Leadership a - z: N is for New Hire Orientation

The first 90 days of any employee's job is critical to success, for them, as well as for your team. What

are typical considerations when welcoming a new member to the team?

Consider these items:

1. Schedule time to welcome them to your team. Introduce them to all team members, as well as other influencers and connectors in the department/organization.

2. Create a series of meetings to:

Set expectations  What do they expect from you as a leader? What do you expect from them? How do these align? You may also want to have dialogue about expectations on the team level, depending on their role.

Review the job description. Spend time reviewing the person’s job duties and responsibilities. What are the performance expectations? What does good performance look like? Time spent at the start of a person’s placement is well spent in clarifying behaviorally what is expected of them.

Discuss how their role fits into the work of the entire team, unit and organization. The more you can share about the bigger picture, the easier it is for many employees to see the connections, and know what can happen to others when work is not completed on time or in a complete manner.

Discover their preferences and share yours.  Discuss what they can expect with communication, feedback, performance discussions.

Many HR departments will have a pre-established on-boarding program. As a leader or manager the time spent up front building relationships, clarifying expectations, and providing clear information abou the role and priorities can be invaluable.

Questions:

What do you want to communicate about yourself as a leader. The direction they will receive? 

What are he goals and priorities of the team?

 How does their work will fit into the bigger picture of the team and the organization?

What can they expect in terms of feedback and support?

What should they know about your style? What should they know about yours? (Learn more about styles through the Everything DiSC profile).

Have a great week,

Jennifer

 

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of Effective Group Coaching and From One to Many: Best Practices of Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Phone: (416)996-TEAM
Read more about our coaching, retreat and leadership development offerings and support
As an author Jennifer Britton is known for her thought leadership in the area of group and team coaching. She is also a former leader and team builder who spent the first 13 years of her career working within the United Nations as well as the international aid sector. From Boardroom to jungle, beach and forest to mountains, Jennifer has worked to develop teams and leaders in more than 18 countries, and virtually many more. She founded Potentials Realized in 2004 and focuses on leadership, teamwork and coaching skills training

What Skills are Employers Looking For?

I am just back to the office after a week spent in Senegal, West Africa, delivering a 5 day Coaching and Mentoring Training of Trainers for UNICEF. It was a wonderful experience! More on this later.

World at Work published "Employers Rank Communication Skills First Among Job Candidate Skills/Qualities" last week about what employers are looking for in terms of skills in the workplace.

Based on the NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) 2010 Outlook, the top 5 skills employers are looking for are:

1. communication skills
2. analytical skills
3. teamwork skills
4. technical skills
5. strong work ethic.

How is your skills training in these areas? What are you noticing about new applicants and their level of competency in these areas?

What would you rank as the top 5 skill areas needed in today's economy?

Have a great week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP

Potentials Realized

Author of Effective Group Coaching

New Year, New Predictions

Happy New Year Everyone! It's an exciting time of year -- new year, new resolutions and possibly some new habits.

I love all the predictions that are made at this time of year -- it always seems to open up new possibilities and new perspectives.

It also seems like a lot of different issues are hitting different people's radarscreeens - depending on where you live and what you do.

However, two of the most common themes wherever you are, are the ECONOMY and CHANGE.

Here are some of the trendspotting articles I have enjoyed lately:

Career Builder's 7 Hiring Trends to Follow in 2009

US News Top 30 Careers for 2009: With all the change that's going on in the world of work, this is an interesting list of project top careers for 2009. Which ones would you like to explore?

US News Best Small Businesses to start in 2009: Ready to take the plunge into the world of self-employment? This article may stimulate some new thoughts!

Hot Fitness Trends for 2009 from WebMD: Is anyone else seeing a spike of attendance at the gym? The pressures of the economy seem to be supporting many to find better balance and stress management.

ASTD's 2008 State of the Industry Report: The ELearning Council has a nice summary here of some of the major workplace learning trends last year.

What trends are you watching this year? What are some of your new resolutions?

Have a great start to 2009!

Warm wishes,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC

Potentials Realized

HR Potpourri, Interviewing Tips

It's HR Blog Carnival Day over at the HR Thoughts, and Lisa Rosendahl, SPHR has done a terrific job of spotlighting some great HR blogs including my post on The Changing Face of Learning and Development.

Hop on over to Lisa's HR Carnival post and you'll be able to chew on a whole range of HR topics -- perfomance, recruitment and social networking. It's a virtual treasure chest!

