by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Aug 8, 2016 | Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
Training is essential for success—always has been, always will be. But like everything else, not all training is created equally. Nor is there a one-size fits all when it comes to teaching employees. And that’s true for leadership – technical, interpersonal or whatever it may be. But there are tried and true strategies for success that can lead to more effective employees, a happier workforce and a better organization. Here are 3 key strategies for training employees that can make the process more endearing for all those involved. (more…)
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | May 28, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Kevin Berchelmann
Many people — mostly consultants, I know — make incentive-based compensation planning complex and overly difficult to create, implement, and manage. It simply does not need to be that way…
Understanding incentive compensation is simple, and is largely human nature. Just realize the following:
1. That which is rewarded is repeated,
2. You don’t get what you want, hope for, manage to, or request — you get what you pay for (as a tenet of compensation, not necessarily a life philosophy), and
3. Simplicity wins.
There are certainly exceptions to this, but they are just that… exceptions. Don’t be misled by one or two instances of simplicity, for example, not working. In the long run, across the board, these tenets hold true.
Well crafted incentive schemes will generally work best when — viewing from the employee’s angle — we can show that:
1. Working harder (bigger, better, stronger, faster) will improve my job performance,
2. My improved performance will create rewards, perhaps an increase in salary or valued benefits, and
3. I value these rewards.
(oft-paraphrased from Victor Vroom, though not sure his was original)
Keep it simple, keep the end in mind, and stay focused on what you are really trying to accomplish.
by | May 10, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Human Resources, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
So, let’s talk about references. Recently, I heard an HR generalist ask about references. They wanted to know:
a) If they were limited to the references provided by a candidate,
b) What to do if they could not contact someone because the candidate wouldn’t give permission…, and
c) What good were references anyway since past managers and HR shops can’t give out any info??
Hang on to your seats, my answers may get rough… I’m just doing some free-wheeling here, so stay with me.
Managers/HR won’t give out information? Sure they can, and from my experience, usually do. I sometimes have great conversations, and make long-term acquaintances through these calls. I have friends today whom I met as I was speaking to them about a reference. Can’t shut them up sometimes.
I do, however, ask candidates for references for 2 reasons:
1) To make my life easier in finding telephone numbers, and
2) To get an idea of whom they would prefer I call, versus not.
Neither of those reasons is to get permission. I will always talk to immediate supervisors for at least 5 years back. Always, whether listed as reference or not.
Did you get that part?? Whether they list as references or not.
I will honor a request — it IS a request — to not call a currently-employed candidate’s current employer, as long as they realize I must do so either before an offer is made, or after a “contingent” offer is made. 100% of the time. No matter what the impact may be — no current reference, no job.
Now, some opinionated rambling…
There is no legal requirement, per se, for giving/not giving references or even employment verification (for future employment).
Further, though I realize many in HR choose — on their own — to limit their reference responses, I believe that practice is both limiting and detrimental to both employers.
This whole “name, rank and serial number” thing began as HR managers became afraid (unjustifiably, in my mind) of saying something malicious that they could be held to later.
In playing this self-inflicted “don’t tell” game, we encourage people to circumvent HR in the reference process, making operational/functional managers the go-to for adequate references.
And make no mistake — regardless of policies, most managers WILL give references, good and bad.
I believe our organizations would be better served if we controlled the real reference information, instead of simply sticking our collective heads in the sand.
But then, that’s just me…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Apr 2, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Human Resources, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
First, my bias — I “grew up” in Human Resources, finishing my coprorate stint with successive roles at the VP/SVP HR level. So, I somewhat “know from which I speak…”
The skills required of senior HR leadership of today and the future are so incredibly different than those required in the past, that the job almost seems to be a different profession.
Gone are the days of employee advocacy, pseudo-ombudsman, and feel-good party-planners.
Present & future HR leaders must have consummate business skills, including sound, educated, financial acumen. Additionally, HR specialist managers must maintain that specialty expertise (compensation, benefits,recruiting) while learning and leading with those same skills listed above.
Organizations must be able to look to their HR leaders for financial information on the human capital efforts, emphasis, and directions. Simply determing “cost” isn’t enough — we’ll need to show, demonstrate and explain real “VALUE.” In other words, why the hell should a company give you money and resources instead of putting those same resources to work in marketing, product development, or R&D??
We cannot stress enough that future HR leaders must know — KNOW — the business. I don’t mean the HR business or profession, but the “business.” They have to get their hands dirty; be willing to take on a multitude of non-HR responsibilities and accountabilities — HR is merely a specific background for a top executive, it doesn’t define their over-arching role and deliverables.
The best example I can give is that the largest private employer in free world — Wal-Mart — selected someone with NO human resources background to lead their human resources function. They clearly needed a “leader” first, an “HR expert” second. I believe this is the future we are going to realize, and their will be many incapable of getting on that bus.
The most significant skills — bar none — that these future HR leaders must have include:
1. Real business understanding — get their hands dirty enough to understand HOW and WHY we make money,
2. Financial acumen, and
3. Talent management: identification, development and recruitment.
This train is leaving; get on, get off, or get run over. Organizations have a right to these expectations, and I believe they will insist on receiving them in the not-too-distant future.
See you around campus…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Mar 28, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Human Resources, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
Here it is… the definitive guide…
My thoughts on succeeding in HR and adding real value to both the organization you work for and your professional career:
1. First, you cannot effectively manage human resources from a book, a website, or some online forum. You can’t. You can pick up tips and tidbits, some compliance knowledge, and a few very generic processes. Most of the rest — the other 98% — takes individual thought, planning, experience and creativity.
Compliance is simple — a CD-ROM could do it. Effective application of employment laws in a successful business… THAT takes work.
