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Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

The key to any successful digital transformation is clearly defining what exactly you need to be delivered.

Winning business digital transformation initiatives have a clear purpose. There is a business-driven reason behind them. They align to one or more strategic goals, such as increasing customer engagement, launching a new product, improving the existing customer experience, or making efficiency gains.

Defining the features and capabilities that will deliver these expected outcomes can be a frustrating exercise. The journey from concept to realization is rarely a straight line. You must align strategic business goals with capabilities that deliver features that achieve the sought-after outcome. 

There are many opportunities to lose the way while designing your digital transformation strategy. Here is how you can make sure your digital transformation initiatives don’t end up failing to meet expectations. 

 

Digital Transformation Strategy: A Partnership of Perspectives

The first step to creating a digital transformation strategy is identifying where it should live. Is this a business initiative that should be driven by the Marketing or Product team? Is this a technology initiative that should be driven by the IT department? 

The reality is that most digital transformation initiatives belong somewhere in the middle. Often the best answer is to form a dedicated team that includes all existing and well-established areas of your organization. 

It requires a partnership between all groups (Marketing, Product, and IT); consider it a partnership of perspectives that follow these steps to reach a successful outcome: 

  • Map out business goals
  • Determine solutions to meet those goals 
  • Identify target features and capabilities (so the delivery team can make them a reality) 

Implementing a digital transformation strategy can be much more complex than it seems on the surface. There can be tension if the deliverables don’t meet expectations and desired outcomes are not achieved. The difficulties can be amplified when the whole process is working against a moving target.

Consider Agile Methodology
As you put new features and capabilities in front of your customers, their reactions and responses, and your learnings from them, may well cause some reconsiderations in what is being delivered. Ultimately, this means that you must be flexible as deliverables are being implemented. 

A well-structured and organized team that has a flexible approach is central to the success of a digital transformation plan — a perfect time to implement Agile methodology

What is Agile methodology? 

  • Breaks up a project into several phases
  • Moves business goals to defined features which are delivered as demonstrable components

 

How to Execute a Successful Digital Transformation

An extensive amount of time and effort goes into implementing a new business digital transformation initiative. Its success is imperative. Here are a few tips to boost success: 

Be Informed 
It is essential that the target audience and the existing customer experience are well understood. You can use customer interviews, customer focus groups, or other proven methods of collecting data on the existing experience. The better the team understands its customers the more likely they are to deliver successful outcomes. 

Leverage Data
Knowing data points on the existing customer experience informs design considerations and can serve as a benchmark when measuring future deliverables. Ensure each release continually captures relevant data, and is used in future design and planning processes. 

People
  • How will these changes affect the people within your organization?
  • Have you sought their input into these changes?
  • Do you have a change management plan in place to help ensure a smooth transition and maximize internal adoption? 

Communicate Effectively 
Encourage cross-functional activities and place an emphasis on learning and implementing over perfection. Involve technical team members by keeping them well-informed about what might be considered business-centric discussions. Engage non-technical team members in the discussion of how features are being delivered.  

 

Marry Business and Technology through Digital Transformation

A digital transformation will require a collaborative and cooperative partnership from across your organization. Build, nurture, and encourage cross-functional, highly collaborative teams.  

Success lies in technology and business working together. Be well-informed about who you are building solutions for and keep your customer at the center of all that you do. Build data collection and analysis into your approach and then use that data to inform your decision making and achieve the best results. 


Are you ready to start a business digital transformation journey? Fill out the form below to get started today!

aspirant-team
2024/04
April 5, 2024
Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

After building your organizational strategy, you will be ready to translate it into a marketing strategy. Here is our approach to create clarity that fuels more impactful differentiation and successful marketing campaigns.

The best fishermen don't throw a line in the water and just hope for the best. They go after a specific fish, know exactly what that fish loves to eat, and only hit the lake when those fish are hungriest. They even know when it's time to try another lake. Effective marketing campaigns require the same type of insight.

Thinking through the questions below will help ensure the features, positioning, and promotion of your product / service will resonate with your intended audience. Use the link at the bottom of this page to download templates and examples of the mentioned marketing strategy tools.

Along the way, we will provide simplified examples from the perspective of a boutique coffee shop, Café Nitro,  to help illustrate the concepts at hand. These examples and the corresponding templates can be downloaded via the link at the bottom of the page.

 

Who is your target audience and what do they want / need?

It may be surprising, but marketing strategy should always begin with the end user - not what you are trying to promote. This anchors everything you do to their mindset. To analyze the psyche of each market segment, marketers often build a 'Persona'. A Persona is a profile for a fictional individual who represents a specific market segment. The appropriate number of Personas to develop will vary by the complexity of your offering and the variety of consumer perspectives.

Each Persona typically contains the following elements:

  • Name and relevant personal details (e.g. age, ethnicity, gender, location, level of education, job title, company). We like to include a photo with each persona to make them seem more human. 
  • Related goal(s) and motivation establish what they are trying to accomplish and why. 
  • Pain points based on circumstantial challenges and/or shortcomings of the competition. 
  • Preferences and considerations that play into their buying decision.
  • Summary of the ideal solution for overcoming the pain points and achieving satisfaction.

Personas make each segment much more relatable, simplifying the process of finding ways to create value for them, elevate their perception, and influence their decision making.

 

Aspirant Sample Persona

 

How will your solution be the best option for them?

Sustainable business success is based on the ability to provide customers with more value than the competition. The details in your Personas will identify the primary drivers of 'value' for the corresponding market segment. The next step is to specify how your product / service will stand out from the competition by doing a better job of satisfying their needs.

 

Benchmarking Direct & Indirect Competition

You will need to consider how all relevant alternatives stack up against the target audience's needs and preferences. The competitive set and evaluation criteria will likely go beyond what is mentioned in the Persona.

As with most analytical methods, your benchmarking can be as basic or as complicated as you would like. Taking time to create a ranking algorithm based on weighted criteria and numeric scores would add nuance to clarify how competitors compare to one another. If available, include third party data like consumer ratings or reviews (Google, Yelp, Amazon, etc.) to account for the prevailing market perception - even if that perception is entirely off-base.

 

Aspirant Sample Competitive Benchmarking

 

 

Develop Compelling Positioning

Knowing what your target wants and where the competition is missing the mark will point you directly toward how you can gain an advantage by addressing the unrecognized / unmet / underserved consumer need. Now it is time to compile the specifics of how you will create that competitive advantage. A piecewise approach helps guide that thinking:

  • Target: Call out the demographics, perspectives, and attitudes that describe your consumer base. B2B businesses may want to include relevant company attributes (annual revenue, number of employees, industry) and individual job titles (functional department, seniority). This info should be specific enough to be insightful but general enough to represent the base that will make up the majority of your sales. That broader group (and the corresponding details) may stretch beyond the scope of your Personas.
  • Offering: List the product(s) and/or service components that are relevant to the combined audience. No need to include any qualifying support; this should be factual and objective.
  • Benefits: Cite the thematic qualities of the elements in the Offering section that create value for the Target audience.
  • Reasons to Believe: Substantiate how the qualities listed under Benefits will be achieved. (What will make our coffee 'great-tasting'?). Focus on angles that are meaningful to your Target and create differentiation / superiority versus your competitive set.
  • Put It All together: Using the prompts and referencing the supporting detail, populate the top boxes with phrasing that can be combined into a summary of how you will provide what they seek.
     

Aspirant Sample Positioning

 

Why should they care about / believe in your solution?

Get inside your target's head. Break down the logic behind their decision making to identify what you need to tell them to change their mind, and in turn, change their actions. Building a Task Map for each Persona is very useful to that end: 

  1. Need State - Summarize their perspective in terms of how they are unable to achieve the satisfaction they seek.
  2. Current Behavior - How are they currently acting?
  3. Current Belief - What do they believe that drives them to behave this way?
  4. Future Behavior - How would you like them to act instead?
  5. Future Belief - What must they believe to behave in order to behave this way?
  6. Barrier(s) - What perceived truth(s) are preventing them from progressing from Current Belief to Future Belief?  
  7. Task - What does this Target need to realize in order to break through the Barriers and adopt the Future Belief?

This will clarify the talking points your targeted segment will find most compelling and convincing.

 

Aspirant Sample Task Map

 

 

When should they be thinking about your solution?

Building awareness with your end users is always positive. But to maximize the chance of converting visibility into revenue, you need to reach them in 'moments of truth'. These are situations before, during, and after their purchase that they consider what they will do, are doing, or have done. If you have the time, building a Customer Journey Map for your Personas would help determine these critical moments by thinking through how they are thinking, feeling, and acting at each step along the way. A multi-faceted campaign can then be constructed to align with each of those touchpoints.

For a streamlined approach, you can start with identifying when your target is most likely to need what your company offers. Highlighting the benefits of your product / service at the right time can create a very direct route to conversion.

 

How will you tell them about your solution?

Now it is time to put it all together: building a plan for reaching the right people with the right message at the right time. From the wide variety of marketing tactics available, it is critical to favor the ones that can do this job efficiently, and ideally during those 'moments of truth'.

The options fall into three categories, based on the medium by which your message is delivered:

 

Traditional Marketing

This is comprised of static, offline channels such as:

  • Terrestrial radio
  • Printed newspapers and magazines
  • Broadcast, satellite, and cable television
  • Outdoor signage such as roadside billboards
  • Direct mail

 

Pros: These channels offer a method for reaching a broad audience where the goal is to build maintain awareness for an established product intended for everyone and there is not much need for target-specific messaging (McDonald's, Coca-Cola). They are set-and-forget; once deployed, they will run under the specified parameters without any oversight.

Cons: Pricing for these programs is based on the scale of their reach, making them inefficient for reaching audiences that are only a subset of the general population. Larger companies have access to volume discounts, compounding their advantage over smaller competitors with less to spend. Properly gauging performance in terms of impressions, engagement, conversion, or ROI is either difficult or simply impossible, minimizing the opportunity to learn from results. Being offline, they are inherently further removed from the action you are hoping to stimulate (check out your website, visit your store, buy your product).

Recommendation: Universally deprioritize Traditional Marketing until you are confident that there is no further upside from your Digital Marketing programs.

 

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is, of course, defined by the digital means that connect you with your target audience. 

'Outbound' tactics reach out to serve your content to the targeted audience. Think of them as the dynamic, online versions of their Traditional counterparts:

  • Streaming radio
  • Digital newspapers and magazines
  • Streaming video and television
  • Social media
  • Email outreach

 

Online research has become central to most of the decisions everyone makes day-to-day. By anticipating how your target will use the internet to find products / services / companies like yours and preparing accordingly, you can create consideration in this most critical 'moment of truth'. This is how 'Inbound' tactics generate incoming purchase interest in the form of site traffic, emails, phone calls, store visits, etc.

  • Search engines
  • Online business listings and rankings

 

Pros: The ability to target people individually exponentially improves efficiency and effectiveness. Performance metrics for these tactics are detailed and readily available, enabling continual refinement and ROI calculation in real time. Where the success of Traditional campaigns depends on spending, Digital campaigns excel based on informed planning. That dynamic creates the opportunity to compete with, and prevail against, MUCH larger competitors.

Cons: Designing, deploying, and managing these programs properly requires a set of skills that can only be developed and honed through first-hand experience. 

Recommendation: Businesses of any size, industry, and marketing budget should exclusively focus on fully optimizing their Digital Marketing programs (Inbound, then Outbound) before investing any time or money elsewhere. Partner with established Digital Marketing experts in order to flatten the learning curve for yourself and accelerate the realization of business results.

 

Local Marketing

By 'Local' we are not referring to localized Traditional or Digital campaigns. Here, we are talking about self-organized activations in the immediate vicinity of your business. Creativity, elbow grease, and familiarity with the local community are needed in order to execute these programs well. Due to the minimal benefit relative to the time requirements, Local Marketing tactics typically don't make sense for large companies. But they can be an excellent way to forge a lasting emotional connection with the community.

  • Promote, sample, and/or sell directly at regional festivals, events, and trade shows
  • Join a networking group made up of other local business owners
  • Create a cross-promotional partnership with related, non-competing businesses
  • Hand out product samples or informational flyers on nearby sidewalks
  • Place / improve branded signs on / near your business
  • Sponsor adult or youth sports teams / leagues
  • Host an open house at your facility or offices
  • Participate in Adopt-a-Highway

 

Pros: Local Marketing initiatives often require more effort than dollars, which could equate to a very attractive ROI. Some could create an opportunity to make a sale on the spot. Face-to-face interaction with your target audience and partnerships with other area businesses can pay dividends for years to come. 

Cons: The reach and corresponding upside is inherently limited. It is often difficult to find the time to devise and execute these programs. Risk that event-based tactics fall short of expectations due to inclement weather or other external circumstances.

Recommendation: Collaborate with colleagues and friends on building a list of Local Marketing ideas. Identify complementary businesses that might be interested in future cooperation. Keep an eye out for the opportunity to participate in programs or events that are already being planned and promoted. Once your Digital Marketing is well established, find low-risk ways to get your feet wet in Local Marketing. 

 

Getting started: Framing a marketing strategy

Much like the preceding Strategic Planning Process, you may not have considered the marketing strategy concepts listed above. Hopefully the Café Nitro examples will help you utilize these frameworks in building an effective strategy for marketing your business. Click on the button below to download those examples and the blank templates, all in one file.

 

Download Marketing Strategy Tools

 

The next step will be to put that strategy into action. Click here to check out our suggestions for how companies behind the curve can jump start their Digital Marketing.

 

SB Growth Strategy Thumbnail GreySB Strategic Planning Thumbnail GreySB Marketing Strategy Thumbnail Grey BorderSB Digital Marketing Priorities Thumbnail

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We are proud to have built a client base spanning Fortune100 corporations to local companies to non profit organizations - and everything in between. We apply the best practices from those programs along with our Integrated Expertise to support businesses of all shapes and sizes achieve their goals. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization.

 

 

We'd love to help you build a marketing strategy that gets real results.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2024/03
March 21, 2024
Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Managing data has never been more critical than now, with businesses and organizations relying increasingly on data to make decisions and stay competitive. To ensure effective data management, establishing benchmarks for your Master Data Management (MDM) strategy team is essential. MDM benchmarks provide a standard for measuring performance and effectiveness.

Define the Objectives and Goals of Your Data Management Team

The first step in establishing MDM benchmarks is to define the executives' and team's objectives and goals. This will provide a clear understanding of what everyone's trying to achieve through benchmarking and when you are working on a big, seemingly never-ending project. Objectives and goals can include improving data quality, increasing productivity, reducing errors, or improving data integration across systems. Each objective should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), making tracking progress and measuring success easier. And remember to celebrate and acknowledge milestones to remind yourself that you're making progress and that there is value in what you're working toward.

 

Identify MDM Benchmarking KPIs

Once your objectives and goals are defined, the next step is identifying the MDM benchmarking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you will use to measure performance. They can include things like data quality, data governance, data security, data integration, and data accuracy. Each element should be relevant to your objectives and goals and measurable in some way. Measuring these milestones enables you to monitor progress over time and identify areas of improvement by comparing month-over-month or year-over-year.

Ideally, each milestone will build from the last in an upward climb. This clarifies that your KPIs will have a measurable and beneficial impact.

KPIs should be encouraging to both the project team and executive-level stakeholders. Place them tactically throughout the project's life for consistent momentum.

 

Establish the Appropriate Metrics for Measuring Success

Once your benchmarking components are identified, the next step is establishing the appropriate metrics for measuring success. Metrics should be specific, measurable, and relevant to your objectives and goals. For example, if you aim to improve data quality, relevant metrics might include completeness, accuracy, consistency, and validity. Establishing the right metrics will make tracking progress and measuring success easier. It will continue to be utilized long after project completion. They become a regular part of monitoring your departments. Use MDM metrics to analyze and assess the flow of data and the trends of internal and external data integrity. Watching your data moving forward must be a top priority for your MDM team.

Some examples of MDM metrics are:

  • Percentage of duplicate data
  • Cycle time for new customer set-up
  • Error rate in the data record
  • Mean time to repair data issues
  • Percentage of current accounts with incomplete data
  • The average database availability time

There are many more options, and you must talk with your team to develop the best metrics to help meet your objectives. Again, this should be done early in the project, as your MDM strategy should be built from your data needs. Therefore, your metrics should be indicative of those needs.

 

Utilize a Data Governance Tool or Platform to Monitor Performance

Utilizing a data governance tool or platform is essential to track progress and measure success. Data governance tools provide visibility into data quality, integrity, and protection. They help ensure your team follows established policies and procedures and provide a framework for managing data across the organization. Using a data governance tool or platform, you can monitor performance and ensure your team meets established benchmarks for your MDM strategy.

 

Create Actionable Strategies for Improving Performance from the Measurements

Once you have established benchmarks and are tracking the appropriate metrics, the next step is to create actionable strategies for improving performance from the measurements. These strategies can be based on data analysis or team performance. For example, they can include training, process improvement, data cleansing, or enrichment projects. Creating actionable strategies ensures your team is taking steps to improve performance and meet established benchmarks.

 

Implement MDM Best Practices to Ensure Sustained Improvement in Performance

Finally, to ensure sustained improvement in performance, it's crucial to implement MDM best practices. Best practices can include things like data profiling, data standardization, data cleansing, and data enrichment. By following established best practices, you can ensure your team consistently manages data to a high standard, continuously improving data quality, governance, security, and integration.

 

Establishing MDM benchmarks is an essential step in effective data management. By defining objectives and goals, identifying benchmarking components, establishing metrics, utilizing data governance tools or platforms, creating actionable strategies, and implementing MDM best practices, you can ensure your MDM strategy team effectively manages data and drives improved performance. In addition, with benchmarks in place and measurable metrics being achieved, your data management team will continue to drive advances in data analytics, allowing your organization to make more informed decisions that will ultimately help to secure a more secure future.

 

 

Interested in learning more about Master Data Management, establishing benchmarks, or data analytics? Fill out the form below, and one of our experts will get in touch with you.

 

sayed-saeed
2024/03
March 19, 2024
Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Your people are your greatest asset. But people are often uncomfortable with change, regardless of what kind of change it is — a system update, new strategy adaptation for process improvement, or even additional headcount. Unfortunately, it’s a common challenge leaders must face, and it’s not always easy to resolve.

Navigating the Change Management Process

Change is a constant any way you look at it. But effective transformational leadership requires supporting teams through the stages of acceptance. It will either give you an advantage in the marketplace or it could be detrimental to your bottom line in the short- and long-term.

To make any organization run well, it takes a variety of people, in several positions, with a plethora of backgrounds, skills, and experience to be successful. That same diverse group of people may have an overall goal of the organization thriving, but to get there it takes several ways of effective and successful communications. But what’s the right way?

Change management traditionally starts with structure and policies. But if you want to make a real difference, there is a step that comes before the normal starting point — it all begins with people. Because everyone is so different, learns in various ways, and communicates so vastly, it’s imperative to begin any change initiative by knowing your people first.

 

Here Are a Few Tips to Get Started

1. Understand Human Values

That includes personal values, organizational values, employee values, and connecting with the community. Learning about each of these values will help you to define who the company is and what matters most.

But do organizational and individual values directly align?

Of course not. Not everybody in the organization will share the same values, but learning what drives everyone, and finding ways to connect their motivations with the goals of the organization will mutually benefit everyone.

This is where a value analysis can help you connect the organization’s vision with the people’s values.

 

2. Understand Human Emotion

Change can bring many feelings, though most are associated with a negative connotation, like a disgruntled employee. When people are asked to do something different, they are being taken out of their comfort zone. This can cause a negative emotional reaction that is often misunderstood and/or underestimated. By understanding how emotions react in a state of change can lessen the effect and cause a much smoother transition.

 

3. Appreciate the Importance of Communication

Explaining all the key information (who, what, when, why, how) is critical to change management. Frequently, decisions that are made at the top of an organization either are communicated extremely slowly or not at all to the front lines.

 

There could be a plethora of reasons for this, including leaders fearing information overload. However, reaching all levels in the organizations, during times of transformation, is extremely important. Not knowing or understanding what’s going on can lead to several negative outcomes. It can prevent:

  • General feelings of frustration

  • Employee lack of accountability

  • Not being able to work effectively toward the company’s goal

  • Lead to seeking other opportunities

 

The important thing to remember is that you must always share the same message. The language may change based on your audience, but consistency is key. 

 

 

4. Cement your Messaging

Communicating an effective and consistent message cannot happen until you and your team have decided what that message is. 

  • Who are you as an organization?
  • Why do you exist?
  • What is your great purpose or vision?
  • What are your values?
  • What exactly are you offering to your customer?
  • How is the change at hand going to impact the current and future goals of the organization?

 

These can be hard questions to answer and answering them may at first seem unnecessary or redundant. Be assured, that this analysis will help you connect your people to your great purpose. Belief in your company’s goals is what ultimately will push your employees to go the extra mile for you. 

 

It Starts and Ends with People

Ultimately, good technology, processes, and/or systems are valuable, but in the end, people are your greatest asset. Their commitment is required to make your vision a reality.

 

Understanding how to make the company function efficiently AND what works best for your people may sound difficult, but the benefits that come from tackling them together could mean the difference between failure and success.

 

Trust, communication, understanding, values, and engagement are critical…get it right, and the dream of a smooth transition could truly become your reality.

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Org Accelerator™ program has proven extremely effective in helping clients streamline change management initiatives. It is designed to jumpstart a company's collaboration and performance in just 12 weeks.

 

If you would like to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges, you can reach our Organizational Effectiveness team through the form below.

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2024/03
March 15, 2024
Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Master Data Management is hardly a new concept. It can be a bit confusing, though. The idea behind MDM is to organize your data so the people who need it can access it without having to go looking for it. More and more businesses are realizing their data is a mess. Messy data hurts the company’s key decision-makers. These individuals need clear, accurate, and easily accessible data in order to make informed decisions. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Start with the Pain Points

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result. This sort of insanity happens regularly in businesses all over the world. There are employees who spend countless hours per week, or maybe even per day, putting together reports. In order to pull these reports together they’re either bouncing from application to application, spreadsheet to spreadsheet, or relying on another person. This is insanity.

How reliable is the data — or better yet — how reliable are the other people compiling this data? Without an MDM strategy you are leaving yourself and, more importantly, your company susceptible to inaccurate data. It’s 2018. Managing your data can be so much easier than updating the same spreadsheet you’ve been using since 1995.

Reporting is often a pain point. It’s a tedious task and the people doing it are usually wondering if anyone is even reading the report anyway. It’s time to let your employees focus on helping your company grow. This means freeing up their time to focus on more important things. Making time to build a detailed MDM strategy allows key decision-makers to have access to what they need when they need it.

 

Figure Out What Data You Need

Your sales team uses SalesForce. Your operations team uses a spreadsheet to track employee utilization and another software to manage projects. Your accounting department uses QuickBooks. Should I keep going? What tools or software does everyone really need to do their job effectively? This is a critical component of a solid MDM strategy.

MDM is all about bringing together data from different data points. The more organized you are, the more effective this strategy will be. This is also a great opportunity for your entire team to look in the mirror and ask, “Do I really need this program?” or “Why do we need to know this information?” Really, what are some of the KPIs your company needs to know?

  • Revenue
  • New Leads
  • Customer
  • Deal Forecasts
  • Employee Utilization

Once you’ve figured out what you need to integrate, then you need to figure out who is going to implement the strategy. Are you going to bring in an outside firm? Are you going to try and do it in-house? Who is going to run point on the project?

 

Hiring an MDM Implementation Firm

Developing metrics for successful Master Data Management shouldn’t be done alone. Bringing in an outside firm allows you to bring in someone to analyze your situation and give you advice on how to make things more efficient, automated, and organized. In addition, going outside your organization allows your team to continue working on other things and not on anything outside their expertise. The MDM implementation firm will also guide you through a tried and proven process to ensure a successful, smooth implementation.

 

Communication is Key

Your new MDM strategy will bring together your entire company: sales, marketing, IT, accounting, HR, etc., all key departments in most companies. Knowing this, it’s important to consider everyone when deciding which applications and what data you’ll be bringing together.

It’s also important to define who will need access, how frequently automated reports will go out, and other key considerations for each department. The more you include your team, the easier it will be to get everyone on board. And the more people on board, the smoother this will all go.

 

It’s a Big Project

All in all, master data management is a huge project. It’s bringing together all of your data, from all of your applications, and getting them to talk to each other. Imagine bringing together 10 different groups of people who speak 10 different languages, putting them all in the same room and asking them to communicate. You would definitely need a strategy. But not just any strategy. You would need a solid, well-planned, “no-page-unturned” strategy.

Trust us. The result will be beautiful.

 

 

Partner with the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in evaluating, installing, configuring and implementing high-performance data warehouse architectures. We understand the importance of having complete and accurate information available at your fingertips. If this is a pain point for you or your company, reach out. We’d love to explore how we can help.

 

ryan-mangis
2024/03
March 4, 2024
Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

In order to find a flaw in your go-to-market strategy, you will first need to have a good understanding of both your customer and your competition.

Your customer’s journey is the story of their relationship with your brand or business. This stretches from the time they first encounter the product or services all the way through their time of purchase. If everything goes as it should, this will even include repeat business.

Just like every date doesn’t end in marriage, every potential customer you encounter will not buy. However, if your brand is successful, a certain percentage of them should. What happens when you aren’t converting enough potential customers to sales? Why is your customer’s journey not becoming a buyer’s journey?

 

What Is Really Stopping the Customer in Your Buyer’s Journey?

When you aren’t seeing the results that you want in sales you might wonder where the problem is. The truth is that in order to find a flaw in your go-to-market strategy, you will first need to have a good understanding of both your customer and your competition.

 

The Importance of Long-Term Planning

It is so easy to get bogged down in managing and completing daily tasks, profit and loss, and trying to achieve goals and objectives. Where do you find the time for long-term planning?

Making the time for long-term planning is absolutely essential because it is what will give your company an edge in the future. Not planning today can easily lead to tomorrow’s failures.

While data can give you some of the information that you are looking for, real deep insight comes from long-term planning. You will want to invest time in creating accurate customer personas and using customer journey mapping.

Customer journey mapping will help you to analyze every touch point. This makes it easier to identify and overcome pain points in the process that could be derailing sales.

 

The Key is in Long-Term Thinking for your Customer Journey

Playing the long game always wins in business. You never want to be caught scrambling to catch up. If you want to make sure that you are always at least a step or two ahead of your competition, keep these questions front of mind while you are planning:

  • How has your plan changed since you launched? Are you flexible enough?
  • What are your buyers' needs today and what will they be tomorrow?
  • How has the landscape changed since you launched?
  • What trends have died or emerged since you launched?
  • Are there new areas where you can or should innovate?

 

How Do You Get Ahead of the Competition?

The best way to get ahead of the competition is by thinking long term and by using a strategy called Wargaming. Designing your marketing strategy using the war gaming method gives you a great competitive edge.

Wargaming is when you take the opportunity to think like your competition. This lets you see why they do what they do. Wargaming sessions give you a chance to walk in your competitor’s shoes and therefore, beat them to the punch. This will be a huge competitive edge going forward.

It is important to remember that this is not a one-time exercise. As the market changes and consumer habits change, you will need to continue to reevaluate. This is the key to staying current as well as one step ahead of your competition.

 

Ready to Design Your Next Marketing Strategy?

If you are ready to take the next steps to making your business more successful and seeing how you can play the long game, fill out the form below to schedule a discovery call with our team. We can help you identify pain points, gaps, and opportunities to improve interactions with your brand, business, or team.

michele-petruccelli
2024/02
February 16, 2024
Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

You wouldn't go out wearing a t-shirt in winter or an overcoat in summer, so why tackle your company projects with only one approach? With the plethora of frameworks and methodologies available, companies can optimize their work delivery. But like choosing the right clothes for the season, each project needs a tailored approach to fit its unique circumstances. Let's explore the array of approaches to make sure that each project in your portfolio is optimized for success!

Project Management Approaches

Managing a project takes a unique set of skills and an approach unlike most business practices. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. It is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. Project Management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.”

 

Project Management Methodology: Waterfall vs Agile Project Management Statistics

Comparison of project methodology use. Data courtesy of LiquidPlanner.

 

Project Management Frameworks and Methodologies

Whether building a bridge, developing software, or optimizing a new process, a skilled project manager uses a system of processes called a framework or methodology to bring about a successful project outcome. There is a small but important distinction between frameworks and methodologies. Frameworks are generally loose and provide structure and guidelines without being too rigid. Methodologies are more prescriptive, providing rules, methods, and deliverables with less room for interpretation. For years, the Waterfall framework was the most popular approach, whereby the team moves linearly from one phase to the next only after the prior phase is complete. This is also called a predictive or phased framework.

More recently, other approaches have been introduced, which are considered “agile” and “lean,” whereby a team iterates and incrementally builds the result. The software industry made this popular because it solved for the pitfalls of the traditional Waterfall framework, where the scope could be unknown and evolve as the project continued.

 

Agile Vs Waterfall Project Management: Project Methodology

Examples of situations for project approaches.


Agile and Lean Approaches

Following the introduction of Agile and Lean approaches came a plethora of incremental and iterative frameworks (such as Scrum or XP) and methodologies (such as Kanban) that offer the user many benefits. The breakthrough concept to address the reality that in many circumstances the requirements are not fully understood up front and require customer input is very compelling.  

There are circumstances, especially in software development, when a project approach should address this uncertainty and allow for continual evolution of a solution. If a project team can benefit from learning through development and prototyping, then an Agile framework is best.

A great example of where an Agile framework works best is building a new mobile phone. The initial release can offer basic features so that the team can gather feedback with a minimal viable product or even make money on a minimal marketable product. As feedback is gained or as time allows for further development, new features and functionality can be added.

Waterfall or Predictive Frameworks

While an Agile or Lean approach solves for some of Waterfall’s shortcomings, there remain many applications when Waterfall is the better choice. For example, when requirements are known up front and a team is not experimenting with new technology, why not take advantage of a Waterfall framework, which forces the project team to lock down scope before proceeding to development?

The reason being is that scope creep and time management are challenges for even the most seasoned professionals. Therefore, for projects like product upgrades where requirements are known early, or large complex system implementations where changing scope too late in the process is often costly and time management is essential, Waterfall is the better choice.

When Time Matters Most in Project Management

If urgency of delivery is critical and planning is unimportant, then Kanban may be best. Kanban is a lean methodology that is well suited for work in which a big backlog of features is not present and when the focus is on delivering small pieces of work as they come up. There are no sprints nor release plan, but rather work decisions are supply based and minimizing bottlenecks is the focus. For example, fixing production incidents like a broken accounting report or an overused server is a great use for Kanban.

Don’t Force a Project Management Approach

So, if people aren’t forced to wear sweaters on hot days or evening gowns to a sporting event, why force anyone to choose only one methodology when every project is unique? Consider applying a Waterfall framework if you are working with a third-party vendor where milestones are critical indicators of progress and scope cannot be changed without a penalty.  

Meanwhile, use an Agile framework, like Scrum, when building new software features where functionality can be bundled and delivered piecemeal for an optimized value proposition, giving the team the opportunity for feedback and iteration. And consider Kanban for your support team when work is unplanned and unknown but needs to be addressed immediately.  

The lesson is, select the project approach that best fits the requirements and circumstances of each project or type of work. Don’t get stuck being inflexible when you can be agile.

If you have project management questions, please reach out. Whether it's establishing your project priorities, managing portfolio initiatives, or setting up a PMO, Aspirant’s certified program and project management experts can help. Fill out the form below to start the conversation.

mike-youhouse
2024/02
February 9, 2024
Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

Finding skilled talent these days is not an easy task. Candidates have many options to choose from when it comes to their career. To attract today’s candidates, companies must rethink their recruiting strategy. The way to stand out is to give them what they want. Many employees switched jobs last year and what influences people to join a new company is critical in today’s competitive job market. Aspirant's RPO solutions can provide unique insight into this subject.

According to a study conducted by Mercer, Global Talent Trends 2022: Rise of the Relatable Organization reports “that after job security, organizational brand and reputation is now the #2 reason that people joined their current employer (a jump from #9 before the pandemic).”

Your company’s employer value proposition should be the way you connect and be relevant to your next hire. So, the question is are you hitting the mark with candidates? If not, here are the top 10 items that candidates want:

 

1. Top Talent Require More Flexible Work Options

While it's true that the pandemic forced many people to work from home, remote and hybrid work was becoming popular even before the pandemic. Working remotely doesn't fit every person or every job position, but for those that it does, having a hybrid or remote option is preferable. For example, 73% of employees have reported that they want more say in how and where they work. They seek out employers who offer options that align with their preference for a healthier work-life balance. So, organizations that give them this flexibility increase their chances of winning that candidate over the competition.

 

2. Your Purpose & Values

In today's socially-connected and online world, a candidate will use every means possible to learn about your company and what you stand for when it comes to your sustainability agenda. A well-designed careers section is a must; this provides a real opportunity to put your best foot forward about your employee value proposition. Your careers page should include more than simply a list of open positions. Clearly communicate your company's mission and values. Incorporate contact forms that make it easy for talent to contact the recruiting team if they have questions or they are interested in learning about positions. Many candidates will check out review sites to verify if what you say about your company is true. Sites like Indeed’s Glassdoor, InHerSite, and Comparably, as well as others, show how your company ranks on leadership, diversity, and compensation. Lastly, LinkedIn’s power is about networking and you can be sure potential candidates are asking their professional network for advice about your company and its culture.

 

3. Top Talent is Looking for a Seamless Hiring Process

Employers should approach the candidate experience as the "human experience," similar to the consumer journey. Each interaction in the recruiting process should aim to improve the candidate's experience at every touchpoint, starting with the employer brand and Employer Value Proposition (EVP) even before the candidate applies for a position.

A well thought EVP is a strategy that gives job seekers a compelling illustration of a uniquely rewarding employee experience and it accelerates the time-to-fill positions. From first impressions to the easy application and hiring processes, to smooth onboarding, candidates respond better to organizations that have their recruiting workflow in order. Every touchpoint should be viewed as another way to impress and sway them to choose your organization over another.

 

4. Today’s Talent Wants to Stay Informed

Highly qualified and sought-after candidates are often bombarded with recruitment messages via LinkedIn, email, and phone calls, even when they are not considering a career move. However, smart employers who know how to market to these skilled workers are able to build and maintain relationships by establishing talent communities. This strategy has proven to be effective, as a Yello report revealed that 9 out of 10 candidates who participated in a talent community had a positive impression of the company that organized it. By being part of a talent community, candidates can network with other skilled professionals and learn more about the organization and its offerings. As a result, nurturing these relationships can help employers build a strong pool of potential talent for future opportunities.

 

5. Easy Apply

If you manage to attract the attention of candidates and they decide to apply, you want to make the application process as easy as possible for them. The majority of today’s workforce is millennials, and 98% of them own smartphones.

These candidates use their phones for much more than conversations with friends. Candidates search for jobs on their smartphones. If they find a position open at your company while searching on their phone, it’s more likely they will apply if they can do so right there. Otherwise, they’ll likely move on to the next. Sure, it is possible that they will “save” the job with the intention to apply later from a computer, but that doesn’t mean they will follow through.

Make it accessible immediately with a smooth mobile application that they can use while they are waiting for an appointment, during their commute, or any other time. And be sure to test your organization's mobile application process to ensure that it's easy to use from a smartphone.

 

6. Ease of Communicating

There’s plenty of research to support the use of text communication. For example, 98% of texts are opened and 57% are opened within the first five minutes of receipt. Recruiters who use text to communicate with candidates can engage 10x the number of candidates each week over other forms of communication.

Text messaging is used by businesses across industries to communicate with their customers. Candidates are accustomed to receiving texts and they are open to text communication with recruiters. One survey found that 86% of those asked felt positive about it. Leveraging text is a great way to quickly connect with candidates to confirm interviews and stay in touch throughout the hiring and onboarding process.

 

7. Competitive Compensation

In today’s competitive talent climate, a competitive salary is a fundamental expectation of all candidates. When candidates and employees perceive that your company’s compensation package is fair, a total compensation package will be evaluated in its entirety. While there are numerous studies indicating that it takes more than desirable pay to attract top talent, money still matters. Gallup's research over the years has always cited pay as one of the top reasons candidates accept new job offers; however, in recent years it has risen to the top of the list. For example, 64% of candidates rank it as the number one critical factor in their decision. Because it’s such a tight talent market, organizations are raising wages to compete for candidates.

 

8. Stimulating Work Environments

People do their best when their work is aligned with their natural talents and skills. They enjoy it and find it more rewarding. Those who perform jobs that aren’t satisfying in this way are often the ones who are out looking for other positions. Recruiters must focus on more than just attracting candidates to jobs. They need to attract the right candidates to the jobs. Some of the ways to do this are by creating accurate job descriptions and giving candidates a realistic preview of what their daily routines and work will look like.

 

9. Empowerment through Advancement

Acquiring new candidates for positions is important, but it's only a part of the equation. Consider current employees as candidates for open positions, too. Organizations can fill roles and offset resignation challenges by leveraging their existing workforce and offering opportunities for advancement. LinkedIn’s 2021 Workplace Learning Report revealed that employees will stay twice as long at a company that regularly hires from within. Organizations should consider giving the right tools and training to their current talent so that they can successfully move up instead of looking for a new position with a different company.

 

10. Prioritizing Diversity and Inclusion

Companies that are focused on increasing the diversity of their workforce not only have a competitive advantage in business outcomes but also attract a wider pool of talent. The challenge is getting the C-suite on board with this. One survey by iCIMS shows that 85% of C-suite executives find it difficult to prioritize DEI goals and strategies due to competing HR and recruiting practices. But an employer brand that does not reflect a commitment to diversity and inclusion could alienate skilled talent, which is something that organizations simply cannot afford to do in today's competitive market. Numerous studies reveal the benefits of DEI programs in meeting financial targets, retaining customers, and attracting top talent to open positions.

 

(Bonus!) 11. Cultivate a Healthy Workforce

The pandemic has transformed the nature of work and employees' expectations from their employers. Nowadays, workers seek a mutually beneficial arrangement that promotes their overall health and accommodates their lifestyle. Companies that fail to adjust to these evolving demands may face severe ramifications, such as high employee turnover and difficulty in recruiting new talent. Therefore, it is the responsibility of employers to not only recognize but also meet the unfulfilled requirements of their employees, including emotional, physical, social, and financial well-being. Nowadays, top talent is actively seeking out employers who prioritize their welfare, opting for companies that endorse sustainable work practices and offer personalized support during critical moments.

 

How do you give candidates everything they want in a job?

How does your organization deliver it all? Talent Acquisition leaders need to engage senior leaders to look for opportunities to collaborate and focus on what candidates want today to help improve recruiting outcomes. Listening intently to their candidates, using data to uncover patterns, and using those to improve the recruiting process is important.

As employees continue to evolve what they expect, many organizations are turning to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) providers to help them ensure that their recruiting process does not lag and are using innovative communication strategies to engage with talent.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing providers aim to attract top-notch candidates for companies, especially in fiercely competitive talent markets. Talent Acquisition teams are now placing more emphasis on enhancing their recruitment strategies than ever before.

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

patty-silbert
2024/01
January 25, 2024
What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Successful leaders have a transformational leadership style that moves a company closer to its goals fast. These leaders know the new year is the perfect time to assess, adjust, and take a giant leap forward.

Transformational Leadership in 2024

Be the transformational leader that your company needs in order to grow and succeed. Here’s how to start the new year with a bang! 

  • Permeate and infuse company goals
  • Prioritize strategic initiatives
  • Activate your team
  • Adjust your leadership style for today’s workplace
  • Create a consistent employee experience
  • Upgrade your customer experience
  • Make sure your tech works for you

Transformational leaders move the needle by motivating, encouraging, and inspiring employees. They are a foundational component to successful change management

So how do you lead effectively? Seven steps to improve performance:.

 

1. Cascade Goal, Objective, and KPI Alignment

It’s not enough to just set goals. For goals to be successful, they need to be well-defined and permeate every step and every level of a business or project. 

This means your goals, objectives, and KPIs must all be brought into alignment. Additionally, employees on all levels must be aware of and focused on the same goals. 

 

2. Prioritize Strategic Initiatives

Make strategic initiatives highly visible and easy to measure. Keep track of progress and don’t hesitate to make changes as you gather data. Empower project managers to do what is necessary to drive the visibility and success of these programs.

 

3. Organizational Design 

Transformational leaders understand that much of their success is based on their people. You absolutely must have the right people in the right roles if you want to really want to get your company or team ahead. 

You may have to make some tough decisions when honestly assessing your team. To be more comfortable making these decisions, it is imperative that you work closely with your human resources department to ensure there is a hiring plan to meet your needs. 

 

4. Provide Leadership for Today’s Workplace

Today’s employees expect open, transparent communication.  This is actually a great way to give employees responsibility and ownership in their job. This will allow for more accountability and positive reinforcement, which makes them feel valued as well as see that their contributions mean something. 

Through this type of rapport and being supportive of employees in their development efforts, you can greatly enhance your retention of your top employees without necessarily providing additional financial compensation. 

 

5. Create a Better Employee Experience 

Employees are happiest working for predictable and fair employers. You should partner with your human resources department to ensure a consistent and cohesive experience for every employee. 

To maintain a focus on achieving your desired goals, development plans, promotions, projects, and people all have to align to support strategically important actions. 

 

6. Fully Incorporate Your Customer Experience

You will want to keep updating your buyer persona and ideal customer profile to make sure you capitalize on every contact point and are providing products and services that customers want to buy.

All employees, even those who do not have forward-facing jobs, should be aware of how their jobs affect customers and the bottom line.

 

7. Tech Stack Review

Most businesses would be stopped dead in their tracks without the technologies they use from software to storage. Take an accounting of what you are using and whether or not it is really working for you. 

Consider whether your team would be more efficient if they had better software or other technologies. Make sure what you are using is what is best suited to your company’s goals and objectives. 

 

Learn Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders keep people focused, engaged, and inspired throughout the change management process. These initiatives drive a company’s overarching strategy and make all the difference in achieving organizational goals. 

 

Thinking that stronger transformational leadership could make a serious impact for your organization? Reach out to our Organizational Effectiveness team by filling out the form below.  

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2024/01
January 5, 2024
Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

If you haven't migrated your applications to the Azure Cloud, you are missing out on increased productivity and availability. Cloud-based technologies make scaling easier and more successful. A cloud migration can give you faster disaster recovery, solid backup storage, and data security. Aspirant can help reduce your costs by elevating efficiencies.

Companies that utilize custom developed software can benefit from migrating that software to the Azure Cloud in many ways. However, these migrations can often run into various problems. Integration points, data base, file storage, and security can often require review and refactoring to work efficiently after migration.

 To mitigate those problems, it’s important to adequately plan for cloud migration.

Cloud Migration Challenges: Planning for Success

How can you successfully and efficiently move your infrastructure to Azure? Organizations using virtual machines and similar services who want to move into the cloud will need to plan thoroughly to have an effective cloud migration.

The fact is that many apps, especially within companies that have developed custom software, simply weren’t built for the cloud. Databases, storage, processing power, networking, and security configuration are all elements that need to be considered. Each element must be compatible with cloud migration for it to work successfully.

Consulting services, such as those offered by Aspirant, can give you an edge when planning cloud migration. Aspirant provides help with UX design, application modernization, custom software development, and systems integration.

Aspirant’s technology team can help define a strategy to avoid cloud sprawl, stay within your budget, and maintain critical services and do it with as little downtime as possible.

Legacy migration and modernization doesn’t have to be a difficult process — your transition to Azure Cloud can be efficient and successful with Aspirant’s solid planning and best practices in place.

 

Are You Ready for Azure Cloud Migration?

If your organization is ready to leverage the benefits of moving into the cloud, Aspirant can help modernize legacy software so it runs efficiently post-migration. Reach out to Phil Kossler or fill out the form below to set up a no-obligation discussion about what you are looking to achieve and how Aspirant might help.

phil-kossler
2023/11
November 10, 2023
Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

It will be tough to tell how well you're performing if you aren't clear on what you're trying to achieve. Taking time to define and document your company's strategy will establish priorities and simplify decision-making. Here are our recommendations for how to get started.

The scope of this framework may seem overwhelming at first, but we compiled a cheat sheet to consolidate the tips below and provide an editable template to guide you every step of the way. This is available for free download via the button toward the bottom of this page.

 

Aspirant Comprehensive Strategic Framework

 

Conceptual Strategy - Building a Strategic Identity

The conceptual elements of a strategic framework increase in relevance along with the size of a company. Big corporations invest a ton of time and money into carefully crafting this 'strategic identity' due to the role it plays in attracting investors, motivating employees, and inspiring customers.

This is also a worthwhile exercise for any company, though many can get by with a much more streamlined effort. The intention is to establish some ideas that are directionally / thematically accurate as a starting point for building out the Practical components (which we explore below). Any initial versions are very likely to be revised as your company's perspective and priorities evolve over time. Depending on organizational preferences and the nature of your business, it may make sense to only publish a portion (or none) of your company's strategic identity.

 

Mission: Why do we exist?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Focused on, and designed to resonate with, the market / stakeholders you intend to serve.
  • Inclusive of key differentiators from the competition.
  • Concise, clear, authentic, and inspiring.
  • Serves as the cornerstone for the strategic framework that will dictate how the company operates.

Examples

  • Microsoft:  To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
  • AirBnB:  To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.
  • Coca-Cola:  To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit.

Vision: What do we want to be?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Focused on your organization’s aspirations for the future.
  • Motivational to internal stakeholders such as employees and investors.
  • Cites goals that are specific enough for progress to be measured over time.
  • Fosters a collective sense of purpose for all roles across the organization.

Examples

  • Netflix:  The best global entertainment distribution service.
  • Uber:  Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.
  • Visa:  Uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Values: What do we want to be?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Relevant to all internal and external relationships.
  • Supportive of building trust among colleagues and customers.
  • Inclusive and applicable across all functions, departments, and levels of responsibility.
  • Create contextual expectations for how the organization will pursue its stated Mission and Vision.

Examples

   Transparency    Authenticity    Responsibility    Accountability    Sustainability
   Inclusivity    Collaboration    Quality    Leadership    Perseverance
   Integrity    Respect    Empathy    Humility    Fun
 

 

Purpose: What impact will we make?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Reflects organizational values and beliefs.
  • Sometimes includes broader stakeholder groups such as the local or global community.
  • Least common component of a strategic identity.

Examples

  • American Family Insurance: We’re dedicated to inspiring, protecting and restoring your dream.
  • Ford Motor Company: Drive human progress through freedom of movement.
  • United Airlines: Connecting people. Uniting the world.

 

Practical Strategy - Planning for Action

The next step is translating the conceptual into the practical. At each level:

  • From all the ideas of what you 'could do', identify what will have the most direct / efficient impact.
  • Maintain linear continuity from one layer to the next: Goals -> Objectives -> Strategies -> Tactics
  • Consolidate and revise ideas as needed to ensure that initiatives are mutually exclusive.
  • Realize that you can't do everything all at once. Be realistic on what can be accomplished with the available resources.
  • Document the initiatives you intend to pursue on the template, listed in priority order.
  • Create a 'parking lot' to capture deprioritized initiatives for future consideration.

 

Goals: What do we intend to achieve?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • With the conceptual components of your strategic framework in mind, identify what is most important for your company to accomplish.
  • Goals should be quite general, as supporting initiatives will get increasingly specific at each subsequent level.
  • Creating overarching themes such as Financial, Operational, and Societal could be helpful in categorizing Goals.
  • You could end up with multiple Goals under a single theme.

Examples

   Improve Profitability    Build Brand Equity    Recruit Cooperative Partners    
   Improve Operational Efficiency    Claim Market Share    Develop Employee Skills    
   Improve Corporate Citizenship    Reduce Carbon Footprint    Diversify Product Offering    

 

Objectives: What specific outcomes do we seek?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Determine the primary drivers of each Goal that you can influence.
  • Progress against a given Objective could impact more than one Goal, but they can only be assigned to one.
  • Choose a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that will serve as a gauge for performance, ideally a quantifiable measure.
  • Select a challenging, yet feasible, target KPI value to reach within the specified time frame (usually an annual horizon).

Strategies: How do we intend to do it?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Determine the primary methods by which each KPI will be achieved.
  • Strategies under each Objective should be complementary to one another; however, it is possible to have a Strategy that negatively affects a different Objective.

Tactics: What is our plan for doing it?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Identify prioritized, actionable workstreams that support each Strategy.
  • Descriptions for each Tactic should be as specific as possible, depending on the scope of the underlying subtasks.
  • Document any deprioritized Tactics separately for future consideration.

 

Getting started: Begin the journey

Be sure to download our free Strategic Planning Cheat Sheet. It provides all the tips and templates to guide through each step of this strategic planning process.

 

Download Strategic Planning Cheat Sheet

 

All these components and considerations may seem daunting, but there is inherent value in forcing yourself to establish specific goals and thinking through how you will go about achieving them. Your strategic framework will be invaluable in keeping resources focused directly on what you are trying to accomplish.

The biggest opportunity for most businesses lies in their marketing. Click here for our steps in translating your company strategy into a marketing strategy.

 

SB Growth Strategy Thumbnail GreySB Strategic Planning Thumbnail Grey BorderSB Marketing Strategy ThumbnailSB Digital Marketing Priorities Thumbnail

 

How Aspirant can help

Experts familiar with these methodologies and frameworks can ask right the questions to guide you through the process. Our support dramatically accelerates and improves the output by flattening the learning curve and keeping you on track.

We are proud to have helped clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries reach their goals. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

 

We'd love to help you chart a course for success.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/11
November 5, 2023
Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

Questions to Ask before Application Integration

When it comes to application integration, there's no shortage of questions that can leave you feeling overwhelmed. But don't worry, we've got you covered! With our expert guidance, we'll help you take a deep breath and focus on the key questions you need to answer before embarking on your next project. Let's dive in and make your integration journey a success!

What are your application integration goals? 

If you want a seamless application integration, start by defining your project's goals. This will allow you to write effective requirements/user stories, understand the project's scope, and work towards achieving specific outcomes. 

  • Are you aiming to streamline business processes and workflows?
  • Improve data accuracy and consistency?  
  • Enhance existing functionality?

Having clear goals in mind will keep you focused and on track. Additionally, understanding the timeline of the project is essential for accurate resource and budget planning, as well as avoiding risky delays. By defining your goals and timeline upfront, you can ensure a more efficient and smooth application integration process.

 

What are your biggest app integration pain points?

It can be tough to pinpoint, but the three most common types of pain points include: complexity, data mapping, and security risks

Complexity comes from managing multiple systems, vendors, locations, people, and technologies. Data mapping, on the other hand, entails analyzing, identifying, and documenting how data flows through different applications. Also, security risks must be addressed: protect PII data, comply with regulations, and solve any authentication challenges. 

Once you've identified your pain points, make sure to communicate them to your application integration team. Early communication is key to addressing these issues as quickly as possible and ensuring a successful integration.

 

Who will be affected most by the application integration?

Application integration can significantly impact end-users, IT, business managers, and vendors. Therefore, it is essential to identify and address the concerns of all stakeholders to ensure that the integration is successful and delivers the intended benefits. 

 

Who will manage your new system moving forward?

It is important to ensure that there are adequate resources in place to manage and maintain the new system once the applications have been integrated. This may involve assigning roles to existing staff, recruiting additional personnel with specific skills, or partnering with an outside company, like Aspirant. Additionally, setting up a process for monitoring performance and user feedback can help ensure that the integration continues to meet users' needs as technology changes.

So before starting your application integration, ask yourself:  

  • Who will manage the new system moving forward?

  • Who will be your internal champion?  

Knowing these two things allow you to keep a clear line of communication when issues arise.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Don't let the frustration of juggling multiple applications take a toll on your business productivity. Instead, integrate your applications to centralize data management and streamline operations with Aspirant. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our team of skilled professionals about how we can help you achieve maximum efficiency.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

ryan-mangis
2023/10
October 19, 2023
Questions to Ask before Application Integration

Questions to Ask before Application Integration

Digital Marketing Priorities

Even the largest companies have limitations on the time and money they can invest into promoting themselves. The constraints are obviously much tighter as you work your way down the food chain. That's why it's so important to determine what is most important to pursue to make the most of your limited resources.

In our previous article , we laid out the considerations and methods for creating a cohesive, effective marketing strategy. The decisions and documents resulting from that process provide the foundation for designing activation programs that align with one another and with overarching organizational goals.

On that page we recommend that companies start with enabling Inbound Digital Marketing before progressing on to Outbound Digital Marketing, Local Marketing, and (at some point down the road) Traditional Marketing. Listed below is the priority order by which companies starting from scratch should allocate their time and energy to generate growth for their business. Even organizations with all these components in place may find some of ideas below useful.

 

1. Inbound Digital Marketing - Establish a Digital Presence

Regardless of how your audience becomes aware of your company, it is very likely that they will look you up online before they ever consider becoming a customer. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to find the information they seek, leading them further down the 'path to purchase'.

Here is how we suggest that you go about making sure your website properly represents your business and get it listed where your target(s) are most likely to look for products / services / companies like yours.

 

Refine Your website

At a bare minimum, your website must answer your target audience's most common questions. The Personas and Task Maps you developed as part of your marketing strategy will be a great starting point.

What products / services do they offer? How good are their products / services?
How are they different from their competitors? Why should I believe in them?
What areas do they serve? How / where can I buy their products?
Are they located nearby? When are they open?
How can I get in touch with them?  

 

Beyond this basic content, the fit and finish of your website is also important. You need to make sure that the layout, design, and functionality are in line with how you intend to be perceived. Honestly evaluate your website experience against your Positioning to make sure it properly represents your business.

 

Create Search Engine Profiles

Profiles on these platforms enable your business to be included in their search results and maps as well as create a way to gather ratings and reviews. Voice-activated digital assistants (Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant) also leverage this same ecosystem. Getting set up is quick, free of charge, and their prompts lead you through every step in the process.

Click here to build a business profile with Google.

Click here to build a business profile with Bing.

 

Build Profiles on Social Platforms

It is well worth a few minutes' time to bolster your digital visibility by creating pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp -  even if there are no immediate plans to post regularly. They can still convey essential information (industry, location, hours), link to your website, and create an additional means for prospective customers to contact you. Consider adding Twitter / X, Instagram, and TikTok down the road if content creation becomes more central to your marketing strategy.

Your Google profile will automatically carry over to YouTube, since they both belong to parent company Alphabet. Likewise, Instagram posts can be automatically duplicated on Facebook with the click of a button, expanding your reach without any additional effort.

 

Create online 'Citations' for your business

Countless online business directories have the place of the yellow pages in the giant phone books that used to be delivered to every home and business. Each of these websites provides a searchable database where users can find basic information (industry, location, phone number, email, website) for thousands of companies. In general, the more listings (or citations) you can create for your business, the better. However, you should prioritize the ones who see the most traffic or focus on your local area / type of service. Here are some suggestions to get your started:

Apple Maps YellowPages / Superpages Yellow.Place MapQuest
Nextdoor Manta Hotfrog Cybo
MerchantCircle Cylex Foursquare Bunity
EZlocal eLocal Chamber of Commerce Better Business Bureau

 

For a nominal fee, you can simultaneously create and manage business profiles on hundreds of pages through platforms such as BrightLocal and Yext.

 

2. Inbound Digital Marketing - Search Engine Pay-Per-Click Campaigns

Whether we are buying something for ourselves or on behalf of our business, everyone wants to be confident in their purchase decisions. The fastest way to gain that confidence is with some online research - typically through queries on search engines. The ability to tap into this essential step in the path to purchase is a great opportunity for marketers to reach their targeted audience.

Search engines charge on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis. That means that cost is only incurred when users click on the ads. Since pricing for these programs are based on engagement (clicks) rather than reach (impressions), as with Traditional and other Digital Marketing tactics, they are much more effective and efficient.

Once you have established your company's Digital Presence, developing and improving your Search Engine Campaigns should remain your #1 priority until they are fully optimized.

 

Sponsored Keywords

This is where companies bid against each other to promote themselves when their target audience searches for specific words or phrases. A variety of configurations enable you to tailor when, where, how, and to whom your ads are served: 

  • Timing (day of week, time of day)
  • Location (country, state, city)
  • Device type (desktop, smartphone, tablet)
  • Audience (age, gender, household income, interests)

The prompts in these systems are intuitive by design, which makes setting up these campaigns straightforward. However, it will take some trial, error, and patience to learn the ropes.

Pro Tip: Start off using a very tight set of keywords to just those that closely align with buying cues. You can always widen the net later as results and budget dictate.

 

Click here to build PPC campaigns with Google.

Click here to build PPC campaigns with Bing.

 

Retargeting Campaigns

Search engines also give you the opportunity to reach users who had previously clicked on your PPC ads. As those people visit other websites, they will see display ads that link back to your website. This leverages the interest they have already expressed into creating another chance to engage with your company.

 

3. Local Marketing

These tactics are fueled by creativity, ingenuity, and hustle rather than financial investment. They can be incredibly impactful, if you can find the right angle and execute them well. Businesses with a complementary offering and similar customer base may be interested in promoting your company if you do the same for them. Connecting with a local influencer or starting an ambassador program could build organic awareness amongst those most interested in your product or service.

Your target audience may gather for certain occasions or events (e.g. regional fairs, sporting events, trade shows, club meetings), presenting an opportunity to connect with them directly, at scale.

Regardless of the nature and scope of these activations, be sure to make them memorable.

 

4. Outbound Digital Marketing

There is an ever-expanding list of ways to reach your audience through digital means: pre-roll ads on streaming video channels, sponsored social media posts, email distribution. When you are ready to supplement your marketing efforts with outbound tactics, we recommend implementing them one by one to prevent the management component from becoming a distraction. 

When planning outbound programs, don't forget to account for the time / cost associated with designing the needed visual or video assets.   

 

Getting started: Get your feet wet

Now that you've read through our recommendations for how to define your strategy and where to begin, there's nothing more to it than to do it! The sooner you get started, the sooner you will start seeing results. It is very difficult to commit to taking time away from working in your business in order to work on your business; hopefully the prioritized list above will be useful in helping you focus on what will be most impactful.

 

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How Aspirant can help

While we encourage every business leader to take the initiative to stand up their own programs, we know first hand how time consuming and frustrating that approach can be. Our Digital Agency has the comprehensive skills to help you plan, execute, and maintain marketing that generates a quantum shift in the performance and maturation of your company. 

Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion.

 

 

We'd love to help your organization achieve the growth you deserve.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 31, 2023
Digital Marketing Priorities

Digital Marketing Priorities

Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

For the most part, when we refer to a business's 'growth', we are referring to financial results in one way or another. There could be instances where companies define their growth in terms of building brand awareness or cultivating a (currently) unprofitable customer base. But, for now, let's focus on where the rubber meets the road: dollars and cents.

Large, established companies have reliable revenue streams, well-defined processes, and resources to take on as many initiatives as needed to reach their goals. The maturity of their industry and organization means that year-over-year growth tends to be in small increments. These dynamics are completely reversed on the other end of the scale.

Growth mode companies often...

  •  Endure considerable internal and external uncertainty
  •  Operate reactively rather than proactively
  •  Must make tough choices in the utilization of limited resources 

   Most importantly, they have a lot more upside potential.

 

Key Workstreams

Below we have laid out a streamlined plan for prioritizing efforts to accelerate revenue and profitability. We recognize (and empathize with) the urge to jump right into pushing buttons and pulling levers. However, taking the time to follow the full sequence will help establish continuity that will set you up for longer term success. Depending on the circumstances, you could begin to notice results in a matter of weeks.

 

  1. Build a strategic framework
    It is impossible to objectively evaluate how well you are performing if you don't define what you're trying to accomplish or how results will be measured. Developing a strategic framework is the first step in evolving from a company that just sells a product or service into a proper business

    Click here for more detail on how to frame out a strategy that will serve as a cornerstone for prioritizing workstreams, and in turn, improved decision-making.

  2. Establish a marketing strategy
    With the overarching strategic framework is in place, we recommend evaluating how that translates to your marketing strategy. Specify your target audience(s) and clarify how your company has a more compelling value proposition than the competition.. 

    Click here for best practices and templates to guide you through this process.

  3. Activate marketing tactics

    Part of building a marketing strategy is identifying the ways you COULD do to promote your business; now it's time to determine what you will do. Prioritize the most impactful tactics as part of finalizing the scope and scale of your marketing campaigns. 

    Click here for guidance on how you can execute a program that efficiently reaches the right people with the right message at the right time.

  4. Enable Data Collection

    Once your campaigns are live, it is critical to make sure that all data points tied to your KPIs are readily available. Don't rely on your gut feeling on how things are going. Remove subjectivity by leveraging the quantitative measures cited in the strategic framework.

    Get in the habit of updating performance against the established key metrics every month. Don't use other tasks as an excuse for neglecting this critical exercise. It is a lot harder to get caught back up after falling behind than it is to keep up with your homework.

    All the functionality you'll need to get started can be found in an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets document. Down the road, it may be worth setting up an integrated KPI dashboard that automates data collection and provides real-time analysis.

  5. Utilize Analysis to Inform Improvement

    Regularly analyze the data being collected. A monthly update cycle tends to be the right frequency for keeping up with evolving trends without letting this analysis become a distraction. Identify what is working / not working. Hypothesize about what is driving those results. Devise methods for testing those hypotheses and use the resulting insight to improve your approach.

    Your data analysis may suggest the need to revise your initial strategic and/or marketing plan. This is to be expected, especially for business seeking exponential growth. Shifting goals, strategies, and tactical priorities are a natural byproduct of that growth.

  6. Keep Your Objectives Top-of-Mind

    Through the normal course of business, be on the lookout for new ideas on how you might be able to impact the objectives you've identified. Opportunities to cut costs, juice revenues, or build new partnerships could have been hiding in plain sight.

    If a new initiative is promising enough to leapfrog one already being pursued, update your strategic framework and resource allocation accordingly. Even if an idea doesn't immediately become a top priority, be sure to document it for future consideration.

 

Getting started: Commit to the process

Set aside time in your schedule to work your way through the steps above and don't allow yourself to get discouraged. Include your colleagues in the process to create visibility, gather their feedback, and get them engaged. The more effort you put in, the more you get out.

 

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How Aspirant can help

Experts familiar with these methodologies and frameworks can ask right the questions to guide you through the process. Our support dramatically accelerates and improves the output by flattening the learning curve and keeping you on track. 

How do we know this approach works? Because these are the basics behind our evolution from a three-person startup in 2003 to earning Fast50 recognition three years in a row.

 

Aspirant Revenue Growth

 

We have even more pride in the results we have helped generate for clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

 

We'd love to hear about your growth goals.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 31, 2023
Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

Clayton Christensen, the business guru, and Kim B. Clark, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, note that of the 30,000 new products launched yearly for consumers, approximately 95% fail. That's a high rate of failure by any measure. While nobody who launches a new or improved product wants to be in that 95%, it's often difficult to know which steps are best to take to improve your odds of success. 

A good place to start is by asking:

"Does our product or service meet identifiable customer needs, wants, and expectations?" 

The field of Customer Experience (CX) has the right tools to help you gather insights that create a better understanding of your customer base that will improve strategy and decision-making. Many organizations turn to extensive formal market research to find an answer to this question. This research can be beneficial, but an often-overlooked step is first getting out and talking to your customers.

 

Listening to Customers

Speak to your customers when they interact with your organization's brand is a great start.  This is sometimes referred to as an 'outside in' approach. 

  1. Ask customers to identify the key factors that influence their purchasing decisions
  2. Segment your customers based on similar themes in their responses
  3. Identify 'core' segments whose satisfaction is required for meeting strategic goals
  4. Align product design and promotion directly with what is most important to them

 

Interesting Concept

Consider this scenario: A new homeowner needs to find a landscaper to maintain his 3 acre lawn and surrounding bushes. he takes stock of what he needs (large scale mowing, bagging & disposal of clippings, shrub pruning) and other important considerations (proximity, pricing, licensed & insured) and then seek out the best service provider. Your customers do the same thing.

In most industries outside of landscaping, market needs are always shifting due to any number of societal, technological, or competitive factors. Keeping pace with this constant evolution requires regular evaluations of the needs of your core customer segments to ensure the your marketing strategy is still on-target.

 

Understanding and meeting customer needs, wants, and expectations example

 

What Motivates a Customer?

Learn which questions your customer ask during their "interview" with your product or service, or "What motivates a customer to engage with your product or service?" Like most brands, price, quality, convenience, effort, and time are high on customers' lists. Determining which factors 'win' depends on the product/service, the person, and the context.  

For example, when it comes to buying gas, frequently, the winning factor is convenience. Gas is a commodity that functions the same regardless of the brand. Thus, many drivers will not drive out of their way to save pennies on the dollar.

Other factors to consider are brand loyalty, member associations, etc., but there are always questions to remember:

  • Why are people considering your product or service? 
  • After the purchase, is it meeting their needs and wants as expected?

 

Collect Customer Feedback

A customer will rarely stop to put helpful information in a suggestion box. What's more, if you fail to provide something as simple as a suggestion box, it's even less likely that the customer will call you to tell you why they like your product or service. Therefore, you need to contact them to determine why they are satisfied.

You can do this with online surveys, direct phone calls, focus groups, email, and social media. It's essential to be sincere in your questions, ask only questions you genuinely want to know the answer to and respect the answer. 

If you have a physical branch, consider having someone on-site to ask customers why they are making specific purchases. Have conversations with your customers — as many as you can. In addition to learning how to make and sell products that answer their wants and needs, you're also building a relationship with customers and fostering loyalty to your brand. People like to give their opinions, and they'll remember when you ask for them.

How you capture customer feedback is vital to help drive the application of the learnings most effectively. Several Customer Experience tools help to bring customer needs and feedback to life like:

  1. Personas
  2. Customer Journey Maps
  3. Needs Assessment
  4. Service Blueprints
  5. Empathy Maps

Download our guide to journey mapping, which provides tips, a real-life example, and an editable template.  

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

 

To succeed in the market: 

  1. Anticipate the customer's response to your product or service. Trust your intuition when predicting responses, as long as it's grounded in customer testimonials and other relevant data.

  2. Make business decisions more than a guessing game and keep a pulse on what customers need, want, and expect by talking to them.

 

Take Action

Many organizations will capture customer feedback but need to do something with the data and insights they receive. The key to creating more positive customer experiences and capturing a stronger connection to your brand is taking action on the insights you receive through customer research. Then, develop action plans to help you utilize the insights to design and/or build better products or services for your customers.  

Create an entire feedback loop that allows you to identify your target customer segments, consistently gain feedback through customer research, and utilize the insights to build better products or services that meet your customers' needs. Finally, remember to take action on your customer data and insights, leading to higher customer satisfaction and stronger brand loyalty.

Customer research represents only one capability of Customer Experience, which falls under the concept of "Customer Understanding." To deliver differentiated and unique value to your customer base, an organization has to consider investing time into improving the following CX capabilities: Customer Understanding, Customer Experience Vision/Strategy, Customer Impact Measurement, Design and Innovation, and Customer-Centric Culture. Identifying your customer needs is an excellent start to improving your "Customer Understanding" capability and maturing your CX practice.  

 

Meeting Customer Needs

We can help you build personas, customer journey maps, needs assessments, service blueprints, or empathy maps. Fill out the form below, and we can get you on the right path.

 

vik-thakral
2023/08
August 18, 2023
Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

The consulting industry has swelled to $330 Billion in the U.S. alone, and for good reason. By collaborating with the right consulting partner, business leaders can accelerate their company's performance much more dramatically than they could on their own.

Big corporations recognize the value of this support and invest millions of dollars every year into closing the gap between their goals and what can be accomplished with in-house resources. This is a much more difficult decision for small businesses - especially those with limited budgets. But contrary to popular belief, consulting services are NOT just for companies with deep pockets. 

 

Consultants bring supplemental horsepower and perspective

No one knows your business better than you. But a fresh, objective perspective can make a huge difference. Smaller businesses often lack time and resources to focus on non-essential tasks. External partnerships create an extension of your teams that can take on value-adding projects while you concentrate on core operations.

In any market or industry, competitive environments and customer expectations are constantly changing. Consultants bring experience and perspective that can help you anticipate these trends and be proactive instead of reactive. This creates a competitive advantage that can generate meaningful growth for your company.

 

Let's clear up 8 misconceptions about consulting for smaller businesses

  1. They are too expensive:
    Myth:  The minimums / hourly rates are more than smaller companies can afford.

    Truth:  Some firms may utilize pricing to prioritize larger projects or accounts. However, the right consultant will never try to sell you more help than you need.

    Aspirant:  We design each program to generate the greatest possible impact with the available resources and budget.

  2. My Business is Too SmalL:
    Myth:  Consulting firms are built to support enterprise-level corporations. Their techniques don't work for smaller organizations.

    Truth:  The primary difference between big and small company challenges is the scale. The root causes and corresponding solutions are often very similar. Many consultants admit they prefer working with smaller clients due to the relative simplicity with implementing new tools and processes. Less bureaucracy means faster turnaround.

    Aspirant:  We are proud to have built enduring relationships with several Fortune 500 companies, but invest equally in supporting companies that aren't as large (yet).

  3. They Don't know My Business:

    Myth:  Business operate very differently from one another. Only those intimately familiar with their approach will be able to understand their unique circumstances and challenges.

    Truth:  A good consultant does a lot more listening than talking. This is the only way to properly diagnose the issues at hand. From there, they apply their expertise toward recommending a course of action.

    Aspirant:  We collaborate with clients on incorporating our expertise with their first-hand insight to identify the best path forward.

  4. They Don't Know my Industry:

    Myth:  Dynamics vary widely from one industry to the next. Consultants are generalists without the narrow focus required to provide any meaningful support.

    Truth:  At their core, the prevailing themes across industries and sectors have more in common than might be immediately apparent. So while a consultancy may not have previously tackled the exact same challenge you are facing, q
    ualified firms will have a team with the breadth and depth of expertise to tailor an effective solution to suit any situation.

    Aspirant:  We have devised a unique consulting model based on Integrated Expertise, which enables us to leverage the full extent of our collective industry and functional experience in serving our clients.

  5. Their methods won't get results:

    Myth:  The output from consultants is a lot more about concepts and theories than making things happen.

    Truth:  'Traditional' consulting firms have earned a dubious reputation for delivering a giant PowerPoint file as the culmination of client work. However, many others have found success by offering services that extend beyond strategic planning, and into tactical deployment.

    Aspirant:  We cite Client Results as an organizational value and truly define our success in terms of the measurable performance our clients achieve with our support.

  6. They move too slowly / Getting results will take too long:

    Myth:  Consultants spend way too much time strategizing before transitioning into execution.

    Truth:  Antiquated approaches can feature excessive project staffing and a prolonged preliminary fact finding (known as 'discovery') that delay the realization of any results. Consulting should reduce the time it takes for companies to reach their goals - not the opposite.

    Aspirant:  We utilize smaller, more agile project teams to accelerate program delivery. We even developed our own AI-powered platform that dramatically streamlines projects requiring a discovery phase.

  7. Not Sure I can Trust Them:

    Myth:  Consultants may be more concerned about logging billable hours than making a difference for my business.

    Truth:  Reputable firms will seek to gain your confidence through honesty and transparency as part of building a lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. The motives of those solely interested in generating revenue for themselves will be quickly revealed.

    Aspirant:  We accept the challenges and goals of all clients as our own. This focus on shared objectives is the key to forging productive, collaborative partnerships.

  8. They Will Give Me the Newbies / I Won't Have Access to Their Best Talent:

    Myth:  The most experienced / talented people are not accessible to smaller businesses.

    Truth:  The core of the value consulting firms bring to their clients lies in the capabilities of its teams. Clients who are dissatisfied with the quality of support they receive will take their business elsewhere, making a model dependent on underqualified consultants unsustainable.

    Aspirant:  We recruit and retain top-tier professionals who can maintain our lofty organizational expectations and whose personal values align with our own. 

 

Getting started: Vetting potential firms

It is critical to find the right consulting partner for your needs. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Don't hire the first firm you find. Taking the time to speak with a few companies and compare their approaches will help you feel a lot more comfortable in your final selection. 
  • Look for context clues. Pay attention to the structure of those conversations. Are they speaking more than listening? Telling more than asking? This could be an indication of their willingness to collaborate versus dictate.
  • Evaluate cultural alignment. A strong client-consultant relationship is only possible if your respective working styles are complementary to one another.

 

How Aspirant can help

We are proud of the results we have helped generate for clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

We'd love to hear about what your organization wants to achieve.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 3, 2023
8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Accountability and empowerment are critical components of an effective, productive culture. Consider these  three signs of low accountability, or no accountability, that are often overlooked by leaders:

1. Employees are more concerned about keeping their jobs than doing their jobs.

The difference may appear minor, but the impact is anything but. When an employee’s main motivation centers on not getting fired, their work is more desperate and less thoughtful. Their focus is now on not making mistakes, instead of taking calculated risks to make improvements, and they are doing only things they deem safe. Collaboration and innovation are no longer areas of concern for these employees.

Evidence of the symptoms include: a lack of new ideas from employees, increased finger pointing and blame among team members, and dissolution of any social aspects of the job. Employees will pull away from each other and even develop an “us vs them” mentality.

 

2. Gossip is used as a form of communication, particularly in leadership.

Gossip in the workplace is a common problem, but when it is considered as a means of communicating work-related information, you’re now working in a dysfunctional environment that lacks accountability. When management is telling team members, “Accounting is purposely being slow to process Jane’s compensation report because she does not support their new software choice,” it is clearly a red flag.

According to a  study by Office Pulse, 29% of respondents say office gossip is their primary source of company information.

Management should not use gossip as a way to communicate other departments’ and managers’ affairs. Using gossip to spread distrust amongst the company is a sure sign that you have accountability problems in your organization.

 

3. Culture demands that everyone is treated the same to be fair.

Equal and fair treatment are not the same. What you want is equity, not equality. When a workplace culture attempts to treat everyone the same, in the name of fairness, it is often a symptom of a management team that avoids dealing with accountability.

Undervalued employees will demand equal treatment when they see other employees receiving advantages that they do not believe were earned fairly—especially when they are expected to change behavior based on a handful of people who’ve broken company trust, instead of being held accountable for their actions.

People are not all the same, they have different performance levels, styles of work, motivations, and personal goals. When individual employees are held accountable, there is less demand for equal treatment because they know they are receiving fair treatment. 

 

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team can help you develop a culture of accountability. We designed our Org AcceleratorTM program to determine the current strengths and weaknesses of your organization and determine where you need to go. Fill out the form below to get started.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/07
July 11, 2023
Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly transformed how we work, blurring the lines between traditional office spaces and remote work environments, and has been ongoing for nearly three years. Whether to return to the office or continue working remotely remains a hotly contested topic. Executives, celebrities, and entrepreneurs have all weighed in on this matter, displaying a diversity of opinions. While some argue for the benefits of in-office work, others emphasize the advantages of remote work. Let’s delve into the ongoing debate and explore various perspectives. The number of those who are fully remote varies by industry. 

The Employee Perspective on Remote Work 

Many employees express a sense of fulfillment when working from home. The freedom from commuting saves time and reduces expenses, with studies showing potential annual savings of thousands of dollars. Beyond financial benefits, remote work offers increased flexibility, improved work-life balance, and reduced stress levels for some employees. ZipRecruiter even reported a decreased employee turnover due to implementing remote work policies. This suggests that employees value the autonomy and convenience that remote work provides. 

The Impact of Remote Work

The Executive Perspective on Remote Work 

Some executives argue that being physically present in the office is essential for productivity and the success of their organizations. Martha Stewart recently voiced her opinion, suggesting that a three-day office workweek coupled with two days of remote work is insufficient to achieve optimal outcomes. She further alluded to France's work culture, highlighting her belief that a reduced work schedule leads to an unproductive society. However, it's crucial to examine whether this perspective is rooted in the executives' desires or the employees' preferences. And most importantly, are executives willing to risk the turnover that may come from overturning a work-from-home policy?  

 

Measuring Productivity and Trust 

One of the primary concerns for executives in favor of in-office work is the ability to measure employee productivity effectively. They believe that having employees physically present allows for closer monitoring and control. However, with technological advancements and the availability of remote work tools, measuring productivity is no longer limited to physical presence. Various digital platforms and performance tracking systems enable supervisors to monitor and assess work progress irrespective of the employee's location.  Moreover, the desire for transparency and trust within the workplace has become increasingly important to employees. They expect leaders to be transparent when they manage remotely, fostering an environment where trust can thrive. When implemented effectively, remote work can promote transparency by encouraging open communication, clear expectations, and shared accountability. By trusting employees to work remotely, organizations can build stronger relationships with their workforce. 

 

The Hybrid Approach 

Recognizing the diverse preferences and needs of both executives and employees, many organizations have adopted a hybrid approach. This model combines the benefits of both remote work and in-office collaboration. It allows employees flexibility while also providing opportunities for in-person collaboration, team building, and social interaction. By striking a balance between remote and office work, organizations can cater to the desires of both executives and employees, fostering a productive and engaged workforce.  

 

The debate surrounding remote work versus in-office work continues to evolve as we navigate the changing world. While executives may emphasize the importance of physical presence in the office, employees increasingly value remote work's benefits, such as flexibility, cost savings, and improved work-life balance. Measuring productivity and building trust are essential considerations in this discussion. Ultimately, finding a middle ground through a fully remote or hybrid approach may offer the best solution, enabling organizations to adapt to the changing work landscape and meet the needs of both executives and employees.  

 

 

Do you need help attracting and retaining top talent with flexible work options that appeal to both employees and employers? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below to see how we can help you with all your RPO needs!

patty-silbert
2023/06
June 21, 2023
Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Have you ever had a bad experience with a business that left you feeling frustrated and uncared for? Maybe you were put on hold for an unreasonable amount of time, or your online order was late and arrived damaged. These negative experiences can quickly turn a loyal customer into a lost one. On the other hand, a positive customer experience can lead to customer loyalty and increased revenue for a business.

Now, more than ever, it's essential to learn about what customer experience is, why it's important, understand the customer's journey and ways to optimize it, and strategize how to deliver the best experience to keep and make loyal customers.

 

 

Defining Customer Experience

Simply put, customer experience (CX) is the sum of all customer interactions with a business, from initial contact to after-sales support. It's not just about the product or service, but a customer's overall feeling when dealing with a company. CX encompasses every aspect of a customer's journey, including how they perceive a business's values, culture, and brand. A positive customer experience means a customer feels valued, heard, and understood. On the other hand, a negative CX can lead to customer churn and lost revenue.

 

 

The Benefits of Excellent Customer Experience for Businesses

The impact of Customer Experience (CX) on a business's success cannot be overstated. According to a study by PwC, 73% of customers say the CX is a critical factor when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, a positive CX can lead to brand advocacy and repeat business. Loyal customers are likelier to recommend a company to others and spend more money on their products or services. By investing in CX, a business can increase revenue, customer retention, and positive word-of-mouth marketing.

 

 

4 Crucial Steps to Understanding CX and How to Optimize it for Maximum Satisfaction

 

1. Begin by building empathy for your customers.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of checking in with the people that use your products and services. But if you’re relying on data about your customers from a few years ago – or even a few months ago – you risk missing the mark when you deliver products and services for them. This is particularly likely in our post-covid world, which has evolved so quickly.

 

  • To better understand your customers and empathize with their needs, start with personas. Personas are a fantastic tool to build customer empathy, but creating good ones and utilizing them properly requires you to put yourself in their shoes. When creating them, consider demographic details first, like their age, income, and background.
  • Then move on to the nuances – the ‘put yourself in their shoes’ piece. The characteristics you consider for your personas should be informed by the voice of the customer (VoC) data, like:
    • What is most important to them right now?
    • Are they on a tight budget?
    • Are they very diligent in comparing all the details of products before purchasing?
    • Is this a product or service that is purchased for pleasure or necessity?

 

When combined across customer segments, these attributes can paint a picture of what makes your customers tick, what keeps them up at night, and what their motivations are.

Use this to understand your customers better. But most importantly, use it to view them as people first and paying customers second. When you do that, serving their needs comes much more naturally. It’s a common and fatal flaw to make a PowerPoint slide of a persona that goes on to collect dust. Appropriately used, personas should be integrated into key decisions to prioritize decisions that benefit customers continuously make. Try keeping your completed personas around office spaces – including their faces and names – to help them feel tangible and human. When you make vital decisions, ask yourself and others, “What will this mean for someone like our Jackie persona?”

 

2. Identify pain points and listen to their frustrations with an open mind.

Now that you understand your customers and their motivations well, it’s time to look at their journey and experience with your brand. This enables the discovery of customer pain points, which is crucial to identifying ways to reduce friction and stress in their experience and work towards building loyalty among your customer base. Journey Maps are a great tool to accomplish this. Start with looking at the whole journey, from learning about your brand and offerings through the purchase and the entire lifecycle of use of your product. Be sure to trust your customers about their pain points, even if you disagree or business problems stand in the way of quickly resolving their issues.

 

3. Be willing to change what is not working

Getting bad news hurts. And if you’re really listening to your customers, they will point out several of your flaws (it’s OK, we all have them.). The key is to have a spirit of curiosity and trust. First, be curious enough to hear them out. Then, trust them enough to take their feedback to heart. It’s easy to assume user error or to say, “That’s happening because of such and such business problem, which we won’t be able to fix.” Sometimes business problems, regulations, or factors outside of your control get in the way. However, we must do our best to advocate for the customer wherever possible. Take opportunities your customers identify to heart and have a spirit of willingness to fix it. If you don’t at least try to fix their issue, you never will.

 

4. Adopt CX and Design Thinking across your Organization

The people that engage with your products and brand are constantly changing. Paying a research firm once or twice to give you a snapshot of the landscape and customer perceptions is insufficient. Incorporating customer centricity across your organization and building it into your ethos is crucial to ensure continuous investment in understanding how your customers are changing and adapting. As this progresses, your organization’s CX maturity increases. Eventually, each project has a CX component to ensure that customer needs are an ever-present north star.

 

Customer experience is a critical factor in a business's success. By prioritizing CX, companies can create loyal customers who recommend their products and services to others. Understanding the customer journey, providing exceptional customer service, and using tools to measure CX's impact are all essential for creating a positive CX. In addition, by continually tracking and improving CX, businesses can retain customers, increase revenue, and build a positive reputation.

 

 

Interested in learning how to improve your customer experience? Fill out the form below, and someone from our experienced team will contact you to discuss your situation.

 

marisa-baird
2023/06
June 14, 2023
Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Organizational change is a complex process, and achieving success without the proper foundation can be difficult. A culture of change readiness values leadership, trust, and accountability - three essential components for any successful transformation. These elements give organizations the best chance of achieving their desired outcomes when undergoing a sweeping organizational change effort. Learn how to create a "change-ready" culture and how leaders can foster such an environment.

Understand the Need for Organizational Change and its Structure

The need for organizational change is undeniable in today's fast-paced and ever-changing business world. Organizations must constantly evolve and adapt to stay relevant and competitive regardless of their size or industry. However, implementing organizational change is challenging and requires a well-structured approach. This is where organizational change management comes in - a structured process aimed at preparing, supporting, and helping individuals, teams, and organizations as a whole, to make the necessary changes to achieve their desired future state. Organizational change can involve several areas, such as culture change, process improvement, or a shift in strategy. Understanding the need for organizational change and the process involved is crucial for any business looking to survive and thrive in the long run.

 

 

Benefits of Having a Change-Ready Culture for Organizations and Employees

Organizations with a change-ready culture experience numerous benefits compared to those without.

  1. It helps companies remain competitive in an ever-evolving market. Change-ready organizations are always prepared to adapt to shifts in consumer behavior, technological changes, and market trends. This helps them stay ahead of the competition and maintain their position in the market. 

  2. A change-ready culture creates agility, innovation, and resilience, necessary for business growth. In addition, such a culture allows employees to be flexible, think creatively, and embrace new ideas. This, in turn, promotes a positive work environment that fosters innovation, leading to even more positive results for the organization. 

  3. A change-ready culture promotes employee satisfaction and retention. When companies prioritize a culture of change, employees feel empowered to contribute their ideas, which leads to a sense of ownership and accountability in decision-making processes. This, in turn, reinforces trust and loyalty between employees and their employer, leading to a more committed workforce and improved employee retention rates.

 

Create a Culture that Encourages Change

Culture plays a critical role in inducing change within an organization. There are various organizational cultures, but those with adaptive and innovative characteristics are most effective in driving change. For example, an organization's culture that values experimentation, risk-taking, and continuous learning fosters an environment where employees are open to new ideas, embrace change, and are willing to take calculated risks to move the organization forward. These cultural attributes create a highly responsive and agile organization that can adapt to changing market requirements, improve operational efficiency, and innovate products and services.

On the other hand, a culture that is resistant to change, defensive, and bureaucratic can stifle innovation, hinder progress and result in rigid, slow-moving, and unresponsive organizations. Therefore, organizational culture plays a significant role in shaping the organization's change management capability, ensuring that changes positively impact the business and do not impede progress or productivity.

 

The Role of Leadership in Cultivating Culture Change

Leadership plays a vital role in shaping and cultivating a healthy work culture. A great leader sets a vision for the future and links it with the present to create a cohesive direction for the organization. They have the will and conviction to bring about culture change that aligns with business goals and values. A good leader actively supports and encourages day-to-day improvements and changes, creating a culture of continuous improvement. A key aspect of successful leadership is promoting team and thought diversity, giving fresh perspectives and ideas. They live, protect, and shelter the fundamental values and principles essential to the organization. Effective leadership makes change management more manageable, and the organization is better prepared to face challenges and thrive in a constantly changing business environment.

 

Developing a Culture of Trust

Developing a culture of trust is crucial for any organization that wants to thrive in today's fast-paced and constantly changing business landscape. It starts with leadership that is committed to putting their team's best interests at the forefront and can execute on their promises. In such a culture, employees feel empowered to make decisions within their sphere of expertise, knowing they have their leaders' support and trust. This creates a virtuous cycle of engagement, motivation, and innovation that drives organizational success. Furthermore, a trust-based culture facilitates organizational change management, allowing the team to quickly adapt to new challenges and opportunities. When leadership has the will and conviction to change, and employees feel empowered to make decisions, the entire organization can move forward confidently toward a brighter future.

 

Encouraging Accountability and Responsibility Through Positive Reinforcement

Encouraging accountability and responsibility through positive reinforcement is vital to building a high-performing team that can endure even the most disruptive change. Seek to understand the challenges of low performers; often due to lack of support and tools. At the same time, streamline processes, systems, and structures to ensure everyone works efficiently towards the same goals. When setbacks or failures occur, formalize the resetting process to provide clarity and insights for improvement. Finally, leaders must lead by example and set a personally accountable and responsible tone for the entire organization. Doing so can establish a culture of accountability and responsibility, which will drive better performance, stronger teamwork, and a more positive working environment.

 

Implementing a Plan for Long-term Organizational Transformation

Implementing a plan for long-term organizational transformation is a daunting yet necessary task for any organization that aims to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing business landscape. This process involves revisiting and restructuring the core processes, internal culture, and systems to align with the new vision and goals. Success in this endeavor depends on effective organizational change management, which requires a well-conceived change management plan. This plan should encompass various change aspects, including strategy, communication, culture, and leadership. With the right plan and execution, organizations can experience significant cultural and strategic change that helps them evolve and succeed in today's competitive business world.

Organizational change is essential to stay competitive and thrive in the modern global marketplace. At its core, it requires an organizational culture of trust, encouraging accountability and responsibility through positive reinforcement, and developing an organizational structure that enables change. By understanding and implementing these strategies, organizations can create a change-ready culture where employees are empowered to take the initiative while leadership supports their efforts. With this kind of environment, companies can adapt quickly to changing market conditions while maintaining long-term growth objectives.

 

For more information about cultivating a culture change, connect with us at Aspirant. Fill out the form below.

 

alexandra-pointon
2023/06
June 13, 2023
Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

The economic landscape of late 2022 and early 2023 witnessed a striking phenomenon that left many puzzled: while major layoffs plagued the big tech industry, the overall unemployment rate reached its lowest point in over five decades. There are many reasons behind the mass layoffs in big tech, the concurrent record-low unemployment rate, the impact on recruitment, business softness, and the future ahead. The tech industry experienced a wave of significant layoffs, sending shockwaves through the corporate world. Companies such as the Big 5 or GAMAM (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft) and numerous startups announced substantial job cuts, leaving thousands of employees uncertain about their professional futures. The reasons behind these layoffs were diverse, ranging from cost-cutting measures amidst changing market dynamics, company restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, to the need for strategic realignment in response to emerging technologies.

Here are some of the factors that were behind the layoffs:

 

  • Market Volatility and Shifting Priorities: 

One key factor contributing to the layoffs was the market's increasing volatility. Big tech companies faced challenges such as regulatory scrutiny, trade disputes, and changing consumer demands. This volatility forced many firms to reassess their priorities, leading to workforce reductions in certain areas and a reallocation of resources to more promising ventures. Companies aimed to streamline operations, optimize efficiency, and adapt to the evolving market landscape. Many tech companies began to look at productivity as the remote working environment was thought to have an impact on the output needed to move production innovation forward.  

 

  • Emerging Technologies and Reskilling Needs:

The rapid advancement of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning also played a role in the layoffs. As these technologies became more prevalent, companies sought to restructure their workforce to align with the demands of the future. Job roles that were becoming obsolete or redundant were phased out, while new positions requiring specialized skills were created. This transformation necessitated reskilling and upskilling efforts, resulting in a temporary dislocation of the workforce. 

 

 

  • Entrepreneurship and the Gig Economy: 

Another factor contributing to the low unemployment rate was the rise of entrepreneurship and the gig economy. With the availability of digital platforms and freelance opportunities, many individuals opted for self-employment or gig work, thereby bypassing traditional employment avenues. The new world of work and employee expectations that sought freedom and flexibility offered by these options appealed to a significant portion of the workforce, reducing the overall unemployment rate despite the layoffs in big tech. 

 

This time is complex given the ongoing challenges with the economic landscape. However, we are continually reminded that the labor market is dynamic and resilient and can adapt to changing circumstances. 

Additionally, amidst the layoffs in big tech and the record-low unemployment rate, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) emerges as a valuable solution to navigate complex situations. 

 

 

 

At Aspirant RPO, we offer organizations the following:  

 

 

  • Expertise and Efficiency: 

Bringing specialized knowledge and expertise in talent acquisition, enabling companies to streamline their hiring processes. This efficiency is crucial for companies going through layoffs, as they need to optimize their resources and fill key positions promptly. 

 

 

  • Cost Reduction: 

Implementing layoffs often comes with significant financial implications, and organizations are looking for ways to minimize costs without compromising on talent acquisition. RPO can be a cost-effective solution in this scenario. Companies can eliminate or reduce internal recruitment expenses by outsourcing the recruitment process, including hiring and training costs, job advertising fees, and recruitment technology investments. This allows organizations to allocate their limited resources strategically. 

 

 

  • Scalability and Flexibility: 

During periods of layoffs, companies may need to scale down their workforce temporarily. RPO offers the flexibility  to adapt to fluctuating hiring needs. Our services can quickly adjust our resources and recruitment efforts based on the organization's requirements, ensuring a seamless transition during downsizing. As the market stabilizes and the need for talent acquisition increases, we can scale up to accommodate the growing demands. 

 

  • Branding and Candidate Experience: 

Maintaining a positive employer brand and providing a good candidate experience is crucial, even during periods of layoffs. We help organizations navigate this challenge by implementing effective employer branding strategies and enhancing the candidate experience throughout the recruitment process. This ensures that companies uphold their reputation, attract top talent, and build long-term relationships with candidates, even during times of transition. 

 

  • Talent Pool Management:

While layoffs in big tech may result in job losses for some, there may still be a need for specific skills and expertise within the organization. Maintaining a mindset of talent pool management helps companies tap into this talent pool efficiently, when new opportunities open.  



The landscape will continue to change due to factors that are outside of a company's control. Knowing when it is time to engage can be the game changer in your Talent Acquisition strategy. Fill out the form below to learn more about Aspirant's Recruitment Process Outsourcing solutions.

patty-silbert
2023/06
June 7, 2023
Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

The decision to engage in a business merger goes far beyond vertical integration or capitalizing on market synergies. There are many opportunities inherent in combining the resources, assets, talent, market share, and intellectual property of organizations. However, the success of a business merger often falls on one critical factor that too many organizations don’t account for: culture.

Cultural Integration Is Critical

Culture plays a fundamental role in the success of mergers and acquisitions because it represents the core values of each company. While many of these values might be similar, how they’re embodied by management, employees, and the brand can differ significantly and the recognition of this can be the key to success or failure.

Building bridges to close culture gaps needs to be a core objective in any merger and acquisition plan. Without a focus on integrating cultures, even the most well-orchestrated M&A activity can become a rocky road with frustrated teams.

Even Balanced Business Mergers Don’t Feel Equal

Is there such a thing as a merger of equals? Even companies with similar balance sheets and market capitalizations often fall into rank and file as “winners” or “losers” in a merger. Company B takes Company A’s name or becomes its subsidiary. The branding of Company Y is dissolved and replaced with the colors, logos, and language of Company Z. Change is inevitable.

Even in a merger of equals, strategic moves are chalked up as wins or losses for one company or the other, and employees take note. There’s a natural propensity to believe that culture — especially a well-loved, long-held culture — will also dissolve within the merger. Can we still wear sports jerseys on Friday? Will the remote work policy change? Will my team stay the same, and where does my seniority rank after the merger? There are an infinite number of questions that, if not answered, can quickly devolve into fears or frustration.

It's important to note that cultural uncertainty isn’t only prevalent on the “losing” side of a merger. Any change affecting culture is one that’s likely to be met with trepidation. Even the perceived "winners" can be frustrated when they believe the other side isn't embracing the change or changing quickly enough. While many merger and acquisition strategies seek to create synergy through compromise, cultural changes need to be approached with tact to ensure that compromise isn’t seen as loss.

 

Creating a Cultural Integration Plan Before Your Business Merger

One of the biggest reasons mergers fail on expected value is because there’s an initial culture clash — and not enough attention to cultural differences. Companies fight to preserve their culture for fear that it’ll fade into the merger. Instead, it’s vital to facilitate the idea of a new, shared culture: one that incorporates the best-loved elements from both companies into a cohesive set of values that apply to both sides. It all starts with a plan.

  • Identify the core values of both organizations and seek to bring them together seamlessly. This often means conducting employee interviews and soliciting feedback, which offers the additional benefit of earning trust through stakeholder involvement.
  • Create a cultural integration plan that encapsulates the most important values from both organizations. Bring them together in a resilient, new (or modified) culture that invites shared ownership from both organizations — rather than one folded into another.
  • Designate cultural ambassadors and create accountability during the transition. Giving employees ownership of new cultural standards fosters a sense of pride and a willingness to adopt them — not only together, but as part of a new, larger team.
  • Engrain new culture standards into all aspects of the organization: from the branding to internal decision-making processes. The embodiment of a shared set of core values and cultural standards is what truly makes them real after a merger.
  • Track and monitor key metrics that show the adoption and inclusion of new values and standards within the merged organization. Use metrics as a way to foster discussions about culture, as opposed to a tool for assessing culpability.
  • The most important thing any two organizations can do to prevent tension is to pre-plan for a merger. Waiting until after a merger to address cultural differences or integration speed bumps means taking a reactive stance (as opposed to a proactive one). Pre-planning can head off morale slumps, talent exodus, integration inefficiencies, and other problems impacting the success of the broader merger.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

If your organization is readying for a merger or acquisition, consider the potential cultural concerns that could drive a wedge between merger goals and outcomes. A M&A consultant can add invaluable perspective to this process. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help support your team in building out a cultural integration plan.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

bill-kollitz
2023/05
May 23, 2023
Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

In today's data-driven marketplace, simply collecting numbers on a spreadsheet won't suffice. To make informed and accurate decisions, businesses need to go beyond data analytics and create an analytics culture that permeates the organization.

To achieve a successful data analytics strategy, a clear understanding of the data collection process and its reliability is required, as well as identifying stakeholders who need access to this information. An effective strategy also requires continuous monitoring, evaluation, and optimization to ensure relevant and up-to-date data.

But data analysis is just the beginning. The true power of analytics comes when businesses use it to uncover insights, predict future trends, and streamline decision-making. This requires effective data visualization and communication and incorporating analytics into the overall business strategy.

By investing in a comprehensive data analytics strategy beyond just numbers on a spreadsheet, businesses can gain a competitive advantage, improve operational efficiency, and ultimately drive growth. So don't just compile data; analyze it and make it work for you!

 

Simplify and Stay Relevant with a Solid Data Analytics Strategy

Data can be overwhelming, making it easy for stakeholders to neglect crucial information when presented with a report of graphs and numbers. A successful data analytics strategy compiles relevant information, delivers it on time, and provides the right individuals with the necessary analytical tools to guide data driven decision making.

Keeping your data analytics strategy simple and relevant is critical. This ensures your strategy is as robust as possible, providing your business with a bulletproof competitive edge.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

At Aspirant, we pride ourselves on our analytics and information management expertise. We've assisted countless companies in developing strategies to access the information they need when they need it. Analytics should be a powerful, insightful tool that drives your business forward. If this is a pain point for you or your company, fill out the form below.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

sayed-saeed
2023/05
May 12, 2023
Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

You use reporting to define success and determine if you achieved the results you set out to do. If each department looks at different reports with diverse metrics, how can you come to the same conclusion? Successful companies use one all-encompassing report to define their achievements.

Here are a few examples of how reporting processes can dissolve silos in business by galvanize organizations around shared objectives.

In the oil and gas industry, they focus on one report across all aspects of the company, and everyone has access to that information; from the engineer on the ground to the CEO in the corner office. Their focus is “barrels down the pipeline.”

While each team may have specific concerns, like oil from the wells, equipment, market activity, etc., the number of barrels that come down the pipeline is what it’s all about. After all, oil = barrels and barrels = money. Everything else contributes to those equations. Each department focuses on what they’re doing to influence that number.

Healthcare providers often use two main markers of success: lives saved and lives extended. If you take away all the details, all the regulations, medicines and equipment, the healthcare industry exists to achieve these two goals. Everything they do should ultimately contribute to extending lives and saving lives.

In higher education, one key area of focus is the percentage of alumni that donate to the college. Some teams will focus on the number of students who enroll or graduate and the number of majors offered. But ultimately, the number of alumni that donate to the school is a strong indicator of how well the college met and continues to meet their needs.

After all, if students were educated well, they should have found great jobs and earned enough money to give back. If the college provided the student with an educational and life experience they value, they should have the desire to give back. By and large, the ultimate measure of success for higher education relies on the activity of their previous students.

 

So, how do you define your company’s best measure of success?

1. Identify the main thing you do

Every company has a long story between quote and cash. Think big picture. Look at the above examples. With everything an oil and gas company works on and controls, their main goal is always to get barrels down the pipeline. If you take away all the incidentals in healthcare, the main purpose is to save and extend lives. What is your company’s purpose?

 

2. Make sure your metric aligns across all functions of your organization

Your key metrics have to be something affected by every department, not necessarily directly. For example, in higher education it may be important how many Ph.D. level professors work on campus, but that metric alone can’t define success. Think bigger and think end game. You want your metric to be an ultimate organizational goal, not a step along the way.

 

3. Plan, do, evaluate, and revise as necessary

Once you’ve decided on your metric, you need to plan how to focus on it. You need to decide how to get the entire company on board using this for your KPI. It’s not enough just to decide on a new report and tell everyone to follow it. You need to teach them. You need to evaluate the process, and you may need to revise it a few times before you get it right.

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/05
May 10, 2023
Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

Version Control Explained and Best Practices

As the digital age continues to evolve, businesses need a way to systematically track, manage, and store different versions of their projects. To ensure productivity remains high and that your data is consistently secure, using version control systems (VCS) is vital. While you may be aware of what version control entails in theory, understanding how they work and utilizing proper best practices can initially seem daunting.

We will explore what version control is all about and why using such systems across teams or departments is essential. We will also outline some valuable tips for successfully running version control within your business.

What is version control, and why does it matter for your projects?

Version control refers to managing document, file, and software code changes. Essentially, version control is a tracking mechanism that allows developers to record changes to their work. It's important because it helps to ensure that the final product is consistent and error-free. Version control is also essential for collaboration because it allows teams of developers to work on duplicate files simultaneously. By using version control, developers can easily roll back changes, identify the source of errors, and collaborate seamlessly on complex projects. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world of technology, version control is a must-have for any software development team.

 

Exploring the Types of Version Control Systems

Version control systems (VCS) are essential in software development, especially when working with multiple developers. These systems enable teams to collaborate efficiently by tracking changes to the codebase. 

In exploring the types of VCS available, it's important to note two main categories: centralized and distributed. 

  • Centralized systems like SVN have a single repository on a central server that controls all changes made to the codebase.
  • Distributed systems like Git have multiple repositories that mirror the central repository, allowing for local development without affecting the codebase until ready. 
  • Some VCSs, such as Mercurial, have centralized and distributed models. 

As developers, understanding the differences and choosing the right VCS can significantly affect productivity and workflow.

Version Control Systems

Subversion (SVN) Version Control

Subversion Version Control is an effective solution for managing software development projects. It provides a centralized repository that allows developers to easily collaborate on projects while tracking all changes made by each team member. With Subversion, teams can quickly identify bugs and make necessary adjustments with minimal disruption and effort. Additionally, SVN offers powerful branching capabilities that enable concurrent development and reduce risks associated with merging multiple code versions. By using Subversion for your software development project, you will always ensure that your team has access to the latest version of the codebase - ensuring no one gets left behind.

Pros of Subversion:

  1. Maintains a centralized repository for all code changes
  2. Allows teams to collaborate and track changes made by each member easily
  3. Powerful branching capabilities enable concurrent development with reduced risk
  4. Supports distributed workflows with multiple repositories
  5. Enables developers to quickly identify bugs, revert mistakes, and make necessary adjustments
  6. User-friendly interface that simplifies the version control process

 

Cons of Subversion:

  1. Relies on legacy systems - may not be compatible with newer technologies
  2. Performance issues when retrieving large files or merging complex branches
  3. Lack of advanced features
  4. Time-consuming installation and difficult for beginners

 

Git Version Control

Using Git in software development projects provides a distributed version control system that allows teams to work seamlessly on a project. It offers a local repository created for each team member that can be synced with a central repository when ready. This decentralized approach allows team members to work offline and achieve better collaboration. With Git, developers can create branches for each project feature or bug fix, allowing for parallel development and efficient management of workloads. Developers can also create pull requests to merge their changes with the main branch, making code reviews simple and efficient. Moreover, Git provides an excellent audit trail, which helps teams quickly trace modifications made to the codebase, reducing risks and insecurity. Using Git for software development can significantly enhance productivity, minimize errors, and save development time.

 Pros of Git:

  1. High performance
  2. Distributed version control system
  3. Branching and merging support
  4. Reduced risks and insecurity with an audit trail
  5. Offline access to the codebase
  6. Concurrent development capabilities

 

Cons of Git:

  1. Complex setup process
  2. Steep learning curve for beginners
  3. Lack of centralized repository management tools

 

Mercurial Version Control

Mercurial is another VCS that can be used in software development projects. It offers centralized and distributed models, which can be helpful for different development scenarios. Mercurial provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for developers to manage their projects. This VCS supports branching and merging, enabling teams to work concurrently and without the risk of code conflicts.

Mercurial also offers powerful collaboration tools, including push and pull requests, which allow teams to share their work and receive feedback quickly. One of the main advantages of Mercurial is its robustness and stability, as many organizations have used it for years, and it has proven to be reliable in large-scale projects.

In addition, Mercurial has a simple installation process, which can save developers valuable time and resources. Unlike Git, Mercurial's interface is more uniform across different platforms, which can make it less confusing for beginners. However, Mercurial may lack some of the advanced features of Git, such as rebasing and staging.

When deciding between Git and Mercurial, it's essential to consider the specific needs of your organization and team. While Git may offer more advanced features, Mercurial can provide a simpler and more stable option. Ultimately, the choice between these VCSs depends on the type and scale of your project, as well as the preferences of your development team. 

Pros of Mercurial:

  1. Easy to use and set up

  2. Cross-platform compatibility

  3. Supports both centralized and distributed version control models

  4. Powerful branching system - allowing developers to work on multiple versions simultaneously

  5. Great for small teams working on a single project

  6. Fast, efficient, and reliable tracking of changes made to the codebase

  7. Allows users to easily back out or undo mistakes without affecting history

 

Cons of Mercurial:

  1. Limited support for Windows systems compared to other VCSs, such as Git

  2. Requires command-line knowledge, which can be intimidating for some beginners

  3. Difficult to manage large projects due to lack of automation tools

  4. Not suitable for real-time collaboration with multiple people

  5. No GUI-based client is available

 

Tips for Avoiding Mistakes and Maintaining Peace of Mind With Version Control

Version control can be a lifesaver for any software developer or team. However, it can also quickly become a source of frustration if mistakes are made, or the process needs to be appropriately maintained. To avoid these pitfalls and maintain peace of mind, there are a few tips to keep in mind:

  1. It is important to always double-check before committing changes to a repository. This way, errors can be caught before becoming more significant.
  2. Clear and concise communication with team members is a must. It will help ensure everyone is on the same page and appropriately manages changes.
  3. Staying organized and maintaining a consistent workflow can also significantly reduce the chances of mistakes and make managing versions a smoother process.

Following these tips can streamline the version control process and enjoy its benefits.

 

Version control is a powerful tool that makes it easier to manage and organize all sorts of projects. It improves collaboration amongst team members, eliminates the risk of losing information through multiple versions, and helps prevent significant errors throughout the project. With version control, teams can work together without fear of one wrong move derailing the entire project and making it difficult to start up again. Utilizing version control when managing projects enables teams to be more productive in their time and energy by streamlining their workflow processes. Not only does version control to save time and hassle for your project development team, but it gives you peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, you have a backup plan ready if any mistakes are made, or changes need to be reversed quickly. Version control holds numerous benefits and should be considered when dealing with complex projects.

 

Learn more about how to set up the right VCS for your organization! Please fill out the form below to reach our talent experts.

phil-kossler
2023/05
May 9, 2023
Version Control Explained and Best Practices

Version Control Explained and Best Practices

Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Master Data Management (MDM) is a critical business process that involves managing the organization's most important data assets. However, companies often need help implementing MDM, which can lead to significant missteps affecting the entire organization. Let's discuss two common missteps and how to avoid them.

Not Having an MDM Plan

The first misstep to avoid is needing a solid plan in place. A bad plan is even worse than having no plan at all. A well-thought-out MDM plan must consider all major and minor aspects of your business's master data management. Here are some key questions you should ask:

  • Where is the data?
  • How reliable is the data?
  • Who needs access to the data?
  • How secure is the data?
  • How will people access the data?

 

 

By answering these questions, you'll understand how your MDM strategy needs to work.

 

Take Ownership of the Data Cleanup Process for Effective MDM

Various applications and spreadsheet data are brought together in a typical MDM strategy. For example, your marketing team may use a CRM like HubSpot, your accounting team could be using QuickBooks, and your consultants use their spreadsheets uploaded to Google Drive.

However, when it's time to implement an MDM strategy, the data turns out to be a mess with multiple records for the same customer that contain slightly varying data. It's up to you to own the cleanup process, as it's not the responsibility of the IT department to clean up the data.

It's common to assume another person will clean up the data, but that never happens. As a result, the data needs to be more reliable and efficient, defeating the MDM strategy's very purpose. Don't make this misstep; take responsibility for cleaning up the data for effective MDM.

 

Don't Struggle Alone: Let Us Help You Build a High-Performance Data Warehouse

Are you tired of chasing incomplete or inaccurate information? At Aspirant, we specialize in evaluating, installing, configuring, and implementing high-performance data warehouse architectures. We understand how crucial it is to have reliable information at your fingertips. Don't waste another day struggling on your own. Let us help you build the data warehouse solution you need. Reach out to us today by filling out the form below to learn more and get started. Together, let's achieve your data goals.

 

sayed-saeed
2023/05
May 3, 2023
Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

All businesses have competition. To understand where you stand against your competitors, you may rely on sales reports, data analysis, and other metrics. But what if your company is the market leader? Do you know why? More importantly, do you know if you can maintain your competitive edge in the long run? Keep reading to learn how to stay ahead of the game.

In today's fiercely competitive business environment, it's crucial to differentiate yourself from the competition. One way to do this is by knowing rival brands inside and out. Conducting a thorough analysis of your competitors' strengths and weaknesses can help you identify gaps in the market and refine your own strategy. Keeping a pulse on industry trends and market shifts can also give you a leg up over the competition. Staying ahead of the game requires constant vigilance and adaptation.

 

What is the Meaning of Market Positioning?

Market positioning is a strategy used by businesses and organizations to create and maintain a brand image. It is a common marketing strategy for companies to establish their unique position within the market. This can be accomplished by following the four P's: promotion, prices, places, and products. The more detailed you define your Ps, the more effective the result.

Creating or refining a positioning statement for your business can help shape your brand identity, as it influences your message, language, and brand strategy.

 

Use Data Wisely for Your Brand Positioning Strategy

Data is abundant nowadays. It can either help and hurt you, depending on how it's used. Like fire, it can help cook your food, but it can also set fire to your home. So, while data can help you make strategic business decisions, it can also overwhelm you to the point of analysis paralysis or make you so focused that you're missing other important elements.

Companies are often guilty of looking at data for a specific purpose, but not looking at it holistically and seeing other points that are interwoven within the data. It can also create fire drills. Many a marketer has heard the call for, “Why are sales down here? Figure out why!” and off they run to focus on something else. Though important, excessive data analysis in isolation can be problematic. Achieving a happy medium between analysis and action is vital. It is crucial to not only scrutinize data in an office, but also speak with customers outside of it to balance findings with real-world insights.


Achieving and Maintaining a Strong Market Position: A Simple 3-Step Process

To truly understand where you stack up versus competition, and most importantly, how you can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, there are three key things to keep in mind:



1. Focus on the Consumer Wants and Needs

Ask yourself: How can we deeply connect with and understand them?

In-depth insights into your customers or consumers are crucial to your brand's success, and engaging with them takes more than data analysis. Stepping out of your office and having conversations with your customers is key to understanding their brand perceptions and how they interact with your competitors. Solid data obtained through empathetic conversations carries just as much weight as quantitative metrics. When you listen to your customers and connect with them, you'll build stronger bonds, develop valuable feedback, and gain sharp insights that can optimize your marketing and sales strategies.

 

2. Determine Where You Can Bring Unique Value

Ask yourself: How can our product or service bring more value than the competition?

Once you truly understand your consumer and gain deep insights about their needs, you can use that information to strengthen your market positioning. Ask yourself, ‘How can we uniquely provide value to the consumer better than anyone else?' This takes time and is not easily understood. It is also important to not do this alone.

Creating a team of diverse thinkers who share and synthesize information from a multitude of sources, including their own personal observations with your target audience, is critical in honing your point of difference. One effective test is to swap your brand name with a competitor's name, while retaining your brand positioning. If your original statement still rings true with the competitor's name, then it may need further development. This ensures your brand positioning is unique, ownable, and sets you apart from competitors.

 

3. Zeroing in on the Competition

Ask yourself: Where is our competition playing in our market? Where are we vulnerable to the competition?

If your company has been strictly internally focused and forgotten about the competition, one way to mitigate this process is through Competitive Scenario Planning. Through this intensive process, you'll get your employees together, creating focus groups, and ‘become' the competitor. Who are they? What's driving their strategy? Advertising? Sales materials? Digital? How are they presenting themselves?

Effective preparation is imperative; ensure you have the right people involved. Analyze sales data and share insights on consumer preference and satisfaction. Formal marketing research data is ideal but if unavailable, social media, online ratings and reviews can be valuable resources. Evaluating competition's marketing materials and positioning strategy is recommended.

One smart way to gain insight into your major competitors is to gather all relevant information and share it with your team. During the analysis process, it's important to consider diverse perspectives and leverage tools like SWOT or PESTLE analyses. This approach not only helps identify competitor advantages and disadvantages, but also external factors with the potential to influence the market. By putting all the pieces together, you can make more informed strategic decisions.

 

Ready to Take Action

To excel in your industry, it is vital to balance your internal perspective with your awareness of your competitors. Understanding your customers' needs and meeting them in a unique and distinctive way is also crucial. So, remember to keep these factors in mind as you aim to grow and differentiate yourself from competitors.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2023/05
May 2, 2023
Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

What Is Data Analytics?

Data analytics is an ever-evolving component of business analytics that helps businesses make better decisions and drive productivity. Regardless of a company's size or industry, the ability to translate raw data into actionable insights is critical to sustainable success.

How Is It Used in Business?

Skilled analysts can uncover trends from customer interactions, supply chain metrics, financial data, or any other business information that might otherwise go unnoticed. This can reveal opportunities for growth, cost savings, and improved processes across every aspect of the organization. With the right tools and expertise, the right data analytics strategy can help businesses stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving marketplace.

 

What Inputs Do Companies Use for Their Analytics?

Depending on their size, industry, and key objectives, companies use a variety of data sources for analysis.

  • Macroeconomic factors (foreign exchange rates, unemployment, inflation)
  • Financial data (sales figures, operating costs, profit margins)
  • Business operations data (finished goods inventory, production rates, available capacity)
  • Customer data (demographics, customer satisfaction, purchase frequency)
  • Competitive data (market share, brand preference, distribution to end markets)

By applying natural language processing tools, a skilled data analyst is able to perform data analytics on qualitative data as well as quantitative data. Extracting the nuance from textual data from surveys, articles, or social media posts often generates the most valuable insights.

 

What Are Steps are Involved?

Define Business Objectives

Organizations need to align on what they intend to accomplish through data analysis. A specific, methodical approach can then be tailored accordingly.

Data Collection

In this step, all available data is extracted, validated, and aggregated. Establishing direct integrations between databases and internal systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms eliminates the hassle and risk of collecting data manually.

Data Processing

Jumping right into analyzing raw data is inefficient and ineffective. Data sets must be cleansed and transformed to address any inconsistent consistent formatting and organization. Effort to process data includes removing duplicates, handling missing values, and encoding categorical variables.

Data processing also involves normalization and scaling, which helps standardize data for comparison and analysis purposes. This essential step ensures that data is complete, reliable, and unbiased.

Data Analysis

The data analysis process, including data mining, is where data is transformed into meaningful insights. A variety of data analytics tools are employed to identify trends, patterns, and relationships within large datasets. Advanced analytics algorithms and machine learning are being rapidly adopted for their ability to accelerate and improve statistical analysis.

The key is to ask the right questions and use the appropriate analysis to answer them. Data analysis must be thorough and maintain the integrity of large datasets.

Data Visualization

The breadth and depth of the data being analyzed heavily determines its potential. The complex relationships between data points can be difficult to explain in terms of numbers in a spreadsheet. Specialized data visualization software helps create interactive charts, graphs, and other visual elements that are accessible and easy to understand - even for stakeholders who are not savvy with analytic data.

Data Interpretation

Interpretation is where business leaders draw conclusions from the data presented to them. Data modeling such as diagnostic analytics (diagnose why something happened), predictive analytics (predict future trends or events), and prescriptive analytics (recommend the optimal course of action) can lend some data-driven context.

All preceding data management and visualization must be executed properly in order for the analysis to be correctly interpreted. Miscues along the way could cause decision makers to form a skewed understanding of reality.

Taking Action

Despite all the work invested into the data analytics process and the sophistication of the analytical tools available to them, leaders still need to call on their intuition in making strategic decisions for their organizations. All data analytics techniques have bias and limitations that must be considered when it is time to take action.

 

What Is Data Analytics Step by Step

 

The Future of Analytics: Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning

Big data analytics seems poised to become tables stakes in the business world. The larger and more varied a data set is, the more accurate and useful predictive analytics becomes. The added horsepower of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will enable organizations to leverage increasingly sophisticated models that will make decision-making nearly automatic. Businesses operating at the speed of information.

This may sound a bit pie-in-the-sky, but the adoption of these tools is already well underway. Leaders who embrace big data and prioritize the installation of business intelligence tools stand to create a sustainable advantage for their organizations.

Conversely, companies that put off the initiation of a business analytics program run a serious risk of being left in the dust.

 

What Challenges Do Companies Encounter with Analytics?

Committing to data driven decision making is the first step for business leaders looking to data analytics to drive business performance. However, a variety of dynamics make this progression even more challenging than it seems, including:

  • Scarcity or reliability of historical data due to the absence of digital systems and/or dependable record keeping
  • No efficient, reliable means for operationalizing data aggregation or establishing data warehouses
  • Intimidation with getting started with organizing all the data that has been generated
  • Lacking in-house data scientists or data analysts with the ability to normalize unstructured data and identify patterns between data sets
  • Uncertain on how to interpret the different types of data analytics
  • Doubt with the ability to use data to directly inform strategic action

How Does Aspirant Help Clients Harness the Power of Their Data?

Companies could try to build out these capabilities on their own by hiring for, or internally cultivating, the data analytics skills to collect, process, and analyze data. However, that approach requires more patience and risk tolerance than most leaders can spare. We can help.

Aspirant's team of data analysts and data science experts can flatten that learning curve. They design custom solutions that utilize all available data and generate the insight needed to make nimble strategic decisions. From supporting data mining to applying the latest data science methodologies to developing real-time dashboards to enabling business process automation (BPA), Aspirant is capable of implementing even the most ambitious analytics program.

We can also develop custom applications and integrations to create a comprehensive data collection infrastructure.

 

Aspirant Is a Microsoft Partner

 

The people and processes are just as important as the technology when standing up an analytics program. Aspirant's Integrated Expertise provides direct access to all the cross-functional support companies need to being leveraging data as means for strengthening their strategic agility.

 

Learn more about Aspirant's Integrated Expertise

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/05
May 1, 2023
What Is Data Analytics?

What Is Data Analytics?

Why Is Business Analytics Important?

Business analytics is the practice of using data and analytical techniques to gain insights that help inform business decisions. With the right approach, organizations can unlock a wealth of valuable information from the data they are already generating to make faster, more informed strategic choices. It has become an essential tool for business leaders as they seek opportunities for growth and a competitive edge for their companies.

What Is Business Analytics?

This refers to a complex process that involves gathering, analyzing and interpreting data to drive decision-making. It is a multidimensional approach to data analysis that encompasses business intelligence, data mining, and predictive modeling techniques. With the help of advanced analytical tools, organizations can identify trends, patterns, and outliers that hold the key to solving their toughest challenges.

 

What Are the Benefits?

Through proper analysis, companies can find patterns, relationships and trends that enable them to make faster, better decisions in their operations. The ability to spot trends and react quickly creates 'strategic agility' that can provide a competitive advantage.

 

How Does This Inform Business Decisions?

Decision-making becomes much faster and far less subjective when using a defined, consistent approach for reacting to objective inputs (various data sets). This mitigates the substantial risk that comes with leading companies by intuition alone.

 

How Is This Different from Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Data Analysis?

Business Intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) is about understanding what happened in the past. Companies can see how they did in the past and use that information to plan for the future.

Data Analytics

Data analytics is a general term that refers to the concept of leveraging data to make better decisions.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is a subset of data analytics where specific processes define how data is inspected, processed, and interpreted. More sophisticated approaches apply statistical and computational techniques as well as machine learning in order to handle larger data sets, accelerate its analysis, and represent it visually.

 

How Does Business Analytics Work?

These programs encompass a series of processes that translate raw data into insight. Business data from a variety of internal and external sources is aggregated, analyzed, and presented in a format that allows decision makers to quickly understand it. They can then collaborate and align on the corresponding course of action in very short order.

Direct integration of the data feeds and dashboards can accelerate these efforts to the point where data driven decision making is nearly automatic.

 

How Is This Approach Typically Applied?

The potential uses are only limited by the scope and volume of available data. With the right inputs, analysis can uncover actionable insights within customer behavior, market trends, sales performance, or operational efficiency. Companies of any size or industry stand to gain a material advantage by developing an effective data analytics strategy.

 

What Are the Different Types of Analytics?

Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics uses historical business data to describe what happened in the past.

Diagnostic Analytics

Diagnostic analytics, or 'drill-down analytics', is used to uncover patterns, trends, and correlations in historical data that explain why something happened.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics identifies patterns in data to predict future outcomes. Methods such as regression analysis, decision trees, neural networks, and clustering can help establish and quantify the cause-and-effect relationships between any number of business dynamics.

Prescriptive Analytics

Prescriptive analytics goes a step further by recommending what should be done in a given situation to achieve a desired outcome. Mathematical modeling, simulation, machine learning, and optimization are often part of these frameworks.

 

 

Descriptive Analytics vs Diagnostic Analytics vs Predictive Analytics vs Prescriptive Analytics

 

 

What Are the Most Common Tools?

Spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel is the typical starting point for basic data analytics. However, most companies quickly opt for more powerful data analytics tools that are capable of more robust and faster analysis.

Through systems integrations and the development of custom applications, companies can virtually eliminate the time, effort, and potential for errors inherent with manual data management.

Microsoft's Power BI is one of the most popular solutions for data visualization. It provides dynamic dashboards that empowers users to see and dig into data in real time. They can be customized and configured to show the most important metrics in the most intuitive way.

 

 

Why is Business Analytics Important - Sample BI Dashboard Configurations

 

 

What Are the Most Critical Skills?

In addition to software and systems, organizations need business analysts with a broad set of skills in order to conduct analysis properly:

  • Data Analysis: The ability to analyze data is the foundation of business analytics. Analysts must be able to clean and transform unstructured data, build models, and use apply statistical analysis to derive insights.
  • Business Acumen: Successful analysts understand their business, including organizational goals, challenges, and competitors. By knowing what drives the business, they can focus on the most relevant metrics.
  • Critical Thinking: The ability to think critically is essential to making accurate and meaningful insights from data. Analysts must be able to question assumptions, test hypotheses, and consider alternative explanations to avoid drawing erroneous conclusions.
  • Communication: Skilled analysts can translate technical analyses into plain language and explain their implications for different audiences, including decision-makers, who may or may not be data-savvy.
  • Visualization: Thoughtful and visually intuitive charts, graphs and other dashboards are critical in providing stakeholders the insights they need quickly.
  • Project Management: Effectively managing projects, prioritizing tasks, and meeting deadlines ensure that analysts not only produce valuable insights but also do so efficiently.
  • Programming: The ability to manipulate data, build models, refine algorithms, and automate business processes is very useful in managing more advanced programs. Aspiring business analysts should build competency with programming languages such as Python and R.

How Can Companies Build Out Analytical Capabilities?

Enabling analytical capabilities requires a systematic approach that involves the integration of technology, data management, and human expertise. Companies need to invest in the right resources and infrastructure to support continuous improvement and innovation.

