The Critical Need to Supplement Personality Testing for Recruitment and Development

Personality testing is popular, but research reveals it is a limited tool for selection and training. However, HR initiatives in 2009 can be bolstered by replacing or augmenting personality testing with best practice skills or competency testing.

A down economy need not prohibit organizations from launching effective business strategies. In tough times strong organizations survive while weak ones die. Unfortunately, not every company understands that the way to stay viable and strong is to invest in its people. This oversight therefore offers a tremendous competitive advantage for organizations who believe that training and professional development are critical for retaining and maximizing the most from the talent that leaders count on to pull their organizations through. In short, employee and organizational development equal business development.

Psychometric assessments can be a cost-effective and efficient strategy for evaluating individual and team effectiveness, identifying training needs and selecting the right people. Strategically speaking, good assessments help your business develop its strengths, minimize its weaknesses, seize opportunities and deal with economic threats. That said, it is not widely known that personality tests - traditionally popular with training and development professionals - are incomplete tools for selection and development. Take time this first quarter of 2009 to review your HR and training department's practices to see if you need to supplement any of your initiatives that rely on personality testing.

What is Personality Testing?

Personality refers to innate and relatively mental structures that provide general direction for individuals' choices and behavior. Among the many theories of personality, the "Big Five Model" is arguably the most popular and well-validated. The Big Five dimensions represent broad traits believed to encompass the range of normal personality.

a) Agreeableness: Highly agreeable people tend to be altruistic, warm, generous, trusting and cooperative.

b) Conscientiousness: Highly conscientiousness people are typically efficient, punctual, well-organized and dependable.

c) Emotional Stability: Emotionally stable individuals are usually calm, relaxed and generally free from worry.

d) Extraversion: Highly extraverted people are typically highly sociable, assertive, active, energetic and talkative.

e) Openness to Experience: People high in openness tend to be imaginative, original, unconventional and independent.

Some important points about this model...

First, the traits are dimensions, not types, so people vary continuously on them, with most people falling in between the extremes. Second, the traits are stable over a 45-year period beginning in young adulthood. Third, the traits are, at least partly, heritable or genetic. Fourth, cross-cultural studies have confirmed that the traits are universal. For all of these reasons, personality testing is often used in an attempt to help gauge the interests, motivations and broad behavior patterns of candidates and incumbents.

Is Personality Testing Useful for Recruitment and Training?

For decades personality tests have been popular for pre-employment screening. Despite the validity of the Big Five model (or any model of personality) , personality traits have serious limitations when applied to industrial-organiza tional psychology. Research shows that personality tests are poor predictors of workplace performance, whereas measures of general mental ability (reasoning, planning, abstract thinking, comprehending complex ideas and learning quickly) and job-specific skills are stronger and more consistent predictors of performance. In fact, the popular 0*net database of job classifications and corresponding requirements describes positions in terms of skills and competencies rather than broad personality traits. It is not surprising therefore that many companies are either replacing or supplementing personality testing with competency testing.

Simply stated, personality tests do not provide sufficient measurements or insights to give you an accurate understanding of a person to help you make a sound hiring or developmental decision. Moreover, it is questionable whether most of them yield legally defensible information. Measuring "how" people express themselves in general circumstances is good information, but it is markedly incomplete.

In today's competitive market where the best candidates for positions are aggressively
pursued, using the best tool for hiring and training is not a luxury, but a necessity. The best practice approach to selection and training is not personality testing but rather skills assessment - i.e., measuring cognitive performance and competencies related to the service-hospitality industry.

How Does a Skills Assessment Supplement Personality Testing?

Relying on a personality test to guide your hiring, performance analysis and training initiatives is much like relying on a road map to guide your vacation choices - it is interesting but terribly incomplete information. As one reasonable critic of personality testing put it, "Without weather forecasts, resort reviews, activity guides and price data, a long-planned, restful excursion could end up at a wilderness boot camp." A skills assessment, on the other hand, is a specialized tool that analyzes the attitude and skill set of a candidate or incumbent. Similar to the roadmap analogy, a well-constructed skills assessment provides the critical information left out by the simple personality tests so often touted by consultants and vendors as the golden keys to recruitment, results and retention.

Personality variables are not synonymous with skills and abilities. You cannot truly develop employees based on personality given the fixed nature of the Big Five traits. But leaders can impact learned attitudes and behaviors that underlie important skills and competencies. Therefore, the results of a skills assessment can be leveraged in powerful ways that add immediate and lasting value to businesses. First, they help managers hire better employees. Next, they are used to troubleshoot performance problems with existing employees. Finally, they benefit in helping develop employees into better performers. It is also important to mention that some skills assessments utilize legally defensible analytics, which protect test takers and organizations from unfair results and biased hiring or development decisions. Therefore, unlike personality tests, the results from skills assessments have superior validity and can be used across the employment cycle for an individual.

As an added bonus, skills assessments also benefit the broader organization by allowing leaders to benchmark the competencies for positional success, evaluate the effectiveness of training programs in an unbiased manner and facilitate more specific and useful job descriptions and succession plans. The use of a well-validated and industry-specific skills assessment is a business strategy to seriously consider adopting in the current economic climate. It is an important, cost effective and easy-to-implement step in making your HR and training departments profit centers in 2009 and beyond.

