Category Archives: talent management

Recruiting for diversity

Posted on March 19, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Last week I met with two leaders in our colleges and universities to explore how we can do a better job to support diverse hiring in our system. Increasing our diverse hires not only helps us mirror our student population better, but increases the potential for greater innovation in our colleges and universities. That said, it’s often a struggle to make sure that your applicant pool is truly diverse, especially if hiring managers are crunched for time or are relying on the traditional “post and pray” method of recruiting.

So what can leaders do to actively recruit for diversity? Here are a few ideas and resources gathered from the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC):

  • Post positions in diversity publications in your region. See HERC for a good list of publications and membership discounts
  • Search directories of minority doctoral students, such as the Southern Regional Education Board’s State Doctoral Scholars program or Faculty for the Future. Links to various directories can be found at: WISELI
  • Work with your HR representative to search CV or resume databases. Minnesota State has access to 60,000 resumes through its HERC membership.
  • Connect with job seekers on social media; Minnesota State leaders can tweet hard-to-fill positions on the HERC website.
  • Meet potential candidates at regional or national conferences
  • Participate in job fairs to promote your open positions

Last fall, chief diversity officers and human resource officers in Minnesota State had the opportunity to participate in a virtual job fair. It was a new concept for many of us. Still, I’m amazed at what came out of the virtual job fair for those leaders who took the time to spend a few hours meeting potential applicants in online chat rooms. One chief diversity officer garnered 26 contacts, which he then distributed to leaders in his university, so they could follow up with people individually. While I’m not sure how many eventual hires resulted from those contacts, it was well worth the time and effort to actively reach out, promote Minnesota State as a good place to work, and develop a potential pool of diverse candidates for future searches.

What methods have you tried to actively recruit for diversity?

Anita Rios

 

 

Advertisement

Leave a comment

Posted in chief diversity officers, Diversity, talent management

Tagged

Supporting your new hire’s success

Posted on September 18, 2017 by | 1 comment

Approaches to onboarding and training for new hires have come a long way since I first started in higher education. At the time, it was pretty common to be shown your desk, handed your keys and left on your own to figure things out. If you don’t believe me, talk to a few folks who are older than 50 and you’ll find its true.

That old “sink or swim” method of letting new employees just figure things out never worked out particularly well. Thankfully, most human resources departments nowadays will help leaders with resources to put together a good onboarding plan for their new employees to increase their chance of success in a new role.

Considering the statistics below from the  Harvard Business Review  it’s critical to invest time and energy into a good onboarding plan if you want your new employee to feel welcome and stay in your organization.

  • Almost 33% of new hires look for a new job within their first six months on the job
  • Twenty-three percent of new hires turn over before their first anniversary
  • Organizational costs of employee turnover are estimated to range between 100% and 300% of a replaced employee’s salary
  • Newly hired employees typically take up to eight months to reach full productivity

Next week I have a new staff member joining our team. In anticipation, I’ve been busy putting together an onboarding and training plan and have enlisted my team members to assist. I’ve also been availing myself of every resource from our IT department, human resources, and our Talent Management online onboarding toolkit. Here’s one very helpful resource I recommend called: Ten Ways to Make a New Hire Feel Welcome

Our new team member will be working in a critical role with a large client group. The stakes are high to get him up-to-speed quickly and to make his introduction to our workplace a good one. As a leader, it’s my job to see that he has all the tools he needs to ensure his success.

Anita Rios

1 Comment

Posted in build organizational talent, Leadership, talent management

Tagged , ,

Risks and leadership

Posted on November 4, 2016 by | Leave a comment

riskOne way and another, risk-taking has been on my mind a lot recently. As we’re looking at building organizational capacity, part of the definition is “engaging and supporting appropriate risk-taking.” Here are a couple examples of what that might mean for day-to-day leadership.