Here are some critical steps that companies can take to develop these capabilities internally:

  • Set objectives: Start by defining clear business objectives that align with their overall strategic goals. The associated key performance indicators (KPIs) will be used to track progress and measure success.
  • Invest in data infrastructure: Technology such as data lakes, data warehouses, and data visualization software will be required to collect, manage, and analyze data.
  • Develop a data governance framework: A data governance framework must be established to ensure data quality and integrity. This includes defining data standards, ensuring data privacy and security, as well as establishing roles and responsibilities for data management.
  • Hire the right talent: Teams comprised of data analysts, data scientists, and visualization experts must have the expertise to properly interpret data, extract insights, and contribute to making data-driven decisions.
  • Commit to continued development: Ongoing training is critical. Companies should encourage employees to take courses, attend workshops, and earn certifications that bolster their skills and keep them current with the latest industry trends.
  • Foster a data-driven culture: Companies need to encourage innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement. This involves promoting data literacy, where everyone in the organization understands the value of data and how to use it to make informed decisions.

What Are the Common Challenges?

It is easy to get excited about the potential impact of leveraging data to fuel business growth, but there tend to be some challenges in standing up these programs.

Here are some of the hurdles that companies tend to encounter:

  • Data Quality: One of the most foundational considerations is ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data used for analysis. It must be clean, standardized, and up to date. Otherwise, the insights derived from the data can be misleading or incorrect.
  • Data Privacy and Security: Businesses must also consider data privacy and security concerns when collecting and analyzing data. New data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA create an increasingly complex regulatory landscape that companies must successfully navigate in order to avoid costly fines and reputational damage.
  • Skills Gap: Expertise in data science and analytics is in short supply, making it difficult to recruit employees with the needed skills.
  • Legacy Systems: Outdated legacy systems may not be compatible with modern analytics tools. This can lead to problems with data integration, processing, and accessibility.
  • Culture: Establishing business analytics requires a cultural shift towards data-driven decision-making. This can be a significant challenge in organizations where decision-making is still based on intuition, experience, or seniority.

Leaders are willing to face these challenges because they realize the potential upside of revolutionizing how their companies run. Few have the time, resources, and expertise to do that on their own and avoid all the pitfalls along the way. That's where we come in.

 

How Does Aspirant Help Clients Harness the Power of Their Data?

Aspirant's data and analytics experts know how to anticipate, identify, and resolve problems that would otherwise limit data analytics programs or prevent them from ever being implemented.

We can also develop custom applications and/or integrations to install a comprehensive data collection infrastructure.

 

Aspirant is a Microsoft Partner

 

As mentioned above, there is much more to cultivating analytical capabilities than technology. Aspirant's delivery model is based on Integrated Expertise, which provides direct access to all the cross-functional support needed to stand up a state-of-the-art, difference-making business intelligence program.

 

Learn more about Aspirant's Integrated Expertise

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/04
April 17, 2023
Why Is Business Analytics Important?

Why Is Business Analytics Important?

5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

Once you’ve identified that your organization is suffering from silos, you’re going to want to eliminate them right away. The longer they go on, the harder they are to break. Over 25 years ago, the quest to eliminate these organizational boundaries was championed by Jack Welch, who was CEO of General Electric at the time.

Welch's strategy is still relevant today, but there are also new developments in this arena. With an ever-changing business and technology landscape, this is something you should always be striving for. Even when you bust up silos in your business, best practices should persist to prevent recurrences.

Here are some solutions to help you continuously bust up silos:

1. Review your critical project teams and diversify them.

This does not mean fire people, but you can remove people from projects and teams, add in some new blood and increase diversity. If you don’t think someone is a great fit or you find too much homogeneity on the team, reassignment will help your team and aid in that person’s development. Make sure to have an array of strengths and talents on each team. A software development team can’t work with just programmers. You need user-experience experts, task masters, beta testers, etc. Cross-functional collaboration can also help participants build their employee network.

 

2. Document and discuss your processes.

This isn’t about evaluating the quality of the work people do. This is about documenting and discussing the process by which they do their jobs. Use it as a learning experience and tool to help diversify your team members. Have them document each other’s process by being walked through it. Having an outsider view for documentation is beneficial, and it will encourage mutual respect. The process of documentation will help you identify where the flow is breaking down. At that point, the team can come together to try to remedy any obstructions.

 

3. Develop your leaders across departmental lines.

If you want to bust out of a silo environment, you have to develop your leaders outside of silos. If you’ve got employees targeted for advancement, start assigning them to work with different departments. Make sure cross-functional projects are on their agenda. Give them experiences to help them build the skills necessary to lead. In a  study by Harvard Business Publishing, 58% of the least successful businesses surveyed said that leadership development was just something they did to ‘check a box.’ Don’t be that business.

Centralized reporting that focuses teams and their leaders on shared goals can go a long way to combat working in silos.

 

4. Develop leaders’ global acumen.

Similar to the solution above, this one is becoming more important all the time. Nearly every business now competes in a global market. Do you have offices and employees across the globe? If so, make sure they work together on projects. Encourage employees to work on location in different cities and countries when the opportunity arises. Perhaps provide paid subscriptions to world news sites and encourage global learning.

 

5. Hire and embrace diversity.

You want to hire people that enhance your current team and fill in gaps in talent, style and personality. Use things like HBDI to determine what styles you already have and identify what you are missing. The more diverse your team, the less likely they are to separate into silos.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/04
April 17, 2023
5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

When we think about the delegation of authority, we often think about “pushing” tasks or work to our team members. But metaphorically, it’s taking something currently on your plate, by choice or circumstance, and moving it to one of your team members’ plates.

A previous blog on delegated authority focused on how managers can build the skills to balance workload across their teams. The world and work landscape has been uprooted since then. Between the abrupt shift to remote during the pandemic, distributed work and workforces, the Great Resignation, record low unemployment, staffing shortages, employee burnout, and hyper-focus on culture & employee experience.

Managers are facing new challenges to lead and engage their teams that require new skills effectively or, in this case, a “reframe” of skills like delegation of authority.

When done well, delegating tasks, projects, and authority creates space for you as the manager as well as your team members.

 

Start With You, the Manager

It’s important to ask yourself, “what outcome do I want?” Most often, the desired outcome is not simply to shift work but to:
  • Create capacity for you as a manager
  • Build your team’s capability
  • Drive engagement, retention, and team performance

Once you’ve considered your desired outcome, ask yourself, “Am I prepared to not just delegate the work, but delegate the authority to make decisions regarding the work?” If so, “What are the expectations, conditions, or considerations for my team to be successful?”

Once you’re ready, reframe delegation through these employee experience lenses.

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 1: Delegation as Empowerment

The tension with delegation doesn’t lie within assigning the work to a team member, but in stepping away and letting the team member own what’s been given to them. Establishing this culture of accountability is often a point where managers most commonly struggle. Assigning tasks or projects and then micro-managing their completion isn’t creating capacity for you as a manager or building capability on your team. In fact, it’s counterproductive and erodes trust and culture.

Daniel Pink’s best seller “Drive” talked about the three important motivational factors for managers to recognize: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Autonomy is flexibility and space to do work independently. Pink describes the conditions for autonomy as having ownership over “the task, the time, the technique, and the team.”

Delegating, then empowering your team member to own what’s been assigned to them requires alignment on expectations, trust, and clear, consistent communication.

Practice:

      • Reframe your team member as the CEO of the task or project
      • Share expectations, ask questions, provide input, and offer support
      • Let them run the task or project like they own it

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 2: Delegation as Development

Employee growth and development is one of the main drivers of engagement and often why employees leave organizations. With retention and engagement being such a critical focus in the current environment, delegating projects or tasks to your team members as a development opportunity is a great way to build capability and develop talent.

Pink describes Mastery as “the feeling I am getting better at things that matter, by getting feedback.”

For managers, delegating authority and pushing decision-making and ownership down in your organization is a powerful development tool. It builds critical problem-solving skills and creates a sense of accountability for the tasks and outcomes.

When delegating authority as a development tool, it’s important is aligns with your team member’s strength(s) and development goal(s).

Practice: Try reframing the task as a question like:

      • “Could I get your help with something?”
      • “Could I give you a project?”

Asking your team member involves them directly in the delegation. It can help them communicate what authority and resources they need to be successful.

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 3: Delegation as a Team Sport

Managers have a noble goal, building and leading a high-performing team working together to achieve a common goal. A strong sense of individual and shared trust and accountability is an essential characteristic of high-performing teams.

There is a natural tension between trust, accountability, and clear expectations; communication and feedback live in the space created by that tension.

When delegating authority within your team, this practice must be visible and apparent to the team member that you’re delegating to, as well as the entire team.

This practice clarifies roles and expectations, demonstrates your commitment to empowering the team, and models behaviors aligning with your vision and goals.

Accountability is demonstrated through ownership and agency over tasks, decisions, risks, and results across the team. Trust is built by consistently holding our team and ourselves accountable to the same expectations.

Practice:

      • Set guiding principles in your team around delegation
      • Explain what authority means and what support looks like
      • Use team time, staff meetings, and 1:1s to reinforce your expectation and your role
      • Say, “I am here to support you if, how, and when you need me.”

 

Recap of Your Role in Delegation of Authority

Remember, the way you delegate authority only begins at the transfer of the task. The real work is in the process. How you set expectations, offer resources, check-in, ask questions, remove obstacles, offer support, allow space for small failures or missteps, and, importantly, resist the urge to step in fully unless requested will be the true step of how effectively you delegate authority. It’s a learning process for you and your team.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough and relinquishing some level of control is challenging for many of us, but becoming comfortable with delegation is part of the maturation process for any leader. Think your team could use more direct support? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

rachel-brecht
2023/03
March 30, 2023
Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

Managing a tech team can be challenging and even more complicated when managing a department if you aren't extremely knowledgeable about tech. In addition, you may have trouble understanding the employees' points of view and their frustrations.

Here are a few tips to help you, whether you have tech employee issues or want to ensure you're running the team to the best of your ability.


 

1. Build Relationships

Developing solid relationships with your tech team is vital to working smoothly with them. Take time to get to know them, their strengths, and their interests. Showing a genuine interest in them and their work will help to build trust and create a positive work environment.

 

2. Obtain Details Before Assigning

Most IT people prefer to avoid brainstorming sessions with other departments. They would rather come into the game later because it isn't one of their strengths. Of course, there can always be exceptions, and they want to be asked for their technical input. However, they are much happier when the details are gathered for them. They can't read your mind, nor that of the marketing manager, so have as much information about what is needed as possible when assigning projects.

 

3. Communicate Clearly

Clear communication is essential when working with a tech team. Be specific about your needs, expectations, and deadlines. Use clear and concise language and avoid technical jargon if possible. This will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

 

4. Acquire Access Before Proceeding

Ensure your tech team and other parties can access files, sites, etc., and logins and/or passwords when required. Don't spend time figuring out who needs access to what and why some people can view a file and others can't. It will start the project with aggravated employees on both sides.

 

5. Provide the Right Tools 

Give your tech team the tools and resources to do their job effectively, including hardware, software, and access to training and development opportunities. Providing the right tools will help to increase productivity and job satisfaction.

 

6. Discuss and Agree on Realistic Timelines

It may be tempting to tell the CEO what he wants to hear when he asks, "When can this be done?" But make sure you truly know the answer before giving it. Whenever possible, discuss timelines with your tech team. You should push them to be realistic as well. If the CEO wants a project done in three months, and your tech team is telling you it will be 12 months, neither of those is probably accurate. Walk your tech team through the steps and let them tell you why; they may realize during the talk that they overestimated. Ask them what they can do to get it done faster. Can you bring in an intern to cover some lower-level items? Can you put off another project or allow your team to work from home without distractions? Work with them, and come to a reasonable and realistic timeline. Once you have that, communicate it with the CEO and other affected parties. Make sure they understand the timeline and why it is as such.

 

7. Show Appreciation to Your Tech Team

Recognize and appreciate the hard work! A little appreciation goes a long way. Make sure they know you value and respect the work they do.

 

 

Looking for more ways to make your tech department run more smoothly? Reach out to our team of tech experts or fill out the form below to learn more.

phil-kossler
2023/03
March 27, 2023
7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

The talent acquisition sector understands full well how recruiting and the overall hiring process has changed dramatically; however, what hasn’t changed is that recruiting is still missing out on creating a great candidate experience. The vast majority of job seekers state that they have a less-than-desirable experience with most companies’ hiring process.

What is missing for most companies? Personalizing the candidate experience that meets them on their terms. Those terms begin with how recruiting teams promote the organization’s employer brand — moving from brochureware to personalized communications unique to each candidate. Job seekers want to communicate through their communication channel of choice: text, email, or chatbots. They also desire ease when filling out forms on the career site or self-scheduling and expect a robotic experience in the right places to move them through the process faster. Unfortunately, many organizations miss the fact that the robotics they put in place should be there to collect information on the user that can be used for personalization later.

The candidate experience remains disjointed today, and it is a widespread pain point for anyone going through their recruitment journey. Delivering seamless experiences across many communication channels and introducing digital touchpoints within the recruiting process is challenging, requiring special attention and a deep understanding of your audience. There needs to be a more thoughtful approach to ensure it creates a relevant experience specific to their needs. Every interaction you have with your candidate is your opportunity to tell a great story about your organization, your employee value proposition, and your “why” with the intent of building a relationship between the individual and your organization’s brand

Those touches or interactions throughout the recruiting process reflect your brand and signal what it is like to work for your organization. Like any customer buying experience, your candidates assess your social media, your career site, the way you communicate, and build their own impressions if your truth is well told. At Aspirant’s RPO, we work to help organizations continually assess their candidate experience. It is a critical component in helping organizations to compete and stand out in a crowded space.

There are some easy steps that organizations can take to begin optimizing their candidate experience, and those include:

  • Treat candidates as customers Candidate Experience: Treat Talent as Customers
  • Create a positive experience that candidates remember at every interaction 
  • Personalize the messages and use digital interactions in a way that feels authentic 
  • Find ways to create an easy interaction for candidates to enter your recruiting process 
  • Stop treating all candidates the same 

Your candidates need to learn what goes on behind the scenes. The recruiting process for candidates can feel long and full of uncertainty which often creates a negative experience, especially when there is a lack of conversation. In addition, candidates often find it daunting and discouraging to go through an organization’s recruiting process, give up and leave with a negative impression of your brand. 

 

Candidate Experience Begins with a Conversation

The average person checks their phone around 80 times daily, meaning your recruitment texts will likely to be seen long before your emails, and you’re more likely to get a reply. Text messages average a 45 percent response rate, partly due to the freedom candidates have to text even when they’re working at their current jobs. Rather than using computers attached to employers’ networks, candidates can search for positions and respond to messages on their personal devices without being concerned about who may be monitoring the communications.

 

Every Interaction is the Start of Building a Relationship

Today’s candidates want to feel connected to your brand, not just your jobs. Candidates want to understand your organization’s commitment to diversity and your company’s mission, purpose, and values. They also want to see that in action. Videos and testimonials are more authentic messaging approaches over traditional words on a page. Have your leadership speak directly to candidates; this message can go a long way, leaving lasting impressions that your leaders are authentic about the importance of talent to the organization's strategic goals.

 

Speed Up the Recruitment Process

Guide candidates on the best way to share more about themselves and remove any gates in your process, such as registering with your applicant tracking system or using easy-to-populate forms using their social profiles. Let candidates see a self-scheduling link on your site without a recruiter sending them a link to schedule a pre-screen. 

 

Attract Better Talent

Think about the software your organization uses to engage with candidates. Talent acquisition software helps you weed out candidates who don’t meet the minimum requirements for your open positions. Still, if you fail to engage with the best profiles, then you’ll lose them to your competitors. Seventy-three percent of job seekers prefer to receive personalized or targeted messages via text, and millennials favor texting over other types of communication. Today’s top talent is looking for responsive employers providing positive user experiences. Text messaging allows you to deliver what they want. When text messages are part of your recruitment system, you can connect with the talent your company needs faster than with the methods you’re using now. Start meeting candidates where they are with timely, relevant job offers, and create the kind of user experience today’s talent expects. 

The most important thing is to fully understand the candidate journey and apply your strategy across every stage of the recruiting process. In addition, you need to consider the quantity and quality of how the candidates interact, as well as the availability of touchpoints.

 

Candidate Experience Journey Map 2023

 

Beyond the starting point of assessing your candidate experience, here’s how to develop a candidate experience strategy: 

  • Understand your audience and create candidate personas; check out our simple guide for creating candidate personas 
  • Analyze your recruiting objectives 
  • Reverse-engineer the recruiting experience you want to deliver 
  • Pay attention to candidate feedback 
  • Research your competitors 
  • Incorporate a memorable employer brand personality.
  • Apply AI technology where it helps to personalize the experience for future interactions; make use of the right technology and tools. 
  • Redefine your recruitment marketing strategy and your candidate communications. 
  • Understand your candidate experience metrics; career site abandonment rates, application drop off, recruiter screen no-shows. 

A candidate experience strategy is ongoing, and your organization needs to adopt a continuous improvement approach. Measure, optimize, repeat. Remember: candidate experience provides a massive opportunity to boost your ability to hire faster with the right talent.

 

Want to create a better candidate experience? Learn how an outsourcing partner like Aspirant RPO can improve your candidate experience, by filling out the form below.

 

 

patty-silbert
2023/03
March 27, 2023
Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

Data governance usually invokes anxiety in users and decision-makers because they commonly view it as an organization monster deliberately put in place to interfere with their day-to-day work. On the contrary, a data governance strategy attempts to eliminate barriers to becoming a more data-driven organization.  

What is data governance?

Microsoft describes data governance as the collection of processes, policies, roles, metrics, and standards that ensure effective and efficient information use. To take it one step further, The National Institute of Standards and Technology adds that the model establishes authority, management, and decision-making parameters related to the data produced or managed by the enterprise. 

 

Why do you need data governance?

More and more, business leaders are stating that their organization is data-driven. Many are, some are still in the middle of their transformation, and some may be data-driven but aren't working as efficiently as they could be. Do you know into which category you fall? 

 

Where to begin

Developing a data governance strategy is the first step to implementing a transformation to become a data-driven organization. It should answer some of the following questions: 

  • What do you want to accomplish? 
  • Who will be involved? 
  • How will the program operate? 
  • How will you assess whether the program is supporting your business's success?

Ultimately, it ensures that data is audited, evaluated, documented, managed, protected, trustworthy, valuable, and will run smoothly. Taking the time to plan your strategy, your data will be more accessible and accurate. 

High-quality data: Build user and decision-makers confidence in data knowing it is safe, complete, and consistent. Confidence in data builds trust in the decisions made with that data. 

Improve cost controls: Reduce software, hardware, and people by reducing data duplication introduced by information silos. Data duplication increases up-front and long-term maintenance costs for software and hardware. It adds an unnecessary burden for users and decision-makers. 

Single source of truth: Improve user and decision-maker efficiency and productivity by eliminating time spent reviewing redundant, overlapping data sets. 

 

What should you include in a data governance framework or initiative?

The Cloud Data Management Capabilities (CDMC), created by a global industry council, prescribes a framework for what data governance should encapsulate.  

 

 Some key capabilities are: 

Data cataloging and discovery: Identifying, preferably automatically, and recording data assets in a unified manner to enable data search and discovery.

  • Stewards to add business context to data.
  • Empowers users and decision-makers to seek out data for decision-making 

Data classification: Tagging data with sensitivity classifications to secure use and protection. 

  • A visible indicator to alert users and decision-makers to responsible data usage.

Data ownership: Owning data for cataloging, classification, security, and quality by users within the organization. 

  • Establishes accountability by ensuring others follow the data governance strategy. 

Data lineage: Pinpointing the data's origin, any transformation it's undertaken in the past, and current uses. 

  • Allows anyone using it to have confidence in their decisions and their output. 

Data quality: Ensuring data is high-quality based on accuracy, completeness, consistency, validity, relevance, and timeliness measures. 

 

How to get started developing a data governance strategy that works for your organization.

Define data governance goals and objectives: Review the organization’s long-term and short-term business goals and define data governance goals and objectives that align with the organization’s business goals. Then prioritize data governance goals and objectives to guide the development of the organization’s data governance strategy and keep from being overwhelmed. 

Secure executive sponsor and key stakeholders: Recruit an executive sponsor who understands the significance of a data governance strategy, recognizes the value of a data governance strategy, and who communicates this information to the organization’s leadership team. Recruit key stakeholders to fill additional roles of the data governance team, such as data owners, data stewards, and general users and decision-makers. 

Assess existing data governance program: Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s existing data governance program. EDM Council’s CDMC, for example, provides organizations with a method to assess an organization’s existing program against industry best practices. Then prioritize areas of improvement based on the organization’s business and data governance goals. 

Document data policies and processes: Document data assets guidelines for data origination, storage, quality metrics, and security. Data policies provide a means for ensuring data is used acceptably. Processes implement data policies by providing a formal framework for users to follow. 

Implement, evaluate, and adjust: Implement new technologies or processes or modify existing ones to fit the organization’s data governance strategy. Review the data governance strategy regularly to measure the effectiveness of the organization’s data governance goals. Adjust technologies or processes to change with the changing needs of the organization. 

 

Data governance best practices.

Think big but start small: If you are new to data governance, try to wait to do everything right away. Instead, review your data governance goals and priorities to identify a pilot engagement. A pilot engagement enables an organization to test ideas and understanding in a limited scope, develop skills, and validate the approach before committing to extensive arrangements. 

Appoint an executive sponsor: An executive sponsor is crucial to communicate a data governance strategy’s business value and success to executive leadership — additionally, the executive sponsor advocates for adopting a data governance strategy for the broader organization. 

Build a business case: Build a business case by identifying the benefits and opportunities a data governance strategy will bring to the organization. Then, align data governance benefits to the organization’s long-term and short-term goals to better demonstrate these benefits. 

Develop meaningful metrics: Too many or too few metrics make it difficult to understand whether the data governance strategy meets the organization’s data governance goals and delivers business value. 

Communicate with all levels: Involve individuals likely to be impacted by a formal data governance strategy throughout the planning and implementation of the data governance strategy early and often. 

 

Hire a firm with data governance experience.

An organization could create and implement a data governance strategy independently. However, implementing a data governance strategy will run more efficiently with experienced help. An outside firm offers: 

  • An experienced team who can analyze an organization without bias and advise making a data governance strategy and implementation as painless as possible. 
  • An experienced team allows an organization’s team to focus on their day-to-day responsibilities without rapidly being stretched into new areas outside their expertise. 

A firm with data governance experience will guide an organization through industry-standard processes providing a smooth and successful implementation. Data governance is not simply hiring a new employee or purchasing new software; it is a strategy that blends an organization’s people, policies, and technology. 

 

If you want to partner with a highly experienced firm in data governance, contact us through the form below.

 

kevin-beckett
2023/03
March 23, 2023
What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

The Benefits of Master Data Management

Master data management can be an intimidating project to tackle. But, however intimidating it may be, it's necessary. MDM saves time and allows you and your team to operate efficiently. MDM benefits far outweigh the intimidation. Here's why.

Master Data Management Solutions Offer Better Control of Your Data

A common question at a business of any size sometimes goes like this: "Can we get a report outlining all people who haven't engaged with us in the last 24 months?" A standard answer to that question? "Sure, I can get you that, but I'm unsure how accurate that information is. We switched CRMs a while back, and I think (insert name here) used to use a spreadsheet that we can't find."

Yikes. Information is only as good as its relevance. Master data management solutions certainly help solve this problem. A good MDM strategy houses all of your data. Whether it be customer, company, or internal data, it all lives together. All applications talk to each other, allowing you to control your data better to find and fix inaccuracies and incomplete information before it becomes an issue.

 

All the Data, Much Less Effort

You already know an MDM project brings all your software, ERP, CRM, etc., together under one roof. However, it also allows you to pull together reports based on all that data — not manual ones either; they're automated, meaning more time doing things you want to do (such as getting home before dinner or not feeling guilty about playing 9-holes after work).

Kidding aside, MDM implementation allows your company to be more accurate and efficient and, in turn, make better decisions guided by factual data.

 

Increased Customer Experience

In most industries, customers are the top priority. Happy customers or clients are more likely to refer your business. Short of an automatic door, nothing's easier to close than a good referral.

One great way to guide your decision-making is by seeing what resonates most with your favorite customers. Doing so is more accessible to track with an MDM solution. Imagine having complete, accurate, insightful, and automated reports. MDM offers just that.

For example, how would you know a specific email outperforms others if you're not tracking it or pulling it into your contact records on your CRM? Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where everything can be tracked. The more information we have, the more informed our decisions can be. The more informed our choices are, the greater the probability of positive consequences.

 

If you want to partner with Aspirant to achieve the most successful Master Data Management implementation possible, contact us through the  form below.

 

sayed-saeed
2023/03
March 14, 2023
The Benefits of Master Data Management

The Benefits of Master Data Management

Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

"I'd rather have a first-rate execution and a second-rate strategy, anytime, than a brilliant idea and mediocre management."

- Jamie Dimon, CEO, J.P. Morgan

Eliminating Gaps between Planning and Execution

For CEOs and company leaders, developing a three, five, or even ten-year strategy is not the end of the story; it’s just the beginning. Unfortunately, turning strategy into reality has been a challenge for many. While estimates of execution success rates range widely by source, the broad consensus is that the vast majority of strategic initiatives fail to realize their goal.

So how DO organizations bridge the strategy-execution gap?

It’s difficult, but you CAN increase your organization’s success rate with the following 5 steps:

1. Pick a Winning Team

As Dwight Eisenhower advised, "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." What he was saying is that the conversations that occur during strategic planning are crucial for building consensus, resolving conflict, and being able to adapt to externalities. That is why it is crucial to assemble a cross-functional core team that will be responsible for developing and overseeing strategy execution. It’s easy for a CEO and an external consulting team to develop a corporate strategy. However, the enthusiasm, ownership, and understanding required for successful execution will be missed absent a truly cross-functional team leading the charge from the outset.

2. Pick Targets and Executors

What gets measured is what gets done. When everyone’s in charge, no one is in charge. When planning how the strategy will be executed, these maxims should be your top two guiding principles. It’s easy to say that in the next three years, the company’s strategy is to grow revenue aggressively and begin global expansion. It’s far more taxing (and beneficial) to define performance metrics and initiatives and then assign ownership for each to executors. Planning to operationalize the strategy is critical in whether it is executed.

3. Give Power to the People

You’ve assigned ownership, and you’ve given direction. Now it’s time to give your metric and initiative owners support and accountability for fulfilling their charge. Too often, strategic initiatives take a back seat to flavor-of-the-day challenges and bureaucratic headaches. Don’t let this happen in your organization. Support your executors by giving them the authority and autonomy to do what you’ve asked and give them the time they need by removing less critical tasks.

4. Consistently Articulate Strategy to Your Team

You completed your five-year strategy, and you announced it at the last company meeting. It’s a start. Now, use every chance you get - emails, meetings, town halls, informal chats - to talk about actions, decisions, and goals in the context of your strategy. Create impactful visualizations like strategy maps. Give managers the tools they need to articulate the strategy and what it means for their department and provide feedback systems to ensure that the strategy is understood. This ongoing reinforcement will embed strategic focus throughout the organization, maintain alignment, and reinforce the strategy execution mindset. Making a strategy for everyone’s business keeps the organization focused on what you are trying to accomplish together.

5. Closing the Loop: Review, Analyze, and Adapt

Close the loop with your leadership team and the organization at the end of each quarter with a regular strategic management meeting that includes the core team, as well as your executors. Discuss progress, changes in the external environment, opportunities for improvements, successes, and how to address underperforming metrics and initiatives. Set and share new objectives and initiatives. Finally, communicate key outcomes from these meetings to the organization, and share goals for the next quarter.

These five essential steps, when deployed to engage and enable in your organization, will help you win the challenge of balancing vision and reality.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Maintaining continuity between strategic planning and tactical execution may seem overwhelming, but it is a key enabler for achieving company goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts about implementing the structure and processes to keep everyone rowing in the same direction.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/03
March 9, 2023
Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

Looking back on the shift we’ve seen in recruitment over the past decade, it’s amazing how much of it is due to technological advancements. 

Within the past 10 years, HR Technology and the amount of technology that makes up an HR organization's tech stack has evolved dramatically. When asked, what’s the definition for HR tech stack, we believe that it is any combination of integrated digital tools and software used to streamline, optimize, or otherwise support a company’s HR functionalities. And today, tech stack has opened a whole new world to engaging and improving hiring, becoming a completely different game because of technology enablement. 

Our workforce has changed forever due to remote working and the latest generation entering today’s labor pools, who are and have become more technologically advanced. In addition, many remote working environments have helped to improve technology skills for many. As such, there is an expectation from candidates and employees to be informed and updated at every step of their experience and demand the same level of interactivity, transparency, and customer service they receive as a consumer, given the preponderance of shoppers using online shopping sites like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Esty, etc. 

For companies that want to attract, engage, and most importantly keep top talent in their organizations will need to continue embracing new technologies to remain competitive for talent. But at technology’s current rate of change, it can be hard to know what is right for your company. 

 

Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Invest in HR Technology Stack

But knowing where to prioritize investments, how to integrate tools into your existing infrastructure, and how to apply them in the most meaningful way can prove difficult if you don’t first take an objective look at your current talent acquisition processes, the needs, and desires of your unique candidate pool, and your business goals. 

At Aspirant RPO, we advise our customers to ask themselves the following questions before making a technology investment decision to position themselves better to truly unlock technology’s potential for enhancing their processes: 

 

1. How does HR tech stack fit within my strategy?

There are many technologies on the market, so choose wisely. One way to ensure the highest return is to consider any acquisition holistically. Thinking beyond time and cost savings, ask how a recruiting marketing platform or chatbot can lead to greater engagement and higher candidate conversions. When building a business case, account for all the benefits and costs that might result. AI and ML are one of the most popular HR technology trends that help in workforce analytics and employee support all the way through offering recruiting process support to be more effective, objective, faster, and, in some cases, more personalized. 

If your goal is to enhance candidate conversions, make sure your technology strategy also accounts for the candidate experience. Tools that enhance communication, simplify the application process, provide status tracking, serve content, and engage job seekers in other ways should be part of your investment roadmap. Not only will these technologies help to create a more memorable hiring journeyfor talent, but they will surely improve your overall employer brand too. 

 

2. How do these new technologies impact the candidate experience?

It’s tempting to automate as many steps in your recruiting function as possible, but technology isn’t always the best option; remember, there still needs to be the human element, and no technology can replace that piece. Select the steps that are measurable and create a good candidate experience that may include:

  • Pre-screening to move candidates to the hiring manager screen
  • Candidate-led interview scheduling  
  • Video Screening and Interviewing 
  • Chats to answer questions 
  • Event signup 

Determining where the human touch is essential is important, especially when dealing with candidate-facing automation. 

For example, there are AI tools that now screen resumes within your ATS to help match prior candidates to new positions, allowing recruiters to reconnect with people who have shown past interest in your company but may not have been right for a particular role at that time. This saves time, effort, and money and works behind the scenes, leaving the recruiter to connect directly with any talent they find that fits. 

Chatbots are another popular AI technology; they have a broad range of functionality and can be used in a number of ways, often outperforming humans in terms of the speed and accuracy of their response in a narrow domain. But chatbots are designed to augment, not replace, human interaction. So to deliver the white-glove treatment top talent demands today, you’ll have to pay special attention to where along the candidate journey, if they’re employed, and how to balance a high-touch approach throughout the rest of their experience. If you are using candidate experience surveys and planning on implementing a new HR recruiting technology, update your surveys to ask how candidates like interacting with those technologies.   

 

3. Who can I trust to help choose the right HR technology?

Human Resource leaders are being asked to be experts in processes, operations, and maximizing business performance, to name a few. Adding technology to the growing list is just one more demand. Look for support when it makes sense. You can gain the insights you need from industry analysts, professional organizations, technology vendors, and your talent strategy or outsourcing partners. 

A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) like Aspirant RPO will often have the expertise and the implementation experience you need to help facilitate and maximize your investment. Most importantly, they’ll help you keep your investment aligned with your strategy and help you avoid investing in overlapping, or that can delay your processes, damage your brand, and end up costing you in the long run.  Most importantly, it may just be a matter of maximizing the investment you currently have with the HR technologies in place. 

Finding top talent requires staying up-to-date on the latest technologies. You may not be able to afford to adopt every “trend” or new technology that comes along, but you really shouldn’t want to, either. Keep your recruiting strategy — and the relationship you want to build with your candidate — sharply in focus and you’ll be more apt to make a smart investment every time. 

Do you know what it takes to drive better engagement with your candidates and employees? Talk with the experts at Aspirant RPO and learn how we can help you build and implement the right strategy for your company. Fill out the form below. 

 

patty-silbert
2023/03
March 6, 2023
Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

As previously discussed, companies will continue to expand their technical footprint. As a result, tech teams are expected to get budget increases across many industries. If you want to expand your IT department, ask yourself, what tech skills do candidates need?

The industry is constantly evolving and expanding, making it crucial for companies to hire skilled tech specialists to help them stay ahead of the curve. However, with so many different areas of expertise in the tech field, it’s tough to know the essential tech skills. So let’s look at some key skills companies should look for in tech specialists.

 

1. Technical Proficiency

The most critical tech skill for any candidate is technical proficiency, including profoundly understanding the languages, frameworks, and tools used in their area of expertise. Look for applicants who are not only familiar with the latest technologies but can also use them.

 

2. Problem-Solving Skills

Challenging problems require creative solutions. Look for tech candidates who have excellent problem-solving skills. They should understand what it means to identify the root cause of a problem and use their technical expertise to develop effective solutions.

 

3. Flexibility

The industry constantly changes, and new technologies and frameworks are always emerging. Therefore, look for adaptable prospects who can learn new skills. They should be able to keep up with the latest trends and, more importantly, be willing and eager to improve their skills continuously.

 

4. Communication Skills

In addition to the technical proficiency and problem-solving skills, tech specialists must also have strong communication skills. They should be able to clearly explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, collaborate effectively with team members, and provide updates on project progress.

 

5. Teamwork

Tech specialists must work closely with other team members, including developers, project managers, clients, and stakeholders. Tied closely with communication skills, look for applicants comfortable working in a team environment and collaborating effectively.

 

5. Creativity

Finally, specialists should be creative thinkers who can think differently and develop new and unique ideas.

 

The tech industry is highly competitive, and companies must hire the best specialists to remain competitive. Therefore, when evaluating candidates, looking for various skills, including technical proficiency, problem-solving skills, communication skills, adaptability, attention to detail, teamwork, time management, analytical thinking, and creativity, is essential.

If you have any questions or would like help navigating the tech hiring process, fill out the form below, we'd love to assist.

phil-kossler
2023/02
February 28, 2023
What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

Have you ever seen an organization go through the same, stale strategic planning process year after year? The identical issues from the prior year are brought to the planning table, the same potential solutions discussed, and by the end of the process, it feels like “groundhog day.”

Improve Your Strategic Planning Process

Robust strategy planning that leads to successful execution should not feel like an endless repeat of the same cycle for everyone involved. Instead, the process needs to be focused on analysis, ideation, and problem solving so that when it’s complete, the plan is a goal-oriented tool that supports achievement of revenue and growth goals.

Here are five tips for maximizing the achievement of your strategic objectives and reduce your risk of experiencing strategic planning déjà vu:

 

1. Begin with the end in mind

Effective and sustainable strategic plans answer critical business questions and address your organization’s most challenging problems. As you undertake strategic planning, start by defining why you are going through this process, identifying what you need to achieve, and documenting a concise definition of the organization’s biggest problems. This is your definition of success for the strategic planning process and is the foundational exercise of the process. Thinking through your end goals will be the backbone for the entire planning process because it is difficult to hit an undefined target. Starting with a clear vision of the results you want to achieve will lead to an effective, goal-oriented strategy.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Clearly define and document what success looks like, and then revisit that definition at the outset of each strategic planning session with participants to re-ground the big picture.

 

2. Include the right people in planning

At many organizations, it is common to find that only a few select leaders are entrusted with developing the entire strategic plan for an organization or business unit. However, involving knowledgeable stakeholders and other business leaders beyond the executive team is critical for the sustained success of that strategic plan. When assembling a planning team, ensure you have the right level of management available to participate in plan development while keeping the team optimally sized to succeed.

Bringing external partners into the conversation can make a big difference. Outsourcing all or part of strategic planning will lighten the burden for internal teams and streamline the process. This approach would infuse a fresh perspective to protect against groupthink. Objective, impartial third parties can be invaluable when asking tough questions of leaders and navigating sensitive topics. Identify and include the right leaders, stakeholders and external influencers from the beginning and you will maximize the likelihood success.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Think about who you need to include in your planning process. If your strategic planning meeting invite is an exact replica of all the other standing leadership team meetings on the calendar, rethink hitting the 'send' button. By incorporating diversity of experience, expertise, and ideas into the strategic session, you will generate a customized strategy with creative solutions to guide your company’s growth.

 

3. Clear the calendar

While everyone would love a short-cut or 'easy button' for this process, the truth is that identifying the purpose and content of the plan requires time to define and create. Considerable time is required to construct a robust strategic plan, but the benefit it will yield is monumental as it will influence the company's foreseeable future.

The planning team is essentially creating the roadmap for your organization's economic future, so assuming they can develop an effective plan ‘in their spare time’ is not realistic. Once you have defined your ‘what’ and ‘why,’ estimate the amount of time required to build your plan and ensure the appropriate resources have the capacity to support the strategic plan development. From our experience, a three- to six-month time frame will typically allow sufficient time to create a strategic plan, governance strategy, and integrated roadmap for a large portfolio of initiatives.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Be realistic in the time that it will take to create a great strategic plan and work with senior leadership to ensure that there is support at the top to prioritize the time commitment of key participants.

 

4. Identify cross-initiative impacts

An effective strategic plan will include cross-project impacts to assist in managing internal and external change management considerations. As dates for one strategic initiative shift, any subsequent projects that are dependent upon the initiative moving should be evaluated to ensure business objectives will still be fulfilled. Knowing which projects impact the delivery of others is one of the most valuable pieces of information in your strategic plan. At regular intervals, your strategic plan review meeting should be used to assess changes since your last review as well as to analyze the cross-project impacts that are key making progress. As you plan the timing of the business value your strategic plan delivers, make sure cross-initiative dependencies are identified as an input to analysis and governance.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: An integrated strategic roadmap that visually depicts the dependencies across initiatives is an essential deliverable to optimize execution of the strategic plan.

 

5. Consider the human component of change

We all are averse to adopting change by nature. At the same time, strategic plans are intended to create changes within an organization. Therefore, many strategic plans are created and forgotten before the ink dries because the changes it lays out are intimidating. Before finalizing a strategic plan, ensure there is alignment and support amongst those who will execute the plan. These critical stakeholders will need to have the capacity to overcome internal initiative changes, corporate goal modifications, competitive landscape shifts, and economic environment fluctuations. Considering the human capacity to adopt change is a key component to the strategic plan’s value and success. Building in time to conduct capacity and capability assessments will ensure your strategy can become a reality.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Ensure your team is prepared to execute a new strategic plan and adopt change by gauging their capacity for change through an organizational effectiveness assessment.

 

Ready for Action

By following the steps outlined above, you can stop the endless cycle of re-planning and start bringing your plan to life. Your strategic plan will become the compass for where your company is headed and define how you will get there. the frustration of "Didn’t we discuss that last time?" will be eliminated. Planning once and executing a well-crafted plan will free up your team to keep focus on their 'day jobs'. 

 

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery team is comprised of experienced consulting professionals who assist clients by breathing new life into their strategic planning processes and equipping them with the tools they need to successfully execute.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts have helped clients of varying size and industry develop and execute strategic plans that achieve their organizational goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

ann-cripe
2023/02
February 25, 2023
Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

Analytics and AI are dominating the headlines. But how often is your company examining its Master Data Management (MDM) strategy? Are you utilizing the revolutionary technology that is so plentifully available in this modern age? To truly operationalize the efforts of MDM, and unlock sustainable advantages, requires clean and consistent data. It's not just about pushing data through your company's system; it's about getting the right data to the right people at the right time. The solution to a successful MDM initiative isn't simply the technology or the methodology; it's the people.

MDM helps you turn data into analytics and then analytics into actionable outcomes. This process takes several spreadsheets you may need help understanding and provides a way to analyze and use your data. After all, that's why you gather it, right? However, before embarking on an MDM implementation, there are a few factors you need to consider.

Preparation for MDM Project

Know Your Organizational Goals
Take time to define your goals before moving forward with the project; it will help you prioritize and focus on what's most important.

  • Why do you need an MDM?
  • What are you trying to accomplish?
  • What is the current state of your data architecture?
  • What are your options for the future?


Create a Roadmap of Expectations and Define Success
In this step, you want a basic high-level road map; start by answering questions like:

  • What are the main things that need to do?
  • What's the sequencing?
  • What resources do you need?
  • When can you expect to see an ROI?
  • How much is this going to cost?

Defining success may seem obvious, but to get buy-in from your stakeholders, you must set expectations and determine what success looks like and when it will be realized. Planning before you start helps you achieve your ultimate goals more collaboratively.

 

Have Both an Executive-Level Sponsor and an Application Owner
You will need help with support and momentum throughout the project and to request additional funding or resources.

  • Executive Sponsor: Provides the best chance of being heard and meeting your needs - this person needs to believe in the vision
  • Application Owner: One person has a clearly defined set of responsibilities over the MDM and represents its goals and objectives to anyone who wants to use it

For example, several people and departments may use the MDM and analyze the data provided; similarly, each will have different needs and goals for the information. With one person as the MDM's owner, they can ensure all decisions apply to the company's best interests and that any necessary parties receive all communications.


Establish Any Rules and Regulations
All companies should understand the accessibility and dissemination of information. However, it can change in relevance depending on the type of data your company uses.

  • Who is allowed to access specific data?
  • What data is restricted to certain departments?
  • What information can be posted for the company as a whole?
  • Can any data be made public, or is it all proprietary and for internal use only?

These may seem like questions that you will never have to worry about. Still, it's much better to over prepare for data regulations than deal with an information leak later. 

Once you've prepared for your MDM project, here are some tips to assist with creating and kicking off.

 

Keys to Success for Your MDM Project

Gaining Stakeholder Alignment
The driving force to implement an MDM solution can come from many parts of the organization. 

  1. Identify all stakeholders across the organization

  2. Listen to their needs, wants, and expectations

  3. Align the outcomes of the MDM project with your company's broader corporate objectives

Stakeholders should see the new MDM project as a means to achieve previously determined goals. They should envision the MDM solution empowering their team to accomplish their goals and freeing up resources to think strategically about the future. If your stakeholders are not with you, the obstacles will be overwhelming. 


Empowered Project Team
The team you have leading this initiative must be enthusiastic and empowered. 

  • Executive sponsor: Aligns on roles, responsibilities, timelines, and goals
  • Project team: Determines how to deliver the project
  • Steering committee: Filters key information to the executive team
  • Executive team: Holds the project team accountable for the goals they set

Accountability is vital in any project. [Read more about accountability in our e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.]

Your team should want to make an MDM strategy. It should also consist of more than just members of the IT department; it should represent every department that creates or consumes data.


Strategically Placed Project Milestones and Benchmarks
Projects can benefit from motivation; quick wins can be crucial to any ultimate victory. Such a sizeable transformational project, like an MDM solution, is built from momentum, and proving the value of the endeavor early on is exceptionally advantageous.

It does not mean that you create easy and meaningless milestones. 

  1. Develop strategic, achievable milestones that showcase the potential and benefits of the MDM system

  2. Create encouraging benchmarks that boost momentum in the project team and stakeholders

  3. Tactically place these benchmarks throughout the project for consistent upward progress   


Collaboration and Frequent Communication
A new MDM strategy must unite your company: CEOs, IT, sales, marketing, accounting, and HR. With that in mind, it's important to consider everyone who the transformation will impact. 

It's also imperative to define the individuals needing access to the data, the frequency of automated reports, and other items relevant to each department. The more you include your team and collaborate with the extended company, the less challenging it will be to get the organization on board. The more people on board with the project, the smoother the transition will be.


Hire an MDM Implementation Firm

You can implement an MDM solution independently, but it's tough. The process will run much more efficiently with experienced help. Of course, you can create your team and build your plan first, but a better idea is to reach out for help with implementation.   

An outside firm offers:

  • A team who can analyze your organization without bias and advise on making your MDM implementation as painless as possible
  • After kicking off the project, your team can focus on running the business without being stretched into areas outside their expertise


An MDM implementation firm will guide you through a tested and proven process, ensuring a smooth and successful implementation. After all, MDM is more than just a project that can be completed and forgotten; it's a new model for operating all aspects of your business. Therefore, you need an MDM to stand the test of time and grow with your company.

Interested in learning more about Master Data Management, download our e-book:


If you want to partner with Aspirant to achieve the most successful Master Data Management implementation possible, fill out the form below.

sayed-saeed
2023/02
February 24, 2023
What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

A digital transformation is a journey. Unlike a journey by train where the tracks have been previously placed out, and it's a predictable and consistent path, digital transformation journeys often come with twists and turns, ups and downs, and discoveries.  

The Roadmap for a Successful Digital Transformation Journey

To achieve success, maintain an overarching strategic roadmap for your journey. It should trace business objectives to deliverable elements and components using well-defined features and capabilities. Remember that they should be forecastable and measurable. This process will help keep the target objectives in focus and prevent drifting. 

 

Be Flexible and Incorporate Feedback 

Build feedback into your planning and welcome it. Meaningful, data-driven feedback will help ensure that outcomes are what they should be. Remember that the results could differ from what you thought they would be when you started.   

 Good feedback can come from several sources, including:   

  • Sprint demos   
  • Beta customer testimonies   
  • Data captured on user behavior   
  • Changing market conditions   

Allow feedback to challenge your plans. Be flexible and use good feedback to update your solutions to improve them. 

Managing deliverables incrementally and constantly reprioritizing (i.e., backlog grooming and sprint planning) allows you more room to create opportunities to adapt your original plan, which is why the Agile methodology is ideal for digital transformations. 

 

Always Involve Your People 

Success is much more than delivering a  technological solution. Digital transformation is introducing change that will be felt by your customers, both external and internal. Introducing this change to people and how they adapt to it ultimately defines success. 

 Having a comprehensive change management plan is critical to success. 

 A good change management plan will cover the following:  

  • Awareness: Address the reason for changes with frequent, timely, and tailored messaging   
  • Desire: Generate a passion for the upcoming change  
  • Knowledge: Share how the changes affect each person and how they will do things differently  
  • Ability: Transform this knowledge into an ability to embrace change.   
  • Reinforcement: Support the change, encourage the newly adopted behavior, look for friction points, and address them quickly 

 

Communication, as always, is critical. Educating your team and organization about changes will make the journey smoother and increase adoption rates. 


Start a conversation today if you need help creating success in your Digital Transformation.  Fill out the form below to get more information.

michael-conway
2023/02
February 23, 2023
Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

You've built a diverse workplace culture... now what? It's a question that many companies ask themselves when they start to develop their diverse work culture. The answer is simple: now you need to protect it.

Diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords or initiatives — they're the foundation of any successful business. But how do you ensure that your company continues to grow and thrive in today's climate? It's simple: by protecting your investment. And the best way to do that includes leveraging DEI strategies like diversity training, mentorship programs, and employee resource groups (ERGs).

Additionally, if you want to continue the momentum you've built in your workplace, here are some of the most important things you can do.

 

1. Keep building your diverse team

The most important thing you can do is to continue to build a diverse staff and leadership team. There are plenty of great resources available on how to do this, but here are a few tips: A) Look for people who have different experiences from the ones you already have, even if that means looking outside your usual networks or hiring people with less experience. B) Hire people who bring different perspectives and ideas into the workplace — people who aren't just like you (and don't just look like you). C) Be sure that diversity is baked into every step of your hiring process — from sourcing candidates to interviewing them to making offers — so that it's not just something that happens at one point in time but rather an ongoing process.

 

2. All employees are accountable for workplace culture

When it comes down to it, all employees need to be held accountable for creating a diverse workplace environment, whether they're part of the hiring team or not! This means making sure everyone knows their role in making diversity happen throughout the organization. It also means holding them accountable so the entire company feels brought into the movement of enriching the diverse workplace that is being built.  

 

3. Create feedback opportunities in the workplace

Make sure there are multiple opportunities for feedback and input from all levels of the organization from interns up through executives (and everything in between)! When every voice is heard, everyone gets better at what they do. 

 

4. Keep your employees engaged

Having diversity on staff means that people from different backgrounds bring unique perspectives to the table — and those perspectives can make a big difference when it comes to solving problems creatively or coming up with new ideas for products and services. A diverse team also means that everyone has something different to offer and contributes something unique; this leads to better teamwork and more collaboration among the staff members themselves.

 

5. Pay attention to workplace communication and behavior

Be conscious of the language used in meetings. As a manager or leader, it's important to be mindful of certain words that may offend or cause discomfort. Developing a sensitivity towards these issues can enable quick resolution with minimal disturbance.

Additionally, ensure that everyone feels comfortable speaking up and voicing their opinions without fear of criticism or backlash. Make sure to address any issues quickly and thoroughly as they arise to set a culture of safety and respect in the workplace. Finally, take note of body language — people should feel at ease and respected even if they don’t necessarily agree with what has been communicated. 


6. Create a regular meeting schedule

If you want diversity initiatives within your company culture, then make sure everyone knows when those meetings are taking place so they can plan around them accordingly. If possible, set up regular times each week/month when everyone meets together in person or online so that everyone knows what is happening and how they can participate.


7. Make sure managers understand diversity and inclusion

It’s critical to ensure that all managers understand what diversity and inclusion means — and why it's important for their teams' success. It's essential for them to understand how different types of people think, behave, communicate, and make decisions so they can better relate with each other in meetings and conversations around the office. This will help them create more open-minded environments where everyone feels comfortable being themselves at work.


8. Develop workplace culture norms

Make sure everyone has access to resources that help them feel welcome in your company's culture — this could mean providing training on things like implicit bias or giving employees access to experts who can help them understand what it means to be part of a diverse and inclusive workplace environment.


 

We know this sounds like it could be hard — but it doesn't have to be! The key is finding ways to make sure that every employee feels welcome and valued at work, no matter who they are or where they come from. That way, everyone has an equal chance at success within your organization.

Fill out the form below if you need help building or improving your workplace culture. Our team can help. Additional, our recruiting experts are here for helping your recruitment needs. 

aspirant-team
2023/02
February 22, 2023
How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

How to Attract Top Tech Talent

When there is an increase in tech hires, usually companies seek diverse employees with a wide range of experiences and skills. Unfortunately, there are often more positions than candidates, so you'll have to step up your game to attract the kind of hires you want. Attracting top tech talent  is essential for any company looking to stay ahead of the curve and competition in today's tech landscape. However, with so many companies competing in the same talent pool, it can be challenging to stand out.

Here are some strategies that companies can use to attract the best talent:

1. Invest in Your Brand

Your company's reputation is crucial to attracting top tech talent. Make sure your company has a strong brand image, share your company's values, mission, and culture, and explain why you are a great place to work.

 

2. Broadcast Your Benefits

Offering a competitive salary is only half the battle, and your company needs to distinguish itself. A great way to do this is through the benefits you're willing and able to offer. At the very least, you should strive to provide something better than other companies in your area. Job candidates already have a lot to think about. So be upfront and proud of the benefits you're offering. When hiring tech specialists, you want to have something special.

 

3. Provide Professional Development

If you want innovative employees, you have to offer creative opportunities. Job fulfillment is a huge factor for many potential employees. One way your company can stay competitive is by offering concrete strategies for professional development. If you're willing to invest in your potential employee's future, they'll be more inclined to invest in you. Will they have an opportunity to work with and learn new software trends? Let your current employees tell them about it. Make sure they know about any classes or training you'll support and be specific. Let them know they will have the ability and be encouraged to try new things and gain new skills.

 

4. Foster a Positive Work Culture

Tech talent wants to work for companies that have a positive work culture. Create an environment that is respectful, supportive, and inclusive and encourages collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Foster a positive work culture by providing socialization and teamwork opportunities and promoting work-life balance.

One of the main things to remember is that job seekers are interviewing you, too. Ultimately, this leads to happier workers, better-skilled teams, and a better overall work environment for you and your entire team.

If you have any questions or would like help navigating the tech hiring process, fill out the form below, we'd love to assist.

phil-kossler
2023/02
February 21, 2023
How to Attract Top Tech Talent

How to Attract Top Tech Talent

Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

As a leader in the talent acquisition and recruitment process outsourcing space, we are often called upon to help organizations assess their current recruiting processes. Many talent acquisition leaders, recruiters, and HR professionals believe their work processes could be more efficient and updated. This concern naturally stems from two factors. 

Reduce Manual Tasks 

Recruiters spend an enormous amount of time on manual tasks. Often these tasks require significant effort with little return to provide better recruiting outcomes.  

 Many realize the recruitment industry is changing quickly as the candidate market expects more from recruiters and companies. However, while recruiters may recognize the cost of manual tasks and the risk of failing to adapt to a changing hiring environment, only some feel empowered to optimize their recruitment processes. 

 

Improve Recruiting Process 

Recruiting can be one of the most critical strategic focuses for an organization. The activities involved in the recruiting process show up in a variety of ways across every area of the business. A poor recruiting process impacts productivity for recruiters and new hires, and without a proper plan for recruiting, there is a positive impact on the bottom line. But as we all know, recruiting is only sometimes a straightforward activity that goes from point A to point B. Recruiting has a way of becoming a winding, lengthy, complicated process for many companies. Even with the best of intentions, when you start adding people and processes, recruiting can get convoluted. 

At Aspirant RPO, we work with clients who need a more efficient and effective recruiting process, here are five tips on optimizing your recruiting process.  

 

1. Diagnose from the Inside Out 

The starting point for any improvement is understanding the current state, which is why doing analysis and diagnosing is essential. An in-depth audit of all your recruiting functions — from sourcing to interviews to your candidate experience — will help you identify what's working and where things are breaking down. Knowing your talent acquisition goals and staying true to those goals is extremely helpful, but even if you still need to track those goals by setting up metrics, you need to gather the metrics you have today. 

Begin by: 

  • Analyzing the workflow from requisition initiation to onboarding

  • Detailing who is responsible for each activity and time stamping how long each step takes from beginning to end

  • Identifying and setting up KPIs for each process that impacts recruiting outcomes

  • Taking advantage of real-time analysis and walking backward in the hiring process as soon as the hire is made. Where were the bottlenecks:

    • Were there too many employees in the interview process? 

    • Were communications sent by a recruiter delayed for any reason?  

This analysis is also a good time to solicit feedback from hiring managers, candidates, and new hires to learn about their experiences. 

 

Note the ease of use, how available information was, and how meaningful each engagement was to building brand equity. By committing to perform a diagnosis and a deep analysis of your recruiting, you can uncover process improvements that drive better recruiting performance. Most importantly, you have two outcomes at the end stage: knowing what needs improvement and where you are succeeding today. 

 

2. Plan to Adjust 

Change can be difficult, but an analysis with no action is as much help to you as studying for a test you'll never take.  

  • Put what you've learned to good use
  • Be ready to improve current processes
  • Take advantage of the processes that work well

 For many organizations, this means cutting out levels, slowing things down, or taking unnecessary people out of the process. Instead, think about adopting what works well in one area into another or considering how a tool or technology could be a solution. 

 To get started, go to the top of the list created from your analysis and write out what led to the breakdown in each point that wasn't working. This process not only helps you determine where and what to adjust, but it can also provide evidence for others in the organization that change is necessary for that specific pain point.  

 It also means assessing the current capabilities of your existing team. For example, do you know how well your recruiting team members deliver top talent to your hiring managers? Are you aware of any skill gaps your group may have regarding sourcing, screening, and building solid relationships with hiring managers?     

 Developing your recruiting teams' skills will help them feel more confident in using emerging technology, and they will become more efficient in their recruiting processes to meet their KPI goals. Helping to ensure there are no skill gaps in their ability to understand advanced searching techniques or how to manage difficult hiring manager conversations that will afford your team a way to identify talent profiles outside of the traditional platforms, for example. 

 

3. Evaluate Your HR Tech Stack 

As you work on adjusting your recruiting processes, it may become apparent that your processes — no matter how efficient you work to make them — just aren't cutting it. As a result, you  may need to replace your current systems or tools entirely rather than improve what you have.  

An essential part of optimizing the recruiting process is knowing when to assess your tech stack. There are many recruiting technologies and services in the market today, and they can automate almost every part of your recruiting process. These tools can also speed up candidate engagement, elevate your brand, and allow more time for your team to be the advisors you want them to be. If your analysis revealed significant inefficiencies in your recruiting process, first take that nearly every company has some. Then, start thinking about how an RPO Provider with the resources, tools, and technology could help you in your recruiting process.

 

4. Go Back to Your Goals and Strategy 

Sometimes the problem in recruiting isn’t the tools, the processes, or the people. Sometimes the foundation of all those activities — the strategy — needs to be adjusted.  

We sometimes see that recruiting teams focus only on individual actions and then need help understanding why they fail. Where we look first is a few key points of the recruiting strategy that affect everything recruiters do. For instance, setting the stage for a strong employer brand is often an afterthought. Still, a strong one could help to improve every part of the process to make it easier and more accessible for your recruiting team to engage with candidates. It may be time to start making it a focus.   

Another area you'll want to focus on is your sourcing strategy. It's another point that seems overrun by the actual activity, but it's vital to know your ideal candidate so you can source them and understand where they spend their time.  

These are only two areas of strategy to revisit as you optimize the recruiting process, but they will have an enormous impact.   

5. Re-Assess Annually 

Optimizing the recruitment process takes time and commitment. However, in the end, it is valuable and brings better clarity for everyone involved in the recruiting process. In addition, optimizing your recruiting process could save your organization and recruiting team considerable time and money. 

If you'd like to understand more about Aspirant RPO's Recruiting Process Optimization, fill out the form below, and we will be ready to share our expertise and experience. 

 

patty-silbert
2023/02
February 15, 2023
Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

Similar to financial debt, technical debt isn’t automatically bad. Well-managed tech debt can bring your company great benefits. Basically, technical debt is the result of development teams who push to rush a project in a knowingly imperfect manner to achieve a deadline. It’s the result of a company choosing speed over quality. It can also sometimes be referred to as design debt or code debt. There are three basic kinds of tech debt: Intentional, Unintentional, and Unavoidable.

1. Intentional Technical Debt

When, for whatever reason, your company, department, or manager makes a decision to push for speed over quality, that’s considered intentional tech debt. This should be done with a complete understanding of the consequences of that decision, including risks and costs. When doing this, make sure that you are aware of and document the corners that were cut to achieve the deadline.

Ideally, your company should be planning to return to rectify any compromises you made once the time is right. In a sense, you should make sure to “pay back” the technical debt that accumulates. If you don’t keep track of the corners you cut, that will be much less likely to happen. This could cost your company in the long run as flawed projects and software roll-outs increase.

 

2. Unintentional Technical Debt

Unintentional debt is usually the result of errors that are left in unintentionally. A tech team can feel rushed and thus miss something in the coding, as opposed to consciously deciding to choose speed over quality. This kind of technical debt could also be the result of an inexperienced team, bad project management or poor communication between the IT department and the person or people requesting the project.

One of the worst aspects of technical debt is the fact that companies are often unaware it even exists. The errors are not discovered until they cause a problem. At that point, there are corrections that need to be made frequently—not only on the original software, but on other affected processes down the line. It may also take time to locate the broken code.

 

3. Unavoidable Technical Debt

This inevitable kind of tech debt is the result of fast-changing technology. You can build software without any errors, but when improvements in technology come about, your code becomes obsolete. Industry-specific changes could also create technical debt. Basically, any changes that affect the value of your tech are unavoidable technical debt.

Good and Bad Reasons for Technical Debt

Good tech debt comes when the result outweighs the potential damage. You were able to get a product into the hands of your customer that does the function desired, even if it’s not perfect. This happens frequently in the case of phones, computers, computer software etc. How often do you see updates and new versions being released just a month or so after a new product? That is a company paying back the tech debt they incurred to get the product out faster. 

Conversely, bad tech debt is when you consciously decide to work or focus on something that’s less important or valuable to the company and neglect the overall mission or high value product. It’s easy to do in the tech world. There are constantly new and exciting innovations to be distracted by.

 

As part of your tech planning, make sure you are taking the time to weigh any decision where you might incur technical debt. Are you doing this for the right reasons? Will it benefit your company and/or your customer in the long run? Is it easily fixable once the product has rolled out?

There are many other questions to ask. If you’d like to get a better understanding of technical debt and how it affects your company connect with Aspirant, one of Pittsburgh’s premiere technology consulting firms. Or fill out the form and we'll connect you with the right team member. 

 

phil-kossler
2023/01
January 25, 2023
What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

RPO Solution Checklist

In a saturated market of recruiting solutions, how do you make sure you’re choosing the right partner to support your talent goals? 

We thought the following questions would be helpful when it comes time to make your decision.

 

Does Your RPO Solution …

 

  1. Enrich the candidate's experience? 

  2. Transform your process through HR technology?

  3. Improve your hiring outcomes? 

  4. Simplify the process to engage with candidates? 

  5. Embody your organization’s values, mission, and culture? 

  6. Elevate your employer brand throughout the recruitment process? 

  7. Bring you top talent?

  8. Create a holistic talent strategy?

  9. Support decision-making with industry intelligence data? 

  10. Continuously optimize your sourcing funnel and build talent pipelines? 



Download the Aspirant RPO Checklist

RPO-checklist.1.25.23-1

 

Fill out the form below to talk about what other questions you may have!

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 25, 2023
RPO Solution Checklist

RPO Solution Checklist

Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

The best recruiting tips to build a successful workforce in 2023 and beyond are: 

  • Recognizing that employees and candidates prioritize themselves first 

  • Building a workforce plan to involve a mix of FTEs and contingent workers 

  • Utilizing a strategic marketing mindset to recruit the best talent 

  • Upskilling recruiting teams to think like marketers to gain key insights into candidates 

  • Adapting and personalizing your recruiting strategies for your audience 

While many HR leaders say that the pandemic, tough labor market, the “Great Resignation,” and “Quiet Quitting” have changed every aspect of the employee experience and challenged recruiting more than ever, there still remains a slow adoption by recruiters to embrace concepts of marketing when engaging with potential talent. For recruiting functions to keep up, there needs to be a NEW future for how recruiting approaches the candidate marketplace.

 

Recruiting's Next Imperative

As I reflect on the last few years and all of their impact on the candidate marketplace, I wonder why there has yet to be a more significant change to recruiting processes. Reports and studies from industry experts continue to focus on "the future of work."Those experts have studied new employee expectations who desire to emphasize "life firstandjob second." In addition, there is a greater than ever expectation for employers to lead their organizations with purpose as candidates are looking for more than words on their website, and lastly and equally important, employees are placing a focus on asking their employees to teach them new skills. Yet, in most corporate recruiting functions, we have yet to see a change in how recruiters promote and engage with their target audience in a real way.  

The bottom line is that a new generation of candidates expects more from recruiting than a good job description and desires a similar experience to what they feel when engaging with brands as a consumer.  

TA Leaders will need to address the skill gaps of their recruiting team by helping them gain skills to uncover candidate behaviors and expectations. Upskilling means recruiters need to morph into marketers to quickly make significant strides in leading with their organization’s employer brand and recruiters delivering creative content that is distinctive from what the company offers to their employees.  

In many of my posts, I write about how outsourcing your recruiting can be your edgeduring any type of market disruption, and it continues to be proven. There is proof that RPOs bring a whole new approach to how they structure a best-in-class recruiting program to organizations by ensuring that the recruiting team understands the employee value proposition and ensuring that the brand is represented in an authentic manner. Many RPOs see a broader view of the candidate marketplace, given they work across many industries and organizations of all sizes. RPOs approach the candidate experience as a key differentiator in why they are successful. RPOs know that every candidate wants to see and feel an organization's value proposition, and they create content in their outreach that lets candidates see that in action.  

Innovative RPOs also help organizations focus on new ways to approach recruiting just as brands engage with their consumers to gain loyalty and increase sales revenue. It's no longer about the job description and all the requirements a candidate must have; it is more about creating messaging strategies to improve filling the top of the funnel with interested candidates. These innovative approaches take a marketing mindset delivered through digital experiences. Talent Leaders must make a critical choice to either tune in and create recruiting experiences that matter or stay the course of using traditional methods of static outreach on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other platforms that have higher costs and limit their ability to differentiate themselves in these crowded spaces, while seeing a marginal return on the investment.  

 

What Steps Can You Take to Build a Better Recruiting Strategy for 2023?

In the consumer marketing world, great marketers build a customer journey map. It is the visual storyline of every customer's engagement with their service, brand, or product. Marketers create a journey map to understand and see directly where they interact with their customers and to see and understand their customer's processes, needs, and perceptions. Taking a chapter out of marketing's playbook, building an effective talent pipeline must begin before the candidate market changes again. That includes creating your candidate journey map, developing personas that define your multidimensional candidate profiles, and creating content that puts the candidate's priorities first. Like consumer marketing, engagement marketing means leading with content, not products. Therefore, engagement marketing for recruitment means leading with excellent value proposition content, not job postings. And that content must be genuinely valuable to your candidates for it to be a meaningful engagement strategy. Candidates value useful information and convenience, but they also want to be inspired, and one way to inspire your candidates is to share your employer brand's vision. You need to paint an inspiring picture of an inspiring future and show that you play an essential role in that candidate's future. This is especially relevant for companies that are trying to build next-generation talent.  

Building talent pipelines is not a novel topic; however, what is still being determined is understanding how your Technology can help you engage faster, measure your message effectiveness, and improve your candidate pipeline. I have been advocating and advising organizations on this topic for years, saying this is where you are and where you need to be in the future. TA leaders, if you are still setting metrics around time-to-find, time-to-fill, and other metrics that leave out measuring your engagement metrics, you are missing a critical component of an effective recruiting strategy.  

 

The Future of Recruiting Is About to Change

In a digitized, branded, and networked world, with more automation in place to engage with candidates through personalized and valuable content, today’s candidates are raising the bar for recruitment. If you think otherwise, consider how frustrated and powerless you’ll feel in the future, when you can't see how your competition engages with candidates.  

If you are still considering your talent strategy and wondering if RPO is right for your business, I would welcome the opportunity to strategize with you. Don't hesitate to reach out to me.  

 

Fill out the form below to get started.

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 25, 2023
Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Digital business transformations have the potential to significantly change the way they operate; impacting systems, processes, workflows, and people. Here is some insight to contemplate for your organization to see the true success of digital transformation.

1. Be clear on your reasons for undertaking a digital transformation. Know your "why."

Start by asking these questions:

  • What strategic goals or business objectives will this deliver? 

  • How will you measure your progress toward meeting these objectives? 

  • How will you manage the progress and delivery to ensure you reach these goals? 

  • What are the main and supporting reasons for going through this process? 


 

Digital Business Transformation Infographic: How to Evaluate Impact to Organization and Customers

2. Evaluate a digital transformation's potential impact on your organization and your customers.

Consider asking these questions when undergoing a digital transformation: 

 

Customers

  • Your goal might be to transform some specific aspect of your customers’ experience, but have you considered how these changes might impact their overall journey?
  • Have you considered the several customer types and how your approach will affect each type?

 

People

  • How will these changes affect the people within your organization?
  • Have you sought their input into these changes?
  • Do you have a change management plan in place to help ensure a smooth transition and maximize internal adoption? 

 

Processes and Systems

  • Implementing new software (or modifying existing) may be part of your solution, but how will it affect your existing systems and data management needs?
  • How will the introduction of new software impact existing processes? Explore this beyond the immediate domain of the proposed changes.
  • Have you considered the impact of this on your enterprise system architecture? Think in terms of scalability, performance, and cost. Could these changes inadvertently and adversely impact your customers elsewhere in their experiences with your organization?
  • What system integration efforts will be needed to make this successful?

 

3. Determine the right incremental delivery approach and how to measure success.

A well-planned, incremental delivery approach is a proven model for successfully delivering digital transformation initiatives. Your approach should consider:

  • Your current capabilities and methods for developing a set of features and capabilities that will deliver on your business objectives and targeted outcomes

  • How to prioritize and manage these across a plan that incrementally delivers customer experiences while encouraging and facilitating meaningful and measurable feedback that can help refine future deliverables

  • How will your delivery team function? Will they be delivering demonstrable outcomes every two weeks? How will these feed into your release schedule and how will you package these up for your customers?

  • What mechanisms and processes will you have in place designed to capture feedback from your customer (internal and external) so that it can be incorporated into your ongoing product refinement and delivery

  • Who will develop and execute your change management plan to help optimize the adoption of the changes being made within your organization?


     

Follow these 3 steps to help prepare you for a successful digital transformation for your business. 

  1. Be clear on your reasons for undertaking a digital transformation; know your WHY
  2. Evaluate the full potential impact a digital transformation will have on your organization and your customers
  3. Determine your incremental delivery approach and how to measure success  

Interested in making sure you do not overlook anything while you transform? Fill out the form below to get more information.

michael-conway
2023/01
January 23, 2023
Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Do your managers work 70 hour weeks, while their employees struggle to fill the day? Do your new managers still behave like the all-star individual contributors they were before they were promoted? These are common symptoms of a broader issue of delegation of authority.

You know if they were able to allocate tasks they would have more time to focus on planning, analysis, and generating new ideas and improvements. The value you place on your managers is more than just checking items off a list. You want to encourage them to manage their teams effectively, develop their employees’ skills, and abilities and focus their time on high value-add tasks.

Here are some tips for encouraging this important skill in your managers:

 

1. Show managers the benefits of delegated authority.

Everyone has heard that delegation of authority is beneficial, so telling your managers that won’t make an impact. Show them the value of delegating tasks with problem-solving exercises. Let them experience what it is to feel powerless to make their own work related decisions. Have them try to create solutions to a problem without access to company experts. Repeat the same problem solving with assistance from experienced players and show how much of a difference it makes.

 

2. Entrust them with more responsibility and increased staff.

One of the most obvious things you can do to encourage your managers to delegate is to delegate to them yourself. Managers look to their superiors for guidance. Seeing you delegate to them and others will encourage the same behavior. Also, if they have more tasks and more people to manage it will make delegating even more vital. They will learn that they, and their team, can get more done by sharing tasks and responsibilities when able.

 

3. Foster an egalitarian culture.

A company’s organizational structure makes a big impact on delegation. If individual advancement is encouraged more than teamwork and achievement of shared goals then managers will be less likely to relinquish control. When status symbols are bestowed on individuals and overvalued managers are more likely to play the hero, and horde rewards for themselves. You get the same results when driven by fear, if a manager fears the results of a failed task; they are less likely to trust others to do it for them.

 

4. Hire managers with delegation skills.

The best way to acquire managers who delegate is to hire them. That trait may not be obvious, but there are ways to look. During the interview process, how often does the potential manager say “I” rather than “we” or “my team.” You can also ask questions that will highlight delegation skills. Ask them to talk about a successful project they completed with others and about their previous team. If they speak highly of their employees, they likely were comfortable delegating tasks. However, if there is a lot of negativity placed on those workers, it may be a red flag for their delegation skills.

 

5. Stress the notion of situational leadership.

In a perfect world, managers would be able to delegate every task they want to every one of their team members. Unfortunately, team members must have the readiness and willingness to take on tasks. Managers can use situational leadership when determining the responsibilities to delegate and to whom it will be delegated. To ensure that your managers are setting themselves up for success, encourage them to regularly take stock of their team members' ability to take on tasks. Some team members will be able to run with minimal direction, whereas some need a higher touch; understanding which approach to use will help managers work more efficiently.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough and relinquishing some level of control is challenging for many of us, but becoming comfortable with delegation is part of the maturation process for any leader. Think your team could use more direct support? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/01
January 20, 2023
Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

This past year there were several trends that emerged from quiet quitting, great resignation, hustle culture and more, that revealed what candidates and employees expected from employers. As the economy continues to show signs of slowing, it will remain a candidate’s market, which means many employers leave their employee value proposition unchecked. Because several organizations struggle with this, we need to take a step back to understand why this struggle might be more prevalent than necessary. 

HR trends that impact the workplace (w definitions)-2

The Purpose of Purpose 

The market changed and the talent landscape continued to evolve, thus causing employers to struggle to find and keep good talent. As this was unfolding, employees were leaving because they wanted more purpose in their work. All these challenges caused talent acquisition leaders to lose sight of the key component in their recruiting efforts – messaging, driven by the organization’s purpose, which consequently leads to helping candidates see the organization’s purpose come to life. An organization’s purpose gets to the heart of why the company does what it does. It defines what the company stands for and its role in our world. It helps set expectations among all stakeholders in the business — both internal (company leadership and employees) and external (customers, shareholders, and the community at large). It also drives the strategic decision-making that moves the company into the future.  

Organizations that have a well-defined purpose have, in effect, a way to frame their actions and communicate them as part of a bigger picture. And nowhere is this more apparent than when communicating your employment brand or employer value proposition (EVP). 

 

The Impact of Purpose

A clear and meaningful organizational purpose — articulated in a way all stakeholders can understand is essential to both internal and external audiences.  

There have been numerous studies that address the importance of this topic. In a recent report by McKinsey, 82% of surveyed companies said that having a stated “purpose” was important. Unfortunately, only 42% of those companies said their stated “purpose” had much effect.  

Why? Many companies’ purpose statements are so generic that they do little to challenge business practices or standards or to create a foundation for actions that might help change public perceptions. Consumers demand more social responsibility from the companies they do business with today. They are more apt to buy when they can buy into what you stand for.  

But worse, when the company’s employees or candidates don’t feel aligned with your purpose, they become disengaged. And that can have a devastating effect on a company’s performance: A similar Gallup study found that employees' connection with the mission or purpose of their organization leads to an 8.1% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability. 

Employees and candidates want to have common goals and values with their (prospective) employer and be able to contribute ideas and solutions to help the company meet its social responsibilities. We have long known that businesses that build a workplace culture around these ideals will be rewarded with highly engaged, enthusiastic and invested employees. 

Unfortunately, of the company purpose statements in the McKinsey study, only 21% could be tied to social goals, and 11% did not track towards making a meaningful contribution that benefits the world. Both are huge drivers for talent and an important part of your EVP. 

 

Is it Time to Revisit Your Purpose? 

If your company’s purpose is lacking or, worse, MIA, it’s never too late to refine it. A purpose statement should communicate your company’s “WHY” and how you make the world a better place. 

 

Infusing Purpose in your EVP 

Knowing what employees want and value is the foundation of a successful EVP. And there isn’t an employee out there that doesn’t want to find meaning and purpose from their work experience!  

Communicating your company’s purpose and EVP, and embedding that message in areas like recruiting, orientation, leadership development, training, and employee rewards can have a tremendous effect on your workforce. It can inspire employees with a sense of hope for the future as well as the satisfaction of contributing to something bigger than themselves. They will have more pride in the company they work for and the value they create for customers and investors. There just is no greater value an employer can offer its people than meaning and purpose. Your EVP, as communicated on your website, in your job postings, and by word of mouth by your team, is often the first time they will encounter it. Therefore, take the time to evaluate it, refine it, and embed it. 

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) can enhance your employer brand and bring new life to your recruiting efforts. 

Fill out the form below to get started.

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 6, 2023
Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a model where an organization outsources all or a portion of its recruitment function to an experienced third-party provider. When considering a partnership, companies look to organizations who can assess, build and run your recruiting processes to help expand your talent pools, create an exceptional candidate experience, improve compliance, and drive a higher quality of hire.

When considering your partner, look at ways the partner customizes the program offering and tailors to your specific needs. While recruiting may be thought of as the same across every organization, your recruiting needs are unique, therefore, your solution should be tailored and not a one-size-fits-all model.

Choose an RPO partner that:

  • Improves the quality and consistency of your recruiting process

  • Recommends and implements proactive and innovative recruitment strategies

  • Takes a holistic approach to understand your talent acquisition as it stands currently and what you need for the future

  • Elevates your employer brand throughout the recruitment process

 

Recruitment needs a holistic approach

Many recruitment process companies should offer more than typical sourcing and recruiting solutions, however, those who have a holistic approach to recruitment are focusing on your entire talent acquisition ecosystem to drive greater cost efficiencies by reducing risk on poor hiring decisions. Your talent acquisition ecosystem should consider your network of stakeholders’ needs, tech stack, and recruitment strategies that work together to build a  best-in-class recruitment process.

 

Holistic RPO partners provide:

  • Expertise in areas like market analysis that aid in strategic decision-making
  • Knowledge and tools that enable better control over the progress of your talent strategy
  • Innovate your employer brand with your candidate audiences

 

Why ‘holistic’ and what does THAT mean?

Holistic is not a metaphor or part of an advertising message we use to promote Aspirant’s RPO.

Our approach to RPO is to build a strong partnership working with the goal to improve the overall quality of talent acquisition. Unlike plug-in solutions that attack one problem at a time, Aspirant’s RPO holistic approach is to define the ideal candidate journey, implement the key processes to elevate your recruiting strategies, and activate an RPO solution that evolves as your organization’s business continues to move forward.

Our holistic approach to RPO stands the test of time because we stand by our promise to deliver.

If you are considering RPO, make sure to download your FREE buyer’s guide.

Aspirant RPO Buyers Guide-Is RPO Right for My Business

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

 

patty-silbert
2022/12
December 14, 2022
Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

As the term implies, a remote workforce allows company employees to work outside of the company’s physical location. Remote employees often work the same hours and have the same level of expectations and responsibilities as their in-house counterparts, but they do not have to be physically present. If your office is considering adopting or has a remote workforce, there are a few things to keep in mind.

What are the Benefits of a Remote Workforce?

There can be many benefits of a remote workforce for employees, management, and the company overall. An employee can work from the comfort of home, saving time and money on travel. This carries a flexibility not offered by in-person positions. Many professionals are attracted to the idea of working from home because they simultaneously manage household chores and responsibilities, resulting in a better work/life balance.

Furthermore, remote workforces often allow for a more flexible schedule, not the typical, if not arbitrary, 9 to 5 office job. Many remote employees schedule their days around their specific needs with the understanding that they will need to be present for various digital conferences or phone calls and meet deadlines.

A remote workforce also offers benefits for employers. The most talked-about result of a remote workforce is increased productivity. That’s right, remote workers tend to put more effort and energy into their jobs. In Forbes’ State of Work Productivity Report, it is noted that two-thirds of managers reported an increase in overall production from their remote workforce.

Although it may seem contradictory, reports like the one cited above often point to the fact that employees are more engaged in their company and their responsibilities when working remotely. Appreciation for their flexibility contributes significantly to this increased effort.

For the company at large, the obvious benefit comes from fewer expenses. When a company no longer has to provide a physical office space to rent or buy, heat and furnish, overhead costs quickly diminish. A physical space can cost a lot more than it may be worth in some cases. Even if some of your staff is still physically present, investing a partial remote workforce could provide the opportunity to downsize your office space and all of the incidental costs associated with it. 

 

What are the Qualities of a Good Remote Workforce Manager?

The question remains: how do you manage that stellar remote workforce? The skills needed to manage your remote workers differ from traditional office management. 

The first requirement is having a culture that actively values its remote workforce. Your company must be supportive of remote workers and include them meetings and communications. They are a critical part of the team and need to be engaged regularly. When choosing a manager or management team for these employees, it’s important that they feel the same.

Managers of a remote workforce should thrive at setting clear expectations and possess great communication skills. This is, of course, true of any manager, but it’s particularly crucial for those overseeing remote employees. For example, communicating face-to-face carries a certain amount of nuance that is lost through email or over the phone. There a fewer opportunities for questions and comments to arise organically, so a manager needs to ensure that everything is completely mapped out and understood.

A manager also has to be personable and take the necessary steps toward building trust when managing teams remotely. There’s no chance to run into each other in the break room, so a manager must put additional effort into knowing remote workers. This requires open streams of communication. However, this does not mean one needs to micromanage. A remote workforce manager simply needs to be available to her or his employees much more consistently.

Because face-to-face communication is limited, or downright nonexistent, a good remote workforce manager must also be proficient with online collaboration tools, sites, or platforms. The whole team needs to be active part of something such as Slack, Basecamp, Trello, etc. where they converse and check in daily with each other. These tools not only support a culture of accountability and task completion, but also give isolated employees an opportunity to engage their team and supervisors. Have occasional video conferences as well. A remote worker should not feel invisible in the company and its up to the manager to ensure this doesn’t happen. 

While every company establishes its own best practices, a manager of a remote workforce should focus on achieved goals, not the path remote works took in getting there. The truth is, a remote workforce forgoes some of the processes a manager could oversee in a traditional working environment. A good remote manager knows when to step in to help and when to step out of the way.

 

The workplace and the workforce that occupies it are constantly changing. Stay ahead of the game with our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion that explores how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/12
December 10, 2022
Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

In today's corporate world, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (or DEI) is more than a buzzword — it is an essential part of your company's mission. To help propel your company to success, here is a list of 5 surprising DEI facts.

1. DEI helps you attract the best employees

If you want to get the best talent in the door, it is imperative to understand how millennials view your organization. Candidates are looking for a company that matches their values and speaks to them on a personal level, effectively swaying their decision to accept or reject an offer based on their perception of an organization’s commitment to diversity. You can create an inclusive environment by supporting local events that resonate with diverse communities, providing training on cultural competency and the importance of diversity, and creating employee resource groups.

 

2. DEI improves workplace culture

Workplace culture is rooted in employee satisfaction—companies that offer more opportunities for development have been shown to have happier employees and less turnover. Your approach to diversity in the workplace helps define your company culture, as well as what type of talent you will hire.

 

3. A diverse workforce can help your company reach new markets

Teams made up of people from different backgrounds are more likely to develop new ideas for reaching broader audiences. For example, if your marketing team includes people from different backgrounds, they may be able to identify new markets or even develop products or services specifically designed for those markets.

 

4. Successful DEI strategies start at the top

Executive buy-in is one of the most important factors in whether an initiative succeeds. The more that executives are personally committed to their companies' diversity efforts, the more likely employees will agree that those efforts are effective. That means that senior managers not only need to back up their words with actions — they need to lead by example and practice what they preach.

 

5. Diversity is more than just your numbers

Including a diverse workforce is not only about having a good ratio of people across race and gender; it also extends to how employees identify on the spectrum between introvert and extrovert, how they deal with different types of stressors, how they approach problem-solving, and so much more. To truly know whether or not you're creating an inclusive workplace, ask yourself: do my employees feel like they can contribute in ways that draw on all of their unique skills? Are my employees valued for being themselves? If the answer is yes, then you're well on your way to truly leading a safe and inclusive workplace.  

Companies with more diverse workforces experienced higher profitability and a better ability to retain clients. However, it's not just about hiring more people from different backgrounds — it's about creating a culture of inclusion and equity within your workplace. It's great that your company has a DEI strategy in place, but that's just the beginning.

Do you believe your company’s DEI strategy needs assessing? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below to see how we can help your DEI strategy!

aspirant-team
2022/11
November 30, 2022
5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

Importance of Feedback in 2023

With the end of the year closing in, it is the perfect time to reflect and begin planning for the next year. While it’s important to look back at sales, marketing and (of course) finances, don’t overlook the value of employee feedback.

The Importance of Feedback

Listening to employees can give you so much useful information about their engagement and job satisfaction as well as good tips for helping the customer and bottom line. They are an often underutilized wealth of data that can help your company.

It's no secret that supporting employees, challenging them to grow, and encouraging them in their work is central to a positive work environment. As a result, your company may already have employee engagement programs in place. But do you know if they are working? No matter how well-intentioned or how hard you’re working, it’s only worthwhile if you're getting the desired results.

The best way to find that out is to ask them. Sometimes you will get feedback without asking, but it tends to be negative and too late to resolve. Employees will come forward when they are having a problem with their manager or a coworker. They will also talk quite openly in an exit interview, when their dissatisfaction has already translated into a career move. That’s a situation you want to avoid. So, what do you do to begin collecting feedback on a regular basis?

 

Explain the Role of Their Feedback

If you’re just asking for feedback because you’re supposed to, your employees are going to pick up on that eventually. Half-hearted efforts to explore critical topics such as employee engagement without any resulting action run the risk of having the reverse effect and your employees won’t bother talking to you a second time.

Work all year at having the kind of culture that invites candid communication. Show interest in what your employees are working on, what their roadblocks are and how you or the rest of management may be able to help.

Then, once you get some feedback, do something about it. Make a plan, discuss it with the employees you talked to and see if you’re on the right track. Let them know that you are working to address any of their concerns or heed their suggestions.

 

Actively Seek Their Feedback

Ask them questions, not just at review time, but throughout the year. This could be informal meetings or simply passing them in the hallway. If your employees are comfortable with you, they will be much more likely to discuss their concerns and ideas. If talking to you about what’s going on at work becomes a normal experience, they won’t be as afraid to approach you when something comes up.

The best environment is the one where employees know that their opinions are valued.

 

How to Gather Their Feedback

Talking individually at reviews and sometimes in groups is certainly useful. But sometimes employees will feel more comfortable with an anonymous means of communication. Take advantage of the many forms of online surveys to email specific questions to your employees.

Collecting employee feedback online is easy and efficient. Make sure to protect their privacy when needed, reassure them this is not about finding who said what, but figuring out what needs changed in the company. Make sure to set up a computer station for any employees that may not have access to email.

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

 

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/11
November 9, 2022
Importance of Feedback in 2023

Importance of Feedback in 2023

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Planning is nothing new to organizations, as they have been developing multi-year roadmaps for achieving their goals since their inception. However, organizations often struggle with strategy execution. 

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Often, leaders focus on crafting their vision and forming clear, tangible objectives, and tend to spend less time focusing on the importance of deploying their strategy. When this happens, the execution phase becomes overwhelming as leaders struggle with issues such as change management, insufficient resources, project management, and a lack of executive support. This ultimately leads to strategies being “shelved” and not given the necessary priority, resulting in wasted time, money, and resources. While there are many barriers to deploying your strategic vision, you can navigate the choppy waters of strategy execution by including these six components in your strategic planning  process, which will help ensure your strategy stays off the shelf.

 

1. Leverage the power of dataUsing data to make strategic decisions

A valuable strategic plan is a tool that helps organizations solve issues that are plaguing them. A common misstep in strategy development comes from an over reliance on personal and/or emotional bias, as opposed to fact-based, from leaders when they are deciding what problems they need to solve, and in fact find a ‘problem.’ 

To prevent emotional biases from creeping into the process, companies who develop and implement a fact-based, data-driven approach to fully understand the root cause and impact of organizational problems could avoid a potentially harmful outcome. The identification of problems must start by understanding the data that is available (both internally and externally) and by identifying what types of data need to be leveraged.

Data comes in many forms and utilizing a wide variety of data will help identify problems, strengthen decision-making ability,  improve your strategic planning outcomes, and overall help drive your business forward.

 

For example:

  • Help identify and solve problems. It comes through through tracking and reviewing business processes.
  • Strengthen data driven decision making. Minimize the time between data availability and its use. It can be collected from sources such as customer interactions, online transactions, web traffic, and social media.
  • Employee and operational performance data can reveal opportunities for improving business processes that reduce lead time and cost. This information can be obtained through yearly performance reviews, surveys, assessments, etc.

2. Create alignment between strategy and the organization

Successful strategy execution depends on your organization’s ability to align objectives with roles and responsibilities. Having a great strategy, which you believe can be executed, doesn’t mean it will lead to clear actions for employees. Even the highest performing employees may still miss the mark if leaders guide them with the wrong targets. That is why strategic planning should cascade naturally from corporate to business units to functional departments, and, ultimately, to individual employees.  

Strategically aligned organizations focus on their most important asset: people. Implementing any strategy starts with educating, involving, and aligning the people responsible for executing it. Take the time to review your strategic objectives for clarity and to ensure you have people in place who can provide execution ownership. 

 

3. Build a common understanding  

Communication is often cited as one of the major reasons why strategic objectives never see the light of day. Without communication, the workplace is not a connected environment. So, without clear, consistent communication how do you expect your strategy to be successful?

When leaders don’t focus on communication, it creates the risk of misaligned strategic objectives which leads to employees wondering what work is important, how to prioritize problems and goals, and what their function is. It also can create resentment as employees either don’t feel they are being listened to or simply don’t buy in what the organization is seeking to accomplish.  

Communication creates an understanding of what is going to happen, why is it happening, and how are we going to accomplish it. It is critical for disseminating information that employees need to be effective and serves to build relationships and trust across the organization.

By finding ways to solicit feedback and input along the journey, leaders gain the ability to better understand results, to be more problem specific, address re-occurring negative situations, and make communication more thorough. Designing a comprehensive communication plan focused on engaging essential employees — that includes the “why, what, and how” of the new strategy — will help win support and develop trust between leadership and individual contributors while establishing ownership over change initiatives. 

 

4. Balance your capacity  balancing resources to achieve strategic goals

When a major initiative is about to go live, ensure the availability of the appropriate resources (time, people, assets, capabilities, etc.) for achieving the corresponding goals. Many organizations fail to consider their capacity constraints when executing a strategy, and employees often struggle to maintain a healthy balance between day-to-day business and the execution of strategic initiatives. This presents a risk to your strategy as employees are most likely to prioritize the 'day jobs' for which they were originally hired.

Strategic objectives should be incorporated into employee functions and current business processes. This helps eliminate the common misconception that a new strategy creates more work and not new work. Phasing the deployment of initiatives and meeting regularly to monitor performance can help prevent teams from feeling overwhelmed. This approach to capacity planning can make a huge difference.

 

5. Commitment to change 

Most failures in strategic execution can be attributed to employee resistance due to lack of engagement, understanding, and leadership support. Anticipate and mitigate that risk by crafting a change management plan that makes a clear case for change and includes provisions for engaging employees, measuring progress, managing barriers to implementation, and ensuring change is sustainable.

 

considerations when forming your change management plan: 

  • Determine the impact of change in terms of people, process, and technology
  • Develop a robust, multi-channel communication strategy
  • Provide effective and informative training on new processes, expectations, and technology
  • Implement a support structure, such as cross-training employees, to allow your company the flexibility to utilize the talent of your staff
  • Measure the effectiveness of the change process

 

6. Drive accountability  

A culture of accountability creates individual ownership over parts of the strategy, improves their understanding of how strategy is performing, and empowers them to course-correct when things go wrong. There is no question that ownership leads to a better likelihood of success. Clear governance and accountability helps people become committed to strategic change and increases their ability to recognize the successes and failures of strategic activities.

 

promote effective strategic governance: 

  • Ensure there is surveillance over internal and external factors that can potentially impact the organization’s strategy 
  • Continuously and systematically check whether assumptions on which the organization’s strategy is based are valid 
  • Evaluate the organization’s strategy execution effectiveness 
  • Verify that strategy is being executed as planned and determine whether results are being delivered as expected

 

Time to Recap

Successful strategy execution can be an tedious process. It requires a well thought-out plan that accounts for the considerations listed above. Leadership needs to communicate clearly and consistently, and maintain alignment with the workforce throughout the entire journey. Hopefully these tips will create a seamless transition between planning and execution, ensuring the hard work invested into your plan doesn’t go to waste.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts have helped clients of varying size and industry develop and execute strategic plans that achieve their organizational goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

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We'd love to hear from you.

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anthony-lembo
2022/10
October 26, 2022
Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

As we all know, the job market is tougher than ever. With the great resignation, candidates have new ways of looking at how they want to work and where. HR leaders today are under pressure to get top talent in the door and to do so in an environment where time, resources, technology, and available budget can be at premium.

In the United States, there are more than 161 million people working and 15.7 million jobs open. This means that roughly one in 10 seats in your office are empty, and you’re competing with everyone else for staff. We have found that internal recruiting teams are struggling to keep up and the pressures coming from the C-Suite to bring the best talent in the door faster is causing leaders to re-evaluate their current recruiting function. In many ways, the answer they are looking toward is Recruitment Process Outsourcing.

And here is why…

 

RPOs Give Companies the Edge

Around the globe, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) has proven itself as one of the most effective ways for companies big and small to manage the challenges of attracting and hiring top talent today. Not only does partnering with an RPO improve efficiency in your processes, but provides the expertise and tools to help you attract the right people to the right positions at the right time.

So why exactly are so many companies turning to recruitment outsourcing?

 

RPOs Reduce Costs

No matter the size of your company, chances are your recruiting budget is lean. The time, manpower, and training that is now required around today’s recruitment process (whether it means investing in an additional sourcing professional or the latest technology) can be onerous for any HR budget. But what if all of those processes were handled by experts who have the latest skills, training and technologies at their disposal?

RPOs have the best practices, strategies and knowledge already in place. They streamline the recruitment process, introduce sourcing and recruiting best practices, and use the most appropriate strategies and technologies to reach the right candidate pool. Best of all, they provide scalable, tailor-made solutions for the challenges you face as your organization changes.

Partnering with an RPO can help companies identify how to staff the recruiting function more effectively and significantly reduce recruitment costs — even direct costs in areas like advertising, job boards and relationship management tools.

 

RPOs Shorten Time-to-Fill

As an HR professional, you well know the negative impact an unfilled vacancy can have on your organization’s productivity and performance.

Not being able to fill positions as soon as they are needed can directly impact the goals of the business unit and effect its bottom line. An unfilled position can mean the difference between being the first company to launch a product and a competitor getting to it first.

Late starting employees often need to be rushed through training and orientation, which can inversely impact their time-to-productivity, turnover rates, and on-the-job error rates which diminishes the return on their efforts, further contributing to dissatisfaction with HR throughout the business.

That’s why reducing time-to-fill is one of the most consistently-cited goals for taking on a recruitment outsourcing partner.

 

RPOs Improve Candidate Quality

In today’s tough talent market, being able to consistently attract in-demand — or even scarce — talent can give you a distinct competitive advantage. Not only are RPOs set up specifically to attract, assess and place high quality talent for their clients regardless of the role, but have sourcing approaches that allow them to access deeper talent pools than often are available in-house.

You might be thinking, “Just how can any process change improve quality of hire?” RPOs specialize in providing the kind of candidate-focused experience that creates a strong relationship with the employer from the get-go and companies see candidates who are better fits for the roles.

Recruitment outsourcing partners will also offer their clients sound guidance on the latest employer branding and candidate attraction strategies needed to stand out as an employer of choice in today’s competitive marketplace — improving the ability to attract both passive and active talent.

 

RPOs Promote Agility

When agility is one of an organization’s goals, it’s important for HR to identify practices that help them focus on prioritizing value and delivering more quickly.

Outsourcing all or part of the recruitment function significantly helps to free up the internal HR department and hiring managers’ time, allowing them to focus on other critical business functions.

Because HR is becoming an integral part of how talent impacts the company’s bottom line, key leadership is asking more of their HR business partners, particularly in the area of training and developing talent and helping to align that talent in a way that gets needed business outcomes. Freeing your HR team to concentrate on these tasks could be one of the most important ways you gain more than just efficiency in an RPO partnership.

Reach out below to connect with an RPO expert today.

 

patty-silbert
2022/10
October 10, 2022
Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

The Value of Contingent Workers

In my last post, I talked about the seismic shifts underway in regard to how candidates and employees think about work. Between the “Great Resignation,” “Quiet Quitting,” and mandates from the C-Suite to RTO (Return to Office), many companies are struggling to keep and bring top talent back to a traditional work environment.

Today, let’s talk about one of the strategies talent leaders are considering to help them navigate the imbalance in labor supply and demand … tapping contingent staff.

According to a U.S. Government Accountability report, 40 percent of the U.S. workforce is made up of contingent workers, with the average organization having 18 percent of its workforce employed on a contingent basis.

The concept of 1099 employees is something that many organizations find challenging, citing a lack of consistent work quality and their own lack of understanding of how to gain access to workers with specialized skills. But as Gartner recently stated, as talent needs to evolve, employers will need to focus their strategy on hiring for “skills required to drive the organization’s competitive advantage and the workflows that fuel this advantage.”

In other words, our ability to meet our corporate goals and build organizational resilience today, and in the future, will likely rely on a blended workforce.

 

The Agile Workforce of Tomorrow

While few would argue that the workforce of tomorrow will include a greater number of contingent workers, the dynamic nature of the market — and the market for talent as well — has been leading organizations to ramp up their use of contingent workers today.

Many companies have developed comprehensive strategies to include the use of these agile contributors to help them improve operational performance, lower labor costs, source rare or hard-to-find talent and inform future staffing decisions, and provide more organizational flexibility as market conditions change. But forward-thinking talent leaders at organizations of all sizes are including contingent workers as part of a workforce strategy that anticipates where the business expertise needs to support tomorrow.

Work will continue to evolve. The preference many workers have for flexible, location-independent work and the role that technology plays in making this kind of work possible has had an impact on the rapid growth of the contingent workforce. And there will always be a need to close the gaps between employees and employers to gain alignment on what both need to move ahead.

Here at Aspirant, we can help your organization assess and design a talent program that combines both permanent and 1099 employee options. Our high-touch and holistic approach to workforce planning and strategy, helps our clients reduce agency spend to bring the best talent to move your organization forward.

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 22, 2022
The Value of Contingent Workers

The Value of Contingent Workers

Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Completing the requisition intake process prior to getting that first candidate in the door is often viewed as frustrating and cumbersome by both hiring managers and recruiters alike.

If you’ve ever fielded a call from a hiring manager that says their recruiter doesn’t “get” what they want, you know exactly what I mean.

But it’s vitally important these professionals are on the same page — and work as trusted partners — to achieve the end goal of bringing in top talent. Studies like those done by Deloitte recruiting is not as easy as everyone thinks. Understanding the recruiting role and efforts it takes to find talent can help hiring managers and recruiters forge better relationships.

This is where having an expert recruiting team and a defined requisition intake process can really pay off. Because knowing what questions to ask and what information to bring to the table can help both identify with clarity what makes the right talent for the role, and also give the recruiter the tools to engage in conversations with higher-caliber talent.

 

Share Information Beyond What’s Requisition-Related

The ideal intake process gives recruiters the information vital to conducting a great search. It helps them validate the requirements that the hiring manager has for the talent the recruiter will present. But beyond information that help recruiters nail down titles, certifications, likely associations, and competitors for talent — the information you’d expect to discuss — top-notch recruiters will go much deeper to discover:

  • Changes in the industry landscape. What are the industry challenges that might act as a roadblock to your talent acquisition success?
  • Your challenges and strategic goals. What is the business unit trying to achieve through talent, both long- and short-term? What talent will be required for you to be able to compete now, and in the future?
  • Success measures. What do employees in similar roles think is most fulfilling about their roles? And what characteristics of theirs would you like to “clone” in your search?

You can tell when your recruiter is a great business partner: not only do they bring requisition-related research to the meeting—sharing what talent is available in the market, news about competitors, and companies that are not always top of mind as competitors—but they’re continually on the search for other information that can help you connect with top talent. So, they may come with additional requests.

For example, they may ask to meet with successful employees in a similar role, or the names of industry leaders to follow…they’ll go out of their way to get information to ensure your strategy and message continually opens up channels to engage with talent in order to sell the opportunity.

 

How This Information Colors the Candidate Message

Engaging with top talent means more than answering questions about what this role entails, benefits or salary. It means being able to speak to the purpose of the role, how it fits into the future of the company and, quite often, what it means to the industry.

In a talent landscape in which candidates drive and expect engagement, it’s up to the recruiter to paint a picture of the opportunity and the company as the career destination of choice.

The time and effort the recruiter invests in understanding the unique challenges and competitive landscape is probably the most important tool in their portfolio for helping connect with candidates and helping to achieve your strategic workforce goals.

Reach out below to continue the conversation with our RPO experts.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 13, 2022
Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

“Bob” is moving on, and you’re tasked with finding just the right person to fill his shoes. So, what kind of information should you know about your candidates to make sure you’ve found the perfect fit to replace Bob? And with all the changes in the talent landscape for people in Bob’s discipline, how do you appeal to candidates who have so many more career options because of them?

If your organization is like most, then to get to know your candidate you rely on assessments during the selection process to identify skills and cultural fit for the role. These assessments are important, but don’t often determine how happy a person is going to be in that role. And if your new hire’s not happy, they’re not going to give their best, and they’re certainly not going to last.

You need to have answers to some very important questions, long before you’ve narrowed down your candidate pool.

 

Getting to Know More About Who Your “Ideal Candidates” Really Are

Do you know what makes someone in Bob’s role love their work? What makes their job most rewarding? Or what drives them to look for another role?

Knowing what makes your existing employees and your potential candidates “tick” is the key to engagement with your organization. Whether they are engineers or nurses or auditors, the candidates you’re speaking with have specific wants and needs that they share with others in their profession that drive their actions to seek out a new employer or stay at your company.

In the marketing world, when companies are trying to appeal to their customers, it’s common for marketers to identify those types of drivers among audience groups and create “pictures” of the ideal customer to market to, called a candidate persona. Creating these candidate personas improves efficiency and brand connection by helping marketers define their audience (who needs, and is going to be happy with, their product) and speak directly to them.

Can you imagine how impactful this type of information could be to your recruiting strategy?

 

How Successful Recruiters Get in the Candidate’s Head

I’m going to let you in on a trade secret: the most successful recruiters are those who use what they know about the specific industry and the disciplines that make up that industry they’re hiring for to color all their communications with those audiences. They bring in top talent because they have identified key drivers that make that audience receptive to the company’s offer. Don’t get me wrong; your brand contributes to those efforts, but it is only one of the factors that help attract the right fit.

The best recruiters get to know what drives their candidates’ actions, including:

  • Their habits, including where to find them online and how to connect
  • Their needs, their pain points, their goals — what this audience says they want out of a career
  • Any external influences that may enter into their decision (like student loan debt among a specific discipline or demographic, or the current state of an industry, or their desire for professional development)
  • Any popular perceptions of the job, industry, location or the company that the conversation would need to change


Picture1-May-05-2022-02-01-39-47-PM

 

You, Too, Can Build a Candidate Persona. And Should.

Having a well-defined candidate persona will help you build a better sourcing and attraction plan in the long run and help you target your opportunities to the right groups of prospective candidates. It helps you better sell your open position to them. And, at the end of the day, it helps you hire people more likely to be engaged because they value what your position offers. It also helps for your hiring leaders to promote and talk about their industry — and the professions that make up that industry — from their vantage point.

So how do you go about building a candidate persona to fill Bob’s spot? It’s important to consider factors that reach far beyond anything you would see in a job description, a resume or what you are to pick up in an interview, and for that you’ll need to do some investigation:

  • First, talk to Bob, if you can, and ask him the motivation behind his educational track and ultimately the role he chose for his profession. Ask Bob what attracted him to that work, makes his profession so exciting, and what drives (or drove) him to stay in the profession. Ask Bob if working at your company fulfilled his professional expectations and how.
  • Then, conduct research. Survey non-employees from your top talent industries to learn what about the work makes them excited to show up every day. For engineers it may be the chance to innovate; for sales and marketers, it may be centered around their ability to offer and receive creative input from all levels; for finance professionals, it might be their desire for meaningful support of their career development, rather than getting lip-service during their performance review period. Most often companies only survey their existing employees and find that the results didn’t tell them anything that they didn’t already know. I don’t have to tell you the reasons for that! Plus, going outside for information can help you prove to yourself that your culture speaks to what top talent professionals value most.
  • Finally, connect with experts. Understand their forecasts for the potential demand on your top talent by role. This will help you anticipate attrition and what you need to do in order to plan for your ongoing attraction strategies.

Once you have gathered this information just don’t sit on it. Use it to drive your:

  • New marketing approaches: Content marketing once reserved for the company’s product and services is now moving into HR practices. Forward-thinking organizations are now creating stories that help to educate their workforce and potential candidates on job role transformation, especially when it comes to new skills and technologies that are changing how people in that disciplines do their work.
  • Thought leadership: Leaders in every organization should be encouraged to speak more about how the innovations in their industry are helping to create rewarding, purposeful work experiences. For example, if you’ve built programs that promote continuous learning and publish results, not only are you revealing to your audience just how exciting it is to work in such an innovative environment, but that you have a culture of learning and growth, as well.
  • Engagement Strategies: Because most candidate and employment engagement strategies are based only on internal information, they’re often not as successful as we’d like them to be. Ensure your leadership understands the distinction between culture and engagement: culture describes the way things work, while engagement describes how people feel about the way things work. If you’re not basing your strategies on what top talent in your industry values most, you’ll likely see a distinct “gap” in your ability to attract and retain talent.

So What are the Takeaways?

Candidate/Industry personas will help you identify with your audience and better position your recruitment marketing messages to speak to your candidates’ career aspirations. And when you speak to those needs, you win by attracting top talent.

Be sure to include your marketing team, Business Unit HR members and Management leadership when developing these personas as everyone brings a different perspective and different information to the table. Then once you have your candidate personas in place, act on them by using specific messaging in your content and by empathizing with candidates as they go through your talent pipeline.

Validate your personas as your business evolves, company innovations often dictate the need for new types of talent based on new technologies that may be driving that change.

Measure your results. Validate that your candidate experience and engagement levels have improved as a result of your content recruitment marketing efforts. Knowing what impact these efforts have had on these important KPIs will keep you ahead of your competition.

Interested to learn more? Fill out the form to see how Aspirant RPO can help you develop candidate personas for your business.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 12, 2022
Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

 

The pandemic may have forced many companies to embrace remote and hybrid working options, but the workforce itself will likely ensure that it’s here to stay.

Both current and potential employees are in the driver’s seat when it comes to reshaping the workplace today. While we can say the pandemic created a flexible working environment: work-from-home (WFH), hybrid, and remote work options are quite common — and gave birth to concepts like WFA (Work from Anywhere) and ROWE (Results-Oriented Working Environments) — these expectations had been brewing long beforehand as employees voiced a need for more flexibility and better work/life balance. In fact, studies show that U.S. workers now consider work/life balance and flexibility to be among the most important factors in considering job offers.

Yes, there are roles in industries such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and others that will always require the workforce to be onsite to fulfill the organization’s purpose. But for other roles, make no mistake: the top talent you’re looking for is going to weigh in on where and how they want to work. Even as many leaders are starting to set expectations on returning to the office on set days or so many days per week; the workforce is still driving forward with what they desire from their employers.

For company and talent leaders, this shift in workforce expectations presents real challenges to the one factor crucial in determining the success or failure of a business: organizational culture.

Culture and an Evolving, Flexible Workforce

Company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors of a company and its employees. It is evident in the way an organization's people interact with each other, the values they hold, and the decisions they make. It encompasses a variety of elements, including company mission, leadership style, values, ethics, expectations, goals…and work environment.

No matter what flexible work options a company may offer, many will find it tough to engage employees and candidates with a culture clearly designed when work is done face-to-face. I think the reason for this is best described by the authors of one of my favorite HBR articles, “The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture”:

“Successful leaders understand that it takes equal parts strategy and culture to maintain organizational viability and effectiveness. Strategy offers a formal logic for the company’s goals and orients people around them. Culture expresses goals through values and beliefs and guides activity through shared assumptions and group norms.”

Now that more work is expected to be done outside the four walls of the organization, special attention to how your culture is expressed will be extremely important in order for employees to share these goals. It’s simply not as easy to understand (or establish) “group norms” when you are physically removed from the group!

For an employer, this may require extra effort to keep everyone in the day-to-day flow of information, establish set expectations that help managers trust and lead from a distance, or experiment with ways to counter proximity bias and draw in remote talent. While the challenges around execution might be different for every company, the goal of this effort is universal – to ensure an evolving, flexible workforce sees your company as a where people experience purpose, feel valued, and have opportunities to learn and grow.

Workforce expectations may have changed around where work is done, but candidates and employees still expect the how and why to resonate with them. Continually investing in your company culture as your workplace evolves will keep your key employees engaged and motivated and make your organization a magnet for top talent. Here at Aspirant’s RPO we help employers understand workforce trends and look at ways to evolve your recruiting strategies, regardless of what types of employment norms you may be offering. Our goal is to help bring your Employee Value Proposition to life and engage candidates who stand with your purpose.

 

Interested to learn more? Fill out the form, and we'll answer any questions you may have.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 8, 2022
How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

Companies that effectively use data analytics find that they stay up-to-date with their operations and are more efficient. That is because data analytics allows them to get real time data about their operational systems and business transactions. Unfortunately, companies without this visibility into how their business is running and performing find it difficult to keep up with those that are able to leverage those insights into optimization initiatives.

Embrace data analysis as a competitive advantage. The more customers you have, the more data you can gather. Through visualization and analysis, that information can be transformed into business intelligence. This can help you identify and prioritize the most impactful ways to strengthen performance, be it with implementing new technology, boosting product quality, or targeting a new market segment.

 

How Your Business Can Benefit from Data Analytics

Data analytics can provide a continuous method for monitoring the key performance indicators (KPIs) most closely tied to your strategic goals. This will inform how to deploy limited resources in response to the most pressing needs.

Data visualization tools can be set up to track whatever metrics are most central to your operational decisions. That could include external factors like customer sentiment and industry dynamics, purchasing patterns such as frequency or order size, or internal financial performance. Staying on top of these sorts of trends will enable your organization to anticipate and take proactive measures. Integrations with social media platforms can even enable up-to-the-minute monitoring of Facebook engagement and Twitter followers.

Even if you are behind the curve with the adoption of data analytics, you can make up for lost time. Historical data can be fed into the same analysis methods to build out a baseline for go-forward trend tracking. 

Business analytics allows you to identify and proactively address problems. This drives efficiency that translates directly to the bottom line.

 

The Challenge of Putting Data Analytics into Practice

A Microsoft-commissioned study by Forrester found that one of the most common reasons companies are reluctant to create a data analytics program is security threats. Decisionmakers are uncomfortable with making systematic access to their customer and operational data until they know it is secure. Installing those controls can spiral into a series of drawn-out initiatives, significantly delaying all related programs - including business analytics. Rather than risk getting tangled in all that complexity, some leadership teams might prefer to scuttle the idea altogether.

Another frequent problem is lacking a commitment to properly training employees. That will foster resistance to the adoption of new business intelligence practices. It is impossible for these tools to make a difference if people don't know how to use them.

 

What You Need in a Data Analytics Program

The volume of data and the number of sources heavily determine the quality of analysis that can be conducted. Direct integration with all relevant systems ensures timely, accurate inputs without relying on unreliable manual processes for consolidating data from disparate sources.

Even with that automation in place, a method for validating all data feeds also needs to be part of the implementation process. This ensures the integrity of any subsequent analysis, preventing the risk of erroneous reporting creating distractions (or worse).

How this content is presented and distributed is critical. You need a data analytics strategy that ensures the relevant information in the appropriate level of detail, and makes it easily accessible for the appropriate team members.

If the output of an analytics tool is not actionable, it's useless. That's why the most effective companies collaborate on how changes to the trends they're tracking will influence their approach ahead of time. That creates strategic agility that businesses without a data analytics program simply cannot match. 

For more on why business analytics is a necessity rather than a luxury, check out this article from Microsoft.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Microsoft Cloud Solutions team specializes in designing and securing business intelligence programs tailored to each client's unique needs, preferences, and goals. From systems integration to organizational adoption, Aspirant's Integrated Expertise ensures that every component you need to be successful will be in place.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

sayed-saeed
2022/09
September 7, 2022
Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

Speak with anyone in Talent Acquisition today and they’ll tell you that hiring top-quality talent has become extraordinarily challenging. Rapidly changing business needs have meant critical positions requiring future-focused industry skill sets need to be filled quickly and efficiently, and traditional recruiting strategies can’t keep up.

Recruiting is always evolving, but now, more than ever, it’s very clear that sourcing will re-emerge at the core of the transformation. And here’s why:

Over the past several years — or maybe I should say decades — of working with organizations around the world to develop their talent sourcing capabilities, many of our first engagements were initiated to find what we once called “a purple squirrel” — an individual with unique and hard-to-find skill sets that made these candidates elusive to recruiters.

These types of candidates and the effort involved in finding them had a dramatic impact on recruitment metrics. At first, hiring speed, accuracy, and efficiency took drastic hits. But on the other side of this challenge was a positive outcome: sourcing began to transform and evolve the organization’s recruiting function, proving that using sourcing techniques to find this unique talent was worth the effort and it became a strategic imperative for many organizations.

 

How “mature” is your recruiting organization?

Every company can cite the challenges they have when it comes to recruiting such as geographical location, industry and industry-specific skills, company culture, and recruiting teams. Likely, their recruiting style is a result of those challenges. But an organization’s “standard recruiting M.O.” can also be a good measure of its maturity, agility, and competitiveness in the talent market.

Recruiting programs are either reactive or proactive. Traditional recruitment programs most often fall in one of three common operational models that are reactive in nature.

recruitment maturity header2-1

The first operational model, I’ll call Defensive Recruitment.

DEFENSIVEThis recruitment model is known for “post and pray” or “pay and spray” techniques that rely on widely broadcasting job advertisements so candidates to come to you. Most traditional organizations operate in this defensive mode; their candidate outreach includes recruitment marketing, posting to job boards, promoting referral programs, and hosting events. Defensive recruiting is about waiting for something to happen before taking action therefore relies primarily on the candidate taking the initiative and “doing the work” of making the connection. And while Defensive recruiting produces the kind of high-volume candidate flow that is appropriate for some roles, the more options a candidate has, the less likely they are to invest time in such a process.

Broadcasting jobs can result in a large volume of inbound applicants who must be filtered, sorted, and screened. Combined with a long or awkward application process the reliance on screening and background checking means recruiters take on administrative roles processing applicants and have less time to spend on adding value to the hiring process. Past applicants are ignored for future openings and control is left in the hands of outsiders as employers wait and hope that enough qualified applicants arrive. 

The second operational model is Responsive.

REACTIVEWhile there are still many aspects of this model that require the candidate to come to you for first contact, Responsive companies have figured out that conventional recruiting methods are insufficient to attract top candidates and will invest considerable time and effort in creating targeted means of attracting them, or they spend time finding candidate resumes on major job boards to reach a wider pool of talent.

Hallmarks of this model are a reliance on pay-for-results specialized job distribution to niche job boards, viral marketing, mobile apps, SEO/SEM, and pay-per-click advertising or programmatic ad buying. While very functional, this model is laborious, costly, and time-consuming. Employers do this to survive or may end up outsourcing their recruitment process.

The third operational model is Anticipative. 

In the Anticipative recruitment model, recruiters are aligned to specific business segments and pipeline potential candidates ahead of demand but still wait for a requestion to begin the process of connecting with them. They get involved with the hiring manager to plan for the job to be open and may even have a database of contacts they can reach when the right opportunity comes around. Delays cause some high-quality candidates to be snapped up before these recruiters can approach them for a role.

ANTICIPATIVEFor “hard-to-fill” roles that are high level yet of low criticality, or roles that are unlikely to recur frequently, turning to agencies shifts the labor burden and increases the speed to hire at the price of raising costs. Time is critical in recruiting. Searching a database for qualified candidates can take hours each day. In this model, a recruiter can view hundreds of resumes and find perhaps one or two candidates who qualify. This is a labor-intensive process that lowers the yield per recruiter. The cost incurred in paying for more resumes, and then paying more people to read them, makes this model attractive to contingency-based firms who can afford to specialize in niche areas and work with a wide spectrum of clients with similar hiring needs, thus maximizing their investment. When a good candidate in this quadrant decides to job hunt, there is only a short window to obtain their attention before they are considering other offers. So, if a recruiter does not connect with the candidate when they begin their consideration of a new opportunity or are still looking, all effort is wasted.

 

Enter sourcing

The fourth operational model is Proactive.

PROACTIVEOrganizations that use this strategic approach usually designate approximately 20% of their positions as "critical" roles - those are roles that will impede business growth should they go unfilled for any length of time and require a unique approach to find the right candidate. What sets this operational model apart is the use of expert researchers and callers to conduct lead generation and identification based on talent profiles in advance of a requestion. This makes the relationship between the recruiting team and hiring manager more consultative, rather than a “customer/order filler” relationship that is more prevalent in more reactive models.

Proactive teams also place a high value on re-hiring eligible former employees, non-employee referrals, and revisiting “silver medalists” - candidates who declined offers or were close contenders for hire, yet ultimately were not selected for a specific position and could be better suited for the new opening.

Sourcing as part of a proactive hiring strategy saves you time, money, and effort. It creates efficiency, reduces redundant efforts, and keeps pressure off you, your team, and your hiring manager, too. And it helps the business be more agile and competitive for talent, today and in the future. It also helps to elevate your employer brand beyond waiting for candidates to encounter your brand in job board messaging.

Obviously, these models are not mutually exclusive: many recruitment organizations are host to two or more of these models at any given time due to various business pressures or environmental factors. But the further an organization moves into the proactive, more strategic model, the more value it adds by driving the very future of the organization through talent.

 

How a Strong Sourcing Strategy Evolves Your Recruiting Model

Companies with a more proactive recruiting model are those that consistently achieve their top potential in terms of talent. With a sourcing team focused on long-term candidate development, these companies are often known as employers of choice within their industry or region. They’re also able to attract top performers from their competitors and outside of their industry. They discuss strategies for meeting company growth needs or replacing key employees and the team is updated continually on planned changes in the business that will impact talent needs.

Such an environment enables forward-thinking, pipeline-based, proactive models capable of leveraging technology and automation to recruit and prime a talent pipeline ahead of demand. By automating low value-added tasks through the use of technology, knowing where the talent is, and knowing how to get to it, this model decreases cost and increases speed. More nimble employers benefit from access to candidates that move quickly.

Strategic Talent Sourcing consists of industry experts with low requisition volume focused on building critical talent pools and supporting all requisitions with low or no candidate flow. While a relatively small percentage of an organization’s hires are critical, these are the jobs that remain unfilled the longest, cost the most to fill, and when they go unfilled, highly impede growth. Hiring organizations generally agree that to fill these jobs they must turn to sourcing.

Recruiting organizations don’t “mature” overnight. If your team is using a Defensive or Reactive hiring model, it may take quite a while to see your team evolve. But an investment in sourcing will greatly increase your organization’s capability to consistently hire more A-players.

 

Here's where to start

As I shared, I’ve worked with hundreds of hiring organizations over the years—big and small—and have found that those that mature and evolve most rapidly are those with one very important attribute in common: deeply integrated into their sourcing strategies are five key components aligned with the business and ever-evolving to meet its needs.

  1. Team Architecture: Does your team structure make the most effective use of their skills, resources, and technology? And are your roles well-defined, or do you have team members that are stretched too thin to become effective?

  2. Direct Sourcing: What percentage of your hiring is for critical roles? The A-list talent you’ll need to fill them is waiting for your opportunity to come to them. Do you have the skills in place to find and connect?

  3. Metrics that clearly demonstrate ROI: What’s your team’s most important outcome? Is it being adequately measured? What metrics should you have to measure performance or value to the organization?

  4. Skill Development: Do you have the resources in place to ensure your sourcers’ advanced web search techniques are up-to-date? Where do they get the expert advice they may need to accelerate their results?

  5. Sustainability: Must team members re-invent the wheel at every turn? How is organizational wisdom shared? Companies that create a sourcing center of excellence (CoE) and champion subject matter expertise grow their teams’ skills and knowledge exponentially.

While evolving your recruiting model by investing in a proactive sourcing strategy isn’t always easy, studies estimate that companies that have made the transition from a Reactive Recruiting Model to a Proactive Sourcing Model increase hiring performance by 30% or better.

By looking at the skills and talent in your talent acquisition function today, Talent Acquisition organizations can take action that better prepare their company for tomorrow’s hiring needs. Through Aspirants Sourcing solution, we offer a detailed diagnostic tool that can reveal where TA leaders need to focus in order to optimize their sourcing strategy and help their team more effectively serve their business. Whether you are looking to design a custom in-house sourcing model, strengthen and develop your current team, or wish to add staff to augment your own team, our solutions can help your strategy have the business impact it was designed to achieve.

If you’re ready to transform your recruiting team into the strategic hiring organization you need for the future, we can help. Connect with us to learn more.

aspirant-team
2022/07
July 22, 2022
How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

It just might be the people I associate with, but I find the subject of passion — whether it’s about our work, our lives, or whatever we may be doing — creeping into the conversation quite a bit lately.

I suppose it’s natural that words like passion and purpose are part of the lexicon here at Aspirant. Lately, not only are these topics widely popular in blog posts, podcasts, and many self-help books, but they are prevalent here, largely because talent today has shifted their priorities and are more satisfied with their jobs when they feel they are meaningful, and they are empowered.

As we embody the topic of passion and purpose, we find ourselves asking talent acquisition leaders about their company’s great purpose. This helps us attract and recruit talent whose own purpose and passion align with an organization’s purpose, resulting in a better cultural fit.

It’s interesting to see how these conversations morph. I’ve heard the same question from company leadership, recruitment professionals, and candidates: “How do you find your passion?”

Passion shapes our existence. It fuels our inspiration and opens us up to opportunities and changes around us. When you have enthusiasm and excitement for what you do, life simply opens up for you. It’s no wonder so many of us want to tap into that type of energy!

Most stories about people who set out to discover their passion have common themes, including my own. I came up with five actions that I think will get you started if you are looking to find your passion at work:

 

1. Start with Self Awareness and Authenticity

You might have heard it said: “You have to know yourself to grow yourself.” That’s why I believe any journey to find your passion should begin with knowing who you are and learning how to show your true self to others.

In the book What’s Your Genius? author Jay Niblick identifies two things that successful people have in common. Those two things are:

  1. Self Awareness – the understanding of who you are, your design, makeup, strengths, and natural abilities; and
  2. Authenticity – dedication to being more of who you are instead of focusing on what you are or the skills you lack.

So how do you find out who you are? There are lots of assessments on the market that can help you discover your innate competencies and motivators, but choosing just one assessment is like using one utensil for all of your meals. Each has different applications. Remember, we’re infinitely complex beings, so a single tool will give us only a snapshot of the big picture.

Two that I really like are the Predictive Index, which addresses motivating needs and behaviors, and the Attribute Index, which measures skills and competencies.

 

2. Pay Attention

Something my father always said when I was growing up was, “Be aware of your surroundings.” It turns out that, as with most things, it’s much easier to talk about paying attention than actually doing it.

Some people are fully present and able to analyze situations and their outcomes quite naturally. They get crucial information, either from their gut or from the environment around them, that helps them make choices or take actions to produce the results they want. But most of us need to work on practices and habits that can keep us present and focused.

Mastering the skill of “being present” is particularly important when trying to find your passion. Pay attention to how you feel about certain tasks, assignments, ideas, etc. The more in tune you are, and the more internal and external information you can gather, the easier it will be to discover exactly what you want and how to get it.

