People grow when they are empowered to do so—when they own their decisions, feel personally responsible for outcomes, and directly experience the consequences of their actions. But if you don’t empower others to make decisions, then you run the risk of creating a team of helpless individuals who simply do what you tell them but don’t have the confidence or ability to think and act independently—plus you will become the decision-making bottleneck of your team.
Read MoreThe use of assessment centers (simulation assessments with live role plays) has been on the rise with 66% of North American companies reporting that they use virtual assessment centers to identify talent (Mercer, 2018). Even though going virtual has reduced the cost of assessment centers, they still remain more expensive than traditional pre-employment tests that measure personality or cognitive ability. Is the added investment in assessment centers justified?
Read MoreTuesday, July 23 at 2pm ET | 11am PT
With so many cheap pre-employment tests available on the market, why are organizations willing to invest more in assessment centers? The distinguishing feature of an assessment center are live humans who act as role players during simulations and observe and score applicants’ behaviors in different exercises. It’s the labor intensity of this type of assessment that drives its cost up compared to pre-employment tests that are completely automated. Despite the higher cost, the use of assessment centers is on the rise, especially their virtual version.
Read MoreYou can only solve a problem effectively if you understand its root cause, and you can only understand a problem’s root cause through research and analysis. This means gathering data and taking the time to compare and contrast evidence from multiple sources, even when there is pressure to jump to quick conclusions. Without a good analysis, you cannot understand an issue properly, and you are likely to end up solving the wrong problem or just addressing superficial symptoms.
Read MoreThe past decade has seen significant changes in the assessment center practice, especially the rise of virtual assessment centers that preserve the live role-playing component and assessor observations of actual behavior. Now that technology has made assessment centers more convenient and cost-effective, there is a new push to deliver an even shorter version to a larger number of employees. What are these “shorter & faster” assessment centers like?
Read MorePeople don’t develop skills by taking a class or reading a book. It’s your job as their leader to actively help them develop them through feedback, challenging assignments, suggestions, and reflection. If you don’t invest your time and energy into developing the people on your team, they will stop learning, stagnate, and become disengaged, and their performance will eventually decline.
Read MoreDeveloping leaders and building soft skills is at the top of agenda for many organizations. But how do you personalize the development process for every leader in your company? You can’t offer executive coaching to everyone and the traditional classroom or e-learning “one-size-fits-all” format is just not enough anymore. So what are some alternatives?
Read MoreAs a leader, creating urgency is an effective way to push individuals and teams to deliver results. Without a sense of urgency, your teammates won’t push themselves to work hard, and they may procrastinate and struggle to get tasks and projects done on time. When people lack a sense of urgency, they are more easily sidetracked with daily distractions and can end up wasting time on tasks that are unimportant.
Read MoreAs the popularity of virtual assessment centers increases, more and more organizations and consultancies are moving their brick and mortar assessment centers online. Last year, Mercer’s Global Talent Trends Study found that 66% of North American companies already use virtual assessment centers. But the transition is not as simple as one might think. Here are the three biggest considerations…
Read MoreAs a leader, you are probably involved in negotiations on a daily basis, even if you don’t realize it: any time you attempt to reach an agreement with another party through dialogue, you are negotiating. Sometimes your negotiations are formal, like negotiating a contract with a client or a new company policy. Other times, your negotiations are informal, such as resolving a conflict with a team or a coworker.
Read MoreLast month, a federal court ruled that decisions about employees by upper management exercising “unfettered discretion” may qualify for certification in Title VII class action suits. This decision is part of a growing body of case law that challenges traditional talent management practices (i.e., talent reviews, high-potential identification, and succession planning) turning them into a multi-million-dollar legal risk for many corporations.
Read MoreAs a leader, flawlessly executing a project requires strong planning and organizing skills on your part. Having a clear sense of who will do what and the resources they will need to do their work is critical for your success. Planning and organizing well enables you to effectively coordinate the efforts of multiple people and helps to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them.
Read MoreYou may feel like there always seems to be more work to be done than hours in the day, and that’s why it’s important to prioritize what is more and less critical to accomplish. Prioritizing enables you to focus your efforts on completing the tasks and projects that matter most. Without clear priorities, you will struggle to get anything done because everything will seem equally important and you won’t know how to spend your time and energy most effectively.
Read More
