Talent Journey

Regardless of the size, industry, or product-mix of an organization, there are three equally important thinking perspectives to be mastered for an organization to reach its greatest potential for success. The three perspectives balanced within an organization will yield results that unbalanced companies could never attain.

The Three Thinking Dimensions are:

Strategic Integration Defining and communicating company visions, mission, values & strategy and integrating/aligning those across the organization

Operational Excellence Executing strategy by creating efficient infrastructures and implementing strategy through people

Relationship Ability Enable and Equip high performance and organizational success

A simple internet search will yield thousands of results for books, seminars, and the like – all going into depth on each one of these thinking dimensions. Business gurus tend to specialize in one these areas, although the one they focus on varies. It is clear, however, that ALL THREE thinking perspectives are essential for full organizational success. Talent Journey offers leaders insight into how to leverage and develop these critical thinking perspectives within a team or organization. We have found that most organizations (and almost all leaders) demonstrate strength in one or two of these dimensions and weakness in the third. A simple, clear definition of what each thinking dimension entails* will help to identify which are currently strengths in your organization:

1. Strategic Integration focuses on future possibilities and integration of the whole organizational structure. Leaders that are strong in strategic thinking are quick to evaluate market trends, technology changes, demographic shifts, etc. in terms of their future impact on the organization. They take a “helicopter approach” and see the big picture, including how the operational parts of the business fit together.

2. Operational Excellence focuses on the practical elements of the business. Leaders strong in operational thinking adeptly assess people and processes; they maximize resources for efficiency and results. Such leaders take a sky-scraper view of the organization, focusing on the day to day execution of strategy and goals.

3. Relationship Ability focuses on selecting, motivating, developing, and retaining high performance at individual, team, and organizational levels. Leaders that are strong in this thinking dimension earn people’s respect and followership. They take a tribal view of the organization. Understanding individual, team, and organizational needs, they motivate, encourage, equip and develop people and teams to contribute their best toward the organization’s strategy and mission.

A foundational knowledge of these three thinking perspectives provides the platform for practical application. Some good questions to ask in assessing your organization include:

1. Where are you strong/weak as a leader?
2. How can you utilize the strengths of teammates to compliment your strengths?
3. Where is your team strong/weak?
4. How can you leverage certain members of the team or bring in additional talent to supplement this weakness?
5. Where is your organization strong/weak?
6. How can the organization’s weakness be strengthened (e.g., leverage/develop those that demonstrate strength in your weak area or hire it in from outside)?

The first step is recognizing that although your organization may be experiencing success today – you could move to the next level of success by bolstering your weak area. Effective leaders are always searching for ways to improve their organization, internally and externally. The combination of these three perspectives provides that opportunity. Insights into which of these three perspectives are already mastered, and which may need more attention can easily be identified by doing the above self-assessment (or Talent Journey can conduct the assessment for you). The goal is to honestly answer the questions posed above and seek resolutions. In this new year, with ideals of economic revival, moving forward with a balanced thinking perspective will grow your opportunities for maximum success throughout the year.

Here are some competencies/talents that demonstrate strength for each thinking perspective:

Strategic/Systems Ability
• Strategic Planning
• Customer Acumen
• Product/Service Portfolio Decision-making
• Conceptual and Integrative Thinking
• Managing Change
• Establishing Organizational Culture
• Continuous Learning

Operational Excellence
• Accountability for Results
• Goal and Performance Performance Management
• Infrastructure Development
• Problem Solving
• Continuous Improvement
• Resilience
• Metrics and Reporting

Relational Intelligence
• Authenticity
• Building Trust
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Ability
• Influence
• Leading Others
• Developing Others
• Team Building
• Conflict Management

An absolutely essential trait of a good leader is the Art of Persuasion. Persuasion is defined as “the ability to influence others to believe and engage in a common goal or idea.” Some may think that persuasion involves the use of master tactical skills or manipulation of others for personal gain. Persuasion is actually the opposite of manipulation. It flows naturally when three noble concepts converge:

1) Setting a clear outcome,
2) Creating concrete detail, and
3) Operating within an environment of trust.

