Checklist for Business Success

For many businesses, the weakened economy has created unprecedented pressure to cut costs, eliminate waste, and improve performance efficiencies. As a result, innovative and creative organizations have become models for working smarter.

Here’s my checklist of 8 initiatives for making 2012 your most successful year:

1. Clarify the mission, purpose, of the organization. It all starts here. If employees don’t understand why the organization exists, and more importantly how what each employee does aligns with why the organization exists, the rest doesn’t really matter.
2. Identify the competencies required to be successful in each job. No one works the same way they did three or four years ago. Take a fresh look at work processes to ensure recruitment, hiring, training, advancement and performance management systems are aligned with the individual characteristics required for success in each position. This includes knowledge, skills, abilities, self image, traits, mindsets, feelings and ways of thinking.
3. Maximize technology. Utilize the cloud, social media, and technological advancements to ensure maximization of efficiencies and elimination of duplication. Don’t overlook sophisticated tools available to streamline labor intensive processes so often found in departments such as HR. HRSmart is one example of an easy to-use technology that improves efficiencies while saving time and money. 
4. Embrace new work models. Employees today want flexibility to work where, when and how they want to. A recent study by CoreNet Global indicates that radical changes in technology and the way we work will require evolving to a landscape of flexible workplace strategies, including allowing employees to BYOT (bring their own technology), teleworking, and replacing cubicles with open, collaborative workspaces.
5. Prepare leaders for the future. Change is happening quickly and executives and managers are required to keep up with the pace. Embracing a leadership development program that couples learning with executive coaching allows individuals to personalize the learning while modifying their preferences related to things such as how they communicate, embrace differences, and model change acceptance.
6. Embrace sustainability. No matter what your business focus, there are ways to make a difference to three bottom lines: social, economic, and environmental. Although the concept of sustainability has become somewhat diluted by the overuse of the word, stay focused on the original intention – to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. I’m sure you can find ways to make a positive impact.
7. Develop adaptability and flexibility. The reality is that continuous change is here to stay. Teach all your stakeholders how to embrace it and more so, how to look beyond the change and envision what will be required by the next wave. If you didn’t catch it earlier this month, read my article on Succeeding with Chaos.
8. Do your homework on global trends and forecasts. It’s impossible to always keep your finger on the pulse of such a dynamic globe. However, since our economies and financial systems are more entwined globally, it’s critical to stay aware of what’s going on around the world and operate in a fashion that understands the impacts of the "butterfly effect." The world is becoming smaller everyday and by the time you hear it on the evening news, or read it on Google News it’s too late. Position yourself for a view into the future to guide your change management strategies.

So What's Next?

So what’s on your list that I missed on mine? Perhaps you’ll take a moment to leave a comment and share it with us.

As a business owner, I’m sensing that businesses and government agencies are more interested in talking about change initiatives this year than the last two. That’s a good sign. We can’t get the economy growing again without businesses, especially small businesses, taking the initiative to make the necessary changes for the future. Yes, there is risk with taking action. However, the decision to do nothing also carries tremendous risk and could lead to extinction.

We’ve all got to do our homework when it comes to global trends and forecasts. Perhaps what I listed as #8 on my checklist should be #1. Checking in on the research and ideas of futurists such as Richard Worzel and others from time to time can be very helpful in aiding you to envision what the future might bring and to help prepare for the impact those changes will have on your business. Attending conferences, such as those presented by the World Future Society, to engage with thought-leaders offers a wonderful front row seat for a peek at what’s to come.

The world has and continues to change and so must we. My checklist is a mix of organization development and human resource management tasks to be considered in concert with each other. If you haven’t already done so, take stock of where your organization is on these eight actions I’m suggesting will make a difference in the success of your organization. Based on that assessment, organize your To Do List, getting buy-in from stakeholders. Where necessary, fill in resource gaps with outsourced expertise and get busy positioning your workplace for the future. It’s right around the corner.

As always, I welcome your comments to my posting. Please click below to share your thoughts. If you found this article interesting and helpful, I’m very happy for you to pass it along to others. Have a great week.

