Want to move from B-talent to A-talent?

Let me warn you – moving from B-talent to A-talent is a bit like going on a diet. It SOUNDS easy – Eat less and exercise more – but it’s a pain to follow through. You will be more successful, if you consider it as a permanent change of lifestyle instead of an event. It’s not just going through the motions, but really starting to think differently about talent.

Set the baseline

First you have to answer the question: What does A-talent look like to you? If you don’t define this clearly, you will get what you ask for; anything. Competency definitions and clear job descriptions are the foundation of an A+ organization. Once you know what talent you need, do a thorough talent assessment. Who meets your performance, skill and culture fit standards and who doesn’t? The next hard question is this: of those who don’t meet the standards, who can be developed via training, coaching or reassignments? Brace yourself for finding some employees who may not be up to par and need to be managed out. For the rest, create a serious development plan to reach the level of performance that you aspire to.

Fill in gaps with A-talent

Most likely, your talent assessment reveals gaps that need to be filled with new talent. If you cannot fill the positions internally, it’s time to go for the top performers out in the market. This is the first test of your new hiring strategy. Using your new criteria, you only select those who meet your standards. Go for the best. This requires a competitive rewards package and an attractive employment brand. If you are still building your brand, your challenge is to be tuned into the personal priorities of the candidates you are competing for.

Make it sustainable

Once you have an existing arsenal of A-players, you can’t afford to erode it. Maintain a no-compromise selection process that brings in more top performers. Develop a performance management process that relies on frequent feedback and mature managers. Reward and promote best performers. Make sure you are market competitive. A-players are on constant lookout for more challenges. Train your managers on using developmental assignments and having career discussions. Create growth opportunities through expert and leadership pipelines.

Create a talent culture

Make talent development and high performance part of your everyday culture. People development should be a top-of-mind issue in managers’ decision making and goal setting. Mentoring, feedback and setting challenging goals should become a way of living. For A-talent it already is.

If you need help moving from B-talent to A-talent, contact Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks at 512-484 8263, or liisa@forteconsulting.biz .

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Talent management in high tech – Part 1: Talent acquisition, rewards and performance

 

Source: Bersin & Associates

 

Bersin and Associates just released their new framework for talent management. In my opinion, it’s an excellent illustration of what’s involved in building a high performing workforce. You start with the workforce strategy. You attract the right talent that fits your plan. You manage performance, select the rewards that fit your strategy, and develop your employees. You create the right environment to engage your employees. You develop managers and groom leaders. You shape your culture to win. When you optimize each building block, just listen to your organization humming. Each industry has its own challenges and advantages. In today’s and next week’s blog I will examine high tech.

High tech is characterized by its highly skilled workforce. Often the entry level expectation is at least a bachelor’s degree. In engineering, there is fierce competition for some specialized talent, whether it is a certain engineering field, or a rare combination of software language skills. In marketing and sales, the companies are looking for the sweet spot of technical background and functional expertise, trying to find the right balance between the two. In many instances, a complex sales process is involved, which requires business acumen, seasoned opportunity management and the account management skills of the sales people. As in many other industries, if the high tech company manufactures it products, its logistics function, support staff and managers must be increasingly familiar with outsourcing and off shoring. As the applicants are tech savvy, more and more recruiters are turning to social media to source the candidates.

As the applicants are screened, a high IQ is just table stakes. What differentiates candidates is their EQ – emotional intelligence. High tech companies develop new products in a team based environment with tight schedules. Hitting the market window is critical for revenue and profit targets. The employees must be collaborative and able to adapt to change and a fast pace.

When it comes to rewards, most high tech companies’ reward philosophy is pay for performance. Merit increases, bonuses and equity are distributed based on the performance levels of the employees. This creates some requirements on the performance management process and management skills. The stakes are higher for a fair performance evaluation, when the employee’s compensation is linked to the manager’s assessment. Many companies use some type of forced or guided distribution to be able to manage their rewards budget – not everyone can get the highest rating and richest reward package. Manager training and guidance on consistent performance standards is another way to get the ratings closer to a normal curve. When forced distribution processes are not managed and communicated well, they pose challenges in creating a competitive culture and a perception of internal politics, and some high tech companies have faced employee lash out on this practice.

Next week: Talent management in high tech – Part 2: Management development, succession planning, culture

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How to get a raise

2009 was a year we want to forget. Adjusted for inflation, total compensation in the USA fell by almost 1.3 percent. 2010 looks a bit better, but not much: a salary increase forecast conducted by The Conference Board projects modest budgets of 2.8%, barely enough to match the inflation rate. In this environment, what can you do to get that coveted raise? There are no silver bullets, but the answer lies in knowing the process, studying the criteria and applying self awareness.

There are different approaches to compensation strategies in organizations, such as flat inflation adjustments, seniority systems, competency based increases, but performance based pay is the king. It makes sense; the best performers get the best compensation. In this year’s case, the performance based companies will take their 2.8% increase budget and try to divide it so that low performers will get nothing, solid performers will get a little bit, so that there is some extra money accumulated to give a more handsome reward for the star performers. It sounds straightforward, but many complain that they are not being evaluated fairly. Herein lies the challenge: 90% of employees feel that their performance is above average. So, how do you know if you REALLY are above average and deserve the key to the treasure chest?

