When asked what they want from their jobs, most people will tell you that they would like to make a difference. Research has shown that most of us spend one third of all the hours we are alive at work so it makes sense that we would like that time to amount to something. To […]
How do you find the right people?
“Recruit for attitude and train for skill” The first time I read that was in Good To Great (by Jim Collins) and I’ve read it many times since then. Many businesses though are still recruiting for skill (or technical competence) and hoping that the right attitude will follow. Technical competence indicates that the candidate should be […]
Customer [service] is king
I recently read an interesting report entitled ‘Service 2020: Megatrends for the decade ahead’ which focuses on how organisations will complete in the year 2020. The report notes that we are heading towards a highly commoditised and competitive global marketplace, in which new rivals from emerging markets are expanding rapidly and, as a result, organisations […]
How to keep your keepers
Many organizations believe that to get a Talent Management Strategy in place, they must purchase an expensive HR system. In fact, this belief couldn’t be more wrong. While systems do have their place, an organisation is only going to get the maximum benefit out of it if they have implemented and embedded manual practices which […]
Gen Y reality check
I recently conducted a culture assessment on behalf of one of my clients, a retail organisation employing (mainly) Gen Y people. We wanted to ascertain whether the culture that the management team believes is in place is a reality for the people in the stores too. One of the questions in the survey asked the respondents […]
Is talent important?
The short answer is ‘yes’. The McKinsey Global Institute’s June 2011 report on “An economy that works: Job creation and America’s future” found that the US economy will experience a shortage of up to 1.5 million college graduates by the year 2020. A further 6 million Americans are likely to be without a job. This scenario […]
You’re only as good as your last customer experience
Last week I had a meeting in which we discussed the importance of customer experiences. After the meeting (which took place in a shopping mall) I went into a nearby DIY/electronics store and had a real-life customer experience that was worth talking about – but for all the wrong reasons! It got me thinking about the […]
What’s in a name?
So many people have asked me why I chose Cultiv8 as the name for my business and I thought that it would make a good topic for my first blog post. Talent management is the core of my consulting practice and I wanted a name that reflects the continuous development of all aspects of the process of […]