Managing and leading people 4

People developmentIn part four of his series on managing and leading people, Jon Minerich, Principal, Oliver Wight Americas, Inc., shows how companies with simple technologies often outperform competitors who have the latest and best technologies. The differentiator, he says, is the skill and ability of the workforce.  IntroductionThree of the top ten key factors that drive company performance, according to a poll of business executives, are:1. Attracting and developing talented employees.2. Creating a performance-oriented workforce.3. Having a flexible workforce that quickly adapts to changing market conditions.To have this type of workforce, a CEO must understand the strategic impact of the companyÔÇÖs education and training programs. This article, Part 4 of the series on Managing and Leading People, will focus on the essential elements for developing and creating your workforce of the future, including elevating education and training to a strategic level; defining your workforce of the future; and implementing education and training to successfully accomplish your companyÔÇÖs vision.Elevate education & training to strategic levelWe have all heard CEOs passionately declare, ÔÇ£People are our companyÔÇÖs most important asset.ÔÇØ Yet we often find that the first things to come under the knife during budget discussions are the companyÔÇÖs education and training programs. This is shortsighted, at best. In the worst-case scenario, it can mean failure to achieve the companyÔÇÖs vision.┬á CEOs can determine whether or not their companyÔÇÖs education and training policy is strategically important by responding to the following:1. Do we have the critical competencies identified for achieving our vision/strategy, and are we recruiting and developing our current workforce to meet those objectives?2. Does our performance appraisal process link the successful application of skills and knowledge (by both individuals and teams) gained in our education and training programs to our strategic initiatives? Does the application of these skills and knowledge improve our companyÔÇÖs performance and move us closer to our vision?3. Are the education and training programs aligned to our strategic objectives? Do we expect demonstrated results from our development programs that support our strategic objectives and move us closer to our vision?4. Have we committed adequate resources, time, and money to our education and training programs? Have we committed to a minimum level of support even during times of stress?5. Do we publish annual education and training schedules? Is our progress against these schedules actively monitored and adjusted as needed?In the first article of the Leading and Managing People series, we discussed the importance of developing a people strategy to accomplish a companyÔÇÖs vision and learned that the CEO must have both a clear vision of the future (true North) and strategies (the roadmap) to lead his or her organization to that goal.┬á It is important to remember that the journey towards a companyÔÇÖs vision is never taken alone. To succeed, CEOs must ensure their organizations have the skills and resources necessary to help them complete this journey. How? By having the CEO and his/her leadership team acknowledge that education and training are strategically important.┬á┬á Define your future workforceStrategies to support the CEOÔÇÖs vision of the future have been described in previous articles. We categorized those strategies for business improvement in specific areas: a) customers, b) employees, c) shareholders, d) supply chain (or service chain in service businesses), and e) our community or environment.┬á The CEO and his/her team are responsible for identifying all the critical skills or competencies required to ensure the successful implementation of strategies in each of these areas. Then it is necessary to define the skills/competencies for the key roles in each of the strategic areas:ImplementationPeople must be educated and trained to operate in the future state. Therefore, education and training initiatives should be planned and developed from a holistic business perspective. For example, from initial hiring, through on-boarding or orientation, throughout an employeeÔÇÖs tenure and, finally, during annual performance appraisals, employee development plans and courses should be reviewed, maintained and available. Additionally, both company and employee self-development plans should be created and updated at least annually for a company to achieve its vision.┬á To create your implementation plan, consider the following initiatives:1. Review the strategic skills/competences as described above.┬á 2. Conduct an assessment of current, company-wide skills by strategic area, identify gaps, and create education and training plans. This review should be done on an annual basis to ensure that the education and training programs are aligned to strategic objectives.3. Design career paths for each of the key roles in each of the strategic areas, develop formalized skill development programs to support these career paths, evaluate the skills and competencies of the candidates for each key role, and establish development plans to prepare candidates for their future roles.4. Create formal mentoring programs, and assign mentors to the employees who have been identified as future candidates for key roles. The mentors should meet regularly with the candidates, closely monitoring their progress.Finally, ensure that all education and training programs include a thorough review of the companyÔÇÖs values. Remember that values are guideposts for decision-making. If a CEO expects employees to make decisions aligned with the companyÔÇÖs values, the values must be communicated and reinforced. The best place to do this is in the education and training programs.┬á Please note: studies have shown that holding stand-alone or special courses on values are not particularly effective. Instead, CEOs should assure that a review of company values is integrated into all education and training programs. The continuous reinforcement will instill acceptable behaviors throughout the enterprise.ConclusionWorkforce development is strategically important. Defining your workforce of the future and implementing plans to create that workforce are among the primary responsibilities of any CEO. A strong will to maintain education and training programs through challenging times is also necessary. The best CEOs have stayed the course and led their companies to best in class. The question is, will you?The articles in this series have shown the reader how to: a) align their companyÔÇÖs organization to the CEOÔÇÖs vision, b) develop an organization model to support strategic objectives, c) led the companyÔÇÖs transformation, and d) develop their workforce.┬á In Part 5, we will discuss how to transform the talented, flexible workforce developed by the CEO and organize them into high-performance teams.┬á