| | In This Issue: | | Where Did All the Leaders Go? TIP OF THE MONTH:
What to do Before Your Key Talent Leaves....
PRODUCT FOCUS:
Step by Step Plans for a Successful Future | | What's on at PROFILES | | Partner Training:
Wed 12th Dec 2007,
2pm - 4pm Seminar:
No seminar scheduled for December | | Product of the Month: | | The CheckPoint 360 System is a powerful three-part solution for a manager's professional development: 1. Checkpoint 360 Degree Survey provides managers with multi-rater feedback from those who observe their performance: their bosses, subordinates, and peers. This is an important process because increased awareness motivates managers to change the way they do their jobs. 2. Organizational Management Analysis System that alerts top management to potential managerial problems that can develop when managers’ goals are not in alignment with the goals of the organisation. It can strengthen communication and builds stronger organisations. 3. Skill Builder Series rounds out the 360 degree feedback solution and is an organised management and professional development program that addresses specific managerial skills identified in the Checkpoint as needing improvement. Consisting of 18 modules, managers develop and complete a customised personal development plan using SkillBuilder modules which are available online self paced and are easily integrated into a manager’s schedule and tangibly accelerate effectiveness and efficiency. Until Jan 31st 2008, for every Checkpoint 360 Survey ordered we will provide a complimentary SkillBuilder module. | | Quotes of the Month: | | "Obstacles are those frightful thinkgs you see when you take your eyes off your goal."- Henry Ford, car maker "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."– Albert Schweitzer, philospher
"It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself."
-Eleanor Roosevelt | | Contact Us: | | For Further Information Please Contact: Profiles International -Victoria 277 Moray St,
South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: (03) 9673 9888
F: (03) 9673 9898 . Email Us | | On behalf of the team @ Profiles, we would like to thank our clients for their support in 2007 and we wish all of our clients & newsletter readers a happy and safe Xmas/New Year. Where Did All the Leaders Go? The value of using a plan to accomplish an important task cannot be overstated. Builders need them, teachers need them, doctors need them. So do universities, hospitals, and nonprofit agencies. Even mums and dads need a plan, however informal it may be. Given all the planning we see going on around us, it’s perplexing that some organisations don’t seem to think about succession plans for replacing key leaders until way past time to act. They act as if there is a perfect time and they will know it when they see it. And one day they look up, and anyone who could lead the company is gone. Key leaders get sick, die, retire, or depart for greener pastures. Changes are as inevitable in the CEO’s office as anywhere else, but people often ignore this fact of life because the prospect of replacing a key figure is overwhelming and/or makes us uncomfortable. A recent article in Workforce Management mentions a survey in which 69 percent of companies in North America polled believe they will see a lack of top talent and only 6 percent feel confident they can make the right decisions for the future. This concern stretches across the globe. Organisations surveyed in other countries feel equally glum about the future of leadership. This lack of attention promises dire consequences for an organisation’s profitability, but let’s put that aside for a moment. The biggest challenge to an organisation that fails to plan for the inevitable leadership brain drain is survival. A company that lets decades of experience walk out the door without a plan in place to stop the bleeding will bleed to death. The story doesn’t have to unfold this way, despite impending baby boomer retirements and the changing nature of doing business. One of the essential truths of commerce is that the right people make things happen. If that sounds simple, it is. We just have to find the right people. Here are some ideas that top companies are using to keep corporate knowledge from walking out the door. - Think about the key team member’s retirement years in advance of when it might occur. Have a conversation with this team member about the future. Ask her thoughts on who might be a replacement if she becomes sick or disabled for an extended period. This conversation can be an ongoing one, and does not have to be uncomfortable or threatening if we position it as a part of a purposeful business plan to ensure the company’s health.
- Once you have a potential time frame in mind, set deadlines for each step: recruiting, training, transition. Some companies begin planning five to 10 years in advance of a leader’s retirement. Assessments can help by revealing interests, tendencies, skills and competencies.