This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized about changing times and can help your organization navigate the human and operational journeys to the future. Contact us for more information; www.evolutionmgt.com; 770.587.9032

Organizational and Structural Design is a Signal of Intention

Key Leadership Skills in the “Human Age”

The ManpowerGroup recently published a report on How to Navigate the Human Age. Not surprising, an incredibly important element of their findings is driven by the fact that as the world gets smaller and more integrated, our business strategies and challenges are shifting from local and domestic issues to ones influenced by global activities.

Their findings indicate the world is upside down. Things like qualified human talent, which seemed to be abundant in years past is now scarce, and information which used to be elusive is now readily available and everywhere. No wonder businesses are looking for "new models" for addressing these significant changes. What do these increasing inverted trends and influence of world events have to do with the way we lead our organizations? Here are a few key findings from their research. You can read the entire report here.

Organizations Need to be Strategic About
Emerging Markets – Not just in the neighborhood, but around the world
Impacts of Globalization – Not just in business but politics, economics and social issues
Sustaining Talent – Workforce planning, recruiting, stretching, engaging and retaining
Technology – Embrace advancements for "better mousetraps" as well as resource savings
Sustainability – Do what’s right for social, economic and environmental impacts
Data Management – Lots of data everywhere; be ready to manage it and comply with privacy regulations

Organizational Structures and Systems Need to Address
Proper Workload Balancing – Full-time, part-time, contractor, outsourced, robotics (Yes! Robots!)
Fluid Workforce Management – Grounded in proactive, innovative and flexible systems
Collaboration – Embrace horizontal work models to leverage talent and development opportunities
"Glocal" Mindset – Operate with local conscious within a structure of dispersed locations
Alliances – Partner with government and training institutions to advance curriculum and skill sets

With these shifts in organizational focus, leaders of the future will need to update their competencies to include:

• Demonstrating Adaptability – The report re-emphasizes what we’ve been saying for the past several years. Everyone, especially leaders, needs to be adaptive to the fast pace of change and the ambiguity that this speed brings. Individuals with a preference for lots of details and methodically dotting of all the "I’s" and crossing all the "T’s" may find themselves frustrated and stressed if they can’t transition their styles to accommodate the needs for faster business decision making.
• Managing and Analyzing Data – So much data is readily available; getting comfortable with the balance of how much is enough, and what to do with what you have will be critical.
• Thinking Strategically about Sustainability – Employees, candidates, vendors, customers, all organizational stakeholders are raising expectations for how "responsible" a business should be when it comes to social, economic and environmental issues. Incorporating an element of sustainability into your decision-making model is a must.
• Collaborating – Leaders will need to not only build teams internally to collaborate on innovation, but they also must have the attitude, communication and presentation skills to motivate all types of partners to work together. Leaders with a command-and-control style will be well served to work with a coach on shifting to a style that incorporates partnerships and alliances.
• Innovating and Creating – The workplace of the future needs to be built on a culture that encourages and rewards "dreaming," "playing," and occasional failures. Organizations will need to keep reinventing themselves if they are to survive – maintaining a competitive edge will be impossible without fostering new ideas.
• Mentoring – Leaders can best pass on knowledge and experiences through stories. They’ll need to connect with their leadership development programs and invest in spending time with future leaders. In addition to the capacity to mentor and coach, organizations will be well served by establishing executive coaching programs in conjunction with a leadership development curriculum, in order to nurture the professional and business development capabilities of talent in the leadership pipeline.
• Workforce Planning - More than ever, organizational leaders need to be aware of the competencies required for the future and lead efforts to develop internal talent with those skills, as well as create a pipeline (internal and external) for attracting and retaining those talents. The old cliché "organizations are only as good as their people" was never so appropriate.
• Leveraging Technology – Leaders may not have to know how all the bells and whistles work, but they do need to be able to envision how technological changes can be utilized to improve competitive advantage, save time and money, and respond to the sophistication of their customers.
• Embracing Differences – Leaders set the tone in their organizations for cultural norms and philosophies. As the workplace expands, employee expectations, traditions, religions, ages, gender identity, etc. will continue to diversify. Global leaders will need to demonstrate their commitment and dedication to respecting all kinds of differences in the workplace and weave that value into everyday expectations and practices.
• Managing Time and Stress – Since the world isn’t going to slow down, leaders need to become experts at managing time and stress. Competencies such as delegation and practices such as meditation or exercise programs promoting wellness should be encouraged to help leaders sustain their energies and capacities for the speed of business.

So What’s Next?

