Are Leaders Smarter Than Dogs?: Executive Suite Succession Planning, Tom Casey

Tom Casey, Managing Principal of Discussion Partner Collaborative, spoke last year at the IACPR Global Conference 2011 on talent readiness – and the top ten human capital challenges of the new decade. He is an expert on the development of organizational transformation strategies for rapidly growing multinational or transitioning organizations, consulting in over 20 countries and virtually every economic sector. He focuses on working with companies to conceptualize and execute enterprise strategy, organization design, change management and innovative human capital initiatives; on creating strategically aligned leadership development initiatives; and on developing human capital initiatives around workforce planning, employee engagement, sourcing, globalization, mergers and acquisitions.

Here he addresses the dysfunctional approach so many companies take to succession planning and leadership development. 

Anyone who is from the US has heard the adage “the dog is barking up the wrong tree”?

The luckless dog is presuming that there is a cat in the tree, deserving of their attention.  Yet we humans in our infinite wisdom realize the cat is either long gone, or is quite happy mocking the dog from a different tree?

We could take the view that the dog is stupid, yet as it relates to Succession Planning are we leaders not representative of this hapless dog?

If we look at the numbers from various sources it is not a leap of logic to believe so:

·        35% of companies have a Succession Plan with “integrity”(SHRM)

·        78% of companies have some form of Succession Planning “strategy”(Corporate Leadership Council)

·        50%+ of the Fortune 500 Board Directors for the Fortune 500 are “unhappy” with their companies Succession Plan(HBR November2011)

·        Average tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO is approximately 3.5 years(HBR November 2011)

·        Age 65 is usual and customary age for “executive retirement” directly contradicted by DPC research that indicates the age is more likely to be 62 “after a phase down period”(December 2012 Study The Art of Executive Boomer Management)

At a recent Discussion Partner’s strategy session like the dog who wanders away from the tree feeling embarrassment, we felt that we as consultants  needed to acknowledge “Succession Planning is a dysfunctional process the outcome of which is to provide little to no value to the enterprise.”

Yet metaphorically the cat was not imaginary and enterprises do need a replenishment process to promote sustainability.

Discussion Partners conducted an internal audit of our client experience on Leadership Succession since the firm was founded in 2007.

Our overarching conclusion was the fatal flaw is Succession Plans are too internally focused by limiting the question to “who do we have and when will they be ready”?

DPC suggests a modification of a Null Hypothesis (the process for challenging assumptions/strongly held beliefs by attempting to disprove) is more appropriate.

For example in the movie Moneyball the focus on On- Base Percentage vs. Individual Statistics was the null hypothesis theme expanding the analysis of proficiency beyond batting average.

This approach led the Boston Red Sox to 2 World Series Championships in the past decade after approximately 90 years of frustration (yes a number of DPC Principals live in Greater Boston).

DPC has begun promoting a new approach, Continuity Planning loosely defined as promoting enterprise growth through ongoing replenishment for critical roles accessing both internal and external labor market candidates. 

The key words in the above  are on-going, internal, external and critical!

Essentially our modality has the following steps:

1.      Identification of Mission Essential roles beyond those traditionally embodied in a Succession plan(for example Actuaries in and Insurance Company, Internal Controls in a Finance function)

2.      Identification of no more than 4 Critical Success factors for the aggressive development of high potential managers

3.      On-going “rack and stack” of managers for role suitability or ascension….focused initially on the question “are they the best the internal and external marketplace has to offer”

4.      Identification of external applicant sources inclusive of gathering competitive intelligence identifying suitable external candidates to “raid” if needed

5.      Creation of a Dashboard for quarterly updating regarding role identification, internal candidate status, and external labor market opportunities.

Discussion Partners perceives the benefits of this approach as having the following key elements:

1.      Broadening the discussion about internal readiness to encompass a broader dialogue on internal/external marketplace availability

2.      Ongoing vs. episodic review of leadership alignment with a broader number of roles essential to the enterprise

3.      Increasing the ability of the organization to be innovative in terms of role architecture, organization design, phase down of executives, through a broader definition of work to be accomplished and resources to accomplish same.