- Organisations sometimes appoint an intermediary to help recruit as well as conduct or participate in interviews – perhaps someone from the board of directors. This kind of third-party representation can aid in negotiations, asking and answering hard questions, and just taking the pressure off the potential replacement and the departing executive.
- Talk vision early. The potential new executive has to share the organisation’s vision, while not being afraid to try new things to move it forward. If possible, offer the incoming leader time to experience the company before he or she takes the reins – at retreats, trade fair booths and corporate meetings.
- Build in a transition period that includes incoming and outgoing leaders sharing time. This period of imparting and absorbing company history and culture is vital to smooth change.
One of the most important things we can do before all the important team members disappear is to have in place plans to attract and retain talent. Although many top leaders come from outside the organisation, competition for executive riches is intense. Our best bet is to grow our own, and to do it before we look up and wonder where everyone went. Jim Sirbasku, CEO
Profiles International
PROFILES TIP OF THE MONTH: What to do Before Your Key Talent Leaves - Identify expected key vacancies as far in advance as possible. Some companies do this years before a key leader retires.
- Explore the skills/competencies needed for each expected vacancy.
- Work on retention so that the top performers stay on board.
- Develop a recruitment and assessment process.
- Have the CEO inform key clients about the plan so that they don’t desert when he or she leaves.
- Set a target date for a leader’s departure and have him/her begin shifting responsibilities beforehand so that he or she is there for the transition.
- Prepare employees to expect questions from the new leader(s).
- Have the incoming executive prepare an assessment of the company and an action plan listing his priorities and how he plans to address them.
- Prepare an orientation book for the new team member that includes the company’s history and culture, as well as biographies of key players.
- For a family business, involved an estate planner well before the leader departs.
PRODUCT FOCUS Step-by-Step Plans for a Successful Future What if you had a wallet card that took you through a complicated process systematically, or a mentor who stands beside you and says, “Do this next”? Now, take that daydream a level higher. What if this handy mentor could help develop leadership qualities and provide a way to replace key team members when they depart? We don’t have a wallet card or a mentor, but we do offer the next best thing. You can find a step-by-step guide to succession planning in The ProfileXT™ succession planning report, as well as in Profiles’ Checkpoint 360°™ tools. Our clients use the Profile XT™ for employee placement, promotion, self-improvement, coaching, succession planning and job description development, and they say the PXT is three to five times more effective than any other assessment they have tried. But one of the most complex parts of enhancing performance is developing people who can lead the company, and the PXT delves into succession planning with the same accuracy that our clients find in its other reports. Think of the PXT’s Succession Planning Report as a sort of scientific crystal ball. The crystal ball part is obvious, but the scientific part allows team leaders to predict the future with accuracy. This unique report puts a person side by side with all of the jobs in the company and indicates the positions that his or her interests, skills and attributes match. A leader can take this information and help team members prepare for greater responsibilities by ensuring they acquire the skills and experiences they will need in order to perform well in the jobs they will fill in coming years. Profiles’ Checkpoint 360°™ offers another set of leadership development tools. It starts by measuring 18 job skills that employees must have to work effectively. These include such traits as creative thinking, delegating, instilling trust, seeking improvement and adjusting to circumstances. Beyond that, its 360-degree feedback system gives managers a rating of their performance by a full circle of players: The boss, peers, and direct reports. The information coming out of this feedback helps them evaluate their strengths, areas for improvement, and overall job performance. This is the basis for planning and executing a program of professional growth. An Organisational Management Analysis provides the organisation with a description of where it is now, so that leaders know what direction to point the company in the future. This analysis helps push aside assumptions that can be false and lead to wasted time, effort, and resources. The OMA report, based on statistically accurate data, also provides an analysis of organisational development priorities and defines organisational training needs. Another part of Profiles’ Checkpoint 360°™ is the SkillBuilder™ Series. This self-paced self-improvement program provides managers with a series of important steps that lead to performance growth. This promotes professional development in all CheckPoint competencies. Profiles’ assessments can help place your organisation in prime position for the future. Call us at (03) 9673 9888 |
