Harmonics

“It’s the first time you’ve driven me to school Dad!”

As part of an Executive Outplacement Programme Harmonics is delivering for an organisation, I am currently coaching a Senior Executive who has decided to take a voluntary severance package. He is a driven go-getter and always has been. Keen to look to the future, he has quickly put his previous employer behind him and wants to move on. He only finished up in the past month with his former employer and already has a job offer on the table which he was keen to accept and get back to work.

He loves being busy, achieving goals and ‘driving on’, as he says himself. He is a talented executive who will do well in his next position for the employer lucky enough to get him. He is in his late forties now and the change in career is coming at the right time for him to reposition himself into a different industry sector.

On the rebound

In our sessions, I noticed this rush to get to the next job. It’s fairly common, especially before people have finished up in their previous roles. There’s a mad dash to bank the severance package and make a seamless transition to the next role. The mad dash is derived from the fear of not being busy and that life would not have the regular routine structure. Getting another job as soon as possible also seems the perfect remedy to get over a relationship that ended not so well. If we were speaking about relationships, we might call it “on the rebound”.

Time to himself

In the last few weeks my client has found himself with more time on his hands than ever before in his life. He doesn’t have a structure, meetings, deadlines, emails or teleconference calls. So this week he did the school runs. His eldest, who is 15 years old (the same age as my own daughter), surprised him by saying “Do you know it’s the first time you have driven me to school Dad?” He was dumbstruck.

It dawned on him for the first time just how consumed he had been by work, striving to achieve more and more year after year. He was never around to do the school runs. He has always been busy at work. Busy making sure his family have everything they want. But the simple things in life can be overlooked in the chase to be successful. He spoke of the blindness that extreme work brought to other parts of his life.

It happens. Aspects in your life suffer that you don’t even notice, because you have been blinded by what you think is important. It is not until you take the time to stand back that you can see how consumed you have been by it all.

Time passes swiftly

Following my coaching session, I went for lunch and bumped into a former work colleague who was having lunch with his 17 year old daughter. He had spent the last six months recovering from a health scare. He couldn’t drive because of an eye disease that turned serious. He had to stop work but his scare has been averted and he’s looking to get back to work again early in the New Year. The illness, he said (as he looked at his daughter), made him realize the really important things in life are those closest to you, your big rocks.

It is only two months ago that I lost a big rock in my life. I buried a great friend who passed away after a two year battle with cancer. He was only 48 years old and a role model to so many who knew him. He was hugely successful in business, but always had time for a coffee and a chat. He exercised daily, was a non-smoker, non-drinker and left behind a loving wife and two teenage kids. He even wrote a moving message to be read out at his funeral. In the note he had written “I have no regrets”. He had balanced a successful business life with spending lots of time with his kids and family. He always spoke about having time for family. He has been taken too early but his words “I have no regrets” lead me to think, how many of us can say the same?

Time to think

In the last couple of weeks, my coaching client has been able to get some time to think and reflect. He has begun to notice the things he has missed for so long because he has been distracted by being busy. He has time to think.

We are coming up to the Christmas break when many of us get time to think. The break gives us time off the roller coaster we call work. We let go of emails for a while and catch up with family and friends. We get time to indulge ourselves and have some fun. We take time to read for leisure or go for long walks. Our days lack discipline and are unstructured. It takes a bit of getting used to recalibrating to just being. The technology enabled world wants us to stay connected and prompts us to keep engaging, read the latest tweet or social media post.

Time to be

One of the key lessons I have learned from coaching is not to miss out on our own daughters growing up. I was coaching another busy exec that had lost their job around the time she was born and what he said changed my perspective on parenting for life. He told me that he had invested the past 27 years of his life in a corporate and they had just cut the umbilical cord. He admitted, crying openly to me, that work had taken hold of his life and he had not only lost his job, he had lost his marriage and his relationship with his teenage daughters. He had been distracted by work and missed out on all the important things in their growing up. This served as a timely message to me; don’t lose your family and your daughter however busy life gets.

