Apple vs Samsung - Ethics

In the last two postings, Samsung has regretfully been a topic about poor Customer Service. The court decision in California upheld Apple's case about copying, indicating additional possible company culture issues? All of this is not a good use of company money by fighting in court (which directly affects profitability and brand image),....but it seems to be part of our litigious nature. What ever happened to the hand shake and person's word being their bond?

Sadly, not for many years now.

Ethics seems to stem from parental values, country values, educational reinforcement or lack there of, core values espoused by the company and reiterated/communicated in employee handbooks and demonstrated over many years, Leadership, and Senior Management values.

Do you agree?

Customer Service and The Wait-Time Misery Index

Recently there was an interesting article in the WSJ about new innovative ways companies are using by improving customer service and raise customer satisfaction for their products and company. Nothing is worse than non-performance or having to wait around for hours.

Not only does waiting increase stress, but creates a bad impression with clients. Many companies do not even provide 4 hour windows, but 8 hour windows, which kills the whole day. The longer in the day that service is finally provided, the less satisfaction a customer generally has.

Maybe some people of have heard of the Wait-Time Misery Index, but if not, it is a useful definition for measuring potential customer satisfaction. The greater the misery, the less customer satisfaction there will be.

The best adage is under promise and over deliver!

What new ways can you create to help reduce this index for your company? What change management techniques can be employed? How much do you communicate the need for great customer service and what metrics do you have in place to manage it and improve it? How can technology and IT, social media, visioning exercises, and strategic planning help to improve performance around this index? 

Have you, your C-Suite and Marketing personnel given thought to this? If so, how effective have you been? If not, why not?

(Link to the article is at the end.)

The Wait-Time Misery Index

Why Do Deliveries Trap You at Home For Hours; Strategies to Speed Things Up

By RAY A. SMITH

Would you wait around if your friend was four hours late for dinner? No, but your cable company thinks this is a reasonable window of time to wait for service.
Now some companies are whittling down the wait window to two hours and trying to improve communication with customers. Some send texts with arrival updates while others reveal online where people rank in the day's delivery queue. The thinking: people, trapped in the house waiting for something to be delivered or installed or repaired, will feel less powerless if they know what to expect.

Everyone hates waiting for the phone company to come connect service or for a mattress to be delivered. Ray Smith on Lunch Break looks at which companies are innovating in this area and what effect waiting has on our sanity.

More than 50% of adults used a sick day or vacation day to wait at home for a service or delivery, according to a 2011 survey of more than 1,000 people by TOA Technologies, a Beachwood, Ohio-based firm that works with companies to reduce customer wait times. More than 25% of people surveyed lost wages while waiting.

People often become more stressed by the uncertainty, says Richard Wurtman, a neuropharmacologist and distinguished professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The underlying personality will determine the extent to which you are vulnerable to stress induced from waiting."
Shaving two hours is a big leap, companies say, because so many factors affect delivery from traffic to calculating the time a repair or installation will actually take.

General Electric began experimenting with moving from four-hour windows to two-hour windows last year for its appliance deliveries in the Midwest. UPS late last year launched a program called My Choice which, for a $40 fee, offers customers a two-hour window delivery option. Use of the service has been strong, UPS says.

FreshDirect, a grocery-delivery service based in New York, offers two-hour wait windows. Less than a year ago, it began giving people $2 discounts on its usual $5.95 delivery fee to choose a "green" time slot—a window in which the company knows it has trucks in the customer's neighborhood. It is marketed as an eco-friendly innovation, but it also has the effect of grouping deliveries for more efficiency.

Linda Peterson, an interior designer from Atlanta, says she has resorted to paying more for an appliance-repair company called Appliance Doctor that guarantees two-hour windows, even though it costs at least 25% more, she says, than if she called the manufacturers of the appliances or other repair services.

"I didn't want to pay the premium, but I became so frustrated and being asked to wait for more than two hours was exasperating," she says. She finds even two hours hard to bear. In August, while waiting for a repairman, she began ironing linens to take her mind off the time. He arrived close to the end of the window and the work took awhile. "It was probably 50 napkins, four or five tablecloths easily," she says.

Calling during the wait window to inquire about the status of a shipment or delivery generally is not worth your time, companies say. That's because a customer will likely be calling the retailer, but usually the delivery is handled by a separate delivery company.

Service visits can be a different story. Bill Kula, a spokesman for Verizon, says usually that kind of inquiry wouldn't make a difference. That said, if a customer calls near the end of a promised window, perhaps 30 minutes before the time is up, it could be helpful. Verizon could see if there is a technician nearby who could reach the customer ahead of the scheduled technician, Mr. Kula says.

To make deliveries within a two-hour time slot, more companies are investing in software that helps determine the most efficient route The technology can shave time off trips by taking into account speed limits, for example, and estimating how long a stop will take based on service type.

"In the not too distant future, companies will be able to tighten that window to one hour," says Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group, a Sewickley, Pa., transportation and logistics consulting firm.

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"I see companies using the two-hour window as a significant marketing thing," says Bruce Champeau, Room & Board chief operating officer. The furniture retailer has had a two-hour window in effect since the mid-1990s. "It's a matter of respecting the customer's time," says Mr. Champeau.

Room & Board uses scheduling software that factors in variables from traffic routes, including roadwork detours, to how long furniture assembly might take. Employees make additional updates and adjustments accordingly.

A small delivery window can give a company a leg up on rivals. With the far and fervent reach of social media, a very good or very bad delivery experience can go viral. Increasingly shoppers are broadcasting their anger—and naming company names—on customer review sites like Yelp, and on Facebook and Twitter. In the TOA Technologies survey, 16% of respondents said they post complaints online.

When it comes to waiting, a maddening factor is often the lack of information. Is the company on its way? More companies are trying to give customers status reports during the appointment window. Some businesses believe this reduces customer stress.

This is what New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority found after it began installing digital clocks to display the number of minutes before the next subway train would arrive on the platform. So far, 209 of its 468 stations have the clocks.

"It's the 21st century," says MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz. "There are expectations that real-time information be available to customers."

3PD Inc., of Marietta, Ga., which hires local carriers on behalf of large national retailers to handle the final leg—or what the industry calls "the last mile"—of a delivery, plans to add a similar style of communication for customers later this year. Using an app, 3PD's customers will be able to look up how far away a delivery is from arriving, says Will O'Shea, chief sales and marketing officer.

Some enterprising small concierge companies have emerged in recent years to do the waiting for you in your home for a fee. Some charge around $35 an hour.