Our client experience to date using this new approach has been encouraging.  There is a possible added benefit according to one of my colleagues, “reduction of eye strain  reading  Succession Plans with the foreknowledge they are likely more fiction than fact.”

Framing Corporate Social Responsibility Through Product Philanthropy – How IACPR Member Firms Can Give Back, Carly Fiorina

Over the past three decades, Good360 has distributed more than $7 billion worth of product to nearly 30,000 nonprofits in its global network. Donated goods - clothing, housing supplies, building supplies, toys, books, computers and more - make it possible for organizations to focus on their core mission. Monetary donations to Good360 help defray the costs of the logistics of getting donated goods to their new home, and, on average, every dollar donated can help deliver up to $70 in goods.

IACPR Board Member Ellie Hollander is Chief Strategy Officer for Good360, which just received the Committee Encouraging CorporatePhilanthropy Directors’ Award with The Home Depot, recognizing an exemplary partnership between a corporation and a nonprofit.

Just this past April, Carly Fiorina, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HP, became Chairman of the Board for Good 360. Here she shares her views on how a corporate/non-profit partnership can make a difference.

Corporate. Social. Responsibility. Three commonly used words that when standing alone don't have much impact, but when woven together, have the ability to sustain, influence and engage. Good360, the nonprofit I recently joined as board chair, has been making corporate social responsibility (CSR) both accessible and advantageous through product donation since 1983. As a former CEO of a Fortune 20 company, I know that CSR isn't just a trending catchphrase. Good360's philanthropy model can improve your bottom line, build employee engagement and improve sales as a socially responsible company all by donating merchandise you might otherwise be paying to store, destroy, or liquidate for pennies on the dollar.

On June 5th, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) announced Good360 as the recipient of its Directors' Award -part of the 2012 Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy. Since 2003, CECP's Board of Directors has presented the award and corresponding grant to a nonprofit demonstrating an exemplary partnership with a corporation. We received this high honor due to our work with The Home Depot and the innovative program we created together - Framing Hope.

The Framing Hope Product Donation Program was born out of the desire of The Home Depot's (THD) associates to donate products - set to be returned to a distribution center or thrown in a landfill - to help the communities where they work and live. Executives at The Home Depot recognized the importance of responding to the grassroots plea of their employees to give back. They saw the benefits of donating over liquidating or destroying, and invested time and money to effectively engage employees in stores across the country to partner with local nonprofits.

More than 1,000 Home Depot locations across the country currently participate in Framing Hope and distribute product donations locally, allowing recipient nonprofits of all shapes and sizes to stretch their budgets further and enhance mission-focused programs. Good360 ensures marked-down inventory, buy-backs, returned merchandise and end-of-season items are placed with qualified organizations that are working to make their communities better.

Looking to analyze the true impact of this program, in 2010 Good360 and The Home Depot Foundation worked with Indiana University to measure the program's environmental and community impact. The research concluded that almost 500,000 low-income families were reached within one year of the program and within its first two years, Framing Hope diverted 2,500 garbage trucks of compressed waste from landfill. In addition, the energy-efficient usage of products from Framing Hope products saved enough electricity to power 294 homes annually and the energy already saved is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 90,138 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

The Framing Hope program is a terrific example of how two organizations can collaborate to positively impact the triple bottom line - people, planet, profit - and deliver measurable results to communities in need. Thanks to the partnership with Good360, The Home Depot was able to achieve their strategic goals to meet zero waste initiatives, cut costs and drive supply chain efficiencies, engage employees and give back to the community. Good360 was able to continue supporting nonprofits serving communities, small and large, that make up the nation's safety-net programs. We envision a world where like recycling, product donation becomes a habit and we are thankful for responsible companies like The Home Depot who have already adopted our win-win philosophy.

If you would like to learn more about what you, as an IACPR member and supporter, can do to partner with Good360, please contact Ellie Hollander directly at ellie@good360.org.

