Beyond salary and sales, there are many important aspects of talent management that are often not tied to the bottom line. Yet, “dollarizing” the value of talent management initiatives is vital to bottom-line analysis. Whether you are placing a value or cost on your current status, or calculating the ROI of your next talent management strategy, metrics that assess the monetary value will help you see the true effect on the bottom-line.

Bottom Line Statistics
Knowing the bottom line results of talent challenges will help you implement strategies with a proven ROI that you can see on your balance sheet. Find out how much you already know by asking yourself questions like:
•    What is disengagement costing the bottom line?
•    What was the ROI on your last training? What can be expected of future training?
•    How are your team-building initiatives impacting your bottom line?
•    What was the cost of your last bad hire?
•    What is your overall turnover percentage? How is it related to tenure?

In a study on over three million employees, Gallup found that over 70% of Americans who go to work are not engaged. This means businesses may be operating at significantly less than full capacity, a loss that could cost millions a year.
•    What is employee disengagement costing your company? Several thousands, millions, more?
•    How can you calculate this cost?
•    How does it compare to the investment of a proactive approach to increasing engagement?

With tightening budgets and a focus on cost-saving strategies, businesses worldwide are making drastic labor cuts. But is that always the right move? A recent study analyzed the savings resulting from changes in general and administrative functions and found that 75% of the savings came from strategies focused on restructuring and redesigning, while only 25% was from reducing.
•    Would you, too, save three times as much on your bottom line by investing in your people and processes?
•    Is the slash and burn approach actually costing you more?
•    What would the ROI be if you restructured and redesigned your workforce?

As business associates who want to make a difference in the bottom line, we might find advice in Aristotle’s quote by remembering to assess, in money, the value of talent management initiatives so we know its true worth. How else can we place fair value on the investment in people? After all, they are a company’s biggest asset.

I have to ask you this serious question: Are You Going Through the Motions or Focusing on Your Objectives? I realized this past weekend how easy it is to forgot or overlook the real objectives in any situation.

Okay, so what happened to allow for this realization? This past weekend I was entertaining myself by playing a computer game on my computer. Since computer games are really designed for you to win – if you follow the correct game strategy and stay true to the objectives.

This is why the great “ah-ha” happened. I realized I was focusing on the activities of moving cards, rather than the objective of “turning” the cards. Now that may seem like a small difference – yet, the change in results were significant. So I began to expand my thinking regarding the “right” focus in several areas of our business. Again, the ideas and information flowed into focus.

I need to do more focusing on objectives rather than just going through the motions of past practices!

The trap of going through the motions of past practices is around us everyday. We must make choices to excel in life and business. Our choices are not difficult in most cases – just relate your choices to your overarching goals and objectives. Continue reading ‘Are You Going Through the Motions or Focusing on Objectives?’ »

This is the fifth step of a Leadership Development Process. The tracking of a leader’s progress using a performance management system provides control and a universal check system. The data and insight provided by a tracking system allows the monitoring of results on a consistent basis.

Without a tracking system, the development process becomes a hit or miss system. There is no checking mechanism to ensure the process is working and the individuals are executing their plans. The performance management system is the glue for the process.

Performance Management systems come in all sizes, shapes and forms. The automated versions are the most valuable when used properly. The pen and paper versions are still in use with some companies – mainly because of a lack of investment in people development. When leadership is not committed to the development your people for higher performance process – then systems and processes as well as commitment is limited.

The best companies understand that it’s the people that make a difference in the business. It’s the people that make the decisions, manage the personnel and the processes, and interact with the customers – every day. So a purposeful developmental process and an automated performance management system are essential to the overall growth and health of an organization.

Performance management systems track the goals, meetings, action plans and decisions made by the individuals in the company. It tracks the overall performance of leaders and their teams. It provides information over a specific period of time – yearly, quarterly, monthly and weekly – all documented for analysis and evaluation. The progress made by participants in the leadership development processes or programs is an important element. It is the progress that accumulates over time and leads to consistent high performance.

