At leadership & talent, we thrive on helping leaders and talents reach their goals and dreams. Ultimately, when done well, this leads to higher employee engagement and more well-being. What’s not to like? It’s really quite simple. If we fully engage all our colleagues, they will perform well and stay with us. And the best talents will join us too. Top management goes first. They walk-the-talk. Then the powerhouse of leaders goes to work. They role-model and enforce values and great behaviour. When done well, every single colleague experiences increased empowerment, well-being and managemen ..read more

I see mentoring programs as an opportunity to reap multiple returns for an organisation and its people. However, when I hear leaders share their experiences during training and follow up there seems to be some variation in the perceived return on the time invested. Contrary to popular opinion, this is often not due to mentoring skills but to the context and messaging which has been set up around the program. Leadership mentoring. Mentoring can be arranged in many ways. In this article, focus is on internal programs set up for leaders (or talents) to each receive mentoring from a more experienc ..read more

Many of us have been leading from home – as millions of people are still working from home without choice or previous experience. This has been tough but it has also offered the opportunity (and challenge) to lead in very different circumstances. A time for reflection and growth. You have a unique opportunity to rethink your leadership. Hopefully, many of us will be getting back to the office soon. We are looking forward to working closely with colleagues again. Some things may change for ever and others will revert to how they were before. But one thing is for sure: this is a once in a lifet ..read more

The answer is proably both. We often hear that gathering colleagues to attend face-to-face training sessions at hotels and conference centres will never be the same again. Similarly, colleagues training others at the workplace or central headquarters when implementing new systems, processes and mindsets is unlikely to be the same in future. Recent communication technologies make it much easier for us to share knowledge without meeting in person, whether that be through sharing cloud versions of documents, guidelines, screen demonstrations, video learning, chats and conferencing etc. Furthermor ..read more

We often hear about the challenges of ‘Working From Home’ or ‘Remote Working’ where an employee feels distanced from the team or leader due to a geographical gap. This usually describes sub-contracted employees or workers at global locations, where distance is an everyday issue. But right now it is something different. We have never been more challenged or completely fed up with our situation, with millions of people working from home for the first time without choice or previous experience. For many, work is challenged due to spouses and children being at home all day too. For others, work is ..read more

Hi there, A ‘Talent-To-Go’ company is characterised as being good at attracting and recruiting talents via a great company name and high-quality employer branding. Then, after maybe a good onboarding experience and the excitement of being part of a winning company with professional colleagues, it all rubs off and the talent, like a great cup of coffee, is ready to go. She or he moves on to another organisation after having experienced broken promises, poor talent management and weak leadership from an immediate manager. Every time this happens, the cost is enormous in terms of new hire costs ..read more

Hi there, So how do you best train your leaders and talents for the future? As training has become easier it has also become passive (less interactive) and outdated (not future-proofed). What you must do is combine these two – interactivity & future-proofing – in programs focusing on Future Skills, whether that be in the classroom or online. Future Skills These are the skills your people need to be successful in the future – tomorrow and the years after. They include current or future topics trained & practiced to match their future work contexts, tasks & situations. For example ..read more

Hi there, I often hear that it can be difficult to navigate through the many options of personal assessment tools. I am frequently asked “Which tool should we use? You have experience with many, so tell us which one is best?” Ask more questions To answer that you need to start asking more questions. Ask yourself: What is the purpose of the activity which you have planned? e.g. leadership training, talent development, recruitment, individual or group coaching, organisational change. What do you wish to achieve and how will success be measured when you are finished? Where are you now on that jo ..read more

My clients have now significantly increased (or started) holding coaching sessions online. Similar to online leadership training, it’s first now that the benefits have really been appreciated. Even though face-to-face sessions are generally prefered, there are real advantages to holding them online. I particularly like the listing of ‘The Top 8 Benefits To Getting Your Coaching Online” by Online Coaching Coach. Greater Access To Amazing Coaches Brings Location Convenience Makes Scheduling Easier Saves You Precious Time Accessible Almost Anywhere In Emergencies, It Is Very Accessible Gives You ..read more

Hi there, So why run these programs? Here are some factors which may help you consider the impact (and ROI) of systematically working with the pipeline of leaders and talents in your organisation. Leadership Programs Engagement: High program satisfaction levels positively affect job engagement levels. Job Impact: Programs have a positive impact on perceived job performance and job impact. Future Skills for Leaders: Research shows the top priority for HR leaders in 2020 and again in 2021 is future ready business critical skills. Turnover: Avoid the direct & indirect costs of voluntary tur ..read more