Upcoming event for fellow HR practitioners. What’s next for HR in 2016?
I’ll be talking about AQ (Adversity Quotient), and why it is essential to improve it for the future Gen Y leaders.
The event is on Thursday, 3 Mar 2016 in Jakarta.
First quarter is coming to an end. It’s again time to do a quarterly review on your business performance. We ought to do it, and many of us do, some of us don’t and others don’t even know why it’s important or how to do it.
Quarterly reviews are something that each member of your Organization should partake in. If you don’t evaluate your performance, how else will you know if you’ve achieved your targets, whether you’re doing it right or wrong, or how you can improve it.
A business review is like an organization’s GPS device. It’s your navigation system that provides location of whereabouts your business is and helps guide you towards your destination. It’s a powerful tool but if you don’t use it or use it correctly, then it doesn’t give you the most benefit in reaching your goal.
What is your final destination?
Goals are a very important part of business. Without which,coordination, synergy, a sense of direction & purpose, and growth will be an impossible task. The benchmark of your quarterly business reviewis your annual goals. These must be aligned to your final destination which is your organization’s vision and mission. Business goals must address growth/expansion, profitability, quality/customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, market share and social impact. Always be mindful that your goals be SMART; specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. When using a GPS, if you key in a name of a city as your destination, you will get a broad geographical view. On the contrary, if you key in an exact address, you will get a zoomed-in view of the streets, intersections and landmarks in reference to that address.So establishing a SMART goal in your organization is not only criticalbut also helpful.
Business Review is your GPS
You spent hours upon hours in the goal setting process last year, and it will be wasteful if you don’t review it regularly. Business reviews are a tracking system to measure your success, it is your organizational navigation system. It indicates where you are and how far you are from your destination. Establishing a Key Performance Indicators (KPI) or Key Success Indicators (KSI) system will effectively help monitor progress. Goal tracking softwares are available in the market which can make your lives and work a bit easier.
Small businesses that can’t afford sophisticated computer systems can certainly set up a simplified, more manual version (use a map instead of a GPS).Start with the crucial queries that address your financial status, operations, sales & marketing and human resources.
Zoom out your View!
When you’re reviewing your quarterly performance, it’s important to take a step back fromall the grind, and assess where you are before you take another step forward toward the next quarter. Because you get caught up in your day-to-day work, many times you deviate from the course you had originally set out and essentially get lost or lose sight of your destination. A business review is a “time out” and re-aligning process and perhaps even an opportunity to create a new route altogether to reach your destination. It is a chance to zoom out your view in the navigating system, to see the big picture of your journey.
It’s important when you’re doing your Q1 review, you’re asking these questions:
Engage your Team to Stay on Course
All team members should be well aware and be engaged in the organization’s goals, not just their own individual units, so they can see the entire picture, understand the strategic business objectives and can support each other.Reinforce your team members to take ownership and be accountable for the goals, and have them present the progress.
A business review as your GPS will help guide you to reach your destination, but the actual driver is still you.You determine how fast to go, if you should take a turn or when to take it, when to maintain the machine etc. If your company doesn’t have a GPS device yet, I’d suggest you set up some kind of a navigation system to track your business performance whether it be hi-tech or manual. Once you have one set up, turn it on and use it properly! Do a review regularly such as every quarter, that way you won’t be saying in December “What happened this year? What went wrong?”
Last week, I wrote about Indonesia’s consistent economic growth and the affects it has on many businesses (Growth of Economy, Your Business and Human Capital Challenge). One needs to be vigilant that albeit business growth is required, but so is the quality of its people. I spoke to the CEO of a major real estate developer company recently, he told me that his human capital size have grown 200% in the past 2 years. Their problem is the development aspect of the people is not going linear as the size. His other concern was the new young hires have difficulties catching up to match the standards.
Is academic excellence enough when hiring fresh graduates?
