Helping Your Managers Succeed An AchieveNEXT Best Practice Report
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Greg Wood
Member Experience Officer greg.wood@achievenext.com Tom Stewart Chief Knowledge Officer tom.stewart@achievenext.com Robyn Pollack Managing Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion robyn.pollack@achievenext.com Milton Corsey Director of Human Capital Solution milton.corsey@achievenext.com Eric Herrenkohl Managing Director and Executive Coach eric.herrenkohl@achievenext.com
Christin McClave Operating Partner christin.mcclave@achievenext.com
INTRODUCTION
AchieveNEXT’s CFO and CHRO Alliances are fueled by our shared belief in the power of peer-to-peer learning. We realize personal and professional growth by sharing our experiences and welcoming insights from others. During the first quarter of 2021, our peer discussions were focused on growth strategies and how to drive top-line revenue. Our Member Engagement team began to see trends emerge during conversations with Members. We uncovered a common theme: To achieve growth goals, enterprises need the right people in the right seats. Much like the core concept in Jim Collins’ legendary business book “Good to Great” leaders need to focus on the “who” before the “what.” Collins talks about not just having all the people on the bus — but having them in the right seats. As we moved in Q2 2021, CFO and CHRO Alliance Members continued to share that they are unsure about whether or not their new managers are equipped to step up into first-time leadership roles. It became clear that we needed to turn to our community to gather best practices. We called on volunteers from our CFO and CHRO Alliance networks to serve on a Special Task Force and develop a best practice report that would focus on leadership traits and skills for managers. We selected 25 Members to co-write this report. We held numerous meetings, formed sub-groups and dug into the work of creating a meaningful report based on real-life experiences of emerging and mid-market CFOs and CHROs who have taught others how to manage and lead teams and enterprises. The result is this 40-page Helping Your Managers to Succeed guide. This expansive report is a collaboration between noted business author Ram Charan and our CFO and CHRO Alliance members and includes case studies, best practices, grounded insights and personal insights from leaders on the front lines of leadership who are actively grooming their next generation of managers. I’d like to give a personal thank you to Ram Charan for his insights on this topic, to our AchieveNEXT Human Capital Solutions team who provided advice and commentary, and to each of our Task Force Members who carved out time during the busiest months of the year to create this important tool for their peers. Your commitment and passion are what make our Member Networks thrive. Warm regards. Greg Wood Member Engagement Officer AchieveNEXT Member Networks 3
ACHIEVENEXT HELPING YOUR MANAGERS SUCCEED
Introduction Foreword by Ram Charan Special Task Force Members Skills TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 5 8 10 17 Talent Pooling
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Pathways to Success
Retaining Top Performers
Managing Your Talent Pipeline
Becoming a Better Boss
FOREW O RD
Ram Charan , Global Advisor to C-Suite Leaders and Boards
The change that comes when a person moves from being an individual contributor to becoming a supervisor is profound and difficult. Helping a new manager succeed was a problem long before the pandemic, before there was email, before there were teams working in dispersed locations. Most companies failed at it; most still do. A person needs to be coached, mentored, and trained to succeed as a manager. But in most cases, new managers get little of this, not even a full day of conversation about how to do the job. They get shown the policy manual and receive some training in legal stuff. But when it comes to becoming a true boss, they get a pat on the back, a new office and an introduction to their team, and that’s it. Who normally gets the promotion to manager? The best individual performer, of course. The problem is that the talents that earn someone a promotion are not the talents needed to succeed in the new job. The content of a management job is fundamentally different. Your job is no longer about how to produce good work, but how to get other people to do good work. You need to distribute work and help others organize themselves. You must learn how to orchestrate collaboration. You must learn how to select, motivate, and supervise people. You need to learn to coach, which is very different from supervising. Supervision is about monitoring current performance; coaching is about helping someone get better. And the manager must be able to teach skills to subordinates. Accountability is fundamentally different, too. When a person becomes a manager, accountability shifts in three ways: to the people who work for you, to your boss, and to your peers. You are accountable to your people for their output; their failure is your responsibility, just as their success is to your credit. To your boss, you are now one of a team of managers who are responsible for advancing each other’s work to achieve collective goals; you must interpret those goals to your people and vice versa, ensuring they have the resources they need. You will also, perhaps for the first time, link with other parts of the organization in interdepartmental or cross functional projects. This transition was always difficult, but it is much harder in remote or virtual work. There are fewer opportunities for the new manager to be observed in action, or for informal counselling and advice. Consequently, the process of training a new manager must be institutionalized, while at the same time being very personalized. What was done informally (and often not done well) needs to be done more explicitly (and done better).
