Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
How the game of work has changed
In association with
WhoMoved
MyTalent?
By Peter Gold
www.normco.com
First published 2011 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Who Moved My Talent?P. GoldISBN 978-1-89904324-8
Copyright © 2011 Peter GoldHire Strategies LtdMarston House5 Elmdon LaneMarston GreenSolihullB37 7DLEngland
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of the copyright holder) except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998. Applications for the copyrights holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the author. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the contents are correct, the author and publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions contained herein. All content was originated by the author.
Printed in the United Kingdom
Published by Context Products Ltd53 Mill StreetPackingonAshby de la ZouchLeicestershire. England.LE651WNwww.contextproducts.co.uk
About the author
After 20 years of “employee land” Peter Gold set off into the maze of self-employment at the height of the “first” dotcom boom. By 2002 he had become a recruitment software paper millionaire only to see his fortune turn to dust in 2003. Without stopping to lick his wounds he snubbed a return to employee land and ventured forth into the lonely world of business consulting; with the aim of convincing organisations to use internet technologies and web software to underpin their people strategy.
Peter has successfully helped a number of enlightened organisations use technology to help people perform better and can often be found sharing his latest thoughts at conferences and workshops. His direct and uncompromising approach to technology has led to his established reputation as one of Europe’s leading Talent Technology bloggers.
Why write this book?
For over 20 years I have been in the recruitment and talent management business so I’ve seen many different ways of companies trying to attract and develop people. As we enter another period of growth, business leaders are evangelising the need for great people to help their businesses grow and prosper.
Every business is affected; big or small, local or global, finding and keeping the right people has changed for everyone. The internet, social media, apps, mobile and many other technologies have changed the way we work, converse, interact, socialise, collaborate, recruit and more. We are immersed in change yet so many companies are not changing quickly enough.
So this book takes a light hearted - but pointed - view of the why, what and how you can find, connect and engage the people that will transform your business.
You will also read parallel examples of the workplace today. You may even smile or laugh and admit to seeing some of the examples in your own business.
Or you may be insulted by the simplistic tone of the book and choose to ignore it. You may also find out too late that someone has moved your talent. You might even look in the mirror and admit your people strategies are not keeping up with your ambitions and unless you “go out into the maze” nothing much will change; and only you know what that means to your business.
5 | Who Moved My Talent?
Introduction
Once upon a time you could get a job for life. One company, one job. You came in at the age of 16 and left when you were 65. With a nice pension and a great send off. You, your children and your neighbours all worked at the same place. Life was calm, planned and predictable. But it’s all changed again!
People called talent, clouds holding data, Likes, Friends, Fans and Followers; it’s all constantly changing. But clichés aside change surrounds all of us, which is what this book is about.
Who moved my cheese? was first published in 1998 and has since sold over 24 million copies worldwide. You may therefore know the story of the four mice living in the maze looking for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. But now the workplace is a maze and your talent is on the move; so your challenge is to know what your people need to stay nourished and happy at work. Otherwise they’ll be off into the maze looking for nourishment elsewhere. So this book is about the changing work lives of four friends; Harriet, Henry, Mark and Marie who grew up together in the North and all went to work for NormCo PLC, the biggest employer in town.
Chapter I
www.normco.com
7 | Chapter I
Mark and Marie were quite happy with their lot. It was just a factory job but they were happy. They liked what they did, the company looked after them, there were lots of social activities and the pay was great. They often talked about their retirement and how they would be able to laze around all day after a lifetime of working. No need to get stressed about their jobs as it almost felt like retirement was already here.
Harriet and Henry had bigger ambitions. They’d started in the factory with Mark and Marie but had quickly left them behind, moved up the management ladder and got themselves nice office jobs with a personal assistant, company cars and expense accounts. Life was great, the pay was great and business was great. As the company grew, more and more people joined, and the company grew with them.
Recruitment of course was a doddle and people rarely left. People queued at the factory gates to work for NormCo PLC. Stores never had to advertise for sales assistants. Happy customers just kept on spending. Yes, it was all going really well and was rarely strenuous.
All four friends would meet up at weekends and talk about how their lives had changed since they left school. They all had different ambitions but each was happy with what they had. They all assumed that one day they would retire together; the same as it had been for their parents and their grandparents.