[About the Author: James Houran holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is President of 2020 Skills Assessment. He is an 18-year veteran in research and assessment on peak performance and experiences, with a special focus on online testing.]

Include Employees in Leadership Transition Conversations

"Uncertainty" is a common word these days, used to describe everything from the economy to the future for America's businesses and workers. Having a succession plan for key management positions is one of the most valuable HR initiatives a company can leverage. During uncertain times, it's imperative for businesses to make sure employees have as much job certainty as possible, but succession planning often is neglected for more immediate concerns.

Just as the country had two and a half months to transition into Barack Obama's administration after eight years of Bush leadership, companies benefit greatly from a planned transition between incoming and outgoing top-level management.

But it's not always that easy. Generally, there are three kinds of transition:

1. An internal candidate's successful transition. This is only possible when a company knows the executive is leaving and has identified a likely successor. It eliminates surprise and enables a smooth, transition with the least amount of distraction and lost productivity.

2. An executive leaves unexpectedly. This is a good opportunity for companies to promote from within, but the news can lead to power jockeying and interpersonal struggles.

3. A company brings in an external candidate. When companies go outside for a new leader, they are implicitly saying to current employees: "You're not good enough to lead," or "Whatever you have been doing in the past, it is not what we need you to do in the future."

Planning is the lynchpin to ensure organizational stability during a change of power. For example, Hilton Hotel Corp. identified succession planning as a top company priority and emphasized this by creating a separate, dedicated succession planning department within the company's corporate structure. Hilton is able to identify different competencies for the most critical management positions company-wide, while highlighting employees with the appropriate competencies who are on track to succeed in different divisions. The company can identify successors for every executive position and ensure minimal confusion and uncertainty in the midst of change.

People likely do not fear change as much as they fear uncertainty. Uncertainty over leadership creates anxiety which leads to decreased productivity and increased turnover. Further, the more uncertain people are about the potential actions of a new leader, the more they may view that person as a threat.

Further, when there is change at top, employees naturally wonder what's next. Defining roles in advance of succession can set employees' expectations and allow them see where they fit into the organizational picture. Transparency and communication before, during and after transition reduce uncertainty and keep performance high.

The fewer surprises a company has, the better it is for employees and the organization as a whole. Creating a robust and active succession plan not only safeguards against surprise, it can contribute to higher productivity and employee satisfaction. Successful succession plans are the byproduct of a smart performance and talent management program that gives companies a clear window into its workforce's skills, strengths, competencies and goals.

Strategic succession plans engage employees at all levels in a dialogue about their company and the future of its workforce. They also empower executives to build the company's bench strength, improve individual employees' career development plans and save time and money.

Nothing communicates the employee's value in a company more than programs that actively seek to develop and advance careers within the organization. The key to succession planning is not to go into the process blind. Using the right tools, including a performance and talent management system, companies can plan for most contingencies in C-level exits. All they need is a little planning.

[About the Author: Steven T. Hunt, Ph.D., SPHR, is the chief scientist at Kronos Inc., a company that empowers organizations to effectively manage their workforce.]

10 Strategies for Maintaining Commitment in Tough Times.....

There are many factors that will influence which organizations come out strong at the other end our current economic turmoil. One of the most important:

* Will the good people stick it out until and when things start to turn around? ("The good people" being those with the skills and the passion to help fulfill an organization's purpose.)

What Difference Do Passion and Purpose Make?

You've seen this: Two people standing side by side, doing essentially the same work, and yet they have extremely different perceptions of the meaning of what they do. A favorite example: One worker sees her job assembling neonatal respirators as "helping to save the lives of premature babies." A colleague at her shoulder considers himself a "tube hooker-upper." There was a time -- in the dark ages of command-and-control management -- when tube hooker-uppers were the ideal employees. They were replaceable, compliant cogs in the machinery. Not anymore. The evidence keeps mounting that employee engagement and commitment pay off.

Organizations need as many lifesavers as they can get, especially now.

None of us can flip the switch for others when it comes to feeling positive or negative about work. But here are some strategies we've found useful with our clients to help create an environment in which people want to contribute in good times and not-so-good times:

1. Constantly speak to the value of the work your organization does. Meaningful work is a powerful motivator.

2. Involve people early and often in changes that substantially affect their work. In this economy, those kinds of changes are happening daily in some organizations, if not more often.

3. When involving people in decisions and changes, be clear about the level and type of input and involvement you want. Are you brainstorming? Are you looking for feedback about specific plans? And be clear about who is making the final decision so you don't create false expectations.

4. Give people options whenever possible -- in matters big and small.

5. Keep people updated about how you are faring in relation to stated objectives. People want to know the score.

6. Give people control over as much of their own work as possible. Tell them what needs to be done, not how to do it.

7. Create the expectation that complaints should come with solutions. Encourage people to identify problems, but also to suggest how to deal with them.

8. Push as much decision making as close to the people responsible for the work as possible. We all own our personal decisions more than those imposed on us.

