GO Magazine | Winter 2013

Transcription

GO
What Your Next CEO Needs to Know 10
Customers Matter at Nebraska Furniture Mart 20
Julie Clow’s Work Revolution 24
Guessing Less When Hiring 26
Great People. Great Organizations. Great Results.
2013 Vol. 10, No. 1
Global Strategy,
Local Implementation
How Foster Wheeler is building
a global talent pipeline.
Page 4
Foster Wheeler’s
Beth Sexton
and Kathleen Korpita
G
GO
ReadySet...
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 1 • 2013
TACY BYHAM
PUBLISHER
Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D.
MANAGING EDITOR
Craig Irons
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Susan Ryan
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On its web site, Inc. magazine recently ran an infographic under the heading
“Jerk Alert: The Real Cost of Bad Bosses.” Among some of the nuggets compiled from
various studies:
• Three out of every four employees report that their boss is the worst and most
stressful part of their job.
• Among the top flaws employees see in their bosses: 1) fails to inspire, 2) accepts
mediocrity, and 3) lacks clear vision and direction.
Terri Sota
Editorial and Circulation:
GO
c/o Development Dimensions Intl.
1225 Washington Pike
Bridgeville, PA 15017-2838
Telephone: 412-257-0600
go@ddiworld.com
• 65 percent of employees say they’d take a new boss over a pay raise.
Then there’s this from DDI’s own research: More than one-third of employees say
they don’t consider their boss to be an effective manager.
So what’s the best way to develop leaders who don’t act—or lead—like jerks? In this
issue of GO, we introduce you to the best antidote we know: DDI’s new Interaction
Management®: Exceptional Leaders (IM: ExLSM) series. As you will see here, we’ve
reimagined frontline leadership development, starting with a mix of courses that target
the skills leaders need to be effective now. We’ve also found great ways to take training
beyond the classroom, accelerate development, and provide leaders with an engaging
learning experience. Check it out beginning on page 16.
ABOUT DDI
For over 40 years, DDI has helped
the most successful companies around
the world close the gap between where
their businesses need to go and the
talent required to take them there.
Our areas of expertise span every level,
from individual contributors to the
executive suite:
- Success Profile Management
In this issue, you can also read about how Foster Wheeler created a consistent global
approach to developing its talent, and about how Nebraska Furniture Mart built a strong
customer service culture.
- Selection & Assessment
Plus, you can catch highlights from DDI’s latest Global Selection Forecast; spend a few
minutes with Julie Clow, author of The Work Revolution; and learn how a leading CEO
is passing on his hard-earned wisdom to future chief executives.
- Performance Management
It’s all information we hope you can use to do your job better—and promote a
“jerk-free” workplace.
Happy reading!
- Leadership & Workforce Development
- Succession Management
DDI’s comprehensive, yet practical
approach to talent management starts
by ensuring a close connection of our
solutions to your business strategies,
and ends only when we produce the
results you require.
You’ll find that DDI is an essential
partner wherever you are on your journey to building extraordinary talent.
Tacy Byham, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Leadership Solutions, DDI
© Development Dimensions International, Inc.
MMXIII. All rights reserved.
There’s now a “training pill” for
horrible bosses! Check out the
video.
2
LEADERSHIP IS
BROKEN
DDI’s survey finds
that few people think
business leadership
is adequate.
HUMAN
RESOURCES:
20
25%
OF LEADERS
ARE HIGH-QUALITY
4
LEADERS
THINK THAT
EMPLOYEES SAY
BEST
BOSS
38%
ONLY
34%
OF LEADERS
ARE HIGH-QUALITY
OF BOSSES ARE EFFECT
IVE!
ONLY
49%
OF EMPLOYEES ARE
CURRENTLY WORKI
NG FOR
BEST MANAGER THEY
10
WHAT ARE THE BEST
16
THE
HAVE EVER WORKE
D FOR
LEADERS DOING?
60% 53
% 51% 56% 57%
RECOGNIZING
SUPPORTING
INVOLVING
LISTENING
EXPLAINING
RATIONALE
40%
MAINTAINING
SELF-ESTEEM
% of leaders that
26
24
currently do this
INTERACTION SKIL
MAKE THE DIFFERE LS
NCE!
Leaders with strong
interaction skills produc
striking results among
e
their teams.
89%
83%
12
19
TURNOVER IS
HAVE MORE
ENGAGED
TEAMS
LEAD TEAMS TO EXCEE
D THEIR
PRODUCTIVITY GOAL
S
3 TIMES LESS LIKELY
contents
GO VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 1
F E AT U R E S
D E PA R T M E N T S
4
Foster Wheeler’s Execution Excellence
The global engineering and construction company
and power equipment supplier is building a stronger
leadership pipeline.
9
Trend Tracker
Findings from our new frontline leader study,
Finding the First Rung in China and India.
14
10
What CEOs Wish They Had Known
One of the business world’s most respected CEOs is shining
a light on what it takes to be successful in the top job.
12
When It Comes to Leadership, All Conversations
Are Crucial
Leaders spend a significant portion of their time engaged in
interactions. The quality of those interactions can have a
significant impact.
What’s GOing On
DDI again takes part in the CNBC Asia Business
Leaders Awards, our work with Bosch und Siemens
Hausgeräte (BSH) wins the prestigious German HR
Excellence Award, plus great DDI client stories on video.
19
InfoGraphic
How broken is leadership?
24
Coffee on the GO with Julie Clow
The author of The Work Revolution envisions a workplace
defined by “freedom and excellence for all.”
16
Get to Know—and Love—IM:ExLSM!
Meet the new Interaction Management®: Exceptional Leaders
(IM: ExLSM) series—it’s frontline development reimagined for
the realities of today’s workplace!
20
Where Customer Service Is Big
Nebraska Furniture Mart is known for its huge stores—
and its even bigger focus on customer service.
26
Moving Selection Beyond Guessing
DDI’s latest Global Selection Forecast examines how
—and how effectively—organizations are hiring.
3
© Development Dimensions International, Inc. MMXIII. All rights reserved.
GREAT ORGANIZATIONS
4
FOSTER WHEELER’S
EXECUTION EXCELLENCE
The global engineering and construction company and power
equipment supplier is building a stronger leadership pipeline.
When
line management needs to be accountable for execution. Our talent management motto is global strategy,
local implementation.”
she was interviewing for the senior vice
president of human resources job at Foster Wheeler,
Beth Sexton met with the CEO, who asked what must
have seemed to him a straightforward question: How
Since passing that interview with the CEO and joining
the company in 2008, Sexton has, along with
Kathleen Korpita, director, global talent management,
and the Foster Wheeler global HR team, helped build
the talent infrastructure and systems. They’ve launched
an assessment initiative for the organization’s top
leaders and an impactful development system for
more than 1,500 frontline leaders worldwide.
would she hold people accountable for the company’s talent initiatives? Sexton gave an unexpected
answer: She wouldn’t hold people accountable; as
the CEO, he would.
Sexton’s response revealed an important insight she
had gained while working in other organizations. HR
can create the talent infrastructure and build and
well as they have worked to help Foster Wheeler, the
Their success is due in large part to a strong focus on
execution and a deep understanding of what it takes
to provide consistent, relevant development to leaders, regardless of their level or location.
12,000-employee global engineering and construction
NOTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE
implement the talent systems; however, for a talent
strategy to be successful, the senior team has to own
it. This insight has served Sexton and her colleagues
company and power equipment supplier build the
Foster Wheeler was formed in 1927 with the combination of two companies whose roots date back to the
19th century. In the ensuing decades, the company
enjoyed tremendous growth and success, but in the
21st century Foster Wheeler’s senior leadership
recognized that the company needed to be unified and
consistent in its practices. This was especially important for a global company that operates in 28 countries.
leadership pipeline needed to drive profitable growth
around the world.
“In everything we’ve done, the major decisions have
been made by the line,” says Sexton, who strives to
reinforce the strategic importance of talent to the
organization. “Our primary role is to design and
implement robust HR processes and tools. However,
5
GREAT ORGANIZATIONS
“When it comes to project execution,
our clients want the Foster Wheeler
brand delivered consistently anywhere
in the world,” says Sexton. “They have
the same expectations wherever they
are. If it’s a client in Finland, they want
the same quality as would be delivered
in China or anywhere else in the world.”
