The Imperative of a Talent Strategy

We all know the pain points when our talent practices aren’t working: difficulty filling positions, increased staff turnover and burnout, low staff morale, and overarching downgrading of talent over time as top performers seek employers who have their talent practices in order. And there is a plethora of research outlining the financial implications of these challenges. For example, the price of one employee leaving is estimated at 150% times that employee’s annual salary.

And the implications do not stop there. Who achieves an organization’s goals? People. Who implements an organization’s marketing strategy? People. Who raises money to support an organization’s programs and growth? People. So why wouldn’t everyone have same level of rigor around their talent strategy as they do around marketing and fundraising strategies? Especially when the success of achieving an organization’s mission is so obviously dependent on the people employed there.

Here are five steps your organization can take now to build a talent strategy that is aligned with organizational goals and priorities:

1.     Understand what your organization is trying to achieve. This means setting concrete and measurable organization wide goals that the talent strategy can be designed around to support. For example, if your organization is planning on launching a new service or program, the talent team will need to ensure they have talent pools at the ready to fill new openings.

2.     Assess your current bench. Do the people in your organization have the skills and experience required to achieve these goals? Or, are you venturing into a new area that requires bringing new expertise into the organization. Maybe your organization is growing in size and complexity requiring a more sophisticated management skill set. The talent team needs to be aware of these changes on the horizon in order to plan for professional development that will prepare staff for the future and to fill certain gaps with new talent.

3.     Survey your staff. It is critically important to understand staff engagement. Are people fired up and inspired to give it their all everyday or is a lack of engagement and enthusiasm getting in the way of your organization’s success.  

4.     Start leveraging data. Data driven decision-making is the anchor for any effective talent strategy. Without it, your organization will be shooting blind at an unknown target. For example, individual staff performance data should inform every single decision your organization makes about talent:  who gets promoted, where you invest professional development resources, how you embed strategic succession planning to prepare for future organizational evolution. Market data should inform how much individuals are compensated and how. Engagement data should inform priorities for improvement.

5.     Put it all together to inform your talent strategy. Once you know what your organization aspires to achieve, what skill gaps exist in your talent pool, how engaged your staff are, and have concrete data to refer to, your strategy will become clear. Top talent priorities and areas of urgency will rise to the surface.  Now, your job will be to translate these into concrete goals, initiatives, and actions that the organization can take to advance talent practices throughout.

Hiring Leaders

The other day, a friend of mine asked me for some advice on how to hire a swim coach for a summer recreational league.  Although I am not an expert swimming coach, as a seasoned educational recruiter this inquiry led me to consider the similarities and differences between hiring for this position and one of the school leader roles I so often work on.  In the end, I decided that while the two roles clearly require a different set of technical skills, they both require strikingly similar leadership abilities.  And what I have found after years of recruiting is that technical proficiency can be much more easily quantified and verified than the more elusive and subjective areas of leadership style and skills. Thus the reason so many clients and partners seek support from a third party talent organization such as ours.

Great candidates possess leader attributes that are universally sought. When I am seeking for the “best fit” candidate for a leadership role, the primary attributes I seek are:

-        Work ethic

-        Integrity

-        Team orientation

-        Positive attitude

Of course, how you evaluate, rate and qualify these attributes is the $64,000 question.  Interviewing multiple candidates can add context in helping managers sort through different individuals.  Also, working with a recruiter who deeply understands the industry and where to find candidates with specific skill sets can add a lot of value to organizations’ attempts to build a viable candidate pool.  Talent managers should always cast a wide net by emailing friends and family who can connect them with others, and internal networks are also a terrific resource to tap as you are narrowing in on a candidate during the reference checking process.

Every position boasts a unique description and set of qualifications, but in my humble opinion a few basic questions should always be asked during an initial interview. Here are some of mine:

1.     Tell me a time when you worked on a project and needed to put more effort into it than you planned?

2.     Give me an example of when you worked with a team, and what was your role?  What was the outcome?

3.     How does your attitude impact others at work?

Remember, Redwood Circle is a great resource to use when looking for education leaders.  Our recruiters are well connected in the industry and are here to help!