9. Delegate as much important work as possible. It helps people learn, grow and feel more a part of the process.

10. Ask for and act upon people's ideas and opinions. You don't have to implement every suggestion, but every suggestion deserves a response, even if it is a "no" and an explanation why.

Make a Difference,

Ref: Brian McDermott

To Tell or Not to Tell: Grooming High Potentials

"To tell or not to tell, that is the question; Whether 'tis better to be forthright And tell high potentials of their status, Or to be silent and let them know nothing."

Just as Hamlet faced a critical decision, this parody on his soliloquy illustrates that talent managers do, too. The state of the economy has made organizations more introspective as they look for ways to develop and retain top talent. Informing - or not informing - high potentials of their status can impact whether they stay or go. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this controversial question: Tell or don't tell?"

This notion of transparency continues to be a complicated issue," said Lynne Morton, co-founder and chief operating office of TalentScope, a provider of talent management solutions. "It is important to tell people they have been identified as high potentials. However, it requires a corporate culture that supports and manages the expectations of people."

A lot of [companies] have said to me, 'It's opening up Pandora's Box; we don't want to do it.' The reason is because they're afraid of their inability to manage the expectation[ s]," she explained.

If it's not done right, telling can be harmful to an organization's health. But if talent managers can manage the expectations that come along with telling, the end result is not only better retention of top talent, it also sends a clear message to the workforce about which qualities make good leaders."

When you're looking to identify and develop high-potential employees, you're [letting those] individual[s] know how important they are to the organization, how you recognize their unique abilities [and how] you want them stay and grow with the company," said Patrick Sweeney, executive vice president of Caliper, an international management consulting firm that developed the Caliper Profile, a personality assessment tool."

It also allows the rest of the individuals in the organization to see not just the individual you value but the qualities you value. It really brings to life the values of the organization and what you stand for when you identify and recognize people."

Should Every Organization Tell?

Telling is not the right decision for every organization, as doing so depends on corporate culture.

Even though Ken Driscoll, the director of the talent management group at Navistar Inc., an international truck and engine corporation, believes high potentials should be told, his organization does not embrace the practice, and some employees have quit without knowing they were identified as high potential.

Because there are differences of opinion across the four business units, the leaders of each unit make their own decisions about whether to tell or not, which Driscoll said can lead to problems."

As people transfer from one business unit to another, it can create confusion," he explained. "But for us, to mandate that in our organization or say we're going to adopt that [wouldn't] be wise either. Leadership has to believe that's the right approach.

Driscoll said if there is a policy to tell, there must be buy-in from the organization at-large, and the organization should prepare the employees for the change."

It's something that has to grow organically in an organization," he said. "You can't say, 'We're going to be a transparent organization' if you don't help people understand why it's important, why we communicate it and then give them tools to actually carry it out."

If Navistar ever implements this policy, Driscoll said his organization would be carefull how it constructed and voiced that message."

People need to understand how the organization views them," he said. "But you can't set up any kind of expectation or imply promise. Once you work through all of that, you sit down with someone and just tell them, 'Based on the evidence, we believe you have the potential to step into some higher leadership roles, and we want to provide you with some development opportunities.' That's a powerful message to send to people."

Morton said there are two challenges in telling high potentials of their status, how to manage their expectations once identified and how to manage those who are not identified. These challenges often are a deterrent to telling, she said.

To manage a high potential's expectations, organizations first need to define what a high potential is before informing an employee he or she is one. Does it mean the employee is going to assume a leadership position within the next two years? Does it means he or she will receive more development? Or does it mean something entirely different?"

Everyone likes to be praised," Morton said. "But in a business context, I want to know what does it mean to me? Otherwise, it could just be thanks for a job well done. But if it means I'm on the road toward something or I'm going to fit into the organization in a different way, it becomes important."

To determine what high potential means at your organization, talent managers should sit down and discuss it in terms of the organization's business strategy, culture and leadership model, Morton said. Once the definition is crafted, it can be a guiding principle in what managers tell employees, thereby avoiding any implied promise."

You're not high potential forever," Morton said. "The potential has to materialize. You could be considered a high potential, the company works with you and tries to develop you, but you're not getting there. Then you fall out of the high-potential pool."

Part of being clear is to tell people, 'You're not in this forever, and you need to maintain standards and the quality of work to remain in our high-potential group.' You have to be up-front. This is why it's complicated and some companies don't want to tell because then you get into this challenge of managing expectation and managing the dilemma of someone [who] falls out of the group. It's not easy."

If it's not handled right, telling high potentials also can create a negative dynamic in the workforce, as some people are highlighted and others are not."

If you have good data to support how you make your decisions, you should be able to say, 'Jane, you didn't make the cut this year, but as you can see from this information, here are the things you need to do. And we will help you work on those. We expect that if you continue the way you have been and you work a little harder, you'll make it,'" Morton said. "You need to show people that you have made informed decisions, and you are supporting and helping them."

Telling Is Central at Central Maine Medical Family

The leaders at Central Maine Medical Family recently created the Accelerated Development Group, a pool of talent that will be readied to assume key leadership roles in the future. The organization and its top leaders made the strategic decision to tell these employees they are high potential to set an example for the rest of the organization as to what a leader should be."