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The new manager needs to learn how he or she will be evaluated and how the team will be evaluated. There needs to be a clear discussion about milestones: What are the goals and how will they be tracked. There needs to be a clear feedback system between the new manager and the boss, and between the new manager and the team. And there must be a system of social gratification, which is the rewards and signals that keep a person engaged and energized—what I call social cocaine. And because each new manager has different strengths and weaknesses, this coaching and training should be designed so that it embodies institutional values and norms, but also addresses the specific capabilities of the individual. All these things are as necessary in a normal work environment as they are in today’s changed workplace; the difference is that they need to be institutionalized, even in a company of 20 people. Every new manager should get two or three days, even a week, of training with a coach. In my experience, the boss needs to be the coach. If you’re going to promote somebody, you need to coach them; and the company needs to ensure that it happens every time and that the boss is competent to do it. Most bosses aren’t skilled at coaching, so they will need to be taught, too. The good news is that the pandemic and remote work provide a reason to build that institutionalized coaching, which as I said most companies do very badly. You shouldn’t need to bring in outside help. Any company of 250 employees has several superb leaders, and they should be able to teach others. Nor do you need to create a mentoring program. Most mentoring programs don’t work, because the existence of a mentor absolves the boss of responsibility for learning how to coach. A person who really wants to learn will find his own mentor. If you know what you want to learn, if you have an agenda, then mentoring is easy. You don’t need a complicated process. Make the real people who are supervisors do the coaching and make them accountable for it. Why should this be any different from sports? It’s important to help the new manager understand that the change from individual contributor to manager is the most radical change in a leader’s career, with the exception of the change from functional leader to CEO. The steps between manager and CEO may seem like big steps, but, really, the change is just incremental. The two radical steps are the first one—becoming a manager for the first time—and the last one—becoming the CEO. It is important to get that first step right. _____________ Ram Charan is a world-renowned business advisor, author and speaker who has spent the past 40 years working with many top companies, CEOs, and boards, among them Toyota, Bank of America, Key Bank, ICICI Bank, Aditya Birla Group, Novartis, Max Group, Yildiz Holdings, UST Global, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo), and Humana. He has written oover 30 books since 1998, including The Leadership Pipeline, (co-authored with Stephen Drotter and James Noel) and Execution, which he worked on with former Honeywell CEO Larry Bossidy. His articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Time, Chief Executive and USA TODAY. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and has served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Corporate Governance.
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Special Task Force Members Thanks to all who have contributed to this Best Practice Report, including,
Gerry Burke Senior Vice President, Comstar Technologies Valerie Burniece Chief Financial Officer, iXsystems Teresa Burton Chief Financial Officer, Beck Ventures Craig Carra Chief Financial Officer, MOBILion Systems Inc Jeff Codd Senior Vice President, Wiedenbach-Brown Doug Cunningham Financial Director, Denver Beer Co. Al D’Iorio Chief Financial Officer, MRINEtwork Kelly Ehler President, Corporate Finance Outsource Inc. Ilana Esterrich Chief Financial Officer, American Coatings Association
Pat Grant President, Burdette Beckmann Inc.
Diego Parra Chief Financial Officer, North Tarrant Infrastructure LLC & Blue Bonnet Contractors LLC Indran Purushothaman Financial Controller, Zagame Corporation Erin Robbins Vice President of Financial Operations, Turn 14 Distribution Inc. Gregory Sonis Chief Accounting Officer, Roc360 Stephen Voorhees Vice President of Finance and Accounting, Big G Express Inc. Bob Walsh Vice President of Finance, Sullivan Goulette & Wilson
Mary Ellen Harris VP of Human Resources, Office Practicum
Velma Hart COO, Construction Specifications Institute
Lynette Heil Finance Director, Beacon Point Matt Lane Chief Financial Officer, Yolo Federal Credit Union James Metzger Global Chief Financial Officer, Lee Hecht Harrison Tim Myers Chief Financial Officer, Landscape Development Sandy Nash Chief Financial Officer & Chief Human Resources Officer, Strategex
Travis Winder Chief Financial Officer, Richey May & Co
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Skills Promoting from Within or External Hires?