Chapter II
www.normco.com
9 | Chapter II
As time went on Mark and Marie continued to come in and just do their jobs. Nothing much changed really and they didn’t worry too much about the future. Meanwhile Henry and Harriet were promoted so of course they were very pleased with themselves.
But then things started to change. Only very slowly at first but Mark noticed it; starting with reduced overtime. Not every week but just now and again. A bit more competition on the high street. A few less items being packed in the factories. Just enough to reduce the overtime a little bit.
Time to tighten his belt Mark thought; just in case. Marie told him not to worry. She’d seen it before and it was just a short term blip while management made sure they hit their targets so they got their bonuses.
Of course Harriet and Henry were oblivious to the impact of overtime. They’d left that behind a long time ago and were on salaries. No overtime for management; they had to slave away late at night for the same pay rather than forfeiting their bonuses if profit targets were not met.
Cutting overtime and a few other perks was a “Henry idea” and didn’t just every director love it. Just let the workers know who’s boss; cut a bit of overtime, boost profits, get the bonuses paid, bring back the overtime and everyone would be happy again. Harriet didn’t get too involved in any Henry ideas as she really liked to talk about people strategy which is where she believed the company needed to focus. Very soon she would be sat at the top table.
A real strategic business partner; adding value. Oh yes, one day she’d be at those all day board meetings hob nobbing with the directors. Talking the talk rather than doing the do.
10 | Chapter II
In the meantime, as long as her bonus was paid she was happy. Life was still on the up.
But then the internet came along and really started to change things with many new upstart businesses thinking they could put NormCo PLC out of business. The high street got a little more crowded and even CheapCo started to expand into selling the same products as NormCo PLC; although a lot cheaper of course. Even customers were commenting in stores on the CheapCo lower prices.
They wouldn’t last long, flash in the pan thought Henry and Harriet.
Chapter III
www.normco.com
12 | Chapter III
Mark and Marie noticed quite quickly when overtime stopped. Work was sent overseas. People were not replaced. Equipment started to break down as maintenance slowed. Then came the pay freezes. It was time to think about the unspoken; redundancy. Never before had NormCo PLC ever made anyone redundant, NEVER. But now, Harriet and Henry had to talk to their friends about redundancy.
The company wasn’t sure what to tell the employees and the employees felt they were being kept in the dark by management. Everyone sat around waiting to hear their fate not knowing if they should keep on working or clear their lockers. All this did was lower productivity, increase unit costs, reduce stock availability in the shops and kill sales. If something didn’t happen soon they’d all be looking for new jobs.
Mark and Marie were lucky and kept their jobs but they also knew it was time to start looking elsewhere. Mark had relied on his overtime and if he couldn’t get any here, then he’d go somewhere else that could offer it.
Marie tried to talk Mark out of leaving but he would not listen. He told Marie that things were changing and it was time to move on before it was too late. Even if they could get their views heard management wouldn’t listen anyway; never had, never would. Time to move on.
People had been leaving slowly for a while and although Mark had warned Henry, management just kept on cut, cut, cutting. They were more interested in spending money on tracking how often people went to the toilet than listening to them on how things could be improved. They didn’t even seem to want to listen to silence in the stores as customers went elsewhere and the tills stopped ringing.
13 | Chapter III
So within a few weeks Mark and then Marie got themselves shiny new jobs at CheapCo with plenty of overtime. Stacking shelves and serving happy customers. As many hours as they wanted. Things were back where they needed to be and they got stuck into their new jobs. Like happy fat rats that had jumped ship at just the right time. Lots of new cheese in this big shiny maze.
Harriet and Henry were really sad that their friends had left the company that had supported them all these years. How could they leave?
They still had a job and no one in Head Office got overtime so why should they? Things were tough out there and everyone had to knuckle down. Management even had to share personal assistants and pay for their private mileage now; yet more of Henry’s ideas to make sure the bonuses would be paid.
Harriet thought Henry was getting a bit carried away with all of these cuts but hey, that was all operational stuff and not the kind of strategic work she dreamt of. Surely it was only a matter of time before things got back to normal.
At least the hard times meant she wasn’t having to worry about recruitment; what a faff that was. Stick an advert in the local paper, field off loads of phone calls, stacks of application forms, induct loads of new people. Very mundane and time consuming and NOT for a strategic mind like hers. Although something was beginning to worry her as things were beginning to feel different.
