Many years ago the CRM (customer relationship management) industry exploded.  Organizations realized that if they kept better track of their customers and prospects and their relationship building exercises with those contacts, they could improve their processes and replicate their successes.  Suddenly, the rolodex and the single sales guys copy of “ACT!” was not enough.  Companies invested in integrating their information, and suddenly, they had TONS of information.  The marketing department started demanding access to the data that helped them watch the tie between their activities and the process of the sales department.  Amazing things happened to increase the sales and relationships companies had with their customers.  There is so much more about this evolution that had an impact.  One of the biggest wins was the fact that now many managers could see and measure the success of the initiatives they were doing – where it counted – the deal pipeline.

We are really at the early stage of another powerful industry explosion.  The Talent Management processes are being taken more seriously than ever.  Yes, there have been processes, employee development programs, etc., for as long as companies have had employees.  However, the heat is rising in the real attention the processes are getting.  Organizations are understanding that it is critical to track and manage the development of their employees.  A lot of activity and dollars are being spent on these initiatives.  These projects and systems are generating a LOT of data.  Everybody loves data.  I am sure your favorite item in your inbox is the huge spreadsheet with the reams of data in rows and columns, and occasionally, a pie chart or bar chart helps make the data consumable.  But what does it mean???? read more »

An ardent supporter of mentoring programs, Lois Melbourne reveals the secret to ensuring successful mentor-mentee matches and explains why corporate mentorship programs are more important than ever to organizations. Discover how she has shaped her own career and taken her company global with lessons learned as both mentor and mentee. From students to entrepreneurs, mentors and mentees, Lois shares the benefits of this enriching personal development tool.

Succession planning discussions aren’t limited to HR industry magazines and websites anymore – just Google search “Yankees succession plan” and you’ll get a host of hits from a wide range of sources. Clearly this is more than just buzz – it’s top of mind in the business community, as I believe it should be. A sound succession plan keeps organizations on the path to success.

So why do we hesitate to create that crucial blueprint? Confusion? Dread? Lack of resources and tools? Too many of us get bogged down in the concept of managing the process instead of focusing on the plan itself.

This is a subject that I’ve been tackling head on lately. So, I thought I’d put all of our recent succession planning resources here. I hope you enjoy! read more »

When we were together at #HREvolution in Chicago this Spring, Paul Hebert, @incentintel, led a session with Jason Seiden with the objective of discussing how to influence people.  I found an interesting twist to the conversation that I have not been able to get out of my head for the last couple of months.  So, I have been reading and thinking and watching with this topic in mind.  I feel that my thoughts might be helpful for some.

The topic about influencing continually moved to compensation and incentives.  I believe some in the group had a very different perspective of these terms then I did. And, if I am going to develop myself and my managers as good leaders at Aquire, I need to figure out why!   read more »

More workers quit their jobs than were laid off in March. Wow. I was a little surprised when I first heard this statistic. Then I thought about it and realized what this means for talent management and workforce planning – it’s no time to be on auto-pilot. We’d better be working on strategies to keep the talent we already have as companies begin to hire again giving employees more choices in employers.

Let’s admit it – there’s been a buyer’s market for talent the past two years (when there’s been any hiring at all) resulting in a class of “underemployed” – laid-off overqualified types who were willing to trade in a title or a bit of salary in exchange for benefits. Even tenured employees who have been denied promotions or raises during hiring freezes and layoffs can be counted as underemployed. I recently read more »