Leadership Solutions from Read Solutions Group

Resources for HR Professionals

2008-02-12T08:35:00.000+08:00

Bootstrapper put together a great list of 100 articles that are useful resources for HR professionals. Link over to see it now.

Measuring Engagement - a humorous look

2008-02-03T14:26:00.000+08:00

In Beat the Odds: Avoid Corporate Death and Build a Resilient Enterprise by Robert A. Rudzki proposes a tongue-in-cheek measurement of employee engagement. You may want to do a quick survey of your workplace to see what this looks like for you...

The "Take This Job, Please" Index

On a humorous note, one of my former colleagues suggested a new index as a true leading indicator of employee alignment, commitment, and morale. It was to be based on the prevalence of office lottery pools. The suggested title was "Take This Job, Please"--a more refined form of the reaction to be expected from someone who had just won the big one. The TTJP Index would be measured by the number of office lottery pools established when lottery prizes exceeded a predetermined level--$50 million, say. Two or more office workers pooling their purchase of lottery tickets would constitute one office pool. The metric is particularly interesting in a multifloor office building or a multibuilding office campus. If you noticed a growing number of lottery pools at your organization, what might that indicate? After some watercooler debate, a refinement was suggested for the TTJP metric. Add this additional dimension: After the participants of a lottery pool are notified (by e-mail or phone) to contribute their share for the next round of the lottery, how much time elapses before the first person shows up with cash in fist? The metric and its analytical conclusions could be tabulated as follows:

First Person Arrives >> Comment

(a) Next day: >> Not to worry.

(b) Within one hour: >> You have reason for concern.

(d) The participants prepay: >> Don't you wish your employees were similarly energized and committed to your company?

Using Investigative Negotiations to Build Your Influence

2008-01-22T17:15:00.000+08:00

We often think about internal politics as a bad thing. I propose that rather than thinking about building political skills, you think about building skills that will allow you to "Influence with Integrity".

Negotiating is one of the skills in this area, and a Harvard Business Review article by Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman suggests a technique called Investigative Negotiation. In this technique, when you encounter a roadblock, rather than focusing on your position, spend energy on trying to learn "why" behind the other parties constraints, interests and needs.

The more you learn beforehand, during and after a negotiation about the other person's interests, the more likely you will be able to craft a direction forward that meets most of yours as well.

Building Morale When Times Are Bad

2008-01-11T15:45:00.000+08:00

Catching up on some blogs published in December, I came across one identified by HBR Online as one of their best for 2007, namely Building Morale When Times Are Bad by John Coyne. With a focus on the US economy, Coyne forecasts the biggest leadership challenge of 2008 being retaining and motivating the best people in the midst of layoffs and reductions.

His point that "good morale does not require people to be happy" is well worth pondering. In fact, walking right up to the distinction between good morale and happiness could lead to some sound policy choices. Wordreference.com defines morale as

the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed

and

a state of individual psychological well-being based upon a sense of confidence and usefulness and purpose

Interesting words to ponder in light of reductions. Adversity can increase the spirit of a group, when there's a direction and desire to succeed. So when faced with business adversity, what can the leader do to work on such things as "spirit of the group", "want to succeed", "sense of confidence, usefulness and purpose"? Involve people, not in commiserating or worrying, but in defining real solutions to the problems. Make sure everyone is clear on the role that they have in delivering the business strategy. Give them, as best you can a sense of confidence in the mission.

Coyne makes an excellent point that you refute concerns about the possibility of future promotions. Even if there are fewer positions to vie for, there are fewer people vying for those positions - the odds haven't changed much.

We might quibble with Coyne about helping people to see the truth of "the misery will be temporary" and "tomorrow will be brighter." Far too many people in US industry have lived through cut, after cut, after cut. Meanwhile senior leaders cash ludicrously large paychecks and the average earner's paycheck doesn't get much brighter.

Perhaps if the truth is that the work contributes to making people's lives better AND people's opinions are valued AND it's temporary, then it's incumbent on the managers to focus on those messages. No, no one is happy when there's an economic slowdown in a business, cutbacks and reductions, but yes, there can be a team spirit if there is a clear, vibrant and true mission to the business.

Building HR Skills

2008-01-11T09:50:00.000+08:00

What do you read to stay current in the areas of Human Resources?

Dear HR Reader,

Congratulations to you in recognizing the need to stay fresh and current in this field. First, if you haven't yet read, the book that should be on every HR shelf is Human Resources Champion by David Ulrich.

Ulrich is the leading thinker in Human Resource Management and provides a strong model for building and executing human resources strategies that support the delivery of business results.

The Society for Human Resource Management is a very strong HR organization that is slowly expanding their presence from just the US into some of the rapidly developing markets. You can find them at www.shrm.org; and if you qualify for an international membership, it provides full access to all of the online materials.

The Human Capital Institute www.humancapitalinstitute.org has a lot of information and webcasts available with the free community membership.

