The Secret Ingredient in GE’s Talent-Review System

Today's Business Tips

                                        

 

The Secret Ingredient in GE’s Talent-Review System

by Raghu Krishnamoorthy 
 April 17, 2014

GE is often highlighted as an organization that develops some of the most effective leaders. Most companies have a version of the talent-review system we use at GE. But judging from what I hear from managers of companies that visit us to benchmark our system, the difference between our approach and theirs does not lie in forms, rankings, tools, or technologies. It lies in the intensity of the discussion about performance and values. The debate, the dialogue, and the time taken to have an exhaustive view of an individual − evaluating them based on both what they accomplish and how they lead − are far more important than any of the mechanics. The heart of our system has always been about the enormous time commitment the organization and the leadership devote to the conversation about people.

As the custodian of the talent-review process, I have been lucky to observe this at close quarters. Here is what I’ve learned.

It starts with the attention given to the individual appraisal. 


Managers are expected to dedicate time to prepare for a detailed discussion of a direct report’s performance and values, strengths, development needs, and development plans. Most employees spend over 1,800 hours a year working for the manager and the company. Is it unreasonable to expect the manager to spend at least a few hours thinking about and discussing the performance appraisal as part of a larger commitment to helping the employee be more successful? (More about that in a moment.) Individual appraisals are considered enormous opportunities for the candid, constructive conversations that employees deserve.

It is not uncommon for a manager’s assessment and feedback to be questioned by his or her own manager, if the commentary does not appear to reflect the individual accurately. 


 I have seen our top leaders return an appraisal because it did not do justice to the feedback on the individual. Such a disconnect is the worst thing that can happen because it is a reflection of the manager, or the HR manager, as much as it is of the employee. This practice of multi-level engagement ensures that the quality of the appraisal is honest and comprehensive.

We continue to use a nine-block grid with quadrants that capture levels of performance and values not as a means of a forced ranking but as a way of facilitating differentiation. 

Here is how it is done. As our businesses and functions go through the process, the leaders justify the positioning of talent in different quadrants of the grid. The system allows us to link the grid straight to the appraisal. The chairman sets the overall tone and expectations, and leaders across the company make suggestions, comments, and additions to the feedback. While each leader may only have visibility into his or her particular business, the system ensures consistency and provides a consistent view and assessment of talent across the company.

Most of our leaders, including the chairman, spend at least 30% of their time on people-related issues. 

It’s part of our operating rhythm. These discussions are rich in making calls on leadership, succession, opportunities for development, organization and talent strategy, diversity, and global talent builds. The discussions also afford us the opportunity to assess performance more closely and holistically − including market factors, internal factors, organizational complexity, and risk elements. More importantly, it is the business leaders who take the lead on these discussions, not the HR person. This is consistent with our philosophy that talent development and assessment is a key business agenda, not just an HR activity.

Some skills are more important than others to be a great leader. 

As I have observed these discussions, some of the patterns are becoming increasingly obvious to me. For instance, the difference between a great leader and a good one is not just about intellectual capacity; it is often about judgment and decision-making. Likewise, a hunger to win, tenacity, customer advocacy, and resourcefulness can trump some of the skills we often look for − analytical skills, for instance. Such traits are best unearthed through discussions and become important considerations for future talent mapping.

Effective talent review is an intensely human process that calls for extensive demands on a leadership’s time. There are no formulas or equations. The power lies in giving people the attention, candid feedback and mentoring they deserve through a company-wide commitment to human-capital development.

How to find new business ideas in everyday life

Today's Business Tips

How to find new business ideas in everyday life

 
By Nadia Goodman | Entrepreneur – Mon, Feb 4, 2013 4:00 PM PHT

 

Statues of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse are seen at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, March 11, 2011. REUTERS/Mike …

The idea for Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom was born on a family vacation. Walt Disney was visiting Tivoli Gardens, one of Europe’s oldest amusement parks, when he realized he could create a bigger, better version in California. His method is not unusual: Great entrepreneurs find new business ideas by paying attention to opportunities in everyday life.

"The world around you is filled with ideas that can be useful," says Andy Boynton, co-author of The Idea Hunter (Jossey-Bass, 2011).

None of those ideas will come to you by thinking really hard in a vacuum. You have to get out in the world and practice behaviors that lead you to new ideas. "Innovation is not about how smart you are; it's about the hunt for ideas," Boynton says. "Behavior trumps IQ."


By learning to think and act in ways that bring new opportunities to light, you can find a constant stream of business ideas in everyday life. Here are three tips to help you find inspiration in the world around you.


1. Keep a list of opportunities. "At any given time, there's a job that has to get done," Boynton says, meaning the world is full of problems that need to be solved. As you go about daily life, keep a running list of jobs that others have abandoned, ignored, or failed to address effectively. Each is a potential opportunity.

"Start with your own experience," Boynton says. Ask yourself, what bugs me? What could be easier? More fun? More convenient? Your own frustrations will guide you to real problems that can drive a new business idea.


2. Hunt for ideas in diverse places. New ideas require creativity, which thrives on novelty and diversity. You might find a great idea while you’re on vacation or unexpected inspiration in an experimental art exhibit. "If you open your eyes, the answer is there," Boynton says. "But your world has to be broad enough and diverse enough to feed you the ideas you need."

Your search needs to be intentional. "When effective idea hunters talk to people, they’re not just going through a social dance," Boynton says. They're looking to learn what others know or do -- mining the world around them for useful ideas.


3. Notice how others solve business problems. In any situation, you are surrounded by problems that someone has tried to solve. Each is an opportunity to learn. Start noticing how convenience stores organize inventory, how packaging catches your eye, or how Amazon encourages impulse buys. You might find a better way to solve the same problem or inspiration for solving a different problem.