It’s exciting to peek into the future. The ManpowerGroup’s report offers this view by linking events around the world that impact, and will continue to influence, what happens at our business locations. From a holistic, global vantage point we can already see that individuals who have the capacity to lead others utilizing the competencies noted above will be highly sought after. In order to retain this talent, organizations will need to review and modify their practices to ensure the appropriate level of support, empowerment, and challenges are available for them

Getting your arms around the kinds of change that are on the horizon may best be accomplished by collaborating with external change experts who have an unbiased perception and the expertise to guide the exploration process to determine what is necessary to move from the current organization to the organization of the future. From a neutral position, they can assist leaders with the articulation of the future design of the structure and development and implementation of change initiatives to align the culture, practices and expectations with future success.

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record: "Organizations cannot rely on the practices of the past to be successful in the future. Design is a signal of intention." But it’s true. It’s all going to be about change – time to get comfortable with it, in order to survive.

As always, I welcome your comments to my posting. Please click below to share your thoughts. If you found this article interesting and helpful, I’m very happy for you to pass it along to others. Have a great week.


This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized about changing times and can help your organization navigate the individual, team and organizational journeys to the future. Contact us for more information; www.evolutionmgt.com or 770.587.9032.

IBM THINK: Forum on the Future of Leadership

Succeeding with Chaos

Have you been paying attention to the fast-paced, mainly technology-driven changes taking place in our world these past few years? Have you been watching as technologies have imploded traditional models for business, news and politics, blazing new paths into how we communicate, work, sell, and live? Are you struggling, maybe even trying to read the tea leaves in order to make sense out of what all these changes mean? Well, perhaps the chaos we’ve been observing and experiencing has really been a precursor for what we’ll be dealing with in the future – ambiguity!

I recently read Robert Safian’s Special Report: The Secrets of Generation Flux which appears in this month's Fast Company magazine, and strongly recommend that you check it out. In it, Safian explores the parallels between Chaos Theory and the uncertainty rocking our organizations from the board rooms to the cubicles. One quote in particular summed up the uniqueness of the dilemma. This is a comment offered by D. J. Patil, Data Scientist with Greylock Partners on how forecasting business strategies has transitioned to a process resembling the work of meteorologists:

"There are some times when you can predict weather well for the next 15 days. Other times, you can only really forecast a couple of days. Sometimes you can’t predict the next two hours."

Isn’t that the truth? So how do organizations succeed when there is so much change and chaos around the globe impacting so many different markets? What impact will the speed and adoption of technologies have on traditional business planning models and our abilities to conceive paths for growth and expansion, particularly as the possibilities to glimpse at what the future requires continue to decline?

Safian starts with one certainty:  "the next decade or two will be defined more by fluidity than by any new, settled paradigm; if there is a pattern to all this, it is that there is no pattern." Now, I don’t know about you, but that certainly sums up what I’ve been experiencing within my business and client engagements. The only thing we can really count on is that things are going to change; and those changes are being driven more rapidly than ever by diverse individuals and situations around the globe.

Safian defines his term Generation Flux (or GenFlux) very broadly – it’s not so much an age thing, as it is a psychological attitude. GenFlux includes those individuals with a "mind-set that embraces instability, and that tolerates – and even enjoys – recalibrating careers, business models and assumptions." Considering what we know about personality types and work preferences, this definition will terrify a lot of people, while others will be extremely motivated by the blank paper and box of crayons they’ve just been given.

Here are a few of the "secrets" I took away from the report:

• Chaotic disruption is rampant. No industry or corner of the globe is safe.
• Clarity of mission and purpose is critical. 
• Institutions as we’ve known them are out of date and too much structure and "rules" are pointless.
• The ability to acquire new skills is the most important skill set.
• We need to improve leadership development approaches to strengthen confidence for working with changing technologies, as well as uncertainty and risk.
• Trying to replicate what worked yesterday only leaves you more vulnerable; let it go. 
• Building adaptability skills is a requirement to be future-focused; a skill Safian labels as a signature trait of Generation Flux.
• Strategies built on nostalgia erode opportunities for risk-taking and growth. Accept that the world is shifting and that new patterns are required.
• The "long" career is dead. Employees will be changing jobs, and companies, at an increasingly faster pace.
• Command-and-control hierarchical structures are disintegrating.
• What helps one organization succeed is not guaranteed to work for another. Change strategies must be customized to the organization, mission, values and culture.