It’s worth a brief examination of these components because the lack of one or more may be diluting your ability to persuade those you are currently leading.

The first component of the art of persuasion is setting and communicating a clear understanding of your destination. Determining exactly what you are trying to accomplish and what the end result will be is critical in painting an accurate and consistent future picture. Communicating that clear picture within your team will provide both direction and a common purpose. Think back to a discussion you had with people of differing opinions. Was the end goal of the discussion communicated? You will achieve a far greater success rate if each person starts with the desired outcome in mind. When leaders provide an understanding of what they really care about and want to see achieved, it is far easier to persuade like-minded individuals and attain a successful result. Knowing the desired result also reduces distractions or the tendency of some to hold on to irrelevant points.

The second component in persuading others is to provide concrete details. Include enough detail to make your goal or idea both appealing and tangible to the audience. The art of this component comes from knowing your audience and what is important to them. Imagine that you are trying to persuade a friend to attend the new movie “Blind Side.” Which argument would be more effective?

•The new movie has reaped over $125 million at the Nation’s box-office in the first two weeks of release? Or,
•This new movie is about a topic you deeply care about (at-risk youth). It tells a story about a family that adopts the homeless teen, Michael Oher, who is now a rookie tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Astonishingly, the story has risen to number 1 on the charts over the last few weeks.

Although both examples use concrete facts, the second example is more compelling to an audience that cares about the future of at-risk youth and also wants to enjoy a well-crafted film. Someone who typically enjoys this kind of film will be persuaded by those facts much more easily than by revenue statistics. Alternatively, if you were trying to convince the heads of a large movie studio to see the movie, the first fact would be more compelling given their goal to make similar movies that earn comparable revenue. In generating concrete details, seek to consider the needs, motivations, and objectives of your audience.

The third component in persuading others is operating within an environment of trust. It is critical to build strong relationships with those you want to influence. We cannot overemphasize that relationships are foundational to a leader’s ability to engage and influence others. The key ingredients of respect, rapport, honesty, and credibility will also reap the benefits of open communication, good listening, reciprocal care, and win/win approaches. If a relationship does not yet exist, much greater effort is needed to successfully persuade others. Also, take care when persuading within relationships that have experienced hardship. Past hurts or offenses can easily lead to poor communication and self-protection. When tensions are not resolved, trust is diminished and the opportunity to successfully persuade is often unachievable.

Art is truly in the eye of the beholder. A leader’s art of persuasion will be determined by each person in the audience. As the leader develops these three core competencies, new doors of opportunity will emerge. Yes, it requires time and effort to master the art of persuasion, but without a doubt, followers will readily embrace and support a persuasive leader.

2009 Worldwide Copyright TJ Associates, LLC Diane Brown. Do not use without permission.

As organizations seek new ways to increase success, it might surprise some that employee disengagement costs businesses in the US more than $300 billion each year. Although the figure might be a bit shocking at first, after further consideration it makes perfect sense. The cost of unfocused, unmotivated and unhappy employees takes a ridiculous toll on business. In assessing your own staff, you hope that the majority of your workforce fall outside of that camp. In reality, that is likely not the case. Gallup Management Journal found that more than 2/3 of the workforce is not fully engaged in their work .

The effects of unengaged workers can devastate an organization over time. The interesting study captured in “Creativity on the Job,” provides one glaring example of the negative effects. Some of the other devastating downfalls of disengagement include:

• Marginalized Performance
• Conflict and Resentment within the Team
• Lack of Productivity
• Loss of Customer Satisfaction and Retention
• Decreased Employee Satisfaction and Retention
• Decrease in Profitability

Let’s drive this news home. One study compared highly engaged business units to un-engaged units and found that the engaged groups rated 86% higher in customer satisfaction, had a 78% higher safety record, maintained a 70% lower turnover rate, delivered a 70% higher productivity rate and scored 44% more in profitability (Source: Follow This Path, C. Coffman and G. Gonzalez-Molina, 2002). The good news for leaders is that untapped potential of disengaged employees can be turned around. In the rest of this article, we will highlight key strategies to increase the engagement of your staff and the success of your organization.