Driving Business Value Through Innovation in the IT Executive Suite, Judy Homer

Long-time member Judy Homer is the President of JB Homer Associates, a retained executive search firm with the global experience, reach and assessment skills needed to source technology and operations executive talent in a global market. The firm’s searches cross all industries and all borders, with a completion rate within clients' desired time frames that exceeds 90% of search assignments. Here, she discusses how companies are creating innovation through information technology. 

Given the rapidly expanding and competitive global marketplace, and with fewer opportunities for growth, the demand for the innovation of unique products and services and expeditiously bringing them to market are dramatically on the rise. To successfully drive business value through innovation, information technology is evolving from being an order taker to becoming the central nervous system and a key strategic partner with the business.

We have seen our clients drive innovation through the establishment of business partnerships between information technology and the C-suite of executives, with business information officers imbedded in the business, and through sharing strategic plans with external vendors. By leveraging these relationships, senior technology leaders are establishing strategies for innovation in order to facilitate a competitive edge economically to their organizations. Strategies for driving innovation through information technology vary, but the common denominator is being able to provide new products and services to the marketplace ahead of the competition.

We have seen our clients establish research and innovation labs as a vehicle for both individuals inside and outside of information technology to create ideas for next generation products, and for the development of a process to get these ideas into production. It is important to develop a culture to allow people to go down the path of innovation and enable experimentation without them being criticized for ideas that do not come to fruition, as has been historically evident. Companies are immersing their information technology people in the business and having them interact directly with the marketing professionals and other key business leaders to create a “virtual water cooler” to foster innovative ideas.

It is important for technology leadership to have close interaction with their customers, both internal and external.

These partnerships can be maximized by assessing their needs and translating them to drive profound business value by leveraging emerging information technology trends. Creating dashboards to measure success is crucial as well, given the criticality of rapidly delivering new products and services to market. It is also important to constantly be on the forefront of technology as products can become obsolete. The convergence of the cloud, social networking and mobile computing is being closely looked at as leading edge technologies to help drive innovation.

Being able to get buy in from the board and senior management is vital for the successful creation and delivery of innovative products and services. A compelling business case and strategic rationale needs to be crafted in order to demonstrate the benefits of generating new ideas and aligning them with the business strategy. Acquiring the necessary funding and appropriating a portion of the information technology budget to innovation is imperative to effectively drive business value and therefore give your company a competitive advantage.

Stay or Go:Senior Executives Speak Out, Kathy Freeman

Kathy Freeman of The Kathy Freeman Company is a long-time IACPR member and very involved in the planning for both the IACPR Global Conference and our series of Forums for boutique retained search firms. The Kathy Freeman Company, which focuses exclusively on assignments within the investment industry, has concluded its latest proprietary research designed to identify current trends among senior sales and marketing executives. The trends identified in the paper can be leveraged by CEOs, their human resources partners or line executives to design a more effective and relevant approach to retaining or attracting this critical subset of talent.

• What key motivators, inherent to this group, are getting overlooked by financial services firms?
• Has the financial market's uncertainty and the industry's "crisis events" taken a toll on this high performing talent pool?
• Is the financial services industry at risk of losing key talent?
• What actions can firms take to minimize their risk of attrition?

For example, the survey reveals that 56% of respondents are considering a change in their employers going into 2012. However, it is the underlying gap between those who want to make a change and those who have actually executed on that desire over the past several years that indicates a trend towards pent- up demand, or a high volatility index, for these industry leaders.

In this year's study, there are indications of not only career fatigue from this highly optimistic talent pool, but the data collected also suggests a risk of flight from the financial services industry altogether.
At The Kathy Freeman Company, this research supports the daily conversations we have with senior leadership across the country. Namely, that this high-performing talent pool needs a forum from which to make a difference.
If you are a firm within the investment industry, either managing money or providing services to the investment industry, you will need to demonstrate forward-thinking momentum in your organization.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to attract or retain the top performers in your sales and marketing ranks. The risk of inaction for these firms is significant. If senior executives are not careful, when the competition crafts their growth initiative and reaches out to the best and brightest in the financial services community, their ability to make that “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?” decision won't be at all difficult to do.

