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Lead your way to the Great Retention!

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With the Great Re(fill in your term!) going on what options are you using to fill your open positions? Have you looked internally? Do you know who has the required skills and is ready to make the move?  Odds are you don’t as I discovered on a project to create a common competency skills framework so workers could move seamlessly between different peers and competitors in this vertical. This innovative idea would certainly save time and money, why train someone on upselling techniques if they have already demonstrated this ability in a prior work experience?

Three common themes kept popping up no matter the organizations size. First, the career path was understood but most HR teams had not identified, or recorded, the technical or behavioral skills people use and need to be capable of demonstrating. Second, there wasn’t a clear way to acquire these skills in a meaningful manner that could be blended into the daily workflow. For a small business there’s a need to make this blend into a learn-as-you-work framework, but the model is still focused on just-in-time. Finally, the infrastructure to track people’s skill acquisition and identify internal candidates ready to move forward wasn’t in place.

This isn’t a technology issue as much as an opportunity for leaders to lead more and have deep impact. In this short video I highlight that culture, communications, and connections could be the start of your Great Retention as you develop and lead your people to new opportunities.  It’s about the high touch that you, as leader, bring to the team and to the organization. It works best when everyone clearly understands what’s needed to develop professionally using a learning ladder aligned to a career path model so let’s talk more about how you can use these processes as your 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!

It’s career more than content

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Learning, and developing people to perform better, is a strategic business tool. Yet it’s not about the learning that people care about. If you ask someone why they’re taking a training class, pursuing a micro credential, or taking courses that lead to a more traditional certificate or degree the response you’ll receive will center on their next job, a possible promotion, or a new professional path. In this short video I highlight that learning is the tool that’s a part of the advancement process, but the focus isn’t about the content, it’s about their career.

Then what’s the outcome that provides success for both employer and employee?  Implementing a career path that clearly outlines the growth opportunities available and identifies the technical skills along with the business behaviors the person will need to be successful in the new role. Then, align these criteria to a learning ladder that shows people how, and where, they can acquire and develop these capabilities.

Developing a robust internal talent pipeline is the real strategic business tool, learning is a key component to achieve this growth. It works best when everyone clearly understands what’s needed to grow using a learning ladder aligned to a career path model. Let’s talk more about how you can use these processes as your 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!

Career pathing & Competencies, Part 4: Competencies to career path

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When there are career options and areas to grow people tend to stay adding their expertise and experience to the organization’s growing knowledge base. Knowing the competencies needed in a new role enables current employees to identify the specific business behaviors and professional skills they need to have to be prepared to grow and move in their career within the organization. In this short video I share how using this framework provides exposure to additional roles that can be career opportunities for employees and a quicker way for organizations to develop a robust, internal talent pipeline focused on meeting their business needs.

Creating this internal talent pipeline can benefit the employee and the organization and works best when everyone clearly understands the technical knowledge and business behaviors needed to demonstrate performance success and this can be done using a competency framework aligned to a career path model to develop people to grow. 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!

Career pathing & Competencies, Part 3: Creating your competency framework

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The thought of creating a competency framework seems overwhelming when you are considering the knowledge, skills, and business behaviors people use in their role to achieve performance success. In this video I outline the steps you can use to streamline this process by observing, listening, interviewing, and focusing on the actions actual practitioners use in their daily efforts. The level of proficiency is a key component of each step as it relates to bringing new hires up to speed combined with ways existing, skilled workers have reached this level.

I outline the 4 basic building blocks your efforts will result in and how you can then expand and add additional blocks to craft your, unique, framework that can be used to evaluate the level of expertise current employees have, identify opportunities to target professional development, and enable accurate job postings.  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!

Career pathing & Competencies, Part 2: Building a competency framework

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Developing a framework of the knowledge, skills, and business behaviors that every person uses in the performance of their role sounds complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. In this 2nd of 4 programs, I share resources to use as an outline and I describe the building block process I use to define competencies and develop a competency framework involving skilled practitioners as they perform. Begin by observing what and how their work is done, identifying the level of expertise needed to be successful, and defining the level of proficiency required to perform successfully is then followed up with conversations focused on how to obtain these varied skills and how long it takes.

Creating a competency framework involves a thorough examination of the complete set of skills people use daily and provides an increased level of understanding and connection between the individual role, the team processes, and where the strategic alignment to organizational performance fits in. 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!

Career pathing & Competencies, Part 1: A Framework

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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!

What if this is the Great Opportunity?

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Millions of people are voluntarily leaving their jobs so do we have a labor shortage, or a shortage of good jobs filled with leaders worth following and purposes with meaning? In this video I explore what makes your organization an “employer of choice” to attract, and retain, workers.

If you are in the position of having open jobs and facing people leaving the organization maybe, it’s time to review the options available to you. Can you show the values that demonstrate your culture, the purpose and impact you have to each other and in your community? This moment is yours to create an innovative workforce that is new in how it works so reach out and tap into the curiosity, creativity, and compassion people have. Open yourself up to their ideas and encourage them to bring new solutions along with new ways to work, grow, and succeed. If you can be open to working differently perhaps people may be open to joining and staying.

People have taken the time to re-evaluate the quality of their lives, and many are choosing to invest their time focused on family, expanding their education, and living a more balanced, healthier lifestyle even if this means they don’t make as much money. Let’s talk more about how to use learning as a strategic business tool to attract people and enable you to be the employer of choice. 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!

What if this is the Great Opportunity?

The Great Recruitment

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Is your organization pushing to get people back in the office?  Has the topic of commuting, public transportation, and shared office space been raised and are you ready to go back to the 9-5 routine you once took for granted?  We have found that we are just as productive remotely and discovered new levels of flexibility that have made a difference in our quality of life so the idea of being pushed back into the cubicle isn’t attractive and leading to many talking about the “Great Resignation”.

It doesn’t have to be this way; in this video I suggest reframing the conversation from one of “resignation” to one of “recruiting” the very same workers to stay with the organization.  Let’s start with conducting a Stay Interview where you seek a deeper understanding of what keeps that person working productively every day. Let’s expand the topic of compensation to be more than salary, include flexible schedules, remote and hybrid work options too. Use professional development to show the person they are valued for the long term. Finally, highlight their work and show how it has meaning, align people to purpose, encourage their passion, and you will see an impact in their performance.

I think we can make this the Great Recruitment that positively impacts retention. If you would like to talk more about using learning as a strategic business tool to impact your team 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!

The Stay Interview

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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