Workforce Management at www.workforce.com provides a free and paid memberships with up to date information and practices. You'll find quarterly articles on this site by Ulrich; the most recent being The New HR Organization.

Susan Heathfield publishes a weekly e-newsletter with a huge range of topics. You can find this at humanresources.about.com.

You can stay current on global employment laws by subscribing to updates through Baker & McKenzie at www.bakernet.com/BakerNet/Practice/Employment/default.htm. For more in-depth articles on global employment law, see the publications by Donald Dowling of White and Case at www.whitecase.com/publications/List.aspx?Professionals=8f1e98b7-575d-41e6-b6f1-05bc9daa24ad&year=2007.

Hewitt will deliver various alerts and research reports into your inbox with subscriptions at www.hewittassociates.com/Intl/NA/en-US/KnowledgeCenter/ArticlesReports/Articles.aspx; and a subscription to news alerts from Mercer can be subscribed to at secure.mercer.com/registerEvent.jhtml?idContent=1197210.

For a broader strategic perspective, email updates are available from Harvard Business Review Online and INSEAD, not to mention publications like Business Week.

Evil HR Lady has a great blog going at www.evilhrlady.blogspot.com.

And for a continual refresher on management tools, take a free or paid subscription to www.mindtools.com.

What do you read to keep current on management and HR issues?

What about the money?

2008-01-10T17:27:00.000+08:00

"I know, I know that I should focus on what makes me happy and not worry about the money, but...."

Dear Money Worrier,

Of course, you worry about the money. It would be wonderful if we could all just throw up our hands, focus on what we love to do and know that the money will follow. It's that KNOWING part that throws me.

Rather I believe that when we look at those things in our lives that important to us, that which drives our choices on how we spend our time and energy, finances is normally one of those areas. On the list might be career, health, relationships, children, hobbies, community, giving. And then it's a rare person who can comfortably leave off the money.

The trick is what is the main thing you are looking to the money for. Is it a symbol of achievement? A measure of success? Is it to be able to provide comfortable for immediate or extended family? Is it to allow retirement in the next 5 years? Is it to buy freedom?

The reality is that how you go about your work (often a key driver in the finance equation) is strongly linked to your convictions around the finances.

Don't walk away from the question. Rather get clear on why money is part of the equation. Then use that to help you gain and keep balance in your life.

What's in a standard (US) expat package?

2008-01-07T14:16:00.000+08:00

Dear Curious Expat in China,

I know you are wondering whether you got a good deal with your expat package or not. Well, let's look at what you might normally find in today's expat package.

Normal cash compensation (base, bonus, incentives) - at a more senior level, some arrangements may be made on the structure of long-term incentives for tax effectiveness. Typically, your base salary will continue to be tied to the company's US pay scales or grades. The challenge you will have here is convincing whoever grades your job that it is the appropriate size (or at least, what you and your boss here think is appropriate). Frequently the scale associated with organization size and/or revenue is smaller than your peers at home. The challenge is that the complexity and performance demands are much higher. The complexity comes from the number of countries and regulatory environments, the range of cultures being managed across, and untold matrix layers. Growth targets are normally far in excess of home country requirements, travel and work hours long, and requirements to exercise your independent judgment, much steeper. Only you will be able to put together the argument on the scope of your role relative to your nominal home-country peers. Keep in mind as you do so that the challenges are obvious here, the results true accomplishments in a difficult environment; but seen from a distance, they look like normal accountabilities.

Foreign service premium - typically on the order of 10% to compensate for disruption in life, spousal job loss, etc. Paid net. Some companies pay on a monthly basis. Some in one or more lumps.

Hardship allowance - This is location dependent and is nominally based on amount of English spoken, level of medical care, safety, pollution, etc. Many companies are no longer deeming China tier 1 cities hardship locations, due to the availability of medical care, imported goods, comfortable housing, education, etc. If you don't want this to happen to you, be sure that you get your visitors out of the 5 star hotels, and even your housing, and expose them to some of the challenges of living and communicating in China.

Cost of living adjustment - The cost of living adjustment looks at the cost of purchasing a market basket of products and services relative to your home country. It is paid on a portion of your earnings - that piece that is estimated to be the amount necessary to buy these normal goods and services for a family of your size. For example, your normal home-based salary goes to a combination of taxes, housing, transportation, savings and then purchases of food, entertainment, medical services, liquor, etc. The COLA is applied to that estimated percentage of your income.

Transportation support - Depending on location, this can be anything from monthly taxi fare, to help buying a car, to a dedicated car and driver. In the latter case, the company may require the employee to contribute to the cost of the transportation support.

Housing support - A budgeted amount for a suitable house. Some plans allow for the employee to share in the difference if the rented home is under budget. Others, don't. Some companies pay for the rental and then take a housing deduction (amount tied to income and often looks something like a mortgage-sized payment). In the latter case then, the company typically picks up all utilities. Alternatively utilities may be included in cost of living.