Another one of my articles is now available at Ezinearticles.com "Interviewing Tips for Employers - Getting the Right People on the Bus". If you are tasked with hiring new staff over the summer months, you may want to check out the article for some tips on how to leverage your interviewing process. I hope that you enjoy!

I am getting ready to make my usual summer move later this week to Muskoka for at least a few weeks (hopefully six). I'll be working a few days a week for the rest of the summer, at a Muskoka pace. Chances are, you'll be hearing from me a little more often here at the blog. You can still reach me during this time during my usual contacts.

Enjoy this week's HR Carnival and also the Interviewing tips!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: info[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com

The Changing Face of Learning and Development

With the continued rapid increase of global teams which often operate virtually, the way learning and development is delivered is also changing. I often receive requests from organizations regarding advice on trends and new techniques that they can use to build human capital (individually or in teams) in the rapidly changing business and global environment.

Technology continues to reshape how learning is delivered, and in recent months there have been some very interesting articles on how major corporations are leveraging technology to enhance learning and human capital management.

A number of larger US firms are now delivering training via podcasts. Noted for their adaptability when learning needs to take place, podcasts have the ability to deliver training just-in-time.

Another area which is garnering attention is the use of Second Life by many companies, both as a marketing tool and also as an innovative way to deliver training (typically informal). If you or your company are using Second Life, I’d love to hear from you--- what’s your experience been? How do you leverage it for learning and development opportunities?

The emerging generations (which include Gen Y and Gen X) have added to this push for the introduction of newer technologies for learning and development – which are more meaningful and relevant to the. This whole area is fascinating, and as some researchers are finding the way our brains operate is changing through the generations. I will continue build on former blog posts on intergenerational management in the future – from recent organizational requests it seems that this issue is continuing to be a hot one.

Recent Statistics are showing that learning budgets and hours of training for workers based in the US is continuing to increase (2006 ASTD State of the Industry Report). With an estimated $109.25 Billion being spent on learning and development annually, American companies are spending anywhere from 2 – 2.7% of their payroll on learning and development initiatives. This equals anywhere from $1424 to $1616 US/worker.

In contrast a number of recent studies here in Canada are showing that learning and training budgets and priorities are continuing to shrink (2007 Conference Board Learning and Development Outlook). In 2006 the Conference Board of Canada reported that on average 1.75% of payroll was spent on learning and development, or approximately $944 Cdn/employee. The 2007 figures released a few months ago show a slight decline in these figures.

What are the trends that you are seeing in the field of learning and development? What can be leveraged in your organization? What new initiatives would benefit your human capital pool.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments --- please feel free to do so below.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: info[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com

Stress Free Performance Appraisals

Are you looking for a great resource to “turn your most painful management duty into a powerful motivational tool”?

Stress Free Performance Appraisals by HR Professionals Sharon Armstrong and Madelyn Appelbaum, is an invaluable resource to any manager or professional charged with undertaking the critical activity of performance appraisals.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the performance appraisal process, different approaches, and is chock full of useful checklists, self-assessments and tips to take your performance appraisal from ordinary to extraordinary.

Very clearly written for the everyday manager, this book is destined to become a well used resource in your management library.

You can order your own copy at Amazon today. Visit Sharon online at Sharon Armstrong and Associates .

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT

Potentials Realized

Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized{dot}com

Talent Management: What Is It?

What is talent management?

The Buzz phrase talent management has been bandied around many recent conferences and meetings I have either been speaking at, or attending. So what exactly is talent management and why is it so important?

Talent management encompasses a range of HR, managerial and training functions including:
Recruitment and Selection
Assessments
Learning and Development
Leadership Development
Succession Planning
Performance management
Compensation
Human Resource Planning

So why is talent management so important? As I’ve reported in earlier blog posts , the war on talent continues, with skill shortages being forecast within the next five to ten years, as baby boomers start to retire. The cost for sloppy talent management can be high. For example, poor recruitment and selection leading to a poor fit for a new candidate can cost the organization up to a year and a half salary, taking into account the recruitment and selection process, onboarding costs such as training and development, lost productivity etc.

So who is in charge of your talent management programs? Is it HR? Is it the training department? ASTD and Brandon Hall Research recently conducted a poll to looking at who is in charge of the talent management processes and what are the trends. 60% of respondents indicated that training and HR operations are coming together in their organizations and 90% believe that the trends will continue. What does it look like in your organization?

I would welcome hearing your thoughts on talent management, the skills gap and structurally who deals with your talent management programs. Please feel free to comment below.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Brittton, MES, CPT, CPCC, CHRP
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com