In order to anticipate a rapid growth in business, many large companies set up a fast track program for young, bright and talented individuals, typically fresh university graduates, in order to groom them to become managers in a relatively short time of a year or two (known as Management Trainee programs). Some challenges these companies face with the new recruits, other than their lack of knowledge about (the) business is their mentality. Their young age, lack of life experience and skills require a lot of growing and maturing on their part. So think about the role you play, the money and time you need to put in to mature them.
Facts of Gen-Y Life
Studies have shown that Gen-Y-ers (those who were born in the late 1980s up to mid 90s) excel in academics and knowledge of technology. They were practically born with a cellphone in their hands. Communication was made super easy by gadgets. Thinking processes have also been made more practical, short cut and almost automated, thanks to these devices. Yes, kudos to these technological evolutions, our lives are faster and easier – exactly like our 2-minute instant cup noodles. All this is great of course, except for the downsides. Studies show that this generation lack in resilience when faced with adversity. I remember less than 10 years ago, we had to go to the library, and get books just to research and obtain information. Back then, more effort had to be put in to something so simple. Nowadays, information can be accessed from your fingertips. Fighting spirit may very well have a different meaning to this generation than the previous generations altogether. Getting around or getting things done may seem effortless for the gen-Y.
So the dilemma is this, when these gen-Y-ers just graduated from university and apply to your company, they may most likely carry this “fast and easy” mindset. A bright straight A student from a reputable university, applying for a managerial position, expecting a nice office, good pay, easy going boss, easy going colleagues, easy going work, in other words an easy going life. It doesn’t work that way, does it!
The Uphill Battle to Win the War: Developing the Gen-Y!
Many of our clients come to us due to this exact problem. People expect performance from putting in a mediocre effort, and when push comes to shove, they crack under pressure. The cardinal rule being in order to be ahead of competition, the people need to own a winning attitude and outstanding talent.
As I mentioned earlier, in a management trainee program, these “green” talents are prepped and groomed to be the next future leader. They have the skills and knowledge, but what about their mental attitude – or lack thereof? Don’t be disheartened, mental attitude can be detected and measured and it surely can be improved.
5 key ingredients when you’re developing the Gen Y’s winning attitude:
When you’re hiring and developing the gen-Y-ers, there’s going to be pluses and minuses. Highlight their strong points, and help them improve on the weak points. Remember that people are resilient, if you hire the right people, they will able to adapt to and embrace the changes you want them to conform into.
The Revolution of Management Training in Indonesia
When the brand and license of Outward Bound was first brought to Indonesia in 1990, the idea was so alien. The concept of a management training program that would involve activities outdoors was baffling and quite outrageous “Why would my employees need to do Boy Scout activities for management training?” The conventional training programs had always been conducted inside a classroom with a trainer lecturing the material. In many ways, Outward Bound Indonesia (OBI) revolutionized a new model of teaching and learning in Indonesia.
Interactive and Engaged Learning
OBI’s classrooms were the great outdoors, the learning medium was adventure and the method was interactive, engaged learning. The philosophy behind this is that the more a person overcomes challenges, the more resilient they become. The more a group of people overcome challenges, the more solid they become as a team. Even though Outward Bound’s concept seemed strange for many, a few believed it to be a worth-while solution to develop the soft skills of their human capital, something other conventional trainings couldn’t provide.
Outward Bound came to Indonesia with a focused vision to support building the character of its people. Values such as positive mental attitude, relentless fighting spirit, and heart and compassion for others were in a dire state in the country – these are the values that Outward Bound concentrated on instilling. Even now, character building and attitude development movements are still very much needed in various areas of life in Indonesia.
Fantastic Economic Growth versus Human Capital
In 2012, Asian economies are growing, particularly Indonesia’s. We’re looking at an expected 6% growth in Indonesia. We have reached a tipping point of GDP per capita at over USD 3000. This translates to growth in buying power, which translates to growth in business, in turn, translating to growth in human capital needs. Companies will need more people, more talent and more achievers to match their growth. This, to an extent, is impacting our business very positively.
