Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Next Generation Workforce and Workplace

We help individuals, organizations, and communities think innovatively about the next generation workforce and workplace. Read these forward-thinking stories and best practices from our work and lives.

  • Is Your Organization Prepared for the Future?

    Is Your Organization Prepared for the Future?

    “Before companies can start to think about their succession plans, they have to understand their jobs.” – Sharlyn Lauby, President of ITM Group, Inc.

    For the past few weeks I’ve been focused on helping a client complete a People Review of their top talent and outline their succession plan. Each April they complete the People Review, evaluating their top talent on the areas of performance and potential, risk of leaving the organization, and mobility within the organization.

    In working through this process with them, I’ve discovered that for most of their key employees, they don’t have a good succession plan in place. Both in regards to what would be the next step for the employee as well as who could step into the role should the employee leave the organization. Given the tight talent market right now, this is very concerning to them, and to me.

    So how can companies evaluate their employees for succession planning and what steps do they need to take to ensure they have options?

    1. Conduct an assessment annually of your key positions. Notice I said positions and not employees. What positions within your organization are critical to the success and sustainability of your organization? What are the responsibilities of those positions? Is there a logical promotion track from one key position to another?
    2. Evaluate your current staff. Once you’ve identified those key positions, then take a look at the employees who currently fill those roles. Assess them on their current performance and their potential. As I’ve told each of the managers I’ve met with, just because someone ranks lower on performance and potential doesn’t mean they are a bad employee, it may just mean that they haven’t been in their current role long enough to gain the full scope of knowledge needed to be a high performer or have high potential.
    3. Communicate. Once you’ve assessed your key employees and determined those who could move up within your key positions if needed, have a conversation with them. There is nothing worse than creating a succession plan only to find out when the time comes that the employee doesn’t want to move up into the position you’ve designated them for. Find out where they see themselves going in the organization and make sure it aligns with the plan you created. If it doesn’t, you may need to reevaluate your plan.
    4. Provide training and support. After you assess the key employee’s current performance and potential and ensured that your vision and theirs match, you need to create an action plan to help them get to that next level. What areas of performance or potential do they need to strengthen in order to be successful in a new role if and when the time comes? The client I’m working with conducts Individual Development Reviews each September, but they do not tie those IDRs back to the information they gleaned through their People Review, so they are not creating an action plan or setting goals that are aimed at helping those key employees be prepared for the next level.

    “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin

    If your organization were to lose a key employee tomorrow, do you have a plan in place to respond and minimize the impact to the organization?

  • Secrets of the Job Search for Recent Graduates

    Secrets of the Job Search for Recent Graduates

    This time of year is always crazy busy with upcoming graduation and new beginnings for recent grads. Job search is on the top of their lists. I often get inquiries about resumes, cover letters & job search strategies in the spring. So, I thought a blog post addressing secrets for the job search would be timely.

    But first, I want to share a quick story. A couple of months ago, I worked with a client who was approaching college graduation. She was a treat to work with; she had a wonderful attitude, great education background as well as impressive internship and work experience, which made my job super easy. We focused on 3 things: resume, LinkedIn and catering both to the specific job she was interested in. Within a week of focusing on these 3 things, she had a job interview with her employer of choice, and within 2 weeks, she received a job offer.

    Obviously, it doesn’t always work that way. I’ve worked with several others who weren’t fortunate enough to quickly obtain their top job choice. If you are in that boat, here are 3 secrets for the job search:

    1. Networking. Network like it’s your job! Essentially, networking should be your job until you have one. College career centers are a great starting point and have a plethora of knowledge and tips. You should also focus on networking online – especially via LinkedIn. With the tight job market, employers are always searching for candidates (including passive ones) on LinkedIn. Check out: How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile as a Recent College Grad to help you get started.

    2. Develop a master resume. You should always have a good master resume and work to cater your resume for each job you are applying for. Jobscan.co is a great tool for determining how close of a match you are to a job opening. Check out Can you really triple your interviews with Jobscan?  to find out more about Jobscan.

    3. Research your target companies. This is important in all stages of the job search including determining your ideal employer(s), preparing for an interview and preparing for your first day after landing the job. Glassdoor.com is a great tool to do this. You can even see an interview question from previous candidates.

