The 10 Best Business Lessons Of 2016

Here’s a list of the best advice we’ve given for building and growing a successful organization.

Over the last year, there have been a lot of changes on the business landscape from Yahoo being sold to Verizon to Gawker going bankrupt. Along the way we’ve talked to CEOs of big companies, first-time entrepreneurs, and those working hard every day to make something new. Many have gone against the grain and looked at practices that may seem unintuitive but ultimately helped them find success.

To help you prepare for making change at your own company in 2017, we’ve complied some of the best business lessons we learned this year.

Lesson 1: Look Outside The Box When Sourcing Talent

Though unemployment has been on a steady decline over the last few years, tech jobs are still in high demand. More often than not they are hard to fill. Take the example of security: Cybersecurity jobs are very hot right now, and most companies are having trouble finding and cultivating the right talent. The answer to this problem may be to think bigger. Telecommunications services firm Level 3 has actually found success in sourcing security talent not from their hard labor skills but from their passions, namely from musicians.

Though many people do not know the technical skills that security professionals need, the company found that those adept at music were able to learn how to do the job and excel at it. By casting a wider net and seeking talent from out-of-the-box sources, a few companies have been able to fill gaps where others are still searching long and hard.

You can read about this strategy here: Musicians May Be The Key To The Cybersecurity Talent Shortage Continue reading

Why leadership development doesn’t change some people

By Jack Zengerjz

Statistics show that 40% of people are unaffected by leadership development. Here are the steps you should follow to turn the non-responders around.

My firm Zenger Folkman measures leadership effectiveness using a 360-degree feedback process in which 15 or so subordinates, peers, and the boss pool their perceptions of a leader. They complete an on-line assessment and the results are then passed onto the leader who was assessed. By repeating that measurement every 12-18 months, the organization can monitor the collective amount of change that comes from any development program. The difference scores tell you whether or not the leader in question has made significant change. Continue reading

Head of HR for North America

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Our Client

A leading NYSE publicly traded global technology services/software engineering company.  Headquartered in  PA, the client is focused on delivering results through best-in-class software engineering, innovation, strategy, consulting and design capabilities. With over twenty years of experience in the information technology industry, the client’s nearly 20,000 employees serve customers in over 25 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.   The client appears on FORBES 25 Fastest Growing Public Tech Companies and on FORTUNE’S 100 Fastest Growing Companies.

Job Description

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, the Head of HR for North America will be responsible for human resources strategy and operations/execution, serving the people and talent needs for employees at all levels.   The head of HR for North America will manage 7-10 direct reports and lead a total team of 15 serving an employee population of over 1300 professionals throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Continue reading

Great leadership teams say these six things about each other

By Evan RothEvan-Roth

Silos, egos, chest beating, throwing under the bus, misalignment and blaming each other. These descriptors top the list when I am asked to work with dysfunctional leadership teams.

It’s far more rare to hear the following six statements in the business world, but these are what winning sports teams say about one another. We can learn a lot from the world of sports as to how we can and should function as winning leadership team members.

It’s not about me, but the team.

It’s fascinating to hear this statement come out of a star player’s mouth. Are they being humble, not trying to draw attention to themselves? Or do they really believe what they are saying?

When our focus and intention is around winning as a team, we actually have a better chance of doing so. When the team is my focus, I cross the silo, embrace what’s best for the organization (vs. my own P&L), and am not satisfied until we all win. My performance is always less than the team’s performance, and I am not satisfied until the collective team wins. The last thing we would ever do is let down our team members. Continue reading

What makes a leadership development strategy successful?

By Forbes Coaches Council

A recent Deloitte study found that 56% of executives believe their companies are not ready to meet today’s leadership needs. Many companies are responding, last year iStock_000008266083Small[1]spending $31 billion on leadership development programs, and since 2015 alone spending on such programs has increased by 10%.

Jesse Demmel, vice president of platform engineering at Under Armour, rewrites an old adage: “Some leaders are born. Many are made.”

But not all attempts to “make” leaders are created equal. Matt Norquist, CEO of Linkage, a global leadership development consultancy firm, says, “I think that, despite all the effort, a lot of the companies I see aren’t making sustainable progress.”

So, what are some key elements that make a leadership development strategy successful?

Structured Progression

One mistake organizations make when it comes to leadership development is sporadic or inconsistent development opportunities. For example, leaders take hour-long online seminars or employees only meet with managers at annual reviews. Continue reading