I am busy like many others. Yes, I am often away mid-week, but what is key is to make the time to chat, to be and if possible to do the school runs every so often. Time to connect, to listen, to think together, to share fresh insights, to laugh heartedly, to spend doing stuff that is just pure fun and to create memories. I can look back at 2017 and say we have created great memories. This blog earlier in the year speaks about our fun trip to London. https://www.harmonics.ie/what-i-learned-from-seeing-kinky-boots/

Time to reflect

In our business we receive many calls from people who have had time to think over Christmas and want a career or job change. So it’s that time of year for us all to reflect. Here are some questions that may help you to think about what’s really important for 2018 and beyond.

• What were your standout memories for 2017?
• Did they include the really important people in your life?
• What didn’t you get the time to do that you would have wanted if you had more time?
• What memories do you want to create in 2018?

If something needs changing, stop saying I’m too busy, change yourself or change the situation. Take time to think, be and most important of all, have no regrets!

  “This time like all times is a good time if we knew what to with it” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

John Fitzgerald – Founder Harmonics

What Do Talent Really Want?

At Harmonics we are increasingly being asked to talk to Senior Leaders about Talent Management and why they need to prepare a Talent strategy. I wanted to share my insights on how we need to get real when thinking about Talent Management.

Is it all about the money?

Corporate Business Leaders are rewarded by how much money they make each quarter for their shareholders. It’s quite simply a numbers game to succeed. HBR this month profiled the Best Performing CEO’s in the world for 2017. Three metrics were used to identify the best:

1. Country adjusted total shareholder return
2. Industry adjusted total shareholder return
3. Change in market capitalisation

It is no surprise from the metrics used that, for a CEO, their track record in delivering financial return to investors is what matters. There is no mention in the metrics about talent attraction, development or attrition, yet we are consistently hearing that an inability to “get the right people” is slowing down business growth.

Short Termism

Top Global CEO’s now make more than 300 times the average worker, up from a 20-1 ratio in the 1960’s. While the salaries have been increasing, CEO tenure has been decreasing each year since 2000. Fortune 500 CEO’s survive 4.6 years on average. These CEO’s and their Leadership teams are under immense pressure to hit the ground running and deliver the numbers. We see the short termism playing out publicly in the Premiership as Football Managers get a short time to deliver results or they are gone. The HBR Best performing CEOS however lasted on average 16 years and had time to effect the change.

This pressure at the top has an impact on attracting and retaining top talent. This short term numbers game is visible for all to see within the organisation.

Everyone wants Top Talent

To deliver the metrics and business results, the heat is on to find the best talent and have them playing as a united and aligned team. So why is everyone finding it so hard to attract and retain top talent. Here are 4 observations from the work we do:

• Every Organisation wants to hire the “perfect fit”
• Top Talent want continuous “career growth” opportunities
• Younger talent have huge “social power”
• Don’t write off older talent too soon

Every Organisation wants to hire the “perfect fit”

We have personal experience to relate to this point. In our recruitment division, Harmonics Recruitment, we have noticed that the time it takes Hiring Managers to make hiring decisions is often too long. If the recruitment process slows down, it can send a message to those shortlisted and impact on the organisations ability to attract the best talent. Difficulty scheduling meetings in Senior Leaders diaries can slow down the hiring process but the real reason great candidates are lost is because employers keep holding out for the “perfect fit”. Everyone wants the “highly experienced with specific industry experience and a glowing track record” so they can hit the ground running. In a tight labour market, there needs to be more realism on what is available in the talent market.

We also observe Business leaders reacting to different crisis, spending days in back to back meetings and putting out fires. They don’t have time to coach and mentor new hires. Hence, they want the “perfect fit”.