That consistency, Sexton says, needed
to carry over to the company’s
approach to talent management.
“If we have an employee that goes on
assignment to a different part of the
world, they need to be able to have the
same expectations of their manager,
whether it’s how the manager coaches,
or the HR processes they follow.”
“The assessment process was instrumental in helping us analyze our leadership strengths and development
needs on a global basis. The assessment results revealed a global need to
improve talent management skills at
all levels in the organization. This led
to the creation of the Learning to Lead
program.”
LEARNING TO LEAD AT THE
FRONT LINES
Leadership development wasn’t new
to Foster Wheeler, but at the time
Korpita developed Learning to Lead in
A big part of the
“global strategy,
local implementation”
approach was building
in flexibility.
But just as important as having a global
talent strategy was the realization that
Foster Wheeler had a number of gaps
in its succession plan, and that it
lacked accurate, actionable data to
assess its future senior leaders.
To address this issue, Sexton and
Korpita worked with DDI to design a
customized assessment approach for
the C-level leaders that was then cascaded down to lower-level senior leaders. The approach brought together
multiple assessment tools, including
personality inventories, 360-degree
feedback, interviews, and a feedback
session to share the results.
2011, there wasn’t a centralized,
organization-wide approach. Instead,
development programs were the
domain of the operating units, some of
which had programs in place and
some of which were largely inactive.
“For the development process we
were able to put together the right
pieces so that when we assessed
someone, we could get the data we
needed to form a development plan
for them,” says Korpita.
Learning to Lead changed that.
Geared toward all Foster Wheeler
frontline leaders, the program is
designed to develop a targeted set of
leadership competencies, including
Delivering
Results,
Developing
People, Engaging and Motivating,
Enhancing Relationships, and Setting
Direction. It also reinforces the company’s core values.
She also says that the success of the
assessment process led to an important insight.
The program features courses from
DDI’s Interaction Management® leadership development system. Among the
6
courses included in the curriculum are:
Essentials of Leadership, Setting Performance Expectations, Reviewing Performance Progress, Getting Started as a
New Leader, Coaching for Improvement
and Coaching for Success. The courses
are delivered by 29 internal facilitators
who work either alone or in pairs. They
deliver the courses across all 14 operating units and at all Foster Wheeler locations around the world.
To help reinforce the skills and concepts leaders learned in the courses,
Foster Wheeler’s senior managers
participated in a condensed version of
Supporting Leadership Development.
This course helped them understand
the importance of their role in supporting learning and driving the behavior
change required throughout the organization. For the second year of the program, senior managers participated in
Coaching for High Performance, a
course to help them understand the
importance of building and sustaining
a coaching culture at Foster Wheeler.
Rather than designing and implementing the program at corporate and then
expecting that all of the operating
units would implement it, Sexton,
Korpita, and the global HR team took
a different approach.
“This program came about through
influence, collaboration, relationshipbuilding, and sharing the knowledge
people needed to make the right decisions,” says Korpita. “We really executed on Beth’s philosophy of ‘global
strategy, local implementation.’”
A big part of the “global strategy, local
implementation” approach was building
in flexibility so that Foster Wheeler’s
HR people around the world and
across the various operating units
could make adjustments, such as
adding optional courses to the curriculum and changing some of the course
content to suit learners better. In its
second year, the program became
even more flexible with the addition of
multiple optional courses, such as
Leading Change and High Impact
Feedback & Listening, which the operating units could add to the curriculum.
Dick Lively, senior vice president,
human resources, for Foster Wheeler’s
global power group business, has been
these fronts, Learning to Lead has
been a tremendous success.
In a global survey of 243 participants
in the Learning to Lead program, participants gave the courses an average
overall rating of 4.37 on a 5-point
scale (with 5 being the highest possible rating). The survey also showed a
44-percent overall increase, posttraining versus pre-training, in the
number of leaders who said they displayed effective leadership behaviors.
In addition, 338 observers of learners
(those they work with) were asked to
One of the most important factors
contributing to the success of Foster
Wheeler’s talent initiatives is the
active support of the senior leaders,
who have shown an understanding of
the importance of building a stronger
leadership pipeline to changing the
organization’s culture.
“I don’t think any training program will
work if the leadership doesn’t understand that they need to cultivate an
environment for the behaviors to be
demonstrated,” says Korpita. “Then
they have to provide feedback to their
integral to rolling out Learning to Lead.
people so that the behaviors become
As one of the 29 internal facilitators,
ingrained. Then those behaviors
Lively delivers the courses in locations
become the norm, and that norm
worldwide, as well as in the U.S. His
“The line managers speak
facilitation approach speaks to his
for the effectiveness
of the program to
their peers.
commitment to connecting with learners, as well as to the flexibility built into
While senior leaders have been doing
just that, they also have become
”
Learning to Lead.
advocates for the programs.
“Our customers, the line managers,
“I’ve delivered the courses all over the
world in different cultures,” he says.
“Dealing with different people, figuring
out how everybody ticks, and how it’s
relevant for people is the key.”
“Because we did global strategy, local
implementation, the HR people had a
vested interest in making it successful,” says Korpita. “I think because we
didn’t dictate exactly how things had
to be done, I can tell you that just
becomes the culture.”
speak for the effectiveness of the prorate whether or not the leaders displayed effective leadership behavior,
pre- and post-training. These observers
identified a 30-percent overall increase
for the leaders.
gram to their peers,” says Sexton.
“That’s important, because then it’s
not Kathleen and me doing the raving
about the assessments or about
Learning to Lead.”
Perhaps more important: Leaders
reported improvements in their overall
job performance, while observers
reported improvements in the performance of their teams.
about every operating unit has
changed something.”
But the impact hasn’t stopped there.
As one Learning to Lead program par-
DELIVERY EXCELLENCE
ticipant explained, “Not only has this
While the Learning to Lead program
helped me with my job, dealing with
was accepted by Foster Wheeler’s
vendors and fellow Foster Wheeler
HR staff around the world, what mat-
employees, but [the training has] also
tered most was how it was received
affected my daily communications
by frontline leaders and its effective-
with my wife, children, and the activi-
ness in developing their skills. On
ties of my life.”
7
Kathleen Korpita, director, global
talent management, helped build
Learning to Lead through influence
and collaboration.
Umberto della Sala, Foster Wheeler’s
president and COO, is among the senior
executives who have become champions
for the talent initiatives.
“The leadership assessment processes
and tools are improving our internal promotional and external hiring decisions,
as they are now based on robust, targeted data on the leadership and functional
competencies required for success. In
addition, the assessment data has
improved development planning, which
is key to building the next generation of
leaders at Foster Wheeler.”
Antonio Vietti, director of human resources
at Foster Wheeler Italiana, sees the impact
on the organization’s business.
“The Learning to Lead program at Foster
Wheeler Italiana has had a positive impact
on the effectiveness of leaders, resulting in
numerous team-level improvements that
will ultimately improve the organization’s
bottom line.”
✪ To learn about how Foster Wheeler is
fueling organizational change with the right
leadership skills, register for a live webinar
on March 18th as part of our Talent
Management Unplugged series.
Find out more about Interaction
Management®, including the new IM:ExLSM
series for developing frontline leaders
HOW TO...
KEEP FACILITATORS FRESH AND ENGAGED
Beth Sexton says that the 29 internal facilitators have been critical to the success of
Foster Wheeler’s Learning to Lead program. Here’s how she and her team ensure
they stay effective.
• Stress the need to keep improving. “Even though we have exceeded our expectations on the scores and feedback we’ve been getting from our managers, we are
still committed to continuous improvement,” says Sexton. “That’s why we think it’s
so important to identify and share best practices.”
• Help them connect. “One of the things I was worried about was getting these 29
people to understand that they’re part of something bigger,” says Kathleen Korpita.
To help them make and maintain that connection, she created an internal facilitator
network that provides a forum for facilitators to discuss shared challenges and
new ideas, and examine the metrics associated with the delivery of the courses.