A lump sum miscellaneous allowance - $5 - 10,000 - is often given to cover the "stuff" of moving. And therefore, bits and pieces of costs are not to be included on expense reports.

Electrical allowance - Another lump sum might be provided to support the purchase of 220 v small appliances. Normally these are then "owned" by the company, to be returned at the end of the assignment, or bought from the firm at a depreciated value.

Education for any kids, including application costs, tuition, uniforms, books and transportation. If you have young kids, be clear on the age where you can start to get tuition support, whether kindergarten, pre-K, or earlier.

Spousal assistance - Something like $5000 once or per year to provide for education, job search support, employment visas, etc. may be provided by companies that recognize that there are often two employees needing to be happy and fulfilled in the move.

Home leave - once per year for family, generally economy. Need to specify whether any extra vacation is used. College students are frequently entitled to one or two reverse home leaves per year.

Depending on location, possibly R&R trip.

How the house is handled stateside comes into play with the housing allowance. More often now, all rent is paid in the host location and the house stateside is your problem (sell, rent, whatever). Upon return, if you end up in a new location, domestic relocation benefits will apply.

Need to specify how big a shipment is allowed to host location; particularly are furnished places common or uncommon? Do people take everything (no storage), or only an airshipment (provide storage)?

Continuation of US service if needed for any pension/retirement benefits. Figure out whether there is continuation of Social Security payments.

Normal benefits, though with an international medical plan, along with a medical evacuation and security system, if needed, e.g., SOS.

And then tax handling, and particularly whether they will be equalized. Note equalization is a strange beast that includes other significant policy decisions affecting your ultimate finances. Will you be held to a state income tax? If so, which state? How will "equalized" deductions be calculated if home sale was one of the options on relocation? This since home mortgage interest tends to be one of the largest deductibles. Understand how taxes will be withheld, and when you are likely to see the first (and last) tax equalized submissions. A good, upfront estimate, of your tax bill is helpful, and this area can be filled with misunderstandings and large tax bills.

What happens if the employee severs the relationship? the company? and under what circumstances?

Any guarantees on repatriation? time of job on return? agreement about the nature of the work?

Many companies have unclear policies associated with repatriation, trying to fit the whole thing into a domestic relocation package. Try to gain some understanding of this up front, but if you fail to do so, influence, influence, influence. If your household goods are on a boat for 6 to 8 weeks, a 30 day temporary housing package will not be enough. If your household appliances have been in storage for multiple years, there may well be items that are no longer functional. Stand firm; this is not a domestic relocation. Ask for what you need.

Finally, relocation binders. Some companies hold expatriates hostage (my term, not theirs!) by requiring the employee to pay back the costs of the expatriation and repatriation expenses if the assignment is not complete, or the employee leaves the company shortly after return. OK, I can understand that if the employee jumps ship while on assignment, the company may be due something. However, holding the employee accountable for the cost of the repatriation is extortion is my humble opinion. Come on, you asked me to put my life (somewhat) on hold, go overseas, work in a challenging environment, deliver results, and then you treat my move home like a domestic relocation? No, not right. So beware if you see one of these, and negotiate before you sign.

Well, Curious Expat, hope you got most of your questions answered. If not, drop me a line at Sherry@ReadSolutionsGroup.com and I'll try to answer your questions.

What interesting quirk or perk do you have in your package?

...Coming soon, what to think about if localization comes up in the conversation.

How do I identify high-potential candidates?

2008-01-07T13:36:00.000+08:00

A writer asks,

Sherry, in your article "Developing High Potential Employees", you give a definition of high-potential employee. The problem is that I still don't know how to help my manager's consistently identify who is high-potential and who isn't. What do you suggest?
A High-Potential HR Manager

Well, dear High-Potential HR Manager, I get this question frequently, and always from people like you who are high-potential. The only question is whether they are high-potential in their company.

What you say? The question is whether they are high-potential in their company? Isn't the question whether someone is high-potential or not?

One former boss of mine convinced me of very little, apart from the truth that everyone is a star in some universe; or to put it more plainly, everyone is high-potential for the right role in the right company. Unfortunately, you might suggest that this doesn't help you answer the question. Ah, but it's a start.

The definition I posted in the article you mentioned, says,

What is a high-potential employee? A generic definition is an individual expected to excel at a position X levels above their current role. Companies often make this more specific to their needs, incorporating a specific leadership level, within a particular time horizon, and most importantly, based on the foreseeable needs of the business. High potential employees demonstrate capabilities in the functional requirements of the business and their specific roles (can do), the personal motivation and drive to excel now and in the future (will do), and the behaviors that ongoing delivery of results (how do).