When Victoria Kingscott's cable went on the fritz, the 25-year-old senior analyst at a financial services firm in New York says Time Warner Cable told her she couldn't get a Saturday appointment for three weeks. She couldn't take off work during the week, so she booked a 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. appointment for a Saturday last August and waited. When the big day came, she waited some more.

At noon, she became antsy. She called and was assured a technician would arrive within the hour. At 1 p.m. she called again. Apologies were offered. "I said 'this is unacceptable. It's a Saturday. I have things to do.'" She was given a second four-hour appointment window and told she was "next."

More hours of waiting, more calls. At one point Ms. Kingscott was erroneously told the technician was at her home. He was not. Finally, the technician showed up around 4 p.m. "He didn't really say he was sorry or offer any kind of explanation," she says.

"Clearly that is not an optimal customer service experience," says Alex Dudley, a Time Warner Cable spokesman. "The overwhelming majority of our installations go well."

The Wait-Time Misery Index 

ETHICS, Drugs and Morality: How they affect Communication, Productivity and Everyday Life- Part III

When asked WHY, after conducting pre-hire assessments of candidates, and drug screening prior to hire,  the client still has issues with employees who have been long term employees in the areas of ethics, drugs and morality...

The reason is relatively simple…

These are issues that need to be re-enforced over the years regardless of how we have been raised, taught and/or shown. Our personal situations change over time, and there are temptations and challenges that we are confronted with that test our resolve in these areas. Personally, I have observed that mid-life crisis years (male and female) increase the pressures on individuals and a number of people have changed or relinquished their values to regain where they had envisioned themselves to be at this stage in their career or life. Many times, this is because they possibly have felt that they have not attained the success they had expected to achieve at this stage of their life, or financial challenges have arisen at a stressful period of time, and many other reasons.

This is why it is essential that companies have reinforcement programs to remind existing employees of policies and standards that need to be followed. In a fortune 100 where I worked, after a several hour session of re-enforcement each year, we had to sign anti-trust and ethics standards each year.

These kinds of programs need to be implemented yearly as they can then communicate changes in existing  programs, or address questions that employees might have encountered through the course of the year.

In January of this year, at the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a paper was included with the title of:  Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior . Maybe this is ONE reason why so many recent instances of CEO and Senior Executives violating laws or absconding with money, in one way or another.

Ethics in particular is a major problem. Obviously, the well publicized cases in the past of Bendix’s

Agee, Enron, and what you can find in this article: The Corporate Scandal Sheet

And a recent Wall Street Journal article: Behind a CEO's Departure: An Ouster or Resignation?

Best Buy: Best Buy Probes CEO Relationship

MF Global : Fast, Furious at MF Global

Allan Stanford: Prosecutor Sums Up: Stanford Lied for Decades

AIJ Investment Advisors (Japan): Japan launches probe of all advisory firms in wake of AIJ case

Russell Wasendorf of Peregrine said in a statement that he forged documents and lied to regulators.

Hong Kong Billionaires Charged With Bribery

If you are not addressing these regularly, then do not be surprised when employees "fall off the wagon"….so to speak. These examples above, are the high profile ones, imagine the lower level employees and the numbers that exist there. The retail industry is well aware of the theft and losses involved. Does your Employee Manual address these issues? Are they not part of your core values? Is this not a key element to building human asset value and sustainability? So if you are not doing assessments during pre-hire, don't you think you should? Once people are on-board, re-enforcement programs are required. 

So the question is: What are you and your company doing to address these issues on a regular basis?

Ethics, DRUGS and Morality: How they affect Communication, Productivity and Everyday Life- Part II

Drugs in their many varied forms (alcohol, hard drugs, amphetamines and even tobacco) have a myriad of effects on our employees and companies. As mentioned in Part I of this series, 31% admit using drugs or alcohol, and these are for people who admit it. The percentage is most likely much higher.

At a business conference several years ago, a breakout session about the 12 Steps of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) was held. Originally, I had envisioned this to be how to use the process in other ways within a company. No, it was about actual AA, and it was attended by those who either had been on drugs of some form, or had direct family members who were on drugs. The statistic presented there was 40%. This was a major revelation at the time, because I had never seen this statistic before and it impacted me as to the ramifications that this holds for, CEOs, senior managers and C-Suite professionals and HR departments, which should be staggering if viewed from the proper perspective.

We always are wondering why our people may not be as engaged as we would like, or why our communication messages held with auditoriums of employees, or even chats at the water cooler, seem not to be as impactful as we would expect, and like them to be.

Possibly this statistic and topic may be part of the reason. Of course, some of the problem can be our delivery of the topics or making them relevant to those we are speaking to and/or with. However, if we take this drug statistic and also look at other distractions at work, such as illnesses of parents, children, relatives or even the general health of our employees, not to mention the medication being taken by employees at work, can we begin to see why people may not be as engaged as we like, or as productive as we expect? Might this figure of distracted, low engaged people be as high as 70%?

How much are the various drug forms affecting organizations and corporations? Significantly more than we probably care to know, if we acknowledge this statistic and the implications on productivity! Everything from absences, distractions, worry, stress, and general illness, impacts corporate sustainability, profitability and productivity. Government regulations in many countries now required companies to provide benefits for medical care, in various forms, for existing employees, including mental and support-group coverage for “illnesses.”

So this affects a company financially, from the FIRST day a new employee joins the company!

How do we address this issue from corporate communications, to employee manuals and benefits, and even more importantly assessing this in the pre-hire phase, before even bringing a person into our organization? Is this being done in your company? Is it being regularly communicated into the organization? Is it being reinforced with Mandatory Training Programs?

What do we discuss during the onboarding process? What procedures do we have in place to monitor compliance to existing drug policies and excessive absences? Are these in place within your company? If not why not? Can you afford NOT to address this issue on a regular basis?

Ethics, Drugs and Morality: How they affect Communication, Productivity and everyday life Part I.

This is a broad but critical and essential topic(s) for the C-Suite, Board of Directors, and HR Heads. Why? Because, these impact almost every corporation at some point in time and on multiple levels. This costs trillions, not just billions of dollars/local currency on a global basis. The retail sector probably recognizes and deals with these issues the most often, however we are all confronted with them, and it is on a large scale.

In my many years in business, there has been some discussion about this topic but normally in general terms, and not with the URGENCY it deserves. It has been dealt with in a spotty manner at best, and non-existent during many others. This is not to say that the “sky is falling” but we need to address this and hear the drum beat.