Remember the old saying: What gets Measured, Gets Done.

This classic statement is still accurate today. If you want things to get done, they must be measured and discussed. Discussions about performance standards enable individuals to understand what is needed to be successful and respected as a performer. High performance is not an accident. It happens due to a conscious effort to measure and track results.

If you lack an automated Performance Management System, contact us at 901.757.4434 during business hours of 9 to 5 Central time USA to discuss possible solutions. We can assist you with a complete package or simply Managing Performance Priorities on a weekly basis.

This is the fourth step of the Leadership Development Process and is an important key to the ultimate success of the process. The individual development plan is the connecting link to ensuring the success. Without a plan there would be limited focus on progress through developmental actions. So, this step connects the dots and gives clarity on the areas of need.

Key points of reference regarding developmental plans:

1. Specific plans – the old days of holding a seminar or workshop that “everyone” attended does not necessarily count as a action plan. The only way this counts is if the content covers and addresses the definitive area of need for the individual in the leadership program. General – one size fits all – solutions may miss the mark for effectiveness and change.
2. Target Improvement – Choices are involved in improvement plans. What do you improve? The old school just looked for any weakness and would target the weakness with the logic being – develop what is missing or low and you will get immediate increases in results! Well, good logic – bad decision – if the weakness has no bearing on the unique job performance. Even the great Peter Drucker stated that weaknesses that do not affect the job performance should not be improved.
3. Job Related – The areas for improvement should be job related. Whatever can increase, improve, or enhance job performance are the areas that should be targeted for improvement processes. If a skill, talent or competency is not needed on the job and it is improved – it actually becomes a weakness or a liability to the leader who then attempts to use this new found attribute.
4. Measure Results – The best developmental plans use measurable results as a guide or proof of actual improvement. The benefit of having a measurable result is the calculation of a return on investment for the leadership development process. A positive ROI allows for continued use of the process for all the leaders in an organization.

Every Leadership Development Process should have a Specific and Measurable Plans to ensure the success of the program. More importantly, the leaders in this program should be expected and encouraged to devote the necessary time and resource commitment to their personal improvement. Often we have found individuals that did not value their own development and then were the first to complain when a 360 feedback or a performance review reflected a lack of knowledge regarding key traits addressed in their developmental process.

Plans are meaningless unless the individuals take the responsibility to learn new or improved techniques that allow them to become more valuable. Take your plans seriously, make choices regarding the importance of the plans and execute the plans like a business strategy. Success takes many shapes – yet, it is action that makes it work.

This is the third step of the five part Leadership Development Process. The third step is to Assess Your Identified Talent. The assessment process will provide you with objective data and understanding of your current talent. This includes both the current level of performance and the potential for growth and improvement.

There are four methods of assessing your talent. All four should be utilized for leadership talent assessing. Each method is used for specific information. Here are the four methods for Assessing Your Leadership Talent:

1. Interview – This method is used to find out specific answers to a list of predetermined questions related to the potential leader’s accomplishments and personal ambition. Some of the information to undercover includes what workshops or developmental education have they taken? Do they want to move into a higher level of responsibility? Do they want to work more with people than task or develop people more than do the job? Are they comfortable stretching their goals or multi-tasking within important projects?
2. Continue reading ‘Assess Your Talent to Understand Their True Potential’ »

The second step of a successful Leadership Development Process is to identify all the high-potential talent within your organization. Obviously, you start this process at the top levels of the organization. Identifying the top potential of existing C-level positions assists in narrowing the field of candidates.

After the top group is identified, expand your search to include key functional position candidates. Who are the key potential candidates for every managerial / leadership position in the company. This activity will require the coordination of current leaders in functional areas and cross-functional areas with position contact experience.