We see them as the people with whom and for whom we'd like to provide future challenges that are growth-oriented and rewarding career opportunities," said Joyce McPhetres, vice president of HR and organizational development. "Our identification of the group is our opportunity to say, 'These are the people with the qualities and practices of leaders who will help us get to our future.'"

Central Maine began the Accelerated Development Group by developing key leadership competencies critical to organizational success. When selecting the first group of individuals, Central Maine looked at the competencies, performance assessments, patient satisfaction surveys, employee engagement surveys and the Caliper Profile to determine which of the organization's 125 managers fit the bill. In the end, nine were chosen."

I strongly believe they should be made aware of the role they're going to play," McPhetres said. "By notifying them and others of their role, you create a standard, and you set a standard for development of other people within the organization."It's important for both the group and [the] larger organization to understand that we will not be operating as usual. It's very important that we're holding up a new model [and] new ways of behavior. And it's important others understand that alignment with that model and those behaviors are critical."

The way Central Maine tells the Accelerated Development Group is significant because the CEO, COO and president of the organization are the ones to do it."

I work in an exemplary environment, somewhat of a dream environment, in that each of the leaders of our organization are critically involved in defining and structuring the future success of this organization. And they would have had it be no one else who would inform these people than themselves," McPhetres said."

We look to our leaders to understand the next step, to understand how we might be moving toward particular goals and toward our future, and it's very key for the top leaders to be intricately involved and actually communicate the programs and the developmental opportunities for the leaders within an organization."

Telling high potentials of their status can set an example for others that there are specific values an organization embraces."

The organization has to live and breathe these values," Sweeney said. "It's not like you can send out an e-mail and say 'OK, here are our three high potentials this year.' It has to be very thorough, very comprehensive, recognized at the highest levels within the organization, and it has to permeate the organization so the people who are identified are recognized in very real and meaningful ways."

[About the Author: Lindsay Edmonds Wickman is an associate editor for Talent Management magazine.]

Success Endangered- Organisational Behaviour

Employees in today's people driven organisations are provided with enormous opportunities to satisfy their entrepreneurial instincts than their predecessors. Though they have an opportunity to start companies, lead business units and run projects individually, not many are successful.

Waldroop and Butler have identified five behaviour patterns - The Impostor, The Meritocrat, The Hero, The Peacekeeper and The Procrastinator, which affect success.

The Impostor

People with the Impostor syndrome unconsciously feel that they are placed too high and do not belong there. They believe that they are pretending in their position and are afraid that someday people might find out. Every person has strengths and weaknesses. An individual's knowledge of different areas differs. Waldroop suggests, "Don't blame yourself. Buy yourself some time. Fake it - that's fine. Act as if you're going to win, do your homework, and the rest will take care of itself".

The Meritocrat

Meritocrats are persons with great ideas but fail at the implementation stage. Their frustrations in not being able to act upon their idea come in the way of success. Waldroop suggests that the person when presenting his ideas to a manager should present them as if they were not yet fully formed. Use phrases like - 'This is what I'd like to do, but I want your thoughts as well'. In that way they are more likely to avoid confrontations.

The Hero

These people are ambitious and work too hard to achieve their goals. They are compulsive in nature and do whatever it takes to get wherever they want to be. They are more commanders than leaders. Organisations run by these people are characterised by burned-out, exhausted and disgruntled employees. Such people can confront the situation by recognising the early signs of burnout.

The Peacekeeper

Peacekeepers are generally perceived to be calm and avoid conflicts. While organisations benefit from conflict that can create new ideas, peacekeepers are most uncomfortable with conflict as they lack experience in handling conflicts. Waldroop suggests that they should learn to handle conflicts.

The Procrastinator

Butler says, "Procrastination has a lot to do with shame". Procrastinators put off doing something because they feel that completing the task will lead to shame in some form. Their sense of shame arises from fear of challenges. Though they do not lack in skills their fear of shame unconsciously becomes a hurdle to success. According to Butler, the best way to deal with it is to stay with the feeling and experience it.These behaviour patterns not only obstruct the success at workplace but also hinder individual success. The best way to counter them is to identify and deal with them systematically.

Leadership-Trying to Get the Most or Best From Your People?

Leadership is about inspiring action in others. And beyond that, the most effective leaders inspire not just action, but excellence, in others. Isn't that what we all aspire to do as leaders or managers? However, too often the ways we manage people lead to compliance with standards and not greatness.

One of the biggest factors in undermining excellence is having a lack of focus. So often you see performance appraisals where there is a long laundry list of tasks, each with maybe 5% impact on overall performance. If you were asked to learn 20 different sports and musical instruments all at the same time, could you achieve excellence in any of them? It seems that we are worried that if there isn't a long list of things that our people will either run out of things to do or will slack off quietly in the background. What if you instead gave people a clear focus on just the most high impact areas where they could contribute the most for a year.

The quote, "are you trying to get the most or the best from your people," has become a great wake up call to those who are taking comfort in managing people by long checklist performance appraisals. Performance is driven in those cases more by doing just enough to earn the check mark, not driving hard for excellence on just three things for impact.

