On Board, or Over Board?

Too much info, your new employees will be drowning!

Hi all,

It's been a while, but I've been traveling quite a bit lately, so thanks for bearing with me.

When it comes to building a successful organization, we've already agreed it comes back to the people. First it starts with a leader that has a compelling vision. Then that leader grabs like minded individuals who will be partners to that vision. Then the selection process of everyone that aligns with that vision begins. Once you bring someone on to your team though, the work has just begun.

Employees need a few things to be successful and also happy upon joining a new organization. They need to understand their roles, and they need to understand the company culture they are a part of. If you don't provide these things, you run the risk of setting the employee up to fail, or worse, damaging your credibility with that employee and their network. Here is the benefit of investing in an effective on boarding program...you can cover both of these things.

US and UK employees cost businesses an estimated $37 billion every year because they do not fully understand their jobs, according to IDC

Here are a few areas that you can and should control when developing an on boarding program:

1. Duration
• When  you select people to join your team, understand that there is a need on both ends. The department or office needs the new person to fill the void that's currently open, and the new employee needs to be trained to be the person the department or office is looking for. We are guilty of wanting everyone to be factory equipped and ready to roll on day 1. That's just not fair to the new member of your team. On the other hand, you can't take weeks to get someone in the office so that they are "fully prepared".
• Be moderate in the time your on boarding process takes. You have to balance the need to fill a void with the need to be successful, and you can do that with a process that isn't a millisecond long but also not a century. Traditionally a week is long enough to create initial acclimation to culture, systems, and people, as well as set expectations for future growth and success.
2. People



The right people need to meet your team...make a good impression!

• When members of the organization come to see new selections, they are getting an opportunity to see new talent, and also explain what their roles are within the organization. It's a "who's who" introduction within your company. Who should your new selections meet during their on board process? It would be easy to say everyone and anyone. Unfortunately, the way schedules are and the way companies are moving, this isn't possible. Everyone has responsibilities and meeting the newest members of the team isn't always on forefront of their minds. The best way to do this is to divide the introductions into two areas: nice to know, and need to know
• Nice to know:
• These are your executives, high ranking members of various departments, and maybe even an emeritus if you have one. You don't need them all to come, in fact you don't want them all there because it's not a productive use of the entire team's time to be at a new employee orientation. One representative per area usually can do the trick. 
• The visibility of these individuals enable each new employee to see that the company is globally invested in each and every one of its people, to the point that they want to see the new talent coming into the organization. Also, it creates some facial recognition and approachability for new employees, who can see that the even the members of the highest level of the organization are friendly faces who still exemplify the company values to this day
• Need to know:
• These are direct supervisors, and people that each new employee will deal with on a consistent basis. Some examples include a member of HR, Accounts Payable, a Benefits Administrator, etc. 
• These introductions and the explanation of their roles will clarify who to go to when the employees need a specific service. You don't want to be the reason an employee asks their direct manager about when they're being reimbursed every time. You'd rather that go through the proper channels. The on board process is integral in creating and maintaining effective and efficient communication within an organization. Without it, too many people get copied on too many emails that don't even concern them. This drags out the resolution process, and in turn creates frustration between teammates. Head it off at the pass guys. Introductions to the "need to know" will pay off dividends that you'll never need to see to know they're effective.
3. Content
• "Manage the message"
• We hear this a lot in business these days, and it's not a bad thing if the spirit is pure. Meaning, you manage the message to create the right environment for your new employees to flourish. Your employees should feel informed, educated, and most importantly excited with the content you provide them with. Some key areas you should cover in the on board process are new hire paperwork, company policies and procedures, culture, and systems training. If you touch on these areas, you ensure that your team is clear in the expectations set for them by the company from a tactical and cultural standpoint
4. Mentorship



Mentors do wonders...even among felines

• Mentorship is an overlooked component of the employee life cycle. It's a shame, because individuals who fit this mold can really make a difference in the employee experience. Mentors are "A" player individuals within your company. The ones that you wish you could clone and then clone again. These individuals have unique traits that you hopefully look for in other employees you bring on, but they are the ones that are usually the most excited about and engaged in the company and it's future. Many times they are the most successful individuals you've ever had on your team. Do your best to pair up each individual with a mentor in their RESPECTIVE department. Succession planning comes into play huge here, because if you're identifying your talent and nurturing it, then selecting individuals to be mentors shouldn't be hard. Your performance review and succession planning processes have already identified who your "A" players are, and then they should have mentorship ingrained in them at a relatively early age in your company.
• Mentors are not just for the on board period. They should be providing status updates and coaching throughout the first 90 days of being on the team at minimum. They are building a relationship that should help the new employee get acclimated to the company, and at the same time give HR and the department manager a pulse on how the new member of the team is coming along.