To access the 2012 research paper, “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?”, visit The Kathy Freeman Company or call 800 883 3232.

Ethics in Executive Recruiting, David Magy

Over the past 25 years,  David Magy – Principal at Abeln, Magy & Underberg and a member of the IACPR’s  Small Search Firm Planning Committee --has earned the reputation as “expert” in the field of retained search, corporate recruitment and workforce consulting. He has worked extensively with human resource staffing system design from both the corporate and consulting perspectives. His firm is recognized as a respected partner in recruiting key talent within a large array of businesses. Here he takes a look at ethics – a topic of critical importance to IACPR members.  

The search person says to the HR person: I want to lead a discussion on Ethics in the Search Field.

The HR person responds: Well that won’t take long!

Sad, but all too true – and these past weeks have given me reason to (at least partially) agree. I am an HR person by background and still consider myself to be in that broadly-defined field. HR as a function should strive to be a business partner; that said, they should also make sure certain tenets are followed. I have found myself responding as an HR person to a few items – and then I started worrying about the search field.

We should know better!

Two different HR leaders . . . .  two different stories . . . .

• An HR leader was asked directly by a respected search consultant (in the Twin Cities) for the year they graduated high school. (The HR leader was shocked but politely answered the question. We can argue the merits of that later.) I give up . . . .  under what circumstance is that pertinent information? How would one use it? I can think of only one reason for asking the question. You can determine the candidate’s age within one year. Is the search person discriminating? Were they asked to discriminate? (NOTE – the search person is an extension of the employer – and I know [or at least hope] that no employer would ‘directly’ ask.)
• It was suggested by a search consultant (in the Twin Cities) that an HR person (a different person than referenced above) change the date that their employment ended. It’s January 2012. The HR person’s employment ended in December of 2011. The search person said to use 2012 as the date on the resume. The search person’s concern was that using 2011 could imply that employment ended as early as January of 2011 – a full year ago. Using 2012 keeps the timeframe more recent in the reader’s mind. (I know there are other ways this situation can be handled.)

What is our obligation to our client (the employer)? What is our obligation to our profession?

There are certain employment legalities that we all, of course,  must adhere to when recruiting a new hire, whatever the level. But the ethics of the profession must go beyond just meeting the law. As recruiters – either in a corporate environment or as a search firm – we have an obligation to interface with both candidates and clients in a highly ethical fashion.

What does that mean? The International Association for Corporate & Professional Recruitment (IACPR) and the AESC both have ethical guidelines for their members. I know for a fact that the IACPR and the AESC enforce these strictly.

However, as with anything, there is the same subjectivity that pervades our every day personal and business dealings. But if it feels wrong, chances are it is. If it any way compromises the candidate, then you have crossed the line. If you have to "adjust" the facts about a candidate, you have crossed another line.  If your client is asking you to "pretty up" the facts about the position or the company's future, don't.

Senior Talent Acquisition Professionals: Where To Find The Right Skill Sets, Jeremy Eskenazi

Jeremy M. Eskenazi is Co-Vice President of IACPR’s National Membership and Managing Principal of Riviera Advisors, the premier global human resources consulting firm specializing in helping organizations develop stronger internal recruiting and staffing capabilities. Working with organizations across virtually every industry, from start ups to Fortune 500s, Riviera Advisors blends an unparalleled and real-world depth of experience with specific expertise in the critical area of talent management. The blog below is taken from his latest book, RecruitConsult Leadership, The Corporate Talent Acquisition Leader’s Field Book, a guide to building a successful corporate recruitment function. Readers of this blog and IACPR members can receive a special 30% discount by going to Leader's Fieldbook Discount and using discount code 5WGTJTTZ.

