23 Dec

The Pandemic Is Bringing Out The Best In CHROs Today For A Better Tomorrow

By admin In Covid, Future of work, HR, Leadership / No Comments

The post-Covid-19 workforce will hardly resemble itself from just a year ago

During the last 10 months, I have been actively keeping in touch with many high-performing CHROs across the United States and Europe from a variety of sectors. And while the pandemic has produced a significant amount of hardships for businesses in general, the current Covid-19 landscape has presented human resources leaders with the opportunity to show their stuff, and in most cases, they’ve done that very well. In many companies, these important leaders are not just creating the systems to manage through a crisis and to take care of their employees, but also influencing their chief executive officers to be proactive and helping them understand the need for higher levels of empathy, communication, and transparency with the employees.

Companies quickly adjusted to having more meaningful virtual town halls and creative ways to communicate that dig deeper into the humanity of employees and demonstrate an understanding from leaders that may not have been evident beforehand. This is a journey that many HR leaders are helping their internal clients successfully navigate.

Now that we are starting to think about post-pandemic – timing TBD – the bar has been set to a higher level in some of those areas that CHROs need to think about. For instance, once leaders improve the quality of communications, as well as the frequency of communications, employees will naturally expect both to continue. HR pros need to ensure the C-Suite maintains this when we get back to “normal.” We cannot backslide to vague and infrequent interactions between leadership and employees. This will likely take some prodding and nudging of the CEOs to make sure that happens.

As the pandemic intensified, several companies were setting up crisis funds to help employees in need and I strongly recommend to clients, and any leaders reading this article, to continue setting aside money in the budget to assist workers that have a personal crisis. HR leaders are going to play a crucial role in persuading CEOs to keep on with this practice. There is a great deal of fatigue in the workforce at all levels. Best-in-class companies are revisiting their EAP plans to ensure they have the capabilities to manage through the mental, physical and economic impact of the last 10 months.

There is another crucial element that CHROs need to be thinking about: Talent Management. Tied into this are questions about what the company is going to look like coming out of the pandemic. Everything is going to change and there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty. One thing HR people know for sure is the question of how to best collaborate between employees staying home and employees going to office need to be addressed almost immediately. But that is not the only change. HR leaders can help the company think about what will be needed to prepare and execute strategies for the changing consumer and customer.

To be sure, all of these unknowns can be unsettling, but at the same time, we are also presented with an exciting opportunity to create a future that requires a different type of talent. If you are not sure of the future, create it! That means, human capital and performance tomorrow will not be the same as it was yesterday.

We often talk about seeing around corners. Well, I think now we need to be able to see through walls, create the future, and then make sure that we have the talent that will then drive us forward and make companies successful in the future.

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.hr.com/en/magazines/hr_strategy/december_2020_hr_strategy_planning/the-pandemic-is-bringing-out-the-best-in-chros-tod_kj2bfft9.html?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=essentials-hrstrategyandplanning&utm_content=thepandemicisbringingoutthebestinchrostodayforabettertomorrow-email&uid=1580750345519

23 Nov

Here’s Why Today’s Leaders Should Choose “And” Thinking

By admin In Career Transition, Future of work, HR, Leadership, Talent Development / No Comments

HR Strategy, Work Culture by Elizabeth K. Olson
To the detriment of talent development and work cultures everywhere, we most often employ “either/or” thinking. Let’s talk about why today’s leaders should more often choose “and” thinking….

So many important aspects of human capital are nuanced and interrelated, yet seemingly polar opposites. For instance, recognizing the individual performer or recognizing team efforts. Showing respect for each person or showing respect based on performance and rewarding managerial-style performance or rewarding leaders.

Some organizations state only half of these pairs as desired values, hence the “or” between them. This is a mistake because when we see these values framed as either/or choices, we miss the synergy from leveraging the best from both sides. We cause harm from overfocusing on one value to the neglect of the other. After all, many values are interdependent, and ideas we think might be opposites are both highly desirable. The misleading part about this is that they need to live in tension with one another over time. These pairings can be called paradoxes, wicked problems, or polarities that require “and thinking.”

“And” Thinking Versus “Or” Thinking

Both inside and outside of work, complexities exist that require us to think about these tensions between seemingly opposing pairs, rather than choosing A over B. For instance, one critical thinking point for leaders is the push-pull between continuity and transformation.

Those business leaders often find themselves executing complex change initiatives that enable their companies to compete better. At the same time, they must create and maintain consistent foundational cultures employees can lean into – no matter what. All too often, when the message is only why complex changes are necessary, without acknowledging what has been going well (and what needs to remain in place), even the best plans blow up.

