Tag Archives: Talent

How Do You Redefine the Top Executive’s Role in the Business? Four Points

Situation: The President of a family-owned business that has been in operation for over 30 years wishes to change her role by increasing delegation of responsibility and accountability within the business in preparation for her eventual retirement. Other family members in the business are happy with their current responsibilities and are resistant to taking on more responsibility. What advice does the group have for this member?
Advice from the CEOs:
• Given that you are preparing for retirement, it is important to let others know about your plans and your desire to increasingly hand off your responsibilities to others. Ideally, one or more of the others will express a desire to take on more leadership, particularly if it includes a boost in pay.
• It is important to clarify responsibilities and prioritize which ones you wish to hand off. Once this is done build and execute a hand-off plan.
• Transition current managers who are misplaced in their position to other roles. Work with them to identify alternate roles where their talents can better benefit the company. They may be aware of their current discomfort and welcome the opportunity to take on a different role more suited to their abilities.
• Focus on removing barriers to delegation that may be in place. For example, bring others into the discussion and review the projects that they are overseeing. Identify the challenges underlying those projects and ask for their suggestions on how to address these. Don’t provide the answers. Ask questions and push them to develop appropriate solutions.

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How Do You Downsize Intelligently? Three Perspectives

Situation: A company has run into a rough patch and needs to cut costs. The CEO is considering a number of alternatives, but wants to hear input from other CEOs on how they have faced this challenge. How do you downsize intelligently?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The key to intelligent downsizing is to take a different perspective. Look at the needs of the business in terms of a 3-5 year plan, not just at what is needed to do to survive today.
    • What key talent will be needed 3 years out? What key roles will need to be filled? Who is on-board today who will be needed in 3 years? How does this affect the decision on where to trim? Are there other options to simply laying off staff?
    • Answering these questions helps to consider options with a rational long-term view.
  • Establish a new paradigm. What do you want the business to become?
    • Is it the same as, complimentary to, or completely different from the current business model? Once the paradigm is developed plan personnel needs in line with this paradigm.
  • Look at all resources proactively.
    • For example, if you are considering moving your offices to a smaller space, look at your vision for the company 3 years out.
    • It may be more sensible to stay where you are and negotiate a new lease with your landlord that is more favorable short-term than paying for multiple moves.

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How Do You Institutionalize Double-Digit Growth? Six Suggestions

Situation: A company is enjoying 10% organic growth per year and wants to sustain this growth rate. They enjoy a favorable position as a technology leader. Their principal strategy is to continually advance the technology. The chief obstacle to ongoing technological superiority is getting the right people to populate their brain trust. How do you institutionalize double-digit growth?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Look for domestic office locations that have the right talent but a lower cost of living. Florida presents attractive cost of living with low employee turnover.
  • Can the company compartmentalize?
    • Set up a remote location, run by a trusted individual, and do portions of the work there.
  • Be aware that teamwork within the company becomes a challenge with remote locations.
    • A communications strategy – for example videoconferencing – can help to engender teamwork across distance.
    • The pandemic made videoconferencing a far more viable alternative than it was prior to the pandemic.
  • If the company’s infrastructure is highly bureaucratic or the cost of quality high, can adjustments be made that will relieve some of the cost pressures?
    • Creating “Hot Teams” is a method to developing new, innovative solutions.
    • Can the company’s technology be leveraged to improve productivity – for example, using modeling and simulation to reduce prototyping costs?
  • Can the company employ knowledge management?
    • Gather lessons learned from past and recently completed projects.
    • Share good or best practices.
    • Make sure that new efforts do not start from scratch.
  • Consider outsourcing to universities, with proper contracts.

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How Do You Shift from an Operational to a Strategic Focus? Three Points

Situation: A CEO is concerned that her company is too focused on day-to-day operations with much less focus on strategic objectives and initiatives. She estimates that the company is 75% day to day vs. 25% strategic. What is the best way to shift the focus, and over what timeframe? How do you shift from an operational to a strategic focus?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Look at the current mix between day-to-day and strategic activity, set a timeframe for the shift and set interim objectives.
    • For example, if the current mix is perceived as 75% DTD / 25% Strategic, set monthly objectives to move first to 50% / 50% and eventually 25 DTD / 75% Strategic.
  • While the objective is to move the CEO’s and company’s activity more in the strategic direction, it is necessary to assure that the day-to-day bases are being covered.
    • Select a key member of the team to take on this responsibility and train that individual to assure that the day-to-day operations are covered as the company makes this transition. This will be a bonus for the individual selected and will help to deepen the organizations talent pool.
  • During weekly meetings push the discussion more toward the strategic direction.
    • How can the metrics and operational reports be automated and readily available to team members so that less time is spent on this during weekly meetings? Consider an executive dashboard – developed by the CEO and key staff but maintained and updated by staff.
    • This will help to build confidence that the team is able to monitor the business and should reduce the time spent understanding operations. This will allow the team to focus more on strategic vision and plans.
    • This is also important to the company’s ability to monitor operations in its remote locations as these are set up.

