THE STEWARDSHIP OF TALENT MANAGEMENT

THE ANNUAL PEOPLE PLAN: A LEADERSHIP TOOL Talent Management: Why? Because it focuses on the most important asset – people – and can be the single most impactful factor for organizations in achieving their goals. Leadership must be able to develop its people to successfully achieve its goals.

Growing and successful organizations spend some leadership and management time on strategic planning: where they want to go, and how they plan to get there. They also spend a significant amount of time on their annual operating plan (AOP) or budget: how much will we need; where will we get it; how will we expend it. But few spend an equivalent amount of time on planning the best ways to manage and utilize their talent – even given that it is their talent that will be the key management factor to achieving the strategic objectives. My premise is that organizational leadership should emphasize an Annual People Plan (APP) as a necessary and equal adjunct to the AOP and to the business objectives.

Successful organization leadership practices stewardship: it is a biblical standard (I Cor. 4:2 ). That stewardship should also be evident in the managing of the organization’s talent: it is often the largest single expenditure in the annual financial plan and merits that level of attention. It is also true that talent can be the catalyst to maximize the leverage of other resources and plans most effectively and efficiently. Today’s workforce is asking of prospective employers, ‘what will you do to help me grow and develop professionally?’ It is an awesome responsibility to be encouraging and coaching employees to develop to their God – given potential. It requires leadership and support at the senior executive level. Leadership’s single most important responsibility may be ‘who do we let in the front door?’ The hiring process is key because the talent we hire will be the tipping factor in how well the organization achieves it goals. In addition, when we employ someone we as an organization have the responsibility for the professional – and related personal – growth and development of that person. It is ineffective to hire and then not to develop and nurture talent.

Performance management is already practiced by many organizations; it is, however, not talent management, though there is overlap. In the former we focus on job performance compared to job expectations over the past year; in the latter we look forward to identify the talent needed to achieve the organization’s goals and then build a plan to be certain we have that talent available and that we develop its potential.

The initial construction and implementation of an APP requires significant thought, work and energy. For most organizations it will be a major cultural change because its focus is new. Dealing with employee talent in a significant and new manner may be uncomfortable for many managers.

First, senior executive and human resource personnel must be the champions of the APP. They must believe in and be committed to the stewardship activity, participate in it and hold participants accountable for implementation and follow through. Depending on the size of the organization the APP may be led by only the CEO or by the CEO and one or two other executive managers. (Note that the CEO, too, must be a participant in the APP as it relates to his/her responsibilities and direct reports. In fact, because of the direct link between talent management and succession planning the board of directors – who are responsible for the CEO portion of any succession plan – should be strong encouragers of any talent management initiative).

The APP will have its best contribution to an organization’s growth and success if it becomes an integral part of the organization’s culture and DNA. That means continued support from senior executive management - the first 2 or 3 years are critical. It means integrity and involvement towards everyone touched by the process. It means using the APP results and plans whenever a new talent placement is considered. It should mean involvement by the board of the organization to assure proper talent at the senior level.

Many organizations recite the phrase, ‘our employees are our most important asset’; many do not know how to maximize the talent resident in those employees. The introduction of an Annual People Plan will be a significant beginning to grow the talent for the organization’s goals and to contribute to the personal and professional career growth of those employees.

All organizations want – need – leadership talent in place to face well the shifts in the world’s mission fields so that the mission effort can move forth successfully.

Mops, People and the ‘Soul’ of Your Firm

What in heavens name does a mop have to do with valuing people AND profit? Let’s explore how an $8 billion dollar NYSE firm lived out the answer based upon biblical truth. Doesn’t your day go better when the tools you use everyday work well? If your computer was 8 years old, it would be a tough day checking your email. If your car tires were out of balance, you’d be heading for the tire shop asap to correct the wobbling. Yet in the worlds of our team members, we often ignore the tools that they use and we even allow them to work with mediocre, old or broken tools. The startling truth is however that there is a link between profitability and the way things happen at the lowest level of our firm.

In their fine work The Service Profit Chain, authors Heskett, Schlesingerand Sasser of The Harvard business School uncover the linkage between employees, customers and profits. You can learn more at http://www.serviceprofitchain.com.