Everything done “the old way” is now wrong. Right?

This pervasive contradiction lowers morale and confuses, thereby sabotaging the energy and focus needed to implement the change.

Centralized Versus Decentralized Coordination

One of the biggest derailers for employees is the pendulum swing between centralized coordination and decentralized coordination. Organizations are frequently in a seesaw around this polarity. It’s as if one is better than the other, so they over-focus on one at the expense of the other.

For instance, a new chief executive officer is instituted and says: “We’ve lost the entrepreneurial nature of this organization, and we must decentralize and give control to each of the business units.” Because centralization and decentralization are interrelated, people complain there is no coordination and little ability to share services effectively. That causes the next CEO to say: “We have to centralize; everything is all over the map. Nobody knows who’s on first.” After finally getting used to the new structure, it whipsaws back to some version of the old one. With the average tenure of CEOs being three-and-a-half years, organizations must simultaneously focus on centralization and decentralization.

The Solution: Mapping Versus Gapping

One way around this conundrum is to institute a mapping process…

Instead of executing a gap analysis, which is how most people approach change, we think about the upside and downside of their preferred value or pole in the polarity equation. We then do the same for the countervailing pole. Then, as the diagram illustrates, we outline action steps for gaining the upsides from each pole. We also design strategies for avoiding the downsides of each if we over-focus on one pole to neglect the other.

That is “and” thinking.

Once we get the tension right between the different energetic poles, my clients find themselves comfortably resting in a virtuous cycle. They begin to get the best of both options, no matter how opposite those options seem. For many leaders, this comes as such a relief. Because those leaders, rather than focusing on the power of both – the “and” – tend to over-focus on one side of the equation. They then find themselves in a vicious and contentious cycle that isn’t good for them, their fellow leaders, or their teams.

Harness the power of both poles. Expand your thinking to “and.” You’ll soon create a virtuous cycle that will enable your organization to thrive, freeing your teams to unify under healthy “and” tensions versus the opposing camps that can form from “or” decisions.

Link(s) to Article:
https://talentculture.com/and-thinking/

21 Sep

Executing Talent Planning And Management When You Are Not In The Office

By admin In Covid, Future of work, HR, Leadership, Talent Development / No Comments

When the pandemic started, HR pros and talent managers learned very quickly how to use platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc. The ramp-up was quite remarkable, really, and comfort levels were soon realized because after all, that was all that we could do. That was then and this is now. As the shutdowns stretch into the winter months, we are beginning to see that there are certain tactics that are missing.

Based on what I have heard from leaders in North America, Europe, and Latin America the piece that is missing is that two-minute conversation that you have when you’re walking down the hall. As all HR leaders know, those unplanned, spur-of-the-moment meetings are critical to leadership opportunities, team building, and coaching. Gone are the days of ducking your head into somebody’s office and saying, “hey, great job on that account,” or, “let’s take a couple minutes to just talk about another approach.”

What is the solution? Let’s get old-school and pick up the phone. Dropping a text or making a short phone call to say “good job” is where leaders need to be right now. The issue is that leaders need to remember to do this because these outreaches can easily fall to the backburner and then become old news or forgotten. These communications take little effort, but they are important. I recommend adding some structure to that. Having a list that you keep beside your computer that helps remind you to call a certain employee to say, “Thank you,” tell them they’ve done a good job, give them some feedback on something that maybe they could have done better. Make it a point to have that coaching moment.

To be sure, it is important for managers to find impactful ways to talk with their direct reports and manger during the pandemic, however, let’s remember that leaders should also do a good job of communicating frequently with his and her peers. Check in to let them know what your team is working on, your priorities, and of course, explore how you can support their priorities.

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.hr.com/en/magazines/talent_management_excellence_essentials/september_2020_talent_management/executing-talent-planning-and-management-when-you-_kf5ddvt4/

15 Sep

Now Is the Time to Build Your Leadership Bench

By admin In Career Transition, Covid, Leadership, Networking, Private Equity, Talent Development / No Comments

Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/middle-market-growth/build-your-leadership-bench

The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has led many businesses to focus on challenges related to working capital, supply chain, or the accelerated shift from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce. Yet alongside these urgent priorities, talent planning continues to be important, particularly as companies position themselves for the post-pandemic future.