Ultimately, the on board process can be a game changer for you. Individuals who are better prepared to do their jobs are naturally more successful. But employees who better understand your company's values, culture, and what they stand for are more inclined to be more invested in your company, because it becomes their company as well. Involve every department, whether through development of content or appearances, in the on board process so that you can create global value for the program throughout your organization. The more people that know this program happens, the better and more successful it will be. 

May your on board processes be shorter than a century, and longer than a millisecond. All aboard!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

The Seats on the Bus...Right Bus, Right Seat

Hi all,

Keeping with our theme of talent selection, let's just jump right back into where we left off...

2. Right Bus, Right Seat

This...never works

This is a hard one for employers. We see dynamite candidates with such unique skill sets that they could do anything, and we salivate, especially in this job market. “We have to pounce on this person, or they’ll get swept up by a competitor”, you think to yourself. When this happens, you start strategizing with your team, thinking where you can fit them in so you don’t miss out on the candidate. There’s something to be said about seizing an opportunity, but there’s also an old adage about trying to fit a square peg into a round hole…it doesn’t work.

Too often as employers, we are guilty of thinking that a candidate with specific skills can fit into the box that is our organization, even though we don’t have the right role for them at the current moment. We don’t know what the ideal role would be, we don’t take the time to find out or craft it, and so we make sure we offer just to ensure we don’t lose him/her. What you’ve done here if you’re guilty of this, and many of us are, is do a disservice to both the organization and the newest member of the team. When you think someone will be a great fit for your company, you have to remember why you think that: because that skill set and attitude will be a game changer. You have to let that skill set and attitude flourish in the right role, or you just filled a requisition with a body, albeit a talented one. With that in mind, placing a candidate just to keep him/her will often result in you not getting the optimal performance you expected, and your new selection being dissatisfied with the work and the company.

People will be who you want them to be..don't settle

In today’s job market, many people will take any job they can get, and that involves sacrificing their personal passion to earn a paycheck. While there is nothing wrong with this in theory, we have to be weary of feeding into this. The survivor mentality is admirable, but no one wins here. You will get performance, but once the lore of having a job again wears off, employees are human, and they will get restless. “I’m not being used properly. I can do more”. This is wonderful to hear, because they want to grow.  But it will fester and become discontent after a while. Discontent breeds attrition, and attrition affects morale and performance. Not the ideal situation we planned for. But we could have avoided this in the first place if we had held true to our principles. Put the right person in the right seat, and the bus that is your organization runs with little turbulence. Start fitting square pegs into round holes, and watch out for morale issues, performance issues, and real questions about the integrity of your talent selection process from candidates and employees themselves.

Alright guys! Almost there! 2 more and we're through our talent selection conversation. I hope this has been helpful. Stay warm!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

The Seats on the Bus...Past, Present, Future

Hi all, 

Picking up from where we left off, we begin discussing talent selection strategies. I gave you four different areas we'll talk about that will help you bring in the talent you need as an organization. They were:

1. Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future
2. Right Bus, Right Seat
3. "Involve me, I will understand"
4. Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future

Remember what you need that past performers couldn't deliver

When we look to bring on new talent, there’s obviously a myriad of reasons as to why. Usually it’s that you’ve lost or promoted good talent, gotten rid of an underperformer, or saw a need for a new position. Regardless, when you look to select someone to fill a role, we’re always thinking about what the past person didn’t have or didn’t do. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. You should always be looking to fill gaps with new talent, because you don’t want a repeat of the last person, even if they were good. If you want the same exact thing you had before, it means you’re content with the status quo. Greatness is always about taking the next step, and so you should start your search thinking about what you needed that would have helped you back then. However, understand that this is just one piece of the puzzle.