As leaders, we can’t teach excellence, then welcome a new team member on their first day of work by giving them the last employee’s uniform, one size too big, with stains on it, while assigning them a truck to tool around town in that has a crack in the windshield. Or how about that office team member we ask to produce superior results with five year old computer, a rickety chair and poor lighting overhead? In the employee’s mind, the analogy breaks down. In effect, we’ve said we care about excellence with customers and profit for our firm, but not about them as a person. There’s a link between valuing people and achieving profit.

The ServiceMaster Company Values

At ServiceMaster, where I was greatly privileged to work for 20 years, we built an $8 billion dollar firm on the basis of ascribing dignity and worth to service workers, providing them with stellar tools and caring deeply for them and their families. At the same time we cared deeply for achieving organizational excellence and growing profitably. The principles that fuel ServiceMaster are based in biblical truth and we always deployed that truth in the public square, including on our Annual Shareholders Report, the wall in the lobby and more. If you were to visit the headquarters of the firm, when you walk into the two-story lobby, you’d see a curved marble wall ninety feet long and eighteen feet tall. Etched into the stone of that wall, in letters eight feet tall, are the four objectives of the firm. The marble wall tells the world about a set of values that are permanent. The principles carved in stone in the Chicago headquarters trickle down to the daily practices of the 80,000 team members around the world. Here they are:

Four Objectives of ServiceMaster

• To honor God in all we do

• To help people develop

• To pursue excellence

• To grow profitably

The first two objectives are end goals, the second two are means goals. ServiceMaster doesn’t use the first objective as a basis of exclusion. It is, in fact, the reason for their promotion of diversity as they recognize the potential and worth of every individual. In a diverse and pluralistic society, some may question whether the first objective belongs as part of a purpose statement of a public company, but regardless of your starting point, the principle that can be embraced by all is where the objectives lead the firm, and that is towards the dignity and worth of every person.

ServiceMaster Vision Statement

• “To be a vehicle for use by God in the lives of people as they serve and contribute to others.”

Biblical leadership and the tools of your team members

Bill Pollard, the former President of ServiceMaster, said “…leadership is not so much about the leader, but instead it is about the people who follow and the direction they are headed. This is the principle that Christ was teaching his disciples when he washed their feet. A leader must know what he or she believes, the direction they are going, and why it is important for people to follow. A leader must understand what it means to walk in the shoes of the people that follow.

So how are you investing in your people? Have you ‘walked in their shoes’ lately?

ServiceMaster spent time walking in the shoes of service workers who were cleaning especially in the area of mopping floors. They took the standard cotton mop on a wooden handle and transformed it into a tool that employees appreciated. The wooden handle was replaced with a hollow fiberglass core which made it lighter, stronger and more flexible, thus, less fatigue sets in per day and the handle is resistant to breaking. Next, they coated it with a safety yellow paint so that it was visible and could be used to block off wet floor areas; put a rubber grip on the end so holding the mop was less tiring; used stainless steel on the mop-head holder so that it didn’t rust from staying in a bucket of water all day. The mop-head holder was made to be ‘quick-release’ so that the employee did not have to unscrew the rusty bolt holding the mop-head on to the handle. All in all, they created a tool that was ‘top of the line’ but the results were housekeepers who felt cared for and valued and in turn had dignity and worth ascribed to them as people.

Why do you think ServiceMaster spend so much time and money making a better mop? It actually flowed from biblical worldview truths embedded in the people development principles at the firm. You could implement similar principles at your firm that would have a ripple effect throughout your company. Here’s just one of them:

People are Created in the Image of God(Genesis 1)

Leadership principles that flow from this truth:

1. Since God is creator, and people are created in His image, therefore people are also creative. Therefore, as leaders we should:

• Value the input of people into their own work and into our work.

• Provide opportunities for people to express feedback on how they view their work.

• Be creative in our utilization of the creative talents of others.

• Be promoters and sponsors of the potential of the people we lead.

1. Since God intensely values each person, and people are his most valued creation, therefore people have value (Psalm 139:13). Therefore, as leaders we should:

• Treat people with respect and dignity.

• Lead people, as we want to be led.

• Serve the people we lead, seeing them as ends not means in accomplishing work. We can use work as a development tool.

• Help people be something as well as do something.

1. God created each of us with certain gifts. Therefore, as leaders we should:

• Recognize God given gifts in those we lead.

• Help them develop these gifts to become all that God meant them to be.

• Recognize that each individual is in the final analysis accountable to be a growing person. Both motivation and development are the responsibility of each person for himself/herself. We as leaders are accountable to provide the climate that encourages such individual development.

