Tag: talent

Tricks and Treats of Succession Planning

Pumpkinds

It’s that scary time of year again. What ghost may come out of the closet and spook someone? Who is seen as both an angel and devil? Is the path we’re on a trail of terror? No I’m not talking about Halloween. I’m talking about succession planning. Just like our favorite October holiday, it is an annual tradition that tends to involve a lot of costumes, smoke, and mirrors. But there is a better way. HR plays a key role in identifying the tricks to make succession planning a treat. This mean focusing on your purpose, the process, and a playbook.

The trick? Be clear on the purpose. Before you deploy the next succession planning session, ask yourself, what is the purpose of this exercise? In fact, I encourage you to apply the 5 Whys. If your purpose is that it’s important to know our talent, ask why. Do that five times so you can strip it down to a skeleton and see what is essential to your organization. For some companies, the purpose may be accelerating people into leadership roles. But if your executive turnover is really low, beware- that strategy may come back to bite you. The last thing you want is to build a pipeline of supply with no demand. For others, it may be diversifying the skills and experience of your leadership team. Or perhaps it’s intentional rotation of talent across business segments. The treat? Aligning with your organizational priorities and gaining support from leaders. Too often succession planning lurks in the shadows of executives’ minds. A clear purpose makes it an essential business process that earns agenda time throughout the year.

The trick? Simplify the process. Be honest. If you explained your succession planning process to people outside the business world would it make any sense? I actually shared our process with my stylist once and her reaction was priceless- ranging from eye rolling  to confusion to horror. The same thing our managers feel when they see the Frankenstein processes we’ve built. We can dismantle this monster with a few simple questions. What data do we need? How will we use it? What can we measure? Why does it matter to business results? The treat? Moving from labels to data insights. One way to make this pivot may be to collect data on executive jobs filled in the last 12-18 months. What percent were filled internally vs. externally? For the internal candidates, what was their 9 box rating? For those filled externally, had internal successors been identified? Were they considered? Why or why not? This can be an insightful discussion and help leaders move the conversation from “he’s high potential” to “she’d make great future leader, but her lack of marketing experience is holding her back.”

The trick? Build talent playbooks. The first spell I’d like to cast is to banish all succession planning binders. I’m quite sure business strategies, customer engagement, and financial forecasting aren’t managed in a binder in your organization. Succession planning needs to be an active, interactive process and we can help leaders keep it alive by creating some simple plays for them to run. Tips on how to talk to their team about  performance and potential. Ideas on how to create meaningful development plans. Resources to help with mentoring and sponsorship. Forums to discuss cross team volunteer opportunities. The treat? Seeing succession planning earn the mindshare and timeshare of other core business processes.

Succession planning doesn’t have to be scary. It definitely should not be a life-sucking process. We can move this key talent process out of the dark by shining a light on purpose, process, and a playbook. So treat yourself- and your business- to a simpler, more sustainable, and more impactful approach to succession planning.

 

 

 

Walk A Mile in My Gemba

Gemba-Kaizen-Quotes-Morpheus

Lean principles are no longer a new idea in the workplace. As many workplaces try to “do more with less”, identifying and eliminating waste not only makes sense, it is essential. A key element of the lean methodology is to “walk to the gemba.” The original Japanese term comes from gembutsu, which means “real thing.” It also sometimes refers to the “real place.” This concept stresses making a personal observation of work at the place where the work is happening.  Walking the gemba is a learning activity. We can learn how to do address delivery and quality challenges, how to deal with internal quality problems, how to sustain inventory, and how to make a better use of capital. We can also learn from our teams by asking the people closest to the work what they see as waste and what recommendations they have for improvement. I recently read the article Your Gemba Isn’t the Only Gemba to Walk by Aaron Hunt in the Lean Post. He highlights the value in seeing how others (your customers, your competitors) are working on challenges, and encourages us to walk their gembas for ideas. This got me thinking – what if we applied that to our own organizations?  The article The Future of HR: Run like Tech. Talk like Ops. Think Like Sales. Lead the Change by Jeff Palen offers some great recommendations on ensuring HR runs like a business. I think we can take this one step further by going to the gemba together to help each of these functions learn from each other. If we do, we can connect technology and talent, measure what matters, and be more customer-centric, and by doing so we will drive business value.