 

3. Identify Your Strengths

While we did discuss identifying your strengths as part of the process of becoming more self-aware, I think it’s such an important component to finding your passion that it needs some extra examination — because another part of the process is being able to admit to things that aren’t your strength, and that’s not as easy as it may seem.

Whitney Johnson, the author of Disrupt Yourself, offers three very good questions to ask yourself in order to identify your strengths:

  • What makes you feel strong? What are the things that you do that make you feel strong? When the work is engaging and challenging but, at the same time, comes naturally to you
  • What compliments do you dismiss? What compliment do you receive that seems silly to you? It’s probably something that you never would have expected to get a compliment on because it seems insignificant to you.
  • What exasperates you? What are the things that, when someone else doesn’t seem to “get it" or can’t do it, you just can’t relate?


4. Admit Defeat and Failure

Mistakes are a part of life, but admitting to defeat and failure is hard. It’s not in our nature to admit our foibles, and, frankly, it takes a lot of humility and honesty to do so. But without admitting failure, you can’t learn from your mistakes.

It’s the same with accepting defeat. This may sound counter-intuitive (which is probably a good sign that it’s right), but sometimes you can’t move on unless you quit.

I had to learn this first-hand. I went to college to study Computer Information Systems and went immediately into a career as a program developer. I invested four years in school, and three years in a job that made me truly unhappy. I simply hated my life.

So, I started to really look at the aspects of my job that I didn’t like and the ones that made me excited. I quickly realized that I loved spending time with the users of my applications. I loved talking to them about the problem they needed my software to solve, or what they did with their kids over the weekend. Where things started to fall flat for me was when I had to go back to my cubical and stare at my computer screen. Regardless of the time and effort I had committed to this direction in my life, I came to a point where I had to admit I wasn’t passionate about it, I wasn’t great at it, and I had to admit defeat.

Admitting defeat was the first step of the journey that brought me here, where I can help solve problems for HR professionals and be a lot more satisfied in my work.

 

5. Experiment & Don’t Worry About Sunk Costs

Sometimes finding out what you love is an exercise in first figuring out what you don’t love. I didn’t love what I was doing, so I made the radical choice to change it. Experimenting, especially with something as big as a career, can be frustrating, but there are some things you’ll never know unless you try.

Through this passion-discovery process, you can’t worry about the time, money, and energy you’ve invested in something you know isn’t right. Life is full of sunk costs. Don’t get hung up on them. Don’t be afraid to quit when you know something isn’t right.

Every one of us has a greater purpose. Find it, and you will be doing the work you were meant to do.

patty-silbert
2022/06
June 13, 2022
How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

All companies, regardless of size or industry, have one thing in common: their need for talent never stops.

The HR teams I meet with during my job are in a continual whirlwind of sourcing, screening, and offer management activity. Like yours, their recruiting team operates at sprint speed every day. And they, too, feel their efforts are going nowhere.

One of the biggest hurdles? Not enough (or, often, the wrong) applicant flow. And believe it or not, one of the main contributors to this problem is something you're sprinting right by. Your job postings and descriptions may also use particular words and phrases that alienate a large portion of your candidate pool.

Paying careful attention to words and phrases can help eliminate implicit racial bias and increase diversity in the workforce. In addition, your job posting should be an attractor, not a detractor, for top talent.

It’s your job posting.

Yes, in many regions, the talent demand has outpaced the supply for specific disciplines. But more than that is needed to slow your flow of quality applicants to a trickle. Chances are that your competitors are simply doing a better job of marketing their opportunities.

The job posting is the foundation of your marketing efforts. Gone are the day when any ATS-generated list of responsibilities and requirements would be enough to get a response. Your relationship often begins (and ends) at this post.

Making sure your candidate can find and relate to it is one of the most important things you can do. So how do you do that?

 

Help Them Find the Job Posting

Start by reviewing your job titles. Do they describe the job? Or are they so full of vague internal jargon or creative fluff that it would be hard for the candidate to tell what the role is about? Use the terminology and words your candidate would use to describe the role.

Internally, you might use terms like junior, senior, or lead to rank jobs. Still, they offer little value to the candidate and can hinder prospects from finding you on search engines. Remember that most job searches start at Google, so keep your job titles clean and keyword specific.

Studies show that men apply when they meet just 60% of the qualifications in a job ad, and women apply only if they meet 100% of them. So, it's critical only to include essential requirements and eliminate any that are not to ensure you widen your candidate pool.

Then, Help Them Relate to the Job Posting

Look at your posting from the candidate's viewpoint and ask yourself, "Would I want to apply?" If your eyes have already glossed over before you've finished the first paragraph, you can imagine how compelling it is to your candidate!

One of HR's recent and most disturbing trends is beginning every posting with a paragraph description of the company. This is a horrible practice for two main reasons: 

  1. It pushes job-related keywords down in your copy where they do little to help your SEO, so chances are your competitor's job posting will appear on search engine results before yours. 
  2. This document is not about your company. This practice turns you into that guy at the party that corners people only to tell them about himself:

Company XYZ is the global leader in cotton candy. We help the world's snack purveyors deliver deliciously fresh candy to their customers, making us well positioned in a large growing market historically dominated by more traditional "hand-made candy" solutions. With thousands of customers in over 100 countries, a growth rate of 50% for the last ten years, and a product that is genuinely different from the competition, Company XYZ has an incredibly bright future. For more information, visit the company's website at www.XYZ.com.

Don’t be that guy.

With a more relational approach, this same intro could help the candidate "see themselves" in the role by describing its contribution to the company's purpose and goals. We call this making a "You Sandwich."

 

Make a “You Sandwich”

The job descriptions that connect start and end with the candidate. Start by telling them "what you'll do" and "how your role" aligns with the business. Then, close by describing how they'll benefit from being part of your organization.

For example, the same job intro refocused on the candidate rather than the company. You can see why this might connect better with the right sales candidate:

Hungry for a challenge? As an Account Manager for Company XYZ, you'll represent the global leader in cotton candy. Our sales teams connect with some of the world's largest snack purveyors and manage a book of business that covers over 100 countries. If you're ready to be part of a fast-paced and high-energy sales team that has driven a 50% growth rate for the past ten years, this opportunity is for you.

You'll note that this approach also allows you to include related keywords that can help optimize your post for better search results.

At the end of the post, rather than rattle off a staid laundry list of benefits, bring to the forefront what your culture can offer your ideal candidate that would be of value to them specifically.

 

Remember Who You’re Speaking To

You have to know your audience to relate to them. If you don't know, find out what engages likely candidates for the role you're writing for before crafting your job posting.

For example, a sales role candidate will find the opportunity's breadth and challenge exciting. On the other hand, a customer service candidate may be better served by highlighting the company's commitment to developing talent instead.

 

Draw Them into Your Brand

Taking a more thoughtful approach to customizing each post for the candidates you hope to reach is about more than just marketing the job. It also does a lot to elevate your employee brand in the eyes of your candidate.

Your relationship with your candidate often begins with this single page online. If the job posting reads like it was written to serve a process rather than speak to someone, they'll probably go elsewhere. Let your candidates know that answering your posting is worth their investment in time by investing yours in the right message.

 

Interesting to learn more? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below!

patty-silbert
2022/04
April 6, 2022
Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

8 Employee Recognition Ideas

Acquiring and keeping talented employees requires more than just financial compensation. Good workers want to feel valued and appreciated. The more they do, the better they work and the happier they are.

A poll by Maritz Research dug into the effects of employee recognition. They found that employees were seven times more likely to stay with a company in which they were recognized and rewarded. They were also six times more likely to invest in said company.

This is just one of many examples of the proven positive results of recognizing and rewarding your team. One of the first things you need to do to incorporate rewards into your company is to truly understand the employees. What do they value? What do they want? What do they need? Understand who your employees are.

 

Here are our top employee recognition ideas:

 

Give them the chance to give

Allow time for employees to volunteer with social causes and charities they care about during paid company time. This is something done successfully by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and has been received very favorably.

 

Treat employees to the occasional free vacation

UKG, the developer of Quicken Loans, does this every two years for their employees.

 

Show them you care about their health

JM Family Enterprises, a Toyota distributor, staffs health and wellness centers with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals at eight of their locations. They use these to provide primary care, wellness exams, vaccines, and lab tests at little to no cost to employees.

 

Give them a meaningful personal thank you

These can mean much more than a casual “Thanks for all you do,” said everyone at a meeting. The Vice Chairman at NetApp personally calls 10-20 employees a day to thank them for doing a specific task well.

 

Contribute towards advancing their education

Intel offers a $50,000 tuition reimbursement to their employees. This demonstrates a commitment to employee futures and clearly makes them better and more motivated workers.

 

Tend to their mental health

Even good jobs can be stressful. At Mayo Clinic, employees can get massages and the option to attend a “stress-free zone” that offers resources to cope with work anxieties.

 

Show them a good time

No one likes all work and no play. That’s why Aflac hosts an annual 6-day appreciation week for their teams that has included: theme park visits, film showings, skating, and daily giveaways.

 

Regularly show them a good time

GoDaddy sets money aside each month and uses it to pay for fun offsite activities during work hours. They consistently celebrate their employees every month by doing such things as white water rafting, gold panning, cooking classes, and trapeze classes.

 

There are many other companies doing great things for their employees. What has your company tried? What have you always wished you could do? What’s stopping you?

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/04
April 3, 2022
8 Employee Recognition Ideas

8 Employee Recognition Ideas

Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

Bob stinks at his job. He heats up tuna fish sandwiches in the kitchen microwave...every day. His main contribution to the bottom line is not using the company WiFi while he's watching Netflix on his iPhone during conference calls. Worst of all, Bob hoards the multi-color post-its.

But Bob, and many others like him, escape the annual performance review process with nary a scratch. Why is that?

Performance evaluations need to be impactful

When assessing the effectiveness of company performance management processes, I see the same thing time and again, where "exceeds expectations", "high performance", or "4-out-of-5" are by far the most commonly selected categories. Meanwhile, "average performance" is a rating for people who are actually performing below company norms.  

This "Everyone's a 4" culture destroys the potential utility of the formal performance management process, but a fair, honest, well-executed process should result in positive consequences for the organization.

Have your managers focus on the Three Cs — Candor, Communication, and Consistency — to get the most out of your performance evaluations.

 

Candor: Being nice isn’t 'nice'

Performance reviews should be helping employees grow and improve. If you shy away from saying things that don’t sound or feel nice, you miss out on opportunities to help your employees grow and it could enable a lack of accountability. Also, be specific. The general "I need you to be more client-focused" is useless. "Here's how you supported Client X, here's what I liked about that, and here's what I'd like you to have done in that situation" is actionable.

 

Communication: Managers should be having conversations, not checking boxes

The forms of old had many boxes, with selections between good and bad, meeting or exceeding expectations, etc. Reviews are far more valuable if managers are asking open-ended questions and working with the employee to develop answers. It's important to note, though, that these conversations should be occurring throughout the year, and that the content of the performance review does not come as a surprise to the employee. If the conversations happen throughout the year, the performance review can become a nice opportunity for the employee to say "Back in August, you mentioned I should be more proactive in seeking new business with existing clients - have you seen any improvement?"

 

Consistency: Performance Reviews should be consistent in what they appraise

The definition of what is low, medium, or high performance should be the same across the board. Expectations can vary based on position, but the traits that are valued should be consistent. Consider calibration sessions, where multiple managers who know the same employees can discuss and agree upon those individuals' performance levels. These are very helpful when unveiling a new competency model or performance management system and can be very helpful for new managers as well.

One final thought: throughout the year, use the 5:1 ratio. Give five positive comments for every negative comment. Don’t leave out constructive criticism, but don’t focus entirely on things that need improvement either. Recognizing the positive aspects of an employee’s performance throughout the year builds trust and commitment.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough - especially when it comes to getting the most out of everyone. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help tailor a plan to keep your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/04
April 2, 2022
Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

When thinking about DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging), it’s important to understand that this journey is going to look different for every company.

If your company is like many others, there have been both challenges and high points as part of the way, which is why it's often called a journey. If you are embracing diversity and believe it’s imperative that you attract, retain, and develop diverse professionals to spur innovation, drive growth, and sustain your competitive advantage in the marketplace, then know that no single organization has the answer.

However, every work culture needs to cater to the needs of its workforce. The key to developing an effective DEIB strategy for an organization is having a blueprint for where to start — a roadmap that is strategically designed to fit your organization.

At Aspirant, we are excited to launch a unique and robust DEIB readiness assessment that will help Organizational and DEI leaders uncover and identify ways to foster and develop a more inclusive culture. Our assessment provides insights on how to:

  • Develop a unique DEIB strategy in alignment with company culture
  • Educate leadership on how they can participate in the company’s commitment to organizational change
  • Provide clarity and actionable steps for internal DEIB champions in the workplace
  • Identify opportunities for impactful growth within the organization


Connect with Aspirant to learn more.

aspirant-team
2022/03
March 28, 2022
What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

What Is Change Management?

Objectives are unmet and milestones missed. The speed of adoption slows and projects start going over budget. Utilization drops off and reworks are needed. Employees become fatigued; your initiatives fail to deliver. Morale declines and projects are abandoned. Your customers are impacted and employees leave. A legacy of failed change is left.

As organizations embark on projects to improve their businesses, many organizations forget that the introduction of any new or enhanced business capability presents a significant change to the organization. Employees may need to learn how to use a new tool, or perhaps their job role may change completely. So, before organizations undertake a new project, they should stop and consider the questions, How will this change my organization, and what do I need to do to ensure this change is successful?

This is where effective change management comes into play. Otherwise, companies will end up in potentially dire scenarios like those described above.

 

What is Effective Change Management?

Prosci describes change management as “the process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business results.” Prosci identifies the following elements as being crucial for any project’s success:

  • Transformational Leadership: The most important aspect of any successful project is having an influential and visible sponsor. They should make sure to explain the vision and value of the project and help to build a coalition of supporters throughout the organization to help support the change.

  • Project Management: Project management is important to give structure to the technical side of the change.

  • Change Management: Change management is needed to support the people side of change.


The Why: Primary Reasons for Applying Change Management

It is important to recognize the importance of the human elements of any change management effort. If the people are unable to carry out the change or do not support the change, the business results you hoped to achieve will not be realized. According to Prosci’s research, when organizations deploy change management techniques, people are:

  • 6x more likely to meet project objectives
  • 73% of projects meet or exceed objectives based on sponsor effectiveness
  • Active and visible executive sponsorship is the top contributor to success by a 4:1 margin

 

Another way of thinking about this is to ask yourself: What percent of my project’s outcomes are linked to people changing how they do their work? Consider the following simplified example:

  • 100% of your project’s outcomes are linked to people changing how they do their work
  • You expect the outcome of the project to save $1 million for your business
  • Only 50% of people effectively change how they do their work in the anticipated time frame for the project
  • You only end up saving $500,000 instead of the anticipated $1 million

 

A few additional reasons for applying change management may include:

  • Increasing the probability of project success
  • Managing employee resistance to change
  • Building change competency in the organization

What Is Change Management?

 

Using ADKAR Methodology for Successful Change Management

ADKAR is a methodology for managing individual change and stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Organizations can use ADKAR to understand how to guide organizational planning, diagnose root causes of resistance, and develop corrective actions.

ADKAR is a series of building blocks, meaning that an individual must first obtain Awareness of the change, then Desire, then Knowledge, and so forth. If an individual does not adequately obtain one of the building blocks, this is their 'barrier point' for successful change.

By evaluating where an individual’s barrier point is in ADKAR, an organization can help to develop corrective actions. For example, if an individual’s barrier point is Knowledge, perhaps they need additional training to better understand the change and what will be required of them.

 

Reinforcing the Change

Once a change has been effectively implemented (through the first four letters of the ADKAR methodology), it is important to remember to then reinforce the change (the R). This reinforcement ensures that the change continues to be adapted and sustained throughout the organization, and includes activities such as:

  • Collecting employee feedback
  • Auditing compliance with the change
  • Identifying areas of resistance
  • Celebrating successes

Measuring the Human Factors of Change

Throughout the change management process, it is important to consider how the effects of the change will be measured, including how successful the human side of the change was. A few example metrics that can be used to measure the human factors of change include:

  • Speed of Adoption: How quickly people get up and running on new systems and job roles.
  • Utilization: How many employees are showing that they have “bought in” to the change.
  • Proficiency: How well employees are performing at the new job role and system.

Each of these factors will also impact the financial result of the change. Without change management, the likelihood of individuals progressing in each of these areas goes down.

 

Ready to Take Action

These examples show how much the people side of change can matter when it comes to project outcomes. If change is not properly managed, people may decrease their productivity, there may be employee turnover, or customers can be negatively impacted. All of this directly affects the financial performance of a business, which is why creating an environment where effective change management is possible can be crucial for ensuring successful projects.

Want to continue the conversation and see how Aspirant can help you? Reach out below.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Change Management experts can collaborate with your leadership to devise, deploy, and lead change initiatives that better equip your teams for achieving their goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

melodi-helkowski
2022/03
March 17, 2022
What Is Change Management?

What Is Change Management?

Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

To thrive in the ever-growing remote and hybrid work environment, it's crucial to set up your home office for success. In this regard, a well-planned strategy and setup ensures the perfect balance between comfort and productivity. With the right measures in place, you can tailor your workspace to not only meet your unique needs but also boost your overall performance.

If you have struggled getting into the working groove away from your in-office experience, we've got you covered.  Let's explore some fantastic ways to enhance your workspace and get the job done!

 

1. Create a Designated Workspace

Creating a designated work area is an important step for anyone who is working from home. It will help you stay focused and productive, while also helping to separate your work life from your personal life. Setting up a dedicated workspace can be as simple or elaborate as you choose; the key thing is that it should be comfortable and conducive to productivity. Some tips for creating an effective workspace include choosing a space with natural light, stocking it with necessary supplies, and designing it in such a way that encourages concentration. With some thoughtful planning, you can create the perfect office setup for getting things done!

 

2. Clear Out Clutter

Now clear out the distractions. This means clearing away any clutter or objects not necessary for the task at hand that are on or near your desk. Remove the laundry you haven't folded yet, and bills you need to pay. Put them in a safe place, but these are distractions and allow your mind to wander off task. A clean space can reinvigorate your energy and get you refocused.

 

3. Create or Use a Professional Background

Creating a great background for virtual meetings can be achieved with a few simple tips. Make sure that whatever is seen behind you in the video call does not contain any clutter or distracting elements. Consider having a plain, solid-colored wall behind you to create a more professional look. You can also hang artwork with calming colors in the background or have plants come into frame.

If needed, consider using virtual backgrounds provided by Zoom or Microsoft Teams to hide any potential distractions behind you. Lastly, you'll want some light on your face, especially when using a virtual background. This helps the virtual background clip out your silhouette more cleanly. Light also makes your face look brighter and more friendly, elevating your professionalism. 

 

4. Working While Family or Others are Home 

Working from home while others are also present can be a challenge, but with the right strategies, you can create an effective work environment that you all thrive in. Whether you are sharing your workspace with kids on summer break or a spouse who also works remotely, there are steps you can take to optimize your workspace for maximum productivity. 

Designate appropriate spaces for everyone and set ground rules and expectations for your accessibility during working hours. A great tool to help you manage expectations is a physical sign: a “do not disturb” sign or note on your door. Communication and setting expectations are key. 

 

5. Tools

Work with your employer to ensure you have the required physical tools to do your job and be successful in your remote environment: laptop, mobile phone, headset, tablet, printer with paper and ink, pens, pencils, and paper. Whatever tools are necessary to perform your job. Also, ensure that you have access to and understand any collaboration software, such as Skype, Teams, Zoom, and WebEx as these will be the link to your colleagues in the virtual world. You may want to also invest in a pair of noise cancelling headphones to facilitate concentration if you are used to working in a quiet environment.

 

6. Technology

Ensure your home internet’s bandwidth is sufficient to handle not only your needs, but the needs of anyone else working or taking online classes in your household. What was previously adequate may not be enough under this new load. According to Tom's Guide, a heavy-using family of four with simultaneously streaming laptops as well as connected smartphones, tablets, and typical household smart devices will require approximately 100 - 125 Mbs speeds.

 

7. File Sharing While Remote Working

Important documents should be uploaded to the cloud either using MS OneDrive, Teams, Dropbox, or other cloud-based technologies where they can be accessed and viewed by any authorized team member. This will facilitate collaboration and reduce the interruptions to stop and send required documents to your colleagues. This is a great time saver, whether you are on site or working remotely!

 

Creating an effective workspace is essential for anyone working from home. It involves more than simply finding an area in the house that is suitable for work; it requires optimizing the space to minimize distractions and ensure that meetings via video call are professional and presentable. We hope you take these tips and improve your environment.

If you have questions on how to improve the effectiveness of your organization, we are here to help. Whether it's time your organization makes a change or you are seeking to improve employee experience, our experts can help guide the way.

bill-kollitz
2022/03
March 16, 2022
Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

I’ve spent much of my career evangelizing the importance of the candidate experience to Human Resources and Talent Acquisition leaders. I’ve concentrated on the 'front end' of the experience: creating employment value propositions for organizations, building recruitment marketing strategies, and optimizing career sites for search engines — all processes that help companies promote and elevate stand-out messages to top candidates.

The Blind Side of the Recruiting Process

However, recently I’ve had a real 'aha' moment. The message I’ve passionately advocated never makes it past these leaders to the most critical group in the candidate experience: the hiring managers.

Now that my career focuses on helping organizations increase the productivity of their internal recruiting functions through our talent acquisition solutions, I’ve seen what will happen when we leave the hiring manager out of our training and communications strategies and its impact on the candidate experience.

To create better alignment, we need to take a page out of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s playbook in the movie The Blind Side.

If you’re not familiar, Leigh Anne Tuohy (played by Sandra Bullock) was at a high-school football practice, watching her adopted son “Big Mike” Oher (Quinton Aaron) struggle with his defensive game. The advice she delivered to Big Mike’s coach is exactly the advice we need to give our hiring managers to align their actions with our candidate experience: “You need to get to know your players.”

Hiring the best candidate is the end goal; no one would argue that sourcing and interviewing are crucial to moving that candidate down the field. Yet, too many hiring managers have relegated too much of this responsibility to the recruiting team, forgoing any involvement through that part of the talent acquisition process.

Why?

Hiring managers will lament their lack of time to engage. Let’s face it, everyone is busy, and the number one resource that everyone wishes they had more of is time; however, time is the very resource that is wasted in the recruiting process because of poor communications when opening a requisition.

Collaboration between the hiring manager and the recruiter can go a long way to providing a better candidate experience. So where does communication often break down in the hiring process?

When we think about our roles in recruitment, we don’t think about the “sales and marketing” aspect of our jobs. But it’s important that we sell both the opportunity and organization when we’re trying to attract top talent, especially to those not actively searching for a career change. The best recruiters understand this about their roles; unfortunately, hiring managers rarely do.

 

 

Ways Your Hiring Manager Can Improve the Candidate Experience

 

1. Think of Your Candidate as a Customer

A recruiter brings in a “warm lead.” They’ve done some selling up-front. The hiring manager is in a position to qualify and nurture that lead. However, suppose they concentrate on qualifying that lead without nurturing it. In that case, there's a chance that "customer" will take their skills and knowledge elsewhere.

In today's talent market, approaching our roles with a marketing mindset is essential to creating a good candidate experience. Hiring managers must take ownership of their sales role for the team to succeed.

If there's one area that focuses on communication that will improve the candidate experience and help ensure a successful placement — it’s a discussion about the job requirements. There's no better way to help recruiters understand the talent profile from the hiring manager's perspective, how the role fits into the business, and, most importantly, what success looks like when this employee delivers.

You may think, “I communicate this quite well via email. However, they don’t understand the role.” This is not a job for email or simply forwarding and restating what’s in the job spec. Think about it: if the position has 10 requirements, how would the recruiter know what's most important in this role without a discussion? Sometimes the act of verbally prioritizing the expectations and responsibilities of the role can give clarity about what the role entails. You’ll find the time and effort in doing so pays off exponentially and provides focus to the employment story the candidate will hear and wants to hear.

 

2. Be Considerate of Your Candidate

Unfortunately, interviewers often don't prepare too often, as they mistakenly believe it's the candidate, and the candidate only, who needs to make a good impression. Candidates today have many opportunities and company options to consider. And what’s more, candidates are doing their own research on your job and your company’s reputation. When hiring manager takes shortcuts with their questioning, interviewers can also short-circuit the most critical purpose of a behavioral interview: interviewing for behavior. Many interviewers focus only on a candidate's skills, asking whether the candidate can do the job but not on the candidate's motivation to do the job.

 

3. Communicate with Timely Responses

Reaching back to candidates promptly after completing the application and interviewing process can sometimes prove a challenge. Delays in filling the position can only sometimes be avoided, but keeping your recruiter or customer care team members in the loop when it happens allows them to update candidates as the process unfolds.

A timely response is critical because top talent gets snapped up quickly, and a lengthy delay leaves the impression that the company needs to be more serious about filling the role or has moved on to other candidates. A coordinated effort to communicate with your candidates — even when there is a delay — can leave even a rejected candidate feeling good about engaging with your company.

 

4. Reasoning with the Candidate

Believe it or not, people drawn to careers as hiring managers and recruiters share many of the same psychological traits. They’re organized and detail-oriented; they like to have a plan and execute it well. But life (and recruiting) is messy, and sometimes things go slightly awry. Talking through a candidate's issues rather than immediately slamming the door not only makes for better decisions but can also improve the candidate experience (even if you have to walk away).

For example, you find the perfect candidate for your hard-to-fill position and make an offer, only to have their current employer make a higher counteroffer to keep their talent. What do you do? Stand firm and immediately send your recruiter out to find someone else that’s perfect.

But what if you discussed it with them first? When you look better at the big picture, that candidate might be worth the additional investment. For example, you might learn that the current market for that specific talent in that particular region may make finding another "perfect fit" complex, or you may learn things that validate your decision to move on. Either way, which technique will ensure this candidate — and the next candidate the recruiter talks to—will have a better experience?

When hiring managers and recruiters understand that they have a shared responsibility to keep communication lines open, they can attract talent that truly fits and provide a better candidate experience. It is the key to delivering the best diverse talent for future success.

 

 

If you want to learn more about how Aspirant RPO can help your organization deliver better interviews, reduce interviewer bias, make better decisions on candidates, and hire the best people, fill out the form below!

patty-silbert
2022/03
March 14, 2022
How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

You want to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible. Your company deserves it, and you want to foster an environment of talented skilled workers. However, your location might not be ideal for the talent you’re looking for. That’s an obstacle, but it doesn’t have to be a complete roadblock. There are ways you can attract the talent you want.

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

As new professional, social, and technological trends emerge, your talent acquisition process needs to evolve accordingly. Here are some ideas on how to do so. 

 

1. Allow for flexibility

Technology has made working remotely via social collaboration tools easier than ever before. Not only does this act as incentive for recruiting out of area talent, but it will also increase satisfaction in local workers as well. Even employees that don’t take advantage of it appreciate the option of having a work from home day.

 

2. Offer relocation packages

If you want talent to come to you, it’s a good idea to encourage it. You don’t have offer full cost relocation, but some form of assistance will go a long way towards helping someone make a decision to relocate. Sometimes all it takes is that extra push to make a decision more appealing. Giving people a flexible period of time to make the move can be a part of that package as well. You can set up a transitional period where the employee can work remotely for the remainder of a school year before moving in the summer. This can make things easier on the family and show that you have their best interests in mind.

 

3. Research universities and tap into career centers

Interested in recruiting top, young talent to your organization but missing a strong local higher education system? Identify target universities based on characteristics (strong STEM program, high extracurricular engagement, etc.) you’re seeking, and reach out to their career services office. The professionals in the office can give you pointers on how to effectively attract and recruit students, what they’re looking for, and your likelihood of standing out from your competitors in the labor market.

 

4. Showcase company culture

Candidates with great talent are looking for more than just a job. They want to find a community and a culture they will thrive in. Make sure to let them know what the culture of your company and community has to offer. This benefits you as well. Bringing in great talent that doesn’t fit in with your culture usually does not bring in the best results. Make sure you’re a good fit for each other, and make sure they know it.

 

5. Highlight location positives

Every location has its upsides. What is it about where your company resides that makes it great? Is it a fast-paced city atmosphere, or does it have a quiet and relaxing country charm? Does your city have a famous restaurant or tourist attraction? What kinds of activities do your employees do in their free time there? Does your city feature a low cost of living? Show off the house that can be bought with a $100k salary in Paris, Texas as opposed to Paris, France. Make sure to highlight all the things that the area has to offer.

The most important thing is finding the top talent that will work best in your organization and culture. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help update your strategies for recruiting and structuring teams that will strengthen collaboration and productivity. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/02
February 27, 2022
5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Depending on your role in the hiring process, you may think even though the employee lifecycle hasn’t changed much since you began your career, that recruiting hasn’t either – but you’d be in for a rude awakening.


For most of us, the talent we need is scarce. We’re no longer operating in a seller’s market when it comes to job opportunities. In this age of instant information, that highly-skilled talent for which you’re looking can have (literally) millions of jobs at their fingertips.

Making your job the golden ring for which top talent reaches requires that your recruiters have a real talent for selling the job, and for thinking of your candidates as customers.

To your customers, you’re selling a product. To a candidate, your company is that product. That means recruiters and sales/marketers actually have very similar jobs: to demonstrate that a product is interesting and unique by communicating effectively what the product is and inspiring interest in it.

Believe it or not, before your recruiter schedules their first call, your candidate already knows a lot more about the attributes of your company than you can imagine and, for that matter, the type of work they want to do and know they could be doing there. You might equate them to today’s consumers who, studies say, are over 57% of the way through the buying cycle before they even contact a company’s sales representative.

With this in mind, recruiters need to be armed with more than a list of benefits and hollow descriptions of the job or the environment. They need solid sales tools and techniques.

One of the most effective is a technique I like to call the “3 Rs” of recruiting:

 

1. Relate: Make recruiting relational vs. transactional


If social media has taught us anything, it’s that people love to connect and build relationships with a company recruiter (people are social beings). It is now more important than ever for a recruiter to relate authentically and on a personal level.

Brands are built on trust. Just like consumers, job seekers are inundated with information about products just like yours. That highly-sought talent you’re interested in has exposure to lots of information about your company — enough to form an opinion in a fraction of a second.

Companies that can genuinely connect with their audiences and community of supporters will have a strategic advantage over those that don’t. Jobseekers desire a more emotional connection with the companies they want to consider for employment. If they are receiving 5-10 InMail messages per day – and many are – any impersonal or stock communication you put forward is going to put your opportunity in the also-ran column.


2. Reflect: What is it that your candidate really wants to know?


Many job seekers have already done their research on the company and connected with the recruiters to learn how different the new opportunity would be from their existing position. A novice recruiter will respond to this inquiry by giving the job description details and then waiting for the candidate to say they will consider the opportunity. A better approach is to reflect on the value of the work they will be performing compared to that of their existing role and expose the benefits of working for a hiring manager who is top in their industry.

For example: “I see you’re asking directly about the type of work you will be performing. It sounds like you’ve done your homework. I believe you will be a great fit for this hiring manager. Did you know that he/she is looking to attract candidates who have chemical backgrounds, but are willing to apply that knowledge to water/air/soil quality, chemical hygiene, and laboratory safety? Let me share with you some examples of that in action…”



3. Reject: - Dismiss any thought of yourself as an “order taker.”


Chances are, you know more than a few recruiters who treat sourcing and recruiting as a way to “fill an order.” Their actions may impact offer-to-hire statistics, but little else, and their candidates feel the same level of “trust” as if their resume came through the applicant tracking system – no sales skills required.

These recruiters fail to recognize that techniques that worked on active prospects or in an employer-driven market will not work when you have to seek out and convince high-demand (and usually already employed) individuals to consider your jobs.

Applicants who need a job don’t require a relationship or any wooing to come on board. But prospects who are in high demand (and who already have a job) are quite the opposite. They require a relationship that builds trust merely to get them to apply. The majority of the offers accepted by these passive candidates have been closed by relational recruiting techniques like these “3 Rs.”

Changing a career is an emotional, high-investment experience. It’s like buying a major ticket item—we look to salespeople for affirmation that this is a purchase we won’t regret. Good salespeople do this by connecting with us, reflecting our values and needs, and respecting our power in this transaction by rejecting an “order-taking” approach.

Training your organization’s recruiters and hiring managers to instill excitement and relevancy into their engagements with candidates is step one. To stay competitive for talent, you’ll need to ensure you have the highest-quality recruiters possible – recruiters who are exceptional brand advocates and experts at selling difficult-to-convince candidates. Be sure to start now, because, just like other highly-skilled professions out there, the demand for excellent recruiters will soon far outpace the supply.

 

Interested to learn other ways to be successful? Fill out the form below, and Aspirant RPO can help your team find more top talent.

michael-george
2022/02
February 21, 2022
Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Effective decision-making is crucial to a business's growth. Conversely, years of poor decisions can leave an undesirable lasting snowball effect and potentially end any thriving company. The decisions you make based on available data can determine the course of your business — influencing growth, stagnation, or shutdown. With a continual increase in availability of data, what you choose to do with it is more important than ever. Make the right data-informed decisions, and you will increase your chances for growth and success.

How to Make Data Driven Decisions

Making data driven decisions requires knowing what data is necessary, even if it differs from what you want. Although numbers don't lie, they can be manipulated, so it's essential to examine both good and bad data. For example, if analyzing your profit margin on a new product, it's important to compare reports in the same way each time, regardless of the outcomes. Also, don't underestimate the power of negative figures. They can be just as useful, if not more, than positive outcomes in guiding your decision making process. 

When it comes to product development, data can help make the difference in success and failure. To make decisions on product development, analyze the data related to it, such as profit margins and how well it's received by customers. You can file in the learnings from past decisions into present data models to make your decisions more effective. 

 

Becoming a Data Driven Decision Maker

Making data driven decisions can be tough, especially when emotions cloud our judgment. But when the success of a product is on the line, it's time to turn to the numbers. Take, for example, that product you were so sure would boost revenue and make your customers happy. Three months later, the sales just aren't there, margins have plummeted, and demand is lackluster. What to do? Time to look at the data.

Pulling a product from production can feel like admitting defeat, but in reality, it's a smart decision when backed by data analytics. So swallow your pride, learn from the shortcomings, and let the numbers guide you toward better decisions in the future. It's all part of making the tough calls as a data-driven decision maker.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

Unlock the power of analytics to fuel your company's growth with Aspirant's expertise in data analysis and management. Access insights at the speed of business to give you a competitive edge. Countless companies trust us for vitality in analytics. Are you struggling with this too? Let's explore how we can help you out!

 

phil-kossler
2022/01
January 10, 2022
Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Career pathing is evolving. It’s no longer just the 'corporate ladder' of vertical ascension. Employees will need to learn new skills, switch the roles they acquire, and adapt to working with machines and technology.

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Workforce planning needs to account for both humans and technology as well as how they can be optimized to work together. As prestigious titles and money become less important to employees, recruitment and retention strategies need to evolve accordingly.

That’s why your company’s ability to attract, train and retain a network of highly skilled and adaptable employees, contractors and alumni will become so important. HR consulting will become pivotal for the future workforce.

According to the HBR, high performing employees deliver 400% more productivity than average performers. These are the people you want to attract and keep!

So how do you attract highly skilled and adaptable employees?

 

Partner with organizations that are already considered 'experts'

Seek out established talent management consultancies. Don’t be afraid to utilize the help of other organizations. You can create partnerships with shared workers and flex resources. These relationships can be mutually beneficial.

Even when you are looking to hire full-time employees, it pays to work with talent management consultants. One of the first things they’ll likely remind you is to have is a strategy and an employer brand. You need to know that the employees you’re recruiting match up with your business needs and strategic objectives.

 

Create a talent model that defines the specific qualities of a ideal recruit

Keep in mind that you want more than skills. You want someone who shows that they can adapt quickly and learn new skills. As the future changes, so must your employees. They must be ready to change. You’re looking for things like: a positive attitude, contagious energy, confidence, quick learning abilities, tech skills, emotional and social intelligence. Once those qualities are recognized, you’ll know how you can develop your job descriptions and interview questions. Keep that model in mind while you screen candidates and make hiring decisions.

 

Build and showcase your employer brand

What values do you offer prospective employees? Things like pay and benefits, professional development, organizational culture and reputation, flexible working arrangement and task diversity. All of these contribute to your brand and desirability to skilled workers.

 

Develop a retention strategy

Once you have these workers who are ready for the future, you have to be able to retain them. Management consultant experts will tell you that providing growth and development to your employees is a vital part of keeping them. You need to offer them learning opportunities as well as encourage and enable self-learning.

This is another reason it’s great to involve HR consulting and talent management consulting. You want a large flexible network of people who want to help your company. These organizations know about managing an organization’s collective capabilities. They also keep up with the pulse of the working world. They know what employees want and what companies need to stay relevant and keep up with the pace of the future.

 

For more on the future of about what to expect in the near future, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design processes for acquiring and retaining the talent they need to stay ahead of the game. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2021/06
June 23, 2021
Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

Imagine this scenario: The Visionary Products' shareholder meeting ends with the unanimous approval for acquiring NimbleBrands. It's a no-brainer; there is clear alignment on vison, the product lines are complementary, and there is organizational redundancy ripe for consolidation. On top of all that, Visionary’s leadership promises synergistic growth to the board and shareholders, but there is reason for concern: studies show that 70 to 90% of mergers and acquisitions do not achieve their promised value. The threat of The Leaky Bucket looms.

What Is the Leaky Bucket, and What Causes It?

The M&A Leaky Bucket is the unexpected and often unexplained erosion of promised sales and profits over the course of an integration. The leaks are caused by a variety of factors, but often center around the high-pressure rush to results. Some of the most common contributing factors include the following:

 

1. Inadequate Due Diligence

The due diligence phase is short, and because of confidentiality and resource scarcity, teams are typically very small and at a senior level. That means that the people who know the reality of the business are often not even consulted. In addition, due diligence on the target side is problematic unless you know the right questions to ask. The challenge is understanding if that 20% growth rate is real, or if it has been propped up by short-term decisions to increase attractiveness for acquisition.

 

2. Unrealistic Benefit Expectations

Pressure to get a deal done means the financials must work. Corporations typically have standard deal metrics that must be achieved to get board buy-off. These metrics can push the deal team to commit to financials that are a stretch at best. In addition, leaders can be overconfident in their own company’s capability and may underestimate the capability of a company being acquired, especially if that company is smaller and perceived as less sophisticated.

 

3. Technical Transition Not Mapped in Enough Detail

Technical transition is the most difficult part of the integration for executives to get their arms around, which often leads to underestimating costs. An IT leader recently provided a fitting example: “When both companies have the same enterprise software, leaders incorrectly assume that integration will be less complex and inexpensive… In reality, underlying deeper issues such as data and interfaces drive the cost and timeline.”  

Technical transition applies to non-IT items as well. Aligning on business processes, compliance responsibilities, and even physical space is complex, time consuming, and expensive.

 

4. Focus on Integration Tasks, Not the Benefits

The integration program itself is where leadership often believes it can get a jump start: set up an integration team, develop plans, verify that risks and issues are mapped, and insist on a rapid escalation process. While it is important to ensure that execution is efficient, most companies intense focus on it is at the expense of attention on the M&A benefits. Value drivers are often not precisely identified or mapped to metrics, including KPIs that are lead indicators of success. Achieving full M&A value requires constant focus on the leading indicators, scenario planning, and quick reaction to ensure that sales and profits aren’t leaking.

 

5. Insufficient or Ineffective Change Management

Change management is the art and science of equipping the organization with what it needs to navigate from the current state to the ultimate vision. As leaders want to move rapidly from strategy to execution, the organization may not receive clear communication, knowledge, plans, and tools. The result is individuals are not completely bought into the change and engaged in producing the best results.   

 

6. Insufficient Integration Resources

The biggest challenge of staffing an integration initiative is that the most important potential team members are critical to running the day-to-day business as well. Why? Because they best understand business operations and processes and know the informal communication networks that help get things done. In a resource constrained environment, employees with less capability than required are often staffed on integrations, or key employees are required to straddle both integration and operational roles. This choice creates strain and fails to set top employees up for success in either role.  

 

7. Not Enough Attention on the Culture

One of the key missing elements in integration is culture alignment. Pre-deal analysis typically considers culture differences of both entities in a merger or acquisition. However, those cultural differences are often not adequately addressed. In addition, lack of clarity on which company’s strategies, processes, and systems will win the day can cause tremendous amounts of frustration and inefficiency. This is exacerbated as people feel the pressure of potential job loss or role changes.

 

Not surprisingly, the M&A Leaky Bucket is a challenge to corporations around the world. Proactively addressing these common causes can make a major impact on integration success.

 

Overcoming the Leaky Bucket to Maximize Value

Given the challenges the that integrations often present, how do we overcome the leaky bucket? Said in a more positive way, how do we maximize the value of the deal, and not only meet what was promised to the board, but exceed it?


1. Get Everything on the Table from the Start

Executives should adopt a mindset of truly understanding what is under the covers of an integration immediately. This means getting in the mindset of 2nd due diligence phase. What are the risks that could derail value? What are the issues that must be addressed to keep integration on plan? What are the opportunities to increase value to a greater level? This upfront effort can create the perception of lack of speed. However, understanding the real scope and key areas of focus will increase execution speed.

 

2. Enable for Success

To enable success, of course, proper plans must be in place. However, just as important, the organization must be prepared and ready to engage in the change. It starts with transparent, realistic communication to the organization. People will not engage at their fullest level when they do not understand the impact that the change will have on them personally. In addition, do employees have the information, capabilities, and tools that they need for success?

 

3. Constant Focus on the Value

After finalizing overall metrics for an integration, leaders should elevate the visibility of those KPIs that are core to achieving or exceeding the promised deal value. The next step is determining what the key value drivers are and their associated KPIs. The next level of analysis lets leadership understand the leading indicators that will show whether the value will be achieved or not. Having these leading indicators be visible to leadership prevents surprises down the road when it is too late to react.

 

 

Maximizing Integration Value

Mergers and Acquisitions: Value Realization

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's M&A experts help clients navigate these pitfalls in order to streamline organizational integrations and maximize ROI. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

mike-mcclaine
2021/02
February 8, 2021
The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

The promise of the Software as a Service (SaaS) model is very attractive for a variety of business applications, as opposed to acquiring, implementing, and maintaining software as well as the associated infrastructure.

The benefits of SaaS are clear:

  • Faster time to deploy

  • Reduced operational and capital expenses

  • Smooth software and hardware upgrades

  • The ability to shift staff to more strategic IT projects

However, these benefits are outweighed if SaaS-delivered applications don’t deliver a quality end user experience or meet the needs of the workforce relying on them. Especially given the vast array of options that SaaS can function within as delivery model for business applications, including accounting, office software, CRMs, talent acquisition, and ERPs.

Therefore, given the increasing reliance on SaaS as well as the benefits it provides, how can you hold your SaaS vendor accountable?


1. Have a robust pre-contract process.

Before embarking on a software selection, having senior management support is key. A clear vision of what problems you are trying to solve and the business benefits you are seeking to realize are critical to success.

As you begin to organize the process, consider the following steps to enable you to clearly communicate your needs and evaluate solutions and vendors against your requirements. Pre-contract activities include:

  • Define Business Requirements
  • Establish RFQ / RFP
  • Define Scorecard
  • Complete Vendor Selection
  • Complete Vendor Risk Assessment
  • Complete Software Risk Assessment
  • Establishing MSA / SOW


2. Rely on experts in systems implementation.

You should rely on experts in your organization or externally who have broader systems implementation experiences. Relying only on the SaaS provider could put you at risk, as your inexperience could create gaps in expectations or worse, put your organization’s data and business at risk because of vulnerabilities in the software or poor vendor practices.

Many SaaS providers are eager to have you “sign the contract” and want to jump in and start building their solution without knowing or fully understanding your requirements. Be cautious of this, and you should partner with others in your organization, such as legal, procurement, risk, compliance, and IT early in the process to ensure that not only are you selecting the right solution, you are selecting the right vendor.


3. Make sure they take accountability by establishing SLAs and KPIs.

SaaS vendors offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) governing availability goals, incident response time commitments, and penalties. However, these metrics are insufficient to guarantee excellent end user experience. Penalties paid after the fact won’t help the end user whose app is slow when they schedule a class, run a report, or look up a customer.  

Instead, accountability with your SaaS vendor means establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and dashboarding that provide insights into how the tool is being used:

  • Identify critical business activities
  • Determine what constitutes acceptable performance for the activities
  • Monitor SLA compliance across the enterprise
  • Isolate and resolve the cause for poor performance
  • The key to application performance SLA and KPI for SaaS – insights to the end user’s perspective


4. Know when to seek help, even if you have an IT department.

Systems implementation can be a big project. Depending on your organization and the expertise and capabilities it has, they may not be able to help navigate you through this journey.  Some functions of IT narrowly define their role, while others may have a robust end-to-end process.

Having someone you can trust and provide you with objective insights, outside the political fray of a company’s internal dynamics, is invaluable. Specifically, having one point of contact with the end-to-end expertise and capabilities to bring together all facets of the project together in one place, saves you and the SaaS vendor’s time.

 

This sort of methodical approach can be applied to other strategic partners. Check out our tips on how to create accountability with consulting partners.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

paul-romero
2020/06
June 27, 2020
Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

The benefits of employee career pathing are well known. It helps to retain workers and attract top talent, contributes to a more diverse age range within the organization, and perhaps even more important, employee career pathing creates more knowledgeable and engaged employees. (Read more here at SHRM.)

The Evolution of Career Paths

The modern workforce is adapting, and so, too, must our career paths. One idea that’s had some success is career pathing outside of the employee’s organization. It may seem strange, but there have been benefits realized for both employee and company using this method.

For example, a manager at a manufacturing company may take a break from his or her position to go to work for one of the businesses that builds their machines. Learning the ins and outs of mechanics that contribute to the original business they would bring knowledge of the end consumers to the machine company, benefiting them, and then when they return to the original business, they will be bringing information to help them as well.

A person could also work down the line, by taking a job at a business that sells or stocks their product. For example, if your original job produces portable snacks, you could look for a job within a company that stocks snack machines. You could learn a lot of valuable information about the way your product moves and is displayed.

 

Transparency in Career Planning

There are many options that can be pursued. Some important things to keep in mind, however, is this should not be done in secret. Employees should work with current management teams to plan it out. They are not going to other companies to steal trade secrets but to learn about the best ways to work with them. Treat this as a regular career path.

Management should discuss goals with their employees. What are they looking for in a career? They don’t have to have an exact position to work toward, but there should be an understanding of what kind of job they eventually want to have.

Once that’s understood, examine all the different roles and opportunities within your company to help them move toward achieving that goal. Encourage them to search out training and other learning opportunities that would contribute to their goal. They should not be afraid to look outside the organization.

A good career path will likely include positions in various departments within your company. With the understanding gained from each department, the employee will be more well-rounded as an asset to your organization.

Also, as discussed earlier, don’t be afraid to create a step in their path that takes them outside the organization. They will return more knowledgeable, and loyal, than they were when they left.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help optimize your corporate structure and implement programs that keep your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help create a more rewarding work environment for your teams.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2020/05
May 21, 2020
Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

For any company, achieving specific goals can pose challenges. The good news is that in many cases software can offer solutions. However, the generic software in the market may not be sufficient or tailored for your specific needs. This is where strong software with a great user experience (UX) can save the day. By creating well-crafted software that's customized to your exact needs, you'll be one step closer to realizing your goals with precision.

Planning, discussion, and execution are crucial to the success of projects like these. While it’s important to define metrics for new systems like dashboards, CRMs, or custom ERPs, overlooking user experience is a major risk. Think about it—if software isn’t user-friendly, it falls by the wayside. So, what's the point?

 

Software UX Design Planning

The biggest mistake you can make in any project is to skip, or not be thorough, during the planning process. There is a reason why you need a custom solution. Ask yourself, and key team members, a few questions.

  • How are people going to use this piece of software?
  • How will this project make the company better?
  • What company goals or KPI's will this help accomplish? 

  • How will it impact the company’s decision making?

  • Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Who are the people, their tasks, their tools and technology, and the environment in which they will be using the software you're designing.

To leave no stone unturned, make sure to ask these essential questions. With a solid plan, you can avoid confusion among your colleagues and leadership. You never want to hear questions after launch, such as "I'm sure this is great, but I have no idea how it works," or "It'd be so cool if I could see [insert crucial KPI here]". Remember, lack of planning is planning to fail.

 

Sometimes Less is More in Software UX Design

Having a website that's too busy is overwhelming to users, and can lead them to leave without action. This holds true for software too: if your CRM is not user-friendly or your ERP is confusing to the people it was made for, your whole company could suffer. But don't worry, by adopting good UX practices you can prevent those issues.

To improve UX, ensure that users know exactly where to find what they need. If you have a lot of content, break it up to make it easy to navigate. By doing so, users can access the information they need with ease.

 

Software Design and Development is a Continual Process 

You've taken the first step! You've planned, implemented, and are satisfied with your new software. Perfect. But, hold on. It's not that simple. You can't just walk away now and expect it to flawlessly run on its own. In reality, software is an ongoing project that requires consistent work, something many people might overlook. 

Don't fall into the "set it and forget it" trap. You and your team should continue working on your software. Your customers will want to see new features, deletions, or even a different layout over time. Investing in your software guarantees you won't have to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort a few years down the line. Making small changes over time makes a massive difference and helps you stay ahead of the competition.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

If you're looking for experts in software, web or app development who know how to make a great user experience, Aspirant is the team for you. Don't settle for a subpar user experience. Let us show you what we can do with our full app development and integration capabilities.

 

Let's discuss how we can help you tackle your user experience pain points together.

phil-kossler
2020/04
April 3, 2020
Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Reduced travel, social distancing, and working from home creates the risk of feeling disconnected from our coworkers. Not only can this decrease engagement, but it can also reduce job satisfaction, limit productivity, and create a divide between managers and employees.

Signs You May be Disconnected

As with any change, it will be uncomfortable to shift to spending more time in your house and away from the office. However, if you find yourself (or you see others) exhibiting any of the symptoms below, it could mean that you are gliding down a fast track toward disconnection and isolation.

  • It’s hard to start work in the morning. This is not just because the kids are home or the TV is on, but it is because the work doesn’t interest you.
  • Your mind wanders while you are working, thinking about anything but the task at hand.
  • You find yourself surfing the web or glued to news channels 24/7.
  • When you read emails, you tend to see a negative tone or mean comment in the text.
  • You find yourself disagreeing with others on conference calls more than agreeing.
  • You are snapping at coworkers and your family for no apparent reason.

Ways to Improve Work from Home Connectivity

There are several things remote workers can do to stay connected:

  • Ask for input: Reach out to coworkers to ask for their input on things you are working on or set up a review meeting so you can discuss the topic with a small group.
  • Start a virtual discussion: You can sometimes start idea generation or discussion via email or chat, which allows you to stay connected with team members on more “informal” topics.
  • Catch up over virtual coffee: If you are someone who typically grabs coffee with a coworker or strikes up conversations with people in the coffee line, invite them for virtual coffee instead. Grab a cup, turn on your video, and take 10 minutes to catch up.
  • Set virtual lunch dates: Schedule lunch dates with friends, coworkers, and business colleagues to maintain relationships and connections.

Steps for Leaders

If you are managing teams remotely and see the disconnected signs in any of your team members, you can also take the following steps to help bring them back to an engaged, productive mindset.

  • Daily huddles: Start your day together, discussing the work to be done and how you can help one another
  • Check in with IMs: Use instant messaging (via Teams, Skype, Slack, or any other tools you have available) to check in 1:1 with each team member, especially on days that they are quiet or seem withdrawn.
  • Video meetings: Request team members to use their video option when joining meetings so you can see one another’s faces.
  • Rekindle office jokes: If you have funny jokes or shared experiences from working in the office, carry them into the virtual work environment (e.g., if everyone complained about an empty coffee pot that no one would fill, update the team that you still have that problem).

Disconnection and isolation can be a huge drain on productivity and impact to your overall well being. However, recognizing the signs early and implementing preventative steps can help to mitigate the risks and allow for a challenging situation to result in an opportunity for stronger connections, improved satisfaction, and the best possible performance for you and your team!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2020/03
March 23, 2020
Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Design Thinking is not democratic. Well, at least it shouldn’t be. If you don’t know what Design Thinking is, my previous statement probably didn’t make any sense. Don’t worry. If you’ll stick with me, I’ll explain what it is before I explain why it shouldn’t be democratic.

The term 'Design Thinking' has become quite popular in recent years, and its popularity has made its meaning muddled. This makes my attempt to define it difficult, but I believe the definition I’ve developed captures the gist of it. Ultimately, Design Thinking is the application of a set of problem-solving techniques traditionally used by designers to other domains (for example, consumer products, healthcare, and government). Organizations or teams usually call upon Design Thinking when they’re trying to innovate, as in, when they’re trying to find a creative solution to a problem.

Despite its popularity, or maybe because of its popularity, the term has its critics. And, you guessed it, some of these critics think that it functions democratically and liken the approach to a free for all. I personally think that their critiques fall short, and I'd love to tell you why. However, to understand the critiques, I must first discuss Design Thinking’s particulars.

 

What You Need to Know About Design Thinking

As I said before, Design Thinking’s definition has become muddled because of its popularity. It means something different to different people and to different organizations. You may be asking yourself, 'If it’s a confused buzzword, then what can we even say about it?' Well, though the meaning of the term is somewhat elusive, we can learn much about it by discussing its most popular form, which is the 5-step framework developed at Stanford’s school of design. According to this framework, Design Thinking contains the following five steps: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

 

Design Thinking Process

In the Empathize phase, participants (those in the team employing Design Thinking) are tasked with uncovering the problems a consumer is facing. In the Define phase, these problems are categorized and refined to guide the efforts of the team. In the Ideate phase, each person in the team brainstorms potential solutions to the problem. In the Prototype phase, the ideas produced in the previous phase are, well, prototyped. These prototypes are then tested in the Test phase. From the Test phase, depending on how the test goes, the team can go back to any of the other phases that needs to be adjusted accordingly.

The framework’s guiding principles are that it is iterative—meaning that different steps within the process will inform each other in a continuous loop—and collaborative. This seems like a pretty straightforward approach, so what’s the big deal?

 

Design Thinking: The Problem

The classic images associated with Design Thinking are those of teams looking at walls plastered with Post-it notes. These images represent some of the cornerstones of Design Thinking, both in principle (collaboration) and in process (ideation), but they also represent some of the reasons it is loathed by its critics.

Without having been exposed to Design Thinking through the work of our colleague, Michele Petruccelli, we might’ve agreed with some of these critics. Once we heard about Design Thinking and saw these images, we would’ve thought the following long-winded, but passionately skeptical, thought: ‘If we simply pull everyone in a room and direct them to put their ideas on the wall, don’t we produce only a wall full of unbacked and random ideas? After all, the number of Post-its championing each idea says very little about the quality and applicability of that idea.’

To us, Design Thinking, or at least the empathize and ideate phases, would’ve seemed like a democracy, where uneducated votes are assigned the same value as educated votes. And, if we're honest, the framework alone doesn’t refute this worry. If we had tried to apply Design Thinking’s 5 steps ourselves, we would’ve come up with this very problem: Design Thinking would be unable to determine which ideas are best. We tried to figure this issue out on my own, but it wasn’t until we talked to Michele that we found the answers.

As it turns out, Michele has anticipated this very issue and, when she facilitates Design Thinking workshops, she takes purposeful steps to ensure that her clients avoid this problem, while still gathering as many innovative ideas as possible. We’ve compiled some of the techniques Aspirant employees utilize to avoid ending up with a wall of unbacked and random ideas, and we’d love to share them with you.

 

Design Thinking: The Solution(s) — Data, the Right People, and Priorities

Data

The first of the solutions takes place at the very beginning of the workshop. Aspirant employees make sure that the empathize phase, where participants are uncovering consumer problems, is not just a cerebral exercise, but is backed by real consumer data. This can take place through “pre-work,” which is research gathered or read by the participants before the workshop, or through “expert pitches,” which involve subject matter experts informing the participants about a certain facet of their problem during the workshop. These are great examples, but there are many other ways a team can stay informed, and the “right” process will depend upon the nature of the team and the nature of their needs. Granted, gathering data won’t solve the problem entirely, but informing your team’s ideas will help guide them.

 

Right People

In addition to data, expertise is a great way to evaluate your participants’ ideas. Unlike the “expert pitches” discussed in the previous solution, which are centered around industry or subject matter expertise, a team needs to have expertise regarding how well ideas fit with the company. For example, if the company employing Design Thinking is in the consumer products industry, and the team is brainstorming new products, they ought to have an idea of what’s possible to build. Without someone from the engineering team present, how could they determine whether the ideas presented are viable? When employing Design Thinking, one must involve the right people in the process. However, there is a balance to strike between this principle and the need for a small, lean team. If you do a Design Thinking workshop with everyone in the company, depending on the company size, the sheer number of distinct ideas may be overwhelming and unproductive.

 

Priorities

Lastly, Aspirant employees develop a prioritization framework catered to each company and the problem they’re facing. This framework usually takes the form of a grid that has different metrics on the x and y axes. For example, as I mentioned “fit” earlier, the X axis may be a “fit” metric, on which the relevant employees (engineers, product managers, etc.) plot ideas from the Ideation phase. Maybe the Y axis would be a measure of the “breakthrough” potential of the idea or how well it fits with the stated demand of consumers. The relevant employees for understanding consumer demands may be the marketing or sales teams, so perhaps they would plot ideas on the Y axis. In either case, the framework helps to prioritize ideas, with some being thrown out if they fail to make the cut. The possibilities are infinite, and the right recipe /will depend upon the particulars of the problem.

 

A Broader Point

After reading the solutions provided above, you may be asking yourself, 'Are these solutions part of the official Design Thinking framework, or did you just get these ideas from your colleague?' Well, truth be told, we don’t think these solutions are part of the “official” framework at all, but that shouldn’t surprise you. Design Thinking isn’t magic; it’s merely a tool. As such, Design Thinking is unlikely to give you the solutions you need by itself. When individuals put too much faith in the framework, they lose sight of the end for which it was created, and this leads to missed opportunities to amend and improve the framework.

In the case of Design Thinking, this is manifest in unbacked and random ideas. So, you shouldn’t focus on applying Design Thinking; you should focus on solving a problem. If “solving a problem” is your guiding light (rather than “implementing the framework”), not only will you be able to apply the tips I’ve provided above, but you’ll also find new tactics and tricks of your own. Design Thinking is a helpful tool, but it’s our job to apply it well.

 

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

 

Reach out to Aspirant to continue the conversation. Fill out the form below!

aspirant-team
2019/09
September 3, 2019
Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Wargaming for the War on Talent

When the job market is tight and employees have their pick of companies, we often find ourselves with a heightened need to better understand how we stack up in their eyes. That is currently the case in the marketplace, and we see this trend continuing into 2030. (For more on trends impacting the workplace of 2030, see our eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2030 — Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing).

In the same way that you need to fight for market space, you need to also fight for your place in the talent market. By using Wargaming, you can better understand how you stack up against your biggest competition for top talent, and what you can do to improve your position.


Talent Life CycleTalent Life Cycle

Using Wargaming to review your talent strategy and determine priorities across the talent life cycle will improve your perception among prospective, current, and past employees. All of these groups are important to maintain and build your community of talent.

Five Steps to Using Wargaming to Develop Your Talent Strategy

1. Identify Your Competitors
Who do you compete with for top talent? It’s not just the same companies you compete with on products and services. For example, if you are looking for a business analyst, it doesn’t matter what industry you are in: your competition is every other company in your areas looking for a business analyst. Determine who are your biggest competitors for talent, as they will become the focus of your Wargaming.

2. Be the Competition
Take off your company hat and step into the role of your competitor’s CHRO. Understand who they are going after and why. What aspects of their recruiting, culture, environment, and career development make you so attractive? What are they going to do to try to win the war on talent? By understanding this, you can figure out how to beat it.

3. Look at Yourself from the Outside-In
Look at your organization. Not from your current role, but as that desirable recruit or the high performer you’d regret to lose. What do they see? How does it stack up against what the competition is doing? Why would you come work for the company? Or stay at it? Be honest. Be thorough. Don’t hold back. It’s better to understand all potential issues than gloss over a root cause of your challenges.

4. Plan to Win
Now that you are armed with your newly developed knowledge, set a talent strategy that differentiates you from the rest of your talent competition and positions you to win those highly desirable recruits, and retain the high performers once they are at your company.

5. Track, Fail, and Adjust to Truly Win
It’s best to have 100% structure and 100% flexibility. Obviously, having a clear, solid plan is a great start. However, then things change in the market or within your company and your plans need to be adjusted. You may also find that not everything you plan works out as intended. Track progress and be prepared to test some things out, quickly identify and stop things that are failing, identify and expand areas of progress, and create a culture for the HR team of continuous learning and development.

For more on Wargaming, read Marketing & Innovation Director Michele Petruccelli’s article Wargaming in Business to Get a Competitive Advantage. To see how your company is prepared for the trends for 2030 as well as benchmarking against a wide variety of other organizations and industries, take our Organizational Effectiveness assessment.

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

judy-johnson
2019/08
August 16, 2019
Wargaming for the War on Talent

Wargaming for the War on Talent

Using Design Thinking in Business

Design Thinking has become a well-known approach for solving problems — used now in an array of industries and businesses — but it can mean a lot of different things in different contexts and to different people. The set of activities underpinning Design Thinking have traditionally been used for product development and refinement. However, through working alongside clients and business partners with various functions and backgrounds, we’ve found that Design Thinking can be effective with almost any type of business problem or scenario.

Ultimately, Design Thinking provides value to an organization by encouraging both intuitive styles of thinking and more analytical styles of thinking. By bringing these types of thinking together, often physically into one room, it helps companies create a competitive advantage grounded in sustainable business practices.

This type of intuitive and analytical thinking is important because most markets are reaching ever higher levels of competition, both from new market entrants and from existing global players. As your industry is flooded with an overwhelming number of competitors, genuine methods of innovation become more necessary to stand out and attract customers.

Meaningful Up and Down the Organization

To implement Design Thinking in different departments and business units within your organization, sponsorship from leadership is key. There are plenty of CEOs and corporate thought leaders who are championing Design Thinking, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the de facto, problem-solving toolkit at most organizations.

With that in mind, the activities associated with Design Thinking allow for, and even encourage, line employees to pilot meetings and design sessions involving their colleagues. Think about regularly scheduled meetings to address customer concerns or internal process mapping. While these meetings may follow a standard format or cadence, is there room to present a new paradigm to spur your colleagues’ thoughts in a different direction?

There is significant value in applying the Design Thinking mindset to normal business settings. This value is apparent when you think about the nature of the organization you work for; that is, the way the organization overlays processes, politics, and mundane tasks (e.g., managing your email). This overlay, or “pilling up,” tends to overwhelm individual efforts regarding change and effectiveness. As most of us have experienced, a huge portion of “the every day” is taken up by activities and tasks born out of inefficient organization design and ineffective work practices. This is exactly what makes going to work feel like a grind for many employees.

Without even formally adopting Design Thinking as a solution to a specified problem, utilizing a Design Thinking mindset can be incredibly powerful as a way to reorient some of these work practices and processes. While it is certainly most impactful when used in a collaborative environment, the emphasis on thinking hard about framing problems, prototyping possible solutions, testing them out, and trying the whole process again to move closer to an optimal outcome can obviously improve any aspect of any human endeavor. In fact, piloting the approach in small ways in and around your cubicle can be a great platform for demonstrating its value higher up the organizational chain of command.

Unexpected Applications of Design Thinking in Business

Not only can anyone use Design Thinking to tackle work problems, but the paradigm can also be used to approach and solve nearly any kind of problem. One example of this is organizational policy and rule creation. Often, such rules are handed down by the leadership, without a consultative approach to understanding exceptions, use cases, or onerous new rules.

Design Thinking can help in this situation by pulling a wide variety of stakeholders in a room together to talk through and model different approaches. This provides a forum for diverse stakeholder viewpoints, and the emphasis on testing and learning can encourage piloting new policies in part of the organization, then refining based on feedback. An early and iterative feedback process puts a spotlight on weaknesses and blind spots in any kind of top-down idea, helping ensure that the ultimate decision is applicable and useful to the organization, instead of serving as a hindrance.

Low-employee engagement and high turnover rates are great examples of this principle in action. Design Thinking can be applied to these types of challenges by encouraging an organization to build empathy with employees, which allows them to better understand the nuances of the employees’ experiences. This can be especially important in the context of a recent merger or acquisition or downsizing event — key moments in the lives of any organization that can negatively impact employee morale.

There are many tools  in the Design Thinking toolkit that address these kinds of organizational challenges. These approaches can create a bridge of trust between line employees and leadership, helping organizations better understand both their employees’ perspectives and the underlying issues behind their high turnover rates.

If you can see the benefits of Design Thinking, but are struggle to implement — reach out through the form below!

michele-petruccelli
2019/08
August 13, 2019
Using Design Thinking in Business

Using Design Thinking in Business

Market Competition Makes You Better

It’s easy for us to view competition as “the reason we can’t charge more.” However, if you only view competition through this lens, you will continue slashing your prices until you’re unprofitable. We must recognize that competition doesn’t only force companies to cut their prices (and profits). Competition drives companies to serve their customers better, thereby strengthening their market positioning

Market Competition Can Inform Winning Strategies

More specifically, competition drives you to differentiate, innovate, and assimilate (match industry standards). All three of these actions produce additional value for your customers, and your success as a company will depend on your ability to choose among them at the appropriate time.

 

Differentiation: Better or Different? 

Though an inability to match our competition may inspire us to beat them at their own game — which is what happens when a company cuts prices and profits — we may just as likely examine our unique makeup to see if we have another advantage. If you’re not the best basketball player, maybe you’d be better at soccer. If you’re not the best accountant, maybe software development is your gift. In each of these cases, the person acting would lose if they stay in the same game, but they have a chance at winning if they pivot. Without competition, however, they’d never know where to pivot to and from. So, we have competition to thank for the intricate web of specialized and personalized job titles/descriptions that comprise our economy.

This insight is clear at the individual level, but we also must apply it to our organizations. The market elegantly allows us to focus on those products/services which we are most proficient at producing, as we concede to our competitors the products/services which they are most proficient at producing. Here, we’re not just differentiating for its own sake. We differentiate to the degree that it improves our value proposition. In fact, differentiation is the very reason your value proposition differs from that of your competitors. It is when your competitors start beating you at your value proposition that you should change it.

The best part about differentiation is that it greatly benefits the consumer. In short, you’re not wasting the customer’s time trying to do for them what your competitors can do better. Successful businesses often create niche markets that cater to the specific needs of consumers. By doing this, they’ve changed the rules of the game. Changing the rules doesn’t make you cheaper, but it makes you better.

 

Innovation: Beat Them to the Punch! 

Differentiation can be the perfect strategy, but only at certain times. If you currently have a point of difference, and competitive advantage, the key is to make sure you keep that differentiation and continue to be relevant.

Instead of lowering your prices or changing your point of differentiation, you can improve your offering overall. Innovation can take the form of an improved product, a new product, an improved process, or any other form of adding to your offering. We often say that necessity is the mother of invention, and your competition is the necessity to your invention! If you don’t innovate, they will.

When you innovate ahead of your competitors, you have an advantage for as long as it takes them to catch up. If there is adequate competition, you’re never safe relying on one innovation; you must constantly innovate to maintain your advantage. The best companies are consistently balancing the cost of R&D, process improvement, and other such innovations with the temporary benefit they yield.

Though we often think of innovations concerning the product itself, or its delivery, we should not be so quick to limit ourselves. Marketing and branding innovations are excellent investments, as your customer must know about your product/service before they buy it. Communicating with the customer effectively and concisely saves time and energy for both us and them. Without competition, there would be no need for us to invest in innovation and improvement, so we have our competitors to thank for the new ways we find to create value for our customers.

 

Assimilation: They Beat You to the Punch?

Competition drives companies to differentiation and innovation, both of which set the company apart, but competition can also push toward a type of conformity. Ideally, your company would be the one at the cutting edge, always one step ahead of your competition. However, what if you’re beaten to the punch and your competition has successfully innovated? You could develop your own unique innovation, but this would cost too much time and money. What if you could just adopt theirs? This is where assimilation comes in. When a company in an industry innovates, and the innovation is ubiquitously applicable, they’ve generated an industry standard. Effectively, they’ve made everyone better at what they do, as long as others assimilate.

Your bottom line may take a hit when one of your competitors leads the industry to a new standard, but you will become a better company because of it; that is, only if you are able to maintain the balance between assimilation, differentiation, and innovation. You don’t want to assimilate too much, thereby becoming a copy of someone else. However, it’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to leverage the work your competition has done for you. Many of your competitors’ innovations are ones you never would’ve discovered. Your rival has presumably innovated to beat you, but they’ve benefited your customers, as long as your customers are loyal to your differentiators, by providing the idea/strategy/process you’ve adopted to serve the market better.

You may have to sift through many of your competitors’ innovations to find ones applicable to your specific makeup, and the cost of doing so must be accounted for. However, assimilation is often worth the cost, as it may prove to be less costly than differentiation or innovation. Every customer benefits from industry standards, because such standards ensure that they don’t have to sacrifice to move from your competitor’s product/service to yours.

 

Before You Strategize, You Must Know

Finding the balance between differentiation, innovation, and assimilation is seriously difficult, but it becomes nearly impossible if a company is not keeping a close eye on their competitors. To know whether you’re different, or how to be different, you need to know where everyone else stands. To know if your investments in innovation are worth it, you need to ensure that you won’t be late to the game. To know whether you’re up to par on industry standards, you need to see the improvements your competitors have made.

So, to truly harness the value your competition can provide, you must conduct competitor research, keeping close tabs on their innovations and differentiators. Don’t forget that this all requires an understanding of your capabilities and your company's market position. Moving to a new place based on where your competitors are is useless if you don’t first know where you’re starting.

If you embrace competition and keep a close eye on your competitors, you will be able to hone your skills, think differently, examine your abilities, adopt disruptive innovations, and create an advantage for yourself.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2019/07
July 8, 2019
Market Competition Makes You Better

Market Competition Makes You Better

Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

There are several options in any organization’s tool belt when it comes to identifying, targeting, and ultimately selling to a key market segment. Earning that market positioning can be challenging. If it seems that competitors are always a step ahead of you, then one of the best ways to start moving ahead in your market is by thinking like them.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

A great approach to do this is through competitive scenario planning, or “Wargaming.” This is a concept that the military has practiced for centuries to prepare for possibilities and eventualities based on their understanding of the mentality, strengths, and weaknesses of their competitors. For the military, these are analytical games that simulate aspects of warfare at tactical, operation, or strategic levels.

 

Wargaming In Business

While it may have military roots, the concept is just as applicable in a business setting. Businesses can benefit from taking the time to really study the competitors in their marketplace and truly get “inside their heads.” This takes time and concerted effort. It goes way beyond studying market share, sales trends, ad copy, and competitive reviews. Although these data measurements are important, it is critical to take the time to look at this information in a greater strategic context.

Wargaming is purposeful and planned. It helps you to examine your competition from various angles and forces you to focus on their possible strategy and execution from the bottom up. It is a great activity to do as part of yearly strategic planning so you not only plan your own strategy and tactics for the coming year, but you do so in the context of what you anticipate to be happening in the marketplace.

 

How Business Wargaming Works

Business Wargaming involves gathering extensive information about your key competitors and your own company so you can compare them. It is helpful to explore the efforts and actions of your competitors from all angles – immersing yourself in your competitor’s shoes to fully understand their strategy, tactics, and what seems to be working for them as well as where they are vulnerable. It allows you to anticipate what they will do next so you can put both an offensive and defensive plan together to be ready. It is important to layout all possible scenarios of your competitors next likely actions and based on each, what you would do to protect your business and differentiate.

Wargaming is most effective when you truly take off your daily corporate hat and “become the competitor.” You step out of your own shoes and into theirs for a day. You see the world through their eyes and it truly changes the perspective of your own business. Every time we facilitate a Wargaming session, it is eye opening and the client plans not only materially change but then we have a playbook of possible scenarios and counter moves based on those possibilities.

 

Three Tips to Make Wargaming in Marketing Most Effective

There are a few things to keep in mind when preparing for and execution a Wargaming session.

  1. Preparation is Key: You have the heard the term, “garbage in, garbage out.” In the case of Wargaming, these sessions are only as good as the preparation and materials developed and compiled beforehand. You also need to pick the right participants for your workshop from various departments. It is key to keep the group small enough to be manageable but large enough to ensure you have a variety of perspectives and expertise.

  2. To Truly Understand Your Competitors’ Strategy, You Need to Thoroughly Immerse into Their Business: To deeply understand the competition’s strategy, you need to take the time to examine all aspects of their business. This truly means doing the homework on your competition. Review all elements available in the public domain, including but not limited to: ads, reviews, website content / blogs, latest news, and sales / share information if available. It is also helpful to get feedback from customers or influencers about their perception of the competition.

  3. Take Off Your Corporate Hat and Become the Competition for a Day: Roleplaying is critical to immerse into the competitor’s “shoes” for the day. Only when you take off your current “hat,” can you truly start understanding the perspective of the competition to best move forward with your own strategies.

Like most worthwhile strategies, Wargaming requires considerable effort. However, if you are able to commit to the time investment, Wargaming is a great way to strengthen your market position.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/07
July 2, 2019
Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

Nearly every open market has a leader. Typically, the number two and three spots can also be strong positions for a firm to occupy, especially if the market is still growing. While these positions are said to all be “strong,” the correct strategy for increasing or maintaining market share will vary greatly from the 1st to 3rd position. Strategies will vary to an even greater degree between the 1st and 33rd position. Where your company stands among its competitors matters across a wide range of variables and inputs, and it can impact everything from your procurement office’s ability to implement strategy to your marketing spending across different platforms and regions.

So, before a company even considers things like their strategy and marketing spend, they must know where they stand in the market, which can only be distilled through research and due diligence. Here, we provide three simple tactics that will help you get a better grasp on the position you occupy in the market.

1. Social Listening for Market Positioning

Nearly all organizations currently have a presence on some form of social media – 71% of small businesses, according to Clutch – but many are not capturing the full potential of the platforms on which they maintain a presence. Many businesses focus heavily on using social media to market, post, and communicate with both current and potential customers. But, as discussed before, one must first understand where they stand in the market before they can promote effectively.

One important, and often overlooked, element is listening. Customer surveys are great tools, but customers often do not answer them honestly and many customers don’t answer them at all. To more effectively take the market’s pulse, use social media to hear what your customers are saying when they skip the survey.

Doing a simple search for posts about your brand is a start, and it may be enough when your company is small. When both your company and customer base grow, however, you can turn to available AI tools that monitor your brand’s social activity and aggregate the results into actionable reports. Do a Google search for “social media sentiment analysis.” No matter your size, don’t limit your searches and analysis to posts about your company; take time to find what people are saying about your competition!

Social listening is a great way to get your feet wet with market research, as it is neither costly nor time intensive! A small investment in market research can go a long way. Though our other tactics are costlier, they can provide tremendous value.

 

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS) Identifies Market Position 

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) gives insight into the loyalty and satisfaction of your customer relationships. It’s known for its strong relationship with revenue growth, a relationship that’s even stronger than that of classic customer satisfaction scores. According to Bain & Company, a good NPS correlates with 20 – 60% of organic growth, and they observed through their client work that the NPS leader in an industry grows two times more than competitors.

This score is concerned with three areas of your company:

  • Promoters (customers actively encouraging others to use your product/services),

  • Detractors (customers actively encouraging others to not use your product/services), and

  • Passive customers (customers who are neither promotors nor detractors).


To construct a Net Promoter Score, a company must survey their customers. The percentage of customers who fall into the “detractor” category are subtracted from the percentage of customers who fall into the “promoter” category, and the constitution of these categories can be customized to a company’s liking.

If you have a positive NPS, your customers are not only your benefactors, but also your allies. They work both with you and against your competition; they are doing your job for you by marketing your product and steering others away from the alternative. Turning your customers against the competition and into unpaid employees is one of the keys to achieving exponential growth. Gaining a promotor means gaining their network, not just another sale. If you have a negative Net Promoter Score, on the other hand, you must work against the testimonies of your own customers, an almost impossible task in the long run.

A company’s general strategy and marketing strategy should both vary greatly depending on whether their customers are working for them or against them, so this information is key to making informed decisions.

 

3. Competitive Concept Testing

This tactic is different from the others in that it is geared toward new or recently changed products or marketing. In this way, you can gain insight into where you will stand in the market, rather than where you currently stand in the market. Of the over 30,000 new consumer products introduced to the market each year, 80% of them fail. Leveraging a prototype and test approach helps you avoid being a part of this 80% by cutting your funding to doomed products before they have the chance to fail.

The purpose of this method is to examine the reactions of potential consumers to your planned product or service before you go to market. This should happen before, or in the very early stages of, any R&D spending. Before your organization finances a new initiative, a concept test will provide beneficial insight into the perceptions, desires, and needs connected with your product or service.

To illustrate, when an individual is asked, “Is the price too high?” the replies will always be skewed toward “yes,” because 1.) Everyone would rather pay less than more and 2.) Answering “yes” may lead the company to consider lowering their prices, an outcome all consumers desire. In the market, consumer preference for a product is always benchmarked against the value of the money paid for the product. The consumer must choose the product over whatever else they could buy for the money, and the company knows the consumer values the product enough if they make that choice!

One way to benchmark your concept tests, and know where you stand in the market, is to have potential consumers choose between your product and the competitor’s product, while holding all else constant. Then, and only then, can you ask your customers why they chose the product they did. This is the classic blindfolded Pepsi vs. Coca Cola test.

These benchmarked tests can be used for marketing, product adjustments, and product development. What’s more, though acquiring this information is costly, it is proprietary and unavailable to your competitors. These tactics are great tools for companies of all sizes to employ, but some are a serious investment of time and money. If you’d like to get a taste for using our processes for assessing your company’s competitive advantage, download our eBook.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/06
June 21, 2019
Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

You know how important employees are to the success of your organization. Your executive team does, too (kind of).

As an HR leader, you get people strategy, and you also know that analytics tells a story that everyone needs to hear. But how do you take your leadership team from “hearing” to understanding?

 

First, don’t collect data for the sake of having data.

It’s only valuable if you’re looking at the data in a way that you intend to make a positive impact on the company and/or the people. Data collection efforts need to be action-oriented. If you aren't clear on how a data set will inform future decisions, then it may not be worth gathering in the first place.

 

Second, work with your IT team.

Access to data is not optional if you want to use people analytics. If you work with them there may be an easier way for them to get your information. They may need to make some coding changes to get you the perfect report, but it’s much better to work with them than to be dissatisfied with your current access.

 

Third, get early buy-in.

Any time you want to initiate a change in your organization, you need an ally that agrees with your idea. Find someone in your personal employee network who values people analytics, engagement, and morale. Work with them, get their insights and come up with the best approach together. That person will help you convince others.

 

Lastly, you want insights and analysis, not numbers.

Numbers on a screen don’t do much for most people. You need to analyze those numbers to reveal a new perspective on the challenges at hand. Data visualization and dashboarding can go a long way to building better understanding with executives. Don’t just give them the numbers and expect them to see what you do.

Let’s go over an example. Let’s say that it seems you have a lot of people calling or reporting off. You have an attendance report that you can look at and easily determine, yes, that’s a lot of people. But what good does that do you?

What you want to do is analyze it over various time frames, like a year, maybe two years? What time of year is it? Do people usually miss more work this time of year? Maybe it’s a holiday. Or is it your busy season where you have employees scheduled for more days and longer hours? Perhaps they are burnt out.

Or are the call offs centralized to one department? You should look at other metrics to evaluate the possible effects of morale and engagement in that department.

Does the data seem to be split by any demographic? Is there an overwhelming amount of call offs from women instead of men; younger employees instead of older? Or is there a correlation between minorities and call offs? Answers to these questions could tell a very different story about what your situation is.

If you find out and act on it quickly, you could potentially prevent a serious problem for the organization. You need to use examples such as this to showcase the value of people analytics to your executive team.

Let them know that this information can be used to solve and prevent problems. Feel free to get in touch with us to learn how Aspirant can help you achieve your organizational goals.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your team improve its ability to substantiate initiatives and track performance with data analytics. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/06
June 18, 2019
People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

With the advancing sophistication of digital technology, by 2030, power will no longer rest on the shoulders of corporate leaders. Social media and crowdsourcing have given an all-access pass to voicing opinions on business for consumers, employees, partners, and more. With more people voicing opinions and expecting to be heard, this can put a lot of pressure on a company.

We are seeing the effects of such things in the news every day. One such example is what happened with Starbucks. After an act of racism at one of their stores went public, they were inundated with negativity and complaints. It was so bad, there were people marching in protest in the streets in front of the store.

This more than qualified as a PR nightmare exacerbated via social media. Originally, Starbucks was viewed as handling the issue poorly. More negative press arose, and the anger toward the brand grew. They then acknowledged what happened and regret in how it was handled. Starbucks formally apologized and vowed to take steps from preventing similar events in the future.

And they followed through with those steps. Starbucks closed almost 8,000 stores to conduct anti-bias training.  They did this while taking a great hit to their profits for that day, but also knowing the results were worth it. They listened to their customers and public opinion, and this great company reacted accordingly.

However, it wasn’t fixed right away, and there may be some lingering distrust for the brand. The better prepared you are to prevent such a situation, or react quickly if you are unable to, the better off your organization will be.

 

Here are 5 steps to help your company manage diversified power:

1. Digital reputation management

Every company needs to be continually monitoring their digital reputation. An employee needs to be scanning the various social media sites and review sites like Yelp. This will need to be a full-time role in the future, not a side project.

2. PR contingency plans

Some degree of negative press is almost inevitable. Be ready for it. The first way to do that, of course, is to run your company in an ethical and customer-focused way. But also make sure you have ideas for what to do when things go wrong. A bad reaction to a PR crisis only makes the situation worse.

3. Analyze your customer data

Pay attention to what your customers and critics are saying. Build customer intimacy by knowing that they think, want and need. Knowledge is the key to success, and data is the key to knowledge.

4. Anticipate issues before they become problems

With your finger on the public pulse, you will naturally be aware of and sensitive to any potential issues. Pay attention to what’s trending and what people care about. Notice what your business is doing and how people are reacting to it. With anything that seems potentially negative, respond to it right away.

5. Think: "Service, service, service"

With everything else you need to consider, don’t forget to focus on serving your customers. They are the most important. Give them what they want, with great customer service, good quality and fair prices. If you don’t fulfill these promises to your customers, there’s no amount of PR and Marketing that will help you.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/06
June 12, 2019
Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

You may know your company's market positioning inside and out, but it is much more difficult to know the moving pieces in the industry around you. By industry knowledge, we don’t necessarily mean well-worn metrics like annual forecast demand or largest buyers, though these are important. Rather, we’re referring to a deeper knowledge of the market’s ins and outs: current and future players, underlying trends, weaknesses, and possible disruption points. While it may seem like a lot of work to stay up-to-date on market forces and your competitors, it’s definitely worthwhile to maintain a macro-level perspective of business activity occurring around you and your company.

What Are People Talking About?

Search engines and similar internet tools are an obvious resource for learning about competitors and potential future disruptors, but you can do more than just search. Use features like Google Alerts to notify you when your competition’s name is mentioned in the news, or even when your industry gets noticed. Spend time keeping up with aggregated search-based trends as well, which can give you a picture of what currently matters to people at little to no cost. There are also websites that can tell you what keywords and Google AdWords are being bought by your competition. Knowing what’s important to other players in the market is one data point that’ll help you decide what is important to you.

 

Supplier and Partner Intelligence

Want even more information? Don’t overlook the great resource you have in suppliers. This may not work for all industries, but it can be very beneficial when it does. Suppliers often won’t answer questions about your competition — nor should they — but if you ask the right questions you can get some helpful answers regarding trends and trajectories.

A very high-level example: if you manufacture a product in a competitive space, you could ask your supplier how much of a certain part is ordered this time of year, or ask what they are selling the most of and what products are being pre-ordered. Much of this can be learned in due diligence with your procurement process as you shop around for suppliers anyway. Use supplier information to your advantage, and keep in mind that if they are publicly traded then there may be a lot of usable intelligence in their investor relations materials (e.g., an aluminum company starting a joint venture to make aluminum through an ecofriendly process presages a large purchase of aluminum for high-end consumer electronic goods). You can also question suppliers and partners about where they send their product. Questions such as, ‘Do you ship a lot out of state?’ or ‘Do you find you sell a lot of X product to X demographic area?’

 

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

 

Competitor Hiring Trends

Another thing to pay attention to regarding competitors is their hiring trends. If they are suddenly hiring many people, you want to know why. For example, what positions are they filling, sales people or production? If they are filling sales positions, they are likely to be kicking off a marketing campaign soon. If they are hiring in production, then they have successfully sold and need more people to fill orders. Analyze their hiring behavior.

And, look through their job descriptions. This is particularly helpful with IT-related positions. Companies will often list software and technologies that a job candidate must be familiar with. This will let you know what kind of technology your competition is leveraging and give you better insights into their value chain.

 

Wargaming to Understand Competitors

For better or worse, your company is not an island with a captive audience. In most markets, your customers have at least one alternative choice. This market competition means that other companies are also targeting them. On top of that competitive pressure, your existing customers have new and evolving needs to address — they are rarely a source of fixed revenue (and even when they are over a certain amount of time due to contractual requirements, that does not mean that they will be at the end of the contracting period).

To keep and stay relevant to your customers, you need to have your finger on the pulse of your market. Even though it is a common approach (perhaps the most common that we see with our clients) relying chiefly on your sales history to understand your market and industry leaves you significantly exposed to a number of potential and external threats. One approach that we take with our clients is called Wargaming, where we allow them to play the role of their competitors and think strategically about the market, their competitors next moves, their own next moves, and the full chain of reactions and counteractions over a 5 to 10 year period. Questions that we have them ask in this context help them drill down into how their competitors think about their organization, the broader market, and the economy as a whole.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/06
June 7, 2019
Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

While everyone recognizes the need for a solid HR department headed up by a reliable CHRO, they can often get left out of the broader strategic company loop. As a CHRO, it’s important to make room for yourself at the conference table so you’re not only always aware of business decisions and strategies, but can contribute to them as well. In other words, what can you do to ensure that you’re not only advocating for yourself and your department, but demonstrating value and providing insights for the company as a whole?

What Creates Success in the CHRO role?

According to  Forbes, one of the top strategic priorities for CHROs in 2019 is demanding a seat at the C-suite table. A CHRO should be leading their company into the future.

The CHRO role, like all leadership positions, is centered around adapting to fit in with the current business economy. At its heart, the CHRO position is a link between the company’s executive team and its human assets. Some of the responsibilities of a CHRO in today’s world are the ability to align organizational strategy with HR planning, handling talent management and performance, leading workplace development, and tracking compensation across the organization. Additionally, some of the desired skills you should have as a CHRO are:

  • Talent acquisition
  • Compensation and procurement costs
  • Financial planning and forecasting
  • Learning and development
  • Benefits administration
  • Compliance and legal knowledge

These are similar to the skills utilized with more entry-level HR positions, but much more specialized. To be successful as a CHRO, you will spend more time on the front lines with executive leadership and less time interacting with employees.

You should be no less valuable to employees as you will be advocating for them regularly. Showing your skills and finesse in more of the executive-level aspects of a CHRO will help you to get, and keep, your seat at the conference table.

 

How Do You Prove Your Worth as a CHRO?

Sometimes you have to prove why your company needs a CHRO. As well as why that CHRO position should not be cast aside to the "kid’s table," but included in critical company discussions. To be a valuable CHRO in current times, you must think beyond the traditional HR model.

Make sure executives know that you understand how human capital can benefit the business by exhibiting your ability to create, read, and translate a P&L (Profit and Loss statement). While the people aspects of HR, such as engagement, retention, and satisfaction are important, the current CHRO role should focus on the bottom line strategic drivers of company success. You have to be able to relate to people and talent to ultimate corporate success.

Demonstrate your ability to be a reliable and trustworthy leader. Build a diverse internal employee network. You should be considered a mentor and confidante by your peers at the executive level. Other execs will need to rely on you for guidance and reinforcement of company culture. They need to trust both your dedication to employees and the company. This may sometimes mean talking about some hard situations, helping employees to see the value of change they may not agree with, and bringing people on board for new ideas.

Driving change will become a core part of your influence with front-line employees. You will often be the one relied on to communicate upcoming changes to the general staff. You must be motivated to help others see the potential rewards and benefits of change. Take charge of communication plans and be ready for potential resistance with facts and enthusiasm.

Another proficiency you should showcase is the ability to accurately use data. HR analytics can help a company to make informed decisions in relation to hiring and managing. Proving your ability to gather, understand, present, and make decisions off of this data will go a long way to earning yourself a seat at the table.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We know first hand the importance of human resources and how critical CHROs are to corporate success. Our Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design and implement a plan that maximizes the impact of the HR function. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better align the perception of your department with the value being generated.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 22, 2019
Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

With all good things come risks. With all opportunities, come responsibility. The same can be said for people analytics. Data is powerful. Knowledge of what that data means can help your company tremendously — but it can also hurt you. According to a survey by Deloitte, 64% of respondents are actively dealing with legal liability issues in relation to their people data.

Legal Risks

stored data being hacked and stolen

This makes you liable to your employees. There are various insurance plans to help with this, but prevention is key. Make sure you have good security measures in place, and keep no more data than necessary, for no longer than necessary.

 

Data algorithms can show bias

For example, through no fault of your own, your data could always recommend hiring male employees, or just white employees. It could look over women and people of color every time. That is one reason why it is important to not completely trust your data and to always have a human being analyzing it. If it were to continue unchecked, you could certainly have some legal hiring issues coming your way.

 

Risks with People Analytics

Your data can lie to you

Data uses programed algorithms looking for certain words, patterns, activities, etc. Based on data alone, many things can be overlooked, go unnoticed, or be misunderstood.

For example, if you use people analytics to determine potential candidates for promotions, you could find that certain people are always getting overlooked. Additionally, some valuable traits aren’t even being considered.

Perhaps you want people with managerial experience to promote into executive management, thus your data is looking at people currently in management roles. At the same time, the most qualified candidate is not currently in a role with a title of manager. They have all the other experience you are looking for: the right attitude, work ethic, and have held management positions elsewhere.

Basically, this is the exact person you’re looking for, but based on the data you asked for, they are not going to be recommended. So, your data will tell you the best person for the job. And it will be wrong.

 

You’ve got data analyzing attendance

You flag certain people for having a high number of report offs. They are planned and excused, but they still show up in the data. This is one of your best employees. When it comes time for a raise, though, their personal file shows a little strike against them for attendance.

This is a good example of why it’s important to have a real person that analyzes this data and reconciles it with things they know. Perhaps someone had a very sick family member or were sick themselves. They usually don’t have an attendance problem and the issue was only temporary.

Failing to recognize their contribution to the company, due to a few approved extra off days, could result in their looking elsewhere in the company. It could also result in low morale and less productivity.

Basically, anything that is good about data could also be bad if it is misunderstood and not properly analyzed. Strong data collection is important, but having a human being to go over them as well can make a world of difference.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can implement methods for leveraging data to improve team management. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 20, 2019
Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

The early stages of a business are great way for any department to prove the value they bring to the organization - especially HR. However, when things start to stabilize and the growth cycle plateaus, how does your HR team demonstrate the ongoing value of the support they provide?


It’s easy to overlook the need to answer this question while you’re focused on sales, production, or other more client-facing departments, but it’s important not to. As your organization grows and evolves, so too should your HR. So, what do you do to keep your department involved in your company’s yearly goal setting?

 

What Do You Do When the Growth Curve Ends?

You’ve reached a point where you’re not growing your team and business is relatively steady. If anything, you’re replacing people due to turnover, not growth. What can a human resource manager do at this point that increases their value to the company?

For one, you can strengthen your personal employee network. Part of HR’s responsibilities is to be an employee service center and advocate for their needs. While it’s easy to be very good at hiring and addressing employee concerns, it’s more difficult to dedicate the time to relationship building with current staff.

This can be particularly valuable in positions that tend to have a higher turnover rate. HR can proactively get to know employees, the jobs they do, and what complications arise. Is the job itself hard? Is it a manger or a coworker that drives folks away? What are some fixable issues that are driving employees away?

Engaging with employees and supervisors to find ways to improve retention can be exceptionally valuable when it comes to money, time and resources. The potential cost savings from decreasing turnover alone can be worth it and really help your HR department demonstrate long term value. It’s estimated that the cost of losing an employee ranges from 1.5-2 x their annual salary. HR officials don’t have to wait for a problem, but can take the time year-round to reach out to employees and proactively address issues that may result in higher turnover.

 

Should HR teams join company planning discussions?

Every company has goals and plans. In order for any department to contribute to these organizational goals, they must be included in the planning strategy somewhere along the line. Everyone in the department also needs to understand how their role ties in to the established HR goals, and subsequently, the company's strategic priorities.

As an HR manager, request to be part of company planning meetings and explain how your participation is key to the organization’s overall success. Once you have a seat at the conference table, take the time to research and come up with tangible ways you can contribute.  Are there training grants in your state to take advantage of? Is there a specific college that specializes in a needed position in your industry? Could you do recruitment there? These are just a few specific examples, but the bigger point is to ideate some ways you and your department can continue to demonstrate ongoing value alongside other areas of your business.

If HR is not included in these meetings, does anyone notice? Business leaders should be aware of HR’s absence. If not, there are a couple potential reasons that could be concerning. One of them is that your leaders do not value the contributions from the HR dept., therefore do not think it is a problem if they are left out. Another reason is that your HR professionals are not offering value or contributing to discussions. Make sure to talk with all leaders and figure out how to improve this.

 

Is your HR team adaptable?

A situation found in many more established companies is a tendency to keep doing things “how we’ve always done them.” Does your HR team fall into this trap, or are they adaptable to a changing economy, employment landscape and company direction?

There will often be some rules and policies that can’t be adapted, but overall, an HR professional should be reevaluating the way the work on a regular basis. According to a study conducted in the UK, 17% of respondents did not believe their HR teams were doing a good job. One of the main reasons was that they failed to adapt to the changing business economy.

If an employee or manager seems difficult, instead of blaming or reciting years-old SOPs (Standing Operating Procedures) your HR professional should pay attention to their communication style and adapt accordingly.

New generations of the workforce care about different things, their work ethic and values have changed. Instead of lamenting and fighting this, HR should embrace it, be adaptive and find the best way to work with all aspects of employees. This also applies to newer HR departments dealing with seasoned employees. A good HR professional should find a way to work with all employees.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030


How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can ensure your HR team is properly recognized for the value of its contributions.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 18, 2019
The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

It’s typical for companies to look at their goals’ progress on a quarterly basis. While this is convenient, it means three, six, or even nine months will have gone by before you even recognize there is a problem. So, 'now' is always the time to think about your goals.

Goal Tracking Is Critical

There are various methods of tracking yearly goals. Many companies pay attention to KPIs or, Key Performance Indicators. There’s also OKR (Objectives and Key Results). The latter is gaining popularity in high-value companies. It helps to strive toward more ambitious, but still achievable goals. This method is helping to push managers and teams to reach their full potential.

To try this approach, you need to create three to five objectives that are more than what you’d expect to achieve with your goal. They must be definitive objectives, such as increasing new sales by 17%. Outline three key results for each objective to use as measurable milestones in your HR plan.

The milestones have to be measurable and have evidence to prove their completion. So, for example, the milestone cannot be “increase employee morale.” It could however be be “increase new employee retention by 5%.”

Measure success with percentages and hard data and make sure all team members have access to the progress. It can be posted on a whiteboard or in a shared doc. Your company succeeds and fails together. Any progress made on an objective is relevant to all team members.

There are various progress management software packages that can be used to help you keep track. Capterra has a great list with reviews and ratings of some top options.

 

When to Assess Goal Execution (It’s Earlier Than You Think)

It’s almost never too early to start assessing your goals. If you wait until it’s time for them to be finished you’ll have no way of making adjustments. A Staples National Small Business Survey found that more than 80% of the participating companies don’t keep track of their goals, and 77% of them didn’t achieve their stated goals. Lack of tracking can make a big impact.

Ideally, you would have set up a time to get together with various team members and go over goal tracking when the goals were set. If not, consider doing a monthly check in with each of the task masters assigned to a goal. Start a month after the beginning of your year, or whenever your goals officially started. You can make time adjustments moving forward as needed. 

 

Don’t Just Look at Quarterly Progress

You cannot get caught underestimating how quickly business dynamics can change. If you don’t keep on top of HR goals, by the time you notice, it may be too late to fix it. This is why it’s helpful to create the smaller OKRs mentioned above. Having milestones on the path to the ultimate goals helps encourage you to keep abreast of the status.

You may not need to get everyone together to go over every goal and objective more than once a quarter, but don’t wait until that to do anything. You should check in with teams for individual objectives once a month. Track, document, and socialize all results.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing the tactical execution of corporate initiatives can be tedious, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 13, 2019
Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

When you are planning to implement a Master Data Management strategy in your business you need to make sure you have the right team assisting with the process. MDM is big, complex and important. Plus, it’s getting bigger every year. The MDM market is expected to have a 15.6% CAGR over the next five years. Having the right people involved from the start can make a world of difference when you take on an MDM project.

You need to identify the relevant roles in your project and the best people to fill them.

 

Executive Sponsor

We’ve gone over this in previous blogs and our MDM ebook. There are two basic routes you can take to find your MDM sponsor. If you intend to apply MDM as the core strategy in your corporation, you’re going to want to find someone in a high-level position such as your CEO. Since the MDM will involve each of the departments in your organization, you need someone who has influence and an interest in every aspect of your company.

However, if you want to implement MDM in only a certain department in your company, go with a position that is not quite C suite. Your department head or supervisor would be a great fit to ensure you have buy-in across your office.

The important thing is to find a sponsor who can be the MDM stakeholder that understands the company’s problems that you’re attempting to solve. The person needs to have the ability to help you obtain the resources needed to complete the project and hold everyone involved accountable. They should have more influence than a frontline employee in the organization and have the ability to communicate up the chain of command so your execs can stay informed.

 

 

Tech Team

This one will be broken down into smaller roles based of the complexity and goals of your Master Data Management project. These are the people who will build and most often use the MDM technology. There may be roles listed here that aren’t as necessary for you, or there could be some missing. You should base your team off the needs of your organization and the project at hand. Your tech team might include:

  • Systems Administrator
  • Database Administrator (DBA)
  • Developers
  • Integration Experts
  • MDM Specialist

The lower level sysadmin person will be a good resource for connecting with the end users. They will also know a lot about the day to day interactions of programs and data. If you have a large tech presence in your company you may already have a DBA. If you don’t, you will need one for a large scale MDM implementation. This person needs to set up the server or cloud environment that you will be hosting the MDM technology on. This can be a temporary part time gig for the life of the project.

You probably already have developers or programmers y on your team. These are the people who will customize or build your new user interfaces. They should be able to implement the more complex data aspects. Integration experts need to have a deep understand of your current system and technologies. This is often current team member who can stand up the assimilations between the MDM and related technologies.

Your MDM specialist should be someone who will remain employed by, or associated with your company. Whether it is a new or current employee, a part or full time position, this person will need to remain associated with the project after it launches. If you are incorporating an exceptionally large MDM program you may need multiple people in this role. These folks will be dedicated to the MDM program and not have additional duties. This position shouldn’t be viewed as a secondary job. They will work with the MDM moving forward as well as during the project implementation.

 

Data/Information Architects

Depending on the size of your company and the scope of your MDM project, this could be one person or a whole team of people. This person will eat, sleep, and breathe data. They will focus on the grand ecosystem of the data throughout your organization. They also should have a good grasp on where your data resides, and what kind of standards you want your MDM program to abide by.

One of the pivotal roles of a data architect can be to help push change and growth through the organization when it comes to policies for data management necessities. There will be certain goals you want to hit regarding data with your MDM project that others will have trouble adjusting to. A data architect can help with that transition.

For more information about the types of people you need on your MDM team connect with us at Aspirant. Fill out the form below.

 

phil-kossler
2019/03
March 5, 2019
Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

We work in an age of constant technological advancement. As younger generations enter the workforce, so to comes a need to adapt to a more technically savvy employee. You can get the ball rolling as early as your onboarding by incorporating virtual reality (VR) and other on-trend tech applications. An employee’s first few months at your company is pivotal. That’s when they establish expectations of their job.

The first six months spent at an organization are also the timeframe in which an employee decides to stay with your company. That’s right, 90% of employees know within half a year if they’re going to stick around. This is part of what makes the onboarding process such a critical component of workforce planning. Younger employees want an environment where they can thrive, and that often includes leveraging the latest technology. You can set the tone for their work life by incorporating tech into your onboarding processes.

 

How VR Helps with Team Integration

Bosses and coworkers obviously have a huge impact on an employee’s job satisfaction and this greatly influences whether a new employee will continue with your company. Even if you like a job, feeling as if you don’t fit in to the work environment makes every day difficult.

This is one of the ways VR for onboarding can help. VR can be used to help new employees interact with global teams, off-site executives and remote coworkers. It helps introduce them to the culture of the workplace and feel more connected to their job and teammates.

With VR you can begin introducing new employees to coworkers before they are even on site. What’s more, if your new hire is a remote worker, VR can help you integrate them with the home office in a much more significant way. There are even advances in VR now, such as Oculus Rift, that can translate things such as body language as well as other non-verbal cues. This can help make virtual meetings feel much more realistic and personable as well as cut out some of the stress of initial meetings.

 

“Hands-On” Training Courtesy of VR

VR training can be a game changer when it comes to training for dangerous or high-risk jobs. A new employee can get hands-on training without actually “getting their hands dirty.” For example, medical professions can use VR to train new employees on how to deal with medical situations without putting any patients at risk. They can complete a VR trainings before ever even touching an actual human body.

Hands-on VR training can help teach new hires develop necessary skills as well as get (close to) real world experience. It’s not just good for health-related professions. VR can be used for training and adapting a new sales team, manufacturing, or whatever industry requires a working knowledge before starting the job. New hires can practice repeatedly to create a smooth process before ever interacting with customers or equipment.

In addition to building up confidence in new employees, hands-on VR training also takes the onus off seasoned employees and managers to do basic training, ensuring your workplace maintains its efficiency even while onboarding someone new. A new employee will still need some guidance adapting to the company, but with VR for onboarding practices in place, the basic foundation will already be built in.

 

How Gamification Improves with VR

Let’s face it, no one wants to do another trust fall or wait for a monthly report to see how they stand among their co-workers. Employees often like contests and gamified ways of encouraged hard work, but they get tired of the same old thing.

If you want to motivate the workforce of tomorrow, VR gamification is the way to go. Use these games to offer experiences that are multi-sensory. Allow for points, badges and other ways of recording progress. Instead of sitting a new employee in a room to watch a 45-slide deck about company policies, try creating the VR business equivalent of a TV game show, complete with industry relevant quizzes.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Creative methods for employee onboarding, such as VR, can make a huge impact to the employee experience right off the bat. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion with our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how we can help improve your team's collaboration and performance.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 4, 2019
Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

The most important step in starting a Master Data Management (MDM) solution — and really any project — is to listen to the people involved. In order for an implementation to be successful you need the voices of all stakeholders.

This also helps to make sure that the outcome of your MDM solution is aligned with your company’s larger corporate objectives. Invested stakeholders will view the MDM as a tool to achieve the goals they already have, not a burden of more complication. It should be expected that the MDM will empower their teams to accomplish goals with less resources, enabling strategic thinking and departmental growth.

If you don’t manage to get your stakeholders’ support you will meet obstacles every step of the way. That is why stakeholder alignment is such a vital part of the MDM project implementation. The Chaos Report  from Standish Group puts stakeholder sponsorship as 15% of where invested time needs to go for success. It is part of a four way tie for where most of your time and effort needs to be directed.

Once you have the input and support of stakeholders you will find the implementation goes much smoother and the benefits become much more impactful. However you can’t stop at attaining stakeholder alignment, you also have to keep it. Don’t forget to listen to and include the stakeholders throughout the life of the implementation.

 

 

An Empowered MDM Project Team

In addition to stakeholders you also need an empowered project team. If the team you have leading the implementation is not enthusiastic about it or not empowered to achieve objectives you will not realize the full potential of an MDM.

The team should be empowered to decide the best way to meet goals and timelines. They must be held accountable for meeting milestones and successfully completing goals, but should be allowed to decide the best ways in which to achieve them.

Your team needs to want an MDM solution for your company. So creating buy-in and enthusiasm from your team will be one of the first steps together. The implementation team should consist of more than just members of the IT department. Every department in your company works with data in one way or another.

It’s very important to get input from each department and to make sure they are represented on the team. This will contribute to a well-rounded and overall useful MDM. Each person included needs to know that their ideas and input are valued and needed. While all suggestions may not be possible each item brought up should be looked at and considered respectfully. This will let team members know they are empowered to make an impact.

Once you have your established, empowered and excited team you need to make sure everyone knows what tasks of the project they are responsible for. A truly empowered team knows where they stand and what their value is.

Is your company considering a Master Data Management project?  Would you like help working that into your company’s strategy? Connect with us at Aspirant by filling out the form below. We'd love to help get you started or bring your project across the finish line!

sayed-saeed
2019/02
February 26, 2019
Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

All businesses participate in some form of training. But what’s your objective? Does your company put employees through training to check off a box? Is it to improve employee engagement and morale? Maybe you want to have a reputation for investing in staff development? These are all good reasons.

What value is your company gaining by training your employees? Even if your employees are more informed and engaged, if that information doesn’t contribute to improvement for the organization, then what’s the point?

Research has supported that thought, and many companies are transitioning to a training program that benefits everyone. According to MIT Sloan, companies are spending $400 billion on training. Training should both be about employee enhancement and helping to meet business objectives. So, how do you align workforce training with your business goals?

 

Step 1: Know your business objectives

You need to know your strategic business objectives and goals before you can align employee trainings to them. How can training support the achievement of those goals? Focus on something that’s measurable. Did you recently implement new software to increase efficiency? There is likely a learning curve that’s preventing its full potential. Schedule employees for focused training on the best ways to utilize the new software and contribute to improved efficiency!

 

Step 2: Identify gaps in learning

Based on your stated objectives, where could your employees use additional training to further your goals? The software example above is one instance. You’ve made that change to increase efficiency but you aren’t seen the gains yet. Thankfully, that is a gap that training could fill. Another example could be in the sales of a particular product. If you have a product with great customer reviews but little sales, perhaps your employees don’t know the best ways to market and sell it. If you want to increase your sales, organize training that highlight the product value to consumers and the best approaches for selling it.

 

Step 3: Define the metrics of success

What are the specific results you want to achieve from each of the trainings? This is an important part of the alignment with your business goals. Completion of the training cannot be the measure of success. Victory must consist as an actual contribution to your completed business goal. If we use the above example of software training, a good metric would be that employees who have completed the training utilize the software 10% faster with 80% fewer errors. Product sales is an obvious goal due to the increased sale of that particular product. You could also set a smaller goal of customer contacts related to the product.

 

Step 4: Assign roles and tasks related to your goals and training

In order to keep the momentum going all year for your business goal alignment and objectives, you will need to assign roles and tasks to various employees. As part of workforce planning, someone needs to be in charge of scheduling and facilitating individual trainings. This person would also be expected to keep track of which employees have received training and their individual level of success. You’ll need this information to know whether you are successfully aligning employee trainings to company goals. Having someone responsible for tracking and recording the training will let you know if you need to change tactics any point in the year.

 

Step 5: Communication of goals and strategic alignment

It’s helpful to inform employees of what trainings they can anticipate throughout the year, ideally as part of their yearly goals. This gives them something to prepare for and look forward to. They should understand it is a valuable opportunity to enhance both their skills and their value to the company. To reassure them, explain the relevance of the training to your overall corporate goals. Make sure employees, managers, and executives understand the benefits that will come from properly aligned training. The more they understand the contribution their actions will make to the company, the more invested they will become in the success.

 

Step 6: Get started!

You’ve done all the preparation and you now you need to start realizing the results! Remember to keep the motivation up throughout the year and you will not be disappointed!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

These steps will help create and maintain alignment between your training programs and company goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/02
February 25, 2019
How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

Has your company hosted discussions about your Master Data Management (MDM) strategy? Revolutionary technology is readily available to help make your MDM great, but to get there you need clean and consistent data. You need to be sure to get the right data to the right people at all the right times.

MDM is about turning your data into analytics, and analytics into actionable outcomes to benefit your business. It’s not about having spreadsheet upon spreadsheet of data that nobody uses or understands.

If you’re considering an MDM implementation there are a few things you need to do to prepare.

 

Know Your Organizational Goals

What are you trying to accomplish with an MDM? Don’t just do it because it is the popular trend. Know why you need it and how you expect your business to benefit. Be informed on the state of your current data architecture and your options for the future. Define the goals you want to achieve before you get started. This way you know where your focus needs to be.

 

Define MDM Project Plan Expectations and Success

This is not exactly a project plan, but more of a road map to success. Instead of breaking down individual steps and assigning tasks, you will be listing the main high-level things that need to be done. You’re setting the chronology of items. Use this to define and acquire the necessary resources. You also want to give a timeline for ROI and a reliable cost estimate.

It may seem like a difficult exercise to officially define success, but it makes it much easier to get buy-in from stakeholders as well as keep yourself on task. Setting expectations helps keep everyone on the same page for the project so you can collaboratively meet your goals.

 

Have an Executive-Level Sponsor and an Application Owner

Throughout the life of the project you will need support, help with momentum and possibly additional funding and resources. An executive sponsor who believes in the project vision will help your voice be heard. This is a very vital role to fill.

The application owner is also very important. This is not the person who knows and runs everything or operates the actual system. The application owner is a defined responsibility to keep on top of the MDM and help make sure all decisions are relevant and communicated. This prevents the issue of multiple people assuming “someone else” is handling a task.

Every department should have a need to utilizing the Master Data Management, and they will each have different uses and objectives for the information they request. If everyone is allowed to make changes to the way data is defined or collected, the MDM will quickly become unmanageable and unhelpful to your organization.

An application owner can make sure all decisions that move forward contribute to the best interests of the whole company as well as make sure that all changes are communicated.

 

Establish MDM Project Plan Rules and Regulations

This is always an important step. The detail needed can change depending on the type of data your company utilizes. A legal team for example is going to have much stricter rules and regulations than a company that sells homemade candles.

However, all companies need an understanding and control of the accessibility and distribution of their information. This should all be pre-defined to avoid any complications in the future. Define who is allowed to access what data. Which data is specific to certain departments? What can be shared with the company as a whole? Can any of your company data be made public or is everything proprietary and for internal use?

Even though some of this information may seem like overkill, it’s much preferable to over regulate data than deal with the ramifications of an information leak in the future.

For more information about MDM, check out our ebook.

 

 

If you are considering moving forward with your own master data management project plan contact us below at Aspirant for help.

phil-kossler
2019/02
February 19, 2019
How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

We’ve talked about the importance of HR planning in the development of corporate priorities. But what happens when you don’t? How can you tell if your annual goals and your HR department are out of alignment with each other? And, what can you do to fix that?

Here are a few signs your Human Resource strategy isn't aligned with annual goals:

  1. Too many meetings.

  2. Too much back-and-forth email chains.

  3. Finalizing a decision takes too long.

  4. Employees and departments have formed silos.

  5. A lack of engagement and empowerment of front line employees.

These are all symptoms of company where the mission of HR and the goals of the executive level are not complementing each other. It doesn’t have to be this way — and it shouldn’t. According to a study cited in  Forbes, happy employees are 20% more productive than unhappy employees. HR objectives often center around keeping employees safe, engaged and happy. If they’re getting two sets of goals to pursue, chances are employees won’t be very happy or engaged. So, what can you do to align corporate goals and HR priorities?

 

Step 1: Create a Dialogue with HR and Assess the Department

Do you understand what HR is doing and how the department works within your company? If not, that is the first barrier to goal alignment. Whether you have a one-person HR department or a whole team, do some assessing of their processes to develop a deeper understanding between your office and HR. Once you accomplish that, you want to open up a dialogue between the rest of leadership team and HR. There you can define the annual goals to HR and the HR objectives to the leadership team. Make sure everyone understands.

 

Step 2: Discuss Goal Alignment with HR

Now that you’ve included HR and the department understands the corporate goals, it’s time to figure out their place in it. What departmental goals can be set for HR to help contribute to the annual company goals? Also, how can the company's yearly goals be adjusted taking into account pertinent information from HR?

For example, Human Resources’ work to increase employee retention would contribute to reduce costs. Proper onboarding programs and workforce training will increase productivity. Setting up clear communication practices helps avoid frustration and keep employees engaged. These are just a few tips, but there are certainly many more.

 

Step 3: Create Specific Goals Related to HR and Annual Goals

Using the information gleaned from the second step, create goals for HR that contribute to your overall annual goals. Make sure to create steps for specific action items. For instance, when it comes to cost reduction goals, HR will try to increase retention. What steps will HR take to do that? The first may be to create an employee survey and distribute it. If decreasing call-offs is an annual goal, then one step for human resources could be offering flu shots for free at work.

These steps aren’t quick fixes. They require time and effort from multiple members of the leadership team. There are also not a lot of specifics listed, because it’s so important that you tailor this whole process to your company, workforce, and HR. But achieving your goals and having a successful year depend on having a team and a company that’s fully in alignment.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Cascading strategic priorities down to individual and team goals can be complicated and tedious, but it is a critical component to year-over-year success. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/02
February 7, 2019
HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

Whether you have a communications point person or need to work with other departments yourself, open and clear communication is a necessity. Having a person skilled in communication on your tech team is vitally important.

It’s certainly possible to have a tech expert who is also a great communicator, but many of them would rather stick to code and hardware than explain something to a sales rep. This becomes particularly important when dealing with large projects or process changes.

Communication is obviously a critical component of DevOps and Agile projects, but its importance in everyday tasks is often overlooked.

Leading communications across tech teams can, and often should be, a dedicated role. There are benefits to having someone who is solely focused on facilitating collaboration among colleagues. Even when your tech team is successfully completing objectives, they can only reach their full potential if are able to communicate effectively.

So, how can your department improve its performance and contribution to corporate goals? Hire a tech communication specialist. Here are some reasons why:

 

1. Communicating with tech departments can be painful for everyone.

It can be frustrating for your tech team to try to explain why they aren’t able to fulfill a request to someone who doesn’t understand their technical terms and restrictions. On the flip side, it’s frustrating for other departments to be told something can’t be done and not understand why. Other departments often feel that tech team employees are talking down to them, whether it’s true or not.  If you have someone who is part of the tech team but focused on communication, they can be that bridge between the tech team and the rest of your company.

 

2. Everyone wants someone who is “on their side.”

This builds right off the last one. As much as we dislike it, an “us versus them” mentality often arises with IT. An ideal tech communication specialist will be part of the IT team and be seen as part of every other team as well. They will know the best ways to communicate between IT and Manufacturing by breaking down what tech problems or enhancements will mean for their processes and machines. They can explain to IT the value of the requests from Sales for their order entry system. This person won’t specialize in IT, Sales, or Production; they will specialize in communicating with all of them. They will build trust with each department because people will understand that they want to help. This helps optimize the company's organizational effectiveness. 

 

3. They are great for planning and strategy for cross-departmental projects.

Since the tech communication specialist doesn’t have to get down in the weeds with the technical side, they can step back and look at the whole picture. They can connect the dots and plan for the life of the project beyond creation and implementation. They will fill in the pieces and help make the plans by working easily with other departments and orchestrating a team environment.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Technology and Org Effectiveness experts help clients resolve departmental disconnects that hamper company performance. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for your organization.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2019/02
February 6, 2019
3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

With each annual plan comes a new set of yearly goals. Announcing this to the organization should involve management from all functional areas. However, Human Resources is often left out. This does a disservice to your company.

 

Why Is Human Resources Important to Rolling out Yearly Goals?

Nobody knows your employees like HR. They have a comprehensive understanding of what attracts talent to your company, what keeps them there, and what motivates them. No matter how great your executive and management team is, you won’t be able to reach any goals without the rest of your employees.

There are three high-level processes to goal rollouts, in order:

  1. Communicating the Goals

  2. Monitoring the Goals

  3. Lessons Learned from the Goals

To be truly successful, you need to maintain focus on these established goals throughout the whole year - and not just HR goals. This means monitoring, adjusting and learning from all processes. One of the best ways to stay on top of this is assigning someone to lead the rollout. This can be the Chief HR Officer, a project manager or others, but it should not be the CEO. It needs to be someone with the time, skills and energy to get into the weeds when necessary.

 

Communicating Goals

The initial steps of communicating the goals should be done in several stages:

  • Executive Level Communication Meeting: Announcing to top-level execs the schedule for communicating the goals with the company.
  • Management Communication Meeting: Announcing and explaining the goals to managers and supervisors. Communicating their role in the coming year and the impact of success.
  • Company Wide Announcement: Either a meeting or digital communication that reaches all employees, explaining the goals, their effect on employees and the impact of success.
  • Necessary Training: Some goals require changes in processes. If so, training for affected workers should follow shortly after the all employee communication.

Having a point person like an HR rep in charge will make these steps much smoother, keeping everyone engaged and informed. Once goals are announced, the point person will take steps to monitor the progress.

 

Monitoring Goals

One of the first things that should be done is assigning responsibility. Each goal should have a champion, someone whose job contributes to that goal. You may want to have managers champion and assign tasks to employees, or you may want to have employees themselves champion the goals. Both approaches can be valuable, and adhere to your company culture.

You can’t overlook the valuable work of assigning responsibility and tasks to individual people for your important goals. If responsibility is too broad or too general, like “the sales team,” then everyone can assume someone else is completing necessary tasks.

Once roles are assigned and communicated, schedule regular meetings with those involved. The frequency and who attends can vary based on the goals, but don’t wait until mid-year, or worse, the end of the year, to talk about goals.

Goal champions should be meeting with workers that focus on the goals more often, perhaps every other week. Management must be kept in the loop, but not at every meeting. Cross-departmental meetings that communicate goal status to all teams should meet once a quarter. They can be made more frequent if the need arises.

The point person for tracking your goals should be checking periodically to make sure all these meetings and items are continuing to move forward.

 

Lessons Learned

This is an important, but often overlooked, part of goal completion. Teams will get together and celebrate achieved goals or bemoan those that are unsuccessful. But they forget to glean lessons from both failure and success.

Everyone that had an impact on the goals, whether positive or negative, should be consulted for identifying lessons learned. Make sure to discuss it with executives, managers and frontline employees.

Where did you have the most success? What do you think impacted that success? Who impacted that success? Delve into the weeds to figure out what you can use for future goals to have the same measure of success.

Where did you not achieve your goals, or struggle to? What was different between these and the successful ones? Discuss with each other what could have been done differently. Was it a lack of resources, do you need to hire more, buy more hardware, etc.? Ask everyone involved how they think it could have been done better.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Cascading strategic priorities down to individual and team goals can be complicated and tedious, but it is a critical component to year-over-year success. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 29, 2019
Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

As we mentioned in last week's post several tech departments can expect budget increases in 2019. This means companies can attract the best talent to their teams with more competitive salaries. However, overlooking diversity in hiring could mean missing out on top-quality talent.

Why does diversity in tech matter? A study conducted by the National Center for Women & Information Technology found that companies that included women on their executive board consistently outperformed companies who had only males. The gender-diverse teams had superior results on debt/equity ratios, price/equity ratios and average growth. One of the reasons suspected is that a diverse knowledge base will render more diverse ideas. New and better ideas are easier to formulate with a variety of people with different experiences, backgrounds, and thought patterns.

How do you attract a diverse array of candidates of the industry's leading experts to your company? What are some of the ways to hire with diversity in mind?

To Find Expert Talent, Reevaluate Your Recruitment Processes

If you keep attracting and hiring the same kinds of people, perhaps you should try something new to find success in attracting different candidates. Initial recruiting tactics are often based on resumes, and looking at shallow points such as the university attended or previous places of employment. However much prestige these schools or companies hold, they're not always the best indicator of a person's skills and competencies.

While using these parameters can achieve “weeding out” unqualified applicants, you could potentially be overlooking an ideal candidate. The educational institution a professional graduated from does not define their level of skills. Be it lesser-known schools, trade schools, or coding certifications — all can produce equally talented individuals. Have your talent acquisition branch out their efforts to look at a variety of educational history. As tempting as it is to hire talent with some flashy business names on their resume, this doesn't automatically mean they are the best worker. You could be passing up a candidate with amazing tech skills, heart, and passion from a smaller company for the least skilled person at a major brand.

Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone to find the best talent. Don't just scan resumes for keywords and places.

 

Diversity in Tech Departments Attracts Expert Talent

A diverse workforce will attract more diverse workers. If you want to attract diversity, you need to be a company that is attractive to diverse candidates. Most people want to work in an environment with a variety of people and ideas. In fact, companies with an inclusive workforce have a 22% lower turnover rate according to Gallup. Diversity can help you attract and keep skilled workers.

Potential employees notice if you're trying to check a box or meet a quota. Most companies have a reputation among their employees and potential employees. This usually includes a stereotypical “kind” of person that works there and the environment they work in. If you're firm is known as a “good old boys club,” you're not going to have a lot of women that apply for jobs. Furthermore, employment sites like Glassdoor provide applicants with valuable insights into your company's culture, and unhappy employees are much more likely to leave a comment about their experience. You need to showcase community and inclusion. You need to welcome diversity and mean it. This may involve taking a good, hard look at your team, department, or entire company culture and taking active steps to develop and improve your image.

 

Examine Your Job Postings to Get Expert Talent

It may not seem obvious to you, but posted job descriptions can often be alienating to a diverse audience. One ways a post can be discouraging is when it's gender specific. You may be surprised to find how often that still happens. Many companies are just rehashing the same job descriptions the company has used for years. Those descriptions will often use terms like “guys,” “men,” “fellows,” etc. Gendered language can make an applicant feel unwelcome before they even submit their resume.

Another thing to look out for is ageist language. Phrases like “young and hungry,” give talent who does not consider themselves young a reason to move past your post. What you're really looking for is ambition and enthusiasm. A candidate does not have to be young to have those traits.

Think of the job post as something that should persuade a candidate to apply, not something that should scare them away. An open and inclusive posting will get more attention than a specific list of requirements. A majority of the details may be must-haves, but keep in mind many skills can be learned as long as you have the right person for the job. Mention new challenges, professional development opportunities, and trainings a candidate can take on to further develop career and future with your company.