Bob Ryan, a partner at Shields Meneley Partners, and Keith Goudy, the managing partner at Vantage Leadership Consulting, return to the podcast to discuss the pressing issues related to talent management and hiring that business leaders and private equity owners are grappling with today.

Drawing on their experience working with clients, Ryan and Goudy describe how the COVID crisis has changed what companies are looking for in their leaders, and how to lead effectively when employees are working from home. They offer actionable tips for advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives in a virtual work environment, and they explain why succession planning is now more important than ever.

Ryan and Goudy first appeared on the Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast last year, in an episode titled “How to Get Hired at a Private Equity-Owned Company,” available here.

Link(s) to Article:
https://middlemarketgrowth.org/podcast-now-is-the-time-to-build-your-leadership-bench/

15 Sep

Investing in the Future of Food: Three Essential Steps to Successfully Build a Leadership Team

By admin In Career, Career Transition, Leadership / No Comments

Hugh Shields Featured in Food Navigator USA

In this segment of Inventing in the Future of Food, career coach Hugh Shields of Shields Meneley Partners explains the factors that could stunt the company’s growth and how his three essential steps in building a successful leadership team can help entrepreneurs smooth their transition to working with newly hired executives while growing the company.

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/09/09/Investing-in-the-Future-of-Food-Three-essential-steps-to-successfully-build-a-leadership-team

10 Aug

People On The Move

By admin In Career Transition, Client Placement, Leadership / No Comments

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Bob Ryan, Shields Meneley Partners

Shields Meneley Partners, Chicago
Shields Meneley Partners, a nationally recognized executive coaching and career transition firm, is pleased to announce Bob Ryan has been named Partner after previously joining the firm as an Advisor. Bob brings over 30 years of senior corporate leadership experience across numerous industries in the human capital arena.

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/people-on-the-move/3308274

03 Jun

Work-from-Home Can’t Work Forever: Blackstone CEO

By admin In Covid, Future of work, HR, Leadership, Private Equity, Talent Development, Work From Home / 3 No Comments

The massive work-from-home experiment that businesses globally have adopted in response to coronavirus-related travel lockdowns has fueled a great debate on the future of offices: Will the practice become a permanent feature for employees? For Steve Schwarzman, CEO and chairman at Blackstone Group, the answer is not likely.

“This working from home is on one hand very efficient,” he said last week during a Sanford C. Bernstein investor conference. “At one of our meetings, somebody said, ‘Well, why don’t we do this all the time?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, one reason is you can’t train new people like this.'”

Working from home appears to function well for existing employees, Schwarzman said. The crux is in the difficulty for new employees to absorb a company’s culture without personal interaction, he added.

“To run a great organization, you have to keep hiring people,” he said. “Particularly if you as a business are growing, you need more people. And those people have to learn your culture.”

Culture entails many aspects that require picking up cues from the more experienced, established members of a team on how the company does business, Schwarzman said.

“They have to know not just the mechanics of how you do a piece of work, but how do we think about it?” he said. “How do we think about risk? What do we believe is the right and wrong approach to be doing things from an ethical perspective?”

Communications over video can’t easily replicate those informal and formal discussions a team would have in an office setting, Schwarzman said.

“That’s really hard to do on television,” he said. “You have to have people sitting around talking about situations. It’s much more iterative.”

But some human capital experts say while new employee training is indeed a likely snag, it’s not impossible to maintain and build a corporate culture through remote technology.

Onboarding is clearly one of the challenges, says Bob Ryan, executive advisor at Shields Meneley Partners, an executive coaching consultancy, and managing partner at the Sierra Institute, a coalition of chief human resource officers.

“There are things that can’t be done as well virtually, and it’s very difficult to build a culture when people are not together,” he says. “Senior management helps to define the culture of an organization… and that’s hard to understand when you don’t see them day to day.”

Onboarding new employees virtually would be a challenge, Ryan says.

“Important training could be lost unless the new employee puts in a concerted effort to meeting all of their peers and stakeholders,” he says. “One of the most important groups that you need to learn from is your peers.”

Onboarding in a virtual environment is indeed “suboptimal,” says Laura Queen, CEO at 29Bison, a human capital consultancy.

“Video cannot replace face-to-face human contact,” she says.

But there are many ways that companies can still build and maintain culture via remote technology, and even increase productivity using such tools, Queen says.

“You don’t have to have face-to-face contact all of the time,” she adds.

Corporate culture often entails values, beliefs, and assumptions about the work experience transmitted through language and storytelling, Queen says. It’s possible to find new mechanisms to do that via technology, especially through tools that support learning and assimilation, she says.