• Keep them sharp. Korpita has launched a “facilitator sustainability” initiative
where, as a master trainer, she will co-deliver courses with facilitators and
also use the Development Accelerator tools built into DDI’s new Interaction
Management®: Exceptional Leaders series to help keep their skills fresh. “It’s
important to remember that being a facilitator isn’t their full-time job; they are
HR professionals first. We need to be able to help them seamlessly move back
into the facilitator role when they need to deliver a course.”
• Emphasize personal development. “I think our own HR people would tell you
that this is one of the best things that happened to them, and to their careers,” says
Sexton. “I feel like we’ve been able to help them look at this as a big part of their
own personal development, and it’s been a homerun in every direction.”
Beth Sexton
senior vice president, human resources
8
TRENDTRACKER
Telling Number:
42
On the Front Lines in China
and India—Without Leaders
Employment trends in China and India warn of an increasingly
insufficient supply of “ready-now” managers to meet the
burgeoning demand. To understand the challenges facing
companies in these two countries, DDI surveyed 482 frontline
leaders in China and 891 in India. The complete findings are
included in the report, Finding the First Rung in China and India.
The Great Disconnect: Assessment …
Percent of managers in China who were
promoted because of their technical expertise.
Unfortunately, these technical experts were
more likely to need development in seven out
of nine leadership competencies.
Source: Finding the First Rung in China and India.
PERCENT OF MANAGERS WITH DEVELOPMENT NEEDS
66%
More leaders in China and India
Managing Relationships
52%
43%
are lacking core leadership skills
88%
Guiding Interactions
than their counterparts in the U.S.
73%
56%
The chart compares the percent of
Manager Ready® participants—in
the three countries—with
37%
Coaching for Success
32%
31%
78%
Coaching for Improvement
56%
development needs in key leadership
36%
27%
competencies. At least 27 percent
Influencing
50%
27%
of participants have a need in any
given competency; the largest
71%
Delegation & Empowerment
76%
60%
problem areas are Guiding
Interactions and Delegation
47%
46%
Problem/Opportunity Analysis
29%
& Empowerment.
China (n=1,480)
India (n=255)
United States (n=2,567)
Source: Manager Ready® assessment data
... vs. Self-Evaluation
For several of the skills, managers (especially
in India) expressed a level of confidence in
their abilities that was uncorroborated by
assessment results. In all of the competencies
a greater percentage of leaders in India rated
themselves as a “strength” than did leaders
in China.
PERCENT OF MANAGERS RATING
THEMSELVES A “STRENGTH”
CHINA
INDIA
Managing Relationships
22%
44%
Guiding Interactions
20%
38%
Coaching for Success
17%
40%
Coaching for Improvement
22%
42%
Influencing
25%
38%
Delegation & Empowerment
21%
38%
Problem/Opportunity Analysis
23%
41%
9
WHAT CEOs WISH
THEY HAD KNOWN
One of the business world’s most respected CEOs is shining
a light on what it takes to be successful in the top job.
William R. Johnson, chairman, president & CEO of H.J. Heinz Company, has held his
organization’s top position for nearly 15 years—a long tenure of success leading one of
the world’s most iconic global food companies. That’s not to say, however, that Johnson
didn’t have a lot to learn once in the job. In fact, becoming a chief executive was more
challenging than he expected.
William R. Johnson,
president and CEO of
H.J. Heinz Company,
commissioned a study of
CEO management transitions.
“When I was named CEO of Heinz, there was just so much I didn’t anticipate, in terms of
the impact on both my professional life and my personal life,” says Johnson. “Looking
back, there are a number of things I wish I had known.”
A few years ago, as Johnson reflected on his transition, he began to wonder if his experience was unique. Johnson was certain his peers at other global public companies must
have encountered surprises of their own as they settled into the unfamiliar territory of the
CEO role, but information on the subject of CEO management transitions seemed to be
scant or fragmented.
10
That realization led him to commission a study in which
sitting CEOs would be interviewed and their insights
and experiences documented. The research was initially
intended to enhance management transition planning at
Heinz and prepare its future leaders, but the results were
so candid, enlightening, and instructive that Johnson
decided to green light a book project.
“I had no idea how physically demanding the job would
be. For this job, I need to be energetic, focused, and
disciplined all of the time.”
The result is Preparing CEOs for Success: “What I Wish
I Knew,” a book based on the study commissioned by
Johnson and written by the lead researchers, Leslie W.
Braksick and James S. Hillgren of The Continuous
Learning Group, Inc.
As its title implies, Preparing CEOs for Success is more
than a book of reflection. It also includes information on
the personal qualities, career experiences, and managerial practices to which the CEOs attributed their success.
As the authors point out, this information is meant to
benefit those accountable for developing future CEOs,
including board members, succession committees, sitting
CEOs, and HR leaders.
“I knew that the job of CEO would be demanding, but
I was surprised at how much it truly infringes on my
personal life. This is truly a 24/7 job.”
“My biggest surprise is that being CEO is as fun as it is.”
For the study, Braksick and Hillgren interviewed 27 current and former CEOs of some of the world’s largest and
most successful companies, mining their experiences
and insights about the challenges they faced—many of
which were unexpected—and what they had learned
about themselves in the process. The global companies
represented by this group of leaders included AT&T,
Bank of America, Caterpillar, General Mills, Johnson &
Johnson, McKesson, and PepsiCo, to name a few.
“I believe preparing CEOs is one of corporate America’s
most important obligations,” Johnson said in September
when delivering a keynote speech on the study findings
to a group of HR executives. “It’s a particularly important challenge for HR people today, because it’s critical
that they are preparing leaders for the next generation.”
Eight common themes emerged from the interviews, representing what the CEOs said they were not prepared for,
and the things they wish they’d known before they moved
into the role: 1) tenacity, patience, and judgment required
for decision-making, 2) unique challenges posed by the
leadership team you inherit, 3) prioritization takes on a
whole new meaning, 4) developing a trusting relationship
with your board is essential, 5) transitioning well matters,
6) unending governance challenges, 7) public scrutiny: no
private life, and 8) isolation of the job.
In addition, the book features a “CEO Handbook”
containing advice from the 27 CEOs for their successors
and for others who aspire to become CEOs of global,
multibillion-dollar companies. This advice covers areas
such as handling the handoff from the previous chairman/CEO, working with a board of directors, combating
the isolation of the job, and dos and don’ts for succession.
As Johnson points out, advice such as this is especially
valuable given the high bar set for CEOs today.
“In this rapidly changing and challenging environment,
we need well-prepared, dynamic leaders that possess
character, drive, experience, integrity, courage, talent, and
vision, so that they can deliver exceptional performance in
any situation.”
These themes are illuminated by many insightful quotes
from the CEOs, who articulated the stresses, difficulties,
pleasant surprises, and valuable lessons learned.
Consider some of the quotes from CEOs interviewed
about prioritization:
✪ Preparing CEOs for Success is available through
major online booksellers, in both paperback and
e-book editions. The net proceeds from the
book are being donated to Ronald McDonald
House Charities, which creates, finds, and
supports programs that directly improve the
health and well-being of children.
“I was surprised by the time management and prioritization challenges—both on internal and external things.
I had to learn to say ‘no’ and to manage my time better.”
11
WHEN IT COMES TO LEADERSHIP,
ALL CONVERSATIONS ARE CRUCIAL
Leaders spend a significant portion of their time engaged in interactions.
The quality of those interactions can have a significant impact.
By Mark Busine
In the four decades leading up to 2010, perhaps the most sig-
organizations were able to quantify the financial impact of poor
nificant change in the corporate landscape was the transition
conversations, they would quickly conclude that improving the
from an economic society based on physical and tangible
quality of workplace interactions must be a priority for both the
assets, such as plants and equipment, to one based on intan-
organization and individual leaders. Indeed, one might con-
gible assets, including customer relationships, brand, ideas,
clude that the ability to manage interactions effectively is at the
and innovation. It is now estimated that intangible assets
heart of successful leadership.
account for more than 80 percent of an organization’s value,
THE COMMON INTERACTION TRAPS
and knowledge workers more than 40 percent of the workforce.