You can even go as far as seeking talent experts from a diverse and underrepresented community. Don't just leave it to the legal lines at the end of the post. Be upfront about how your company welcomes the opportunity to employ people of various race, culture, and identities. Talk about how you pride yourself on your diversity and your ability to connect with all potential customers.

These are just a few steps you can take towards a more diverse technology workforce.

Talent Solutions

As technology disruption grows and talent shortages increase, organizations must optimize talent strategies. Get in touch! Fill out the form below to reach our talent experts.

phil-kossler
2019/01
January 14, 2019
Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

While human resources may not be the first department you think of when determining your monthly or annual business goals and objectives, the department needs a chair at the planning table. This is becoming more commonly understood in business today. In fact, a 2018 survey CareerBuilder reports that 65% of CEOs believe the opinions of HR leaders matter more to senior management than ever before. Is your company keeping up with this trend?

If not, you should be. Your HR leaders understand company culture and the day-to-day process of building a workforce that will optimize your human capital. Overlooking the importance of human resources while creating business goals can be detrimental to their success. Here are a few reasons why.

 

1. Strategic HR planning fills skill Gaps

Finding qualified talent to fill skilled roles within your company is one of the biggest issues facing organizations today. The right people are out there, but finding and acquiring that ideal candidate can be difficult. That’s where HR comes in. This is part of their job on a regular basis. They know which skills your company lacks or needs, what talents you need the most and what level of experience you have the most of. With that knowledge, HR can be a boon to both short and long-term strategic planning. You can plan ahead together regarding how to fill skill shortages or amp up talent needed before it becomes a crisis. You can work talent development, tempting benefit plans, and appealing cultural changes into your workforce in plenty of time for that mid-year hiring rush.

 

2. The role of human resources in employee engagement

The perception of employee engagement has adapted over the years, but HR leaders have always had their fingers on this pulse. They know which people and which departments are most engaged. They can predict where there will be the most employee turnover—a costly expense that no company wants to worry about. Including HR in your business planning can keep this concern on the table for all relevant goals and create the appropriate contingency plans. HR leaders also know what kind of programs keep employees happy, like career pathing, training, succession planning and mentorship. They know what works to retain productive and engaged employees. When these programs are planned out ahead of time and included in overall goal planning, it contributes to a smoother year with fewer surprises. This in turn makes it easier to attract new talent as everyone is looking for a collaborative and beneficial workplace culture.

 

3. HR can pave the way for growth

If you plan to increase your sales or production over the next year, or several years, you might need to hire more employees. If HR is included from the start with a preview of the direction the company is heading, they can plan ahead for growth. According to Forbes, a Data Engineer job can take on average 154.5 days to fill, while a Sales Engineer can take an average 119.7 days. Does your company have almost half a year to leave these positions unfilled? Incorporating HR in early planning can help shorten that hiring time. They can begin the work before the need is there and have the job filled right as it is needed.

Lost time and revenue from job vacancies is one of the most frustrating efficiency and cost holes. In addition to filling the role quickly, an HR rep can help ensure that all the right tools and tech needed for the jobs are ready and waiting for the right candidate. HR leaders can also help fill open positions in-house, with proper time and planning they can help groom employees to be promoted into positions where they are happier and more valuable.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Adopting this comprehensive approach to planning has its challenges, but it is a critical component to reliably achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help your leadership team develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 14, 2019
3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

2019 is off and running. Every new year presents an opportunity for the next big innovation or breakthrough. Nowhere is this truer than in the tech industry. Here are a few trends we’ll be watching closely to help our clients leverage technology to be more productive and better serve our customers.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning aren’t necessarily a new trend, but one that’s always evolving and exciting to keep an eye on. More and more platforms are capable of doing the “thinking” aspect of work. In 2019, AI will become more transparent, so to speak. One of the main concerns about utilizing AI is the lack of trust and the fear of liabilities from something you can’t see or understand. With the workings of AI becoming more transparent, that trust will grow.

This will be a focal point for 2019. For example, IBM has announced improved traceability for decisions made by its AI technology. This helps companies keep on top of AI-made decisions that may be biased or discriminatory, allowing those to be eliminated and the technology improved. Amazon recently learned this lesson when they discovered their AI hiring tool was discriminating against women. With more transparent AI, issues like these will continue to be resolved before they happen.

 

2. Internet of Things Market Boom

There are already an estimated 3.6 billion devices connected to the Internet and used for daily tasks, according to IT Pro. That number is expected to grow, helping pave the way for a need for 5G connectivity.

The effect of these devices on the manufacturing and healthcare industries will be even more impressive. With devices that are part of the IoT, manufacturers will be able to manage inventory, prevent delays and improve production easier than ever before. The IoT will also completely change the approach to healthcare. Smart home care will become part of the norm offering an increased dedication and convenience to patient care.

There will also be an increase in “smart” areas in popular cities. We’ve already seen the advent of smart homes and smart cars, but in 2019, cities will begin to follow suit. Areas are already being built that can record walking routes, building occupancy and temperature preferences. Data like these is sure to help businesses of every stripe better serve their customers, so keep an eye out!

 

3. The Changing Opinion of the IT Department

Previously seen as a cost section of the company, businesses are now beginning to see IT departments as worthy contributors to their revenue growth. Not to editorialize, but it’s about time. According to the 2018 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, nearly 50% of respondents expect to increase their IT budget in 2019. You read that correctly — 50%!

With a dramatically increased budget, CIOs will look to expand their IT staff. One of the IT hiring trends to look for 2019 will be a larger focus on specialized talent. Companies are going to be looking for experts in specific areas of tech, such as AI development, ML engineers, etc. With additional resources, companies will be able to afford to look for these areas of specialization.

However, an increased interest in specialized talent will mean that finding the right job candidate will require even more work. With more tech departments competing for the perfect hire, companies are going to have to step up their game. Creating appealing benefit packages and competitive salaries as well as ensuring an unbeatable company culture will be more important than ever if you’re looking to attract new talent.

Along with hiring more specialized talent, 2019 will also highlight the importance of diversity in your tech department. Diversity made the news all throughout 2018. Many companies will continue to prioritize diversity throughout the coming year. Additionally, there have also been reports, such as this one from McKinsey, proving the business benefits of diversity, such as increased innovation.

If you’d like more information on  Technology Solutions  connect with Aspirant!

phil-kossler
2019/01
January 8, 2019
Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

If you’ve been following our blog (and you should be) you’ve learned about creating a culture of accountability. You’ve also learned about working with Aspirant and other top management consulting firms to help you achieve organizational effectiveness. Good for you! You’re on the right track to an accountable, productive and happy organization.

The next step is to maintain and sustain all your hard work, and there are many different tips and tricks to keep that culture going. The most important one is to showcase your own personal accountability.

Tip 1: Recognize accountability is bigger than just business as usual.

Accountability is a fundamental element in all societies as well as to the organizations that inhabit society (Hall et al., 2003). It is not necessarily something that is specific to the business world. And while it’s true that corporate and departmental accountability are important, all of that hinges on personal accountability. Some call it “felt accountability”.

Tip 2: Blame is the kryptonite of accountability; avoid it at all costs.

A leader that looks for others to blame cannot expect members of his or her team to be pillars of accountability. You must be the prime example of what you want in your employees. There are many negative effects of a leader or CEO not being visibly accountable to their team. Here are some  examples.

The organization's ability to scale efficiently will be limited when a CEO can’t be counted on to do his or her part. The effort that the people who report to the CEO put in will diminish as they continue to see the CEO as not being accountable. The leadership team as a whole will become dysfunctional, which will heighten employee and customer frustrations.

Tip 3: Accountability is a perception; work within that context.

Felt accountability, which is often called simply “accountability,” refers to an individual’s personal perceptions of his or her own accountability (Frink & Klimoski, 1998). Accountability has been defined as a “perceived expectation that one’s decisions or actions will be evaluated by a salient audience and that rewards or sanctions are believed to be contingent on this expected evaluation” (Hall & Ferris, 2011, p. 134).

Tip 4: Model appropriate behavior and take responsibility.

A good leader should consider these with all of their workplace actions and behaviors. They should also understand that others are looking to them to model appropriate behavior. So conduct yourself respectfully, and be accountable as a leader, thus earn the respect of your employees. People try to imitate the behavior of those they respect, bringing about a cycle and culture of accountability.

One thing you need to be sure to hold yourself accountable for is holding your team accountable. As a manager or a leader, part of your responsibility is making sure the members of your team are doing their part. That can sometimes lead to difficult conversations and decisions, but it is imperative for a culture of accountability.

Remember, your people are watching you. If they see you let “John” get away with putting in minimal effort at a project, they’ll recognize that he is not being held accountable. In turn, this means you do not hold yourself accountable for managing your team. Thus, you’ve lost the trust and respect of your team members. Accountability becomes less important.

Tip 5: Give yourself and your team time.

This won’t be an overnight transition, but if you continue to fall short of accountability expectations, so will your team. One by one, project by project, employees will put in less effort. You must inspire them to work better.

Tip 6: Create an accountability system.

To help with this, you need to implement an organizational tracking system to keep track of both the success and lack of success of your team. Celebrate the successes and learn from the failures. Hold people accountable through rewards for good accountability, and reviewing errors in accountability. A job scorecard is a good way to do this, but there are many other options and lots of technologies that can help you.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about sustaining a culture of accountability in your workplace, as well as being a model of personal accountability, check out our eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 4, 2019
Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

Managers who don’t know the ins and outs of JavaScript but oversee a workforce that does should become familiar with certain phrases and terms related to it. This will not only aid in communication with employees, but will also assist in helping your customers or clients with questions. JavaScript concepts may seem overwhelming, but with a little research you should be able to at least follow a conversation and understand what’s going on.

Closures

This is a simple and seemingly obvious JavaScript term. A closure refers to a function retaining its access to the scope in which it was created. Closures allow for memoization, data hiding and dynamic function generation. It’s an inner function with access to the outer enclosing functions variables. It has access to its own scope, outer function’s variables and the global variables.

 

Scope

It’s important to understand the differences between local scope, global scope and block scope. Variables are considered local scope if they are inside a function. Those outside the function are global. Variables in local scope can have a different scope for each call of that function. Variables of the same name can be used for multiple functions.

A global scope can be altered and accessed in any other scope, as there is only one global scope in a JavaScript document. Block statements do not create new scopes, any variable defined inside a block statement will remain in their original scope.

 

Value vs. Reference

Objects, arrays, and functions are copied and passed into functions. The reference is what’s being copied. Primitives are copied and passed by copying the value. There are five data types in JavaScript which are copied by value, that’s Boolean, null, String, undefined, and Number. These are considered primitive types.

There are three types of data which are copied by having their reference copied, that’s Array, Object, and Function. These are technically Objects.

 

Higher Order Functions

Functions are first-class objects in JavaScript. Higher Order functions are functions that can take another function as an argument, or that returns a function as a result. This is one of the things about JavaScript which make it so suitable for functional programming.

Objects can be assigned as the value of a variable, and can be passed and returned such as any other reference variable. This is basically a JavaScript superpower and leads to a very natural approach to functional programming.

 

Prototypes and Inheritance

Inheritance in JavaScript works through the Prototype chain. It can be set up through functions and objects. The JavaScript term inheritance refers to an object’s ability to access methods and properties from another object.

 

Hoisting

Variable and function declarations are what’s called hoisted (lifted and declared) to the top of their available scope, if defined in a function, at the top of the global context or outside a function.

Function expressions are not hoisted, only variable declarations, so not variable initialization or assignments. As it takes precedence, function declaration will override a variable declaration when hoisted.

 

‘Apply,’ ‘Call,’ ‘Bind’

These methods are different only slightly, and it can be hard to remember which function does what. ‘Call’ invokes the function while allowing you to pass in arguments one at a time. ‘Apply’ also invokes the function but allows you to pass in arguments as an array. And finally, ‘bind’ returns a new function, allowing you to pass in a ‘this’ array and any number of arguments.

Now, after that you are not going to be a  JavaScript expert, but you should have an easier time trying to follow along in a conversation with people who are. There’s way more to JavaScript than you can imagine, to learn more, connect with us here at Aspirant!

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phil-kossler
2019/01
January 2, 2019
JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the qualities and skills needed to manage a remote workforce. Now, let’s take a closer look at the qualities of a good remote employee. Employees who work from home require a specific skill set and need to possess a particular work ethic and attitude. You have to be able to trust them to deliver the desired results without the day-to-day oversight that an office worker receives.

The first step is to ensure your candidate has all the skills and abilities your specific position requires. However, this is only part of what you should look for when managing teams remotely. Here are some of the other qualities and characteristics you should look for in the next person you hire.

 

Qualities to Look for in Successful Remote Workers:

Self-Discipline and Great Organizational Habits

A remote worker needs to be a self-starter and keep moving forward without someone looking over their shoulder. They need to be judicious with their time and energy, and that can be difficult when working from home. That’s why strong self-discipline is so important. Even though they are working from the comfort of their own home, there needs to be clear distinction between working hours and time off the clock.

Along with good self-discipline, excellent time tracking, and organizational abilities are a must. Remote working often means the employee’s schedule for the day is almost entirely up to them. In order to make sure they get the most from it, they need to keep to a regular rhythm, document all deadlines, and keep detailed task lists and a constantly updated calendar. When the need to collaborate with others comes about, they must be able to rely on an accurate calendar.

 

An Adaptable and Flexible Nature

As mentioned above, it’s important to have an accurate and updated schedule, especially when working remotely. However, it’s also important to be open to changes, based on the needs of the job. There will be impromptu conference calls, new high-priority tasks, and both slow and busy work times. A good remote worker knows how to prioritize and take advantage of slower times to stay on task.

A remote workforce gains the flexibility to adapt their work schedule to their personal life, but with that comes a responsibility to be available and flexible to work outside of the typical schedule. A remote worker must be a master at moving around the chessboard of life.

 

Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills

When an employee works from home, the majority of their communication is going to be in the form of email or other text platforms. That’s why the right remote worker should excel in all forms of communication. The opportunities to check in or clarify aren’t as prevalent as they are with in-office employees, so it’s crucial your remote workers know how to get their point across.

This is a non-negotiable and critical skill. A remote worker must be able to comprehend and communicate with everyone on the team. They need to be clear and concise without leaving room for miscommunications is vital.

 

Independent and Successful Troubleshooting Skills

Remote employees should have a knack for independent troubleshooting. There will be daily hurdles to overcome and no one around to help with them. Of course, all remote workforces should have a community where they can interact with coworkers, but it should not be relied upon for everyday issues. Critical thinking skills should be expected.

Personal issues can derail your work day as easily as an increased workload. A good remote employee keeps from getting distracted as much as possible. When troubles arise they need to be able to research solutions and document them on their own. If the same problem arises again, documentation will be handy and should be shared with anyone on the team for whom it’d be relevant.

 

Self-Confidence and Reliable Judgement

A remote worker cannot be someone who is constantly second-guessing themselves. They need the ability to make thought-out and informed decisions about their work without having to run things by a committee. They also need to be able to do this in a reasonable time period.

It’s imperative that their self-confidence is not misplaced as well. The decisions that they make need to be good ones. You should be able to rely on their abilities to do the right thing and get the job done. Everyone can make mistakes at some point but overall, a remote workforce needs to be able to achieve on their own.

 

These are just a few of the great traits you’re looking for when hiring remote employees. For more on where things are headed, check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/12
December 31, 2018
Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

JavaScript is one of the best languages for creating web applications. There are many great options for JavaScript libraries and it’s hard to know what to choose. Which JavaScript Library is best? They all have similar attributes and a few areas in which they excel. We’ll talk about a few of the more popular ones and their various features.

Before we launch into the various libraries, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. When comparing JavaScript libraries, you need to ask yourself some questions.

  • Is it flexible enough to meet your changing needs?
  • Is it secure?
  • Is it consistently updated?
  • Does it have a supportive community to help?
  • Does it offer examples or easy-to-use documentation?


With those questions in mind, let’s examine three of the most popular JavaScript libraries and/or frameworks for 2018.

 

React

React is a JavaScript library that is open sourced. It is excellent for creating large web applications with consistently changing data. React is easy to learn thanks to its simplicity in terms of syntax. All you need is HTML writing skills and you can do this.

React has a virtual DOM which displays information quickly and allows for arranging documents in HTML, XHTML, or XML formats into a tree form that is better recognized by web browsers while also parsing different elements of the web app. One of the highlights of React is that it’s declarative; you can tell it what to do without having to tell it how to do it.

There’s also a high level of flexibility and a maximum of responsiveness. It also has downward data binding so that the child elements can’t affect the parent data. It’s very lightweight as the data performing on the user side is easily represented on the server side concurrently.

The 100% open source JavaScript library gets daily updates and enhancements from developers across the globe. Updating to different versions is usually easy with the “codemods” provided by Facebook to automate much of that process.

There are some aspects of React that need improvement. There’s a significant lack of official documentation. The rapid development lends itself toward documentation that is not kept updated and is chaotic. Developers contribute at random without a common process or method. React’s policy of being non-opinionated can lead to developers having too much choice. All of this contributes to React being hard to master, with a need for extensive knowledge and research on how to integrate user interface into MVC framework.

 

Vue

Vue is great for creating sophisticated, single-page applications and highly flexible user interfaces. Vue is empowered by HTML, it has similar characteristics with Angular which can optimize HTML blocks handling with a usage of different components.

Vue is highly adaptable with a quick switching period to other frameworks because of its similarity in design and architecture. It also has great documentation. It’s very detailed and circumstantial which helps quicken the learning curve for developers. You can develop and app with only basic HTML and JavaScript knowledge.

It can be very integrative, working well for both single-page applications as well as complicated web interfaces. There are small interactive parts which can be simply integrated into a current infrastructure without negative effects on the system.

Vue is a lightweight. 20KB can maintain its speed and flexibility, allowing better performance than expected with the ability to create large reusable templates with no extra time.

One area where Vue falls short is its lack of resources. It’s relatively small in the industry, so the knowledge base is slim. Along those same lines, its small status can be a problem when integrating into larger projects as there is so little experience and solutions out there to explore if things go wrong. But that will be fixed in time. It also has a limited amount of its documentation translated into English. This can lead to complications for various stages of development, but this is also something that’s being worked on.

 

Angular

This is the superhero of JavaScript framework. It builds great, highly interactive web applications. It has two-way data binding that enables singular behavior, minimizing the risks of errors.

It has great new features with compilation under three seconds. It’s kept consistently up to date and offers detailed documentation. You can find any information you need without having to reach out to others just from using their documentation. However, you will need to set aside some to read over the education materials provided by this documentation, which can be challenging for time crunched companies.

The MVVM (Model-View-View-Model) enables developers to work with the same set of data on the same application separately. It also offers dependency injection of the features related to the components with modules and modularity in general.

Angular is an overall great choice. But, it does have a couple downsides. Even the updated version of Angular has the complex syntax that’s existed since version one. It has improved with updates but is still difficult. There have also been noted migration issues when moving from one version to a newer one.

Hopefully, these notes on different JavaScript options help spark some thought and discussion on your part! For more information on choosing the right JavaScript library, or any other tech concerns, connect with us at Aspirant.

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phil-kossler
2018/12
December 18, 2018
3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

As with any language, JavaScript has several different aspects that can be difficult to learn. However, it is one of the core modern web application languages and most tech departments require a working knowledge. While it may seem like a simple language, it can be much more powerful and complex than you would first believe. It has many subtleties that can lead to problems for new developers. Here are some of the more common mistakes you might run into.

1. Using Block-Level Scope

While many other languages create a new scope for every code block, JavaScript does not. The variable in Java remains in scope even once the loop has completed and it retains its final value upon exiting. In other languages, it’s destroyed after the loop.

This is an often-missed quirk, particularly among new JavaScript developers. This is something to look into if you’re finding bugs in your code.

 

2. The “+” Symbol Means Addition and Concatenation

Not all languages work this way, but it does in the JavaScript library. This means you have to be careful about how you use the plus sign when you are writing statements. JavaScript developers use both strings and numbers to account for user input. This changes the output when you ignore that the user input can also be evaluated as a string. Convert the string value to an integer to avoid this issue.

 

3. Creating Leaks in Memory

Unfortunately in JavaScript, memory leaks can become an almost inevitable problem unless you make a point to code in an avoidance of them. Memory leaks are the result of object references that are unnecessarily sustained when they are no longer needed. This causes your machine to consume resources that aren’t needed. 

Two common things that can cause memory leaks when using the JavaScript library:

  • Dangling references to defunct objects
  • Circular references

Here is a good reference for identifying and fixing JavaScript leaks.

 

4. Inefficient DOM Manipulation

With JavaScript, it is not hard to manipulate the DOM, but there’s nothing that encourages you to do it efficiently. One example is the ability to add a series of DOM Elements one at a time. It’s an ineffective process likely to cause issues. However, you are able to add multiple DOM elements consecutively. Adding document fragments instead is an effective alternative which improves performance and productivity.

 

5. Equality Confusion

While it is one of the convenient aspects of JavaScript to coerce any value referenced in a boolean contest to a boolean value, it can also be confusing. Using [= = =] and [! = =] instead of [= =] and [! =] is best unless you are purposely going for type coercion.

 

6. Failing to Use “Strict Mode”

This is a way to enforce stricter error handling and parsing on your JavaScript code at runtime, and it makes it more secure. Though it might not be considered a mistake to not use it, it’s certainly considered best practices to use strict mode.

Some of the benefits include:

  • Easier debugging
  • Eliminates [this] coercion
  • Prohibits duplicate property names and parameter values
  • Prevents accidental globals
  • Shows errors on invalid usage of [delete]
  • Makes eval() safer

There are many things to know about JavaScript, the more you learn and understand the better your code will be. Soon you’ll be able to harness the full power of the language. For more information, reach out to Aspirant below.

phil-kossler
2018/12
December 11, 2018
6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

What’s the best JavaScript library and framework for your company? There are a lot of options and it’s important to consider which one would work best for your organization.

Why is a Good JavaScript Library Important?

One of the first things to consider is if your customers or users even care what library you’re using. In case you’re wondering, that answer is probably no. The only people who might be interested in that are other tech people.

What people do care about is whether the application works and solves their problem quickly and easily. Don’t be too quick to pick something you know you like. You’re making this for your customer. If the library you’ve chosen can build a successful application and meets these customer-focused goals, you’ve picked the right one as far as the users are concerned.

 

Are JavaScript Libraries High-Maintenance?

While it’s easy to get caught up in building new applications, you have to consider continual maintenance. Whether you or your customer will be the one performing it, everyone wants something that’s simple and easy to maintain.

Included in this thought process is the ability hire. You want a Javascript framework wherein new hires can come in and hit the ground running with. This can mean it’s popular and well known, or that it’s easy to learn.

How do your people like to code? Do they like to use a compiler, lending towards a TypeScript? Do they write unit tests, end-to-end tests, etc? Make sure you get a library that will support what you do. Does the library have an easy deployment process? How about organization for code? Is information regarding this framework readily available and widely accepted? These are just a few of the maintenance items you’ll need to consider.

 

Will Your JavaScript Library Stand the Test of Time?

Technology is constantly changing, updating and getting better. Your JavaScript library should be too. However, you might not want to jump on something that is brand new. You want stability with at least a short history of performance to look at.

Look at the source code repository. When was the last time it was updated? Do they release updates in versions that make sense and meld with the way your team functions? Does it have a good open source community? How many contributors does the library have? Also, is it supported by a dedicated full-time team or an open-source community? Neither support system is bad, but they are different and something you should consider.

How is the library support for unresolved issues? Take some time to look into how often issues are resolved and how quickly. Take that information with a grain of salt though. Many people will post something as an “issue” that is really just a suggestion or question. However with a little research you should get a pretty good idea of the health of the framework.

 

What Libraries are Others Using?

Check with your colleagues and associates around the industry, what JavaScript libraries are they using? Even trusted technical people from other industries are good to consult with. Ask for advice and for specific questions about their library. You shouldn’t let someone make the decision for you, but it can be helpful to get their input.

Look online for reviews or browse blogs, top ten lists and other places that provide good information. Consider everything from the point of view of your organization. At the end of the day you want to pick something that’s right for your company, not someone else’s.

Explore more help with JavaScript questions and other technology solutions at Aspirant.

phil-kossler
2018/12
December 4, 2018
JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

If you’ve been following our blog, you’ve already read how DevOps can help you achieve quarterly goals. But simply having a DevOps process isn’t enough. Winning your quarterly goals requires planning, research, and execution. Planning isn’t always easy, but a little forethought can easily prevent these common tech mistakes:

1. Out-of-Date Software and Hardware

Minimizing downtime is always a key imperative. Out-of-date software and hardware make that much harder. The older it is, the more difficult and expensive it is to find people who can work on it. And, at some point, it will need to be replaced. So, it often makes sense to be proactive about those improvements / replacements so your team and your customers can begin enjoying the benefits of reliable, modern technology as soon as possible.

Incorporating regular updates into your quarterly planning cycle helps make sure they are not overlooked or deprioritized.

 

2. Not Keeping Backups and Not Checking Your Process

Your company is reliant on the data generated and collected by your tech infrastructure. Failing to have a tested, proven backup process in place when disaster strikes can be a death sentence for any company. Investing in the appropriate off-the-shelf solutions and/or service providers can safeguard against that extinction level event. 

Even if your data is backed up, are you confident in your ability to get everything back online? How quickly could you get that done? What would the impact be of that lost time? Having processes in place to support data backup is just as important as the backed up data itself.

 

3. Not Planning for User Training

This mistake is painfully common. Plans to revolutionize your operation with new software are approved and the corresponding impact is baked into the strategic plan. You schedule all the needed time for development, testing, and edits. But end user training is completely overlooked.

No matter how intuitive that transition may seem to be, training will always be needed. Gaining end user adoption will be exponentially more difficult if users aren't confident in how it relates to their specific roles. The investment in the new tech will have been wasted and the growth it was expected to generate will have to be found elsewhere.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our unique Integrated Expertise ensures the quality of the applications we develop as well as their successful implementation into our clients' ways of working. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help your company utilize technology to get ahead and stay ahead.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 27, 2018
Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

What is your strategy for unplanned work that comes up in a project or in general? Do you have one? Let’s face it, at every organization and in every industry, unanticipated projects will happen. So, how can DevOps help you with it?

The driving force behind DevOps is being able to develop, test and roll out the software at a higher frequency and with more reliable results. That goal alone will help you deal with unplanned work, but how else can it help?

The heart of DevOps is a change in culture and philosophy. It bridges a gap between development and operations that puts them on the same team. End users and programmers are now working together, building trust and integrating their departments. This kind of teamwork promotes quick resolution of critical issues, a higher rate of innovation, and the ability to rapidly respond to unplanned work and complications.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of a DevOps environment.

 

Culture of Collaboration

Many companies suffer from silos. Individual departments often do their own job well enough but do not cooperate with other teams in the company. This leads to subpar final products. Culture is the first success of DevOps. The collaborative atmosphere creates a shared responsibility for the accuracy and results of the final product. The process of creating becomes transparent and the ability to give and act on feedback rapidly adds trust and reliability.

DevOps helps you break free of siloes. Promoting team members to consider how their work affects not just themselves and their team but each team and affected user throughout the life of the project. It eliminates the mentality of blame and fear of responsibility. Everyone becomes responsible for a release that is beneficial as expected. Workers have a sincere aspiration to work together to create a solution.

 

Smarter and Faster Automation

Time is one of your most precious resources. DevOps has the ability to create faster releases with increased quality. With the culture of collaboration mentioned above you will create better automation and more uniform tools and procedures. Operations will trust the work of developers and will not hesitate to go to them with any kinks found in the process, allowing quick and painless resolution.

With the minimization of repetitive work operations and reliable outcomes workers are able to think about innovation and become inspired to suggest and work for even more improved procedures. Once you employ continuous delivery for your software rollouts it frees up even more time and provides more reliable outcomes.

 

Fast-tracked Issue Resolutions

With the quick feedback coming from your improved communications  and the benefits of automation your team will be able to respond to issues quickly and minimize any related downtime. As this is one of the main instigators of frustration between team members these smooth rollouts will do even more to help improve your team culture. They will come together to rapidly fix any issues and rollout out the resolutions as fast as possible.

Also, your automated processes and open communication will contribute to fewer issues overall. Plus, with your team accepting responsibility as a whole you will skip right over the time-consuming “whose fault is this” part of a problem and straight to finding a solution.

 

The Impact on Unplanned Work

Together, all of these things contribute to a decreased amount of and better management of unplanned work. You have consistent and reliable automated processes and a team not held back from a lack of communication and trust. Unplanned work can easily filter through the regular process without much impact.

 

Learn More About DevOps with Aspirant

These are just a few of the ways DevOps helps you deal with unplanned work. Follow the link to learn more about transitioning to DevOps with Aspirant.

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 20, 2018
What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

Once you’ve built some internal interest for DevOps, it’s time to start hitting executives with some hooks to support DevOps adoption. It’s not as hard to get CIOs, IT directors, and similar folks on board; they know the value and usually like to keep up-to-date on the best technology solutions and processes. But, what about your CFO, or your manufacturing director? Show the whole executive team how DevOps can help with development quarterly goals.

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance is a popular subject, everybody wants it. Everybody also hates to invest the time, people and money into it. This is often a company goal, decreasing incorrect products and services helps save the company money. It prevents wasting time and resources. Organizations are often forced to depend on inspection to achieve quality. This prevents imperfection from reaching the consumer, but does not save you the time and money needed to create it. Plus it adds the cost and time of the inspection. With DevOps you can eliminate the need for inspection by building efficiency and quality into the system that creates your product or service. Quality Assurance becomes an automatic part of the process, not something you add on to the end. You’ll decrease mistakes and free up labor and resources.

 

Reworking Software

Along the same lines as above, no matter how many times you test and check software, it seems like you miss something. Developers spend so much time and effort going back over, fixing mistakes and making changes in code. If you’re considering adopting DevOps, start tracking that time with your current process. Include your developers’ time as well as people from other departments who test. Get an idea of your timeframe and then an average pay rate. Calculate how much it costs the company to use the current process, and get an idea of how much time will be saved with a DevOps process. In DevOps, mistakes are found earlier and fixed long before it affects any end users. With issues found sooner, fixing them is also simpler and faster. You free up your developer capacity to create more innovation. This helps you save money and move faster.

 

Downtime

Decreasing downtime is often a goal for IT departments. Start keeping track of how much downtime you have for testing and rolling out new software. Estimate how much time you’ve lost to outages and disruptions involving technology in the past year. Equate that to a dollar amount. Make sure to include lost production time, lost wages of end users as well as developers and anything else that is affected. Any of this is adding unnecessary time and costs to the department. DevOps can improve stability and performance across the board. You’ll have higher quality software that is rolled out quickly and efficiently, with little to know downtime.

 

Increased Innovation

You want to be ahead of the curve with new technology. Your company wants to roll out improved software and new applications sooner rather than later. DevOps adoption helps you get there. Your process is quick, smooth, and inclusive. You can be more confident in the outcome knowing that all the people needed were involved. You’re out there before the competition, and you did it faster. If not, consider the alternative. The competition is using DevOps and they get out the latest and greatest before you, while you’re struggling to keep up.

These are just a few of the kind of development quarterly goals that DevOps adoptions can help with. Partner with the experts at Aspirant to help figure out how a DevOps adoption can help your company stay ahead. Reach out below!

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 13, 2018
How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

It’s the season for strategic workforce planning for HR professionals. The workforce is the heart of a business, and having the right strategy in place makes success much more achievable. Don’t leave the planning process to the last minute. The sooner you start planning and evaluating the future of your workforce, the better.

The Importance of Strategic Workforce Planning

This is an endeavor that should not be done alone. It’s tempting to handle it all yourself, but don’t make the mistake of excluding other departments from your organization. The more cohesive your team is in the planning process, the smoother the whole year at your company is going to go.

Here are a few steps that are often overlooked in strategic workforce planning:

 

1. Be actionable

When coordinating with other company leaders, make sure to give actionable information. Don’t tell them it’s time to think about strategic workforce planning or future hires; give specific information and tasks. Actionable information motivates people into, well, action. Be prepared with strategic business ideas and use them to inspire action. If you know the sales team is selling new products next year, estimate how many new team members may need to be hired, or how much training on the product will be needed for current employees. Calculate both the cost and time frame of filling those positions and completing training. Give the leader of the sales team those numbers.

You will see quicker and more precise action by telling them they will need 5 new salespeople hired within 3 months to have time to be trained for the release date of the new product. Otherwise, they will not be able to meet their sales goals. This will make much more of an impact then just asking them to provide you with their workforce planning.

 

2. Encourage a sense of urgency

To create urgency, you need more than just a deadline, you need a 'Why'. Explain to company leaders how their planning and decision making influences each other and why it’s so important to be strategic and timely. A facilities manager will benefit from knowing how many new hires to expect from each department. They may need to create new workspaces, build additional cubical or machine space, etc. If additions are needed, this could require an electrician or other specialists Likewise, your IT department will require at least an estimate of additional computers and software that will be needed so they can work it into their budget as well as have it ordered and ready for new hires when they arrive. Explaining the reasons behind deadlines and helping leaders realize the effects of their decisions on other departments can be very helpful.

 

3. Encourage relationships

Now that you have motivated your leaders into action and given them a sense of urgency, it’s time for you to help bridge the relationships between departments, leaders and yourself. Leverage your employee network. Engage someone from every department in the company for strategic workforce planning. Strategic planning can often feel like one more item on their to-do list that they have to handle, but a face behind the name could make the process much smoother. Overcoming this stigma can be critical for your company’s path to success. Foster conversation between everyone, remind them of the benefits of having a strategic workforce and how planning ahead of time can make it a much easier and more rewarding process. Emphasize their cohesion with each other by explaining how each department’s success and planning complements the other.

It is never a bad idea to build and strengthen relationships at work, for any reason. The more a team learns to work together, and the smoother that work becomes the better off everyone will be. If you manage to make the workforce planning painless and beneficial then it will continue to get better every year.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

The steps above have proven useful for clients in their adoption of more focused workforce planning. Could your leadership team use support to do the same? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/11
November 12, 2018
3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

Transitioning to a DevOps process allows your organization to transform its workflow for the better and can have a great impact on morale, your bottom line, and customer satisfaction. But it’s not something to be done lightly or without research. It’s a great idea to bring in help with your DevOps transition. You supply the experts on your company and reach out to experts for DevOps. An experienced hand can help you realize and implement all the benefits of DevOps. Here are a few things to consider when looking for a DevOps firm to partner with:

1. Vendor Communication

A DevOps process transition can’t be completed without good communication. While doing your due diligence in interviewing prospective partners, pay attention to how well they communicate with you, with each other and with any other vendors or employees with whom they have contact. Even if a company has all the right tools, methods and philosophies, your transition will fail without good communication.

Does the DevOps firm respond in a timely manner? Do they listen to your questions and concerns and respond clearly? If you’re having trouble understanding each other now, it’s likely not to get any better under stress and complications. When checking on references for the firm, make sure to ask about their communication style.

 

2. Tech Skills and Experience

You want to make sure any company you consider has the technical skills, tools and experience you will need for a smooth DevOps transition. Ask how many DevOps transitions they’ve completed. Talk to their employees, not just their sales person, about what their skills and strengths are. In addition to having experience with Agile and DevOps, they should have experience in your industry and the area of your company you plan to start with, such as accounting, sales etc.

One red flag is when a company appears to have one expert in relevant fields. If “John” is a company superstar and everyone else are just supporting players, what will happen to your transition if “John” were to find a new job? One of the benefits of outsourcing is getting the variety of skill and talent another company can offer. The qualifications you’re looking for should be a core competency of the company.

 

3. Firm Location

Maybe they don’t have to be local, but you need to consider the time zone of any firm you partner with for a DevOps transition. Your business may also be more comfortable with a local firm. If you have members who are hesitant about moving to a DevOps philosophy, it might help to have someone who can physically come to your location. If that’s not necessary and the company is in a different time zone, make sure you discuss meeting and work times before signing on with them. While your firm should ideally meet your schedule’s needs, things do come up. What’s more, asking your possibly already skeptical team to adjust their schedules for the transition will not help you with buy-in.

 

4. Firm Size

This can be very important. A partner that is too small won’t be able to properly cater to your company’s needs. You may be stuck waiting for responses or work to be done which can put your whole project on hold. But a firm that is too large may not see your organization as important enough in their overall customer base. You will not get top tier talent or attention if you’re too small for them. Your employees may encounter what feels like arrogance and neglect. Look for that “Goldilocks” firm — one that’s just right for your needs. Make sure to get an idea of their customer base and employee numbers. You want to find the perfect balance in size to match your needs.

 

Learn More About DevOps with Aspirant

These are just a few of the considerations you should make when choosing a DevOps firm. Learn more about how Aspirant can help you with transitioning to DevOps. Fill out the form below if you want to speak to our team of experts!

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 6, 2018
4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

Understanding DevOps

DevOps has become, like so many other industry terms and methods, quite ubiquitous in recent years. It’s thrown around so much that its true meaning is often misunderstood, or lost altogether. Defining the DevOps methodology is the first step in understanding how it works to better development efforts — from design to customer support.

What is DevOps?

As its name suggests, DevOps is the merging of the development and operations areas of your business. Bringing these two disparate departments under one umbrella. DevOps seeks to combat these two sides operating within their own vacuum. DevOps is recognizing that each of these sides does more harm than good when not in constant communication with the other. 

Again, DevOps it is not a catch-all term, but rather describes the symbiotic relationship between development and operations working through a project’s entire lifecycle. When we say the entire lifecycle, we mean the entire lifecycle. From product design, through its actual development, and even through to production and user support. Nailing down what DevOps looks like is unique to every company.

While the development aspect is self-explanatory, the operations portion can be a bit vague. The “Ops” in DevOps might refer to system admins, general operations staff, engineers, or whoever else isn’t involved strictly in the development side of things.

 

DevOps vs. Agile

We’ve talked a lot about the Agile Software Development Strategy on the blog before. If DevOps sounds similar, you’re not imagining things. In some ways, DevOps was born out of Agile. The latter requires constant communication and close collaboration between developers, product managers and customers to inform a better development process and overall product. These principals certainly carry over to the DevOps methodology, but add a greater importance on how the final service or product is delivered.

In other words, DevOps can be seen as an extension to the Agile system you’ve already put in place, yet extends further than the development and maintenance of a project. However, like Agile, DevOps can be difficult to put into words or explain to your company. At the end of the day, DevOps is going to look different everywhere it’s used. To better understand the DevOps methodology, we’ll explore what DevOps is not in a future blog post. Stay tuned! 

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in helping you understand the DevOps methodology. If your company is looking to adopt the DevOps way of software development, explore our our app development and integration capabilities or let us know how we can help below!

phil-kossler
2018/10
October 31, 2018
Understanding DevOps

Understanding DevOps

Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

As 2018 winds down, many HR professionals are researching and preparing for next year’s changes and influences. Society, technology, economy, employment trends and politics can all affect the way our workplace is handled. This is why having excellent HR professionals is so important. The most effective HR leaders and business partners constantly educate themselves on how changes in the world affect their company and employees. That's why consulting firms like Aspirant are finding ourselves in discussions on the trends most likely to impact HR.

Here are some of the topics we find we ourselves discussing most with clients:

 

1. Wellbeing at Work and Whole-Person Employment

Constantly improving technology and the advanced pace for change leads to a workforce that is always “on.” Employees are becoming more overloaded. That feeling of being overwhelmed is impacting emotional, social, and physical wellbeing in the workplace. HR professionals and corporations need to start addressing all aspects of employee health when assessing their culture & workplace practices. Their people need to not just cope, but thrive in their professional environments. The physical and mental wellbeing of employees is going to be on trend for 2019 for any company that wants to have a healthy, focused, and productive workforce.

 

2. Diversified Power

Employees will have increasing amounts of power across their organizations, challenging direction, and seeking to understand the 'why' behind what they do. More than ever before, HR professionals will need to learn to articulate the ‘why’ in what employees are doing. How do their roles and individual tasks fit into the organizational purpose? When someone understands and believes in what they are doing, they do a better job. This is the year of why, HR will need to help facilitate employees seeing the big picture and how their everyday work contributes to it. A great example of this is the story of the three bricklayers. When asked what they are doing, one man says he is laying brick, another says he is building a wall, and the third man says that he is building a cathedral. They are all doing the same job, but the third man understands the ultimate vision and that he is a part of it. Make 2019 the year of the cathedral builders in your organization. (Read more about this example here)

 

3. Leveraging Technology

If you’ve kept up with training seminars, you know technology will continue to play a larger role in not only HR, but organizations as whole. Trainings and seminars are beginning to lean heavily on specialized phone apps and web-based curricula to guide or even complete trainings. Furthermore, this content is becoming increasingly interactive. From online activities to virtual reality.

Imagine the power of a VR in which a new employee can encounter and react to real world scenarios they’ll deal with at work without the possibility of negatively impacting a customer if the make a mistake.

You can save both time and money by using technological advances to train and test employees before they even set foot into their actual role. Employees will start out more experienced, with many everyday tasks already under their belt by their first functional day.

 

4. Preparing the Workforce to Work with Technology

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here. The news has mostly focused on the effects of AI and automation on the workforce, mainly, job loss. But that’s not the whole story and that’s not what’s going to be headlining talks in 2019. As new technologies, bots, and AI become a larger and larger part of many industries, it’s important to ensure your staff is trained them now. These new tools will continue to take on more work and the roles of your workforce will have to shift to accommodate that. Don’t rely on your team to upskill and re-skill itself. Progress doesn’t have to leave people behind. Your employees can grow with you, with technology and automation.

When it comes to human workers, teams are becoming much more geographically diverse. There is already a need for professional managers who know how to collaborate with virtual or remote workers. As more companies open up their talent sphere, the need for this type of manager will only increase.

 

5. Managing the Omnipresent Workforce

The employee of today (and certainly tomorrow) wants a work schedule that is adaptive to their needs. A 2018 study by Canada Life found that 77% of workers agreed that flexible working positively affected productivity. Many people assume flexible working just means remote working from home, but the future of flexibility is adapting.

This is the notion of the Omnipresent Workforce. As companies evolve, more and more employers are opting for remote teams. With the greater flexibility offered to workers comes other benefits for organizations. Teams become much more diverse and collaboration among different ways of thinking grows ever more critical. Many industries, such as healthcare, can’t operate unless employees are present, so, how do you provide this flexibility? Offer your employees varied start times. Give parents time to drop their kids off at school by letting them come in at 10, offer a choice of days to work, or which shifts. Talk to your employees and see what matters most to them when it comes to flexibility. The workforce of the future will demand it, as it becomes increasingly important for those aged 55 and younger.

 

Prepare for the Future with Aspirant

Is your HR department ready for 2019? The five points we raised above are a great place to start as we gear up for the new year. But what about farther down the road? What are your goals and strategies for 2025? Download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025 to make sure you’re prepared.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help implement an HR planning process that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 24, 2018
Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

It’s not enough to want to have a DevOps methodology at your company, you have to plan for it, work for it, and continue to foster that Agile environment. DevOps is not a one size fits all strategy. You have to find the most optimal process for fast-tracking software releases without jeopardizing quality objectives.

Here are some tips for helping your company transition to a DevOps Methodology:

 

Assume a DevOps Mentality

Not just you, or your department, but the whole organization needs to have a DevOps mentality. Take the time to explain what it is, what specific needs of your business it can address and why it’s worth the pain of change.

If you haven’t already, this is a good time to create value stream maps of your processes. Before embarking on your journey into DevOps you should know sections of your process that need the most improvement and start there. In addition to solving your critical inefficiencies you are showing the organization what DevOps is capable of. Get your organization into the habit of questioning why. Why is it done this way and how can you make it better?

Make sure people realize DevOps is about more than automation. Yes, that’s part of enhancing current processes, but the true meat of the DevOps methodology is collaboration. Get everyone on board with collaborative work from software development to end user operations to yield the true benefits.

 

Honor Your Individuality

Even though it may be said, DevOps does not have a one size fits all solution to everyone’s problems. Your biggest hurdle, and biggest impact, will be influencing the habits and beliefs of the people in your organization. The fastest way to fail at that is to ignore the unique needs and attributes of what you do.

You want to create beneficial software quickly. You want to make more efficient processes that lead to better products and satisfied customers. To truly do that you need to understand your customers and target market. You need to recognize strengths and abilities of your organization and move forward accordingly.

 

Harness the Full Power of Metrics

Don’t just measure what’s easy. One of the most important parts of DevOps adoption is recording and tracking with the best metrics. Take the risk of measuring something that might not make you look good initially. This way you can show your accurate progress over time and demonstrate credible benefits to upper management.

Here are some suggestions to utilize metrics in the most useful way possible. Think about the needs of your own organization to come up with more:

  • Deployment Speed: the rate at which you deploy quality completed software should increase as DevOps continues

  • Downtime: software downtime should decrease with DevOps, happening less often, and recovering faster when it does

  • Deployment Frequency: a smooth DevOps process should lead to more frequent deployments to test and finalize

The important thing with metrics is to focus on quality. Numbers that make you look good without any real business benefit aren’t doing you or your company any favors. Selecting good, honest metrics and consistently sharing them is one of the best things you can do. Create and display easy to access dashboards that show off your progress. Transparency can be hard but it is a vital part of the DevOps process.

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder with a DevOps Methodology

Don’t try to tackle every imperfect company process in the initial phase of your DevOps transition. Quality over quantity. Start by creating a cross-functional team that includes people from each step of the process. Focus on a high impact opportunity for improvement and create a deployment pipeline to solve constraints. Follow your first project from development to fully operational before tackling more.

Once you have a few DevOps improvement operations under your belt you can start to expand. Master the process first. Make sure you’re successful. Utilize your metrics to prove your system works before applying it to other teams and situations. As you master the system, teach other influencers and watch the positive change spread.

Don’t get caught up in completion. If your team creates fast new software that doesn’t accomplish the original goal, you’ve not had success. Make sure not to lose sight of quality assurance each step of the way. This is why taking the time to work smart is so beneficial. Rushing full throttle into something doesn’t do any good if it’s not the right process.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in helping you understand the DevOps methodology. If your company is looking to adopt the DevOps way of software development, explore our our App Development & Integration page or let us know how we can help in the form below.

phil-kossler
2018/10
October 24, 2018
DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

The popularity of recruiting styles often shifts every few years. One year, outsourcing is in, and all the best people come from outside your company’s influence. The next year, insourcing is the only way, and the best people are already part of your organization! This can be more than a little confusing.

As an HR leader, you want to make sure that your recruiting strategy brings in the best talent for the job. You want to recruit and retain employees who contribute to and grow with the success of your company. 

That’s why it’s important to evaluate the facts and apply them to your specific organization when it comes to staffing. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for recruiting and workforce planning. Companies in the same industry can have drastically different processes, all of which can be successful.

Here are five steps to help find your perfect recruitment solution.

 

Assess the strategic plan, corporate goals, and core competencies of your organization.

  • What does your company’s strategic plan look like? Are you intending to grow your customer base with new products and services? Are you enhancing your current offerings? Or is your focus on reducing cost and increasing efficiency? The answers to these questions can have a powerful impact on your recruiting strategy.
  • What are your current high level corporate goals? Is this year devoted to increase sales of current products/services, or developing new ones? While similar to the last question, here you are considering this specific year. What does your company want to accomplish right now? Why type of people do you need to do it?
  • What are your core competencies and where do you lack? What are you really good at? Maybe you manufacture an amazing product your customers love, but you’re not very good at acquiring new customers. Perhaps you have incredible software developers, but you suffer in accounting. Identify your core competencies and the areas where you want, but do not have, competency.

Analyze your current Human Resources bandwidth. 

  • Yes, you also matter in this equation. Make sure HR planning is factored into corporate goal setting. Are you an HR department of one? Do you have a full staff; someone who handles benefits, someone who handles hiring, etc.? Or, do you already utilize HR consulting? To put it simply, do you have the time and resources to recruit on your own? Be honest with yourself. You’re not doing your company justice if you are overcommitting.
  • Also, dig into the weeds of the previous step. What are your core competencies as an HR Director and department? Is finding, choosing and acquiring talent a skill you’ve perfected, or is it something you struggle with? Know your own limits and proficiency.

Evaluate the needs and required skills for various positions and departments.

  • If you’re looking for software developers, do you need someone who can code in C#, a popular and commonly known coding language? Or is most of your company built on a language such as Erlang, with hard to find experts? Basically, how specific is the required knowledge for the positions you’re filling? How common or rare?
  • How often will you need this position? Is there enough work to fill 40 hours per week? Are the positions temporary or permanent?
  • Will the open positions require someone on site, or can they be done remotely?

Conduct a cost analysis of the various strategies.

  • What are the costs associated with outsourcing, such as fees, logistics, contract management etc?
  • What are the training costs? Outsourcing to an accounting expert will take a brief rundown of current processes, whereas hiring an accounting person with less experience will require a considerable training effort.
  • What are the cost of benefits to insourced employees, such as healthcare, 401(k), etc.?

Consider the value added of each option, determine what’s most important to your company and look at the big picture.

  • You realize a high cost of training when a position is insourced, but you value having someone 100% dedicated to your company with insider knowledge. Which is more important: saving money or getting the perfect fit? This is not a trick question and answers can vary.
  • You worry about the dedication of outsourced workers, but you’ve decided your company is not good at selling. Does the “family” atmosphere matter more to you than increased sales? This is not a trick question and can vary.
  • As HR Director you want to be involved in talent acquisition, but you’re afraid you don’t have the time to devote to doing it right. What is most important? This is not a trick question and can vary.

See what I did there? There’s no perfect right answer. You may find that some positions lend well to outsourcing talent acquisition, or outsourcing talent completely. Others may benefit greatly from insourced and in-house employees, and that’s where co-sourcing can come in.

 

Interested in learning about the emerging dynamics in HR? Check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and implement a talent acquisition process that makes your recruiting a competitive advantage. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 15, 2018
5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

A broad range of strategic frameworks have come and gone over the years as companies strive to keep pace with ever-shifting technological, social, and global dynamics. Some of these tools remain useful while others have grown long in the tooth. We have composed our thoughts on the relevance of some of the most popular methods in the modern business environment. 

The Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The Business Model Canvas, introduced by Alexander Osterwalder in Business Model Generation (2005), is a visual representation of a business model. The BMC has endured because it is simple to complete, to understand, and to communicate.

 

Business Model Canvas - Traditional version

Traditional Business Model Canvas

 

The model includes nine components, which together are lauded for providing a holistic view of the business:

  1. Customer Segments: Who are our most important customers / groups of customers?

  2. Value Propositions: What benefit are we delivering to customers?

  3. Channels: How do we deliver our product to each customer segment?

  4. Customer Relationships: How do we interact with each customer segment?

  5. Revenue Streams: What are our customers willing to pay for?

  6. Key Activities: What unique items does our business do to meet our value proposition?

  7. Key Resources: What do we need to deliver on key activities and meet the value proposition?

  8. Key Partnerships: What can others do so that we can focus on our key activities?

  9. Cost Structure: What are our most significant expenditures?

 

Benefits of the Business Model Canvas

The BMC continues to be one of the most popular strategy tools and has a several key benefits:

  • Simplicity: It is easy to understand and use due to intuitive components and flow.
  • Workshop-ability: The model is perfect for a workshop setting. Create a large poster, hand out sticky notes, and get started. It doesn’t take long before everyone is pitching in and bringing the BMC to life. This collaboration can also be accomplished with remote teams via Miro.
  • Shareability: Pass the completed BMC to a colleague, and they will immediately understand.
  • Visuals: The visual representation does a good job of visually breaking down the relationships among the major components of a business.

 

Drawbacks of the Business Model Canvas

  • Oversimplicity: Simplicity is a double-edged sword with this tool. Its ease of use also means that it only offers a high-level view and is not so helpful when considering the underlying details. Interestingly, the BMC has spawned many versions and sub-canvases to help dive into the next level of analysis.
  • Internally Focused: This generates a purely internal view of the business. Sure, it includes customers and customer segments, but only from the view of team members. Outside factors such as Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) have a huge impact on the business model’s eventual success or failure.
  • No Distinct Problem Statement: Finding a true problem to solve is the core to a new or innovative business model. However, that element is missing from the BMC. As a result, some strategists have begun including a problem statement within the Value Proposition section.
  • Objectives Limited to Profit: The BMC shows an opportunity for financial success in terms of profit by way of the Revenue Streams and Cost Structure sections. However, other key business outcomes are not accounted for, such as patient outcomes for a hospital or environmental impact for a manufacturer.
  • Missing Broader Stakeholders and Competitors: Suppliers are included, but other stakeholders such as employees, shareholders, the community, and the government are also critical. Adding a Competitors section is another common modification to this approach. Understanding how other companies target the same or similar value proposition is helpful in determining if the business model is viable.
  • Missing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Every business model has metrics that are the most critical indicators of success. KPIs should drive action and results, and it is smart to think about them from the beginning to keep focus on the end goal.

Putting the Business Model Canvas to Use

Depending on your stated purpose, the BMC can be incremented or combined with other tools to become even more valuable. Incorporating a “Customer Problem” section and making it your starting point, or at least making it part of the “Value Proposition” section, is critical for any BMC. The example below also adds a “KPI” section which is very impactful. Of course, strategists should add other relevant sections to their model as needed, such as competitors and stakeholders, to increase the tool’s value.

 

Business Model Canvas - Enhanced version

Enhanced Business Model Canvas

Click here to download our templates for the Traditional and Enhanced Business Model Canvas.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

These planning tools are intended to be simple to employ, but external support can prove invaluable - even for organizations with a mature planning function:

  • Dedicated resources that remove the burden from internal teams, enabling them to focus on their 'day jobs'
  • Experience that streamlines and accelerates the process
  • Objective, impartial facilitation that removes bias from addressing sensitive topics
  • Third party perspective that prevents groupthink

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Strategy experts about how we can help your organization improve its strategic planning, and in turn, achieving its goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

mike-mcclaine
2018/10
October 12, 2018
Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Design Thinking is Not Just for Design Teams
As a career marketer with a great passion for innovation, I was very excited by and curious about the concept of Design Thinking when I first started to read about it. At the same time, I was a bit skeptical. It seemed to be perfect and logical for developing new and innovative products, but I wasn’t convinced that it could be used beyond this application.

Therefore, when I had the opportunity to be involved with a weeklong Design Thinking session to support its facilitator, I took the chance to see this process at work.

I loved it!

It was about getting out of your office and talking to and listening to people, specifically, the end consumer. It meant that you weren’t just making assumptions based on data. Design Thinking combined data usage with people’s experiences. It meant a deeper connection with consumers and more collaboration with co-workers.

With my interest into consumer behaviors, the training went so well that I began to help facilitate Design Thinking workshops on a regular basis. Through this experience, I saw firsthand how truly powerful Design Thinking is and how far reaching its impact can be to drive real business growth. I also realized that as long as you have consumer curiosity, and you're a good facilitator, a good listener, and a good collaborator, you can become skilled in this approach and use it effectively for marketing purposes.

Design Thinking Framework

Design Thinking in Marketing

 

What is Design Thinking?

At its core, Design Thinking is a consumer-centric approach to solving any type of problem or addressing a new opportunity. It is also referred to as 'human-centered innovation,' because it keeps your customer at the heart of all you do and can be applied beyond developing new products and services.

It is practical, actionable, and drives alignment, helping you solve the right problems and ensuring the use of creative thinking to generate solutions that are non-traditional and non-obvious.

I have seen it help complex businesses uncover their true business issue and address it with a unique solution to save time and money. Design Thinking can also help a brand develop a set of customer solutions to fill their innovation pipeline. To show the breadth of opportunities available, I have used Design Thinking in the following ways:

  • Marketing plan development

  • Launch planning

  • Brand relaunch

  • New business model development

  • Solving internal business challenges

  • Identifying new innovation territories and/or platforms

  • Development of brand experience

  • Competitive scenario planning repositioning

 

Three Core Elements of Design Thinking in Marketing

The process of Design Thinking has at three key elements at its center:

  1. Empathy with users / customers.

  2. Engaging multiple perspectives.

  3. Collaborating to design, test, and learn about a solution.

These three elements are important when trying to capitalize on a new business opportunity, address a competitive challenge or solve a complex business challenge.

 

Empathize to Deeply Understand Your Customer

Customer empathy is probably the most well-known element of Design Thinking. Spending time with your customer or the end user of your product, service, or solution is key. Empathy requires getting out of the office and sitting down to talk, in-person, face-to-face with people, shopping with them, interacting with them, and observing them - things you cannot do from behind your desk and computer. This involves rolling up your sleeves and engaging the consumer by asking questions and, most importantly, listening and observing.

Often with business problems, your customer is someone inside your business. These people are consumers, and thus, can be talked with, observed, and listened to! You need to identify both your ultimate customer and others who might influence their decisions. Talking to multiple customers, stakeholders, and influencers helps you to see the full context, allowing you to discover underlying needs and influences.

 

Engage Others with Perspectives and Expertise Different than Your Own

No big problem is ever solved alone. It takes different areas of expertise with various perspectives to uncover the root of a problem, discover an untapped opportunity, and develop the optimal solution. It is often easier to work alone or to only talk to people like you or in your department. In the long run, this seems like it would save time, however, it's a dangerous habit to get into. This closed-mindedness will often take up more time, as additional mistakes will be made and it will take longer to gain alignment because only one perspective is engaged. It is an important step to garner input from various experts, as you will also gain buy-in along the way.

 

Collaborate for Total Engagement

It often takes a group of people with different areas of expertise, through discovering the customer needs, uncovering the true problem to solve, and brainstorming together, to come up with the best solutions. This collaboration also ensures that various areas of the company are involved in Design Thinking; all areas have ownership and are “in it together,” making alignment and approvals often easier and shorter. Engaging various key stakeholders together early and often makes a difference in quickly getting solutions from an organization and championing it through to completion.

Fill out the form below if you would like to engage with our team to discuss further!

michele-petruccelli
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

ThrougHow often have you heard the Sir Francis Bacon quote, “Knowledge is Power"? From motivating us to read more as children, to becoming the "France is Bacon" meme, we have all seen this quote in one form or another.

As a management consultant, we add value through the the combination of our knowledge and expertise. We take what we know, incorporate new information that we discover from our client, and generate new insight to help organizations identify new opportunities.

But what if the information we collect only tells part of the story, or worse, the wrong story? And how do we ensure that we gather the best possible information for consideration?


Innovating the Discovery Process

That information gathering phase is referred to as the 'discovery process'. Historically, this is where traditional consulting companies send a small army of consultants out to spend weeks on interviewing client stakeholders and providing status updates for project sponsors. The large firms loves this approach since it funds on-the-job training for associates and racks up billable hours for account managers. But for clients, it is slow, expensive, and often ineffective. 

To remedy this disconnect, Aspirant set out to create its own consulting model. One solely focused on creative value for clients - not for ourselves. This is when we realized the need to innovate the discovery process, and Digital Discovery® was born.


Accurately Pinpoint High-Value Insights with Digital Discovery®

Digital Discovery® is a proprietary AI tool that expedites and bolsters our consultants' efforts to discover and process an entire organization’s worth of information.

Do you have 10,000 sales associates? What about people spread across the continent? By leveraging advances in both natural language processing and machine learning, Aspirant consultants can perform virtual interviews with all stakeholders involved without the huge investment a consulting firm typically would require. This results in a better understanding overall and guides us to uncover deeper insights that would otherwise go unnoticed by the typical churn of one-on-one stakeholder interviews.

The process and benefits for Digital Discovery are as follows:

  1. Gather rich insights across a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
  2. Enhance stakeholder buy-in through more inclusive discovery.
  3. Utilize state-of-the-art AI techniques to aid analysis in uncovering richer insights.
  4. Reveal areas that require further inquiry and deeper analysis.
  5. Identify hot-button issues and visualize trending sentiments organization-wide.

 

Digital_Discovery-1

 

The Benefits of Additional Employee Perspectives

But why put in all this extra effort to get everyone involved? Consultants have managed well enough up until this point, so retaining the status quo means everyone’s happy, right? We thought so too, until we understood the benefits of getting additional perspectives.

 

1. Moving Beyond the ‘Usual Suspects’

The usual suspects are the employees who are generally in management roles, known well to the leadership, or are located conveniently to participate in an interview. This results in them interviewed repeatedly for insight into business challenges or when planning a new strategy. While they do provide valuable insights, there is also a tremendous amount of knowledge available from overlooked stakeholders that ends up being missed. These diverse points of view often uncover valuable information that leads to better solutions for our clients.


2. Getting Employee Buy-In

By asking a variety of people to participate in the initiative, there is far more buy-in for the solution than when they are excluded. It is common for objections to be raised during an implementation of an initiative when a person, department, or location was not asked for their insight into the business challenge or to participate in crafting the solution.


3. Using Interviews to Springboard Deeper Exploration

These interviews can be used in advance of workshops or longer, face-to-face interviews to uncover topics that can then be explored deeper. This process quickly highlights the most common themes and general sentiment as well as enabling outlier topics to present themselves. These topics, which may never have surfaced during a workshop or interview, can be discussed in more detail with other stakeholders, if appropriate, and lead to richer solutions than otherwise possible. 

With Digital Discovery, we can collect and mine data on a large scale for deeper understanding of the client’s situation. This ultimately gets us to better, more informed solutions faster. Because, in today’s business environment, an idea, behavior, or style can spread like wildfire within a culture. Knowing the whole story can be the difference between Sir Francis Bacon and “France is Bacon."

 


Learn More about Digital Discovery

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We are disrupting the traditional consulting model with one that generates better results and stronger value for clients. Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how Aspirant can help revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

joe-kossler
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

It is a challenge as old as companies have existed: too many priorities and not enough time or people to execute them. And now, more than ever, companies either evolve and thrive or quickly fall behind. Companies don't typically have a shortage of ideas for driving growth. Instead, they struggle with creating a strategy to effectively focus their resources and execute those ideas.

1. Create a Global View of Current Projects and Programs

Over the years, project management has evolved from tactical project execution to being leveraged as a strategic tool at the C-level to ensure the projects that are selected and prioritized are aligned to the overall strategic plan for the organization. This involves not only doing projects “right,” but also working on the “right” projects. Here are 5 simple strategies to help bridge the strategy execution gap:


1. Create a Global View of Current Projects and Programs

Organizations cannot determine where they want to be if they do not know where they are. Many organizations do not have a full view of what projects are in process within departments and across the enterprise. However, it does not require a complex Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tool to accomplish this. A simple spreadsheet and talking with the right resources and leaders across the organization is a good start and will create the visibility into the current portfolio of projects.

Also, don’t forget the non-project work! There is a set amount of resource allocation that is needed simply to “keep the lights on.” Many organizations forget or ignore the need to have these resources, from ongoing business processes to IT maintenance and support. Then later, it comes as a surprise that resources are not as available as they thought for project work, which is ultimately what is going to take the organization into the future.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Are we working on the right projects?
  • How many projects and associated effort do we have in progress compared to resources available for project work?
  • Do we need to incorporate business process redesign and optimization into our strategic plan to help free up resources for project work?

2. Document and Communicate the Corporate Strategy

Many organizational strategic plans reside in the minds of C-level executives or in presentations only reserved for the boardroom. Unfortunately, this is a missed opportunity to ensure that everyone is aware and aligned to the corporate strategy and roadmap.

Those who are generating project ideas and initiating projects need an understanding of what is important to the organization, as well as what strategies have been identified, to either position the organization as a leader in the industry or to maintain that status. Otherwise, projects that require precious resource time and incur costs to the organization may be initiated that directly distract and conflict with what the organization is trying to accomplish. Communicating the corporate strategy can be achieved in many ways, including utilizing existing structures, such as staff meetings and collaboration tools.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Are employees aware of what is included in the corporate strategic plan?
  • How often is information shared and communicated to ensure leaders are updated as the organization progresses against the plan, and as the plan evolves over time?

3. Design or Redesign Your Project Portfolio Management Process

Project Portfolio Management is essential in ensuring that the organization is working on the right projects. Designing or redesigning the process involves reviewing how project requests are initiated, identifying what criteria is used to prioritize and assess projects, determining how resource allocation is managed, deciding how projects are approved or “killed,” and assessing the portfolio on an ongoing basis.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Have we aligned our PPM process to our strategic plan?
  • Are approved projects meeting the corporate strategic standards and scheduled to align with the corporate roadmap?
  • Do we have the right mix of projects to achieve our objectives?


4. Optimize How You Manage Projects

It is critical for organizations to optimize how projects are managed to sustain and support a strategic portfolio. Whether Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid methodologies are used, best practices need to be embedded across the organization to ensure repeatable success in project execution.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • What is the current methodology or methodologies for managing projects?
  • How many of our projects have engaged executive sponsors?
  • How many projects are completed on-time and on-budget?


5. Align and Equip Resources

Having project, program, and portfolio managers who utilize a consultant mindset creates a bridge between strategic vision and tactical execution to ensure the roadmap is achieved. It is important that in addition to being trained in project, program, and portfolio management best practices, resources are also trained in process and business management to reduce risks associated with gaps between business process and implementation.

Inevitably, organizations can make the mistake of over-engineering how projects are managed, which extends project timelines without providing additional value to the organization. The best approach is a simple one that utilizes efficient tools and processes to support effective project management and delivers quality results on-time and on-budget.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • What resources have been identified to lead and manage projects, programs, and portfolios in our organization?
  • Are resources properly trained in project management, business process redesign and improvement, and consulting best practices?
  • What tools are available to support project, program, and portfolio management?
aspirant-team
2018/10
October 5, 2018
5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Evolving technology and digital dynamics have created a substantial opportunity for mid-sized organizations to level the playing field with larger companies. Taking advantage of this opportunity can create efficiencies by improving connectivity with stakeholders, which lead to cost savings and business growth.

The Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Mitigating Overhead Costs

Moving platforms to the cloud can eliminate huge hardware, software, and facility investments.

 

Increased Infrastructure Agility

Platforms as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) products create opportunities for quick implementation. Although cost can still be significant, licensing is annual, with much smaller up-front costs. Software can be more easily switched out as new technology and features become available.

 

Access and Scalability

Pricing for SaaS solutions is typically user-based and scalable. This gives smaller companies access to similar functionality as larger companies at a much lower price point.

 

A Methodical Business-Based Approach

The benefits of modern IT and digital are exciting, and it would be easy to dive right into implementing initiatives. However, to truly create value and avoid missteps, it is critical to first create a comprehensive IT strategy aligned to the business strategy. Using some logical steps, a clear path forward can be developed within a short timeframe.

 

1. Start with the Overall Company Strategy

A clear understanding of where the company is headed from a business standpoint is the absolute key to getting off to the right start. Building strategy with a consumer / customer-centric view has always been important, but in the age of digitization, it is the number one factor for business success.  

Start with defining / reminding yourself of the company’s mission and vision and proceeding through the downstream levels of the strategic planning process. This includes goals, objectives (with key measures), strategies, and tactics.
 
Realistically, all of these strategic elements may not be in place, even at larger companies. For a business-minded CIO or head of IT, helping to solidify the strategic direction may be an opportunity to show how IT can be a broader player in the broader organization.

 

2. Stakeholder Mapping

With the tech strategy in place, the focus moves to digital relationships that drive results. Every stakeholder interaction holds an opportunity for digitalization that could improve customer satisfaction and efficiency. 

 

Stakeholder_Map_R4-872548-edited-066061-editedStakeholder Mapping for Digital Connectivity.

 

Connections should be mapped and defined for the following dimensions:

  • Relationships
  • Key Integration Points
  • Integration Timing
  • Potential for Automation
  • Financial Impact
  • Digital Potential


3. Create a 'Current State' Architecture Diagram

Diagramming the current environment helps clarify the scope and complexity of stakeholder relationships for IT and business leadership. It should show systems and interfaces, with reference sheets for each that list details such as business purpose, costs, challenges, and departmental ownership.

Website - Blog - Strategy - Architecture Diagram.docxArchitecture Diagram.

 

4. Develop IT Goals and Objectives Based on Business Strategies

How can IT strategy support business strategy? Businesses generally have a cross-section of strategies that must be supported by people, process, and technology. Utilizing this strategy as input, IT must go through its own strategic process, once again starting with goals and objectives that will enable business results.

From a communications standpoint, it is helpful to map how each component of the IT strategy supports the business strategy. This will help the IT team understand how their contributions tie to organizational priorities.

 

5. Create a 'Future State' Architecture Diagram

Based on the now-established IT strategy, companies should diagram the desired future environment. It should clearly denote deviations from the current state diagram. This detail included in this document can be limited to what is relevant to the changes being proposed for immediate consideration.

 

6. Define and Prioritize Initiatives

Next, individual initiatives must be defined based on IT strategies and future state. For each initiative, define business value, cost, duration, resourcing, dependencies, constraints, and impact to the IT infrastructure. Leaders can use these factors to inform the prioritization and sequencing of initiatives.

Documenting the base architecture and connectivity is often a precursor to initiatives that generate greater enthusiasm and bottom line results. For that reason, it is also important to find quick wins to build momentum and excitement core infrastructure work is in process.

 

7. Build an IT Initiative Roadmap 

The roadmap shows the final sequencing of initiatives. Modern frameworks involve much more than laying out these projects on a timeline. They often include concepts such as current and future state, connectivity to KPIs, and even PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors) impact.

 

Website - Blog - Strategy - High Level Timeline-331815-edited

High-Level Timeline.

 

7. Keep Things on Track

Planning traditionally ends with the roadmap phase, and following executive alignment, transitions to execution. However, in today’s more agile environment, the roadmap cannot be static. It should be continuously referenced and periodically reevaluated to ensure continuity between the business strategies driving the IT strategy. The roadmap may need to be updated to reflect changes such as prioritization, timing, cost estimates, or results. A quarterly review schedule typically provides enough frequency without becoming a distraction.

 

Moving Forward

Even as companies increasingly depend on technology, their use still needs to be in the context of a proper strategic framework. Successful IT leaders will combine this methodical approach with more agile processes to set their companies up for long term success.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Most mid-sized companies are so focused on working in their business that working on their business (like strategic IT planning) just isn't feasible. Enter Aspirant.  

Our Strategy and Digital Transformation experts help clients identify and pursue opportunities for revolutionizing their operations through the adoption of technology. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for your company.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

mike-mcclaine
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Making a budget can be difficult for any industry, any department. But however difficult, it’s a necessity to running a good business. Some would argue it’s a necessity to run a good household as well. For Human Resources, there are additional struggles in budgeting. HR is a department without direct income potential. That often makes budgeting a challenging endeavor.

The CHRO role, in collaboration with other organizational leaders, plays a pivotal role in corporate planning. Here are some pointers on how to avoid common pitfalls and set yourself up for success.

 

1. The Status Quo

Otherwise known as, “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Clearly, it’s an easy trap to fall into; after all, it worked before, right? You just take last year’s data, maybe you google something like, “how much will the cost of healthcare increase this year?” and then you pick a percentage to increase by. So, last year’s numbers, plus 7%, equal this year’s numbers and then you move on.

It’s time to break that habit. This is your opportunity to improve the issues you’ve come across throughout the year. Think of what you’ve wanted to change; what you wish could be different. Gather up the numbers of what it might take to initiate that change. Write out why you think it’s worth it and how it will benefit the company.

 

2. The Vacuum

You have great ideas for next year’s budget. You can see where more staff is needed and where you are overstaffed. You’ve got opinions on the right program or software that’s needed next. You’ve got this all figured out. So, you do it. You come in early, stay late, and do all the workforce planning and number crunching and come up with your perfect budget. But you never consulted anyone else. I’m not referring to HR consulting, but to your colleagues.

In your enthusiasm over your great ideas, you forgot that other people have great ideas too. Coworkers can also contribute to a well-rounded budget plan. They may offer a perspective that you weren’t aware of. Poll your employee network to crowdsource some suggestions. If they don’t, tell them yours. It’s always good to gain support for your ideas, or get constructive feedback. Break out of the vacuum and remember you are part of a team.

 

3. The ROI

Once you have a good sense of what should be in the budget for next year, you need to consider the financial implications of each line item. Will it end up costing more than it makes or saves? Where is the money for this new idea going to come from and why is it worth the cost? You should always do the research and have the “why” of budgeting costs. Will it help the company grow, work more efficiently, or cut costs? Will it provide a better service to customers?

Just because something is a good idea, doesn’t mean it’s the right idea or event the right time. Everything that’s in a budget should add value to the department and/or company. You need to be willing to put in the work to prove your ROI before the company will be willing to approve your budget.

 

For more on what should be considered in your next planning cycle, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your HR leaders develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome its unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 1, 2018
Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

With the phrenetic pace of today’s business environment, and in the face of near constant pressure to streamline, optimize, and simplify, we often see operations managers jumping too quickly to external solutions to provide a ‘quick fix’: the reporting application that will easily assimilate all of your operational data into amazing reports and visuals, or the enterprise resource planning software that promises to automate all of your manual work.   

The attractiveness and perceived simplicity of plug-and-play tools and applications, and the fear of being left behind by cutting-edge concepts like Robotic Process Optimization (RPA), drive many organizations to commit valuable resources to these pursuits without first asking themselves an extremely important question: do our underlying business processes support the intended value of these solutions?’  

Organizations often don’t fully appreciate the impact that their faulty business processes can have on these improvement efforts. The resulting implementation becomes quickly bogged down in on-the-fly attempts to redesign processes to fit the solution, or the customization of the application to fit the existing inefficient processes. However, both of these defeat the efficiency goals and leave the organization in a worse position than before.     

 

Embrace the Potential Operational Opportunities Within

Quite often, the largest opportunities for gaining operational efficiencies and realizing significant savings lie right in front of operational leaders. Many organizations still foster processes with manually intensive steps, which lead to a high propensity for error, or oftentimes information is passed back and forth informally between teams with long periods of lost time ‘waiting to hear back.’

Other organizations struggle with clearly assigning process ownership or decision rights, resulting in haphazard decision making with little consideration for upstream or downstream implications, and ultimately leading to significantly lost productivity as team members spend much of their time attempting to manage the chaos.         



How to Identify Operational Inefficiencies

Not sure how to identify your organization's inefficiencies? A simple but often overlooked step is to begin by talking directly with operations team members! These are the folks who live the processes day-to-day. They know the pain points and very often have thoughts — and strong opinions! — when asked ‘How can we be doing this better?’

When working with clients, we consistently find some of the most valuable insights and optimization opportunities not from managers or senior leaders, but from team members who have been dealing with frustrating inefficiencies for many years and just needed the forum through which they can present their ideas.

Give special consideration as well to those processes that are consistently prone to confusion and/or errors, as these are very often indications of a poorly structured or overly complex process. If it takes numerous resources and several meetings to cobble together an explanation of how a process works, it’s likely one which is worth some further exploration!    

With a team of resources skilled in business process assessment and optimization, organizations can begin to identify processes ripe for improvement and then work with their operations peers to evaluate, prioritize, and implement these improvements.

After closely analyzing operational processes to eliminate waste and improve efficiency, your organization can confidently move toward the evaluation of these additional applications, tools, or technology, and explore opportunities to take your operations to the next level!


Operation Process Optimization — Best Practices

  1.  Involve Those Closest to the Process

    Be sure to include your operations team members in every step of the process optimization effort, and don’t assume management truly understands all the tasks involved in a given process. A summary view rarely provides the sufficient level of detail needed to identify real opportunities for improvement. Instead, talking directly with those responsible for the work is the best way to get there.

  2. Consider the Entire Process

    Ensure a clear understanding of the process from beginning to end and avoid the temptation to fix the first problem and move on. Smaller or more obvious issues sometime mask much larger issues, which can be found through a complete process decomposition. See the process through to be confident that it’s been fully optimized.

  3. Document and Quantify Outcomes

    Whenever possible, identify baseline process performance to compare performance after optimization, and then translate the improvement into hard dollar savings and increases in productivity. For organizations that don’t have mature process optimization practices, this is the surest way to gain support and prove value!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts can help your team put these best practices to use. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about the challenges standing in the way of your strategic goals. 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

tim-nath
2018/09
September 21, 2018
Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

You adopted an agile method to expedite your development process. This first step is signing the contract. Your company and its lawyer may have a standard contract in place, but does it follow the methods and philosophy? The whole point of an agile method is to positively change the way developers and customers interact. Contract language and the expectations and goals that develop out of it should be consistent with an agile process.

Keep Agile Contracts Goal-Oriented

Bringing together an agile software development method depends on open communication and collaboration between all members of your development team as well as the customer. Agile methods depend on this philosophy in order to promote interactions between team members over (sometimes arbitrary) processes and tools that too often interfere with building meaningful software.

When entering into an agile contract with your next customer, make sure everyone’s goals are clearly stated and understood by the development team as well as the client. An agile works best when everyone assumes ownership, sharing in the successes and acknowledging the speed bumps.

What does this look like in practice? After you assign specific deliverables to each goal, stay focused on the big picture. The ultimate goal is well-working software that meets, or exceeds, customer expectations. Again, looking at the overall methodology of an agile system, your development team and customer should always strive to place an end product over the individual pieces and comprehensive documentation required to get there.

Keep Agile Contracts Contingent on Time and Resources

In other words, a fixed price model negates many on an agile method’s benefits. For customer’s this means goals that fall short or final products that are rushed or not to standard. A fixed price contract means so many hours allotted and so many resources used. Again, it places a greater value on following a set plan rather allowing both developer and customer to respond to change.

Instead of one, overarching price point, consider language that emphasizes every aspect of the development process. Set a price cap on each individual sprint or release. By doing so, customers will not have to worry about development teams maxing out on weekly or monthly time allocations. In turn, development managers won’t need to cut any corners. What you will see is a better final product that has received all the attention it deserves.

Take Time to Build Trust

While any contract represents an agreement between two parties, it does not automatically foster a two-way relationship of trust. A collaborative environment between developer and customer are necessary for an agile method. However, this can only be achieved after a two-way trust is established. There are obvious trust benchmarks to consider, such as the timeliness and quality as well as on-time payments and honest feedback. These take time to acquire, even when consistent.

This trust cannot be built overnight. In other words, a signed contract is not the culmination of the relationship between developer and customer. As that trust builds, the agile method flourishes and fosters those aforementioned concepts of interaction, collaboration, and adaptability. Be patient as it develops, knowing the end results are well worth this getting-to-know-you period.

How Aspirant Can Help

At Aspirant, we are experts in agile software development. We’ve seen first-hand how an agile approach can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help you do the same.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 19, 2018
Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

Human resources is the lifeblood of a company. HR ensures that candidates are vetted, new hires are trained, and employees will continue to develop and grow. As a Director, Manager, or CHRO, you understand people make a company successful. So how do you know when to start HR planning and how to get the rest of the executive team on board?

As a leading management consulting firm, we can help. Here are some tips to consider:

 

1. Meet with Department Heads

This part leads to all the other steps. You can’t know everything that’s going on in your company, so check in with the leads and influencers for each department to get a better idea of needs that may affect your budget.

 

2. Analyze Current Job Openings

These are positions you know need to be filled. How long have they been open? Do you have the right comp plan? Do you need some outside help, like from an RPO service? Should you be putting an ad on LinkedIn, Indeed, or elsewhere? Chances are you will be spending money to fill these positions. Figure out how much.

 

3. Forecast Future Job Openings

Are you adding products or services that require new hires? Is a particular department growing quickly and in need of additional leadership? What is your projected turnover rate? Look at past trends to help forecast this and anticipate the money spent searching for and hiring the right candidate. Hiring and training front-line employees often costs 30% of annual salary.  Hiring for leadership positions can cost 213%.

 

4. Anticipate Training Time for New Hires

New hires need training and time to acclimate to a new job. Whether this is in-house training or external, there will be additional costs to the company. For internal training, be sure to account for the cost of pulling someone from their daily work for training as well as the hard costs of registration fees, travel and any other incidentals.

 

5. Consider Potential Promotions

Are there key employees who have been on an upward trajectory, routinely achieving their yearly goals? People that you expect to put a little more time and money into development? Promotions don’t have to be a new title, but they  can include pay raises and additional responsibilities. To execute the plan properly, employees may need leadership classes, retreats, etc., which need to be considered in the budgeting process.

 

6. Account for Networking Groups

Whether its leadership groups for C-level executives, or software-specific groups for programmers, there are many beneficial groups employees can join. Most groups have some sort of fee or dues. Take the time to see what’s available and if there are any expenses that sneaked through last year's budget. Anticipate any expected new additions.

 

Want to to take a deeper dive into HR planning?  Download our e-book, Workplace Trends for 2025. Or check out our Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design and implement a plan that maximizes the impact of the HR function. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help position you and your team for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 17, 2018
6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

When properly adhered to, the an agile software method can help streamline and improve your development process. However, there are plenty of factors and missteps that can limit the methodology’s effectiveness.

Implementing a new strategy can be stressful and it’s important to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' to ensure things run smoothly. When it comes to introducing an agile software development strategy, here are few things to watch out for as you begin adopting the agile process.

Inadequate Agile Buy-In

Let’s say a football team sends out 11 players. 10 of them know the plays and one doesn’t. Chances are that’s going to create some issues along the way. The same is true for your team and the agile method. Adhering to the manifesto is obviously key, but it’s all for naught if the entire team isn’t on board.

The best way to counteract this is by engaging every developer on your team. This is even more crucial if your developers are working remotely. Make sure everyone is constantly on the same page and check in often, inviting feedback. After all, agile is all about placing interactions above arbitrary processes.

Agile Practices Aren’t Part of the Larger Company

Your new process shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. It needs to become part of your company culture. This is especially important if some aspects of your culture contradict agile processes. Does your culture share the same values? If you were attracted to agile in the first place, it likely does. It’s up to your company’s leadership to amplify these shared values and address any conflicts.

If these conflicts aren’t addressed, you run the risk of sacrificing the agile methodology, or at least ignoring those aspects that don’t mesh with company culture. Going about it this way, you’ll discover pretty quickly that agile development doesn’t work when you start cherry-picking certain pieces.

Furthermore, if other departments developers rely on are still relying on older processes, it’s going to make things much more difficult. This is why addressing your company’s overall culture is key. It’s not just about developer buy-in or improving processes, but changing the way your entire team works toward a shared purpose.

Force-Fitting Agile Development into Existing Processes

The whole point of adopting an agile process is to improve what’s already going on in your company’s development department. An agile methodology thrives on adaptability and changing when needed. There’s no reason to adhere to the existing processes simply because they’re familiar. The second you start to cram in the old ways, agile methods lose their, well, agility.

This blending of old and new processes leads many to abandon an agile method prematurely because it doesn’t feel like the “right fit,” or seems like more work than it’s worth. In truth, however, these developers were not willing to toss out the old playbook and look to something better. Responding to change over following a plan is one of the basic tenets of the Agile Manifesto. It might seem like a big chasm to jump, but letting go of old processes is worth it.

How Aspirant Can Help

Adjusting to an agile development method can seem daunting, especially if it mean changing most of your processes and culture. That’s where the experts at Aspirant come in. Our software development experts have seen it all and know how to spot any red flags. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 12, 2018
Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

 

Judy Johnson, Ph.D., believes that Whole Person Employment and authentic self are helping to pave the way for gender parity in the workforce. Johnson is the vice president and director of operational effectiveness practice at Aspirant. She spoke this past Friday, Sept 7th at a Halfway to International Women’s Day event. The event was put on by Faros Properties at Nova Place.

Johnson said her favorite part about this event was getting to know the other women involved. “They are amazing and dynamic women and it was great to get to meet them and be a part of this with event them,” she said.

Johnson was one of three key speakers who spoke to various concerns and inspirations regarding gender parity. “The event was really energizing and uplifting,” Johnson said. “It was great to talk about what women can do to support one another and be there for one another.”

Her focus was on whole person employment and the authentic self. Johnson is proud to work at a company that she believes excels at fostering and encouraging both of these things. She believes Aspirant is able to move quickly, and be transparent and open with their work, adding that they share news of what’s happening in the company with their employees and include them on decisions.

“Looking at benefits packaging in the new year is very transparent. We get ideas from employees and inform them well in advance of making any decisions,” said Johnson.

A lot of the work Johnson does is with leadership teams and companies to help make their organization a better place to work. The Whole Person Employment trend is growing, and she believes it opens a space for women to raise up issues that have traditionally been seen as “women’s” issues, such as  Family Medical Leave, performance reviews and flexibility in working hours, which are now issues on the table for all employees.

Aspirant has done research regarding work-life balance and recently found that 85% of Human Resource leaders believe that work-life balance will become enmeshed together over the next 10 years. Basically, it will become more important for people to love what they do, as well as who they do it for.

However, the same study found that only 35% of employees say they are happy with their current job. Unhappy employees are looking elsewhere, are not fully engaged, and result in missed opportunities for companies.

Compensation is often seen as the most important part of a job, but that is changing. Employees rarely leave a job for pay, but, instead, to find a happier and more enjoyable work life. There is always a threshold of pay someone is willing to accept, but Johnson believes that good pay does not counteract a negative work environment.

Discussion of these types of issues has positive impact to women. “It opens doors for women to have conversations that in the past they were afraid would be seen as self-indulgence, such as maternity leave” said Johnson.

This was once seen as a “woman’s” issue, but is now an employment standard. With Whole Person Employment, these things are now openly discussed, and expressions of concerns are encouraged. “At Aspirant, we include employees in the decision-making process. They can ask questions without ever feeling like they are stepping out of place.”

Ebony McQueen-Harris, founder and principal consultant of Levels Creative Empowerment and Consulting Group, also spoke at the event. Johnson said she found her talk extremely encouraging. “One of the things Ebony said was: ‘What are you doing to stand in the gap?’ Stand shoulder to shoulder with other women around you and help them.”

Johnson believed this  was a good thing to think about, and says you should trust yourself and your authentic voice, and use it to speak up for other women. “Women should not be afraid to step in and take action for each other, in big and small ways.”

“Ebony gave a really powerful example of taking an opportunity to support one another,” Johnson said. McQueen-Harris discussed a recent meeting where she  and two other African American women were in a meeting of approximately 40 people. The three women were explaining some of the challenges they’ve experienced.  No one else contributed to the conversation.

Afterward, someone approached them and said they were impressed by  her ability to “hold her own,” and did not feel the need to step in for o support. McQueen-Harris said she would have loved for someone  in the room to step up and offer support to the points they were trying to make.

“We often expect someone else to stand up, so feel less obligated to take action ourselves. We need to step up, to stand in that gap, as Ebony puts it, and support other women and minorities,” said Johnson.

Clearly, Johnson was just as encouraged by the other speakers and encourages anyone who can to get involved and attend  similar events in the future. It’s expected that they will have something planned for International Woman’s Day as well, and we will make sure to tell you.

“I would love to go to another event that is as energizing and gives me a chance to network and partner with the same – or even a broader group of amazing women!” Johnson said.

 

Interested in learning about other evolving concepts? Click the image below to download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational experts can evaluate the structure and capabilities of your teams to identify opportunities for improvement and build a plan to make those changes. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges and goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 10, 2018
Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Companies of all shapes and sizes have different needs. One of those needs, especially today, is software. Software requires development. These projects are often incredibly robust, time consuming, require a lot of overhead and may not even have any real value to your business if not done properly. Enter agile software development: a philosophy, or manifesto, to help eliminate many of the pain points of traditional software development.

What Is Agile Development?

Agile software development is far from a new concept. In fact, it’s a methodology nearly 20 years in the making. Based on the Agile Manifesto, agile software development is all about:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

Basically, agile, is all about being agile.

Benefits of an Agile Software Development Team

The biggest benefit to a company utilizing an agile software development strategy is the access to a team with a diverse set of capabilities. When hiring a well-versed agile software development team, you won’t be able to come across a problem someone on that team can’t solve. It truly is a one-stop shop for all of your software development needs. More importantly, it’s a team of experts that will get it done right, and the software will work exactly how your key stakeholders need it to work.

Another benefit of an agile strategy is the overall collaboration between everyone involved in the project. The reason you want the software implemented in the first place is because it’s important to your team. It’s going to make your company run more efficiently. It’s important to talk through the software with those individuals that will be using it most. Find out what they need, why they need it and outline how it’s going to work and be implemented on a daily basis. The agile approach truly is collaborative in every phase.

Plan, Implement, Repeat

Technology is constantly changing. New software is constantly being developed. In business, you often adapt or die. Utilizing an agile approach allows you to have access to a dedicated team of individuals with unique skills that collaborate on projects that help businesses grow. Agile allows you to tackle one big project after another by planning, implementing, and repeating the agile process for each project you have.

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's software development team uses Agile extensively. We’ve seen first-hand how an agile approach can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we help you do the same.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 5, 2018
Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

What if you had known years ago that:

  • AI would be a critical member of your team

  • Employees use mobile devices to access the majority of information

  • Remote working goes from a perk to an expectation

How would this information have changed your priorities? Would you have hired other people, invested in alternative projects, or measured success differently?

For the last 10 years, we have dealt with an accelerating pace of change in just about every facet of business, from the globalization of markets to increased speed and diversity of competition, and from changing customer demands to shifting employee requirements.

This is why Aspirant has published a new eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2025 - Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing, written by Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness expert: Judy Johnson, Ph.D. This book helps set the stage for what’s to come and how you can change and prepare your organization to be effective and win over the next decade.

From futurists to technical experts, everyone agrees the world of work is going to change by 2025. That is not revolutionary news, as work constantly evolves and technology accelerates that evolution.

The bad news about these changes? The pace and extent of change is only going to continue.

And the good news? We can see the changes coming and can prepare accordingly.


Why is preparing your organization for 2025 a priority?

  • All signs point to continued shifts in how companies will operate in the coming years.
  • The same issues that have been plaguing us to date are accelerating.
  • Focusing on today’s and tomorrow’s issues will get you caught up, only to be left behind.
  • Building toward being competitive in 2025 will transition your workforce to the agile, skilled workforce you need for tomorrow.

Companies who prepare for future shifts are the ones that survive and thrive. There are a handful of mega trends that cut across all markets; they are consistently discussed and commonly agreed on by strategists across disciplines. When taken together, however, they show a drastically different future state of work, and also create a compelling reason to take action today.

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team has analyzed social, business, technology, and management trends and found unique elements necessary for companies to successfully compete in the next decade. To give a sense of the research contained in the ebook, here are 5 of the 10 trends that will challenge an organization's effectiveness in 2025:

  1. Reputation Over Revenue: Employees, customers and investors want social responsibility, environmental accountability and increasingly social activism from companies.

  2. Diversified Power: In 2025, organizational power will neither sit solely with company executives at corporate headquarters, nor with the leaders of the largest business units.

  3. Career Path Reshaped: The employees’ career path will no longer be vertical, or even-staggered vertical movement.

  4. Local Globalization: While globalization continues with companies expanding their footprints around the world, there will be an increased focus on the local market.

  5. Upended Pyramid: For decades we have witnessed the unproductive practice of companies promoting their best and brightest technicians into management roles.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

For the complete list of trends, including in-depth insights and research as well as tactics and next steps to help your organization prepare for the future, request Aspirant’s eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2025 - Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing.

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 3, 2018
Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

There are all kinds of consultants willing to help take your business to the next level. While they all can usually lend a hand toward meeting your goals and objectives, sometimes picking the right kind of consultant can be confusing. Lucky for you there are several of us out there with various skills in numerous areas.

Let’s take a moment to look at the subtle differences between management and leadership consulting. First, we have to understand the differences between leadership and management. Many companies will use these terms interchangeably, but there are clear differences.

Management is focused on systems and processes. A manager will organize, budget, deal with staffing and also solve individual problems within departments. They will manage the day-to-day and week-to-week activities needed to keep the company functioning as it should.

Leadership will focus on the company mission, the vision for the future and inspiring the team to help them get there. Leaders will be developing 5-year plans, introducing innovative change and driving to achieve better results.

Sometimes these skills overlap in a person or position, and that’s ok. The important thing is that both sets of skills are necessary for success, particularly in organizational change.

So with that in mind, what’s the difference between a management consultant and a leadership consultant?

 

Aspirant_Comparison

 

Not sure where to start? Check out our consulting services and case studies to learn more about how Aspirant can help you.

Or download our latest ebook:

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/08
August 20, 2018
Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

We've previously posted about topics like master data management, data integration, and other key processes that ensure accurate data. However, we haven’t really talked about analytics and information management. Data analytics is crucial to data driven decision making. Remember, though, analytics are only as good as the accuracy of your data. If you’re confident in your data, then this post will help explain analytics at a very high level, and illustrate how to implement those analytics into your business.

Figure Out What Data KPIs You Need

The old saying, “Go with your gut,” is a great for those times when you can’t decide between choice A or choice C, like on a fifth-grade math test where you don’t have to show your work. But it’s not necessarily a good decision when making decisions that affect an entire company. If you were presented with the following two options, which would you think is a more responsible response?

  1. Go with your gut

  2. Analyze the data outlined in the report and then make your decision based on the numbers

Chances are, you’re going with Option Two. Sure, there are some decisions that require you to go with your gut. However, you should be going with your gut after you’ve done your homework. When considering a strategy to provide better data analytics and information management for your company, it’s important to know what you need to know.

  1. Return on Investment

  2. Customer Acquisition Cost

  3. Lifetime Value of a Customer

  4. How the Customer Found You

  5. How Many Similar Customers Do You Have?

The five bullet points above are just quick examples of information you might need when making an informed decision. For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide whether you should hire another salesperson, spend more money on marketing, or do nothing at all. You can’t make that decision without understanding the return on investment of your marketing dollars, the average revenue a sales rep generates, or the customer acquisition cost. It may sound like a good idea to run a $50,000 television ad, but if you only yield three customers with an estimated lifetime value of $10,000, then that may not be the wisest way to spend those dollars. Business analytics helps decision-makers make informed decisions.

 

Get the Whole Team Involved

Different departments want access to different metrics. If you’re developing an information management and analytics strategy, it’s important to involve your whole team. The more you are able to track, the more informed your decisions will be. These decisions will aid in customer acquisition, customer retention and, perhaps most importantly, a competitive advantage to improve the company’s overall performance.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Microsoft Cloud Solutions team specializes in designing and securing business intelligence programs tailored to each client's unique needs, preferences, and goals. From systems integration to organizational adoption, Aspirant's Integrated Expertise ensures that every component you need to be successful will be in place.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/08
August 15, 2018
Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

You’ve made the decision to partner with a management consulting firm. You’ve worked together wonderfully, and you now have a great plan for improving the company you believe in: yours. You’re definitely going to need a new strategy and a new culture of accountability to go along with it!

This is great news, but, no, your work is not over. In fact, in some cases, it may seem like it’s just begun. Now you need to work on implementing your awesome plan. This will include getting buy-in from both management and non-managing employees.

You know this plan is worth it and you also know that it’s going to work. And since you have partnered with someone like Aspirant, you’ll have someone to help you through this. Together, we can make it happen! Here are some steps to help:

1. Establish Authority

Make sure you’re the right person to on-board this plan. And make sure people know that and know why. Show your talents in leading accountability and earn authority by merit.

2. Communicate Your Case

Make sure everyone understands your vision for a better company. Convince them that having a culture of accountability for the project truly benefits everyone. Continue to point it out as benefits are realized.

3. Train Accountability Champions

Even if you are an amazing leader, you won’t be able to do this on your own. You need champions for your cause and who believe in the need to be accountable. Invest in these people and they will help you get across the finish line.

4. Be Prepared for Resistance

Change always comes with at least a few people that drag their feet. Be ready for that. Identify resistors early to diffuse their concerns as best as possible. You cannot let dissent and resistance build and simply hope it goes away. Be ready to defend your project.

5. Track and Celebrate Success

To know if your project and strategic plan are succeeding, you have to track and measure results. This also helps encourage the culture of accountability that everyone needs. The positive effects can’t not be recognized and celebrated without tracking. And celebrating success is integral to continuing it.

 

Check out our ebook, Workplace Trends for 2025. It lays out key dynamics or contact us to learn more about creating a culture of accountability.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/08
August 13, 2018
Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Working with a consulting firm can make a considerable impact to your company. You now have at your disposal a group of experts dedicated to improving your company’s culture, influencing organizational behavior, developing your talent management system, and driving your strategy.

Like any good relationship, you’ll need to work together. Accountability is a two-way street, and it’s important that both parties are invested in positive results. Clearly, you can do a lot together. Here are five tips to ensure a positive experience.

Tip #1: Have a standing meeting, show up on time, and, of course, be prepared.

How often you meet is up to you, but the important thing is you have a recurring meeting scheduled on everyone’s calendar. In the beginning, you may find you need to meet once a week. If the consultant is helping you through a crisis, you may need to meet once a day. Once the relationship solidifies, meeting once a month or once a quarter will suffice.

The important thing is that you stick to the schedule and everyone shows up, is on time and prepared for the discussion. If you arrive late, or unprepared, you are signaling to the consulting firm that late and unprepared is acceptable behavior. So create an agenda ahead of time, be ready to discuss, and make the best use of everyone’s time. This is a foundational component of a culture of accountability.

 

Tip #2: Have an internal champion to help create accountability.

There will be many people and moving parts involved in any work with your partner. If you don’t set someone from your organization up as the point person to keep track of progress and be accountable for results, you run the risk of each person assuming that someone else is handling it. To clarify, this does not mean this person is in charge of completing all tasks. Simply, they are in charge of keeping up with the people in charge of tasks, within your organization and with the consultants. This way, you avoid confusion of who is responsible. This person will keep track of due dates and tasks assignments, and helping everyone stay on the same page. Your consultant company will likely have a particular champion for you as well.

 

Tip #3: Create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound).

When it comes to accountability in any project, it’s important that everyone involved knows what success looks like. Each player needs to know what’s expected of them; how to track what’s expected of them, but also that itis possible, it’s relevant and why and when it’s expected to be done. There is no way to have accountability without those requirements being met. The best you can hope for without them is to get lucky.

 

Tip #4: Identify milestones.

You’ve created your SMART goals, now establish your milestones. Make sure everyone on the team is aware of what they are. Create status reports for the milestones specifically, and the projects in general. Talk about them at your standing meeting, check the progress and make adjustments if needed. When you achieve your milestone, celebrate it. You don’t have to give everyone a bonus, just acknowledge the completion and show appreciation to your team. This reinforces the importance of the milestone. If a milestone is not reach by its anticipated time, make sure you understand and address the reasons why.

 

Tip #5: Stay consistent.

For best results, set the pace and expectations in the beginning of the relationship and stick with them. Have your meetings on the same day and time when possible. Treat the meetings just as important several months in as they were in the beginning. Don’t let things go slack when the newness wears off. Stick to your deadlines; you can’t let them slide one week and be fine with it, but then get upset the following week when something is not met. They must be consistently important. Of course, there can always be extreme circumstances that will be taken into account, but, as a rule, treat deadlines and expectations the same every time.

 

These best practices can help create team accountability, and in turn, maximize the value of consulting partnerships.

If you think your organization could benefit from consulting support, give us a call at 724.655.4441.

Just looking for a little more information? Download our latest eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 30, 2018
Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

We’ve all had to work with people that don’t pull their weight. It can be extremely frustrating when your job is affected by the ineptitude of others, right? After all, if <insert random name here> were held accountable, you wouldn’t have any problems!

Does this sound familiar to you? If so, stop and think about it. Now, I’m not going to say other people don’t impact your performance. But I will say, accountability is not about blaming other people.

Defining Accountability

Reading from the dictionary is not always exciting, but, in this case, Webster hits the nail on the head. “Accountability is the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.” Accountability is not about the task, project, or result. It’s about the individuals’ willingness to accept the role they play or played. Basically, it's the opposite of blame.

Where to Start

You may note nothing in that definition talks about other people. The focus is on your actions. As cheesy as it may sound, team accountability always starts with you. This is especially true if you are a manager or any form of leader at work.

Perhaps you think your team is not accountable enough, but, really, aren’t you accountable for your team? No one is going to want to be held accountable to someone they don’t feel holds themselves accountable. This is a time to lead by example.

Lead by Example

So what do you do to make yourself more accountable? First, you find someone to help you and hold you accountable. The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) found that you have a 65% higher chance of completing your objectives if you committed to someone else.

Find a colleague to help you with your accountability endeavor. Find someone that you can trust that wants to help you grow. You should probably offer to do the same for them.

Start by:

  1. Making commitments

  2. Writing the commitments down

  3. Creating mini-goals

  4. Celebrating your success

  5. Reviewing your performance

  6. Seeking feedback

Practice Makes Perfect

Spend some time, at least a few months, focusing on doing this yourself. And then see if you still want to blame other people. Your opinion may change. You’ll want to help hold people accountable, not force accountability on them.

If you think your company would benefit from accountability training, let us know. We can tailor a curriculum to your specific needs and budget.

Related Reading

For some more in-depth content, check out our ebook:  The Ultimate Guide for Team Accountability.

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 23, 2018
Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

There are many things to consider when thinking about bringing multiple sets of data, or software together. Whether you already have some applications in place, or your data is in one big spreadsheet, the processes are much different. As we mentioned in previous posts, relying on a single spreadsheet to house all of your important company data, and then manually mining that spreadsheet to create reports, is just not efficient. More importantly, it’s not reliable.

Data Integration vs. Application Integration

On the surface, these two things may not seem quite similar. They are. However, integrating data is a completely different process than integrating applications. Data integration at its core brings all of your data together in a standard, non-redundant way that doesn’t sacrifice the quality of the data. It’s not an easy process. Application integration is different. Its purpose is to make sure all of the applications you are using can talk to each other in an efficient, easy-to-use way.

 

How to Integrate Data and Applications

When you’re looking at different integration options, it’s important to take a step back and try to figure out what you really need to integrate. If you’re working with a technology firm, they can certainly take a look at what you have, and what your pain points are, and then develop a solution to integrate your data. They can also help your applications talk to each other in a way that helps your company get access to the data it needs at the touch of a button.

 

Can it work with our ERP?

Many companies have a custom ERP they are already working with. It may house important information about their customers, prospects, employees, financial information, or other relevant company information. People in each department may manually be pulling data from the ERP. In fact, someone else may be tasked with turning that data into a report. There has to be a better way, right? There is - through integration.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Application and Data experts help clients identify and implement the ideal integrations for optimizing their operations. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/07
July 17, 2018
The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

In a CBRE study it was determined that 85 percent of respondents believe that work and life will become enmeshed by 2030. Now is when you need to start thinking about crafting a compelling employee value proposition to embrace this change.

Center Recruitment and Retention around Creating Value for Employees

Thinking about the relationship with employees from their perspective will help clarify how you can improve recruitment and retention by making them happier. This translates to reduced churn and less pressure on talent acquisition. It often proves more successful (and more cost-effective) than doing so exclusively through compensation.  

 

What does your company offer potential employees besides money?

Sure, most people get jobs because they need the money, but that isn’t the driving motivation anymore, and it’s going to become less so as time goes on.

According to the Corporate Leadership Council, companies with a managed employee value proposition are able to engage move than 60% of the talent pool, while other companies only have access to about 40% of the market. That is only expected to increase in the favor of managed EVPs.

 

what can a well-managed EVP offer your company?

Mainly, you’ll have a higher percentage of valuable candidates to choose from when hiring. If you build a reputation with your EVP you may even have those potential employees coming to you looking for a place in your company. You’ll decrease your turnover rate by assuring you are attracting the right people with the right skills and motivations.

Use your EVP to assure that every position is appealing to the top talent you want to attract to it, thus bringing in better qualified candidates. It will create a better environment for current employees, which will, in turn, increase your employer reputation, again, leading to more qualified candidates being interested.

These skilled and talented workers will then be more committed to the success of your company and the mission. And they will be happy.

 

The Components of Employee Value

Financial compensation

This is clearly important, but every job offers a paycheck. If you want to have a good EVP, you need to do more. In addition to having a good start rate, you need to offer opportunities for raises and, possibly, bonuses.

 

Benefits

Benefits will need to mean much more than insurance. Candidates will be looking at time off, paid holidays, retirement plans, education opportunities, work flexibility, and more.

 

Career advancement opportunities

The days of employees just wanting to come to work, doing the same thing every day and leaving eight hours later, are quickly coming to a close. Potential employees are going to be looking for an organization that offers them a chance to develop their skills and learn new ones. They want to feel like their job is stable. They want opportunities for training and education. They also want a company that will work with them on career development and mentoring; someone that will provide honest and constructive feedback on their personal growth and performance.

 

Positive work environment and culture

The future requires a safe environment with a good work-life balance. Nobody wants to live only for the company anymore. They want to be challenged and recognized when they react to those challenges well. They want to understand – and be part of – the goals and missions of the company. They also want a culture of collaboration and teamwork. Also, more than perhaps ever before, people are looking for companies that are socially responsible.

 

Everything your potential employees are looking for will benefit the company as well. So, if you’re wondering if you should change your recruiting and retention strategy to focus on happiness over money … the answer is 'Yes'! 

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your HR team craft and utilize a compelling employer value proposition that improves recruitment and retention. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 16, 2018
Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

In our first blog about competency model evaluation and development, we laid out some ideas for helping leaders shift their perception from the near to long-term. This second installment provides tangible steps so those leaders can begin applying those concepts right away.

Step 1

Define your current hiring process and make no assumptions. Write out the details of the search, the resume selection, interview process and any outside services your employee used during the hunt. It’s much easier to get where you want to go when you know where you are.

Step 2

Talk to current managers and top performers to identify skills and behaviors that are most appreciated and valued in the company. Define the behaviors and metrics that illustrate the competencies you’re looking for. Be as specific as possible, not general.

Step 3

Research the market and industry you currently work in, and any you can foresee the company working in at some future date. Look at the skills and behaviors expected in your industry.

Step 4

Define the behaviors that demonstrate the competencies you are looking for at each level within the organization of different departments. What do you expect from an entry level member, middle management, and executive level? These traits should be gaining value as they go.

Step 5

Identify all the people and organizations your company interacts with. Include employees, customers, vendors, partners, board members, and anyone with any influence in, or by, the company. These are all relationships you need to understand.

Step 6

Make sure you, or someone in your technology department, is constantly researching future technologies that could benefit or impact your industry. Know what’s coming and either be ahead of it, or be part of it.

Step 7

Think locally and globally. What can your company do to help your community? Start small and then build. Do more than offer good jobs in your area. Give back in every way possible. Stretch your impact beyond your neighborhood whenever you can.

Step 8

Understand that diversity is more than a word. It is truly a requirement, as well as an amazing opportunity. Hire from different communities. Join different organizations that challenge your way of thinking . Encourage your employees to join business-related groups that widen their perspectives. Make sure you and your people are as involved as possible.

 

What’s the message here? Clearly, it is 'do more'. Do more than you have to, and do more than you want to. You should always be working toward the future.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan for building and lead exceptional teams. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 12, 2018
Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

In 1996, Robert Kaplan and David Norton published their seminal work on strategy development and execution, "The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action." Since then, their methodology has been implemented across thousands of organizations. Kaplan and Norton's central hypothesis is that companies need to take a balanced look at how their organizations are performing to achieve their objectives. They advocate a multi-perspective ("balanced") view, including financial, customer, operational, and human capital metrics. 

The "balanced" perspective can be applied to any number of organizational sub-units or functions, but one area often overlooked that demands a balanced perspective is ethics. 

Most Fortune 500 companies today incorporate an ethical component into their strategic plans. A major challenge for management, though, is that different stakeholder groups may have vastly different perspectives on what constitutes ethical decision making. For a company to be "ethical," must it:

  • Pay a living wage to employees?
  • Only do business with vendors meeting eco-friendly standards?
  • Act in the best financial interests of shareholders?
  • Support market competition?

Starbucks, known for ethically sourced coffee beans, is dogged by accusations that it crushes smaller competitors. Amazon, which provides customers with top notch customer service, is known for its challenging corporate and fulfillment center cultures. Apple, which revolutionized multiple industries on the way to becoming the world's most valuable company, has come into question for the practices of its suppliers. Chevron, often recognized as America's best oil and gas company to work for, regularly faces complaints that it is environmentally unfriendly.

These successful, well-respected companies look different depending on one's perspective, which is why it is critical to look at your company's approach to ethics in a balanced and holistic manner. Much like a company needs to pursue excellence in operations, people, finances, and customer to be successful, it should consider multiple perspectives to be considered an ethical organization. 

When weighing the ethical implications of a business decision, consider the following perspectives:

Your customers, your potential employees, and the community all want to do business with ethical companies. Weighing multiple ethical perspectives in the strategic decision making process improves the decision itself, helps identify potential objections from different stakeholders, and positions your company as an ethical player.

Understand your culture 

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 10, 2018
The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

It's trite, but true: the world around us is changing faster than ever. And it shows no signs of slowing down. The only way to get ahead (and stay ahead) is to deal with challenges proactively, not reactively. 

This is why we have researched and published our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025, written by our own Judy Johnson, Ph.D. This book helps set the stage for what’s to come and how you can change and prepare your organization to be effective and win in the coming years.

 

What if you knew ahead of time that:

  • AI would be a critical member of your team
  • Employees use mobile devices to access the majority of information
  • Flexible work goes from a perk to an expectation

How would this information have changed your priorities? Would you have hired other people, invested in alternative projects, or measured success differently?

From market globalization to fickle consumer preferences to evolving talent requirements, the accelerating pace of change affects just about every facet of business.

The bad news is that the scope and scale of these changes is only going to grow.

And the good news? We can see the changes coming and can help you prepare accordingly.

 

Why is preparing your organization for 2025 a priority?

  • All signs point to continued shifts in how companies operate over the coming years
  • Issues that are already a nuisance are expected to accelerate
  • Focusing only on the challenges of today will get you caught up, only to be left behind
  • Preparing for emerging trends will help build an agile, skilled workforce that will be a sustainable competitive advantage 


Companies who prepare for future shifts are the ones that survive and thrive. There are a handful of mega trends that cut across all markets; they are consistently discussed and commonly agreed on by strategists across disciplines. When taken together, however, they show a drastically different future state of work, and also create a compelling reason to take action today.

 

How can you prepare for the future?

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team has analyzed social, professional, technological, and managerial trends to identify unique elements necessary for companies to excel.

To wet your appetite, here are two of the trends we explore in this ebook:
1. Reputation Over Revenue: Employees, customers and investors want social responsibility, environmental accountability and increasingly social activism from companies.

2. Diversified Power: Organizational power will neither sit solely with company executives at corporate headquarters, nor with the leaders of the largest business units.

 

To read through the complete list of trends and the recommended courses of action, click the image below.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Organizational experts about how we can help your company create a competitive advantage by positioning your teams for future success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 9, 2018
Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

Why Software Integration Matters

Application integration is incredibly important. Picture this: You’re sitting at your desk working on a weekly report. The weekly report you’re tasked with creating each week requires you to manually pull information from five different places. For example’s sake, let’s say you need to pull key data from a spreadsheet your financial team uses; SalesForce data for your sales reps; productivity data through whatever you’re using for project management, and miscellaneous data from three other spreadsheets.

You probably thought you were past the point in your career where you would have to spend eight hours per week working on a report that most of your team uses as a place to etch random shapes or jot notes on when they need something to write on. These reports are complex to digest, but what’s even worse is they are complex to create.

Let’s take a look at how application integration can help you walk into work with a smile on your face and that report already on your desk.

“But that’s the way we’ve always done it!”

There are a few phrases more dangerous to a modern company. There are plenty of companies out there that are still running their day-to-day operations on a spreadsheet. Why would they do this when there is so much great software out there? “That’s the way they’ve always done it.”

It’s very rare to find a company that can purchase one piece of software and have it do everything it needs to do. Business is complex. There are different departments that care about different metrics and need to have all sorts of different information available to them on a regular basis. SalesForce may be great for your sales team, but does it show accounting the information they need to know? Does it give your operations manager an idea of employee workload or utilization rate? No.

Application integration literally means application integration. It allows you to help all of your tools to talk to each other. Even better, if set up properly, it automates many of your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks.

Change is difficult but necessary. Imagine a world where your CRM and your ERP are integrated. Wouldn’t that make your life easier? Wouldn’t it make your whole company more efficient?

 

Software integration is critical

The benefits to application integration far outweigh any hesitation you or any member of your company may have. Once your company reaches full integration the possibilities are endless.

  • Automate reports
  • Develop internal and external workflows
  • Easier to integrate new applications as they come in
  • Improved customer service
  • Real-time data, available whenever you want

Chances are, you weren’t hired to spend hours sifting through spreadsheets and different software applications to put together reports. Application integration allows your team to work on the things they do best. More efficient reporting also helps guide decision-making and in turn, helps your company grow.

 

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch. Sure, some applications are more challenging to integrate than others, but that’s where you bring in a highly skilled, highly experienced team of specialists to do it for you. Integration can be achieved at any pace. If you want to build a full integration right away, then you can, but you can also ease your company into full integration. Depending on how complex your integration is, the second option may be easier for everyone involved.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Regardless of the existing infrastructure or ideal future state, our software experts can make it happen. Use the form below to request an exploratory discussion about how we can develop integrations that streamline operations and drive efficiency.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/07
July 3, 2018
Why Software Integration Matters

Why Software Integration Matters

What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

According to a recent study from the Harvard Business Review surveying 168 business leaders, two-thirds of HR departments are using HR metrics, but less than one-quarter deliver metrics to the CEO that link HR metrics to business results. Why the gap? According to the same study, only 39% of leaders agree that HR is able to quantify the business impact of the people strategy.

Linking HR performance metrics to business results can be challenging, but can also result in a competitive advantage for your organization by maximizing the value of your HR spend. To efficiently and effectively link HR metrics to business results, it’s important to keep in mind these three questions:

 

What information is most relevant to CEOs?

Let’s assume your CEO asks how much more was spent this year on recruiting. On its face, the question is about cost. Since HR is not a revenue generating function, this is often the case. So you could simply respond that recruiting spend increased from $100 to $200 million this year. That would directly address the question at hand, but that is only part of the picture. Without additional context or analysis, your CEO’s reaction will range from mild disinterest to annoyance that costs are rising.

Instead, make the connection to what they really care about: profitability. The quality of the incoming talent has a massive impact on revenue, so it’s important to highlight the corresponding impact generated by the recruiting spend. Your CEO will be thrilled if the additional $100 million increases revenue by $1 billion.

More granular metrics such as cost-to-hire, time-to-hire, and 90-day turnover could also be cited to illustrate the productivity of your team, and in turn, the value of that $200 million in spend.

Now you’re ready to speak the language of business. That small increase in recruiting spend has reaped massive benefits for the organization. Your additional layer of analysis didn’t answer the exact question that was asked, but it answered the more important question.

 

How are you accessing information?

Having access to clean, consistent, well-defined data is a critical first step in building your organization’s people analytics capability. What’s your process for gathering and synthesizing data for complex metrics like regrettable attrition?

Loss of high performers, people in hard-to-fill positions, and people with less than one year of tenure can all be classified as regrettable loss. When you’re analyzing and reporting on a metric as subjective as regrettable attrition, though, it’s important to keep in mind a few things:

    1. Be consistent. Solicit a variety of opinions from the business to define the metric, then stick with it.

    2. Document it. Once you’ve defined the metric, make the definition clear and accessible so that anyone who is reviewing the metric understands its components.

    3. Simplify the data gathering. Metrics like regrettable attrition can be challenging to build on an ad hoc basis, and data assembly, cleaning and synthesis can require significant effort. Make it easy for yourself and your team by building a custom report in your HRIS or a dashboard in Tableau or Power BI to reduce manual effort.

How are you telling the story?

Just reporting data isn’t enough. To influence strategic direction with people data, you need to present a compelling story and a clear perspective. As an HR leader, you may be focused on reducing pay inequities between men and women, and how you present this story to your CEO will impact the direction your company takes.

First, consider the likely questions and/or objections your fellow leaders may have, and be familiar with data that supports your POV. Regarding the gender pay gap, many people might raise experience level, performance and job title as explanations for a gender gap in compensation. Be sure you have the information necessary to respond to these.

Next, identify root causes that are contributing the most to the gap. One useful framework is to ask “Why” five times. Take the following fictional situation, where an HR leader delves into an internal pay gap:

  • Why #1: Why are women in the company paid 10 percent less than men in our company? (Dig into historical data) Because men receive raises that average one percentage point more per women per year.
  • Why do men receive higher raises than women? (Continue digging) Because men at the company receive more off-cycle performance reviews than women (note: there can certainly be more than one “because” for each why).
  • Why do men receive more off-cycle performance reviews? (Find managers who have conducted multiple off-cycle performance reviews and interview them) Because men at the company have been more likely to ask.
  • Why have men been more likely to ask for off-cycle performance reviews? (Interview men who have asked for a review as well as high performing women) Because men feel more confident that their requests will be granted.
  • Why do men feel more confident in engineering that their requests will be granted? (Continue interviewing) Because women are familiar with multiple cases of other women who have asked for off-cycle reviews and have been denied and labeled as “too aggressive.”

In this situation, asking 'The Five Whys' has revealed a cultural issue where a common behavior by both men and women has been received differently and caused cultural divide and narrowed potential solutions. In this case, however, the company may wish to train employees on subconscious biases, communicate more transparently about gender issues, or review performance management criteria across the organization to ensure consistency.

Finally, present your findings in a way that is visually compelling, drillable and easy to understand. Here is where people data dashboards can be useful tools. Rather than spending time creating and recreating dozens of PowerPoint slides, consider developing a dashboard within your HRIS, or within a simple Business Intelligence tool like Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, which allow you to rapidly generate high impact visuals, slice and dice data, and quickly respond to your CEO’s questions. Building powerful dashboards requires several steps: requirements gathering, metric identification, front- and back-end development, and operationalization, but the benefits – rapid visualization, analysis, and focus – are well worth the investment.

Linking HR data to business data will help you shape and drive your organization’s strategy. Understanding what your CEO cares about, how to quickly access information, and how to convey a compelling story will allow you get the most out of your people data.

 

Want to learn more about leveling up your HR team's perspective? Check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Data experts can help implement the infrastructure and analytical processes that will elevate the perception of your HR department. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 3, 2018
What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

The inverted pyramid is about embracing the synergies of an empowered and competent workforce. It's about identifying a career path trajectory of your people that directly supports the success of your customers, your company, and you as a leader.

The Inverted Pyramid

The ideal is for everyone to be experts at what they do. After all, why would you want anything less? But in order for your people to be experts, you have to help them get there. You have to show them that you have faith that they will get there.

 

Appreciate Your People

Boosting employee morale and confidence is at least half of the journey to an expert workforce. People work better when they feel appreciated and valued. People are loyal to someone they believe is willing to invest in them.

Take time to get to know your employees and their individual goals and objectives. Collaborate with them on developing career paths. Do they make sense in the position you have them? If not, where could they better serve? You are all serving the company, serving each other and serving yourselves.

 

Get to Know Your People

Know what they want and help them achieve it. Challenge them to push harder, without pushing them into positions they aren’t ready for. Encourage them to develop a diverse internal employee network. This is what it takes to be a leader.

Send them to classes or workshops related to the skills they need to learn. Look for like-minded business groups in your local area. This will help them build skills and network. You may be surprised at the number of such organizations that exist in many cities.

 

Set Expectations

If you are grooming someone for a management role, you need to make sure you are relying on and encouraging more than just their technical skills. It’s also extremely important to know the details of the role they are being geared for. You must make sure the role is defined and the potential candidate knows what will be expected of them.

Once you’ve clarified the role, you need to clarify the attributes required to fill it. You need to foster those attributes in your employee. Even if this move will put the employee in a position that no longer reports to you, it’s still in everyone’s best interest for you to make sure they are prepared.

 

Prepare for Their Future Success

  1. Do they have the Abilities necessary? This applies to both the technical abilities of the job and the leadership abilities of the position. Skills such as decision making, conflict resolution, motivation and planning may be new to them. Help them master them.

  2. Do they have the Aptitude to utilize those abilities? Once they have mastered their leadership level abilities, they need to know what skill is needed at what time. They need to be able to read people and know what is needed. This usually takes practice, and an opportunity to use their new skills in lower pressure scenario.

  3. Do they have the right Attitude for the job? If a person has the skills and the aptitude, but not the right attitude, they will not be a boon to your company. Make sure they have developed the values you are looking for, understand the mission of the company and care about their role in it.

Want to learn more about other Organizational Effectiveness trends? Download our eBook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
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judy-johnson
2018/07
July 2, 2018
Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

People analytics is undeniably a hot topic today. Few would argue that the availability of HR data and the tools to manipulate it enable stronger decision making, development of better people strategies, and increased influence with business leads. Putting aside the many benefits that data can offer, users should watch for mistakes that can result in bad decisions. 

Five common issues with advanced people analytics

1. False causation

Consider your latest employee engagement survey. You had an uptick in engagement over the one you did 2 years ago, and when you look at your financial data, you see that profitability also increased. Engagement caused profitability, right? Or is it that the healthier financial situation caused an increase in engagement? The tricky thing about one-to-one comparisons is that it is often difficult to tell which is the driving factor and which is the dependent variable. To reduce the likelihood of this error, eliminate other possible causes. Regarding profitability, has the general economic climate improved? Were there one or two big contract wins? Was there a reorganization or process reengineering effort? Any new vendor renegotiations? Be sure you’re taking a complete picture of your situation.

 

2. Hasty generalization

Consider exit interviews. You review your data for last year and see that 3 of 8 people leaving under a specific manager cited “poor management” as a reason for leaving. Should you be concerned? Probably. Should you use this data point to decide that this is a manager in need of training, demotion, or firing? Certainly not. When organizations are just starting to gather data, they are often in a hurry to use it quickly. Big mistake. Especially when there are limited data points available, it’s important to gather enough data before using it to make big decisions. Consider additional factors that might be at play – location, life stage, commuting distance, performance ratings – and test additional hypotheses.

 

3. Confirmation bias

So you’ve got a new baby – congratulations, it’s a sales training program you helped create. It has all the bells and whistles – blended learning, role plays, interactive video. You pilot it with a group of ten salespeople. In the next month, their numbers improve by 20%. You show the data to everyone. Your training was a massive success! Not so fast. What you ignored was that across the company, the average salesperson’s increase during the same time-period was 18%, seven of the ten people who took the training had just come off a bad month, and the cost to develop and administer the training was incredibly high. You made the mistake of picking only the data that supported the position you wanted to support while ignoring the rest. Confirmation bias plagues us all in all aspects of our lives (not just work). To overcome, seek out independent opinions, particularly when you have an emotional interest in reaching a specific conclusion. 

 

4. Regression to the Mean

You’ve recently implemented a monthly pulse survey, and you’re measuring participation. Good news! Response rate is 50% after 3 months, so you shift your attention elsewhere. Bad news. The initially high response rate will likely taper off after time. Performance and participation tend to regress to the mean, so whether it’s an average performer having a killer year or a new initiative that has a great deal of early enthusiasm, keep measuring and prepare yourself for a return to expected levels.