What is the new social contract between you as the employer and your employee’s for the 21st century?

Breakthrough Discussion Questions

1. What areas of your business are you doing well in with regards to valuing and honoring your team members?

2. What are the ‘mops’ or tools in your business that may need tuning up? Think about where there needs to be course correction in areas where you may not be treating your team members with dignity and worth.

Next Steps

What are your next steps in moving forward to implement strong biblically based people valuing principles?

The Self-Aware Leader

I had a mentor and a long time seminary professor by the name of Marcus Smucker who took issue with the word selfless. He thought it an inappropriate word for a Christian to use. Actually, it was not so much the word that troubled him as it was how the word was deployed.

The distinction Marcus wanted us to make was that there is a difference between not knowing who you are and extensive self-examination. Using selflessness as an excuse to never consider who you are at all opens the door to self-abuse, abuse at the hands of others, and worse, twisting others around abusive demands. Marcus had met and worked with scores of people caught up in this type of abuse, often using “selflessness” as a way to spiritualize the harm they were enabling. They saw it as a virtue rather than the toxic behavior that it was.

Extensive self-examination does not mean self-centeredness. Rather, it is a deep pilgrimage into understanding one’s boundaries and capacities to serve others, learning which part of one’s self to set aside and which to carry forward—knocking the barnacles off, so to speak—in order to live in loving service to God and neighbor.

This means the leader needs to develop an understanding of love languages and basic temperament, perhaps through the use of personality tests like the Enneagram, Strengths-Finders, Colby, or Meyers-Briggs. Also, working with a therapist, an executive coach or spiritual director, or joining a peer-based advising team, spending time in

silent retreat or gathering a clearing committee would be beneficial. This is not merely to gain self-insight. Self-examination as the beginning and end of the journey is selfish. Instead, it is to use acquired insight to heighten one’s capacity to serve.

The inward journey to understand self is turned toward service and focused outward—as if it is a rubber band stretched before being propelled across the room to its destination. Think of it as grace received so that grace can be offered. Understand it as calling clarified so that it can be recognized and clarified in others. Practice it as being present with and accepting one’s self in order to have cultivated the skill to be present with others.

Selfish is distracted and elsewhere. Selfish has something better to do.

Self-less (self-aware) is present in the moment. The moment the self is in is precious in its own right. 

Passing Backwards

I coached each of my kids’ soccer teams from about ages 5 to 12. As the kids got older, we shifted from simple skill development to learning positions and strategies. But one concept that I never could get across was the value of passing the ball back. You see, when a soccer team is moving down the field on offense, sometimes their best move is to pass the ball back to a teammate who can redirect the flow of the attack. For kids, it’s counterintuitive to purposefully kick the ball in the opposite direction from the goal. But doing so is often exactly what a team needs in order to improve its chances of scoring.

Sometimes the best move that a leader can make is to pass the ball backwards. This is often just as counterintuitive for the leader as for a 10-year old soccer player. Here are three reasons why soccer players pass back, and why you should consider it as well:

• You pass back when you’ve encountered opposition. It’s better to pass back and lose a few yards than to lose the ball completely. As a leader, you may be able to press forward in the face of difficulties, but at what cost?

• The person receiving your pass can see the field much better. Since this teammate isn’t surrounded by defenders, he or she has a clearer perspective. In the same way, you need colleagues who can offer a different point of view.

• Redirection may yield better results. Passing the ball back isn’t a retreat – it’s a chance to shift the offense’s attack. You may also need to try a different approach to accomplish your ultimate goal.

If you feel like you’re running into a brick wall with your current efforts, is it time to pass the ball backwards?

A Leader and His Family

I slipped into his room late one evening to give him a goodnight snuggle only to find him wide awake snuggled under the covers. “Hey Dad!” my 12 year old said. “Tonight was our date night! You forgot!” Has it happened to you yet? In the midst of the holiday sales and the eggnog latté’s the dashing and the prancing for a place in line at Denny’s after a long night of shopping for the perfect gift? Have you forgotten the most important thing God has entrusted to you? It’s the gift of our family and those we love. It had been weeks since my wife and I had a date together, just the two of us. I knew things needed to change and fast. We set out to meet our work and family goals and somehow in the midst of all the holiday rushing, we forget that waiting at home is that young boy waiting to play catch, that teenage girl who needs to talk about boys or that spouse that needs to be treated with all the attention we gave them back in the spring when things were moving at a slower pace. Why does it happen? Why do we feel like we need run so hard during the holidays?

