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Equity Skills News & Views
Volume 5, Issue 7, 18 April 2006
Registered as an electronic newspaper: ISSN 1684-5722
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In This edition:

1. Identifying And Cultivating High-Potential Employees
2. Human Capital Metrics: A Catalyst For Change
3. Diversity Inclusion Strategies: A Catalyst for Business Results
4. Book Review: Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Big

5. Case-Law & Legislation Review: Review Of Arbitration About Procedural Fairness

6. Downloads: The Tipping Point For Talent Management 

7. Unsubscribe & Moving Soon

NB: If your Internet service provider (ISP) or server administrator filters incoming e-mail, please add Equity Skills News & Views to your list of approved senders to ensure you receive this e-journal to which you are subscribed.

Jeff Sacht: Publisher-editor
www.equityskillsweb.com
jeffs@worldonline.co.za

'A MUST TO PRINT & READ'
>24,000 & still growing!

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1. Identifying And Cultivating High-Potential Employees*

By Jeff Snipes Who Can Be Contacted At www.clomedia.com
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 Experience has taught chief learning officers that they’re better off developing a strong base of talent internally as much as possible. It’s generally less expensive, allows them to motivate and retain key staff, and, as long as they balance the value of organizational experience with sustained independent thinking, it reduces the risk of the unknown. But with minimal resources and self-constrained budgets, how do we identify and then cultivate star performers—those high-potential employees right in front of us, but who are just a bit lower on the corporate ladder?

High-potential employees embody passion and are characterized by a quick movement through various roles in a company, a carefully monitored career path and an elite, but usually secretive, status. As the future leaders of their organizations, high-potentials slide into new positions, receive special coaching and mentoring, and are expected to deliver superior performances.

Ideally, these top performers are identified as early as possible and benefit from specialized career development plans that ensure those that are the best and brightest quickly rise to the top. Just as competitive advantage can be generated by a speed-to-market product strategy, it also can be created with a firm’s ability to accelerate the development of leadership talent. By efficiently developing leadership skills and competencies, high-performing organizations can distinguish themselves from opponents and extend their competitive advantage in the market.

Supply, Demand and Results

The demand for these leaders of tomorrow is rapidly outgrowing the supply. As a result, most organizations are actively focused on identifying and cultivating those employees with the greatest potential to grow into business-critical leadership roles. Unfortunately, surprisingly few organizations are doing this effectively.

A recent Corporate Leadership Council survey found that approximately three-quarters of companies worldwide are not confident in their ability to effectively staff leadership positions over the next five years. Moreover, a 2002 Conference Board report shows that only 34 percent of companies are effective at identifying capable leaders early in their career.

In contrast, companies that identify and develop high-potential employees show dramatic shareholder returns. According to a recent Hewitt Associates study surveying large U.S. companies, only a bit more than half consistently use a formal approach to identifying high-potentials, yet those that do perform in the 75th percentile or higher for total shareholder return (TSR). The heightened results and shareholder returns increase even further when these organizations go on to formally develop and track the performance of their high-potentials. (See Figure 1.) Thus, to achieve consistent measurable success, an organization must enforce an effective and sustained identification and development process that focuses on the desired traits and abilities of high-potential employees.

Identifying High-Potentials

High-potentials tend to rise up out of the crowd and achieve stellar results relative to their peers. But to identify them formally, managers must communicate, utilize multiple methods of assessment and compare the results with known criteria that are associated with a specific leadership level. The results of these assessments provide guidelines for training and mentoring a high-potential to take on greater leadership responsibilities and build strengths.

Employees who are part of high-potential development programs often find themselves under continuous scrutiny. These aspiring leaders face one of the most challenging stages of their professional life as they try to understand their environment, set goals and prove their worth.

There are conflicting opinions over whether it’s beneficial to inform employees of their high-potential status. Informing employees is a powerful indication that the company values their contributions to the business and believes in them enough to invest in their future. This opinion is furthered by the suggestion of a greater risk that if not told, the employee will resign and move on to an organization that will recognize and develop their talent.

The motivation for not disclosing high-potential status also is compelling. Organizations risk creating a three-class system of the “haves,” the “almosts” and the “have-nots,” and create divisive resentment throughout the organization. Either way, high-potential employees tend to know their potential, whether they are officially told or not. Most organizations today are of the opinion that if the high-potential isn’t told by them, someone else eventually will.

