Improving HR Functions
A very senior Global HR Leader once said, "The HR and People Development Functions are like cobbler’s kids. They take care of everyone else and leave their own improvement and effectiveness to the bottom of the list of things to address."
He was right!
We help integrate HR into the business while assisting in upgrading their subject matter expertise and skillset.
Learning this at the Bank of America, business results are significantly and positively impacted through a strong HR and People Development Function. Kim has built top teams in multiple organizations and has created these functions from scratch, implementing programs, practices, systems, and talent to make the functions a strategic competitive edge.
Integrating Mergers and Acquisitions
An experienced executive once said, “Virtually every acquisition starts as a financial proposition. But once the papers are signed, it becomes a human transaction. The way human beings behave in the two companies determines whether the financial gamble pays off.”
The reason most mergers and acquisitions fail is due to the people component.
Plan the Work/Work the Plan.
A great integration plan is key to making them work. Our work starts with determining what success would look like and the metrics that will tell us we are on our way. We also look heavily at employee engagement and monitor it closely.
We help identify the right talent, shape the culture, determine new ways of working, develop high impact communications, define and cascade leadership expectations. We start with a cultural assessment so we can measure progress 90 days into the effort to be able to accelerate or course correct.
We help realize the potential that was identified for the M&A transaction in the first place.
Implementing Talent and Succession Planning
Succession planning should start with the strategic direction of the company, followed by answering the question, “Who in our talent pool can help us execute against this strategy?” It’s important to do this work to be able to identify and leverage both top talent and high potentials and to create engagement for them. There are many people who feel underutilized and under-challenged in their organizations, and this work helps solve for that. This tried and true approach to managing the business is often underdone or not done at all in most businesses.
It’s best to have an orchestrated approach to talent planning to focus the right level of attention on the activity. After all, you’re laying out the key components that need to be implemented for the business to thrive in the future. Data should be gathered, and people should be engaged in discussions, summaries. Plans should be documented, and discussions should be organized. The challenge is that people in charge aren’t often skilled enough to be doing this work.
This work should involve several parties. Engaging senior leaders makes for powerful succession planning efforts. Managers should be working with their employees to understand what’s important to the employees in terms of their career development, and they should be keeping key employee data updated. HR should be collecting information in preparation for leadership discussions. Leaders should plan for conversations with each other to determine answers to key organizational development questions. It’s important to assess and plan at the function level, the position level, and the employee level, and work all three into plans that are interconnected.
We are masters of doing this work. Simplicity is key. We help make sense of it all and enable it to be a difference-maker.
Conducting Needs Assessment
Often leaders know organizations need to improve, but they don’t know where to start. A needs assessment is a powerful way to determine where you are, where you want to go, and the road map that will get you there. It’s the best way to address areas of opportunities while minimizing time and cost. This work is about “going slow to go fast."
Needs assessments involve working with key individuals in the organization to determine the current state. This often includes interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Trends are identified and summarized for analysis. Simultaneously, data are analyzed, and discussions are had to determine where the organization is going. This can be in the form of strategy, organizational values, key priorities, etc. Facilitating leadership discussions and decisions and creating communications to engage all stakeholders is a big part of this process. The real value comes in working with organizations to develop a plan to address the items that would help close the gap. It’s the best way to determine the highest use of time and money and to realize the evolution you are looking to make happen.
It’s a very special skill set that makes for a good needs assessment. You must be able to extract information from people, you need to be able to analyze data for trends, you need to be able to help envision where a company wants to be, you need to be strong at crafting communications, you need to be able to help leaders make decisions, and you must be great at planning and executing a project. Our assessment and diagnosing skills are unparalleled, and these unique skills and deep experience make needs assessment a core competence for Janson Associates.