In business, top talents who exhibit excellent competency as well as relationship building capacity are highly desired even more in this day and age – but alas they are like diamonds in the rough. We need them in all levels and all areas of business. Companies recruit and hire new entries and many are overwhelmed with the amount of training, coaching and mentoring they need. A lack of leadership qualities within employees is another uphill challenge companies are facing.
Growth, New Recruits and its Challenge
Many large companies set up a fast track program for young, bright and talented individuals, typically fresh university graduates, in order to groom them to become managers in a relatively short time of a year or two (Management Trainee programs). Some challenges these companies face with the new recruits, other than their lack of knowledge about (the) business is their attitude. Their young age, lack of life experience and skills require a lot of growing and maturing on their part.
A lack of determination and resilience in facing the pressures of business is a common problem found in many organisations. OBI’s expertise in soft skills and attitude development is highly relevant in tackling these issues. We’ve designed a training program specifically for young management trainees where we develop their fighting spirit, positive attitude, communication skills, leadership and compassion for others.
Growth, Leadership and its Challenge
On the other hand, existing employees also need coaching and empowerment on a continuous basis. Leadership is the captain of a ship, and leadership determines which direction and how the ship will take its course. In business, leadership determines the success of an organisation. A clear vision and being able to communicate it well are important ingredients of a great leader. Unfortunately these things don’t come as naturally as we’d like. It’s a learned skill that needs practice and commitment. Succession planning, and therefore leadership grooming, mentoring and coaching is an important part of an organisational success.
2012 is a bright year for Indonesia’s economic growth and I sincerely hope that we all take the opportunity to grow together. Business performance is driven by people. Ensure that your people are reaching their best potential and ready for the big challenge.
The ultimate goal of any successful company is to have a balance between Finance, Strategy, Marketing, Operations and Human Resources Management. More often than not, the easiest and most difficult part is the Human Resources aspect. People are more complex than machines or numbers, and frequently harder to manage. Therefore, like any capital, we must be cognizant by the phrase ‘employees are a company’s asset’ because sometimes they can be a company’s liability – depending on the value or quality.
Everyone agrees that good employees are those who are hard working, smart working, reliable, accountable and also loyal, among other positive traits. Loyalty is not merely about longevity or how long you’ve worked for the company, but importantly your dedication and commitment to your work and to the good of the company. Subsequently, every employer wants this type of employee on their payroll – and let’s face it, they’re few and far between. Some may argue these qualities are inherent within an individual, either you’re born with it or not. However, let’s not forget that character is not set in stone, it evolves over time and can be developed.
The key to producing People that are self-driven, self-motivated, highly dedicated and passionate to achieving their Peak Performance for the company is first and foremost PRIDE; intrinsic pride as well as extrinsic or created by the environment. Having an employee that takes pride in what they do and the company they represent is the most valuable asset a company could ask for. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the CEO of the company or a custodian of the building, if you take pride in what you do, then your job will inherently add value to your life and it will reflect on your work. Consequently, pride comes at a price; these are the essential pillars to achieving high staff morale:
“SEVEN PILLARS OF PRIDE”
1. A Meaningful Job Done Well
Knowing that your work enhances your life and that you do it well. Feeling good about yourself and your abilities. Knowing that what you do and how you do it really matters. A proud employee begets excellence, quality work, value to their work and service.
2. Empowerment
Being given responsibilities that match your knowledge and skills. Being given opportunities to learn, to grow and to build your self-esteem.
3. Affiliation
Belonging to a fine Organization; a company that has upstanding reputation, practices good corporate governance, has tradition, history or heroes.
4. Trust and Mutual Respect
Being able to rely on the integrity of all those with whom you work.
Recognizing each others’ rights, responsibilities and talents, and that you need each other. Team Work. Cooperation. Open Communications
5. Loyalty
Putting the good of the organization ahead of other interests.
Supporting the decisions and actions of those with whom you work.
6. Healthy and Safe Environment
A good place to work, free of physical and emotional dangers.
7. Recognition and Appreciation
Knowing that your efforts are appreciated and that people are delighted with your work. Giving your employee recognition, a simple thanks or appropriate rewards for a job well done.
Turning Life Experiences into Life Skills 