 I’m a big believer that if you focus on a core set of skills necessary to

do a job, any number of people with varying backgrounds can fill the role (of course you’ll have to determine if they can fit your culture). Recruiters in the 1990s needed great relationship, communication, sourcing, searching and technology skills. Now to this, add in project management, social networking, teamwork and political savvy skills. 

So where do you find the talent acquisition professionals who will make a big difference to your recruiting efforts?  

There’s the traditional path, one that we all think of first. 

Recruiting in Other Environments. This includes third-party recruiting vendors (like retained search firms), human resource departments/internal recruiting and staffing teams and recruitment outsourcing firms. But make sure that the job you’re offering is one in which a recruiter gets to recruit. They really don’t want to deal with “administrivia”—coordinating candidate travel and interviews, running reports, dealing with applicant tracking issues and so on. Plus, structure the position so that the recruiting professional will deal directly with the end client and be a strategic partner. Before, they have invariably had to go through at least one other party (such as an HR generalist). Offer the catnip of direct interface. 

But what about bringing in new blood? In that case, try looking in unexpected places.  

Project Management. Purchasing, logistics or operations planning areas (even if the company has nothing to do with construction or architecture!) --these professionals have great initiative, as well as relationship management.

Sales and Marketing. They’re self-starters with strong relationship and project management skills. But if you recruit from within your own company, you don’t want to take out the best sales people – and you certainly don’t need a failed sales person.

Operations. The real advantage to having operations professionals as recruiters is they typically recruit in their area of expertise. Engineers recruit engineers, technology experts recruit technology experts. It’s built-in credibility with hiring managers.

Management Trainee Programs.  Many “academy” companies (such as consumer packaged goods, hospitality, retail, etc.) bring in college grads with promises of someday running the world. However, many of these promises remain unfulfilled – and the employee may have realized they don’t even want to be in that particular industry. Could they fit into your world?

Professional Service Pros (Legal, Accounting, Management Consulting). People from these disciplines understand a service/strategic orientation, have solid communications skills and are good project managers.

Stockbrokers/Real Estate Professionals. If they have struggled in a competitive market or the market suddenly cools, they could still have what it takes to be a great recruiter.

Journalists (Freelance and Staff Writers). Here you have great communicators, with strong sourcing and research skills, people who are innovative self-starters. And the better compensation could lure them.

Technical Education Teachers. Consider those from a community college or business or technical institute. What they may lack in business experience they make up for in communication, project management and creativity/innovation skills.

Political Campaign Workers. They are the ultimate project-managers, with savvy, great sourcing capabilities and great relationship skills.

College Admissions Professionals. They read a lot of backgrounds, they meet a lot of people and they have lots of projects.  

The key to identifying and hiring outstanding team members is to think outside the box. Technical skills can be taught. What you cannot change is attitude. If you aren’t genuinely interested in people—their hopes and dreams and vision of the future—you need to be in another line of business.

Corporate Recruitment & Retained Search Partnerships, Nancie Whitehouse

Nancie Whitehouse is Chair of the IACPR and Founder and Principal of Whitehouse Advisors, a talent acquisition consulting firm that helps companies develop more effective strategies to recruit and retain its senior executives. The result: outstanding leadership and a true competitive advantage. Here she discusses how to foster improved collaboration between the corporate recruitment and retained search communities. Open dialog and ongoing communication, in an environment of complete trust, have remained the organization’s mission since we began 34 years ago.

Make sure that all parties are in agreement about using an outside resource for the search. There are many reasons to use retained search – lack of in-house capacity, need to fill an urgent or high-impact position, identifying that elusive passive candidate and the overall confidentiality and objectivity that an external firm can bring, to name a few. It is important that everyone agrees upfront that bringing in a retained search partner is the right approach – and that the search firm, too, understands your reasoning. Otherwise, there will be continuing barriers to getting the search done successfully and on time.