Through our research and our work with thousands of leaders
In recent years, McKinsey and Co. has explored the relation-
around the world and across all levels of the leadership
ship between workplace interactions and the productivity of
pipeline, we at DDI have identified seven common interaction
knowledge workers, believing that the key to improving
traps that inhibit leader, team, and organizational effectiveness.
knowledge-worker productivity lies in organizations’ ability to
identify and address the barriers workers face in their daily
interactions. This research, for which McKinsey examined
several knowledge-based organizations, focused on the
broader barriers (physical/technical, social/cultural, contextual, and time) that inhibit effective workplace interactions.
have often been rewarded and promoted for getting things
done and fixing problems, can jump too quickly to presenting the solution. In doing so, they fail to understand
the context of a situation and miss opportunities to include
all parties.
While these barriers matter, this view overlooks an important
reality: Leaders spend a significant portion of their time
engaged in interactions, and the quality of these interactions,
including informal discussions, has a significant impact on
the performance and productivity of both the individuals and
the organization.
2. (Mistakenly) believing one size fits all. Over time, people
develop a preferred style and/or approach to interactions.
In their comfort level with how they prefer to do things, they
can be oblivious to the impact their approach has in certain
situations and on certain individuals. They may also struggle to accommodate different perspectives.
Consider for a moment the amount of time wasted in poorly
managed meetings. Or worse, the lost productivity when
somebody leaves a discussion frustrated and disengaged. If
1. Going straight to fixing the problem. Leaders, who
12
3. Avoiding the tough issues. Many leaders struggle to
address the tough issues; in particular, performance
issues. They lack the skills and insight to diffuse uncom-
fortable situations and/or tackle sensitive topics. As a
these critical skills as the Interaction EssentialsSM because
result, issues can go unresolved, leading to even greater
they are the foundational behaviors that make leaders effec-
tension and more serious problems.
tive. They include:
4. Inconsistently applying skills. Leaders often adopt a
• Maintain or enhance self-esteem.
different approach when confronted with different situations
• Listen and respond with empathy.
and contexts. As a result, they may readily apply skills to
• Ask for help and encourage involvement.
some interactions while not applying them to others—an
inconsistency that can breed confusion and feed a perception that the leader is ineffective.
5. Influencing through the facts only. As leaders move
through the ranks, they increasingly need to influence
through personal rather than position power. Too often,
leaders rely on logic and rationale to position an argument
or point of view when they would be better served by a
• Share thoughts, feelings, and rationale (to build trust).
• Provide support without removing responsibility
(to build ownership).
The Interaction EssentialsSM also include interaction guidelines that form a five-stage process (Open, Clarify, Develop,
Agree, and Close) leaders follow to ensure that interactions
achieve their intended outcomes.
“softer” approach that will allow them to build strong net-
These skills may sound like common sense, but our research
works, and appeal to the unique needs and circumstances
has shown that leaders often lack them. The good news is
of individual stakeholders.
that these skills can be developed. With the right training,
6. Spotting opportunities for change but forgetting to
engage others. Leaders often recognize opportunities for
improvement in areas such as products and processes but
struggle to include and engage others in the change
practice, and continual application, any leader can acquire
these skills and become adept at conducting effective and
successful conversations that serve to strengthen relationships, and drive engagement and results.
process. They don’t proactively encourage their team
CONCLUSION
members and peers to develop ideas; they oversimplify the
In many organizations, people typically are moved into lead-
issues surrounding change and show little appreciation for
ership positions based on their strong technical knowledge
the impact that change can have on people.
and skills. In fact, the promotion into a leadership role is often
7. Coaching in the moment. When they need to coach direct
a “reward” for having demonstrated technical excellence.
reports, leaders often struggle to provide coaching in a
However, the assumption that people with strong technical
timely fashion—when it’s needed most. Furthermore, the
skills make good leaders is simply not true. The functions and
conclusions leaders reach about their team members’
skills of leadership are quite different and require a funda-
development needs can often be superficial, causing them
mental shift in the way one thinks and operates.
to miss opportunities to investigate fully and understand the
The transition to a leadership role is difficult. It’s challenging
underlying performance gaps.
but also achievable. Acquiring core skills, such as interaction
IMPROVING LEADERSHIP INTERACTIONS
In the field of electronics, a circuit breaker is an automatic
electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from
damage caused by an overload or short circuit. Its core func-
skills, is possible for anyone willing to try new behaviors and
new ways of viewing themselves and their work.
✪ To read more about the importance of interactions, download the
DDI research paper Driving Workplace Productivity Through High
Quality Interactions.
tion is to interrupt an otherwise-damaging electrical flow.
download
When leaders have and apply the skills they need for effective conversations with their team members, peers, and other
key stakeholders, the skills act as a sort of circuit breaker to
MARK BUSINE is general manager,
DDI Australia.
prevent damage to critical relationships. At DDI, we refer to
13
WHAT’S GOING ON
DDI Again Takes Part in CNBC
Asia Business Leaders Awards
In November in Bangkok, DDI again presented the
Asia Talent Management Award at the 11th CNBC
Asia Business Leaders Awards 2012. The winner
was Dr. Lee Suk-Chae of KT Corp. for his personal
involvement in supporting and nurturing his organization’s next generation of leaders. Rich Wellins,
senior vice president, DDI, presented the award.
DDI sits down with some stand-up
industry experts for an engaging
series of conversations.
Hear from your peers—talent
executives on the front lines of
industry-leading organizations,
working to accommodate the challenges of
change: branding, customer service, and
leadership.
Each 45-minute webinar features a distinguished client discussing the talent strategy
they spearheaded in response to a particular business pain point. The engaging conversation will conclude with your questions
on leadership development, high potential
acceleration, assessment, and hiring. So
join the conversation.
M a rc h 1 8 | Fo s t e r Wh e e l e r
Fueling organizational change with
the right leadership skills.
A p r i l 1 7 | V F C o r p o ra t i o n
Designing a consistent global brand
with its top talent.
M ay 2 3 | A l c o a
Producing stronger frontline leaders
for a better bottom line.
Learn more about these webinars.
CNBC pioneered the Asia Business Leaders
Awards (ABLA) to acknowledge exceptional CEOs
across the region. As CNBC’s research partner,
DDI’s Rich Wellins with Asia
Talent Management Award
DDI conducts in-depth, face-to-face interviews with
winner Dr. Lee Suk-Chae of
shortlisted CEOs to assess their leadership qualities
KT Corp.
based on criteria such as strategy formulation and
execution, talent management, innovation, culture, and social contribution.
Each year, DDI conducts in-depth interviews with top CEOs across 10 countries: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
“DDI plays a critical role in the selection process, continually outdoing themselves in capturing the strengths and achievements of the candidates, and
always managing to give our judges a selection of the best corporate leaders Asia has to offer,” says Satpal Brainch, managing director of CNBC
Asia Pacific.
Other awards presented at the ceremony included: Asia Business Leader
of the Year: Mr. N. Chandrasekaran of Tata Consultancy Services; Asia
Innovator of the Year: Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan of Thermax Ltd.; Corporate
Social Responsibility Award: Mr. Choo Chiau Beng, of Keppel Corp;
Thailand Business Leader of the Year: Mr. Aswin Techajareonvikul of Berli
Jucker Co. PCL (BJC); and the Lifetime Achievement Award: Mr. Dhanin
Chearavanont of Charoen Pokphand (CP).
Also in November, CNBC and TV18 hosted the India Business Leaders
Awards (IBLA) to celebrate the spirit of excellence in business leadership
in India. At the awards ceremony in Mumbai, DDI was proud to present the
India Talent Management Award to Mr. Kuldip Kaura of ACC Ltd.
View a video of the ABLA ceremony.
14
Watch Some Great Stories!
To access the
DDI client video
library, visit
www.ddiworld.com/GO.
We have built a great—and growing—online
video library of our clients telling their talent
management stories. Each video features an
HR professional or leader telling how DDI
helped his or her organization with a talent
management challenge—whether it was building
a leadership pipeline, selecting and developing
the best, or developing exceptional leaders.
GO WINS
MARCOM
AWARD!
GO was named a 2012 Gold MarCom
Award winner by the Association of
Marketing and Communication
Professionals, an international associ-
ation of creative professionals. Award
judges “look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high
standard of excellence and whose
Insights from 10 Years of
Assessment Data
work serves as a benchmark for the
DDI has launched a series of Leadership Insights articles that represent a
10-year culmination of assessment analytics.