The goal of identifying high-potential talent is to know where your future leaders could be in the organization. This also can identify current leaders who are doing an excellent or poor job of identifying and hiring talent within their functional areas. The better leaders are very capable of hiring the best talent for their groups. They are equally adept with developing their talent with challenging work, stretch projects, coaching or mentoring techniques, and educational opportunities.

These individuals should be in a focused performance management system. This system will track their progress and keep a detailed record of their improvement activities. This information will allow for controlled development of each individual in the system. The purpose is to have a large pool of talent available for promotion due to opportunities for additional growth or normal attrition. A lack of in-house developed talent requires a time consuming and costly search for experienced outside talent.

If you need assistance in determining the criteria for identifying high-potential talent, contact us. We have been assisting organizations in identifying and developing talent for twenty years. And we can help you too. Call us at 901.757.4434 during the hours of 9 to 5 Central Time USA to begin your leadership development process.

This week I will be focused upon a five-part series designed to assist you in providing a comprehensive Leadership Development Process for your organization. Today, we look at the starting point of the Leadership Development Process – Defining the Competencies necessary for success.

Leadership Competencies need to be identified regarding the leadership role for the entire organization as a first step. This is the equivalent of having a code of standards for the overall leadership function of the group. What areas of individual performance need identification as a benchmark of success. The truth is few companies have taken the time to identify the traits, competencies and personal skills necessary for leadership success. This lack of identification has lead to promotions and selection of individuals that were not ready for important leadership positions. The results have been very costly to these companies when the wrong people have been placed in very important positions.

We have been helping our clients to “benchmark” leadership positions for several years. This practice has created a better understanding of the traits necessary for the “job” to be successful. This benchmarking track creates a comprehensive document containing the information needed for the position to talk. Here is a partial list of important items you need from a benchmarking process:

• Continue reading ‘Defining Leadership Competencies and Unique Attributes’ »

There are eight questions that you -as a salesperson- should know the answers about your customer. An added benefit is to learn the answers regarding your own company. Then and only then, will you be in a position of strength. Where does this strength come from – understanding the financial health of your customer.

Let’s exam the eight questions that hold the answer to your customer’s financial health. The eight are as follows:

1. What were your customer’s sales during the past year? Did they grow, have a record year, or hold their own even in the economic downturn. You should learn about the quality of sales and where do they sell – domestic or international? Which brands or markets are strong for your customer. Do you sell into the growth or declining arenas for this customer?
2. Continue reading ‘Eight Questions to Know Your Customer’s Financial Health’ »

Today, I’m looking at value adding opportunities for the Declining phases of a company life cycle. This could also be applied to a company’s product or service life cycle. This information is provided to assist sales people deal with their customer’s situations and internal managers looking for ways to improve the performance of their company.

The Declining Phrase of product life cycles is one of the most difficult phrases for companies and the individuals within these companies to handle. Usually there are emotional links to these products and decisions are influenced by this emotional attachment. Emotional issues need to be overcome and some business logic applied to the solutions needed. Yet, companies that have only declining products are usually in survival mode and their choices are limited at best. The best companies have launched new products during the growth and maturity phrases and have new products becoming maturity products at this time.

So what can you do if the company or products for your company or the customer’s company to add significant value during this declining phrase? Here are five things we have found to provide the value added opportunities:

Continue reading ‘Five Value-Adding Opportunities during the Declining Phrase’ »

Today, I’m looking at value adding opportunities for the Maturity Phases of a company life cycle. This could also be applied to a company’s product or service life cycle. This information is provided to assist sales people deal with their customer’s situations and internal managers looking for ways to improve the performance of their company.

The Maturity Phrase is an interesting period and seems to have a large number of companies in this category. However, most of these companies are in commodity industries and are working hard to stay out of the declining phrase – which I will discuss on Thursday.

There are six opportunities for you to consider when you have identified a company or product in the maturity phrase. The six that we have assisted our clients with include:

Continue reading ‘Six Value-Adding Opportunities in the Maturity Phrase of Lifecycles’ »