Recently, over a cup of coffee with a friend, in-between the sips of Starbucks and the glint of the bright sunshine, the truth about his family came out. The friend I was meeting with told me the real story of where things were with his work. You see, his work as a leader was doing great, it was his family that was suffering.

Nobel Prize winning Harvard biologist Dr. George Wald has some thoughts: “What one really needs is not the Nobel laureates but love. How do you think one gets to be a Nobel laureate? Wanting love, that’s how. Wanting it so bad one works all the time and ends up a Nobel laureate. It’s a consolation prize. What matters is love.”

If we were sitting at that Starbucks near your house and talking over our day, would you allow me a pretty personal question? What’s the Nobel Prize you’re striving for? Is it possible that the prize you’re striving for has edged out your precious family?

Well, before the Starbucks gets cold and we’ve both gotta run, if it’s time for a bit of a life re-balancing, here are ten ideas to help you get back on track. Got a pen? Jot em down on your napkin.

1. Get your family together and craft a family mission statement. It’s just as important to be intentional as a family as it is to do so where you work. We wanted our family to be on the same page as to why we were here on earth. Need a head start? Here’s ours. “Our family is going through life’s journey together, growing roots in Christ and wings for our mission, becoming equipped to make a difference in our world by learning to live like Jesus, for Jesus and in Jesus.“

2. Carve out time for your family each week…in advance. Put it on your calendar. Stop saying you have got to get ‘one more thing done’ before you leave for home.

3. Jettison things from your schedule that aren’t important. March to the mission that Jesus called you to, not the mission that others want you to do for them. Be ruthless here!

4. If your work situation requires constant excessive hours to get the job done, it’s time to evaluate other ways to accomplish the task. You can’t accomplish the mission of the organization single-handedly! Pray for supernatural results throughout your day, then go home and be a minister to your main mission field, your family.

5. If you’re a leader of others, have people actually write into their job descriptions the need to be committed to their family and specifically how they will be do this.

6. Develop an activity together with your family as a whole and or with individual family members; maybe it’s hiking, a date at Denny’s for breakfast on Saturday or coffee with your spouse.

7. Create a spiritual ‘life development plan’ for each of your kids outlining their strengths, areas for improvement and your plans to shape them as they grow up under your care. Our children are arrows that are being sent to a world that we will never fully see. It’s our job to shape them into arrows that will travel the distance to the kingdom target that God has intended for them.

8. Schedule a date night of at least an hour once a week with each child or your spouse where you just focus on them. It doesn’t have to be expensive, time alone is the critical ingredient here.

9. When you’re traveling, send email or a postcard back to your family. Pray with them on the phone in addition to chatting.

10. At the end of a day, ask your kids or spouse these three questions…’What happened today that you’re proud of ?’ ‘What happened today that you wish you could do over?’ ‘Where did you see God in your day today?’

OK, just one more question…If you asked your children to share words that define your parenting, or if your spouse was reviewing your life at your funeral service, what words would they use? If you’re not happy with what words are echoing around in your head, it’s time to make some changes. I love how Eugene Petersen in The Message puts it, “Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air…” (Proverbs 11:29). When my work years have come to an end and the castles of my work stand tall and strong, I want to be holding more than air, don’t you?

“Hey Dad! I passed!” said my 15 year old girl. You see, I’m writing this morning from the Department of Motor Vehicles waiting room where I came with my daughter to get her driving permit. Some days you just can’t get to ‘balance’ so lately I’ve been working on “integration” – aren’t laptops great? As my daughter and I celebrated her passing the test with a big hug in the lobby, I was glad I’d decided the to-do list at work could wait. The memory of this morning with her will last forever, and I think we’ll celebrate with a long, slow eggnog latte.

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Greg Leith was born in Canada and has lived in all four corners of North America. His career spans over 35 years of senior leadership roles in corporate, nonprofit and academic sectors. He is currently the CEO of Convene , a nationwide group of hundreds of faith based CEO’s learning together to grow exceptional businesses, become higher-impact leaders and honor God. He serves on various boards related to his passion of faith integrated with the marketplace, and he loves helping people get clarity on mission and purpose as a certified life coach. Married for over 35 years to his wife Shelley, he’s the father and friend of five thriving young adults. He and Shelley love to speak on marriage and parenting for FamilyLife, and they live in Southern California.