% of leaders do very little or nothing to change these behaviors.

It appears that the leaders today are fearful toward addressing the issues because of the consequences…whatever they may be. Many leaders turn to HR or Training and ask them to sprinkle “magical dust” over the situation and expect instantaneous results from the training department or vendors.

Changing behavior is a process and it requires implementation of more than just “dust”. It requires expectations in the workplace from the top down. The leadership team and their management team must define what behaviors they would like to see while stating emphatically those behaviors that will no longer be tolerated. The Performance Management system must focus on the interpersonal side of managing and believe it or not, these behavioral changes can be measured. It appears that the influential leaders of today aren’t willing to view behavior in the same light as they do performance. Maybe we should redefine leadership and not associate it with influence. It obviously is not working!