Hire for what challenges you face today

Present wants should build on past needs. It’s not just what you needed to have someone be successful in the role that wasn’t present, but also what you will want in order to meet today’s challenges. Remember that whatever obstacles you faced in year one of your company are different (at least you hope so) than what you’re facing in year five. Even if the obstacles haven’t changed, the present wants and past needs are aligned but are not the same, because the issues have compounded. When you look to bring in new talent, build a checklist of the challenges your current landscape or climate are presenting you with, and what traits or skills you want the person to have that will help you meet them.

Select for the future! Foresight never hurt anyone

Once you’ve built a set of past needs and present wants, it’s time to get back in your Dolorien (Back to the Future reference if you missed it…it was the time machine), and start looking forward. The gift of foresight is not easy to master, but it isn’t impossible to paint a picture of what the future looks like either. You had to do it for your organization’s vision, values, and culture, why not the people and roles you need to execute? One of the issues that may have caused this need for talent is you did not foresee the challenges that would come as the role and or the company began to evolve. I have personally seen this happen in some organizations, where someone is brought in to do a specific role, but a change in company direction, for whatever reason, puts the employee in a situation where they are completely under prepared for the task at hand. You need the right person at that point, and the current employee just won’t cut it, so you make a change. You cannot be an oracle and nail it on the head of course, but knowing what you want your company to be, what you want to role in its final form to look like, and what expectations you have for the highest performer you could ever ask to take the role will help you in your search. Keep in mind, the future may be now for the position, meaning the present wants and needs of the past may be exactly what the future needs and wants are. If that’s the case, you’re set. In any case, try your best when thinking about a role to give some time to what it should look like 3-5 years from now. At worst case, you’re incorrect, but at least you prepared a path and could communicate that expectation to new talent, so they know what they’re getting themselves into. Not a bad concession at all. 

Below is a basic example of a hire table for an executive assistant:

Past Needs	Present Wants	Future wants and needs
Able to file efficiently/stay organized	Good phone etiquette/prompt follow up	Manage up, hold CEO accountable to commitments
Computer savvy	Manage schedule effectively	Executive brand integrity

Just some things to think about as you look at the role. You've got to know what you want before you ask for it. Expectations pave the way for accountability and growth. 

We'll get to the the rest of the points in our next chat. 

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change
~AI 

The Seats on the Bus...(Part 1)

Happy new year all! I hope everyone is doing well. Excited to talk about the next area that really will drive your organization: the people. This will be a 4 part series, because each part of this is so critical in order to get the team you need to help you drive that vision. So let's get to it!

Once you start to lay the infrastructure for what your organization to look like, it’s a good time to pat yourself on the back. A compelling vision, a strong set of core values, and the expectations of the cultural landscape you intend to implement are all difficult tasks to accomplish. Ultimately though, all of this is theory. These are all the words that have been spoken by the executive team and their leader. In order for these words to translate into works, we need individuals that not only feel the same way, but can execute in step with this infrastructure. In short, linking theory to practice, the time old struggle between good and great anything, will be your greatest challenge. So where do we start in order to ensure we can bridge this gap? You got it: Talent selection.

How do we select the right talent? If there was a perfect science that was easily implemented, we’d never have to worry about our organization’s health. Why? Because the right employees do three major things for your company: they perform their jobs at a suitable level, they either establish themselves as depth in your leadership pool or groom you potential leaders, and they affect your bottom line and your culture because of it. That being said, I think all of us can raise our hands when I ask how many of you are lacking these people in our organizations. Lacking doesn’t mean you don’t have the talent, because some of your people are doing this. It’s just that not enough people fit this bill…and you can never have enough of the “right employees”.

So now, let’s get back to our question of how to select the right talent. From my experiences, I see four overlapping concepts that will steer you in the right direction when it comes to selecting the right people:

1. Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future
2. Right Bus, Right Seat
3. "Involve me, I will understand"
4. Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

We have a unique opportunity through this process to select talent that can transform our organizations. It takes a little faith, a little luck, and a whole lot of integrity to make it work. Happy reading!

