Good bench strength makes for good succession planning, and with baseball opening day upon us, we want you to hit it out of the park with your bench every time.  Many companies over-simplify succession planning, relying on just an intuitive sense of who could move up when top leaders move on or retire.  Good succession planning is a process within a system of excellent Talent Management, and when done well, it ensures long-term company growth.  A solid succession planning…

We all know Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  If you haven’t read it lately, take another look.  The first habit, “Be Proactive” is universal – it applies to everything we do. 

The second habit, “Begin with the End in Mind” has wonderful applications to hiring.  Combining the two habits, being proactive and beginning with the end in mind, will enable you to envision what the…

There is an old lawyer’s axiom – Never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. I think this saying also applies to employers extending job offers to management level candidates. I’ve seen too many clients extend offers before they know if the candidate will accept, only to get a turn-down.

Once the offer is extended, the power shifts to the candidate, and often, that is when negotiation begins. The negotiation should be done before the offer is extended. An employer…

My last post was about the importance of keeping your best people, especially in a recession. Today I’ll focus on what motivates an “A” player. These factors need to be in place in order for you to keep your top people loyal. “A” players are motivated to stay with you when they are:

• Inspired by your vision and leadership – make sure you articulate this clearly and stay positive in your communication.
• Impressed by your business plan – You do have one, right? A roadmap to…

Many employers are mistakenly feeling secure about their current workforce, under the possibly erroneous assumption that no one would dare leave now. There is in fact a real danger of losing great people

within the next year.

Here’s my rationale. I’m assuming that any employer who has let people go has tried hard to keep the “A” players, and let go of only the poor performers. Now the “A”s are overworked, and possibly

under-utilized or under-challenged. If your…

Most of the answers I get revolve around new challenges, a company that is positioned better for growth, the usual. BUT, almost every…

A key hiring goal for most companies is to feel safe and secure that they’ve made a good choice – they’ve selected someone who will fit in, will perform well, and have a positive impact. In order to satisfy the need to feel “safe” about a hire, some employers load up a laundry list of skills and experiences and label them “must have” or “required”. In some cases, these are legitimate, such as an in-the-trenches, hands-on…

Most top executives admit that they have repeatedly hired people who are “B” or “C” players, who have had an adverse impact on the company, who needed to be replaced. Most will admit they have someone on their staff right now that fits this description. Many studies have shown…

Many of my business friends and clients have remarked to me that the recession must mean that there are great people available for jobs. That is a tricky issue.

If someone is…

Experts disagree about whether the aging of the workforce will produce a severe labor shortage. Gray2K hasn’t happened. Even the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed its originally dire projections, although they now say there

still will be a shortage in the US (2.4 million people by 2014).

One thing that most experts do agree on is the fact that the number of baby boomers in the workforce will double (as a percent of all workers)…

Do You Have “A” Players in Key Positions?

Achievement of aggressive company objectives depends on the solid performance of key leaders who are uniquely capable of producing essential results.

Recent studies have shown that employers are developing new executive profiles as they select people to lead their company into the millennium, especially in early stage and rapid growth organizations.

These critical factors will…

The National Bureau of Economic Research reported this week what we’ve all heard – that the recession which began in December 2007 “officially” ended in June, 2009. The 18 month duration made this the longest downturn since the “Great” Depression. Are you having fun yet? The economy is expected to continue to grow, although many economists are predicting only 1% growth next year. In June, 2009, if you…