Talent and Skills Shortages Number One Risk in Asia Pacific and 4 Other Risks

In the earlier post about Corporate Risks ( Global Risks to Consider and Recent Analysis by Lloyd's- Has Your Company Considered These? ) that need to be considered. It was identified that Lloyd's had ranked these Global Risks, but they also identified Regional Risks. The  image below came from the report that they assembled for 2011. It is very interesting that Talent and Skills is the Number One Risk for Asia Pacific, given the unemployment rate and educational levels in the region and the flood of youth coming up.

So, CEOs and Senior Managers need to seriously consider this, not only if they are planning to expand in the region, but also if new entries (start-ups) are being planned. It will require expert Succession Planning and Strategic Planning efforts to address this risk issue and the others identified, as well as Coaching, Mentoring, Training and Team Development for key corporate members to help fill this gap.

The BPO industry in the Philippines, identified several years ago, that while the industry could do a good job of hiring and filling entry level positions, when they promoted effective call agents, for example, these people did not have the managerial skills to handle a "Front-Line Manager" position. In many instances they were promoted to their level of "incompetence." So the bottle-neck to growth was not having identified and trained potential new managers soon enough to handle the high influx of new candidates for entry level positions.

Consequently, they changed their processes in Pre-Hire to identify 5-10% of the people considered for the entry level position(s), who had the right IQ and EQ to fit into their organizations, and who had good "job fit" with the Benchmarks/Job Pattern /Performance Modeling for not only the entry level position (significantly reducing turnover), but also for the Front-Line Manager position. They would "mark/follow" these people by observation and possible early training to assume the higher level position. This experience was possibly the early warning signs that Lloyd's seems to be now reflecting in their study, now.

For the Asia Pacific Region, Lloyd's identified the following 5 areas of major risks to be considered or addressed:
    1) Talent and Skills shortages
    2) Currency fluctuations
    3) Inflation
    4) Loss of Customers/Cancelled Orders
    5) Company Reputation Risk

As also highlighted in the area: CEO, Senior Manager, Leadership, Strategic Planning and Charisma , it is essential that CEOs, Senior Managers, and Corporate HR Managers identify at least 3-5% potential Leaders within each level of the organization (bench strength) in order to help address sustainability for the corporation. Without bench strength, just like for a sports team, while the top players are available and not injured, the team does well; but without the organizational depth and strength, it can result in high fluctuations in corporate performance over time.

The question remains: How Well Positioned Is Your Company for the Upcoming Forecasted Risks within the Region - Presently and for the ensuing 5-10 years? The future and investments are yours to make to position the company for growth and profitability! To ignore these risks could be at the peril of the corporation and organization.


Risks - Then and now: what has changed?

"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 

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!

Sales Talent Management or Beating the Odds for Even greater Sales Success - Oct. 28, 2011

A Learning Session was held on "Sales Talent Management" or "Beating the Odds for Even greater Sales Success" on Oct. 28, 2011.

In yesterday’s learning session, I addressed keys to success for Sales Organizations, and for that matter in any portion within a company.

Overall, Benchmarks help identify "job fit." Harvard had followed 320,000 sales people over a 20 year period and determined that it wasn't education or skills that determined success, but "Job Fit"(Thinking Style[IQ], Behavioral Traits [EQ] and Interests).

Therefore the keys identified in the presentation were:

1)      Benchmark (also called Performance Model or Job Pattern) around top performers, while identifying poor performer’s competencies that are different. This allows you to identify the essential competencies for that position that drive success. These benchmarks need to be position specific, not industry specific. (Do you think your company is exactly the same as another company, even if you are in the same industry with very similar products? The other company(s) are as different as people are. Human DNA is 99.9% the same, it is the 0. 1% that creates the diversity we see each day with the people with whom we interact.)

a.       Ideally you need to use assessments or methodologies that can quickly allow re-benchmarking if new “Top performers” come into the picture and/or as the market needs change.

b.      Have a way to identify Training Needs Analysis (TNA) for those competencies falling outside the benchmarks, in order to help to develop programs for Career Development for individuals and groups.

2)     Use these benchmarks to help screen, interview and validate around these separator competencies in order to identify stronger performers during the recruiting/pre-hire process. The sooner you can bring in new talent around top performer benchmarks, the sooner your organization begins to upgrade. Creating this slight edge, that grows over time, increases sustainability and profitability. It also, most likely, will reduce training costs and speed integration time.

3)      Use these benchmarks for existing positions, in developing career development programs and training needs for their career development plan.

4)      Also, use these benchmarks to identify individuals for succession management plans, coupled with managerial and performance review results. Ideally Performance Reviews are 360 based, and online, to allow complete confidentiality and candidness by those rating the ratee/Manager. Also online, speeds  results, eliminating assembling and analysis time. Most importantly, it helps to maintain objectivity in reviews, and eliminate subjectivity, which increases trust and engagement.

Once these processes are in place, or simultaneously, identify the three ties of Sales Performers in your organization.

Why three Tiers?
 

Because, it has been well established in multiple studies, that in any Sales Organization there are the Top performers, Middling/Average performers and Poor performers. How much are the latter two tiers costing you?

It follows the 80/20 rule, 20% of your sales force is delivering 80% of your sales. (Of course the same also applies to your client mix, 20% of your clients are delivering 80% of your sales and profitability.)

Calculate (via a utility analysis) how much more can be gained if you can develop an Average performer into a Top performer, or a bottom performer to even a middling/average performer. The results can be amazing. If interested, feel free to ask how this can be done.

The slight Edge: In many sports, it is a split second of difference that separates a winner from being second or third. A few years back, there were documentaries on the steps athletes take for these 10^th of a second differences. Swimmers have videos taken showing their stroke techniques in a glass tank versus an ideal stroke. Runners are videoed for motion analysis.  Golfers modify their swings using videos comparing theirs with the ideal (benchmark) swing of efficiency. Business is no different.

If you take these steps not only will your Sales significantly improve, but if implemented throughout the organization, this slight edge gets magnified throughout the corporation! If your competition is doing this, where does it put you? Can you and your company afford not to put into place these kinds of steps and procedures?

The decision is yours and your company’s! Can CEO’s, Senior Managers and companies ignore these in this dynamic global market? It seems highly unlikely that sustained performance can be maintained without these kinds of methods being implemented.

Performance Evaluations - How to start?

Performance Evaluations can be the most critical and stressful part of Management regardless of whether it is for, or as, a front-line Manager, Senior Executive, or CEO. It is a critical component/activity as it identifies areas of proficiency and developmental areas for the individual and sets the stage for the coming period of performance for the employee.

Done well, it can be invigorating, supportive and motivating. It gains heightened engagement from the employee and this cascades and helps to build engagement within the organization.

Done poorly, it can result in an employee(s) who can: become demotivated, have poor morale, and can become a critic of any and all operations or activities within the group, division or company. Obviously, this needs to be avoided at all costs.

One of the easiest ways to start the evaluation process is to clearly communicate what the process of the performance evaluation will be. Communicate how it is to be initiated, the forms that will be used, metrics and standards employed, whether it will use a 360 review process, and what input the employee will have in the process. Obviously, the final Performance Evaluation or Review will be a document placed in the employee's Personnel File and should be communicated accordingly.