People Solutions

In a recent team meeting, the subject of work-life balance came up and how people from different generations have different perspectives on what it really means. It was then that we realized that among the four of us on the full-time STM team, we have four generations represented. That would make a great podcast, right? Listen in while we talk about:

• Common threads
• Differences
• Maximizing generational advantages

 Appreciating generational diversity and making it work to your advantage can be a challenge. STM can help

In our latest podcast, Art and Sue tackle the issue of Influence vs. Manipulation.  Empathy and the ability to read people is an asset, right?  What if that ability is used for selfish or political gain?  Listen in as we talk about: 

• What are the differences between these closely related capacities?
• Why is it important to be able to determine one from the other?
• How can you determine if someone is genuinely empathetic and interested in making a connection, or if they’re using their ability to use social cues to just feed to what you want to hear?

 Need more tools to help you avoid falling into the manipulation trap?  STM’s assessments can help!

Art and Sue just returned from Chicago where they attended the Agency Management Institute’s Build a Better Agency Summit. They each hosted a roundtable discussion – Art on leadership development issues and Sue on effective interviewing. There were so many good conversations and ideas that we thought it would be helpful to share some of the things we heard. Whether you’re with an agency or in another industry, we hope you find some tips and suggestions that can make managing people a bit easier.

• What issues are business leaders struggling with in terms of hiring and developing good people?
• What tools and techniques are working?
• How can STM support businesses that want to improve their hiring success and leadership development?

There is a wealth of resources on our website, but particularly relevant to this conversation is our Interviewing Guide and recently released resource on Exit and Stay Interviews.

If STM can help you address your people challenges, get in touch!

We’ve been talking a lot about the power of the exit interview and an emerging concept of the stay interview.  In this podcast, Sue and Nicole discuss the reasons for having these conversations and the importance of using the information to make changes that improve the employee experience. 

• Why are they useful?
• What questions should you be asking?
• What do you do with this information?

Visit the resources page of our website for a complimentary summary and lists of suggested questions you should be asking .  If you need help putting together a program for your business, give us a call!

In this episode, Sue talks with Lori Highby, founder of strategic digital marketing agency Keystone Click.  Lori works with a number of clients in the area of Employer Branding.  Tune in to get answers to these questions: 

·      What is employer branding and why should you care about it? 

·      What are the biggest mistakes companies are making when it comes to employer branding? 

·      What are steps that you can take right now to improve your employer brand? 

·      Do you need help defining and improving your employer brand?

In this episode, Art and Sue are joined by Craig Cody, CPA of Craig Cody & Company.  Continuing in the vein of our recent podcast about the legal ramifications of having out-of-state remote employees, Craig helps us address some of the financial considerations.
What are the administrative costs?
What are the tax implications?
How can you avoid unpleasant surprises?

In this podcast, Art is joined by David Jean, one of our strategic partners and a partner at Albin, Randall, Bennett.  In a recent conversation, the question came up, “Why do we treat our best people so poorly?”  Are you falling into any of these traps?

• Taking the path of least resistance and overloading your best performers because you know the job will get done right without any hand holding
• Spending so much of your time trying to develop green or underperforming employees that you ignore the needs of your rock star
• Failing to invest in developing other talent because you know you can always turn to a handful of your best people

Don’t risk burning out and losing the best people on your team.

How to spot people who are just "too nice."

Our latest podcast episode features Art and Alyssa as they discuss competency shifts and what they mean. Some highlights include:

• Trends we've seen in job candidates’ attitudes about people, productivity, and planning
• When an over focus on people can be too much of a good thing
• How to screen out candidates who are too focused on people to the detriment of the competencies you really need

You can contact STM to learn about how our assessments can help you improve your success rate in hiring and promotions, including identifying those who are just “too nice” for the job.

In this episode of STM’s People Solutions Podcast, Art and Sue talk about the importance of ongoing communication as a key element in an effective performance management process.Some of the topics we touch on in this episode include:

• Regular communication about performance increases retention and reinforces strategic vision.
• Performance management is a continuous process of improvement and goal setting.
• If managed effectively, no one should be surprised at the annual review.