However, to attract talent, leaders need to commit time to coaching them to bridge the industry or skills gap. Yes, it does take time, but when you hire for attitude and mind-set then the skills and knowledge acquired in the role offers the career growth talented people are looking for. What hiring managers need to realise is that their idea of a “perfect fit” is based on a CV that describes what a person has already done and often not what they want to do next. Those being headhunted will often ask our recruiters where the career growth opportunities lie in a role that looks similar to what they’ve being doing for the past 2 years. So when recruiting, it is important to remember that your perfect fit may not be the candidates idea of a perfect fit for their career future!

Top talent want continuous “career growth opportunities” – When speaking to a Senior Director last week, she described her experience with a past employer. She said “it was a time when there was just one amazing career growth project after another. I never thought of leaving. I had great mentors who created the paths for me to develop new skills. I learned more there than with any other employer”.

Organisations have become flatter and retention strategies driven by ‘promotion promises’ are simply unsustainable. The career up the functional silo is too narrow and does not build out the breadth required for future leadership roles. Career success is not only about promotion, top talent may want to stay and deepen their knowledge and skills in specialised roles critical to the future organisation. Offering hi-potentials a management position without ascertaining a ‘skills fit’ leads to a great career hitting an unexpected crash without any warning. Our career accelerator coaching programmes have been designed to guard against this happening. Great career progression in organisations needs to change to be become more about further developing your strengths which enhance future employability rather than just climbing the ladder to promotion.

Today, there is a dual ownership onus on both employer and employee in making career growth opportunities happen. Roles are constantly changing, new job titles are appearing and new skills are in demand. To use the football game analogy again, the game is constantly changing, it is about adapting and anticipating to these changes. We have helped organisations illustrate changing career paths to paint a clearer picture for employees where they can grow in an organisation that is rapidly changing. The traditional org chart has now become an organic chart that is quickly evolving as new skills are needed.

Younger talent have huge social power – Like-minded younger talent gravitate towards each other. They see what others are doing and want some of that too. They are that stage of life when they are curious and seeking new experiences. They also don’t trust organisations like their parents did because they have seen their parents being made redundant after giving many years loyal service.

Instead, the new loyalty is to look after numero uno. It is about gaining as many varied experiences, skills and knowledge on their CV as possible. The CV today is like a career passport where lots of organisations, roles and achievements are stamped on it. This new approach affords mobile talent entry to new employers and ensures they never go stale.

For organisations, it is being clear from the outset that talent will leave. It is not personal, it is just how the game is now played. But it is just important to learn the preferences of this nomad generation of mobile talent and help them to grow while they stay. They may come for a while and they may boomerang back again at some point on their career journey when they have learned new skills. We also see great opportunities for organisations to help younger talent become teachers of specific skills while they are here. This way they have left a legacy and the organisation has been enriched instead of feeling anger about talent moving on. Younger talent have huge social networks and their word is gospel to their friends in choosing where to work. If they have a bad employee experience, it goes viral on Glassdoor at speed. It is true, social is the new power.

Don’t write off older talent too soon – In our research, the average age when people are getting the tap on the shoulder from corporate employers to take a package appears to be 52. This milestone seems to indicate when someone has become too expensive in the corporate world. It’s leading to a lot of stress in the workplace for this age cohort who feel let down because they have offered such loyalty.

There is a new employer-employee contract required for those talented people who are being pushed out before their time is up. Those who fear they may be at risk need to develop a growth mind-set and demonstrate how they can learn new skills and pitch what they have to offer. This is what is required in the new world of work.

Your career is your business and it is up to employees to keep pitching for work like a start-up would to an investor. I have seen people in this age bracket be reactive and wait for the organisation to tell them what to do. The onus is on the employee to make the business case to their employer.

Employers, on the other hand, need to have development conversations with their over 50 talent. I see talented people over 50 being written off too young because frank and honest conversations failed to happen on both sides. In our opinion, those who are 50 plus need to opt-in to taking on further professional development. By opting out, they are demonstrating a fixed mindset and telling their employer they are closing the door to new internal opportunities. It may be the right time to leave, but the size of the package is only one consideration, how to become employable and marketable in the future is another and this requires opting-in to some form of development.