Each piece explores over a decade of executive assessment data to examine
the characteristics of leaders who rise to the top, and what talent managers
and HR professionals can do to help make leaders more successful.
industry.” GO was selected for a Gold
MarCom award from among more than
6,000 entries from throughout the U.S.,
Canada, and several other countries.
GO DEEP!
To download this first piece in the series, visit www.ddiworld.com/GO.
DDI ON
TWITTER
WWW.TWITTER.COM/DDIWORLD
15
✪ Podcasts
✪ Research Reports
✪ Video
✪ Bonus Content
Visit www.ddiworld.com/GO
GET TO KNOW
AND LOVE
IM: EXL!
SM
DDI has recently launched our NEW Interaction Management®:
Exceptional Leaders (IM:ExLSM) series—it’s frontline development
reimagined for the realities of today’s workplace!
To create
transformative experiences for your frontline
leaders, we researched, refined, and perfected the optimal combination of timeless and new skills. Then we created a robust,
easy-to-deploy mix of training options for maximum flexibility
and efficiency. And we even created innovative new ways to
build on our proven approach to translating development into
sustainable behavior that drives business results. In short, we
took something great and made it even greater!
16
What really helped was the amount of interaction.
Hearing other individual points of view sparked ideas for my team.
IT’S DEVELOPMENT YOUR LEADERS WILL
ACTUALLY ASK FOR!
THIS GOES FAR BEYOND THE
TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM
The content hits the mark. The topics covered in all
26 half-day IM: ExLSM courses equip leaders to:
A new standard for leveraging critical individual
assessment data to make learning more efficient.
Facilitators can use assessment data from Manager Ready®
or Leadership Mirror® to drive personalized learning by
tailoring course delivery and skill practice opportunities to
the specific needs of each learner.
Coach for Performance
Manage Change
Inspire Innovation
Build Engagement and Trust
Make Decisions and Drive Results
Influence, Network, and Partner
Select, Develop, and Retain Talent
The latest technology and flexible learning options
—blended to perfection. Because how leaders use tech-
Plus, we’ve surrounded these courses with the tools,
methodology, development planning, manager support,
and technology required not only to train leaders, but to
transform them into better leaders.
We’ve made it engaging! Your leaders will love the
IM: ExLSM courses, from the enjoyable learning activities,
games, realistic business cases, and thought-provoking
discussions, to the participant materials and videos that
connect course concepts to real-world application.
Extraordinary leaders need essential skills. IM: ExLSM
develops the skills leaders need right now, such as driving
innovation and leading remote teams, and it also emphasizes those timeless behaviors that effective leaders have
always needed and always will. We refer to these behaviors
as the Interaction EssentialsSM because they are the foundational skills that make leaders effective.
Because great leaders do great things! The skills
and stronger interpersonal behaviors leaders learn in
IM: ExLSM can be used anywhere, including at home and
in the community. It’s not just about developing better
bosses and coworkers, but about growing better people
who make a positive impact on the lives of others—in and
out of the workplace.
nology has changed, with IM: ExLSM we’ve incorporated
delivery options including traditional classroom, webbased training, virtual classroom, and support for technology-enabled social and peer learning.
Development Accelerators. Each IM: ExLSM course
includes course-specific activities learners can use before,
during, or after training to delve deeper into specific course
topics, refresh their knowledge and skills, apply what they
learn, and track their progress.
Online learning support resources. To expand their
IM: ExLSM experience, learners can complete an online
simulation to see how they measure up in their ability to
meet others’ personal needs when interacting with team
members and peers. They also can log onto DDI®
AnyTime. This innovative new mobile resource is like
having “a coach in your pocket” that leaders can access
for course-specific content, job aids, and additional
development resources where and when they need it
most. For the ultimate in post-training support, you can
give your leaders access to OPAL®, DDI’s comprehensive
online performance support system which features thousands of tips, pointers, and skill-sharpening activities.
Plenty of great tools and techniques to prompt innovation within the organization.
17
THE INTERACTION MANAGEMENT®:
EXCEPTIONAL LEADERS (IM: ExLSM)
COURSES
- Accelerating Business Decisions
- Addressing Poor Performance
- Advanced Coaching
- Coaching for Peak Performance
HERE’S JUST SOME OF WHAT OUR
CLIENTS—AND THEIR LEADERS—
ARE SAYING ABOUT IM: EXLSM . . .
- Communicating for Leadership Success
“The participant activities, slides, videos, manager
- Delegating with Purpose
support, and Development Accelerators have risen
- Developing Yourself and Others
to a new, higher standard of excellence.”
- Building a Service Culture
- Building and Sustaining Trust
- Driving Change
“I love what I see in IM: ExLSM.”
- Engaging and Retaining Talent
“The highly interactive style was conducive to learning the materials and the high energy kept everyone
engaged and involved.”
- Executing Strategy at the Front Line
- Fostering Innovation
- Leading in These Times
“As a new leader, the interactive and hands-on
nature . . . was exactly what I needed.”
- Leading Meetings That Work
- Leading Virtually+
- Making High-Quality Decisions
“Very interactive. Great group activities. Heightens
awareness on your own leadership style.”
- Maximizing Team Performance
- Planning and Managing Resources*
“What really helped was the amount of interaction.
Hearing other individual points of view sparked
ideas for my team.”
- Reinforcing Leadership Development
- Resolving Workplace Conflict
- Setting Goals and Reviewing Results
“I was thinking how I could implement strategies/
techniques/actions with my team.”
- Strategies for Influencing Others
- Strengthening Your Partnerships
- Strong StartSM
- Your Leadership Journey
+ Available as a web-based course only.
* Self-study course.
Click here to learn more
about IM: ExLSM?
18
LEADERSHIP IS
BROKEN
DDI’s survey finds that few people think
business leadership is adequate.
HUMAN
RESOURCES:
25%
IT’S NOT only HR who thinks leader
EMPLOYEES SAY
quality is low. In DDI’s 2011 Global
Leadership Forecast nearly 1 in 4
leaders rated their organization’s
leaders as just “fair” or “poor.”
OF LEADERS
ARE HIGH-QUALITY
LEADERS
THINK THAT
BEST
BOSS
38%
ONLY
34%
OF LEADERS
ARE HIGH-QUALITY
ONLY
IN THE 2012 DDI global workforce
study that produced the findings cited
in this infographic, nearly half of
employees felt they could do their
boss’ job, only better. But only
46 percent would actually want
their boss’ job.
49%
OF BOSSES ARE EFFECTIVE!
OF EMPLOYEES ARE
CURRENTLY WORKING FOR THE
BEST MANAGER THEY HAVE EVER WORKED FOR
WHAT ARE THE BEST LEADERS DOING?
60% 53% 51% 56% 57%
40%
RECOGNIZING
SUPPORTING
INVOLVING
LISTENING
EXPLAINING
RATIONALE
MAINTAINING
SELF-ESTEEM
% of leaders that currently do this
A WHOPPING 98 percent of
employees of BEST managers agreed
with the statement, “I feel motivated
to give my best to my manager.”
INTERACTION SKILLS
MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!
Leaders with strong interaction skills produce
striking results among their teams.
89%
HAVE MORE
ENGAGED
TEAMS
EMPLOYEES STATED clearly that
they are not looking for their leader
to be a friend: “Took time to socialize
with me” and “Asked about my
hobbies and interests” came at
the bottom of the list of behaviors
that set best-ever leaders apart.
JUST 5 PERCENT of employees
83%
WHEN WORKING FOR their
LEAD TEAMS TO EXCEED THEIR
PRODUCTIVITY GOALS
TURNOVER IS
of WORST managers agreed that
“My manager does a good job of
helping me be more productive.”
3 TIMES LESS LIKELY
WORST manager, 68 percent of
employees wanted to leave the job
because of their manager’s attitude.
Want to see more?
DON’T WAIT:
download
IMPROVE YOUR LEADERSHIP NOW
Learn more about the Interaction Essentials
http://www.ddiworld.com/leadership-today
19
Download the full Lessons
for Leaders from the
People Who Matter:
How Employees Around
the World View Their
Leaders study.
GO TO WORK
WHERE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS BIG
Nebraska Furniture Mart is known for its huge
stores—and its even bigger focus on customer service.