    Are you ready for your job search? Read more job search articles from The Point Blog.

  • The Most Popular Emerging Employee Benefit is…

    The Most Popular Emerging Employee Benefit is…

    I remember thinking, how am I going to do this?

    I had just started my first full-time job out of college, and I was getting married that year.  I had been given two weeks of vacation for my first year that I had to earn throughout the year.

    If I wanted to take a honeymoon and be off a day or two before the wedding, I really had almost no time left to take off.  And a couple of my good friends were getting married that summer too, and I was in their weddings out of town.

    Was I going to have to lie and fake sick to be able to take enough time off to be in attendance for these events (since sick time was a separate time off bank at the time), or was I going to have to choose and miss something in order to be at work?

    And these decisions did not take into account whether I even needed to be present to get work done.  I could actually report to work missing something important to me, and quite possibly not have much work if any, to get accomplished if I was wise with my time and worked efficiently.

    According to a survey out by MetLife (click to download the full survey for this information), the most coveted emerging employee benefit is unlimited time off.

    Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said that unlimited time off is the emerging benefit they are most interested in.

    I could understand this in my early twenties when a benefit like this would have been unheard of, and I can certainly understand it now with my life involving time off needs that don’t just revolve around me but also the needs of a growing family.

    The survey states: “Emerging benefits help employers create the kind of culture that demonstrates a deeper level of care for employees, communicating that their needs are valued and their employer is committed to their success.”  

    In addition, and possibly more importantly, unlimited time off communicates trust to employees.  Trust that they know when and how much is appropriate to take off and for the right reasons.

    It also demonstrates a level of trust in leaders who are managing employees’ time to be able to utilize this benefit in a way that leads to company and individual success.

    So in a day and age where unlimited time off is an actually possibility, would it be your most coveted benefit offering?

    And if you are an employer with the ability to provide this benefit, what keeps you from doing so?

    Full disclaimer:  We offer unlimited time off at Horizon Point, and I have found that our people have never abused it.  If anything, there is not enough time taken off when needed.

  • The Office Design that Promotes Productivity, Collaboration, and Cost Savings

    The Office Design that Promotes Productivity, Collaboration, and Cost Savings

    Much has been said about the open office floor plan.  The concept arose out of Silicon Valley and became a popular way to supposedly create “collaborative” work environments where innovation happens.  Oh, and as an added bonus, companies saved a lot of money designing office spaces as open.  I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg- the realization that money could be saved this way, or that “collaboration” and therefore innovation would thrive in this type of design.  

    But in many studies, including this one: The impact of the ‘open’ workspace on human collaboration, it was found that “Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction decreased significantly (approx.70%)” in examining two different corporate headquarters transitioning to more open office spaces. The electronic interaction increased, leading to what would be contrary to what you would think would happen. People in this type of environment socially withdrew from co-workers instead of increasing their interaction.

    In addition, the lost productivity of open office spaces has been cited empirically to reduce productivity. “An Exeter University study showed they actually create a 32% drop in “workers well-being” and a 15% reduction in productivity.” The loss of productivity eliminates any financial gain that decreased square footage provides in an open office design.

    So, what do you do? Ditch the open office? And in favor of what? Back to the cubicle farm?  The answer would be “no”.  As a recent Inc. Magazine article suggests,  working from home is one good option.  It enhances the cost savings for companies even more. In addition, the article also cites how work from home arrangements make people more productive and happier.

    We have no office at Horizon Point. We work from home and at client sites and at the local coffee shop- on our own as well as in group meetings. As we grow, I’ve considered the need to rent or purchase office space. The last time I mentioned it to my team, one person looked at me like if you make me come into an office and do all my work from there and I will quit. And when I think about it, I might quit too. 

    The truth of the matter is asking, where does the best work gets done? And the answer isn’t any one type of office arrangement. Different environments breed different results depending on the work or task at hand.

    As cited in the February cover story of FastCompany, “’People have different needs throughout their day and throughout their life. They might need to focus at a certain point and talk to someone at another point.’”

    With this reality at hand, it makes sense that the best office space is not one at all, but many. And the key is for leaders to manage in a way that gives employees the empowerment to match the type of work they need to accomplish with the environment that best suits it.