Some ideas to get you stared are:

1) select the top 3 actions that will create the biggest impact on results

2) make sure those to 3 things are all areas where your unique skills and capabilities position the ability to deliver with excellence

3) with the 17 or so things that fall off the task list, think about how to invest that time into further accelerating the 3 items and building the skills and capabilites for excellence

Good luck in inspiring excellence in 2009!

Dilemma of talent development in an economic downturn

“Pay packets to shrink as slowdown dents growth”; “Worst is still to come….”; “Salary cuts of between 15% and 25% on the cards for…..”

These are just some of the headlines screaming out of leading newspapers. So what does an organization do about talent development in such tough economic times – should it be treated like other operational levers which are pulled to reduce costs?

My opinion? Now is the best time to invest in talent development.
Sounds insane? No. Here’s why-

1. When things are going well, people are ‘too busy’ or ‘too successful’ to take the time to pursue a learning initiative, leave aside apply the learning at the workplace. Today staff are far more focused on up-skilling.

2. A large number of people have grown through the organizational hierarchy as a result of their technical skill base, less so as a result of their ‘conceptual’ and ‘human skills’. Now is the time to pause and implement a range of talent development strategies focused on these gaps as ‘minds may be more open’

3. Investment in talent development in these times has long term ramifications in terms of building company loyalty since the support and investment is available when it is most needed.

4. An objective assessment of individual capability is far easier since the historical perspective becomes less relevant as the focus is towards building a “new order.”

5. To create a new order, a ‘back to basics’ approach must be adopted where the fundamentals rather than experience play a larger role. Learning initiatives are key to refreshing these business fundamentals.

Of course the question that must be answered is “where will the funds come from since now is the time for some short term fixes”. To quote Ramsay Clark, “Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change”. While a number of today’s success stories may be form a part of the ‘successes gone bust’ section of management reading of the future, and others may be in panic and cutting costs indiscriminately to survive, now, when the rules of the past no longer hold true, is the time to invest in building talent for the future and sustaining the cutting edge as far as human resources is concerned.

The “Uncommon” Balance!

The issue of work-life balance gets a whiff of fresh perspective… .....

Key learnings:

• Work-life imbalance can lead to high employee turnover, high employee-burnout and low employee productivity
• Work-life balance can be attained through an integrated solution where programme quality, culture and individual responsibility complement each other.

Work-life balance is not as much about the “balance” as it is about the “imbalance”. Corporate burnout rate is rising at an alarming rate with employees feeling the pain more than ever before. Organisations are turning increasingly to wellness programmes and other such work-life balancing strategies, but are left wanting for more. Corporate psychologists believe that while organisations are putting in a great deal of effort to establish a fair balance between work and life, it is not enough. Analysing the issue of work-life balance and identifying the problems and possible solutions requires one to first search in the right place. While most believe that majority work-life issues can be sorted out focusing on the individual, experts believe that in reality it is the organisation and its approach to work-life balance that needs fine- tuning. Statistics indicating the plight of employees caught in an imbalanced work-life equation reveal some eye-popping facts. These include:

• Employees under stress result in huge corporate spending by way of wellness programmes and counselling. The impact on corporate spending is almost fifty percent higher than in the case of employees who work in relatively relaxed conditions
• Work-life imbalance is one of the most dominant reasons for ailments like heart attacks, depression, cancer and migraine. Hence, health benefits costs too rise considerably.
• Workers who often take a break from work because of stress and pressure are more likely to leave the job as compared to their colleagues. In addition these workers begin to show a rather dismal attendance pattern with time.

The aforementioned findings reveal that work-life balance is as much about the role of the organisation as it is about the individual. Hence, to attain the right balance organisations need to focus both on the individual and the approach the organisation takes to tackle issues of work-life balance.

In addition, study on the subject has revealed that for best results there has to be coordination between three pillars of work-life balance. These include: organisational initiatives and programmes, corporate culture to support the initiatives and the role of the individual. These three factors play a critical role in determining the success of corporate work-life initiatives.

Building strength

Programmes and initiatives To begin with every work-life initiative should be screened first at the programmatic level. Organisations that pursue seriously the cause of work-life balance ideally have a series of programmes and initiatives catering to employee needs. These programmes help organisations channelise their energies in the right way, thereby lowering work-related stress and discomfort. The following is a programme menu that depicts the type of programmes that should be included in the work -life effort of every organisation:

• Employee assistance programmes or EAPs that aim to provide employees with emotional and professional support in stressful times
• Flexi time initiatives that allow employees to work long hours and take an extra day off in lieu of the extra hours
• Day care centres and other children-friendly arrangements like an on-campus crèche
• On-campus gymnasium and yoga classes that help employees unwind

Experts believe that programmes such as these work better as they are more precise and user-friendly. Interventions that discourage employees from working overtime in the name of work-life balance do not work well. For, employees finally end up taking extra work home without really getting rewarded for it.

Cultural sculpting Work-life initiatives like other initiatives can fail if corporate culture does not support them. By a supportive culture we mean the involvement of the CEO and other top management executives. Senior executives must demonstrate in their actions their concern for employee needs and the significance of work-life balance. Mere lip service may not yield the desired results. When leaders say that employees should not over- stress themselves and also pile up work for them then the whole campaign begins to look like a farce. Thus, support from senior management by way of practising ideas that reflect concern for work-life balance is important for the success of work-life programmes.