Chapter IV
www.normco.com
15 | Chapter IV
Over the next few years Harriet and Henry survived as NormCo PLC went through a number of directors, profit warnings, business disposals, strategy changes, outsourcing, re-financing etc. They were busy doing lots of things but not much recruitment. Good job really as they no longer had a personal assistant or any administrators. Henry had got rid of all of those people so now Harriet had a Blueberry and an Orange so she could manage her own e-mail, answer her own phone and type her own letters.
Really Henry, how strategic is typing? What was the world coming to?
Then the new CEO started. She intended to bring NormCo PLC back to their former glory and fight off the likes of CheapCo and all those internet start-ups. She’d come with her VC friends who in turn gave her the money she needed to invest in the business.
At long last they could get back the administrators; back to how it used to be thought Harriet. Life had become too frantic and this “24/7” social media lifestyle the young lot seemed to prefer was driving her to distraction.
Unfortunately the meeting with the new CEO did not go quite as planned. There was recruitment to be done but no personal assistants and administrators to take away all the admin. They were going to be recruiting operators, buyers, sales assistants; the people who bought the products and served the customers. Management would have plenty of recruiting to do but not as Harriet had hoped. She really didn’t want to get involved with recruiting anyone. She wanted to be at the top table adding value by having strategic talent discussions. But no, yet more bloody recruitment. Isn’t that what recruitment agencies were for?
16 | Chapter IV
So she got on the phone to some of the local recruitment agencies – they could do the work to find the people. Not something she was going to spend what little time she had doing. Who cared what Henry thought about her “friends”? Maybe they were like blood sucking vampires now they had smelt the waft of new money at NormCo PLC but if recruitment was the new order, then recruitment is what they’d do. To hell with the cost.
Henry had called a meeting to talk about recruitment. The world had changed a lot in the last 20 years and recruitment agencies were not the only option; costs had to be cut as usual and agency fees were an easy target.
Harriet sniggered as he preached to them all about connecting people online, sharing jobs with your network of contacts, direct recruiting, cloud computing, employee collaboration, crowd sourcing blah blah blah. Her buzzword bingo chart was getting bigger with every meeting! Local agencies and newspaper adverts had always worked fine before so as his equal, she would stand her ground. People loved to work for NormCo PLC anyway so she’d show him how cost cutting and social recruiting wasn’t needed. There were plenty of people who’d left in the last few years who’d be desperate to come back.
Chapter V
www.normco.com
18 | Chapter V
Henry was flying high these days; he had been promoted and had added the factories in the South to his job. People were at the top of his agenda but he was finding it tough in the South. It was harder to find people as NormCo PLC were not well known locally. He’d tried all the things that had worked many years ago up North as it felt safe but quickly realised he needed to do something different. He’d spoken to Harriet but she just complained as usual about managers expecting miracles and the old ways being the best ways.
Henry needed to try out some new ideas; and fast. There was talk about off-shoring and out-sourcing and he didn’t want either at his factories. He definitely didn’t want to see recruitment out-sourced like Harriet did. Without the best people they could not succeed so it was every manager’s number one priority to “attract and hire the best”.
Chapter VI
www.normco.com
20 | Chapter VI
Mark and Marie were doing really well at CheapCo. Their hard work was recognised by management who gave them additional responsibilities and more money. Mark had changed and was starting to save for the future as he didn’t want to find himself in the same situation as last time. He thought about Harriett and how she’d told him that her salary and package hadn’t improved in years and she had no idea why. He guessed it was because she wasn’t performing and they would eventually push her out but she wouldn’t listen of course.
He’d explained how CheapCo worked really hard on giving their people loads of feedback on their performance. Not just annually but weekly updates, monthly discussions, quarterly reviews, 360 feedbacks. None of this once-a-year shock treatment where you had no idea what was coming and were rushed through your meeting like sheep.
He’d even suggested that CheapCo would be the kind of place that Harriett would enjoy but she’d already stopped listening.
Marie was learning new skills to make sure she was up-to-date with the latest technologies. She would regularly browse online through the CheapCo training programme looking for a workshop she really liked the look of. It didn’t have to be directly relevant to her current role but she knew that one day she wanted to work in some other areas of the business; so why not attend some workshops and find out about other areas that way and meet some new people who could help her make the best decision.