2. Quit searching online and asking others for templates. Sit down, learn a bit from those plethora of books you should have, talk to a few people who may have some insight, THEN CREATE YOUR OWN. Using someone else’s, even customized, isn’t yours. And it usually won’t work, since someone developed it SPECIFICALLY for their organization. And no, you don’t really just want to “see what one looks like.”
3. Rating categories and forms will not, under any circumstances, make an effective performance management system. Just one more pain in the rear for line managers to deal with. It’s bigger than the forms, folks. Forms may have a role, but they are not the core of performance management.
4. Learn to recruit. REALLY recruit. It is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE DO. Second to none. Those who feel they have “outgrown” recruiting — rethink that. Maybe you’ve outgrown hourly recruiting, but you still better be an effective talent manager, and that includes sourcing and recruiting.
5. Never train because someone asks for training. In all likelihood, training isn’t the answer. Except in matters of compliance (usually education, not training) or technical skills, training is really only effective for development, seldom for corrective action.
6. Google is your friend. Research. A lot. Of everything… asking in some online forum INSTEAD of researching isn’t just lazy (though yes, it is), you are harming your learning experience. You need more than pointed answers, clouded by someone else’s experience. Find out WHY things work that way, HOW we got where we are, and WHAT you can do to impact meaningful change.
7. Speaking of training, learn it. If recruiting is #1, employee/managerial development is a close second. Knowing how to develop managers — coaching and training, is a skill ALWAYS in demand. Go to Toastmasters. Offer to teach at some affiliate or association group. Learn with green “wannabe” supervisors. But learn to train and develop.
8. Don’t ask anyone “How can I justify XXX” until you can JUSTIFY IT TO YOURSELF. Attending conferences, implementing a new program, allocating resources… if YOU don’t know why, how the heck can you convince someone else???
This field is no longer for those with good “people skills;” it’s for those who understand that human capital is an adjustable, malleable resource that we are responsible for developing. Time to step it up a notch…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jan 5, 2016 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics
“Teamwork” has forever been a buzzword in our business world. It seems that the importance of having employees work as a team has been promoted in every available piece of management literature. Nevertheless, we at the top have routinely had a hard time “playing well together,” despite the fact that the need is more pronounced now than ever before.
I used to work for a CEO who believed that the definition of a “team” was a group of people doing things his way. It’d be funnier if it didn’t apply so well to so many…
Who cares?? Why does it matter, as long as I do my job and am good at it?? Some arguments for executive teamwork:
- External Demands. Worldwide competition and changing financial markets make it necessary for the organization to be on the alert at all times – the pressure to innovate, apart from the company’s organizational health, is no longer the CEO’s sole purview.
- Internal Demands. Diversifying businesses require differently-skilled managers to lead varied business units. We can no longer be “all things to all people.”
- Succession. An executive team is usually – and naturally – the best selection pool for future executives, as individual members would have first-hand knowledge of the essential competencies of a potential top leader within our current organization.
- Exemplary Behavior. In addition, top executives working well together sends a potent signal down the line. ‘Nuff said.
So why, then, if we understand the need, do top executives often fail to form a team?
Consider the source: Managers who have climbed the ladder’s upper rungs are typically strong-willed, ambitious, and experts in their own right. These characteristics, though obviously allowing them to successfully rise within an organization, may also pave the way for an unwillingness to show weakness, overprotective behavior for their functions, and viewing other executives as “competition” in their quest for the Holy Grail: The CEO’s chair.
Personality and behaviors can be difficult to change once they are really entrenched, so forming a true executive team becomes a difficult undertaking.
Ultimately, the CEO must establish a climate that is favorable to developing an executive team. S/He can do this by:
- Selecting discriminately. Normally, “upper management” can be a big group, consisting of the CEO, COO, CFO, various heads of important functional areas, and other political savvy or otherwise valuable individuals. Limiting the number of members to 8-10 enables all to develop healthier relationships, to say nothing of the success of subsequent meetings.
- Communicating unequivocally. The CEO must ensure that all executive team members understand the vision, mission, strategies, and goals of the organization in no uncertain terms. There can be no “highway” option here.
- Ensuring Commitment. If there is no involvement, there is no commitment.
- Clarifying Roles. The CEO must clearly set the mandate for each executive team member. This involves defining strategic responsibilities (not operational), areas of cooperation, interdependence, information-sharing, and decision-making processes.
- Ensuring safety. Establishing an atmosphere where members can show their weaknesses, disagree, and express their opinions openly without fear of losing face and authority can induce team creativity. It also promotes increased trust among the members.
- Emphasizing Shared Accountability. Rewarding solely individual performance undermines the formation of a cohesive executive team whose performance is supposed to be assessed collectively. Collective measures of profitability and other gains are crucial.
- Having Courage to weed out non-performers. It’s perfect, of course, if all executives would deliver on their responsibilities – but, nobody’s perfect. If an executive hinders the team’s progress or is disrupting the team’s process, then it might be time to let that member go. Make that decision as certain as it would be if s/he were functionally incompetent.
I worked with the CEO of a large services company. A VP member of his senior staff was a brilliant P&L manager — but entirely destructive to the team. We coached, cajoled, taught, pleaded, and begged. This senior manager would not be swayed — he was clearly “on the dark side,” and wanted to stay. He wielded his P&L performance as a Kevlar vest.
The CEO fired him, and you could hear the air being sucked out of all the collective guts of the senior team. The boss was serious, and now the team was, too.
Creating a synergetic team of top leaders in an organization is tough work. Selecting, managing personalities and relationships, establishing and enforcing norms, and developing executive team members is a complex process – but it can be done.
The payback is huge. You know that, of course, if you took the time to read this whole posting. Stop looking for a magic bullet — it takes effort and commitment, and in all likelihood, some tough decisions.
Let me know if I can help.
