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Article from People Today, Hong Kong, January 2001
HR STRATEGIES IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Talent is scarce. If you are good, you will be in the database of any major (and small) headhunters. Before the dot.com bubble burst in April 2000, many talented professionals, in every conceivable field you can think of, had taken courageous (at that time, at least) steps of leaving well paid jobs to hunt for their pot of gold in the many dot.com start-ups. Now, of course, with hindsight, many have realized their foolhardiness and are trying hard to get back to the brick-and-mortar businesses. I've heard of some that have resorted to 'begging' their ex-bosses to take them back.
Nevertheless, the war for talent continues. In a recent-concluded HR conference in the Philippines, one of the key topics up for discussion was 'talent retention'. Experience sharing came hard and furious - how do we keep our key people? How do we stop them from leaving for the competitors who have resorted to all means to lure them over?
As CEO, fortunately or otherwise, you are saddled with the challenge of working with your HR director to implement strategies to retain talent within your organisation.
While there are many well-qualified HR professionals in Asia, the challenge of developing new innovative HR strategies to combat turnover sometimes fall on the lap of CEOs. Perhaps, this is just as well as your own performance (by the Board) should also have people management as one of the key performance indicators.
So, Mr/Ms CEO, what have you done last year and what you going to do this year to keep the team of talent that surrounds you? What have you learnt in the course of your top management career that you can utilize to handle this very key area of your role. Here are five suggestions that you may be worth more than a passing thought:-
1) Is a performer also a happy employee?
According to psychologists Timothy Butler and James Waldron, it may not be necessarily so. These two gentlemen advocate what is known as the Embedded Life Interests (ELI) concept to explain that deep down each of us, lies entrenched personal interests that form part of us, our personality and what we believe in and stand for.
If you are able to uncover your key managers ELI, you can try to then sculpture their corporate roles in such a way that it encompasses their ELI and allow them to perform a job that will keep them motivated, satisfied and happy.
How do you uncover one's ELI? Just by listening. Yes, there is no rocket science involved here. Take time to really listen to your employees. Read between the lines and do not hesitate to probe further, ask lots of questions, if you think it is necessary.
I am sure your organisation has an existing performance appraisal system that involves sitting down one-to-one to discuss the past period's performance and set goals for the next period.
Here is one example of how one such session can possibly allow you to pick up the employee's ELI:
CEO : "Hey, Jenny, the new business that you single - handedly brought in last quarter was terrific. We were able to close the year with a record 19 per cent above our budget. Well done! Keep this up and you will be well on your way to a senior VP title.
Jenny : Thanks, boss. I feel great about that piece of work. But, you know, what I really enjoyed was preparing and organising the marketing and presentation materials. I worked till 1 in the morning for three consecutive nights and did not feel a bit tired at all.
Instead of ending the conversation, the CEO could have probed further to find out whether Jenny actually derives greater satisfaction from preparing creatively inclined and effective presentation materials relative to clinching major deals.
Proper conduct of such a conversation could potentially prevent another resignation from the team. Jenny, though a top performer in exceeding the revenue figures for the past three years since she joined the team, could have her ELI in the more creative side of the equation. As a child, Jenny could have been involved in 'arty' activities and excelled in them, e.g winning regularly in art competitions.
A timely lateral transfer to the marketing promotions department could very possibly achieved two objectives. Firstly, Jenny could be equally successful in the new role and thus continue to contribute to the performance of the organisation.
Secondly, it could have meant that Jenny could have been happier doing what she wants to do and thus keeping her happy and motivated - and continues contributing her services to your team.
Of course, this is a very simplified example. In reality, it may be difficult or impossible even to move your people to roles that encompass their ELI. Simply because the organisation and the business you are currently in may not allow that flexibility - for a variety of reasons that you are not able to manage.
It is important at this point to clarify that ELI does not deal with activities you do well. It involves those that you enjoy doing.
What is crucial here is not how many people you have been successful with in identifying their ELIs and assigning them roles that will make them happy enough to continue contributing to your organisation, instead of some where else. The point here is: do you do this at all? Do you try to find out your key managers' respective ELIs?
The time you spent talking to them will indicate your interest and commitment in wanting to ensure that they are happy with what they are currently doing. And they will appreciate your making time to do this.
One final point, as CEO, you should not entrust or delegate this responsibility, regardless how busy you may be. It is the HR director's role to ensure the CEO and all functional managers have the necessary training to know how to perform active listening. It is up to you then to spend quality time listening to your managers.
At the end of the day, a happy employee will benefit both you (your team) and the organisation much more than someone who is not happy doing what they do best, even though they may be over performing, to your complete delight.
2) Continuous learning and development
What are your organisation's attitudes towards training and development opportunities? There are two schools of thought here. One says: "Why bother? Once trained, they will leave anyway. Why should I spend money training them for someone else's benefit?".