You don’t hear the drums and cadence? Well let’s just mention a few instances: Bernie Maddoff and multiple ponzi schemes recently in the news running into the billions of dollars, WaMu, the Catholic Church’s issues with sexual abuse, Enron, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Solyndra,…the list is endless, unfortunately.

A recent replay of an interview with David Millar, a professional cyclist who was found to be doping and now openly admits it, brought this topic into sharp focus at this time and provides an excellent reference point. This interview provides the essence of what we are confronted with, not only in professional and amateur sports, but in our day-to-day business and management lives as leaders. To ignore it, or down play it, is at our company’s risk.

Recently, a couple of companies have asked in our discussions, why, after conducting assessment screening around these topics during the pre-hire, they have still found a few people stealing? The answer to the question is because at different points in our lives, we are challenged by circumstances that may dislodge us from our values, depending on how deeply they are ingrained within us and this is so frankly discussed by David Millar.

It is David Millar’s interview which so clearly addresses this issue. He had rejected doping for 7 years of his career and had no intention to ever dope. However, when he fell on a tough period, when he was no longer performing at the level of before, he decided he would and he did Dope!

He says that he didn’t do it so much for the money, but for his ego and to regain his reputation in the sport (the irony was lost on him at the time: that by doping and getting caught it had an even a greater negative effect on his reputation, than if he had just retired from the sport when he was no longer competing at the level of before).

Each of us is confronted with similar issues at various times in our lives and career. However, it is our ethics, view of drugs (and this takes many forms) and morality, and the depth we are inculcated with these values that provides the guidance for us to avoid these issues….. or, we surrender to the issue at hand.

A way to help provide the foundation for a company and it’s employees, is through reinforcement with written policies that need to be signed by each employee each year, regular training, and corporate communication around these values on an ongoing basis.

Some statistics that may be eye opening (from SHRM and other sources):

31 % admit to abusing drugs or alcohol

41 % say they falsified records

56 % of working people admit they lied to their supervisors

64 % use the Internet for personal use while at work

80% of computer crime is committed by company insiders

A majority of applicants stretch the truth on resumes!

  More than half, 55%, lied about the length of past employment.

  Past salaries, 52%

Criminal records, 45%

  Former job titles, 44%

Former employers, 34%

 Driving records, 33%

Degrees, 28%

Schools attended, 22%.

 Some 15% percent even falsify their social security numbers!

So, if you are not convinced by these statistics, then look around you at work. How many people do not show up to work on time? How many feel that if they work 7-8 hours a day, that is all that they need to do because that is what they are getting paid for? How many really understand where their salaries, commissions and bonuses come from? How many have a basic understanding of profit and loss?  Just because it is clear to you, is it really clear to others?

It is every employee’s responsibility to help articulate and support these issues. Only through vigilance can the theft of time, property, and erosion of values be prevented!

The challenges are for the C-Suite and Human Resources:

1)      Are pre-hire techniques being used to help avoid bringing in future employees with the wrong values?

2)      Once onboard, how much corporate communication and time is spent around core values, and especially these particular issues? Are policies in place in Employee Manuals?

3)      Are they reinforced and training provided, regularly? Are the investments being made? This affects all shareholders in one form or another.

Values come from the top down, but can be supported by all employees! These can clearly be shown to impact sustainability, survivability and profitability, as well as personal success, individual health and life issues and values.


Link to the interview:

David Millar, Cyclist, Drugs, BBC Interview

Algorithms and Their Effect on Searches Engines and Social Media and What You Get in the Way of Results

As we broaden our marketing efforts on social media sites, and even as simply as using a search engine, we need to be aware of the effect that Algorithms are having within the the global internet.

We can understand the possible need by these websites and search engines to customize results to yield more items that meet our needs and interests, given the vast amount of information available today. Still we need to make sure that we are cognizant about the "results" that we get and realize that they are just a small view into into a vast World of information.

A friend recently sent me a link to a YouTube video (see below) which highlights the ramifications for all of us, from CEO and Senior Management on down. How to combat it? Is there a way?

At times we get Google requests if we want to focus searches on the country where we are located, or Worldwide. But, with the ongoing revelations about FaceBook changing privacy settings without approval as an example, we will most likely need to be constantly vigilant to make sure that we are protected while also getting the necessary information we need, not "customized" to a person's or company's view, as there may be a lot of critical information that can be overlooked or not made immediately available to us.

This kind of "slant" on information provided to us, can have significant effects on strategic planning and in particular, competitor analysis, succession plans, and other areas of our strategies. Consequently, we need to be aware of how this kind of "customization" by providers can skew our perspective of the World, allowing us to be blindsided at times, especially if the information is not verified by direct customer contact and information gathering techniques. Reliance on single sources like the internet may not afford us an adequate view of the world to thwart the rise of competitors from unknown areas of the marketplace.

Being informed about how search engines and social media works, is essential in our new quest to use this powerful media and how we communicate. Enjoy the video below:

What FACEBOOK and GOOGLE are Hiding from world

Can you change your circadian clock?

An interesting article about changing your body clock was recently in the NYTimes. Something that we may not be aware of is that computers and iPads late at night are highly stimulating to the brain. So it tends to make us night owls. Also, for those of us who are very early risers or night owls, to change is much harder to do. Also, changing your routine on weekends can upset your internal clock. So for those who struggle with making it to work in the morning, there are methods to reset yourself, and for those who fight with jet lag there are methods also.

Enjoy the article below and the link is at the end for your convenience.

November 18, 2011, 11:43 am

So You Think You Can Be a Morning Person?