"You really can borrow and reuse ideas, and reapply them," Boynton says. "If you develop a mental habit of [noticing others' solutions], it opens your eyes to what's out there."

Today's Business Tips

6 Brands That Will Likely Disappear in 2013

By Farnoosh Torabi  

Yahoo! Finance 

Mon, Dec 24, 2012 2:48 PM EST

 What do JC Penney, Mitsubishi Motors and Martha Stewart Living magazine all have in common? Each has earned a spot on the list of brands that will likely disappear in 2013.

Financial news site 24/7 Wall St compiled the full list by scrutinizing American companies based on sales, customer base, market relevance and overall fiscal health.

Some predictions we made earlier this year have already panned out. Mobile carrier MetroPCS was acquired by Sprint, automaker American Suzuki went bankrup,t and Current TV announced it will be sold or go under, says 24/7 Wall St.’s Editor Doug McIntyre. “We stand by the overall accuracy of the list.”

Here are six more brands that the group predicts will likely to go bust in the New Year.

JC Penney
 

Customers have voted with their pocketbooks, telling the retailer this year that they dislike the revolutionized shopping experience.

In 2012, the merchant did away with coupons and frequent sales in favor of every-day low prices. Subsequently, sales are down over 20% since last year, and Internet sales have plummeted by more than a 33%. Many investors doubt new CEO Ron Johnson will be able to revive the 110-year-old company.

 

Mitsubishi Motors North America
 

The auto company is struggling to compete with rival car-makers. The company’s sales are down 29%, and they have just a 0.4% market share of the auto industry. By comparison, competitor Ford owns roughly 16%.

They’re just too small to survive, McIntyre says. They’re maybe 20th or 21st out of 22 automakers. They can’t afford to keep the brand up and running. It’s too expensive to operate and market the North American segment of the company.

 

Research in Motion
 

Its BlackBerry was the king of smartphones five years ago, until Apple and Android came along, knocking the mobile phone giant off the throne. There was a time when nearly everyone in the corporate world carried a Blackberry. But the company failed to transition its technology to appeal to more consumers, dragging down its stock price from $144 in 2008 to around $11 bucks these days. Word on the street is that RIM’s best exit strategy would be to get acquired.

 

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
 

With print a dying medium, domestic doyenne Martha Stewart is bowing to the challenges of publishing a magazine in an increasingly digital world. Her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has shuttered two of its four magazines this year. And a third may be on its way out in the New Year. Ad pages in Martha Stewart Living were down 30% through nearly all of 2012. Analysts at 24/7 Wall St. expect the magazine to be the next Omnimedia property to be cut.

You can’t lose 30% of your advertising and still operate, says McIntyre. “Martha Stewart’s really lost her luster since going to prison, and she hasn’t gotten it back. The insider trading scandal tarnished her image with the women who looked up to her.”

 

American Airlines
 

For almost 30 years, American was the premier airline in the United States. But the mergers of Northwest with Delta and Continental with United shrunk American to a mid-size carrier. The airline’s parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and buyout rumors started this past spring, which some of the airline’s largest employee unions say they support.

 

Avon
 

The beauty brand is battling financial woes of its own. Earnings are dismal, and the company has been embroiled in a bribery probe over suspicious payments possibly made to government officials and third parties in China, France and Brazil. Earlier this year, a perfume company flirted with the idea of buying Avon. Although it didn’t sell, Avon is still an ideal candidate for takeover.

As always, we want to hear from you. Which of these brands would you like to see survive in 2013? Connect with me on Twitter @Farnoosh and use the hashtag #finfit. For YF, I’m Farnoosh Torabi.

Today's  Business Tips

Transform Leadership Junk into Value – 5 Steps

by Jon Mertz  in Re: Lead

http://www.thindifference.com 

Having grown up on a family farm, we always had a junk pile. What was on the junk pile could be a mix of spare parts, good iron, or just plain scraps of what once was. Some of it, eventually, was sold off, used, or just stayed there, year after year.

With our good junk, we:

• Reinforced something that was working yet needed added strength
• Repaired something that was broken
• Built something new

As leaders, we tend to do the same. We collect junk. We store old practices; we mix in some of the old with the new; and some of it just sits there unused. Not all is bad. Junk can be transformed into useful things in leadership, too, especially when it is added to something working or actively put into use again.

What is our leadership junk, and what do we do with it?

 

To explore this, a 2 x 2 may be helpful to evaluate what we should do with our leadership junk.

1. Think: We need to think about our practices, including leading, facilitating, listening, interacting, analyzing, etc. Which of our practices are useful, and which are un-useful? Slot them in in one of the two categories.
2. Think again: Given our practices, we need to think about the ones we use frequently or infrequently. We start to sort out our practices, moving some up into the “In Use” category and some into the “Not In Use” section.
3. Prevent: Now, it is time to take note of everything on the left-hand side of the 2 x 2 and stop doing them. We need to make a mental note and catch ourselves when we start to use these useless practices again. This is the leadership junk we need to toss away and free up our time for the useful activities.
4. Leverage: For our activities that are useful but not in use, we need to begin to fold them into our daily habits. Our objective is to mold and add them to other good things we do in our leadership actions. By adding these elements in, we may make our current useful work even stronger. We create leverage points to renew and reinforce good leadership and management practices.
5. Repeat quarterly: Junk gets rusty if we leave it untouched for months and years on end. This is a good evaluation process to use each quarter so we clean out the useless leadership junk while incorporating the inactive good stuff into our daily leadership activities.

Transforming the good leadership junk into reinforced or new practices is where the real value exists. Equally valuable is discarding the leadership junk that just clogs our actions and gets in the way of improving.

Clear out your useless leadership junk. Engage your unused, useful practices, reinforcing and renewing your leadership skills.