Prepare for the “bake-off.” When search firms compete for the assignment and present their qualifications, both sides must be well-prepared and briefed. The corporate team has to be in synch about the specific responsibilities of the role, the key criteria and personal attributes for the position and a clear definition of the corporate culture and values. The retained search consultants need to know the decision makers who will be at the meeting, what the company is expecting and how to articulate their competitive advantage.  Questions may cover the search practitioner’s prior work, including a list of completed searches, names of off-limits companies, biographies of those who will be working on the search, the methodology that will be used, the placement guarantee and the overall sequence of events. There can be a number of stakeholders with very different viewpoints sitting in on the pitch – a hiring manager or two, perhaps a board member or someone from finance – and it can be difficult to get them all on the same page. In this situation, a search firm assessment grid can be very helpful – so that all the firms proposing are being judged on the same specific criteria, in a way that can be more easily analyzed after the company has seen three or four firms.

Understand what the metrics really mean. One of the most frequently asked questions is: “How long will the search take?”  But does this really mark the sign of a successful search, given the many different factors that can influence the outcome? A more effective question is: “When will the first resumes be presented, and will these candidates have been interviewed and assessed?” Understanding personal completion rate is important, too – how effectively has the search partner worked on past searches? Of course, there are situations – a company merger, promotion of an internal executive -where a search has not been completed, so take the time to probe behind the statistics cited.  Clients are increasingly interested in a search consultant’s “stick rate” – the length of time past hires have remained with the company and how successfully they have performed. Again, look behind the numbers. Does a low stick rate mean the wrong candidates were presented, that the interviewing wasn’t thorough, that candidates hadn’t been properly assessed for culture fit or that they were never given the right support once they took the job?

Educate your less-experienced buyers. It’s easy to assume that everyone involved understands the search process and how it works. But hiring managers may not have used retained search or may have been burned by an unsuccessful search in the past. It is important to clearly explain the methodology and to look at the recruitment process from their perspective – which means learning their challenges, speaking their language and communicating how the search can help them achieve their goals.

Take the time to properly launch the search. A detailed process map, showing what happens from day one and the party responsible for each deliverable, will alert the team to what is expected and the impact of a missed deadline. Throughout the life cycle of the search, hiring managers must be involved, held accountable – and accept ownership. They must be part of the contract process, understand how the compensation parameters are established and why, commit to the timeline, attend the weekly calls and provide feedback within 24 hours of an interview.

Establish formal communications. As the search progresses, all three parties – the retained search partner, the corporate recruitment manager and the hiring manager – must coordinate activities and share information. It is a three-way communication loop – and it is counter-productive to leave anyone out. Weekly conference calls – with the hiring manager’s participation -- will help anticipate and resolve any issues as quickly as possible. A weekly status report provides a running tabulation of the candidates in process. This report gives brief background information on each candidate and shows the candidates who are currently active; those who are still in the development phase; and those who have either been rejected or declined the opportunity. In this way, any of the stakeholders can immediately see the status of each candidate at any given time.

Take advantage of feedback from the marketplace. The search firm was hired because of its extensive connections – and in the course of the search it will be talking to large numbers of people who will provide valuable feedback on how the company is viewed in the marketplace. This is a chance to receive a straightforward, confidential assessment of the competitive landscape, and why candidates are or aren’t attracted to the opportunities offered.

Establish a post-search assessment process. This is a series of questions asked of the key stakeholders and the search consultant so performance can be rated on both sides. The process can help identify some of the problems, the effectiveness of the communication, the timeliness of the search, whether the right candidates were presented for the position and the “lessons learned.” Follow-up with the successful candidate, not only by both the hiring manager but by the search consultant as well, will also yield key information. Candidates do tend to stay in touch with the search consultants, who are then in a unique position to provide candid feedback to their clients on how to improve the transition.

Avoid the common mistakes that lead to a failed search. Sometimes it is possible to lose sight of easily avoidable mistakes when deep into the search process. These are the reasons cited most often by our members on why a search can become a problem: inadequate information, lack of transparency on both sides about the real issues, poor communication, a breakdown in the process that never really gets fixed, unrealistic expectations, misalignment of the position spec, poor or slow feedback and managing the search as a transaction rather than as a true consulting relationship.