Management vs Leadership

Posted on November 13, 2008
Filed Under Executive Leadership | Leave a Comment

Are managers and leaders the same thing?

While many employees have the potential to learn the processes and tasks it takes to manage people and resources, it takes an entirely different set of skills to be an effective leader. Leaders focus on the bigger picture and, instead of wasting all of their time focusing on single tasks and details, put systems, strategies and plans in place that benefit the entire organization and work towards maintaining success into the future.

Leaders have vision, and the ability to guide and mentor others into capturing and carrying that vision and eventually stepping into leadership roles themselves. How is your executive leadership? Learn more about strengthening executive leadership here.

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Technology Spend Important, Despite Tight Capital

Posted on November 12, 2008
Filed Under Business Effectiveness | Leave a Comment

With the uncertainty of the current economy, most businesses are tightening their belts and cutting money out of their budgets for capital expenditures. Although on the surface cutting costs seems like the practical, correct coarse of action, it can also prove detrimental when it affects the effectiveness of business operations, efficiency and product quality. This is especially true in regards to software systems and IT infrastructure, which can give businesses an edge when staff is cut and marketing and new business development expenditures are reduced.

Don Brown, founder and CEO of Interactive Intelligence, explains in this month’s Chief Executive Officer how upgrading legacy systems can improve performance despite the tough economic conditions:

“With so much talk about recession and cutting costs, it’s no wonder there are so many fears surrounding capital spending. According to a study conducted by Forrester Research, 43% of large US and European businesses have cut their overall spending on technology products and services this year.

“Many companies feel that reducing their capital spending is the best way to beat the economic downturn. This means that plans to update or replace legacy systems could be shelved with the attitude that companies will weather the storm before making any major financial investments.

“However, with outdated equipment firms will struggle to deliver results and with a recession forecast and the threat of job cuts ever-present, can they really afford to make do with a second-rate solution?”

Read the full article: “Intelligence to Beat the Downturn.”

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Investing In Training Crucial in Downturn

Posted on November 6, 2008
Filed Under Employee Training | Leave a Comment

During this economic downturn, it is more important for companies to invest in their employees.  Allocating resources to training and current employee development is proven to be essential for a successful organization.  Ensuring that employees have the most up to date knowledge and skills, especially as so many companies are forced to downsize due to economic uncertainty, is a critical factor in ensuring that customer experience and productivity do not suffer when companies run “lean and mean.”

This article from Management-Issues.com explains the issue in great detail:

“A report from the UK’s Cranfield School of Management has concluded that organisations which invested in their staff were generally best placed to save money, improve staff motivation and increase employee retention.

“The poll of more than 1,100 training and recruitment managers found that nearly eight out of 10 saw developing the skills of their existing staff as a more beneficial option than simply throwing money at external recruitment.

“More than four out of 10 felt firms that spent money on their staff ended up better placed to save money, with a third arguing that it improved staff motivation and more than half pointing out that it improved employee retention.

“The most successful organisations typically had formal training policies in place to nurture their talent, with less successful firms tending to rely on training that was delivered on an ad hoc basis.”

Read the full article: “When going gets tough, spend more on training.“

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Recruiting and Retaining Key Talent

Posted on October 17, 2008
Filed Under Recruiting | Leave a Comment

According to this perspective, two primary needs drive talented job seekers: survival and meaning. How do you provide both to prospective employees?

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A Glimpse at Recruiting: Microsoft

Posted on October 17, 2008
Filed Under Recruiting | Leave a Comment

What does it take to recruit and retain today’s top talent? According to these Microsoft employees, they chose a career at Microsoft because of the following reasons:

What kind of impression does your company give to prospective employees? Do your employees feel free to experiment, innovate and create?

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How Hiring Can Affect Talent Retention

Posted on October 17, 2008
Filed Under Hiring Practices | Leave a Comment

Are you having trouble attratcting and retaining the talent you need? Talent management strategies, if not effective, can slow business growth and effectiveness to a hault. I read an interesting article this morning that points out ways in which retention problems can begin during the hiring process:

In most organizations the recruiting function is entirely separate from the retention effort, yet the design of the hiring process has a dramatic and direct impact on future turnover. More than one-third of the factors that drive future turnover have their roots in the recruiting, hiring, and on-boarding process.

Recruiting Factors That Impact Future Retention

If you’re interested in reducing turnover, here are some of the hiring-related factors that impact future retention:

1. The source where you found the candidate.
2. Their average tenure in other jobs.
3. Hiring candidates who are focused on money.
4. On-boarding and orientation.
5. Recruiter involvement after the hire.
6. The lack of diversity orientation and retention.
7. Manager rewards for great retention.
8. Being aware of the most common causes of turnover. “

Read the full article “Retention Problems Begin During the Hiring Process.“

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Human Resources Needs Effective Leadership

Posted on October 17, 2008
Filed Under HR Effectiveness | Leave a Comment

I have talked a lot in this blog about motivation and influencing, because no leader - no matter what their position - can be truly effective without the ability to motivate others and influence change. As I wrote in a recent white paper on creating organizational change:

“Have you had great ideas to improve your organization that you were sure would be immediately embraced by all employees? Were you left wondering why the idea withered on the vine lacking the enthusiasm and support you had anticipated?

“You’re not alone. Whatever the change initiative was, based on industry experience, chances are less than 50/50 that it was implemented as planned and that you attained the expected results. The ability of any organization to adapt may be its only sustainable competitive advantage.

“Despite this, organizations experience resistance to important initiatives and a growing inertia. This lack of action undermines implementation and slows business results.”

Read more

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What Causes Project Failure?

Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Communication | Leave a Comment

I read a great post today from Management-Issues.com discussing what leads to project failure within organizations:

“New research carried out by training company VitalSmarts and professional services firm, The Concours Group, has uncovered five crucial issues –what they term ‘crucial conversations’ - that have an enormous impact on whether high-stakes business initiatives succeed or fail.

The study, “Silence Fails: The Five Crucial Conversations for Flawless Execution“, suggests that when even one of these crucial conversations fails, a silent crisis plays out in a deceptively simple dynamic that results in initiatives failing 85 per cent of the time. The result of this failure sees projects going over budget, missing deadlines and failing to meet quality and functionality specs. Team morale is inevitably damaged in the process.”

Read the full article “Silence - the root cause of project failure.”

Access the survey results here.

Some key findings include:

How strong are your communications skills? How strong is your organizational leadership? Read more about how to strengthen leadership communication to increase efficiency and productivity in your business.

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The Employee Motivation Fairy

Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Creating Change, employee motivation | Leave a Comment

Having trouble motivating your employees?

Have you had great ideas to improve your organization that you were sure would be immediately embraced by all employees?

Were you left wondering why the idea withered on the vine lacking the enthusiasm and support you had anticipated?

You’re not alone. Whatever the change initiative was, based on industry experience, chances are less than 50/50 that it was implemented as planned and that you attained the expected results.

None of us have a motivation fairy or the ability to immediately read our employees and understand what it takes the get them moving. However, we can help. Read our brief on “Creating Contagious Organizational Change.”

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Corporate Lessons and Success Strategies Learned From the AIG Buyout

Posted on September 19, 2008
Filed Under Investment Bank Lessons, Tips for Success | Leave a Comment

The current water cooler buzz seems to be ringing with the financial distress surrounding AIG, Merrill Lynch and Lehmann Brothers. What business lessons can be learned from the respective companies’ financial disappointments, and how can you turn what may be deemed a failure into a lesson of success for your business?

As evidenced in this recent New York Times article, invariably poor monetary decisions can definitely be costly to any company, even the preeminent.

In the midst of Bank of America’s gain following Merrill Lynch’s bankruptcy, the United States’ mortgage banking and credit calamities continue. Take a look at another recent media broadcast describing monetary corporate dissolve.

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