 

5. Data dredging

You have a massive HRIS export. You have detailed financial results by division and geography. You run a massive correlation analysis and find a statistically significant relationship between last year’s salary increase and this year’s absenteeism. You deliver the finding to your head of compensation and proudly report that “There’s only a 5% chance this is random!” Ah, but let’s do an experiment.

Do an Excel coin flip test:

  • Type “=randbetween(0,1)" in Cell A1 and hit Enter
  • Copy that formula across the Rows and Columns down to Cell G100, creating 100 Rows of 7 Columns
  • Sum each Row in Column H
  • Count how many times the sum in Column H comes to 7 (the equivalent of 7 flips resulting in Heads)

Statistically, there’s a 1 in 128 chance of this occurring in any single row, but do it a hundred times, and your odds of an all-heads row increases to 55%.

The takeaway: If you randomly test hundreds of variables for statistically significant relationships, you’re going to find them somewhere, but be careful. Data dredging is useful for identifying hypotheses, but don’t make the mistake of believing that the relationships that you find are, in and of themselves, meaningful. Find additional ways to test your hypotheses.

People analytics is an exciting field, filled with possibility for driving decision making at the organizational level. Keeping in mind common statistical and analytical errors and how to avoid them will help you steer the organization in the right direction.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help you overcome these pitfalls as part of enabling an impactful people analytics program. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 26, 2018
Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

Businesses no longer have the luxury of leisurely analyzing data by digging through books, historical documents, and consulting experts. Everything happens now, and your organization needs to adjust at the same speed.

Focus on your customers needs, not your wants

Agile workflows will be the primary processes for keeping up with change. You’ll need to increase your analytical capacity and decrease you implementation cycle before potential customers glance over your website and move on.

Basically, data is ruling the world. You’ll need to structure your analysis and workflow so that you can evaluate it quickly and efficiently, for beneficial and repeatable results. Therefore, you’ll need to find out what your customer needs and wants, and make sure to show them what you have that fits their needs. Here are some best practices: 

 

Focus on your customers needs, not your wants

But you also can’t bombard potential customers with data. Personally, few things irritate me as much as repeated emails from a company with a link back to the exact things I was looking at on their site and with no sort of hook. I already know what I looked at. Show me something relevant. Show me a sale on the kind of items I was looking at. Or, show me something even better.

 

Don’t just collect user experience data, turn it into action

If you’re recording where I am on your site, you’ll see all the different things I’ve been clicking on and looking at. Put those things together and figure out what I’m really looking for. Analyze my behavior on your site; don’t just copy/paste the page I already looked at. And do that before I’ve left your site, or at least before I‘ve purchased from another.

 

Focus on the user experience

You must base the ads that are visible on the sides of my screen off of what I am looking for. That is already being done by the big guys like Amazon for many years.

 

Implement a data analytics team

Do you have a business analytics team? If not, why? It’s not something that only larger businesses need. And it’s also not something that should be entrusted to one guy who’s good with excel spreadsheets. Your team should consist of these experts:

  • Data Analyst (Pull on demand data, check data integrity, communicate data results)
  • Data Engineer/Developer (Develops and maintains the actual database)
  • Data Warehouse Manager (Controls data accessibility, documents data procedures and upkeep)
  • Data Storyteller (Turns data into story with charts, graphs etc., communicates meaning behind data)
  • Data Director (Data’s “voice” in executive management)

There could be multiple people for some of these roles, and it’s possible they won’t all be needed if you are not growth-oriented. But you will need most of these roles and someone who is dedicated to them. And I don’t mean someone who typically manages a department or other projects and analyzes data on the side.

To prepare, you’ll need people dedicated to data analytics and interpretation. It must be part of your workflow all the time. 

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can collaborate with your leadership to install the people, process, and technology that keeps you ahead of the game. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help implement a data analytics program that creates a competitive advantage for your company.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/06
June 11, 2018
Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

Running your company with social responsibility, social activism, and environmental concerns in mind is no longer just a trend in business, it’s an imperative policy. We expect companies to do more than sell a product or service; we also expect some worldly good.

Rising Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

This is most obvious in the younger generations of job hunters and talent who believe reputation is more important than revenue. Today’s workers are willing to take jobs for a lower salary if those companies contribute more to social and environmental good.

 

Financial Implications

A negative reputation can cost a company at least an extra 10% per hire. For top talent, the world is now a candidate-driven market, not an employer-driven one. Not surprising, this is only expected to increase with time.

In an experiment with job applicants, it was found that potential employees who saw a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reputation in the job ad submitted bids that asked for wages 44% lower than applicants applying to the same job not listing their CSR information.

Just imagine by doing good, and being known for it, you can get hard-working and dedicated employees for 44% less. Granted, these employees will expect this reputation to be upheld. You can’t be all talk and no action.

 

substantiating csr commitments

In order for your reputation for CSR to stand out, you need to do more than throw money at a few causes right before tax time. You need to show the world, and potential employees, that you are willing to let CSR trump revenue when it counts.

One such way is to share information with competitors when it contributes to the greater good. Perhaps you’ve discovered new safety technology and processes for your industry? Well, don’t keep it to yourself; share with your competitors. You should care more about the safety of all people than you do about being ahead of the game in technology.

 

Identifying CSR opportunities

Do everything you can to decrease your organization’s carbon footprint. Think about what you can do to use fewer natural resources in your production, if applicable. Make sure anything you purchase comes ethically sourced and sustainably supplied.

 

Where to Go from Here

Not all of this comes easy; you will have to do your homework to make sure you are doing business with other good companies. If a business you purchase from, supply for, or work with in any way gets negative press – that can also reflect on you.

This is especially important with younger generations of workers. A survey of what is considered the millennial generation resulted in 76% saying that the social and environmental reputation of a company influences their decision to work there. It is 58% for an average of all ages.

As you can see, this is something you need to start preparing for now. Once you’ve mastered the thinking in terms of social responsibility, maintaining and adapting will not be as much of a challenge.

 

For more emerging dynamics your HR team should consider, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to schedule a casual conversation with our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 5, 2018
How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

No company can afford to operate like an island in the current ecosystem. You need to be aware of the potential changes coming to your industry and your market. You need to know what your competitors, suppliers and distributors are doing. Companies need to do more than just build partnerships with other businesses. They need to consider their business model and marketing strategies when developing a workforce plan.

Companies are working towards smaller and more agile groups of employees, and there will be value to be gained by partnering with competitors to use both of your resources to deliver a powerful product or service.

Toyota is a good example of a company that is working to seize this opportunity. With the rise of the self-driving car, Uber could be seen as a competitor for them. Instead of fighting to surpass Uber in the automated driving market, Toyota is in talks with Uber to explore the use of Uber’s technology in Toyota vehicles.

Regardless of the conclusion of these discussions, Toyota has opened up a bridge of opportunity for their company while minimizing a contender for their market. Together, they can accomplish more. With shared research, technology and testing, both companies save time and money in research and development. They can achieve the same success having spent less.

 

Stronger Together

So, how can you use this kind of thinking for your own company? What competitors do you have that may be more beneficial to you if you are working together?

These are questions you need to think about now, to prepare for the future. Think outside the box of what you control within your company, and start thinking of who you could work with to expand your capabilities.

 

If you’d like to learn more about this and other ways to prepare for the future...

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Organizational experts about how we can help account for future trends within your team structure and ways of working.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/06
June 4, 2018
Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

Both business and consumers can instantly access information and order goods from the other side of the planet. This has not been noteworthy for quite some time. The rise of globalization has made more countries more dependent on each other than ever before.

For consumers, this creates the perception that the world is getting smaller, and their purchasing power impacts many social aspects around the world and at home. A the same time, younger generations are making purchasing decisions that are motivated much more by emotion than the lowest price. The catch phrase, “Shop locally, think globally,” is now fairly commonplace. Globalizing is slowly being trumped by localizing, and you need to be ready.

 

Step 1: Define what local means to you

Depending on your type of business, there could be variations of local, and variations of strategies to nurture. For example, if you run a small Asian grocery market in a predominantly Asian community, your version of local is both very specific and obvious.

But what if you have an online company that develops accounting software for businesses? You do business with companies all over the world. What does local mean to you? This is a question you need to be thinking about now, because it will be more important in the future.

 

Step 2: Do some research

The interesting combination of technology and grass roots organization in today’s society, are outstanding for local globalization. There are quiz applications that can be targeted via social networking sites to the physical locations or to specific audiences you need. You can ask the questions to the exact people you want the answers from.

There’s no need to rely only on speculation of what your customers, patrons or potentials want. Tech has provided you numerous tools to ask them yourself. And you should be consistently doing that.

Knowing what your local market is, and understanding its needs, are imperative. You can sell the same product in New York City, and a small farm town in Pennsylvania, but you must know what the audience is looking for.

 

Step 3: Target with laser focus

Large companies acting on a global scale will need to dial down. Instead of an overarching high level position in charge of everywhere, you will need individuals tailored toward understanding specific markets and localities. You will need people with cultural awareness and understanding. Your workers and executives will need to be diverse.

According to a study by the CMO Council, almost 49% of marketers feel that localized marketing is critical to the growth and profitability of business. But, in that same study, only 12% of marketers feel they have a handle on localized marketing. So, companies know that it’s important, but they are still working out the best way to act on it.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant Organizational and Marketing experts can help your company incorporate methods for anticipating and capitalizing on all relevant trends. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 29, 2018
Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

Have you thought about this question? Do you know the answer? If so, do you know if they are working?

Employee Engagement Programs: Commitment or Going through the Motions

Most companies have some sort of employee engagement program in place, but not every organization truly integrates employee feedback into their ways of working. There’s a lot more to engaging employees than just checking steps and best practices off a list. You need to make sure what you’re doing is working, not just fulfilling a required action.

 

Gauging External Engagement

What are you doing to successfully engage people? Keep in mind that 'people' doesn’t only mean employees. The importance of feedback applies to your customers as well as your employees. After all, they want a lot of the same things. They want to feel valued and appreciated. They also want to be heard when they voice their concerns.

Just like with your customers, it’s not enough to conduct regular employee engagement surveys. You have to act on them too. Respond to their concerns and ask questions if you don’t understand. Once you have a handle on what your employees are looking for, set the objectives of what you want to address.

Create an engagement plan that directly addresses employee concerns and suggestions. Make a commitment to your team about what you plan to do, and stick with it. These are the most imperative aspects of engagement.

Without attention to responses, surveys are useless. Without communication, your employees don’t know you’re working to improve things. Without action, they’ll know that you don’t really want to improve things.

 

Steps to Ensure the Effectiveness of Employee Engagement Programs

  1. Solicit employee feedback.

  2. Read the feedback and understand it.

  3. Communicate what you intend to do in response.

  4. Follow through on what you communicate.

  5. Repeat the cycle.

Making it Happen

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

 

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 28, 2018
What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Can you describe your organization’s commitment to social responsibility? Is it at the forefront of the executive mind when making decisions?

Corporate Social Responsibility

This is what you want to be true for your company: You have a positive social impact; your mission aligns with broader social goals, promotes employee involvement in social causes, and is regularly recognized for positive social impact.

This is social responsibility success.

Check out the ways these companies achieve it:

 

1. Incorporate hours for volunteer work into your yearly budget.

Letting your employees use paid work hours to volunteer for their favorite causes is a sure win for social responsibility. It gets you good press in the community, increases employee loyalty and morale, and is the right thing to do.

Xerox earmarked over $1.3 million dollars to enable their 13,000 employees to participate in volunteer causes. This is over a period of many years at a very large company. But it’s worth the time to analyze your budget and see what kind of hours you can set aside for this no matter how small your business is.

 

2. Incorporate policies to use fewer natural resources.

All companies use natural resources; take a look at some of what you use and how. What can you use less of without compromising quality or safety? What could make the biggest positive impact on the environment?

Levi Strauss & Co has a trademarked “Water<Less” campaign, aimed at decreasing the use of water while manufacturing their products. They have already saved more than 2 billion liters of water with more planned. How can they make positive impact on their environment?

 

3. Donate per purchase.

TOMS Shoes is well known for its One for One approach to business. For every pair of shoes bought, another pair is donated to a needy child. It is a very simple and direct approach to helping others.

Consumers are glad to know their purchases are doing good things for others. Likewise, employees are glad to know their work is helping others. The community took notice, and the company is now well known for that purpose. People search out TOMS shoes to make a purchase. In addition to the good it does for the world, it actually drives customers to their products.

You might not be able to rearrange your business to match this approach, but you could come up with something, like a special product, or a certain percentage. There are always options.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant prides itself in its commitment to combatting domestic violence through our Connection of Hope campaign. We would be happy to help your team find creative, sustainable ways for your company to support the local or global community. Use the form below to reach out to our team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 21, 2018
Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Does your company play the hot and cold game when trying to find solutions or create something new? You don’t have time to research, so you just try as many ideas as possible to see if they seem good or not? It’s like throwing a bunch of things against the wall to see what sticks.

Promote Accountability and Creativity through Process

Some leaders are comfortable with the hot-and-cold approach because they are not able to commit time to planning up front. They wrongly assume that it will be faster to let you just figure it out and keep coming back to them for directional feedback.

This causes frustration for employee, manager and anyone else working on the project. A good worker doesn’t want to waste time; they want to make progress. And trying the same thing over and over again in different ways without any direction sure feels like a waste of time.

According to Brian Tracy, every minute of planning saves 10 minutes in execution. That may not seem like much at first but, it equals out to a 5-hour time savings for every 30 minutes you spend planning. That could apply to both the manager and the employee working on the solution, which would equal out to 10 hours there.

So what’s a better way? Look at the current and future state of what you want to fix or achieve. Talk about it, make sure everyone involved understands it, and plan how everyone can be acccountable.

  • Outline the current state together.
  • Identify the area you plan to improve.
  • Discuss possible solutions.
  • Select a solution that is universally agreeable.
  • Plan, do, check, and act.
  • Turn the new actions into a standardized process.

That is a very simple structure for building team accountability will save hours of time with any project or task. Why does this work?

  • It focuses energy and creativity on the actual problem you’re trying to solve, not just the symptoms.
  • It provides guardrails, keeping you on track to minimize confusion and reduce chaos.
  • It reduces administrative and redundant tasks, freeing up brain power for higher value tasks.

With this process, no one’s wasting their time with trial and error of things that will never work and aren’t even what the boss is seeking. It will help establish a culture of accountability, which is critical to achieving long term success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 15, 2018
Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

How would you describe the connections among people in your organization? Do various departments have an “us vs. them” mentality? Or does everyone work well together?

Well-connected teams have high trust levels within their inner circle and in other areas. A person who is well-connected will be better able to achieve goals during cross-functional projects. They will be respected by other departments and could help open up new career paths.

Let’s look at some examples:

Sally works in marketing at a local convention center. She’s been tasked with creating a promotion for an upcoming sports event, and a boss suggests offering signed baseballs to the first 150 ticket-buyers. The building security policy does not allow objects that can be thrown and potentially cause injury. Chances are, no one will toss the signed baseballs as they are keepsakes. Nevertheless, Sally’s boss told her to “Make it happen.”

 

Here’s an example of how a positively connected employee will act:

Sally respects the other departments. She’s built relationships with many of the managers. She decides to approach the security manager with the idea to get his input. She knows there must be a way to make this work that’s safe and effective for everybody. Since she’s worked well with them in the past, they are usually happy to see what they could do to accommodate her request. Together, they come up with a plan that will increase sales, please the customers, and abide by all required safety regulations.

 

Now, here’s the same scenario if a person does not have positive connections:

Sally is unfamiliar with company safety policy. After all, what does it have to do with marketing? Her job is to sell, and the more she sells the better her department looks, thus the better she looks.

She wonders if this will be an issue with the event security team. She doesn’t know any of them very well, and fears that if she asks she’ll end up having to find a different promo to use. Or, she’ll have to remind them that her boss is higher up on the corporate ladder and they need to listen to what he suggests.

Either way, it’s something Sally doesn’t have time for right now. She assigns people to hand out “promotional materials” without telling them what they will be handing out. The less people know the better. She’ll worry about the backlash when it comes.

You can probably guess how this is going to end up. But I’ll give you a few thoughts first. The promo team will hand out baseballs; the customers will proceed into the stadium, where security will see and attempt to confiscate the baseballs. There will be a level of chaos until everyone figures out what happened and how to fix it.

It’s easy to see which the preferable scenario is. So how do you get there? What can you do to encourage your team to build positive connections all throughout your organization?

  • Allow them to develop their people skills. Encourage them to take classes on emotional intelligence and working with others. Send them to networking events with each other.
  • Hold team building events regularly. Mix up the teams.
  • Let them know it’s okay to spend time building relationships. Demonstrate by asking others about their weekends, their kids, etc. Let people see you asking members of other departments their opinions on current projects.
  • Create cross-functional teams. Praise them when they do well. Encourage off-site meetings when possible, as this has more of a relationship-building atmosphere.
  • Celebrate personal and professional moments. Celebrate birthdays once a month, give people time away from their desks to enjoy cake and conversation. Have a good sales month? Buy everyone lunch and bring them in at the same time.
  • Once people build camaraderie, they are more likely to trust in each other. They will express their ideas and opinions more. They will respect others’ opinions and viewpoints more than they did before.
  • Employees that get to know members of other departments will learn who the experts are. They will then know who to ask in the future when something is needed.
  • Positive connections promote collaboration and the exchange of information and knowledge. Not to mention, it creates happier more satisfied employees. The Gallup Organization has shown that people who have best friends at work are seven times more likely to feel engaged and dedicated to their job.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams build their own employee network? That can go a long way in overcoming siloed thinking or competing priorities. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 14, 2018
Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

In Part 1, we discussed how meeting hygiene can help hold people accountable. This installment will focus on the facilitator's role in accountability.

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

Best Practices

  • Have a scheduled check in at the midway period.

  • Make sure all deadlines are realistic.

  • Remove any barriers to task completion.

  • Kill action items that don’t make sense anymore between meetings.

  • Task the action owner with giving a status update.

One of the most important factors here is being able to kill action items when they are no longer relevant. What you choose not to do is just as important as what you choose to do. Part of the facilitator’s job is to make sure time is used efficiently to progress the overall objectives. If action owners are dedicating time to tasks that no longer help the progression of the overall goals, then they are not doing their job.

How do you decide this? The first and most obvious, the action owner can recommend killing the item. If the facilitator can’t reply with the reasons why that task is still important, then it’s time to kill it. The argument for the action item needs to be stronger than “My boss said so.”

If it’s not suggested, but the facilitator’s friends and others are asking, why they are doing this again, or how this relates to such and such, then it is time to reevaluate the purpose of the task. Ask the action owner and anyone involved in assigning said task. Don’t be afraid to delve into the meaning of all aspects of work.

Monthly Process Review

  • Ask yourself and others if the standing meetings are working
  • Are you getting better at completing tasks and moving forward?
  • Evaluate what’s working, what’s not, and revise accordingly

Consistent reviews are important. There’s a difference between evaluating your progress and second-guessing yourself. A good facilitator will want to make sure that the team is always moving forward in the right direction, not just working for the sake of working.

 

Establishing and maintaining a culture of accountability is vital for the long term success of any company. If you would like to talk about how better accountability could benefit your company, free to reach out to our experts through the form below.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 8, 2018
How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

Technology is amazing, right? And not only do you love it, you are so excited to have brought this incredible new technology to your team. But when you look around at their faces, you don’t see that same excitement. In fact, you might not see any enthusiasm at all. Why not? Don’t they realize how GREAT this new tech is?

No, they don’t. This is where you must take a step back and realize not everyone thinks like you do. For a lot of people, changing from one kind of tech to another is inherently complicated, scary and considered a waste of time.

Leading this change management is part your job. Here are some tips:

 

Identify those open to technology adoption

These early adopters are the other people in the organization that are interested in technology and actually use the current systems that are being replaced. They can be key advocates that can make a big difference in getting buy-in from others. You have to pick the right people, though. They...

  • Are influencers in their areas

  • Have a strong network with their peers

  • Are recognized for their honesty and integrity



Reinforce the 'why'

Users typically don’t care about all the “Ooh, shiny!” aspects of new technology. They want to know what it’s going to do for them. What problem is it going to help them solve? How is it going to make their job easier? How is it going to make their customer’s experience better? These are the whys you need to highlight for them.

 

Make the tech easy to access

Surprisingly, this step is commonly overlooked. The steps for accessing and using this tech need to be easily integrated into the current routine. Make it so. Otherwise, inconvenience can be an easy excuse for resisting technology adoption.

 

Give early adopters a voice

Remember those influencers you picked out earlier? Listen to them. Respect their opinions and criticism. Incorporate that feedback into your team's path forward. Make the changes they request. Show them you value their input. Because you do.

 

Minimize the pain

  • Make sure training and support tools are available and easy to access.

  • Have subject matter experts immediately accessible.

  • Create a gamification angle that encourages participation.



Build reinforcement across the organization

  • In the beginning, recognize and reward behaviors - not results. Show appreciation for those engaging in the change management process, regardless of how 'well' they are using the new tools.

  • Use peers to reinforce good behavior. Incentivize them to encourage each other.

  • Have management track and reinforce technology adoption. This means make sure managers are proficient in the new tech. They have to use it themselves.



Track early indicators to target support and success

Make sure you are consistently showing everyone why this tech is a good idea. Show how using it positively influences your organization. Onboarding new tech isn’t over once people start using it. You need to prove its validity over time.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Digital Transformation and Organizational experts about how we can help you devise and implement a plan for overcoming resistance to new technology and eliminating technical debt.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 7, 2018
Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

Have you noticed that your seemingly quick and efficient standing meetings don’t seem to produce the follow-through that you’re expecting? Does everyone nod and agree as people are talking, but when the deadline comes around the work is not done? Knowing how to hold people accountable can revolutionize a company's efficiency and effectiveness.

One of the most important aspects of business is the ability to commit to and follow through on promises. You are held accountable for results. Therefore, your team needs to be accountable for their promises as well.

How to hold people accountable: Part 1 - Good meeting hygiene

  • Begin each meeting with a quick review of all previous actions. One minute per action owner.
  • Your agenda should have a purpose and an intended outcome.
  • Make sure action owners specify the schedule and expected result.
  • Identify the root cause of the need for an action before assigning it.
  • Avoid the activity trap by always focusing on the intended result.
  • Recap the action items and remove as many as possible.

These are vital parts of making sure you’re running an efficient meeting. It must be productive and quick. Make sure to hit on every action item without spending too much time on any of them.

Everything you talk about, and everything you assign, should contribute to your team’s objective. If you don’t know why you’re assigning a task, stop. If nothing else, table it for the next meeting.

Make sure the majority of items on your list get completed each week. Standing meetings should be focused on accomplishable tasks as much as possible. Concentrate on breaking up the larger objectives into the manageable tasks

 

These concepts may seem obvious or elementary to some, but can easily be overlooked without a concerted effort to take them into consideration. Communication that establishes shared expectations underpins the accountability that fuels organizational success.

 

Please check out Part 2, which explores how to hold employees accountable from the facilitator's perspective.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 1, 2018
How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

It’s never too early to plan for the future. Having a current competency model for your business is vital. But if you have long-term success in mind, you should have competency models for the future of your business as well.

 

Here are some key components of future-proofing your competency model:

Hiring Employees → Increase Company Membership

Employees must become more valuable and more than just a tool for the organization. Every hire will be looked at as a vital contributing member of the larger team. It will be a more detailed and more collaborative process.

 

Evaluation → Appraisal

This is a process of determining both company and individual value. What is your employee worth to you and why? What are you worth to them? This should be mutually beneficial. If it’s not, put a plan in place to fix that.

 

Promotion → Upgrade

Any promotion should be seen as an upgrade for both the individual and the company. Think of it like software. Upgrades provide improved versions of a current program for both user and company. Promotions should work the same way.

 

Employee Engagement → Total Stakeholder Engagement

To truly engage, you will need to include employees, customers, vendors, partners, universities, etc., in shaping your strategy. The company will be an engaged community; everyone the company interacts with has a contributing and reciprocal part to play.

 

Technically Competent → Digitally Proficient

More than just competency in standard office software, 2030 requires embracing and thriving in all manners of digital technology. Mobile/web applications, collaboration tools, social networks, and likely, virtual and augmented realities, will be a fact of life. Be more than ready, lead the way.

 

Ethical Corporate Values → Socially Conscious Actions

We must go from conducting business with ethical values to conducting business with actions that benefit society and our communities. Values must become actions; ideas procedures. Everything you do should make a difference.

 

Objective-Focused Diversity → Embracing Diversity

We must go from striving to meet diversity metrics in our processes to existing personal and professional networks that are already diverse in background, thought, etc. Diversity should be expected and in place, not worked toward.

 

Be sure to check out Part 2, where we provide tangible steps for leaders looking to apply these concepts to their competency models right away.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan for building and lead exceptional teams. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 23, 2018
Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Conflict is generally seen as something to be avoided at work, but more companies are realizing that’s not always the best method. In his book The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work, author Peter Block says that avoidance of organizational politics and conflict can result in a lack of accomplishment in the important aspects of your work.

Productive Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict helps us grow. If everyone at a meeting agreed with each other and never questioned ideas, there would be no innovation. So, how do you support productive conflict without causing damage from disagreements?

 

Encourage all of your team members to speak up and express their viewpoints

If there’s a point of view with which they disagree, there’s no need for silent resignation. People can express disagreement without being disagreeable. Make sure people show respect and consider others’ perspectives when voicing concerns.

 

Any debate should focus on facts

People need to have passion for their work and what they are discussing without letting that passion overplay their logic. You need to encourage these debates among your team, reinforcing idea generation. Challenging the status quo is a path to innovation. You should encourage your whole team to learn from each other’s ideas, even if they don’t agree with them.

 

Ensure no harm comes to any participants

If your team is composed of polite introverts, the rigorous conflict will likely be a shock to their existing norms. As a leader, you’re supporting and recognizing those who publicly raise respectful disagreements.

 

Conduct regular cross-functional brainstorming sessions

Build in dedicated time for challenges and disagreements, and most importantly, don’t skip over the 10, 15, or 20 minutes if nobody initially raises objections. This serves two purposes - first, it doesn’t allow disagreement to get in the way of idea generation; second, dedicating time to challenges ensures that ideas go through a vetting process.

Use a round-robin approach, giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts, suggestions, and ideas. Encourage them to build on each other’s ideas. Ask them why. Not just why they disagree, but what they do agree with. Include why they think this idea is best, and why they don’t.

 

Measure initiative success

Without provable and definable metrics you’ll never understand your results. It’s important to know whether or not an idea worked and how 'success' is being determined.

 

empower rank-and-file participation

The higher you are on the org chart, the less you should comment on the discussions. You want ideas, not just head nodding at your brilliance. Think of your job here as encouraging the conversation, not adding to it.

You can also consider getting an outside mediator who can help keep your team focused and honest in the process of productive conflicts. This may not be necessary for smaller disagreements but can often be helpful with large projects and big ideas.

 

Everyone stands to gain from properly facilitated productive conflict. This is a great opportunity for participants to broaden their personal cross-functional employee network. Challenging norms can also reveal external career paths that would benefit the employee and company over the long run. Standing up these programs on your own can prove to be tricky, for a variety of reasons.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

 

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 10, 2018
Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

The days where HR only handles company insurance, conflicts, and policies are coming to an end. HR planning is now integral to corporate strategic planning and the Human Resources department is a vital part of having a company that propels itself toward innovation.

While often they are seen as someone who puts the brakes on new ideas and operates from a place of risk assessment, the time has come for adaptation. As companies increasingly recognize the importance of human resources, they expect HR to be an agent of change from the start. They need to become more proactive with solutions and ideas instead of reactive to concerns.

Here are three ways in which to drive HR business innovation:

 

Align the People Strategy

Innovation starts with hiring. Are you hiring to meet diversity quotas and exact job descriptions? Or are you hiring diverse candidates who can help drive organizational change? Hire people who can help the company move forward, not just people who check all the boxes.

Design a performance management system that encourages innovative behaviors. What gets measured is what gets done. Establishing specific yearly goals to gauge individual performance reinforces your organization’s commitment to growth at all levels of the organization.

Elevate your top performer. Reward your team with more autonomy and engaging work and turn innovators into leaders. In a study by SHRM, 31% of HR professionals believe developing the next generation of organizational leaders is their biggest challenge in Human Capital.

 

Shift your Questions into Statements

Learn to be an innovator yourself; part of your job is to be a leader in your company. Instead of asking what you can do to help a situation, offer ideas and encourage productive conflict. When you see a roadblock to a company goal, don’t just point it out. You want to offer an alternative solution to pass the hurdle. 

Take control of what you have influence over. If upper management is looking for new talent offer to write up the job description, do the research needed and start the process of looking for candidates. Your value as HR is in more than just doing what you are asked, prove it.

 

Demonstrate Innovation in HR with Data

Goal tracking related to performance management, hiring, and contributing to innovation is critical. Everything should be measurable. You should be able to show how successful your strategies are.

Research your ideas, look at what other companies are doing, and share studies that reinforce your strategies. 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Identifying and pursuing opportunities to innovate through HR can be challenging, but can also have a significant impact across the organization. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 9, 2018
Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

There is a change needed in your company, you know what the ultimate goal is but you’re not sure how to get there. Proper use of consequences can greatly improve your employees’ ability to adapt and change their behavior as needed. This is not in reference to negative consequences. Here, we mean results - the effect of actions taken.

Benefits of Change Management 

These changes should not just be for the good of the company, but the good of the employee as well. Successful company culture change should benefit everyone in the end. You want better, more motivated employees that bring better value to their work and the company.

There are four things that impact the power of a consequence. Johnson, J. (2008) Switchpoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success

  • Timing
  • Importance
  • Probability
  • Where it comes from

 

Timing from Behavior

Timing is a simple concept. Does the consequence immediately follow the behavior? Such as; the first person to arrive to a meeting gets to pick what they are going to work on? Or is it delayed, such as getting a thank you from your boss for work on a project three months after it has gone live?

The recognition of immediate consequences is a important component of the change management process. When behavior is new and uncertain, employees want to know right away if they are doing it right. If you want to encourage the positive behavior, reward it right away with positive consequence.

 

Importance to Employee

Importance seems like an easy one, but you have to take the time to understand what is important to individual employees. If John likes public praise, it would be extremely valuable to him if you thanked him for his hard work on a project at an office wide meeting. Mark, however, will appreciate more if you take time outside of regular routines to thank him privately for his contributions.

It’s imperative to make sure that they consequence bestowed to reward behavior is done in a way that is truly important to the person receiving it. This will have the greatest impact on your desired change.

 

Probability of Recurrence

Now that you know the right kind of feedback, and the timing of it, you have to be consistent. When an employee knows they can rely on consequences from their manager they will continue to strive for it.

Employees thrive with consistent consequences. When the cause and effect of work becomes reliable, good work increases. Employees trust that good work will result in good consequences. They can also trust that bad work will result in a consequence they can learn from.

 

Understanding the Sources of Consequence

Where does the consequence come from? The Consequence Pyramid helps explain this.

 

Change Management Consequence Pyramid

 

Johnson, J. (2008) Switchpoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success

The consequences on the bottom of the pyramid are the strongest impact, but the consequences on top of the pyramid are the easiest to apply.

Natural consequences occur on their own, without effort to make them so. Such as the feeling you get when you’re finally alone in your office, or take your shoes off after a long day. This is not something that as a manager you can bestow upon an employee.

Self-consequences similarly cannot be motivated by management. This has to be something the employee sees and thinks or says to themselves. There’s a great impact with self-consequence, but it’s not something you can directly control.

Peer consequences are slightly less powerful than self-consequence. This refers to good and bad consequences employees receive unbidden from their coworkers. The next one, which you have the most influence over, is managerial consequence. This is performance reviews, preferred job assignments, constructive criticism, etc.

These are very important to employees, but often the consequences of their peers have more weight. This is why in order to motivate employees and make change in your culture you need to engage all employees in the change. This will naturally help create the stronger base of the pyramid, instead of trying to force it.

Last and actually least powerful, is organizational consequence. These are what many first think of when they think about rewards and consequences at work: bonuses, raises, write ups, employment anniversary awards, etc.

This maybe the first think you think of, but they are usually delayed for such a time that it’s not truly correlated to employee performance. If an employee completes a successful project, and 9 months later gets a bonus because of it, they will barely see the connection between their performance and the consequence.

That does not mean organizational consequences are unimportant, however true success must incorporate more. It also relies on the employees at hand. For some, organizational consequences might hold more power than peer consequence.

So then what do you do? One of the most important things, you have to know your employees. Be close enough that you understand which consequences will have the most impact on them.

The next thing, you need to make sure the consequences that you provide will support the behavior that you need. Focus on consequences that are positive, immediate and important.

The top of the pyramid is a good place to start creating culture change. It’s also they only part that you have direct influence over. This is how you will get started, but in order to achieve success the more powerful consequences will need to come next.

When you manage to engage your employees in the change, peer and self-consequence will follow. And when managers make strides to change processes, the natural consequences will come next.

When it’s going smoothly, you will notice that consequences are mainly coming from the bottom of the pyramid, and the upper levels are like backup for the real magic. The more you understand about the effects of antecedents and consequences on employee behavior, the stronger your transformational leadership will be.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational experts can evaluate the structure and capabilities of your teams to identify opportunities for improvement and build a plan to manage those changes. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges and goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/03
March 26, 2018
Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions

 

Through the adoption of the right technology, companies can measure and improve employee engagement better than ever before. Here are answers to some of the more common questions related to that topic.

Q1. How can I improve collaboration among employees using technology?

Utilize cloud-based storage and sharing platforms to encourage collaboration. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Dropbox and Google Drive can help make teamwork quick and simple.

It shortens the time looking for shared files and keeps track of who’s in what file. This makes working together less frustrating. Employees can access files from anywhere and always know when someone else is working on their shared project.

 

Q2. How can technology help my company provide consistent feedback?

By now, we have established the importance of feedback. Providing feedback and performance reviews for your team is an integral part of an engaged workforce. Unfortunately, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), only 2% of companies are offering consistent feedback to their employees. 

Employ technology with talent management software to enable giving and receiving of feedback in real time. On the spot feedback tools will make measurable improvements to engagement. It will motivate workers by regularly guiding them in the appropriate direction. This also encourages employees to provide feedback to management, and when employees feel their opinions are valued their engagement improves even more.

 

Q3. How can I use technology to provide a 360-degree view of employee performance?

Talent Management software is the answer to this. It exists to help broaden the perspective managers have of their employees. Having access to more of what people are doing helps you give reliable feedback. It also creates an avenue for peer to peer feedback.

Two considerations when it comes to 360-degree feedback.  First, do you want an off-the-shelf product or a customized tool? Off-the-shelf products tend to be less expensive and use preexisting frameworks for assessment. Customized solutions can be tailored to your organization's competency models and performance frameworks. Off-the-shelf is a cheaper, faster implementation, while a customized solution is likely to be pricier and more time intensive.

A second consideration is that 360-degree feedback is most useful when accompanied by regular coaching. Technology enables the process, but a 360 report provides little benefit to participants if they are left to address feedback on their own. In fact, research shows that a one-off 360-degree assessment can lower morale and performance, so be cautious when implementing this type of program.

 

Q4.  New generation social media tools are improving employee collaboration and engagement more than ever.

Organization and Project Management Tools such as Asana and Basecamp, along with whiteboard and forums such as Slack, are helping companies to make social media a part of their day to day workflow.

To fully realize the benefits of these platforms start by focusing on specific areas where the tools would be most useful. After successful implementation expand to other areas.

 

Q5. What's the first step to begin leveraging technology for employee engagement?

The first step is to understand the effectiveness of current employee engagement programs and how effectively your company uses technology to enable productivity. Sign up for your free assessment to see how you are doing in these and many other areas and where you can improve.

 

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/03
March 7, 2018
Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions

Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions

Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

The key to any successful digital transformation is clearly defining what exactly you need to be delivered.

Winning business digital transformation initiatives have a clear purpose. There is a business-driven reason behind them. They align to one or more strategic goals, such as increasing customer engagement, launching a new product, improving the existing customer experience, or making efficiency gains.

Defining the features and capabilities that will deliver these expected outcomes can be a frustrating exercise. The journey from concept to realization is rarely a straight line. You must align strategic business goals with capabilities that deliver features that achieve the sought-after outcome. 

There are many opportunities to lose the way while designing your digital transformation strategy. Here is how you can make sure your digital transformation initiatives don’t end up failing to meet expectations. 

 

Digital Transformation Strategy: A Partnership of Perspectives

The first step to creating a digital transformation strategy is identifying where it should live. Is this a business initiative that should be driven by the Marketing or Product team? Is this a technology initiative that should be driven by the IT department? 

The reality is that most digital transformation initiatives belong somewhere in the middle. Often the best answer is to form a dedicated team that includes all existing and well-established areas of your organization. 

It requires a partnership between all groups (Marketing, Product, and IT); consider it a partnership of perspectives that follow these steps to reach a successful outcome: 

  • Map out business goals
  • Determine solutions to meet those goals 
  • Identify target features and capabilities (so the delivery team can make them a reality) 

Implementing a digital transformation strategy can be much more complex than it seems on the surface. There can be tension if the deliverables don’t meet expectations and desired outcomes are not achieved. The difficulties can be amplified when the whole process is working against a moving target.

Consider Agile Methodology
As you put new features and capabilities in front of your customers, their reactions and responses, and your learnings from them, may well cause some reconsiderations in what is being delivered. Ultimately, this means that you must be flexible as deliverables are being implemented. 

A well-structured and organized team that has a flexible approach is central to the success of a digital transformation plan — a perfect time to implement Agile methodology

What is Agile methodology? 

  • Breaks up a project into several phases
  • Moves business goals to defined features which are delivered as demonstrable components

 

How to Execute a Successful Digital Transformation

An extensive amount of time and effort goes into implementing a new business digital transformation initiative. Its success is imperative. Here are a few tips to boost success: 

Be Informed 
It is essential that the target audience and the existing customer experience are well understood. You can use customer interviews, customer focus groups, or other proven methods of collecting data on the existing experience. The better the team understands its customers the more likely they are to deliver successful outcomes. 

Leverage Data
Knowing data points on the existing customer experience informs design considerations and can serve as a benchmark when measuring future deliverables. Ensure each release continually captures relevant data, and is used in future design and planning processes. 

People
  • How will these changes affect the people within your organization?
  • Have you sought their input into these changes?
  • Do you have a change management plan in place to help ensure a smooth transition and maximize internal adoption? 

Communicate Effectively 
Encourage cross-functional activities and place an emphasis on learning and implementing over perfection. Involve technical team members by keeping them well-informed about what might be considered business-centric discussions. Engage non-technical team members in the discussion of how features are being delivered.  

 

Marry Business and Technology through Digital Transformation

A digital transformation will require a collaborative and cooperative partnership from across your organization. Build, nurture, and encourage cross-functional, highly collaborative teams.  

Success lies in technology and business working together. Be well-informed about who you are building solutions for and keep your customer at the center of all that you do. Build data collection and analysis into your approach and then use that data to inform your decision making and achieve the best results. 


Are you ready to start a business digital transformation journey? Fill out the form below to get started today!

aspirant-team
2024/04
April 5, 2024
Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

Business Digital Transformation: Where Goals Meet Delivery

Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

After building your organizational strategy, you will be ready to translate it into a marketing strategy. Here is our approach to create clarity that fuels more impactful differentiation and successful marketing campaigns.

The best fishermen don't throw a line in the water and just hope for the best. They go after a specific fish, know exactly what that fish loves to eat, and only hit the lake when those fish are hungriest. They even know when it's time to try another lake. Effective marketing campaigns require the same type of insight.

Thinking through the questions below will help ensure the features, positioning, and promotion of your product / service will resonate with your intended audience. Use the link at the bottom of this page to download templates and examples of the mentioned marketing strategy tools.

Along the way, we will provide simplified examples from the perspective of a boutique coffee shop, Café Nitro,  to help illustrate the concepts at hand. These examples and the corresponding templates can be downloaded via the link at the bottom of the page.

 

Who is your target audience and what do they want / need?

It may be surprising, but marketing strategy should always begin with the end user - not what you are trying to promote. This anchors everything you do to their mindset. To analyze the psyche of each market segment, marketers often build a 'Persona'. A Persona is a profile for a fictional individual who represents a specific market segment. The appropriate number of Personas to develop will vary by the complexity of your offering and the variety of consumer perspectives.

Each Persona typically contains the following elements:

  • Name and relevant personal details (e.g. age, ethnicity, gender, location, level of education, job title, company). We like to include a photo with each persona to make them seem more human. 
  • Related goal(s) and motivation establish what they are trying to accomplish and why. 
  • Pain points based on circumstantial challenges and/or shortcomings of the competition. 
  • Preferences and considerations that play into their buying decision.
  • Summary of the ideal solution for overcoming the pain points and achieving satisfaction.

Personas make each segment much more relatable, simplifying the process of finding ways to create value for them, elevate their perception, and influence their decision making.

 

Aspirant Sample Persona

 

How will your solution be the best option for them?

Sustainable business success is based on the ability to provide customers with more value than the competition. The details in your Personas will identify the primary drivers of 'value' for the corresponding market segment. The next step is to specify how your product / service will stand out from the competition by doing a better job of satisfying their needs.

 

Benchmarking Direct & Indirect Competition

You will need to consider how all relevant alternatives stack up against the target audience's needs and preferences. The competitive set and evaluation criteria will likely go beyond what is mentioned in the Persona.

As with most analytical methods, your benchmarking can be as basic or as complicated as you would like. Taking time to create a ranking algorithm based on weighted criteria and numeric scores would add nuance to clarify how competitors compare to one another. If available, include third party data like consumer ratings or reviews (Google, Yelp, Amazon, etc.) to account for the prevailing market perception - even if that perception is entirely off-base.

 

Aspirant Sample Competitive Benchmarking

 

 

Develop Compelling Positioning

Knowing what your target wants and where the competition is missing the mark will point you directly toward how you can gain an advantage by addressing the unrecognized / unmet / underserved consumer need. Now it is time to compile the specifics of how you will create that competitive advantage. A piecewise approach helps guide that thinking:

  • Target: Call out the demographics, perspectives, and attitudes that describe your consumer base. B2B businesses may want to include relevant company attributes (annual revenue, number of employees, industry) and individual job titles (functional department, seniority). This info should be specific enough to be insightful but general enough to represent the base that will make up the majority of your sales. That broader group (and the corresponding details) may stretch beyond the scope of your Personas.
  • Offering: List the product(s) and/or service components that are relevant to the combined audience. No need to include any qualifying support; this should be factual and objective.
  • Benefits: Cite the thematic qualities of the elements in the Offering section that create value for the Target audience.
  • Reasons to Believe: Substantiate how the qualities listed under Benefits will be achieved. (What will make our coffee 'great-tasting'?). Focus on angles that are meaningful to your Target and create differentiation / superiority versus your competitive set.
  • Put It All together: Using the prompts and referencing the supporting detail, populate the top boxes with phrasing that can be combined into a summary of how you will provide what they seek.
     

Aspirant Sample Positioning

 

Why should they care about / believe in your solution?

Get inside your target's head. Break down the logic behind their decision making to identify what you need to tell them to change their mind, and in turn, change their actions. Building a Task Map for each Persona is very useful to that end: 

  1. Need State - Summarize their perspective in terms of how they are unable to achieve the satisfaction they seek.
  2. Current Behavior - How are they currently acting?
  3. Current Belief - What do they believe that drives them to behave this way?
  4. Future Behavior - How would you like them to act instead?
  5. Future Belief - What must they believe to behave in order to behave this way?
  6. Barrier(s) - What perceived truth(s) are preventing them from progressing from Current Belief to Future Belief?  
  7. Task - What does this Target need to realize in order to break through the Barriers and adopt the Future Belief?

This will clarify the talking points your targeted segment will find most compelling and convincing.

 

Aspirant Sample Task Map

 

 

When should they be thinking about your solution?

Building awareness with your end users is always positive. But to maximize the chance of converting visibility into revenue, you need to reach them in 'moments of truth'. These are situations before, during, and after their purchase that they consider what they will do, are doing, or have done. If you have the time, building a Customer Journey Map for your Personas would help determine these critical moments by thinking through how they are thinking, feeling, and acting at each step along the way. A multi-faceted campaign can then be constructed to align with each of those touchpoints.

For a streamlined approach, you can start with identifying when your target is most likely to need what your company offers. Highlighting the benefits of your product / service at the right time can create a very direct route to conversion.

 

How will you tell them about your solution?

Now it is time to put it all together: building a plan for reaching the right people with the right message at the right time. From the wide variety of marketing tactics available, it is critical to favor the ones that can do this job efficiently, and ideally during those 'moments of truth'.

The options fall into three categories, based on the medium by which your message is delivered:

 

Traditional Marketing

This is comprised of static, offline channels such as:

  • Terrestrial radio
  • Printed newspapers and magazines
  • Broadcast, satellite, and cable television
  • Outdoor signage such as roadside billboards
  • Direct mail

 

Pros: These channels offer a method for reaching a broad audience where the goal is to build maintain awareness for an established product intended for everyone and there is not much need for target-specific messaging (McDonald's, Coca-Cola). They are set-and-forget; once deployed, they will run under the specified parameters without any oversight.

Cons: Pricing for these programs is based on the scale of their reach, making them inefficient for reaching audiences that are only a subset of the general population. Larger companies have access to volume discounts, compounding their advantage over smaller competitors with less to spend. Properly gauging performance in terms of impressions, engagement, conversion, or ROI is either difficult or simply impossible, minimizing the opportunity to learn from results. Being offline, they are inherently further removed from the action you are hoping to stimulate (check out your website, visit your store, buy your product).

Recommendation: Universally deprioritize Traditional Marketing until you are confident that there is no further upside from your Digital Marketing programs.

 

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is, of course, defined by the digital means that connect you with your target audience. 

'Outbound' tactics reach out to serve your content to the targeted audience. Think of them as the dynamic, online versions of their Traditional counterparts:

  • Streaming radio
  • Digital newspapers and magazines
  • Streaming video and television
  • Social media
  • Email outreach

 

Online research has become central to most of the decisions everyone makes day-to-day. By anticipating how your target will use the internet to find products / services / companies like yours and preparing accordingly, you can create consideration in this most critical 'moment of truth'. This is how 'Inbound' tactics generate incoming purchase interest in the form of site traffic, emails, phone calls, store visits, etc.

  • Search engines
  • Online business listings and rankings

 

Pros: The ability to target people individually exponentially improves efficiency and effectiveness. Performance metrics for these tactics are detailed and readily available, enabling continual refinement and ROI calculation in real time. Where the success of Traditional campaigns depends on spending, Digital campaigns excel based on informed planning. That dynamic creates the opportunity to compete with, and prevail against, MUCH larger competitors.

Cons: Designing, deploying, and managing these programs properly requires a set of skills that can only be developed and honed through first-hand experience. 

Recommendation: Businesses of any size, industry, and marketing budget should exclusively focus on fully optimizing their Digital Marketing programs (Inbound, then Outbound) before investing any time or money elsewhere. Partner with established Digital Marketing experts in order to flatten the learning curve for yourself and accelerate the realization of business results.

 

Local Marketing

By 'Local' we are not referring to localized Traditional or Digital campaigns. Here, we are talking about self-organized activations in the immediate vicinity of your business. Creativity, elbow grease, and familiarity with the local community are needed in order to execute these programs well. Due to the minimal benefit relative to the time requirements, Local Marketing tactics typically don't make sense for large companies. But they can be an excellent way to forge a lasting emotional connection with the community.

  • Promote, sample, and/or sell directly at regional festivals, events, and trade shows
  • Join a networking group made up of other local business owners
  • Create a cross-promotional partnership with related, non-competing businesses
  • Hand out product samples or informational flyers on nearby sidewalks
  • Place / improve branded signs on / near your business
  • Sponsor adult or youth sports teams / leagues
  • Host an open house at your facility or offices
  • Participate in Adopt-a-Highway

 

Pros: Local Marketing initiatives often require more effort than dollars, which could equate to a very attractive ROI. Some could create an opportunity to make a sale on the spot. Face-to-face interaction with your target audience and partnerships with other area businesses can pay dividends for years to come. 

Cons: The reach and corresponding upside is inherently limited. It is often difficult to find the time to devise and execute these programs. Risk that event-based tactics fall short of expectations due to inclement weather or other external circumstances.

Recommendation: Collaborate with colleagues and friends on building a list of Local Marketing ideas. Identify complementary businesses that might be interested in future cooperation. Keep an eye out for the opportunity to participate in programs or events that are already being planned and promoted. Once your Digital Marketing is well established, find low-risk ways to get your feet wet in Local Marketing. 

 

Getting started: Framing a marketing strategy

Much like the preceding Strategic Planning Process, you may not have considered the marketing strategy concepts listed above. Hopefully the Café Nitro examples will help you utilize these frameworks in building an effective strategy for marketing your business. Click on the button below to download those examples and the blank templates, all in one file.

 

Download Marketing Strategy Tools

 

The next step will be to put that strategy into action. Click here to check out our suggestions for how companies behind the curve can jump start their Digital Marketing.

 

SB Growth Strategy Thumbnail GreySB Strategic Planning Thumbnail GreySB Marketing Strategy Thumbnail Grey BorderSB Digital Marketing Priorities Thumbnail

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We are proud to have built a client base spanning Fortune100 corporations to local companies to non profit organizations - and everything in between. We apply the best practices from those programs along with our Integrated Expertise to support businesses of all shapes and sizes achieve their goals. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization.

 

 

We'd love to help you build a marketing strategy that gets real results.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2024/03
March 21, 2024
Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

Tips for Developing a Marketing Strategy

Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Managing data has never been more critical than now, with businesses and organizations relying increasingly on data to make decisions and stay competitive. To ensure effective data management, establishing benchmarks for your Master Data Management (MDM) strategy team is essential. MDM benchmarks provide a standard for measuring performance and effectiveness.

Define the Objectives and Goals of Your Data Management Team

The first step in establishing MDM benchmarks is to define the executives' and team's objectives and goals. This will provide a clear understanding of what everyone's trying to achieve through benchmarking and when you are working on a big, seemingly never-ending project. Objectives and goals can include improving data quality, increasing productivity, reducing errors, or improving data integration across systems. Each objective should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), making tracking progress and measuring success easier. And remember to celebrate and acknowledge milestones to remind yourself that you're making progress and that there is value in what you're working toward.

 

Identify MDM Benchmarking KPIs

Once your objectives and goals are defined, the next step is identifying the MDM benchmarking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you will use to measure performance. They can include things like data quality, data governance, data security, data integration, and data accuracy. Each element should be relevant to your objectives and goals and measurable in some way. Measuring these milestones enables you to monitor progress over time and identify areas of improvement by comparing month-over-month or year-over-year.

Ideally, each milestone will build from the last in an upward climb. This clarifies that your KPIs will have a measurable and beneficial impact.

KPIs should be encouraging to both the project team and executive-level stakeholders. Place them tactically throughout the project's life for consistent momentum.

 

Establish the Appropriate Metrics for Measuring Success

Once your benchmarking components are identified, the next step is establishing the appropriate metrics for measuring success. Metrics should be specific, measurable, and relevant to your objectives and goals. For example, if you aim to improve data quality, relevant metrics might include completeness, accuracy, consistency, and validity. Establishing the right metrics will make tracking progress and measuring success easier. It will continue to be utilized long after project completion. They become a regular part of monitoring your departments. Use MDM metrics to analyze and assess the flow of data and the trends of internal and external data integrity. Watching your data moving forward must be a top priority for your MDM team.

Some examples of MDM metrics are:

  • Percentage of duplicate data
  • Cycle time for new customer set-up
  • Error rate in the data record
  • Mean time to repair data issues
  • Percentage of current accounts with incomplete data
  • The average database availability time

There are many more options, and you must talk with your team to develop the best metrics to help meet your objectives. Again, this should be done early in the project, as your MDM strategy should be built from your data needs. Therefore, your metrics should be indicative of those needs.

 

Utilize a Data Governance Tool or Platform to Monitor Performance

Utilizing a data governance tool or platform is essential to track progress and measure success. Data governance tools provide visibility into data quality, integrity, and protection. They help ensure your team follows established policies and procedures and provide a framework for managing data across the organization. Using a data governance tool or platform, you can monitor performance and ensure your team meets established benchmarks for your MDM strategy.

 

Create Actionable Strategies for Improving Performance from the Measurements

Once you have established benchmarks and are tracking the appropriate metrics, the next step is to create actionable strategies for improving performance from the measurements. These strategies can be based on data analysis or team performance. For example, they can include training, process improvement, data cleansing, or enrichment projects. Creating actionable strategies ensures your team is taking steps to improve performance and meet established benchmarks.

 

Implement MDM Best Practices to Ensure Sustained Improvement in Performance

Finally, to ensure sustained improvement in performance, it's crucial to implement MDM best practices. Best practices can include things like data profiling, data standardization, data cleansing, and data enrichment. By following established best practices, you can ensure your team consistently manages data to a high standard, continuously improving data quality, governance, security, and integration.

 

Establishing MDM benchmarks is an essential step in effective data management. By defining objectives and goals, identifying benchmarking components, establishing metrics, utilizing data governance tools or platforms, creating actionable strategies, and implementing MDM best practices, you can ensure your MDM strategy team effectively manages data and drives improved performance. In addition, with benchmarks in place and measurable metrics being achieved, your data management team will continue to drive advances in data analytics, allowing your organization to make more informed decisions that will ultimately help to secure a more secure future.

 

 

Interested in learning more about Master Data Management, establishing benchmarks, or data analytics? Fill out the form below, and one of our experts will get in touch with you.

 

sayed-saeed
2024/03
March 19, 2024
Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Establish MDM Benchmarks for your Data Management Team

Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Your people are your greatest asset. But people are often uncomfortable with change, regardless of what kind of change it is — a system update, new strategy adaptation for process improvement, or even additional headcount. Unfortunately, it’s a common challenge leaders must face, and it’s not always easy to resolve.

Navigating the Change Management Process

Change is a constant any way you look at it. But effective transformational leadership requires supporting teams through the stages of acceptance. It will either give you an advantage in the marketplace or it could be detrimental to your bottom line in the short- and long-term.

To make any organization run well, it takes a variety of people, in several positions, with a plethora of backgrounds, skills, and experience to be successful. That same diverse group of people may have an overall goal of the organization thriving, but to get there it takes several ways of effective and successful communications. But what’s the right way?

Change management traditionally starts with structure and policies. But if you want to make a real difference, there is a step that comes before the normal starting point — it all begins with people. Because everyone is so different, learns in various ways, and communicates so vastly, it’s imperative to begin any change initiative by knowing your people first.

 

Here Are a Few Tips to Get Started

1. Understand Human Values

That includes personal values, organizational values, employee values, and connecting with the community. Learning about each of these values will help you to define who the company is and what matters most.

But do organizational and individual values directly align?

Of course not. Not everybody in the organization will share the same values, but learning what drives everyone, and finding ways to connect their motivations with the goals of the organization will mutually benefit everyone.

This is where a value analysis can help you connect the organization’s vision with the people’s values.

 

2. Understand Human Emotion

Change can bring many feelings, though most are associated with a negative connotation, like a disgruntled employee. When people are asked to do something different, they are being taken out of their comfort zone. This can cause a negative emotional reaction that is often misunderstood and/or underestimated. By understanding how emotions react in a state of change can lessen the effect and cause a much smoother transition.

 

3. Appreciate the Importance of Communication

Explaining all the key information (who, what, when, why, how) is critical to change management. Frequently, decisions that are made at the top of an organization either are communicated extremely slowly or not at all to the front lines.

 

There could be a plethora of reasons for this, including leaders fearing information overload. However, reaching all levels in the organizations, during times of transformation, is extremely important. Not knowing or understanding what’s going on can lead to several negative outcomes. It can prevent:

  • General feelings of frustration

  • Employee lack of accountability

  • Not being able to work effectively toward the company’s goal

  • Lead to seeking other opportunities

 

The important thing to remember is that you must always share the same message. The language may change based on your audience, but consistency is key. 

 

 

4. Cement your Messaging

Communicating an effective and consistent message cannot happen until you and your team have decided what that message is. 

  • Who are you as an organization?
  • Why do you exist?
  • What is your great purpose or vision?
  • What are your values?
  • What exactly are you offering to your customer?
  • How is the change at hand going to impact the current and future goals of the organization?

 

These can be hard questions to answer and answering them may at first seem unnecessary or redundant. Be assured, that this analysis will help you connect your people to your great purpose. Belief in your company’s goals is what ultimately will push your employees to go the extra mile for you. 

 

It Starts and Ends with People

Ultimately, good technology, processes, and/or systems are valuable, but in the end, people are your greatest asset. Their commitment is required to make your vision a reality.

 

Understanding how to make the company function efficiently AND what works best for your people may sound difficult, but the benefits that come from tackling them together could mean the difference between failure and success.

 

Trust, communication, understanding, values, and engagement are critical…get it right, and the dream of a smooth transition could truly become your reality.

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Org Accelerator™ program has proven extremely effective in helping clients streamline change management initiatives. It is designed to jumpstart a company's collaboration and performance in just 12 weeks.

 

If you would like to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges, you can reach our Organizational Effectiveness team through the form below.

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2024/03
March 15, 2024
Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Change Management Process & The Human Cost of Change

Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Master Data Management is hardly a new concept. It can be a bit confusing, though. The idea behind MDM is to organize your data so the people who need it can access it without having to go looking for it. More and more businesses are realizing their data is a mess. Messy data hurts the company’s key decision-makers. These individuals need clear, accurate, and easily accessible data in order to make informed decisions. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Start with the Pain Points

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result. This sort of insanity happens regularly in businesses all over the world. There are employees who spend countless hours per week, or maybe even per day, putting together reports. In order to pull these reports together they’re either bouncing from application to application, spreadsheet to spreadsheet, or relying on another person. This is insanity.

How reliable is the data — or better yet — how reliable are the other people compiling this data? Without an MDM strategy you are leaving yourself and, more importantly, your company susceptible to inaccurate data. It’s 2018. Managing your data can be so much easier than updating the same spreadsheet you’ve been using since 1995.

Reporting is often a pain point. It’s a tedious task and the people doing it are usually wondering if anyone is even reading the report anyway. It’s time to let your employees focus on helping your company grow. This means freeing up their time to focus on more important things. Making time to build a detailed MDM strategy allows key decision-makers to have access to what they need when they need it.

 

Figure Out What Data You Need

Your sales team uses SalesForce. Your operations team uses a spreadsheet to track employee utilization and another software to manage projects. Your accounting department uses QuickBooks. Should I keep going? What tools or software does everyone really need to do their job effectively? This is a critical component of a solid MDM strategy.

MDM is all about bringing together data from different data points. The more organized you are, the more effective this strategy will be. This is also a great opportunity for your entire team to look in the mirror and ask, “Do I really need this program?” or “Why do we need to know this information?” Really, what are some of the KPIs your company needs to know?

  • Revenue
  • New Leads
  • Customer
  • Deal Forecasts
  • Employee Utilization

Once you’ve figured out what you need to integrate, then you need to figure out who is going to implement the strategy. Are you going to bring in an outside firm? Are you going to try and do it in-house? Who is going to run point on the project?

 

Hiring an MDM Implementation Firm

Developing metrics for successful Master Data Management shouldn’t be done alone. Bringing in an outside firm allows you to bring in someone to analyze your situation and give you advice on how to make things more efficient, automated, and organized. In addition, going outside your organization allows your team to continue working on other things and not on anything outside their expertise. The MDM implementation firm will also guide you through a tried and proven process to ensure a successful, smooth implementation.

 

Communication is Key

Your new MDM strategy will bring together your entire company: sales, marketing, IT, accounting, HR, etc., all key departments in most companies. Knowing this, it’s important to consider everyone when deciding which applications and what data you’ll be bringing together.

It’s also important to define who will need access, how frequently automated reports will go out, and other key considerations for each department. The more you include your team, the easier it will be to get everyone on board. And the more people on board, the smoother this will all go.

 

It’s a Big Project

All in all, master data management is a huge project. It’s bringing together all of your data, from all of your applications, and getting them to talk to each other. Imagine bringing together 10 different groups of people who speak 10 different languages, putting them all in the same room and asking them to communicate. You would definitely need a strategy. But not just any strategy. You would need a solid, well-planned, “no-page-unturned” strategy.

Trust us. The result will be beautiful.

 

 

Partner with the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in evaluating, installing, configuring and implementing high-performance data warehouse architectures. We understand the importance of having complete and accurate information available at your fingertips. If this is a pain point for you or your company, reach out. We’d love to explore how we can help.

 

ryan-mangis
2024/03
March 4, 2024
Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Use the Right Master Data Management KPIs to set MDM Strategy

Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

In order to find a flaw in your go-to-market strategy, you will first need to have a good understanding of both your customer and your competition.

Your customer’s journey is the story of their relationship with your brand or business. This stretches from the time they first encounter the product or services all the way through their time of purchase. If everything goes as it should, this will even include repeat business.

Just like every date doesn’t end in marriage, every potential customer you encounter will not buy. However, if your brand is successful, a certain percentage of them should. What happens when you aren’t converting enough potential customers to sales? Why is your customer’s journey not becoming a buyer’s journey?

 

What Is Really Stopping the Customer in Your Buyer’s Journey?

When you aren’t seeing the results that you want in sales you might wonder where the problem is. The truth is that in order to find a flaw in your go-to-market strategy, you will first need to have a good understanding of both your customer and your competition.

 

The Importance of Long-Term Planning

It is so easy to get bogged down in managing and completing daily tasks, profit and loss, and trying to achieve goals and objectives. Where do you find the time for long-term planning?

Making the time for long-term planning is absolutely essential because it is what will give your company an edge in the future. Not planning today can easily lead to tomorrow’s failures.

While data can give you some of the information that you are looking for, real deep insight comes from long-term planning. You will want to invest time in creating accurate customer personas and using customer journey mapping.

Customer journey mapping will help you to analyze every touch point. This makes it easier to identify and overcome pain points in the process that could be derailing sales.

 

The Key is in Long-Term Thinking for your Customer Journey

Playing the long game always wins in business. You never want to be caught scrambling to catch up. If you want to make sure that you are always at least a step or two ahead of your competition, keep these questions front of mind while you are planning:

  • How has your plan changed since you launched? Are you flexible enough?
  • What are your buyers' needs today and what will they be tomorrow?
  • How has the landscape changed since you launched?
  • What trends have died or emerged since you launched?
  • Are there new areas where you can or should innovate?

 

How Do You Get Ahead of the Competition?

The best way to get ahead of the competition is by thinking long term and by using a strategy called Wargaming. Designing your marketing strategy using the war gaming method gives you a great competitive edge.

Wargaming is when you take the opportunity to think like your competition. This lets you see why they do what they do. Wargaming sessions give you a chance to walk in your competitor’s shoes and therefore, beat them to the punch. This will be a huge competitive edge going forward.

It is important to remember that this is not a one-time exercise. As the market changes and consumer habits change, you will need to continue to reevaluate. This is the key to staying current as well as one step ahead of your competition.

 

Ready to Design Your Next Marketing Strategy?

If you are ready to take the next steps to making your business more successful and seeing how you can play the long game, fill out the form below to schedule a discovery call with our team. We can help you identify pain points, gaps, and opportunities to improve interactions with your brand, business, or team.

michele-petruccelli
2024/02
February 16, 2024
Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

Tips for Improving Your Customer Journey Conversion

Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

You wouldn't go out wearing a t-shirt in winter or an overcoat in summer, so why tackle your company projects with only one approach? With the plethora of frameworks and methodologies available, companies can optimize their work delivery. But like choosing the right clothes for the season, each project needs a tailored approach to fit its unique circumstances. Let's explore the array of approaches to make sure that each project in your portfolio is optimized for success!

Project Management Approaches

Managing a project takes a unique set of skills and an approach unlike most business practices. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. It is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. Project Management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.”

 

Project Management Methodology: Waterfall vs Agile Project Management Statistics

Comparison of project methodology use. Data courtesy of LiquidPlanner.

 

Project Management Frameworks and Methodologies

Whether building a bridge, developing software, or optimizing a new process, a skilled project manager uses a system of processes called a framework or methodology to bring about a successful project outcome. There is a small but important distinction between frameworks and methodologies. Frameworks are generally loose and provide structure and guidelines without being too rigid. Methodologies are more prescriptive, providing rules, methods, and deliverables with less room for interpretation. For years, the Waterfall framework was the most popular approach, whereby the team moves linearly from one phase to the next only after the prior phase is complete. This is also called a predictive or phased framework.

More recently, other approaches have been introduced, which are considered “agile” and “lean,” whereby a team iterates and incrementally builds the result. The software industry made this popular because it solved for the pitfalls of the traditional Waterfall framework, where the scope could be unknown and evolve as the project continued.

 

Agile Vs Waterfall Project Management: Project Methodology

Examples of situations for project approaches.


Agile and Lean Approaches

Following the introduction of Agile and Lean approaches came a plethora of incremental and iterative frameworks (such as Scrum or XP) and methodologies (such as Kanban) that offer the user many benefits. The breakthrough concept to address the reality that in many circumstances the requirements are not fully understood up front and require customer input is very compelling.  

There are circumstances, especially in software development, when a project approach should address this uncertainty and allow for continual evolution of a solution. If a project team can benefit from learning through development and prototyping, then an Agile framework is best.

A great example of where an Agile framework works best is building a new mobile phone. The initial release can offer basic features so that the team can gather feedback with a minimal viable product or even make money on a minimal marketable product. As feedback is gained or as time allows for further development, new features and functionality can be added.

Waterfall or Predictive Frameworks

While an Agile or Lean approach solves for some of Waterfall’s shortcomings, there remain many applications when Waterfall is the better choice. For example, when requirements are known up front and a team is not experimenting with new technology, why not take advantage of a Waterfall framework, which forces the project team to lock down scope before proceeding to development?

The reason being is that scope creep and time management are challenges for even the most seasoned professionals. Therefore, for projects like product upgrades where requirements are known early, or large complex system implementations where changing scope too late in the process is often costly and time management is essential, Waterfall is the better choice.

When Time Matters Most in Project Management

If urgency of delivery is critical and planning is unimportant, then Kanban may be best. Kanban is a lean methodology that is well suited for work in which a big backlog of features is not present and when the focus is on delivering small pieces of work as they come up. There are no sprints nor release plan, but rather work decisions are supply based and minimizing bottlenecks is the focus. For example, fixing production incidents like a broken accounting report or an overused server is a great use for Kanban.

Don’t Force a Project Management Approach

So, if people aren’t forced to wear sweaters on hot days or evening gowns to a sporting event, why force anyone to choose only one methodology when every project is unique? Consider applying a Waterfall framework if you are working with a third-party vendor where milestones are critical indicators of progress and scope cannot be changed without a penalty.  

Meanwhile, use an Agile framework, like Scrum, when building new software features where functionality can be bundled and delivered piecemeal for an optimized value proposition, giving the team the opportunity for feedback and iteration. And consider Kanban for your support team when work is unplanned and unknown but needs to be addressed immediately.  

The lesson is, select the project approach that best fits the requirements and circumstances of each project or type of work. Don’t get stuck being inflexible when you can be agile.

If you have project management questions, please reach out. Whether it's establishing your project priorities, managing portfolio initiatives, or setting up a PMO, Aspirant’s certified program and project management experts can help. Fill out the form below to start the conversation.

mike-youhouse
2024/02
February 9, 2024
Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

Agile vs Waterfall Project Management: Comparing Methodologies

What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

Finding skilled talent these days is not an easy task. Candidates have many options to choose from when it comes to their career. To attract today’s candidates, companies must rethink their recruiting strategy. The way to stand out is to give them what they want. Many employees switched jobs last year and what influences people to join a new company is critical in today’s competitive job market. Aspirant's RPO solutions can provide unique insight into this subject.

According to a study conducted by Mercer, Global Talent Trends 2022: Rise of the Relatable Organization reports “that after job security, organizational brand and reputation is now the #2 reason that people joined their current employer (a jump from #9 before the pandemic).”

Your company’s employer value proposition should be the way you connect and be relevant to your next hire. So, the question is are you hitting the mark with candidates? If not, here are the top 10 items that candidates want:

 

1. Top Talent Require More Flexible Work Options

While it's true that the pandemic forced many people to work from home, remote and hybrid work was becoming popular even before the pandemic. Working remotely doesn't fit every person or every job position, but for those that it does, having a hybrid or remote option is preferable. For example, 73% of employees have reported that they want more say in how and where they work. They seek out employers who offer options that align with their preference for a healthier work-life balance. So, organizations that give them this flexibility increase their chances of winning that candidate over the competition.

 

2. Your Purpose & Values

In today's socially-connected and online world, a candidate will use every means possible to learn about your company and what you stand for when it comes to your sustainability agenda. A well-designed careers section is a must; this provides a real opportunity to put your best foot forward about your employee value proposition. Your careers page should include more than simply a list of open positions. Clearly communicate your company's mission and values. Incorporate contact forms that make it easy for talent to contact the recruiting team if they have questions or they are interested in learning about positions. Many candidates will check out review sites to verify if what you say about your company is true. Sites like Indeed’s Glassdoor, InHerSite, and Comparably, as well as others, show how your company ranks on leadership, diversity, and compensation. Lastly, LinkedIn’s power is about networking and you can be sure potential candidates are asking their professional network for advice about your company and its culture.

 

3. Top Talent is Looking for a Seamless Hiring Process

Employers should approach the candidate experience as the "human experience," similar to the consumer journey. Each interaction in the recruiting process should aim to improve the candidate's experience at every touchpoint, starting with the employer brand and Employer Value Proposition (EVP) even before the candidate applies for a position.

A well thought EVP is a strategy that gives job seekers a compelling illustration of a uniquely rewarding employee experience and it accelerates the time-to-fill positions. From first impressions to the easy application and hiring processes, to smooth onboarding, candidates respond better to organizations that have their recruiting workflow in order. Every touchpoint should be viewed as another way to impress and sway them to choose your organization over another.

 

4. Today’s Talent Wants to Stay Informed

Highly qualified and sought-after candidates are often bombarded with recruitment messages via LinkedIn, email, and phone calls, even when they are not considering a career move. However, smart employers who know how to market to these skilled workers are able to build and maintain relationships by establishing talent communities. This strategy has proven to be effective, as a Yello report revealed that 9 out of 10 candidates who participated in a talent community had a positive impression of the company that organized it. By being part of a talent community, candidates can network with other skilled professionals and learn more about the organization and its offerings. As a result, nurturing these relationships can help employers build a strong pool of potential talent for future opportunities.

 

5. Easy Apply

If you manage to attract the attention of candidates and they decide to apply, you want to make the application process as easy as possible for them. The majority of today’s workforce is millennials, and 98% of them own smartphones.

These candidates use their phones for much more than conversations with friends. Candidates search for jobs on their smartphones. If they find a position open at your company while searching on their phone, it’s more likely they will apply if they can do so right there. Otherwise, they’ll likely move on to the next. Sure, it is possible that they will “save” the job with the intention to apply later from a computer, but that doesn’t mean they will follow through.

Make it accessible immediately with a smooth mobile application that they can use while they are waiting for an appointment, during their commute, or any other time. And be sure to test your organization's mobile application process to ensure that it's easy to use from a smartphone.

 

6. Ease of Communicating

There’s plenty of research to support the use of text communication. For example, 98% of texts are opened and 57% are opened within the first five minutes of receipt. Recruiters who use text to communicate with candidates can engage 10x the number of candidates each week over other forms of communication.

Text messaging is used by businesses across industries to communicate with their customers. Candidates are accustomed to receiving texts and they are open to text communication with recruiters. One survey found that 86% of those asked felt positive about it. Leveraging text is a great way to quickly connect with candidates to confirm interviews and stay in touch throughout the hiring and onboarding process.

 

7. Competitive Compensation

In today’s competitive talent climate, a competitive salary is a fundamental expectation of all candidates. When candidates and employees perceive that your company’s compensation package is fair, a total compensation package will be evaluated in its entirety. While there are numerous studies indicating that it takes more than desirable pay to attract top talent, money still matters. Gallup's research over the years has always cited pay as one of the top reasons candidates accept new job offers; however, in recent years it has risen to the top of the list. For example, 64% of candidates rank it as the number one critical factor in their decision. Because it’s such a tight talent market, organizations are raising wages to compete for candidates.

 

8. Stimulating Work Environments

People do their best when their work is aligned with their natural talents and skills. They enjoy it and find it more rewarding. Those who perform jobs that aren’t satisfying in this way are often the ones who are out looking for other positions. Recruiters must focus on more than just attracting candidates to jobs. They need to attract the right candidates to the jobs. Some of the ways to do this are by creating accurate job descriptions and giving candidates a realistic preview of what their daily routines and work will look like.

 

9. Empowerment through Advancement

Acquiring new candidates for positions is important, but it's only a part of the equation. Consider current employees as candidates for open positions, too. Organizations can fill roles and offset resignation challenges by leveraging their existing workforce and offering opportunities for advancement. LinkedIn’s 2021 Workplace Learning Report revealed that employees will stay twice as long at a company that regularly hires from within. Organizations should consider giving the right tools and training to their current talent so that they can successfully move up instead of looking for a new position with a different company.

 

10. Prioritizing Diversity and Inclusion

Companies that are focused on increasing the diversity of their workforce not only have a competitive advantage in business outcomes but also attract a wider pool of talent. The challenge is getting the C-suite on board with this. One survey by iCIMS shows that 85% of C-suite executives find it difficult to prioritize DEI goals and strategies due to competing HR and recruiting practices. But an employer brand that does not reflect a commitment to diversity and inclusion could alienate skilled talent, which is something that organizations simply cannot afford to do in today's competitive market. Numerous studies reveal the benefits of DEI programs in meeting financial targets, retaining customers, and attracting top talent to open positions.

 

(Bonus!) 11. Cultivate a Healthy Workforce

The pandemic has transformed the nature of work and employees' expectations from their employers. Nowadays, workers seek a mutually beneficial arrangement that promotes their overall health and accommodates their lifestyle. Companies that fail to adjust to these evolving demands may face severe ramifications, such as high employee turnover and difficulty in recruiting new talent. Therefore, it is the responsibility of employers to not only recognize but also meet the unfulfilled requirements of their employees, including emotional, physical, social, and financial well-being. Nowadays, top talent is actively seeking out employers who prioritize their welfare, opting for companies that endorse sustainable work practices and offer personalized support during critical moments.

 

How do you give candidates everything they want in a job?

How does your organization deliver it all? Talent Acquisition leaders need to engage senior leaders to look for opportunities to collaborate and focus on what candidates want today to help improve recruiting outcomes. Listening intently to their candidates, using data to uncover patterns, and using those to improve the recruiting process is important.

As employees continue to evolve what they expect, many organizations are turning to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) providers to help them ensure that their recruiting process does not lag and are using innovative communication strategies to engage with talent.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing providers aim to attract top-notch candidates for companies, especially in fiercely competitive talent markets. Talent Acquisition teams are now placing more emphasis on enhancing their recruitment strategies than ever before.

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

patty-silbert
2024/01
January 25, 2024
What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

What Top Talent Wants from Their Employer

Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Successful leaders have a transformational leadership style that moves a company closer to its goals fast. These leaders know the new year is the perfect time to assess, adjust, and take a giant leap forward.

Transformational Leadership in 2024

Be the transformational leader that your company needs in order to grow and succeed. Here’s how to start the new year with a bang! 

  • Permeate and infuse company goals
  • Prioritize strategic initiatives
  • Activate your team
  • Adjust your leadership style for today’s workplace
  • Create a consistent employee experience
  • Upgrade your customer experience
  • Make sure your tech works for you

Transformational leaders move the needle by motivating, encouraging, and inspiring employees. They are a foundational component to successful change management

So how do you lead effectively? Seven steps to improve performance:.

 

1. Cascade Goal, Objective, and KPI Alignment

It’s not enough to just set goals. For goals to be successful, they need to be well-defined and permeate every step and every level of a business or project. 

This means your goals, objectives, and KPIs must all be brought into alignment. Additionally, employees on all levels must be aware of and focused on the same goals. 

 

2. Prioritize Strategic Initiatives

Make strategic initiatives highly visible and easy to measure. Keep track of progress and don’t hesitate to make changes as you gather data. Empower project managers to do what is necessary to drive the visibility and success of these programs.

 

3. Organizational Design 

Transformational leaders understand that much of their success is based on their people. You absolutely must have the right people in the right roles if you want to really want to get your company or team ahead. 

You may have to make some tough decisions when honestly assessing your team. To be more comfortable making these decisions, it is imperative that you work closely with your human resources department to ensure there is a hiring plan to meet your needs. 

 

4. Provide Leadership for Today’s Workplace

Today’s employees expect open, transparent communication.  This is actually a great way to give employees responsibility and ownership in their job. This will allow for more accountability and positive reinforcement, which makes them feel valued as well as see that their contributions mean something. 

Through this type of rapport and being supportive of employees in their development efforts, you can greatly enhance your retention of your top employees without necessarily providing additional financial compensation. 

 

5. Create a Better Employee Experience 

Employees are happiest working for predictable and fair employers. You should partner with your human resources department to ensure a consistent and cohesive experience for every employee. 

To maintain a focus on achieving your desired goals, development plans, promotions, projects, and people all have to align to support strategically important actions. 

 

6. Fully Incorporate Your Customer Experience

You will want to keep updating your buyer persona and ideal customer profile to make sure you capitalize on every contact point and are providing products and services that customers want to buy.

All employees, even those who do not have forward-facing jobs, should be aware of how their jobs affect customers and the bottom line.

 

7. Tech Stack Review

Most businesses would be stopped dead in their tracks without the technologies they use from software to storage. Take an accounting of what you are using and whether or not it is really working for you. 

Consider whether your team would be more efficient if they had better software or other technologies. Make sure what you are using is what is best suited to your company’s goals and objectives. 

 

Learn Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders keep people focused, engaged, and inspired throughout the change management process. These initiatives drive a company’s overarching strategy and make all the difference in achieving organizational goals. 

 

Thinking that stronger transformational leadership could make a serious impact for your organization? Reach out to our Organizational Effectiveness team by filling out the form below.  

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2024/01
January 5, 2024
Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Transformational Leadership: 7 Steps to Start the New Year Right

Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

If you haven't migrated your applications to the Azure Cloud, you are missing out on increased productivity and availability. Cloud-based technologies make scaling easier and more successful. A cloud migration can give you faster disaster recovery, solid backup storage, and data security. Aspirant can help reduce your costs by elevating efficiencies.

Companies that utilize custom developed software can benefit from migrating that software to the Azure Cloud in many ways. However, these migrations can often run into various problems. Integration points, data base, file storage, and security can often require review and refactoring to work efficiently after migration.

 To mitigate those problems, it’s important to adequately plan for cloud migration.

Cloud Migration Challenges: Planning for Success

How can you successfully and efficiently move your infrastructure to Azure? Organizations using virtual machines and similar services who want to move into the cloud will need to plan thoroughly to have an effective cloud migration.

The fact is that many apps, especially within companies that have developed custom software, simply weren’t built for the cloud. Databases, storage, processing power, networking, and security configuration are all elements that need to be considered. Each element must be compatible with cloud migration for it to work successfully.

Consulting services, such as those offered by Aspirant, can give you an edge when planning cloud migration. Aspirant provides help with UX design, application modernization, custom software development, and systems integration.

Aspirant’s technology team can help define a strategy to avoid cloud sprawl, stay within your budget, and maintain critical services and do it with as little downtime as possible.

Legacy migration and modernization doesn’t have to be a difficult process — your transition to Azure Cloud can be efficient and successful with Aspirant’s solid planning and best practices in place.

 

Are You Ready for Azure Cloud Migration?

If your organization is ready to leverage the benefits of moving into the cloud, Aspirant can help modernize legacy software so it runs efficiently post-migration. Reach out to Phil Kossler or fill out the form below to set up a no-obligation discussion about what you are looking to achieve and how Aspirant might help.

phil-kossler
2023/11
November 10, 2023
Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

It will be tough to tell how well you're performing if you aren't clear on what you're trying to achieve. Taking time to define and document your company's strategy will establish priorities and simplify decision-making. Here are our recommendations for how to get started.

The scope of this framework may seem overwhelming at first, but we compiled a cheat sheet to consolidate the tips below and provide an editable template to guide you every step of the way. This is available for free download via the button toward the bottom of this page.

 

Aspirant Comprehensive Strategic Framework

 

Conceptual Strategy - Building a Strategic Identity

The conceptual elements of a strategic framework increase in relevance along with the size of a company. Big corporations invest a ton of time and money into carefully crafting this 'strategic identity' due to the role it plays in attracting investors, motivating employees, and inspiring customers.

This is also a worthwhile exercise for any company, though many can get by with a much more streamlined effort. The intention is to establish some ideas that are directionally / thematically accurate as a starting point for building out the Practical components (which we explore below). Any initial versions are very likely to be revised as your company's perspective and priorities evolve over time. Depending on organizational preferences and the nature of your business, it may make sense to only publish a portion (or none) of your company's strategic identity.

 

Mission: Why do we exist?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Focused on, and designed to resonate with, the market / stakeholders you intend to serve.
  • Inclusive of key differentiators from the competition.
  • Concise, clear, authentic, and inspiring.
  • Serves as the cornerstone for the strategic framework that will dictate how the company operates.

Examples

  • Microsoft:  To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
  • AirBnB:  To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.
  • Coca-Cola:  To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit.

Vision: What do we want to be?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Focused on your organization’s aspirations for the future.
  • Motivational to internal stakeholders such as employees and investors.
  • Cites goals that are specific enough for progress to be measured over time.
  • Fosters a collective sense of purpose for all roles across the organization.

Examples

  • Netflix:  The best global entertainment distribution service.
  • Uber:  Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.
  • Visa:  Uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Values: What do we want to be?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Relevant to all internal and external relationships.
  • Supportive of building trust among colleagues and customers.
  • Inclusive and applicable across all functions, departments, and levels of responsibility.
  • Create contextual expectations for how the organization will pursue its stated Mission and Vision.

Examples

   Transparency    Authenticity    Responsibility    Accountability    Sustainability
   Inclusivity    Collaboration    Quality    Leadership    Perseverance
   Integrity    Respect    Empathy    Humility    Fun
 

 

Purpose: What impact will we make?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Reflects organizational values and beliefs.
  • Sometimes includes broader stakeholder groups such as the local or global community.
  • Least common component of a strategic identity.

Examples

  • American Family Insurance: We’re dedicated to inspiring, protecting and restoring your dream.
  • Ford Motor Company: Drive human progress through freedom of movement.
  • United Airlines: Connecting people. Uniting the world.

 

Practical Strategy - Planning for Action

The next step is translating the conceptual into the practical. At each level:

  • From all the ideas of what you 'could do', identify what will have the most direct / efficient impact.
  • Maintain linear continuity from one layer to the next: Goals -> Objectives -> Strategies -> Tactics
  • Consolidate and revise ideas as needed to ensure that initiatives are mutually exclusive.
  • Realize that you can't do everything all at once. Be realistic on what can be accomplished with the available resources.
  • Document the initiatives you intend to pursue on the template, listed in priority order.
  • Create a 'parking lot' to capture deprioritized initiatives for future consideration.

 

Goals: What do we intend to achieve?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • With the conceptual components of your strategic framework in mind, identify what is most important for your company to accomplish.
  • Goals should be quite general, as supporting initiatives will get increasingly specific at each subsequent level.
  • Creating overarching themes such as Financial, Operational, and Societal could be helpful in categorizing Goals.
  • You could end up with multiple Goals under a single theme.

Examples

   Improve Profitability    Build Brand Equity    Recruit Cooperative Partners    
   Improve Operational Efficiency    Claim Market Share    Develop Employee Skills    
   Improve Corporate Citizenship    Reduce Carbon Footprint    Diversify Product Offering    

 

Objectives: What specific outcomes do we seek?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Determine the primary drivers of each Goal that you can influence.
  • Progress against a given Objective could impact more than one Goal, but they can only be assigned to one.
  • Choose a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that will serve as a gauge for performance, ideally a quantifiable measure.
  • Select a challenging, yet feasible, target KPI value to reach within the specified time frame (usually an annual horizon).

Strategies: How do we intend to do it?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Determine the primary methods by which each KPI will be achieved.
  • Strategies under each Objective should be complementary to one another; however, it is possible to have a Strategy that negatively affects a different Objective.

Tactics: What is our plan for doing it?

Considerations / Best Practices

  • Identify prioritized, actionable workstreams that support each Strategy.
  • Descriptions for each Tactic should be as specific as possible, depending on the scope of the underlying subtasks.
  • Document any deprioritized Tactics separately for future consideration.

 

Getting started: Begin the journey

Be sure to download our free Strategic Planning Cheat Sheet. It provides all the tips and templates to guide through each step of this strategic planning process.

 

Download Strategic Planning Cheat Sheet

 

All these components and considerations may seem daunting, but there is inherent value in forcing yourself to establish specific goals and thinking through how you will go about achieving them. Your strategic framework will be invaluable in keeping resources focused directly on what you are trying to accomplish.

The biggest opportunity for most businesses lies in their marketing. Click here for our steps in translating your company strategy into a marketing strategy.

 

SB Growth Strategy Thumbnail GreySB Strategic Planning Thumbnail Grey BorderSB Marketing Strategy ThumbnailSB Digital Marketing Priorities Thumbnail

 

How Aspirant can help

Experts familiar with these methodologies and frameworks can ask right the questions to guide you through the process. Our support dramatically accelerates and improves the output by flattening the learning curve and keeping you on track.

We are proud to have helped clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries reach their goals. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

 

We'd love to help you chart a course for success.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/11
November 5, 2023
Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

Aspirant Strategic Planning Process

Questions to Ask before Application Integration

When it comes to application integration, there's no shortage of questions that can leave you feeling overwhelmed. But don't worry, we've got you covered! With our expert guidance, we'll help you take a deep breath and focus on the key questions you need to answer before embarking on your next project. Let's dive in and make your integration journey a success!

What are your application integration goals? 

If you want a seamless application integration, start by defining your project's goals. This will allow you to write effective requirements/user stories, understand the project's scope, and work towards achieving specific outcomes. 

  • Are you aiming to streamline business processes and workflows?
  • Improve data accuracy and consistency?  
  • Enhance existing functionality?

Having clear goals in mind will keep you focused and on track. Additionally, understanding the timeline of the project is essential for accurate resource and budget planning, as well as avoiding risky delays. By defining your goals and timeline upfront, you can ensure a more efficient and smooth application integration process.

 

What are your biggest app integration pain points?

It can be tough to pinpoint, but the three most common types of pain points include: complexity, data mapping, and security risks

Complexity comes from managing multiple systems, vendors, locations, people, and technologies. Data mapping, on the other hand, entails analyzing, identifying, and documenting how data flows through different applications. Also, security risks must be addressed: protect PII data, comply with regulations, and solve any authentication challenges. 

Once you've identified your pain points, make sure to communicate them to your application integration team. Early communication is key to addressing these issues as quickly as possible and ensuring a successful integration.

 

Who will be affected most by the application integration?

Application integration can significantly impact end-users, IT, business managers, and vendors. Therefore, it is essential to identify and address the concerns of all stakeholders to ensure that the integration is successful and delivers the intended benefits. 

 

Who will manage your new system moving forward?

It is important to ensure that there are adequate resources in place to manage and maintain the new system once the applications have been integrated. This may involve assigning roles to existing staff, recruiting additional personnel with specific skills, or partnering with an outside company, like Aspirant. Additionally, setting up a process for monitoring performance and user feedback can help ensure that the integration continues to meet users' needs as technology changes.

So before starting your application integration, ask yourself:  

  • Who will manage the new system moving forward?

  • Who will be your internal champion?  

Knowing these two things allow you to keep a clear line of communication when issues arise.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Don't let the frustration of juggling multiple applications take a toll on your business productivity. Instead, integrate your applications to centralize data management and streamline operations with Aspirant. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our team of skilled professionals about how we can help you achieve maximum efficiency.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

ryan-mangis
2023/10
October 19, 2023
Questions to Ask before Application Integration

Questions to Ask before Application Integration

Digital Marketing Priorities

Even the largest companies have limitations on the time and money they can invest into promoting themselves. The constraints are obviously much tighter as you work your way down the food chain. That's why it's so important to determine what is most important to pursue to make the most of your limited resources.

In our previous article , we laid out the considerations and methods for creating a cohesive, effective marketing strategy. The decisions and documents resulting from that process provide the foundation for designing activation programs that align with one another and with overarching organizational goals.

On that page we recommend that companies start with enabling Inbound Digital Marketing before progressing on to Outbound Digital Marketing, Local Marketing, and (at some point down the road) Traditional Marketing. Listed below is the priority order by which companies starting from scratch should allocate their time and energy to generate growth for their business. Even organizations with all these components in place may find some of ideas below useful.

 

1. Inbound Digital Marketing - Establish a Digital Presence

Regardless of how your audience becomes aware of your company, it is very likely that they will look you up online before they ever consider becoming a customer. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to find the information they seek, leading them further down the 'path to purchase'.

Here is how we suggest that you go about making sure your website properly represents your business and get it listed where your target(s) are most likely to look for products / services / companies like yours.

 

Refine Your website

At a bare minimum, your website must answer your target audience's most common questions. The Personas and Task Maps you developed as part of your marketing strategy will be a great starting point.

What products / services do they offer? How good are their products / services?
How are they different from their competitors? Why should I believe in them?
What areas do they serve? How / where can I buy their products?
Are they located nearby? When are they open?
How can I get in touch with them?  

 

Beyond this basic content, the fit and finish of your website is also important. You need to make sure that the layout, design, and functionality are in line with how you intend to be perceived. Honestly evaluate your website experience against your Positioning to make sure it properly represents your business.

 

Create Search Engine Profiles

Profiles on these platforms enable your business to be included in their search results and maps as well as create a way to gather ratings and reviews. Voice-activated digital assistants (Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant) also leverage this same ecosystem. Getting set up is quick, free of charge, and their prompts lead you through every step in the process.

Click here to build a business profile with Google.

Click here to build a business profile with Bing.

 

Build Profiles on Social Platforms

It is well worth a few minutes' time to bolster your digital visibility by creating pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp -  even if there are no immediate plans to post regularly. They can still convey essential information (industry, location, hours), link to your website, and create an additional means for prospective customers to contact you. Consider adding Twitter / X, Instagram, and TikTok down the road if content creation becomes more central to your marketing strategy.

Your Google profile will automatically carry over to YouTube, since they both belong to parent company Alphabet. Likewise, Instagram posts can be automatically duplicated on Facebook with the click of a button, expanding your reach without any additional effort.

 

Create online 'Citations' for your business

Countless online business directories have the place of the yellow pages in the giant phone books that used to be delivered to every home and business. Each of these websites provides a searchable database where users can find basic information (industry, location, phone number, email, website) for thousands of companies. In general, the more listings (or citations) you can create for your business, the better. However, you should prioritize the ones who see the most traffic or focus on your local area / type of service. Here are some suggestions to get your started:

Apple Maps YellowPages / Superpages Yellow.Place MapQuest
Nextdoor Manta Hotfrog Cybo
MerchantCircle Cylex Foursquare Bunity
EZlocal eLocal Chamber of Commerce Better Business Bureau

 

For a nominal fee, you can simultaneously create and manage business profiles on hundreds of pages through platforms such as BrightLocal and Yext.

 

2. Inbound Digital Marketing - Search Engine Pay-Per-Click Campaigns

Whether we are buying something for ourselves or on behalf of our business, everyone wants to be confident in their purchase decisions. The fastest way to gain that confidence is with some online research - typically through queries on search engines. The ability to tap into this essential step in the path to purchase is a great opportunity for marketers to reach their targeted audience.

Search engines charge on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis. That means that cost is only incurred when users click on the ads. Since pricing for these programs are based on engagement (clicks) rather than reach (impressions), as with Traditional and other Digital Marketing tactics, they are much more effective and efficient.

Once you have established your company's Digital Presence, developing and improving your Search Engine Campaigns should remain your #1 priority until they are fully optimized.

 

Sponsored Keywords

This is where companies bid against each other to promote themselves when their target audience searches for specific words or phrases. A variety of configurations enable you to tailor when, where, how, and to whom your ads are served: 

  • Timing (day of week, time of day)
  • Location (country, state, city)
  • Device type (desktop, smartphone, tablet)
  • Audience (age, gender, household income, interests)

The prompts in these systems are intuitive by design, which makes setting up these campaigns straightforward. However, it will take some trial, error, and patience to learn the ropes.

Pro Tip: Start off using a very tight set of keywords to just those that closely align with buying cues. You can always widen the net later as results and budget dictate.

 

Click here to build PPC campaigns with Google.

Click here to build PPC campaigns with Bing.

 

Retargeting Campaigns

Search engines also give you the opportunity to reach users who had previously clicked on your PPC ads. As those people visit other websites, they will see display ads that link back to your website. This leverages the interest they have already expressed into creating another chance to engage with your company.

 

3. Local Marketing

These tactics are fueled by creativity, ingenuity, and hustle rather than financial investment. They can be incredibly impactful, if you can find the right angle and execute them well. Businesses with a complementary offering and similar customer base may be interested in promoting your company if you do the same for them. Connecting with a local influencer or starting an ambassador program could build organic awareness amongst those most interested in your product or service.

Your target audience may gather for certain occasions or events (e.g. regional fairs, sporting events, trade shows, club meetings), presenting an opportunity to connect with them directly, at scale.

Regardless of the nature and scope of these activations, be sure to make them memorable.

 

4. Outbound Digital Marketing

There is an ever-expanding list of ways to reach your audience through digital means: pre-roll ads on streaming video channels, sponsored social media posts, email distribution. When you are ready to supplement your marketing efforts with outbound tactics, we recommend implementing them one by one to prevent the management component from becoming a distraction. 

When planning outbound programs, don't forget to account for the time / cost associated with designing the needed visual or video assets.   

 

Getting started: Get your feet wet

Now that you've read through our recommendations for how to define your strategy and where to begin, there's nothing more to it than to do it! The sooner you get started, the sooner you will start seeing results. It is very difficult to commit to taking time away from working in your business in order to work on your business; hopefully the prioritized list above will be useful in helping you focus on what will be most impactful.

 

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How Aspirant can help

While we encourage every business leader to take the initiative to stand up their own programs, we know first hand how time consuming and frustrating that approach can be. Our Digital Agency has the comprehensive skills to help you plan, execute, and maintain marketing that generates a quantum shift in the performance and maturation of your company. 

Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion.

 

 

We'd love to help your organization achieve the growth you deserve.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 31, 2023
Digital Marketing Priorities

Digital Marketing Priorities

Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

For the most part, when we refer to a business's 'growth', we are referring to financial results in one way or another. There could be instances where companies define their growth in terms of building brand awareness or cultivating a (currently) unprofitable customer base. But, for now, let's focus on where the rubber meets the road: dollars and cents.

Large, established companies have reliable revenue streams, well-defined processes, and resources to take on as many initiatives as needed to reach their goals. The maturity of their industry and organization means that year-over-year growth tends to be in small increments. These dynamics are completely reversed on the other end of the scale.

Growth mode companies often...

  •  Endure considerable internal and external uncertainty
  •  Operate reactively rather than proactively
  •  Must make tough choices in the utilization of limited resources 

   Most importantly, they have a lot more upside potential.

 

Key Workstreams

Below we have laid out a streamlined plan for prioritizing efforts to accelerate revenue and profitability. We recognize (and empathize with) the urge to jump right into pushing buttons and pulling levers. However, taking the time to follow the full sequence will help establish continuity that will set you up for longer term success. Depending on the circumstances, you could begin to notice results in a matter of weeks.

 

  1. Build a strategic framework
    It is impossible to objectively evaluate how well you are performing if you don't define what you're trying to accomplish or how results will be measured. Developing a strategic framework is the first step in evolving from a company that just sells a product or service into a proper business

    Click here for more detail on how to frame out a strategy that will serve as a cornerstone for prioritizing workstreams, and in turn, improved decision-making.

  2. Establish a marketing strategy
    With the overarching strategic framework is in place, we recommend evaluating how that translates to your marketing strategy. Specify your target audience(s) and clarify how your company has a more compelling value proposition than the competition.. 

    Click here for best practices and templates to guide you through this process.

  3. Activate marketing tactics

    Part of building a marketing strategy is identifying the ways you COULD do to promote your business; now it's time to determine what you will do. Prioritize the most impactful tactics as part of finalizing the scope and scale of your marketing campaigns. 

    Click here for guidance on how you can execute a program that efficiently reaches the right people with the right message at the right time.

  4. Enable Data Collection

    Once your campaigns are live, it is critical to make sure that all data points tied to your KPIs are readily available. Don't rely on your gut feeling on how things are going. Remove subjectivity by leveraging the quantitative measures cited in the strategic framework.

    Get in the habit of updating performance against the established key metrics every month. Don't use other tasks as an excuse for neglecting this critical exercise. It is a lot harder to get caught back up after falling behind than it is to keep up with your homework.

    All the functionality you'll need to get started can be found in an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets document. Down the road, it may be worth setting up an integrated KPI dashboard that automates data collection and provides real-time analysis.

  5. Utilize Analysis to Inform Improvement

    Regularly analyze the data being collected. A monthly update cycle tends to be the right frequency for keeping up with evolving trends without letting this analysis become a distraction. Identify what is working / not working. Hypothesize about what is driving those results. Devise methods for testing those hypotheses and use the resulting insight to improve your approach.

    Your data analysis may suggest the need to revise your initial strategic and/or marketing plan. This is to be expected, especially for business seeking exponential growth. Shifting goals, strategies, and tactical priorities are a natural byproduct of that growth.

  6. Keep Your Objectives Top-of-Mind

    Through the normal course of business, be on the lookout for new ideas on how you might be able to impact the objectives you've identified. Opportunities to cut costs, juice revenues, or build new partnerships could have been hiding in plain sight.

    If a new initiative is promising enough to leapfrog one already being pursued, update your strategic framework and resource allocation accordingly. Even if an idea doesn't immediately become a top priority, be sure to document it for future consideration.

 

Getting started: Commit to the process

Set aside time in your schedule to work your way through the steps above and don't allow yourself to get discouraged. Include your colleagues in the process to create visibility, gather their feedback, and get them engaged. The more effort you put in, the more you get out.

 

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How Aspirant can help

Experts familiar with these methodologies and frameworks can ask right the questions to guide you through the process. Our support dramatically accelerates and improves the output by flattening the learning curve and keeping you on track. 

How do we know this approach works? Because these are the basics behind our evolution from a three-person startup in 2003 to earning Fast50 recognition three years in a row.

 

Aspirant Revenue Growth

 

We have even more pride in the results we have helped generate for clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

 

We'd love to hear about your growth goals.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 31, 2023
Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

Aspirant Business Growth Strategy

Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

Clayton Christensen, the business guru, and Kim B. Clark, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, note that of the 30,000 new products launched yearly for consumers, approximately 95% fail. That's a high rate of failure by any measure. While nobody who launches a new or improved product wants to be in that 95%, it's often difficult to know which steps are best to take to improve your odds of success. 

A good place to start is by asking:

"Does our product or service meet identifiable customer needs, wants, and expectations?" 

The field of Customer Experience (CX) has the right tools to help you gather insights that create a better understanding of your customer base that will improve strategy and decision-making. Many organizations turn to extensive formal market research to find an answer to this question. This research can be beneficial, but an often-overlooked step is first getting out and talking to your customers.

 

Listening to Customers

Speak to your customers when they interact with your organization's brand is a great start.  This is sometimes referred to as an 'outside in' approach. 

  1. Ask customers to identify the key factors that influence their purchasing decisions
  2. Segment your customers based on similar themes in their responses
  3. Identify 'core' segments whose satisfaction is required for meeting strategic goals
  4. Align product design and promotion directly with what is most important to them

 

Interesting Concept

Consider this scenario: A new homeowner needs to find a landscaper to maintain his 3 acre lawn and surrounding bushes. he takes stock of what he needs (large scale mowing, bagging & disposal of clippings, shrub pruning) and other important considerations (proximity, pricing, licensed & insured) and then seek out the best service provider. Your customers do the same thing.

In most industries outside of landscaping, market needs are always shifting due to any number of societal, technological, or competitive factors. Keeping pace with this constant evolution requires regular evaluations of the needs of your core customer segments to ensure the your marketing strategy is still on-target.

 

Understanding and meeting customer needs, wants, and expectations example

 

What Motivates a Customer?

Learn which questions your customer ask during their "interview" with your product or service, or "What motivates a customer to engage with your product or service?" Like most brands, price, quality, convenience, effort, and time are high on customers' lists. Determining which factors 'win' depends on the product/service, the person, and the context.  

For example, when it comes to buying gas, frequently, the winning factor is convenience. Gas is a commodity that functions the same regardless of the brand. Thus, many drivers will not drive out of their way to save pennies on the dollar.

Other factors to consider are brand loyalty, member associations, etc., but there are always questions to remember:

  • Why are people considering your product or service? 
  • After the purchase, is it meeting their needs and wants as expected?

 

Collect Customer Feedback

A customer will rarely stop to put helpful information in a suggestion box. What's more, if you fail to provide something as simple as a suggestion box, it's even less likely that the customer will call you to tell you why they like your product or service. Therefore, you need to contact them to determine why they are satisfied.

You can do this with online surveys, direct phone calls, focus groups, email, and social media. It's essential to be sincere in your questions, ask only questions you genuinely want to know the answer to and respect the answer. 

If you have a physical branch, consider having someone on-site to ask customers why they are making specific purchases. Have conversations with your customers — as many as you can. In addition to learning how to make and sell products that answer their wants and needs, you're also building a relationship with customers and fostering loyalty to your brand. People like to give their opinions, and they'll remember when you ask for them.

How you capture customer feedback is vital to help drive the application of the learnings most effectively. Several Customer Experience tools help to bring customer needs and feedback to life like:

  1. Personas
  2. Customer Journey Maps
  3. Needs Assessment
  4. Service Blueprints
  5. Empathy Maps

Download our guide to journey mapping, which provides tips, a real-life example, and an editable template.  

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

 

To succeed in the market: 

  1. Anticipate the customer's response to your product or service. Trust your intuition when predicting responses, as long as it's grounded in customer testimonials and other relevant data.

  2. Make business decisions more than a guessing game and keep a pulse on what customers need, want, and expect by talking to them.

 

Take Action

Many organizations will capture customer feedback but need to do something with the data and insights they receive. The key to creating more positive customer experiences and capturing a stronger connection to your brand is taking action on the insights you receive through customer research. Then, develop action plans to help you utilize the insights to design and/or build better products or services for your customers.  

Create an entire feedback loop that allows you to identify your target customer segments, consistently gain feedback through customer research, and utilize the insights to build better products or services that meet your customers' needs. Finally, remember to take action on your customer data and insights, leading to higher customer satisfaction and stronger brand loyalty.

Customer research represents only one capability of Customer Experience, which falls under the concept of "Customer Understanding." To deliver differentiated and unique value to your customer base, an organization has to consider investing time into improving the following CX capabilities: Customer Understanding, Customer Experience Vision/Strategy, Customer Impact Measurement, Design and Innovation, and Customer-Centric Culture. Identifying your customer needs is an excellent start to improving your "Customer Understanding" capability and maturing your CX practice.  

 

Meeting Customer Needs

We can help you build personas, customer journey maps, needs assessments, service blueprints, or empathy maps. Fill out the form below, and we can get you on the right path.

 

vik-thakral
2023/08
August 18, 2023
Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs, Wants, & Expectations

8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

The consulting industry has swelled to $330 Billion in the U.S. alone, and for good reason. By collaborating with the right consulting partner, business leaders can accelerate their company's performance much more dramatically than they could on their own.

Big corporations recognize the value of this support and invest millions of dollars every year into closing the gap between their goals and what can be accomplished with in-house resources. This is a much more difficult decision for small businesses - especially those with limited budgets. But contrary to popular belief, consulting services are NOT just for companies with deep pockets. 

 

Consultants bring supplemental horsepower and perspective

No one knows your business better than you. But a fresh, objective perspective can make a huge difference. Smaller businesses often lack time and resources to focus on non-essential tasks. External partnerships create an extension of your teams that can take on value-adding projects while you concentrate on core operations.

In any market or industry, competitive environments and customer expectations are constantly changing. Consultants bring experience and perspective that can help you anticipate these trends and be proactive instead of reactive. This creates a competitive advantage that can generate meaningful growth for your company.

 

Let's clear up 8 misconceptions about consulting for smaller businesses

  1. They are too expensive:
    Myth:  The minimums / hourly rates are more than smaller companies can afford.

    Truth:  Some firms may utilize pricing to prioritize larger projects or accounts. However, the right consultant will never try to sell you more help than you need.

    Aspirant:  We design each program to generate the greatest possible impact with the available resources and budget.

  2. My Business is Too SmalL:
    Myth:  Consulting firms are built to support enterprise-level corporations. Their techniques don't work for smaller organizations.

    Truth:  The primary difference between big and small company challenges is the scale. The root causes and corresponding solutions are often very similar. Many consultants admit they prefer working with smaller clients due to the relative simplicity with implementing new tools and processes. Less bureaucracy means faster turnaround.

    Aspirant:  We are proud to have built enduring relationships with several Fortune 500 companies, but invest equally in supporting companies that aren't as large (yet).

  3. They Don't know My Business:

    Myth:  Business operate very differently from one another. Only those intimately familiar with their approach will be able to understand their unique circumstances and challenges.

    Truth:  A good consultant does a lot more listening than talking. This is the only way to properly diagnose the issues at hand. From there, they apply their expertise toward recommending a course of action.

    Aspirant:  We collaborate with clients on incorporating our expertise with their first-hand insight to identify the best path forward.

  4. They Don't Know my Industry:

    Myth:  Dynamics vary widely from one industry to the next. Consultants are generalists without the narrow focus required to provide any meaningful support.

    Truth:  At their core, the prevailing themes across industries and sectors have more in common than might be immediately apparent. So while a consultancy may not have previously tackled the exact same challenge you are facing, q
    ualified firms will have a team with the breadth and depth of expertise to tailor an effective solution to suit any situation.

    Aspirant:  We have devised a unique consulting model based on Integrated Expertise, which enables us to leverage the full extent of our collective industry and functional experience in serving our clients.

  5. Their methods won't get results:

    Myth:  The output from consultants is a lot more about concepts and theories than making things happen.

    Truth:  'Traditional' consulting firms have earned a dubious reputation for delivering a giant PowerPoint file as the culmination of client work. However, many others have found success by offering services that extend beyond strategic planning, and into tactical deployment.

    Aspirant:  We cite Client Results as an organizational value and truly define our success in terms of the measurable performance our clients achieve with our support.

  6. They move too slowly / Getting results will take too long:

    Myth:  Consultants spend way too much time strategizing before transitioning into execution.

    Truth:  Antiquated approaches can feature excessive project staffing and a prolonged preliminary fact finding (known as 'discovery') that delay the realization of any results. Consulting should reduce the time it takes for companies to reach their goals - not the opposite.

    Aspirant:  We utilize smaller, more agile project teams to accelerate program delivery. We even developed our own AI-powered platform that dramatically streamlines projects requiring a discovery phase.

  7. Not Sure I can Trust Them:

    Myth:  Consultants may be more concerned about logging billable hours than making a difference for my business.

    Truth:  Reputable firms will seek to gain your confidence through honesty and transparency as part of building a lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. The motives of those solely interested in generating revenue for themselves will be quickly revealed.

    Aspirant:  We accept the challenges and goals of all clients as our own. This focus on shared objectives is the key to forging productive, collaborative partnerships.

  8. They Will Give Me the Newbies / I Won't Have Access to Their Best Talent:

    Myth:  The most experienced / talented people are not accessible to smaller businesses.

    Truth:  The core of the value consulting firms bring to their clients lies in the capabilities of its teams. Clients who are dissatisfied with the quality of support they receive will take their business elsewhere, making a model dependent on underqualified consultants unsustainable.

    Aspirant:  We recruit and retain top-tier professionals who can maintain our lofty organizational expectations and whose personal values align with our own. 

 

Getting started: Vetting potential firms

It is critical to find the right consulting partner for your needs. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Don't hire the first firm you find. Taking the time to speak with a few companies and compare their approaches will help you feel a lot more comfortable in your final selection. 
  • Look for context clues. Pay attention to the structure of those conversations. Are they speaking more than listening? Telling more than asking? This could be an indication of their willingness to collaborate versus dictate.
  • Evaluate cultural alignment. A strong client-consultant relationship is only possible if your respective working styles are complementary to one another.

 

How Aspirant can help

We are proud of the results we have helped generate for clients of all sizes, maturities, and industries. Use the form below to request a free exploratory discussion about how we can do the same for your organization. 

 

We'd love to hear about what your organization wants to achieve.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/08
August 3, 2023
8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

8 Myths about Small Business Consulting

Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Accountability and empowerment are critical components of an effective, productive culture. Consider these  three signs of low accountability, or no accountability, that are often overlooked by leaders:

1. Employees are more concerned about keeping their jobs than doing their jobs.

The difference may appear minor, but the impact is anything but. When an employee’s main motivation centers on not getting fired, their work is more desperate and less thoughtful. Their focus is now on not making mistakes, instead of taking calculated risks to make improvements, and they are doing only things they deem safe. Collaboration and innovation are no longer areas of concern for these employees.

Evidence of the symptoms include: a lack of new ideas from employees, increased finger pointing and blame among team members, and dissolution of any social aspects of the job. Employees will pull away from each other and even develop an “us vs them” mentality.

 

2. Gossip is used as a form of communication, particularly in leadership.

Gossip in the workplace is a common problem, but when it is considered as a means of communicating work-related information, you’re now working in a dysfunctional environment that lacks accountability. When management is telling team members, “Accounting is purposely being slow to process Jane’s compensation report because she does not support their new software choice,” it is clearly a red flag.

According to a  study by Office Pulse, 29% of respondents say office gossip is their primary source of company information.

Management should not use gossip as a way to communicate other departments’ and managers’ affairs. Using gossip to spread distrust amongst the company is a sure sign that you have accountability problems in your organization.

 

3. Culture demands that everyone is treated the same to be fair.

Equal and fair treatment are not the same. What you want is equity, not equality. When a workplace culture attempts to treat everyone the same, in the name of fairness, it is often a symptom of a management team that avoids dealing with accountability.

Undervalued employees will demand equal treatment when they see other employees receiving advantages that they do not believe were earned fairly—especially when they are expected to change behavior based on a handful of people who’ve broken company trust, instead of being held accountable for their actions.

People are not all the same, they have different performance levels, styles of work, motivations, and personal goals. When individual employees are held accountable, there is less demand for equal treatment because they know they are receiving fair treatment. 

 

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team can help you develop a culture of accountability. We designed our Org AcceleratorTM program to determine the current strengths and weaknesses of your organization and determine where you need to go. Fill out the form below to get started.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/07
July 11, 2023
Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Lack of Accountability? 3 Signs this Could Be an Issue

Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly transformed how we work, blurring the lines between traditional office spaces and remote work environments, and has been ongoing for nearly three years. Whether to return to the office or continue working remotely remains a hotly contested topic. Executives, celebrities, and entrepreneurs have all weighed in on this matter, displaying a diversity of opinions. While some argue for the benefits of in-office work, others emphasize the advantages of remote work. Let’s delve into the ongoing debate and explore various perspectives. The number of those who are fully remote varies by industry. 

The Employee Perspective on Remote Work 

Many employees express a sense of fulfillment when working from home. The freedom from commuting saves time and reduces expenses, with studies showing potential annual savings of thousands of dollars. Beyond financial benefits, remote work offers increased flexibility, improved work-life balance, and reduced stress levels for some employees. ZipRecruiter even reported a decreased employee turnover due to implementing remote work policies. This suggests that employees value the autonomy and convenience that remote work provides. 

The Impact of Remote Work

The Executive Perspective on Remote Work 

Some executives argue that being physically present in the office is essential for productivity and the success of their organizations. Martha Stewart recently voiced her opinion, suggesting that a three-day office workweek coupled with two days of remote work is insufficient to achieve optimal outcomes. She further alluded to France's work culture, highlighting her belief that a reduced work schedule leads to an unproductive society. However, it's crucial to examine whether this perspective is rooted in the executives' desires or the employees' preferences. And most importantly, are executives willing to risk the turnover that may come from overturning a work-from-home policy?  

 

Measuring Productivity and Trust 

One of the primary concerns for executives in favor of in-office work is the ability to measure employee productivity effectively. They believe that having employees physically present allows for closer monitoring and control. However, with technological advancements and the availability of remote work tools, measuring productivity is no longer limited to physical presence. Various digital platforms and performance tracking systems enable supervisors to monitor and assess work progress irrespective of the employee's location.  Moreover, the desire for transparency and trust within the workplace has become increasingly important to employees. They expect leaders to be transparent when they manage remotely, fostering an environment where trust can thrive. When implemented effectively, remote work can promote transparency by encouraging open communication, clear expectations, and shared accountability. By trusting employees to work remotely, organizations can build stronger relationships with their workforce. 

 

The Hybrid Approach 

Recognizing the diverse preferences and needs of both executives and employees, many organizations have adopted a hybrid approach. This model combines the benefits of both remote work and in-office collaboration. It allows employees flexibility while also providing opportunities for in-person collaboration, team building, and social interaction. By striking a balance between remote and office work, organizations can cater to the desires of both executives and employees, fostering a productive and engaged workforce.  

 

The debate surrounding remote work versus in-office work continues to evolve as we navigate the changing world. While executives may emphasize the importance of physical presence in the office, employees increasingly value remote work's benefits, such as flexibility, cost savings, and improved work-life balance. Measuring productivity and building trust are essential considerations in this discussion. Ultimately, finding a middle ground through a fully remote or hybrid approach may offer the best solution, enabling organizations to adapt to the changing work landscape and meet the needs of both executives and employees.  

 

 

Do you need help attracting and retaining top talent with flexible work options that appeal to both employees and employers? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below to see how we can help you with all your RPO needs!

patty-silbert
2023/06
June 21, 2023
Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

Remote Work or in the Office? That is the Question

Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Have you ever had a bad experience with a business that left you feeling frustrated and uncared for? Maybe you were put on hold for an unreasonable amount of time, or your online order was late and arrived damaged. These negative experiences can quickly turn a loyal customer into a lost one. On the other hand, a positive customer experience can lead to customer loyalty and increased revenue for a business.

Now, more than ever, it's essential to learn about what customer experience is, why it's important, understand the customer's journey and ways to optimize it, and strategize how to deliver the best experience to keep and make loyal customers.

 

 

Defining Customer Experience

Simply put, customer experience (CX) is the sum of all customer interactions with a business, from initial contact to after-sales support. It's not just about the product or service, but a customer's overall feeling when dealing with a company. CX encompasses every aspect of a customer's journey, including how they perceive a business's values, culture, and brand. A positive customer experience means a customer feels valued, heard, and understood. On the other hand, a negative CX can lead to customer churn and lost revenue.

 

 

The Benefits of Excellent Customer Experience for Businesses

The impact of Customer Experience (CX) on a business's success cannot be overstated. According to a study by PwC, 73% of customers say the CX is a critical factor when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, a positive CX can lead to brand advocacy and repeat business. Loyal customers are likelier to recommend a company to others and spend more money on their products or services. By investing in CX, a business can increase revenue, customer retention, and positive word-of-mouth marketing.

 

 

4 Crucial Steps to Understanding CX and How to Optimize it for Maximum Satisfaction

 

1. Begin by building empathy for your customers.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of checking in with the people that use your products and services. But if you’re relying on data about your customers from a few years ago – or even a few months ago – you risk missing the mark when you deliver products and services for them. This is particularly likely in our post-covid world, which has evolved so quickly.

 

  • To better understand your customers and empathize with their needs, start with personas. Personas are a fantastic tool to build customer empathy, but creating good ones and utilizing them properly requires you to put yourself in their shoes. When creating them, consider demographic details first, like their age, income, and background.
  • Then move on to the nuances – the ‘put yourself in their shoes’ piece. The characteristics you consider for your personas should be informed by the voice of the customer (VoC) data, like:
    • What is most important to them right now?
    • Are they on a tight budget?
    • Are they very diligent in comparing all the details of products before purchasing?
    • Is this a product or service that is purchased for pleasure or necessity?

 

When combined across customer segments, these attributes can paint a picture of what makes your customers tick, what keeps them up at night, and what their motivations are.

Use this to understand your customers better. But most importantly, use it to view them as people first and paying customers second. When you do that, serving their needs comes much more naturally. It’s a common and fatal flaw to make a PowerPoint slide of a persona that goes on to collect dust. Appropriately used, personas should be integrated into key decisions to prioritize decisions that benefit customers continuously make. Try keeping your completed personas around office spaces – including their faces and names – to help them feel tangible and human. When you make vital decisions, ask yourself and others, “What will this mean for someone like our Jackie persona?”

 

2. Identify pain points and listen to their frustrations with an open mind.

Now that you understand your customers and their motivations well, it’s time to look at their journey and experience with your brand. This enables the discovery of customer pain points, which is crucial to identifying ways to reduce friction and stress in their experience and work towards building loyalty among your customer base. Journey Maps are a great tool to accomplish this. Start with looking at the whole journey, from learning about your brand and offerings through the purchase and the entire lifecycle of use of your product. Be sure to trust your customers about their pain points, even if you disagree or business problems stand in the way of quickly resolving their issues.

 

3. Be willing to change what is not working

Getting bad news hurts. And if you’re really listening to your customers, they will point out several of your flaws (it’s OK, we all have them.). The key is to have a spirit of curiosity and trust. First, be curious enough to hear them out. Then, trust them enough to take their feedback to heart. It’s easy to assume user error or to say, “That’s happening because of such and such business problem, which we won’t be able to fix.” Sometimes business problems, regulations, or factors outside of your control get in the way. However, we must do our best to advocate for the customer wherever possible. Take opportunities your customers identify to heart and have a spirit of willingness to fix it. If you don’t at least try to fix their issue, you never will.

 

4. Adopt CX and Design Thinking across your Organization

The people that engage with your products and brand are constantly changing. Paying a research firm once or twice to give you a snapshot of the landscape and customer perceptions is insufficient. Incorporating customer centricity across your organization and building it into your ethos is crucial to ensure continuous investment in understanding how your customers are changing and adapting. As this progresses, your organization’s CX maturity increases. Eventually, each project has a CX component to ensure that customer needs are an ever-present north star.

 

Customer experience is a critical factor in a business's success. By prioritizing CX, companies can create loyal customers who recommend their products and services to others. Understanding the customer journey, providing exceptional customer service, and using tools to measure CX's impact are all essential for creating a positive CX. In addition, by continually tracking and improving CX, businesses can retain customers, increase revenue, and build a positive reputation.

 

 

Interested in learning how to improve your customer experience? Fill out the form below, and someone from our experienced team will contact you to discuss your situation.

 

marisa-baird
2023/06
June 14, 2023
Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Customer Experience – What it Means and Why it Matters

Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Organizational change is a complex process, and achieving success without the proper foundation can be difficult. A culture of change readiness values leadership, trust, and accountability - three essential components for any successful transformation. These elements give organizations the best chance of achieving their desired outcomes when undergoing a sweeping organizational change effort. Learn how to create a "change-ready" culture and how leaders can foster such an environment.

Understand the Need for Organizational Change and its Structure

The need for organizational change is undeniable in today's fast-paced and ever-changing business world. Organizations must constantly evolve and adapt to stay relevant and competitive regardless of their size or industry. However, implementing organizational change is challenging and requires a well-structured approach. This is where organizational change management comes in - a structured process aimed at preparing, supporting, and helping individuals, teams, and organizations as a whole, to make the necessary changes to achieve their desired future state. Organizational change can involve several areas, such as culture change, process improvement, or a shift in strategy. Understanding the need for organizational change and the process involved is crucial for any business looking to survive and thrive in the long run.

 

 

Benefits of Having a Change-Ready Culture for Organizations and Employees

Organizations with a change-ready culture experience numerous benefits compared to those without.

  1. It helps companies remain competitive in an ever-evolving market. Change-ready organizations are always prepared to adapt to shifts in consumer behavior, technological changes, and market trends. This helps them stay ahead of the competition and maintain their position in the market. 

  2. A change-ready culture creates agility, innovation, and resilience, necessary for business growth. In addition, such a culture allows employees to be flexible, think creatively, and embrace new ideas. This, in turn, promotes a positive work environment that fosters innovation, leading to even more positive results for the organization. 

  3. A change-ready culture promotes employee satisfaction and retention. When companies prioritize a culture of change, employees feel empowered to contribute their ideas, which leads to a sense of ownership and accountability in decision-making processes. This, in turn, reinforces trust and loyalty between employees and their employer, leading to a more committed workforce and improved employee retention rates.

 

Create a Culture that Encourages Change

Culture plays a critical role in inducing change within an organization. There are various organizational cultures, but those with adaptive and innovative characteristics are most effective in driving change. For example, an organization's culture that values experimentation, risk-taking, and continuous learning fosters an environment where employees are open to new ideas, embrace change, and are willing to take calculated risks to move the organization forward. These cultural attributes create a highly responsive and agile organization that can adapt to changing market requirements, improve operational efficiency, and innovate products and services.

On the other hand, a culture that is resistant to change, defensive, and bureaucratic can stifle innovation, hinder progress and result in rigid, slow-moving, and unresponsive organizations. Therefore, organizational culture plays a significant role in shaping the organization's change management capability, ensuring that changes positively impact the business and do not impede progress or productivity.

 

The Role of Leadership in Cultivating Culture Change

Leadership plays a vital role in shaping and cultivating a healthy work culture. A great leader sets a vision for the future and links it with the present to create a cohesive direction for the organization. They have the will and conviction to bring about culture change that aligns with business goals and values. A good leader actively supports and encourages day-to-day improvements and changes, creating a culture of continuous improvement. A key aspect of successful leadership is promoting team and thought diversity, giving fresh perspectives and ideas. They live, protect, and shelter the fundamental values and principles essential to the organization. Effective leadership makes change management more manageable, and the organization is better prepared to face challenges and thrive in a constantly changing business environment.

 

Developing a Culture of Trust

Developing a culture of trust is crucial for any organization that wants to thrive in today's fast-paced and constantly changing business landscape. It starts with leadership that is committed to putting their team's best interests at the forefront and can execute on their promises. In such a culture, employees feel empowered to make decisions within their sphere of expertise, knowing they have their leaders' support and trust. This creates a virtuous cycle of engagement, motivation, and innovation that drives organizational success. Furthermore, a trust-based culture facilitates organizational change management, allowing the team to quickly adapt to new challenges and opportunities. When leadership has the will and conviction to change, and employees feel empowered to make decisions, the entire organization can move forward confidently toward a brighter future.