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Emiliano Ponzi

This column appears in the Nov. 20 issue of The New York Times Magazine.
Like most creatures on earth, humans come equipped with a circadian clock, a roughly 24-hour internal timer that keeps our sleep patterns in sync with our planet. At least until genetics, age and our personal habits get in the way. Even though the average adult needs eight hours of sleep per night, there are “shortsleepers,” who need far less, and morning people, who, research shows, often come from families of other morning people. Then there’s the rest of us, who rely on alarm clocks.
For those who fantasize about greeting the dawn, there is hope. Sleep experts say that with a little discipline (well, actually, a lot of discipline), most people can reset their circadian clocks. But it’s not as simple as forcing yourself to go to bed earlier (you can’t make a wide-awake brain sleep). It requires inducing a sort of jet lag without leaving your time zone. And sticking it out until your body clock resets itself. And then not resetting it again.
To start, move up your wake-up time by 20 minutes a day. If you regularly rise at 8 a.m., but really want to get moving at 6 a.m., set the alarm for 7:40 on Monday. The next day, set it for 7:20 and so on. Then, after you wake up, don’t linger in bed. Hit yourself with light. In theory, you’ll gradually get sleepy about 20 minutes earlier each night, and you can facilitate the transition by avoiding extra light exposure from computers or televisions as you near bedtime. (The light from a computer screen or an iPad has roughly the same effect as the sun.) “Light has a very privileged relationship with our brain,” says Dr. Jeffrey M. Ellenbogen, chief of sleep medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. While most sensory information is “processed” by the thalamus before being sent on its way, Ellenbogen says, light goes directly to the circadian system.
But recalibrating your inner clock requires more commitment — in the form of unwatched reruns or lost time with a spouse — than many people care to give. For some, it’s almost impossible. Very early risers and longtime night owls have a hard time ever changing, says David F. Dinges, chief of sleep and chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Night-shift workers also struggle, he says, because they don’t get the environmental and social cues that help adjust the circadian clock. The most important of these cues, called zeitgebers (German for “time givers”) is sunlight. But a zeitgeber could also be a scrambled-egg breakfast or children coming home from school in the afternoon.
Besides computer screens, the biggest saboteur for an aspiring morning person is the weekend. Staying up later on Friday or sleeping in on Saturday sends the brain an entirely new set of scheduling priorities. By Monday, a 6 a.m. alarm will feel like 4 a.m. “If the old phase was entrained for a long time,” Dinges says, “the biology has a kind of memory of this.” In other words, he says, “it takes self-discipline.”
Are you a real morning person? This version of a test commonly used by sleep experts can determine whether you are a lark, a night owl or somewhere in between. Click the box in front of your answer and we’ll add up your score.

1

How alert do you feel during the first half hour after you wake up in the morning?

• Not at all alert
• Slightly alert
• Fairly alert
• Very alert

2

How hungry do you feel during the first half hour after you wake up?

• Not at all hungry
• Slightly hungry
• Fairly hungry
• Very hungry

3

A friend wants to exercise with you during the week, and the best time for him is between 6 to 7 a.m. Bearing in mind nothing but your own internal "clock," how do you think you would perform?

• Good
• Reasonable
• Poor
• Very poorly

4

You want to be at your peak performance for a test that you know is going to be mentally exhausting and will last two hours. You are entirely free to plan your day. Considering only your internal "clock," which one of the four testing times would you choose?

• 8-10 am
• 11 am-1 pm
• 3-5 pm
• 7-9 pm

5

If you went to bed at 10 p.m, how tired would you be?

• Very tired
• Fairly tired
• A little tired
• Not at all tired

6

If there is a specific time at which you have to get up in the morning, to what extent are you dependent on being woken up by an alarm clock?

• Very dependent
• Fairly dependent
• Slightly dependent
• Not at all dependent

7

For some reason you have gone to bed several hours later than usual, but there is no need to get up at any particular time the next morning. Which one of the following events are you most likely to experience?

• Wake up at the usual time and not go back to sleep
• Wake up at the usual time and doze
• Wake up at the usual time and go back to sleep
• Wake up later than usual

8

Do you consider yourself to be a "morning" or "evening" type of person?

• Morning
• More morning than evening
• More evening than morning
• Evening

So you think you can be a morning person? 

"Gamification" - Mixing Work and Play?

A recent article in the WSJ talks about introducing "gamification" into the workplace. This could be interesting and effective, but like anything in the corporate world, it needs to be applied properly and uniformly. Otherwise, it can be misused and communicate the wrong message into the company, create friction internally, or deliver the wrong result(s).

In the early years of KPA/KRA's many times the metrics used resulted in a counter-productive results. It is suspected that they are still being misapplied.

So it is suggested that care be used in this possibly interesting process. On the surface, this technique should help to gain "engagement", and build stronger and more cohesive Teams. It might be used more with Front Line and entry level positions. It doubtful if this will significantly affect long-term motivation and retention. Training in it's proper use and establishment of standards might be needed.

It's beginning to seem that people need to be constantly entertained to be engaged, both in our education systems and now at work. While it may be that this is the case, what happens to those companies and people who can't marshal the skills and techniques? It is doubtful that everyone will want "gamification" applied to everything in their lives.

This technique can possibly lead to "burnout", as many sports professionals, in particular, find out. Being on too high a "charge," for too long, may not be life healthy. There is a need for work/life balance. A time to refresh/recharge and have some "downtime."

In order to speed the reader's time, the article is pasted below for your review with a link at the end. It is up to the reader, CEO or senior manager, HR department and company, whether to pilot or employ this method or not.

Latest Game Theory: Mixing Work and Play

By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN

Companies are trying to bring more play to the workday.
Striving to make everyday business tasks more engaging, a growing number of firms, including International Business Machines Corp. and consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd., are incorporating elements of videogames into the workplace.
They're deploying reward and competitive tactics commonly found in the gaming world to make tasks such as management training, data entry and brainstorming seem less like work. Employees receive points or badges for completing jobs or meeting time limits for assignments, for example. Companies also may use leaderboards, which let players view one another's scores, to encourage friendly competition and motivate performance, experts say.
This "gamification" of the workplace, or "enterprise gamification" in tech-industry parlance, is a fast-growing business. Companies have used digital games for a number of years to help market products to consumers and build brand loyalty. What's emerging is using games to motivate their own employees.

All Work and All Play

Examples of videogames in workplace management.