Megan Berry Barlow is from Texas where, by reputation because of the size of the state, everything is
bigger. But she was taken aback the first time she visited
Nebraska Furniture Mart’s Omaha location.
“When I moved from Texas to Nebraska, I didn’t work
at Nebraska Furniture Mart right away,” recalls Berry
Barlow, the company’s human resources director. “We
needed some furniture for our new house and my husband kept telling me we have to go to Nebraska
Furniture Mart. It’s so big. I said, you know I’m from
Texas, how big could it be? We went, and I was actually a little bit overwhelmed. It is that large.”
Large barely begins to describe the scale of the colossal
stores, located in Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City,
Kansas; and Des Moines, Iowa. The Kansas City and
Omaha locations each have a footprint of more than one
million square feet, including both showroom and distribution space. A fourth store, to be located in Berry
Barlow’s native Texas, is slated to open in the Dallas/
Fort Worth area in 2015. It will be the largest location
20
“We try to write all our strategies and hire people we
believe will be able to deliver an exceptional experience
to our customers. That’s just who we are,” says Jackson.
“We pride ourselves on being able to provide an exceptional experience for every customer that walks through
our doors or shops on our web site.”
yet at 1.8 million square feet—with a showroom the size
of 10 American football fields.
Size matters at Nebraska Furniture Mart, which prides
itself on its low-price guarantee as much as on its expansive showrooms. Its locations are destinations, drawing
in customers who travel hundreds of miles from all over
the midwestern U.S. to shop for furniture, flooring, electronics, and appliances. But the customer experience is
what matters most of all.
Making sure the right people are in all roles—salespeople, managers, those working in back office jobs, distribution center employees—begins with hiring those who
are the right fit. To make this happen, Nebraska
“If you go to any Nebraska Furniture Mart store, you’ll
pretty much hear everyone sharing the same philosophy, Furniture Mart has instituted hiring processes that combine testing and interviewing. For the testing compothat everything we do begins and
nent of the process, depending on the
ends with our customers,” says April
job for which the candidate is applyJackson, training and organizational
“We pride ourselves
ing, he or she will take DDI’s jobdevelopment manager.
applicable Team Member Career
on being able to
It’s a commitment that is carried out
Battery, Customer Service Career
provide an exceptional
through the organization’s talent sysBattery, Sales Insight Inventory, or
experience for every
tems.
Leadership Insight Inventory. He
customer that walks
or she also goes through one or
“SELL CHEAP AND TELL THE TRUTH”
through our doors”
more Targeted Selection® behavioral
Like many other big business success
interviews. The Targeted Selection®
stories, Nebraska Furniture Mart’s
system targets the competencies and
begins with one individual: Rose
motivational fit required for success in each job.
Blumkin, a Russian immigrant who, in 1937, opened a furniture store in the basement of her husband’s pawn shop in In addition to determining whether or not the individual
downtown Omaha. “Mrs. B,” as she is still affectionately has the skills and ability to do the job, the process also
referred to within the organization (she died in 1998 at age serves to reveal whether or not the candidate is a good
104; she worked at the company until she was 103), built match with the organizational culture.
Nebraska Furniture Mart on a simple yet timeless mantra:
“If you don’t have the right attitude, that’s the deal“Sell cheap and tell the truth.”
breaker,” says Berry Barlow.
Selling cheap and telling the truth remains Nebraska
Getting hired is just the beginning. Once on board,
Furniture Mart’s core operating philosophy 14 years
employees go through an intensive multi-day orientation
after Blumkin’s death and nearly three decades after she
program where, as Jackson points out, the focus on cussold an 80 percent stake in the business to investor
tomer needs is emphasized throughout.
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway company. The evidence is visible everywhere in the stores, from the wide “When we do our new employee orientation, we share
selection of offerings found in its showrooms to the cut- the history of our company, which centers around Mrs.
ting-edge electronic price tag system updated daily to B’s fundamentals, including sell cheap, tell the truth, and
ensure customers are getting the lowest prices. But the take care of our customers. And as we talk about
most important evidence is found in the organization’s Nebraska Furniture Mart today and our future, you can
see those themes resounding throughout our culture.
customer-centered approach to its people.
21
“We did a needs analysis and tried to really understand
what our managers and supervisors really needed to help
them lead their teams with that mindset of always taking
care of our customers, as well as taking care of our
staff,” says Jackson. “All of the courses in our leadership
development program are DDI courses, which allows us
to reinforce the language and concepts that are in
Service Plus. We’ve really set up everything around
creating an exceptional customer experience.”
Each new staff member leaves knowing that our customers come first, and we will all work together to
make sure each experience is exceptional.”
New employees, as all incumbent employees did before
them, also go through a customized version of DDI’s
Service Plus® customer service training course, which
DDI has recently re-introduced as Taking the Heat, as
part of the Interaction Management®: Exceptional
Performers series. The Service Plus® training helps participants recognize the business impact of customer
retention, develop skills to identify and respond to dissatisfied customers, and use a set of best practices to turn
difficult customer situations into positive interactions.
To track the usage of the customer service skills,
Nebraska Furniture Mart relies on customer surveys.
Survey questions such as whether or not the customer is
likely to return to the store, help gauge whether or not
employees are successfully delivering the best-possible customer
experience.
The training, which stretches over
three days, represents a major cost
for a retail organization that needs
to keep people on the job, making
sales and taking care of customers.
But Nebraska Furniture Mart sees
it as a worthwhile commitment—
one that’s supported from the top of
the organization.
“You get to a point where the price
alone won’t bring customers in, so
the differentiator becomes how you
treat your customers. Exceptional
customer service is the way we differentiate ourselves from our competitors,” explains Jackson.
Nebraska Furniture Mart will open its
“Our president, Ron Blumkin, who
largest store yet in Texas in 2015.
To further reinforce and perpetuate
is Mrs. B’s grandson, is a great
Nebraska Furniture Mart’s culture,
champion of Service Plus,” says
Jackson. “He truly believes that the skills you learn in the Berry Barlow has begun working with senior managecourse are life skills that will make you a better person ment on a succession strategy, and on identifying and
and make your life easier. As a matter of fact, he’s one developing future senior leaders.
of our facilitators for Service Plus.
At only 3,000 employees, Nebraska Furniture Mart is
“And he really does practice what Service Plus teaches. not one of the larger companies within Berkshire
If you see him out on the sales floor interacting with a Hathaway. However, Berry Barlow says that it is at the
customer or with a staff member, he never misses an forefront when it comes to its focus on talent.
opportunity to use the Key Principles taught in the course.
“When we go to the national meetings, we are middle of
We’re very fortunate to have him as a role model.”
the pack, in terms of size. There are some organizaIt’s not just the senior leaders who support the customer tions, such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Fruit of
service culture, but all leaders. To help them in this crit- the Loom, which have tens of thousands of employees.
ical role, Nebraska Furniture Mart has established a
This particular year I walked away with a sense of satdevelopment program for frontline leaders that incorpo- isfaction for the work we do because we were focusing
rates courses from DDI’s Interaction Management® on the same things as some of those big guys. We’ve
leadership development system.
started to look at the people we need for the future, and
22
what it will take to help them develop
the skills necessary to keep us competitive. Those were the same things that
those other, larger organizations are
thinking about.”
THEY WON’T SHOP ANYWHERE ELSE
When Jackson is asked what the payoff
is for Nebraska Furniture Mart’s customer service commitment, she gets
right to the heart of it.
“When I think about our commitment
being successful, I like to look at sales.
When sales are strong it means customers are coming in the doors, talking
with our salespeople, and then they are
off to tell their friends about Nebraska
Furniture Mart, and they themselves
come back for their future needs. If we
take care of our customers, they keep
coming back and they tell others to
shop here.”
Jackson also speaks of customers who
vow they won’t shop anywhere else,
and those who proudly announce that
their family has shopped at Nebraska
Furniture Mart for generations. “That,
to me, means that we’re really walking
the talk.”
Berry Barlow says she regularly sees
and hears of instances where employees are using the customer service
skills they have developed.
