Welcome
Welcome to the latest issue of
Bringing Work to Life. In recent issues (www.elsdon.com/newsletters.htm)
we explored the topics of:
o
Workforce leadership (February 2005)
o
Searching for success (January 2005)
o
Ethics and leadership (Year End 2004)
o
Linking workforce development to value creation (November December 2004)
o
How to decide if an organization will be a good fit for you (October
November 2004)
o
Confronting one of our fears as leaders - the fear of public speaking
(September October 2004)
o
Bringing meaning to our work lives (August September 2004)
o
Seven key aspects of the organizational and business drivers for
workforce development (July 2004)
This month we look at our own
development, in particular the opportunities and challenges of joining a
new organization or team, with “Accelerating into Your New Position.”
Accelerating into Your New Position
I remember my first job out of college working in a
research lab in the Mid-West. Separate buildings were connected by
tunnels to make it easier to get around in those cold winters. One day,
soon after joining the organization in January, I discovered a chart on
the wall near the coffee pot. This was a social gathering point and the
chart was the subject of much scrutiny. So I asked what the chart was
for. Given its prominence surely it must speak to a key strategic
measure for the organization. Someone took me aside and patiently
explained that the chart showed how many days it had been since the
division director last visited the building. So when I became director
of a research division a number of years later I made a point to visit
that building often, but I never found the chart again. Not
surprisingly personal presence and relationship are central to becoming
part of a new team. Let’s explore these and other aspects.
It can be daunting walking into a new organization
or just transferring to a new team in the same organization. Memories
of those first days at school, or joining a new school can surface,
where we feel a blend of excitement and anxiety. “I am worried about
how this will work out. It seemed like such a good fit and now I am
wondering about the signals I am picking up.” These are words from one
client recently just before starting a new position. Indeed in today’s
demanding work world we have little time to adapt.
This is true regardless of position. One HR
colleague told me about one of their new executive hires, who was
struggling after three months. The organization was letting him go,
even though he had moved his family, been given a $50,000 signing bonus
and would need to be compensated for a return move. A costly exercise
for the organization and a traumatic one for the person and his family.
What steps can we take to quickly assimilate into the new team and avoid
this kind of problem? Here are some suggestions drawing on my own
experience and ideas from a 2001 Harvard Business School note (Michael
Watkins, Seven Rules for New Leaders) and Right from the Start
by Watkins and Ciampa.
Throughout this process manage yourself to include
those people who are important in your life, and time for reflection.
One study of effective leaders identified their ability to set aside
reflective time as central to their success. Identify people who can
offer counsel as you explore emerging complexities and opportunities.
By taking these steps you will accelerate your transition into your new
role, helping ensure your fulfillment and success and the success of
those around you.
The Employment Scene
The unemployment rate in the U.S. continued to drop
in January 2005 falling to 5.2% from 5.4% in December 2004. The longer
term trend is shown in the following figure:
U.S. unemployment rate (%), Source: Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate has declined steadily from
its recent peak in mid-2003. However, in January 2005 average number of
weeks unemployed remained at the December level and continues to be
disturbingly high, well above the peak during the slowdown in the early
1990s. The longer term trend is as follows:
Average weeks unemployed. Source: Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
Not surprisingly given this latter information,
many people continue to see limited prospects of finding work. The
number who believe no job is available jumped substantially in January
2005 as shown in the following figure:
Persons who believe no job is available in the
U.S. (in thousands). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In addition to these immediate shifts, there are
important, long-term, structural changes unfolding. Projections for the
future show significant slowing in the growth rate of the U.S. workforce
(see the October/November issue of “Bringing Work to Life”).
Organizations will find it increasingly difficulty to recruit people
with needed skills. Initial signs are already evident as reflected in
lowered participation in the workforce. The following figure shows a
continued sustained decline in labor force participation rates that
began in early 2001 in part due to population aging.
U.S. civilian labor force participation rate
(%). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In January 2005 the participation rate dropped to
65.8%, a level not seen since the late 1980s. This recent decline
likely reflects the withdrawal of the first baby-boomers (born in the
mid-1940s) from the workforce, a trend that will accelerate in the
coming years. Successful organizations are preparing for these
demographic changes by implementing workforce planning processes,
creating mechanisms to listen to their employees and building
interventions that strengthen employee affiliation.
Quote
“The only time a human being experiences real joy
or a sense of fulfillment or satisfaction is when the person is using or
giving away what he or she has been given to give.”
Arthur Miller.
