Launching into the New Year
(The Great Resignation, Part 2)

Before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, I shared with you some initial ideas on how to conduct a successful year-end strategic review to close out this year and launch into 2022, specifically relating to the Great Resignation.

After completion of that year-end strategic review which should help ensure the alignment of talent to your organization’s mission, vision, and values, consider your approach to adding members to your team. Organizations have unique needs and define “hiring the best talent” in ways that fit those needs. In today’s incredibly tight talent market, everyone agrees that hiring the right people is important to your company’s success, but retention of great talent is equally, if not more, important. Effective retention strategies can position your organization as world-class – from the inside out.

As an active kid, I played a lot of sports, both pick-up and organized games. I did everything from kickball on the school playground to high school varsity sports, and I’ve always enjoyed being part of a team.  Playing a sport will teach you that the team is only as good as the collective whole; the coaches must ensure a variety of expertise, skills, and experience.

But variety isn’t the only factor. Aligning the right expertise, skills, and experience is equally important to the success of the team.  Think about it …

A shot-put expert would be an unlikely candidate to be the swim team MVP! 

The same holds true for business teams. The right mix of the right characteristics needed for your organization will drive innovation, discipline, and precision that ultimately lead to success, while a mix of great-in-a-different-situation characteristics will only frustrate the team and hinder progress. More specifically, we need shot-put experts.  Just not on the swim team!

Many companies track operational, financial, and sales metrics but leave the human metrics to be tracked solely by the HR department, if at all.  It’s confusing.  People analytics should never start and end at HR.  Your strategic plan is important to your organization, and every level of leadership has a role to play in people strategy.

So, let’s look at a few ways to Evaluate Leadership Competencies and Ensure Alignment to the Strategic Plan.

• Consider how the organization’s strategic plan impacts leadership’s vision of the ideal culture. Make note of any gaps and implement actions to address them. For example, if an organization shifts from conserve-and-stabilize to a rapid growth strategy, then a similar shift in culture should be pursued.
• Consider leadership competencies to appropriately address changes in the business strategy. Reallocate resources and people based on the outcomes desired.
• Promoting from within can solidify a good organizational culture, but it also requires a review of candidates’ natural strengths, agility skills, and ability to communicate at various levels in the organization. Aligning a leader’s current strong points with future capabilities to support the potential of their team and assurance of strategic deliverables is vital to achieving objectives.

Are you aware of your team members’ strengths and passions? Do you know what drives them as individuals and how they like to work? Are you willing to develop a culture of turning mistakes into steppingstones, what John Maxwell calls failing forward? Do your teams lack healthy conflict? Is innovation encouraged?  When was the last time you evaluated your leadership team’s people strategy competencies and aligned them to your business strategy, if you’ve done it at all?

Aligning your team’s strengths to your organization’s objectives is a sure-fire way to achieve business success. As team members operate within their personal strengths, a natural excitement will build toward reaching the strategic goals.

Want to look at your organization differently? Examine how your organization incorporates people analytics into your business strategy and whether your “people strategy” and your business strategies align. Take the initiative and touch base with me. I’ll help you find your path to reach your full potential. And we’ll have fun on the journey of discovery.

Let’s move forward. Together.

P.S.  Book a Complimentary Strategy Session so we can get you moving in the right direction; click on my Complimentary Strategy Session calendar link here and let’s book a time together so you can get started today!

P.P.S. With over three decades of professional experience in corporate operations and executive human resources, I am a proven results-driven leader. My expertise includes strategy, change management, talent management and organizational development, employee relations, and executive and leadership coaching. I am a highly effective communicator and team leader with demonstrated ability to build long-term relationships across internal and external customer environments built with integrity, confidence, authenticity, and trust.