So What’s Next?

According to Safian and the GenFlux leaders he interviewed, firms that excel in the future will be those who have developed leaders and employees comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. They will be organizations brave enough to question their status quo, even when the answers may be surrounded in fog. These organizations will aggressively seek out ways to plan and implement change initiatives, not waiting for change to approach them.

Mr. Safian concludes his article with an appropriate quote from Charles Darwin:

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

As a passionate Change Management Consultant, this article was exciting to read. It was exhilarating to be able to intellectually conceptualize what I’ve been feeling and seeing. But at the same time, I know organizations historically haven’t been very good at assessing, designing, and implementing change. History shows that some change initiatives fail because leaders underestimate the time or investment required for moving the "operational" and "people" meters in a successful manner. Or, they fail because sponsors got impatient and decided instead to mandate employee change, or worse, they didn’t approach the change in a collaborative way, with as many stakeholders as possible, and resistance became the kiss of death.

Whatever the reasons, we need to get better at it and improve our results. If one or two decades of change will be required to advance us to the next pattern of predictable business norms, that’s a lot of change. That’s why I think that in addition to building competencies necessary to be successful in a world of ambiguity, leaders must also develop competencies for leading change.

I truly enjoyed Mr. Safian’s article and hope you will take the time to read it. In addition, the video link on my whiteboard below is an interesting look at applying Chaos Theory to planning. Although David Thorpe is speaking about fractals and urban forms, his message is transferrable to organizational planning. He recommends two great books in this video that I think you’ll also enjoy:

Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley and Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick.

Thinking about the operational and human resource impacts of a changing global marketplace can be overwhelming for any organization. Consider these questions:

• What could the organization do differently if strategies where intentionally aligned with clear mission and value commitments?
• What does fast-paced change mean to the levels of structure and empowerment supporting hiring, engagement and developmental strategies; especially if employees are no longer content with structured and traditional career paths?
• The term "blended background" seems to strengthen an individual’s probability for success with change and ambiguity. What does that do to rigid qualification standards for selecting candidates, projects, locations, products and services?

Are the ideas of Generation Flux a fad? I don’t think so, and I think concepts like these and others written about by well-known thought leaders are pointing us to a future mandating "think-on-your-feet" creativity. Surely the fact that thought leaders are even taking the time to explore these concepts warrants at least a new look at what your organization is doing and what it could be doing if it let go of fear.

We’ve got some exciting and challenging days ahead. I hope I’ve given you new food for thought. I welcome your comments to my posting; please click below. If you found this article interesting I’m happy for you to pass it along. Have a great week.


This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized about changing times and can help your organization navigate the uncertain journey of individual, team and organizational change. Contact us for more information: www.evolutionmgt.com or 770.587.9032.

Explore the idea of applying Chaos Theory to city planning and how it can work for your industry - David Thorpe

2012 - The Year of the Dragon, and AAPCIMAR?

Monday of this week we recognized the celebration of the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Many people are looking forward to what this year will bring, as the dragon is such a powerful symbol in Chinese astrology. Did you know that it’s the only animal in the Chinese zodiac year that is not real? It’s quite special and very much revered and is believed to get its power from being made up of parts of different animals such as a tiger, a fish, a snake and an eagle. Rather than threatening, the Chinese dragon is a symbol of power, superiority, wisdom and rule.

As most business community leaders and workers are looking for some signs of good news and confidence about the future – perhaps this is what we’ve been waiting for. The Economist posted the following interesting data on Monday:

This Chinese new year could bring good fortune to stock market investors.

Chinese people across the world ushered in their new year on January 23rd, which according to 3,000 year-old Chinese astrology is the year of the dragon. …Physignathus cocincinus, to give its Latin name, is associated with power, authority and good fortune.

For those looking for good news among the grim January headlines, this could bode well for stock market fortunes over the coming year. Between 1900 and 2011, the nine previous dragon years have seen America's Dow Jones Industrial Average price index increase by an average of 7.7% in real terms, the second-best historical record of the 12 zodiac animals. Such fortune may be short-lived however; next year's animal, the snake, has the second-worst historical record.