KEY ENGAGMENT STRATEGIES:

• Hire Right – The most important decision leaders make is bringing the right talent through the doors of the organization. The right talent means finding a fit between what the job, team, and organization needs and what the employee brings to the table. Too often, leaders hire people they “like” in the interview. The “like” factor creates a personality fit, but commonly misses several other important success factors. We recommend utilizing a comprehensive performance assessment to help objectify the hiring process. An assessment that measures personality, motivation and competency provides the highest level of superior job performance predictability.

• Honor Whole Person – Employees don’t want to be used simply as a vehicle for corporate success. Engaging leaders truly care about workers as unique people. Employees engage when you demonstrate that you authentically care about and are interested in them, their family and their career.

• Honor Competency – In the 21st century, almost all jobs require some level of individual creativity, leadership and decision-making autonomy. An engaging leader understands that employees often have better answers to their own work issues than the boss does. As a leader, honor the competency of your employees by slowing down and asking them to share their opinions and ideas. Teach and coach them to think and create solutions themselves.

• Establish a Partnership Environment – Employees typically want to experience the success of achieving a cause bigger than themselves. However, most organizations miss opportunities to include employees in achieving the vision, mission, and values of the company. Employee meetings are good vehicles for sharing information, but not sufficient. Information and dialogue must flow freely through all levels of leadership to the most entry-level employee. We also recommend transparency of an organizations financial status when possible. Engaging leaders treat employees as partners in the business.

• Encourage Healthy Dialogue – One of the most difficult skills to master in any relationship is healthy dialogue. The majority of people tend to shy away from disagreements and conflict. Engaging leaders master the art of facilitating respectful and open dialogue that honors and encourages differing views. This type of environment not only fosters engagement, it also produces healthier business decisions and increased profitability.

• Resource Properly – Once employees are motivated to perform, it becomes critical that engaging leaders provide all the resources employees need to be successful. These resources include; systems infrastructure (such as IT), financial funding, tools/equipment, information, and skills/abilities. An engaging leader makes it a priority to help employees obtain the resources they need to get the job done.

• Ensure Accountability – When performance or interpersonal issues are not addressed, the team’s morale suffers. The impact of just one un-engaged employee can be devastating to the overall engagement of a department or team. High performance teams within organizations operate just like a winning sports team. Those that win are working together as a cohesive and engaged team. Losing teams may have a few individual stars, but no one performs at their best – not even the stars. Great leaders deal with performance issues to ensure the entire team is functioning at its full potential.

In implementing new strategies as leaders, you might encounter some initial resistance. We encourage you to persist. It takes time for employees to understand, embrace, and adapt to change. Engaging leaders continually seek business improvements and ways to maximize the potential of those they lead. Just think – your “star” employee may be the next leader. Additionally, your least engaged employee, once fostered, may end up being your next “star”. Engaging leaders see the untapped potential in their employees and deploy strategies to bring out the best in every person/team.

In seeking ways to further an organizations success and maximize its assets, starting with a realistic picture of what exists is critical. A very successful tool that is underused is the 360-degree survey, which we explore and highlight in this article.

The 360-degree survey is a request for feedback about performance from managers, direct reports and peers of the individuals being evaluated. Since the feedback comes from sources above, below and at the peer level, it is commonly referred to as a 360. This tool is designed to give individuals rich and broad feedback about specific strengths and weaknesses in their performance.

This is a simple tool to implement for immediate results. The growth of computerized systems make this administration tool very inexpensive and efficient. More importantly, 360-degree surveys help address some of the performance management time constraint issues that emerged with the down-sizing of organizations. The tool provides a vehicle for identifying and addressing performance strengths and gaps, leading to better performance achievement and development discussions. Finally, the 360-degree survey has become more prominent as leaders realize new levels of collaboration and alliance are required both internally and externally to the company. This tool captures the strength (or weakness) of those skills and reinforces the necessity of them.