The tricky thing is deciding what your company needs now, and in the future. And then being even more realistic about whether you need those skills, aptitudes, motivations and experience for all senior level positions, or only specific ones. The reality of most organizations is that you need to be developing a talent pipeline that will fill a wide range of roles across differing functions. While you want your heads of R&D, Finance, H&R and the Business Units to all fill comfortable in the same function, the behaviors, motivations and drivers across the functions may be quite different. Your business strategy may be heavily dependent on technological innovation. So you certainly need innovative, creative people in key functions of the organization; but I wonder whether you need that for your, say, heads of Supply Chain or Finance? Or you could have a business strategy with a key focus staying one step ahead of the competitors. Strategic marketing is a key organizational skill; but again, is it critical for all areas of the organization?

So where am I going with this? Be clear on the few cultural competencies that you require of all of your senior management. And then do a reality check, do you have that now?!? Next, look at individuals who are normally high-performers. Could strengths, motivations, and behaviors lead them, with the right experiences, to be a star in some portion of your company's universe? If so, talk with them. Build an agreement about the experiences and development that will enable that person to flourish. You may find that you have more high-potential candidates than you thought.

Looking forward to more questions that I can answer. Send them to me at Sherry@ReadSolutionsGroup.com.

Becoming the Boss

2008-01-07T10:48:00.000+08:00

Michael Watkins at Harvard Business Review Online has published a case on Making the Shift from Peer to Boss. The case, the comments and suggestions and the series of blogs Watkins posts are extremely insightful on the typical issues and challenges faced as the new boss. Check out the scenario, the challenges, actions for the first day and preparations for the team's off-site meeting.

Listening for Feedback

2008-01-07T10:37:00.000+08:00

Your performance review will often generate feedback. The problem is that it is natural to accept feedback that is consistent with your view of your performance and your self-image, and to reject feedback that is inconsistent. But if you don't know what you don't know and/or your perception of standards and requirements differ from your bosses, you may reject crucial information for your development and success.

It is never easy to receive feedback, nor is it often easy for the person giving you the feedback. Here are some tips for taking advantage of this difficult process.

Suspend judgement. Don't try to analyze on the spot whether the feedback is "right" or "wrong". Treat the feedback as data to be gathered.

Practice active listening. Summarize and reflect back what you hear with your best listening skills. This part of the process is about accurately collecting the data without distortion.

Make sure you have clarified the information without becoming defensive. Questions along the lines of "I hear what you are saying about my performance; I'm wondering if you can give me a specific example of when I've done that?" Note that this approach is not challenging of the information or the perspective, it is simply gathering more information.

Thank the person for giving you the feedback, whether you agree with it or not. Let them know that you want to process the information and, perhaps, respond later.

Continue your data gathering by checking in with another trusted source. Again, control your defensiveness. If you approach a friend with "Can you believe he said that I...", you will receive emotional support while minimizing your opportunity to learn. Try instead, "I'm trying to get a better perspective on what the boss is saying; have you seen or heard me acting in X fashion?"

When you have a clear picture of the feedback, along with supporting evidence and stories, consider how you will respond to the feedback. Is there potentially a blind spot that you need to learn more about? What part of this situation do you own? Is some of this only one person's perspective? Is it possible that the perspective is more widely held than you think; how can you investigate that?

It is easy to react to feedback; much more difficult to choose how to respond. Take your time to decide what you will do with the information and how you might reply.

For additional tips, see How to Receive Feedback with Grace and Dignity by Susan Heathfield.

Performance Feedback Wrap-up: Send me an email on the good, the bad and the ugly of this round of performance reviews, and I will summarize the most interesting anecdotes in an upcoming column. Remember, we learn from reflections on our own triumphs and challenges, as well as from the experiences of others.

Overestimating Your Capabilities?

2008-01-07T10:18:00.000+08:00

David Dunning, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Cornell University explains in a Gallup Management Journal article that most people overestimate their capabilities. If you just had enough time, or started earlier enough, or had the right gear, you too much just play golf like Tiger or tennis like Vanessa or sing like those folks on American Idol; right? A Business Week survey supports Dunning's finding by noting that 90% of American middle managers believed themselves to be in the top 10% of performers.

We overestimate our capabilities because:

Normally people will claim credit for their success and blame other people or conditions for their failures. As a consequence, the overall sense is one of success.
Feedback from others is often couched in softened terms, may be incomplete or less than honest, and may well not be understood or heard.
Frequently people have no way to know how something could have been done differently or better; they are unconsciously incompetent.

Confidence is energizing and can bring its own rewards. Identifying the blind spots and acting on them can be equally rewarding.

Whether with your boss at annual performance appraisal time, with trusted peers, or with an external coach, asking for feedback remains a key step in identifying improvement areas that you just cannot see.

Today's conventional wisdom suggests that you should build on your strengths. That's very true, but without awareness of our weaknesses and finding ways to mitigate them, you may be winning a battle and losing the war. Strong leadership requires that you set high expectations for yourself and others, and demonstrate the ability for continuous learning and growth.

