Changing the Conversation about Work - A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 17, 2008 

Have you heard - I’m OK.  You’re OK.  Let’s fix the system? 
If you hadn’t noticed, I’m determined to change the focus of the conversations being had about talent management, organization design, and leadership.  Why?  Because I imagine what work could be, and I want that for people. 

AT&T does a great job of capturing “what could be” [...]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Talent Management | Leave a Comment

Work-Levels Goggles - A Business Strategy Tool

By Michelle Malay Carter on January 2, 2008 

My last post was about work levels.  I gave an example of how sales work looks different at different levels.  I’ve also said that innovation looks different at different levels.
Work Level Examples from the World of Recruiting
I was reading Amitai Givertz’s Recruitomatic Blog which led me to an older post by Jeff Hunter’s Talent Seeker blog.  In it [...]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | Leave a Comment

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Tax Write Off Too

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 24, 2007 

Good news.  Those of you have purchased a Wii for your enjoyment might be able to claim it as a business expense.***
I don’t consider myself much of a tech-head.  Gadgits and gizmos don’t turn my head, but this video of Johnny Chung Lee’s unique use of the Wii remote was too good not to share.

***I am not [...]

Filed Under High Potential, Personal Observation | 2 Comments

Using Requisite Science to Design Work-Enabling Organizations

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 20, 2007 

This post is a continuation from yesterday’s post in which I mentioned that we were able to predict the turnover of specific individuals within a client’s organization.  I promised to tell you more on how we spot under-utilization today.
Management Science Should Take a Page from Physical Science
An analogy:  An understanding of work levels and its relationship to levels [...]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 3 Comments

Predicting Turnover - It’s not Rocket Science; It’s People Science

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 19, 2007 

We conducted a Talent Pool Evaluation for a client years ago and found four out of tweleve of their district managers had problem solving capability one level above the District Manager role.  
Underutilized Employees Are At High Risk for Turnover 
When we mentioned these particular District Managers to the client, she said these employees needed little training upon hiring and required no hand holding.  [...]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | Leave a Comment

Behavioral Based Interviewing Discriminates Against Your Target Market

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 26, 2007 

Yes, behavioral based interviewing is an exceptional way to clarify a candidate’s experience and to gain a view into their values and preferences, and as such, it has a place in the interviewing process; however, it is not a tool for predicting potential.
The premise behind behavioral interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future [...]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 9 Comments

Why Isn’t your Boss’s Boss Firing Your Bad Boss? More System-Level Issues

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 18, 2007 

I’ve read quite a few articles lately advising unhappy employees to “fire their boss”.  This is easy for the employed to say, and it makes career gurus feel like they are helping disenchanted employees by empowering them.  It is a valid coping strategy for individuals, but it doesn’t address the system-level issue that caused the [...]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | Leave a Comment

How to Assess Potential for Succession Planning and Development

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 12, 2007 

Although it’s becoming clear that succession planning is important, a Harvard Business Review study finds 60% of US companies have no plan in place. 
Why is no one planning for succession? 
Because managers have a conscience!  I suspect the whimsy, inconsistent, politically-laden assessing-potential processes most organizations resort to using leave managers feeling queasy and sleazy.  No wonder they avoid [...]

Filed Under Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Succession Planning, Talent Management | 6 Comments

Corporate Collateral Damage - One in Five Employees is Underutilized

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 8, 2007 

Squandered Potential
Having partnered with managers to assess the potential of over 6000 employees, our data shows that about one in five employees is capable of performing higher level work than that called for by their current role.
The Perilous Road to the Executive Suite
Young, high potentials are chronically underutilized as their problem solving capability outruns their [...]

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Succession Management: Whose Eyes Are Focused on Talent?

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 7, 2007 

When it comes to spotting talent, perspective is everything.  Asking managers to choose and groom their own replacements is a misguided notion for a variety of reasons I’ve discussed in previous posts.  They simply don’t have enough distance on the situation.
Rather, the manager-once-removed should be accountable for mentoring for long-term career development.  Why? They are [...]

Filed Under Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Succession Planning, Talent Management | Leave a Comment

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