I recently heard an interesting presentation by Holly Kortright, Senior VP, HR of Deltek. She was talking about where her company has decided to direct their available resources for employee capacity development. They target four areas: High Potentials for leadership positions High Performers People possessing critical, hard to replace, skills People in key positions (e.g. long experience and intimate knowledge of key work processes) With the US government entering a time of … [Read more...]
We are hearing so often these days that there are tons of well-paying jobs for which companies simply can't find qualified people. Of course, skilling up alone won't solve the unemployment and underemployment problems we face. But we do need to skill up as an adult population. I think we all have a part to play, at three levels at the same time: At the national/macro level. This is the realm of public policy around economics, education and the accommodation of technology changes. At the … [Read more...]
Recently I heard a presentation by Jim Gibbons, President & CEO of Goodwill Industries. In it he said that "every job matters." Every job has someone relying on the incumbent of the position to do their job well so that the other person can either: benefit or do their own job well. Your client/customer is either internal or external.You serve (or produce for) the external client or someone who delivers to the external client. This is true whether you operate in the private, … [Read more...]
I ran across a recent posting from the Gallup Management Journal that made a point have I never thought about before: "Raised through a childhood in which each new year brought novel opportunities, playing at ever more difficult levels of sports, growing physically, educated in a system of cleanly delineated grades -- freshman, sophomore, junior, senior -- many employees find themselves several years into their career wondering what happened to the momentum they used to enjoy. Being both … [Read more...]
It's been a smart idea for years. When good employees leave your organization for greener pastures and the departure is amicable, why not keep in contact? You never know, some may find that that grass isn't, in fact, greener and that your firm was a pretty good place to work after all. A recent WSJ article shares what some firms, especially the larger professional consulting firms, are doing to maintain a former employee "alumni network." These can be elaborate initiatives involving message … [Read more...]
Back in the 90's the Royal Bank of Canada had a series of TV commercials touting the theme, "Building a Better Bank, One Customer at a Time." The message, as I recall, was that RBC treats each customer as a unique individual and strives to win them over, one-at-a-time. I frequently refer to this ad campaign in my management development workshops. The parallels are natural… RBC has customers, current and new. Managers have employees, current and newly hired. RBC seeks to understand … [Read more...]
This has been a hotly debated issue among those of us who work in the so-called "soft skills" area. Our clients, understandably so, want a high degree of certainty that their investment in training will generate certain outcomes. In particular, that their trainees will learn and successfully apply the skills taught. And they would prefer the results be promised in the form of solid metrics. And so would I…if t'were possible to guarantee. The fact is that management development is … [Read more...]
I recently attended a presentation by Shannon Deegan, Google's Director of People. Now, a lot has been written about this company and how it is up there in the stratosphere of "best places to work," as decreed by Fortune magazine and others. Not surprisingly, Google received around 2 million resumés last year and filled 5000 positions. And growth? They have grown from zero to 25,000 employees in just eight years. Here are a few points, in no particular order, that stood out for me from … [Read more...]
For at least 40 years we have had the idea of "lattice" organization as an alternative design to the traditional hierarchy which assumes employees all want to climb up the ladder. In lattice organizations (and, beyond W.L. Gore & Associates, there weren't many of them out there back then), you could go in any direction–up, sideways, and even down–to keep your learning, development, and capacity growing. Well, the lattice concept is back with a vengeance. Deloitte includes the … [Read more...]
In PwC Saratoga's latest Global CEO Survey, 65% of CEO's report that they intend to use more non-financial rewards to motivate their staff. This is an admission that the a motivation strategy full of mostly financial reward "carrots" is not enough, especially for their highly skilled and high potential employees. We so easily forget the fact that people are looking for at least some measure of fulfillment from the time they spend on the job. "Fulfillment," of course, can take many forms: … [Read more...]
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Ian is an experienced presenter, group facilitator, executive coach, and author of the acclaimed Would They Call You Their Best Boss Ever. Through his keynote presentations, highly interactive workshops, 
and custom-designed team-building practice, he helps his clients leverage their investment in their managers and teams.Do you remember how great it was working for your best boss ever? 132 short articles with thought provoking ideas and practical tips and approaches for being that same kind of manager, one who fosters consistently high performance and solid results.LEADERSHIP BLOG - BUILD BEST BOSSES by Ian Cook
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