View Slideshow

Global consulting firm Deloitte employs digital games for its Deloitte Leadership Academy

Tech-industry research firm Gartner estimates that by 2014, some 70% of large companies will use the techniques for at least one business process. Market researcher M2 Research estimates revenue from gamification software, consulting and marketing will reach $938 million by 2014 from less than $100 million this year.
Some companies build their own games in-house. Others rely on outside firms such as San Jose, Calif.-based Bunchball Inc. and Menlo Park, Calif.-based Badgeville Inc. to "gamify" various business processes including employee training.
Business software company SAP AG employs a variety of games, including one modeled after a golf game that assigns sales leads and environmental challenges that award points for tasks like carpooling, says Mario Herger, senior innovation strategist, at SAP in Palo Alto, Calif.
SAP even turned its gamification efforts into a game, holding a series of "Gamification Cups" to generate ideas for turning various business processes into games. One recent winner turned the traditionally boring process of invoicing into a competition.
IBM uses a variety of game-like strategies throughout much of the company including video games in which users can help make a virtual city more efficient or simulate various business scenarios, says Chuck Hamilton, IBM's virtual learning leader.
With some 400,000 employees, roughly 40% of whom work from home or on the road, gaming is a way to help colleagues connect and stay engaged, explains Mr. Hamilton.
And global consulting firm Deloitte employs digital games for its Deloitte Leadership Academy, an executive education program it uses to train clients and its own consultants.
Users receive virtual badges after completing training courses and "unlock" more complex training courses when basic levels are completed, says Frank Farrall, a partner with Deloitte in Melbourne, Australia, where its gamification initiative began last year. He says that the tools are still too new to gauge their effectiveness, but that they seem to be catching on among consultants.
"The reason why gamification is so hot is that most people's jobs are really freaking boring," says Gabe Zichermann, organizer of the "Gamification Summit" conference held last month in New York.
So far, the tactic has proved effective. A study last year by Traci Sitzmann, an assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School found that employees trained on video games learned more factual information, attained a higher skill level and retained information longer than workers who learned in less interactive environments.
LiveOps Inc., which runs virtual call centers, uses gaming to help improve the performance of its 20,000 call agents—independent contractors located all over the U.S. Starting last year, the company began awarding agents with virtual badges and points for tasks such as keeping calls brief and closing sales. Leaderboards allow the agents to compare their achievements to others.
Since the gamification system was implemented, some agents have reduced call time by 15%, and sales have improved by between 8% and 12% among certain sales agents, says Sanjay Mathur, vice president of product management at LiveOps, Santa Clara, Calif.
Still, gaming experts say there are some pitfalls for companies when implementing games internally. Companies need to make sure that the games are designed to actually reward desired behaviors and are not just doling out meaningless awards or badges.
Firms also need to make sure that friendly competition doesn't get out of hand, fostering animosity among employees, says Byron Reeves, a professor of communication at Stanford University and a co-founder of Seriosity Inc., a firm that helps companies develop gaming strategies.
"Adding gamification to the workplace drives performance but it doesn't make up for bad management. If you are a bad manager, gamification won't help you," says Kris Duggan, chief executive of game-maker Badgeville.

Latest Game Theory: Mixing Work and Play - WSJ Oct. 10, 2011 

Cloud computing results in "Asymmetric Warfare" being employed by Google against Microsoft

The strategic approach that Google is using, is "asymmetric warfare", significantly pricing one's product below the price point of a competitor while at the same time forcing your competitor to incur increased costs.

In addition to the strategy change, there has also been a noted change in behavior once people and companies start using "cloud computing" has been observed, per reports in yesterday's New York Times, by the company: Journal Communications. Greater interchange of ideas and network sharing is taking place.

In all, the internet and cloud computing can rapidly change strategies on a global basis, as well as radically change competitive pricing and costs. CEOs and senior managers need to be aware of this rapid pace for change, the need for change management, increased communications to adapt to these changes and the quick drop in costs. All makes for interesting Strategic Planning Sessions, Succession Management issues, evaluation of skills and Visioning exercises.

Enjoy the article link below to an expanded view of some of these topics:

Mixed Results as Google Enters Microsoft’s Turf

The need to walk your talk....leads to trust and engagement....if you don't...

There is a recent "dust up" about Eric Holder's (Attorney General in the US) 5 day trip to the Caribbean Islands at a time when government spending is supposed to be curtailed and expenses cut back.

It brings back memories of being with a Fortune 100 USA company, and we were advised that we had to reduce costs: travel, phone calls, and office expenses. We were called into the Executive's office and told that telephone bills would be closely scrutinized for personal calls, trip expenses and justifications would be closely monitored and prior approval had to be obtained, and even checking out pencils and pens now had to be signed out and accounted for by our assistants, with a final review by the Executive.

Two weeks later, there was a senior executive meeting to be held in Monte Carlo, which was over a week long. Needless to say this did not engender any good morale or engagement building! Quite the opposite.

Another related situation occurred when a CEO asked for candid feedback about areas that could be improved within our divisions. The first senior manager called upon, discussed those areas where he could improve, and those he could personally improve upon also. The CEO proceeded to lashed into the manager for over 15 minutes. After that, the other Manager reports were merely stated factually and skirted the issues where improvements could be made.

When you are trying to build engagement and trust, not walking your talk, seriously undermines your messages and interrupts candid and needed communications by a CEO, senior manager or leader. It also negatively affects Charisma for those who want to engender that view.

So always try to be consistent and sincere, others will know if you are not!

Not all Acquisitions or Strategies, Work

Not all acquisitions or strategies work, but you do need to know when to change before disaster strikes. Two recent articles have borne this out. The first is that HP will not sell off their PC unit and Republic Air decides to spin off Frontier Airlines.

Two questions might be asked.

How do you arrive at making an acquisition, and then deciding to sell it off?

Well, even sophisticated organizations make mistakes, but many times it is because of insufficient efforts in due diligence. Not only do you need to look in the area of financial diligence, but in the integration of "culture fit," "core values," and "strategy" integration. While Republic Air blames it on "fuel costs" it really appears to be much more. Most probably on of entirely different strategies that Republic Air has compared with what Frontier was. One is a "feeder line" versus a regional airline.

The other question, is why might you say you are going to sell off a business and decide to keep it?

Sometimes, it sounds like a good idea but when you look into the depths of the financial impact on the company, it doesn't look so great.  There can be hidden synergies within the company. Also, there can be the expediency in wanting to look like you are doing something, but in the end it isn't a good decision. Many times these are created by internal political powers that push or pull decisions or shareholders.

In the end, a good CEO will retract or make a hard decision to change course. One of the hardest had to have been Roberto Goizueta's famous decision to reformulate Coke in 1985. Massive amounts of PR and inventory had been expended. Then, 77 days later, the formulation was returned to it's original, being labeled "Classic." Mr Goizuleta's strategy was to encourage risk taking, and he remained as CEO for many years afterward, in spite of this massive mistake and cost to the corporation. Even most recently Coke changed their packaging back in the article below:
A Frosty Reception for Coca-Cola's White Christmas Cans

On the same day as the "Frosty Reception" above article about Coke, there is one about AT&T and T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom AG) changing their acquisition strategy:
AT&T, T-Mobile Mull Plan B

So own up to mistakes, and cut your losses sooner rather than later. Hopefully, there will not be too many of them.