Connect technology and talent. Gone are the days of massive annual IT updates, where people were given big binders of instructions and had their systems down for hours while the new release was launched. Instead, technology has moved to micro releases sending regular, small updates in real time. HR could ask IT how to redesign the talent review as a micro release process instead of today’s annual, big binder process. By observing the process steps and the waste removed, HR may gain some insights on how to redesign their own talent process. In exchange, IT could ask HR how to engage stakeholders before a release is launched. An incremental release of a Workday program may launch but won’t stick unless managers understand why the change was made, believe this change is for the greater good, and understand how to execute the change.

Measure what matters. Operations teams are often experts in ROI metrics. Common customer experience metrics used by operations teams include on-time delivery, cycle time, and time to make changeovers. Walking through an operations gemba you may see the line stop and manufacturing employees giving feedback on an inefficiency that slows down delivery and/or cycle time. HR could ask Operations if performance reviews are efficient and if they measure what matters. Are managers delivering feedback in a timely manner? Is the cycle between feedback discussions optimal? Have managers changed over to the feedback approach you launched? In exchange, Operations could ask HR what internal customers are measuring. Is Quality measuring supply chain stability but Operations is switching to low cost suppliers? What are HR incentive plans designed to drive? Is that in synch with what operations is measuring? Making these connections is key to making ROI metrics real.

Be customer-centric. Sales people know that knowing your products is important but knowing your customer is essential. Key elements of the sales process are prospecting, conducting a needs assessment, and presenting benefits to the customer. HR could ask Sales how to better engage their customers.  For example, you may have identified major market segments (employees, managers, executives) but have you fully profiled each of these in order to adjust marketing tactics appropriately? Is your engagement strategy designed to solve your prospect’s problem? The only way to do that is by asking lots of questions. Asking good questions will not only help you determine potential solutions, but also builds confidence, trust, and may help prospects consider ideas they may never have thought of.  In exchange, Sales can ask HR how to better engage their employees. Gemba walks are a great way to do this, and anywhere a sales employee works is a place for a gemba walk. That could be in a home office, a car, or an onsite customer meeting. A gemba meetings looks at flow: what is the process, who are the people, and where is the friction. By asking the employee questions and offering him/her coaching, the sales leader can drive both results and engagement.

Most functions believe they know what their peer functions do. But as the quote says, there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. By walking the gemba together we can get to the “real thing” we need to address to improve our performance. We can also learn from those closest to the work how we are generating waste and what recommendations they have for improvement. How could you walk the gemba with your peers at work?

 

The Tears and Fears of Change

FearOfChange

One of my favorite 80’s songs is “Change” by Tears for Fears. In the song Curt and Roland lament, “I did not have the time. I did not have the nerve. To ask you how you feel. Is this what you deserve?” When I hear this stanza, it makes me think of how well intended change initiatives often unfold. John Kotter’s research on organizational change found that 70 percent of transformational change initiatives fail (Harvard Business Review, 1995). The Towers Watson 2013 Change and Communication ROI Survey shows that only 25% of change initiatives achieve long term success.  Most of us can recall a recent change initiative at work that fell short of its initial promise. So why do we keep our needle in the same groove when we know it isn’t working? There are a number of effective change models and frameworks that outline the critical steps in a change process.  Where we often forget to focus is on the change preparation. What do we need to do before kicking off an organizational change?