Executive coaching is a tool that supports the identification of blind spots and the development of successful behaviors and skills. To learn more about this investment in your career and the careers of your employees, contact me at Sherry@ReadSolutionsGroup.com .

Planning for the Downturn

2007-11-15T14:00:00.000+08:00

An economic downturn is looming ... the only questions about the extent and timing. HBR asked some of its bloggers to give their perspective. What about yours?

Tom Davenport in Recession: The Next Big Thing comments:

I’m hoping this time for a more enlightened approach to recession-oriented management. Gone, I hope, will be the managerial conservatism, the mindless cutbacks, the early retirement offers to everyone with a pulse, the fire-sale pricing. We can do better, so let’s try.

He suggests that people have shown willingness to tighten their belts together. So rather than cut 10% of the workforce, can we find ways to reduce executive compensation, reduce work hours, and cut compensation costs for the short term? Notice what I started with - executive compensation. It's got to start at the top with a stronger and deeper commitment than is being asked for from the employees, and not automatically made up for in the next bonus round.

If you can retain and even engage employees through bold management moves during a downturn, it may be just the right time for innovation and change, according to Bill Taylor in Innovate for Success in a Downturn.

It all goes back to changing the game. The companies and products that make it big don’t succeed because their champions “time the market” well. They make it big because their champions believe so deeply in what they are doing that they plunge ahead, regardless of macroeconomic conditions—often in face of the worst possible macroeconomic conditions.

Global strategist Pankaj Ghemawar asks whether companies engage in counter-cylical activity and look at a downturn as a potential opportunity for investment in Global Strategies for Uncertain Times.

The truth is, many companies could do better by treating downturns as times to lay the foundations of future growth—including additional globalization—rather than as times to turn off the investment spigot. Such a shift to a more countercyclical investment pattern is aided by the fact that many companies—although there are obviously exceptions in sectors particularly exposed to the property and credit crisis—are still sitting on large piles of cash.

Business and economic cycles, whether macroeconomic or industry specific, are a reality of today's market place. The successful companies will be the ones who find a way to change their game and plan for ways to succeed when others flounder.

When You are Looking at a New Company

2007-11-14T16:53:00.000+08:00

Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Bower, author of The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders Are the Key to Succession Planning writes about how leaders can, at the start of their careers, join companies that will enable them to reach the CEO position they aspire to. In interviewing him for Harvard Business Review Online, Paul Michelman uncovers the following questions you might consider asking a company before you join them.

Why am I being hired?
What kinds of career paths will be open to me?
How is this company going to help me grow?
What pattern of assignments am I likely to get?
Will I have time to learn or will I be so rushed in my work or bouncing between assignments that I won't develop well?
What kind of mentoring will I be provided?
What kind of training does the company provide?
How early can I gain the opportunity to run a small business?

The more specific and detailed the answers, the clearer the picture you will have of the opportunities you will have for career development. With the company behind you, it then becomes your challenge to consistently deliver against expectations and actively manage your career.

Facing the Facebook, or not?

2007-11-14T16:20:00.000+08:00

Social networking has quickly become mainstream when it's spotlighted in a short time frame by such venerable institutions as Harvard Business Review and Newsweek, not to mention being the topic of a panel discussion at a recent Forbes conference. The question is how will social networking sites change the world of work and how companies manage themselves.

Tom Davenport at Why Facebook and MySpace Won't Change The Workplace summarizes his position on Harvard Business Online with "In short, I’m still pulling for social networks to revolutionize companies, but I still don’t think that they will. The transformation of enterprises by Enterprise 2.0 is a romantic notion, but not a very likely one."

Charlene Li in Why Your Company Needs to Be on Facebook takes the opposite view that business is about relationships, and so "Your customers, prospects, and employees are exploring and extending their relationships there. Some of you will be bolder in creating business value in these networks while others will wait for the pioneers to carve out the paths. But ignore these new communities only if you believe your customers are not there – and there are few instances where this will be the case."

The challenge for me is that there are only so many hours a day to make calls, meet people, read email, blog, write, and work. While I'm on LinkedIn, I'm struggling with the ROI. At the end of the day, will I get the value out of and can I face adding more time online by trying to keep a Facebook page up to date?

What are your views?

Is Globalization a Myth or a Reality?

2007-11-09T08:15:00.000+08:00

As businesses increasingly become "global players", the strategic quandary is to what extent does the business operate integrate to generate synergies and match its global customers, or is a bias toward local or regional practices more effective.

Pankaj Ghemawat, the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School and the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration (on leave) at the Harvard Business School, argues in his recent columns on Harvard Business Online that the actual levels of globalization fall close to 10%. This reality is less of the issue than surveys indicating an average management belief that globalization is near 30%.