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How Do You Build the Right Organization? Four Observations

Situation: To accommodate future growth, a company has to build its management infrastructure and has developed an organizational chart to guide this process. Should preference  be given to existing personnel who are qualified and have expressed an interest in the new positions or should leadership wait until they identify exceptional outside talent for the new positions? How do you build the right organization?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Move forward with internal talent that have been identified. The company and management know these people and the “ideal” outsider may also come with “less than ideal” baggage.
  • Create a 90-day plan with specific broad objectives for those who will be offered the open positions. Let them know that the assignments are conditional upon their ability to achieve their objectives during the 90-day period. Provide coaching, and cross-departmental training to give them the best chance to succeed.
  • For one position, there are two individuals who have expressed an interest in the decision. How should the CEO choose between these individuals?
    • Move forward with the individual who is considered the best choice, but offer training and support for the second individual so that there is a ready candidate for new positions that may open, or a natural successor should the position in question open up for any reason.
  • The company has a very flat organization chart. Individual employees work on several projects, with a different manager for each, simultaneously. What is the best way to evaluate individuals in this situation?
    • Use a 360 peer-to-peer and peer-to-boss approach to gather feedback for performance appraisals. There are a number of web-based systems available. This will provide an objective source of feedback to support performance appraisals and reviews.

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Is It Better to Develop Internal Resources or Hire? Four Views

Situation: A key employee will be leaving for at least 5-6 months on maternity leave. This individual is a top performer, and will be welcomed back following maternity leave should she wish to return. However, her absence will leave the company short of resources. Is it better to develop internal resources during her absence or hire a new resource?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The company’s HR strategy should complement its strategic plan as well as the CEO’s feel for market conditions.
    • If the strategy for the next year is to grow, then plan accordingly and commit to either bringing on someone new or to aggressively growing the talent already within the firm.
    • If the strategy is to hedge bets due to lack of clarity as to where the market is headed, then plan accordingly and act more conservatively.
  • Assess the availability of resources within the company.
    • Are there internal candidates who can fill the gap created by this employee’s leave? If so, then start training and developing these resources. They will be valuable as the company grows.
    • What is the company’s current workload vs. the capacity of current staff? If there is any excess capacity that can fill the gap, short-term, then use this as an opportunity to develop this excess capacity.
  • If the company has excess capacity, and is unsure about market movement six months out, develop internal capacity first.
    • This provides both additional flexibility and time to assess signs of market movement before making an investment in additional talent.
    • Plan to revisit the situation in 3 months and make another decision.
  • Keep a close eye on the market for developments, and have rapid action back-up strategies in place to respond to market conditions.

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How Do You Raise the Bar on Personal Performance? Five Suggestions

Situation: A CEO is constantly striving to increase her skills, both personal and professional. She has sought and participated in a number of workshops to facilitate ongoing improvement. Some have been helpful but others less so. What have others done to sharpen their professional skills? What about their personal skills – the human side? How do you raise the bar on personal performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Focus on improving and sharpening your strengths, not on overcoming or improving areas that are not so strong. Look for ways that existing strengths complement each other and build on these combinations. This will naturally yield two benefits: raising performance and bringing greater satisfaction.
  • Create personal objectives that will help to sharpen existing strengths.
  • Conversely, develop workarounds for those areas which are not as strong. Look for talents among the others within the company that address the areas which are not as strong. Have them assist in work pertaining to these areas. They will enjoy this work because it complements their strengths, and you and the company will gain the desired results.
  • Take time to reflect and to recharge the batteries. Check current objectives and assure that these objectives compliment your long-term goals. Assure that you are focusing on the right priorities for YOU.
  • Find a mentor – in or outside of your industry. This will be an individual with experience who can provide you with guidance and clarity as you address both day-to-day and long-term challenges.

