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!

HR reSOLUTIONS for 2012

It's not too late to start implementing reSOLUTIONS into your daily activities as a Human Resources professional. Here are 15 suggestions to get you started on a new and exciting path:

1. Increase Employee Engagement
2. Reduce Stress in the Workplace
3. Get a Grasp on Social Networking
4. Increase the Use of Temporary and Part-Time Employees
5. Be the Point Person for Succession Planning (Be prepared for Those in Retirement Age)
6. Integrate Strategy with People Value
7. Make HR a Strategic Partner
8. Manage Change in Culture and Growth
9. Focus on Employee Relations
10. Provide Legal Updates to Managers and CEO's
    
11. Develop a Performance Management Process
12. Establish Coaching and Mentoring Programs for Employee Retention
13. Develop a Leadership Program
14. Create an Onboarding Process vs. Orientation
15. Tie in Your Recruitment Practices with Strategy, Culture, Mission and Vision
    

Real People Challenges, What are They?

I have walked away after listening to people talk about our region with a “doom and gloom” attitude. According to the Center for Regional & Business Research located at Atlantic Cape Community College, the “Baby Boomers” will be changing the market and not necessarily for the better. Boomers are buying second homes that they are not renting. In some towns like Sea Isle City, over 79% of the homes are for vacation or second homes and it estimated that 85% of these homes will not be rented. Starting in three years, “Boomers” will be retiring at a 10 million clip per year for the next ten years. Many will continue to work but will work only where and when they want to work. This will leave us with a lot of part-time employees that require flex-time as a benefit. We will be at their scheduling mercy. The Department of Labor has been forecasting a major labor shortage of young people to fill our ranks with a $10M deficit around the year 2010. So let’s get going. Where? I do not know.

In an interview The Conference Board of Canada conducted with leading management guru, Dave Ulrich, he emphasized that the 21^st century will belong to human resources and to organizational capabilities. I agree with him as did the Conference Board of Canada. For the first time in the history of management, it is the human mind that is the primary creator of value. The quality of people and their engagement will be critical factors in both corporate and small business vitality and survival.

Companies must start building their leadership pipeline by formulating a developmental plan for its people. Leadership must be considered a role rather than a function, and individuals within a company must be called upon to exercise leadership within their spheres of influence internally. Succession planning by position and defining the importance of that position to the overall success of the company is a must. What is your succession plan for the future development of your company? What does it look like?

No market is more competitive than ours for employees. No market is more competitive than ours for management talent. In a tight labor market, like the one in which we are about to enter, a strong employment brand identity must be present. You will have to capture a larger portion of the employee mindshare by setting your company apart from the competition by branding your attractiveness to engagement. You will have to make sure that your employees are engaged and that they understand the real purpose of the organization. In our management development courses, we talk about “connecting the dots” for all employees within the company. Managers must exhibit the ways and means to motivate employees to become engaged and make sure at the same time they are connected to the mission and vision of the company. It is even more important that they understand the purpose. We need to provide an environment where the rate of learning exceeds the rate of change. Not an easy task even for the high achieving manager.

This culture of engagement and purpose can be achieved if we hire the “right person” for this culture. As business owners, we need to develop a Hiring and Selection Process that both demonstrates the flavor of our company in terms of a “brand” that attracts the candidate that is the “right person” for the position. What does your Hiring and Selection Process look like? You better get ready soon because us “Boomers” are coming!

Author: Richard J. Hohmann Jr.
P:(609) 390-2830
E-mail: rhohmann@innovativeleadershipdv. com

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!

Critical 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. 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 of you championship teams, whether it be in basketball, baseball, or even football have had 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, we need to provide a constant flow of internal talent but we 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 isn’t 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) 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 go!

Innovative Leadership has all of the tools for your succession plan, including Leadership Development, Organizational Needs Inventory, Assessment Tools, and more. Please call us at 609-290-2830 to set up and appointment or contact us here

Leadership and Stuffed Shrimp

I just finished reading an article by the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in which they come to the conclusion that the shocking succession of corporate meltdowns signals a massive leadership failure across the financial services landscape. The article (Leadership Fails Wall Street by The Wharton School, 2008) continues to point out that it is their belief that executives at these troubled firms may have ignored or failed to see the level of risk their companies were taking in a crusade to enhance results and their own compensation. Risk taking, considered in many cases to be a strength of senior executives and hopefully is, becomes affected by their problem-solving and decision making skills. Some organizations have even created Decision Support Teams or Departments to provide research and resources prior to making a specific recommendation. The fact of the matter is that the executives got greedy and didn’t assess the situation as thoroughly as they should have. Why did some companies avoid entering or participating in the questionable practices that have caused the great “bailout”? It could just be that they did entertain a decision making process and were more thorough with their “what if” scenarios. It all boils down to greed and inappropriate business ethics. The personal compensation packages being offered by companies today may have played a role in the decision making process but it isn’t the single cause for this situation.