As organizations take steps to get their hands around what changes to implement in order to take advantage of an economic turnaround, whether brought on by the Year of the Dragon or something else, I thought it might be helpful to post a few tips for managing change successfully. Organized and planned change initiatives help leaders navigate the abundance of land mines strategically planted along the journey ready to blast and derail advancements towards change objects.

• Be clear about where the organization is headed. This vision should be easy to articulate, understand and remember. It should be one that engages and excites stakeholders.
• Fully understand the current and future environments. Recognize the benefit of working with an unbiased third-party to assess the AS IS and TO BE states to help identify gaps and the strategies necessary for closing them. It’s dangerous to build a change plan strictly based on assumptions of internal leadership; get confirmation first, then do your planning.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Be open about your interest in gathering opinions and making the changes required for the organization to continue to be competitive and survive. Help employees and other stakeholders understand how your plans will benefit them. Provide schedules, even if tentative, on how the change initiatives are expected to move forward. Provide multiple channels for communicating about change in all directions within and outside of the organization. Train leaders and managers as Change Leaders and strengthen their communication and presentation skills so they can properly address questions even when a clear answer still hasn’t been determined
• Provide leaders of change with executive coaches to assist them with their own personal transitions while they lead others.
• Construct a plan that provides opportunities for as much stakeholder involvement as possible. Understand how various stakeholder groups would like to be engaged and design those possibilities into the plan.
• Be mindful that change doesn’t happen quickly, and be prepared with patience and realistic time lines.
• Celebrate successes, as well as lessons learned from actions that didn’t hit the mark. Empower stakeholders to assist with the change strategies and acknowledge their journeys. Lots of great organizational stories will be available along this journey – don’t keep them to yourself.

So What’s Next?

I think what’s next is AAPCIMAR!   Never heard of it?   Read on.

We all know, unless you’ve been working under a rock, that to be successful in this "new, normal," "21st century," "whatever-you-want-to-call-it" economy we can’t approach business the way we did in the past. It doesn’t really matter what business function you’re responsible for – i.e., accounting, human resources, information technology, engineering and research, operations, etc. - expectations are that workflow and the people working within each system will be efficient, effective and produce results that support the value proposition the organization has with its stakeholders. Achieving that success requires: Assessing, Analyzing, Planning, Change Initiatives, Monitoring, Adjusting and Repeating…AAPCIMAR.

AAPCIMAR requires consistent attention to the external and internal environments in which an organization functions. It also involves a strategy for integrating changes into the organization’s strategic plans. More than ever, I believe our personal and organizational abilities will be tested for flexibility and agility. In the instantaneous world we now work in, leaders and employees will be evaluated differently. For example, we all need to be comfortable making decisions faster while working with changing boundaries: global rather than regional, and home-based rather than cubicle. Our expectations that colleagues will be down the hall and approach work "like us" has been transformed into virtual and global settings with peoples of all types of experiences, backgrounds, educations, nationalities and dreams. Skill sets and experiences associated with managing change will be mandatory; certainly for executive leaders, but also for those in management and supervisory positions. The more we can expand managing change techniques and awareness in the workforce, the faster our organizations will be able to respond.

It’s a different world and a different year. The year of the wise and powerful Dragon is here. What’s your next move?

I welcome your comments to my posting. Please click below. If you found this article to be interesting and helpful I’m very happy for you to pass it along to others. Have a great week.

This article was written for you by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team can help your organization navigate the challenging journey of individual, team and organizational change.   Contact us for more information: www.evolutionmgt.com or 770.587.9032.

Sunni Brown

What’s Driving the Disconnect Between Job Seekers and Recruiters?

I’ve been hearing a lot of recruiters say for the past few months that they have openings they are trying to fill, but they can’t find the right talent. "How can this be?" we’re all asking when there are a lot of people out of work and actively looking for jobs. There’s also a large population of employed workers, 74% according to a recent survey by Harris, known as the "silent majority," who have acknowledged they would consider changing jobs if they were approached. And together with the voices of recruiters who say they can’t find qualified talent, I hear from job seekers who are just as frustrated about responding to openings they are qualified for, only to hear nothing back. So what’s the problem? What’s causing the disconnect?

