Today’s Crisis—Tomorrow’s Retention Problem

Photo of leader on phone

In just a few short weeks the general population went from having an awareness of the threat COVID-19 (coronavirus illness) had on their lives to being faced with possible shelter-in-place orders. When so much has changed in such a short period of time, it becomes hard to remember what “normal” business/life looked like even a few weeks ago. Even now, I’m having a hard time remembering what the most immediate stressors were in my own role a few weeks ago.

Beware this High Potential Hazard

develop your talent

Identifying and developing your HiPos, the employees who are most likely to make impact on the organization, should be at the top of every organization’s strategic plans. With historically low unemployment and heavy pressure from headhunters/recruiters, your best employees are at high risk of being poached by your competitors every day. By engaging the right employees early, casting a vision for their career progression, and investing in their development, you’re likely to create a stronger talent pool to fill senior leader positions as they become available.

Leadership Is Like Swimming

Image comparing leadership to swimming

Guest blog by Robin Cochran, VP of Operations, Executive Forum Last Friday I had a meeting with someone who knew nothing about Executive Forum. As I was explaining why our leadership programs are primarily face-to-face, he broke in and said, “It’s like swimming. You can’t learn to swim on the Internet either.” There’s a lot to learn about swimming, but you really can’t swim unless you get in the water. He explained how his father had taught him to swim by taking him to the river near their home in India and pushing him in. He had to learn to … Read More

Don’t Make This Development Budget Mistake

Time to Plan Illustration

Budgeting season is always a tough time for leaders as they juggle maintaining business-as-usual while simultaneously trying to predict the future. The process can be exhausting with several rounds of revisions and the need to advocate for necessary resources. So, it’s understandable why, out of pure exhaustion, the column for employee development costs is often just copied and pasted from the previous year’s budget. Many leaders probably see that as a win because that means they’re able to retain employee development resources. However, carrying over a budget line item arbitrarily means we’ve skipped an important step in the process—the employee … Read More

Resilience: The 21st Century Workplace Skill

Many of us grew up learning the 3 R’s throughout our education (reading, writing, and arithmetic). However, as technology changed and the needs of the workforce became more complex, educators realized the true skills necessary for success had changed as well. For the past decade, educators have been focused on teaching the four C’s that have been deemed 21st Century Workforce Skills. The 4 C’s necessary for workforce readiness are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Many organizations report that, despite higher education’s focus on the 4C’s, new graduates still lack basic proficiency in these areas.

Finding the Perfect Fit

Hiring a new employee to join your team is an exciting, and often stressful, process. Finding an individual with the right combination of skills, knowledge, and experience is only one piece of the puzzle. The individual also needs to have a personality that aligns well to the nature of the role. For example, if the role involves a fast-paced environment where the employee must adapt to rapidly changing priorities, then an individual with a slow work tempo who has a high need to finish tasks may struggle and become overwhelmed. For many organizations, it’s also important that the individual’s values … Read More