In defining the criteria for selecting high-potential employees, many organizations link the identification of their talent to current job performance rather than using an inventory of ideal attributes. This method is effective but should be coupled with clear criteria that evaluate and measure future potential. This hybrid approach should not only increase the quality of the candidate, but also provide a road map for success as they progress through the program. Moreover, by basing assessment on a combination of current and future skills, organizations will have more confidence in their high-potential employees and measure success with greater accuracy.

Specific skills and characteristics should be flexible enough to capitalize on the strengths of each individual and are greatly dependent on each organization’s unique culture and operating needs. That being said, most organizations seeking to develop high-potential employees are looking for common attributes:

• Has the respect and trust of supervisors, peers and subordinates.
• Maintains a high level of competence in technical or functional discipline.
• Consistently produces tangible, measurable results above expectations.
• Ensures that team goals are achieved within cultural and ethical guidelines.
• Has a bias for action and is a proactive catalyst for change.
• Is open to feedback and constructive criticism.
• Self-manages in a manner that fosters learning and high-performance.
• Thinks and solves problems creatively and from a position of inquiry (versus advocacy).
• Contributes critical judgment at some level of setting organizational strategy.
• Has a broad acumen of the organization’s business and his or her role in its goals.
• Actively leads and manages teams that create a sense of loyalty and community.
• Is intimate with and strives to anticipate and deliver on customer’s needs.
• Navigates and leverages resources within an increasingly distributed organization.

Best Practices for High-Potential Development

There are two distinct categories of high-potential employees. Late-stage high-potentials include experienced managers ready to make their way into the executive ranks. This group is typically identified as middle or senior managers and participates in a wide variety of formal training: specialized mentoring, executive retreats, personal coaching, real-world action learning, global rotation and more. These senior managers are among the top 10 percent of an organization, and significant costs are incurred to prepare them for senior executive roles within the organization.

Early-stage high-potentials are different. These new managers and individual contributors are at the beginning of their careers and are identified more by their talent and drive than their track record. Early-stage high-potentials are found in the lower ranks of an organizational structure, and their employers are generally not yet ready to invest the same amount in their formal training and development. While historically organizations have focused primarily (if not entirely) on their late-stage leaders, more organizations today are adopting an aggressive program for developing bench strength at all levels. Top-performing organizations in particular now recognize that the earlier potential talent is identified and put into the pipeline, the sooner the entire organization reaps the rewards of more productive and effective leadership.

At the minimum, early-stage high-potentials should be identified within the first two to four years of employment. Both human resources and business line managers should be involved in the identification process so assessments are driven from both empirical performance of the high-potential and the organization’s ideological criteria and vision.

When planning and implementing an integrated program for early-stage high-potential development, there are many factors to consider. The first step is critical but often overlooked. Holistically, the organization must agree on and then support the goals of the proposed development program. Specifically, the organization must justify the program by answering the following questions:

Why do we need a high-potential program?

How will it support our business strategy and improve our competitive advantage?

How will it benefit the organization, the high-potentials and the rest of our employees?

How will we measure the success of the program, and what dollar value will we place on high-potentials at different stages of development?

Once the organization’s goals for the program are clear, the next challenge is how to develop a relatively larger group of early-stage high-potentials at a fraction of the budget of late-stage candidates for senior management. Here are some cost- and resource-efficient best practices that top-performing organizations use when implementing a successful early-stage high-potential program:

• Specialized leadership development tracks: In a recent Ninth House Leadership Index study on Fortune 500 organizations, most companies reported having a well-defined leadership curriculum in place. Yet a majority of respondents indicated that the curriculum was more voluntary than mandatory in character. Only a few organizations referenced having specialized, highly customized, mandatory leadership development tracks for their high-potential employees. For those that did, there was a tendency to identify the program as being distinctive and highly effective in elevating the leader potential of their organizations.
• Multi-disciplinary rotation program: Another experience-based leadership development tool is the rotation of managers across disciplines, divisions and geographies. The fixed-choice component of the same study found less than half (45 percent) of organizations using rotational or developmental assignments as a regular component of their leadership development package. In contrast, significantly more top-performing development practitioners utilize this technique to provide a more diverse base of experience and perspectives for their future leaders.
• Unlimited learning opportunities: Most organizations restrict the number of courses available to all employees. This helps both to control costs and to reserve coveted development opportunities for peak performers later in their careers. While it’s important to focus high-potential employees’ attention on priority topics and not waste time on the mastery of less relevant knowledge, they tend to seek and absorb behavioral skill building at a much greater pace, and top-performing organizations provide them unlimited access to self-paced learning programs that accelerate their growth.
• Leverage technology: Recent studies indicate that technology-enhanced learning is now independently sufficient to improve leadership behavior on the job. The combination of synchronous and asynchronous tools and content, especially when paired with reinforced group application, can not only improve the high-potential employee’s performance, but can do so at a fraction of the time and cost of classroom training. (Up to 90 percent reductions were reported CNA in 2005).
• Action learning: By taking development initiatives outside of the classroom and putting employees to work solving real-world business issues, action learning is taking over as the classroom trainer’s interactive simulation. Groups of high-potentials and mentors are put into a situation and must solve the challenge. Many organizations are migrating to this approach as a way to expand high-potentials’ perspectives on how the business operates.
• Mentoring: According to a recent study by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), approximately 71 percent of the Fortune 500 use internal mentoring programs to develop high-potential employees. Through pairing with internal senior mentors, high-potentials are introduced to years of knowledge and experience.