Such a gap would be less of a concern if trend lines indicating that the "flattened world" is nearing quickly. Ghemawat challenges all of these beliefs as "globaloney", and raise concerns these myths may be leading companies and economists to make incorrect strategic decisions.

What are your experiences with the challenges of global integration?

Developing High-Potential Employees

2007-11-08T17:21:00.000+08:00

In this article, we explore the role of coaching in the development of high-potential employees and its link to retention of these key staff members.

What is a high-potential employee? A generic definition is an individual expected to excel at a position X levels above their current role. Companies often make this more specific to their needs, incorporating a specific leadership level, within a particular time horizon, and most importantly, based on the foreseeable needs of the business. High potential employees demonstrate capabilities in the functional requirements of the business and their specific roles (can do), the personal motivation and drive to excel now and in the future (will do), and the behaviors that ongoing delivery of results (how do).

Marshall Goldsmith, as one of the world's foremost executive coaches has identified the key characteristics and needs of high potential employees (known as hi-pos) ("Coaching Free Agents" audio presentation). Hi-pos see themselves as free agents running their careers as "ME, Inc.", not limiting themselves to being a corporate employee. Retaining and developing these hi-pos brings special requirements. When dealing with hi-pos as free agents, it is most effective to:

Treat the high-potential employee, not as a subordinate, but as a partner in their work and career.

Recognize that "team-player" from their perspective means that this is a win-win result.

Deal openly with their self-interest.

Demonstrate candor in your interactions.

Go out of your way to demonstrate flexibility (see Mass Career Customization for more suggestions in this area).

A well-designed and implemented high-potential program include systems for identification, communication about being viewed as a high-potential, moving through clearly defined roles in the organization, mentoring by senior leaders, accelerated development, and continually feedback.

Coaching has the goal of accelerating leadership growth and delivery of business objectives. Adults learn most effectively through a cycle of experience - reflection - generalization - experimentation. A coach, whether an executive coach or the manager, consciously moves the person through these phases. In the case of a successful outcome, no matter how large or small, the employee will learn through receiving positive, concrete feedback in combination with the opportunity to reflect and gain their own insights. Useful questions to begin this dialogue include:

Would you like to give yourself feedback here?

Tell me about one new thing you learned about yourself through this project.

Tell me about the two challenges you faced and overcame.

What new skills or management muscles did you discover, develop or strengthen through this project?

When a high-potential employee is placed into a stretch assignment, the opportunity for less than stellar results and even failure are greatly increased. It is critical that the high-potential program provide a sponsor, champion or person otherwise capable of providing a safety net. Failure, or less than expected success is an enormous opportunity for learning. By applying similar questions to the above, the hi-pos can reflect on their experience, identify the strengths that supported them, the areas of growth that are needed, and put in place a plan for developing new habits, behaviors and/or skills.

While the effective focus is on building on strengths, there are often areas that may limit performance now or into the future. Rather than tell people what they did wrong, lead them to their own insights. It is best to start with asking for permission to engage in a discussion on how you might be able to help the person fulfill their potential. Once the issue is identified, it is often best to have the employee develop awareness of how others work and behave, and then to compare what they observe to their own style. Ask the person to pick one specific change and work with them to implement the change.

High-potential employees are strongly engaged in their own development and careers. When you, as a manager, company or coach, work with people to develop their capability and deliver stronger results, they become more engaged, more effective and exhibit higher retention rates.

As a final note, effective ways of working with high-potential employees and those identified in research on Gen Y'ers (see Retaining Young Talent). Perhaps the lesson is that management and leadership skills need to evolve in order to get the best of our people in today's world.

What are your thoughts on effective ways of dealing with high-potential employees and young talent?

Mass Career Customization

2007-10-12T15:47:00.000+08:00

Cathy Benko and Anne Weisberg are the authors of Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today's Nontraditional Workforce, that will be published by Harvard Business School Press this fall. Cathy and Anne led an initiative at Deloitte, currently in a pilot program, to address changing availability of the labor pool for knowledge workers (particularly in the US), changing family structure, and changing job expectations. In entering into this project, they found that these issues were no longer limited to "women's issues", rather they extend across many new families, lives and the younger generations.

They argue that with these changes, the workplace needs to change to match the new workforce in order to attract and retain talent. Careers used to be "climb the corporate ladder"; rather they are that careers now often follow a lattice. In fact, careers go through ebbs and flows particularly in relationship to the speed of advancement, the workload demands, location and schedule flexibility, and nature of the work (management / individual contributor).

Deloitte is implementing systems that allow people the fluidity to manage their careers with respect their personal needs. What is interesting in listening to the results at Deloitte, rather than encountering a situation where a difficult percentage of the organization wanted to dial back. Rather, people were pleased to know that the option was available to them as needed in the future. In fact, evaluating work against these dimensions allowed people to highlight their interest in dialing up, rather than dialing down.