So different to how it had been at NormCo PLC. She smiled at how training just kind of came around every few months with no advance discussion and people attended because they had to rather than needed to. Mark used to
21 | Chapter VI
get so annoyed at being sent on training courses as it cost him overtime and was often not even a course he needed to attend.
Luckily CheapCo let employees choose some of their training based on what they needed as individuals rather than just treat them like they were on a production line.
They hadn’t heard from Harriet or Henry for a while and wondered how they were getting on. NormCo PLC had been through some tough times and they hoped their friends were OK, particularly after the recent factory closing.
Harriett had been really shocked by the closure and complained how it wasn’t her fault if it wasn’t performing. If the manager’s wouldn’t employ the people she recruited how could they expect to do their job? India was a lot cheaper anyway and she was glad to get rid of the hassle. Of course she’d miss the chocolates and nice meals from the recruitment agencies but she’d survive.
Secretly Harriett was feeling sorry for herself and wondered how it had all gone so wrong. Why did things have to change so much? She hoped that life would get back to normal very soon and was tired with the constant change around her. After such a bad few months at work Harriett was looking forward to a night out with her friends.
It had been a while since they all got together and Harriett was pleased to spend some time with her friends again; little did she know how it would work out. Over coffee, Harriett got a few home truths. She felt like they were attacking her but having feedback from people who cared about her was helpful. She didn’t like such direct comments but she knew they were true.
22 | Chapter VI
Mark and Marie explained how CheapCo encouraged all round feedback as part of their people development and they just wanted to help their friend Harriett. How else would she know how to really improve? They just didn’t want her to have her annual appraisal and get unexpected bad news and possibly the sack.
It took a few days for her to get over their “feedback” but she realised it had been invaluable. Maybe it was time to change and face the future with an open mind.
Although factory recruitment was no longer high on her agenda she still had Head Office recruitment to worry about. But she was struggling with pretty much only the local “unemployables” applying to work for them rather than the best people queuing up at the door. Trying to use sites like Facebook was a joke; it was full of fake photos and videos of people mucking about in the factories. Stupid people who didn’t even know each other yet they called each other “friends”.
As for all this “people in the cloud” malarkey Henry was trying out down South; he was surely going mad!
She sat at her desk and saw an e-mail pop up from Mark reminding her to be positive and look to the future rather than go on about the good old days. He told her to stop seeing everything as an obstacle and just get on with it. Harsh but true she thought. She wondered where the go getting, forward thinking, young Harriett had got lost and promised herself that she would go and find her.
Chapter VII
www.normco.com
24 | Chapter VII
Henry had seen how things were changing a long time ago and tried to warn Harriet but she wouldn’t listen. When Mark and Marie left so quickly he knew they’d just asked around about other local jobs. A friend at CheapCo said how great it was and the rest was easy; a few clicks later they had their new jobs. Just like it used to be for NormCo PLC.
One of Henry’s suppliers had shown him how easy it was to “connect” with great people using the internet and then how he stayed in touch from his laptop, his iPad, his iPhone and even his iTV. It really was anytime, anywhere communication yet big companies like NormCo PLC were missing out due to out-dated IT policies, old computers and clunky mobile phones. Henry knew he had to act quickly and take some risks if he was going to compete!
So armed with his new smartphone, an updated LinkedIn profile, a Facebook Page and a Twitter account, 46 year old Henry ventured forth into the clouds to find his new social world. He had absolutely no idea where he was going or what he was going to do first but he was charging ahead regardless!
Henry had to try lots of new ways to find the right people. The CEO had moved NormCo PLC a long way and selling online had quickly become a major part of their business. They now had fewer shops but more products. Fewer factories but more brands. Fewer people but more sales. Thankfully, better people meant less hassle but there was a lot of change going on.
International expansion was now on the cards and Henry was excited by the prospects of working in a new country. He just needed to make sure the CEO knew that he wanted to work overseas.