Contributors:
Craig Carra
Doug Cunningham
Kelly Ehler
Erin Robbins
Jeff Codd
Craig Carra , Chief Financial Officer, MOBILion Systems Inc
Motivation has always been a critical element of keeping teams engaged to drive results. This has not only remained true but increased in importance during COVID-19. During my career, there have been several opportunities to add a strong manager to help lead the accounting and finance function. I have experience both promoting current team members to a manager role and hiring external candidates to help lead my team. Before promoting someone to a manager role, you want to ensure that the person possesses the talent to be a strong manager and that becoming a manager is one of his or her career goals. A big mistake I frequently see is promoting someone to a manager who doesn’t necessarily want to lead people. Adding management responsibility to someone’s job duties adds a different level of responsibility and stress, and not all people want or are ready for it. So before promoting someone to a manager role, have an honest conversation and make sure that they truly understand the expectations and want to gain that experience.
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Adaptability The best managers adapt their coaching style to meet the needs of the individual team members, not the other way around. This is a common mistake I often see first-time managers make. I coach my managers to ensure they know how each of their direct reports likes to be managed. For example, some want minimal coaching — set the direction and let them go. Others want more guidance and need more communication. Adapting your management style to meet the needs of each team member will help create a high functioning team. It goes the other way around, too: You need to let those managers know how you like to work with them — regular meetings with a set agenda, informal conversations, etc. Making this clear is especially important in a hybrid work environment.
Whether you are promoting from within or hiring an external manager, a strong manager needs these three things: Adaptability Effective communication Goal setting
Effective Communication A manager can expect a lot more horizontal and vertical communication. If the managers on my team need to communicate important corporate communications down to their team, I will role play with the manager to make sure the communication is being messaged properly and that they are prepared to answer questions. Additionally, managers need to be receptive to communication from their team in an environment that is open, honest, and collaborative. Managers also need to make sure they communicate goals and expectations to their team in a clear and concise manner. This brings me to the final critical skill - the ability to establish and achieve goals. Horizontal communication is important, too--that is, managers need to communicate with each other, both inside the department and across departments--much more than non-managers. It is important for them to understand what other teams need to hear from them, and to be able to ask their peers for communication in return. Goal Setting Goal setting is an underrated skill, one that it is important to teach to new managers. I am a big proponent in creating quarterly SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) for each team member. I work with the managers on my team to ensure they clearly understand the corporate goals and guide them to ensure the individual team members’ goals are aligned with the corporate goals. I also coach my managers to ensure they are keeping their teams focused on goal achievement, and I teach them how to establish regular, consistent meetings with a focus on identifying goals at risk, discovering the real issue preventing goal completion, and working to solve the issue at hand. I expect my managers and their teams’ to achieve 80% or higher goal achievement each quarter, as this represents a high functioning team.
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Best Practice Spotlight
Erin Robbins , Vice President of Financial Operations Turn 14 Distribution Inc New managers in my training program are focused on the 3 Cs: Communication, Clear Expectations and Care.
Communication Communication is critical to any business relationship but is the most important ingredient to productive manager-staff rapport. A new manager should define their communication channels and make clear to the team how information will be delivered. This includes availability for impromptu needs, designated time for undivided attention, and vehicles for delivery of broader company initiatives and cross- department messaging. Communication should be clear and consistent in format and prompt in delivery. Communication should also include constructive feedback by way of ad hoc conversations, routine and formalized performance evaluations, and big-picture discussions about career growth and reach opportunities.
Clear Expectations Nearly every challenge facing a first-time manager can return to one core concept — Did you set clear expectations? The foundation for every business transaction relies on clarity in expectations. By setting clear expectations with staff, managers provide a roadmap to success - what are the steps to complete a task, satisfy a functional need, and maintain a timeline? Conceptually, this may seem simple but requires discipline to execute consistently. For every new staff member, a manager has the opportunity to lay the ground rules for their working relationship. For me, this includes the expectation that staff members ask questions about the “why” behind our processes and share their ideas about operational alternatives.
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It also includes a safety net: If I do not define a priority or deadline for you, you should ask. Each new assignment should be accompanied by key expectations and a clear definition of success. This can be task or project-oriented, specify relationship management techniques, or define proactive attentiveness to growth areas. Manager frustrations run deep on underperformers, missed deadlines or perceived lack of respect. New managers tend to direct their frustrations at staff members; smart managers look introspectively at themselves first. Were priorities clear? Was the format pre-defined? Was the reporting result established? Absence of these definitions falls first on the manager. With time and or experience, a manager can wean staff to supply or confirm these points proactively. But a new manager must first establish this groundwork. Care In business, managing people can focus heavily on the end-result and operational output. New managers can be laser-focused on functional accomplishments and forget that managing people is about …. PEOPLE.