The Payoff

According to a recent Accenture study, companies with forward-thinking learning organizations have a far greater impact on overall business performance when compared to their peers. Does this mean that identifying high-potentials and deploying a comprehensive program is a guarantee of success? Not necessarily. Nowhere is it written that a promising 26-year-old high-potential matures into a successful 55-year-old executive leader. Yet only by combining potential talent with access to and time for learning new skills will an organization consistently and cost-efficiently develop its high-potential leaders.

It also is important to note that high-potential programs can be controversial to implement. Lack of transparency in the process of selecting high-potential employees has been known to cause serious morale issues. Employees who are passed over or deprived of the progress may even leave. There also are concerns regarding the pressure organizations put on high-potentials. If the process is not monitored carefully, high-potentials can burn out. Organizations should provide necessary support mechanisms, such as counseling and mentoring.

Reflecting on what we know today about programs to systematically and consistently develop high-performers, a few conclusions have become clear:

While continuing to invest heavily in late-stage high-potentials, the earlier we start focusing on early-stage high-potentials the greater their impact on the organization will be.

There are now cost-efficient techniques that make it possible to effectively develop large numbers of early-stage high-potentials with limited internal budgets and resources.

If we want to maintain our growth rate and unique competitive advantage, we can’t afford not to implement a formal program for internal high-potential development. Now it’s time to get the rest of the organization on board.

Jeff Snipes is the CEO and founder of Ninth House Inc., a leadership development firm that provides blended learning. He can be reached at jsnipes@clomedia.com

*Reprinted by permission of the editor of CLO Media

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2. Human Capital Metrics: A Catalyst For Change*

By Lauri McBassi & Dan McMurrer

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Over the past decade, we have been working with colleagues from around the globe and from a variety of disciplines to quantify human capital management and use the resultant measures to predict future organizational performance - both financial and non-financial.

Our intent is to provide a critical missing link for creating and sustaining competitive advantage for organizations operating in an increasingly knowledge-intensive, global economy-and in so doing, serve as a catalyst for change.

Here's a summary of some of what we've learned to date:

There is a core set of "human capital drivers" that predict organizational performance across a broad array of organizations.

These drivers have the following properties:

• Predict variations in financial performance both across organizations and within organizations
• Also predict a broad array of non-financial outcomes
• Are not all equally important across organizations, or even within a single organization over time

Using relatively straightforward statistical tools (comparable to those used in six-sigma analysis) it is possible to drill down into human capital drivers to identify the specific factors that are the most important drivers of a particular organization's performance at a particular stage in its evolution.

It is possible to quantify the quality of leadership (and management) and identify its impact on organizational performance.

The factors that determine employee satisfaction and those that determine organizational productivity/ profitability may be very different.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? More detail on this topic can be found in our new white paper, available at www.mcbassi.com/pdfs/HC+OrganizationalPerformanceWhitePaper.pdf.

*Reprinted by permission of McBassi.com

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3. Diversity Inclusion Strategies: A Catalyst for Business Results*

By Cari McLean who can be contacted at www.wpsmag.com 

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Creating a diverse organization is quickly becoming a priority for many organizations as the marketplace grows globally. However, to create a diverse organization, senior executives and HR leaders not only need to look internally to develop a diverse workforce, they also need to identify the strategic external drivers for diversity in their organization. According to Vincent Brown, managing partner for Global Lead Management Consulting, and co-author of “The Phoenix Principles: Leveraging Inclusion to Transform Your Company,” diversity is vital to the overall growth of business—especially given the rapidly changing workforce demographics nationally and globally.

“Diversity is a critical strategic initiative that organizations are predominantly using to build their business for success,” Brown said. “Furthermore, companies that use diversity as a driver to meet business strategies understand the different markets they serve.”