Chapter VIII
www.normco.com
26 | Chapter VIII
Transforming NormCo PLC into an international retail powerhouse, selling everything from dog food to plasma screens, anywhere and at any time, was the CEO’s big goal. But this was the world of exciting, vibrant, modern companies where people actively chose to work. Why would anyone want to work for an old company like NormCo PLC with loads of people refusing to change? There was much change needed to get NormCo PLC seen as an employer of choice otherwise they’d never get the people they needed for the expansion.
Henry needed different ways communicate the new story from the CEO about how she was planning to change the company. It was time to come up with some wacky new ideas. It wasn’t about big splash advertising anymore plus he had been the one that had cut the costs out of the recruitment budget; he couldn’t really go back now and ask for loads of money. No, he had to think smarter than that.
Up north even Harriet was showing signs of changing for the better; at long last he felt she was starting to listen.
Henry knew all about adapting to survive; he’d seen the business transformed over the years and how customers were now connecting directly with employees to get what they wanted, when they wanted it. Initially he had been scared to change but looking back he knew it had been the right thing to do. The only way the company could survive was with the right people and open communication.
Even the CEO had her internal blog so that anyone at any level could ask questions and share their ideas. Henry was however yet to be convinced about the workers having their own internal Facebook; sometimes even he found new technologies daunting. Maybe something smaller than Facebook to start with!
27 | Chapter VIII
Henry still feared too much change even though he tried hard not to be like “old Henry” too often.
He did a lot more travelling now and had a virtual interview booth at his favourite coffee shop. His recruitment team were fantastic at setting up all these meetings for him to meet great potential hires when he was on his travels. He also met quite a few social media gurus who were often in high level strategy huddles around their tall organic skinny macchiato caramel cappuccinos. Generally they made no sense whatsoever to Henry although they were a helpful bunch and every so often they did come up with a good idea he could use; all for the cost of a cup of coffee.
If only Harriet would make some real changes with Head Office recruitment. She’d tried advertising jobs online but she just moaned about getting thousands of irrelevant applications that took up all of her time. How on earth was she supposed to “network” with people who were not even looking? Harriet just went on about how right she was about the internet not working for recruitment. She had given up at the first hurdle!
Harriet realised that her recruitment team had ended up being glorified administrators. They just rang the local recruitment agencies when they had vacancies, organised interviews and sat in on assessment days. Where was the value in that? Maybe Henry was right and she could try a bit harder by exploring some new ways of recruiting.
Harriett knew deep down that recruiters needed to go hunting for the best people in the industry, connecting them with senior managers early on. In some cases before they even had a vacancy, nurture them until they were hired. Treat them like potential customers. No more last minute panic recruiting having to hire any old warm body.
28 | Chapter VIII
She started to imagine how much easier it would be if she had a proper list of suitable candidates rather than rely on last minute adverts. She even caught herself smiling – at work – and almost fell off her chair in shock. It had been a while since anyone had seen her smile at work and she laughed at the thought of how her colleagues would react seeing her happy at work again. She enjoyed the feeling and started to formulate a plan to get past the little obstacles in her way.
Chapter IX
www.normco.com
30 | Chapter IX
When the CEO demanded a new e-commerce platform to be launched in 6-months Henry as ever got the praise for saving the day. An intern had built up an e-commerce networking group on one of the social networks as it was obvious this part of their business was growing quickly. They’d also been holding networking events at Head Office to debate how e-commerce was changing the high street so they already had some current employees earmarked for this project.
The new online business would have a new building and staff would all get free sandwiches, as much fizzy mineral water and as many cappuccinos as they wanted. Scooters, dart boards and pool tables would adjourn every meeting area. Staff would come and go as they pleased although many of course would sleep on the premises, under their desks. NormCo PLC could be just as vibrant, funky and as exciting as any of them. The design gurus would make sure of this.
Existing employees were amazed and excited that they were offered the new jobs first. When Henry then put a note out to the group he was inundated with even more people who wanted to be involved in the new project. Henry tried not to think about how it would have been if it had all been left to old Harriet but was pleasantly surprised how new Harriett had been helping out; and he’d even caught her smiling at work!
Chapter X
www.normco.com
32 | Chapter X
The CEO constantly reminded everyone that NormCo PLC would not grow without the right people and that people were changing quicker than companies were. People would not perform if management was not accessible. Employees needed access to everyone in the business. So often the people at the sharp end have the best ideas yet they can never get their voices heard. The market was global and people were connected to each other anywhere and everywhere. Unless NormCo PLC could grasp this they would not survive.