From a project management perspective, leaders need to identify potential risks, decide how likely they are and how much impact they’d have, and then decide what to do about them. Avoiding all risks isn’t practical, or even possible. Appropriate risk taking means deciding on the right approach:

  • Avoid – take intentional action to ensure the situation does not occur
  • Transfer – hire someone else to manage the risk (for example, ask a third party vendor to complete the project)
  • Accept – acknowledge there is nothing to be done and deal with the situation if it occurs
  • Mitigate – take steps to minimize the likelihood and/or severity of the situation

Another way to look at risk-taking is part of the hiring process. The human tendency toward a zero-risk bias means that leaders might not be willing to take an appropriate risk on a candidate who could bring new viewpoints, background and perspectives to the role. There can be a tendency to look for a candidate who is similar to the previous successful incumbent, or to others on the work team.

Where have you encountered risk-taking in your leadership, and how did you decide what was appropriate?

Dee Anne Bonebright

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Leadership, leadership challenges, talent management

Tagged , ,

The dreaded review!

Posted on July 29, 2016 by | Leave a comment

h-WOMAN-TALKING-OFFICE-628x314A leader at one of our schools remarked that when done right, performance reviews can be energizing and uplifting but when done wrong they are demoralizing. It appears that the latter is what is happening in most organizations. David Ulrich, the Rensis Likert Professor of Business at the University of Michigan and the “Godfather of HR” just published an article in the  latest issue of Talent Quarterly titled “Resolving the Performance Management Paradox.” He cites that 90% of HR professionals are unhappy with their review system, only 14% of CEOs believe that the review system is working and only 8% of HR executives believe that performance management makes a contribution to the success of the organization. Yet, he also cites a long history of studies that clearly indicate that accountability makes a difference. In fact one study identified that just the presence of a performance review system is the greatest predictor of success for hospitals. What can a leader do?

Ulrich recommends that regardless of the process or forms used, leaders embrace conversations:  conversations focused on what he calls “positive accountability,” conversations emphasizing learning and improvement opportunities rather than evaluating what went wrong, and conversations primarily focused on the future rather than the past. He suggests that leaders look for opportunities to engage in “real time” conversations that are ongoing and revolve around work events (projects, semester start or finish, work cycle periods, annual milestones, etc.) Leaders should focus on asking questions to discover how employees can sustain success and prepare for the future and help their people look forward to apply what they have learned and address new opportunities or challenges that arise.

A simple conversational model for leaders to use with their performance review process includes the following three steps:

  • Know Yourself – ask about and discuss each person’s strengths, weaknesses, passions and interests.
  • Action for Growth – ideas and concrete action to leverage individual strengths and interests to support success and on-going development.
  • My Value – dialogue focused on the value that each employee provides to the work unit, institution, students, stakeholders or overall organization.

By focusing less on the process and more on the conversation we can make performance reviews a more uplifting experience.

Todd Thorsgaard

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Accountability, build organizational talent, communication, higher education, Motivation, performance management, talent management

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Talking talent

Posted on July 20, 2016 by | Leave a comment

“Talk to me, please!”

The Gallup Q12 poll highlights the fact that people need to know that their manager actively supports their development. Yet research by Gallup indicates that less than 20% of employees get regular feedback from their boss. In fact, over 50% meet less than once a month. That is not enough talking about development!

Roland Smith and Michael Campbell from the Center for Creative Leadership suggest that leaders have an opportunity to turn this around quickly by talking talent with their people – in their words start having regular talent conversations. Sincere and direct dialogue with your people focused on their interests, their job, the work that needs to be done and what support or development they need to be successful.

What I like best about talent conversations is that they are for everyone. Not just people who “need” development and not just under-performers. Talking about what is needed to maintain current and future success demonstrates that you are supporting your people.