 

Encouraging Accountability and Responsibility Through Positive Reinforcement

Encouraging accountability and responsibility through positive reinforcement is vital to building a high-performing team that can endure even the most disruptive change. Seek to understand the challenges of low performers; often due to lack of support and tools. At the same time, streamline processes, systems, and structures to ensure everyone works efficiently towards the same goals. When setbacks or failures occur, formalize the resetting process to provide clarity and insights for improvement. Finally, leaders must lead by example and set a personally accountable and responsible tone for the entire organization. Doing so can establish a culture of accountability and responsibility, which will drive better performance, stronger teamwork, and a more positive working environment.

 

Implementing a Plan for Long-term Organizational Transformation

Implementing a plan for long-term organizational transformation is a daunting yet necessary task for any organization that aims to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing business landscape. This process involves revisiting and restructuring the core processes, internal culture, and systems to align with the new vision and goals. Success in this endeavor depends on effective organizational change management, which requires a well-conceived change management plan. This plan should encompass various change aspects, including strategy, communication, culture, and leadership. With the right plan and execution, organizations can experience significant cultural and strategic change that helps them evolve and succeed in today's competitive business world.

Organizational change is essential to stay competitive and thrive in the modern global marketplace. At its core, it requires an organizational culture of trust, encouraging accountability and responsibility through positive reinforcement, and developing an organizational structure that enables change. By understanding and implementing these strategies, organizations can create a change-ready culture where employees are empowered to take the initiative while leadership supports their efforts. With this kind of environment, companies can adapt quickly to changing market conditions while maintaining long-term growth objectives.

 

For more information about cultivating a culture change, connect with us at Aspirant. Fill out the form below.

 

alexandra-pointon
2023/06
June 13, 2023
Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Benefits of Cultivating a Culture Change

Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

The economic landscape of late 2022 and early 2023 witnessed a striking phenomenon that left many puzzled: while major layoffs plagued the big tech industry, the overall unemployment rate reached its lowest point in over five decades. There are many reasons behind the mass layoffs in big tech, the concurrent record-low unemployment rate, the impact on recruitment, business softness, and the future ahead. The tech industry experienced a wave of significant layoffs, sending shockwaves through the corporate world. Companies such as the Big 5 or GAMAM (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft) and numerous startups announced substantial job cuts, leaving thousands of employees uncertain about their professional futures. The reasons behind these layoffs were diverse, ranging from cost-cutting measures amidst changing market dynamics, company restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, to the need for strategic realignment in response to emerging technologies.

Here are some of the factors that were behind the layoffs:

 

  • Market Volatility and Shifting Priorities: 

One key factor contributing to the layoffs was the market's increasing volatility. Big tech companies faced challenges such as regulatory scrutiny, trade disputes, and changing consumer demands. This volatility forced many firms to reassess their priorities, leading to workforce reductions in certain areas and a reallocation of resources to more promising ventures. Companies aimed to streamline operations, optimize efficiency, and adapt to the evolving market landscape. Many tech companies began to look at productivity as the remote working environment was thought to have an impact on the output needed to move production innovation forward.  

 

  • Emerging Technologies and Reskilling Needs:

The rapid advancement of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning also played a role in the layoffs. As these technologies became more prevalent, companies sought to restructure their workforce to align with the demands of the future. Job roles that were becoming obsolete or redundant were phased out, while new positions requiring specialized skills were created. This transformation necessitated reskilling and upskilling efforts, resulting in a temporary dislocation of the workforce. 

 

 

  • Entrepreneurship and the Gig Economy: 

Another factor contributing to the low unemployment rate was the rise of entrepreneurship and the gig economy. With the availability of digital platforms and freelance opportunities, many individuals opted for self-employment or gig work, thereby bypassing traditional employment avenues. The new world of work and employee expectations that sought freedom and flexibility offered by these options appealed to a significant portion of the workforce, reducing the overall unemployment rate despite the layoffs in big tech. 

 

This time is complex given the ongoing challenges with the economic landscape. However, we are continually reminded that the labor market is dynamic and resilient and can adapt to changing circumstances. 

Additionally, amidst the layoffs in big tech and the record-low unemployment rate, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) emerges as a valuable solution to navigate complex situations. 

 

 

 

At Aspirant RPO, we offer organizations the following:  

 

 

  • Expertise and Efficiency: 

Bringing specialized knowledge and expertise in talent acquisition, enabling companies to streamline their hiring processes. This efficiency is crucial for companies going through layoffs, as they need to optimize their resources and fill key positions promptly. 

 

 

  • Cost Reduction: 

Implementing layoffs often comes with significant financial implications, and organizations are looking for ways to minimize costs without compromising on talent acquisition. RPO can be a cost-effective solution in this scenario. Companies can eliminate or reduce internal recruitment expenses by outsourcing the recruitment process, including hiring and training costs, job advertising fees, and recruitment technology investments. This allows organizations to allocate their limited resources strategically. 

 

 

  • Scalability and Flexibility: 

During periods of layoffs, companies may need to scale down their workforce temporarily. RPO offers the flexibility  to adapt to fluctuating hiring needs. Our services can quickly adjust our resources and recruitment efforts based on the organization's requirements, ensuring a seamless transition during downsizing. As the market stabilizes and the need for talent acquisition increases, we can scale up to accommodate the growing demands. 

 

  • Branding and Candidate Experience: 

Maintaining a positive employer brand and providing a good candidate experience is crucial, even during periods of layoffs. We help organizations navigate this challenge by implementing effective employer branding strategies and enhancing the candidate experience throughout the recruitment process. This ensures that companies uphold their reputation, attract top talent, and build long-term relationships with candidates, even during times of transition. 

 

  • Talent Pool Management:

While layoffs in big tech may result in job losses for some, there may still be a need for specific skills and expertise within the organization. Maintaining a mindset of talent pool management helps companies tap into this talent pool efficiently, when new opportunities open.  



The landscape will continue to change due to factors that are outside of a company's control. Knowing when it is time to engage can be the game changer in your Talent Acquisition strategy. Fill out the form below to learn more about Aspirant's Recruitment Process Outsourcing solutions.

patty-silbert
2023/06
June 7, 2023
Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

Layoffs Amidst Record-Low Unemployment: A Curious Dichotomy

Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

The decision to engage in a business merger goes far beyond vertical integration or capitalizing on market synergies. There are many opportunities inherent in combining the resources, assets, talent, market share, and intellectual property of organizations. However, the success of a business merger often falls on one critical factor that too many organizations don’t account for: culture.

Cultural Integration Is Critical

Culture plays a fundamental role in the success of mergers and acquisitions because it represents the core values of each company. While many of these values might be similar, how they’re embodied by management, employees, and the brand can differ significantly and the recognition of this can be the key to success or failure.

Building bridges to close culture gaps needs to be a core objective in any merger and acquisition plan. Without a focus on integrating cultures, even the most well-orchestrated M&A activity can become a rocky road with frustrated teams.

Even Balanced Business Mergers Don’t Feel Equal

Is there such a thing as a merger of equals? Even companies with similar balance sheets and market capitalizations often fall into rank and file as “winners” or “losers” in a merger. Company B takes Company A’s name or becomes its subsidiary. The branding of Company Y is dissolved and replaced with the colors, logos, and language of Company Z. Change is inevitable.

Even in a merger of equals, strategic moves are chalked up as wins or losses for one company or the other, and employees take note. There’s a natural propensity to believe that culture — especially a well-loved, long-held culture — will also dissolve within the merger. Can we still wear sports jerseys on Friday? Will the remote work policy change? Will my team stay the same, and where does my seniority rank after the merger? There are an infinite number of questions that, if not answered, can quickly devolve into fears or frustration.

It's important to note that cultural uncertainty isn’t only prevalent on the “losing” side of a merger. Any change affecting culture is one that’s likely to be met with trepidation. Even the perceived "winners" can be frustrated when they believe the other side isn't embracing the change or changing quickly enough. While many merger and acquisition strategies seek to create synergy through compromise, cultural changes need to be approached with tact to ensure that compromise isn’t seen as loss.

 

Creating a Cultural Integration Plan Before Your Business Merger

One of the biggest reasons mergers fail on expected value is because there’s an initial culture clash — and not enough attention to cultural differences. Companies fight to preserve their culture for fear that it’ll fade into the merger. Instead, it’s vital to facilitate the idea of a new, shared culture: one that incorporates the best-loved elements from both companies into a cohesive set of values that apply to both sides. It all starts with a plan.

  • Identify the core values of both organizations and seek to bring them together seamlessly. This often means conducting employee interviews and soliciting feedback, which offers the additional benefit of earning trust through stakeholder involvement.
  • Create a cultural integration plan that encapsulates the most important values from both organizations. Bring them together in a resilient, new (or modified) culture that invites shared ownership from both organizations — rather than one folded into another.
  • Designate cultural ambassadors and create accountability during the transition. Giving employees ownership of new cultural standards fosters a sense of pride and a willingness to adopt them — not only together, but as part of a new, larger team.
  • Engrain new culture standards into all aspects of the organization: from the branding to internal decision-making processes. The embodiment of a shared set of core values and cultural standards is what truly makes them real after a merger.
  • Track and monitor key metrics that show the adoption and inclusion of new values and standards within the merged organization. Use metrics as a way to foster discussions about culture, as opposed to a tool for assessing culpability.
  • The most important thing any two organizations can do to prevent tension is to pre-plan for a merger. Waiting until after a merger to address cultural differences or integration speed bumps means taking a reactive stance (as opposed to a proactive one). Pre-planning can head off morale slumps, talent exodus, integration inefficiencies, and other problems impacting the success of the broader merger.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

If your organization is readying for a merger or acquisition, consider the potential cultural concerns that could drive a wedge between merger goals and outcomes. A M&A consultant can add invaluable perspective to this process. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help support your team in building out a cultural integration plan.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

bill-kollitz
2023/05
May 23, 2023
Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

Make Your Business Merger a Success with Cultural Integration

Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

In today's data-driven marketplace, simply collecting numbers on a spreadsheet won't suffice. To make informed and accurate decisions, businesses need to go beyond data analytics and create an analytics culture that permeates the organization.

To achieve a successful data analytics strategy, a clear understanding of the data collection process and its reliability is required, as well as identifying stakeholders who need access to this information. An effective strategy also requires continuous monitoring, evaluation, and optimization to ensure relevant and up-to-date data.

But data analysis is just the beginning. The true power of analytics comes when businesses use it to uncover insights, predict future trends, and streamline decision-making. This requires effective data visualization and communication and incorporating analytics into the overall business strategy.

By investing in a comprehensive data analytics strategy beyond just numbers on a spreadsheet, businesses can gain a competitive advantage, improve operational efficiency, and ultimately drive growth. So don't just compile data; analyze it and make it work for you!

 

Simplify and Stay Relevant with a Solid Data Analytics Strategy

Data can be overwhelming, making it easy for stakeholders to neglect crucial information when presented with a report of graphs and numbers. A successful data analytics strategy compiles relevant information, delivers it on time, and provides the right individuals with the necessary analytical tools to guide data driven decision making.

Keeping your data analytics strategy simple and relevant is critical. This ensures your strategy is as robust as possible, providing your business with a bulletproof competitive edge.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

At Aspirant, we pride ourselves on our analytics and information management expertise. We've assisted countless companies in developing strategies to access the information they need when they need it. Analytics should be a powerful, insightful tool that drives your business forward. If this is a pain point for you or your company, fill out the form below.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

sayed-saeed
2023/05
May 12, 2023
Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

Take Your Data Analytics Strategy to the Next Level

Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

You use reporting to define success and determine if you achieved the results you set out to do. If each department looks at different reports with diverse metrics, how can you come to the same conclusion? Successful companies use one all-encompassing report to define their achievements.

Here are a few examples of how reporting processes can dissolve silos in business by galvanize organizations around shared objectives.

In the oil and gas industry, they focus on one report across all aspects of the company, and everyone has access to that information; from the engineer on the ground to the CEO in the corner office. Their focus is “barrels down the pipeline.”

While each team may have specific concerns, like oil from the wells, equipment, market activity, etc., the number of barrels that come down the pipeline is what it’s all about. After all, oil = barrels and barrels = money. Everything else contributes to those equations. Each department focuses on what they’re doing to influence that number.

Healthcare providers often use two main markers of success: lives saved and lives extended. If you take away all the details, all the regulations, medicines and equipment, the healthcare industry exists to achieve these two goals. Everything they do should ultimately contribute to extending lives and saving lives.

In higher education, one key area of focus is the percentage of alumni that donate to the college. Some teams will focus on the number of students who enroll or graduate and the number of majors offered. But ultimately, the number of alumni that donate to the school is a strong indicator of how well the college met and continues to meet their needs.

After all, if students were educated well, they should have found great jobs and earned enough money to give back. If the college provided the student with an educational and life experience they value, they should have the desire to give back. By and large, the ultimate measure of success for higher education relies on the activity of their previous students.

 

So, how do you define your company’s best measure of success?

1. Identify the main thing you do

Every company has a long story between quote and cash. Think big picture. Look at the above examples. With everything an oil and gas company works on and controls, their main goal is always to get barrels down the pipeline. If you take away all the incidentals in healthcare, the main purpose is to save and extend lives. What is your company’s purpose?

 

2. Make sure your metric aligns across all functions of your organization

Your key metrics have to be something affected by every department, not necessarily directly. For example, in higher education it may be important how many Ph.D. level professors work on campus, but that metric alone can’t define success. Think bigger and think end game. You want your metric to be an ultimate organizational goal, not a step along the way.

 

3. Plan, do, evaluate, and revise as necessary

Once you’ve decided on your metric, you need to plan how to focus on it. You need to decide how to get the entire company on board using this for your KPI. It’s not enough just to decide on a new report and tell everyone to follow it. You need to teach them. You need to evaluate the process, and you may need to revise it a few times before you get it right.

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/05
May 10, 2023
Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

Stop Working in Silos through Improved Reporting

Version Control Explained and Best Practices

As the digital age continues to evolve, businesses need a way to systematically track, manage, and store different versions of their projects. To ensure productivity remains high and that your data is consistently secure, using version control systems (VCS) is vital. While you may be aware of what version control entails in theory, understanding how they work and utilizing proper best practices can initially seem daunting.

We will explore what version control is all about and why using such systems across teams or departments is essential. We will also outline some valuable tips for successfully running version control within your business.

What is version control, and why does it matter for your projects?

Version control refers to managing document, file, and software code changes. Essentially, version control is a tracking mechanism that allows developers to record changes to their work. It's important because it helps to ensure that the final product is consistent and error-free. Version control is also essential for collaboration because it allows teams of developers to work on duplicate files simultaneously. By using version control, developers can easily roll back changes, identify the source of errors, and collaborate seamlessly on complex projects. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world of technology, version control is a must-have for any software development team.

 

Exploring the Types of Version Control Systems

Version control systems (VCS) are essential in software development, especially when working with multiple developers. These systems enable teams to collaborate efficiently by tracking changes to the codebase. 

In exploring the types of VCS available, it's important to note two main categories: centralized and distributed. 

  • Centralized systems like SVN have a single repository on a central server that controls all changes made to the codebase.
  • Distributed systems like Git have multiple repositories that mirror the central repository, allowing for local development without affecting the codebase until ready. 
  • Some VCSs, such as Mercurial, have centralized and distributed models. 

As developers, understanding the differences and choosing the right VCS can significantly affect productivity and workflow.

Version Control Systems

Subversion (SVN) Version Control

Subversion Version Control is an effective solution for managing software development projects. It provides a centralized repository that allows developers to easily collaborate on projects while tracking all changes made by each team member. With Subversion, teams can quickly identify bugs and make necessary adjustments with minimal disruption and effort. Additionally, SVN offers powerful branching capabilities that enable concurrent development and reduce risks associated with merging multiple code versions. By using Subversion for your software development project, you will always ensure that your team has access to the latest version of the codebase - ensuring no one gets left behind.

Pros of Subversion:

  1. Maintains a centralized repository for all code changes
  2. Allows teams to collaborate and track changes made by each member easily
  3. Powerful branching capabilities enable concurrent development with reduced risk
  4. Supports distributed workflows with multiple repositories
  5. Enables developers to quickly identify bugs, revert mistakes, and make necessary adjustments
  6. User-friendly interface that simplifies the version control process

 

Cons of Subversion:

  1. Relies on legacy systems - may not be compatible with newer technologies
  2. Performance issues when retrieving large files or merging complex branches
  3. Lack of advanced features
  4. Time-consuming installation and difficult for beginners

 

Git Version Control

Using Git in software development projects provides a distributed version control system that allows teams to work seamlessly on a project. It offers a local repository created for each team member that can be synced with a central repository when ready. This decentralized approach allows team members to work offline and achieve better collaboration. With Git, developers can create branches for each project feature or bug fix, allowing for parallel development and efficient management of workloads. Developers can also create pull requests to merge their changes with the main branch, making code reviews simple and efficient. Moreover, Git provides an excellent audit trail, which helps teams quickly trace modifications made to the codebase, reducing risks and insecurity. Using Git for software development can significantly enhance productivity, minimize errors, and save development time.

 Pros of Git:

  1. High performance
  2. Distributed version control system
  3. Branching and merging support
  4. Reduced risks and insecurity with an audit trail
  5. Offline access to the codebase
  6. Concurrent development capabilities

 

Cons of Git:

  1. Complex setup process
  2. Steep learning curve for beginners
  3. Lack of centralized repository management tools

 

Mercurial Version Control

Mercurial is another VCS that can be used in software development projects. It offers centralized and distributed models, which can be helpful for different development scenarios. Mercurial provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for developers to manage their projects. This VCS supports branching and merging, enabling teams to work concurrently and without the risk of code conflicts.

Mercurial also offers powerful collaboration tools, including push and pull requests, which allow teams to share their work and receive feedback quickly. One of the main advantages of Mercurial is its robustness and stability, as many organizations have used it for years, and it has proven to be reliable in large-scale projects.

In addition, Mercurial has a simple installation process, which can save developers valuable time and resources. Unlike Git, Mercurial's interface is more uniform across different platforms, which can make it less confusing for beginners. However, Mercurial may lack some of the advanced features of Git, such as rebasing and staging.

When deciding between Git and Mercurial, it's essential to consider the specific needs of your organization and team. While Git may offer more advanced features, Mercurial can provide a simpler and more stable option. Ultimately, the choice between these VCSs depends on the type and scale of your project, as well as the preferences of your development team. 

Pros of Mercurial:

  1. Easy to use and set up

  2. Cross-platform compatibility

  3. Supports both centralized and distributed version control models

  4. Powerful branching system - allowing developers to work on multiple versions simultaneously

  5. Great for small teams working on a single project

  6. Fast, efficient, and reliable tracking of changes made to the codebase

  7. Allows users to easily back out or undo mistakes without affecting history

 

Cons of Mercurial:

  1. Limited support for Windows systems compared to other VCSs, such as Git

  2. Requires command-line knowledge, which can be intimidating for some beginners

  3. Difficult to manage large projects due to lack of automation tools

  4. Not suitable for real-time collaboration with multiple people

  5. No GUI-based client is available

 

Tips for Avoiding Mistakes and Maintaining Peace of Mind With Version Control

Version control can be a lifesaver for any software developer or team. However, it can also quickly become a source of frustration if mistakes are made, or the process needs to be appropriately maintained. To avoid these pitfalls and maintain peace of mind, there are a few tips to keep in mind:

  1. It is important to always double-check before committing changes to a repository. This way, errors can be caught before becoming more significant.
  2. Clear and concise communication with team members is a must. It will help ensure everyone is on the same page and appropriately manages changes.
  3. Staying organized and maintaining a consistent workflow can also significantly reduce the chances of mistakes and make managing versions a smoother process.

Following these tips can streamline the version control process and enjoy its benefits.

 

Version control is a powerful tool that makes it easier to manage and organize all sorts of projects. It improves collaboration amongst team members, eliminates the risk of losing information through multiple versions, and helps prevent significant errors throughout the project. With version control, teams can work together without fear of one wrong move derailing the entire project and making it difficult to start up again. Utilizing version control when managing projects enables teams to be more productive in their time and energy by streamlining their workflow processes. Not only does version control to save time and hassle for your project development team, but it gives you peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, you have a backup plan ready if any mistakes are made, or changes need to be reversed quickly. Version control holds numerous benefits and should be considered when dealing with complex projects.

 

Learn more about how to set up the right VCS for your organization! Please fill out the form below to reach our talent experts.

phil-kossler
2023/05
May 9, 2023
Version Control Explained and Best Practices

Version Control Explained and Best Practices

Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Master Data Management (MDM) is a critical business process that involves managing the organization's most important data assets. However, companies often need help implementing MDM, which can lead to significant missteps affecting the entire organization. Let's discuss two common missteps and how to avoid them.

Not Having an MDM Plan

The first misstep to avoid is needing a solid plan in place. A bad plan is even worse than having no plan at all. A well-thought-out MDM plan must consider all major and minor aspects of your business's master data management. Here are some key questions you should ask:

  • Where is the data?
  • How reliable is the data?
  • Who needs access to the data?
  • How secure is the data?
  • How will people access the data?

 

 

By answering these questions, you'll understand how your MDM strategy needs to work.

 

Take Ownership of the Data Cleanup Process for Effective MDM

Various applications and spreadsheet data are brought together in a typical MDM strategy. For example, your marketing team may use a CRM like HubSpot, your accounting team could be using QuickBooks, and your consultants use their spreadsheets uploaded to Google Drive.

However, when it's time to implement an MDM strategy, the data turns out to be a mess with multiple records for the same customer that contain slightly varying data. It's up to you to own the cleanup process, as it's not the responsibility of the IT department to clean up the data.

It's common to assume another person will clean up the data, but that never happens. As a result, the data needs to be more reliable and efficient, defeating the MDM strategy's very purpose. Don't make this misstep; take responsibility for cleaning up the data for effective MDM.

 

Don't Struggle Alone: Let Us Help You Build a High-Performance Data Warehouse

Are you tired of chasing incomplete or inaccurate information? At Aspirant, we specialize in evaluating, installing, configuring, and implementing high-performance data warehouse architectures. We understand how crucial it is to have reliable information at your fingertips. Don't waste another day struggling on your own. Let us help you build the data warehouse solution you need. Reach out to us today by filling out the form below to learn more and get started. Together, let's achieve your data goals.

 

sayed-saeed
2023/05
May 3, 2023
Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Mastering Master Data Management: Avoid These Two Missteps

Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

All businesses have competition. To understand where you stand against your competitors, you may rely on sales reports, data analysis, and other metrics. But what if your company is the market leader? Do you know why? More importantly, do you know if you can maintain your competitive edge in the long run? Keep reading to learn how to stay ahead of the game.

In today's fiercely competitive business environment, it's crucial to differentiate yourself from the competition. One way to do this is by knowing rival brands inside and out. Conducting a thorough analysis of your competitors' strengths and weaknesses can help you identify gaps in the market and refine your own strategy. Keeping a pulse on industry trends and market shifts can also give you a leg up over the competition. Staying ahead of the game requires constant vigilance and adaptation.

 

What is the Meaning of Market Positioning?

Market positioning is a strategy used by businesses and organizations to create and maintain a brand image. It is a common marketing strategy for companies to establish their unique position within the market. This can be accomplished by following the four P's: promotion, prices, places, and products. The more detailed you define your Ps, the more effective the result.

Creating or refining a positioning statement for your business can help shape your brand identity, as it influences your message, language, and brand strategy.

 

Use Data Wisely for Your Brand Positioning Strategy

Data is abundant nowadays. It can either help and hurt you, depending on how it's used. Like fire, it can help cook your food, but it can also set fire to your home. So, while data can help you make strategic business decisions, it can also overwhelm you to the point of analysis paralysis or make you so focused that you're missing other important elements.

Companies are often guilty of looking at data for a specific purpose, but not looking at it holistically and seeing other points that are interwoven within the data. It can also create fire drills. Many a marketer has heard the call for, “Why are sales down here? Figure out why!” and off they run to focus on something else. Though important, excessive data analysis in isolation can be problematic. Achieving a happy medium between analysis and action is vital. It is crucial to not only scrutinize data in an office, but also speak with customers outside of it to balance findings with real-world insights.


Achieving and Maintaining a Strong Market Position: A Simple 3-Step Process

To truly understand where you stack up versus competition, and most importantly, how you can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, there are three key things to keep in mind:



1. Focus on the Consumer Wants and Needs

Ask yourself: How can we deeply connect with and understand them?

In-depth insights into your customers or consumers are crucial to your brand's success, and engaging with them takes more than data analysis. Stepping out of your office and having conversations with your customers is key to understanding their brand perceptions and how they interact with your competitors. Solid data obtained through empathetic conversations carries just as much weight as quantitative metrics. When you listen to your customers and connect with them, you'll build stronger bonds, develop valuable feedback, and gain sharp insights that can optimize your marketing and sales strategies.

 

2. Determine Where You Can Bring Unique Value

Ask yourself: How can our product or service bring more value than the competition?

Once you truly understand your consumer and gain deep insights about their needs, you can use that information to strengthen your market positioning. Ask yourself, ‘How can we uniquely provide value to the consumer better than anyone else?' This takes time and is not easily understood. It is also important to not do this alone.

Creating a team of diverse thinkers who share and synthesize information from a multitude of sources, including their own personal observations with your target audience, is critical in honing your point of difference. One effective test is to swap your brand name with a competitor's name, while retaining your brand positioning. If your original statement still rings true with the competitor's name, then it may need further development. This ensures your brand positioning is unique, ownable, and sets you apart from competitors.

 

3. Zeroing in on the Competition

Ask yourself: Where is our competition playing in our market? Where are we vulnerable to the competition?

If your company has been strictly internally focused and forgotten about the competition, one way to mitigate this process is through Competitive Scenario Planning. Through this intensive process, you'll get your employees together, creating focus groups, and ‘become' the competitor. Who are they? What's driving their strategy? Advertising? Sales materials? Digital? How are they presenting themselves?

Effective preparation is imperative; ensure you have the right people involved. Analyze sales data and share insights on consumer preference and satisfaction. Formal marketing research data is ideal but if unavailable, social media, online ratings and reviews can be valuable resources. Evaluating competition's marketing materials and positioning strategy is recommended.

One smart way to gain insight into your major competitors is to gather all relevant information and share it with your team. During the analysis process, it's important to consider diverse perspectives and leverage tools like SWOT or PESTLE analyses. This approach not only helps identify competitor advantages and disadvantages, but also external factors with the potential to influence the market. By putting all the pieces together, you can make more informed strategic decisions.

 

Ready to Take Action

To excel in your industry, it is vital to balance your internal perspective with your awareness of your competitors. Understanding your customers' needs and meeting them in a unique and distinctive way is also crucial. So, remember to keep these factors in mind as you aim to grow and differentiate yourself from competitors.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2023/05
May 2, 2023
Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

Understand Your Market Position and Establish Differentiation

What Is Data Analytics?

Data analytics is an ever-evolving component of business analytics that helps businesses make better decisions and drive productivity. Regardless of a company's size or industry, the ability to translate raw data into actionable insights is critical to sustainable success.

How Is It Used in Business?

Skilled analysts can uncover trends from customer interactions, supply chain metrics, financial data, or any other business information that might otherwise go unnoticed. This can reveal opportunities for growth, cost savings, and improved processes across every aspect of the organization. With the right tools and expertise, the right data analytics strategy can help businesses stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving marketplace.

 

What Inputs Do Companies Use for Their Analytics?

Depending on their size, industry, and key objectives, companies use a variety of data sources for analysis.

  • Macroeconomic factors (foreign exchange rates, unemployment, inflation)
  • Financial data (sales figures, operating costs, profit margins)
  • Business operations data (finished goods inventory, production rates, available capacity)
  • Customer data (demographics, customer satisfaction, purchase frequency)
  • Competitive data (market share, brand preference, distribution to end markets)

By applying natural language processing tools, a skilled data analyst is able to perform data analytics on qualitative data as well as quantitative data. Extracting the nuance from textual data from surveys, articles, or social media posts often generates the most valuable insights.

 

What Are Steps are Involved?

Define Business Objectives

Organizations need to align on what they intend to accomplish through data analysis. A specific, methodical approach can then be tailored accordingly.

Data Collection

In this step, all available data is extracted, validated, and aggregated. Establishing direct integrations between databases and internal systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms eliminates the hassle and risk of collecting data manually.

Data Processing

Jumping right into analyzing raw data is inefficient and ineffective. Data sets must be cleansed and transformed to address any inconsistent consistent formatting and organization. Effort to process data includes removing duplicates, handling missing values, and encoding categorical variables.

Data processing also involves normalization and scaling, which helps standardize data for comparison and analysis purposes. This essential step ensures that data is complete, reliable, and unbiased.

Data Analysis

The data analysis process, including data mining, is where data is transformed into meaningful insights. A variety of data analytics tools are employed to identify trends, patterns, and relationships within large datasets. Advanced analytics algorithms and machine learning are being rapidly adopted for their ability to accelerate and improve statistical analysis.

The key is to ask the right questions and use the appropriate analysis to answer them. Data analysis must be thorough and maintain the integrity of large datasets.

Data Visualization

The breadth and depth of the data being analyzed heavily determines its potential. The complex relationships between data points can be difficult to explain in terms of numbers in a spreadsheet. Specialized data visualization software helps create interactive charts, graphs, and other visual elements that are accessible and easy to understand - even for stakeholders who are not savvy with analytic data.

Data Interpretation

Interpretation is where business leaders draw conclusions from the data presented to them. Data modeling such as diagnostic analytics (diagnose why something happened), predictive analytics (predict future trends or events), and prescriptive analytics (recommend the optimal course of action) can lend some data-driven context.

All preceding data management and visualization must be executed properly in order for the analysis to be correctly interpreted. Miscues along the way could cause decision makers to form a skewed understanding of reality.

Taking Action

Despite all the work invested into the data analytics process and the sophistication of the analytical tools available to them, leaders still need to call on their intuition in making strategic decisions for their organizations. All data analytics techniques have bias and limitations that must be considered when it is time to take action.

 

What Is Data Analytics Step by Step

 

The Future of Analytics: Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning

Big data analytics seems poised to become tables stakes in the business world. The larger and more varied a data set is, the more accurate and useful predictive analytics becomes. The added horsepower of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will enable organizations to leverage increasingly sophisticated models that will make decision-making nearly automatic. Businesses operating at the speed of information.

This may sound a bit pie-in-the-sky, but the adoption of these tools is already well underway. Leaders who embrace big data and prioritize the installation of business intelligence tools stand to create a sustainable advantage for their organizations.

Conversely, companies that put off the initiation of a business analytics program run a serious risk of being left in the dust.

 

What Challenges Do Companies Encounter with Analytics?

Committing to data driven decision making is the first step for business leaders looking to data analytics to drive business performance. However, a variety of dynamics make this progression even more challenging than it seems, including:

  • Scarcity or reliability of historical data due to the absence of digital systems and/or dependable record keeping
  • No efficient, reliable means for operationalizing data aggregation or establishing data warehouses
  • Intimidation with getting started with organizing all the data that has been generated
  • Lacking in-house data scientists or data analysts with the ability to normalize unstructured data and identify patterns between data sets
  • Uncertain on how to interpret the different types of data analytics
  • Doubt with the ability to use data to directly inform strategic action

How Does Aspirant Help Clients Harness the Power of Their Data?

Companies could try to build out these capabilities on their own by hiring for, or internally cultivating, the data analytics skills to collect, process, and analyze data. However, that approach requires more patience and risk tolerance than most leaders can spare. We can help.

Aspirant's team of data analysts and data science experts can flatten that learning curve. They design custom solutions that utilize all available data and generate the insight needed to make nimble strategic decisions. From supporting data mining to applying the latest data science methodologies to developing real-time dashboards to enabling business process automation (BPA), Aspirant is capable of implementing even the most ambitious analytics program.

We can also develop custom applications and integrations to create a comprehensive data collection infrastructure.

 

Aspirant Is a Microsoft Partner

 

The people and processes are just as important as the technology when standing up an analytics program. Aspirant's Integrated Expertise provides direct access to all the cross-functional support companies need to being leveraging data as means for strengthening their strategic agility.

 

Learn more about Aspirant's Integrated Expertise

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/05
May 1, 2023
What Is Data Analytics?

What Is Data Analytics?

Why Is Business Analytics Important?

Business analytics is the practice of using data and analytical techniques to gain insights that help inform business decisions. With the right approach, organizations can unlock a wealth of valuable information from the data they are already generating to make faster, more informed strategic choices. It has become an essential tool for business leaders as they seek opportunities for growth and a competitive edge for their companies.

What Is Business Analytics?

This refers to a complex process that involves gathering, analyzing and interpreting data to drive decision-making. It is a multidimensional approach to data analysis that encompasses business intelligence, data mining, and predictive modeling techniques. With the help of advanced analytical tools, organizations can identify trends, patterns, and outliers that hold the key to solving their toughest challenges.

 

What Are the Benefits?

Through proper analysis, companies can find patterns, relationships and trends that enable them to make faster, better decisions in their operations. The ability to spot trends and react quickly creates 'strategic agility' that can provide a competitive advantage.

 

How Does This Inform Business Decisions?

Decision-making becomes much faster and far less subjective when using a defined, consistent approach for reacting to objective inputs (various data sets). This mitigates the substantial risk that comes with leading companies by intuition alone.

 

How Is This Different from Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Data Analysis?

Business Intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) is about understanding what happened in the past. Companies can see how they did in the past and use that information to plan for the future.

Data Analytics

Data analytics is a general term that refers to the concept of leveraging data to make better decisions.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is a subset of data analytics where specific processes define how data is inspected, processed, and interpreted. More sophisticated approaches apply statistical and computational techniques as well as machine learning in order to handle larger data sets, accelerate its analysis, and represent it visually.

 

How Does Business Analytics Work?

These programs encompass a series of processes that translate raw data into insight. Business data from a variety of internal and external sources is aggregated, analyzed, and presented in a format that allows decision makers to quickly understand it. They can then collaborate and align on the corresponding course of action in very short order.

Direct integration of the data feeds and dashboards can accelerate these efforts to the point where data driven decision making is nearly automatic.

 

How Is This Approach Typically Applied?

The potential uses are only limited by the scope and volume of available data. With the right inputs, analysis can uncover actionable insights within customer behavior, market trends, sales performance, or operational efficiency. Companies of any size or industry stand to gain a material advantage by developing an effective data analytics strategy.

 

What Are the Different Types of Analytics?

Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics uses historical business data to describe what happened in the past.

Diagnostic Analytics

Diagnostic analytics, or 'drill-down analytics', is used to uncover patterns, trends, and correlations in historical data that explain why something happened.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics identifies patterns in data to predict future outcomes. Methods such as regression analysis, decision trees, neural networks, and clustering can help establish and quantify the cause-and-effect relationships between any number of business dynamics.

Prescriptive Analytics

Prescriptive analytics goes a step further by recommending what should be done in a given situation to achieve a desired outcome. Mathematical modeling, simulation, machine learning, and optimization are often part of these frameworks.

 

 

Descriptive Analytics vs Diagnostic Analytics vs Predictive Analytics vs Prescriptive Analytics

 

 

What Are the Most Common Tools?

Spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel is the typical starting point for basic data analytics. However, most companies quickly opt for more powerful data analytics tools that are capable of more robust and faster analysis.

Through systems integrations and the development of custom applications, companies can virtually eliminate the time, effort, and potential for errors inherent with manual data management.

Microsoft's Power BI is one of the most popular solutions for data visualization. It provides dynamic dashboards that empowers users to see and dig into data in real time. They can be customized and configured to show the most important metrics in the most intuitive way.

 

 

Why is Business Analytics Important - Sample BI Dashboard Configurations

 

 

What Are the Most Critical Skills?

In addition to software and systems, organizations need business analysts with a broad set of skills in order to conduct analysis properly:

  • Data Analysis: The ability to analyze data is the foundation of business analytics. Analysts must be able to clean and transform unstructured data, build models, and use apply statistical analysis to derive insights.
  • Business Acumen: Successful analysts understand their business, including organizational goals, challenges, and competitors. By knowing what drives the business, they can focus on the most relevant metrics.
  • Critical Thinking: The ability to think critically is essential to making accurate and meaningful insights from data. Analysts must be able to question assumptions, test hypotheses, and consider alternative explanations to avoid drawing erroneous conclusions.
  • Communication: Skilled analysts can translate technical analyses into plain language and explain their implications for different audiences, including decision-makers, who may or may not be data-savvy.
  • Visualization: Thoughtful and visually intuitive charts, graphs and other dashboards are critical in providing stakeholders the insights they need quickly.
  • Project Management: Effectively managing projects, prioritizing tasks, and meeting deadlines ensure that analysts not only produce valuable insights but also do so efficiently.
  • Programming: The ability to manipulate data, build models, refine algorithms, and automate business processes is very useful in managing more advanced programs. Aspiring business analysts should build competency with programming languages such as Python and R.

How Can Companies Build Out Analytical Capabilities?

Enabling analytical capabilities requires a systematic approach that involves the integration of technology, data management, and human expertise. Companies need to invest in the right resources and infrastructure to support continuous improvement and innovation.

Here are some critical steps that companies can take to develop these capabilities internally:

  • Set objectives: Start by defining clear business objectives that align with their overall strategic goals. The associated key performance indicators (KPIs) will be used to track progress and measure success.
  • Invest in data infrastructure: Technology such as data lakes, data warehouses, and data visualization software will be required to collect, manage, and analyze data.
  • Develop a data governance framework: A data governance framework must be established to ensure data quality and integrity. This includes defining data standards, ensuring data privacy and security, as well as establishing roles and responsibilities for data management.
  • Hire the right talent: Teams comprised of data analysts, data scientists, and visualization experts must have the expertise to properly interpret data, extract insights, and contribute to making data-driven decisions.
  • Commit to continued development: Ongoing training is critical. Companies should encourage employees to take courses, attend workshops, and earn certifications that bolster their skills and keep them current with the latest industry trends.
  • Foster a data-driven culture: Companies need to encourage innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement. This involves promoting data literacy, where everyone in the organization understands the value of data and how to use it to make informed decisions.

What Are the Common Challenges?

It is easy to get excited about the potential impact of leveraging data to fuel business growth, but there tend to be some challenges in standing up these programs.

Here are some of the hurdles that companies tend to encounter:

  • Data Quality: One of the most foundational considerations is ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data used for analysis. It must be clean, standardized, and up to date. Otherwise, the insights derived from the data can be misleading or incorrect.
  • Data Privacy and Security: Businesses must also consider data privacy and security concerns when collecting and analyzing data. New data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA create an increasingly complex regulatory landscape that companies must successfully navigate in order to avoid costly fines and reputational damage.
  • Skills Gap: Expertise in data science and analytics is in short supply, making it difficult to recruit employees with the needed skills.
  • Legacy Systems: Outdated legacy systems may not be compatible with modern analytics tools. This can lead to problems with data integration, processing, and accessibility.
  • Culture: Establishing business analytics requires a cultural shift towards data-driven decision-making. This can be a significant challenge in organizations where decision-making is still based on intuition, experience, or seniority.

Leaders are willing to face these challenges because they realize the potential upside of revolutionizing how their companies run. Few have the time, resources, and expertise to do that on their own and avoid all the pitfalls along the way. That's where we come in.

 

How Does Aspirant Help Clients Harness the Power of Their Data?

Aspirant's data and analytics experts know how to anticipate, identify, and resolve problems that would otherwise limit data analytics programs or prevent them from ever being implemented.

We can also develop custom applications and/or integrations to install a comprehensive data collection infrastructure.

 

Aspirant is a Microsoft Partner

 

As mentioned above, there is much more to cultivating analytical capabilities than technology. Aspirant's delivery model is based on Integrated Expertise, which provides direct access to all the cross-functional support needed to stand up a state-of-the-art, difference-making business intelligence program.

 

Learn more about Aspirant's Integrated Expertise

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2023/04
April 17, 2023
Why Is Business Analytics Important?

Why Is Business Analytics Important?

5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

Once you’ve identified that your organization is suffering from silos, you’re going to want to eliminate them right away. The longer they go on, the harder they are to break. Over 25 years ago, the quest to eliminate these organizational boundaries was championed by Jack Welch, who was CEO of General Electric at the time.

Welch's strategy is still relevant today, but there are also new developments in this arena. With an ever-changing business and technology landscape, this is something you should always be striving for. Even when you bust up silos in your business, best practices should persist to prevent recurrences.

Here are some solutions to help you continuously bust up silos:

1. Review your critical project teams and diversify them.

This does not mean fire people, but you can remove people from projects and teams, add in some new blood and increase diversity. If you don’t think someone is a great fit or you find too much homogeneity on the team, reassignment will help your team and aid in that person’s development. Make sure to have an array of strengths and talents on each team. A software development team can’t work with just programmers. You need user-experience experts, task masters, beta testers, etc. Cross-functional collaboration can also help participants build their employee network.

 

2. Document and discuss your processes.

This isn’t about evaluating the quality of the work people do. This is about documenting and discussing the process by which they do their jobs. Use it as a learning experience and tool to help diversify your team members. Have them document each other’s process by being walked through it. Having an outsider view for documentation is beneficial, and it will encourage mutual respect. The process of documentation will help you identify where the flow is breaking down. At that point, the team can come together to try to remedy any obstructions.

 

3. Develop your leaders across departmental lines.

If you want to bust out of a silo environment, you have to develop your leaders outside of silos. If you’ve got employees targeted for advancement, start assigning them to work with different departments. Make sure cross-functional projects are on their agenda. Give them experiences to help them build the skills necessary to lead. In a  study by Harvard Business Publishing, 58% of the least successful businesses surveyed said that leadership development was just something they did to ‘check a box.’ Don’t be that business.

Centralized reporting that focuses teams and their leaders on shared goals can go a long way to combat working in silos.

 

4. Develop leaders’ global acumen.

Similar to the solution above, this one is becoming more important all the time. Nearly every business now competes in a global market. Do you have offices and employees across the globe? If so, make sure they work together on projects. Encourage employees to work on location in different cities and countries when the opportunity arises. Perhaps provide paid subscriptions to world news sites and encourage global learning.

 

5. Hire and embrace diversity.

You want to hire people that enhance your current team and fill in gaps in talent, style and personality. Use things like HBDI to determine what styles you already have and identify what you are missing. The more diverse your team, the less likely they are to separate into silos.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/04
April 17, 2023
5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

5 Ways to Bust Silos in Business

Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

When we think about the delegation of authority, we often think about “pushing” tasks or work to our team members. But metaphorically, it’s taking something currently on your plate, by choice or circumstance, and moving it to one of your team members’ plates.

A previous blog on delegated authority focused on how managers can build the skills to balance workload across their teams. The world and work landscape has been uprooted since then. Between the abrupt shift to remote during the pandemic, distributed work and workforces, the Great Resignation, record low unemployment, staffing shortages, employee burnout, and hyper-focus on culture & employee experience.

Managers are facing new challenges to lead and engage their teams that require new skills effectively or, in this case, a “reframe” of skills like delegation of authority.

When done well, delegating tasks, projects, and authority creates space for you as the manager as well as your team members.

 

Start With You, the Manager

It’s important to ask yourself, “what outcome do I want?” Most often, the desired outcome is not simply to shift work but to:
  • Create capacity for you as a manager
  • Build your team’s capability
  • Drive engagement, retention, and team performance

Once you’ve considered your desired outcome, ask yourself, “Am I prepared to not just delegate the work, but delegate the authority to make decisions regarding the work?” If so, “What are the expectations, conditions, or considerations for my team to be successful?”

Once you’re ready, reframe delegation through these employee experience lenses.

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 1: Delegation as Empowerment

The tension with delegation doesn’t lie within assigning the work to a team member, but in stepping away and letting the team member own what’s been given to them. Establishing this culture of accountability is often a point where managers most commonly struggle. Assigning tasks or projects and then micro-managing their completion isn’t creating capacity for you as a manager or building capability on your team. In fact, it’s counterproductive and erodes trust and culture.

Daniel Pink’s best seller “Drive” talked about the three important motivational factors for managers to recognize: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Autonomy is flexibility and space to do work independently. Pink describes the conditions for autonomy as having ownership over “the task, the time, the technique, and the team.”

Delegating, then empowering your team member to own what’s been assigned to them requires alignment on expectations, trust, and clear, consistent communication.

Practice:

      • Reframe your team member as the CEO of the task or project
      • Share expectations, ask questions, provide input, and offer support
      • Let them run the task or project like they own it

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 2: Delegation as Development

Employee growth and development is one of the main drivers of engagement and often why employees leave organizations. With retention and engagement being such a critical focus in the current environment, delegating projects or tasks to your team members as a development opportunity is a great way to build capability and develop talent.

Pink describes Mastery as “the feeling I am getting better at things that matter, by getting feedback.”

For managers, delegating authority and pushing decision-making and ownership down in your organization is a powerful development tool. It builds critical problem-solving skills and creates a sense of accountability for the tasks and outcomes.

When delegating authority as a development tool, it’s important is aligns with your team member’s strength(s) and development goal(s).

Practice: Try reframing the task as a question like:

      • “Could I get your help with something?”
      • “Could I give you a project?”

Asking your team member involves them directly in the delegation. It can help them communicate what authority and resources they need to be successful.

 

Delegating Authority Reframe 3: Delegation as a Team Sport

Managers have a noble goal, building and leading a high-performing team working together to achieve a common goal. A strong sense of individual and shared trust and accountability is an essential characteristic of high-performing teams.

There is a natural tension between trust, accountability, and clear expectations; communication and feedback live in the space created by that tension.

When delegating authority within your team, this practice must be visible and apparent to the team member that you’re delegating to, as well as the entire team.

This practice clarifies roles and expectations, demonstrates your commitment to empowering the team, and models behaviors aligning with your vision and goals.

Accountability is demonstrated through ownership and agency over tasks, decisions, risks, and results across the team. Trust is built by consistently holding our team and ourselves accountable to the same expectations.

Practice:

      • Set guiding principles in your team around delegation
      • Explain what authority means and what support looks like
      • Use team time, staff meetings, and 1:1s to reinforce your expectation and your role
      • Say, “I am here to support you if, how, and when you need me.”

 

Recap of Your Role in Delegation of Authority

Remember, the way you delegate authority only begins at the transfer of the task. The real work is in the process. How you set expectations, offer resources, check-in, ask questions, remove obstacles, offer support, allow space for small failures or missteps, and, importantly, resist the urge to step in fully unless requested will be the true step of how effectively you delegate authority. It’s a learning process for you and your team.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough and relinquishing some level of control is challenging for many of us, but becoming comfortable with delegation is part of the maturation process for any leader. Think your team could use more direct support? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

rachel-brecht
2023/03
March 30, 2023
Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

Delegation of Authority: 3 Critical Components for 2023

7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

Managing a tech team can be challenging and even more complicated when managing a department if you aren't extremely knowledgeable about tech. In addition, you may have trouble understanding the employees' points of view and their frustrations.

Here are a few tips to help you, whether you have tech employee issues or want to ensure you're running the team to the best of your ability.


 

1. Build Relationships

Developing solid relationships with your tech team is vital to working smoothly with them. Take time to get to know them, their strengths, and their interests. Showing a genuine interest in them and their work will help to build trust and create a positive work environment.

 

2. Obtain Details Before Assigning

Most IT people prefer to avoid brainstorming sessions with other departments. They would rather come into the game later because it isn't one of their strengths. Of course, there can always be exceptions, and they want to be asked for their technical input. However, they are much happier when the details are gathered for them. They can't read your mind, nor that of the marketing manager, so have as much information about what is needed as possible when assigning projects.

 

3. Communicate Clearly

Clear communication is essential when working with a tech team. Be specific about your needs, expectations, and deadlines. Use clear and concise language and avoid technical jargon if possible. This will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

 

4. Acquire Access Before Proceeding

Ensure your tech team and other parties can access files, sites, etc., and logins and/or passwords when required. Don't spend time figuring out who needs access to what and why some people can view a file and others can't. It will start the project with aggravated employees on both sides.

 

5. Provide the Right Tools 

Give your tech team the tools and resources to do their job effectively, including hardware, software, and access to training and development opportunities. Providing the right tools will help to increase productivity and job satisfaction.

 

6. Discuss and Agree on Realistic Timelines

It may be tempting to tell the CEO what he wants to hear when he asks, "When can this be done?" But make sure you truly know the answer before giving it. Whenever possible, discuss timelines with your tech team. You should push them to be realistic as well. If the CEO wants a project done in three months, and your tech team is telling you it will be 12 months, neither of those is probably accurate. Walk your tech team through the steps and let them tell you why; they may realize during the talk that they overestimated. Ask them what they can do to get it done faster. Can you bring in an intern to cover some lower-level items? Can you put off another project or allow your team to work from home without distractions? Work with them, and come to a reasonable and realistic timeline. Once you have that, communicate it with the CEO and other affected parties. Make sure they understand the timeline and why it is as such.

 

7. Show Appreciation to Your Tech Team

Recognize and appreciate the hard work! A little appreciation goes a long way. Make sure they know you value and respect the work they do.

 

 

Looking for more ways to make your tech department run more smoothly? Reach out to our team of tech experts or fill out the form below to learn more.

phil-kossler
2023/03
March 27, 2023
7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

7 Tips for Working Smoother with Your Tech Team

Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

The talent acquisition sector understands full well how recruiting and the overall hiring process has changed dramatically; however, what hasn’t changed is that recruiting is still missing out on creating a great candidate experience. The vast majority of job seekers state that they have a less-than-desirable experience with most companies’ hiring process.

What is missing for most companies? Personalizing the candidate experience that meets them on their terms. Those terms begin with how recruiting teams promote the organization’s employer brand — moving from brochureware to personalized communications unique to each candidate. Job seekers want to communicate through their communication channel of choice: text, email, or chatbots. They also desire ease when filling out forms on the career site or self-scheduling and expect a robotic experience in the right places to move them through the process faster. Unfortunately, many organizations miss the fact that the robotics they put in place should be there to collect information on the user that can be used for personalization later.

The candidate experience remains disjointed today, and it is a widespread pain point for anyone going through their recruitment journey. Delivering seamless experiences across many communication channels and introducing digital touchpoints within the recruiting process is challenging, requiring special attention and a deep understanding of your audience. There needs to be a more thoughtful approach to ensure it creates a relevant experience specific to their needs. Every interaction you have with your candidate is your opportunity to tell a great story about your organization, your employee value proposition, and your “why” with the intent of building a relationship between the individual and your organization’s brand

Those touches or interactions throughout the recruiting process reflect your brand and signal what it is like to work for your organization. Like any customer buying experience, your candidates assess your social media, your career site, the way you communicate, and build their own impressions if your truth is well told. At Aspirant’s RPO, we work to help organizations continually assess their candidate experience. It is a critical component in helping organizations to compete and stand out in a crowded space.

There are some easy steps that organizations can take to begin optimizing their candidate experience, and those include:

  • Treat candidates as customers Candidate Experience: Treat Talent as Customers
  • Create a positive experience that candidates remember at every interaction 
  • Personalize the messages and use digital interactions in a way that feels authentic 
  • Find ways to create an easy interaction for candidates to enter your recruiting process 
  • Stop treating all candidates the same 

Your candidates need to learn what goes on behind the scenes. The recruiting process for candidates can feel long and full of uncertainty which often creates a negative experience, especially when there is a lack of conversation. In addition, candidates often find it daunting and discouraging to go through an organization’s recruiting process, give up and leave with a negative impression of your brand. 

 

Candidate Experience Begins with a Conversation

The average person checks their phone around 80 times daily, meaning your recruitment texts will likely to be seen long before your emails, and you’re more likely to get a reply. Text messages average a 45 percent response rate, partly due to the freedom candidates have to text even when they’re working at their current jobs. Rather than using computers attached to employers’ networks, candidates can search for positions and respond to messages on their personal devices without being concerned about who may be monitoring the communications.

 

Every Interaction is the Start of Building a Relationship

Today’s candidates want to feel connected to your brand, not just your jobs. Candidates want to understand your organization’s commitment to diversity and your company’s mission, purpose, and values. They also want to see that in action. Videos and testimonials are more authentic messaging approaches over traditional words on a page. Have your leadership speak directly to candidates; this message can go a long way, leaving lasting impressions that your leaders are authentic about the importance of talent to the organization's strategic goals.

 

Speed Up the Recruitment Process

Guide candidates on the best way to share more about themselves and remove any gates in your process, such as registering with your applicant tracking system or using easy-to-populate forms using their social profiles. Let candidates see a self-scheduling link on your site without a recruiter sending them a link to schedule a pre-screen. 

 

Attract Better Talent

Think about the software your organization uses to engage with candidates. Talent acquisition software helps you weed out candidates who don’t meet the minimum requirements for your open positions. Still, if you fail to engage with the best profiles, then you’ll lose them to your competitors. Seventy-three percent of job seekers prefer to receive personalized or targeted messages via text, and millennials favor texting over other types of communication. Today’s top talent is looking for responsive employers providing positive user experiences. Text messaging allows you to deliver what they want. When text messages are part of your recruitment system, you can connect with the talent your company needs faster than with the methods you’re using now. Start meeting candidates where they are with timely, relevant job offers, and create the kind of user experience today’s talent expects. 

The most important thing is to fully understand the candidate journey and apply your strategy across every stage of the recruiting process. In addition, you need to consider the quantity and quality of how the candidates interact, as well as the availability of touchpoints.

 

Candidate Experience Journey Map 2023

 

Beyond the starting point of assessing your candidate experience, here’s how to develop a candidate experience strategy: 

  • Understand your audience and create candidate personas; check out our simple guide for creating candidate personas 
  • Analyze your recruiting objectives 
  • Reverse-engineer the recruiting experience you want to deliver 
  • Pay attention to candidate feedback 
  • Research your competitors 
  • Incorporate a memorable employer brand personality.
  • Apply AI technology where it helps to personalize the experience for future interactions; make use of the right technology and tools. 
  • Redefine your recruitment marketing strategy and your candidate communications. 
  • Understand your candidate experience metrics; career site abandonment rates, application drop off, recruiter screen no-shows. 

A candidate experience strategy is ongoing, and your organization needs to adopt a continuous improvement approach. Measure, optimize, repeat. Remember: candidate experience provides a massive opportunity to boost your ability to hire faster with the right talent.

 

Want to create a better candidate experience? Learn how an outsourcing partner like Aspirant RPO can improve your candidate experience, by filling out the form below.

 

 

patty-silbert
2023/03
March 27, 2023
Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

Optimizing The Candidate Experience in 2023

What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

Data governance usually invokes anxiety in users and decision-makers because they commonly view it as an organization monster deliberately put in place to interfere with their day-to-day work. On the contrary, a data governance strategy attempts to eliminate barriers to becoming a more data-driven organization.  

What is data governance?

Microsoft describes data governance as the collection of processes, policies, roles, metrics, and standards that ensure effective and efficient information use. To take it one step further, The National Institute of Standards and Technology adds that the model establishes authority, management, and decision-making parameters related to the data produced or managed by the enterprise. 

 

Why do you need data governance?

More and more, business leaders are stating that their organization is data-driven. Many are, some are still in the middle of their transformation, and some may be data-driven but aren't working as efficiently as they could be. Do you know into which category you fall? 

 

Where to begin

Developing a data governance strategy is the first step to implementing a transformation to become a data-driven organization. It should answer some of the following questions: 

  • What do you want to accomplish? 
  • Who will be involved? 
  • How will the program operate? 
  • How will you assess whether the program is supporting your business's success?

Ultimately, it ensures that data is audited, evaluated, documented, managed, protected, trustworthy, valuable, and will run smoothly. Taking the time to plan your strategy, your data will be more accessible and accurate. 

High-quality data: Build user and decision-makers confidence in data knowing it is safe, complete, and consistent. Confidence in data builds trust in the decisions made with that data. 

Improve cost controls: Reduce software, hardware, and people by reducing data duplication introduced by information silos. Data duplication increases up-front and long-term maintenance costs for software and hardware. It adds an unnecessary burden for users and decision-makers. 

Single source of truth: Improve user and decision-maker efficiency and productivity by eliminating time spent reviewing redundant, overlapping data sets. 

 

What should you include in a data governance framework or initiative?

The Cloud Data Management Capabilities (CDMC), created by a global industry council, prescribes a framework for what data governance should encapsulate.  

 

 Some key capabilities are: 

Data cataloging and discovery: Identifying, preferably automatically, and recording data assets in a unified manner to enable data search and discovery.

  • Stewards to add business context to data.
  • Empowers users and decision-makers to seek out data for decision-making 

Data classification: Tagging data with sensitivity classifications to secure use and protection. 

  • A visible indicator to alert users and decision-makers to responsible data usage.

Data ownership: Owning data for cataloging, classification, security, and quality by users within the organization. 

  • Establishes accountability by ensuring others follow the data governance strategy. 

Data lineage: Pinpointing the data's origin, any transformation it's undertaken in the past, and current uses. 

  • Allows anyone using it to have confidence in their decisions and their output. 

Data quality: Ensuring data is high-quality based on accuracy, completeness, consistency, validity, relevance, and timeliness measures. 

 

How to get started developing a data governance strategy that works for your organization.

Define data governance goals and objectives: Review the organization’s long-term and short-term business goals and define data governance goals and objectives that align with the organization’s business goals. Then prioritize data governance goals and objectives to guide the development of the organization’s data governance strategy and keep from being overwhelmed. 

Secure executive sponsor and key stakeholders: Recruit an executive sponsor who understands the significance of a data governance strategy, recognizes the value of a data governance strategy, and who communicates this information to the organization’s leadership team. Recruit key stakeholders to fill additional roles of the data governance team, such as data owners, data stewards, and general users and decision-makers. 

Assess existing data governance program: Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s existing data governance program. EDM Council’s CDMC, for example, provides organizations with a method to assess an organization’s existing program against industry best practices. Then prioritize areas of improvement based on the organization’s business and data governance goals. 

Document data policies and processes: Document data assets guidelines for data origination, storage, quality metrics, and security. Data policies provide a means for ensuring data is used acceptably. Processes implement data policies by providing a formal framework for users to follow. 

Implement, evaluate, and adjust: Implement new technologies or processes or modify existing ones to fit the organization’s data governance strategy. Review the data governance strategy regularly to measure the effectiveness of the organization’s data governance goals. Adjust technologies or processes to change with the changing needs of the organization. 

 

Data governance best practices.

Think big but start small: If you are new to data governance, try to wait to do everything right away. Instead, review your data governance goals and priorities to identify a pilot engagement. A pilot engagement enables an organization to test ideas and understanding in a limited scope, develop skills, and validate the approach before committing to extensive arrangements. 

Appoint an executive sponsor: An executive sponsor is crucial to communicate a data governance strategy’s business value and success to executive leadership — additionally, the executive sponsor advocates for adopting a data governance strategy for the broader organization. 

Build a business case: Build a business case by identifying the benefits and opportunities a data governance strategy will bring to the organization. Then, align data governance benefits to the organization’s long-term and short-term goals to better demonstrate these benefits. 

Develop meaningful metrics: Too many or too few metrics make it difficult to understand whether the data governance strategy meets the organization’s data governance goals and delivers business value. 

Communicate with all levels: Involve individuals likely to be impacted by a formal data governance strategy throughout the planning and implementation of the data governance strategy early and often. 

 

Hire a firm with data governance experience.

An organization could create and implement a data governance strategy independently. However, implementing a data governance strategy will run more efficiently with experienced help. An outside firm offers: 

  • An experienced team who can analyze an organization without bias and advise making a data governance strategy and implementation as painless as possible. 
  • An experienced team allows an organization’s team to focus on their day-to-day responsibilities without rapidly being stretched into new areas outside their expertise. 

A firm with data governance experience will guide an organization through industry-standard processes providing a smooth and successful implementation. Data governance is not simply hiring a new employee or purchasing new software; it is a strategy that blends an organization’s people, policies, and technology. 

 

If you want to partner with a highly experienced firm in data governance, contact us through the form below.

 

kevin-beckett
2023/03
March 23, 2023
What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

What is Data Governance and Where to Begin

The Benefits of Master Data Management

Master data management can be an intimidating project to tackle. But, however intimidating it may be, it's necessary. MDM saves time and allows you and your team to operate efficiently. MDM benefits far outweigh the intimidation. Here's why.

Master Data Management Solutions Offer Better Control of Your Data

A common question at a business of any size sometimes goes like this: "Can we get a report outlining all people who haven't engaged with us in the last 24 months?" A standard answer to that question? "Sure, I can get you that, but I'm unsure how accurate that information is. We switched CRMs a while back, and I think (insert name here) used to use a spreadsheet that we can't find."

Yikes. Information is only as good as its relevance. Master data management solutions certainly help solve this problem. A good MDM strategy houses all of your data. Whether it be customer, company, or internal data, it all lives together. All applications talk to each other, allowing you to control your data better to find and fix inaccuracies and incomplete information before it becomes an issue.

 

All the Data, Much Less Effort

You already know an MDM project brings all your software, ERP, CRM, etc., together under one roof. However, it also allows you to pull together reports based on all that data — not manual ones either; they're automated, meaning more time doing things you want to do (such as getting home before dinner or not feeling guilty about playing 9-holes after work).

Kidding aside, MDM implementation allows your company to be more accurate and efficient and, in turn, make better decisions guided by factual data.

 

Increased Customer Experience

In most industries, customers are the top priority. Happy customers or clients are more likely to refer your business. Short of an automatic door, nothing's easier to close than a good referral.

One great way to guide your decision-making is by seeing what resonates most with your favorite customers. Doing so is more accessible to track with an MDM solution. Imagine having complete, accurate, insightful, and automated reports. MDM offers just that.

For example, how would you know a specific email outperforms others if you're not tracking it or pulling it into your contact records on your CRM? Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where everything can be tracked. The more information we have, the more informed our decisions can be. The more informed our choices are, the greater the probability of positive consequences.

 

If you want to partner with Aspirant to achieve the most successful Master Data Management implementation possible, contact us through the  form below.

 

sayed-saeed
2023/03
March 14, 2023
The Benefits of Master Data Management

The Benefits of Master Data Management

Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

"I'd rather have a first-rate execution and a second-rate strategy, anytime, than a brilliant idea and mediocre management."

- Jamie Dimon, CEO, J.P. Morgan

Eliminating Gaps between Planning and Execution

For CEOs and company leaders, developing a three, five, or even ten-year strategy is not the end of the story; it’s just the beginning. Unfortunately, turning strategy into reality has been a challenge for many. While estimates of execution success rates range widely by source, the broad consensus is that the vast majority of strategic initiatives fail to realize their goal.

So how DO organizations bridge the strategy-execution gap?

It’s difficult, but you CAN increase your organization’s success rate with the following 5 steps:

1. Pick a Winning Team

As Dwight Eisenhower advised, "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." What he was saying is that the conversations that occur during strategic planning are crucial for building consensus, resolving conflict, and being able to adapt to externalities. That is why it is crucial to assemble a cross-functional core team that will be responsible for developing and overseeing strategy execution. It’s easy for a CEO and an external consulting team to develop a corporate strategy. However, the enthusiasm, ownership, and understanding required for successful execution will be missed absent a truly cross-functional team leading the charge from the outset.

2. Pick Targets and Executors

What gets measured is what gets done. When everyone’s in charge, no one is in charge. When planning how the strategy will be executed, these maxims should be your top two guiding principles. It’s easy to say that in the next three years, the company’s strategy is to grow revenue aggressively and begin global expansion. It’s far more taxing (and beneficial) to define performance metrics and initiatives and then assign ownership for each to executors. Planning to operationalize the strategy is critical in whether it is executed.

3. Give Power to the People

You’ve assigned ownership, and you’ve given direction. Now it’s time to give your metric and initiative owners support and accountability for fulfilling their charge. Too often, strategic initiatives take a back seat to flavor-of-the-day challenges and bureaucratic headaches. Don’t let this happen in your organization. Support your executors by giving them the authority and autonomy to do what you’ve asked and give them the time they need by removing less critical tasks.

4. Consistently Articulate Strategy to Your Team

You completed your five-year strategy, and you announced it at the last company meeting. It’s a start. Now, use every chance you get - emails, meetings, town halls, informal chats - to talk about actions, decisions, and goals in the context of your strategy. Create impactful visualizations like strategy maps. Give managers the tools they need to articulate the strategy and what it means for their department and provide feedback systems to ensure that the strategy is understood. This ongoing reinforcement will embed strategic focus throughout the organization, maintain alignment, and reinforce the strategy execution mindset. Making a strategy for everyone’s business keeps the organization focused on what you are trying to accomplish together.

5. Closing the Loop: Review, Analyze, and Adapt

Close the loop with your leadership team and the organization at the end of each quarter with a regular strategic management meeting that includes the core team, as well as your executors. Discuss progress, changes in the external environment, opportunities for improvements, successes, and how to address underperforming metrics and initiatives. Set and share new objectives and initiatives. Finally, communicate key outcomes from these meetings to the organization, and share goals for the next quarter.

These five essential steps, when deployed to engage and enable in your organization, will help you win the challenge of balancing vision and reality.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Maintaining continuity between strategic planning and tactical execution may seem overwhelming, but it is a key enabler for achieving company goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts about implementing the structure and processes to keep everyone rowing in the same direction.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/03
March 9, 2023
Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

Eliminate Gaps between Planning and Execution

Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

Looking back on the shift we’ve seen in recruitment over the past decade, it’s amazing how much of it is due to technological advancements. 

Within the past 10 years, HR Technology and the amount of technology that makes up an HR organization's tech stack has evolved dramatically. When asked, what’s the definition for HR tech stack, we believe that it is any combination of integrated digital tools and software used to streamline, optimize, or otherwise support a company’s HR functionalities. And today, tech stack has opened a whole new world to engaging and improving hiring, becoming a completely different game because of technology enablement. 

Our workforce has changed forever due to remote working and the latest generation entering today’s labor pools, who are and have become more technologically advanced. In addition, many remote working environments have helped to improve technology skills for many. As such, there is an expectation from candidates and employees to be informed and updated at every step of their experience and demand the same level of interactivity, transparency, and customer service they receive as a consumer, given the preponderance of shoppers using online shopping sites like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Esty, etc. 

For companies that want to attract, engage, and most importantly keep top talent in their organizations will need to continue embracing new technologies to remain competitive for talent. But at technology’s current rate of change, it can be hard to know what is right for your company. 

 

Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Invest in HR Technology Stack

But knowing where to prioritize investments, how to integrate tools into your existing infrastructure, and how to apply them in the most meaningful way can prove difficult if you don’t first take an objective look at your current talent acquisition processes, the needs, and desires of your unique candidate pool, and your business goals. 

At Aspirant RPO, we advise our customers to ask themselves the following questions before making a technology investment decision to position themselves better to truly unlock technology’s potential for enhancing their processes: 

 

1. How does HR tech stack fit within my strategy?

There are many technologies on the market, so choose wisely. One way to ensure the highest return is to consider any acquisition holistically. Thinking beyond time and cost savings, ask how a recruiting marketing platform or chatbot can lead to greater engagement and higher candidate conversions. When building a business case, account for all the benefits and costs that might result. AI and ML are one of the most popular HR technology trends that help in workforce analytics and employee support all the way through offering recruiting process support to be more effective, objective, faster, and, in some cases, more personalized. 

If your goal is to enhance candidate conversions, make sure your technology strategy also accounts for the candidate experience. Tools that enhance communication, simplify the application process, provide status tracking, serve content, and engage job seekers in other ways should be part of your investment roadmap. Not only will these technologies help to create a more memorable hiring journeyfor talent, but they will surely improve your overall employer brand too. 

 

2. How do these new technologies impact the candidate experience?

It’s tempting to automate as many steps in your recruiting function as possible, but technology isn’t always the best option; remember, there still needs to be the human element, and no technology can replace that piece. Select the steps that are measurable and create a good candidate experience that may include:

  • Pre-screening to move candidates to the hiring manager screen
  • Candidate-led interview scheduling  
  • Video Screening and Interviewing 
  • Chats to answer questions 
  • Event signup 

Determining where the human touch is essential is important, especially when dealing with candidate-facing automation. 

For example, there are AI tools that now screen resumes within your ATS to help match prior candidates to new positions, allowing recruiters to reconnect with people who have shown past interest in your company but may not have been right for a particular role at that time. This saves time, effort, and money and works behind the scenes, leaving the recruiter to connect directly with any talent they find that fits. 

Chatbots are another popular AI technology; they have a broad range of functionality and can be used in a number of ways, often outperforming humans in terms of the speed and accuracy of their response in a narrow domain. But chatbots are designed to augment, not replace, human interaction. So to deliver the white-glove treatment top talent demands today, you’ll have to pay special attention to where along the candidate journey, if they’re employed, and how to balance a high-touch approach throughout the rest of their experience. If you are using candidate experience surveys and planning on implementing a new HR recruiting technology, update your surveys to ask how candidates like interacting with those technologies.   

 

3. Who can I trust to help choose the right HR technology?

Human Resource leaders are being asked to be experts in processes, operations, and maximizing business performance, to name a few. Adding technology to the growing list is just one more demand. Look for support when it makes sense. You can gain the insights you need from industry analysts, professional organizations, technology vendors, and your talent strategy or outsourcing partners. 

A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) like Aspirant RPO will often have the expertise and the implementation experience you need to help facilitate and maximize your investment. Most importantly, they’ll help you keep your investment aligned with your strategy and help you avoid investing in overlapping, or that can delay your processes, damage your brand, and end up costing you in the long run.  Most importantly, it may just be a matter of maximizing the investment you currently have with the HR technologies in place. 

Finding top talent requires staying up-to-date on the latest technologies. You may not be able to afford to adopt every “trend” or new technology that comes along, but you really shouldn’t want to, either. Keep your recruiting strategy — and the relationship you want to build with your candidate — sharply in focus and you’ll be more apt to make a smart investment every time. 

Do you know what it takes to drive better engagement with your candidates and employees? Talk with the experts at Aspirant RPO and learn how we can help you build and implement the right strategy for your company. Fill out the form below. 

 

patty-silbert
2023/03
March 6, 2023
Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

Evaluating the HR Tech Stack: Ask These Questions First

What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

As previously discussed, companies will continue to expand their technical footprint. As a result, tech teams are expected to get budget increases across many industries. If you want to expand your IT department, ask yourself, what tech skills do candidates need?

The industry is constantly evolving and expanding, making it crucial for companies to hire skilled tech specialists to help them stay ahead of the curve. However, with so many different areas of expertise in the tech field, it’s tough to know the essential tech skills. So let’s look at some key skills companies should look for in tech specialists.

 

1. Technical Proficiency

The most critical tech skill for any candidate is technical proficiency, including profoundly understanding the languages, frameworks, and tools used in their area of expertise. Look for applicants who are not only familiar with the latest technologies but can also use them.

 

2. Problem-Solving Skills

Challenging problems require creative solutions. Look for tech candidates who have excellent problem-solving skills. They should understand what it means to identify the root cause of a problem and use their technical expertise to develop effective solutions.

 

3. Flexibility

The industry constantly changes, and new technologies and frameworks are always emerging. Therefore, look for adaptable prospects who can learn new skills. They should be able to keep up with the latest trends and, more importantly, be willing and eager to improve their skills continuously.

 

4. Communication Skills

In addition to the technical proficiency and problem-solving skills, tech specialists must also have strong communication skills. They should be able to clearly explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, collaborate effectively with team members, and provide updates on project progress.

 

5. Teamwork

Tech specialists must work closely with other team members, including developers, project managers, clients, and stakeholders. Tied closely with communication skills, look for applicants comfortable working in a team environment and collaborating effectively.

 

5. Creativity

Finally, specialists should be creative thinkers who can think differently and develop new and unique ideas.

 

The tech industry is highly competitive, and companies must hire the best specialists to remain competitive. Therefore, when evaluating candidates, looking for various skills, including technical proficiency, problem-solving skills, communication skills, adaptability, attention to detail, teamwork, time management, analytical thinking, and creativity, is essential.

If you have any questions or would like help navigating the tech hiring process, fill out the form below, we'd love to assist.

phil-kossler
2023/02
February 28, 2023
What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

What Tech Skills Should You Look for in a Candidate in 2023?

Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

Have you ever seen an organization go through the same, stale strategic planning process year after year? The identical issues from the prior year are brought to the planning table, the same potential solutions discussed, and by the end of the process, it feels like “groundhog day.”

Improve Your Strategic Planning Process

Robust strategy planning that leads to successful execution should not feel like an endless repeat of the same cycle for everyone involved. Instead, the process needs to be focused on analysis, ideation, and problem solving so that when it’s complete, the plan is a goal-oriented tool that supports achievement of revenue and growth goals.

Here are five tips for maximizing the achievement of your strategic objectives and reduce your risk of experiencing strategic planning déjà vu:

 

1. Begin with the end in mind

Effective and sustainable strategic plans answer critical business questions and address your organization’s most challenging problems. As you undertake strategic planning, start by defining why you are going through this process, identifying what you need to achieve, and documenting a concise definition of the organization’s biggest problems. This is your definition of success for the strategic planning process and is the foundational exercise of the process. Thinking through your end goals will be the backbone for the entire planning process because it is difficult to hit an undefined target. Starting with a clear vision of the results you want to achieve will lead to an effective, goal-oriented strategy.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Clearly define and document what success looks like, and then revisit that definition at the outset of each strategic planning session with participants to re-ground the big picture.

 

2. Include the right people in planning

At many organizations, it is common to find that only a few select leaders are entrusted with developing the entire strategic plan for an organization or business unit. However, involving knowledgeable stakeholders and other business leaders beyond the executive team is critical for the sustained success of that strategic plan. When assembling a planning team, ensure you have the right level of management available to participate in plan development while keeping the team optimally sized to succeed.

Bringing external partners into the conversation can make a big difference. Outsourcing all or part of strategic planning will lighten the burden for internal teams and streamline the process. This approach would infuse a fresh perspective to protect against groupthink. Objective, impartial third parties can be invaluable when asking tough questions of leaders and navigating sensitive topics. Identify and include the right leaders, stakeholders and external influencers from the beginning and you will maximize the likelihood success.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Think about who you need to include in your planning process. If your strategic planning meeting invite is an exact replica of all the other standing leadership team meetings on the calendar, rethink hitting the 'send' button. By incorporating diversity of experience, expertise, and ideas into the strategic session, you will generate a customized strategy with creative solutions to guide your company’s growth.

 

3. Clear the calendar

While everyone would love a short-cut or 'easy button' for this process, the truth is that identifying the purpose and content of the plan requires time to define and create. Considerable time is required to construct a robust strategic plan, but the benefit it will yield is monumental as it will influence the company's foreseeable future.

The planning team is essentially creating the roadmap for your organization's economic future, so assuming they can develop an effective plan ‘in their spare time’ is not realistic. Once you have defined your ‘what’ and ‘why,’ estimate the amount of time required to build your plan and ensure the appropriate resources have the capacity to support the strategic plan development. From our experience, a three- to six-month time frame will typically allow sufficient time to create a strategic plan, governance strategy, and integrated roadmap for a large portfolio of initiatives.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Be realistic in the time that it will take to create a great strategic plan and work with senior leadership to ensure that there is support at the top to prioritize the time commitment of key participants.

 

4. Identify cross-initiative impacts

An effective strategic plan will include cross-project impacts to assist in managing internal and external change management considerations. As dates for one strategic initiative shift, any subsequent projects that are dependent upon the initiative moving should be evaluated to ensure business objectives will still be fulfilled. Knowing which projects impact the delivery of others is one of the most valuable pieces of information in your strategic plan. At regular intervals, your strategic plan review meeting should be used to assess changes since your last review as well as to analyze the cross-project impacts that are key making progress. As you plan the timing of the business value your strategic plan delivers, make sure cross-initiative dependencies are identified as an input to analysis and governance.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: An integrated strategic roadmap that visually depicts the dependencies across initiatives is an essential deliverable to optimize execution of the strategic plan.

 

5. Consider the human component of change

We all are averse to adopting change by nature. At the same time, strategic plans are intended to create changes within an organization. Therefore, many strategic plans are created and forgotten before the ink dries because the changes it lays out are intimidating. Before finalizing a strategic plan, ensure there is alignment and support amongst those who will execute the plan. These critical stakeholders will need to have the capacity to overcome internal initiative changes, corporate goal modifications, competitive landscape shifts, and economic environment fluctuations. Considering the human capacity to adopt change is a key component to the strategic plan’s value and success. Building in time to conduct capacity and capability assessments will ensure your strategy can become a reality.

 

Aspirant’s Advice: Ensure your team is prepared to execute a new strategic plan and adopt change by gauging their capacity for change through an organizational effectiveness assessment.

 

Ready for Action

By following the steps outlined above, you can stop the endless cycle of re-planning and start bringing your plan to life. Your strategic plan will become the compass for where your company is headed and define how you will get there. the frustration of "Didn’t we discuss that last time?" will be eliminated. Planning once and executing a well-crafted plan will free up your team to keep focus on their 'day jobs'. 

 

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery team is comprised of experienced consulting professionals who assist clients by breathing new life into their strategic planning processes and equipping them with the tools they need to successfully execute.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts have helped clients of varying size and industry develop and execute strategic plans that achieve their organizational goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

ann-cripe
2023/02
February 25, 2023
Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

Strategic Planning Process Improvements to Avoid Déjà Vu

What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

Analytics and AI are dominating the headlines. But how often is your company examining its Master Data Management (MDM) strategy? Are you utilizing the revolutionary technology that is so plentifully available in this modern age? To truly operationalize the efforts of MDM, and unlock sustainable advantages, requires clean and consistent data. It's not just about pushing data through your company's system; it's about getting the right data to the right people at the right time. The solution to a successful MDM initiative isn't simply the technology or the methodology; it's the people.

MDM helps you turn data into analytics and then analytics into actionable outcomes. This process takes several spreadsheets you may need help understanding and provides a way to analyze and use your data. After all, that's why you gather it, right? However, before embarking on an MDM implementation, there are a few factors you need to consider.

Preparation for MDM Project

Know Your Organizational Goals
Take time to define your goals before moving forward with the project; it will help you prioritize and focus on what's most important.

  • Why do you need an MDM?
  • What are you trying to accomplish?
  • What is the current state of your data architecture?
  • What are your options for the future?


Create a Roadmap of Expectations and Define Success
In this step, you want a basic high-level road map; start by answering questions like:

  • What are the main things that need to do?
  • What's the sequencing?
  • What resources do you need?
  • When can you expect to see an ROI?
  • How much is this going to cost?

Defining success may seem obvious, but to get buy-in from your stakeholders, you must set expectations and determine what success looks like and when it will be realized. Planning before you start helps you achieve your ultimate goals more collaboratively.

 

Have Both an Executive-Level Sponsor and an Application Owner
You will need help with support and momentum throughout the project and to request additional funding or resources.

  • Executive Sponsor: Provides the best chance of being heard and meeting your needs - this person needs to believe in the vision
  • Application Owner: One person has a clearly defined set of responsibilities over the MDM and represents its goals and objectives to anyone who wants to use it

For example, several people and departments may use the MDM and analyze the data provided; similarly, each will have different needs and goals for the information. With one person as the MDM's owner, they can ensure all decisions apply to the company's best interests and that any necessary parties receive all communications.


Establish Any Rules and Regulations
All companies should understand the accessibility and dissemination of information. However, it can change in relevance depending on the type of data your company uses.

  • Who is allowed to access specific data?
  • What data is restricted to certain departments?
  • What information can be posted for the company as a whole?
  • Can any data be made public, or is it all proprietary and for internal use only?

These may seem like questions that you will never have to worry about. Still, it's much better to over prepare for data regulations than deal with an information leak later. 

Once you've prepared for your MDM project, here are some tips to assist with creating and kicking off.

 

Keys to Success for Your MDM Project

Gaining Stakeholder Alignment
The driving force to implement an MDM solution can come from many parts of the organization. 

  1. Identify all stakeholders across the organization

  2. Listen to their needs, wants, and expectations

  3. Align the outcomes of the MDM project with your company's broader corporate objectives

Stakeholders should see the new MDM project as a means to achieve previously determined goals. They should envision the MDM solution empowering their team to accomplish their goals and freeing up resources to think strategically about the future. If your stakeholders are not with you, the obstacles will be overwhelming. 


Empowered Project Team
The team you have leading this initiative must be enthusiastic and empowered. 

  • Executive sponsor: Aligns on roles, responsibilities, timelines, and goals
  • Project team: Determines how to deliver the project
  • Steering committee: Filters key information to the executive team
  • Executive team: Holds the project team accountable for the goals they set

Accountability is vital in any project. [Read more about accountability in our e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.]

Your team should want to make an MDM strategy. It should also consist of more than just members of the IT department; it should represent every department that creates or consumes data.


Strategically Placed Project Milestones and Benchmarks
Projects can benefit from motivation; quick wins can be crucial to any ultimate victory. Such a sizeable transformational project, like an MDM solution, is built from momentum, and proving the value of the endeavor early on is exceptionally advantageous.

It does not mean that you create easy and meaningless milestones. 

  1. Develop strategic, achievable milestones that showcase the potential and benefits of the MDM system

  2. Create encouraging benchmarks that boost momentum in the project team and stakeholders

  3. Tactically place these benchmarks throughout the project for consistent upward progress   


Collaboration and Frequent Communication
A new MDM strategy must unite your company: CEOs, IT, sales, marketing, accounting, and HR. With that in mind, it's important to consider everyone who the transformation will impact. 

It's also imperative to define the individuals needing access to the data, the frequency of automated reports, and other items relevant to each department. The more you include your team and collaborate with the extended company, the less challenging it will be to get the organization on board. The more people on board with the project, the smoother the transition will be.


Hire an MDM Implementation Firm

You can implement an MDM solution independently, but it's tough. The process will run much more efficiently with experienced help. Of course, you can create your team and build your plan first, but a better idea is to reach out for help with implementation.   

An outside firm offers:

  • A team who can analyze your organization without bias and advise on making your MDM implementation as painless as possible
  • After kicking off the project, your team can focus on running the business without being stretched into areas outside their expertise


An MDM implementation firm will guide you through a tested and proven process, ensuring a smooth and successful implementation. After all, MDM is more than just a project that can be completed and forgotten; it's a new model for operating all aspects of your business. Therefore, you need an MDM to stand the test of time and grow with your company.

Interested in learning more about Master Data Management, download our e-book:


If you want to partner with Aspirant to achieve the most successful Master Data Management implementation possible, fill out the form below.

sayed-saeed
2023/02
February 24, 2023
What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

What is Master Data Management? The Foundation of Analytics

Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

A digital transformation is a journey. Unlike a journey by train where the tracks have been previously placed out, and it's a predictable and consistent path, digital transformation journeys often come with twists and turns, ups and downs, and discoveries.  

The Roadmap for a Successful Digital Transformation Journey

To achieve success, maintain an overarching strategic roadmap for your journey. It should trace business objectives to deliverable elements and components using well-defined features and capabilities. Remember that they should be forecastable and measurable. This process will help keep the target objectives in focus and prevent drifting. 

 

Be Flexible and Incorporate Feedback 

Build feedback into your planning and welcome it. Meaningful, data-driven feedback will help ensure that outcomes are what they should be. Remember that the results could differ from what you thought they would be when you started.   

 Good feedback can come from several sources, including:   

  • Sprint demos   
  • Beta customer testimonies   
  • Data captured on user behavior   
  • Changing market conditions   

Allow feedback to challenge your plans. Be flexible and use good feedback to update your solutions to improve them. 

Managing deliverables incrementally and constantly reprioritizing (i.e., backlog grooming and sprint planning) allows you more room to create opportunities to adapt your original plan, which is why the Agile methodology is ideal for digital transformations. 

 

Always Involve Your People 

Success is much more than delivering a  technological solution. Digital transformation is introducing change that will be felt by your customers, both external and internal. Introducing this change to people and how they adapt to it ultimately defines success. 

 Having a comprehensive change management plan is critical to success. 

 A good change management plan will cover the following:  

  • Awareness: Address the reason for changes with frequent, timely, and tailored messaging   
  • Desire: Generate a passion for the upcoming change  
  • Knowledge: Share how the changes affect each person and how they will do things differently  
  • Ability: Transform this knowledge into an ability to embrace change.   
  • Reinforcement: Support the change, encourage the newly adopted behavior, look for friction points, and address them quickly 

 

Communication, as always, is critical. Educating your team and organization about changes will make the journey smoother and increase adoption rates. 


Start a conversation today if you need help creating success in your Digital Transformation.  Fill out the form below to get more information.

michael-conway
2023/02
February 23, 2023
Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

Digital Transformation Success Starts Here

How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

You've built a diverse workplace culture... now what? It's a question that many companies ask themselves when they start to develop their diverse work culture. The answer is simple: now you need to protect it.

Diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords or initiatives — they're the foundation of any successful business. But how do you ensure that your company continues to grow and thrive in today's climate? It's simple: by protecting your investment. And the best way to do that includes leveraging DEI strategies like diversity training, mentorship programs, and employee resource groups (ERGs).

Additionally, if you want to continue the momentum you've built in your workplace, here are some of the most important things you can do.

 

1. Keep building your diverse team

The most important thing you can do is to continue to build a diverse staff and leadership team. There are plenty of great resources available on how to do this, but here are a few tips: A) Look for people who have different experiences from the ones you already have, even if that means looking outside your usual networks or hiring people with less experience. B) Hire people who bring different perspectives and ideas into the workplace — people who aren't just like you (and don't just look like you). C) Be sure that diversity is baked into every step of your hiring process — from sourcing candidates to interviewing them to making offers — so that it's not just something that happens at one point in time but rather an ongoing process.

 

2. All employees are accountable for workplace culture

When it comes down to it, all employees need to be held accountable for creating a diverse workplace environment, whether they're part of the hiring team or not! This means making sure everyone knows their role in making diversity happen throughout the organization. It also means holding them accountable so the entire company feels brought into the movement of enriching the diverse workplace that is being built.  

 

3. Create feedback opportunities in the workplace

Make sure there are multiple opportunities for feedback and input from all levels of the organization from interns up through executives (and everything in between)! When every voice is heard, everyone gets better at what they do. 

 

4. Keep your employees engaged

Having diversity on staff means that people from different backgrounds bring unique perspectives to the table — and those perspectives can make a big difference when it comes to solving problems creatively or coming up with new ideas for products and services. A diverse team also means that everyone has something different to offer and contributes something unique; this leads to better teamwork and more collaboration among the staff members themselves.

 

5. Pay attention to workplace communication and behavior

Be conscious of the language used in meetings. As a manager or leader, it's important to be mindful of certain words that may offend or cause discomfort. Developing a sensitivity towards these issues can enable quick resolution with minimal disturbance.

Additionally, ensure that everyone feels comfortable speaking up and voicing their opinions without fear of criticism or backlash. Make sure to address any issues quickly and thoroughly as they arise to set a culture of safety and respect in the workplace. Finally, take note of body language — people should feel at ease and respected even if they don’t necessarily agree with what has been communicated. 


6. Create a regular meeting schedule

If you want diversity initiatives within your company culture, then make sure everyone knows when those meetings are taking place so they can plan around them accordingly. If possible, set up regular times each week/month when everyone meets together in person or online so that everyone knows what is happening and how they can participate.


7. Make sure managers understand diversity and inclusion

It’s critical to ensure that all managers understand what diversity and inclusion means — and why it's important for their teams' success. It's essential for them to understand how different types of people think, behave, communicate, and make decisions so they can better relate with each other in meetings and conversations around the office. This will help them create more open-minded environments where everyone feels comfortable being themselves at work.


8. Develop workplace culture norms

Make sure everyone has access to resources that help them feel welcome in your company's culture — this could mean providing training on things like implicit bias or giving employees access to experts who can help them understand what it means to be part of a diverse and inclusive workplace environment.


 

We know this sounds like it could be hard — but it doesn't have to be! The key is finding ways to make sure that every employee feels welcome and valued at work, no matter who they are or where they come from. That way, everyone has an equal chance at success within your organization.

Fill out the form below if you need help building or improving your workplace culture. Our team can help. Additional, our recruiting experts are here for helping your recruitment needs. 

aspirant-team
2023/02
February 22, 2023
How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

How to Protect Your Diverse Workplace Culture

How to Attract Top Tech Talent

When there is an increase in tech hires, usually companies seek diverse employees with a wide range of experiences and skills. Unfortunately, there are often more positions than candidates, so you'll have to step up your game to attract the kind of hires you want. Attracting top tech talent  is essential for any company looking to stay ahead of the curve and competition in today's tech landscape. However, with so many companies competing in the same talent pool, it can be challenging to stand out.

Here are some strategies that companies can use to attract the best talent:

1. Invest in Your Brand

Your company's reputation is crucial to attracting top tech talent. Make sure your company has a strong brand image, share your company's values, mission, and culture, and explain why you are a great place to work.

 

2. Broadcast Your Benefits

Offering a competitive salary is only half the battle, and your company needs to distinguish itself. A great way to do this is through the benefits you're willing and able to offer. At the very least, you should strive to provide something better than other companies in your area. Job candidates already have a lot to think about. So be upfront and proud of the benefits you're offering. When hiring tech specialists, you want to have something special.

 

3. Provide Professional Development

If you want innovative employees, you have to offer creative opportunities. Job fulfillment is a huge factor for many potential employees. One way your company can stay competitive is by offering concrete strategies for professional development. If you're willing to invest in your potential employee's future, they'll be more inclined to invest in you. Will they have an opportunity to work with and learn new software trends? Let your current employees tell them about it. Make sure they know about any classes or training you'll support and be specific. Let them know they will have the ability and be encouraged to try new things and gain new skills.

 

4. Foster a Positive Work Culture

Tech talent wants to work for companies that have a positive work culture. Create an environment that is respectful, supportive, and inclusive and encourages collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Foster a positive work culture by providing socialization and teamwork opportunities and promoting work-life balance.

One of the main things to remember is that job seekers are interviewing you, too. Ultimately, this leads to happier workers, better-skilled teams, and a better overall work environment for you and your entire team.

If you have any questions or would like help navigating the tech hiring process, fill out the form below, we'd love to assist.

phil-kossler
2023/02
February 21, 2023
How to Attract Top Tech Talent

How to Attract Top Tech Talent

Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

As a leader in the talent acquisition and recruitment process outsourcing space, we are often called upon to help organizations assess their current recruiting processes. Many talent acquisition leaders, recruiters, and HR professionals believe their work processes could be more efficient and updated. This concern naturally stems from two factors. 

Reduce Manual Tasks 

Recruiters spend an enormous amount of time on manual tasks. Often these tasks require significant effort with little return to provide better recruiting outcomes.  

 Many realize the recruitment industry is changing quickly as the candidate market expects more from recruiters and companies. However, while recruiters may recognize the cost of manual tasks and the risk of failing to adapt to a changing hiring environment, only some feel empowered to optimize their recruitment processes. 

 

Improve Recruiting Process 

Recruiting can be one of the most critical strategic focuses for an organization. The activities involved in the recruiting process show up in a variety of ways across every area of the business. A poor recruiting process impacts productivity for recruiters and new hires, and without a proper plan for recruiting, there is a positive impact on the bottom line. But as we all know, recruiting is only sometimes a straightforward activity that goes from point A to point B. Recruiting has a way of becoming a winding, lengthy, complicated process for many companies. Even with the best of intentions, when you start adding people and processes, recruiting can get convoluted. 

At Aspirant RPO, we work with clients who need a more efficient and effective recruiting process, here are five tips on optimizing your recruiting process.  

 

1. Diagnose from the Inside Out 

The starting point for any improvement is understanding the current state, which is why doing analysis and diagnosing is essential. An in-depth audit of all your recruiting functions — from sourcing to interviews to your candidate experience — will help you identify what's working and where things are breaking down. Knowing your talent acquisition goals and staying true to those goals is extremely helpful, but even if you still need to track those goals by setting up metrics, you need to gather the metrics you have today. 

Begin by: 

  • Analyzing the workflow from requisition initiation to onboarding

  • Detailing who is responsible for each activity and time stamping how long each step takes from beginning to end

  • Identifying and setting up KPIs for each process that impacts recruiting outcomes

  • Taking advantage of real-time analysis and walking backward in the hiring process as soon as the hire is made. Where were the bottlenecks:

    • Were there too many employees in the interview process? 

    • Were communications sent by a recruiter delayed for any reason?  

This analysis is also a good time to solicit feedback from hiring managers, candidates, and new hires to learn about their experiences. 

 

Note the ease of use, how available information was, and how meaningful each engagement was to building brand equity. By committing to perform a diagnosis and a deep analysis of your recruiting, you can uncover process improvements that drive better recruiting performance. Most importantly, you have two outcomes at the end stage: knowing what needs improvement and where you are succeeding today. 

 

2. Plan to Adjust 

Change can be difficult, but an analysis with no action is as much help to you as studying for a test you'll never take.  

  • Put what you've learned to good use
  • Be ready to improve current processes
  • Take advantage of the processes that work well

 For many organizations, this means cutting out levels, slowing things down, or taking unnecessary people out of the process. Instead, think about adopting what works well in one area into another or considering how a tool or technology could be a solution. 

 To get started, go to the top of the list created from your analysis and write out what led to the breakdown in each point that wasn't working. This process not only helps you determine where and what to adjust, but it can also provide evidence for others in the organization that change is necessary for that specific pain point.  

 It also means assessing the current capabilities of your existing team. For example, do you know how well your recruiting team members deliver top talent to your hiring managers? Are you aware of any skill gaps your group may have regarding sourcing, screening, and building solid relationships with hiring managers?     

 Developing your recruiting teams' skills will help them feel more confident in using emerging technology, and they will become more efficient in their recruiting processes to meet their KPI goals. Helping to ensure there are no skill gaps in their ability to understand advanced searching techniques or how to manage difficult hiring manager conversations that will afford your team a way to identify talent profiles outside of the traditional platforms, for example. 

 

3. Evaluate Your HR Tech Stack 

As you work on adjusting your recruiting processes, it may become apparent that your processes — no matter how efficient you work to make them — just aren't cutting it. As a result, you  may need to replace your current systems or tools entirely rather than improve what you have.  

An essential part of optimizing the recruiting process is knowing when to assess your tech stack. There are many recruiting technologies and services in the market today, and they can automate almost every part of your recruiting process. These tools can also speed up candidate engagement, elevate your brand, and allow more time for your team to be the advisors you want them to be. If your analysis revealed significant inefficiencies in your recruiting process, first take that nearly every company has some. Then, start thinking about how an RPO Provider with the resources, tools, and technology could help you in your recruiting process.

 

4. Go Back to Your Goals and Strategy 

Sometimes the problem in recruiting isn’t the tools, the processes, or the people. Sometimes the foundation of all those activities — the strategy — needs to be adjusted.  

We sometimes see that recruiting teams focus only on individual actions and then need help understanding why they fail. Where we look first is a few key points of the recruiting strategy that affect everything recruiters do. For instance, setting the stage for a strong employer brand is often an afterthought. Still, a strong one could help to improve every part of the process to make it easier and more accessible for your recruiting team to engage with candidates. It may be time to start making it a focus.   

Another area you'll want to focus on is your sourcing strategy. It's another point that seems overrun by the actual activity, but it's vital to know your ideal candidate so you can source them and understand where they spend their time.  

These are only two areas of strategy to revisit as you optimize the recruiting process, but they will have an enormous impact.   

5. Re-Assess Annually 

Optimizing the recruitment process takes time and commitment. However, in the end, it is valuable and brings better clarity for everyone involved in the recruiting process. In addition, optimizing your recruiting process could save your organization and recruiting team considerable time and money. 

If you'd like to understand more about Aspirant RPO's Recruiting Process Optimization, fill out the form below, and we will be ready to share our expertise and experience. 

 

patty-silbert
2023/02
February 15, 2023
Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

Improve Your Recruitment Process With 5 Essential Tips

What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

Similar to financial debt, technical debt isn’t automatically bad. Well-managed tech debt can bring your company great benefits. Basically, technical debt is the result of development teams who push to rush a project in a knowingly imperfect manner to achieve a deadline. It’s the result of a company choosing speed over quality. It can also sometimes be referred to as design debt or code debt. There are three basic kinds of tech debt: Intentional, Unintentional, and Unavoidable.

1. Intentional Technical Debt

When, for whatever reason, your company, department, or manager makes a decision to push for speed over quality, that’s considered intentional tech debt. This should be done with a complete understanding of the consequences of that decision, including risks and costs. When doing this, make sure that you are aware of and document the corners that were cut to achieve the deadline.

Ideally, your company should be planning to return to rectify any compromises you made once the time is right. In a sense, you should make sure to “pay back” the technical debt that accumulates. If you don’t keep track of the corners you cut, that will be much less likely to happen. This could cost your company in the long run as flawed projects and software roll-outs increase.

 

2. Unintentional Technical Debt

Unintentional debt is usually the result of errors that are left in unintentionally. A tech team can feel rushed and thus miss something in the coding, as opposed to consciously deciding to choose speed over quality. This kind of technical debt could also be the result of an inexperienced team, bad project management or poor communication between the IT department and the person or people requesting the project.

One of the worst aspects of technical debt is the fact that companies are often unaware it even exists. The errors are not discovered until they cause a problem. At that point, there are corrections that need to be made frequently—not only on the original software, but on other affected processes down the line. It may also take time to locate the broken code.

 

3. Unavoidable Technical Debt

This inevitable kind of tech debt is the result of fast-changing technology. You can build software without any errors, but when improvements in technology come about, your code becomes obsolete. Industry-specific changes could also create technical debt. Basically, any changes that affect the value of your tech are unavoidable technical debt.

Good and Bad Reasons for Technical Debt

Good tech debt comes when the result outweighs the potential damage. You were able to get a product into the hands of your customer that does the function desired, even if it’s not perfect. This happens frequently in the case of phones, computers, computer software etc. How often do you see updates and new versions being released just a month or so after a new product? That is a company paying back the tech debt they incurred to get the product out faster. 

Conversely, bad tech debt is when you consciously decide to work or focus on something that’s less important or valuable to the company and neglect the overall mission or high value product. It’s easy to do in the tech world. There are constantly new and exciting innovations to be distracted by.

 

As part of your tech planning, make sure you are taking the time to weigh any decision where you might incur technical debt. Are you doing this for the right reasons? Will it benefit your company and/or your customer in the long run? Is it easily fixable once the product has rolled out?

There are many other questions to ask. If you’d like to get a better understanding of technical debt and how it affects your company connect with Aspirant, one of Pittsburgh’s premiere technology consulting firms. Or fill out the form and we'll connect you with the right team member. 

 

phil-kossler
2023/01
January 25, 2023
What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

What Are the Types of Technical Debt?

RPO Solution Checklist

In a saturated market of recruiting solutions, how do you make sure you’re choosing the right partner to support your talent goals? 

We thought the following questions would be helpful when it comes time to make your decision.

 

Does Your RPO Solution …

 

  1. Enrich the candidate's experience? 

  2. Transform your process through HR technology?

  3. Improve your hiring outcomes? 

  4. Simplify the process to engage with candidates? 

  5. Embody your organization’s values, mission, and culture? 

  6. Elevate your employer brand throughout the recruitment process? 

  7. Bring you top talent?

  8. Create a holistic talent strategy?

  9. Support decision-making with industry intelligence data? 

  10. Continuously optimize your sourcing funnel and build talent pipelines? 



Download the Aspirant RPO Checklist

RPO-checklist.1.25.23-1

 

Fill out the form below to talk about what other questions you may have!

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 25, 2023
RPO Solution Checklist

RPO Solution Checklist

Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

The best recruiting tips to build a successful workforce in 2023 and beyond are: 

  • Recognizing that employees and candidates prioritize themselves first 

  • Building a workforce plan to involve a mix of FTEs and contingent workers 

  • Utilizing a strategic marketing mindset to recruit the best talent 

  • Upskilling recruiting teams to think like marketers to gain key insights into candidates 

  • Adapting and personalizing your recruiting strategies for your audience 

While many HR leaders say that the pandemic, tough labor market, the “Great Resignation,” and “Quiet Quitting” have changed every aspect of the employee experience and challenged recruiting more than ever, there still remains a slow adoption by recruiters to embrace concepts of marketing when engaging with potential talent. For recruiting functions to keep up, there needs to be a NEW future for how recruiting approaches the candidate marketplace.

 

Recruiting's Next Imperative

As I reflect on the last few years and all of their impact on the candidate marketplace, I wonder why there has yet to be a more significant change to recruiting processes. Reports and studies from industry experts continue to focus on "the future of work."Those experts have studied new employee expectations who desire to emphasize "life firstandjob second." In addition, there is a greater than ever expectation for employers to lead their organizations with purpose as candidates are looking for more than words on their website, and lastly and equally important, employees are placing a focus on asking their employees to teach them new skills. Yet, in most corporate recruiting functions, we have yet to see a change in how recruiters promote and engage with their target audience in a real way.  

The bottom line is that a new generation of candidates expects more from recruiting than a good job description and desires a similar experience to what they feel when engaging with brands as a consumer.  

TA Leaders will need to address the skill gaps of their recruiting team by helping them gain skills to uncover candidate behaviors and expectations. Upskilling means recruiters need to morph into marketers to quickly make significant strides in leading with their organization’s employer brand and recruiters delivering creative content that is distinctive from what the company offers to their employees.  

In many of my posts, I write about how outsourcing your recruiting can be your edgeduring any type of market disruption, and it continues to be proven. There is proof that RPOs bring a whole new approach to how they structure a best-in-class recruiting program to organizations by ensuring that the recruiting team understands the employee value proposition and ensuring that the brand is represented in an authentic manner. Many RPOs see a broader view of the candidate marketplace, given they work across many industries and organizations of all sizes. RPOs approach the candidate experience as a key differentiator in why they are successful. RPOs know that every candidate wants to see and feel an organization's value proposition, and they create content in their outreach that lets candidates see that in action.  

Innovative RPOs also help organizations focus on new ways to approach recruiting just as brands engage with their consumers to gain loyalty and increase sales revenue. It's no longer about the job description and all the requirements a candidate must have; it is more about creating messaging strategies to improve filling the top of the funnel with interested candidates. These innovative approaches take a marketing mindset delivered through digital experiences. Talent Leaders must make a critical choice to either tune in and create recruiting experiences that matter or stay the course of using traditional methods of static outreach on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other platforms that have higher costs and limit their ability to differentiate themselves in these crowded spaces, while seeing a marginal return on the investment.  

 

What Steps Can You Take to Build a Better Recruiting Strategy for 2023?

In the consumer marketing world, great marketers build a customer journey map. It is the visual storyline of every customer's engagement with their service, brand, or product. Marketers create a journey map to understand and see directly where they interact with their customers and to see and understand their customer's processes, needs, and perceptions. Taking a chapter out of marketing's playbook, building an effective talent pipeline must begin before the candidate market changes again. That includes creating your candidate journey map, developing personas that define your multidimensional candidate profiles, and creating content that puts the candidate's priorities first. Like consumer marketing, engagement marketing means leading with content, not products. Therefore, engagement marketing for recruitment means leading with excellent value proposition content, not job postings. And that content must be genuinely valuable to your candidates for it to be a meaningful engagement strategy. Candidates value useful information and convenience, but they also want to be inspired, and one way to inspire your candidates is to share your employer brand's vision. You need to paint an inspiring picture of an inspiring future and show that you play an essential role in that candidate's future. This is especially relevant for companies that are trying to build next-generation talent.  

Building talent pipelines is not a novel topic; however, what is still being determined is understanding how your Technology can help you engage faster, measure your message effectiveness, and improve your candidate pipeline. I have been advocating and advising organizations on this topic for years, saying this is where you are and where you need to be in the future. TA leaders, if you are still setting metrics around time-to-find, time-to-fill, and other metrics that leave out measuring your engagement metrics, you are missing a critical component of an effective recruiting strategy.  

 

The Future of Recruiting Is About to Change

In a digitized, branded, and networked world, with more automation in place to engage with candidates through personalized and valuable content, today’s candidates are raising the bar for recruitment. If you think otherwise, consider how frustrated and powerless you’ll feel in the future, when you can't see how your competition engages with candidates.  

If you are still considering your talent strategy and wondering if RPO is right for your business, I would welcome the opportunity to strategize with you. Don't hesitate to reach out to me.  

 

Fill out the form below to get started.

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 25, 2023
Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

Recruiting in 2023 and Beyond

Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Digital business transformations have the potential to significantly change the way they operate; impacting systems, processes, workflows, and people. Here is some insight to contemplate for your organization to see the true success of digital transformation.

1. Be clear on your reasons for undertaking a digital transformation. Know your "why."

Start by asking these questions:

  • What strategic goals or business objectives will this deliver? 

  • How will you measure your progress toward meeting these objectives? 

  • How will you manage the progress and delivery to ensure you reach these goals? 

  • What are the main and supporting reasons for going through this process? 


 

Digital Business Transformation Infographic: How to Evaluate Impact to Organization and Customers

2. Evaluate a digital transformation's potential impact on your organization and your customers.

Consider asking these questions when undergoing a digital transformation: 

 

Customers

  • Your goal might be to transform some specific aspect of your customers’ experience, but have you considered how these changes might impact their overall journey?
  • Have you considered the several customer types and how your approach will affect each type?

 

People

  • How will these changes affect the people within your organization?
  • Have you sought their input into these changes?
  • Do you have a change management plan in place to help ensure a smooth transition and maximize internal adoption? 

 

Processes and Systems

  • Implementing new software (or modifying existing) may be part of your solution, but how will it affect your existing systems and data management needs?
  • How will the introduction of new software impact existing processes? Explore this beyond the immediate domain of the proposed changes.
  • Have you considered the impact of this on your enterprise system architecture? Think in terms of scalability, performance, and cost. Could these changes inadvertently and adversely impact your customers elsewhere in their experiences with your organization?
  • What system integration efforts will be needed to make this successful?

 

3. Determine the right incremental delivery approach and how to measure success.

A well-planned, incremental delivery approach is a proven model for successfully delivering digital transformation initiatives. Your approach should consider:

  • Your current capabilities and methods for developing a set of features and capabilities that will deliver on your business objectives and targeted outcomes

  • How to prioritize and manage these across a plan that incrementally delivers customer experiences while encouraging and facilitating meaningful and measurable feedback that can help refine future deliverables

  • How will your delivery team function? Will they be delivering demonstrable outcomes every two weeks? How will these feed into your release schedule and how will you package these up for your customers?

  • What mechanisms and processes will you have in place designed to capture feedback from your customer (internal and external) so that it can be incorporated into your ongoing product refinement and delivery

  • Who will develop and execute your change management plan to help optimize the adoption of the changes being made within your organization?


     

Follow these 3 steps to help prepare you for a successful digital transformation for your business. 

  1. Be clear on your reasons for undertaking a digital transformation; know your WHY
  2. Evaluate the full potential impact a digital transformation will have on your organization and your customers
  3. Determine your incremental delivery approach and how to measure success  

Interested in making sure you do not overlook anything while you transform? Fill out the form below to get more information.

michael-conway
2023/01
January 23, 2023
Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Digital Business Transformation: Steps Toward Success

Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Do your managers work 70 hour weeks, while their employees struggle to fill the day? Do your new managers still behave like the all-star individual contributors they were before they were promoted? These are common symptoms of a broader issue of delegation of authority.

You know if they were able to allocate tasks they would have more time to focus on planning, analysis, and generating new ideas and improvements. The value you place on your managers is more than just checking items off a list. You want to encourage them to manage their teams effectively, develop their employees’ skills, and abilities and focus their time on high value-add tasks.

Here are some tips for encouraging this important skill in your managers:

 

1. Show managers the benefits of delegated authority.

Everyone has heard that delegation of authority is beneficial, so telling your managers that won’t make an impact. Show them the value of delegating tasks with problem-solving exercises. Let them experience what it is to feel powerless to make their own work related decisions. Have them try to create solutions to a problem without access to company experts. Repeat the same problem solving with assistance from experienced players and show how much of a difference it makes.

 

2. Entrust them with more responsibility and increased staff.

One of the most obvious things you can do to encourage your managers to delegate is to delegate to them yourself. Managers look to their superiors for guidance. Seeing you delegate to them and others will encourage the same behavior. Also, if they have more tasks and more people to manage it will make delegating even more vital. They will learn that they, and their team, can get more done by sharing tasks and responsibilities when able.

 

3. Foster an egalitarian culture.

A company’s organizational structure makes a big impact on delegation. If individual advancement is encouraged more than teamwork and achievement of shared goals then managers will be less likely to relinquish control. When status symbols are bestowed on individuals and overvalued managers are more likely to play the hero, and horde rewards for themselves. You get the same results when driven by fear, if a manager fears the results of a failed task; they are less likely to trust others to do it for them.

 

4. Hire managers with delegation skills.

The best way to acquire managers who delegate is to hire them. That trait may not be obvious, but there are ways to look. During the interview process, how often does the potential manager say “I” rather than “we” or “my team.” You can also ask questions that will highlight delegation skills. Ask them to talk about a successful project they completed with others and about their previous team. If they speak highly of their employees, they likely were comfortable delegating tasks. However, if there is a lot of negativity placed on those workers, it may be a red flag for their delegation skills.

 

5. Stress the notion of situational leadership.

In a perfect world, managers would be able to delegate every task they want to every one of their team members. Unfortunately, team members must have the readiness and willingness to take on tasks. Managers can use situational leadership when determining the responsibilities to delegate and to whom it will be delegated. To ensure that your managers are setting themselves up for success, encourage them to regularly take stock of their team members' ability to take on tasks. Some team members will be able to run with minimal direction, whereas some need a higher touch; understanding which approach to use will help managers work more efficiently.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough and relinquishing some level of control is challenging for many of us, but becoming comfortable with delegation is part of the maturation process for any leader. Think your team could use more direct support? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2023/01
January 20, 2023
Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Delegated Authority: 5 Ways to Encourage Managers

Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

This past year there were several trends that emerged from quiet quitting, great resignation, hustle culture and more, that revealed what candidates and employees expected from employers. As the economy continues to show signs of slowing, it will remain a candidate’s market, which means many employers leave their employee value proposition unchecked. Because several organizations struggle with this, we need to take a step back to understand why this struggle might be more prevalent than necessary. 

HR trends that impact the workplace (w definitions)-2

The Purpose of Purpose 

The market changed and the talent landscape continued to evolve, thus causing employers to struggle to find and keep good talent. As this was unfolding, employees were leaving because they wanted more purpose in their work. All these challenges caused talent acquisition leaders to lose sight of the key component in their recruiting efforts – messaging, driven by the organization’s purpose, which consequently leads to helping candidates see the organization’s purpose come to life. An organization’s purpose gets to the heart of why the company does what it does. It defines what the company stands for and its role in our world. It helps set expectations among all stakeholders in the business — both internal (company leadership and employees) and external (customers, shareholders, and the community at large). It also drives the strategic decision-making that moves the company into the future.  

Organizations that have a well-defined purpose have, in effect, a way to frame their actions and communicate them as part of a bigger picture. And nowhere is this more apparent than when communicating your employment brand or employer value proposition (EVP). 

 

The Impact of Purpose

A clear and meaningful organizational purpose — articulated in a way all stakeholders can understand is essential to both internal and external audiences.  

There have been numerous studies that address the importance of this topic. In a recent report by McKinsey, 82% of surveyed companies said that having a stated “purpose” was important. Unfortunately, only 42% of those companies said their stated “purpose” had much effect.  

Why? Many companies’ purpose statements are so generic that they do little to challenge business practices or standards or to create a foundation for actions that might help change public perceptions. Consumers demand more social responsibility from the companies they do business with today. They are more apt to buy when they can buy into what you stand for.  

But worse, when the company’s employees or candidates don’t feel aligned with your purpose, they become disengaged. And that can have a devastating effect on a company’s performance: A similar Gallup study found that employees' connection with the mission or purpose of their organization leads to an 8.1% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability. 

Employees and candidates want to have common goals and values with their (prospective) employer and be able to contribute ideas and solutions to help the company meet its social responsibilities. We have long known that businesses that build a workplace culture around these ideals will be rewarded with highly engaged, enthusiastic and invested employees. 

Unfortunately, of the company purpose statements in the McKinsey study, only 21% could be tied to social goals, and 11% did not track towards making a meaningful contribution that benefits the world. Both are huge drivers for talent and an important part of your EVP. 

 

Is it Time to Revisit Your Purpose? 

If your company’s purpose is lacking or, worse, MIA, it’s never too late to refine it. A purpose statement should communicate your company’s “WHY” and how you make the world a better place. 

 

Infusing Purpose in your EVP 

Knowing what employees want and value is the foundation of a successful EVP. And there isn’t an employee out there that doesn’t want to find meaning and purpose from their work experience!  

Communicating your company’s purpose and EVP, and embedding that message in areas like recruiting, orientation, leadership development, training, and employee rewards can have a tremendous effect on your workforce. It can inspire employees with a sense of hope for the future as well as the satisfaction of contributing to something bigger than themselves. They will have more pride in the company they work for and the value they create for customers and investors. There just is no greater value an employer can offer its people than meaning and purpose. Your EVP, as communicated on your website, in your job postings, and by word of mouth by your team, is often the first time they will encounter it. Therefore, take the time to evaluate it, refine it, and embed it. 

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) can enhance your employer brand and bring new life to your recruiting efforts. 

Fill out the form below to get started.

patty-silbert
2023/01
January 6, 2023
Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

Making ‘Purpose’ the Heart of your EVP

Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a model where an organization outsources all or a portion of its recruitment function to an experienced third-party provider. When considering a partnership, companies look to organizations who can assess, build and run your recruiting processes to help expand your talent pools, create an exceptional candidate experience, improve compliance, and drive a higher quality of hire.

When considering your partner, look at ways the partner customizes the program offering and tailors to your specific needs. While recruiting may be thought of as the same across every organization, your recruiting needs are unique, therefore, your solution should be tailored and not a one-size-fits-all model.

Choose an RPO partner that:

  • Improves the quality and consistency of your recruiting process

  • Recommends and implements proactive and innovative recruitment strategies

  • Takes a holistic approach to understand your talent acquisition as it stands currently and what you need for the future

  • Elevates your employer brand throughout the recruitment process

 

Recruitment needs a holistic approach

Many recruitment process companies should offer more than typical sourcing and recruiting solutions, however, those who have a holistic approach to recruitment are focusing on your entire talent acquisition ecosystem to drive greater cost efficiencies by reducing risk on poor hiring decisions. Your talent acquisition ecosystem should consider your network of stakeholders’ needs, tech stack, and recruitment strategies that work together to build a  best-in-class recruitment process.

 

Holistic RPO partners provide:

  • Expertise in areas like market analysis that aid in strategic decision-making
  • Knowledge and tools that enable better control over the progress of your talent strategy
  • Innovate your employer brand with your candidate audiences

 

Why ‘holistic’ and what does THAT mean?

Holistic is not a metaphor or part of an advertising message we use to promote Aspirant’s RPO.

Our approach to RPO is to build a strong partnership working with the goal to improve the overall quality of talent acquisition. Unlike plug-in solutions that attack one problem at a time, Aspirant’s RPO holistic approach is to define the ideal candidate journey, implement the key processes to elevate your recruiting strategies, and activate an RPO solution that evolves as your organization’s business continues to move forward.

Our holistic approach to RPO stands the test of time because we stand by our promise to deliver.

If you are considering RPO, make sure to download your FREE buyer’s guide.

Aspirant RPO Buyers Guide-Is RPO Right for My Business

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

 

patty-silbert
2022/12
December 14, 2022
Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Thinking of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

As the term implies, a remote workforce allows company employees to work outside of the company’s physical location. Remote employees often work the same hours and have the same level of expectations and responsibilities as their in-house counterparts, but they do not have to be physically present. If your office is considering adopting or has a remote workforce, there are a few things to keep in mind.

What are the Benefits of a Remote Workforce?

There can be many benefits of a remote workforce for employees, management, and the company overall. An employee can work from the comfort of home, saving time and money on travel. This carries a flexibility not offered by in-person positions. Many professionals are attracted to the idea of working from home because they simultaneously manage household chores and responsibilities, resulting in a better work/life balance.

Furthermore, remote workforces often allow for a more flexible schedule, not the typical, if not arbitrary, 9 to 5 office job. Many remote employees schedule their days around their specific needs with the understanding that they will need to be present for various digital conferences or phone calls and meet deadlines.

A remote workforce also offers benefits for employers. The most talked-about result of a remote workforce is increased productivity. That’s right, remote workers tend to put more effort and energy into their jobs. In Forbes’ State of Work Productivity Report, it is noted that two-thirds of managers reported an increase in overall production from their remote workforce.

Although it may seem contradictory, reports like the one cited above often point to the fact that employees are more engaged in their company and their responsibilities when working remotely. Appreciation for their flexibility contributes significantly to this increased effort.

For the company at large, the obvious benefit comes from fewer expenses. When a company no longer has to provide a physical office space to rent or buy, heat and furnish, overhead costs quickly diminish. A physical space can cost a lot more than it may be worth in some cases. Even if some of your staff is still physically present, investing a partial remote workforce could provide the opportunity to downsize your office space and all of the incidental costs associated with it. 

 

What are the Qualities of a Good Remote Workforce Manager?

The question remains: how do you manage that stellar remote workforce? The skills needed to manage your remote workers differ from traditional office management. 

The first requirement is having a culture that actively values its remote workforce. Your company must be supportive of remote workers and include them meetings and communications. They are a critical part of the team and need to be engaged regularly. When choosing a manager or management team for these employees, it’s important that they feel the same.

Managers of a remote workforce should thrive at setting clear expectations and possess great communication skills. This is, of course, true of any manager, but it’s particularly crucial for those overseeing remote employees. For example, communicating face-to-face carries a certain amount of nuance that is lost through email or over the phone. There a fewer opportunities for questions and comments to arise organically, so a manager needs to ensure that everything is completely mapped out and understood.

A manager also has to be personable and take the necessary steps toward building trust when managing teams remotely. There’s no chance to run into each other in the break room, so a manager must put additional effort into knowing remote workers. This requires open streams of communication. However, this does not mean one needs to micromanage. A remote workforce manager simply needs to be available to her or his employees much more consistently.

Because face-to-face communication is limited, or downright nonexistent, a good remote workforce manager must also be proficient with online collaboration tools, sites, or platforms. The whole team needs to be active part of something such as Slack, Basecamp, Trello, etc. where they converse and check in daily with each other. These tools not only support a culture of accountability and task completion, but also give isolated employees an opportunity to engage their team and supervisors. Have occasional video conferences as well. A remote worker should not feel invisible in the company and its up to the manager to ensure this doesn’t happen. 

While every company establishes its own best practices, a manager of a remote workforce should focus on achieved goals, not the path remote works took in getting there. The truth is, a remote workforce forgoes some of the processes a manager could oversee in a traditional working environment. A good remote manager knows when to step in to help and when to step out of the way.

 

The workplace and the workforce that occupies it are constantly changing. Stay ahead of the game with our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion that explores how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/12
December 10, 2022
Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

Tips for Managing Teams Remotely

5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

In today's corporate world, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (or DEI) is more than a buzzword — it is an essential part of your company's mission. To help propel your company to success, here is a list of 5 surprising DEI facts.

1. DEI helps you attract the best employees

If you want to get the best talent in the door, it is imperative to understand how millennials view your organization. Candidates are looking for a company that matches their values and speaks to them on a personal level, effectively swaying their decision to accept or reject an offer based on their perception of an organization’s commitment to diversity. You can create an inclusive environment by supporting local events that resonate with diverse communities, providing training on cultural competency and the importance of diversity, and creating employee resource groups.

 

2. DEI improves workplace culture

Workplace culture is rooted in employee satisfaction—companies that offer more opportunities for development have been shown to have happier employees and less turnover. Your approach to diversity in the workplace helps define your company culture, as well as what type of talent you will hire.

 

3. A diverse workforce can help your company reach new markets

Teams made up of people from different backgrounds are more likely to develop new ideas for reaching broader audiences. For example, if your marketing team includes people from different backgrounds, they may be able to identify new markets or even develop products or services specifically designed for those markets.

 

4. Successful DEI strategies start at the top

Executive buy-in is one of the most important factors in whether an initiative succeeds. The more that executives are personally committed to their companies' diversity efforts, the more likely employees will agree that those efforts are effective. That means that senior managers not only need to back up their words with actions — they need to lead by example and practice what they preach.

 

5. Diversity is more than just your numbers

Including a diverse workforce is not only about having a good ratio of people across race and gender; it also extends to how employees identify on the spectrum between introvert and extrovert, how they deal with different types of stressors, how they approach problem-solving, and so much more. To truly know whether or not you're creating an inclusive workplace, ask yourself: do my employees feel like they can contribute in ways that draw on all of their unique skills? Are my employees valued for being themselves? If the answer is yes, then you're well on your way to truly leading a safe and inclusive workplace.  

Companies with more diverse workforces experienced higher profitability and a better ability to retain clients. However, it's not just about hiring more people from different backgrounds — it's about creating a culture of inclusion and equity within your workplace. It's great that your company has a DEI strategy in place, but that's just the beginning.

Do you believe your company’s DEI strategy needs assessing? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below to see how we can help your DEI strategy!

aspirant-team
2022/11
November 30, 2022
5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

5 Surprising Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Facts

Importance of Feedback in 2023

With the end of the year closing in, it is the perfect time to reflect and begin planning for the next year. While it’s important to look back at sales, marketing and (of course) finances, don’t overlook the value of employee feedback.

The Importance of Feedback

Listening to employees can give you so much useful information about their engagement and job satisfaction as well as good tips for helping the customer and bottom line. They are an often underutilized wealth of data that can help your company.

It's no secret that supporting employees, challenging them to grow, and encouraging them in their work is central to a positive work environment. As a result, your company may already have employee engagement programs in place. But do you know if they are working? No matter how well-intentioned or how hard you’re working, it’s only worthwhile if you're getting the desired results.

The best way to find that out is to ask them. Sometimes you will get feedback without asking, but it tends to be negative and too late to resolve. Employees will come forward when they are having a problem with their manager or a coworker. They will also talk quite openly in an exit interview, when their dissatisfaction has already translated into a career move. That’s a situation you want to avoid. So, what do you do to begin collecting feedback on a regular basis?

 

Explain the Role of Their Feedback

If you’re just asking for feedback because you’re supposed to, your employees are going to pick up on that eventually. Half-hearted efforts to explore critical topics such as employee engagement without any resulting action run the risk of having the reverse effect and your employees won’t bother talking to you a second time.

Work all year at having the kind of culture that invites candid communication. Show interest in what your employees are working on, what their roadblocks are and how you or the rest of management may be able to help.

Then, once you get some feedback, do something about it. Make a plan, discuss it with the employees you talked to and see if you’re on the right track. Let them know that you are working to address any of their concerns or heed their suggestions.

