If you look around the business world today, you will find that all companies are changing and evolving whether it is implementing an integration of digital transformation plans, DEI programs, company culture initiatives, remote worker programs, or changes in organizational structure. You name it – there is a plethora of other changes occurring as well.
2.5 million people retired during the pandemic and experts estimate that of those,1.5 million would not have retired had it not been for the pandemic. Were you ready for these resignations? To compete in today’s marketplace, you need to build your leadership bench, invest in attracting top talent, and develop a culture of succession.
Is your organization prepared for the worst-case talent scenarios? Do you have a plan to transfer knowledge of your leaders at all levels? Have you identified high performers who can move into these roles? If not, you need a succession plan.
Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing new leaders who can replace old leaders when they leave, retire or die. It increases the likelihood of having internal, experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they are vacated. Succession planning is crucial in order to avoid an organizational crisis when someone in a key role leaves.
Productivity, collaboration and innovation is a difficult proposition for many employers. For those employers that have telecommuters, many have used and/or developed internal tools from Instant Messaging to blogs to internal LinkedIn type pages to encourage teamwork, camaraderie, and innovation within the workplace. However, the tide appears to be turning.
In the Fall 2016 Edition of Training Industry Magazine, Marshall Goldsmith, Alan Mulally and Sam Shriver challenge the old paradigm of leaders as experts. The article states that: “Historically, leadership has largely been considered a top-down function. Leaders were masters of their crafts that doled out their knowledge over time to eager apprentices aspiring to gain wisdom. Enter the ‘Knowledge Worker.’”
Is your learning and development (L&D) function tactical or strategic? In a September 2016 Chief Learning Office article, titled "The Cultural Revolution," Dan Pontefract makes a compelling case for moving the L&D function from order takers to culture leaders.
Empathy is hard to learn and nearly impossible to teach. It’s a skill that is part of the national workforce’s soft skills gap that is continuing to widen. But some companies, like Ford, are developing new creative ways to bridge this skills gap.
In order to win more in our respective marketplaces, and to engage employees so they contribute their best, it may be time to rethink structures. A recent article in The Economist makes a compelling case that there are significant opportunities to improve organizational results by working more as teams, instead of the traditional technical silos.