The other school defends training and development as being essential in order that the business can continue to grow. If you train your employees, they will be better equipped to perform a better job, and this in-turn will contribute to the growth of the organisation. If they choose to leave, there is very little you can do except to write off the expense as 'bad investment decision' - an investment that you have lost in. If you do not spend the budge to train them, they could leave anyway.
Which school do you belong to? The latter I hope.
Equipped with up-to-date techniques, knowledge and skills, your employees are more likely to be motivated to perform, benefiting the organisation ultimately.
In this age of 'take charge' employees, management of one's own career is imperative for sustained employability. Many are already taking charge of their own training and development needs. If the organisation does not pay for these, so be it. They might end up as the loser as talent flows (out).
To me, training and development expenses are more of an investment rather than a cost. And the nature of all investments is there is always the likelihood of a return. In this case, a higher level of employee performance and motivation to stay on in your team.
Take the time now to review your organisation's training policy - does it need some re-writing?
3) Revisit your Vision, Vision and Values (VMV)
When were your VMV statements drafted? Who was involved in the exercise? Top management? How were they communicated to the rest of the organisation?
Some definitions and brief elaborations would be useful here:-
Vision : Describes the future state of the organisation/business. Should be inspiring, exciting, compelling and motivating. Coming up with the vision statement is not an intellectual process.
E.g. Pepsi's vision is ‘Defeat Coca-Cola’.
Mission : Purpose of an organisation/business existence. Once you have a vision, how do you get there? A mission gives you a sense of purpose.
E.g. Walt Disney's vision is "To make people happy".
Values: : Fundamental beliefs of an organisation/business.
Values dictate the way an organisation will behave. They must be communicable. Most organizations have between 4 – 6 core values to guide their business conduct.
E.g. One of Sony's values is: "Encouraging individual ability and creativity."
Given the rapidly changing business landscape and the demands of a borderless world, it is very necessary for you to pull down that nicely worded plaque on your organisation's VMV sitting in your office and the reception area and revisit their relevancy today.
An organisation's VMV must never be cast in stone. They must be constantly re-visited in relation to the existing business environment and if necessary, be changed.
The benefits of having relevant VMV statements cannot be underestimated. From the business front, it allows a clear focus for Management to steer the organisation. It guides daily activities and helps clarify what behavior is acceptable and what is not. It tells employees what is the norm and what is not.
It also gives an identity for employees to associate with e.g. this is the General Electric (GE) way of doing business or this is the GE way of rewarding performance (or non-performance). People need to belong, they want to belong. Working in an organisation that they are proud to be with, and can associate with makes a difference to their staying or leaving.
4) Manage your team (effectively)
Your team's success is your success. No one CEO is able to do everything by him/herself. He/She must delegate and empower his key managers effectively.
However, this does not guarantee success. In all teams, there exist a complex web of human dynamics. The role of the CEO is to ensure that the team stay cohesive and learn to spot any early signs of interpersonal conflicts.
All of us have different DNA make-ups. We come from very different cultural, social and economic backgrounds that result in us being unique creatures of this world. Transferring this phenomenon to the corporate world means there is always the danger of two or more individuals not having the same thinking style, the same beliefs and values. What results is: personality clashes or conflicts.
Putting together an effective team where individual members are leaders in their own areas of expertise is one challenge. Motivating and retaining each one is yet another challenge, a major one at that.
To minimize the potential of any fallouts i.e. a member leaving the team (organisation) arising from personal clashes with a colleague, the CEO must consciously spend time building relationships within the team.
Leading an effective team demands proactive management of the human dynamics of the team members.
Spend time with each member, both on and off duty. Socialize with their families and learn to manage their expectations and what motivates each of them. When forming project teams, put those who are able to complement each other together - but watch out for the human side of things.
Putting two strong-minded individuals who subscribes to the belief that giving way to others' views and opinions equate a lose of face will almost guarantee trouble. Perhaps, even a resignation or two.
The effectiveness of any team depends a whole lot on the leader. If you want to minimize talent turnover, manage your team well.
5. Maintaining a balanced life
In this Internet speed age where everything is top priority that needs to be done yesterday, there is always the danger of living an unbalanced life.
There are eight elements to watch out for in maintaining a balanced life:
Work
Family
Social
Giving back to society
Finance
Health
Personal fulfillment
Resilience (ability to overcome setbacks)
Emphasize to managers that they are more useful to the organisation if they maintain a balanced life. Inculcate the importance of this in the values of the organisation (see point no. 3 above).
As CEO, you must, of course, set the example. This is where setting milestones is so important a management task. Each year, as you review the business forecasts and budget for the year ahead, consciously set milestone targets for the team to achieve. When this happens, have a celebration.
You need not paint the town red or put a big-ticket item in the expense account. Having a round of drinks or a simple dinner followed by a sing-along session will set the tone.
Most of us need reassurance that we are doing the right things and need little reminders like this to help us. Having a team that leads a balanced life style (versus one that focuses too much on high achievements all the time) is almost a guarantee that you will have people staying on in your team for a while longer.
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