International expansion was their future and they would be expanding overseas quickly. Henry was delighted to be promoted to work in Germany for NormCo PLC as part of the international expansion. Problem was though he’d always just taken on more and more over the years and had never needed to find a replacement for himself until now. What was he supposed to do? Harriett had been in her element with her “told you so” attitude.
Succession planning had never been something he’d thought about! The CEO had told him it was the role of all good managers to build a great team around them with a few people in consideration as a suitable replacement. Henry had blagged it so far and said he had a few people in mind and would sort it all out. Problem was he had no idea who he could ask and there was no time to run an external recruitment programme! For the first time Henry tripped up in his career and was going to need some help from someone.
Harriett had also managed to do well after a real heart-to-heart with the CEO. For once in her life a glass of wine or two after a Head Office function had helped her. She had told the CEO that people like Henry were fine when going forward but never looked back to see who was coming with them. NormCo PLC had forgotten to plan their
33 | Chapter X
people needs and although they had a Top 250 list there was no rationale behind who got into this team or how an employee’s personal and career aspirations mapped to what the business needed. If NormCo PLC wanted to expand overseas they would need to be a lot more people focused, they would need to know who was able or even interested in moving overseas and of course, who would fill any gaps that were left open.
Harriett had thought this level of company criticism would get her the sack but she no longer cared. If the company was only interested in sales and profit and felt people were no better than machines, well she didn’t want to stay anyway. She had realised that the old people-focused company that young Harriett joined had slowly but surely worn her down with all the cuts and targets and deadlines and layoffs and changes. Where had all the fun gone to? Happy employees performed much better than unhappy ones and make happy customers who buy more stuff. Surely the CEO could see this? Well if not, Harriett would leave the maze and go out and find herself a new and happy place to work.
The CEO actually agreed with Harriett and listened to how she had started to make a list of the best people in NormCo PLC to see how they could help with the international expansion plans. Of course it was her own top secret project at the moment so there were obvious gaps such as checking who actually wanted to move overseas but it was a start. It would also get Henry out of a hole that he had dug for himself as she knew exactly who could replace Henry immediately, allowing him to fly off to Germany. This would show Henry how important strategic HR was; she chuckled at the thought of HER telling Henry that sometimes people have to learn the hard way! Harriett was so impressed and so happy that the new CEO realised how critical people were to the success of the business.
34 | Chapter X
Over at CheapCo Mark had been asked by his manager to take on a new project. His experience and skills had been recognised internally and he had been identified as the best person to implement the first of a new in-store gadgets concept. Of course there were some gaps in his experience but he would be getting some additional intensive training and a mentor for such a high profile opportunity; he’d even get the chance to pick his team of other internal superstars.
Chapter XI
www.normco.com
36 | Chapter XI
Henry was over the moon that Harriett had found the right person to replace him but also that she was happy once again. It also allowed him to get on with integrating the German factories they had acquired; time to try out some new ideas he thought.
He would set-up an online industry think tank on how to reduce packaging costs. He would connect employees across the different countries and with suppliers from all around the world. He would launch FactoryChat to allow the workers to collaborate and share ideas on ways to make the factories more leading edge. A little bit of innovation was within his comfort zone these days and now was the time to stay ahead of the competition.
But Henry found Germany tough, very tough. Everything was very specific and every department had their own unique processes or systems or methods but from what he saw, they were all pretty much the same.
Very specific, very detailed, very complex, very inflexible. Yep, they all looked the same to him. He was just so glad he hadn’t tried to enforce his new ideas on them; just because it would have worked back home didn’t mean it would work over here. Configured this, tailored that, departmental differences; everyone thought they could have their own unique way of working even though they were all in the same factory. One day maybe one size would fit all but until then....
He shuddered when he thought about the latest production lines they had installed in the factories back in the UK; one set-up, one process, one language, one everything.
If he’d tried to force it on Germany the Workers Union would have had him bogged down in review meetings and
37 | Chapter XI
employees would leave quicker than he could say “NOT made in Germany”. Henry was going to have to learn how to handle cultural differences if he was going to be successful outside the UK.