I subscribe to the Marcus Buckingham philosophy of managing to strengths. People enjoy work when they are successful, and they are successful when they enjoy their work! This starts with understanding the strengths of each of the people on your team, and setting up your organizational structure so that people can use their strengths. By doing so, you increase engagement and job satisfaction, which in turn improves performance and ultimate output. Furthermore, getting to know your staff provides the backdrop for understanding their motivations, outside influences and stressors. A key question I pose to new team members is: How can I show that I value you and your contributions? Understanding personal motivations and value systems enables a manager to target her efforts effectively. One team member may appreciate public recognition while another seeks new challenges or cross-training opportunities. Catering efforts and responses demonstrates that you care about their wellbeing, their job satisfaction and their professional growth. For those who are still focused on the end result: surprise, this will deliver the end product you are striving for!
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Kelly Ehler , President, Corporate Finance Outsource Inc.
Technical skills and management skills aren’t always the same. What is the body of management knowledge first-time managers need to acquire? What are the core skills for managing people? How can you help new managers acquire those skills? Has COVID and remote or hybrid work changed the skill set—or changed the mix? How has today’s work environment affected your ability to coach them? What kind of expectations framework do you set for new managers? Communication is the most critical skill required. What does communication entail? • Both verbal and non-verbal abilities.
this myself, I get much more honest and open communication. Removing fear of reprisal at all levels helps empowerment. • COVID has made a lot of the above more difficult, since you can’t help with body language in developing communication skills. It’s made verbal communication via virtual methods more important. I ask more questions to confirm I understand my team, and conversely, I encourage more questions asked of me for the same purpose. Remember the acronym, “assume” and what it means. • Goal setting for new managers is critical, and not just for managers, but those managing the managers, all the way to the board level. This is why we have strategic sessions, tactical sessions, cultural sessions. Communicating the “why” of the corporate existence, helps empower the manager to empower the team. For both the manager and their team, regular period goals are set on the basis of them being tough to accomplish. At the end of the period, performance is measured against the goals the team and the manager have established. This creates accountability and hopefully motivates to meet corporate and personal objectives. New goals or continuation thereof are set at regular intervals. The goals must be achievable.
• Non-verbal, in that you want to pay attention to body language and to probe if you see a reaction that requires a probing question. The point here is, if possible, when communicating I try to ask managers to pay attention to body language for cues that whatever is being discussed is being understood. • In verbal communication, there’s obviously much to discuss. What I find helpful is for the manager not to be the “boss” and be overly “directive,” so that your employee doesn’t • Understanding the personality, the strengths, and the weaknesses of your team is critical to helping them achieve their best performance and succeed in the job they were hired for. Taking the time to learn the personal attributes of the manager and team members is important. Are they introverted? What mode of communication works? Are they a texter? A Zoom type? A face to face? An emailer? What yields results in the different modes of communication. This is necessary for the manager to know themself and that of their team members. • Sharing the ability to be humble and admit mistakes allows the new manager to show they have room for growth and that it’s ok for the team member to learn and improve. I find by doing
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What are the core skills for managing people? What works for you to help new managers acquire those skills? Jeff Codd , Senior Vice President, Wiedenbach-Brown I find that newer managers often have a hard time envisioning where the team needs to go. They see tasks clearly but are less sure of the goal. They can also get so caught up in being busy that they do not take time to step back to plan how to get there. I find that messaging to the manager like I am a politician on a stump speech works well. Although I will vary the message and look for different ways to communicate it, I try to maintain the same 1-3 talking points until I see traction in the key areas. Timely feedback is critical. We teach new managers how to deliver quick, informal feedback to ensure that associates know where they stand and what needs to be improved. This is not intended to replace formal feedback, but rather to prevent surprises when formal feedback is provided. If an associate knows that some performance issue needs to change, they are less likely to develop/sustain undesirable performance. What kind of expectations framework do you set for new managers? One key piece of advice that I received early in my career as a manager was to not worry about making a mistake. It was pointed out to me that some mistakes you make as manager may not become apparent to you until months (or even years) later. That resonated for me and helped me to be less concerned about making mistakes and to think more long term, so I share that advice with new managers. I encourage managers to evaluate circumstances from the point of view of their team member(s). What are they dealing with in their personal and work lives? The new manager should not expect everyone’s work ethic, flexibility, or capabilities to be the same as their own
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Has COVID and remote or hybrid work changed the skill set—or changed the mix? Due to staff reductions associated with COVID we asked some managers to manage staff in areas they did not have functional experience or strength in. Often, newer managers initially rely on having deeper knowledge than their staff as a key management tool. This presents a new level of stress/ growth for the manager when they are asked to push outside their areas of functional strength. The coaching I provide in the time of transition until they have gained a better functional understanding is to ask a lot more questions. They cannot rely as much on intuition or experience. Instead, they need to let the ‘story’ develop and they can foster this by asking questions. These newer managers typically have less experience with remote management, and this presents a challenge, particularly with training. When the manager is seated near their staff and quick training opportunities are presented, they are much more easily taken advantage of through a brief exchange. How has today’s work environment affected your ability to coach managers? The virtual environment has made it more challenging to manage the manager. It’s harder to oversee the work. An even bigger challenge is keeping a finger on the pulse. Historically, you can get a sense of how a manager is doing by watching the mood within their team and hearing the chatter in the bullpen or the kitchen. You can see the informal interactions between peers and between managers and their staff. It’s also easier to have an informal 1-on-1 interaction with your manager’s team when you bump into them in the office. I wanted to touch on an item Craig raised about promoting someone to a management role when it does not align with their career goals. In a past role, the company I worked for developed a management level role for technical specialists who did not wish to pursue a career in management and/or if there was not an immediate opening for a management position. This team of specialists was included as part of an extended management team. It was effective as a retention tool and it also allowed for some people with very strong skills to maintain and/or grow their expertise because they were able to lead higher level projects/work without being bogged down as managers. Finally, it also served as a stepping-stone for some staff who were able to be exposed to management level discussions, leading them to develop an interest in a management path without being forced into it.