 

Actively Seek Their Feedback

Ask them questions, not just at review time, but throughout the year. This could be informal meetings or simply passing them in the hallway. If your employees are comfortable with you, they will be much more likely to discuss their concerns and ideas. If talking to you about what’s going on at work becomes a normal experience, they won’t be as afraid to approach you when something comes up.

The best environment is the one where employees know that their opinions are valued.

 

How to Gather Their Feedback

Talking individually at reviews and sometimes in groups is certainly useful. But sometimes employees will feel more comfortable with an anonymous means of communication. Take advantage of the many forms of online surveys to email specific questions to your employees.

Collecting employee feedback online is easy and efficient. Make sure to protect their privacy when needed, reassure them this is not about finding who said what, but figuring out what needs changed in the company. Make sure to set up a computer station for any employees that may not have access to email.

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

 

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/11
November 9, 2022
Importance of Feedback in 2023

Importance of Feedback in 2023

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Planning is nothing new to organizations, as they have been developing multi-year roadmaps for achieving their goals since their inception. However, organizations often struggle with strategy execution. 

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Often, leaders focus on crafting their vision and forming clear, tangible objectives, and tend to spend less time focusing on the importance of deploying their strategy. When this happens, the execution phase becomes overwhelming as leaders struggle with issues such as change management, insufficient resources, project management, and a lack of executive support. This ultimately leads to strategies being “shelved” and not given the necessary priority, resulting in wasted time, money, and resources. While there are many barriers to deploying your strategic vision, you can navigate the choppy waters of strategy execution by including these six components in your strategic planning  process, which will help ensure your strategy stays off the shelf.

 

1. Leverage the power of dataUsing data to make strategic decisions

A valuable strategic plan is a tool that helps organizations solve issues that are plaguing them. A common misstep in strategy development comes from an over reliance on personal and/or emotional bias, as opposed to fact-based, from leaders when they are deciding what problems they need to solve, and in fact find a ‘problem.’ 

To prevent emotional biases from creeping into the process, companies who develop and implement a fact-based, data-driven approach to fully understand the root cause and impact of organizational problems could avoid a potentially harmful outcome. The identification of problems must start by understanding the data that is available (both internally and externally) and by identifying what types of data need to be leveraged.

Data comes in many forms and utilizing a wide variety of data will help identify problems, strengthen decision-making ability,  improve your strategic planning outcomes, and overall help drive your business forward.

 

For example:

  • Help identify and solve problems. It comes through through tracking and reviewing business processes.
  • Strengthen data driven decision making. Minimize the time between data availability and its use. It can be collected from sources such as customer interactions, online transactions, web traffic, and social media.
  • Employee and operational performance data can reveal opportunities for improving business processes that reduce lead time and cost. This information can be obtained through yearly performance reviews, surveys, assessments, etc.

2. Create alignment between strategy and the organization

Successful strategy execution depends on your organization’s ability to align objectives with roles and responsibilities. Having a great strategy, which you believe can be executed, doesn’t mean it will lead to clear actions for employees. Even the highest performing employees may still miss the mark if leaders guide them with the wrong targets. That is why strategic planning should cascade naturally from corporate to business units to functional departments, and, ultimately, to individual employees.  

Strategically aligned organizations focus on their most important asset: people. Implementing any strategy starts with educating, involving, and aligning the people responsible for executing it. Take the time to review your strategic objectives for clarity and to ensure you have people in place who can provide execution ownership. 

 

3. Build a common understanding  

Communication is often cited as one of the major reasons why strategic objectives never see the light of day. Without communication, the workplace is not a connected environment. So, without clear, consistent communication how do you expect your strategy to be successful?

When leaders don’t focus on communication, it creates the risk of misaligned strategic objectives which leads to employees wondering what work is important, how to prioritize problems and goals, and what their function is. It also can create resentment as employees either don’t feel they are being listened to or simply don’t buy in what the organization is seeking to accomplish.  

Communication creates an understanding of what is going to happen, why is it happening, and how are we going to accomplish it. It is critical for disseminating information that employees need to be effective and serves to build relationships and trust across the organization.

By finding ways to solicit feedback and input along the journey, leaders gain the ability to better understand results, to be more problem specific, address re-occurring negative situations, and make communication more thorough. Designing a comprehensive communication plan focused on engaging essential employees — that includes the “why, what, and how” of the new strategy — will help win support and develop trust between leadership and individual contributors while establishing ownership over change initiatives. 

 

4. Balance your capacity  balancing resources to achieve strategic goals

When a major initiative is about to go live, ensure the availability of the appropriate resources (time, people, assets, capabilities, etc.) for achieving the corresponding goals. Many organizations fail to consider their capacity constraints when executing a strategy, and employees often struggle to maintain a healthy balance between day-to-day business and the execution of strategic initiatives. This presents a risk to your strategy as employees are most likely to prioritize the 'day jobs' for which they were originally hired.

Strategic objectives should be incorporated into employee functions and current business processes. This helps eliminate the common misconception that a new strategy creates more work and not new work. Phasing the deployment of initiatives and meeting regularly to monitor performance can help prevent teams from feeling overwhelmed. This approach to capacity planning can make a huge difference.

 

5. Commitment to change 

Most failures in strategic execution can be attributed to employee resistance due to lack of engagement, understanding, and leadership support. Anticipate and mitigate that risk by crafting a change management plan that makes a clear case for change and includes provisions for engaging employees, measuring progress, managing barriers to implementation, and ensuring change is sustainable.

 

considerations when forming your change management plan: 

  • Determine the impact of change in terms of people, process, and technology
  • Develop a robust, multi-channel communication strategy
  • Provide effective and informative training on new processes, expectations, and technology
  • Implement a support structure, such as cross-training employees, to allow your company the flexibility to utilize the talent of your staff
  • Measure the effectiveness of the change process

 

6. Drive accountability  

A culture of accountability creates individual ownership over parts of the strategy, improves their understanding of how strategy is performing, and empowers them to course-correct when things go wrong. There is no question that ownership leads to a better likelihood of success. Clear governance and accountability helps people become committed to strategic change and increases their ability to recognize the successes and failures of strategic activities.

 

promote effective strategic governance: 

  • Ensure there is surveillance over internal and external factors that can potentially impact the organization’s strategy 
  • Continuously and systematically check whether assumptions on which the organization’s strategy is based are valid 
  • Evaluate the organization’s strategy execution effectiveness 
  • Verify that strategy is being executed as planned and determine whether results are being delivered as expected

 

Time to Recap

Successful strategy execution can be an tedious process. It requires a well thought-out plan that accounts for the considerations listed above. Leadership needs to communicate clearly and consistently, and maintain alignment with the workforce throughout the entire journey. Hopefully these tips will create a seamless transition between planning and execution, ensuring the hard work invested into your plan doesn’t go to waste.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts have helped clients of varying size and industry develop and execute strategic plans that achieve their organizational goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. If you need assistance, please feel free to let us know.

Fill out the form below.

anthony-lembo
2022/10
October 26, 2022
Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Strategy Execution: 6 Ways to Ensure Your Plan Is Utilized

Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

As we all know, the job market is tougher than ever. With the great resignation, candidates have new ways of looking at how they want to work and where. HR leaders today are under pressure to get top talent in the door and to do so in an environment where time, resources, technology, and available budget can be at premium.

In the United States, there are more than 161 million people working and 15.7 million jobs open. This means that roughly one in 10 seats in your office are empty, and you’re competing with everyone else for staff. We have found that internal recruiting teams are struggling to keep up and the pressures coming from the C-Suite to bring the best talent in the door faster is causing leaders to re-evaluate their current recruiting function. In many ways, the answer they are looking toward is Recruitment Process Outsourcing.

And here is why…

 

RPOs Give Companies the Edge

Around the globe, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) has proven itself as one of the most effective ways for companies big and small to manage the challenges of attracting and hiring top talent today. Not only does partnering with an RPO improve efficiency in your processes, but provides the expertise and tools to help you attract the right people to the right positions at the right time.

So why exactly are so many companies turning to recruitment outsourcing?

 

RPOs Reduce Costs

No matter the size of your company, chances are your recruiting budget is lean. The time, manpower, and training that is now required around today’s recruitment process (whether it means investing in an additional sourcing professional or the latest technology) can be onerous for any HR budget. But what if all of those processes were handled by experts who have the latest skills, training and technologies at their disposal?

RPOs have the best practices, strategies and knowledge already in place. They streamline the recruitment process, introduce sourcing and recruiting best practices, and use the most appropriate strategies and technologies to reach the right candidate pool. Best of all, they provide scalable, tailor-made solutions for the challenges you face as your organization changes.

Partnering with an RPO can help companies identify how to staff the recruiting function more effectively and significantly reduce recruitment costs — even direct costs in areas like advertising, job boards and relationship management tools.

 

RPOs Shorten Time-to-Fill

As an HR professional, you well know the negative impact an unfilled vacancy can have on your organization’s productivity and performance.

Not being able to fill positions as soon as they are needed can directly impact the goals of the business unit and effect its bottom line. An unfilled position can mean the difference between being the first company to launch a product and a competitor getting to it first.

Late starting employees often need to be rushed through training and orientation, which can inversely impact their time-to-productivity, turnover rates, and on-the-job error rates which diminishes the return on their efforts, further contributing to dissatisfaction with HR throughout the business.

That’s why reducing time-to-fill is one of the most consistently-cited goals for taking on a recruitment outsourcing partner.

 

RPOs Improve Candidate Quality

In today’s tough talent market, being able to consistently attract in-demand — or even scarce — talent can give you a distinct competitive advantage. Not only are RPOs set up specifically to attract, assess and place high quality talent for their clients regardless of the role, but have sourcing approaches that allow them to access deeper talent pools than often are available in-house.

You might be thinking, “Just how can any process change improve quality of hire?” RPOs specialize in providing the kind of candidate-focused experience that creates a strong relationship with the employer from the get-go and companies see candidates who are better fits for the roles.

Recruitment outsourcing partners will also offer their clients sound guidance on the latest employer branding and candidate attraction strategies needed to stand out as an employer of choice in today’s competitive marketplace — improving the ability to attract both passive and active talent.

 

RPOs Promote Agility

When agility is one of an organization’s goals, it’s important for HR to identify practices that help them focus on prioritizing value and delivering more quickly.

Outsourcing all or part of the recruitment function significantly helps to free up the internal HR department and hiring managers’ time, allowing them to focus on other critical business functions.

Because HR is becoming an integral part of how talent impacts the company’s bottom line, key leadership is asking more of their HR business partners, particularly in the area of training and developing talent and helping to align that talent in a way that gets needed business outcomes. Freeing your HR team to concentrate on these tasks could be one of the most important ways you gain more than just efficiency in an RPO partnership.

Reach out below to connect with an RPO expert today.

 

patty-silbert
2022/10
October 10, 2022
Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

Why Outsource Recruiting? 4 Ways You Gain More than Efficiency

The Value of Contingent Workers

In my last post, I talked about the seismic shifts underway in regard to how candidates and employees think about work. Between the “Great Resignation,” “Quiet Quitting,” and mandates from the C-Suite to RTO (Return to Office), many companies are struggling to keep and bring top talent back to a traditional work environment.

Today, let’s talk about one of the strategies talent leaders are considering to help them navigate the imbalance in labor supply and demand … tapping contingent staff.

According to a U.S. Government Accountability report, 40 percent of the U.S. workforce is made up of contingent workers, with the average organization having 18 percent of its workforce employed on a contingent basis.

The concept of 1099 employees is something that many organizations find challenging, citing a lack of consistent work quality and their own lack of understanding of how to gain access to workers with specialized skills. But as Gartner recently stated, as talent needs to evolve, employers will need to focus their strategy on hiring for “skills required to drive the organization’s competitive advantage and the workflows that fuel this advantage.”

In other words, our ability to meet our corporate goals and build organizational resilience today, and in the future, will likely rely on a blended workforce.

 

The Agile Workforce of Tomorrow

While few would argue that the workforce of tomorrow will include a greater number of contingent workers, the dynamic nature of the market — and the market for talent as well — has been leading organizations to ramp up their use of contingent workers today.

Many companies have developed comprehensive strategies to include the use of these agile contributors to help them improve operational performance, lower labor costs, source rare or hard-to-find talent and inform future staffing decisions, and provide more organizational flexibility as market conditions change. But forward-thinking talent leaders at organizations of all sizes are including contingent workers as part of a workforce strategy that anticipates where the business expertise needs to support tomorrow.

Work will continue to evolve. The preference many workers have for flexible, location-independent work and the role that technology plays in making this kind of work possible has had an impact on the rapid growth of the contingent workforce. And there will always be a need to close the gaps between employees and employers to gain alignment on what both need to move ahead.

Here at Aspirant, we can help your organization assess and design a talent program that combines both permanent and 1099 employee options. Our high-touch and holistic approach to workforce planning and strategy, helps our clients reduce agency spend to bring the best talent to move your organization forward.

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 22, 2022
The Value of Contingent Workers

The Value of Contingent Workers

Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Completing the requisition intake process prior to getting that first candidate in the door is often viewed as frustrating and cumbersome by both hiring managers and recruiters alike.

If you’ve ever fielded a call from a hiring manager that says their recruiter doesn’t “get” what they want, you know exactly what I mean.

But it’s vitally important these professionals are on the same page — and work as trusted partners — to achieve the end goal of bringing in top talent. Studies like those done by Deloitte recruiting is not as easy as everyone thinks. Understanding the recruiting role and efforts it takes to find talent can help hiring managers and recruiters forge better relationships.

This is where having an expert recruiting team and a defined requisition intake process can really pay off. Because knowing what questions to ask and what information to bring to the table can help both identify with clarity what makes the right talent for the role, and also give the recruiter the tools to engage in conversations with higher-caliber talent.

 

Share Information Beyond What’s Requisition-Related

The ideal intake process gives recruiters the information vital to conducting a great search. It helps them validate the requirements that the hiring manager has for the talent the recruiter will present. But beyond information that help recruiters nail down titles, certifications, likely associations, and competitors for talent — the information you’d expect to discuss — top-notch recruiters will go much deeper to discover:

  • Changes in the industry landscape. What are the industry challenges that might act as a roadblock to your talent acquisition success?
  • Your challenges and strategic goals. What is the business unit trying to achieve through talent, both long- and short-term? What talent will be required for you to be able to compete now, and in the future?
  • Success measures. What do employees in similar roles think is most fulfilling about their roles? And what characteristics of theirs would you like to “clone” in your search?

You can tell when your recruiter is a great business partner: not only do they bring requisition-related research to the meeting—sharing what talent is available in the market, news about competitors, and companies that are not always top of mind as competitors—but they’re continually on the search for other information that can help you connect with top talent. So, they may come with additional requests.

For example, they may ask to meet with successful employees in a similar role, or the names of industry leaders to follow…they’ll go out of their way to get information to ensure your strategy and message continually opens up channels to engage with talent in order to sell the opportunity.

 

How This Information Colors the Candidate Message

Engaging with top talent means more than answering questions about what this role entails, benefits or salary. It means being able to speak to the purpose of the role, how it fits into the future of the company and, quite often, what it means to the industry.

In a talent landscape in which candidates drive and expect engagement, it’s up to the recruiter to paint a picture of the opportunity and the company as the career destination of choice.

The time and effort the recruiter invests in understanding the unique challenges and competitive landscape is probably the most important tool in their portfolio for helping connect with candidates and helping to achieve your strategic workforce goals.

Reach out below to continue the conversation with our RPO experts.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 13, 2022
Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Shifting HR Requisition Intake into a Meaningful Conversation

Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

“Bob” is moving on, and you’re tasked with finding just the right person to fill his shoes. So, what kind of information should you know about your candidates to make sure you’ve found the perfect fit to replace Bob? And with all the changes in the talent landscape for people in Bob’s discipline, how do you appeal to candidates who have so many more career options because of them?

If your organization is like most, then to get to know your candidate you rely on assessments during the selection process to identify skills and cultural fit for the role. These assessments are important, but don’t often determine how happy a person is going to be in that role. And if your new hire’s not happy, they’re not going to give their best, and they’re certainly not going to last.

You need to have answers to some very important questions, long before you’ve narrowed down your candidate pool.

 

Getting to Know More About Who Your “Ideal Candidates” Really Are

Do you know what makes someone in Bob’s role love their work? What makes their job most rewarding? Or what drives them to look for another role?

Knowing what makes your existing employees and your potential candidates “tick” is the key to engagement with your organization. Whether they are engineers or nurses or auditors, the candidates you’re speaking with have specific wants and needs that they share with others in their profession that drive their actions to seek out a new employer or stay at your company.

In the marketing world, when companies are trying to appeal to their customers, it’s common for marketers to identify those types of drivers among audience groups and create “pictures” of the ideal customer to market to, called a candidate persona. Creating these candidate personas improves efficiency and brand connection by helping marketers define their audience (who needs, and is going to be happy with, their product) and speak directly to them.

Can you imagine how impactful this type of information could be to your recruiting strategy?

 

How Successful Recruiters Get in the Candidate’s Head

I’m going to let you in on a trade secret: the most successful recruiters are those who use what they know about the specific industry and the disciplines that make up that industry they’re hiring for to color all their communications with those audiences. They bring in top talent because they have identified key drivers that make that audience receptive to the company’s offer. Don’t get me wrong; your brand contributes to those efforts, but it is only one of the factors that help attract the right fit.

The best recruiters get to know what drives their candidates’ actions, including:

  • Their habits, including where to find them online and how to connect
  • Their needs, their pain points, their goals — what this audience says they want out of a career
  • Any external influences that may enter into their decision (like student loan debt among a specific discipline or demographic, or the current state of an industry, or their desire for professional development)
  • Any popular perceptions of the job, industry, location or the company that the conversation would need to change


Picture1-May-05-2022-02-01-39-47-PM

 

You, Too, Can Build a Candidate Persona. And Should.

Having a well-defined candidate persona will help you build a better sourcing and attraction plan in the long run and help you target your opportunities to the right groups of prospective candidates. It helps you better sell your open position to them. And, at the end of the day, it helps you hire people more likely to be engaged because they value what your position offers. It also helps for your hiring leaders to promote and talk about their industry — and the professions that make up that industry — from their vantage point.

So how do you go about building a candidate persona to fill Bob’s spot? It’s important to consider factors that reach far beyond anything you would see in a job description, a resume or what you are to pick up in an interview, and for that you’ll need to do some investigation:

  • First, talk to Bob, if you can, and ask him the motivation behind his educational track and ultimately the role he chose for his profession. Ask Bob what attracted him to that work, makes his profession so exciting, and what drives (or drove) him to stay in the profession. Ask Bob if working at your company fulfilled his professional expectations and how.
  • Then, conduct research. Survey non-employees from your top talent industries to learn what about the work makes them excited to show up every day. For engineers it may be the chance to innovate; for sales and marketers, it may be centered around their ability to offer and receive creative input from all levels; for finance professionals, it might be their desire for meaningful support of their career development, rather than getting lip-service during their performance review period. Most often companies only survey their existing employees and find that the results didn’t tell them anything that they didn’t already know. I don’t have to tell you the reasons for that! Plus, going outside for information can help you prove to yourself that your culture speaks to what top talent professionals value most.
  • Finally, connect with experts. Understand their forecasts for the potential demand on your top talent by role. This will help you anticipate attrition and what you need to do in order to plan for your ongoing attraction strategies.

Once you have gathered this information just don’t sit on it. Use it to drive your:

  • New marketing approaches: Content marketing once reserved for the company’s product and services is now moving into HR practices. Forward-thinking organizations are now creating stories that help to educate their workforce and potential candidates on job role transformation, especially when it comes to new skills and technologies that are changing how people in that disciplines do their work.
  • Thought leadership: Leaders in every organization should be encouraged to speak more about how the innovations in their industry are helping to create rewarding, purposeful work experiences. For example, if you’ve built programs that promote continuous learning and publish results, not only are you revealing to your audience just how exciting it is to work in such an innovative environment, but that you have a culture of learning and growth, as well.
  • Engagement Strategies: Because most candidate and employment engagement strategies are based only on internal information, they’re often not as successful as we’d like them to be. Ensure your leadership understands the distinction between culture and engagement: culture describes the way things work, while engagement describes how people feel about the way things work. If you’re not basing your strategies on what top talent in your industry values most, you’ll likely see a distinct “gap” in your ability to attract and retain talent.

So What are the Takeaways?

Candidate/Industry personas will help you identify with your audience and better position your recruitment marketing messages to speak to your candidates’ career aspirations. And when you speak to those needs, you win by attracting top talent.

Be sure to include your marketing team, Business Unit HR members and Management leadership when developing these personas as everyone brings a different perspective and different information to the table. Then once you have your candidate personas in place, act on them by using specific messaging in your content and by empathizing with candidates as they go through your talent pipeline.

Validate your personas as your business evolves, company innovations often dictate the need for new types of talent based on new technologies that may be driving that change.

Measure your results. Validate that your candidate experience and engagement levels have improved as a result of your content recruitment marketing efforts. Knowing what impact these efforts have had on these important KPIs will keep you ahead of your competition.

Interested to learn more? Fill out the form to see how Aspirant RPO can help you develop candidate personas for your business.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 12, 2022
Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

Why a Candidate Persona Is Critical to Your Recruiting Strategy

How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

 

The pandemic may have forced many companies to embrace remote and hybrid working options, but the workforce itself will likely ensure that it’s here to stay.

Both current and potential employees are in the driver’s seat when it comes to reshaping the workplace today. While we can say the pandemic created a flexible working environment: work-from-home (WFH), hybrid, and remote work options are quite common — and gave birth to concepts like WFA (Work from Anywhere) and ROWE (Results-Oriented Working Environments) — these expectations had been brewing long beforehand as employees voiced a need for more flexibility and better work/life balance. In fact, studies show that U.S. workers now consider work/life balance and flexibility to be among the most important factors in considering job offers.

Yes, there are roles in industries such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and others that will always require the workforce to be onsite to fulfill the organization’s purpose. But for other roles, make no mistake: the top talent you’re looking for is going to weigh in on where and how they want to work. Even as many leaders are starting to set expectations on returning to the office on set days or so many days per week; the workforce is still driving forward with what they desire from their employers.

For company and talent leaders, this shift in workforce expectations presents real challenges to the one factor crucial in determining the success or failure of a business: organizational culture.

Culture and an Evolving, Flexible Workforce

Company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors of a company and its employees. It is evident in the way an organization's people interact with each other, the values they hold, and the decisions they make. It encompasses a variety of elements, including company mission, leadership style, values, ethics, expectations, goals…and work environment.

No matter what flexible work options a company may offer, many will find it tough to engage employees and candidates with a culture clearly designed when work is done face-to-face. I think the reason for this is best described by the authors of one of my favorite HBR articles, “The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture”:

“Successful leaders understand that it takes equal parts strategy and culture to maintain organizational viability and effectiveness. Strategy offers a formal logic for the company’s goals and orients people around them. Culture expresses goals through values and beliefs and guides activity through shared assumptions and group norms.”

Now that more work is expected to be done outside the four walls of the organization, special attention to how your culture is expressed will be extremely important in order for employees to share these goals. It’s simply not as easy to understand (or establish) “group norms” when you are physically removed from the group!

For an employer, this may require extra effort to keep everyone in the day-to-day flow of information, establish set expectations that help managers trust and lead from a distance, or experiment with ways to counter proximity bias and draw in remote talent. While the challenges around execution might be different for every company, the goal of this effort is universal – to ensure an evolving, flexible workforce sees your company as a where people experience purpose, feel valued, and have opportunities to learn and grow.

Workforce expectations may have changed around where work is done, but candidates and employees still expect the how and why to resonate with them. Continually investing in your company culture as your workplace evolves will keep your key employees engaged and motivated and make your organization a magnet for top talent. Here at Aspirant’s RPO we help employers understand workforce trends and look at ways to evolve your recruiting strategies, regardless of what types of employment norms you may be offering. Our goal is to help bring your Employee Value Proposition to life and engage candidates who stand with your purpose.

 

Interested to learn more? Fill out the form, and we'll answer any questions you may have.

patty-silbert
2022/09
September 8, 2022
How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

How Flexible Work Options Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

Companies that effectively use data analytics find that they stay up-to-date with their operations and are more efficient. That is because data analytics allows them to get real time data about their operational systems and business transactions. Unfortunately, companies without this visibility into how their business is running and performing find it difficult to keep up with those that are able to leverage those insights into optimization initiatives.

Embrace data analysis as a competitive advantage. The more customers you have, the more data you can gather. Through visualization and analysis, that information can be transformed into business intelligence. This can help you identify and prioritize the most impactful ways to strengthen performance, be it with implementing new technology, boosting product quality, or targeting a new market segment.

 

How Your Business Can Benefit from Data Analytics

Data analytics can provide a continuous method for monitoring the key performance indicators (KPIs) most closely tied to your strategic goals. This will inform how to deploy limited resources in response to the most pressing needs.

Data visualization tools can be set up to track whatever metrics are most central to your operational decisions. That could include external factors like customer sentiment and industry dynamics, purchasing patterns such as frequency or order size, or internal financial performance. Staying on top of these sorts of trends will enable your organization to anticipate and take proactive measures. Integrations with social media platforms can even enable up-to-the-minute monitoring of Facebook engagement and Twitter followers.

Even if you are behind the curve with the adoption of data analytics, you can make up for lost time. Historical data can be fed into the same analysis methods to build out a baseline for go-forward trend tracking. 

Business analytics allows you to identify and proactively address problems. This drives efficiency that translates directly to the bottom line.

 

The Challenge of Putting Data Analytics into Practice

A Microsoft-commissioned study by Forrester found that one of the most common reasons companies are reluctant to create a data analytics program is security threats. Decisionmakers are uncomfortable with making systematic access to their customer and operational data until they know it is secure. Installing those controls can spiral into a series of drawn-out initiatives, significantly delaying all related programs - including business analytics. Rather than risk getting tangled in all that complexity, some leadership teams might prefer to scuttle the idea altogether.

Another frequent problem is lacking a commitment to properly training employees. That will foster resistance to the adoption of new business intelligence practices. It is impossible for these tools to make a difference if people don't know how to use them.

 

What You Need in a Data Analytics Program

The volume of data and the number of sources heavily determine the quality of analysis that can be conducted. Direct integration with all relevant systems ensures timely, accurate inputs without relying on unreliable manual processes for consolidating data from disparate sources.

Even with that automation in place, a method for validating all data feeds also needs to be part of the implementation process. This ensures the integrity of any subsequent analysis, preventing the risk of erroneous reporting creating distractions (or worse).

How this content is presented and distributed is critical. You need a data analytics strategy that ensures the relevant information in the appropriate level of detail, and makes it easily accessible for the appropriate team members.

If the output of an analytics tool is not actionable, it's useless. That's why the most effective companies collaborate on how changes to the trends they're tracking will influence their approach ahead of time. That creates strategic agility that businesses without a data analytics program simply cannot match. 

For more on why business analytics is a necessity rather than a luxury, check out this article from Microsoft.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Microsoft Cloud Solutions team specializes in designing and securing business intelligence programs tailored to each client's unique needs, preferences, and goals. From systems integration to organizational adoption, Aspirant's Integrated Expertise ensures that every component you need to be successful will be in place.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

sayed-saeed
2022/09
September 7, 2022
Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

Why Data Analytics is Vital in Managing a Business Today

How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

Speak with anyone in Talent Acquisition today and they’ll tell you that hiring top-quality talent has become extraordinarily challenging. Rapidly changing business needs have meant critical positions requiring future-focused industry skill sets need to be filled quickly and efficiently, and traditional recruiting strategies can’t keep up.

Recruiting is always evolving, but now, more than ever, it’s very clear that sourcing will re-emerge at the core of the transformation. And here’s why:

Over the past several years — or maybe I should say decades — of working with organizations around the world to develop their talent sourcing capabilities, many of our first engagements were initiated to find what we once called “a purple squirrel” — an individual with unique and hard-to-find skill sets that made these candidates elusive to recruiters.

These types of candidates and the effort involved in finding them had a dramatic impact on recruitment metrics. At first, hiring speed, accuracy, and efficiency took drastic hits. But on the other side of this challenge was a positive outcome: sourcing began to transform and evolve the organization’s recruiting function, proving that using sourcing techniques to find this unique talent was worth the effort and it became a strategic imperative for many organizations.

 

How “mature” is your recruiting organization?

Every company can cite the challenges they have when it comes to recruiting such as geographical location, industry and industry-specific skills, company culture, and recruiting teams. Likely, their recruiting style is a result of those challenges. But an organization’s “standard recruiting M.O.” can also be a good measure of its maturity, agility, and competitiveness in the talent market.

Recruiting programs are either reactive or proactive. Traditional recruitment programs most often fall in one of three common operational models that are reactive in nature.

recruitment maturity header2-1

The first operational model, I’ll call Defensive Recruitment.

DEFENSIVEThis recruitment model is known for “post and pray” or “pay and spray” techniques that rely on widely broadcasting job advertisements so candidates to come to you. Most traditional organizations operate in this defensive mode; their candidate outreach includes recruitment marketing, posting to job boards, promoting referral programs, and hosting events. Defensive recruiting is about waiting for something to happen before taking action therefore relies primarily on the candidate taking the initiative and “doing the work” of making the connection. And while Defensive recruiting produces the kind of high-volume candidate flow that is appropriate for some roles, the more options a candidate has, the less likely they are to invest time in such a process.

Broadcasting jobs can result in a large volume of inbound applicants who must be filtered, sorted, and screened. Combined with a long or awkward application process the reliance on screening and background checking means recruiters take on administrative roles processing applicants and have less time to spend on adding value to the hiring process. Past applicants are ignored for future openings and control is left in the hands of outsiders as employers wait and hope that enough qualified applicants arrive. 

The second operational model is Responsive.

REACTIVEWhile there are still many aspects of this model that require the candidate to come to you for first contact, Responsive companies have figured out that conventional recruiting methods are insufficient to attract top candidates and will invest considerable time and effort in creating targeted means of attracting them, or they spend time finding candidate resumes on major job boards to reach a wider pool of talent.

Hallmarks of this model are a reliance on pay-for-results specialized job distribution to niche job boards, viral marketing, mobile apps, SEO/SEM, and pay-per-click advertising or programmatic ad buying. While very functional, this model is laborious, costly, and time-consuming. Employers do this to survive or may end up outsourcing their recruitment process.

The third operational model is Anticipative. 

In the Anticipative recruitment model, recruiters are aligned to specific business segments and pipeline potential candidates ahead of demand but still wait for a requestion to begin the process of connecting with them. They get involved with the hiring manager to plan for the job to be open and may even have a database of contacts they can reach when the right opportunity comes around. Delays cause some high-quality candidates to be snapped up before these recruiters can approach them for a role.

ANTICIPATIVEFor “hard-to-fill” roles that are high level yet of low criticality, or roles that are unlikely to recur frequently, turning to agencies shifts the labor burden and increases the speed to hire at the price of raising costs. Time is critical in recruiting. Searching a database for qualified candidates can take hours each day. In this model, a recruiter can view hundreds of resumes and find perhaps one or two candidates who qualify. This is a labor-intensive process that lowers the yield per recruiter. The cost incurred in paying for more resumes, and then paying more people to read them, makes this model attractive to contingency-based firms who can afford to specialize in niche areas and work with a wide spectrum of clients with similar hiring needs, thus maximizing their investment. When a good candidate in this quadrant decides to job hunt, there is only a short window to obtain their attention before they are considering other offers. So, if a recruiter does not connect with the candidate when they begin their consideration of a new opportunity or are still looking, all effort is wasted.

 

Enter sourcing

The fourth operational model is Proactive.

PROACTIVEOrganizations that use this strategic approach usually designate approximately 20% of their positions as "critical" roles - those are roles that will impede business growth should they go unfilled for any length of time and require a unique approach to find the right candidate. What sets this operational model apart is the use of expert researchers and callers to conduct lead generation and identification based on talent profiles in advance of a requestion. This makes the relationship between the recruiting team and hiring manager more consultative, rather than a “customer/order filler” relationship that is more prevalent in more reactive models.

Proactive teams also place a high value on re-hiring eligible former employees, non-employee referrals, and revisiting “silver medalists” - candidates who declined offers or were close contenders for hire, yet ultimately were not selected for a specific position and could be better suited for the new opening.

Sourcing as part of a proactive hiring strategy saves you time, money, and effort. It creates efficiency, reduces redundant efforts, and keeps pressure off you, your team, and your hiring manager, too. And it helps the business be more agile and competitive for talent, today and in the future. It also helps to elevate your employer brand beyond waiting for candidates to encounter your brand in job board messaging.

Obviously, these models are not mutually exclusive: many recruitment organizations are host to two or more of these models at any given time due to various business pressures or environmental factors. But the further an organization moves into the proactive, more strategic model, the more value it adds by driving the very future of the organization through talent.

 

How a Strong Sourcing Strategy Evolves Your Recruiting Model

Companies with a more proactive recruiting model are those that consistently achieve their top potential in terms of talent. With a sourcing team focused on long-term candidate development, these companies are often known as employers of choice within their industry or region. They’re also able to attract top performers from their competitors and outside of their industry. They discuss strategies for meeting company growth needs or replacing key employees and the team is updated continually on planned changes in the business that will impact talent needs.

Such an environment enables forward-thinking, pipeline-based, proactive models capable of leveraging technology and automation to recruit and prime a talent pipeline ahead of demand. By automating low value-added tasks through the use of technology, knowing where the talent is, and knowing how to get to it, this model decreases cost and increases speed. More nimble employers benefit from access to candidates that move quickly.

Strategic Talent Sourcing consists of industry experts with low requisition volume focused on building critical talent pools and supporting all requisitions with low or no candidate flow. While a relatively small percentage of an organization’s hires are critical, these are the jobs that remain unfilled the longest, cost the most to fill, and when they go unfilled, highly impede growth. Hiring organizations generally agree that to fill these jobs they must turn to sourcing.

Recruiting organizations don’t “mature” overnight. If your team is using a Defensive or Reactive hiring model, it may take quite a while to see your team evolve. But an investment in sourcing will greatly increase your organization’s capability to consistently hire more A-players.

 

Here's where to start

As I shared, I’ve worked with hundreds of hiring organizations over the years—big and small—and have found that those that mature and evolve most rapidly are those with one very important attribute in common: deeply integrated into their sourcing strategies are five key components aligned with the business and ever-evolving to meet its needs.

  1. Team Architecture: Does your team structure make the most effective use of their skills, resources, and technology? And are your roles well-defined, or do you have team members that are stretched too thin to become effective?

  2. Direct Sourcing: What percentage of your hiring is for critical roles? The A-list talent you’ll need to fill them is waiting for your opportunity to come to them. Do you have the skills in place to find and connect?

  3. Metrics that clearly demonstrate ROI: What’s your team’s most important outcome? Is it being adequately measured? What metrics should you have to measure performance or value to the organization?

  4. Skill Development: Do you have the resources in place to ensure your sourcers’ advanced web search techniques are up-to-date? Where do they get the expert advice they may need to accelerate their results?

  5. Sustainability: Must team members re-invent the wheel at every turn? How is organizational wisdom shared? Companies that create a sourcing center of excellence (CoE) and champion subject matter expertise grow their teams’ skills and knowledge exponentially.

While evolving your recruiting model by investing in a proactive sourcing strategy isn’t always easy, studies estimate that companies that have made the transition from a Reactive Recruiting Model to a Proactive Sourcing Model increase hiring performance by 30% or better.

By looking at the skills and talent in your talent acquisition function today, Talent Acquisition organizations can take action that better prepare their company for tomorrow’s hiring needs. Through Aspirants Sourcing solution, we offer a detailed diagnostic tool that can reveal where TA leaders need to focus in order to optimize their sourcing strategy and help their team more effectively serve their business. Whether you are looking to design a custom in-house sourcing model, strengthen and develop your current team, or wish to add staff to augment your own team, our solutions can help your strategy have the business impact it was designed to achieve.

If you’re ready to transform your recruiting team into the strategic hiring organization you need for the future, we can help. Connect with us to learn more.

aspirant-team
2022/07
July 22, 2022
How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

How Recruiting Evolved Because of Talent Sourcing

How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

It just might be the people I associate with, but I find the subject of passion — whether it’s about our work, our lives, or whatever we may be doing — creeping into the conversation quite a bit lately.

I suppose it’s natural that words like passion and purpose are part of the lexicon here at Aspirant. Lately, not only are these topics widely popular in blog posts, podcasts, and many self-help books, but they are prevalent here, largely because talent today has shifted their priorities and are more satisfied with their jobs when they feel they are meaningful, and they are empowered.

As we embody the topic of passion and purpose, we find ourselves asking talent acquisition leaders about their company’s great purpose. This helps us attract and recruit talent whose own purpose and passion align with an organization’s purpose, resulting in a better cultural fit.

It’s interesting to see how these conversations morph. I’ve heard the same question from company leadership, recruitment professionals, and candidates: “How do you find your passion?”

Passion shapes our existence. It fuels our inspiration and opens us up to opportunities and changes around us. When you have enthusiasm and excitement for what you do, life simply opens up for you. It’s no wonder so many of us want to tap into that type of energy!

Most stories about people who set out to discover their passion have common themes, including my own. I came up with five actions that I think will get you started if you are looking to find your passion at work:

 

1. Start with Self Awareness and Authenticity

You might have heard it said: “You have to know yourself to grow yourself.” That’s why I believe any journey to find your passion should begin with knowing who you are and learning how to show your true self to others.

In the book What’s Your Genius? author Jay Niblick identifies two things that successful people have in common. Those two things are:

  1. Self Awareness – the understanding of who you are, your design, makeup, strengths, and natural abilities; and
  2. Authenticity – dedication to being more of who you are instead of focusing on what you are or the skills you lack.

So how do you find out who you are? There are lots of assessments on the market that can help you discover your innate competencies and motivators, but choosing just one assessment is like using one utensil for all of your meals. Each has different applications. Remember, we’re infinitely complex beings, so a single tool will give us only a snapshot of the big picture.

Two that I really like are the Predictive Index, which addresses motivating needs and behaviors, and the Attribute Index, which measures skills and competencies.

 

2. Pay Attention

Something my father always said when I was growing up was, “Be aware of your surroundings.” It turns out that, as with most things, it’s much easier to talk about paying attention than actually doing it.

Some people are fully present and able to analyze situations and their outcomes quite naturally. They get crucial information, either from their gut or from the environment around them, that helps them make choices or take actions to produce the results they want. But most of us need to work on practices and habits that can keep us present and focused.

Mastering the skill of “being present” is particularly important when trying to find your passion. Pay attention to how you feel about certain tasks, assignments, ideas, etc. The more in tune you are, and the more internal and external information you can gather, the easier it will be to discover exactly what you want and how to get it.

 

3. Identify Your Strengths

While we did discuss identifying your strengths as part of the process of becoming more self-aware, I think it’s such an important component to finding your passion that it needs some extra examination — because another part of the process is being able to admit to things that aren’t your strength, and that’s not as easy as it may seem.

Whitney Johnson, the author of Disrupt Yourself, offers three very good questions to ask yourself in order to identify your strengths:

  • What makes you feel strong? What are the things that you do that make you feel strong? When the work is engaging and challenging but, at the same time, comes naturally to you
  • What compliments do you dismiss? What compliment do you receive that seems silly to you? It’s probably something that you never would have expected to get a compliment on because it seems insignificant to you.
  • What exasperates you? What are the things that, when someone else doesn’t seem to “get it" or can’t do it, you just can’t relate?


4. Admit Defeat and Failure

Mistakes are a part of life, but admitting to defeat and failure is hard. It’s not in our nature to admit our foibles, and, frankly, it takes a lot of humility and honesty to do so. But without admitting failure, you can’t learn from your mistakes.

It’s the same with accepting defeat. This may sound counter-intuitive (which is probably a good sign that it’s right), but sometimes you can’t move on unless you quit.

I had to learn this first-hand. I went to college to study Computer Information Systems and went immediately into a career as a program developer. I invested four years in school, and three years in a job that made me truly unhappy. I simply hated my life.

So, I started to really look at the aspects of my job that I didn’t like and the ones that made me excited. I quickly realized that I loved spending time with the users of my applications. I loved talking to them about the problem they needed my software to solve, or what they did with their kids over the weekend. Where things started to fall flat for me was when I had to go back to my cubical and stare at my computer screen. Regardless of the time and effort I had committed to this direction in my life, I came to a point where I had to admit I wasn’t passionate about it, I wasn’t great at it, and I had to admit defeat.

Admitting defeat was the first step of the journey that brought me here, where I can help solve problems for HR professionals and be a lot more satisfied in my work.

 

5. Experiment & Don’t Worry About Sunk Costs

Sometimes finding out what you love is an exercise in first figuring out what you don’t love. I didn’t love what I was doing, so I made the radical choice to change it. Experimenting, especially with something as big as a career, can be frustrating, but there are some things you’ll never know unless you try.

Through this passion-discovery process, you can’t worry about the time, money, and energy you’ve invested in something you know isn’t right. Life is full of sunk costs. Don’t get hung up on them. Don’t be afraid to quit when you know something isn’t right.

Every one of us has a greater purpose. Find it, and you will be doing the work you were meant to do.

patty-silbert
2022/06
June 13, 2022
How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

How to Find Your Passion — 5 Steps to Find The Ultimate Career

Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

All companies, regardless of size or industry, have one thing in common: their need for talent never stops.

The HR teams I meet with during my job are in a continual whirlwind of sourcing, screening, and offer management activity. Like yours, their recruiting team operates at sprint speed every day. And they, too, feel their efforts are going nowhere.

One of the biggest hurdles? Not enough (or, often, the wrong) applicant flow. And believe it or not, one of the main contributors to this problem is something you're sprinting right by. Your job postings and descriptions may also use particular words and phrases that alienate a large portion of your candidate pool.

Paying careful attention to words and phrases can help eliminate implicit racial bias and increase diversity in the workforce. In addition, your job posting should be an attractor, not a detractor, for top talent.

It’s your job posting.

Yes, in many regions, the talent demand has outpaced the supply for specific disciplines. But more than that is needed to slow your flow of quality applicants to a trickle. Chances are that your competitors are simply doing a better job of marketing their opportunities.

The job posting is the foundation of your marketing efforts. Gone are the day when any ATS-generated list of responsibilities and requirements would be enough to get a response. Your relationship often begins (and ends) at this post.

Making sure your candidate can find and relate to it is one of the most important things you can do. So how do you do that?

 

Help Them Find the Job Posting

Start by reviewing your job titles. Do they describe the job? Or are they so full of vague internal jargon or creative fluff that it would be hard for the candidate to tell what the role is about? Use the terminology and words your candidate would use to describe the role.

Internally, you might use terms like junior, senior, or lead to rank jobs. Still, they offer little value to the candidate and can hinder prospects from finding you on search engines. Remember that most job searches start at Google, so keep your job titles clean and keyword specific.

Studies show that men apply when they meet just 60% of the qualifications in a job ad, and women apply only if they meet 100% of them. So, it's critical only to include essential requirements and eliminate any that are not to ensure you widen your candidate pool.

Then, Help Them Relate to the Job Posting

Look at your posting from the candidate's viewpoint and ask yourself, "Would I want to apply?" If your eyes have already glossed over before you've finished the first paragraph, you can imagine how compelling it is to your candidate!

One of HR's recent and most disturbing trends is beginning every posting with a paragraph description of the company. This is a horrible practice for two main reasons: 

  1. It pushes job-related keywords down in your copy where they do little to help your SEO, so chances are your competitor's job posting will appear on search engine results before yours. 
  2. This document is not about your company. This practice turns you into that guy at the party that corners people only to tell them about himself:

Company XYZ is the global leader in cotton candy. We help the world's snack purveyors deliver deliciously fresh candy to their customers, making us well positioned in a large growing market historically dominated by more traditional "hand-made candy" solutions. With thousands of customers in over 100 countries, a growth rate of 50% for the last ten years, and a product that is genuinely different from the competition, Company XYZ has an incredibly bright future. For more information, visit the company's website at www.XYZ.com.

Don’t be that guy.

With a more relational approach, this same intro could help the candidate "see themselves" in the role by describing its contribution to the company's purpose and goals. We call this making a "You Sandwich."

 

Make a “You Sandwich”

The job descriptions that connect start and end with the candidate. Start by telling them "what you'll do" and "how your role" aligns with the business. Then, close by describing how they'll benefit from being part of your organization.

For example, the same job intro refocused on the candidate rather than the company. You can see why this might connect better with the right sales candidate:

Hungry for a challenge? As an Account Manager for Company XYZ, you'll represent the global leader in cotton candy. Our sales teams connect with some of the world's largest snack purveyors and manage a book of business that covers over 100 countries. If you're ready to be part of a fast-paced and high-energy sales team that has driven a 50% growth rate for the past ten years, this opportunity is for you.

You'll note that this approach also allows you to include related keywords that can help optimize your post for better search results.

At the end of the post, rather than rattle off a staid laundry list of benefits, bring to the forefront what your culture can offer your ideal candidate that would be of value to them specifically.

 

Remember Who You’re Speaking To

You have to know your audience to relate to them. If you don't know, find out what engages likely candidates for the role you're writing for before crafting your job posting.

For example, a sales role candidate will find the opportunity's breadth and challenge exciting. On the other hand, a customer service candidate may be better served by highlighting the company's commitment to developing talent instead.

 

Draw Them into Your Brand

Taking a more thoughtful approach to customizing each post for the candidates you hope to reach is about more than just marketing the job. It also does a lot to elevate your employee brand in the eyes of your candidate.

Your relationship with your candidate often begins with this single page online. If the job posting reads like it was written to serve a process rather than speak to someone, they'll probably go elsewhere. Let your candidates know that answering your posting is worth their investment in time by investing yours in the right message.

 

Interesting to learn more? Contact Aspirant RPO by filling out the form below!

patty-silbert
2022/04
April 6, 2022
Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

Job Posting Could be to Blame for Lack of Job Applicants

8 Employee Recognition Ideas

Acquiring and keeping talented employees requires more than just financial compensation. Good workers want to feel valued and appreciated. The more they do, the better they work and the happier they are.

A poll by Maritz Research dug into the effects of employee recognition. They found that employees were seven times more likely to stay with a company in which they were recognized and rewarded. They were also six times more likely to invest in said company.

This is just one of many examples of the proven positive results of recognizing and rewarding your team. One of the first things you need to do to incorporate rewards into your company is to truly understand the employees. What do they value? What do they want? What do they need? Understand who your employees are.

 

Here are our top employee recognition ideas:

 

Give them the chance to give

Allow time for employees to volunteer with social causes and charities they care about during paid company time. This is something done successfully by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and has been received very favorably.

 

Treat employees to the occasional free vacation

UKG, the developer of Quicken Loans, does this every two years for their employees.

 

Show them you care about their health

JM Family Enterprises, a Toyota distributor, staffs health and wellness centers with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals at eight of their locations. They use these to provide primary care, wellness exams, vaccines, and lab tests at little to no cost to employees.

 

Give them a meaningful personal thank you

These can mean much more than a casual “Thanks for all you do,” said everyone at a meeting. The Vice Chairman at NetApp personally calls 10-20 employees a day to thank them for doing a specific task well.

 

Contribute towards advancing their education

Intel offers a $50,000 tuition reimbursement to their employees. This demonstrates a commitment to employee futures and clearly makes them better and more motivated workers.

 

Tend to their mental health

Even good jobs can be stressful. At Mayo Clinic, employees can get massages and the option to attend a “stress-free zone” that offers resources to cope with work anxieties.

 

Show them a good time

No one likes all work and no play. That’s why Aflac hosts an annual 6-day appreciation week for their teams that has included: theme park visits, film showings, skating, and daily giveaways.

 

Regularly show them a good time

GoDaddy sets money aside each month and uses it to pay for fun offsite activities during work hours. They consistently celebrate their employees every month by doing such things as white water rafting, gold panning, cooking classes, and trapeze classes.

 

There are many other companies doing great things for their employees. What has your company tried? What have you always wished you could do? What’s stopping you?

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/04
April 3, 2022
8 Employee Recognition Ideas

8 Employee Recognition Ideas

Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

Bob stinks at his job. He heats up tuna fish sandwiches in the kitchen microwave...every day. His main contribution to the bottom line is not using the company WiFi while he's watching Netflix on his iPhone during conference calls. Worst of all, Bob hoards the multi-color post-its.

But Bob, and many others like him, escape the annual performance review process with nary a scratch. Why is that?

Performance evaluations need to be impactful

When assessing the effectiveness of company performance management processes, I see the same thing time and again, where "exceeds expectations", "high performance", or "4-out-of-5" are by far the most commonly selected categories. Meanwhile, "average performance" is a rating for people who are actually performing below company norms.  

This "Everyone's a 4" culture destroys the potential utility of the formal performance management process, but a fair, honest, well-executed process should result in positive consequences for the organization.

Have your managers focus on the Three Cs — Candor, Communication, and Consistency — to get the most out of your performance evaluations.

 

Candor: Being nice isn’t 'nice'

Performance reviews should be helping employees grow and improve. If you shy away from saying things that don’t sound or feel nice, you miss out on opportunities to help your employees grow and it could enable a lack of accountability. Also, be specific. The general "I need you to be more client-focused" is useless. "Here's how you supported Client X, here's what I liked about that, and here's what I'd like you to have done in that situation" is actionable.

 

Communication: Managers should be having conversations, not checking boxes

The forms of old had many boxes, with selections between good and bad, meeting or exceeding expectations, etc. Reviews are far more valuable if managers are asking open-ended questions and working with the employee to develop answers. It's important to note, though, that these conversations should be occurring throughout the year, and that the content of the performance review does not come as a surprise to the employee. If the conversations happen throughout the year, the performance review can become a nice opportunity for the employee to say "Back in August, you mentioned I should be more proactive in seeking new business with existing clients - have you seen any improvement?"

 

Consistency: Performance Reviews should be consistent in what they appraise

The definition of what is low, medium, or high performance should be the same across the board. Expectations can vary based on position, but the traits that are valued should be consistent. Consider calibration sessions, where multiple managers who know the same employees can discuss and agree upon those individuals' performance levels. These are very helpful when unveiling a new competency model or performance management system and can be very helpful for new managers as well.

One final thought: throughout the year, use the 5:1 ratio. Give five positive comments for every negative comment. Don’t leave out constructive criticism, but don’t focus entirely on things that need improvement either. Recognizing the positive aspects of an employee’s performance throughout the year builds trust and commitment.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams is tough - especially when it comes to getting the most out of everyone. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help tailor a plan to keep your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/04
April 2, 2022
Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

Use the Three Cs for Performance Evaluations

What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

When thinking about DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging), it’s important to understand that this journey is going to look different for every company.

If your company is like many others, there have been both challenges and high points as part of the way, which is why it's often called a journey. If you are embracing diversity and believe it’s imperative that you attract, retain, and develop diverse professionals to spur innovation, drive growth, and sustain your competitive advantage in the marketplace, then know that no single organization has the answer.

However, every work culture needs to cater to the needs of its workforce. The key to developing an effective DEIB strategy for an organization is having a blueprint for where to start — a roadmap that is strategically designed to fit your organization.

At Aspirant, we are excited to launch a unique and robust DEIB readiness assessment that will help Organizational and DEI leaders uncover and identify ways to foster and develop a more inclusive culture. Our assessment provides insights on how to:

  • Develop a unique DEIB strategy in alignment with company culture
  • Educate leadership on how they can participate in the company’s commitment to organizational change
  • Provide clarity and actionable steps for internal DEIB champions in the workplace
  • Identify opportunities for impactful growth within the organization


Connect with Aspirant to learn more.

aspirant-team
2022/03
March 28, 2022
What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

What's Your Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging (DEIB) Strategy?

What Is Change Management?

Objectives are unmet and milestones missed. The speed of adoption slows and projects start going over budget. Utilization drops off and reworks are needed. Employees become fatigued; your initiatives fail to deliver. Morale declines and projects are abandoned. Your customers are impacted and employees leave. A legacy of failed change is left.

As organizations embark on projects to improve their businesses, many organizations forget that the introduction of any new or enhanced business capability presents a significant change to the organization. Employees may need to learn how to use a new tool, or perhaps their job role may change completely. So, before organizations undertake a new project, they should stop and consider the questions, How will this change my organization, and what do I need to do to ensure this change is successful?

This is where effective change management comes into play. Otherwise, companies will end up in potentially dire scenarios like those described above.

 

What is Effective Change Management?

Prosci describes change management as “the process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business results.” Prosci identifies the following elements as being crucial for any project’s success:

  • Transformational Leadership: The most important aspect of any successful project is having an influential and visible sponsor. They should make sure to explain the vision and value of the project and help to build a coalition of supporters throughout the organization to help support the change.

  • Project Management: Project management is important to give structure to the technical side of the change.

  • Change Management: Change management is needed to support the people side of change.


The Why: Primary Reasons for Applying Change Management

It is important to recognize the importance of the human elements of any change management effort. If the people are unable to carry out the change or do not support the change, the business results you hoped to achieve will not be realized. According to Prosci’s research, when organizations deploy change management techniques, people are:

  • 6x more likely to meet project objectives
  • 73% of projects meet or exceed objectives based on sponsor effectiveness
  • Active and visible executive sponsorship is the top contributor to success by a 4:1 margin

 

Another way of thinking about this is to ask yourself: What percent of my project’s outcomes are linked to people changing how they do their work? Consider the following simplified example:

  • 100% of your project’s outcomes are linked to people changing how they do their work
  • You expect the outcome of the project to save $1 million for your business
  • Only 50% of people effectively change how they do their work in the anticipated time frame for the project
  • You only end up saving $500,000 instead of the anticipated $1 million

 

A few additional reasons for applying change management may include:

  • Increasing the probability of project success
  • Managing employee resistance to change
  • Building change competency in the organization

What Is Change Management?

 

Using ADKAR Methodology for Successful Change Management

ADKAR is a methodology for managing individual change and stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Organizations can use ADKAR to understand how to guide organizational planning, diagnose root causes of resistance, and develop corrective actions.

ADKAR is a series of building blocks, meaning that an individual must first obtain Awareness of the change, then Desire, then Knowledge, and so forth. If an individual does not adequately obtain one of the building blocks, this is their 'barrier point' for successful change.

By evaluating where an individual’s barrier point is in ADKAR, an organization can help to develop corrective actions. For example, if an individual’s barrier point is Knowledge, perhaps they need additional training to better understand the change and what will be required of them.

 

Reinforcing the Change

Once a change has been effectively implemented (through the first four letters of the ADKAR methodology), it is important to remember to then reinforce the change (the R). This reinforcement ensures that the change continues to be adapted and sustained throughout the organization, and includes activities such as:

  • Collecting employee feedback
  • Auditing compliance with the change
  • Identifying areas of resistance
  • Celebrating successes

Measuring the Human Factors of Change

Throughout the change management process, it is important to consider how the effects of the change will be measured, including how successful the human side of the change was. A few example metrics that can be used to measure the human factors of change include:

  • Speed of Adoption: How quickly people get up and running on new systems and job roles.
  • Utilization: How many employees are showing that they have “bought in” to the change.
  • Proficiency: How well employees are performing at the new job role and system.

Each of these factors will also impact the financial result of the change. Without change management, the likelihood of individuals progressing in each of these areas goes down.

 

Ready to Take Action

These examples show how much the people side of change can matter when it comes to project outcomes. If change is not properly managed, people may decrease their productivity, there may be employee turnover, or customers can be negatively impacted. All of this directly affects the financial performance of a business, which is why creating an environment where effective change management is possible can be crucial for ensuring successful projects.

Want to continue the conversation and see how Aspirant can help you? Reach out below.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Change Management experts can collaborate with your leadership to devise, deploy, and lead change initiatives that better equip your teams for achieving their goals. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

melodi-helkowski
2022/03
March 17, 2022
What Is Change Management?

What Is Change Management?

Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

To thrive in the ever-growing remote and hybrid work environment, it's crucial to set up your home office for success. In this regard, a well-planned strategy and setup ensures the perfect balance between comfort and productivity. With the right measures in place, you can tailor your workspace to not only meet your unique needs but also boost your overall performance.

If you have struggled getting into the working groove away from your in-office experience, we've got you covered.  Let's explore some fantastic ways to enhance your workspace and get the job done!

 

1. Create a Designated Workspace

Creating a designated work area is an important step for anyone who is working from home. It will help you stay focused and productive, while also helping to separate your work life from your personal life. Setting up a dedicated workspace can be as simple or elaborate as you choose; the key thing is that it should be comfortable and conducive to productivity. Some tips for creating an effective workspace include choosing a space with natural light, stocking it with necessary supplies, and designing it in such a way that encourages concentration. With some thoughtful planning, you can create the perfect office setup for getting things done!

 

2. Clear Out Clutter

Now clear out the distractions. This means clearing away any clutter or objects not necessary for the task at hand that are on or near your desk. Remove the laundry you haven't folded yet, and bills you need to pay. Put them in a safe place, but these are distractions and allow your mind to wander off task. A clean space can reinvigorate your energy and get you refocused.

 

3. Create or Use a Professional Background

Creating a great background for virtual meetings can be achieved with a few simple tips. Make sure that whatever is seen behind you in the video call does not contain any clutter or distracting elements. Consider having a plain, solid-colored wall behind you to create a more professional look. You can also hang artwork with calming colors in the background or have plants come into frame.

If needed, consider using virtual backgrounds provided by Zoom or Microsoft Teams to hide any potential distractions behind you. Lastly, you'll want some light on your face, especially when using a virtual background. This helps the virtual background clip out your silhouette more cleanly. Light also makes your face look brighter and more friendly, elevating your professionalism. 

 

4. Working While Family or Others are Home 

Working from home while others are also present can be a challenge, but with the right strategies, you can create an effective work environment that you all thrive in. Whether you are sharing your workspace with kids on summer break or a spouse who also works remotely, there are steps you can take to optimize your workspace for maximum productivity. 

Designate appropriate spaces for everyone and set ground rules and expectations for your accessibility during working hours. A great tool to help you manage expectations is a physical sign: a “do not disturb” sign or note on your door. Communication and setting expectations are key. 

 

5. Tools

Work with your employer to ensure you have the required physical tools to do your job and be successful in your remote environment: laptop, mobile phone, headset, tablet, printer with paper and ink, pens, pencils, and paper. Whatever tools are necessary to perform your job. Also, ensure that you have access to and understand any collaboration software, such as Skype, Teams, Zoom, and WebEx as these will be the link to your colleagues in the virtual world. You may want to also invest in a pair of noise cancelling headphones to facilitate concentration if you are used to working in a quiet environment.

 

6. Technology

Ensure your home internet’s bandwidth is sufficient to handle not only your needs, but the needs of anyone else working or taking online classes in your household. What was previously adequate may not be enough under this new load. According to Tom's Guide, a heavy-using family of four with simultaneously streaming laptops as well as connected smartphones, tablets, and typical household smart devices will require approximately 100 - 125 Mbs speeds.

 

7. File Sharing While Remote Working

Important documents should be uploaded to the cloud either using MS OneDrive, Teams, Dropbox, or other cloud-based technologies where they can be accessed and viewed by any authorized team member. This will facilitate collaboration and reduce the interruptions to stop and send required documents to your colleagues. This is a great time saver, whether you are on site or working remotely!

 

Creating an effective workspace is essential for anyone working from home. It involves more than simply finding an area in the house that is suitable for work; it requires optimizing the space to minimize distractions and ensure that meetings via video call are professional and presentable. We hope you take these tips and improve your environment.

If you have questions on how to improve the effectiveness of your organization, we are here to help. Whether it's time your organization makes a change or you are seeking to improve employee experience, our experts can help guide the way.

bill-kollitz
2022/03
March 16, 2022
Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

Create a Productive Work from Home Environment

How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

I’ve spent much of my career evangelizing the importance of the candidate experience to Human Resources and Talent Acquisition leaders. I’ve concentrated on the 'front end' of the experience: creating employment value propositions for organizations, building recruitment marketing strategies, and optimizing career sites for search engines — all processes that help companies promote and elevate stand-out messages to top candidates.

The Blind Side of the Recruiting Process

However, recently I’ve had a real 'aha' moment. The message I’ve passionately advocated never makes it past these leaders to the most critical group in the candidate experience: the hiring managers.

Now that my career focuses on helping organizations increase the productivity of their internal recruiting functions through our talent acquisition solutions, I’ve seen what will happen when we leave the hiring manager out of our training and communications strategies and its impact on the candidate experience.

To create better alignment, we need to take a page out of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s playbook in the movie The Blind Side.

If you’re not familiar, Leigh Anne Tuohy (played by Sandra Bullock) was at a high-school football practice, watching her adopted son “Big Mike” Oher (Quinton Aaron) struggle with his defensive game. The advice she delivered to Big Mike’s coach is exactly the advice we need to give our hiring managers to align their actions with our candidate experience: “You need to get to know your players.”

Hiring the best candidate is the end goal; no one would argue that sourcing and interviewing are crucial to moving that candidate down the field. Yet, too many hiring managers have relegated too much of this responsibility to the recruiting team, forgoing any involvement through that part of the talent acquisition process.

Why?

Hiring managers will lament their lack of time to engage. Let’s face it, everyone is busy, and the number one resource that everyone wishes they had more of is time; however, time is the very resource that is wasted in the recruiting process because of poor communications when opening a requisition.

Collaboration between the hiring manager and the recruiter can go a long way to providing a better candidate experience. So where does communication often break down in the hiring process?

When we think about our roles in recruitment, we don’t think about the “sales and marketing” aspect of our jobs. But it’s important that we sell both the opportunity and organization when we’re trying to attract top talent, especially to those not actively searching for a career change. The best recruiters understand this about their roles; unfortunately, hiring managers rarely do.

 

 

Ways Your Hiring Manager Can Improve the Candidate Experience

 

1. Think of Your Candidate as a Customer

A recruiter brings in a “warm lead.” They’ve done some selling up-front. The hiring manager is in a position to qualify and nurture that lead. However, suppose they concentrate on qualifying that lead without nurturing it. In that case, there's a chance that "customer" will take their skills and knowledge elsewhere.

In today's talent market, approaching our roles with a marketing mindset is essential to creating a good candidate experience. Hiring managers must take ownership of their sales role for the team to succeed.

If there's one area that focuses on communication that will improve the candidate experience and help ensure a successful placement — it’s a discussion about the job requirements. There's no better way to help recruiters understand the talent profile from the hiring manager's perspective, how the role fits into the business, and, most importantly, what success looks like when this employee delivers.

You may think, “I communicate this quite well via email. However, they don’t understand the role.” This is not a job for email or simply forwarding and restating what’s in the job spec. Think about it: if the position has 10 requirements, how would the recruiter know what's most important in this role without a discussion? Sometimes the act of verbally prioritizing the expectations and responsibilities of the role can give clarity about what the role entails. You’ll find the time and effort in doing so pays off exponentially and provides focus to the employment story the candidate will hear and wants to hear.

 

2. Be Considerate of Your Candidate

Unfortunately, interviewers often don't prepare too often, as they mistakenly believe it's the candidate, and the candidate only, who needs to make a good impression. Candidates today have many opportunities and company options to consider. And what’s more, candidates are doing their own research on your job and your company’s reputation. When hiring manager takes shortcuts with their questioning, interviewers can also short-circuit the most critical purpose of a behavioral interview: interviewing for behavior. Many interviewers focus only on a candidate's skills, asking whether the candidate can do the job but not on the candidate's motivation to do the job.

 

3. Communicate with Timely Responses

Reaching back to candidates promptly after completing the application and interviewing process can sometimes prove a challenge. Delays in filling the position can only sometimes be avoided, but keeping your recruiter or customer care team members in the loop when it happens allows them to update candidates as the process unfolds.

A timely response is critical because top talent gets snapped up quickly, and a lengthy delay leaves the impression that the company needs to be more serious about filling the role or has moved on to other candidates. A coordinated effort to communicate with your candidates — even when there is a delay — can leave even a rejected candidate feeling good about engaging with your company.

 

4. Reasoning with the Candidate

Believe it or not, people drawn to careers as hiring managers and recruiters share many of the same psychological traits. They’re organized and detail-oriented; they like to have a plan and execute it well. But life (and recruiting) is messy, and sometimes things go slightly awry. Talking through a candidate's issues rather than immediately slamming the door not only makes for better decisions but can also improve the candidate experience (even if you have to walk away).

For example, you find the perfect candidate for your hard-to-fill position and make an offer, only to have their current employer make a higher counteroffer to keep their talent. What do you do? Stand firm and immediately send your recruiter out to find someone else that’s perfect.

But what if you discussed it with them first? When you look better at the big picture, that candidate might be worth the additional investment. For example, you might learn that the current market for that specific talent in that particular region may make finding another "perfect fit" complex, or you may learn things that validate your decision to move on. Either way, which technique will ensure this candidate — and the next candidate the recruiter talks to—will have a better experience?

When hiring managers and recruiters understand that they have a shared responsibility to keep communication lines open, they can attract talent that truly fits and provide a better candidate experience. It is the key to delivering the best diverse talent for future success.

 

 

If you want to learn more about how Aspirant RPO can help your organization deliver better interviews, reduce interviewer bias, make better decisions on candidates, and hire the best people, fill out the form below!

patty-silbert
2022/03
March 14, 2022
How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

How Hiring Managers Can Make or Break the Candidate Experience

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

You want to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible. Your company deserves it, and you want to foster an environment of talented skilled workers. However, your location might not be ideal for the talent you’re looking for. That’s an obstacle, but it doesn’t have to be a complete roadblock. There are ways you can attract the talent you want.

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

As new professional, social, and technological trends emerge, your talent acquisition process needs to evolve accordingly. Here are some ideas on how to do so. 

 

1. Allow for flexibility

Technology has made working remotely via social collaboration tools easier than ever before. Not only does this act as incentive for recruiting out of area talent, but it will also increase satisfaction in local workers as well. Even employees that don’t take advantage of it appreciate the option of having a work from home day.

 

2. Offer relocation packages

If you want talent to come to you, it’s a good idea to encourage it. You don’t have offer full cost relocation, but some form of assistance will go a long way towards helping someone make a decision to relocate. Sometimes all it takes is that extra push to make a decision more appealing. Giving people a flexible period of time to make the move can be a part of that package as well. You can set up a transitional period where the employee can work remotely for the remainder of a school year before moving in the summer. This can make things easier on the family and show that you have their best interests in mind.

 

3. Research universities and tap into career centers

Interested in recruiting top, young talent to your organization but missing a strong local higher education system? Identify target universities based on characteristics (strong STEM program, high extracurricular engagement, etc.) you’re seeking, and reach out to their career services office. The professionals in the office can give you pointers on how to effectively attract and recruit students, what they’re looking for, and your likelihood of standing out from your competitors in the labor market.

 

4. Showcase company culture

Candidates with great talent are looking for more than just a job. They want to find a community and a culture they will thrive in. Make sure to let them know what the culture of your company and community has to offer. This benefits you as well. Bringing in great talent that doesn’t fit in with your culture usually does not bring in the best results. Make sure you’re a good fit for each other, and make sure they know it.

 

5. Highlight location positives

Every location has its upsides. What is it about where your company resides that makes it great? Is it a fast-paced city atmosphere, or does it have a quiet and relaxing country charm? Does your city have a famous restaurant or tourist attraction? What kinds of activities do your employees do in their free time there? Does your city feature a low cost of living? Show off the house that can be bought with a $100k salary in Paris, Texas as opposed to Paris, France. Make sure to highlight all the things that the area has to offer.

The most important thing is finding the top talent that will work best in your organization and culture. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help update your strategies for recruiting and structuring teams that will strengthen collaboration and productivity. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2022/02
February 27, 2022
5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

5 Ways to Attract Top Talent in a Remote World

Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Depending on your role in the hiring process, you may think even though the employee lifecycle hasn’t changed much since you began your career, that recruiting hasn’t either – but you’d be in for a rude awakening.


For most of us, the talent we need is scarce. We’re no longer operating in a seller’s market when it comes to job opportunities. In this age of instant information, that highly-skilled talent for which you’re looking can have (literally) millions of jobs at their fingertips.

Making your job the golden ring for which top talent reaches requires that your recruiters have a real talent for selling the job, and for thinking of your candidates as customers.

To your customers, you’re selling a product. To a candidate, your company is that product. That means recruiters and sales/marketers actually have very similar jobs: to demonstrate that a product is interesting and unique by communicating effectively what the product is and inspiring interest in it.

Believe it or not, before your recruiter schedules their first call, your candidate already knows a lot more about the attributes of your company than you can imagine and, for that matter, the type of work they want to do and know they could be doing there. You might equate them to today’s consumers who, studies say, are over 57% of the way through the buying cycle before they even contact a company’s sales representative.

With this in mind, recruiters need to be armed with more than a list of benefits and hollow descriptions of the job or the environment. They need solid sales tools and techniques.

One of the most effective is a technique I like to call the “3 Rs” of recruiting:

 

1. Relate: Make recruiting relational vs. transactional


If social media has taught us anything, it’s that people love to connect and build relationships with a company recruiter (people are social beings). It is now more important than ever for a recruiter to relate authentically and on a personal level.

Brands are built on trust. Just like consumers, job seekers are inundated with information about products just like yours. That highly-sought talent you’re interested in has exposure to lots of information about your company — enough to form an opinion in a fraction of a second.

Companies that can genuinely connect with their audiences and community of supporters will have a strategic advantage over those that don’t. Jobseekers desire a more emotional connection with the companies they want to consider for employment. If they are receiving 5-10 InMail messages per day – and many are – any impersonal or stock communication you put forward is going to put your opportunity in the also-ran column.


2. Reflect: What is it that your candidate really wants to know?


Many job seekers have already done their research on the company and connected with the recruiters to learn how different the new opportunity would be from their existing position. A novice recruiter will respond to this inquiry by giving the job description details and then waiting for the candidate to say they will consider the opportunity. A better approach is to reflect on the value of the work they will be performing compared to that of their existing role and expose the benefits of working for a hiring manager who is top in their industry.

For example: “I see you’re asking directly about the type of work you will be performing. It sounds like you’ve done your homework. I believe you will be a great fit for this hiring manager. Did you know that he/she is looking to attract candidates who have chemical backgrounds, but are willing to apply that knowledge to water/air/soil quality, chemical hygiene, and laboratory safety? Let me share with you some examples of that in action…”



3. Reject: - Dismiss any thought of yourself as an “order taker.”


Chances are, you know more than a few recruiters who treat sourcing and recruiting as a way to “fill an order.” Their actions may impact offer-to-hire statistics, but little else, and their candidates feel the same level of “trust” as if their resume came through the applicant tracking system – no sales skills required.

These recruiters fail to recognize that techniques that worked on active prospects or in an employer-driven market will not work when you have to seek out and convince high-demand (and usually already employed) individuals to consider your jobs.

Applicants who need a job don’t require a relationship or any wooing to come on board. But prospects who are in high demand (and who already have a job) are quite the opposite. They require a relationship that builds trust merely to get them to apply. The majority of the offers accepted by these passive candidates have been closed by relational recruiting techniques like these “3 Rs.”

Changing a career is an emotional, high-investment experience. It’s like buying a major ticket item—we look to salespeople for affirmation that this is a purchase we won’t regret. Good salespeople do this by connecting with us, reflecting our values and needs, and respecting our power in this transaction by rejecting an “order-taking” approach.

Training your organization’s recruiters and hiring managers to instill excitement and relevancy into their engagements with candidates is step one. To stay competitive for talent, you’ll need to ensure you have the highest-quality recruiters possible – recruiters who are exceptional brand advocates and experts at selling difficult-to-convince candidates. Be sure to start now, because, just like other highly-skilled professions out there, the demand for excellent recruiters will soon far outpace the supply.

 

Interested to learn other ways to be successful? Fill out the form below, and Aspirant RPO can help your team find more top talent.

michael-george
2022/02
February 21, 2022
Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Recruiters - 3 Habits to Be Successful

Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Effective decision-making is crucial to a business's growth. Conversely, years of poor decisions can leave an undesirable lasting snowball effect and potentially end any thriving company. The decisions you make based on available data can determine the course of your business — influencing growth, stagnation, or shutdown. With a continual increase in availability of data, what you choose to do with it is more important than ever. Make the right data-informed decisions, and you will increase your chances for growth and success.

How to Make Data Driven Decisions

Making data driven decisions requires knowing what data is necessary, even if it differs from what you want. Although numbers don't lie, they can be manipulated, so it's essential to examine both good and bad data. For example, if analyzing your profit margin on a new product, it's important to compare reports in the same way each time, regardless of the outcomes. Also, don't underestimate the power of negative figures. They can be just as useful, if not more, than positive outcomes in guiding your decision making process. 

When it comes to product development, data can help make the difference in success and failure. To make decisions on product development, analyze the data related to it, such as profit margins and how well it's received by customers. You can file in the learnings from past decisions into present data models to make your decisions more effective. 

 

Becoming a Data Driven Decision Maker

Making data driven decisions can be tough, especially when emotions cloud our judgment. But when the success of a product is on the line, it's time to turn to the numbers. Take, for example, that product you were so sure would boost revenue and make your customers happy. Three months later, the sales just aren't there, margins have plummeted, and demand is lackluster. What to do? Time to look at the data.

Pulling a product from production can feel like admitting defeat, but in reality, it's a smart decision when backed by data analytics. So swallow your pride, learn from the shortcomings, and let the numbers guide you toward better decisions in the future. It's all part of making the tough calls as a data-driven decision maker.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

Unlock the power of analytics to fuel your company's growth with Aspirant's expertise in data analysis and management. Access insights at the speed of business to give you a competitive edge. Countless companies trust us for vitality in analytics. Are you struggling with this too? Let's explore how we can help you out!

 

phil-kossler
2022/01
January 10, 2022
Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Data Driven Decision Making: The Beginner’s Guide

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Career pathing is evolving. It’s no longer just the 'corporate ladder' of vertical ascension. Employees will need to learn new skills, switch the roles they acquire, and adapt to working with machines and technology.

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Workforce planning needs to account for both humans and technology as well as how they can be optimized to work together. As prestigious titles and money become less important to employees, recruitment and retention strategies need to evolve accordingly.

That’s why your company’s ability to attract, train and retain a network of highly skilled and adaptable employees, contractors and alumni will become so important. HR consulting will become pivotal for the future workforce.

According to the HBR, high performing employees deliver 400% more productivity than average performers. These are the people you want to attract and keep!

So how do you attract highly skilled and adaptable employees?

 

Partner with organizations that are already considered 'experts'

Seek out established talent management consultancies. Don’t be afraid to utilize the help of other organizations. You can create partnerships with shared workers and flex resources. These relationships can be mutually beneficial.

Even when you are looking to hire full-time employees, it pays to work with talent management consultants. One of the first things they’ll likely remind you is to have is a strategy and an employer brand. You need to know that the employees you’re recruiting match up with your business needs and strategic objectives.

 

Create a talent model that defines the specific qualities of a ideal recruit

Keep in mind that you want more than skills. You want someone who shows that they can adapt quickly and learn new skills. As the future changes, so must your employees. They must be ready to change. You’re looking for things like: a positive attitude, contagious energy, confidence, quick learning abilities, tech skills, emotional and social intelligence. Once those qualities are recognized, you’ll know how you can develop your job descriptions and interview questions. Keep that model in mind while you screen candidates and make hiring decisions.

 

Build and showcase your employer brand

What values do you offer prospective employees? Things like pay and benefits, professional development, organizational culture and reputation, flexible working arrangement and task diversity. All of these contribute to your brand and desirability to skilled workers.

 

Develop a retention strategy

Once you have these workers who are ready for the future, you have to be able to retain them. Management consultant experts will tell you that providing growth and development to your employees is a vital part of keeping them. You need to offer them learning opportunities as well as encourage and enable self-learning.

This is another reason it’s great to involve HR consulting and talent management consulting. You want a large flexible network of people who want to help your company. These organizations know about managing an organization’s collective capabilities. They also keep up with the pulse of the working world. They know what employees want and what companies need to stay relevant and keep up with the pace of the future.

 

For more on the future of about what to expect in the near future, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design processes for acquiring and retaining the talent they need to stay ahead of the game. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2021/06
June 23, 2021
Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

Attracting, Training, and Retaining Employees that Can Adapt

The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

Imagine this scenario: The Visionary Products' shareholder meeting ends with the unanimous approval for acquiring NimbleBrands. It's a no-brainer; there is clear alignment on vison, the product lines are complementary, and there is organizational redundancy ripe for consolidation. On top of all that, Visionary’s leadership promises synergistic growth to the board and shareholders, but there is reason for concern: studies show that 70 to 90% of mergers and acquisitions do not achieve their promised value. The threat of The Leaky Bucket looms.

What Is the Leaky Bucket, and What Causes It?

The M&A Leaky Bucket is the unexpected and often unexplained erosion of promised sales and profits over the course of an integration. The leaks are caused by a variety of factors, but often center around the high-pressure rush to results. Some of the most common contributing factors include the following:

 

1. Inadequate Due Diligence

The due diligence phase is short, and because of confidentiality and resource scarcity, teams are typically very small and at a senior level. That means that the people who know the reality of the business are often not even consulted. In addition, due diligence on the target side is problematic unless you know the right questions to ask. The challenge is understanding if that 20% growth rate is real, or if it has been propped up by short-term decisions to increase attractiveness for acquisition.

 

2. Unrealistic Benefit Expectations

Pressure to get a deal done means the financials must work. Corporations typically have standard deal metrics that must be achieved to get board buy-off. These metrics can push the deal team to commit to financials that are a stretch at best. In addition, leaders can be overconfident in their own company’s capability and may underestimate the capability of a company being acquired, especially if that company is smaller and perceived as less sophisticated.

 

3. Technical Transition Not Mapped in Enough Detail

Technical transition is the most difficult part of the integration for executives to get their arms around, which often leads to underestimating costs. An IT leader recently provided a fitting example: “When both companies have the same enterprise software, leaders incorrectly assume that integration will be less complex and inexpensive… In reality, underlying deeper issues such as data and interfaces drive the cost and timeline.”  

Technical transition applies to non-IT items as well. Aligning on business processes, compliance responsibilities, and even physical space is complex, time consuming, and expensive.

 

4. Focus on Integration Tasks, Not the Benefits

The integration program itself is where leadership often believes it can get a jump start: set up an integration team, develop plans, verify that risks and issues are mapped, and insist on a rapid escalation process. While it is important to ensure that execution is efficient, most companies intense focus on it is at the expense of attention on the M&A benefits. Value drivers are often not precisely identified or mapped to metrics, including KPIs that are lead indicators of success. Achieving full M&A value requires constant focus on the leading indicators, scenario planning, and quick reaction to ensure that sales and profits aren’t leaking.

 

5. Insufficient or Ineffective Change Management

Change management is the art and science of equipping the organization with what it needs to navigate from the current state to the ultimate vision. As leaders want to move rapidly from strategy to execution, the organization may not receive clear communication, knowledge, plans, and tools. The result is individuals are not completely bought into the change and engaged in producing the best results.   

 

6. Insufficient Integration Resources

The biggest challenge of staffing an integration initiative is that the most important potential team members are critical to running the day-to-day business as well. Why? Because they best understand business operations and processes and know the informal communication networks that help get things done. In a resource constrained environment, employees with less capability than required are often staffed on integrations, or key employees are required to straddle both integration and operational roles. This choice creates strain and fails to set top employees up for success in either role.  

 

7. Not Enough Attention on the Culture

One of the key missing elements in integration is culture alignment. Pre-deal analysis typically considers culture differences of both entities in a merger or acquisition. However, those cultural differences are often not adequately addressed. In addition, lack of clarity on which company’s strategies, processes, and systems will win the day can cause tremendous amounts of frustration and inefficiency. This is exacerbated as people feel the pressure of potential job loss or role changes.

 

Not surprisingly, the M&A Leaky Bucket is a challenge to corporations around the world. Proactively addressing these common causes can make a major impact on integration success.

 

Overcoming the Leaky Bucket to Maximize Value

Given the challenges the that integrations often present, how do we overcome the leaky bucket? Said in a more positive way, how do we maximize the value of the deal, and not only meet what was promised to the board, but exceed it?


1. Get Everything on the Table from the Start

Executives should adopt a mindset of truly understanding what is under the covers of an integration immediately. This means getting in the mindset of 2nd due diligence phase. What are the risks that could derail value? What are the issues that must be addressed to keep integration on plan? What are the opportunities to increase value to a greater level? This upfront effort can create the perception of lack of speed. However, understanding the real scope and key areas of focus will increase execution speed.

 

2. Enable for Success

To enable success, of course, proper plans must be in place. However, just as important, the organization must be prepared and ready to engage in the change. It starts with transparent, realistic communication to the organization. People will not engage at their fullest level when they do not understand the impact that the change will have on them personally. In addition, do employees have the information, capabilities, and tools that they need for success?

 

3. Constant Focus on the Value

After finalizing overall metrics for an integration, leaders should elevate the visibility of those KPIs that are core to achieving or exceeding the promised deal value. The next step is determining what the key value drivers are and their associated KPIs. The next level of analysis lets leadership understand the leading indicators that will show whether the value will be achieved or not. Having these leading indicators be visible to leadership prevents surprises down the road when it is too late to react.

 

 

Maximizing Integration Value

Mergers and Acquisitions: Value Realization

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's M&A experts help clients navigate these pitfalls in order to streamline organizational integrations and maximize ROI. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how they can do the same for you and your team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

mike-mcclaine
2021/02
February 8, 2021
The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

The Leaky Bucket: Why Mergers and Acquisitions Fall Short

Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

The promise of the Software as a Service (SaaS) model is very attractive for a variety of business applications, as opposed to acquiring, implementing, and maintaining software as well as the associated infrastructure.

The benefits of SaaS are clear:

  • Faster time to deploy

  • Reduced operational and capital expenses

  • Smooth software and hardware upgrades

  • The ability to shift staff to more strategic IT projects

However, these benefits are outweighed if SaaS-delivered applications don’t deliver a quality end user experience or meet the needs of the workforce relying on them. Especially given the vast array of options that SaaS can function within as delivery model for business applications, including accounting, office software, CRMs, talent acquisition, and ERPs.

Therefore, given the increasing reliance on SaaS as well as the benefits it provides, how can you hold your SaaS vendor accountable?


1. Have a robust pre-contract process.

Before embarking on a software selection, having senior management support is key. A clear vision of what problems you are trying to solve and the business benefits you are seeking to realize are critical to success.

As you begin to organize the process, consider the following steps to enable you to clearly communicate your needs and evaluate solutions and vendors against your requirements. Pre-contract activities include:

  • Define Business Requirements
  • Establish RFQ / RFP
  • Define Scorecard
  • Complete Vendor Selection
  • Complete Vendor Risk Assessment
  • Complete Software Risk Assessment
  • Establishing MSA / SOW


2. Rely on experts in systems implementation.

You should rely on experts in your organization or externally who have broader systems implementation experiences. Relying only on the SaaS provider could put you at risk, as your inexperience could create gaps in expectations or worse, put your organization’s data and business at risk because of vulnerabilities in the software or poor vendor practices.

Many SaaS providers are eager to have you “sign the contract” and want to jump in and start building their solution without knowing or fully understanding your requirements. Be cautious of this, and you should partner with others in your organization, such as legal, procurement, risk, compliance, and IT early in the process to ensure that not only are you selecting the right solution, you are selecting the right vendor.


3. Make sure they take accountability by establishing SLAs and KPIs.

SaaS vendors offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) governing availability goals, incident response time commitments, and penalties. However, these metrics are insufficient to guarantee excellent end user experience. Penalties paid after the fact won’t help the end user whose app is slow when they schedule a class, run a report, or look up a customer.  

Instead, accountability with your SaaS vendor means establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and dashboarding that provide insights into how the tool is being used:

  • Identify critical business activities
  • Determine what constitutes acceptable performance for the activities
  • Monitor SLA compliance across the enterprise
  • Isolate and resolve the cause for poor performance
  • The key to application performance SLA and KPI for SaaS – insights to the end user’s perspective


4. Know when to seek help, even if you have an IT department.

Systems implementation can be a big project. Depending on your organization and the expertise and capabilities it has, they may not be able to help navigate you through this journey.  Some functions of IT narrowly define their role, while others may have a robust end-to-end process.

Having someone you can trust and provide you with objective insights, outside the political fray of a company’s internal dynamics, is invaluable. Specifically, having one point of contact with the end-to-end expertise and capabilities to bring together all facets of the project together in one place, saves you and the SaaS vendor’s time.

 

This sort of methodical approach can be applied to other strategic partners. Check out our tips on how to create accountability with consulting partners.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

paul-romero
2020/06
June 27, 2020
Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

Have Your SaaS Vendor Take Accountability

Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

The benefits of employee career pathing are well known. It helps to retain workers and attract top talent, contributes to a more diverse age range within the organization, and perhaps even more important, employee career pathing creates more knowledgeable and engaged employees. (Read more here at SHRM.)

The Evolution of Career Paths

The modern workforce is adapting, and so, too, must our career paths. One idea that’s had some success is career pathing outside of the employee’s organization. It may seem strange, but there have been benefits realized for both employee and company using this method.

For example, a manager at a manufacturing company may take a break from his or her position to go to work for one of the businesses that builds their machines. Learning the ins and outs of mechanics that contribute to the original business they would bring knowledge of the end consumers to the machine company, benefiting them, and then when they return to the original business, they will be bringing information to help them as well.

A person could also work down the line, by taking a job at a business that sells or stocks their product. For example, if your original job produces portable snacks, you could look for a job within a company that stocks snack machines. You could learn a lot of valuable information about the way your product moves and is displayed.

 

Transparency in Career Planning

There are many options that can be pursued. Some important things to keep in mind, however, is this should not be done in secret. Employees should work with current management teams to plan it out. They are not going to other companies to steal trade secrets but to learn about the best ways to work with them. Treat this as a regular career path.

Management should discuss goals with their employees. What are they looking for in a career? They don’t have to have an exact position to work toward, but there should be an understanding of what kind of job they eventually want to have.

Once that’s understood, examine all the different roles and opportunities within your company to help them move toward achieving that goal. Encourage them to search out training and other learning opportunities that would contribute to their goal. They should not be afraid to look outside the organization.

A good career path will likely include positions in various departments within your company. With the understanding gained from each department, the employee will be more well-rounded as an asset to your organization.

Also, as discussed earlier, don’t be afraid to create a step in their path that takes them outside the organization. They will return more knowledgeable, and loyal, than they were when they left.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help optimize your corporate structure and implement programs that keep your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help create a more rewarding work environment for your teams.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2020/05
May 21, 2020
Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

Why You Should Support Career Paths Outside the Organization

Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

For any company, achieving specific goals can pose challenges. The good news is that in many cases software can offer solutions. However, the generic software in the market may not be sufficient or tailored for your specific needs. This is where strong software with a great user experience (UX) can save the day. By creating well-crafted software that's customized to your exact needs, you'll be one step closer to realizing your goals with precision.

Planning, discussion, and execution are crucial to the success of projects like these. While it’s important to define metrics for new systems like dashboards, CRMs, or custom ERPs, overlooking user experience is a major risk. Think about it—if software isn’t user-friendly, it falls by the wayside. So, what's the point?

 

Software UX Design Planning

The biggest mistake you can make in any project is to skip, or not be thorough, during the planning process. There is a reason why you need a custom solution. Ask yourself, and key team members, a few questions.

  • How are people going to use this piece of software?
  • How will this project make the company better?
  • What company goals or KPI's will this help accomplish? 

  • How will it impact the company’s decision making?

  • Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Who are the people, their tasks, their tools and technology, and the environment in which they will be using the software you're designing.

To leave no stone unturned, make sure to ask these essential questions. With a solid plan, you can avoid confusion among your colleagues and leadership. You never want to hear questions after launch, such as "I'm sure this is great, but I have no idea how it works," or "It'd be so cool if I could see [insert crucial KPI here]". Remember, lack of planning is planning to fail.

 

Sometimes Less is More in Software UX Design

Having a website that's too busy is overwhelming to users, and can lead them to leave without action. This holds true for software too: if your CRM is not user-friendly or your ERP is confusing to the people it was made for, your whole company could suffer. But don't worry, by adopting good UX practices you can prevent those issues.

To improve UX, ensure that users know exactly where to find what they need. If you have a lot of content, break it up to make it easy to navigate. By doing so, users can access the information they need with ease.

 

Software Design and Development is a Continual Process 

You've taken the first step! You've planned, implemented, and are satisfied with your new software. Perfect. But, hold on. It's not that simple. You can't just walk away now and expect it to flawlessly run on its own. In reality, software is an ongoing project that requires consistent work, something many people might overlook. 

Don't fall into the "set it and forget it" trap. You and your team should continue working on your software. Your customers will want to see new features, deletions, or even a different layout over time. Investing in your software guarantees you won't have to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort a few years down the line. Making small changes over time makes a massive difference and helps you stay ahead of the competition.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

If you're looking for experts in software, web or app development who know how to make a great user experience, Aspirant is the team for you. Don't settle for a subpar user experience. Let us show you what we can do with our full app development and integration capabilities.

 

Let's discuss how we can help you tackle your user experience pain points together.

phil-kossler
2020/04
April 3, 2020
Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

Apply UX Design Principles to Maximize the Application's Impact

Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Reduced travel, social distancing, and working from home creates the risk of feeling disconnected from our coworkers. Not only can this decrease engagement, but it can also reduce job satisfaction, limit productivity, and create a divide between managers and employees.

Signs You May be Disconnected

As with any change, it will be uncomfortable to shift to spending more time in your house and away from the office. However, if you find yourself (or you see others) exhibiting any of the symptoms below, it could mean that you are gliding down a fast track toward disconnection and isolation.

  • It’s hard to start work in the morning. This is not just because the kids are home or the TV is on, but it is because the work doesn’t interest you.
  • Your mind wanders while you are working, thinking about anything but the task at hand.
  • You find yourself surfing the web or glued to news channels 24/7.
  • When you read emails, you tend to see a negative tone or mean comment in the text.
  • You find yourself disagreeing with others on conference calls more than agreeing.
  • You are snapping at coworkers and your family for no apparent reason.

Ways to Improve Work from Home Connectivity

There are several things remote workers can do to stay connected:

  • Ask for input: Reach out to coworkers to ask for their input on things you are working on or set up a review meeting so you can discuss the topic with a small group.
  • Start a virtual discussion: You can sometimes start idea generation or discussion via email or chat, which allows you to stay connected with team members on more “informal” topics.
  • Catch up over virtual coffee: If you are someone who typically grabs coffee with a coworker or strikes up conversations with people in the coffee line, invite them for virtual coffee instead. Grab a cup, turn on your video, and take 10 minutes to catch up.
  • Set virtual lunch dates: Schedule lunch dates with friends, coworkers, and business colleagues to maintain relationships and connections.

Steps for Leaders

If you are managing teams remotely and see the disconnected signs in any of your team members, you can also take the following steps to help bring them back to an engaged, productive mindset.

  • Daily huddles: Start your day together, discussing the work to be done and how you can help one another
  • Check in with IMs: Use instant messaging (via Teams, Skype, Slack, or any other tools you have available) to check in 1:1 with each team member, especially on days that they are quiet or seem withdrawn.
  • Video meetings: Request team members to use their video option when joining meetings so you can see one another’s faces.
  • Rekindle office jokes: If you have funny jokes or shared experiences from working in the office, carry them into the virtual work environment (e.g., if everyone complained about an empty coffee pot that no one would fill, update the team that you still have that problem).

Disconnection and isolation can be a huge drain on productivity and impact to your overall well being. However, recognizing the signs early and implementing preventative steps can help to mitigate the risks and allow for a challenging situation to result in an opportunity for stronger connections, improved satisfaction, and the best possible performance for you and your team!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2020/03
March 23, 2020
Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Tips for Remote Working: A Guide to Making Better Connections

Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Design Thinking is not democratic. Well, at least it shouldn’t be. If you don’t know what Design Thinking is, my previous statement probably didn’t make any sense. Don’t worry. If you’ll stick with me, I’ll explain what it is before I explain why it shouldn’t be democratic.

The term 'Design Thinking' has become quite popular in recent years, and its popularity has made its meaning muddled. This makes my attempt to define it difficult, but I believe the definition I’ve developed captures the gist of it. Ultimately, Design Thinking is the application of a set of problem-solving techniques traditionally used by designers to other domains (for example, consumer products, healthcare, and government). Organizations or teams usually call upon Design Thinking when they’re trying to innovate, as in, when they’re trying to find a creative solution to a problem.

Despite its popularity, or maybe because of its popularity, the term has its critics. And, you guessed it, some of these critics think that it functions democratically and liken the approach to a free for all. I personally think that their critiques fall short, and I'd love to tell you why. However, to understand the critiques, I must first discuss Design Thinking’s particulars.

 

What You Need to Know About Design Thinking

As I said before, Design Thinking’s definition has become muddled because of its popularity. It means something different to different people and to different organizations. You may be asking yourself, 'If it’s a confused buzzword, then what can we even say about it?' Well, though the meaning of the term is somewhat elusive, we can learn much about it by discussing its most popular form, which is the 5-step framework developed at Stanford’s school of design. According to this framework, Design Thinking contains the following five steps: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

 

Design Thinking Process

In the Empathize phase, participants (those in the team employing Design Thinking) are tasked with uncovering the problems a consumer is facing. In the Define phase, these problems are categorized and refined to guide the efforts of the team. In the Ideate phase, each person in the team brainstorms potential solutions to the problem. In the Prototype phase, the ideas produced in the previous phase are, well, prototyped. These prototypes are then tested in the Test phase. From the Test phase, depending on how the test goes, the team can go back to any of the other phases that needs to be adjusted accordingly.

The framework’s guiding principles are that it is iterative—meaning that different steps within the process will inform each other in a continuous loop—and collaborative. This seems like a pretty straightforward approach, so what’s the big deal?

 

Design Thinking: The Problem

The classic images associated with Design Thinking are those of teams looking at walls plastered with Post-it notes. These images represent some of the cornerstones of Design Thinking, both in principle (collaboration) and in process (ideation), but they also represent some of the reasons it is loathed by its critics.

Without having been exposed to Design Thinking through the work of our colleague, Michele Petruccelli, we might’ve agreed with some of these critics. Once we heard about Design Thinking and saw these images, we would’ve thought the following long-winded, but passionately skeptical, thought: ‘If we simply pull everyone in a room and direct them to put their ideas on the wall, don’t we produce only a wall full of unbacked and random ideas? After all, the number of Post-its championing each idea says very little about the quality and applicability of that idea.’

To us, Design Thinking, or at least the empathize and ideate phases, would’ve seemed like a democracy, where uneducated votes are assigned the same value as educated votes. And, if we're honest, the framework alone doesn’t refute this worry. If we had tried to apply Design Thinking’s 5 steps ourselves, we would’ve come up with this very problem: Design Thinking would be unable to determine which ideas are best. We tried to figure this issue out on my own, but it wasn’t until we talked to Michele that we found the answers.

As it turns out, Michele has anticipated this very issue and, when she facilitates Design Thinking workshops, she takes purposeful steps to ensure that her clients avoid this problem, while still gathering as many innovative ideas as possible. We’ve compiled some of the techniques Aspirant employees utilize to avoid ending up with a wall of unbacked and random ideas, and we’d love to share them with you.

 

Design Thinking: The Solution(s) — Data, the Right People, and Priorities

Data

The first of the solutions takes place at the very beginning of the workshop. Aspirant employees make sure that the empathize phase, where participants are uncovering consumer problems, is not just a cerebral exercise, but is backed by real consumer data. This can take place through “pre-work,” which is research gathered or read by the participants before the workshop, or through “expert pitches,” which involve subject matter experts informing the participants about a certain facet of their problem during the workshop. These are great examples, but there are many other ways a team can stay informed, and the “right” process will depend upon the nature of the team and the nature of their needs. Granted, gathering data won’t solve the problem entirely, but informing your team’s ideas will help guide them.

 

Right People

In addition to data, expertise is a great way to evaluate your participants’ ideas. Unlike the “expert pitches” discussed in the previous solution, which are centered around industry or subject matter expertise, a team needs to have expertise regarding how well ideas fit with the company. For example, if the company employing Design Thinking is in the consumer products industry, and the team is brainstorming new products, they ought to have an idea of what’s possible to build. Without someone from the engineering team present, how could they determine whether the ideas presented are viable? When employing Design Thinking, one must involve the right people in the process. However, there is a balance to strike between this principle and the need for a small, lean team. If you do a Design Thinking workshop with everyone in the company, depending on the company size, the sheer number of distinct ideas may be overwhelming and unproductive.

 

Priorities

Lastly, Aspirant employees develop a prioritization framework catered to each company and the problem they’re facing. This framework usually takes the form of a grid that has different metrics on the x and y axes. For example, as I mentioned “fit” earlier, the X axis may be a “fit” metric, on which the relevant employees (engineers, product managers, etc.) plot ideas from the Ideation phase. Maybe the Y axis would be a measure of the “breakthrough” potential of the idea or how well it fits with the stated demand of consumers. The relevant employees for understanding consumer demands may be the marketing or sales teams, so perhaps they would plot ideas on the Y axis. In either case, the framework helps to prioritize ideas, with some being thrown out if they fail to make the cut. The possibilities are infinite, and the right recipe /will depend upon the particulars of the problem.

 

A Broader Point

After reading the solutions provided above, you may be asking yourself, 'Are these solutions part of the official Design Thinking framework, or did you just get these ideas from your colleague?' Well, truth be told, we don’t think these solutions are part of the “official” framework at all, but that shouldn’t surprise you. Design Thinking isn’t magic; it’s merely a tool. As such, Design Thinking is unlikely to give you the solutions you need by itself. When individuals put too much faith in the framework, they lose sight of the end for which it was created, and this leads to missed opportunities to amend and improve the framework.

In the case of Design Thinking, this is manifest in unbacked and random ideas. So, you shouldn’t focus on applying Design Thinking; you should focus on solving a problem. If “solving a problem” is your guiding light (rather than “implementing the framework”), not only will you be able to apply the tips I’ve provided above, but you’ll also find new tactics and tricks of your own. Design Thinking is a helpful tool, but it’s our job to apply it well.

 

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

 

Reach out to Aspirant to continue the conversation. Fill out the form below!

aspirant-team
2019/09
September 3, 2019
Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Debunking Design Thinking Myths: It Is Not Democratic

Wargaming for the War on Talent

When the job market is tight and employees have their pick of companies, we often find ourselves with a heightened need to better understand how we stack up in their eyes. That is currently the case in the marketplace, and we see this trend continuing into 2030. (For more on trends impacting the workplace of 2030, see our eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2030 — Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing).

In the same way that you need to fight for market space, you need to also fight for your place in the talent market. By using Wargaming, you can better understand how you stack up against your biggest competition for top talent, and what you can do to improve your position.


Talent Life CycleTalent Life Cycle

Using Wargaming to review your talent strategy and determine priorities across the talent life cycle will improve your perception among prospective, current, and past employees. All of these groups are important to maintain and build your community of talent.

Five Steps to Using Wargaming to Develop Your Talent Strategy

1. Identify Your Competitors
Who do you compete with for top talent? It’s not just the same companies you compete with on products and services. For example, if you are looking for a business analyst, it doesn’t matter what industry you are in: your competition is every other company in your areas looking for a business analyst. Determine who are your biggest competitors for talent, as they will become the focus of your Wargaming.

2. Be the Competition
Take off your company hat and step into the role of your competitor’s CHRO. Understand who they are going after and why. What aspects of their recruiting, culture, environment, and career development make you so attractive? What are they going to do to try to win the war on talent? By understanding this, you can figure out how to beat it.

3. Look at Yourself from the Outside-In
Look at your organization. Not from your current role, but as that desirable recruit or the high performer you’d regret to lose. What do they see? How does it stack up against what the competition is doing? Why would you come work for the company? Or stay at it? Be honest. Be thorough. Don’t hold back. It’s better to understand all potential issues than gloss over a root cause of your challenges.

4. Plan to Win
Now that you are armed with your newly developed knowledge, set a talent strategy that differentiates you from the rest of your talent competition and positions you to win those highly desirable recruits, and retain the high performers once they are at your company.

5. Track, Fail, and Adjust to Truly Win
It’s best to have 100% structure and 100% flexibility. Obviously, having a clear, solid plan is a great start. However, then things change in the market or within your company and your plans need to be adjusted. You may also find that not everything you plan works out as intended. Track progress and be prepared to test some things out, quickly identify and stop things that are failing, identify and expand areas of progress, and create a culture for the HR team of continuous learning and development.

For more on Wargaming, read Marketing & Innovation Director Michele Petruccelli’s article Wargaming in Business to Get a Competitive Advantage. To see how your company is prepared for the trends for 2030 as well as benchmarking against a wide variety of other organizations and industries, take our Organizational Effectiveness assessment.

Customer Journey Mapping Guide

judy-johnson
2019/08
August 16, 2019
Wargaming for the War on Talent

Wargaming for the War on Talent

Using Design Thinking in Business

Design Thinking has become a well-known approach for solving problems — used now in an array of industries and businesses — but it can mean a lot of different things in different contexts and to different people. The set of activities underpinning Design Thinking have traditionally been used for product development and refinement. However, through working alongside clients and business partners with various functions and backgrounds, we’ve found that Design Thinking can be effective with almost any type of business problem or scenario.

Ultimately, Design Thinking provides value to an organization by encouraging both intuitive styles of thinking and more analytical styles of thinking. By bringing these types of thinking together, often physically into one room, it helps companies create a competitive advantage grounded in sustainable business practices.

This type of intuitive and analytical thinking is important because most markets are reaching ever higher levels of competition, both from new market entrants and from existing global players. As your industry is flooded with an overwhelming number of competitors, genuine methods of innovation become more necessary to stand out and attract customers.

Meaningful Up and Down the Organization

To implement Design Thinking in different departments and business units within your organization, sponsorship from leadership is key. There are plenty of CEOs and corporate thought leaders who are championing Design Thinking, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the de facto, problem-solving toolkit at most organizations.

With that in mind, the activities associated with Design Thinking allow for, and even encourage, line employees to pilot meetings and design sessions involving their colleagues. Think about regularly scheduled meetings to address customer concerns or internal process mapping. While these meetings may follow a standard format or cadence, is there room to present a new paradigm to spur your colleagues’ thoughts in a different direction?

There is significant value in applying the Design Thinking mindset to normal business settings. This value is apparent when you think about the nature of the organization you work for; that is, the way the organization overlays processes, politics, and mundane tasks (e.g., managing your email). This overlay, or “pilling up,” tends to overwhelm individual efforts regarding change and effectiveness. As most of us have experienced, a huge portion of “the every day” is taken up by activities and tasks born out of inefficient organization design and ineffective work practices. This is exactly what makes going to work feel like a grind for many employees.

Without even formally adopting Design Thinking as a solution to a specified problem, utilizing a Design Thinking mindset can be incredibly powerful as a way to reorient some of these work practices and processes. While it is certainly most impactful when used in a collaborative environment, the emphasis on thinking hard about framing problems, prototyping possible solutions, testing them out, and trying the whole process again to move closer to an optimal outcome can obviously improve any aspect of any human endeavor. In fact, piloting the approach in small ways in and around your cubicle can be a great platform for demonstrating its value higher up the organizational chain of command.

Unexpected Applications of Design Thinking in Business

Not only can anyone use Design Thinking to tackle work problems, but the paradigm can also be used to approach and solve nearly any kind of problem. One example of this is organizational policy and rule creation. Often, such rules are handed down by the leadership, without a consultative approach to understanding exceptions, use cases, or onerous new rules.

Design Thinking can help in this situation by pulling a wide variety of stakeholders in a room together to talk through and model different approaches. This provides a forum for diverse stakeholder viewpoints, and the emphasis on testing and learning can encourage piloting new policies in part of the organization, then refining based on feedback. An early and iterative feedback process puts a spotlight on weaknesses and blind spots in any kind of top-down idea, helping ensure that the ultimate decision is applicable and useful to the organization, instead of serving as a hindrance.

Low-employee engagement and high turnover rates are great examples of this principle in action. Design Thinking can be applied to these types of challenges by encouraging an organization to build empathy with employees, which allows them to better understand the nuances of the employees’ experiences. This can be especially important in the context of a recent merger or acquisition or downsizing event — key moments in the lives of any organization that can negatively impact employee morale.

There are many tools  in the Design Thinking toolkit that address these kinds of organizational challenges. These approaches can create a bridge of trust between line employees and leadership, helping organizations better understand both their employees’ perspectives and the underlying issues behind their high turnover rates.

If you can see the benefits of Design Thinking, but are struggle to implement — reach out through the form below!

michele-petruccelli
2019/08
August 13, 2019
Using Design Thinking in Business

Using Design Thinking in Business

Market Competition Makes You Better

It’s easy for us to view competition as “the reason we can’t charge more.” However, if you only view competition through this lens, you will continue slashing your prices until you’re unprofitable. We must recognize that competition doesn’t only force companies to cut their prices (and profits). Competition drives companies to serve their customers better, thereby strengthening their market positioning

Market Competition Can Inform Winning Strategies

More specifically, competition drives you to differentiate, innovate, and assimilate (match industry standards). All three of these actions produce additional value for your customers, and your success as a company will depend on your ability to choose among them at the appropriate time.

 

Differentiation: Better or Different? 

Though an inability to match our competition may inspire us to beat them at their own game — which is what happens when a company cuts prices and profits — we may just as likely examine our unique makeup to see if we have another advantage. If you’re not the best basketball player, maybe you’d be better at soccer. If you’re not the best accountant, maybe software development is your gift. In each of these cases, the person acting would lose if they stay in the same game, but they have a chance at winning if they pivot. Without competition, however, they’d never know where to pivot to and from. So, we have competition to thank for the intricate web of specialized and personalized job titles/descriptions that comprise our economy.

This insight is clear at the individual level, but we also must apply it to our organizations. The market elegantly allows us to focus on those products/services which we are most proficient at producing, as we concede to our competitors the products/services which they are most proficient at producing. Here, we’re not just differentiating for its own sake. We differentiate to the degree that it improves our value proposition. In fact, differentiation is the very reason your value proposition differs from that of your competitors. It is when your competitors start beating you at your value proposition that you should change it.

The best part about differentiation is that it greatly benefits the consumer. In short, you’re not wasting the customer’s time trying to do for them what your competitors can do better. Successful businesses often create niche markets that cater to the specific needs of consumers. By doing this, they’ve changed the rules of the game. Changing the rules doesn’t make you cheaper, but it makes you better.

 

Innovation: Beat Them to the Punch! 

Differentiation can be the perfect strategy, but only at certain times. If you currently have a point of difference, and competitive advantage, the key is to make sure you keep that differentiation and continue to be relevant.

Instead of lowering your prices or changing your point of differentiation, you can improve your offering overall. Innovation can take the form of an improved product, a new product, an improved process, or any other form of adding to your offering. We often say that necessity is the mother of invention, and your competition is the necessity to your invention! If you don’t innovate, they will.

When you innovate ahead of your competitors, you have an advantage for as long as it takes them to catch up. If there is adequate competition, you’re never safe relying on one innovation; you must constantly innovate to maintain your advantage. The best companies are consistently balancing the cost of R&D, process improvement, and other such innovations with the temporary benefit they yield.

Though we often think of innovations concerning the product itself, or its delivery, we should not be so quick to limit ourselves. Marketing and branding innovations are excellent investments, as your customer must know about your product/service before they buy it. Communicating with the customer effectively and concisely saves time and energy for both us and them. Without competition, there would be no need for us to invest in innovation and improvement, so we have our competitors to thank for the new ways we find to create value for our customers.

 

Assimilation: They Beat You to the Punch?

Competition drives companies to differentiation and innovation, both of which set the company apart, but competition can also push toward a type of conformity. Ideally, your company would be the one at the cutting edge, always one step ahead of your competition. However, what if you’re beaten to the punch and your competition has successfully innovated? You could develop your own unique innovation, but this would cost too much time and money. What if you could just adopt theirs? This is where assimilation comes in. When a company in an industry innovates, and the innovation is ubiquitously applicable, they’ve generated an industry standard. Effectively, they’ve made everyone better at what they do, as long as others assimilate.

Your bottom line may take a hit when one of your competitors leads the industry to a new standard, but you will become a better company because of it; that is, only if you are able to maintain the balance between assimilation, differentiation, and innovation. You don’t want to assimilate too much, thereby becoming a copy of someone else. However, it’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to leverage the work your competition has done for you. Many of your competitors’ innovations are ones you never would’ve discovered. Your rival has presumably innovated to beat you, but they’ve benefited your customers, as long as your customers are loyal to your differentiators, by providing the idea/strategy/process you’ve adopted to serve the market better.

You may have to sift through many of your competitors’ innovations to find ones applicable to your specific makeup, and the cost of doing so must be accounted for. However, assimilation is often worth the cost, as it may prove to be less costly than differentiation or innovation. Every customer benefits from industry standards, because such standards ensure that they don’t have to sacrifice to move from your competitor’s product/service to yours.

 

Before You Strategize, You Must Know

Finding the balance between differentiation, innovation, and assimilation is seriously difficult, but it becomes nearly impossible if a company is not keeping a close eye on their competitors. To know whether you’re different, or how to be different, you need to know where everyone else stands. To know if your investments in innovation are worth it, you need to ensure that you won’t be late to the game. To know whether you’re up to par on industry standards, you need to see the improvements your competitors have made.

So, to truly harness the value your competition can provide, you must conduct competitor research, keeping close tabs on their innovations and differentiators. Don’t forget that this all requires an understanding of your capabilities and your company's market position. Moving to a new place based on where your competitors are is useless if you don’t first know where you’re starting.

If you embrace competition and keep a close eye on your competitors, you will be able to hone your skills, think differently, examine your abilities, adopt disruptive innovations, and create an advantage for yourself.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

aspirant-team
2019/07
July 8, 2019
Market Competition Makes You Better

Market Competition Makes You Better

Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

There are several options in any organization’s tool belt when it comes to identifying, targeting, and ultimately selling to a key market segment. Earning that market positioning can be challenging. If it seems that competitors are always a step ahead of you, then one of the best ways to start moving ahead in your market is by thinking like them.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

A great approach to do this is through competitive scenario planning, or “Wargaming.” This is a concept that the military has practiced for centuries to prepare for possibilities and eventualities based on their understanding of the mentality, strengths, and weaknesses of their competitors. For the military, these are analytical games that simulate aspects of warfare at tactical, operation, or strategic levels.

 

Wargaming In Business

While it may have military roots, the concept is just as applicable in a business setting. Businesses can benefit from taking the time to really study the competitors in their marketplace and truly get “inside their heads.” This takes time and concerted effort. It goes way beyond studying market share, sales trends, ad copy, and competitive reviews. Although these data measurements are important, it is critical to take the time to look at this information in a greater strategic context.

Wargaming is purposeful and planned. It helps you to examine your competition from various angles and forces you to focus on their possible strategy and execution from the bottom up. It is a great activity to do as part of yearly strategic planning so you not only plan your own strategy and tactics for the coming year, but you do so in the context of what you anticipate to be happening in the marketplace.

 

How Business Wargaming Works

Business Wargaming involves gathering extensive information about your key competitors and your own company so you can compare them. It is helpful to explore the efforts and actions of your competitors from all angles – immersing yourself in your competitor’s shoes to fully understand their strategy, tactics, and what seems to be working for them as well as where they are vulnerable. It allows you to anticipate what they will do next so you can put both an offensive and defensive plan together to be ready. It is important to layout all possible scenarios of your competitors next likely actions and based on each, what you would do to protect your business and differentiate.

Wargaming is most effective when you truly take off your daily corporate hat and “become the competitor.” You step out of your own shoes and into theirs for a day. You see the world through their eyes and it truly changes the perspective of your own business. Every time we facilitate a Wargaming session, it is eye opening and the client plans not only materially change but then we have a playbook of possible scenarios and counter moves based on those possibilities.

 

Three Tips to Make Wargaming in Marketing Most Effective

There are a few things to keep in mind when preparing for and execution a Wargaming session.

  1. Preparation is Key: You have the heard the term, “garbage in, garbage out.” In the case of Wargaming, these sessions are only as good as the preparation and materials developed and compiled beforehand. You also need to pick the right participants for your workshop from various departments. It is key to keep the group small enough to be manageable but large enough to ensure you have a variety of perspectives and expertise.

  2. To Truly Understand Your Competitors’ Strategy, You Need to Thoroughly Immerse into Their Business: To deeply understand the competition’s strategy, you need to take the time to examine all aspects of their business. This truly means doing the homework on your competition. Review all elements available in the public domain, including but not limited to: ads, reviews, website content / blogs, latest news, and sales / share information if available. It is also helpful to get feedback from customers or influencers about their perception of the competition.

  3. Take Off Your Corporate Hat and Become the Competition for a Day: Roleplaying is critical to immerse into the competitor’s “shoes” for the day. Only when you take off your current “hat,” can you truly start understanding the perspective of the competition to best move forward with your own strategies.

Like most worthwhile strategies, Wargaming requires considerable effort. However, if you are able to commit to the time investment, Wargaming is a great way to strengthen your market position.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/07
July 2, 2019
Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Business Wargaming to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

Nearly every open market has a leader. Typically, the number two and three spots can also be strong positions for a firm to occupy, especially if the market is still growing. While these positions are said to all be “strong,” the correct strategy for increasing or maintaining market share will vary greatly from the 1st to 3rd position. Strategies will vary to an even greater degree between the 1st and 33rd position. Where your company stands among its competitors matters across a wide range of variables and inputs, and it can impact everything from your procurement office’s ability to implement strategy to your marketing spending across different platforms and regions.

So, before a company even considers things like their strategy and marketing spend, they must know where they stand in the market, which can only be distilled through research and due diligence. Here, we provide three simple tactics that will help you get a better grasp on the position you occupy in the market.

1. Social Listening for Market Positioning

Nearly all organizations currently have a presence on some form of social media – 71% of small businesses, according to Clutch – but many are not capturing the full potential of the platforms on which they maintain a presence. Many businesses focus heavily on using social media to market, post, and communicate with both current and potential customers. But, as discussed before, one must first understand where they stand in the market before they can promote effectively.

One important, and often overlooked, element is listening. Customer surveys are great tools, but customers often do not answer them honestly and many customers don’t answer them at all. To more effectively take the market’s pulse, use social media to hear what your customers are saying when they skip the survey.

Doing a simple search for posts about your brand is a start, and it may be enough when your company is small. When both your company and customer base grow, however, you can turn to available AI tools that monitor your brand’s social activity and aggregate the results into actionable reports. Do a Google search for “social media sentiment analysis.” No matter your size, don’t limit your searches and analysis to posts about your company; take time to find what people are saying about your competition!

Social listening is a great way to get your feet wet with market research, as it is neither costly nor time intensive! A small investment in market research can go a long way. Though our other tactics are costlier, they can provide tremendous value.

 

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS) Identifies Market Position 

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) gives insight into the loyalty and satisfaction of your customer relationships. It’s known for its strong relationship with revenue growth, a relationship that’s even stronger than that of classic customer satisfaction scores. According to Bain & Company, a good NPS correlates with 20 – 60% of organic growth, and they observed through their client work that the NPS leader in an industry grows two times more than competitors.

This score is concerned with three areas of your company:

  • Promoters (customers actively encouraging others to use your product/services),

  • Detractors (customers actively encouraging others to not use your product/services), and

  • Passive customers (customers who are neither promotors nor detractors).


To construct a Net Promoter Score, a company must survey their customers. The percentage of customers who fall into the “detractor” category are subtracted from the percentage of customers who fall into the “promoter” category, and the constitution of these categories can be customized to a company’s liking.

If you have a positive NPS, your customers are not only your benefactors, but also your allies. They work both with you and against your competition; they are doing your job for you by marketing your product and steering others away from the alternative. Turning your customers against the competition and into unpaid employees is one of the keys to achieving exponential growth. Gaining a promotor means gaining their network, not just another sale. If you have a negative Net Promoter Score, on the other hand, you must work against the testimonies of your own customers, an almost impossible task in the long run.

A company’s general strategy and marketing strategy should both vary greatly depending on whether their customers are working for them or against them, so this information is key to making informed decisions.

 

3. Competitive Concept Testing

This tactic is different from the others in that it is geared toward new or recently changed products or marketing. In this way, you can gain insight into where you will stand in the market, rather than where you currently stand in the market. Of the over 30,000 new consumer products introduced to the market each year, 80% of them fail. Leveraging a prototype and test approach helps you avoid being a part of this 80% by cutting your funding to doomed products before they have the chance to fail.

The purpose of this method is to examine the reactions of potential consumers to your planned product or service before you go to market. This should happen before, or in the very early stages of, any R&D spending. Before your organization finances a new initiative, a concept test will provide beneficial insight into the perceptions, desires, and needs connected with your product or service.

To illustrate, when an individual is asked, “Is the price too high?” the replies will always be skewed toward “yes,” because 1.) Everyone would rather pay less than more and 2.) Answering “yes” may lead the company to consider lowering their prices, an outcome all consumers desire. In the market, consumer preference for a product is always benchmarked against the value of the money paid for the product. The consumer must choose the product over whatever else they could buy for the money, and the company knows the consumer values the product enough if they make that choice!

One way to benchmark your concept tests, and know where you stand in the market, is to have potential consumers choose between your product and the competitor’s product, while holding all else constant. Then, and only then, can you ask your customers why they chose the product they did. This is the classic blindfolded Pepsi vs. Coca Cola test.

These benchmarked tests can be used for marketing, product adjustments, and product development. What’s more, though acquiring this information is costly, it is proprietary and unavailable to your competitors. These tactics are great tools for companies of all sizes to employ, but some are a serious investment of time and money. If you’d like to get a taste for using our processes for assessing your company’s competitive advantage, download our eBook.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/06
June 21, 2019
Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

Market Positioning: Identify Where You Stand in the Market

People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

You know how important employees are to the success of your organization. Your executive team does, too (kind of).

As an HR leader, you get people strategy, and you also know that analytics tells a story that everyone needs to hear. But how do you take your leadership team from “hearing” to understanding?

 

First, don’t collect data for the sake of having data.

It’s only valuable if you’re looking at the data in a way that you intend to make a positive impact on the company and/or the people. Data collection efforts need to be action-oriented. If you aren't clear on how a data set will inform future decisions, then it may not be worth gathering in the first place.

 

Second, work with your IT team.

Access to data is not optional if you want to use people analytics. If you work with them there may be an easier way for them to get your information. They may need to make some coding changes to get you the perfect report, but it’s much better to work with them than to be dissatisfied with your current access.

 

Third, get early buy-in.

Any time you want to initiate a change in your organization, you need an ally that agrees with your idea. Find someone in your personal employee network who values people analytics, engagement, and morale. Work with them, get their insights and come up with the best approach together. That person will help you convince others.

 

Lastly, you want insights and analysis, not numbers.

Numbers on a screen don’t do much for most people. You need to analyze those numbers to reveal a new perspective on the challenges at hand. Data visualization and dashboarding can go a long way to building better understanding with executives. Don’t just give them the numbers and expect them to see what you do.

Let’s go over an example. Let’s say that it seems you have a lot of people calling or reporting off. You have an attendance report that you can look at and easily determine, yes, that’s a lot of people. But what good does that do you?

What you want to do is analyze it over various time frames, like a year, maybe two years? What time of year is it? Do people usually miss more work this time of year? Maybe it’s a holiday. Or is it your busy season where you have employees scheduled for more days and longer hours? Perhaps they are burnt out.

Or are the call offs centralized to one department? You should look at other metrics to evaluate the possible effects of morale and engagement in that department.

Does the data seem to be split by any demographic? Is there an overwhelming amount of call offs from women instead of men; younger employees instead of older? Or is there a correlation between minorities and call offs? Answers to these questions could tell a very different story about what your situation is.

If you find out and act on it quickly, you could potentially prevent a serious problem for the organization. You need to use examples such as this to showcase the value of people analytics to your executive team.

Let them know that this information can be used to solve and prevent problems. Feel free to get in touch with us to learn how Aspirant can help you achieve your organizational goals.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your team improve its ability to substantiate initiatives and track performance with data analytics. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/06
June 18, 2019
People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

People Strategy: You Get It, They Don’t. Explain with Analytics.

Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

With the advancing sophistication of digital technology, by 2030, power will no longer rest on the shoulders of corporate leaders. Social media and crowdsourcing have given an all-access pass to voicing opinions on business for consumers, employees, partners, and more. With more people voicing opinions and expecting to be heard, this can put a lot of pressure on a company.

We are seeing the effects of such things in the news every day. One such example is what happened with Starbucks. After an act of racism at one of their stores went public, they were inundated with negativity and complaints. It was so bad, there were people marching in protest in the streets in front of the store.

This more than qualified as a PR nightmare exacerbated via social media. Originally, Starbucks was viewed as handling the issue poorly. More negative press arose, and the anger toward the brand grew. They then acknowledged what happened and regret in how it was handled. Starbucks formally apologized and vowed to take steps from preventing similar events in the future.

And they followed through with those steps. Starbucks closed almost 8,000 stores to conduct anti-bias training.  They did this while taking a great hit to their profits for that day, but also knowing the results were worth it. They listened to their customers and public opinion, and this great company reacted accordingly.

However, it wasn’t fixed right away, and there may be some lingering distrust for the brand. The better prepared you are to prevent such a situation, or react quickly if you are unable to, the better off your organization will be.

 

Here are 5 steps to help your company manage diversified power:

1. Digital reputation management

Every company needs to be continually monitoring their digital reputation. An employee needs to be scanning the various social media sites and review sites like Yelp. This will need to be a full-time role in the future, not a side project.

2. PR contingency plans

Some degree of negative press is almost inevitable. Be ready for it. The first way to do that, of course, is to run your company in an ethical and customer-focused way. But also make sure you have ideas for what to do when things go wrong. A bad reaction to a PR crisis only makes the situation worse.

3. Analyze your customer data

Pay attention to what your customers and critics are saying. Build customer intimacy by knowing that they think, want and need. Knowledge is the key to success, and data is the key to knowledge.

4. Anticipate issues before they become problems

With your finger on the public pulse, you will naturally be aware of and sensitive to any potential issues. Pay attention to what’s trending and what people care about. Notice what your business is doing and how people are reacting to it. With anything that seems potentially negative, respond to it right away.

5. Think: "Service, service, service"

With everything else you need to consider, don’t forget to focus on serving your customers. They are the most important. Give them what they want, with great customer service, good quality and fair prices. If you don’t fulfill these promises to your customers, there’s no amount of PR and Marketing that will help you.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/06
June 12, 2019
Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

Diversified Power: Customers, Employees & Other Stakeholders

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

You may know your company's market positioning inside and out, but it is much more difficult to know the moving pieces in the industry around you. By industry knowledge, we don’t necessarily mean well-worn metrics like annual forecast demand or largest buyers, though these are important. Rather, we’re referring to a deeper knowledge of the market’s ins and outs: current and future players, underlying trends, weaknesses, and possible disruption points. While it may seem like a lot of work to stay up-to-date on market forces and your competitors, it’s definitely worthwhile to maintain a macro-level perspective of business activity occurring around you and your company.