Brown said in order for organizations to leverage diversity successfully, they must identify the key drivers of diversity, which might include market, talent, innovation, values and community. Marketplace and talent acquisition are the most common drivers for diversity inclusion strategies. “Companies must first create a compelling purpose for why they want or need to be a more diverse organization. In the past, diversity was often driven by more of an affirmative action mindset, or it was mandated. But companies that are truly leading in this area are really putting together the business case that connects to their overarching business strategy,” Brown said. “These companies ask themselves: Who do we want to serve today? Who do we want to serve tomorrow? What markets are expanding? Are we prepared to get involved in that market? Do we have the kind of workforce that is going to support us in the future?”

Once an organization identifies the key motivations for diversity, it needs to develop a plan to achieve its objective. And there are many different avenues an organization can take to try to reach its set diversity goals. However, Brown said the main processes of a diversity inclusion strategy include identifying the best people, aligning to organizational objectives, creating a solid infrastructure, identifying strategic and measurable actions, and instilling a culture of structured renewal.

Often, senior leadership plays a critical role in achieving a diversity inclusion strategy. Brown said leaders’ ability to understand and leverage diversity is critical. “HR executives need to make sure that the leaders are the first to direct diversity in the organization because particularly U.S.-based companies are hierarchical, meaning we look up to our leaders to tell us what is important. We also look up to them to show us what is important beyond just what they say,” he said. “It is really getting the leaders comfortable to talk about diversity, and every forum or venue they talk about it is very important.”

Brown said improving recruitment and retention practices are ways to achieve a successful inclusion strategy as well because having the best people to support diversity within an organization is critical. “To establish diversity, companies need to expand their pools of resources. They can’t just fish where they have fished before,” Brown said. “Companies need to identify different places, organizations, etc., and start searching and sourcing in those different areas. Expanding where they research and who they network with will broaden the possibility of attracting employees with the competencies they are looking for.”

When most people think about diversity, they usually think about race and gender. However, diversity also refers to generations, personal thinking styles, physical abilities, culture and more. So creating a diverse organization is not as simple as identifying the races and genders a company needs to attract, retain or reach in the market. Brown said that organizations are interviewing candidates differently than in the past in order to get a better sense of how they will work in certain situations, how they communicate with others, how they would respond to other cultures, etc. Companies are asking behavioral-type questions, thinking-type questions and of course, about their past experiences. “These lines of interviewing can reveal whether a candidate has inclusion types of behaviors and also whether they value diversity,” Brown explained.

In addition, because many people lack global perspective (in the United States), organizations need to provide their employees with diverse information, give them insight into other cultures, expose them to another country’s perspective, etc. “The whole idea of cultural competency is critical. We have a lot to do in the United States to get people up-to-speed in this global marketplace, and not being up-to-speed is really not an option any longer because being diverse is really a matter of being successful in today’s global economy.”

Although there are many other avenues in which an organization can reach its diversity goal, it is important that an organization aligns its strategy with the overall business objectives, values and mission, as well as design its plan of action accordingly. Also, an organization should implement metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of a diversity goal.

According to Brown, the more aligned a company’s diversity strategy is with the overall business objectives, the more diversity can boost business results. In fact, a successful diversity initiative can increase a company’s market share, productivity and profits, and innovation for better products and services, as well as reduce costs associated with employee turnover, improve community relations and connect with the diverse markets in today’s global marketplace.

“Diversity is really an enabler or catalyst for better business results,” Brown said. “When a company is more diverse, it can adapt to changes in the market, changes in strategic initiatives, etc. The global world we live in today really requires having that dexterity, that ability to adapt to change and employees that can adapt as well.”

*Reprinted by permission of the Editor CLOMedia

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4. Book Review: Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Big

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# Small Giants: Companies that Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

B y Bo Burlingham, Portfolio, 2005

Buy this book now: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partnerid=293&sku=28613235

Who would believe that the key to entrepreneurial success is not to focus on profits and growth? For this book Bo Burlingham, an editor-at-large for Inc. magazine, shows how fourteen companies have bucked the trends. These companies—including Anchor Brewing, CitiStorage, Clif Bar Inc., Righteous Babe Records, Reel Precision Manufacturing, and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses—concentrated instead on goals like creating top-notch customer service and satisfaction, building community ties, and providing a pleasant and stable work environment.

Jay Goltz’s Artists Frame Service in Chicago is one small giant. By locating his business on the city’s rundown North Side in 1978, Goltz helped spearhead the area’s transformation into a vibrant center of activity and commerce. That’s clear just from real estate values: When he opened Goltz was paying $1 per square foot for his space. The present going rate is $40 per square foot.