New Harriett was worried. NormCo PLC was pouring money into localised R&D to develop local products yet the average age of a UK design engineer was 58 and most of them had been with the company all their working life. To fund the local R&D teams they would close down 75% of the UK R&D team - so to make it happen quickly they had offered great early retirement packages. All those years of experience and knowledge was going to be disappearing overnight, and it wasn’t the kind of knowledge you could just recruit off the shelf.
Why had no-one thought about this when they came up with the plan to get rid of these “old overpaid workers”? It sounded like a Henry idea to her! The future of the business was at risk due to their aging workforce and here they were incentivising them to leave early. Harriett needed to come up with a master plan to try and defer too many engineers all leaving at the same time as she was not yet in a position to replace them. Not yet anyway.
Now if this kind of people issue didn’t keep the CEO awake at night what would?
Harriett decided it was time to make NormCo PLC Head Office more accessible to people in the local community. She promoted someone to Head of Social Recruiting and had them looking at how they could get employees talking to external people online and offline. Henry had told her about companies where this idea had built up lots of Fans and Friends online to be able to fill local vacancies quickly and easily but she needed engineers; not exactly an easy target.
38 | Chapter XI
It needed to be just like it used to be when NormCo PLC had “a queue at the door” and were “spoilt for choice”.
But this time she’d have the engineers involved in the conversations talking tech or whatever it was that they talked about. Start treating future employees like customers. Keep them warm and interested. Invite them in to look around the labs and see some of the great work they would be doing.
Chat with them regularly and remind them why NormCo PLC is a great company to work for – even for engineers. Maybe it was also time to launch their internal Facebook?
The CEO didn’t sleep much knowing how critical it was to get the right NormCo PLC people into each country when they made acquisitions or opened new offices. Her previous American employer had a much different view on international expansion assuming their global one size fits all approach would be easier to roll out.
Great in theory but in reality global policies and processes don‘t “just work” across country borders. Something as simple as a recruitment advert had to be right and just doing a direct translation to the local language took a bit more effort than this. Or trying to enforce US centric compensation and benefits policies in France just didn’t stick. They really needed to look at language, culture, legislation, compliance; even little things like time zones, salutations on letters and academic titles were worlds apart from one country to the next. The list was endless. Get it wrong and you have a bunch of unhappy employees who are great at creating unhappy customers.
39 | Chapter XI
Buying companies was the easy bit; making them work as part of a bigger company whilst keeping their local presence and relationships intact was not easy. Not being locally savvy would cause real problems and put a big spanner in the wheels of the CEO’s international expansion plans.
Chapter XII
www.normco.com
41 | Chapter XII
After a successful project Mark had been promoted to Sales Manager of the new in-store gadgets department; things just kept on moving forwards at CheapCo. Henry had helped him a lot with his advice about using the internet to become an expert in what he was selling. The customer was also becoming an expert buyer with loads of “Friends” who they could ask so Mark needed to be one step ahead.
He was even showing customers’ product reviews on his smartphone to make sure he didn’t lose the sale. He also had immediate access to his colleagues in other locations via StoreBook their internal social network. They loved to share information and customer stories which made the workplace a lot more interesting, fun and informative.
CheapCo felt so much more like it was at NormCo PLC all those years ago. Open, friendly and social. There were so many people he could get help from even though he’d never actually met most of them.
Mark thought about Harriet and how she’d recently changed and how happy she was once again; he was glad she’d been open to change. He wasn’t getting any younger and the Gen Y employees were so demanding, knowledgeable and competitive; he was determined to stay one step ahead of them to be successful.
Marie had also been learning from her mentor who she had met at a company workshop. She had recently become a Talent Scout responsible for finding people who may like to join CheapCo and she already knew so many people in the industry at every level. “We really are ‘spoilt for choice’ with a ‘queue of great talent’ waiting to join us” she thought.
Chapter XIII
www.normco.com
43 | Chapter XIII
Over the following years NormCo had transformed itself into a successful global business. Henry sat in his office back at Head Office and thought about how his career had taken him around the world and back to where he started. He thought about how he’d changed and the challenges he’d faced on the way. He remembered when he first started off in Germany and how unappreciative he was of cultural differences but also how this experience had taught him some important lessons that he was able to call upon when he went to China.
