Growth is skills based

There’s a new term you may have heard about, it’s the “skills-based organization,” or SBO for short, that centers on the skills and business behaviors people need on the job and it’s moving into the center of talent development. These skills are the combined professional and personal capabilities and what a person demonstrates as they successfully perform their role. A benefit of using this talent-centric model is finding hidden skills people had that didn’t make it to the pre-defined job description and supporting their utilization of these strengths.

LinkedIn’s CEO, Ryan Roslansky, shared that “Shifting to a skills-focused approach is a viable solution to an evolving workforce dilemma. Evaluating employees and new hires based on their skill sets instead of their work history can help level the playing field — and help companies realize the talent they already have. It also makes talent pools more diverse and often makes hiring more effective.”

In this short video I share how becoming a skills-based organization benefits the individual and the team by focusing on the skills and capabilities people bring to the work more than the idea that work is fully definable and static. Let’s talk more about how expanding your organizational and talent capabilities can impact your team so let’s Zoom or even use the phone to talk because together, we are stronger, and we don’t need being remote or at a distance to keep us from connecting and engaging – let’s learn and work together!  I’ll bring some coffee….

Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

Career pathing & Competencies, Part 1: A Framework

If you are looking to attract and retain skilled talent, provide targeted ways to improve individual performance, and create a robust internal talent pipeline it may be time to consider creating a competency framework that can be applied to a career path model in your organization. In this 4-part series I will outline how the connection between professional development and business specific needs can create a successful performance ladder.  These learning tools deliver a strategic business solution providing people with clear expectations of the skills and business behaviors needed to grow professionally and how to acquire these including stretch assignments, training, and short-term projects to hone and practice with guidance.

In this video I will outline the reasons to develop and use these tools is that together they create a connection between professional development and the business criteria in a role that leads to performance success. Let’s talk more about how you can use learning as a strategic business and retention tool. We can Zoom or even use the phone to talk because together, we are stronger, and we don’t need being remote or at a distance to keep us from connecting and engaging – let’s learn and work together!  I’ll bring some coffee….  Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

There’s a hard cost to soft skills – Show your ROL (Return on Learning)!

More than the traditional ROI that focuses on hard, often technical, training a Return on Learning measures the broader cost of the problem.  This cost may be people-based and identifying its fiscal impact on the organization against the cost of creating and delivering the learning solution is a valuable way to demonstrate the impact learning has on the bottom line. From attrition to leadership communication, you can measure learning solutions that affect performance, and they have a measurable monetary impact.  There are hard dollars in measuring “soft” skills!

The first step to using learning strategically is to apply the same frame of reference your operational and leadership teams are using and apply them to the solution being implemented, the metrics that matter are the ones used by the client group so use their data points to measure the impact learning has especially around the behavioral skills we use in life to be successful.  In this video I share an example and a calculator you can use to show the value of different operational metrics that demonstrate the impact learning and performance solutions bring to the organization and the bottom line.

Key business functions such as first call resolution, retention, leadership style, net promoter scores, upselling numbers – how are you helping the person be able to perform better using the behavioral lifeskills that impact the organization?  To truly measure the ROI start by focusing on the ROL. Use my favorite 4 letter word to start with – PLAN: Prior (to) Learning, Assess Now.  Take ownership of the learning solution you are developing by first (prior to learning) gathering the current operational metrics (assess now) that you will be measuring against, so you can identify clearly to yourself and your client that the solution you put in place made a difference at the business level. Impacting performance on all levels creates value to the person and the process they are in leading to success for everyone.

If you would like to talk more about ways to demonstrate the impact your team has on the organization let’s Zoom and keep the conversation going!  I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team. Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

Are you ready for the next remote?

As we begin to return to work the question is what will we do if we have to return to a remote space again. Are you and your organization ready to work in this flexible work model, a new kNOW?  Flexibility is what more than half of the respondents rated #1 in LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index, more important than health coverage or pay. The balance, and quality, of life is a topic we are having, and organizations need to be planful to retain, and attract, employees.  In this video I highlight 3 key areas that can create the seamless employee experience leading to improved productivity.  These highlight the need for leaders who can look beyond the walls and can work, plan, and adjust to a flexible, remote, and virtual workforce.

If you would like to talk more about planning now for the next shift in your organization let’s Zoom or send me an email and keep the conversation going!  I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team. Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

The Stay Interview

Do you know what drives a person to remain in their work role? What motivates them to look for another job?  Hiring new people is expensive so before they start looking take the time to see what would be interesting enough for them to stay instead. It may be simple or complex and the first step is to create the space for a discussion with the goal of them staying, growing, and helping the organization be prepared for the future.