Take the time and have the nerve. In Jim Collin’s book Good to Great he talks about how great companies get the right people in the right seats on the bus.  I couldn’t agree more. But before your change bus embarks on a new initiative ask the passengers if they have the time to take on the project. The “right people” are often the same people we ask to do everything.  How can this specific project take precedence over their other objectives? Why should it be their main focus? What will impact their pay and incentives — this initiative or their day job? If we don’t ask and evaluate these questions we can quickly steer the change off course before it leaves the parking lot. A real bus makes stops and lets people on and off. Before launching a change how can we give people permission to get on and off the project at different stages?  It take guts to say, I would love to help kick off the project but my lack of attention to detail and work demands will make me less effective in the next phase of the project. But imagine the impact we could have if we gave individuals that license.  Lack of time, passion, and commitment are common road bumps- or roadblocks- on the change path. Before hitting the gas, evaluate your team and their commitments carefully.

Ask how people feel and what results we deserve. Communication is a staple step in all change models. Understanding why change is needed is a critical element in changing behavior.  Unfortunately too many change communication plans seem pre-recorded, telling employees why a change is needed once the destination has been determined. What if instead we invite employees into our recording studio to help us lay down the track?  Asking for employee’s voices before decisions are finalized is powerful and insightful. It helps us hear both what they know and how they feel.  Before we invest time and resources in a change, it is critical to invest in listening to our teams.  What do they love about the current state? What do they hate? What do they wish for? What are they worried about? Understanding the emotional current state can provide invaluable insights on how to design the future state. While you’re having these discussions, take a deep breath and ask, “So what results do we deserve?” Be honest with yourself and encourage your employees to be honest with you. Have you underfunded or under resourced the project? If so, share the project timeline and ask what risks they see and what recommendations they have. Have you responded to the latest employee engagement feedback? If not, revisit the feedback with your employees and understand what they are looking for from you.  Leaders need follower-ship to make change stick. Have you examined other factors- internal or external- that are competing for airspace with this change?  Engage your employees in brainstorming how, given this reality, the change can be effective.

Change is hard work- and even harder if we don’t take the time to prepare effectively for it. So take some advice from Tears for Fears and take the time, have the nerve, and understand how people feel so you can move the needle and make change stick in your organization.

Leading Through Change- Put Your Own Oxygen Mask First

“Self care is not selfish. You can’t serve from an empty vessel.” Eleanor Brownn.

Embedded in every change initiative is the intent to breathe new life into the organization―to revitalize ways of thinking, behaving and working. But as leaders we often find ourselves in the crosswinds of multiple changes, caught between a team choking on the pace of change and wheezing on our own change fatigue. To successfully lead through change the first step is to take care of ourselves. I know, you’re thinking that’s funny – I am subsisting on coffee and my kid’s fruit snacks right now. But it’s not funny- it’s actually very serious. According to the July 12, 2016 Harvard Gazette, data show that 36 percent of workers suffer from work-related stress that costs U.S. businesses $30 billion a year in lost workdays. That does not include all the employees filled with stress and anxiety who are still at work but not fully productive. So what can you do?  I suggest taking a page from the airlines. On every flight we are reminded that in case of emergency we should put on our own oxygen mask before attempting to help others. Change is bumpy. We can’t navigate it safely if we are passed out. This Leading Through Change Self Assessment can serve as your oxygen mask. Take the assessment. Then commit to LEAD through change:

Look/Listen. Reflect on your results. What are they telling you?  How is that impacting your effectiveness at work? At home?

Engage.  Share the results with someone that can help support you in making changes in your current routines.

Act. What one thing will you do differently so you can lead your team through this change?  What does that look like? What is your next step? What is your timeline?

Dedicate Yourself. Then go do it and stick with it. Encourage your team to take this assessment and share their goals and results.

It’s a lot easier to talk about transformation than to actually do it – whether it is for ourselves or for our business. The good news is if we look at what we have learned, make course corrections, and focus on continuous learning, we will have the fuel needed to make positive change over the long haul.