As usual the CEO was pushing for a fast integration programme for the China project but Henry spent time out there first meeting the local employees and suppliers. He saw how the history of NormCo PLC was irrelevant to local customers. British Standards this, ISO that, meant zip to the local Chinese market.
The CEO needed to know that China valued local relationships and these would take time to develop; with over 4,000 years of history China would go at its own pace. Of course NormCo PLC had plenty of expertise to offer the China office but listening to local customer needs was what they needed to focus on! Big global has its advantages but local was always going to be vital to their success – and not just in China.
If Henry hadn’t taken time to learn these differences he wouldn’t have succeeded or have been offered the role of COO at B&S. He knew there would be many more challenges ahead as he needed to get their business back on track.
He thought about his friends and smiled. Harriett was still at NormCo but was doing really well after some hard times. Mark and Marie were still beavering away at CheapCo but
44 | Chapter XIII
happy as they could be. The changes had been hard at the time but life had treated them well after all.
There was just one more thing to do before he left. One of the graduates had worked in America and Harriett had them set up an Alumni Group for ex-employees. Henry initially thought it was way too American; a boomerang hire was a ridiculous term for rehiring ex-employees.
Then he smiled and realised he was just being “old Henry” and he should listen to what Harriett advised and join. There was nothing to be afraid of.
The worst that could happen was that it wouldn’t work. Maybe one day he would be a boomerang hire himself and Harriett would entice him back as CEO. He laughed at how things had changed yet again.
Downstairs in reception his smiling friend Harriett and a great number of other people were waiting to give Henry a big send off from NormCo PLC....
45 | Who Moved My Talent?
Back to reality
So do you have a few people like Harriett and Henry? Can you attract and develop people like Mark and Marie to serve your customers? If you accept that the right people are key to your business success, you may want to venture out into your maze to see where they are, what they are doing and how happy they are.
Harriett eventually changed before it was too late and Henry may not have succeeded without her. People are changing much quicker than the organisations they work for… so where does that leave the organisation?
I hope you find great cheese to keep your people happy and nourished. Happy people turn businesses into great businesses.
Share this book
Whilst we really hope you’ve enjoyed this short story, we are conscious of the environment, so if you would like additional copies, we would encourage you to be like “new Henry” and share the e-book link below: www.lumesse.com/whomovedmytalent
46 | Who Moved My Talent?
About Lumesse*
Lumesse is the only global company making talent management solutions work locally. They help companies around the world implement successful local talent management initiatives that identify, nurture and develop the right people, in the right places, at the right time; helping CEOs sleep at night. Their multi-cultural background and presence means they understand that people like Harriett need to deliver talent solutions that work the way their employees work, as individuals and as teams, because no two people, organisations or cultures are the same. They regard differences as strengths, not as obstacles. Like Henry, they know that one size does not fit all.
1,700 companies work with Lumesse in over 70 countries because they recognise that commitment, innovation and value only come from people. Lumesse helps companies to unlock and inspire the human potential in their businesses. Its integrated talent management solutions are comprehensive, intuitive, secure and fully internationalised into over 50 languages.
www.lumesse.com
* formerly StepStone Solutions
Disclaimer All characters and companies appearing in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons or companies, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No talent was harmed during the writing of this book.
9 781899 043248
ISBN 978-1-899043-24-8
Published by context www.contextproducts.co.uk
In association with
About this book
Inspired by the bestselling book Who moved my cheese? this book takes a light hearted - but pointed - view of the why, what and how you can find, connect and engage the people that will transform your business.
You will also read parallel examples of the workplace today. You may even smile or laugh and admit to seeing some of the examples in your own business. Or you may be insulted by the simplistic tone of the book and choose to ignore it. You may also find out too late that someone has moved your talent.
About the author
Peter has successfully helped a number of enlightened organisations use technology to help people perform better and can often be found sharing his latest thoughts at conferences and workshops. His direct and uncompromising approach to technology has led to his established reputation as one of Europe’s leading Talent Technology bloggers.
www.hirestrategies.co.uk
About Lumesse*
Lumesse is the only global company making talent management solutions work locally. They have offices and partners in more than 40 countries, covering EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
To find your nearest office and talk to someone who speaks your language, visit:
www.lumesse.com
* formerly StepStone Solutions
www.normco.com
£5.99 €6.99
