Lessons In Simplicity From Big Companies?

Author: Dave Crisp

5 Mar

My friends at Verity International produced a panel of senior human resource people from four major corporations Tuesday morning, with remarkable results – and more importantly – remarkable consistency. Whenever big companies present, everyone asks if the lessons are applicable to smaller organizations. The answer is emphatically yes – every organization can do the central things they outlined!

Verity has grown and evolved from pure outplacement or "career management" as we now say, to advising senior executives and talent/organizational consulting. Assembling today’s panel showed the insight that has helped them grow. Targeting what it takes to sustain competitive advantage in organizations, all four described how they develop leaders who, everyone agreed, are what makes the difference.

But can small organizations achieve similar results when these giants, GE, IBM, Hudson’s Bay Company and Scotiabank have millions to spend on programs covering every imaginable area? All it takes is a bit of imagination and attention to the basics that underlie their successes. The panel distilled it nicely.

First and foremost, there has to be a commitment throughout the organization at every level, from every leader, to develop people to the fullest extent of their ability. Leaders have to be prepared to tell the truth about performance, to be clear about what’s expected of staff and especially of other leaders themselves, and provide support. Every leader’s role in developing, coaching, mentoring, guiding, assessing and being honest with people has to be reviewed at least annually, with compensation and promotions dependent on those factors as much as on ability to achieve "the numbers." This has to be embedded throughout the organization via a culture built of habits for developing and growing people.

People who seem to have high potential need to be singled out for attention, conversation and development more than others. These fall in three groups – a) what everyone called "emerging leaders" (ie: newer employees), b) executives – those moving significantly up or newly hired into the organization who need heavy emphasis on fitting themselves into the culture, especially this necessary culture of cooperation and development (or new entrants will almost certainly fail as everyone noted) and c) leaders in the top team, who must drive the programs, ensure at least annual (or usually more frequent) reviews of who’s being developed by whom and must model commitment to coaching and development skills themselves.

The primary method of developing leaders is to rotate them through stretch assignments, not courses – challenging opportunities in real jobs in which they are supported by coaching, mentoring and honest evaluation that helps them improve. GE especially noted they’re moving toward keeping their high potentials longer than the old "12 to 36 months in a job" model everyone used to expect and this new cultural evolution is hard for some aggressive upward movers to get used to. People need time, support and conversation to learn. As long as the challenge is maintained (and pointed out) in the job, longer assignments provide people a chance to see themselves improve year over year.

Listeners could have chosen to focus on the myriad programs these companies can afford – elearning systems, outside consultants and trainers who customize coaching, management training and team-building programs. You’d be missing the points they emphasized. The greatest learning occurs right on the stretch job with on-the-job coaching by line executives. The rest you fit in when and if you can. For these big companies operating in today’s global environment this includes expensive global projects, staffed by highly diverse global teams including wide age and culture diversity for maximum learning about relationships and people, plus being exposed to a wide range of learning tools and courses. But all of that isn’t mandatory.

What every one of these four senior professionals emphasized was: every leader must coach and develop, and companies must get rid of the ones who won’t or can’t… and sooner rather than later… because later is too late! Hence the strong need today for those who can provide training and guidance in how coaching works for executives who don’t always naturally have those skills.

Nothing the panelists listed prevents every company of every size applying the same core principles with the same simple goals. Developing people needs to become a daily part of everyone’s job, with as much honesty, clarity and commitment to a growth culture as each can muster. What could be simpler or more cost efficient?

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