Republic Air Changes Course

Social Media's Banging on Marketing's Door

In the past 3 years social media has fast become a required part of a company's marketing and strategic plan(s). Many of us are trying to determine how to effectively use it, reaching the right audiences with the right messages while helping to promote our products and services while also giving the customer and potential customer what they need, when they need it. This impacts sales, customer service, supply, our methodology of communication, and essentially involves the entire company.

The complexity of these interactions can be seen from the graphic (Customer's Preferences and Behaviors) taken from Accenture's recent research, who's link can be found below the graphic.

 Consumer's Changing Preferences and Behaviors

Taking social media and networking into consideration is critical, because either you lead, or follow your competition. Getting to markets  and understanding how to be use these channels, sooner rather later, can spell success or failure. The World is an oyster, but it can also be a labyrinth of dead-ends and sunken costs (in time, ineffective marketing methods and messaging). Good luck!

If you are interested, a portion of a part of the article is reposted here and the link is below this posting:

"The evolution of social media and other Web 2.0 tools is having a significant impact on both how consumers interact with companies and the level of control such companies have over the sales, marketing and service of their products. (Although it is difficult to find consensus on what exactly is meant by “social media,” for the purpose of our discussion, the term refers to Internet and mobile channels that enable users both to view and create content and to share that content with others.)
Today, consumers make their purchases either via retailers’ or manufacturers’ sites or retailers’ physical stores. However, as social networking and other Web 2.0 tools have exploded in popularity—consumers have many new sources of product information and buying advice, as well as answers to usage and technical questions about the products they have purchased.
In this new world, companies have an opportunity or a threat, depending on how they adapt marketing, sales and service of their own products to a new consumer ecosystem: one in which enthusiasts and detractors can dictate customer perception and experience for manufacturers.
Ramifications for providers—What are the ramifications of this shift? At a high level, the evolution of social media has introduced new contact channels that must be integrated into marketing, service and support strategies. However, while social networking and social media are certainly on the rise, there are still large groups of customers who do not communicate via these tools.
Therefore, differentiated service takes on an even greater role because of these new channels. A thorough understanding of customers’ channel preferences, combined with insights into the true value of customers to the business, must drive how companies interact with each respective segment.
In addition, because of the speed with which customers and information move today, companies must be able to incrementally, and very quickly, improve their operations based on what they learn from observing customers. As a result, many companies have shifted the focus of their investments from building channel infrastructure to creating nimble and robust content management and data collection and analysis capabilities.
From a marketing perspective, the evolution of social networks and online communities has resulted in a collapse of the marketing funnel. How so? Traditional, mainstream marketing forces a message through the marketing funnel, moving through stages from building awareness to earning loyalty. It only allows dialogue and relationship building as the prospect or customer progresses through the funnel.
By contrast, the digital revolution, and particularly social media, makes it possible to engage in a dialogue with prospects or customers much earlier and at many more touch points. The collapse of the marketing funnel, in turn, means the distinctions between marketing and sales become further blurred and, in some cases, disappear entirely. In fact, social media increasingly is being referred to not in terms of marketing or sales, but rather, as an “engagement channel,” which incorporates elements of both marketing and sales.
With consumers increasingly relying on third-party sites for usage and technical information, manufacturers must build capabilities to strengthen their brands and customer loyalty via these channels, as well as to up-sell and cross-sell relevant, related products and services, and gather and integrate cross-channel customer data. Indeed, smart use of these third-party channels can become a powerful way to boost image and customer satisfaction while reducing CRM operational costs."

CRM and Marketing

Recent data reporting a Change in the approach to Sustainability around Energy, Green Products, and Retaining Employees

Apparently, there has been a change from last year to this year, where more companies and their CEOs and Executives are looking to heighten awareness about sustainability and incorporating these concepts into their business/strategic plans by "...saving energy, developing green products, and retaining and motivating employees, all of which help companies capture value through growth and return on capital..." and that sustainability makes, or will make, a major contribution to the company's short and longer term goals.

This is stated in a recent article by McKinsey which is pasted below for your review. Executives have gained a more realistic view about sustainability and in identifying opportunities with the greatest potential value. 

You can subscribe to the newsletter. See the link at the end. Enjoy the article.

The business of sustainability: McKinsey Global Survey results.

More companies are managing sustainability to improve processes, pursue growth, and add value to their companies rather than focusing on reputation alone.

OCTOBER 2011

Many companies are actively integrating sustainability principles into their businesses, according to a recent McKinsey survey,¹ and they are doing so by pursuing goals that go far beyond earlier concern for reputation management—for example, saving energy, developing green products, and retaining and motivating employees, all of which help companies capture value through growth and return on capital. In our sixth survey of executives on how their companies understand and manage issues related to sustainability,² this year’s results show that, since last year, larger shares of executives say sustainability programs make a positive contribution to their companies’ short- and long-term value.
This survey explored why and how companies are addressing sustainability and to what extent executives believe it affects their companies’ bottom line, now and over the next five years. In a related opinion piece, “Putting it into practice,” at the end of this survey, the authors argue that more businesses will have to take a long-term strategic view of the issue by identifying and pursuing sustainability opportunities that hold the highest value potential.
On the whole, respondents report a more well-rounded understanding of sustainability and its expected benefits than in prior surveys. As in the past, they see the potential for supporting corporate reputation. But they also expect operational and growth-oriented benefits in the areas of cutting costs and pursuing opportunities in new markets and products. Furthermore, respondents in certain industries—energy, the extractive industries,³ and transportation—report that their companies are taking a more active approach than those in other sectors, probably as a result of those industries’ potential regulatory and natural-resource constraints.

Global Results from McKinsey about Sustainability

Managing Relationships in Business and Personal Lives

Managing Relationships are essential both in Business and in our personal lives. The number one lesson is taking responsibility for our actions and not finding fault or placing blame with others. After all, we can only control ourselves and our lives. Expectations of others, especially if they are unrealistic, can only lead to disappointments and at times, to anger and frustration, which is extremely unhealthy and unproductive.

External factors may strongly affect our goals and objectives; however, it is only from within that we can manage ourselves as to how we react, and what we can do to affect our own change.  The challenge for us as individuals and as companies is to continue to meet performance metrics in spite of the onslaught of daily demands and global changes. We need to try and anticipate challenges that arise, while also identifying new courses of action to overcome shortfalls or changes that affect our desired outcome(s). 

As the saying goes: Insanity is continuing to do what you have been doing over and over when it hasn’t worked, and expecting a different outcome!