“The last time I taught Service Plus, I
had a manager come in and tell me
how, the night before, he had witnessed
a situation where a customer ended up
being very unhappy. Then he told me
about how great this one particular
staff member did at taking care of the
situation, how he looked for opportuni-
ties to exceed the customer’s expectations. Not only did the staff member
solve the problem, but then he also took
the customer’s purchases out to her car
and unloaded them for her, which is
really not something we typically do. It
was just something else he felt he could
do to really wow the customer.”
The training also helps contribute to
strong employee loyalty and engagement, an area the organization tracks
by surveying employees.
“Our goal would be that you would
never think about going anywhere else
other than Nebraska Furniture Mart to
purchase home furnishing items. I
would like to think the same thing
about HR, that our employees are so
happy that they don’t ever want a
career elsewhere,” says Berry Barlow,
who points out that seven percent of
employees have been with the organization for 20 or more years.
Megan Berry Barlow,
human resources director
Nebraska Furniture Mart’s
Three Keys to Great
Customer Service
1. Selecting the right people.
2. Setting clear expectations.
3. Ensuring leaders serve
as great role models.
Jackson concurs that Nebraska
Furniture Mart is not only a customerfocused organization, but also a great
place to work.
“I just think this is just such a unique
organization. They figured out how to
do it a long time ago, and it’s really
rooted in the ability to build really
strong relationships. I love working
here.”
✪
April Jackson,
training and organizational
development manager
Learn more about Nebraska Furniture Mart
and its history of focusing on its customers.
23
Coffee
on the
GO with
JULIE CLOW
The author of The Work Revolution
envisions a workplace defined by
“freedom and excellence for all.”
After completing a Ph.D. in behavior analysis, Julie Clow spent
her early career “dutifully working in traditional corporate environments” designing and delivering training courses. Her working world view exploded in 2006 when she began a five-year
stint at Google. The company’s expectation of innovation and its
unique culture inspired her book, The Work Revolution:
Freedom and Excellence for All. Her experience at Google also
helped shape her Work Revolution Manifesto, which proclaims
“Freedom in the workplace is worth fighting for, and every person and every organization can be excellent.”
The Work Revolution, as Clow envisions it, needs to begin not
with a leadership coup or sweeping reforms, but rather with
small, individual efforts that, in concert and over time, possess
the power to turn a rules-driven corporate culture upside down.
She talked to GO about the current state of the world of work, the
need to change its nature and structure, and why younger
employees may already be firing the Work Revolution’s first shots.
GO: What inspired you to write The Work Revolution?
CLOW: It was the high-definition contrast between my experience with traditional organizations—with set times, dress codes,
and top-down direction—and my introduction to Google. All of a
sudden I was an adult; co-workers viewed me as a colleague
with something significant to offer. I saw how positively and personally I responded to an environment built on trust, and I
became passionate about trying to articulate what I was feeling.
I began to question the assumptions behind the way we manage
people, and take a fresh look at whether or not we needed all
those rules and regulations. The book was an outgrowth of the
liberating environment I so wholeheartedly embraced at Google.
24
COFFEE ON THE GO
GO: Do we really need a work revolution?
CLOW: Absolutely. The biggest reason is that the type of work that we’re
doing now is vastly different than the
work we did at the turn of the 20th century. While most of the jobs of yore
were manual-labor intensive, today’s
jobs are knowledge-based. It’s now
much more about innovation and finding new ways of solving problems. It no
longer makes sense to have a management system that is structured to elicit
specific behaviors and deliver prescribed outcomes. Companies such as
Google understand that in this environment, we need to empower people to
make an infinite number of decisions
about a world of unknowns, which may
or may not require solutions.
In the
book, I wrote about the outdated tools
that are no longer effective.
GO: What is the impact on
employees when companies do
not update their tools to align with
the times?
CLOW: I think employee disengagement is the most debilitating symptom of
an ailing corporate culture. If you show
up to work each day, and you’re working
on something in isolation—without any
understanding of how your efforts support the bigger picture or add value—it is
really easy to become bored and dissatisfied. When iron-fisted managers reign
as the all-answer guys and are dismissive of new ideas and the people who
propose them, they continue to wreak
havoc on organizational morale.
Bad
management is a result of not questioning the status quo, not moving forward,
and not empowering employees.
GO: Speaking of questioning the
status quo and moving forward,
how does innovation figure into the
need to reinvent work?
CLOW: Bottom line: When companies
fail to think innovatively, profits shrink.
Executives get fixated on the notion
that they’re producers of X, Y, and Z,
rather than focusing on being problemsolvers for their end-users. And, problem-solving is an ongoing, constantly
evolving process.
If we continue to believe as an organization that we have all the answers, we
forfeit the opportunity to take our lessons learned and apply them to the
next hurdle or innovation.
High
turnover, as a result of inside-the-box
thinking, is also very destructive to an
organization. If instead you can revolutionize the workplace, you’ll likely enjoy
favored employer status and attract top
talent to drive greater innovation.
GO: You point out that the revolution has a special appeal to Gen
Yers. Does its success rest with
them? Is the movement generational?
CLOW: I think it resonates with Gen
Yers in particular, although I don’t
believe their entrance into the workforce necessitated the kinds of changes
we are discussing. I really believe that
the revolution will grow skyward, and
the Gen Yers have a demonstrated
affinity for grassroots initiatives. I
believe real change will start with them,
and I’ve seen some examples to support this. Readers have told me that as
a result of the book, they’ve revised
25
their mission statements, so that their
stated roles are now part of the collective mission of the company and are
infused with promises of possibility. I’ve
heard this new perspective more from
the Gen Y group than from any of the
other age demographics. I know this
isn’t a statistically significant sample;
just a few data points, but it’s very
encouraging.
I think a lot about Facebook and how it
began with that generation and grew
from there. One of the arguments I
make in my book is that the work revolution may similarly find a home within
that generation and move upward, following a similar trajectory.
GO: What is the most surprising
reaction you’ve gotten to the
book?
CLOW: A reader asked to connect with
me on LinkedIn, then shared that she’d
just finished my book and promptly quit
her job!
Julie Clow’s book, The Work Revolution:
Freedom and Excellence for All, is available
now at bookstores and through major online
book retailers.
View a series of videos of Clow
discussing The Work Revolution.
Moving
Selection
Beyond
Guessing
DDI’S LATEST GLOBAL SELECTION FORECAST EXAMINES HOW—
AND HOW EFFECTIVELY—ORGANIZATIONS ARE HIRING.
Jazmine Boatman, Ph.D., and Scott Erker, Ph.D.
Despite
a global recession and an altered economic
landscape, the number-one challenge for organizations
has remained unchanged in the five years since DDI’s last
Global Selection Forecast: Whom to hire? Businesses,
fortified with lessons learned and leaner and meaner operations, understand better than ever that talent decisions
are the toughest and most critical to future success.
Another constant: Knowing more and guessing less about
your candidates is the key to effective hiring.
In fact, Know More. Guess Less. is the title of the Global
Selection Forecast 2012 report, and as it shows, there is
still a lot of room for improvement in many selection
processes. Although companies have years of hiring experience and benefit from established, formalized human
resource systems, most have trouble identifying qualified
candidates and employing the right tools to ensure they
hire the right people.
For the Global Selection Forecast 2012, which was cosponsored by Oracle, more than 250 staffing directors and
more than 2,000 new hires from 28 countries provided
their perspectives on their organization’s selection
processes. Staffing directors offered insights into what
selection systems look like today; meanwhile, new hires
provided an unprecedented view of how those systems are
perceived. The new hires also shared their post-hire experiences. Organizations of all sizes are represented in the
2012 Global Selection Forecast, with the majority being
multinational. For-profit organizations span 33 industries.
The findings included in the report comprise three main
sections that align with the different steps of the evaluation process: 1) the current state of the selection strategy
and system, 2) the effectiveness and opportunities for
improvement, and 3) the post-hiring leveraging of data
collected during the selection process.
26
THE STATE OF SELECTION SYSTEMS TODAY
management is to support strategy and meet organizational goals, then internal candidates are attractive because
of their familiarity with the organization’s inner workings.
Staffing directors must not only bring in high-quality talent
to meet today’s needs, but also make selections based on
future needs. So how are the selection systems stacking up?
These companies also tend to look outside when hiring
for lower-level positions. This enables them to bring in
new talent, while providing necessary time for grooming
and training.