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Talent Pooling
Contributors:
Bob Walsh
Stephen Voorhees
Indran Purushothaman
Sandy Nash
The skills and talents we are looking for in managers have not really changed. However, how we search for, recruit, hire or promote has changed, possibly in significant ways. Many of our daily interactions, internally and externally, have moved to a virtual environment. In addition, traditional business travel, meals, trade shows and similar events have been drastically curtailed. How do these shifts in business behaviors alter the ways we identify and hire qualified candidates to fill the managerial roles? As a result of the pandemic, companies have adopted a broad range of work environments for their people. Some have gone to full remote/virtual, while others have remained full office/onsite...and many combinations of these. This reflects the uniqueness of each individual organization’s circumstances. For example, many essential businesses have continued through the pandemic with a business-as-usual approach where little has changed. On the other hand, for those organizations that have gone fully virtual, a lot has changed. The day- to-day, interpersonal interactions that contribute to our identification and development of potential managers will most likely be very limited, and it remains to be seen if a virtual environment can replace these interactions to any meaningful degree. Companies will need to be keenly aware, and possibly creative to replace methods and techniques that may have been lost as they find their new normal. However, a strong argument can be made that the essence of what makes managers successful remains intact.
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Here are the 5 must-have qualities for a great manager: 1. First and foremost, managers need to be able to engage and empathize with people…they need to care. This quality allows a manager to build a culture of trust. Why is trust so important within a team? Because people will share themselves without fear. They will share their ideas, solutions, problems, and again, themselves, if they feel valued and respected and that they can do so without fear of dismissiveness, shame, or repercussions. 2. It is also critical for managers to be strong listeners. A great listener is someone who listens generously; someone who is present and engaged; someone who can suspend judgment and is curious to know more, rather than someone who jumps to conclusions. Above all, someone who listens to understand. 3. On the flip side, it is just as important that managers are strong communicators. We are not talking about being able to speak fluently or present well. We are talking about being able and willing to clearly communicate their knowledge, ideas, and goals as a manager in a way that directs and motivates their team. 4. Managers need to be adaptable. Other terms that describe this quality are agile, flexible, and versatile. They not only need to be open to new ideas, but they need to be able to act on them effectively. 5. Finally, managers must be capable of being good role models. They need to be able to exemplify the best of their company’s culture — someone who would expect the same behavior from their team.
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The critical underlying principle that needs to govern candidate outreach is diversity. Not just cultural diversity in your candidates, but diversity across industries, candidate sources, and candidate experiences. For example, some managerial positions require specific role or industry-related experience. Some managerial positions, however, would be best served with other skills and behaviors listed as higher priorities than direct experience. If, as a hiring manager, you understand these nuances, you can leverage diversity to add great managerial talent. How do firms assess if a potential manager has these qualities? There are many methodologies and techniques — performance evaluations, 360 reviews, traditional interviews and numerous other assessment and profiling tools that provide plenty of guidance and support for this process. Companies must spend the time to find the practices that are best aligned with their strategies, commit to using them, and not underestimate their importance. Obviously, there is no guarantee of a perfect hire every time. But making the investment in proper due diligence will substantially lessen the risk of placing a person into a role that does not suit them. Now that we know the qualities we are looking for in our managers, and our assessment techniques are honed in, we simply go out to the candidate marketplace and choose from an overwhelming number of qualified individuals who possess all five qualities as significant strengths, right? If only, folks, if only. Instead, what we are more likely to encounter are candidates with varying levels of strengths across our chosen leadership qualities. It then becomes incumbent upon the hiring leaders to prioritize and align a candidate’s strengths with the role and the organization’s objectives, while identifying a candidate’s lesser qualities as opportunities for improvement. Of course, this assumes at least a fundamental level of competency paired with a proven aptitude for growth with the lesser strength items...hopefully something the candidate has demonstrated in other areas of his or her career path. This approach allows you to face the reality of finding few “perfect” candidates, but also knowing there is a high probability of adding great managerial strength to your organization.