The Tao of Networking

I've been thinking about the right title for this blog about networking.  I didn't want to use the words art or science because those are terms I've seen overused about networking.  I wanted to find a term that described networking as a philosophy, a way of being.  Then I thought about a posthumous collections of Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy, the Tao of Jeet Kune Do. That was it - TAO!  The Tao of Networking is more of a principle, a path.    

My own Tao of Networking over the last 10 years (many of which have been spent on LinkedIn) are an accumulation of values and lessons learned from school leadership recruitment, making connections amongst my own networks, and meeting lots of people from all walks of life.

#1:  Networking is giving.  I read an Adam Grant article recently about this.  Yes when we reach out to people, there's something we usually want in return (advice, connections, a job!).  But I've learned to always offer what can I give in return.  I end every networking conversation by asking if there's anything I can do for the person.  I usually have something in mind based on the conversation, like making a connection for them, sharing a resource, or sharing a status update for the person's work.    

#2: Networking is learning.  I've had hundreds of networking conversations over the past two years.  I usually write a series of questions I ask each person, based on what it is I want to learn.  I've found that starting with a learning orientation, which makes me actively listen and more curious about the person, leads to new lessons!  For example, I had a great conversation with a trusted mentor.  Not only did she refer a number of great books on coaching, but gave me two easy pieces of advice as I coach clients:  Listen more and empower them to create their own path (and not YOUR path!).

#3: Networking is consistency.  It's all about the follow-up.  If you say you'll do something for someone, do it.  I take my networking notes and create a calendar appointment to follow up on an item.  Additionally, I'll email out any next steps from a conversation to hold myself accountable.  Most importantly, I reach out to three people every week to just say hi and ask what I can do for that person.  

There are plenty of great articles about the process for networking, from a good email ask to how to frame a successful networking conversation.  HOWEVER, without these values, networking then just become another item on our to-do list.  Why not network because it aligns with who we are!

She’s Just Not That Into You

Why Hiring and Dating Are More Similar Than You May Think

First of all, in the interest of full disclosure I should say that it is possible some might not think me qualified to write a blog piece that talks about the world of dating.  I met my husband more than 15 years ago and have not dated anyone since, which means my last dating experiences came not only before the days of social media, “meet-ups,” and online dating services, they were also before regular people had cell phones.  If we wanted to meet up with one another, we left messages on each other’s home machines, called the other person during our work day and tried to talk quietly so our co-workers in the next cubicle wouldn’t snicker too much, or (shocking, I know!) made firm plans a day or more in advance.  I doubt many 20-somethings today would even recognize the dating rituals in which we participated. 

So why, you may ask (given my substantial disclaimer upfront) would I presume to speak about how dating and hiring are more similar than one might think?  It is because, although it’s been a while since I have been out on the market for both things, I remember clearly the feelings and thoughts I experienced when I was – and they are almost identical.  “Does he like me?” “Did I make a good impression?”  “I wonder if they will call me this week?”  “How long should I wait before I call them?” “Am I really that interested?  How will I know?”  One of the most important – and most difficult – characteristics of success in either scenario is a clear understanding of your own needs and value proposition and how they match up with the qualities and interests of the other party.

As hiring managers (or in my case, search consultants), it is easy to become seduced by someone’s credentials and qualifications – their Ivy League degrees, deep and relevant experiences, referrals and high recommendations from trusted sources – and forget that the candidate selection process should be a give and take on both sides.  We need to make sure they are passionate about and committed to us as much if not more than we are passionate about and committed to them.  Otherwise, we are like the guy in the movie chasing the ideal catch and losing sight of the really great girl next door who loves us for who we are.  If a potential hire is haggling aggressively about money, taking forever to respond about an offer, or easily swayed to consider another opportunity, it’s probably a good sign that he or she is just not that into you and your time will be better spent finding someone passionate about your mission and committed to working with you for the long term.

Similarly, it is important for organizations to not only put their best foot forward, confident in the value they are offering to employees, but also to be realistic and honest about the challenges new hires will face when and if they come on board.  Deception during the courting phase doesn’t do anyone any favors and can lead both parties down a path of regret, frustration, or hurt.  If a lasting match is to be made, it will be because both sides have been open and honest about their strengths and weaknesses and have decided together that they can work through their differences and form a strong, enduring partnership.  Regardless of how people find one another, it is these kinds of relationships that lead to great things in terms of high levels of loyalty and job satisfaction and – most importantly – long-lasting sector impact.