In this week's episode of STM's People Solutions Podcast, Alyssa and Art talk about what you might find when you look beyond an individual's education, experience, and skillset. Consider their capacity, and the importance of looking within your organization first when trying to fill a position. Join us as we discuss:

• Hiring young or inexperienced people is risky because you do not know if the candidate is worth your investment of time, energy, and dollars to train or develop.
• Capacity is more important than skill, because if the candidate has the capacity, you can train them for skill.
• Don’t forget to look around your organization for individuals who may have the capacity and drive to fill vacant roles first, otherwise they may end up at your competitor's business!

We recently circulated a report around our team that was based on a survey by Adecco. The report asserted that although we all understand that the best way to address the global skills shortage is through re-skilling, up-skilling, and an overall commitment to career development, the research showed that leaders and the people they lead have radically different perspectives about whether that is being achieved. What does this mean and what can you do about it?

• At its core, this is a communication issue. Regular and meaningful career conversations with your people is a worthwhile investment.
• We tend to know more about the career aspirations of our new hires than our long-term employees. Make it easier to hire internally than externally.
• Set up the aspiration to build a culture of life-long learning and internal mobility.
• Create the expectation that your employees need to take charge of their own careers. They need to have skin in the game.

We spend a lot of time talking about onboarding, but are we paying enough attention to offboarding? Regardless of why and how your employees leave you, they will still be talking about you. How they’re treated on the way out the door will impact what they say. Will they be an ambassador or an adversary? In this episode we discuss:

• Recognizing exiting employees for their contributions.
• Creating a plan for handing off projects and responsibilities.
• If it's an involuntary exit, providing constructive feedback to help them be more successful in the future.
• Not underestimating the power of a structured exit interview!

We at STM talk a lot about energy & drive and how important it is to uncover it in the interview process. In this podcast, Art, Sue, and Alyssa talk about future focus as a key indicator.

• Too low and you risk a mediocre hire, disappointment, and a lack of commitment and engagement.
• Too high and you’ll have someone who will accomplish their goals with you or without you. Is all of that energy pushing them in the direction you need them to go?

In this episode, Art and Sue address client questions about handling difficult situations with valued employees.

• Someone who is driving others away
• Two people who do great work but just can’t get along with each other
• Managing up

If you have a question you’d like us to address in a future episode, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.

In this podcast, Art and Sue are joined by special guest David Jean, Managing Director of Altus Exit Strategies. An important aspect of growing a successful business is creating transferable value. Transferable value is what your business is worth to someone else without you at the helm.  

To get started in determining your business’s value and creating an effective exit strategy, ask yourself these 3 Universal Questions:

• How much do you as the owner want to take out of the business when you exit?
• When do you want to scale down? To exit?
• Who are the future leaders of your company and are they ready to step up?

Selecting people who fit your culture is important, but if you’re all too much in lock step, you open yourself up to blind spots and the perils of groupthink.

- Too many differences, and you’re susceptible to conflict, mistrust, and miscommunication.

- Too many similarities can discourage creativity, innovation, and individual responsibility.

- “Fit” is more about people sharing the same broad values rather than thinking exactly the same way. Planned diversity is healthy.

Hi STM Subscriber,Are you struggling to find the right interviewing formula? Do you feel that your interviewing practices aren’t screening for top talent the way you’d like? STM can help!

Check out our latest podcast episode where we discuss interviewing tactics like:

- Be aware of your own bias; look beyond behavior.

- For every question you ask, know why you’re asking it and what you do and do not want to hear.

- Don’t stop with the first answer; dig deeper for validation.

Art and Sue recently hosted a series of roundtables at a conference centered around the issues of hiring, development, and retention. In this podcast, they share some of the ideas and issues that came up in those conversations.

- How can we compete in this crazy hiring market?

- What benefits and incentives can we offer to attract and retain good people?

- Do we really have to put up with mediocrity? Is it better to have a marginally productive person than an empty chair?

Are you providing your employees with rewards and incentives that are meaningful to them, or are you making assumptions based on what's meaningful to you? In this podcast, Art and Sue talk about the clues that help you determine what your individual people value and what rewards and incentives will resonate with them.

- Hobbies and the roles your people play on your team can give you valuable clues to their motivators.

- Everybody likes a raise or bonus, but it’s not always all about the money.

- Customizing rewards to zero in on what your people really value is a powerful tool.