The next article that came across my computer was an article titled, Generational Interaction = Jumbo Shrimp by MyPartTimePro.com, 2008. I don’t necessarily agree with the rationale contained in this article but I do agree that the generations in the workplace today are not sharing their knowledge or expertise with anyone, let alone any one specific generation. We have a stalemate between the generations in terms of the workplace expectations of and for each. The baby boomer generation appears to be in the “no-decision” mode while the other generations are in a “let me make the decision mode” and nothing is getting done. Succession planning is at a standstill because to plan for such means that the “boomers” will have to eventually give up their turf and head out to pasture. They appear to not be willing to share the knowledge and expertise to make good decision makers out of the younger generation. The “no one taught us” or “we had to roll up our sleeves and get down and dirty to learn our trade” is the mantra of the “boomers”. We refuse to move the generations forward without making them “sweat and toil” like we did. The fact of the matter is that we have had some more ups and downs then they have had, but in reality, we have had it pretty easy and the “boomers” are sitting there pretty “fat and happy” for the most part. Now the financial downturn has caused the “boomers” to have second thoughts about retiring and hoping that the market corrects itself with the next few years.

I think we have a “stuffed shrimp” scenario. We are not willing to develop and mold our future leaders. Everyone is satisfied with status quo and no one wants to hand the torch off to their successor. Family businesses now have three generations in the fold with no sight of the elder generation leaving and turnover at the Executive Level appears to be slowing down. Unemployment is starting to rise again and hiring is on hold. This economic downturn is certainly contributing to the lack of movement in the business community. Business leaders must ask themselves the century old question; do the benefits outweigh the risks? If they do, try to take one step forward and show some initiative to change or we may never get out of this predicament.

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.

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Don’t let this holiday song provide a foundation theme for 2008! You certainly can tell it is winter by the methodology being used by the weather forecasters to panic the local residents into spending hours at the grocery store buying all the necessities for a mid 1950’s blizzard. I sit there listening to them tell me that the potential for the front moving rapidly from the South up the coast colliding with the Arctic air being driven down by a Canadian high located over some Lake near Michigan should produce a tremendous snowstorm that supposedly we have all been waiting for. I wake up the next morning and I find a “dusting” if anything but the result of the forecast is that WAWA has sold more milk and bread compared to previous snow storm announcements (for those not in the Philadelphia market, WAWA is the leading convenience store where you buy milk and bread) We are starting to hear the same thing about a global recession. After conducting their annual S.W.O.T., it has now become part of everyone’s strategic plan to list an economic recession as the major external threat that may affect their business success for the upcoming year. I guess we better get in line at your local WAWA to buy cost reduction measures, recession-proof armor, revenue producing fairy dust, and more. Unfortunately, I can feel the cost-cutting measures starting to unfold as I am writing this article.

There is no question that the economy may more than likely turn “chilly” in the upcoming year and the predictions for the real estate market continue to appear “frigid”. Forecasters are predicting that there is a heightened interest in career development and paying down personal debt. Business leaders have learned in 2007 that employee loyalty is waning as employer commitment begins to weaken. The generational shift in ownership in small businesses and the retirement rush is the corporate environment has begun and will accelerate in 2008. Economic trends are being characterized by shorter job tenures, changing generational values, scarce talent, and a surplus of vacant positions.
Statistically it is well documented that these trends are real. These trends are affecting all levels within an organization and we need to focus on the acquisition of talent, identification and development of leaders within an organization, and the retention of good employees. Survey after survey demonstrates that most businesses believe there is a current shortage of quality leadership talent in the workforce and they measure personality or behavioral styles when identifying future leaders. It is also well documented that most companies have not implemented an adequate leadership development plan and not focused on the emotional intelligence of the future leader.
The real concern for me is that most companies still do not realize that their people offer them the most competitive advantage in any economic climate.
First, it is important that you do not let the business weatherpersons scare you into a cost-cutting frenzy in that areas of business that means the most to your employees. Second, leadership and career development cannot be achieved without an effective training and development process. Not a program, but a process! I ask you to be innovative in the selection of your tools and products for this process and of course, make sure they are cost – effective but most importantly, produce the desired results or behavioral change that your company needs to be more competitive in 2008. Don’t let the forecasters scare you into cutting the processes that will mean the difference for your future.


Innovative Leadership offers training and development for all levels of your employees. Executive Coaching, Manager Training, and even Customer Service. Get more competitive and make a difference with these programs and processes. Contact us to get started today!