Stay interviews are 1:1 meeting’s that happen a couple of times a year where you seek a deeper understanding of what keeps that person coming to work every day, what about their role they like and the parts of the job that’s frustrating (and may be something you can fix!).  In this video I explore what you can do to retain your talented people and develop a versatile internal talent pipeline.

Using stay interviews can help you proactively engage your employees and keep them. From upskilling to finding new ways to utilize your talented people stay interview can keep your internal talent pipeline filled and more importantly, it will create opportunities for you to develop deeper connections with your employees. If you would like to talk more about how this model can be used in your organization let’s Zoom or send me an email and keep the conversation going!  I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team. Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

https://youtu.be/mTHdwMAcZU4

Attract (& Keep!) Your Dream Team, Part 4: Credentials to Careers

Degrees have value however what has a deep impact on whether a person will be successful in a role is the ability to demonstrate they are capable of performing and using the skills and behaviors to a defined level of proficiency.  In this last of 4 videos, I highlight the value badges and other microcredentials can bring to an employer by focusing on the discrete tasks used in a role into a modular framework and award badges that represent successful demonstration of the specific skills & competencies. The beauty of badges is that they can stand alone or link with other badges and credentials into a “stacked” model that meets more complex role requirements leading to role growth providing qualified people to fill your internal talent pipeline.

Using the tools and techniques I’ve outlined in this 4-part series can upskill and fill your internal talent pipeline and more importantly, it will engage your employees by highlighting future career options available in the organization impacting retention. If you would like to talk more about how this model can be used in your organization let’s Zoom or send me an email and keep the conversation going!  I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team. Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

Attract (& Keep!) Your Dream Team, Part 3: Credentials, College, & Career

We use credentials as a rubric for hiring new people and evaluating internal candidates. In this 3rd of 4 videos, I highlight the advantages of using a broader view of the term credential to include traditional degrees and include other learning solutions, such as badges and nanodegrees, that indicate a person can demonstrate the skills and behaviors that qualify them for a role.  First, we looked at the big picture, the 5 interconnected steps that impact your team, and then the second video identified the 5C’s used to create an environment of success and techniques to impact the retention process and now I’ll share how the organization can provide a foundation of credentialing for their employees that leads to an engaged and skilled workforce.

Next time we’ll examine how using badges and microcredentials creates a value to employer and employee along with the impact a learning ladder can provide to upskill and fill your internal talent pipeline. In the meantime, I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team so let’s Zoom or send me an email and keep the conversation going! Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

Attract (& Keep!) Your Dream Team, Part 2: The 5 “C’s”

Hiring people and getting them up to speed takes time and money so use learning strategically.  In the first video segment we looked at the big picture, the 5 interconnected steps that impact your team as it forms and grows. In this 2nd of 4 parts I share the 5C’s you can use to create an environment of success and techniques to impact the retention process. The 5C’s is a strategic component of leadership and follows a common planning model with a focus on the talent pool we rely on to make and support the products and services of today and to be ready for future growth.

Next time we’ll examine how using a credentialing process can drive talent development and retention. Credentials come in different forms, so we’ll look at options to consider. In the meantime, I’d enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team so let’s Zoom or send me an email and let’s keep the conversation going! Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

Attract and Keep Your Dream Team, Part 1: The Big Picture

Learning, used strategically, impacts the bottom line of your organization. Join me in this 1st of a 4-part video series as I share techniques to influence the employee lifecycle. This interconnected process has 5 steps where you can influence and engage your team as it forms and grows.  When we consider the stages in this lifecycle it becomes clear we interact with the different steps constantly as we connect with our teammates. When we are authentically engaged, we are using recruiting skills and when planning for the future it is with the perspective of the team in place. Focusing on being present in the workplace creates opportunities to grow and develop our people to be successful today and tomorrow.

Next time we’ll examine the five “C’s” needed to drive talent success and impact retention and in the meantime, I would enjoy talking with you about how we can partner to strategically develop your team so let’s Zoom or send me an email and keep the conversation going!  Use the contact button above or visit our web site!

More than a seat at the table

Learning & Development should be at the table to plan and be involved early on yet we need to be in the workflow more. Join me in this video to explore going beyond delivering training and begin using learning strategically to provide the organization with employees who are prepared, who can think, and use the collective wisdom of the community to develop a robust and skilled internal talent pipeline. We need to be in the workplace to grow and develop our people and that’s the seat L&D should be sitting in. Learning is a strategic business tool and developing people’s skills and strengths, including the ability to learn and think in the moment of need, is an integral component of an organization’s growth and success.

I would enjoy talking more with you about how we can partner on identifying ways to strategically develop your team so let’s Zoom or send me an email, let’s keep learning together!  Use the contact button above or visit our web site!