Reinventing Office Politics

2007-10-12T15:16:00.000+08:00

I've posted a number of times on Organizational Politics, and watch closely for new information on the topic. Gill Corkindale recently posted Reinventing Office Politics on the Harvard Business Online. She reiterates the position that negative (manipulative, self-serving) politics is to be avoided. Positive politics (understanding other's motivations, influencing with integrity) are an integral part of succeeding at senior levels of most organizations.

She highlights the following tips for employing positive politics:

• Learn the system and work around it
• Cultivate relationships with the right people
• Understand individual agendas
• Act in a principled way
• Develop a network of information sources
• Avoid making enemies
• Build support for constructive ideas
• Build a personal reputation
• Treat everyone fairly
• Influence rather than using direct authority
• Learn how to steer meetings
• Negotiate in tough situations
• Manage conflict

For more on this topic, see some of my earlier postings:

From Coaching to Retention

2007-10-12T14:29:00.000+08:00

On October 31, 2007 in Shanghai, I will be presenting a one-day workshop: From Coaching to Retention for Global Talent Development Center. See coaching in action, add coaching skills to your management repertoire in the workplace, and explore you can enhance retention through coaching. The day will conclude with a small panel discussing how coaching has worked for them.

Price and Payment:

Early-Bird Price: RMB 3,500 available through Oct 19, 2007
Regular Price: RMB 3,800 effective on and after Oct 19, 2007
(Course fees including lunch and materials)

How do I register?

Email Registration form to info@gtdedu.com or Tel: 021-52199558 Mr.Li ;Ms.Wang

Registration Form:

Course Name: From Coaching to Retention
NAME：		TITLE:
COMPANY:
PHONE:		EMAIL:
FAX:		CELLPHONE:
ADDRESS:

The GTDC difference – The right courses, led by the right business executives, bringing you the right results.

Additional information available through:
Global Talent Development Center
Office: +86 (0)21 64726778
Fax: +86 (0)21 5219 9558

Taking the Frat House Out of Business Culture

2007-09-27T17:52:00.000+08:00

"Our business school professors never mentioned that smoking, drinking, swearing, hunting, fishing, and visits to strip clubs might be keys to rising in the world of high tech. Indeed, were lessons about how to prosper in frat house companies like EMC Corp. included in the MBA curriculum, many women would have dropped out right then and there."

So begins a posting by Alice Eagly, the co-author with Linda Carli of Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders.

While these behaviors become less frequent in the US, they remain standard practice for entertainment in much of Asia. The question becomes whether it is necessary to ensure the sale, the deal, the guanxi. Or perhaps there are a growing number of men, companies, and cultural settings in which new practices are required.

If business relationships are changing, what can be done about changing the current culture? In an HBR podcast, Alice Eagly suggests that leadership should take a hard look at the practices to see whether they are aligned with the important strategic aspects of its customer and client relationships. Consider how wide-spread disclosure, like in EMC's case, might support or tarnish your company's image. What does this do to the employment brand? Are all of your employees (men and women) comfortable with this? Will you be able to attract the largest pool of talent to your company in a tight labor market? Will this enhance or diminish your ability to retain the top talent in your industry?

Should the Frat House be there in your business culture?

How Women Become Leaders

2007-09-27T17:32:00.001+08:00

Is it a glass ceiling, a glass cliff or perhaps it’s a labyrinth. Alice Eagly and Linda L. Carli, in their book, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders, argue that the glass ceiling is no longer an apt metaphor. In the 70’s and 80’s, women were encouraged to seek higher positions, yet found their careers stalled just short of the top leadership positions. In some cases, women were allowed into leadership, but not too far. There was a glass ceiling.

In more recent years, as attention has shifted enabling all high potential employees, the glass cliff phenomena was identified – a situation where women are given high risk opportunities, and denied (whether consciously or unconsciously) the support and resources to succeed. (See Testing the Glass Cliff for more on this topic.)

In the 21^st century, women are achieving more and more positions of prominence, yet the numbers of women in leadership remain low. Eagly and Carli propose that the path to leadership for women is more akin to a labyrinth – a difficult and challenging maze with numerous obstructions and barriers, rather than a single glass ceiling.

Barriers identified include:

Women tend to carry much of the family / child responsibility in the home.
A hidden bias in the prevailing sense that leadership is a masculine endeavor. As a consequence, women tend to be evaluated lower even with same credentials.
Discrimination found in the company cultures. For example, fast track careers may require intense hour commitments (referred to as extreme jobs by Sylvia Ann Hewlitt) or in the environments that continue to support socializing involving strip clubs, drinking, hunting, etc.
Women placed in staff rather than line jobs.
Women being passed over for the high-visibility challenging assignments, conversely being assigned to glass cliff jobs.

What can be done about this?

As the definition of leadership changes to include more elements of emotional intelligence, women will be perceived as more suitable for leadership roles.
Leadership can allow flexibility for parenting, particularly in the dinner hours (see Top Jobs and Maternal Guilt).
Organizations can strive for more objective measures of performance and accomplishments.