Designed properly, 360’s identify and measure the 7 – 10 most important competencies (see Talent Journey’s June newsletter for definition of competencies) needed for business success. The unique strategy and culture of an organization are cornerstones to identifying the most relevant competencies. For this reason, “off the shelf” 360-degree surveys rarely fit the specific needs of an organization. It is to the benefit of the organization to customize the 360-degree survey to reflect its unique business success factors.

There are many advantages to utilizing a 360-degree survey. They include:

More Accurate Feedback. Multi-rater surveys are more balanced and accurate. Without this type of instrument, it is at the discretion of the supervisor or manager to evaluate an employee’s contributions to the organization. This can lead to either over or understated assessments of performance. Multi-rater input provides assurance that no single individual’s perception “speaks alone”. It is beneficial for both managers and employees to get this performance feedback from a variety of people with whom the employee interacts in order to convey an accurate assessment of the individual.

Varied Perspectives. Multi-raters ensure the overall feedback is more comprehensive. Perceptions of behaviors often times differ across personality styles and work groups. The same behavior exhibited in one scenario can be perceived in a positive light and be deemed less attractive in another scenario. Often, these differences reflect the personality style of the person giving feedback or the departmental culture. For example, a manager may view the competency of “customer focus” differently than a colleague or customer would. The perception depends on the expectations, personality style, and type of exposure each rater has with the individual being rated. The opportunity to receive performance feedback from a variety of participants provides a more well-rounded view of the individual’s competency.

Approach Eases Anxiety and Engages Participation. A carefully designed and communicated 360-degree survey provides anonymity and a collegial feel for participants. When designed well, much of the typically anxiety associated with evaluations can be partially diminished. The individuals being evaluated, as well as those providing feedback, are positioned to be treated fairly and objectively. This results in a safe learning environment where all parties have the opportunity to grow and develop without punitive repercussions.

Opens Up Dialogue. The 360-degree survey tool provides companies with a launching pad to continue, or begin honest and caring discussions. Open dialogue emerges when feedback is treated as a learning opportunity and conversations are bathed in care, sensitivity, and truth. Though most employees can be somewhat nervous about their 360-degree results, they are also curious and interested. The majority of employees want to grow and develop and will respond well to feedback delivered in a positive environment. The dialogue can be even more successful and objective when the results are not tied to performance reviews and merit, but instead are leveraged as a pure learning and development tool.

Appropriate performance and career development. The 360-degree survey adds perspective in assessing an individual’s competency and career advancement potential. We have all seen examples where employees were promoted and precious dollars were spent training an individual for a job they were not well suited. The 360-degree survey can help corporations better position their employees for success. Taking it one more step, the 360-degree survey can be used to help place stellar employee in increasing responsible positions to advance the company’s success. Development plans written in response to the 360-degree survey results motivate employees to grow, develop and stay dedicated to the firm.

Assesses Strengths and Gaps in Teams. In addition to evaluating individuals utilizing a 360-degree survey, the results can also be tabulated to evaluate the strengths and gaps of a team or department. This analysis provides information to help assign projects and goals consistent with strength areas within the teams. The information can also be used to develop a group training plan. In both cases, resources (whether people or training budget dollars) are utilized more intentionally and effectively when objective multi-rater performance data is collected.

Communicating Business Expectations. One “by-product” of instituting a 360-degree survey is that all participants clearly understand the company’s core competency expectations. A 360-degree survey powerfully communicates these expectations to all participants. As Demming states, “we improve what we measure.” Backing up a step, the actual process of defining and narrowing the core competencies generates consensus and alignment among the leadership team. The power of this discussion should not be underestimated. Through the 360-degree survey design and implementation process, everyone in the organization becomes acutely alert to the key performance drivers within the organization.

Although the main advantages are explored in more detail in this article, the trickle-down effects can also be beneficial. It is advantageous for corporations to use information gleaned from the 360-degree process to update job descriptions, improve internal relations, and bring teams back to the mission and goals of the organization. Implementation of this type of survey is for everyone. It clarifies strategy, improves performance and grows the competency of your people.

Worldwide Copyright TJ Associates, LLC Diane Brown