One tool her team uses is Nuclino, an internal wiki platform where individuals can share intelligence on particular topics, a concept that also can work on communication systems such as Slack. Queen recently posted information about an arcane defined benefit pension question that sometimes comes up with the firm’s clients, so that other colleagues can tap it as a resource in the future, she says.

Ryan says his team has built a customized, confidential customer relationship management platform to similarly share internal information, specifically in response to the recent work-from-home shift.

Ongoing regular training and development can even be more effective in virtual settings, because many professionals have proven their willingness to participate and shown the ability to focus even better in video meetings, Ryan says. Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams are all effective for such gatherings.

“What I am hearing over and over again is that virtual meetings are going to become a more consistent part of the future,” he says.

A bigger question that companies face is whether their embrace of working from home capabilities will define their identity to the marketplace, Queen says.

“If your viewpoint is that culture can’t be transmitted virtually, then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she says. “Long term it may be that a firm attracts people who are more willing to work face-to-face and less willing to work in a virtual environment. And that says to people who want a work-from-home opportunity, that this firm is not a place for you.”

That may become an important distinction, she adds, because working from home has gotten a big stage to showcase its utility.

“I think the horse has left the barn for knowledge workers with regard to the work-from-home situation,” she says. “There is an expectation that if you’re going to be a credible competitive attractive employer you’re going to have to provide some level of remote work capabilities.”

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.fundfire.com/c/2771153/340603/work_from_home_work_forever_blackstone?referrer_module=issueHeadline

22 May

The CHRO Defining Moment Is Now

By admin In HR, Leadership / No Comments

Here’s a list of best practices

As a principal for Shields Meneley Partners, working with C-Suite clients on career transitions, and as the managing partner for The Sierra Institute, an exclusive, invitation-only peer networking group for chief human resource officers, I have a significant amount of real-world and real-time input when it comes to best practices for the HR world. As you can probably imagine, the pandemic has created a sea-change for this executive function and after a month of my own research, including several enlightening Zoom calls with more than 20 of the most influential human resources practitioners today, I wanted to share the cohort’s list of best practices.

No. 1

Stay in constant communication with all your employees. This communication must be transparent, and the messages need to be easily digested. Worried workers need to hear the plain truth.

“The importance of employee communication cannot be overstated,” Sean Kimble, CHRO of USA Compression Partners, told me. “Leaders at all levels, especially those closest to the men and women running the day to day operation of the business, are often the most critical to keeping the team informed.”

No. 2

The Chief Executive Officer plays an important role in that communication. The CEO is the leader and he or she should deliver messages while support and information need to be curated by the HR leader. One of the best practices my group of HR officers has leveraged is the creation of short videos, pushed out to all employees so that he or she can keep them up to date on what is going on.

No. 2.1

As an overlay to the CEO delivering the message is the tone. HR leaders noticed quickly that employees responded better to messages from the CEO that focused on the health and safety of the workers and their families as opposed to just business.

Rochelle Krombolz, SVP and CHRO, from Tekni-Plex provided me with the following point-of-view:

“At Tekni-Plex, which is an essential manufacturer of products used for medical devices, healthcare products, cleaning products, and food packaging, all of our communications and decisions have prioritized and repeated only three objectives:

1. Ensure the safety of employees and the communities in which we operate,
2. Do our part by continuing to operate/deliver products that are critical to the fight against Covid-19, and
3. Come out of this crisis, stronger and smarter than we were before, and rightfully proud of our decisions and accomplishments.

“It has been critical that our employees trust that we as a leadership team are doing everything in our power to keep them safe, while also reinforcing our shared responsibility, and even duty, to keep people healthy, safe, and fed during the pandemic. We have also been very attentive to expressing our feelings of gratitude and pride, including telling stories about the heroes in our business who have stepped up in this crisis in so many different ways.”

To be sure, there must be discussion about the business. This is where the CHRO comes to the front to help the CEO. The CHRO must assure employees the right decisions are being made regarding the health of the company.

No. 3

Next up is the Employee Assistance Plan or EAP. This is a time for the team in charge of this program to shine, to be a real resource to all the employees, and ensure the employees have someone they can talk to. The HR department needs to make sure that that EAP is doing that efficiently. The HR and EAP departments need to come together to partner.

No. 4

Another rather touchy subject is compensation. The HR department must communicate to the C-Suite that they need to show they too are feeling some of the pain. I’ve heard of companies cutting executive pay by a certain percentage or even eliminating the regular pay for some period of time to provide the right message to employees about the shared experience and to illustrate company money is being directed properly.