May Not Be One Factor
Over the last six months, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few firms pulling teams of consultants together to work on change and human resource (HR) projects. One common problem recruiters involved with organization development (OD) projects experience is rooted in the fact that there isn’t one clear definition of what OD is. As HR is becoming more strategic rather than transactional, I’m wondering if this transition in describing competencies is also becoming a problem when recruiting for HR positions. Is the disconnect we’re experiencing in the job market a reflection of non-qualified candidates, or is the root problem something else, or possibly a combination of factors?

Consider the problems caused by non-standard jargon, especially in professions such as OD and HR. Some companies refer to their learning and professional development programs as OD, while others look beyond training and consider all people and organizational changes experienced by a transitioning business unit to be OD. It’s the same with change management expertise. One recruiter might be searching for a candidate with experience managing one specific aspect of a merger and refer to that as change management, while another may only consider it sufficient change management experience if the expertise includes all aspects of the holistic merger project. HR recruiters not familiar with the experience and expertise required for strategic HR positions might easily overlook someone with the right qualifications and label them as "overqualified" for a position requiring OD, change management or skills supporting conflict resolution and influencing change.

Linking my personal consulting experiences with the frustrations I’m hearing from recruiters, as well as job seekers, I’m wondering what the impact is when the recruiter’s role expands to areas where he/she doesn’t have specialized expertise. So often I find individuals in recruiter roles who have backgrounds in a certain area of HR, such as benefits or training, being asked to source and identify talent in HR and OD - areas they have never worked in. In situations like this, without specific detailed profiles and examples of qualifications, how can they adequately decipher the experiences and knowledge being shared by interested job seekers to determine transferable skills and backgrounds for the position?

We’re living in a world of instantaneous expectations and I wonder what impact this perception is having on the recruiting process? Have we shortened the cycle too far, so that it now appears to resemble "speed dating" rather than sourcing and recruitment? How much can we really get to know an individual’s work/life experiences and how they transfer to the "new" normal of work in 15 or 20 minutes?

So What's Next?
The profession of sourcing and recruitment is changing. Although the world is speeding up as it gets smaller and smaller, perhaps it’s time to slow down the process of matching required talent needs with available talent. Maybe the process of evaluating fit should include more than a 20 second review of a resume or a successful number of matches of keywords. Perhaps until we get more sophisticated with language and our abilities to understand how skills transfer, we need to encourage slowing down the recruiting process and taking the time to really understand how past experiences translate to meet the current day needs of the organization. There’s no doubt that some percentage of job seekers don’t have the up-to-date skills required to address marketplace needs, but the rest of the population is an available resource that we need to learn how to connect with. This situation provides organizations and the HR profession with an opportunity to establish training courses or university-style programs to develop the skills they are looking for and to structure some type of interview feedback or job opening profile that indicates specific trainings and experiences that are lacking in order to raise the job seekers’ awareness that his/her skills are no longer up-to-date.

I recently attended a SHRM-Atlanta Chapter meeting. Sitting with me at my table of eight were four recruiters. All four confirmed they had a staggering number of job openings for HR talent, more than they’ve had in the past few years. And in a room of over 300 HR professionals they were declaring they couldn’t find the right talent. We’ve got a disconnection and we need to fix it, as 2012 sounds like it might just be the year for getting people back to work.

I’m curious about your observations. Do you think we have some disconnections in our recruiting processes? Please share your comments below. I’d also encourage you to share this email with a friend so we can expand the conversation.

Update Your Orientation Process

The Colors of the Holiday Season: Red and Green; Pink and Blue

We all know the #1 goal of a for-profit organization is to make a profit. The additional objectives, such as treating employees with respect and fairness and being a good social and global steward, are hopefully priorities met along the way to the profits.

My experience about how executives approach the final quarter of the year echoes what I hear colleagues mentioning - most organizations have their eyes on two things: the financial performance for the year ending, and the strategic goals for the new year. Finding the right balance between profits, quality performance, future consumer demands, staffing levels, workload, and advancing technologies is quite a leadership art. CEOs usually find the solution for balance wrapped in organizational assessments and restructuring activities focused on integrating new processes and technologies in order to provide greater efficiencies while reducing costs. Unfortunately, this often results in cutting jobs.