At Minnesota State we will be working this year to help our supervisors have talent conversations with their people. The first step is to identify the goal for the conversation for each team member based on their current job-related competency and their own personal development needs or interest in growth. In general you will discover that each person on your team will be interested in one of the following four goals:

  1. Develop full competence. Focus on acquiring the skills and developing the competences needed to become a solid performer in their current role.
  2. Explore growth while developing competence. Similar to the first group but also include conversations about future opportunities and how current develop will support growth.
  3. Maintaining their expertise and staying successful in the future. This group will be interested in deepening their skills, sharing their expertise and staying up-to-date in their current role.
  4. Accelerating their development. These folks are competent and want to learn new skills and develop competencies needed for bigger roles.

Having a simple and clear goal for your talent conversations will make it easier to dive in and start talking talent!

Todd Thorsgaard

Leave a comment

Posted in build organizational talent, Engagement, goals, talent management

Tagged , , , , ,

No money? No worries!

Posted on July 11, 2016 by | Leave a comment

no moneyAs it happens, we are in a budget crunch and so the budget for my team’s professional development has been cut by 75%. I’ve often heard leaders bemoan this circumstance, saying that there is nothing they can do to build organizational talent, if they don’t have funds to invest in conferences, courses, or certifications for their staff.

While having few professional development funds can be limiting, there are other strategies that leaders can employ to ensure that their staff are continuing to build their knowledge, skills, and abilities and grow in their careers. In fact, research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1980s demonstrated that 70% of learning by successful managers comes from job-related experiences, 20% from interactions with others, and only 10% from formal educational events. It’s called the 70:20:10 model for learning and development.

Think about it. When did you learn the most in your career? Was it by taking a course? Or was it by tackling a new job or assignment that had a steep learning curve? I know my most challenging assignments have produced the greatest learning for me. The times I learned from my own mistakes, while humbling, also were the most valuable. And the times when I had caring mentors who were willing to give me good feedback increased my learning.

Using the 70:20:10 model as a guide, leaders can mine opportunities to develop their staff by making sure that they have stretch assignments or goals that help them expand or refine their job-related skills, make decisions, and address tough challenges. Giving staff increased opportunities to interact with influential people, cross-functional teams, and mentors can also build their skill and confidence. And giving staff  immediate performance feedback and encouraging them to learn from their mistakes provides invaluable growth opportunities that can’t be replicated in a conference or a course.

Anita Rios

 

Leave a comment

Posted in build organizational talent, building teams, resources, stewardship, talent management

Tagged , ,

High diving requires a deep pool

Posted on July 6, 2016 by | Leave a comment

CNI nw_mf_danny_cox_0719.jpgIn one month high divers from around the world will be competing at the summer Olympics in Rio. If I was one of those divers I would hope that the leaders in Rio have done the work needed to build deep pools, even though these Olympics are facing budget, political, economic, environmental and workplace challenges.

Our organizations also need deep pools of talent to be successful when facing a future of changing demographics, fluid governmental demands, volatile customer expectations and a diminishing workforce. Creating individual development plans (IDPs) and continually developing your own people helps leaders fill their talent pools and keep their people engaged with the organization.

Paula Asinof, a leadership consultant, provides tips on how to use IDPs to fill your talent pool in her article, IDPs: Talent Development’s Superglue, in the January 2016 TD magazine.

  1. Start with a gap analysis and ask each employee:
    • where are your talents now?
    • what talents need to be developed or do you want to develop?
  2. Craft only one to three goals based on the answers (see previous post on SIMple Goals)
  3. Utilize a wide range of development opportunities:
    • on-the-job experience
    • coaching/mentoring
    • development-focused work assignmnets
    • training
    • education
    • interim assignments
    • temporary assignmnets
  4. Focus on outcomes and provide regular check-ins

Overall the IDPs you develop with your people need to be simple, clear and realistic. It isn’t the Olympics but a deep talent pool can help you win during challenging times.

Todd Thorsgaard

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Developing Capacity, performance management, talent management

Tagged , , , , ,

Leadership and customer service

Posted on July 1, 2016 by | Leave a comment

reachingDuring June we shared some thoughts and ideas about customer service. For July we’ll be looking at the next leadership competency – Building Organizational Talent.