No. 5

A very important function that HR needs to execute during this extraordinary time is to focus on the “human” side of their job. That means reaching out to all employees in some form and especially making extra efforts of getting in touch with people from whom you have not heard back.

No. 6

Make sure the HR team and you are taking care of yourselves. It is easy to forget that while being focused on all of your employees, the senior team and CEO. Take care of your health and well-being too.

“It is the same message we hear on planes to put your oxygen mask on first,” says Michelle Tenzyk, CEO of East Tenth Group. “CHROs and their teams are the frontlines in organizations, which require incredible commitment, integrity and way more than eight hour days. That is why the CHRO needs to stay well, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Their wellness sends a strong message to the executive team and all staff – we must take care of ourselves first in order to help each other.”

There is no doubt this is an exceedingly difficult time that includes a lot of hard decisions that are being made and the CHRO is in the center of it. This function plays a huge and important role in today’s human capital story and this is the time when we look back at it, where the CEO, CHRO, and the executive team came together to execute in the defining moment of their time.

19 May

To defend budgets in a downturn, L&D must focus on the future

By admin In Career, Covid, HR, Leadership, Networking, Talent Development / No Comments

Budget cuts and downsizing present an unfortunate reality, but that isn’t the full story for L&D, sources told HR Dive.

It’s an unfortunate reality during the COVID-19 pandemic, as with economic downturns past: talent development and training departments are likely to be subject to budget cuts and downsizing.

“History tells us that training is a line item that gets sought,” Dale Rose, president and co-founder of California-based consulting firm 3D Group, told HR Dive in an interview. “It’s a familiar path.”

But the trend is not necessarily a universal one, and Rose and others who spoke to HR Dive have worked with employers that take a different view. The difference between the current economic moment and that of the late 2000s recession, so goes the thinking, is that the underlying structure of the economy isn’t being impacted by COVID-19. “The one thing we do know is that this isn’t permanent,” Rose said.

Layoffs, furloughs and other cuts are taking up a lot of energy for organizations, Bob Ryan, executive advisor at Shields Meneley Partners in Chicago, said in an interview, but employers need to prepare for when the script flips. That means a certain percentage of staff should dedicate themselves to outlining the organization’s future, and “a part of [that percentage] needs to be L&D people,” he said.

As L&D professionals go into meetings with executives — in some cases to literally advocate for their department’s continued existence — their pitch cannot be to simply return to business as usual, Ryan said; “This is the time to be creative and show the CEO, CFO and CHRO that L&D is important, but it’s going to change.” Top companies, he continued, are opting to increase, not decrease, investment in talent after the pandemic.

“I believe the conversation with business leaders needs to start and end with how learning supports business strategy and outcomes,” Chris Holmes, director of global learning and development at Booz Allen Hamilton, told HR Dive in an emailed statement. “If learning is integrated as a part of a shared outcome, then the need to ‘advocate’ for training investment can be a very different conversation.”

L&D departments can also appeal to their role in shaping the organization’s future competitiveness. “The competitive advantage that companies have coming out of this is going to depend on their talent,” Cat Ward, managing director of JFFLabs, a division of workforce and education nonprofit Jobs for the Future, told HR Dive in an interview. “We’re moving into a pretty fluid environment here.”

Distance learning provides a way forward

It’s simple enough to say that talent development will be important, but how L&D professionals keep it top of mind during and after the pandemic will differ. Ryan described practitioners at one manufacturing industry client who took matters into their own hands by making reopening-oriented training videos with their phone cameras. L&D teams elsewhere have held Zoom calls to step back and brainstorm solutions for assisting workforces that may have moved to remote status during the pandemic.

Some teams will struggle with a learning environment that is more digital. “There’s the chance for disinvestment in workplace learning, and a lot of that is due to the fact that a lot of learning at work hasn’t been digital-first in nature,” Ward said. “If you want your business to be competitive, you need to be preparing your workforce for these changes.”

But digital transition can be an advantage for L&D teams, particularly those at employers that had not embraced digital transformation before the pandemic, according to Rose. “Maybe there are benefits to someone sitting at their home office; maybe they have more time,” he said. “The opportunity of the moment is to embrace distance learning.”

At Booz Allen Hamilton, employees are actually consuming more learning content, and they are particularly focusing on content covering how to work and lead effectively in a virtual environment, Holmes said.