Remaining on course or synthesizing more dynamic tracks are options that we constantly must appraise. An airplane is only exactly on course something like 10% of the time, but it still reaches the airport through constant course changes. The same needs to be done within an organization.

When we commit to work at a company, we have assumed the necessity to manage ourselves within the relationship(s) and work parameters that we have inserted ourselves into (the environment), and with the people present in that company. The same is required of us in our personal lives.

When we have made a commitment to the company (it is like a promise), we need to do everything that we can to meet or exceed those commitments. Not meeting them, leads to a loss in trust, and trust is major generator of engagement.

As issues arise, we need to identify how we can solve this “opportunity” for change and improvement. Focus on the problem, not on the person or people. Finding ways to prevent or improve on the process leads to a more harmonious workplace which can significantly help in gaining increased engagement and job satisfaction, which in turn leads to increased productivity and profitability.

Whether we are CEOs, Senior Managers or Rank and File, the basics are the same. Managing your personal life in the same manner can possibly, significantly, improve the relationship(s).

Take responsibility for your actions and work on improved communication, shirking them, sets you up for problems and even worse, failure. So, have you owned up to your corporate and personal responsibilities? Only you will know. You will have to be truly honest with yourself, before relationships can be authentic and growth oriented!

Innovation in the 21st Century - Modifications of existing concepts and visioning

In the earlier blog below (http://executiveandhrguidance.blogspot.com/2011/10/innovation-and-visioning-in-20th-and.html ), Steve Jobs modified existing products by implementing newer technology or refining visions. Even as early as 2007 Bill Gates discussed the concept of the iPad in an interview with him and Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs even shows his visioning of the future in the same interview.

The Tablet already existed but hadn't really taken off as expected. Apple refined the idea and now the iPad is in the history books. You might be interested in hearing a portion of the interview by clicking on the link below.

http://gizmodo.com/5541969/bill-gates-told-steve-jobs-about-the-ipad-in-2007

Innovation and Visioning in the 20th and 21st Century

In the earlier blog posting, below( http://executiveandhrguidance.blogspot.com/2011/10/innovation-in-21st-century-and-steve.html ), Steve Jobs was described as a visionary and futurist. He took ideas and morphed them, using newer technology, slimmer packaging, modernizing the appearance of an item, and/or recognizing there was a need (recognized or hidden) which could be addressed. Through his charisma and communication he could open new markets or grow existing markets at a much faster pace than had happened earlier.

In the 1950's NASA started designing the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Space programs around concepts that did not exist at the time. NASA helped to fuel innovation and new products by committing to a need in the near or foreseeable future by agreeing to purchase those items once they were developed within established time-frames.

The US Air Force did the same thing when they started conceptualizing the C-5A Galaxy(Lockheed).  In this specific case, they identified the need to airlift large, heavy payloads long distances for what was called the Heavy Logistics Systems project. This aircraft was very sophisticated. It had multiple computer systems with backups, in case of inflight failure.

For example, at the time, if there was an error light, it would rank the probability of what was causing the error, the nearest location to land, the nearest place for obtaining a replacement part, and estimated downtime. Practically unheard of at that time, in the late 1960's.

Many of the advancements were never used because of  fear of a possible crash and  few simulators that could train pilots on it's use. The C-5 could land with cross-winds by heading into the wind, with the landing gear/wheels pointed in a different direction going down a runway.

Looking into the future and holding visioning exercises, helps organizations to remain flexible, with a view to change, while anticipating possible challenges and competitors, many which come sooner than expected. These exercises help to build teams while also coming up with new ideas or concepts that might not have been contemplated by the company, otherwise. They also contribute to the strategic plan and in many cases succession planning needs.

In spite of some saying that things change too fast to really plan, because the plan is outdated before it is written, they overlook the benefits in building more dynamic, cooperative, and communicative organizations while improving morale, engagement and the strong possibilities of identifying innovative or improved processes or products/services.

Shouldn't your organization contemplate visioning sessions? If not, why not?

Innovation in the 21st Century and Steve Jobs

Everyone has blogged and posted about Steve Jobs and his life these past few days, as well as highlight his contribution to everyday life through innovation and technology, so I won't be that much different except to possibly add some slightly different slants.

The most common phase it seems, is in describing what he did: "he knew what people wanted before they themselves knew it," or words to that effect. Another way to look at this, is that he recognized technology and components that existed, and was able to refine and redeploy technology in fulfillment of people's needs (expressed and unrealized). (More on this topic in future blog postings.)

After all, in more recent years, the music player pre-existed the iPod, smart phones existed and were in use for 20 years before the launch of the iPhone, and tablet PC's were marketed for many years before the iPad. But he added the pizzazz, as some call it the "sizzle" to the steak, the manifestation of dreams and a vision on how to use them more effectively. He was a master communicator and futurist.

When the Apple Computer was first introduced, we would ask questions in stores as to what could be done with it and how could it be used. These were questions that persisted for many years after that, especially as to why many would want their own personal computer for home use. Frankly, it didn't do much for improving our lives at home at that time because of the lack of programs.

In business, computers allowed the quick computations of complex items and spreadsheets that we had to use in planning and budgeting(as a simple example), so it helped to eliminate the drudgery of recalculating the numbers down and over, and especially if a manager wanted to change a single number or numbers to see the effect, or to "finalize" the budget. Of course, it never seemed to reach this final stage of setting something in stone. There was always one more tweak, or then there were monthly or bi-weekly forecasts against budget, or against re-forecast or the projection. You get the idea.

Jobs' reluctance to open up the source code so that more programs could be written to appeal to larger audiences and uses, restricted the growth of Apple products compared to the MS DOS/PC system, and it's acceptance and use in business. As a result, the Apple Computer never reached more than about 5% market share, it seems. (Presently the new OS systems has about 10% market share.) This caused the early departure of Steve Jobs from Apple, which is referred to in the Commencement speech he made in 2005 at Stanford. The link is below.

There is no question that he was a visionary, a change manager, and an extremely effective leader, because you can't grow businesses to the size he did in the period of time he did, multiple times, without being an excellent leader. We will probably see projects that he initiated over the next several years that are in the incubation phase right now. The question will be sustainability of the company over the long term. Only time will tell.

It is a great loss to American Business, in particular, and to those of us who use these products and appreciate what he has contributed to global societies and employment, as well as enjoyment. However, he realized that we all pass, and others will fill these voids.