Individual responsibility Work-life initiatives may fail to show the desired results in spite of an effective programme and a supportive culture . This experts say is because of lack of individual responsibility and accountability towards maintaining the desired balance. Employers can only provide the necessary benefits, but the option of using them lies with the individual. For instance, the employer may give an individual personal time –off from work , but if the employee chooses to catch up with work deadlines in that time then the responsibility of a tilted balance lies completely with the individual. Hence, individual responsibility plays a major part in creating a successful work-life balance.

Work-life balance is an essential aspect of a successful professional life and a satisfying personal life. Either one is incomplete without the other. Hence, organisations should strive towards attaining this balance and educate employees about their role in achieving the same. An integrated solution that blends programme quality, culture and individual accountability is thus the only way forward for success with work-life initiatives.

Ref: TheManageMentor

Strategic HRM

The Virtual Loop

Organisations can create rewarding interpersonal connections in a virtual setup….....

Key learnings:

• Virtual workplace is fraught with staff management challenges
• Organisations can introduce programmes like web conferencing and community events to create a sense of belonging among its virtual employees

Virtual workplace is an answer to the unreasonable demands of time and space. While organisations cannot help but take the load that comes with the pressures of competition, employees find it difficult to accommodate it in the given time span. Hence, to make things easier at both ends, the concept of virtual workplace emerged. However, alongside the benefits, it brings with it sizeable challenges. The challenges are largely embedded in the fabric of staff management and planning. HR leaders have a host of issues to combat before they set the virtual workplace to a rhythm. Of the many issues, the need to stay bonded with a feeling of belongingness for employees who are connected through nothing more than an intricate wiring is the most challenging.

Accenture, the software-solutions giant,that employs more than 170,000, empes an interesting example of how leaders, managers and employees can stay connected despite working in a virtual set up.

Dissecting the virtual wiring

Accenture may be a virtually-run organisation, but it puts in immense effort to maintain the esprit de corps among its employees. According to Jill Smart, chief human resources officer, the company’s virtual model helps keep employees in one loop and enables them to work effectively with the luxury of their own pace.

Like Accenture, there are many organisations that are increasingly opting for virtual workspaces, primarily because good talent is becoming a scarce resource and fuel is becoming an expensive commodity. People have started viewing commuting as a waste of time and therefore are opting for options like flexi-time and telecommuting. But this trend has also led to some serious staff management problems. Virtual organisations really have to work hard to develop a management model that gives a ‘community’ feeling to people working for it. In the absence of such a model the virtual set up can break away. Thus, it is important that organisations make a deliberate attempt to develop the community feeling among its employees.

At Accenture the effort to build an ‘Accenture community’ has been widely evident. The company recruits close to 60,000 people every year, and for it to ensure connectivity among employees scattered around the globe is a task that is at best complex. Nevertheless, the company has instituted a host of initiatives and programmes to create a sense of community among its employees. Of the many initiatives, use of web conferencing tools, quarterly community events, counsellor services and extensive employee orientation programmes are popular.

In addition to these, companies like Accenture also have to battle out the issue of talent drain at the client site. It is a very serious concern of consulting organisations as employees get to spend a significant amount of their work time at the client site. The employee turnover data at Accenture shows that the main reason for turnover is the stability that the client job offers To counter client lure Accenture has made some attractive changes in tts approach to wtaff management

Modus operandi

At Accenture employees work to meet client needs. To do so, they have to work on the client site, and therefore tend to get a little cosy with them. This closeness with the client works well most of the time, but can lead to talent drain if the clients manage to lure consultants with benefits which they think are not available to them. This, experts believe, stems largely from lack of information. Many times consultants had been known to leave Accenture for benefits that were already available to them because they were unaware of the privileges. This led the management team at Accenture to launch a series of initiatives aimed at educating employees about the various career progression opportunities available to them. Most Accenture consultants left the company for the need of stability, hence providing them with options that give them stability was important. The company, therefore, introduced manager training that could help employees access options within the organisation by using web-based tools.

The options include cross-functional shifts within the company with minimal need to shift base. Employees can bank on stability with these new options. For instance, in an HR outsourcing project, consultants work at the client site for periods as long as 10 years. Hence, shifting consultants who have been hopping around to projects like these can give them the stability they need. The company’s efforts seem to be working well. Till May 2008, 30 percent of the open positions were filled internally. Employees at Accenture have begun to look inside for the benefits and comforts they seek with the clients. This is a good trend for Accenture as losing talent can threaten not only growth but also its very survival, especially in times like these.

In addition, Accenture also provides training on how counsellors can be more sensitive to issues pertaining to a virtual workplace, particularly differences arising out of different time zones and cultures. Every employee goes through an employee joiner programme which is basically an orientation programme that educates employees about the ‘Accenture way’. The company then trains the new employees on its standardised delivery methods. All this is done under the supervision of counsellors assigned to employee. These counsellors are senior managers responsible for creating a sense of belonging among the scattered Accenture staff.