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Pathways For Success
Contributors:
Pat Grant
Matt Lane
Al D’Iorio
All growth-focused organizations should develop a clear a Pathway to Success is a required area of development for all organizations. CFOs are responsible for not only developing success plans for their future leaders and should be involved with the allocation of resources for all departments. The concept applies to all sizes of companies and types of organizations (public/private/not-for-profit). The program should not only be designed for the subordinate, but also the manager overseeing the leader. Professional relationships are important for managers to reinforce the Pathway of Success. Pathway to Success programs need to be formal and comprehensive programs managed by human resources and budgeted by CFOs. These types of programs are designed for management continuity, legal/statutory, corporate by-laws, and competitive edge. Small to mid-size private companies cannot overlook the need for a Pathway to Success for new associates or more senior leadership. Without a clear path, talented subordinates may not see the future and look to more sophisticated organizations to pursue advancement. Not being able to attract appropriate talent or keep talent can risk small to medium size company on-going concerns. Pathway to Success is likely a more legal and required process for large and public companies. These companies have more formalized requirements and by-laws that demand a formal program due to stakeholders’ requirements. The newest of these requirements might include Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. There are also other statutory and legal requirements for Pathways to Success. An example would be a CPA firm and the requirements needed to advertise as a CPA. Laws are different by state and industry, so it would be prudent to review such laws when developing training for a Pathway to Success. The mentors who create, develop, and implement the Pathway to Success for leadership must be able to cultivate trust and respect throughout the team. CFOs and other leaders must ensure that the Pathway is not only a direct relationship, but also a company beneficial relationship.
“Successful pathways have mentors along the way.” — Christin McClave, AchieveNEXT Operating Partner
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CASE STUDY Future Leadership Program
Company ABC contracted a consultant to train future leaders in management and compassionate accountability. The group was selected from cross functional groups and had various management experience. The training lasted nine months, involved 15 associates and four coaches. The consultants utilized basic management training, required reading and virtual projects deliverables. The project was sponsored by senior leadership and staff was provided adequate work hours to complete tasks. Based on before and after metrics the programs created better managers and a Pathway for Success for the individuals and the team. Technical Skills The technical skills of a candidate may influence a hiring decision based on the needs of the organization today, but how do you create an environment that promotes continued learning as the skills needed evolve? Communicating an expectation of perpetual learning should be done during the onboarding process along with the resources available. These resources can be internal, external, free, paid for by the company, or reimbursable. Providing paid time to utilize these resources is also valuable for the employee and organization. Build a Pathway to Success by providing a road map of milestones. Accomplishments can be celebrated through public recognition, small bonuses, or an increase in pay. Transparency of expectations for growth and reward sets a foundation of trust and can improve employee loyalty. Assessment of technical skills can be accomplished using different methods. Depending on your level of expertise in the subject, you can perform an evaluation. Third parties can be used to conduct a skill- level assessment, or you may also have resources within your human resources department who can assist. Any skill gaps that are uncovered can be put into the road map of success and this becomes a growth tool for the employee and a resource of accountability for the manager.
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Best Practice Spotlight Building Core Competency Programs
Matt Lane Chief Financial Officer, Yolo Federal Credit Union
Prior to the implementation of the core competency program at Yolo Federal Credit Union (Yolo FCU), there was little structure to pay increases. The program provides employees with the expected competencies of their current role and a roadmap for their career path. It also creates a guide for managers to hold them accountable. Employees are awarded pay raised when they demonstrate increases in job knowledge, skills, and performance. The knowledge, skills, and training requirements for each position are reviewed by the manager annually to determine if changes are needed, and the salary ranges are updated to reflect current market rates. The core competency program at Yolo FCU has been in place for many years, and the improvement in performance is noticeable. Managers use the tools to hold their employees accountable, and
employees enjoy having some control over their own success. The program is intended to put the employee in the driver seat with their manager as the coach. On the other hand, if an employee is not progressing through the program at a desired rate, the manager can use the expectations provided as a coaching tool. Every position in the organization, below the executive level, is part of the program. When I started with the organization, I came in at middle management. I had no prior experience working at a credit union, so I found this program extremely valuable as it provided me guidance on what I needed to know to be successful in my position. It also gave me an understanding of what I needed to accomplish to earn more money. These two pieces are invaluable to ambitious employees that have a desire to learn and grow financially.