The only question is how much larger a contribution could he have made had he been receptive to opening up the source codes and allowing greater access and development around the Apple products? We will never know, but it is a question that begs to be asked!

If you haven't watched the Commencement Address, you should. Just click on the link below.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address June 12, 2005: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

15+ minutes in length ; "stay hungry, stay foolish"
Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself -- at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.

No Charisma, No Funding - Harvard Business Review - Comments about Charisma

Given my earlier post on Leadership Charisma and the findings by Profiles International about Charisma being behavior based and hence trainable/learnable - this new research is encouraging because when Startups are looking for the right CEO, the "pool" of executives will be much larger. Below are two links and the summary of the article from Harvard's Business Review.

http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2010/01/harvard_study_c.php

Wow. No Charisma, No Funding - Says Study In Harvard Business Review

Posted by Tom Foremski - January 21, 2010

Startups should put away their business plans and find a charismatic CEO if they want to raise funding. That seems to be the finding of a study reported in the Harvard Business Review:
Executives at a party, were fitted with devices that recorded 'social signals' such as their tone of voice, gesticuation, and proximity to others.

Five days later the same executives presented business plans to a panel of judges in a contest. Without reading or hearing the pitches, Pentland correctly forecast the winners, using only data collected at the party.

This study is one of several that found that it is possible to predict who will succeed in salary negotiations, and in other business activities. The researchers say they are monitoring 'honest signals." Professor Sandy Pentland says that 'honest signals' is a biological term.

They're the nonverbal cues that social species use to coordinate themselves--gestures, expressions, tone. Humans use many types of signals, but honest signals are unusual in that they cause changes in the receiver of the signal. . . If I'm happy, it almost literally rubs off on you.

He added:

The more successful people are more energetic. They talk more, but they also listen more. They spend more face-to-face time with others. . . It's not just what they project that makes them charismatic; it's what they elicit. The more of these energetic, positive people you put on a team, the better the team's performance.

Read the rest of this article here on Harvard Business Review:
Defend Your Research: We Can Measure the Power of Charisma - Harvard Business Review

Leadership Doesn’t Rest Just With Your Title, but...

This interesting article ( the link is below) talks about leadership and that everyone in an organization can effect change. This is so true and CEO's and senior managers should and need to encourage this kind of give and take at all levels within a company. It keeps an organization dynamic and changing, essential ingredients in sustainable and growing organizations confronted daily with global competition. Obviously though, the "effected change" needs to fit in with the core values and strategy of the company on some level.

Many of us have been thrust into management probably before we were really totally equipped for it. However, the key, regardless of being ready or not, is caring for people while also maintaining an eye on the goals and objectives each of us have. (And yes, even CEO's and Presidents have goals and objectives, they report to someone or something. More about that in another blog posting). Once we are placed in a management role, it then takes an individual to figure out how best to manage, to work with their direct reports, and as a result each manager has her/his own method/stamp in how to do this. Training helps, but it has to come from within a person, it isn't just trained in a cookie-cutter fashion. There are guide posts and methodologies that exist, but each of us have to internalize them to be successful, and we have to continually grow and experiment.

I am always amazed how things that I have learned at one point in my career, and that I was so effective in doing, have gotten rusty and need to be honed again, or needs to be changed in some fashion, to work again. That is the beauty of experience and the challenge we all have.

Some executives come into a company and implement or try to change an organization to look like what they did or created before. Personally, I have never found this to work. Even trying to bring in former employees that were so effective in one organization and parachute them into a new company, doesn't generally work. Why? Because it revolves around "Job Fit." It is a different environment and culture. The skills and competencies that worked in place, do not necessarily work as well in another. The company is a living, breathing, growing, changing organism, each as distinct as we are as people.

So being a leader necessitates listening, understanding, and helping to guide and encourage people, as well as the organization, through communication and articulating expectations, objectives and goals.

The major asset in any company is it's people. Products, services, manufacturing capability, technology and patents contribute to assets, but how many companies fail in spite of great products or services? Many successful companies, when purchased or merged with another company lose their identity or success. Why? The products and services are the same as before, but the interpersonal skills and personalities required, change within the newly created organization and may no longer work.

Listen to Jack Welch's interview on this topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuL2wu7j7vs

So, as leaders, our challenge is to tap into these all most mystical personalities we work with, to get everyone on board and pulling in the same direction. This is the challenge of being a leader, titles do not bring respect, it still needs to be earned, day by day and year after year.


Leadership Doesn't Rest on Your Title by Adam Bryant, interview with Terri Ludwig (Enterprise Community Partners):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/business/terri-ludwig-of-enterprise-community-on-leadership.html?src=rechp

Interpersonal skills, Adaptability, Team leadership and bottom-line results drive personal success

The attached article does a nice job of summarizing middle management and senior management required skills, and needs for personal success.

Adjusting to change, which each and every person, company and organization faces regularly, especially if they are looking to grow and remain dynamic in the ever changing economic climates within countries and even local regional economies, is a key component to organizational and personal success. The reference to Organizational Culture in the article, indirectly relates to Pre-Hire competencies before On-Boarding, and Competencies for a specific position, especially as it relates to "Job Fit and Company Fit." If assessments and succession planning tools and systems do not have the ability to identify competencies for good job fit, then filling positions and promotion, is mostly based on "gut instinct," some past performance criteria, and arbitrary factors,which are not necessarily the strongest ways to build a business in today's world.

As has been well documented in the past couple of decades, about 90% of a person's Thinking Style, Behaviors and Interests are hidden from immediate view and only become partially visible over time. Today's assessments can help to identify this "submerged/hidden" portion, subject of course to validation, making it much easier to identify competencies of success along with "Benchmarking/Job Pattern/Competency Models" for that position and thus people who are more likely to succeed in a given position. Why place a person in a situation with a high probability of failure because they may lack the correct interpersonal skills or adaptability that may be needed? Normally there are many other opportunities within an organization, regardless of size, where the person can thrive and contribute, but the right tools are needed to help HR, management and organizations to identify the right Job Fit or Job Match and to establish a good succession plan.

Leadership and Communication skills can also be identified through 360 Reviews and assessments, and should be used at least yearly if not more often. 360 Reviews properly done, can clearly target competencies and skills, while identifying developmental areas for individuals, as well as for organizations. These skills can be learned, hence training can be effective where and when needed.

All of this leads to bottom-line results; and, where proper KRA's are established, these results can be tracked to individual performance and personal success.
Wall Street Journal Article:
Interpersonal skills, Adaptability, Team Leadership and bottom-line results.