Accenture’s attempt to develop a sense of community among its staff is paying off well. Organisations working on a similar model need to learn a thing or two from the consulting giant. For those, who are still contemplating about adopting the virtual staff management model, the advice is that they should first weigh the challenges of a virtual model, and only if they have the resources to counter these challenges should they consider implementing it.

Ref: TheManageMentor

Companies Miss the Mark on Leadership Development

Organizations' perceptions of and confidence in their leaders are at a 10-year low, according to the 2008-09 "Global Leadership Forecast," a study conducted by Development Dimensions International.

"The fact that satisfaction with leadership is declining says that organizations are not keeping up with the demand," said Ann Howard, chief scientist at DDI. "Part of that might be because leadership is hard, things are changing and it's hard to keep up, but our research said that's probably a minor part of the problem.

"Howard said organizations can do a lot better in employees' confidence in leadership, but it requires effort. There are several major issues. First, many organizations have a leadership development program, but that programming may not offer the right kinds of learning opportunities.

"When we asked leaders what are the most effective ways that you learn and enhance your skills, they pointed to on-the-job types of experiences, and organizations just aren't as forthcoming with that kind of thing: special projects either inside or outside your job, or moving to a different position specifically to enhance your skills," Howard explained.

"For multinational leaders, that's often an international assignment. Organizations will do online programs that teach you about various skills of leadership, they have a lot of workshops, coaching and so on, but that is really just an introduction to the subject.

"Real leadership development likely has to take place, at least in some form, in the actual workplace. Further, the greater the number of methods organizations use to develop leaders, the more effective their development will be. Howard said it's often not a matter of switching from one type of learning to another. It's about including those on-the-job elements to make the development real and offer leaders opportunities to practice their new skills.

Another issue impeding leaders' development is a lack of follow-up after a development program. Howard said the program in question might be a good one, but its potential impact is wasted if learning stops when leaders get back to the workplace and there is no real-time application or feedback.

"Senior management isn't held accountable in a great number of cases, and [development] may not be aligned with other systems in the organization," Howard said. "If you want a leader to be innovative; then you have to reward innovation. It needs to be in your performance management system, for example. Those kinds of things aren't done. Very often a leader will come back from a development experience, and the manager doesn't have the skills to reinforce that.

"But Howard said one of the biggest holes the DDI survey revealed was a lack of measurement."There's not very much monitoring of what's going on or calling on the carpet because this or that didn't get done," she said. "HR can put together a very nice development program, but it dies in the workplace if it doesn't get consistently reinforced. For example, 44 percent of leaders said they don't have an individual development plan.

"The companies that do have plans in place often lack specific objectives, undermining their usefulness, Howard said. Also, succession management often isn't systematic, and companies "don't identify high potentials early. They don't have programs to develop them, and they're not filling up a pipeline of qualified leaders."

"There's a lot of difficult challenges as you work your way up the leadership ladder. We asked leaders, for example, how difficult was it to make a transition from first-level to mid-level or from mid-level to a higher-level position, and it's very difficult. The higher you get the more difficult it is, and yet a lot of organizations don't have any program to help people through those transition periods.

"One group of leaders that is particularly neglected is those in multinational assignments, the survey revealed. These leaders might be expats going to work in another country, but also could include leaders advancing up the career ladder who supervise and coordinate global work efforts.

Howard said even if a leader will not live and work abroad, he or she still needs to understand different cultures and how people operate in those environments.

"You're dealing with ambiguous environments. It's more complex, and you may have to adapt your behavior if it's not acceptable somewhere else. These are tough jobs; yet, when we asked leaders who had those kinds of jobs what they thought of their preparation, over 60 percent said it was fair or poor. That's really bad.

"As the world gets smaller and more and more companies work internationally, this is becoming a bigger and bigger need, but organizations don't seem to be taking it seriously enough."

Ref: Kellye Whitney

The Four-Step Talent Management Road Map

Despite the increasing pervasiveness of talent management, most organizations have only slight knowledge of how to evaluate the effectiveness of their talent management practices, determine their capabilities or develop a strategic road map for the evolution of their processes. Yet, understanding such factors is critical to drive greater measurable and perceived value in an organization's talent management function.

The key to improving an organization's talent management processes lies in evaluating them according to a talent management capability continuum, a graphical progression of talent management capabilities within an organization. The four steps outlined below will help talent managers create a road map to lead an organization toward best talent management processes.

1. Evaluate the status of your talent management strategy.Begin by assessing the state of the organization's talent management processes. Talk with each process owner to ascertain how each process is designed to be executed, as well as how it is actually executed. A process defines how things are supposed to be done. The practice is how they are actually carried out.The process designed by HR, training or organizational development may be different across functions. Seek information from organization's division heads, as they know their talent management processes best, and they also should have a sense of how those processes are put into practice.

For example, to determine the state of an organization's succession planning process, first talk with HR, training or organizational development staff to determine how that process is designed. Then talk with each division head to learn how he or she actually engages in succession planning. This will provide critical information about current successes, disconnects or company-specific succession planning challenges: What processes are at work in the organization? How is each talent management process carried out (or not) by each business function? What process disconnects and differences exists across your organization? Once you have the answer to these primary questions, you are ready to move on to step two.