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Preparation for Promotion Once a manager is promoted into a new position and demonstrates the potential for greater roles within the business, the individual should be supported with a management or leadership development program that can prepare them for more senior level responsibilities for the company. In the case of the accounting and finance function this generally is understood to mean the skills necessary to be prepared for a Leadership opportunity. Each company will have their own challenges and priorities that will be critical to successfully executing the role of a leader. However, there are common competencies that, when mastered, will make the leader a highly productive contributor to the business regardless of the specific industry. The CFO Leader needs to be: 1. A Steward of the business who will preserve the assets, manage the risks and provide integrity to the financial reporting. 2. An Operator of the business who runs an efficient and effective accounting and finance organization that successfully enables the performance of the business. 3. A Strategist capable of understanding customer needs, market trends and supply chain to shape the overall direction of the business. 4. A Catalyst able to expand the thinking of other senior team members about approaches to business success. 5. A Partner who supports the CEO in anticipating issues and communicating early alerts to allow the business to adjust as necessary and keep the plan on track.
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Leadership Development: Framework for Preparing for the Next Generation Leaders Comparing the skills needed to deliver on the above and the skills of the candidate will surface the gaps that need to be addressed with training and development. Many of these skills can be addressed through an MBA, CPA or CMA program. In the absence of a third-party program, some of the critical training and development that can be delivered includes: • Expanding the Self Awareness of Candidate Regarding Behaviors and Motivators: • There are many validated diagnostic tests that can provide a comprehensive picture of the behaviors the candidate is likely to demonstrate in different situations. These tests also identify the motivators that drive the candidate. These tests will generally require the use of a third-party expert to administer and interpret the result, which when done properly can be insightful and helpful to the candidate in working with others and improving their effectiveness. These diagnostic tests include: 1. DISC Profile 2. Hogan Assessment 3. Myers Briggs
4. Predictive Index 5. Strength Finders
“A robust leadership development program is key to successfully turning top performers into great managers.”
Company Specific Training: Depending on the size of the company, greater understanding can be gained through rotational assignments or creation of high-profile company task forces that are visible to the senior management team. These can include exposure to: 1. Customer Relationships 2. Sales and Marketing
— Milton Corsey, AchieveNEXT Director of Human Capital Solutions
3. International Operations 4. Operational Accounting 5. Financial Accounting 6. Technology 7. Strategy Development
The candidate should be challenged with stretch goals in these areas and should be eligible to be rewarded with special financial incentives if the stretch goals are achieved. These developmental assignments should be well delineated, and the candidate should have access to an internal or external mentor to coach them through the challenges.
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Management and Leadership Training: There are many training programs that can provide a candidate with improved management and leadership skills. These programs include: 1. Situational Leadership 2. Conflict Resolution 3. Developing High Performing Teams 4. Negotiating Skills 5. Decision Making and Balancing Complexity 6. Project Management 7. Presentation Skills 8. Mergers and Acquisitions In general, this training is delivered most effectively by an expert third party who can deliver the training to a group of internal candidates. Effectiveness of Leadership Development Process: Measurement systems throughout these leadership development phases are critical to evaluating the effectiveness of the training. Metrics should be established to provide insight to how well the programs are achieving the management objectives. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the training, it is also critical to regularly take the time to critique the process and make improvements so the business can deliver on its objective to develop highly competent senior managers.
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Retaining Top Performers
Contributors:
Diego Parra
Ilana Esterrich
Mary Ellen Harris
Valerie Burniece
Retaining top performers is a primary objective for all businesses today, especially in light of COVID and post-pandemic impacts on the workplace environment. The competition for highly talented employees is fierce, so leaders across all functions need an intentionally designed employee retention strategy. People will work for a company based on more than just title, salary, and office perks. Operating for so long in work- from-home and hybrid environments has shone a light on new, important factors in employee retention, include, but not limited to: • Establishing healthy, productive working relationships with others • Providing access to abundant opportunities for professional learning, self-development and career progression • Fostering a productive, positive company culture, which includes the traditional items of robust compensation, health and wellness programs, work flexibility, etc. We recommend three areas of focus to ensure retention of top talent: 1) Retain or Release 2) Develop, Engage, and Promote 3) Add Talent Strategically.