As if on cue, earlier this month we began to learn of plans within the semiconductor industry to address a downturn in business through layoffs and the closing of plants. The first announcement came from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) on November 3rd; ten percent or approximately 1,400 positions being eliminated through restructuring efforts. Next, Adobe Systems announced it would be restructuring and reducing its workforce by seven percent. Additional semi industry firms are reportedly also anticipating layoffs, and who knows how the domino effect will play out across other direct and indirect industries. To get an idea of how far-reaching the impacts of layoffs can be, check out the creative, interactive Domino Effect posting on my Whiteboard at the end of this blog. It specifically addresses the housing market, but you’ll get the idea.

So What’s Next?

The new norm for annual planning appears to be a hand-in-hand combination of business assessment along with strategic and workforce planning. This newly-established partnership between operating executives together with finance, organization development and human resources leaders seems like a "dream team." Get the right people in the room with the right information about future expectations and facilitate a creative and innovative exploration of practical options for achieving the appropriate balance between financial, stakeholder and employee expectations. As I wrote in my book, Learning to Live With Downsizing, layoffs are not the only solution – but in order to identify others, the team needs the leadership and courage to explore out-of-the box alternatives, along with the likely risks associated with each.

The simultaneous timing of organizations’ strategic planning and restructuring framework with a holiday season of personal reflection and connections with friends and family in a spirit of love and kindness seems ironic. While employees are being thankful for what they have and sharing with others less fortunate, the rug may be about to be ripped out from under their feet.

I believe as a result of this emerging trend in planning and subsequent layoffs during a season framed in kindness and celebration, organizations should pay particular attention to the emotional needs of the employees being let go, as well as those remaining. Both will be impacted by the changes the organization is introducing; albeit in different ways.

As organizational leaders, we have a responsibility to employees who have contributed to the journey so far to be as fair and respectful as possible with the process of separation, and the process they face for moving on. In a blog I published in July 2010, I addressed this specific issue. I felt it might be helpful to repeat it here, so here is a link to Separation – Do It with Grace.

If your Year-End To-Do List includes an event that will impact employees such as restructuring, layoffs, rebranding, mergers, etc., consider these pillars in framing your approach:

1. Promote honesty and openness – tell the story of why the event is necessary for the success and/or survival of the organization.
2. Prepare to communicate, communicate, and then communicate some more – not everyone will hear the entire message the first time, or even the third time. Remember, if you don’t tell them, they’ll fill in the gaps with their own ideas.
3. Don’t ever say "that’s the end, we’re done" – you just can’t know what’s around the corner. So if you have to initiate layoffs, don’t announce that there won’t be more.
4. Prepare your managers – this type of organizational work gets personal and can be painful. Decisions being made will impact the lives and families of your employees. Managers may need assistance to deal with their own emotions and should be prepared for reactions that most likely will be emotional. Use EAP and outplacement experts, as appropriate.
5. Offer assistance – the re-employment process is not impossible, but in this market it is very challenging. Offer as much assistance to separating employees as possible. Firms such as ours offer books, coaching, workshops, webinars, and one-on-one sessions to meet the needs of employees and managers. Remember, employees will be watching and judging how friends and colleagues are treated, influencing their future engagement and motivation levels.

Economists are suggesting that 2012 will continue to be a challenging time for business, and perhaps we won’t see any clear signs of a strong recovery until after the November elections. If that’s the case, what advice would you add to improve the success of restructuring and layoff processes?

Tim Logan and Josh Renaud

Is Your Zero-Tolerance Training Program Working?

This week the topic of harassment is again front and center in our workplaces, schools, and political arenas. As an HR professional dedicated to ensuring that the workplace is welcoming and respectful to everyone, I found myself questioning "Where did we go wrong? After all the years of training, coaching, and sensitivity training, provided by firms of all sizes, why are we still having conversations about inappropriate behaviors? In addition to our training efforts, have the laws also failed?"

As many women who went to work in the 70’s and 80’s can attest to, it was not unusual at that time for bosses (primarily male bosses) to make passes at and disrespectful comments to women in the workplace. The workplace culture up until that time was primarily male dominated, and they didn't seem to think they were doing anything wrong. But the diversity of the workplace changed, and that laid the groundwork for the culture changes to come.

Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that sexual harassment was a discriminatory action and a violation of federal law, organizations didn’t pay much attention. It really wasn’t until 1991 when Anita Hill gave a face and a voice to the oppressive behaviors and negative impacts of harassment in the workplace that organizations began to look in the mirror. What they found was the demographics of employees had changed and the new workforce was demanding a shift in the status quo of male-dominated workplace cultures and behaviors. The workplace could no longer be the "club" for off-color jokes, bad language, inappropriate advances, or promotions for those bullied into granting sexual favors. Analyzing the claims of harassment that began to be more frequently reported, researchers helped us understand that sexual harassment and hostile work environment weren’t really about sex, but more about power.