2. Find out where the organization lines up on the talent management capability continuum.The talent management capability continuum should provide talent managers with the big picture. It can show where an organization ranks on a scale of worst-to-best talent management practices. While evaluating the talent management processes' different capabilities, methodologies and systems will emerge. Some potentially beneficial processes may have been overlooked, some may need improvement, and others may qualify as best practices.

Organizations that fall to the far left of the continuum have not started to develop their talent management capabilities. They have not formalized practices or centralized processes, do not track most talent-related metrics, nor have they created a culture that supports talent management.

As organizations improve their capabilities, they likely will formalize practices in certain areas of the business. These organizations fall in the middle of the continuum. They track key talent-related metrics and have foster a culture that accepts those talent processes, but may lack consistency.

At the far right of the continuum are those organizations that consistently follow best practices in their talent management methodologies - at every level of the organization - using the most up-to- date technology systems as support. They track metrics that are tied to talent management process effectiveness frequently. And these organizations have created a culture that supports talent management processes and requires leaders to regularly engage in their design.

Note, while the term "best practice" is used to denote a practice generally accepted as highly effective, the level of effectiveness depends on many factors. What works in one organization may not yield positive results in another.

3. Prioritize talent management processes.The next step is to rank each process according to importance and the expected impact of improvement. Talent managers can judge importance by how critical the process is to the execution of organizational strategy. Then evaluate the expected impact of improvement by measuring the difference between the current process state versus the preferred future state, and determine the value of closing that gap.Senior leaders can be helpful during this step, and their participation will generate buy-in and reinforce that talent managers are working cooperatively toward the organization's desired outcomes.

4. Create a talent management road map.Once the talent manager determines where the organization falls on the continuum and has established priority for each talent process, he or she must develop a strategic talent management road map. This road map may span years because improvements to talent management processes can not happen in one month, one quarter or even one year.

Consider using a three-pronged approach to create the road map: Develop a framework of important criteria, establish a timeline, and communicate the road map to senior leadership.

Understand the importance of each process, the budget available for strategic talent imperatives and the organization's business environment. Then prioritize data for each process and order them according to company-specific criteria.

For example, for the first six months, there may not be enough money to invest in a complete talent management process overhaul. So focus on small improvements to one of the organization's current processes that will produce even a modest financial impact. Later, when there is more funding, budget more resources for large-scale process improvements that have greater strategic importance.

Determine how long each process will take to refine the organization's critical business needs. Then map out improvement plans across a specific timeline. Keep in mind talent managers may be able to work on more than one process during a given period. And some processes are linked to or are dependent on others.

Finally, communicate the talent management road map to the leaders who helped during the prioritization stage: step three. Provide them a copy of the road map along with the data used to create it, and celebrate the work they did to help produce it. Be prepared to answer specific questions. Even though these leaders should have contributed the data on which the road map is based, there could still be some push back. Focus on the business imperatives and help them understand how the road map will impact execution of company strategy.

Many organizations would benefit from a planned and strategic approach to improving talent management capabilities. A recent Learn.com survey showed 248 leaders in the field of HR, training and organizational development rated their organizations' overall talent management practices an average of 1.9 on a scale of 0 to 4, with 4 representing best practices. This level demonstrates their practices are only somewhat effective and yield results that often - but not always - meet objectives.

In order to be competitive in the changing business landscape and achieve measurable and meaningful results, organizations must constantly move toward the right of the continuum through carefully planned and strategically designed improvement of their talent management capabilities. Somewhat effective talent management practices are nowhere near good enough.

Ref: Michael Sabbag

Aligning Talent Development with Organizational Objectives

One of the primary goals of most talent development programs is to ensure alignment with the overall goals and objectives of the organization. Although every organization is different, there are some simple ways of accomplishing this.

The first step is to understand senior management’s expectations. CEOs are focused on results, and laser-focused on the short list of things for which their board of directors holds them accountable. Therefore, one method for ensuring alignment of development is to identify exactly what factors the CEO is being measured and rewarded on, and then concentrate talent-development efforts in those areas. For example, if the CEO is measured and rewarded for increasing customer satisfaction, then talent development must demonstrate how improving customer service skills immediately impacts service ratings, and what each percentage point increase represents to the bottom line. If the CEO is rewarded for increasing sales revenue, then talent development must demonstrate how improving skills in the sales area dramatically increase overall sales. The impact can be demonstrated by using a control group to show how the talent development program makes an economic difference.

Some other ways to align talent development with corporate objectives include:

• Spending the development budget in direct proportion to priorities identified and ranked as most critical by senior managers
• Developing programs that are made available on a fee-for-service basis
• Identifying key business units and divisions in the organization and allocating more resources to those with the highest business impact
• Developing special programs for high-impact jobs and key positions

Improving performance in areas that are off the CEO’s radar screen does little to improve the image and perceived value of talent development. However, it’s important to remember how frequently that radar screen can change. Organizational objectives shift almost as often as the business world changes. That said, it’s not enough to align development with corporate goals once a year. Ensuring alignment is a continuous process that requires at least one midyear review and adjustment point.

Talent development must remain agile and capable of providing just-in-time services as corporate needs change.