Be inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Core Who? (Part 2)

Hi all,

We're picking back up from our last conversation about core values, and I left you on 

the edge of your seats! So let's jump back into it.

3.       No thesaurus necessary, please

Many organizations, with the intent to “distinguish” themselves from other companies, use big, intricate words to define their values. Forthrightness or constancy sound like a wonderful values, but so do integrity, honesty, or candor…and all five of those words mean about the same thing, but only three of them fit on one line without overtaking the entire page, and can be understood by the common man. Your values need to be relatable to every employee, the C suite all the way down to the custodian. If someone cannot identify with a core value, then don’t be frustrated when you don’t see it being lived! Simplicity speaks louder than anything complexity could write. So keep it simple smarty!

4.       Intangible values need tangible foundations

The number one problem with core values is that once you create them, you think it’s over. Everyone saw the words, heard our lecture on why they’re important, and so let’s see them in action. This does not work. If you want to see your values lived in a certain way, then give your values the life you want them to live! Create behaviors that identify with your values. Show your people what you believe it to mean when you ask them to live the value. We are in a world that wants to analyze everything, and there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t send your guy to a gun fight with a knife. Give them all the tools they need to be successful. If you want to rate your team on how they live their core values in their performance reviews, or want to interview, discipline and reward based on the values, give them guidelines. Obviously understand that you can’t cover every behavior that defines a value, but give enough parameters and people get the idea. The more clarity we provide in expectation, the better the expectation of execution. Further, the better the execution, the better the results.

Core values have a special place in my heart, because I have seen them work in the workplace. When you create a moral fiber in your company that you hold everyone to, yourself included, it lays out the rules of engagement within the team. We know how we will communicate with one another, and we know what to expect of each person, because our values tell us what to expect. It’s like a contract they’ve signed. When new selections join the team, they see what’s expected of them, because everyone at the company is already living it. This creates a culture of accountability to your values, which, if aligned with your vision, will drive you to success.

Zappos! Brands has mastered the use of core values in creating an amazing company culture. Their core values are at the heart of major decisions in the company, and are infused into every aspect of the organization. They are values every employee can get behind, can understand, and most importantly can live. These values produce a motivated workforce, a fun place to work, and solid bottom line. Organizations with highly engaged employees achieve twice the annual net income of organizations whose employees lag on engagement ("Engaging the Employee," A Kenexa Research Institute WorkTrends Report, 2008). Just wanted to give you some food for thought when you wondered if this affected your profits...it does, and it will.

Core values, when implemented the right way, from the top down, can be the magic you’re looking for to reengage your workforce. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight. Integration is a process, but one that is well worth it. Take your time to build a set of values that reflect who you are, who your employees are, and who you all want to be, and you will see the effects over time. It is transformational, dynamic, and most of all, a blast to see in action. May your search for values be short, sweet, and successful. Happy hunting!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Core Who? (Part 1)

Core values are an enigma in the business world these days. They are the new sexy trend, and everyone wants them. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with them once they’ve got them! As we continue to delve into the depths of how to build company culture that will transform our organizations, we hear the experts telling us how important the core values are. So what do the executive teams in your organizations do? They start scrambling, hiring consultants, and formulating a set of values they think defines them as an organization. So, they think, we’ve built these core values, and now good times will come…right? Not quite yet.

Core values have a deeper meaning than just being words on a wall, which is what happens in many companies. These are the fabric of your organization. They are the moral fiber that you live by, and you expect your team to live by. Your core values should be the underlying factors in every major decision you make as an organization. But it’s important to make sure the values truly reflect who you are, because otherwise you create an identity crisis within your organization. So how do we develop core values?

Here are four steps to think about:

1.       Think about your vision

When we spoke about vision a few weeks back, I wanted you to get an idea of why casting the right vision is important. Who you are and where you want to go as an organization is important, so you always have a point of reference in your decisions. When crafting your core values, make sure you see alignment with your vision. Your vision should inspire people around you to want to be a part of your company, because they are excited about the direction your company is headed and what you want to accomplish. Your vision is the destination you are trying to arrive at. Your car is the organization itself, which will be the means to accomplish your vision. You need an engine, the power that makes the organization go. Your values are that engine. If you put the wrong engine in the wrong car, you go nowhere. Remember that!