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1. Retain or Release
9 Box, A Matrix Tool
High Performer High Potential
Low Performer High Potential
Moderate Performer High Potential
High Performer Moderate Potential
Low Performer Moderate Potential
Moderate Performer Moderate Potential
High Performer Low Potential
Low Performer Low Potential
Moderate Performer Low Potential
Performance
The following are practical ideas for actions you can take to improve your chances of retaining talent. Begin by creating an assessment process that identifies the individuals at your organization who meet your definition of “high performers” or “high potential employees.” 9 Box, a matrix tool that allows organizations to evaluate their talent pool on performance and potential factors, is one quick assessment tool that you can use. Using this system, start by defining key competencies or key performance indicators that frame what it takes to be regarded as a high performer in your organization and use that as the “scorecard” to evaluate your employees. Once you have the assessment criteria, apply it to your organization and the result will be (ideally) 3 lists of employees:
List 1 = high performers/ high potentials/ people you wish to retain. For these individuals you will want to create tactics to retain them, such as:
Individual Development Plans . This is a detailed plan that identifies learning goals and specific actions that will ensure they achieve the learning goal.
Feedback processes. Feedback is most effective when it is delivered more frequently, is very direct, and is very specific. We recommend monthly feedback, at a minimum, through one-on-one sessions and formal written feedback quarterly or semi-annually. Banish the old way of thinking where feedback is only done annually at formal performance evaluations. This has been proven to be the least effective method for feedback. In fact, annual performance evaluations can do more damage than good when it comes to improving performance and retaining employees.
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Pathways to Success. Create a detailed, written document that specifically outlines a person’s pathway to success. Use the Individual Development Plan and the feedback program to inform this document. Narrow down actual steps and tasks the person should complete to achieve their goals. The more detailed the better; include dates, people, tasks, outcomes, resources that will drive their behavior. A recommended approach is to employ the “SMART” goals methodology. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
Mentors. High performers thrive when given a mentor they respect and with whom they can learn from. High performers desire attention and need guidance to channel them to a place where they can achieve their full potential. If you are going to go this route, be sure that you have a well- designed training program for the mentors, too. Don’t assume that everyone knows how to be a good mentor. Choose your mentors carefully and intentionally. Note that this too is a retention strategy — asking an employee to be a mentor to another team member tells that person that they matter to your organization and that you respect their talent and contributions. List 2 = people who need to improve performance and will require coaching. The same three strategies listed above will aid in the development of this group of employees. (e.g. Individual Development Plans, feedback programs, mentoring). Ideally, converting weak performers into strong performers creates a kind of succession plan or bench of upcoming talent to backfill when/if your high performers leave. List 3 = people who should be counseled out / terminated. Believe it or not, keeping this group of employees has a direct impact on retaining your high performers. High performing employees are very frustrated with organizational tolerance of poor performers. This is magnified in organizations that are very team-oriented and have team metrics. The high performing employees do not tolerate the poor performing employees and, in fact, will often leave the organization as a result. Part of appreciating the really good performers is to turn over the ones that aren’t. Managers are reluctant to admit this, but just talk to your teams. Keeping the not-so-hot performers is a net drain of time and energy, and sends a message that you see them all as colleagues, which may be demotivating to a real achiever.
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2. Develop, Engage, and Promote Fundamentally, people want to matter and feel valued and appreciated. If you want to set new managers up for success (and long careers) tell them that you value them and that you want them to be on your team. “Telling” them they are valued can be done explicitly and implicitly: explicitly through development plans, access to paid training and professional development, participation in corporate mentoring programs, and implicitly by simple gestures such as one-on-one lunches with organizational executives and even the occasional surprise free donut.
Encourage new managers to attend a minimum of one webinar, take a course in a relevant area, attend work-related networking or panels once a quarter and join some sort of finance-industry group to get exposure to people from other companies. If you have invested in new finance systems and software, encourage them to register for the relevant annual user conferences. With the growing popularity of hybrid seminars and conferences, it’s possible to mitigate costs by having them participate virtually for events that last an hour up to a day but don’t skimp on conferences or shows that require them to spend more than a day attending. During the pandemic, we’ve become accustomed to the cost savings from not spending for airfare, hotels, and meals but post-pandemic we need to be realistic that these savings may not be permanent. With regard to promoting, there’s an anecdote that Napoleon said that any time he promoted someone in his army, that he’d have many disappointed people and one ingrate. We suppose that Napoleon was at least partially correct since promotions don’t always meet with people’s expectations. When promotable candidates realize they are not only competing with themselves but also with their co- workers, reconciling the idea of being a team player for the organization is difficult.
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