“Not everything that counts can be counted”

This quote by Albert Einstein was never more relevant in the search for talent. The best performing Global CEO’s list is indeed measured by financial metrics. The best performing talent more often than not do not trust organisations.  They instead trust what their friends tell them and what they read on Glassdoor. This is not so easily counted. Metrics find it harder to identify the manager that is blocking a talented person’s opportunity to make their next internal career move which is the real reason they leave. It is only in hindsight that we hear about the recruitment process that took too long because leaders could not make a decision about a candidate that wasn’t just the “perfect fit”. The busy leader who is still rewarded with their bonus even though they are stuck in back to back business meetings and haven’t taken the time to coach and have career conversations with their talented people who are being head hunted and feeling loved elsewhere. The busy organisation that fails to proactively create “career growth” opportunities for their hi-potential talent and then mourn when they leave.

Attracting, developing and retaining talent is not all about offering better money or office perks. It is, more often than not, about having the time for great career conversations to find out what talent really want both at interview and as they progress in your organisation. It is about taking the time to have lunch offsite and listen, truly listen to what is being said so you can help your talent to grow. Tony Crabbe wrote in his best-selling book Busy. “It’s the first time in history we can work when we want to so we do!”

The above strategies do not cost any money, they simply require attention. They won’t appear in any financial metrics for a Best Performing CEO but they will make a huge difference to your talent strategy. We just need to be more honest with ourselves and take the time to discover more about our great talent before they leave.

“If you need to conceal your true nature to get in the door, then you’ll probably have to conceal your true nature to keep that job” – Seth Godin – Lynchpin

With the recession behind us and the economy growing, the competition for top talent is intensifying. Interestingly, it’s not just the experienced or specialist employees that are in demand but the open-minded, fresh-thinking millennials are just as sought after as our workforce becomes increasingly transient.

They are the much talked about generation fuelling endless tomes of research, studies and reports. And while past reports of job-hopping millennials may have been exaggerated – some companies still struggle not just in hiring millennials but retaining them. They will make up 50% of the global workforce by 2020, so companies need to consider making changes to their organisational structures and management styles – now.

Engaging and Retaining Millennial Talent in the Modern Workplace

Overall, millennials value career and personal development over money and status. So, strategies beyond remuneration need to be developed. Here are our 5 recommendations for businesses who want to respond to the new world of work and engage millennial talent:

1. Flexible and trusted – Millennials have ambition and drive but this should not be seen that they want to work all the hours to be like the generation before them. Now they are seeking more work-life flexibility. They want to be trusted to work remotely, they want to dress casually, speak liberally and receive feedback to help them grow.
2. Career Growth – They need to see opportunities to grow, where they can join a team working on projects that have meaning and purpose. They may only be around for a few years so don’t speak tradition and legacy, instead redefine the career development conversation and give them time to speak about their career and personal interests.
3. Openness and transparency – Growing up with technology and social media, millennials expect a culture of transparency and for management to be upfront on why decisions are made. Keep them informed and satisfy their sense of purpose by helping them understand how their purpose links to company values. Millennials will be more engaged and committed if they are informed regularly on progress against the company’s strategy.
4. Mentorship both ways – Millennials appear to be more interested in finding mentors than their previous generations. Leaders and Managers can play a key role here (and not just their direct line managers) – helping millennials with their personal growth or demonstrating the characteristics of a strong leader. However, the real opportunity is in millennials offering ‘reverse mentorship’. If Managers are open to accept the mentorship, the reverse mentor-mentee relationships can add significant value for both parties to learn and utilise one another’s strengths.
5. Listened and recognised – Millennials expect a high-touch approach to management – listen to them and give them feedback. Since their early education, they believe their ideas are important and valuable, so listen to them or they won’t respect you. They really desire a great deal of  feedback – which goes outside the normal parameters of a performance management system. Managers must take the time to engage in formal and ad-hoc constructive feedback on a regular basis.