2.       Be a realist, with a hint of idealist

You’ve got to make sure that as you formulate what these values will be, you remember the identity of the organization you are a part of. A good way to do this is to look at your personnel. Whoever is in the room with you, that’s bought into your vision and is behind you, obviously has different things that you need on your team. Each person’s quirks and tendencies and drive are all components of your organization’s identity. Think about your family. The identity of your family is defined by the people in it: their mannerisms, attitudes, actions, etc. The same with the organization you are a part of. So with that in mind, your values need to reflect the identity of the organization as you want to see it, and how it really is. People need to be able to see themselves in your organization, because it is their organization too! A good way to figure out people’s individual core values is the tribal leadership values exercise. Here is the link:

http://www.culturesync.net/toolbox/mountains-and-valleys/

**A quick note: if there are individuals in your company that exhibit negative tendencies (poor work ethic, attitude, etc.) that you believe are a drag on you, those are not individuals you consider as components of your organizational identity**

We will continue with the last two steps in my next post, so marinate on this and check back soon!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Where do organizations begin? A Leader's Vision

Organizations, great organizations, begin with a leader. These are individuals who are compelled by a unique vision to attain greatness. At least, this is what we hope when we look into joining a new team. The problem with this is that many leaders trip themselves up in the formulation of their visions. It is easy for anyone to have an idea, they come naturally to us. But how many of our ideas have enough foresight in them to be sustainable, and be the types of ideas that individuals can rally behind, and infrastructures can be built around? Once we ask those three questions, the number of ideas that can be classified as compelling visions seems to decrease sharply.

A vision is not an idea that drops out of the sky one day. It is an idea that is hewn and crafted through time, research, and passion. Innovation distinguishes Apple from its counterparts in its industry, correct? Innovation distinguished Steve Jobs from his contemporaries as well. Innovation in turn distinguishes great visions from average visions. A great leader has a great vision, and that great vision inspires the individuals within the company, and culminates in a great company. In the context of Apple, we rarely saw the hours upon hours that went into the formulation of the vision that brought us the second coming of Apple: the iPod/iPhone/iPad series. But it goes without saying that it was something that was sustainable, an idea people could rally around, and infrastructures could be built around it, because here we are almost ten years later, and Apple is the benchmark we all strive to. Again, it started with vision.

Vision was defined by a mentor of mine in college as “beginning with the end in mind”. Ask yourself when you build your vision, “what and who do we want to be?” Never forget that vision casting is inclusive. It’s not just what and who you want to be, but what and who you believe others will want to be. Your vision can attract great talent to you, or be the reason great talent spurns you for a competitor. Always have a team of advisors close to you that can either rally behind and validate your vision, or show you the gaps to help you form a stronger one.

Remember, it’s not so much about being right the first time as it is getting it right in the fullness of time. If the vision you expect to be the guiding force for your company is haphazardly put together, expect that you will never preserve the integrity of it, because it will be easy to deviate from it to overcome the obstacles of the present day. Vision needs to be an idea and belief that can and will withstand the test of time.

Vision is the beginning of an organization because it creates the pyramid of priorities. From vision, you can build mission. From mission, you can set goals. From goals, you can set objectives. Further, with vision in place, you have the foundation of your recruiting strategy, and the structure of your organization. Whenever I talk to candidates about our company, I make sure to talk about our vision. They should know who we want to be, because if they’re coming along for the ride with us, we don’t want to have to make pit stops to let people off along the way. The right people will believe in your vision, and you should select your candidates with your vision in mind. Those are the people that will not leave because they believe in the trail you have blazed, regardless if things are going well or not.

Vision can be your game changer. It can be what makes you like everyone else, or what makes you the pinnacle of your industry. It can be the beacon of hope your team clings to in its darkest hour or the scapegoat for why your company is falling apart. Be deliberate and intentional in crafting your vision. Below is a quote from an interview with none other than Steve Jobs on Apple and when he came back in the late 1990’s which perfectly sums up the power of vision: “Apple was about 90 days from going bankrupt. It was much worse than I thought back then. I expected all the good people had left, but I found many of them still there, and I asked them, ‘Why are you still here?’ They said it was because they believed in Apple”.

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI