Your best source of top talent may be right under your nose. I’m often impressed by the results of a robust talent assessment process. Invariably, organizations that take the time and effort to do effective talent assessments create a clear picture of the overall capability of their organization. Invariably, robust … Continue reading Uncovering Your Company’s Top Talent
During a tour of Google headquarters in 2014, our host described the impressive amount of time and effort the entire company put into hiring the best talent. However, he went on to proudly state that Google was even better at firing people. Why would the world’s #2 Most Admired Company … Continue reading Why It’s Critical to Be Even Better at Firing Than Hiring
It may be due to benign neglect or to unenlightened leadership. It’s more likely the result of reliance on long-standing unproven or pop-culture practices that just won’t go away. I’m referring to the continued spread of talent management practices that detract from an organization’s ability to thrive. This epidemic continues … Continue reading The Talent Abuse Epidemic
Or The Organization Chart is Dead! Long Live Networks! My recent blog on Why Training is a Dead End got a lot of attention and response – both positive and negative. A majority of commenters concurred that the standard model of classroom training has not been effective. We have known … Continue reading Crowdsourcing Leadership Development
I was talking with an executive team about the high voluntary and involuntary turnover their organization was experiencing in recently filled leadership roles. The execs’ conclusion (or excuse) for the cause of the turnover was that the exiting leaders “just didn’t fit our culture.” They felt that they just needed … Continue reading The Fallacy of Hiring for Culture Fit
In 2014, I had the privilege of visiting Facebook headquarters to learn how this rapidly growing and innovative firm leverages talent to drive results. When we were talking about their approach to talent, our host said that Facebook, “hires slow, manages easy and fires fast.” My reaction was, “Wow! That’s a brilliant … Continue reading The New Talent Equation: Hire Slow, Lead Easy, Develop Intentionally, Fire Fast
Why employees are avoiding Training and eLearning in droves Consider the results of a Corporate Leadership Council survey of 1500 managers in 53 organizations around the world: 76% felt that their Learning and Development function was ineffective or very ineffective in helping them achieve business targets Only 14% would actively … Continue reading Training is a Dead End
Lessons from 2015 Culture Leaders of the Year I gained some new insights on Organizational Culture (and reinforced some previous ones) listening to a panel discussion with four finalists in the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Culture Leaders of the Year from 2015. Much of the discussion centered on the question, “How … Continue reading Culture and Scaling Up: Creating an Intentional Culture
Why Culture Trumps Engagement Every Time Work on the importance of worker “morale” began in the 1920’s. Morale morphed into job satisfaction in the 1930’s. Conclusions about the impact of job satisfaction on key business results varied greatly over the ensuing decades, depending on how satisfaction was defined, the measurement … Continue reading Why Employee Engagement Is Not Enough
What makes Google the #2 Most Admired Company in Fortune’s 2015 rankings? Does their unique organization culture play a role? Gaining answers to these and other questions was the force behind a Culture Benchmarking Trip to Silicon Valley in which I participated. The purpose of the trip was to unearth … Continue reading Lessons from Google’s High Performance Culture