If your company is in a mature stage, it has clearly defined standards for different performance levels. These would describe how a top performer behaves versus a solid performer, and what constitutes performance below expectations. Sometimes, you can dig in further and find the listed company leadership values. If you can’t find any published criteria, here are some generic tips how to distinguish whether you are a true top performer vs. a solid performer:

• Top performers are part of a solution. It’s not that they don’t see problems or are yes-men. When they see a problem, instead of just identifying the issue, they think of possible solutions and volunteer to be involved in implementing them.
• Top performers are proactive. Instead of just doing a good job at fulfilling requests and completing goals, top performers clearly see the overall strategy and purpose of the company, and jump at opportunities to do things beyond their current tasks, as long as they are aligned with the current priorities.
• Top performers are change agents. In new initiatives, top performers not only go to training and follow the new rules, they embrace the change vision and evangelize the cause. If there are issues, they find workarounds instead of just pointing them out.
• Top performers are continuous learners. They ask for feedback and act on it. When they go to training, they are engaged. When they get back to work, they share what they learned with the team and apply the new skills on the job.

Just as a word of caution, here’s a tell-tale sign how to recognize if you might be a low performer: you consume a lot of your supervisor’s or HR’s time. Unless your time with your manager is proposing ideas that you are volunteering to implement, you are taking time away from productivity. The only other exception may be if you are reporting illegal or unethical activities; that is your right.

Get savvy about your company’s performance management and compensation processes. Know the criteria for decisions. Find out about the schedule and decision points. For example, once the merit increases have been approved by senior management, your chances of changing your manager’s decision are slim. Your manager and HR are your best sources of information. Use the processes to your advantage and don’t be afraid of them. Document your performance throughout the year and make sure that your manager, the next level management and HR are aware of your accomplishments. Network internally so that the decision makers can connect a name to a face.

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If you are a manager, don’t let the rewards planning time to go to waste. With the little budget that you have, make it count:

• Make sure there are no surprises. Your performers should know where they stand based on the informal feedback you give throughout the year.
• Be as transparent as you can be about the guidelines and how the compensation decisions are made. Clear expectations upfront set the stage for frank discussions.
• Make sure to celebrate the successes with your top performers and show how much you value them. The reward dialogue with them is a great opportunity to do so.
• Don’t forget to share how much you value your solid performers. Show them what it takes to be a top performer.
• Don’t cop out with your low performers. They should not be surprised with what’s in store for them.
• Don’t forget that compensation can only be a dissatisfier. Leading with purpose, giving feedback and developing your employees ultimately drive their engagement.

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Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
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Are your employees in the Flow?

Dr. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi first described the phenomenon called the Flow in the nineties. It is deep engagement in an activity, where you get so engrossed that you may lose your sense of time. People report deep satisfaction when getting to experience the Flow. Often, they experience it at work, but it can happen during leisure time as well, for example while reading or skiing.

Some call it the High, the Rush, the Groove at work. They would do it for free, and then again, you couldn’t pay enough to force anyone into the Flow. However, you can create an environment conducive to Flow.

Based on Dr. Csíkszentmihályi’s research, the Flow is more likely to emerge in the following conditions: There is a clear goal, a challenge that is commensurate to the skill level of the employee, light amount of pressure, immediate feedback on progress to goal, and no distractions.

Let’s look at distractions. How many of your employees are able to take even a couple of hours to work on a task, and not be expected to return calls, e-mails, IM’s, text messages. Uninterrupted work time is becoming a rarity. With it, we sacrifice the Flow, which is the most creative, the most productive and the happiest time among our workforce. How much Flow time can you afford to lose? You can start by scheduling some on the team calendar.

Clear goals do not equal dictatorial micromanagement, but sharing a clear vision and a clear purpose. When the manager knows the strengths and hold-ups of the employee, it is easier to work together to select the right level of challenges. Good Flow goals gently stretch the earlier limits of the employee’s capabilities, but are not too unrealistic. A light amount of pressure seems to help with the Flow, so “Take all the time that you need”  and “I need it by yesterday” are both extremes that will not help.

Immediate feedback on progress does not mean “Good job!” from the manager on frequent intervals. In fact, evaluative feedback is not helpful. Useful feedback in the Flow shows the employee how the work is progressing. This means metrics, charts, user comments etc. For a software developer, the code itself shows feedback on progress. The painter gets the immediate feedback on the canvas. The finance specialist sees it in the summary reports. The manager can simply help the employee to plan how to get to see the ongoing progress, if the link is not as clear.

What about rewards? For the employee, the intrinsic reward of getting to work in the Flow is the best reward of all. There are numerous studies that have proven that dangling an extrinsic reward such as a cash award in front of the employee makes them focus on the reward and find the least effort path – not necessarily the best path – to complete the task. As a side effect, they lose part of the intrinsic motivation for the task itself.

Switching your company culture to a more Flow culture will not happen overnight. You may need to teach your employees concentration skills, help wean them out from constant multi-tasking and gently push them to dare to stretch their limits. This will be a paradigm shift for your managers as well. The pay-off will be amazing creative solutions, completed in intense Flows, and employees who LOVE their jobs and your company.

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Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
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