    Tomorrow my office will be at the gym where I will read a business book while I’m running on the treadmill. The one I’m currently reading relates to a new presentation I’m working on about how to implement a values-based culture. Next, it will be in my car as I return a few calls after dropping my kids off at school. Then, on to the local coffee shop where I can have some background noise but a limited distraction to revise training content for a client and create verbiage for collateral pieces for our new business. Then, I’m on to a client site for lunch and a meeting in order to finalize some training content we will use with their team in the next week or two.

    Obviously, there is some work that doesn’t allow us to choose where we do it. If you are running a multi-million-dollar press making parts for a car, let’s say, it’s not likely you can do that from your own car or the café (yet).  

    However, when we don’t assume one trend or style fits all, we begin to mold a better office environment and work culture where people can do their best work.

    Where will you be getting your best work done today?

  • Is Your Workplace Full of Facts or Opinions?

    Is Your Workplace Full of Facts or Opinions?

    You can find me most afternoons between 3:30 and 4:30 pm working on 2nd grade homework. While I work until the normal quitting time of 5:00 pm one to two days a week (thanks to grandparents), my schedule at least three days a week revolves around being done in time to pick up kids and start what often seems to be a harder job than what pays the bills- getting my 2nd grader through 2nd grade.

    One interesting assignment he had in his homework packet a couple of weeks ago was to identify whether a list of statements was fact or opinion.  As I was preparing myself to explain the difference to him, I was surprised to find that he understood the difference much better than most adults.

    Statements like, “It’s fun to run.”  that were on his sheet he easily spotted as opinion.   He said, “I like to run, but most people in my class don’t, so that’s an opinion.”  

    He seemed to be better at looking at a statement from not only his perspective but the perspective of others to be able to decide if it was fact or if it was opinion.  Conversely, he knew that “There are seven continents,” for example, was a fact.

    It reminded me of a conversation I had with a General Manager who told me his team needed help with communication.  He said, I get people coming to me saying, “”Lisa is lazy.’ It drives me crazy,” he said, “when people come to me with statements like this.”

    “I usually take a deep breath and then ask why the person coming to me thinks that,” he said.

    To which, he said he usually gets a response even further from the facts like, “She is ALWAYS late!”

    He said, “I just want people to come with to me with facts. For example, Lisa has been fifteen minutes late three times this week.  You can see that here on her timecard where she scanned in.”

    “Can you teach people to do that?” he asked. “To just give facts and not opinions?”

    Maybe some 2nd grade homework would help this team.  And in reality, an exercise of identifying a list of statements as fact or opinion might actually be a good exercise to incorporate into workplace communication training.

    What I find though, is that the manager did something that I would recommend.  He asked a question to try to get to a fact and away from an opinion.   Opinions are usually emotionally charged and don’t necessarily lead us down the best decision-making path.   

    So to start, if you find yourself in this situation as a leader, I would encourage you to ask good questions if you find yourself getting opinions instead of facts.  Many of the questions revolved around what my 2nd grader seemed to intuitively do, which is to get the person to think about a perspective other than their own.

    In Daring to Lead,Brene Brown offers some good questions when she talks about building confidence through curiosity.   Some are:

    “Tell me more.”

    “That’s not my experience…” Tell me about yours….

    “Help me understand…”

    “Walk me through…”

    “We’re both dug in.  Tell me about your passion around this….”  (I’m finding more and more that when I disagree with someone, we are just as passionate about the same thing, but approaching it through a different set of experiences, assumptions and/or personality. Getting back to the core passion can help mitigate the opinions, tensions and problems.)

    “Tell me why this doesn’t fit/work for you.”

    “What problem are we trying to solve?”

    And this one is my favorite… “I’m working from these assumptions…. what about you?”

    You see, we oftentimes need to actually understand people’s opinions through their own lens in order to help everyone get to the facts.  And pointing out someone is just stating an opinion usually leads us in the opposite way we are trying to get to.  By asking questions so that people realize that what they are saying is an opinion grounded in a set of personal experiences and assumptions often paves the way for the discovery of the actual facts.

    How often do you get fact and opinion confused?