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How Do You Continually Raise the Bar on Personal Performance? Five Points

Situation: A CEO is continually focusing on company performance to improve results and efficiency. At the same time, she wants to assure that she is always raising the bar on her own performance as an example to both management and employees. What advice do you have for this CEO? How do you continually raise the bar on personal performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Take a lesson from Marcus Buckingham’s book – Now Discover Your Strengths. The Gallup Organization is a leader in social science research on performance. Rule #1 is to focus on improving and sharpening strengths, not on overcoming or improving areas that are not so strong.
    • Look for ways that your strengths complement each other and build on these combinations. This will naturally raise performance and will also bring greater satisfaction.
  • Build personal objectives that will help to sharpen your strengths.
  • Conversely, develop work-arounds for those areas which are not as strong. Look for talent among the others in the organization that address areas where you are not as strong.
    • Have them assist you in work pertaining to these areas.
    • They will enjoy this work because it complements their strengths, and the company will gain the results that are needed. It also allows them to excel in areas where they are the strongest.
  • Take time to reflect and to recharge your batteries. Check your direction and make sure that you are heading in a direction that compliments your long-term goals.
    • Make sure that you are focusing on the right priorities for YOU.
  • Find a mentor – in or outside of your industry. Someone with experience who can provide you with guidance and clarity as you address both day-to-day and long-term challenges.

How Do You Beef Up Talent to Drive the Company? Three Questions

Situation: There is no secret that hiring is more challenging now than it was two years ago. A CEO is finding it difficult to attract and bring in the right talent to achieve her growth objectives. What are others doing to bring in new talent, especially high performers who will help to bring in new accounts and work with key customers to develop new business. How do you beef up talent to drive the company?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • What has worked best for others?
    • Hired low and developed home grown talent. This means building the capacity to train new talent to meet the company’s needs.
    • This may not produce entrepreneurs like the company’s founders but can produce solid performers.
    • Some sectors are by nature risk averse. Individuals are not dollar driven as much as by security with an acceptable salary. Good candidates who are hungry for growth are more likely to be found outside of these sectors.
  • How do you hire to match the company’s objective?
    • The objective is rapid growth – the mold of the original founders who were risk-taking entrepreneurs atypical of the sector.
    • Look for candidates who are driven by growth. The right candidate will jump at the opportunity to take a $5M book of business and grow it to $10-15M in 3 years with appropriate corporate support and compensation.
  • What has been tried or investigated in the past?
    • Looked for successful smaller businesses similar to the company as possible acquisitions. The challenge was that the people running these companies liked their independence and didn’t want a boss.
    • Looked at individuals from corporate backgrounds in the same sector. Some worked, some didn’t. Frequently, these people were not entrepreneurs or builders.
    • Talk to private equity companies. Ask who they have bought or sold in this space. Gather names of drop-in CEOs and key staff who turned companies around and did well.

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How Do You Handle a Difficult Employee? Five Observations

Situation: A CEO is pondering how to handle a difficult employee. This individual has brought in good business but is never satisfied with his level of pay – though he is highly paid. While he is good at bringing in new accounts, he doesn’t make the effort to grow them over time. How do you handle a difficult employee?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • It is necessary to establish a mutual understanding with the employee that no matter the level of pay, the employee will think that it is too little. This reframes the discussion because it establishes that there is no win by paying the individual more. The unspoken part is “why bother?”
    • Given this reality, the maximum level of pay for the employee is $X.
    • Note that there is no negotiating power until once this is said it is acceptable to let the employee walk away.
  • The CEO feels indebted to this individual because he has brought the company many new accounts. He is a good hunter. But the task now is not to hunt but to cultivate and grow the opportunities that that the company has in hand.
    • The issue is that this individual doesn’t build relationships that will grow business in his accounts.
    • He has done well for the company. The company has rewarded him handsomely. However, now a different talent is needed.
  • What’s the best alternative for action, and how is this communicated to the staff?
    • Do not lay this individual off – terminate him for cause.
    • This individual has repeatedly been asked to act as a team member, but he has steadfastly refused to do this.
    • His attitude, while good for his own efforts, is bad for the company and is clearly counter to the desired culture.
    • He is better off in a situation that aligns with his talents and style.
  • Terminating this individual for cause sends a critical message to the rest of the company – culture is important. You are determined to establish a healthy culture even it if means eliminating your best performer.
    • To those who ask, answer that this individual was treated fairly. Clear expectations were established, and ample opportunity was given to be a part of the culture that you are establishing.
    • Ultimately, the culture that you seek to establish – one that is good for the whole team, not just for star performers – was not right for this individual.
  • Use this situation to relaunch a campaign to build a company culture of collaboration and best practice development between teams. With the elimination of this individual there may be new enthusiasm around this initiative.

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