Working Resources Blog

Strategic Talent Management Secrets – Creating a Top Talent Focused Organization

Our business world today is increasingly competitive and global. Attracting and keeping talented people is the key to being a successful company, law or accountancy firm. Organizations are increasingly challenged to recruit top talent and improve the company culture and environment. 

People want meaning and purpose in their work. Assuring a great fit between an employee and his/her employer is critical for both to be happy. The right fit increases the probability of full engagement. But how should leaders design organizations to ensure that talent is the highest priority?

I just finished reading a seminal book by Ed Lawler Talent…Making People Your Competitive Advantage. Ed Lawler is director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California (USC). Talent offers a remarkable blueprint that clearly maps out an understandable approach to organizing and leading an organization focused on talent. The book is practical incorporating case examples that make some of the learning and lessons come alive. The book pays special attention to:

•    Leadership
•    Performance Evaluation
•    Managing Change
•    Reinventing Human Resources
•    Corporate Boards
•    Strategic Talent Management

I found especially fascinating the outlining of the Star Model which identifies the features that help create a human - capital – centric organization. Human capital focused organizations need to be known as places that value and grow inspiring leaders. The Star Model begins with strategy. Strategy defines which products, services, and markets an organization will focus on and how it will compete Determining the right competencies and capabilities is core to strategy execution.

At the center of the Star Model is “identity.” Identity is differentiated from culture. Culture is defined as the internal values and norms of an organization that defines how things are done and what is important. In contrast, identity is described as the fundamental personality of the organization with respect to how it treats people, what it values, what the right way to do things are, and what are acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.

Talent is a great resource for leaders who want to determine which strategic talent management approach best fits their business. The choices are a full engagement approach that has long-term employee relationships as a goal or a global-competitor approach where there is a constant need for new talent and technological capability.

Are you a leader with a mindset “obsessed with talent”. Reading and implementing some of the key strategies described in Talent may just be your ticket to success.

Assessing an Existing Team: 6 Probing Questions To Ask

Assessing an Existing Team

Work today is frequently accomplished in teams. You want to create a winning team in the first 90 days. Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders assess team members by asking each person powerful questions. Everyone needs to quickly and honestly know where they stand regarding the mission and goals of the team and organization.

In my executive coaching work with leaders, I help them formulate the right questions to ask team members. It takes a lot of interpersonal skill to formulate and ask questions that will provide a comprehensive assessment of team members and the team.

Can you think of any questions that you might ask to assess an existing team?

Prepare to meet formally with each person by reviewing available personnel history, performance data and other appraisals. During your meeting, ask probing questions. Michael Watkins, in his excellent book The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels suggests the following for a comprehensive evaluation:

1.  What do you think of our existing strategy?

2.  What are the biggest challenges we face in the short term? In the long term?

3.  What are the biggest opportunities we face?

4.  What resources could we leverage more effectively?

5.  How could we improve the way the team works together?

6.  If you were in my position, to what would you want to pay attention?

Be on the alert for nonverbal cues. While a person’s actual words have merit, much is revealed by body language, as well as what a person omits and the way in which he communicates:

• What doesn’t he/she say?
• Does he/she volunteer information or wait until he/she’s asked?
• Does the person reveal areas of weakness or only strengths?
• Does the team member blame others or take responsibility for specific things?
• Does the person make excuses?
• How consistent is his/her body language with his/her words
• Which topics evoke a lot of energy?
• What is this person like outside of meetings, when he/she interacts on an informal level with others?
• Does he/she tend to be cordial, polite, tense, competitive, judgmental or reserved?

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more inspiring and happy team leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Creating Happy Work Cultures - Taming the Inner Ape

What exactly is a happy work culture? You hear a lot about leaders establishing the culture of an organization in the early stages of its development.

Over the years as a leadership consultant, I have observed that I can walk into an organization for the first time and in a few minutes get a sense of the culture. You probably experience something similar when you visit a company for the first time. In the sixties we used to call it the “vibes’.

What do people experience when they walk into the place where you work?

Building Healthy Companies - Elements of Happiness

There is a great deal of exciting research in the area of happiness including findings from positive psychology, brain physiology, appreciative inquiry, and emotional intelligence. You might find further reading in these areas enlightening.

A great deal of my executive coaching with clients is informed by focusing on clients strengths and improving emotional intelligence and social intelligence. Positive psychology and appreciative inquiry focus on what is right with people and organizations leveraging strengths for achieving success. There is a great deal of attention to gratitude and appreciation.

Are you leveraging your strengths?

How to Create Happy Companies - Happy Employees Drive Business Success

Some companies are so focused on the bottom that there is no joy working there. People show up for work but are drained and have little energy.They are more focused on what is wrong than making a significant contribution to the success of the business.

I am consulting with a company that just won a “Great Place to Work” award. People are starting to play more and have fun at work. The revitalized energy is infectious.

Are you happy at work?  What creates your sense of fulfillment?

How Leaders Can Motivate Younger Workers - Questions to Ask Younger Generations

Great leaders know how to inspire and motivate all kinds of people. Workers are motivated in different ways.

You need to discover what is meaningful to each employee on a deep level. Why do they come to work? Why do they stay? I coach a number of "older" leaders who are sometimes baffled by the "inner workings" of their younger colleagues

Do you feel that you know your younger workers? Taking a coach approach and learning to ask powerful questions can often reveal what truly matters.

Boomers Versus Gen Xers - Hours and Input

Boomers  and Gen Xers have different work habits. Boomers value putting in long hours and Gen X employees are concerned with completing work and less on the time it takes.

I am the executive coach of a young executive in a privately owned company. The Baby Boomer owners value "face time". The company culture strongly encourages hard work and long hours. The Gen X executive gets her work done, but has other priorities. There is a clash between how the generations view work.

What coaching suggestions would you have in this scenario?

Gen Xers and Millennials - Perspectives on Time, Technology and Loyalty

Young people in the workplace sometimes have different values and priorities than the older generation. They value time, technology and loyalty in different ways.

I am providing leadership consulting and executive coaching for the senior leadership team of a San Francisco Bay Area company. The CEO hopes to sell the company in the next one to three years. He has been totally transparent in sharing this information with his young workforce. He has little fear of his people leaving because they love his leadership and are steadfastly loyal to him.

How does loyalty show up among young workers in your organization?

Managing Different Generations: Inspiring and Motivating Gen Xers

I was born in 1946 right after World War 11. I am definitely a Boomer!

I often find it fascinating coaching clients across different generations. What motivates one person is very different for another. Each person is unique, but there are some interesting generational themes and patterns.

Do you see the various generations having different values and beliefs about workplace success ?

Measuring Employeee Engagement: Twelve Questions to Measure Workforce Retention

Successful organizations need to support people in order for them to be fully committed to help execute the organization's strategy. A healthy work environment is essential for an engaged workforce.

In my executive coaching and leadership consulting with companies and law firms and accountancy firms retaining talent is frequently a strategic imperative. Unfortunately, most of my client organizations need to do a better job of engaging their workforce. Company and firm leaders need to be more aware of why people stay and why they leave.

You may find the following questions a useful measure of how happy your people are at work.