I see a strong connection between these two competencies. As leaders, the employees that we supervise can be viewed as customers, in the sense that they are looking to us for guidance, work direction, and help with professional development.  We are also in a unique position to serve the organization itself by hiring strong team members, helping them to succeed, and in some cases, helping them to move through the pipeline and become leaders themselves.

Many years ago I talked to a leader who managed quite a few entry-level positions. She had high turnover in her unit, and she told me that she viewed it as success rather than a source of frustration. Her goal was to introduce people to the workplace, give them foundational skills, and then help them move on to other positions within the organization. Over time, she built a large network of professional colleagues who got their start in her unit.

Here are some other behaviors that are identified with building organizational talent. I hope you’ll join us in a conversation about how to implement them.

  • Makes sound hiring decisions.
  • Provides a strong orientation.
  • Sets clear expectations.
  • Provides ongoing feedback; effectively coaches both good and bad performance.
  • Partners with each employee in conducting meaningful performance evaluations.
  • Helps each individual develop professionally.
  • Holds each individual accountable for performance.
  • Takes responsibility for their own professional development.

Dee Anne Bonebright

Leave a comment

Posted in customer service, higher education, Leadership, talent management

Tagged ,

Hire a hero, hire a vet

Posted on May 30, 2016 by | Leave a comment

hire a heroHappy Memorial Day! Like me, today most people will be spending time with friends and family. Many people will also attend Memorial Day ceremonies or parades or visit a local cemetery to pay respects to those who have served our country.

While it is important to honor those who have paid the ultimate price serving our country, we can also honor the living who have served our country by hiring a veteran. Last year at this time, I shared some resources with readers about recruiting veterans that are worth a repeat.

One helpful resource is called Hire a Hero, Hire a Vet. It outlines the many benefits of hiring veterans and contains links to useful tools for employers. If you are hiring in Minnesota, here is a web site with a video showing you how to hire a veteran in three easy steps.

As the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) points out, there are many reasons to hire veterans.  Veterans bring education, training, values, leadership and teamwork to the workplace. They also have learned to work side by side with many different people, regardless of race, gender, geographic origin, ethnic background, religion, economic status and capabilities.

Anita Rios

Leave a comment

Posted in building teams, Diversity, talent management

Tagged , , ,

Snow storms, bumper cars and highly effective teams?

Posted on December 30, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Best of 2015, first published on February 15, 2015
We just had our first “biggest blizzard in years” yesterday. While it ended up with a modest total amount of snow it did create traffic snarls and many accidents for those working this week. I had the luxury of time off and was able to enjoy the beauty of the snow falling and look forward to skiing. That reminded me of this post that highlighted the value of messiness and collisions! Enjoy.  –Todd Thorsgaard

 

jeopardy

And the answer is?? Planned accidental collisions!

We had a freezing rain and snow “event” yesterday and cars were slipping and sliding into each other by the hundreds. Not a pretty sight but actually a great metaphor for building effective teams. In fact both urban planners and highly successful leaders have been promoting the idea that density and unplanned interactions, or “collisions” can spark creativity and help build an engaged culture at work.

The main idea is that “running” into other people, sharing ideas, asking questions, and listening to what they are working on stimulates our brains and opens us up to more possibilities.

Leaders can make changes in the physical work space and the processes a team uses to facilitate these creative accidental collisions. The department I work in has created an informal work space. Several times while I was using it a colleague has ask me what I was working on and then shared some ideas I had not thought of.

Other ideas you can try to foster “accidental collisions” include:

  • scheduling work and share times where people talk about their projects and others are encouraged to share ideas
  • rotating project team members on a regular basis
  • encouraging people to participate in cross-functional projects
  • inviting representatives from other departments to participate on project teams
  • support participation in professional organizations and interest groups

Creating safe opportunities for people and ideas to collide will help your team succeed over the long run, and they will have more fun!  bumper cars

Todd Thorsgaar

Leave a comment

Posted in building teams, change and transition, Engagement, Innovation, talent management

Tagged , ,