Upcoming Elsdon Organizational Renewal (EOR) Events and Recent
Mentions
·
“Career Fitness in Turbulent
Times: Maintaining Job Search Readiness.” Presentation for UC
Berkeley, Haas School of Business Alumni. Berkeley
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Saturday, March 19, 2005
·
“Careers in Turbulent Times:
Accelerating to Opportunities.” Presentation for UC Berkeley, Haas
School of Business, East Bay Alumni Association.” Berkeley
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
·
Workshops for UC Berkeley, Haas
School of Business. Berkeley
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“Making a Successful Career Transition Through Networking.”
·
Monday and Tuesday, March 14 and
15
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“Developing Your Interviewing Techniques.”
·
Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and
12
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“Building Employee Affiliation
in a Growing Economy.” Presentation for Foreword Financial Bank Human
Resources Conference, Memphis
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http://www.fwfinancial.org/promotion_bankhr.html
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Wednesday, May 11, 2005
·
“Create a Business Case for
Workforce Development.” NCHRA workshop, San Francisco
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NCHRA Meetings & Events : Event Registration
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Thursday, May 26, 2005
·
“Becoming Career Fit in
Turbulent Times” for PMI-ISSIG PDS’05 Symposium, San Francisco
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http://www.pmi-issig.org/pds05/agenda.asp
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
·
“Building the Organizational
Bridge for Career Development” Professional Development Institute for
NCDA Global Conference, Orlando
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NCDA: National Career Development Association
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Wednesday, June 22, 2005
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Recent interview in the
education field “Affiliation as a Unifying Principle in Education”
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The Bridge
§
http://community.bridges.com/content/resources/feature/aupe.html
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Review of recent ICDC Global Issues Forum
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CCDA, January 2005
·
California Career Development Association - Articles
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Reviews of “Affiliation in the
Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization.”
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Harvard
Business School
·
HBS Working Knowledge: Organizations
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Global Diversity Institute
·
Global Diversity Institute - The Journal of Diversity Praxis
About EOR: Our Value Contribution
We enhance your workforce,
leadership and organization by:
·
Using proprietary approaches to
understand workforce and leadership challenges
·
Creating tailored action plans
and solutions to strengthen workforce and leadership practices
·
Building individual capabilities
and contributions
We enable you to focus on
external results and building value, confident that your organization
and leadership are operating at peak effectiveness.
Our Mission
To support your organization by
enhancing performance, productivity and effectiveness through
revitalized workforce relationships and leadership practices.
Our Approach and Values
We tailor our engagements
to the needs of each organization with a process designed to surface
critical issues, identify root causes, build effective solutions,
monitor progress and implement.
With a scope that ranges
from system and organizational interventions to work with individuals,
our focus is on the heart of the relationship among the individual, the
organization and the community. We believe that organizational and
community prosperity are built on enabling each person to fulfill his or
her potential.
Our Services
We work with individuals and
groups in your organization to drive performance and development for
both the short and long term. As a result people will choose to work in
your organization and will prosper there.
We bring solutions when you need
to:
·
Reverse declining revenues and
performance
·
Revitalize your workforce
·
Stem the loss of key talent
·
Redirect your organization to
new areas
·
Stop losing customers or market
share
·
Penetrate new markets
·
Combat aggressive competitors
·
Handle major change
·
Break down communication
barriers
·
Energize your leadership team
·
Successfully build on an
acquisition or merger
Our proprietary services
include:
·
State-of-the-art tools to take
the pulse of your organization and then move to action
o
Web enabled systems
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Experts to gather and analyze information, moving your organization to
action
·
Individual leadership coaching
to give you world class leadership capabilities
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Leaders who know themselves and their aspirations, build their
capabilities and become catalysts developing others
·
Workshops to build interpersonal
skills in your organization so that:
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Communication is timely, concise, accurate and personal
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People listen to each other
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Negotiations are quick and effective
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Differences create rather than destroy value
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Teams move forward, get results and quickly commercialize new products
and services
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People understand and link their motivations to your organizational
needs
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Your teams understand what it takes to create a committed, energized
workforce
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People use their time well
·
Systems that make it easy to
drive performance and build capabilities by:
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Linking objectives throughout the organization
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Strengthening key competencies
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Making sure you have the bench strength where and when you need it
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Giving people tools to take charge of their own careers and development
and have a major long term influence on your organization
·
Proprietary simulation and
modeling techniques that let you explore how to maximize the value of
your workforce
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Move from guessing what might happen to looking in depth at the
financial impact of different approaches