When asked to rate the effectiveness of their selection systems, nearly three out of four (72 percent) staffing directors
rate them as effective or very effective. At the same time,
only 19 percent of organizations have a talent acquisition
strategy designed to hire the very best talent. How can
both statistics be accurate? We believe the answer is that
organizations tend to be overly optimistic when rating their
selection systems because they don’t have the right criteria
to define effectiveness. Currently, most use process efficiency metrics (e.g., time to fill), combined with turnover
rate and hiring manager satisfaction to evaluate success
(Figure1). Unfortunately, these standards do not address
several key questions, including whether new hires are
of better quality and/or more likely to grow within the
organization.
FIGURE 2: EXTERNAL HIRING RATES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
SUCCESSFUL AT HIRING
DATA
B
E
YT
Percent of Positions Filled Through External Hiring
100%
Organizations more
successful in identifying
the right people for the
job grow their own
leaders, but tend
to hire externally
for lower-level
positions.
80%
67%
66%
60%
44%
45%
42%
40%
20%
0%
Individual
contributors
FIGURE 1: HOW STAFFING DIRECTORS EVALUATE THEIR
SELECTION SYSTEMS
Professionals
Frontline
leaders
Mid-level
leaders
Senior
leaders
MAKING THE BEST HIRING DECISIONS
Process efficiency (time to fill, number of applicants)
DDI research finds that overreliance on the manager’s
evaluation is the biggest contributor to hiring mistakes
(Figure 3). Reliance on candidates’ self-promotion is also
a factor and another indication that organizations are missing critical information for making better talent decisions.
79%
Employee retention
76%
Hiring manager satisfaction
68%
Candidate reactions/acceptability
59%
Employee engagement
47%
Improved performance/productivity of hires
FIGURE 3: REASONS FOR HIRING MISTAKES
47%
Cost of system
43%
Business impact (e.g., revenues, customer satisfaction, brand)
36%
DATA
B
50%
Promotability of hires
0%
10%
20%
30%
E
YT
28%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Not only do new
hires lack critical
information, but it appears
that organizations are
suffering from the
same malaise.
40%
80%
31%
Percent of Staffing Directors Who Use This to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Their Selection System
30%
21%
HIRING BETTER BY HIRING FROM WITHIN
20%
When we looked at organizations that were more successful at matching candidates to jobs, we noticed that the
more senior the position, the less likely it was to be filled
from the outside (Figure 2). For leadership positions,
companies making better hires tend to promote internally
and rely less on external candidates. If a major role of
16%
14%
10%
7%
0%
Overreliance
on hiring
manager’s
evaluation
27
Candidates’
overpromised
capabilities
Hiring
managers
did not
follow
selection
process
Insufficient
information
on candidates
Ignored
information
provided
As this research confirms, staffing directors are woefully
ill-equipped to make effective hiring decisions.
Companies must identify what they’re looking for, in a
systematic way, and then use a variety of diagnostic tools
to assess candidates on those factors. Hiring the best
involves knowing what it takes to be successful in a particular position, and making sure the candidate has what
it takes to succeed.
FIGURE 4: QUALITY OF INTERVIEWS RELATED TO
ON-THE-JOB SENTIMENTS
Percent of New Hires Who Had a Realistic Picture
of the Job from the Hiring Process
100%
WHAT DO NEW HIRES THINK?
Only half of new employees are confident that they made
the right decision when they accepted their job. This is
evidence of a clear disconnect between the hiring process
and the employee’s expectations, and the reality of the
day-to-day.
87%
80%
62%
60%
40%
40%
20%
10%
0%
Not at all
Somewhat
Mostly
Very
Confidence in Decision to Accept the Job
In addition, the analysis of selection data can help the
organization refine and improve its selection strategy in
order to employ talent that performs better, is more
engaged, and less likely to turn over.
Our study found that those organizations that do a better
job of providing a realistic picture of the job before
employment had more hires who were confident in their
decision, were highly engaged, and were not looking to
leave the organization (Figure 4). Specifically, when new
hires said they did not receive an accurate picture of the
job during the hiring process, only 14 percent reported
being highly engaged and just 12 percent were not looking
for another job.
Percent of Organizations Leveraging Hiring
Data to Inform New-Hire Development
FIGURE 5: USING HIRING INFORMATION TO INFORM
DEVELOPMENT INSPIRES NEW-HIRE CONFIDENCE
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
Clearly, when employers don’t provide a realistic job preview, they miss a valuable opportunity to help ensure that
a new hire is the right fit with the job. Another missed
opportunity is failing to capitalize on data gathered during
the selection process. This data is a source of rich information about the new hire’s relative strengths and development areas. Unfortunately, only 24 percent of hiring
managers say that this data is leveraged to inform or
accelerate the new hires’ development. When used during
on-boarding, the data reinforces the value of the selection
process and reminds employees that their new bosses are
invested in their success. It also inspires new-hire confidence (Figure 5).
80%
66%
60%
40%
25%
20%
8%
1%
0%
Not at all
Somewhat
Mostly
Very
New-Hire Confidence in Decision to Accept the Job
This article is adapted from the Know More. Guess Less. report. In
addition to providing a complete overview of the Global Selection
Forecast 2012 findings, the report offers guidance on the use of analytics and a “Get Ahead” strategy for improving organizational performance through better hiring.
✪ To download the full report, visit www.ddiworld.com/GO.
download
Jazmine Boatman, Ph.D., is manager of DDI’s
Center for Applied Behavioral Research.
28
Scott Erker, Ph.D., is senior vice president,
selection solutions, for DDI.
Inno
(way can i make it happen)
vation
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plays in g
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assisting
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and learn
The Talent Management Expert
29
Check out a Live DDI Event Near you!
Driving Business Performance
through Frontline Leadership
Development
- March 14 – Melbourne, Australia
- March 21 – Sydney, Australia
Realizing Leadership Development
through Learning Journeys
- March 7 – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Attracting, Retaining, and Engaging
Talent in Natural Resources
- March 12 – Calgary, AB, Canada
Building Better Leaders: Introducing
the NEW Interaction Management®:
Exceptional Leaders Series
- March 28 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- April 16 – London, UK
Transform Leaders to Transform Your
Business: The Power of Learning
Journeys
- March 12 – Whippany, NJ
- April 10 – Washington, DC
- May 2 – Dallas, TX
- May 14 – Chicago, IL
Sustainable Selection Strategies:
Acquiring Tomorrow’s Talent Today
- March 7 – Chicago, IL
- April 4 – Minneapolis, MN
- April 9 – Dallas, TX
- May 15 – New York, NY
Leadership @ the Cutting Edge
- March 13 – Pittsburgh, PA
- April 3 – New York, NY
- April 30 – Houston, TX
- May 1 – Atlanta, GA
TO REGISTER.................................................
...for any of these events, scan the QR code to visit our Events
page (www.ddiworld.com/events). On the page you can also
see complete listings of DDI events and the full line-up of leading
industry conferences that DDI sponsors and attends.
32
Information You Can Use!
Check out the latest DDI thought leadership, research, and videos.
To access these pieces, visit www.ddiworld.com/GO.
Global Selection Forecast 2012
What Makes a Good Boss?
Read our latest trend research to Know
More and Guess Less about the people you
hire. For this study, more than 250 staffing
directors and over 2,500 new hires from 28
countries provided perspectives on their
organization’s selection processes.
We asked kids what makes a good boss. It’s no surprise they weren’t sure about quality management.
But sometimes, grown-ups don’t know either. So,
are you really that much smarter than a fifth grader
when it comes to developing leadership skills?
Driving Workplace Productivity
through High Quality Interactions
We believe that interaction skills are inextricably
linked to productivity and our latest research
paper, Driving Workplace Productivity through
High Quality Interactions captures this groundbreaking research for the first time.
Lessons for Leaders from the People Who Matter
Are Leaders Driving Innovation?
How are leaders doing? We asked the people whose opinions
matter most: their employees. This video visualizes leadership
deficits, and shows that if leaders improve their basic skills,
they’ll improve performance, too.
Our latest infographic examines the critical
relationship between innovation and leaders.
33
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GO Magazine | Winter 2013

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