The Intentional and Unintentional Consequences

The basis for harassment today remains the same, someone with power taking advantage of someone with little or no power. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website contains information on both harassment and sexual harassment; both illegal and punishable by fines.

With courts seeing many harassment cases over the years, they now place the burden on the employer to prove that the harassment did not occur. The courts have come to the realization that people will be people and therefore, employers should be aware that some form of harassment could be occurring within their workplace at any time. Based on that assumption, each employer is required to take the appropriate steps to ensure their workplace is free of harassing behaviors, and that processes are in place to report it, investigate it and stop it. However, even with clarified roles and responsibilities regarding harassment, the EEOC reports that nearly $100M in legal settlements were paid in 2010.

Although we have gained a greater awareness of actions that make others uncomfortable and behavioral changes have occurred to improve respectful workplace relationships, unintended consequences have also resulted from attempts to stop harassment in the workplace:

• Individuals often don’t want to report the incident for fear of embarrassment or retaliation.
• Individuals have learned they can get a lot of people stirred up, create moments of media fame, and often profit financially by reporting false accusations of harassment.
• Some organizations have adopted the view that "settlements" are a cost of doing business.
• As our workplaces have grown with diversity, so have the number of ways harassment can occur; as a result, claims of harassment are on the rise.

So What’s Next?

I’m sad to share that a recent national study, to be released next week, conducted by the American Association of University Women finds that 50 percent of 7th to 12th grade students reported experiencing sexual harassment in the last school year! Eighty-seven percent of those who reported being harassed also reported negative effects such as absenteeism, poor sleep and illness. These students, harassed by other students who had more "informal" power at school, will soon be in our candidate pools. What does this growing trend in high schools across the country mean to the orientation, on-boarding, training, mentoring and performance programs in our organization?

We are exposed, if only for a nano-second of a sound bite, to the realities of workplace vulnerabilities when they impact business leaders, celebrities, athletes or schools and universities dealing with claims of hostile environments or sexual harassment. Often our tendencies are to bury our heads in the sand, not wanting to face what might be happening within our own cultures and sub-cultures. Perhaps the reemergence of harassment in the news should be viewed as a wake-up call to investigate what our organization is offering in the form of training, coaching, hotlines, etc.

Yes, people will be people, but every CEO is responsible for setting the tone for appropriate and respectful behaviors. Boards need to be holding the CEO’s responsible, and HR should be orchestrating training, surveys and coaching programs aimed not only at raising awareness but also at helping individuals unable to change behaviors on their own. Certainly offenders who do not improve their behaviors with colleagues should be fired; obviously they are not a match for the values and culture of the organization.

Today the courts are seeing more male-on-male harassment, but that doesn’t mean that women being harassed by males has been eliminated. Nor does it mean that hostile environments due to religion, age, race, color, disability, or national origin have been curtailed. Technology and the journey we have taken to a 24/7 environment also opens up opportunities for harassment in the form of text messages, social media postings, etc. (Don’t miss the Textual Harassment video on my whiteboard below). Some experts speculate that the true picture of harassment is being masked by the recession; people wanting to hold on to their jobs, regardless of the circumstances, are not reporting abuse.

I believe, especially with the conditions of a struggling economy, businesses should not take their eyes off the need to gear up and update zero-tolerance training programs. Harassment or bullying, as it’s called in the schools, is alive and well. Businesses need to be cultivating cultures of respect, engagement, and sustainability. Claims of harassment played out in the courts, newspapers, internet and around the water cooler can quickly call into question and destroy a strong and credible reputation. Strategies to ensure that inappropriate comments, behaviors and practices are not tolerated are an investment in the future.

It’s hard to believe that people don’t know how to respect the differences and values of each other, but statistics show us this problem continues. But you know what they say – if we keep doing the same thing, why should we expect a different outcome? So my question is:

If we haven’t achieved the level of success we were looking for with the training and awareness programs we’re currently utilizing, what other actions should we consider to eliminate harassment in our organizations? What’s your organization doing?

Please share your comments below.

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