HR Needs to Step Up to the Plate!

It is well documented that most companies have a formal strategic-planning process but don’t use it to make many of their most important decisions. Less than half of the respondents of a recent survey demonstrated that they are satisfied with their company’s approach to making strategic decisions. It has also been demonstrated that greater satisfaction could come from improving the company’s ability to align their people with their strategic plan and from monitoring progress against the plan.

So what are we doing wrong? Are we not looking at our current methodology for both the creation of the plan and the implementation of the needed actions? The missing link is usually found within the implementation or monitoring component. It is projected that 65% of the components of most plans never even get implemented. Is it because we aren’t willing to put the time and energy into the implementation process or we don’t consider it a high priority?

Strategic Planning is critical to the continued success of any organization yet most employees feel that critical decision-making is left to a select few. The two top suggestions for improving the company’s approach to strategic development are: improve the alignment with the strategic plan and develop better methods to monitor progress against the plan.

Surveys have also demonstrated that executive concerns about executing and aligning strategy are likely exacerbated by a perceived lack of integration between the company’s strategic-planning group and its human resource group. When asked to consider strategic planning’s integration with several corporate functions, respondents in a nationwide survey ranked HR as second-to-last in terms of degree of integration. Respondents who were dissatisfied with their company’s strategic planning see the least integration.

Isn’t it time that HR steps up to the plate and take the integration of strategy and people seriously? What does your Strategic Development Process look like? Who is willing to hold people accountable for the success of the plan? It sure sounds like HR or anyone else for that matter is not willing to focus on the outcome. It seems to me that we should all take time off and read the “Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni. It talks about trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results……five things that we just seem like we don’t want to address. It sounds like no one is willing to stick around to see the outcome.

The Call from the Family

Several years ago, I attended a certification program for coaches titled, “Coaching the Small Business Owner”. The course was designed to provide how to coach a small business owner through the “rough waters” of small business ownership. The course demonstrated how superior coaching competencies could compliment the achievement of the small business owner. It was apparent that from the start, the small business owner wanted both a sounding board and a resource that would he or she could now call, “Coach”. Coaching is different than consulting and most consultants claim that there is no difference but that is an argument for a different day. Coaching skills coupled with strong business acumen are certainly the competencies needed to work with any business owner. The majority of small business owners are about to transition their business to other family members within the next ten years and most have not designed an “exit” plan or succession plan. It is really discouraging that most financially successful business owners don’t have a plan for transitioning themselves out and the family members into the decision – making roles.

The following facts are presented in The Pricewaterhouse Coopers Family Business Survey for 2007/08:

• One –quarter of the family firms in the survey are due to change hands within the next five years


• Half of those companies are expected to remain in the family
  Yet almost half of all responding companies have no succession plan, and the percentage is even higher in small firms or those that have been in business for fewer than twenty years.


• Eighty – four percent of the respondents aim to pass their companies on to their descendants compared to less than half of that in Europe and other areas of the world.


• Two –thirds of family businesses have no defined criteria for choosing which family members who want to take an active role in the company should be allowed to do.


• More than half also employ relatives without requiring them to compete for their jobs on the open market.


• More than two –thirds of companies in the survey had no procedures in place for dealing with disputes between family members
  
  
  Remember, an effective succession plan assesses the company’s leadership needs, determines the positions needed to continue the achievement, and identifies the core competencies needed for those positions. In other words, who is going to assume the roles of the family members starting to leave through the back door?
  
  The fact of the matter is that the small business owner is not a good planner. Most owners are great tacticians and manage the business on a day-to-day basis very, very well. After all, this is why most started the business. They were the best technician, and no one asked them if they were a good manager, or visionary. Now suddenly, they are asking their family members to be much more than they were. Many business owners have commented that they don’t have a high confidence level that the next generation can make it as successful as they did. The younger family member wants to know why their ideas and recommendations are not being readily accepted. Most wonder why the other is not listening to the other and why communication is becoming more difficult than ever. My listening skills have never been more tested. Both sides claim that they are not being listened to by the other nor do they feel that either is exhibiting any compassion, so communication has come to a standstill.
  