What can women do for themself? Women can and do succeed in all kinds of environments. Recognize their personal strengths and limitations and then aligning those with the choice of company and the company culture will best position them to negotiate the labyrinth.

Managing Your Personal Brand

2007-09-26T16:41:00.000+08:00

Coca-Cola, Google, Apple and Mercedes have brand identities. Do YOU?

Being the chief marketer of the brand called YOU is important to your career management. Branding can set you apart from other candidates in a competitive job market. According to William Arruda in Personal Branding - Gets You the Job, 11% of recruiters highlight personal branding as the best way for a candidate to get their attention.

So how do you develop a personal brand? First you need to start with a solid assessment of what makes you different from the rest. Tom Peters in the Fast Company article The Brand Called You, suggests that you give yourself 15 words or less to define what sets your personal product or service apart from others. Start by considering your greatest strengths. You may want to solicit input on this, since we dismiss our areas of greatest strength simply because it's easy to us. Looking back on your greatest achievements may give additional insights. Once you've identified these areas of note, look at them from the perspective of a client or an employer. What benefits do you provide, above and beyond others, because of who you are. Now define what makes you YOU.

Once you defined what makes YOU unique; it's time to put your marketing hat on. Where can you network to make your uniqueness visible. Does your presence on the internet, through blogs, social networks, face books, etc. support (or undermind) your brand? Do your friends, colleagues, boss, and clients know your brand? How can they help you in furthering it? Keep in mind that according to Dan Schwabel in his article Successful Networking through Personal Branding (may require free registration), some 80% of available jobs are never advertised. By extending your reach beyond information on jobs to having "salespeople" who know why your brand is so appropriate, will let you rise above the crowd.

Finally, remember that Brand YOU should be authentic to who you are. With people able to "google" you, you can manage but not control information. Staying true to who you are will allow you to create and sustain a distinctive personal brand.

When is a problem a problem?

2007-09-19T15:55:00.000+08:00

When is a problem a problem? Perhaps that depends on how you react to it.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe (HBR Jul-Aug 2007) says

"Hidden problems are the ones that become serious threats eventually. If problems are revealed for everybody to see, I will feel reassured. Because once problems have been visualized, even if our people didn't notice them earlier, they will rack their brains to find solutions to them."

In fact, legend has Toyota American management being taught that "No problem is problem!" It is by rooting out and highlighting the challenges that advancement can be made.

In stark contrast was my experience with a hotel in Suzhou this past weekend. The hotel was part of a "luxury" hotel chain where service should be exceptional, and has proven to be such over a number of extended visits in other countries. With no interest in bashing the chain (though I can not recommend this particular hotel) we'll leave it unnamed.

Front desk service was efficient but not welcoming. Room was pleasant. Complimentary fruit was one orange, one apple and one (sad looking) peach. Complimentary water was two small bottles - barely adequate for two people for 24 hours. Ashtrays by the elevators (on the nonsmoking floor) not cleaned for more than 12 hours. All of which could have been ignored had the dinner buffet come anywhere close to expectations.

Not feeling drawn into any of the nearby restaurants, we headed back to the dinner buffet expecting the usual superior (at least for buffets) experience normally found at this brand. Arriving at 8 PM, we found the sashimi tray emptied, but not removed. The limited hot western dishes had barely any food left in them, the roasted duck was dried bones, the roasted vegetables were parched from sitting under the heat lamps too long, empty salad bowls, empty fruit bowls, missing utensils, etc. When I discovered that the osso buco had been sitting there so long it was cold, a manager was demanded.

The response went through a series of apology for a poor experience and queries on whether the food we did eat was good. No attempts were made to rectify the disastrous appearance of the buffet line. When the dessert area was found to be equally pitiful and not maintained, the manager was again shown how the expected standards were falling flat. The response this time was to deliver to our table (after we'd finished dessert) a plate of sashimi and a roasted duck. Sending it away and refusing to pay for the dinner, we once again received apologies and an assurance that future evenings would be better.

Meeting with the Duty Manager, we, again, received apologies ... and no sense that the situation would be analyzed and resolved - that a solution would be found. The breakfast buffet line proved to be only marginally better organized than the dinner buffet with empty plates and bowls. Followed by a repeat of the apologies from the Food and Beverage manager and a wish that we could return for a better organized dinner. The problem still a problem.

It is perhaps culturally appropriate that the response is to mollify, to seek to set right our particular situation. Thus, the apologies delivered, food prepared and a compensatory box of chocolates. Some customers might find this satisfactory. I find it infinitely more satisfying when the problem is identified and clear efforts are underway to rectify the underlying cause.

As you look at your situation, are you welcoming problems as opportunities for improvement? Or just mollifying the customer? Which is the right approach for your organization?