Succession Planning
A Recipe for Great Culture
A great recipe is one that uses quality ingredients, is made with special care, and loved by all who are gathered to try it. It may be an unusual metaphor, but the culture within your organization isn’t much different from a spectacular dish that draws everyone to the table. What if I were to tell you that there is a secret recipe for fostering a truly great culture that will attract more members? Furthermore, what if the ingredients are already at your fingertips? Culture contributes to the feeling that people get whenever they interact with your organization. Members want to feel positive and secure within the organization and to be inspired by its leaders. They want to feel driven to contribute and participate. You have to make sure all association stakeholders are working together as a team, towards a common good. I once heard the expression, “culture eats strategy for breakfast” and it wasn’t until years ago, when I was working for an organization in crisis, that I finally understood what it meant. Within a three-year timespan, we had experienced a 75% turnover rate amongst employees and worked under three different executives. These disruptions resulted in confusion, chaos, and ultimately, discontentment. Board members were disengaged and lacked a presence within the organization. This lack of leadership will directly contribute to conflict within the membership. Strategies were developed to address these problems, but ultimately, the same issues kept surfacing. Looking back now, I’ve come to realize that although an association can have a beautiful, robust strategy, it will backfire if a positive culture is not the norm. In other words, negative culture will consume an organization, regardless of the strategies that are intended to strengthen it. The quality of an association’s culture directly correlates with the efficacy of its leadership and the collaborative efforts of its stakeholders. Throughout my career, I’ve encountered several organizations in crisis. I’ve also learned that the recipe for a thriving culture…
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The Importance of Knowing Your People
Last week, I had an opportunity to speak to a great group of folks from the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations about generational differences in the workforce. One of my favorite parts of that experience was when we broke into groups based on our generation and answered a few questions about what we valued. Oh, I should probably mention that I’m a Gen Xer. What does that have to do with anything? A lot, apparently. Last week, I had an opportunity to speak to a great group of folks from the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations about generational differences in the workforce. One of my favorite parts of that experience was when we broke into groups based on our generation and answered a few questions about what we valued. I do this exercise regularly in my presentations and one thing is always the same: generations value different things. However, on this day I heard something new from the Gen Xers. In response to more than one question, they brought up concerns about their health. I noticed, but I didn’t think much of it until later when I was putting my heating pad under my neck. The generation of people born between the years 1965-1981 are starting to experience the effects of aging and it is changing what they value. This is incredibly important for workforce leadership to pay attention to if they want to retain a multi-generational workforce. The 21st-century workforce is nuanced. To be successful, an organization must pay attention to the individual needs of its people. The tricky part that my recent experience with the AOPO illustrates is that needs and values evolve. So what to do? Pay attention. Keep asking questions. Keep learning about your people. Be willing to evolve with them and they will stay engaged year after year. Now, where’s my heating pad… If your organization is struggling, now is the time for action. Register for our newly developed courses specifically…
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3 Steps to Solving a Workforce Crisis
When Danny Hearn contacted XYZ University five years ago, two daunting issues loomed over industries throughout the region of Hickory, North Carolina: how to attract and engage Millennials, and how to solve for the aging workforce crisis and talent shortage. “Our number one business issue is attracting young people to manufacturing jobs. It’s at a crisis stage. We have 3,000 jobs that go unfilled every day. Most are really great manufacturing jobs that require smart, skilled people,” said Hearn, who is President and CEO of the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce in Hickory, NC. Hearn had read Sarah Sladek’s book, The End of Membership As We Know It, and XYZ University’s report, America’s Aging Workforce Crisis.He invited Sladek to Hickory to present to area employers and Chamber of Commerce executives from throughout the southeast. At first, Hearn reported that some leaders were resistant to change, but as they implemented the strategies that XYZ University provided, the outcomes made a positive impact on their bottom lines. Specifically, Hearn shared his key learnings and developments as a result of XYZ University’s guidance. Lesson 1: Invite, engage and listen. XYZ University suggested that leaders bring young employees, members, volunteers, and leaders to the table, and requested their feedback on specific workforce and community initiatives. “At the Chamber, we conducted a young professionals survey that led to a successful strategy, ” Hearn explained. “For example, we discovered that the word ‘member’ didn’t resonate with young adults, and that our membership fee formula was outdated. As a result, the Chamber created a tiered structure for ‘Investors’ and ‘Shareholders’. If we hadn’t asked for their feedback, we never would have known we were alienating young people.” Lesson 2: Millennials do not engage for the sake of tradition, but because they want valuable, life-long learning experiences. Before the survey, the Chamber had launched a Young Professionals Group, and the leader of that group was a Baby Boomer, ex-officio, non-voting Board member. Sladek explained to Hearn this model of keeping young professionals at arms-length, under the guidance or someone else, would never work. Now, the Chamber has literally brought young professionals to the decision-making table; at least half of the Chamber’s Board members are now under the age of 40. In addition, the Chamber started engaging young professionals in the creation of…
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