One understated impact of the movement to online learning post-pandemic is that it could level the playing field for talent development. In his own experience doing online presentations with clients, Ryan said he’s seeing high levels of participation and engagement from learners. “I can look at 20 to 30 people as I’m leading the meeting, and it’s just easier to manage.”

Employers will still need to deal with some hurdles when it comes to online learning, Ward said, particularly ensuring all workers have access to a reliable internet connection and other necessary technology. Front-line and middle-skill employees will also need to be included: “It’s a business advantage that your entire workforce is able to keep their skill sets fresh and stay competitive,” Ward added.

It will also be difficult for talent professionals to advocate for internship programs, many of which have been cancelled or otherwise rolled back during the pandemic. But online delivery can help here, too, Ward said. Companies like Microsoft have opted to turn their internships into digital experiences, and the tech giant has said that this move will influence its approach to internships well into the future.

Virtual reality and augmented reality, previously used by globally spread, remote-based organizations to disseminate training programs, could also help navigate a situation in which on-site operations are suspended. Ward said she’s aware of companies that have considered sending sanitized VR headsets to employees so that they can train at home.

Reopening as a blueprint

COVID-19 may not be the disruption L&D teams anticipated, but it is nonetheless a reminder that the field’s future may lie in preparing organizations to adapt to massive change.

“The way we work has completely changed,” Rose said. As organizations look to reopen in an environment of social distancing and disease prevention, L&D could emerge in a highly visible role that supports all employees. “Caring for my people has always been important, but that’s more important now. If they’re going to be effective in their work, I need to be tending to them more than I might normally.”

This care can take many forms, from facilitating how employees should reorganize their schedules to literally helping them move from point A to point B within a facility.

Soft skills training is a particular area of emphasis for companies that moved remote. “I think that has just gotten really ratcheted up here,” Ward said. Workers and managers will need assistance adapting to phone-based and web-based communication, especially if they are used to an environment that is dependent on face-to-face communication. Even the subtler act of reading the body language of team members will require adjustment, Ward noted.

In some ways, moving to a remote basis can create a new standard for work itself. “It’s a different way of setting goals,” Ward said. “There’s much more of a premium on execution … and that is going to require even more communication.”

The pandemic is not just a chance for L&D departments to prove that their programs have a return on investment; workers are watching, too, and evaluating the responses that employers put forward.

“Remember that employees will remember and value the choices that companies make,” Rose said.

Link(s) to Article:
https://www.hrdive.com/news/to-defend-budgets-in-a-downturn-ld-must-focus-on-the-future/578182/

22 Apr

An Unexpected Networking Opportunity

By admin In Career Transition, Leadership, Networking / 1 No Comments

Believe it or not, this is a great time for executives in career transition to network and to meet people. In my role as a coach for C-Suite members looking for their new jobs, one of the things that we talk about is how important networking is in general and during this time with more people being at home, they’re actually starving for interaction with people. That desire to connect intersects with the fact that potential new contacts are more available because big holes have shown up in their schedules since they are not traveling and they are not commuting. So, they have time.

At Shields Meneley Partners, we have relationships with the most influential search firms and we are finding that recruiters are available. I have already lost count at the number of calls I have had with these people who do not understand why people are not calling them or returning their calls. This is a huge mistake. If you are an executive, particularly in the C-Suite, and you are in career transition, do not assume that nothing is going on with recruiters because nothing could be further from the truth.

Generally speaking, we know about half the positions, executive C-level, are on hold or at least moving slowly, but that also means the other half are full speed ahead and filling these positions is really important. No one wants to go into a board meeting this spring and say that a key position has not been filled because of the pandemic. So, recruiters are still looking to fill those roles.

Even if you are an executive not in career transition, this is still a good time to continue networking. With so many executives home and not busied with travel and in-person distractions from the office, people have the time to catch up. I recently made a list of 16 people that I wanted to contact over the next couple of weeks and after only a few days I had conversations with 15 people! In normal times that would have not happened during such a short timeframe. This is a good time to stay connected with people, offer your help, and at the same time listen. and share what is going on in your life.

Based on what we are seeing in the marketplace, best-in-class CEOs are staying in contact through Zoom or other video tools, with their leadership team, but also getting messages out on video vignettes that are pushed out to all employees, including those whom are furloughed, working, out in the field, or working from home. This is executed with a very human touch that shows leadership’s concern for families first and bringing them up to date on the business.

Link(s) to Article:
https://ceoworld.biz/2020/04/22/an-unexpected-networking-opportunity/

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