Clif Bar is another example. CEO Gary Erickson’s marketing strategy has been to eschew advertising and instead focus on directly connecting with consumers, especially athletic consumers, at the grassroots level. Around 75 percent of Clif Bar’s promotion budget is spent on sponsoring events around the country and supporting amateur athletes. This tactic provides the company with personal contact and feedback from its customers, and such intimacy has been a major contributor to Clif Bar’s success: Its annual sales leapt from $39 million to $92 million between 1999 and 2004.

The founders and leaders of small giants have passion and soul, says Burlingham. They don’t settle for standard measures of success, but rather imagine any and all possibilities for the kind of businesses they want to create. Financial rewards come without a sacrifice of the organization’s beliefs and ideals. And it seems these companies do not aspire to go public, either: All the businesses Burlingham has profiled are still privately held.

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5. Case-Law & Legislation Review: Review Of Arbitration About Procedural Fairness

By Andre Van Niekerk; www.elaw.co.za; www.caselaw.co.za

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# NEHAWU v Avril Elizabeth Home

NEHAWU and others v Avril Elizabeth Home deals with the review of an arbitration award, but in the course of its judgment, the Labour Court made some important comments on procedural fairness in dismissals for misconduct. The arbitrator (a CCMA Commissioner) had held that a dismissal was procedurally unfair because a disciplinary enquiry had been chaired by a subordinate to the CEO of a charitable institution, in circumstances where the CEO had been the complainant. This, said the Commissioner, gave rise to an apprehension of bias to an extent that it could not be said that the disciplinary hearing was fair.

The Labour Court examined the history of the procedural fairness requirement in unfair dismissal. It traced the development of the 'criminal justice' model, developed by the industrial court in the 1980's. This model required a workplace enquiry along the lines of a criminal trial, with charges of misconduct, evidence, the application of the rules of evidence, rules in relation to bias and the like.

The Court noted that the new LRA had introduced an entirely different model. This model, which finds reflection in the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, requires only an investigation by the employer, the formulation of any allegation that may flow from that enquiry, an opportunity for the employee to state a case in response to the allegation with assistance if required, a decision, and notice to the employee that he or she was free to pursue any dispute in the CCMA.

The balance struck, said the Court, was one that lessened the procedural burden on employers while establishing a right to expeditious arbitration, on the merits and in the form of a rehearing, if the fairness of a dismissal was disputed. This meant that the 'criminal justice' model had no place under the LRA, unless employers continued to apply it in terms of their own procedures, or in the public sector, where administrative law requirements might demand it. But as a general rule, there was no need for employers to hold formal hearings before dismissal. This conclusion was fortified by the Code of Good Practice (the Code states that a 'formal hearing' is not required and makes no mention of a right to an appeal) and by international labour standards.

The rule against bias applied by the Commissioner was held to be part of the 'criminal justice' model, and out of line with the new conception of procedural fairness that the LRA introduced. The Commissioner's decision was therefore reviewable.

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6. The Tipping Point For Talent Management
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Download it now!  http://www.workinfo.com/free/downloads/180.htm

 By: David Forman

Chief Learning Officer

Human Capital Institute 

In Malcolm Gladwell's book, an innovation or change can suddenly appear through small, almost incremental steps, none of which by itself is especially noteworthy. But the combination of these seemingly minor events can cause organizations to be shaken, countries to be impacted and people to break out of established behavioral patterns. What could not be accomplished in one grand wave of the baton is, in fact, being accomplished by different pieces of the puzzle coming together at just the right time. We are in the midst of such a sea change in the field of talent management. This new approach to managing companies and people has not yet become a clearly articulated science. There is still too much to understand and learn about the shifts occurring before us. But there is an emerging set of practices, especially as evidenced by industry-leading companies that are moving talent management to its tipping point 

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Equity-Skills News & Views is a free bi-monthly newsletter for business owners, Line Managers, and Human Resource Practitioners (who support Line Managers) with the implementation of fair and developmental people management systems and practices. The style of this e-Newspaper fits between the traditional email newsletters and printed professional trade journals & magazines. Subscribers will be kept up to date with the latest developments in the world of people management, receive handy people management tips, and feedback about labour court rulings that relate to the implementation of the key Labour Acts. Please add equity skills news & views to your list of approved senders if your Internet provider or server administrator filters incoming e-mail, to make sure you receive periodic e-mail alerts and this newsletter to which you are subscribed.
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'A MUST TO PRINT & READ'
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