  It’s seems to me that it is now time to call the “Coach”. Most businesses have their professional advisors like their lawyer, accountant and possibly a business consultant. Most family members have their own financial advisor, stock broker, counselor or whatever. The coach is now being asked to be the conduit between all of the above focusing on the new members of the family and the exiting family members. It becomes the role of the coach to assume the following responsibilities:
  
  · Provide a communication channel for all parties
  · Make sure effective and open communication is present
  · Provide a fair assessment of the talent at the table
  · Make sure everyone listens to “what” is being said and not “how” it is being said
  · Confirm understanding and expectations
  · Encourage participation
  · Hold people accountable
  · Monitor the implementation of ideas, policies, procedures, etc.
  · Measure the results
  · Celebrate successes
  
  
  The above certainly looks like a Results-oriented model that I like to use in the coaching environment. I know that Business Coaching can provide an integral component to the transition or transformation of any small business between family members. Most family disputes are focused on the skills, competencies, behaviors, and knowledge demonstrated by the younger family members while the younger members are wondering when the elders will finally let go. The experienced ones are questioning their fortitude, knowledge, ambition, and energy while the younger ones are wondering if the experienced ones will ever let go of ways they have been doing business. It certainly appears to reflect the Definition of Business Insanity, “doing the same thing over an over, yet expecting different results”.
  
  Sounds like we have to let the experienced owners transfer the positional authority to the younger generation and be willing to accept mistakes and just file them as a learning experience. It might also behoove the younger generation to ask questions and include the experienced ones in the problem-solving process. In reality, maybe the coach should focus the family more on how to better understand generational diversity and make the workplace an environment satisfactory to all. Good luck….and good coaching.
  
  Richard Hohmann
  
  For more information of succession planning (Exit Strategies) and Business Coaching, please call us for a complimentary Coaching Session or contact us

Frustrated!

Frustrated by the fact that when the Stock Market or the Real Estate Market takes a turn for the worst, training and development along with marketing are the two things that immediately appear on the radar screen and are transferred to the “hit list” of most CEO’s. People development just seems to go out the window along with the things that hopefully will bring the customers in. I think the expression that my mother used was, “we tend to cut off our noses despite our face”.

It is well documented that we have the greatest number of employees leaving the workforce and we have the greatest number of future workers with the least experience ready to take their place. Due to current market conditions, we now can’t afford to train them so that our plan for the succession of the “baby boomers” goes right out the window. This transition will now become a transformation because it cannot possibly be as smooth and transparent as originally intended. We certainly enjoy being in the reactive mode and not the proactive mode.

I think we are viewing the re-structuring of our workforce very similarly to that of our highway system or mass transit system. We will worry about the problem of having companies with no trained workers only when it is time to be productive or close the doors. When are we going to realize the need for mass transit?...when there are too many cars on the highways so grid-lock is commonplace or it now takes twenty hours to go from Philadelphia to New York..

The exodus from the workforce is well under way so when are you going to feel an obligation to do something about it…..when you receive your first check from Social Security or now, when you can call it succession planning. I think as “boomers”, we are obligated to make sure that our companies have qualified people with the appropriate skills sets to make a difference in the future. Let’s not wait for our companies to be “bottle-necked” by lack of qualified personnel. Train, coach, and mentor now before it is too late and the “bottle-neck” is equivalent to “grid-lock”.

Can We Change the Environment?

It was noted in an article I recently read by Scott Flander titled, “When bosses go bad and get rewarded”, which appeared on www.hreonline.com that at a recent Management Meeting in Philadelphia, it was noted that in over 45% of the cases, employees noted that offensive bosses got promoted instead of “canned”. In over 19% of the cases, nothing happened to the incompetent boss. I chuckled hilariously when it was noted by John Hoover, author of How to Work for an Idiot: Survive and Thrive Without Killing Your Boss, that “the more incompetent someone is, the faster their career takes off”.

My theory is when we have a glutton of bad managers; we certainly have a great number of bad interviewers. In other words, we already have a glutton of bad managers who do not have the skills to change the culture. I honestly feel that companies need to focus on their interviewing process first, and then try to develop their management team second. I find that very few companies are using assessment tools in either the hiring and selection process or their people development process. I hear comments like, the boss does not like assessments, or we can’t open ourselves up to potential employee relations liability. I also find that they don’t have an interviewing process in place and most interviews for key positions are “winged”. I also hear that the company does not have a succession plan or even a pathway for employee development. No one, including anyone on the senior management team or in HR is focused on anything but the “bottom line”. Who cares about our people, are we profitable? No one is defining the metrics needed to improve the situation so what else can we expect but “bad managers”.

Suddenly a “red” light goes off and HR or Management now realizes that their managers really are not exhibiting the skills and competencies needed to take their company to the next level. The good people are leaving and the retention of talent is becoming a real concern……

So I ask, why are not we pulling out all the stops in talent acquisition and retention….or is it that we just want to wait until we get enough bad managers to warrant the need for training……

I think that if we look at talent acquisition and retention as a process and implement training from their orientation period, we might find ourselves focusing on the real leaders of the future.