What Are People Talking About?

Search engines and similar internet tools are an obvious resource for learning about competitors and potential future disruptors, but you can do more than just search. Use features like Google Alerts to notify you when your competition’s name is mentioned in the news, or even when your industry gets noticed. Spend time keeping up with aggregated search-based trends as well, which can give you a picture of what currently matters to people at little to no cost. There are also websites that can tell you what keywords and Google AdWords are being bought by your competition. Knowing what’s important to other players in the market is one data point that’ll help you decide what is important to you.

 

Supplier and Partner Intelligence

Want even more information? Don’t overlook the great resource you have in suppliers. This may not work for all industries, but it can be very beneficial when it does. Suppliers often won’t answer questions about your competition — nor should they — but if you ask the right questions you can get some helpful answers regarding trends and trajectories.

A very high-level example: if you manufacture a product in a competitive space, you could ask your supplier how much of a certain part is ordered this time of year, or ask what they are selling the most of and what products are being pre-ordered. Much of this can be learned in due diligence with your procurement process as you shop around for suppliers anyway. Use supplier information to your advantage, and keep in mind that if they are publicly traded then there may be a lot of usable intelligence in their investor relations materials (e.g., an aluminum company starting a joint venture to make aluminum through an ecofriendly process presages a large purchase of aluminum for high-end consumer electronic goods). You can also question suppliers and partners about where they send their product. Questions such as, ‘Do you ship a lot out of state?’ or ‘Do you find you sell a lot of X product to X demographic area?’

 

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

 

Competitor Hiring Trends

Another thing to pay attention to regarding competitors is their hiring trends. If they are suddenly hiring many people, you want to know why. For example, what positions are they filling, sales people or production? If they are filling sales positions, they are likely to be kicking off a marketing campaign soon. If they are hiring in production, then they have successfully sold and need more people to fill orders. Analyze their hiring behavior.

And, look through their job descriptions. This is particularly helpful with IT-related positions. Companies will often list software and technologies that a job candidate must be familiar with. This will let you know what kind of technology your competition is leveraging and give you better insights into their value chain.

 

Wargaming to Understand Competitors

For better or worse, your company is not an island with a captive audience. In most markets, your customers have at least one alternative choice. This market competition means that other companies are also targeting them. On top of that competitive pressure, your existing customers have new and evolving needs to address — they are rarely a source of fixed revenue (and even when they are over a certain amount of time due to contractual requirements, that does not mean that they will be at the end of the contracting period).

To keep and stay relevant to your customers, you need to have your finger on the pulse of your market. Even though it is a common approach (perhaps the most common that we see with our clients) relying chiefly on your sales history to understand your market and industry leaves you significantly exposed to a number of potential and external threats. One approach that we take with our clients is called Wargaming, where we allow them to play the role of their competitors and think strategically about the market, their competitors next moves, their own next moves, and the full chain of reactions and counteractions over a 5 to 10 year period. Questions that we have them ask in this context help them drill down into how their competitors think about their organization, the broader market, and the economy as a whole.

 

Use Business Wargaming to Bet Your Competition

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's marketing experts help clients analyze their competitive market and deploy a plan for generating growth. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

michele-petruccelli
2019/06
June 7, 2019
Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

Do You Understand Your Competitive Landscape?

Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

While everyone recognizes the need for a solid HR department headed up by a reliable CHRO, they can often get left out of the broader strategic company loop. As a CHRO, it’s important to make room for yourself at the conference table so you’re not only always aware of business decisions and strategies, but can contribute to them as well. In other words, what can you do to ensure that you’re not only advocating for yourself and your department, but demonstrating value and providing insights for the company as a whole?

What Creates Success in the CHRO role?

According to  Forbes, one of the top strategic priorities for CHROs in 2019 is demanding a seat at the C-suite table. A CHRO should be leading their company into the future.

The CHRO role, like all leadership positions, is centered around adapting to fit in with the current business economy. At its heart, the CHRO position is a link between the company’s executive team and its human assets. Some of the responsibilities of a CHRO in today’s world are the ability to align organizational strategy with HR planning, handling talent management and performance, leading workplace development, and tracking compensation across the organization. Additionally, some of the desired skills you should have as a CHRO are:

  • Talent acquisition
  • Compensation and procurement costs
  • Financial planning and forecasting
  • Learning and development
  • Benefits administration
  • Compliance and legal knowledge

These are similar to the skills utilized with more entry-level HR positions, but much more specialized. To be successful as a CHRO, you will spend more time on the front lines with executive leadership and less time interacting with employees.

You should be no less valuable to employees as you will be advocating for them regularly. Showing your skills and finesse in more of the executive-level aspects of a CHRO will help you to get, and keep, your seat at the conference table.

 

How Do You Prove Your Worth as a CHRO?

Sometimes you have to prove why your company needs a CHRO. As well as why that CHRO position should not be cast aside to the "kid’s table," but included in critical company discussions. To be a valuable CHRO in current times, you must think beyond the traditional HR model.

Make sure executives know that you understand how human capital can benefit the business by exhibiting your ability to create, read, and translate a P&L (Profit and Loss statement). While the people aspects of HR, such as engagement, retention, and satisfaction are important, the current CHRO role should focus on the bottom line strategic drivers of company success. You have to be able to relate to people and talent to ultimate corporate success.

Demonstrate your ability to be a reliable and trustworthy leader. Build a diverse internal employee network. You should be considered a mentor and confidante by your peers at the executive level. Other execs will need to rely on you for guidance and reinforcement of company culture. They need to trust both your dedication to employees and the company. This may sometimes mean talking about some hard situations, helping employees to see the value of change they may not agree with, and bringing people on board for new ideas.

Driving change will become a core part of your influence with front-line employees. You will often be the one relied on to communicate upcoming changes to the general staff. You must be motivated to help others see the potential rewards and benefits of change. Take charge of communication plans and be ready for potential resistance with facts and enthusiasm.

Another proficiency you should showcase is the ability to accurately use data. HR analytics can help a company to make informed decisions in relation to hiring and managing. Proving your ability to gather, understand, present, and make decisions off of this data will go a long way to earning yourself a seat at the table.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We know first hand the importance of human resources and how critical CHROs are to corporate success. Our Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design and implement a plan that maximizes the impact of the HR function. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better align the perception of your department with the value being generated.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 22, 2019
Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

Elevate the Perception of the CHRO Role

Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

With all good things come risks. With all opportunities, come responsibility. The same can be said for people analytics. Data is powerful. Knowledge of what that data means can help your company tremendously — but it can also hurt you. According to a survey by Deloitte, 64% of respondents are actively dealing with legal liability issues in relation to their people data.

Legal Risks

stored data being hacked and stolen

This makes you liable to your employees. There are various insurance plans to help with this, but prevention is key. Make sure you have good security measures in place, and keep no more data than necessary, for no longer than necessary.

 

Data algorithms can show bias

For example, through no fault of your own, your data could always recommend hiring male employees, or just white employees. It could look over women and people of color every time. That is one reason why it is important to not completely trust your data and to always have a human being analyzing it. If it were to continue unchecked, you could certainly have some legal hiring issues coming your way.

 

Risks with People Analytics

Your data can lie to you

Data uses programed algorithms looking for certain words, patterns, activities, etc. Based on data alone, many things can be overlooked, go unnoticed, or be misunderstood.

For example, if you use people analytics to determine potential candidates for promotions, you could find that certain people are always getting overlooked. Additionally, some valuable traits aren’t even being considered.

Perhaps you want people with managerial experience to promote into executive management, thus your data is looking at people currently in management roles. At the same time, the most qualified candidate is not currently in a role with a title of manager. They have all the other experience you are looking for: the right attitude, work ethic, and have held management positions elsewhere.

Basically, this is the exact person you’re looking for, but based on the data you asked for, they are not going to be recommended. So, your data will tell you the best person for the job. And it will be wrong.

 

You’ve got data analyzing attendance

You flag certain people for having a high number of report offs. They are planned and excused, but they still show up in the data. This is one of your best employees. When it comes time for a raise, though, their personal file shows a little strike against them for attendance.

This is a good example of why it’s important to have a real person that analyzes this data and reconciles it with things they know. Perhaps someone had a very sick family member or were sick themselves. They usually don’t have an attendance problem and the issue was only temporary.

Failing to recognize their contribution to the company, due to a few approved extra off days, could result in their looking elsewhere in the company. It could also result in low morale and less productivity.

Basically, anything that is good about data could also be bad if it is misunderstood and not properly analyzed. Strong data collection is important, but having a human being to go over them as well can make a world of difference.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can implement methods for leveraging data to improve team management. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 20, 2019
Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

Risks with People Analytics: Ensure a Balanced Approach

The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

The early stages of a business are great way for any department to prove the value they bring to the organization - especially HR. However, when things start to stabilize and the growth cycle plateaus, how does your HR team demonstrate the ongoing value of the support they provide?


It’s easy to overlook the need to answer this question while you’re focused on sales, production, or other more client-facing departments, but it’s important not to. As your organization grows and evolves, so too should your HR. So, what do you do to keep your department involved in your company’s yearly goal setting?

 

What Do You Do When the Growth Curve Ends?

You’ve reached a point where you’re not growing your team and business is relatively steady. If anything, you’re replacing people due to turnover, not growth. What can a human resource manager do at this point that increases their value to the company?

For one, you can strengthen your personal employee network. Part of HR’s responsibilities is to be an employee service center and advocate for their needs. While it’s easy to be very good at hiring and addressing employee concerns, it’s more difficult to dedicate the time to relationship building with current staff.

This can be particularly valuable in positions that tend to have a higher turnover rate. HR can proactively get to know employees, the jobs they do, and what complications arise. Is the job itself hard? Is it a manger or a coworker that drives folks away? What are some fixable issues that are driving employees away?

Engaging with employees and supervisors to find ways to improve retention can be exceptionally valuable when it comes to money, time and resources. The potential cost savings from decreasing turnover alone can be worth it and really help your HR department demonstrate long term value. It’s estimated that the cost of losing an employee ranges from 1.5-2 x their annual salary. HR officials don’t have to wait for a problem, but can take the time year-round to reach out to employees and proactively address issues that may result in higher turnover.

 

Should HR teams join company planning discussions?

Every company has goals and plans. In order for any department to contribute to these organizational goals, they must be included in the planning strategy somewhere along the line. Everyone in the department also needs to understand how their role ties in to the established HR goals, and subsequently, the company's strategic priorities.

As an HR manager, request to be part of company planning meetings and explain how your participation is key to the organization’s overall success. Once you have a seat at the conference table, take the time to research and come up with tangible ways you can contribute.  Are there training grants in your state to take advantage of? Is there a specific college that specializes in a needed position in your industry? Could you do recruitment there? These are just a few specific examples, but the bigger point is to ideate some ways you and your department can continue to demonstrate ongoing value alongside other areas of your business.

If HR is not included in these meetings, does anyone notice? Business leaders should be aware of HR’s absence. If not, there are a couple potential reasons that could be concerning. One of them is that your leaders do not value the contributions from the HR dept., therefore do not think it is a problem if they are left out. Another reason is that your HR professionals are not offering value or contributing to discussions. Make sure to talk with all leaders and figure out how to improve this.

 

Is your HR team adaptable?

A situation found in many more established companies is a tendency to keep doing things “how we’ve always done them.” Does your HR team fall into this trap, or are they adaptable to a changing economy, employment landscape and company direction?

There will often be some rules and policies that can’t be adapted, but overall, an HR professional should be reevaluating the way the work on a regular basis. According to a study conducted in the UK, 17% of respondents did not believe their HR teams were doing a good job. One of the main reasons was that they failed to adapt to the changing business economy.

If an employee or manager seems difficult, instead of blaming or reciting years-old SOPs (Standing Operating Procedures) your HR professional should pay attention to their communication style and adapt accordingly.

New generations of the workforce care about different things, their work ethic and values have changed. Instead of lamenting and fighting this, HR should embrace it, be adaptive and find the best way to work with all aspects of employees. This also applies to newer HR departments dealing with seasoned employees. A good HR professional should find a way to work with all employees.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030


How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can ensure your HR team is properly recognized for the value of its contributions.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 18, 2019
The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

The Importance of Human Resources: How to Gauge HR's Value

Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

It’s typical for companies to look at their goals’ progress on a quarterly basis. While this is convenient, it means three, six, or even nine months will have gone by before you even recognize there is a problem. So, 'now' is always the time to think about your goals.

Goal Tracking Is Critical

There are various methods of tracking yearly goals. Many companies pay attention to KPIs or, Key Performance Indicators. There’s also OKR (Objectives and Key Results). The latter is gaining popularity in high-value companies. It helps to strive toward more ambitious, but still achievable goals. This method is helping to push managers and teams to reach their full potential.

To try this approach, you need to create three to five objectives that are more than what you’d expect to achieve with your goal. They must be definitive objectives, such as increasing new sales by 17%. Outline three key results for each objective to use as measurable milestones in your HR plan.

The milestones have to be measurable and have evidence to prove their completion. So, for example, the milestone cannot be “increase employee morale.” It could however be be “increase new employee retention by 5%.”

Measure success with percentages and hard data and make sure all team members have access to the progress. It can be posted on a whiteboard or in a shared doc. Your company succeeds and fails together. Any progress made on an objective is relevant to all team members.

There are various progress management software packages that can be used to help you keep track. Capterra has a great list with reviews and ratings of some top options.

 

When to Assess Goal Execution (It’s Earlier Than You Think)

It’s almost never too early to start assessing your goals. If you wait until it’s time for them to be finished you’ll have no way of making adjustments. A Staples National Small Business Survey found that more than 80% of the participating companies don’t keep track of their goals, and 77% of them didn’t achieve their stated goals. Lack of tracking can make a big impact.

Ideally, you would have set up a time to get together with various team members and go over goal tracking when the goals were set. If not, consider doing a monthly check in with each of the task masters assigned to a goal. Start a month after the beginning of your year, or whenever your goals officially started. You can make time adjustments moving forward as needed. 

 

Don’t Just Look at Quarterly Progress

You cannot get caught underestimating how quickly business dynamics can change. If you don’t keep on top of HR goals, by the time you notice, it may be too late to fix it. This is why it’s helpful to create the smaller OKRs mentioned above. Having milestones on the path to the ultimate goals helps encourage you to keep abreast of the status.

You may not need to get everyone together to go over every goal and objective more than once a quarter, but don’t wait until that to do anything. You should check in with teams for individual objectives once a month. Track, document, and socialize all results.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing the tactical execution of corporate initiatives can be tedious, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 13, 2019
Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

Goal Tracking Between Formal Progress Meetings

Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

When you are planning to implement a Master Data Management strategy in your business you need to make sure you have the right team assisting with the process. MDM is big, complex and important. Plus, it’s getting bigger every year. The MDM market is expected to have a 15.6% CAGR over the next five years. Having the right people involved from the start can make a world of difference when you take on an MDM project.

You need to identify the relevant roles in your project and the best people to fill them.

 

Executive Sponsor

We’ve gone over this in previous blogs and our MDM ebook. There are two basic routes you can take to find your MDM sponsor. If you intend to apply MDM as the core strategy in your corporation, you’re going to want to find someone in a high-level position such as your CEO. Since the MDM will involve each of the departments in your organization, you need someone who has influence and an interest in every aspect of your company.

However, if you want to implement MDM in only a certain department in your company, go with a position that is not quite C suite. Your department head or supervisor would be a great fit to ensure you have buy-in across your office.

The important thing is to find a sponsor who can be the MDM stakeholder that understands the company’s problems that you’re attempting to solve. The person needs to have the ability to help you obtain the resources needed to complete the project and hold everyone involved accountable. They should have more influence than a frontline employee in the organization and have the ability to communicate up the chain of command so your execs can stay informed.

 

 

Tech Team

This one will be broken down into smaller roles based of the complexity and goals of your Master Data Management project. These are the people who will build and most often use the MDM technology. There may be roles listed here that aren’t as necessary for you, or there could be some missing. You should base your team off the needs of your organization and the project at hand. Your tech team might include:

  • Systems Administrator
  • Database Administrator (DBA)
  • Developers
  • Integration Experts
  • MDM Specialist

The lower level sysadmin person will be a good resource for connecting with the end users. They will also know a lot about the day to day interactions of programs and data. If you have a large tech presence in your company you may already have a DBA. If you don’t, you will need one for a large scale MDM implementation. This person needs to set up the server or cloud environment that you will be hosting the MDM technology on. This can be a temporary part time gig for the life of the project.

You probably already have developers or programmers y on your team. These are the people who will customize or build your new user interfaces. They should be able to implement the more complex data aspects. Integration experts need to have a deep understand of your current system and technologies. This is often current team member who can stand up the assimilations between the MDM and related technologies.

Your MDM specialist should be someone who will remain employed by, or associated with your company. Whether it is a new or current employee, a part or full time position, this person will need to remain associated with the project after it launches. If you are incorporating an exceptionally large MDM program you may need multiple people in this role. These folks will be dedicated to the MDM program and not have additional duties. This position shouldn’t be viewed as a secondary job. They will work with the MDM moving forward as well as during the project implementation.

 

Data/Information Architects

Depending on the size of your company and the scope of your MDM project, this could be one person or a whole team of people. This person will eat, sleep, and breathe data. They will focus on the grand ecosystem of the data throughout your organization. They also should have a good grasp on where your data resides, and what kind of standards you want your MDM program to abide by.

One of the pivotal roles of a data architect can be to help push change and growth through the organization when it comes to policies for data management necessities. There will be certain goals you want to hit regarding data with your MDM project that others will have trouble adjusting to. A data architect can help with that transition.

For more information about the types of people you need on your MDM team connect with us at Aspirant. Fill out the form below.

 

phil-kossler
2019/03
March 5, 2019
Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

Build the Best Team for Your Master Data Management Strategy

Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

We work in an age of constant technological advancement. As younger generations enter the workforce, so to comes a need to adapt to a more technically savvy employee. You can get the ball rolling as early as your onboarding by incorporating virtual reality (VR) and other on-trend tech applications. An employee’s first few months at your company is pivotal. That’s when they establish expectations of their job.

The first six months spent at an organization are also the timeframe in which an employee decides to stay with your company. That’s right, 90% of employees know within half a year if they’re going to stick around. This is part of what makes the onboarding process such a critical component of workforce planning. Younger employees want an environment where they can thrive, and that often includes leveraging the latest technology. You can set the tone for their work life by incorporating tech into your onboarding processes.

 

How VR Helps with Team Integration

Bosses and coworkers obviously have a huge impact on an employee’s job satisfaction and this greatly influences whether a new employee will continue with your company. Even if you like a job, feeling as if you don’t fit in to the work environment makes every day difficult.

This is one of the ways VR for onboarding can help. VR can be used to help new employees interact with global teams, off-site executives and remote coworkers. It helps introduce them to the culture of the workplace and feel more connected to their job and teammates.

With VR you can begin introducing new employees to coworkers before they are even on site. What’s more, if your new hire is a remote worker, VR can help you integrate them with the home office in a much more significant way. There are even advances in VR now, such as Oculus Rift, that can translate things such as body language as well as other non-verbal cues. This can help make virtual meetings feel much more realistic and personable as well as cut out some of the stress of initial meetings.

 

“Hands-On” Training Courtesy of VR

VR training can be a game changer when it comes to training for dangerous or high-risk jobs. A new employee can get hands-on training without actually “getting their hands dirty.” For example, medical professions can use VR to train new employees on how to deal with medical situations without putting any patients at risk. They can complete a VR trainings before ever even touching an actual human body.

Hands-on VR training can help teach new hires develop necessary skills as well as get (close to) real world experience. It’s not just good for health-related professions. VR can be used for training and adapting a new sales team, manufacturing, or whatever industry requires a working knowledge before starting the job. New hires can practice repeatedly to create a smooth process before ever interacting with customers or equipment.

In addition to building up confidence in new employees, hands-on VR training also takes the onus off seasoned employees and managers to do basic training, ensuring your workplace maintains its efficiency even while onboarding someone new. A new employee will still need some guidance adapting to the company, but with VR for onboarding practices in place, the basic foundation will already be built in.

 

How Gamification Improves with VR

Let’s face it, no one wants to do another trust fall or wait for a monthly report to see how they stand among their co-workers. Employees often like contests and gamified ways of encouraged hard work, but they get tired of the same old thing.

If you want to motivate the workforce of tomorrow, VR gamification is the way to go. Use these games to offer experiences that are multi-sensory. Allow for points, badges and other ways of recording progress. Instead of sitting a new employee in a room to watch a 45-slide deck about company policies, try creating the VR business equivalent of a TV game show, complete with industry relevant quizzes.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Creative methods for employee onboarding, such as VR, can make a huge impact to the employee experience right off the bat. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion with our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how we can help improve your team's collaboration and performance.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/03
March 4, 2019
Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

Modernize Employee Onboarding with VR

Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

The most important step in starting a Master Data Management (MDM) solution — and really any project — is to listen to the people involved. In order for an implementation to be successful you need the voices of all stakeholders.

This also helps to make sure that the outcome of your MDM solution is aligned with your company’s larger corporate objectives. Invested stakeholders will view the MDM as a tool to achieve the goals they already have, not a burden of more complication. It should be expected that the MDM will empower their teams to accomplish goals with less resources, enabling strategic thinking and departmental growth.

If you don’t manage to get your stakeholders’ support you will meet obstacles every step of the way. That is why stakeholder alignment is such a vital part of the MDM project implementation. The Chaos Report  from Standish Group puts stakeholder sponsorship as 15% of where invested time needs to go for success. It is part of a four way tie for where most of your time and effort needs to be directed.

Once you have the input and support of stakeholders you will find the implementation goes much smoother and the benefits become much more impactful. However you can’t stop at attaining stakeholder alignment, you also have to keep it. Don’t forget to listen to and include the stakeholders throughout the life of the implementation.

 

 

An Empowered MDM Project Team

In addition to stakeholders you also need an empowered project team. If the team you have leading the implementation is not enthusiastic about it or not empowered to achieve objectives you will not realize the full potential of an MDM.

The team should be empowered to decide the best way to meet goals and timelines. They must be held accountable for meeting milestones and successfully completing goals, but should be allowed to decide the best ways in which to achieve them.

Your team needs to want an MDM solution for your company. So creating buy-in and enthusiasm from your team will be one of the first steps together. The implementation team should consist of more than just members of the IT department. Every department in your company works with data in one way or another.

It’s very important to get input from each department and to make sure they are represented on the team. This will contribute to a well-rounded and overall useful MDM. Each person included needs to know that their ideas and input are valued and needed. While all suggestions may not be possible each item brought up should be looked at and considered respectfully. This will let team members know they are empowered to make an impact.

Once you have your established, empowered and excited team you need to make sure everyone knows what tasks of the project they are responsible for. A truly empowered team knows where they stand and what their value is.

Is your company considering a Master Data Management project?  Would you like help working that into your company’s strategy? Connect with us at Aspirant by filling out the form below. We'd love to help get you started or bring your project across the finish line!

sayed-saeed
2019/02
February 26, 2019
Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

Align Stakeholders and Empower Teams in Your Next MDM Project

How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

All businesses participate in some form of training. But what’s your objective? Does your company put employees through training to check off a box? Is it to improve employee engagement and morale? Maybe you want to have a reputation for investing in staff development? These are all good reasons.

What value is your company gaining by training your employees? Even if your employees are more informed and engaged, if that information doesn’t contribute to improvement for the organization, then what’s the point?

Research has supported that thought, and many companies are transitioning to a training program that benefits everyone. According to MIT Sloan, companies are spending $400 billion on training. Training should both be about employee enhancement and helping to meet business objectives. So, how do you align workforce training with your business goals?

 

Step 1: Know your business objectives

You need to know your strategic business objectives and goals before you can align employee trainings to them. How can training support the achievement of those goals? Focus on something that’s measurable. Did you recently implement new software to increase efficiency? There is likely a learning curve that’s preventing its full potential. Schedule employees for focused training on the best ways to utilize the new software and contribute to improved efficiency!

 

Step 2: Identify gaps in learning

Based on your stated objectives, where could your employees use additional training to further your goals? The software example above is one instance. You’ve made that change to increase efficiency but you aren’t seen the gains yet. Thankfully, that is a gap that training could fill. Another example could be in the sales of a particular product. If you have a product with great customer reviews but little sales, perhaps your employees don’t know the best ways to market and sell it. If you want to increase your sales, organize training that highlight the product value to consumers and the best approaches for selling it.

 

Step 3: Define the metrics of success

What are the specific results you want to achieve from each of the trainings? This is an important part of the alignment with your business goals. Completion of the training cannot be the measure of success. Victory must consist as an actual contribution to your completed business goal. If we use the above example of software training, a good metric would be that employees who have completed the training utilize the software 10% faster with 80% fewer errors. Product sales is an obvious goal due to the increased sale of that particular product. You could also set a smaller goal of customer contacts related to the product.

 

Step 4: Assign roles and tasks related to your goals and training

In order to keep the momentum going all year for your business goal alignment and objectives, you will need to assign roles and tasks to various employees. As part of workforce planning, someone needs to be in charge of scheduling and facilitating individual trainings. This person would also be expected to keep track of which employees have received training and their individual level of success. You’ll need this information to know whether you are successfully aligning employee trainings to company goals. Having someone responsible for tracking and recording the training will let you know if you need to change tactics any point in the year.

 

Step 5: Communication of goals and strategic alignment

It’s helpful to inform employees of what trainings they can anticipate throughout the year, ideally as part of their yearly goals. This gives them something to prepare for and look forward to. They should understand it is a valuable opportunity to enhance both their skills and their value to the company. To reassure them, explain the relevance of the training to your overall corporate goals. Make sure employees, managers, and executives understand the benefits that will come from properly aligned training. The more they understand the contribution their actions will make to the company, the more invested they will become in the success.

 

Step 6: Get started!

You’ve done all the preparation and you now you need to start realizing the results! Remember to keep the motivation up throughout the year and you will not be disappointed!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

These steps will help create and maintain alignment between your training programs and company goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/02
February 25, 2019
How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

How to Align Workforce Training with Business Goals

How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

Has your company hosted discussions about your Master Data Management (MDM) strategy? Revolutionary technology is readily available to help make your MDM great, but to get there you need clean and consistent data. You need to be sure to get the right data to the right people at all the right times.

MDM is about turning your data into analytics, and analytics into actionable outcomes to benefit your business. It’s not about having spreadsheet upon spreadsheet of data that nobody uses or understands.

If you’re considering an MDM implementation there are a few things you need to do to prepare.

 

Know Your Organizational Goals

What are you trying to accomplish with an MDM? Don’t just do it because it is the popular trend. Know why you need it and how you expect your business to benefit. Be informed on the state of your current data architecture and your options for the future. Define the goals you want to achieve before you get started. This way you know where your focus needs to be.

 

Define MDM Project Plan Expectations and Success

This is not exactly a project plan, but more of a road map to success. Instead of breaking down individual steps and assigning tasks, you will be listing the main high-level things that need to be done. You’re setting the chronology of items. Use this to define and acquire the necessary resources. You also want to give a timeline for ROI and a reliable cost estimate.

It may seem like a difficult exercise to officially define success, but it makes it much easier to get buy-in from stakeholders as well as keep yourself on task. Setting expectations helps keep everyone on the same page for the project so you can collaboratively meet your goals.

 

Have an Executive-Level Sponsor and an Application Owner

Throughout the life of the project you will need support, help with momentum and possibly additional funding and resources. An executive sponsor who believes in the project vision will help your voice be heard. This is a very vital role to fill.

The application owner is also very important. This is not the person who knows and runs everything or operates the actual system. The application owner is a defined responsibility to keep on top of the MDM and help make sure all decisions are relevant and communicated. This prevents the issue of multiple people assuming “someone else” is handling a task.

Every department should have a need to utilizing the Master Data Management, and they will each have different uses and objectives for the information they request. If everyone is allowed to make changes to the way data is defined or collected, the MDM will quickly become unmanageable and unhelpful to your organization.

An application owner can make sure all decisions that move forward contribute to the best interests of the whole company as well as make sure that all changes are communicated.

 

Establish MDM Project Plan Rules and Regulations

This is always an important step. The detail needed can change depending on the type of data your company utilizes. A legal team for example is going to have much stricter rules and regulations than a company that sells homemade candles.

However, all companies need an understanding and control of the accessibility and distribution of their information. This should all be pre-defined to avoid any complications in the future. Define who is allowed to access what data. Which data is specific to certain departments? What can be shared with the company as a whole? Can any of your company data be made public or is everything proprietary and for internal use?

Even though some of this information may seem like overkill, it’s much preferable to over regulate data than deal with the ramifications of an information leak in the future.

For more information about MDM, check out our ebook.

 

 

If you are considering moving forward with your own master data management project plan contact us below at Aspirant for help.

phil-kossler
2019/02
February 19, 2019
How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

How to Prepare for Your Master Data Management Project Plan

HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

We’ve talked about the importance of HR planning in the development of corporate priorities. But what happens when you don’t? How can you tell if your annual goals and your HR department are out of alignment with each other? And, what can you do to fix that?

Here are a few signs your Human Resource strategy isn't aligned with annual goals:

  1. Too many meetings.

  2. Too much back-and-forth email chains.

  3. Finalizing a decision takes too long.

  4. Employees and departments have formed silos.

  5. A lack of engagement and empowerment of front line employees.

These are all symptoms of company where the mission of HR and the goals of the executive level are not complementing each other. It doesn’t have to be this way — and it shouldn’t. According to a study cited in  Forbes, happy employees are 20% more productive than unhappy employees. HR objectives often center around keeping employees safe, engaged and happy. If they’re getting two sets of goals to pursue, chances are employees won’t be very happy or engaged. So, what can you do to align corporate goals and HR priorities?

 

Step 1: Create a Dialogue with HR and Assess the Department

Do you understand what HR is doing and how the department works within your company? If not, that is the first barrier to goal alignment. Whether you have a one-person HR department or a whole team, do some assessing of their processes to develop a deeper understanding between your office and HR. Once you accomplish that, you want to open up a dialogue between the rest of leadership team and HR. There you can define the annual goals to HR and the HR objectives to the leadership team. Make sure everyone understands.

 

Step 2: Discuss Goal Alignment with HR

Now that you’ve included HR and the department understands the corporate goals, it’s time to figure out their place in it. What departmental goals can be set for HR to help contribute to the annual company goals? Also, how can the company's yearly goals be adjusted taking into account pertinent information from HR?

For example, Human Resources’ work to increase employee retention would contribute to reduce costs. Proper onboarding programs and workforce training will increase productivity. Setting up clear communication practices helps avoid frustration and keep employees engaged. These are just a few tips, but there are certainly many more.

 

Step 3: Create Specific Goals Related to HR and Annual Goals

Using the information gleaned from the second step, create goals for HR that contribute to your overall annual goals. Make sure to create steps for specific action items. For instance, when it comes to cost reduction goals, HR will try to increase retention. What steps will HR take to do that? The first may be to create an employee survey and distribute it. If decreasing call-offs is an annual goal, then one step for human resources could be offering flu shots for free at work.

These steps aren’t quick fixes. They require time and effort from multiple members of the leadership team. There are also not a lot of specifics listed, because it’s so important that you tailor this whole process to your company, workforce, and HR. But achieving your goals and having a successful year depend on having a team and a company that’s fully in alignment.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Cascading strategic priorities down to individual and team goals can be complicated and tedious, but it is a critical component to year-over-year success. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/02
February 7, 2019
HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

HR Goals: Fixing Misalignment with Corporate Priorities

3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

Whether you have a communications point person or need to work with other departments yourself, open and clear communication is a necessity. Having a person skilled in communication on your tech team is vitally important.

It’s certainly possible to have a tech expert who is also a great communicator, but many of them would rather stick to code and hardware than explain something to a sales rep. This becomes particularly important when dealing with large projects or process changes.

Communication is obviously a critical component of DevOps and Agile projects, but its importance in everyday tasks is often overlooked.

Leading communications across tech teams can, and often should be, a dedicated role. There are benefits to having someone who is solely focused on facilitating collaboration among colleagues. Even when your tech team is successfully completing objectives, they can only reach their full potential if are able to communicate effectively.

So, how can your department improve its performance and contribution to corporate goals? Hire a tech communication specialist. Here are some reasons why:

 

1. Communicating with tech departments can be painful for everyone.

It can be frustrating for your tech team to try to explain why they aren’t able to fulfill a request to someone who doesn’t understand their technical terms and restrictions. On the flip side, it’s frustrating for other departments to be told something can’t be done and not understand why. Other departments often feel that tech team employees are talking down to them, whether it’s true or not.  If you have someone who is part of the tech team but focused on communication, they can be that bridge between the tech team and the rest of your company.

 

2. Everyone wants someone who is “on their side.”

This builds right off the last one. As much as we dislike it, an “us versus them” mentality often arises with IT. An ideal tech communication specialist will be part of the IT team and be seen as part of every other team as well. They will know the best ways to communicate between IT and Manufacturing by breaking down what tech problems or enhancements will mean for their processes and machines. They can explain to IT the value of the requests from Sales for their order entry system. This person won’t specialize in IT, Sales, or Production; they will specialize in communicating with all of them. They will build trust with each department because people will understand that they want to help. This helps optimize the company's organizational effectiveness. 

 

3. They are great for planning and strategy for cross-departmental projects.

Since the tech communication specialist doesn’t have to get down in the weeds with the technical side, they can step back and look at the whole picture. They can connect the dots and plan for the life of the project beyond creation and implementation. They will fill in the pieces and help make the plans by working easily with other departments and orchestrating a team environment.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Technology and Org Effectiveness experts help clients resolve departmental disconnects that hamper company performance. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for your organization.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2019/02
February 6, 2019
3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

3 Reasons Tech Departments Need a Communication Specialist

Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

With each annual plan comes a new set of yearly goals. Announcing this to the organization should involve management from all functional areas. However, Human Resources is often left out. This does a disservice to your company.

 

Why Is Human Resources Important to Rolling out Yearly Goals?

Nobody knows your employees like HR. They have a comprehensive understanding of what attracts talent to your company, what keeps them there, and what motivates them. No matter how great your executive and management team is, you won’t be able to reach any goals without the rest of your employees.

There are three high-level processes to goal rollouts, in order:

  1. Communicating the Goals

  2. Monitoring the Goals

  3. Lessons Learned from the Goals

To be truly successful, you need to maintain focus on these established goals throughout the whole year - and not just HR goals. This means monitoring, adjusting and learning from all processes. One of the best ways to stay on top of this is assigning someone to lead the rollout. This can be the Chief HR Officer, a project manager or others, but it should not be the CEO. It needs to be someone with the time, skills and energy to get into the weeds when necessary.

 

Communicating Goals

The initial steps of communicating the goals should be done in several stages:

  • Executive Level Communication Meeting: Announcing to top-level execs the schedule for communicating the goals with the company.
  • Management Communication Meeting: Announcing and explaining the goals to managers and supervisors. Communicating their role in the coming year and the impact of success.
  • Company Wide Announcement: Either a meeting or digital communication that reaches all employees, explaining the goals, their effect on employees and the impact of success.
  • Necessary Training: Some goals require changes in processes. If so, training for affected workers should follow shortly after the all employee communication.

Having a point person like an HR rep in charge will make these steps much smoother, keeping everyone engaged and informed. Once goals are announced, the point person will take steps to monitor the progress.

 

Monitoring Goals

One of the first things that should be done is assigning responsibility. Each goal should have a champion, someone whose job contributes to that goal. You may want to have managers champion and assign tasks to employees, or you may want to have employees themselves champion the goals. Both approaches can be valuable, and adhere to your company culture.

You can’t overlook the valuable work of assigning responsibility and tasks to individual people for your important goals. If responsibility is too broad or too general, like “the sales team,” then everyone can assume someone else is completing necessary tasks.

Once roles are assigned and communicated, schedule regular meetings with those involved. The frequency and who attends can vary based on the goals, but don’t wait until mid-year, or worse, the end of the year, to talk about goals.

Goal champions should be meeting with workers that focus on the goals more often, perhaps every other week. Management must be kept in the loop, but not at every meeting. Cross-departmental meetings that communicate goal status to all teams should meet once a quarter. They can be made more frequent if the need arises.

The point person for tracking your goals should be checking periodically to make sure all these meetings and items are continuing to move forward.

 

Lessons Learned

This is an important, but often overlooked, part of goal completion. Teams will get together and celebrate achieved goals or bemoan those that are unsuccessful. But they forget to glean lessons from both failure and success.

Everyone that had an impact on the goals, whether positive or negative, should be consulted for identifying lessons learned. Make sure to discuss it with executives, managers and frontline employees.

Where did you have the most success? What do you think impacted that success? Who impacted that success? Delve into the weeds to figure out what you can use for future goals to have the same measure of success.

Where did you not achieve your goals, or struggle to? What was different between these and the successful ones? Discuss with each other what could have been done differently. Was it a lack of resources, do you need to hire more, buy more hardware, etc.? Ask everyone involved how they think it could have been done better.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Cascading strategic priorities down to individual and team goals can be complicated and tedious, but it is a critical component to year-over-year success. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 29, 2019
Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

Announcing Yearly Goals Can Be Stressful. Here Are Some Tips.

Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

As we mentioned in last week's post several tech departments can expect budget increases in 2019. This means companies can attract the best talent to their teams with more competitive salaries. However, overlooking diversity in hiring could mean missing out on top-quality talent.

Why does diversity in tech matter? A study conducted by the National Center for Women & Information Technology found that companies that included women on their executive board consistently outperformed companies who had only males. The gender-diverse teams had superior results on debt/equity ratios, price/equity ratios and average growth. One of the reasons suspected is that a diverse knowledge base will render more diverse ideas. New and better ideas are easier to formulate with a variety of people with different experiences, backgrounds, and thought patterns.

How do you attract a diverse array of candidates of the industry's leading experts to your company? What are some of the ways to hire with diversity in mind?

To Find Expert Talent, Reevaluate Your Recruitment Processes

If you keep attracting and hiring the same kinds of people, perhaps you should try something new to find success in attracting different candidates. Initial recruiting tactics are often based on resumes, and looking at shallow points such as the university attended or previous places of employment. However much prestige these schools or companies hold, they're not always the best indicator of a person's skills and competencies.

While using these parameters can achieve “weeding out” unqualified applicants, you could potentially be overlooking an ideal candidate. The educational institution a professional graduated from does not define their level of skills. Be it lesser-known schools, trade schools, or coding certifications — all can produce equally talented individuals. Have your talent acquisition branch out their efforts to look at a variety of educational history. As tempting as it is to hire talent with some flashy business names on their resume, this doesn't automatically mean they are the best worker. You could be passing up a candidate with amazing tech skills, heart, and passion from a smaller company for the least skilled person at a major brand.

Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone to find the best talent. Don't just scan resumes for keywords and places.

 

Diversity in Tech Departments Attracts Expert Talent

A diverse workforce will attract more diverse workers. If you want to attract diversity, you need to be a company that is attractive to diverse candidates. Most people want to work in an environment with a variety of people and ideas. In fact, companies with an inclusive workforce have a 22% lower turnover rate according to Gallup. Diversity can help you attract and keep skilled workers.

Potential employees notice if you're trying to check a box or meet a quota. Most companies have a reputation among their employees and potential employees. This usually includes a stereotypical “kind” of person that works there and the environment they work in. If you're firm is known as a “good old boys club,” you're not going to have a lot of women that apply for jobs. Furthermore, employment sites like Glassdoor provide applicants with valuable insights into your company's culture, and unhappy employees are much more likely to leave a comment about their experience. You need to showcase community and inclusion. You need to welcome diversity and mean it. This may involve taking a good, hard look at your team, department, or entire company culture and taking active steps to develop and improve your image.

 

Examine Your Job Postings to Get Expert Talent

It may not seem obvious to you, but posted job descriptions can often be alienating to a diverse audience. One ways a post can be discouraging is when it's gender specific. You may be surprised to find how often that still happens. Many companies are just rehashing the same job descriptions the company has used for years. Those descriptions will often use terms like “guys,” “men,” “fellows,” etc. Gendered language can make an applicant feel unwelcome before they even submit their resume.

Another thing to look out for is ageist language. Phrases like “young and hungry,” give talent who does not consider themselves young a reason to move past your post. What you're really looking for is ambition and enthusiasm. A candidate does not have to be young to have those traits.

Think of the job post as something that should persuade a candidate to apply, not something that should scare them away. An open and inclusive posting will get more attention than a specific list of requirements. A majority of the details may be must-haves, but keep in mind many skills can be learned as long as you have the right person for the job. Mention new challenges, professional development opportunities, and trainings a candidate can take on to further develop career and future with your company.

You can even go as far as seeking talent experts from a diverse and underrepresented community. Don't just leave it to the legal lines at the end of the post. Be upfront about how your company welcomes the opportunity to employ people of various race, culture, and identities. Talk about how you pride yourself on your diversity and your ability to connect with all potential customers.

These are just a few steps you can take towards a more diverse technology workforce.

Talent Solutions

As technology disruption grows and talent shortages increase, organizations must optimize talent strategies. Get in touch! Fill out the form below to reach our talent experts.

phil-kossler
2019/01
January 14, 2019
Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

Expert Talent: Attracting Tech Pros from Diverse Backgrounds

3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

While human resources may not be the first department you think of when determining your monthly or annual business goals and objectives, the department needs a chair at the planning table. This is becoming more commonly understood in business today. In fact, a 2018 survey CareerBuilder reports that 65% of CEOs believe the opinions of HR leaders matter more to senior management than ever before. Is your company keeping up with this trend?

If not, you should be. Your HR leaders understand company culture and the day-to-day process of building a workforce that will optimize your human capital. Overlooking the importance of human resources while creating business goals can be detrimental to their success. Here are a few reasons why.

 

1. Strategic HR planning fills skill Gaps

Finding qualified talent to fill skilled roles within your company is one of the biggest issues facing organizations today. The right people are out there, but finding and acquiring that ideal candidate can be difficult. That’s where HR comes in. This is part of their job on a regular basis. They know which skills your company lacks or needs, what talents you need the most and what level of experience you have the most of. With that knowledge, HR can be a boon to both short and long-term strategic planning. You can plan ahead together regarding how to fill skill shortages or amp up talent needed before it becomes a crisis. You can work talent development, tempting benefit plans, and appealing cultural changes into your workforce in plenty of time for that mid-year hiring rush.

 

2. The role of human resources in employee engagement

The perception of employee engagement has adapted over the years, but HR leaders have always had their fingers on this pulse. They know which people and which departments are most engaged. They can predict where there will be the most employee turnover—a costly expense that no company wants to worry about. Including HR in your business planning can keep this concern on the table for all relevant goals and create the appropriate contingency plans. HR leaders also know what kind of programs keep employees happy, like career pathing, training, succession planning and mentorship. They know what works to retain productive and engaged employees. When these programs are planned out ahead of time and included in overall goal planning, it contributes to a smoother year with fewer surprises. This in turn makes it easier to attract new talent as everyone is looking for a collaborative and beneficial workplace culture.

 

3. HR can pave the way for growth

If you plan to increase your sales or production over the next year, or several years, you might need to hire more employees. If HR is included from the start with a preview of the direction the company is heading, they can plan ahead for growth. According to Forbes, a Data Engineer job can take on average 154.5 days to fill, while a Sales Engineer can take an average 119.7 days. Does your company have almost half a year to leave these positions unfilled? Incorporating HR in early planning can help shorten that hiring time. They can begin the work before the need is there and have the job filled right as it is needed.

Lost time and revenue from job vacancies is one of the most frustrating efficiency and cost holes. In addition to filling the role quickly, an HR rep can help ensure that all the right tools and tech needed for the jobs are ready and waiting for the right candidate. HR leaders can also help fill open positions in-house, with proper time and planning they can help groom employees to be promoted into positions where they are happier and more valuable.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Adopting this comprehensive approach to planning has its challenges, but it is a critical component to reliably achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help your leadership team develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 14, 2019
3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

3 Reasons HR Planning Needs to Be Part of Business Planning

Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

2019 is off and running. Every new year presents an opportunity for the next big innovation or breakthrough. Nowhere is this truer than in the tech industry. Here are a few trends we’ll be watching closely to help our clients leverage technology to be more productive and better serve our customers.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning aren’t necessarily a new trend, but one that’s always evolving and exciting to keep an eye on. More and more platforms are capable of doing the “thinking” aspect of work. In 2019, AI will become more transparent, so to speak. One of the main concerns about utilizing AI is the lack of trust and the fear of liabilities from something you can’t see or understand. With the workings of AI becoming more transparent, that trust will grow.

This will be a focal point for 2019. For example, IBM has announced improved traceability for decisions made by its AI technology. This helps companies keep on top of AI-made decisions that may be biased or discriminatory, allowing those to be eliminated and the technology improved. Amazon recently learned this lesson when they discovered their AI hiring tool was discriminating against women. With more transparent AI, issues like these will continue to be resolved before they happen.

 

2. Internet of Things Market Boom

There are already an estimated 3.6 billion devices connected to the Internet and used for daily tasks, according to IT Pro. That number is expected to grow, helping pave the way for a need for 5G connectivity.

The effect of these devices on the manufacturing and healthcare industries will be even more impressive. With devices that are part of the IoT, manufacturers will be able to manage inventory, prevent delays and improve production easier than ever before. The IoT will also completely change the approach to healthcare. Smart home care will become part of the norm offering an increased dedication and convenience to patient care.

There will also be an increase in “smart” areas in popular cities. We’ve already seen the advent of smart homes and smart cars, but in 2019, cities will begin to follow suit. Areas are already being built that can record walking routes, building occupancy and temperature preferences. Data like these is sure to help businesses of every stripe better serve their customers, so keep an eye out!

 

3. The Changing Opinion of the IT Department

Previously seen as a cost section of the company, businesses are now beginning to see IT departments as worthy contributors to their revenue growth. Not to editorialize, but it’s about time. According to the 2018 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, nearly 50% of respondents expect to increase their IT budget in 2019. You read that correctly — 50%!

With a dramatically increased budget, CIOs will look to expand their IT staff. One of the IT hiring trends to look for 2019 will be a larger focus on specialized talent. Companies are going to be looking for experts in specific areas of tech, such as AI development, ML engineers, etc. With additional resources, companies will be able to afford to look for these areas of specialization.

However, an increased interest in specialized talent will mean that finding the right job candidate will require even more work. With more tech departments competing for the perfect hire, companies are going to have to step up their game. Creating appealing benefit packages and competitive salaries as well as ensuring an unbeatable company culture will be more important than ever if you’re looking to attract new talent.

Along with hiring more specialized talent, 2019 will also highlight the importance of diversity in your tech department. Diversity made the news all throughout 2018. Many companies will continue to prioritize diversity throughout the coming year. Additionally, there have also been reports, such as this one from McKinsey, proving the business benefits of diversity, such as increased innovation.

If you’d like more information on  Technology Solutions  connect with Aspirant!

phil-kossler
2019/01
January 8, 2019
Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

Tech Trends: What Will 2019 Bring for Tech Advancements?

Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

If you’ve been following our blog (and you should be) you’ve learned about creating a culture of accountability. You’ve also learned about working with Aspirant and other top management consulting firms to help you achieve organizational effectiveness. Good for you! You’re on the right track to an accountable, productive and happy organization.

The next step is to maintain and sustain all your hard work, and there are many different tips and tricks to keep that culture going. The most important one is to showcase your own personal accountability.

Tip 1: Recognize accountability is bigger than just business as usual.

Accountability is a fundamental element in all societies as well as to the organizations that inhabit society (Hall et al., 2003). It is not necessarily something that is specific to the business world. And while it’s true that corporate and departmental accountability are important, all of that hinges on personal accountability. Some call it “felt accountability”.

Tip 2: Blame is the kryptonite of accountability; avoid it at all costs.

A leader that looks for others to blame cannot expect members of his or her team to be pillars of accountability. You must be the prime example of what you want in your employees. There are many negative effects of a leader or CEO not being visibly accountable to their team. Here are some  examples.

The organization's ability to scale efficiently will be limited when a CEO can’t be counted on to do his or her part. The effort that the people who report to the CEO put in will diminish as they continue to see the CEO as not being accountable. The leadership team as a whole will become dysfunctional, which will heighten employee and customer frustrations.

Tip 3: Accountability is a perception; work within that context.

Felt accountability, which is often called simply “accountability,” refers to an individual’s personal perceptions of his or her own accountability (Frink & Klimoski, 1998). Accountability has been defined as a “perceived expectation that one’s decisions or actions will be evaluated by a salient audience and that rewards or sanctions are believed to be contingent on this expected evaluation” (Hall & Ferris, 2011, p. 134).

Tip 4: Model appropriate behavior and take responsibility.

A good leader should consider these with all of their workplace actions and behaviors. They should also understand that others are looking to them to model appropriate behavior. So conduct yourself respectfully, and be accountable as a leader, thus earn the respect of your employees. People try to imitate the behavior of those they respect, bringing about a cycle and culture of accountability.

One thing you need to be sure to hold yourself accountable for is holding your team accountable. As a manager or a leader, part of your responsibility is making sure the members of your team are doing their part. That can sometimes lead to difficult conversations and decisions, but it is imperative for a culture of accountability.

Remember, your people are watching you. If they see you let “John” get away with putting in minimal effort at a project, they’ll recognize that he is not being held accountable. In turn, this means you do not hold yourself accountable for managing your team. Thus, you’ve lost the trust and respect of your team members. Accountability becomes less important.

Tip 5: Give yourself and your team time.

This won’t be an overnight transition, but if you continue to fall short of accountability expectations, so will your team. One by one, project by project, employees will put in less effort. You must inspire them to work better.

Tip 6: Create an accountability system.

To help with this, you need to implement an organizational tracking system to keep track of both the success and lack of success of your team. Celebrate the successes and learn from the failures. Hold people accountable through rewards for good accountability, and reviewing errors in accountability. A job scorecard is a good way to do this, but there are many other options and lots of technologies that can help you.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about sustaining a culture of accountability in your workplace, as well as being a model of personal accountability, check out our eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2019/01
January 4, 2019
Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

Culture of Accountability: Tips to Forging Ways of Working

JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

Managers who don’t know the ins and outs of JavaScript but oversee a workforce that does should become familiar with certain phrases and terms related to it. This will not only aid in communication with employees, but will also assist in helping your customers or clients with questions. JavaScript concepts may seem overwhelming, but with a little research you should be able to at least follow a conversation and understand what’s going on.

Closures

This is a simple and seemingly obvious JavaScript term. A closure refers to a function retaining its access to the scope in which it was created. Closures allow for memoization, data hiding and dynamic function generation. It’s an inner function with access to the outer enclosing functions variables. It has access to its own scope, outer function’s variables and the global variables.

 

Scope

It’s important to understand the differences between local scope, global scope and block scope. Variables are considered local scope if they are inside a function. Those outside the function are global. Variables in local scope can have a different scope for each call of that function. Variables of the same name can be used for multiple functions.

A global scope can be altered and accessed in any other scope, as there is only one global scope in a JavaScript document. Block statements do not create new scopes, any variable defined inside a block statement will remain in their original scope.

 

Value vs. Reference

Objects, arrays, and functions are copied and passed into functions. The reference is what’s being copied. Primitives are copied and passed by copying the value. There are five data types in JavaScript which are copied by value, that’s Boolean, null, String, undefined, and Number. These are considered primitive types.

There are three types of data which are copied by having their reference copied, that’s Array, Object, and Function. These are technically Objects.

 

Higher Order Functions

Functions are first-class objects in JavaScript. Higher Order functions are functions that can take another function as an argument, or that returns a function as a result. This is one of the things about JavaScript which make it so suitable for functional programming.

Objects can be assigned as the value of a variable, and can be passed and returned such as any other reference variable. This is basically a JavaScript superpower and leads to a very natural approach to functional programming.

 

Prototypes and Inheritance

Inheritance in JavaScript works through the Prototype chain. It can be set up through functions and objects. The JavaScript term inheritance refers to an object’s ability to access methods and properties from another object.

 

Hoisting

Variable and function declarations are what’s called hoisted (lifted and declared) to the top of their available scope, if defined in a function, at the top of the global context or outside a function.

Function expressions are not hoisted, only variable declarations, so not variable initialization or assignments. As it takes precedence, function declaration will override a variable declaration when hoisted.

 

‘Apply,’ ‘Call,’ ‘Bind’

These methods are different only slightly, and it can be hard to remember which function does what. ‘Call’ invokes the function while allowing you to pass in arguments one at a time. ‘Apply’ also invokes the function but allows you to pass in arguments as an array. And finally, ‘bind’ returns a new function, allowing you to pass in a ‘this’ array and any number of arguments.

Now, after that you are not going to be a  JavaScript expert, but you should have an easier time trying to follow along in a conversation with people who are. There’s way more to JavaScript than you can imagine, to learn more, connect with us here at Aspirant!

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phil-kossler
2019/01
January 2, 2019
JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

JavaScript Concepts Every Manager Should Know

Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the qualities and skills needed to manage a remote workforce. Now, let’s take a closer look at the qualities of a good remote employee. Employees who work from home require a specific skill set and need to possess a particular work ethic and attitude. You have to be able to trust them to deliver the desired results without the day-to-day oversight that an office worker receives.

The first step is to ensure your candidate has all the skills and abilities your specific position requires. However, this is only part of what you should look for when managing teams remotely. Here are some of the other qualities and characteristics you should look for in the next person you hire.

 

Qualities to Look for in Successful Remote Workers:

Self-Discipline and Great Organizational Habits

A remote worker needs to be a self-starter and keep moving forward without someone looking over their shoulder. They need to be judicious with their time and energy, and that can be difficult when working from home. That’s why strong self-discipline is so important. Even though they are working from the comfort of their own home, there needs to be clear distinction between working hours and time off the clock.

Along with good self-discipline, excellent time tracking, and organizational abilities are a must. Remote working often means the employee’s schedule for the day is almost entirely up to them. In order to make sure they get the most from it, they need to keep to a regular rhythm, document all deadlines, and keep detailed task lists and a constantly updated calendar. When the need to collaborate with others comes about, they must be able to rely on an accurate calendar.

 

An Adaptable and Flexible Nature

As mentioned above, it’s important to have an accurate and updated schedule, especially when working remotely. However, it’s also important to be open to changes, based on the needs of the job. There will be impromptu conference calls, new high-priority tasks, and both slow and busy work times. A good remote worker knows how to prioritize and take advantage of slower times to stay on task.

A remote workforce gains the flexibility to adapt their work schedule to their personal life, but with that comes a responsibility to be available and flexible to work outside of the typical schedule. A remote worker must be a master at moving around the chessboard of life.

 

Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills

When an employee works from home, the majority of their communication is going to be in the form of email or other text platforms. That’s why the right remote worker should excel in all forms of communication. The opportunities to check in or clarify aren’t as prevalent as they are with in-office employees, so it’s crucial your remote workers know how to get their point across.

This is a non-negotiable and critical skill. A remote worker must be able to comprehend and communicate with everyone on the team. They need to be clear and concise without leaving room for miscommunications is vital.

 

Independent and Successful Troubleshooting Skills

Remote employees should have a knack for independent troubleshooting. There will be daily hurdles to overcome and no one around to help with them. Of course, all remote workforces should have a community where they can interact with coworkers, but it should not be relied upon for everyday issues. Critical thinking skills should be expected.

Personal issues can derail your work day as easily as an increased workload. A good remote employee keeps from getting distracted as much as possible. When troubles arise they need to be able to research solutions and document them on their own. If the same problem arises again, documentation will be handy and should be shared with anyone on the team for whom it’d be relevant.

 

Self-Confidence and Reliable Judgement

A remote worker cannot be someone who is constantly second-guessing themselves. They need the ability to make thought-out and informed decisions about their work without having to run things by a committee. They also need to be able to do this in a reasonable time period.

It’s imperative that their self-confidence is not misplaced as well. The decisions that they make need to be good ones. You should be able to rely on their abilities to do the right thing and get the job done. Everyone can make mistakes at some point but overall, a remote workforce needs to be able to achieve on their own.

 

These are just a few of the great traits you’re looking for when hiring remote employees. For more on where things are headed, check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Managing teams remotely has its challenges, but it is a critical component to achieving strategic goals. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/12
December 31, 2018
Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

Qualities of Successful Remote Workers

3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

JavaScript is one of the best languages for creating web applications. There are many great options for JavaScript libraries and it’s hard to know what to choose. Which JavaScript Library is best? They all have similar attributes and a few areas in which they excel. We’ll talk about a few of the more popular ones and their various features.

Before we launch into the various libraries, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. When comparing JavaScript libraries, you need to ask yourself some questions.

  • Is it flexible enough to meet your changing needs?
  • Is it secure?
  • Is it consistently updated?
  • Does it have a supportive community to help?
  • Does it offer examples or easy-to-use documentation?


With those questions in mind, let’s examine three of the most popular JavaScript libraries and/or frameworks for 2018.

 

React

React is a JavaScript library that is open sourced. It is excellent for creating large web applications with consistently changing data. React is easy to learn thanks to its simplicity in terms of syntax. All you need is HTML writing skills and you can do this.

React has a virtual DOM which displays information quickly and allows for arranging documents in HTML, XHTML, or XML formats into a tree form that is better recognized by web browsers while also parsing different elements of the web app. One of the highlights of React is that it’s declarative; you can tell it what to do without having to tell it how to do it.

There’s also a high level of flexibility and a maximum of responsiveness. It also has downward data binding so that the child elements can’t affect the parent data. It’s very lightweight as the data performing on the user side is easily represented on the server side concurrently.

The 100% open source JavaScript library gets daily updates and enhancements from developers across the globe. Updating to different versions is usually easy with the “codemods” provided by Facebook to automate much of that process.

There are some aspects of React that need improvement. There’s a significant lack of official documentation. The rapid development lends itself toward documentation that is not kept updated and is chaotic. Developers contribute at random without a common process or method. React’s policy of being non-opinionated can lead to developers having too much choice. All of this contributes to React being hard to master, with a need for extensive knowledge and research on how to integrate user interface into MVC framework.

 

Vue

Vue is great for creating sophisticated, single-page applications and highly flexible user interfaces. Vue is empowered by HTML, it has similar characteristics with Angular which can optimize HTML blocks handling with a usage of different components.

Vue is highly adaptable with a quick switching period to other frameworks because of its similarity in design and architecture. It also has great documentation. It’s very detailed and circumstantial which helps quicken the learning curve for developers. You can develop and app with only basic HTML and JavaScript knowledge.

It can be very integrative, working well for both single-page applications as well as complicated web interfaces. There are small interactive parts which can be simply integrated into a current infrastructure without negative effects on the system.

Vue is a lightweight. 20KB can maintain its speed and flexibility, allowing better performance than expected with the ability to create large reusable templates with no extra time.

One area where Vue falls short is its lack of resources. It’s relatively small in the industry, so the knowledge base is slim. Along those same lines, its small status can be a problem when integrating into larger projects as there is so little experience and solutions out there to explore if things go wrong. But that will be fixed in time. It also has a limited amount of its documentation translated into English. This can lead to complications for various stages of development, but this is also something that’s being worked on.

 

Angular

This is the superhero of JavaScript framework. It builds great, highly interactive web applications. It has two-way data binding that enables singular behavior, minimizing the risks of errors.

It has great new features with compilation under three seconds. It’s kept consistently up to date and offers detailed documentation. You can find any information you need without having to reach out to others just from using their documentation. However, you will need to set aside some to read over the education materials provided by this documentation, which can be challenging for time crunched companies.

The MVVM (Model-View-View-Model) enables developers to work with the same set of data on the same application separately. It also offers dependency injection of the features related to the components with modules and modularity in general.

Angular is an overall great choice. But, it does have a couple downsides. Even the updated version of Angular has the complex syntax that’s existed since version one. It has improved with updates but is still difficult. There have also been noted migration issues when moving from one version to a newer one.

Hopefully, these notes on different JavaScript options help spark some thought and discussion on your part! For more information on choosing the right JavaScript library, or any other tech concerns, connect with us at Aspirant.

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phil-kossler
2018/12
December 18, 2018
3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

3 Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks to Consider

6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

As with any language, JavaScript has several different aspects that can be difficult to learn. However, it is one of the core modern web application languages and most tech departments require a working knowledge. While it may seem like a simple language, it can be much more powerful and complex than you would first believe. It has many subtleties that can lead to problems for new developers. Here are some of the more common mistakes you might run into.

1. Using Block-Level Scope

While many other languages create a new scope for every code block, JavaScript does not. The variable in Java remains in scope even once the loop has completed and it retains its final value upon exiting. In other languages, it’s destroyed after the loop.

This is an often-missed quirk, particularly among new JavaScript developers. This is something to look into if you’re finding bugs in your code.

 

2. The “+” Symbol Means Addition and Concatenation

Not all languages work this way, but it does in the JavaScript library. This means you have to be careful about how you use the plus sign when you are writing statements. JavaScript developers use both strings and numbers to account for user input. This changes the output when you ignore that the user input can also be evaluated as a string. Convert the string value to an integer to avoid this issue.

 

3. Creating Leaks in Memory

Unfortunately in JavaScript, memory leaks can become an almost inevitable problem unless you make a point to code in an avoidance of them. Memory leaks are the result of object references that are unnecessarily sustained when they are no longer needed. This causes your machine to consume resources that aren’t needed. 

Two common things that can cause memory leaks when using the JavaScript library:

  • Dangling references to defunct objects
  • Circular references

Here is a good reference for identifying and fixing JavaScript leaks.

 

4. Inefficient DOM Manipulation

With JavaScript, it is not hard to manipulate the DOM, but there’s nothing that encourages you to do it efficiently. One example is the ability to add a series of DOM Elements one at a time. It’s an ineffective process likely to cause issues. However, you are able to add multiple DOM elements consecutively. Adding document fragments instead is an effective alternative which improves performance and productivity.

 

5. Equality Confusion

While it is one of the convenient aspects of JavaScript to coerce any value referenced in a boolean contest to a boolean value, it can also be confusing. Using [= = =] and [! = =] instead of [= =] and [! =] is best unless you are purposely going for type coercion.

 

6. Failing to Use “Strict Mode”

This is a way to enforce stricter error handling and parsing on your JavaScript code at runtime, and it makes it more secure. Though it might not be considered a mistake to not use it, it’s certainly considered best practices to use strict mode.

Some of the benefits include:

  • Easier debugging
  • Eliminates [this] coercion
  • Prohibits duplicate property names and parameter values
  • Prevents accidental globals
  • Shows errors on invalid usage of [delete]
  • Makes eval() safer

There are many things to know about JavaScript, the more you learn and understand the better your code will be. Soon you’ll be able to harness the full power of the language. For more information, reach out to Aspirant below.

phil-kossler
2018/12
December 11, 2018
6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

6 Common Mistakes in JavaScript

JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

What’s the best JavaScript library and framework for your company? There are a lot of options and it’s important to consider which one would work best for your organization.

Why is a Good JavaScript Library Important?

One of the first things to consider is if your customers or users even care what library you’re using. In case you’re wondering, that answer is probably no. The only people who might be interested in that are other tech people.

What people do care about is whether the application works and solves their problem quickly and easily. Don’t be too quick to pick something you know you like. You’re making this for your customer. If the library you’ve chosen can build a successful application and meets these customer-focused goals, you’ve picked the right one as far as the users are concerned.

 

Are JavaScript Libraries High-Maintenance?

While it’s easy to get caught up in building new applications, you have to consider continual maintenance. Whether you or your customer will be the one performing it, everyone wants something that’s simple and easy to maintain.

Included in this thought process is the ability hire. You want a Javascript framework wherein new hires can come in and hit the ground running with. This can mean it’s popular and well known, or that it’s easy to learn.

How do your people like to code? Do they like to use a compiler, lending towards a TypeScript? Do they write unit tests, end-to-end tests, etc? Make sure you get a library that will support what you do. Does the library have an easy deployment process? How about organization for code? Is information regarding this framework readily available and widely accepted? These are just a few of the maintenance items you’ll need to consider.

 

Will Your JavaScript Library Stand the Test of Time?

Technology is constantly changing, updating and getting better. Your JavaScript library should be too. However, you might not want to jump on something that is brand new. You want stability with at least a short history of performance to look at.

Look at the source code repository. When was the last time it was updated? Do they release updates in versions that make sense and meld with the way your team functions? Does it have a good open source community? How many contributors does the library have? Also, is it supported by a dedicated full-time team or an open-source community? Neither support system is bad, but they are different and something you should consider.

How is the library support for unresolved issues? Take some time to look into how often issues are resolved and how quickly. Take that information with a grain of salt though. Many people will post something as an “issue” that is really just a suggestion or question. However with a little research you should get a pretty good idea of the health of the framework.

 

What Libraries are Others Using?

Check with your colleagues and associates around the industry, what JavaScript libraries are they using? Even trusted technical people from other industries are good to consult with. Ask for advice and for specific questions about their library. You shouldn’t let someone make the decision for you, but it can be helpful to get their input.

Look online for reviews or browse blogs, top ten lists and other places that provide good information. Consider everything from the point of view of your organization. At the end of the day you want to pick something that’s right for your company, not someone else’s.

Explore more help with JavaScript questions and other technology solutions at Aspirant.

phil-kossler
2018/12
December 4, 2018
JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

JavaScript Library: Questions to Ask To Aid in Selection

Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

If you’ve been following our blog, you’ve already read how DevOps can help you achieve quarterly goals. But simply having a DevOps process isn’t enough. Winning your quarterly goals requires planning, research, and execution. Planning isn’t always easy, but a little forethought can easily prevent these common tech mistakes:

1. Out-of-Date Software and Hardware

Minimizing downtime is always a key imperative. Out-of-date software and hardware make that much harder. The older it is, the more difficult and expensive it is to find people who can work on it. And, at some point, it will need to be replaced. So, it often makes sense to be proactive about those improvements / replacements so your team and your customers can begin enjoying the benefits of reliable, modern technology as soon as possible.

Incorporating regular updates into your quarterly planning cycle helps make sure they are not overlooked or deprioritized.

 

2. Not Keeping Backups and Not Checking Your Process

Your company is reliant on the data generated and collected by your tech infrastructure. Failing to have a tested, proven backup process in place when disaster strikes can be a death sentence for any company. Investing in the appropriate off-the-shelf solutions and/or service providers can safeguard against that extinction level event. 

Even if your data is backed up, are you confident in your ability to get everything back online? How quickly could you get that done? What would the impact be of that lost time? Having processes in place to support data backup is just as important as the backed up data itself.

 

3. Not Planning for User Training

This mistake is painfully common. Plans to revolutionize your operation with new software are approved and the corresponding impact is baked into the strategic plan. You schedule all the needed time for development, testing, and edits. But end user training is completely overlooked.

No matter how intuitive that transition may seem to be, training will always be needed. Gaining end user adoption will be exponentially more difficult if users aren't confident in how it relates to their specific roles. The investment in the new tech will have been wasted and the growth it was expected to generate will have to be found elsewhere.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our unique Integrated Expertise ensures the quality of the applications we develop as well as their successful implementation into our clients' ways of working. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help your company utilize technology to get ahead and stay ahead.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 27, 2018
Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

Improve Tech Planning by Avoiding these 3 Common Mistakes

What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

What is your strategy for unplanned work that comes up in a project or in general? Do you have one? Let’s face it, at every organization and in every industry, unanticipated projects will happen. So, how can DevOps help you with it?

The driving force behind DevOps is being able to develop, test and roll out the software at a higher frequency and with more reliable results. That goal alone will help you deal with unplanned work, but how else can it help?

The heart of DevOps is a change in culture and philosophy. It bridges a gap between development and operations that puts them on the same team. End users and programmers are now working together, building trust and integrating their departments. This kind of teamwork promotes quick resolution of critical issues, a higher rate of innovation, and the ability to rapidly respond to unplanned work and complications.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of a DevOps environment.

 

Culture of Collaboration

Many companies suffer from silos. Individual departments often do their own job well enough but do not cooperate with other teams in the company. This leads to subpar final products. Culture is the first success of DevOps. The collaborative atmosphere creates a shared responsibility for the accuracy and results of the final product. The process of creating becomes transparent and the ability to give and act on feedback rapidly adds trust and reliability.

DevOps helps you break free of siloes. Promoting team members to consider how their work affects not just themselves and their team but each team and affected user throughout the life of the project. It eliminates the mentality of blame and fear of responsibility. Everyone becomes responsible for a release that is beneficial as expected. Workers have a sincere aspiration to work together to create a solution.

 

Smarter and Faster Automation

Time is one of your most precious resources. DevOps has the ability to create faster releases with increased quality. With the culture of collaboration mentioned above you will create better automation and more uniform tools and procedures. Operations will trust the work of developers and will not hesitate to go to them with any kinks found in the process, allowing quick and painless resolution.

With the minimization of repetitive work operations and reliable outcomes workers are able to think about innovation and become inspired to suggest and work for even more improved procedures. Once you employ continuous delivery for your software rollouts it frees up even more time and provides more reliable outcomes.

 

Fast-tracked Issue Resolutions

With the quick feedback coming from your improved communications  and the benefits of automation your team will be able to respond to issues quickly and minimize any related downtime. As this is one of the main instigators of frustration between team members these smooth rollouts will do even more to help improve your team culture. They will come together to rapidly fix any issues and rollout out the resolutions as fast as possible.

Also, your automated processes and open communication will contribute to fewer issues overall. Plus, with your team accepting responsibility as a whole you will skip right over the time-consuming “whose fault is this” part of a problem and straight to finding a solution.

 

The Impact on Unplanned Work

Together, all of these things contribute to a decreased amount of and better management of unplanned work. You have consistent and reliable automated processes and a team not held back from a lack of communication and trust. Unplanned work can easily filter through the regular process without much impact.

 

Learn More About DevOps with Aspirant

These are just a few of the ways DevOps helps you deal with unplanned work. Follow the link to learn more about transitioning to DevOps with Aspirant.

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 20, 2018
What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

What Are the Benefits of DevOps?

How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

Once you’ve built some internal interest for DevOps, it’s time to start hitting executives with some hooks to support DevOps adoption. It’s not as hard to get CIOs, IT directors, and similar folks on board; they know the value and usually like to keep up-to-date on the best technology solutions and processes. But, what about your CFO, or your manufacturing director? Show the whole executive team how DevOps can help with development quarterly goals.

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance is a popular subject, everybody wants it. Everybody also hates to invest the time, people and money into it. This is often a company goal, decreasing incorrect products and services helps save the company money. It prevents wasting time and resources. Organizations are often forced to depend on inspection to achieve quality. This prevents imperfection from reaching the consumer, but does not save you the time and money needed to create it. Plus it adds the cost and time of the inspection. With DevOps you can eliminate the need for inspection by building efficiency and quality into the system that creates your product or service. Quality Assurance becomes an automatic part of the process, not something you add on to the end. You’ll decrease mistakes and free up labor and resources.

 

Reworking Software

Along the same lines as above, no matter how many times you test and check software, it seems like you miss something. Developers spend so much time and effort going back over, fixing mistakes and making changes in code. If you’re considering adopting DevOps, start tracking that time with your current process. Include your developers’ time as well as people from other departments who test. Get an idea of your timeframe and then an average pay rate. Calculate how much it costs the company to use the current process, and get an idea of how much time will be saved with a DevOps process. In DevOps, mistakes are found earlier and fixed long before it affects any end users. With issues found sooner, fixing them is also simpler and faster. You free up your developer capacity to create more innovation. This helps you save money and move faster.

 

Downtime

Decreasing downtime is often a goal for IT departments. Start keeping track of how much downtime you have for testing and rolling out new software. Estimate how much time you’ve lost to outages and disruptions involving technology in the past year. Equate that to a dollar amount. Make sure to include lost production time, lost wages of end users as well as developers and anything else that is affected. Any of this is adding unnecessary time and costs to the department. DevOps can improve stability and performance across the board. You’ll have higher quality software that is rolled out quickly and efficiently, with little to know downtime.

 

Increased Innovation

You want to be ahead of the curve with new technology. Your company wants to roll out improved software and new applications sooner rather than later. DevOps adoption helps you get there. Your process is quick, smooth, and inclusive. You can be more confident in the outcome knowing that all the people needed were involved. You’re out there before the competition, and you did it faster. If not, consider the alternative. The competition is using DevOps and they get out the latest and greatest before you, while you’re struggling to keep up.

These are just a few of the kind of development quarterly goals that DevOps adoptions can help with. Partner with the experts at Aspirant to help figure out how a DevOps adoption can help your company stay ahead. Reach out below!

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 13, 2018
How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

How DevOps Service Helps Companies Achieve Goals

3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

It’s the season for strategic workforce planning for HR professionals. The workforce is the heart of a business, and having the right strategy in place makes success much more achievable. Don’t leave the planning process to the last minute. The sooner you start planning and evaluating the future of your workforce, the better.

The Importance of Strategic Workforce Planning

This is an endeavor that should not be done alone. It’s tempting to handle it all yourself, but don’t make the mistake of excluding other departments from your organization. The more cohesive your team is in the planning process, the smoother the whole year at your company is going to go.

Here are a few steps that are often overlooked in strategic workforce planning:

 

1. Be actionable

When coordinating with other company leaders, make sure to give actionable information. Don’t tell them it’s time to think about strategic workforce planning or future hires; give specific information and tasks. Actionable information motivates people into, well, action. Be prepared with strategic business ideas and use them to inspire action. If you know the sales team is selling new products next year, estimate how many new team members may need to be hired, or how much training on the product will be needed for current employees. Calculate both the cost and time frame of filling those positions and completing training. Give the leader of the sales team those numbers.

You will see quicker and more precise action by telling them they will need 5 new salespeople hired within 3 months to have time to be trained for the release date of the new product. Otherwise, they will not be able to meet their sales goals. This will make much more of an impact then just asking them to provide you with their workforce planning.

 

2. Encourage a sense of urgency

To create urgency, you need more than just a deadline, you need a 'Why'. Explain to company leaders how their planning and decision making influences each other and why it’s so important to be strategic and timely. A facilities manager will benefit from knowing how many new hires to expect from each department. They may need to create new workspaces, build additional cubical or machine space, etc. If additions are needed, this could require an electrician or other specialists Likewise, your IT department will require at least an estimate of additional computers and software that will be needed so they can work it into their budget as well as have it ordered and ready for new hires when they arrive. Explaining the reasons behind deadlines and helping leaders realize the effects of their decisions on other departments can be very helpful.

 

3. Encourage relationships

Now that you have motivated your leaders into action and given them a sense of urgency, it’s time for you to help bridge the relationships between departments, leaders and yourself. Leverage your employee network. Engage someone from every department in the company for strategic workforce planning. Strategic planning can often feel like one more item on their to-do list that they have to handle, but a face behind the name could make the process much smoother. Overcoming this stigma can be critical for your company’s path to success. Foster conversation between everyone, remind them of the benefits of having a strategic workforce and how planning ahead of time can make it a much easier and more rewarding process. Emphasize their cohesion with each other by explaining how each department’s success and planning complements the other.

It is never a bad idea to build and strengthen relationships at work, for any reason. The more a team learns to work together, and the smoother that work becomes the better off everyone will be. If you manage to make the workforce planning painless and beneficial then it will continue to get better every year.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

The steps above have proven useful for clients in their adoption of more focused workforce planning. Could your leadership team use support to do the same? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy experts can help develop a cohesive plan that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/11
November 12, 2018
3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

3 Steps Missing from Strategic Workforce Planning

4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

Transitioning to a DevOps process allows your organization to transform its workflow for the better and can have a great impact on morale, your bottom line, and customer satisfaction. But it’s not something to be done lightly or without research. It’s a great idea to bring in help with your DevOps transition. You supply the experts on your company and reach out to experts for DevOps. An experienced hand can help you realize and implement all the benefits of DevOps. Here are a few things to consider when looking for a DevOps firm to partner with:

1. Vendor Communication

A DevOps process transition can’t be completed without good communication. While doing your due diligence in interviewing prospective partners, pay attention to how well they communicate with you, with each other and with any other vendors or employees with whom they have contact. Even if a company has all the right tools, methods and philosophies, your transition will fail without good communication.

Does the DevOps firm respond in a timely manner? Do they listen to your questions and concerns and respond clearly? If you’re having trouble understanding each other now, it’s likely not to get any better under stress and complications. When checking on references for the firm, make sure to ask about their communication style.

 

2. Tech Skills and Experience

You want to make sure any company you consider has the technical skills, tools and experience you will need for a smooth DevOps transition. Ask how many DevOps transitions they’ve completed. Talk to their employees, not just their sales person, about what their skills and strengths are. In addition to having experience with Agile and DevOps, they should have experience in your industry and the area of your company you plan to start with, such as accounting, sales etc.

One red flag is when a company appears to have one expert in relevant fields. If “John” is a company superstar and everyone else are just supporting players, what will happen to your transition if “John” were to find a new job? One of the benefits of outsourcing is getting the variety of skill and talent another company can offer. The qualifications you’re looking for should be a core competency of the company.

 

3. Firm Location

Maybe they don’t have to be local, but you need to consider the time zone of any firm you partner with for a DevOps transition. Your business may also be more comfortable with a local firm. If you have members who are hesitant about moving to a DevOps philosophy, it might help to have someone who can physically come to your location. If that’s not necessary and the company is in a different time zone, make sure you discuss meeting and work times before signing on with them. While your firm should ideally meet your schedule’s needs, things do come up. What’s more, asking your possibly already skeptical team to adjust their schedules for the transition will not help you with buy-in.

 

4. Firm Size

This can be very important. A partner that is too small won’t be able to properly cater to your company’s needs. You may be stuck waiting for responses or work to be done which can put your whole project on hold. But a firm that is too large may not see your organization as important enough in their overall customer base. You will not get top tier talent or attention if you’re too small for them. Your employees may encounter what feels like arrogance and neglect. Look for that “Goldilocks” firm — one that’s just right for your needs. Make sure to get an idea of their customer base and employee numbers. You want to find the perfect balance in size to match your needs.

 

Learn More About DevOps with Aspirant

These are just a few of the considerations you should make when choosing a DevOps firm. Learn more about how Aspirant can help you with transitioning to DevOps. Fill out the form below if you want to speak to our team of experts!

phil-kossler
2018/11
November 6, 2018
4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

4 Things to Consider When Comparing a DevOps Companies

Understanding DevOps

DevOps has become, like so many other industry terms and methods, quite ubiquitous in recent years. It’s thrown around so much that its true meaning is often misunderstood, or lost altogether. Defining the DevOps methodology is the first step in understanding how it works to better development efforts — from design to customer support.

What is DevOps?

As its name suggests, DevOps is the merging of the development and operations areas of your business. Bringing these two disparate departments under one umbrella. DevOps seeks to combat these two sides operating within their own vacuum. DevOps is recognizing that each of these sides does more harm than good when not in constant communication with the other. 

Again, DevOps it is not a catch-all term, but rather describes the symbiotic relationship between development and operations working through a project’s entire lifecycle. When we say the entire lifecycle, we mean the entire lifecycle. From product design, through its actual development, and even through to production and user support. Nailing down what DevOps looks like is unique to every company.

While the development aspect is self-explanatory, the operations portion can be a bit vague. The “Ops” in DevOps might refer to system admins, general operations staff, engineers, or whoever else isn’t involved strictly in the development side of things.

 

DevOps vs. Agile

We’ve talked a lot about the Agile Software Development Strategy on the blog before. If DevOps sounds similar, you’re not imagining things. In some ways, DevOps was born out of Agile. The latter requires constant communication and close collaboration between developers, product managers and customers to inform a better development process and overall product. These principals certainly carry over to the DevOps methodology, but add a greater importance on how the final service or product is delivered.

In other words, DevOps can be seen as an extension to the Agile system you’ve already put in place, yet extends further than the development and maintenance of a project. However, like Agile, DevOps can be difficult to put into words or explain to your company. At the end of the day, DevOps is going to look different everywhere it’s used. To better understand the DevOps methodology, we’ll explore what DevOps is not in a future blog post. Stay tuned! 

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in helping you understand the DevOps methodology. If your company is looking to adopt the DevOps way of software development, explore our our app development and integration capabilities or let us know how we can help below!

phil-kossler
2018/10
October 31, 2018
Understanding DevOps

Understanding DevOps

Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

As 2018 winds down, many HR professionals are researching and preparing for next year’s changes and influences. Society, technology, economy, employment trends and politics can all affect the way our workplace is handled. This is why having excellent HR professionals is so important. The most effective HR leaders and business partners constantly educate themselves on how changes in the world affect their company and employees. That's why consulting firms like Aspirant are finding ourselves in discussions on the trends most likely to impact HR.

Here are some of the topics we find we ourselves discussing most with clients:

 

1. Wellbeing at Work and Whole-Person Employment

Constantly improving technology and the advanced pace for change leads to a workforce that is always “on.” Employees are becoming more overloaded. That feeling of being overwhelmed is impacting emotional, social, and physical wellbeing in the workplace. HR professionals and corporations need to start addressing all aspects of employee health when assessing their culture & workplace practices. Their people need to not just cope, but thrive in their professional environments. The physical and mental wellbeing of employees is going to be on trend for 2019 for any company that wants to have a healthy, focused, and productive workforce.

 

2. Diversified Power

Employees will have increasing amounts of power across their organizations, challenging direction, and seeking to understand the 'why' behind what they do. More than ever before, HR professionals will need to learn to articulate the ‘why’ in what employees are doing. How do their roles and individual tasks fit into the organizational purpose? When someone understands and believes in what they are doing, they do a better job. This is the year of why, HR will need to help facilitate employees seeing the big picture and how their everyday work contributes to it. A great example of this is the story of the three bricklayers. When asked what they are doing, one man says he is laying brick, another says he is building a wall, and the third man says that he is building a cathedral. They are all doing the same job, but the third man understands the ultimate vision and that he is a part of it. Make 2019 the year of the cathedral builders in your organization. (Read more about this example here)

 

3. Leveraging Technology

If you’ve kept up with training seminars, you know technology will continue to play a larger role in not only HR, but organizations as whole. Trainings and seminars are beginning to lean heavily on specialized phone apps and web-based curricula to guide or even complete trainings. Furthermore, this content is becoming increasingly interactive. From online activities to virtual reality.

Imagine the power of a VR in which a new employee can encounter and react to real world scenarios they’ll deal with at work without the possibility of negatively impacting a customer if the make a mistake.

You can save both time and money by using technological advances to train and test employees before they even set foot into their actual role. Employees will start out more experienced, with many everyday tasks already under their belt by their first functional day.

 

4. Preparing the Workforce to Work with Technology

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here. The news has mostly focused on the effects of AI and automation on the workforce, mainly, job loss. But that’s not the whole story and that’s not what’s going to be headlining talks in 2019. As new technologies, bots, and AI become a larger and larger part of many industries, it’s important to ensure your staff is trained them now. These new tools will continue to take on more work and the roles of your workforce will have to shift to accommodate that. Don’t rely on your team to upskill and re-skill itself. Progress doesn’t have to leave people behind. Your employees can grow with you, with technology and automation.

When it comes to human workers, teams are becoming much more geographically diverse. There is already a need for professional managers who know how to collaborate with virtual or remote workers. As more companies open up their talent sphere, the need for this type of manager will only increase.

 

5. Managing the Omnipresent Workforce

The employee of today (and certainly tomorrow) wants a work schedule that is adaptive to their needs. A 2018 study by Canada Life found that 77% of workers agreed that flexible working positively affected productivity. Many people assume flexible working just means remote working from home, but the future of flexibility is adapting.

This is the notion of the Omnipresent Workforce. As companies evolve, more and more employers are opting for remote teams. With the greater flexibility offered to workers comes other benefits for organizations. Teams become much more diverse and collaboration among different ways of thinking grows ever more critical. Many industries, such as healthcare, can’t operate unless employees are present, so, how do you provide this flexibility? Offer your employees varied start times. Give parents time to drop their kids off at school by letting them come in at 10, offer a choice of days to work, or which shifts. Talk to your employees and see what matters most to them when it comes to flexibility. The workforce of the future will demand it, as it becomes increasingly important for those aged 55 and younger.

 

Prepare for the Future with Aspirant

Is your HR department ready for 2019? The five points we raised above are a great place to start as we gear up for the new year. But what about farther down the road? What are your goals and strategies for 2025? Download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025 to make sure you’re prepared.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help implement an HR planning process that takes all relevant dynamics into consideration. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 24, 2018
Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

Top 5 HR Trends for 2019

DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

It’s not enough to want to have a DevOps methodology at your company, you have to plan for it, work for it, and continue to foster that Agile environment. DevOps is not a one size fits all strategy. You have to find the most optimal process for fast-tracking software releases without jeopardizing quality objectives.

Here are some tips for helping your company transition to a DevOps Methodology:

 

Assume a DevOps Mentality

Not just you, or your department, but the whole organization needs to have a DevOps mentality. Take the time to explain what it is, what specific needs of your business it can address and why it’s worth the pain of change.

If you haven’t already, this is a good time to create value stream maps of your processes. Before embarking on your journey into DevOps you should know sections of your process that need the most improvement and start there. In addition to solving your critical inefficiencies you are showing the organization what DevOps is capable of. Get your organization into the habit of questioning why. Why is it done this way and how can you make it better?

Make sure people realize DevOps is about more than automation. Yes, that’s part of enhancing current processes, but the true meat of the DevOps methodology is collaboration. Get everyone on board with collaborative work from software development to end user operations to yield the true benefits.

 

Honor Your Individuality

Even though it may be said, DevOps does not have a one size fits all solution to everyone’s problems. Your biggest hurdle, and biggest impact, will be influencing the habits and beliefs of the people in your organization. The fastest way to fail at that is to ignore the unique needs and attributes of what you do.

You want to create beneficial software quickly. You want to make more efficient processes that lead to better products and satisfied customers. To truly do that you need to understand your customers and target market. You need to recognize strengths and abilities of your organization and move forward accordingly.

 

Harness the Full Power of Metrics

Don’t just measure what’s easy. One of the most important parts of DevOps adoption is recording and tracking with the best metrics. Take the risk of measuring something that might not make you look good initially. This way you can show your accurate progress over time and demonstrate credible benefits to upper management.

Here are some suggestions to utilize metrics in the most useful way possible. Think about the needs of your own organization to come up with more:

  • Deployment Speed: the rate at which you deploy quality completed software should increase as DevOps continues

  • Downtime: software downtime should decrease with DevOps, happening less often, and recovering faster when it does

  • Deployment Frequency: a smooth DevOps process should lead to more frequent deployments to test and finalize

The important thing with metrics is to focus on quality. Numbers that make you look good without any real business benefit aren’t doing you or your company any favors. Selecting good, honest metrics and consistently sharing them is one of the best things you can do. Create and display easy to access dashboards that show off your progress. Transparency can be hard but it is a vital part of the DevOps process.

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder with a DevOps Methodology

Don’t try to tackle every imperfect company process in the initial phase of your DevOps transition. Quality over quantity. Start by creating a cross-functional team that includes people from each step of the process. Focus on a high impact opportunity for improvement and create a deployment pipeline to solve constraints. Follow your first project from development to fully operational before tackling more.

Once you have a few DevOps improvement operations under your belt you can start to expand. Master the process first. Make sure you’re successful. Utilize your metrics to prove your system works before applying it to other teams and situations. As you master the system, teach other influencers and watch the positive change spread.

Don’t get caught up in completion. If your team creates fast new software that doesn’t accomplish the original goal, you’ve not had success. Make sure not to lose sight of quality assurance each step of the way. This is why taking the time to work smart is so beneficial. Rushing full throttle into something doesn’t do any good if it’s not the right process.

 

Partner With the Experts at Aspirant

At Aspirant, we are experts in helping you understand the DevOps methodology. If your company is looking to adopt the DevOps way of software development, explore our our App Development & Integration page or let us know how we can help in the form below.

phil-kossler
2018/10
October 24, 2018
DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

DevOps Methodology: Best Practices for Adoption Success

5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

The popularity of recruiting styles often shifts every few years. One year, outsourcing is in, and all the best people come from outside your company’s influence. The next year, insourcing is the only way, and the best people are already part of your organization! This can be more than a little confusing.

As an HR leader, you want to make sure that your recruiting strategy brings in the best talent for the job. You want to recruit and retain employees who contribute to and grow with the success of your company. 

That’s why it’s important to evaluate the facts and apply them to your specific organization when it comes to staffing. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for recruiting and workforce planning. Companies in the same industry can have drastically different processes, all of which can be successful.

Here are five steps to help find your perfect recruitment solution.

 

Assess the strategic plan, corporate goals, and core competencies of your organization.

  • What does your company’s strategic plan look like? Are you intending to grow your customer base with new products and services? Are you enhancing your current offerings? Or is your focus on reducing cost and increasing efficiency? The answers to these questions can have a powerful impact on your recruiting strategy.
  • What are your current high level corporate goals? Is this year devoted to increase sales of current products/services, or developing new ones? While similar to the last question, here you are considering this specific year. What does your company want to accomplish right now? Why type of people do you need to do it?
  • What are your core competencies and where do you lack? What are you really good at? Maybe you manufacture an amazing product your customers love, but you’re not very good at acquiring new customers. Perhaps you have incredible software developers, but you suffer in accounting. Identify your core competencies and the areas where you want, but do not have, competency.

Analyze your current Human Resources bandwidth. 

  • Yes, you also matter in this equation. Make sure HR planning is factored into corporate goal setting. Are you an HR department of one? Do you have a full staff; someone who handles benefits, someone who handles hiring, etc.? Or, do you already utilize HR consulting? To put it simply, do you have the time and resources to recruit on your own? Be honest with yourself. You’re not doing your company justice if you are overcommitting.
  • Also, dig into the weeds of the previous step. What are your core competencies as an HR Director and department? Is finding, choosing and acquiring talent a skill you’ve perfected, or is it something you struggle with? Know your own limits and proficiency.

Evaluate the needs and required skills for various positions and departments.

  • If you’re looking for software developers, do you need someone who can code in C#, a popular and commonly known coding language? Or is most of your company built on a language such as Erlang, with hard to find experts? Basically, how specific is the required knowledge for the positions you’re filling? How common or rare?
  • How often will you need this position? Is there enough work to fill 40 hours per week? Are the positions temporary or permanent?
  • Will the open positions require someone on site, or can they be done remotely?

Conduct a cost analysis of the various strategies.

  • What are the costs associated with outsourcing, such as fees, logistics, contract management etc?
  • What are the training costs? Outsourcing to an accounting expert will take a brief rundown of current processes, whereas hiring an accounting person with less experience will require a considerable training effort.
  • What are the cost of benefits to insourced employees, such as healthcare, 401(k), etc.?

Consider the value added of each option, determine what’s most important to your company and look at the big picture.

  • You realize a high cost of training when a position is insourced, but you value having someone 100% dedicated to your company with insider knowledge. Which is more important: saving money or getting the perfect fit? This is not a trick question and answers can vary.
  • You worry about the dedication of outsourced workers, but you’ve decided your company is not good at selling. Does the “family” atmosphere matter more to you than increased sales? This is not a trick question and can vary.
  • As HR Director you want to be involved in talent acquisition, but you’re afraid you don’t have the time to devote to doing it right. What is most important? This is not a trick question and can vary.

See what I did there? There’s no perfect right answer. You may find that some positions lend well to outsourcing talent acquisition, or outsourcing talent completely. Others may benefit greatly from insourced and in-house employees, and that’s where co-sourcing can come in.

 

Interested in learning about the emerging dynamics in HR? Check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and implement a talent acquisition process that makes your recruiting a competitive advantage. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 15, 2018
5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

5 Steps for Evaluating Your Talent Acquisition Process

Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

A broad range of strategic frameworks have come and gone over the years as companies strive to keep pace with ever-shifting technological, social, and global dynamics. Some of these tools remain useful while others have grown long in the tooth. We have composed our thoughts on the relevance of some of the most popular methods in the modern business environment. 

The Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The Business Model Canvas, introduced by Alexander Osterwalder in Business Model Generation (2005), is a visual representation of a business model. The BMC has endured because it is simple to complete, to understand, and to communicate.

 

Business Model Canvas - Traditional version

Traditional Business Model Canvas

 

The model includes nine components, which together are lauded for providing a holistic view of the business:

  1. Customer Segments: Who are our most important customers / groups of customers?

  2. Value Propositions: What benefit are we delivering to customers?

  3. Channels: How do we deliver our product to each customer segment?

  4. Customer Relationships: How do we interact with each customer segment?

  5. Revenue Streams: What are our customers willing to pay for?

  6. Key Activities: What unique items does our business do to meet our value proposition?

  7. Key Resources: What do we need to deliver on key activities and meet the value proposition?

  8. Key Partnerships: What can others do so that we can focus on our key activities?

  9. Cost Structure: What are our most significant expenditures?

 

Benefits of the Business Model Canvas

The BMC continues to be one of the most popular strategy tools and has a several key benefits:

  • Simplicity: It is easy to understand and use due to intuitive components and flow.
  • Workshop-ability: The model is perfect for a workshop setting. Create a large poster, hand out sticky notes, and get started. It doesn’t take long before everyone is pitching in and bringing the BMC to life. This collaboration can also be accomplished with remote teams via Miro.
  • Shareability: Pass the completed BMC to a colleague, and they will immediately understand.
  • Visuals: The visual representation does a good job of visually breaking down the relationships among the major components of a business.

 

Drawbacks of the Business Model Canvas

  • Oversimplicity: Simplicity is a double-edged sword with this tool. Its ease of use also means that it only offers a high-level view and is not so helpful when considering the underlying details. Interestingly, the BMC has spawned many versions and sub-canvases to help dive into the next level of analysis.
  • Internally Focused: This generates a purely internal view of the business. Sure, it includes customers and customer segments, but only from the view of team members. Outside factors such as Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) have a huge impact on the business model’s eventual success or failure.
  • No Distinct Problem Statement: Finding a true problem to solve is the core to a new or innovative business model. However, that element is missing from the BMC. As a result, some strategists have begun including a problem statement within the Value Proposition section.
  • Objectives Limited to Profit: The BMC shows an opportunity for financial success in terms of profit by way of the Revenue Streams and Cost Structure sections. However, other key business outcomes are not accounted for, such as patient outcomes for a hospital or environmental impact for a manufacturer.
  • Missing Broader Stakeholders and Competitors: Suppliers are included, but other stakeholders such as employees, shareholders, the community, and the government are also critical. Adding a Competitors section is another common modification to this approach. Understanding how other companies target the same or similar value proposition is helpful in determining if the business model is viable.
  • Missing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Every business model has metrics that are the most critical indicators of success. KPIs should drive action and results, and it is smart to think about them from the beginning to keep focus on the end goal.

Putting the Business Model Canvas to Use

Depending on your stated purpose, the BMC can be incremented or combined with other tools to become even more valuable. Incorporating a “Customer Problem” section and making it your starting point, or at least making it part of the “Value Proposition” section, is critical for any BMC. The example below also adds a “KPI” section which is very impactful. Of course, strategists should add other relevant sections to their model as needed, such as competitors and stakeholders, to increase the tool’s value.

 

Business Model Canvas - Enhanced version

Enhanced Business Model Canvas

Click here to download our templates for the Traditional and Enhanced Business Model Canvas.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

These planning tools are intended to be simple to employ, but external support can prove invaluable - even for organizations with a mature planning function:

  • Dedicated resources that remove the burden from internal teams, enabling them to focus on their 'day jobs'
  • Experience that streamlines and accelerates the process
  • Objective, impartial facilitation that removes bias from addressing sensitive topics
  • Third party perspective that prevents groupthink

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Strategy experts about how we can help your organization improve its strategic planning, and in turn, achieving its goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

mike-mcclaine
2018/10
October 12, 2018
Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

Business Model Canvas: Benefits and Drawbacks

Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Design Thinking is Not Just for Design Teams
As a career marketer with a great passion for innovation, I was very excited by and curious about the concept of Design Thinking when I first started to read about it. At the same time, I was a bit skeptical. It seemed to be perfect and logical for developing new and innovative products, but I wasn’t convinced that it could be used beyond this application.

Therefore, when I had the opportunity to be involved with a weeklong Design Thinking session to support its facilitator, I took the chance to see this process at work.

I loved it!

It was about getting out of your office and talking to and listening to people, specifically, the end consumer. It meant that you weren’t just making assumptions based on data. Design Thinking combined data usage with people’s experiences. It meant a deeper connection with consumers and more collaboration with co-workers.

With my interest into consumer behaviors, the training went so well that I began to help facilitate Design Thinking workshops on a regular basis. Through this experience, I saw firsthand how truly powerful Design Thinking is and how far reaching its impact can be to drive real business growth. I also realized that as long as you have consumer curiosity, and you're a good facilitator, a good listener, and a good collaborator, you can become skilled in this approach and use it effectively for marketing purposes.

Design Thinking Framework

Design Thinking in Marketing

 

What is Design Thinking?

At its core, Design Thinking is a consumer-centric approach to solving any type of problem or addressing a new opportunity. It is also referred to as 'human-centered innovation,' because it keeps your customer at the heart of all you do and can be applied beyond developing new products and services.

It is practical, actionable, and drives alignment, helping you solve the right problems and ensuring the use of creative thinking to generate solutions that are non-traditional and non-obvious.

I have seen it help complex businesses uncover their true business issue and address it with a unique solution to save time and money. Design Thinking can also help a brand develop a set of customer solutions to fill their innovation pipeline. To show the breadth of opportunities available, I have used Design Thinking in the following ways:

  • Marketing plan development

  • Launch planning

  • Brand relaunch

  • New business model development

  • Solving internal business challenges

  • Identifying new innovation territories and/or platforms

  • Development of brand experience

  • Competitive scenario planning repositioning

 

Three Core Elements of Design Thinking in Marketing

The process of Design Thinking has at three key elements at its center:

  1. Empathy with users / customers.

  2. Engaging multiple perspectives.

  3. Collaborating to design, test, and learn about a solution.

These three elements are important when trying to capitalize on a new business opportunity, address a competitive challenge or solve a complex business challenge.

 

Empathize to Deeply Understand Your Customer

Customer empathy is probably the most well-known element of Design Thinking. Spending time with your customer or the end user of your product, service, or solution is key. Empathy requires getting out of the office and sitting down to talk, in-person, face-to-face with people, shopping with them, interacting with them, and observing them - things you cannot do from behind your desk and computer. This involves rolling up your sleeves and engaging the consumer by asking questions and, most importantly, listening and observing.

Often with business problems, your customer is someone inside your business. These people are consumers, and thus, can be talked with, observed, and listened to! You need to identify both your ultimate customer and others who might influence their decisions. Talking to multiple customers, stakeholders, and influencers helps you to see the full context, allowing you to discover underlying needs and influences.

 

Engage Others with Perspectives and Expertise Different than Your Own

No big problem is ever solved alone. It takes different areas of expertise with various perspectives to uncover the root of a problem, discover an untapped opportunity, and develop the optimal solution. It is often easier to work alone or to only talk to people like you or in your department. In the long run, this seems like it would save time, however, it's a dangerous habit to get into. This closed-mindedness will often take up more time, as additional mistakes will be made and it will take longer to gain alignment because only one perspective is engaged. It is an important step to garner input from various experts, as you will also gain buy-in along the way.

 

Collaborate for Total Engagement

It often takes a group of people with different areas of expertise, through discovering the customer needs, uncovering the true problem to solve, and brainstorming together, to come up with the best solutions. This collaboration also ensures that various areas of the company are involved in Design Thinking; all areas have ownership and are “in it together,” making alignment and approvals often easier and shorter. Engaging various key stakeholders together early and often makes a difference in quickly getting solutions from an organization and championing it through to completion.

Fill out the form below if you would like to engage with our team to discuss further!

michele-petruccelli
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Design Thinking in Marketing and Why It Works

Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

ThrougHow often have you heard the Sir Francis Bacon quote, “Knowledge is Power"? From motivating us to read more as children, to becoming the "France is Bacon" meme, we have all seen this quote in one form or another.

As a management consultant, we add value through the the combination of our knowledge and expertise. We take what we know, incorporate new information that we discover from our client, and generate new insight to help organizations identify new opportunities.

But what if the information we collect only tells part of the story, or worse, the wrong story? And how do we ensure that we gather the best possible information for consideration?


Innovating the Discovery Process

That information gathering phase is referred to as the 'discovery process'. Historically, this is where traditional consulting companies send a small army of consultants out to spend weeks on interviewing client stakeholders and providing status updates for project sponsors. The large firms loves this approach since it funds on-the-job training for associates and racks up billable hours for account managers. But for clients, it is slow, expensive, and often ineffective. 

To remedy this disconnect, Aspirant set out to create its own consulting model. One solely focused on creative value for clients - not for ourselves. This is when we realized the need to innovate the discovery process, and Digital Discovery® was born.


Accurately Pinpoint High-Value Insights with Digital Discovery®

Digital Discovery® is a proprietary AI tool that expedites and bolsters our consultants' efforts to discover and process an entire organization’s worth of information.

Do you have 10,000 sales associates? What about people spread across the continent? By leveraging advances in both natural language processing and machine learning, Aspirant consultants can perform virtual interviews with all stakeholders involved without the huge investment a consulting firm typically would require. This results in a better understanding overall and guides us to uncover deeper insights that would otherwise go unnoticed by the typical churn of one-on-one stakeholder interviews.

The process and benefits for Digital Discovery are as follows:

  1. Gather rich insights across a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
  2. Enhance stakeholder buy-in through more inclusive discovery.
  3. Utilize state-of-the-art AI techniques to aid analysis in uncovering richer insights.
  4. Reveal areas that require further inquiry and deeper analysis.
  5. Identify hot-button issues and visualize trending sentiments organization-wide.

 

Digital_Discovery-1

 

The Benefits of Additional Employee Perspectives

But why put in all this extra effort to get everyone involved? Consultants have managed well enough up until this point, so retaining the status quo means everyone’s happy, right? We thought so too, until we understood the benefits of getting additional perspectives.

 

1. Moving Beyond the ‘Usual Suspects’

The usual suspects are the employees who are generally in management roles, known well to the leadership, or are located conveniently to participate in an interview. This results in them interviewed repeatedly for insight into business challenges or when planning a new strategy. While they do provide valuable insights, there is also a tremendous amount of knowledge available from overlooked stakeholders that ends up being missed. These diverse points of view often uncover valuable information that leads to better solutions for our clients.


2. Getting Employee Buy-In

By asking a variety of people to participate in the initiative, there is far more buy-in for the solution than when they are excluded. It is common for objections to be raised during an implementation of an initiative when a person, department, or location was not asked for their insight into the business challenge or to participate in crafting the solution.


3. Using Interviews to Springboard Deeper Exploration

These interviews can be used in advance of workshops or longer, face-to-face interviews to uncover topics that can then be explored deeper. This process quickly highlights the most common themes and general sentiment as well as enabling outlier topics to present themselves. These topics, which may never have surfaced during a workshop or interview, can be discussed in more detail with other stakeholders, if appropriate, and lead to richer solutions than otherwise possible. 

With Digital Discovery, we can collect and mine data on a large scale for deeper understanding of the client’s situation. This ultimately gets us to better, more informed solutions faster. Because, in today’s business environment, an idea, behavior, or style can spread like wildfire within a culture. Knowing the whole story can be the difference between Sir Francis Bacon and “France is Bacon."

 


Learn More about Digital Discovery

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

We are disrupting the traditional consulting model with one that generates better results and stronger value for clients. Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how Aspirant can help revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

joe-kossler
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

Rapidly Gather Deeper Insights with Digital Discovery®

5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

It is a challenge as old as companies have existed: too many priorities and not enough time or people to execute them. And now, more than ever, companies either evolve and thrive or quickly fall behind. Companies don't typically have a shortage of ideas for driving growth. Instead, they struggle with creating a strategy to effectively focus their resources and execute those ideas.

1. Create a Global View of Current Projects and Programs

Over the years, project management has evolved from tactical project execution to being leveraged as a strategic tool at the C-level to ensure the projects that are selected and prioritized are aligned to the overall strategic plan for the organization. This involves not only doing projects “right,” but also working on the “right” projects. Here are 5 simple strategies to help bridge the strategy execution gap:


1. Create a Global View of Current Projects and Programs

Organizations cannot determine where they want to be if they do not know where they are. Many organizations do not have a full view of what projects are in process within departments and across the enterprise. However, it does not require a complex Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tool to accomplish this. A simple spreadsheet and talking with the right resources and leaders across the organization is a good start and will create the visibility into the current portfolio of projects.

Also, don’t forget the non-project work! There is a set amount of resource allocation that is needed simply to “keep the lights on.” Many organizations forget or ignore the need to have these resources, from ongoing business processes to IT maintenance and support. Then later, it comes as a surprise that resources are not as available as they thought for project work, which is ultimately what is going to take the organization into the future.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Are we working on the right projects?
  • How many projects and associated effort do we have in progress compared to resources available for project work?
  • Do we need to incorporate business process redesign and optimization into our strategic plan to help free up resources for project work?

2. Document and Communicate the Corporate Strategy

Many organizational strategic plans reside in the minds of C-level executives or in presentations only reserved for the boardroom. Unfortunately, this is a missed opportunity to ensure that everyone is aware and aligned to the corporate strategy and roadmap.

Those who are generating project ideas and initiating projects need an understanding of what is important to the organization, as well as what strategies have been identified, to either position the organization as a leader in the industry or to maintain that status. Otherwise, projects that require precious resource time and incur costs to the organization may be initiated that directly distract and conflict with what the organization is trying to accomplish. Communicating the corporate strategy can be achieved in many ways, including utilizing existing structures, such as staff meetings and collaboration tools.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Are employees aware of what is included in the corporate strategic plan?
  • How often is information shared and communicated to ensure leaders are updated as the organization progresses against the plan, and as the plan evolves over time?

3. Design or Redesign Your Project Portfolio Management Process

Project Portfolio Management is essential in ensuring that the organization is working on the right projects. Designing or redesigning the process involves reviewing how project requests are initiated, identifying what criteria is used to prioritize and assess projects, determining how resource allocation is managed, deciding how projects are approved or “killed,” and assessing the portfolio on an ongoing basis.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • Have we aligned our PPM process to our strategic plan?
  • Are approved projects meeting the corporate strategic standards and scheduled to align with the corporate roadmap?
  • Do we have the right mix of projects to achieve our objectives?


4. Optimize How You Manage Projects

It is critical for organizations to optimize how projects are managed to sustain and support a strategic portfolio. Whether Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid methodologies are used, best practices need to be embedded across the organization to ensure repeatable success in project execution.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • What is the current methodology or methodologies for managing projects?
  • How many of our projects have engaged executive sponsors?
  • How many projects are completed on-time and on-budget?


5. Align and Equip Resources

Having project, program, and portfolio managers who utilize a consultant mindset creates a bridge between strategic vision and tactical execution to ensure the roadmap is achieved. It is important that in addition to being trained in project, program, and portfolio management best practices, resources are also trained in process and business management to reduce risks associated with gaps between business process and implementation.

Inevitably, organizations can make the mistake of over-engineering how projects are managed, which extends project timelines without providing additional value to the organization. The best approach is a simple one that utilizes efficient tools and processes to support effective project management and delivers quality results on-time and on-budget.

Key Questions to Ask:

  • What resources have been identified to lead and manage projects, programs, and portfolios in our organization?
  • Are resources properly trained in project management, business process redesign and improvement, and consulting best practices?
  • What tools are available to support project, program, and portfolio management?
aspirant-team
2018/10
October 5, 2018
5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

5 Strategies to Help Bridge Gap between Strategy and Execution

Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Evolving technology and digital dynamics have created a substantial opportunity for mid-sized organizations to level the playing field with larger companies. Taking advantage of this opportunity can create efficiencies by improving connectivity with stakeholders, which lead to cost savings and business growth.

The Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Mitigating Overhead Costs

Moving platforms to the cloud can eliminate huge hardware, software, and facility investments.

 

Increased Infrastructure Agility

Platforms as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) products create opportunities for quick implementation. Although cost can still be significant, licensing is annual, with much smaller up-front costs. Software can be more easily switched out as new technology and features become available.

 

Access and Scalability

Pricing for SaaS solutions is typically user-based and scalable. This gives smaller companies access to similar functionality as larger companies at a much lower price point.

 

A Methodical Business-Based Approach

The benefits of modern IT and digital are exciting, and it would be easy to dive right into implementing initiatives. However, to truly create value and avoid missteps, it is critical to first create a comprehensive IT strategy aligned to the business strategy. Using some logical steps, a clear path forward can be developed within a short timeframe.

 

1. Start with the Overall Company Strategy

A clear understanding of where the company is headed from a business standpoint is the absolute key to getting off to the right start. Building strategy with a consumer / customer-centric view has always been important, but in the age of digitization, it is the number one factor for business success.  

Start with defining / reminding yourself of the company’s mission and vision and proceeding through the downstream levels of the strategic planning process. This includes goals, objectives (with key measures), strategies, and tactics.
 
Realistically, all of these strategic elements may not be in place, even at larger companies. For a business-minded CIO or head of IT, helping to solidify the strategic direction may be an opportunity to show how IT can be a broader player in the broader organization.

 

2. Stakeholder Mapping

With the tech strategy in place, the focus moves to digital relationships that drive results. Every stakeholder interaction holds an opportunity for digitalization that could improve customer satisfaction and efficiency. 

 

Stakeholder_Map_R4-872548-edited-066061-editedStakeholder Mapping for Digital Connectivity.

 

Connections should be mapped and defined for the following dimensions:

  • Relationships
  • Key Integration Points
  • Integration Timing
  • Potential for Automation
  • Financial Impact
  • Digital Potential


3. Create a 'Current State' Architecture Diagram

Diagramming the current environment helps clarify the scope and complexity of stakeholder relationships for IT and business leadership. It should show systems and interfaces, with reference sheets for each that list details such as business purpose, costs, challenges, and departmental ownership.

Website - Blog - Strategy - Architecture Diagram.docxArchitecture Diagram.

 

4. Develop IT Goals and Objectives Based on Business Strategies

How can IT strategy support business strategy? Businesses generally have a cross-section of strategies that must be supported by people, process, and technology. Utilizing this strategy as input, IT must go through its own strategic process, once again starting with goals and objectives that will enable business results.

From a communications standpoint, it is helpful to map how each component of the IT strategy supports the business strategy. This will help the IT team understand how their contributions tie to organizational priorities.

 

5. Create a 'Future State' Architecture Diagram

Based on the now-established IT strategy, companies should diagram the desired future environment. It should clearly denote deviations from the current state diagram. This detail included in this document can be limited to what is relevant to the changes being proposed for immediate consideration.

 

6. Define and Prioritize Initiatives

Next, individual initiatives must be defined based on IT strategies and future state. For each initiative, define business value, cost, duration, resourcing, dependencies, constraints, and impact to the IT infrastructure. Leaders can use these factors to inform the prioritization and sequencing of initiatives.

Documenting the base architecture and connectivity is often a precursor to initiatives that generate greater enthusiasm and bottom line results. For that reason, it is also important to find quick wins to build momentum and excitement core infrastructure work is in process.

 

7. Build an IT Initiative Roadmap 

The roadmap shows the final sequencing of initiatives. Modern frameworks involve much more than laying out these projects on a timeline. They often include concepts such as current and future state, connectivity to KPIs, and even PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors) impact.

 

Website - Blog - Strategy - High Level Timeline-331815-edited

High-Level Timeline.

 

7. Keep Things on Track

Planning traditionally ends with the roadmap phase, and following executive alignment, transitions to execution. However, in today’s more agile environment, the roadmap cannot be static. It should be continuously referenced and periodically reevaluated to ensure continuity between the business strategies driving the IT strategy. The roadmap may need to be updated to reflect changes such as prioritization, timing, cost estimates, or results. A quarterly review schedule typically provides enough frequency without becoming a distraction.

 

Moving Forward

Even as companies increasingly depend on technology, their use still needs to be in the context of a proper strategic framework. Successful IT leaders will combine this methodical approach with more agile processes to set their companies up for long term success.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Most mid-sized companies are so focused on working in their business that working on their business (like strategic IT planning) just isn't feasible. Enter Aspirant.  

Our Strategy and Digital Transformation experts help clients identify and pursue opportunities for revolutionizing their operations through the adoption of technology. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for your company.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

mike-mcclaine
2018/10
October 5, 2018
Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Benefits of Technology for Mid-Sized Companies

Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Making a budget can be difficult for any industry, any department. But however difficult, it’s a necessity to running a good business. Some would argue it’s a necessity to run a good household as well. For Human Resources, there are additional struggles in budgeting. HR is a department without direct income potential. That often makes budgeting a challenging endeavor.

The CHRO role, in collaboration with other organizational leaders, plays a pivotal role in corporate planning. Here are some pointers on how to avoid common pitfalls and set yourself up for success.

 

1. The Status Quo

Otherwise known as, “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Clearly, it’s an easy trap to fall into; after all, it worked before, right? You just take last year’s data, maybe you google something like, “how much will the cost of healthcare increase this year?” and then you pick a percentage to increase by. So, last year’s numbers, plus 7%, equal this year’s numbers and then you move on.

It’s time to break that habit. This is your opportunity to improve the issues you’ve come across throughout the year. Think of what you’ve wanted to change; what you wish could be different. Gather up the numbers of what it might take to initiate that change. Write out why you think it’s worth it and how it will benefit the company.

 

2. The Vacuum

You have great ideas for next year’s budget. You can see where more staff is needed and where you are overstaffed. You’ve got opinions on the right program or software that’s needed next. You’ve got this all figured out. So, you do it. You come in early, stay late, and do all the workforce planning and number crunching and come up with your perfect budget. But you never consulted anyone else. I’m not referring to HR consulting, but to your colleagues.

In your enthusiasm over your great ideas, you forgot that other people have great ideas too. Coworkers can also contribute to a well-rounded budget plan. They may offer a perspective that you weren’t aware of. Poll your employee network to crowdsource some suggestions. If they don’t, tell them yours. It’s always good to gain support for your ideas, or get constructive feedback. Break out of the vacuum and remember you are part of a team.

 

3. The ROI

Once you have a good sense of what should be in the budget for next year, you need to consider the financial implications of each line item. Will it end up costing more than it makes or saves? Where is the money for this new idea going to come from and why is it worth the cost? You should always do the research and have the “why” of budgeting costs. Will it help the company grow, work more efficiently, or cut costs? Will it provide a better service to customers?

Just because something is a good idea, doesn’t mean it’s the right idea or event the right time. Everything that’s in a budget should add value to the department and/or company. You need to be willing to put in the work to prove your ROI before the company will be willing to approve your budget.

 

For more on what should be considered in your next planning cycle, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your HR leaders develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome its unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/10
October 1, 2018
Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Chief HR Officer (CHRO) Budgeting Pitfalls

Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

With the phrenetic pace of today’s business environment, and in the face of near constant pressure to streamline, optimize, and simplify, we often see operations managers jumping too quickly to external solutions to provide a ‘quick fix’: the reporting application that will easily assimilate all of your operational data into amazing reports and visuals, or the enterprise resource planning software that promises to automate all of your manual work.   

The attractiveness and perceived simplicity of plug-and-play tools and applications, and the fear of being left behind by cutting-edge concepts like Robotic Process Optimization (RPA), drive many organizations to commit valuable resources to these pursuits without first asking themselves an extremely important question: do our underlying business processes support the intended value of these solutions?’  

Organizations often don’t fully appreciate the impact that their faulty business processes can have on these improvement efforts. The resulting implementation becomes quickly bogged down in on-the-fly attempts to redesign processes to fit the solution, or the customization of the application to fit the existing inefficient processes. However, both of these defeat the efficiency goals and leave the organization in a worse position than before.     

 

Embrace the Potential Operational Opportunities Within

Quite often, the largest opportunities for gaining operational efficiencies and realizing significant savings lie right in front of operational leaders. Many organizations still foster processes with manually intensive steps, which lead to a high propensity for error, or oftentimes information is passed back and forth informally between teams with long periods of lost time ‘waiting to hear back.’

Other organizations struggle with clearly assigning process ownership or decision rights, resulting in haphazard decision making with little consideration for upstream or downstream implications, and ultimately leading to significantly lost productivity as team members spend much of their time attempting to manage the chaos.         



How to Identify Operational Inefficiencies

Not sure how to identify your organization's inefficiencies? A simple but often overlooked step is to begin by talking directly with operations team members! These are the folks who live the processes day-to-day. They know the pain points and very often have thoughts — and strong opinions! — when asked ‘How can we be doing this better?’

When working with clients, we consistently find some of the most valuable insights and optimization opportunities not from managers or senior leaders, but from team members who have been dealing with frustrating inefficiencies for many years and just needed the forum through which they can present their ideas.

Give special consideration as well to those processes that are consistently prone to confusion and/or errors, as these are very often indications of a poorly structured or overly complex process. If it takes numerous resources and several meetings to cobble together an explanation of how a process works, it’s likely one which is worth some further exploration!    

With a team of resources skilled in business process assessment and optimization, organizations can begin to identify processes ripe for improvement and then work with their operations peers to evaluate, prioritize, and implement these improvements.

After closely analyzing operational processes to eliminate waste and improve efficiency, your organization can confidently move toward the evaluation of these additional applications, tools, or technology, and explore opportunities to take your operations to the next level!


Operation Process Optimization — Best Practices

  1.  Involve Those Closest to the Process

    Be sure to include your operations team members in every step of the process optimization effort, and don’t assume management truly understands all the tasks involved in a given process. A summary view rarely provides the sufficient level of detail needed to identify real opportunities for improvement. Instead, talking directly with those responsible for the work is the best way to get there.

  2. Consider the Entire Process

    Ensure a clear understanding of the process from beginning to end and avoid the temptation to fix the first problem and move on. Smaller or more obvious issues sometime mask much larger issues, which can be found through a complete process decomposition. See the process through to be confident that it’s been fully optimized.

  3. Document and Quantify Outcomes

    Whenever possible, identify baseline process performance to compare performance after optimization, and then translate the improvement into hard dollar savings and increases in productivity. For organizations that don’t have mature process optimization practices, this is the surest way to gain support and prove value!

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Strategy & Delivery experts can help your team put these best practices to use. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about the challenges standing in the way of your strategic goals. 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

tim-nath
2018/09
September 21, 2018
Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

Improving Operational Efficiency: Don't Look Past the Obvious

Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

You adopted an agile method to expedite your development process. This first step is signing the contract. Your company and its lawyer may have a standard contract in place, but does it follow the methods and philosophy? The whole point of an agile method is to positively change the way developers and customers interact. Contract language and the expectations and goals that develop out of it should be consistent with an agile process.

Keep Agile Contracts Goal-Oriented

Bringing together an agile software development method depends on open communication and collaboration between all members of your development team as well as the customer. Agile methods depend on this philosophy in order to promote interactions between team members over (sometimes arbitrary) processes and tools that too often interfere with building meaningful software.

When entering into an agile contract with your next customer, make sure everyone’s goals are clearly stated and understood by the development team as well as the client. An agile works best when everyone assumes ownership, sharing in the successes and acknowledging the speed bumps.

What does this look like in practice? After you assign specific deliverables to each goal, stay focused on the big picture. The ultimate goal is well-working software that meets, or exceeds, customer expectations. Again, looking at the overall methodology of an agile system, your development team and customer should always strive to place an end product over the individual pieces and comprehensive documentation required to get there.

Keep Agile Contracts Contingent on Time and Resources

In other words, a fixed price model negates many on an agile method’s benefits. For customer’s this means goals that fall short or final products that are rushed or not to standard. A fixed price contract means so many hours allotted and so many resources used. Again, it places a greater value on following a set plan rather allowing both developer and customer to respond to change.

Instead of one, overarching price point, consider language that emphasizes every aspect of the development process. Set a price cap on each individual sprint or release. By doing so, customers will not have to worry about development teams maxing out on weekly or monthly time allocations. In turn, development managers won’t need to cut any corners. What you will see is a better final product that has received all the attention it deserves.

Take Time to Build Trust

While any contract represents an agreement between two parties, it does not automatically foster a two-way relationship of trust. A collaborative environment between developer and customer are necessary for an agile method. However, this can only be achieved after a two-way trust is established. There are obvious trust benchmarks to consider, such as the timeliness and quality as well as on-time payments and honest feedback. These take time to acquire, even when consistent.

This trust cannot be built overnight. In other words, a signed contract is not the culmination of the relationship between developer and customer. As that trust builds, the agile method flourishes and fosters those aforementioned concepts of interaction, collaboration, and adaptability. Be patient as it develops, knowing the end results are well worth this getting-to-know-you period.

How Aspirant Can Help

At Aspirant, we are experts in agile software development. We’ve seen first-hand how an agile approach can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help you do the same.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 19, 2018
Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

Agile Contracts: What to Consider When Signing

6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

Human resources is the lifeblood of a company. HR ensures that candidates are vetted, new hires are trained, and employees will continue to develop and grow. As a Director, Manager, or CHRO, you understand people make a company successful. So how do you know when to start HR planning and how to get the rest of the executive team on board?

As a leading management consulting firm, we can help. Here are some tips to consider:

 

1. Meet with Department Heads

This part leads to all the other steps. You can’t know everything that’s going on in your company, so check in with the leads and influencers for each department to get a better idea of needs that may affect your budget.

 

2. Analyze Current Job Openings

These are positions you know need to be filled. How long have they been open? Do you have the right comp plan? Do you need some outside help, like from an RPO service? Should you be putting an ad on LinkedIn, Indeed, or elsewhere? Chances are you will be spending money to fill these positions. Figure out how much.

 

3. Forecast Future Job Openings

Are you adding products or services that require new hires? Is a particular department growing quickly and in need of additional leadership? What is your projected turnover rate? Look at past trends to help forecast this and anticipate the money spent searching for and hiring the right candidate. Hiring and training front-line employees often costs 30% of annual salary.  Hiring for leadership positions can cost 213%.

 

4. Anticipate Training Time for New Hires

New hires need training and time to acclimate to a new job. Whether this is in-house training or external, there will be additional costs to the company. For internal training, be sure to account for the cost of pulling someone from their daily work for training as well as the hard costs of registration fees, travel and any other incidentals.

 

5. Consider Potential Promotions

Are there key employees who have been on an upward trajectory, routinely achieving their yearly goals? People that you expect to put a little more time and money into development? Promotions don’t have to be a new title, but they  can include pay raises and additional responsibilities. To execute the plan properly, employees may need leadership classes, retreats, etc., which need to be considered in the budgeting process.

 

6. Account for Networking Groups

Whether its leadership groups for C-level executives, or software-specific groups for programmers, there are many beneficial groups employees can join. Most groups have some sort of fee or dues. Take the time to see what’s available and if there are any expenses that sneaked through last year's budget. Anticipate any expected new additions.

 

Want to to take a deeper dive into HR planning?  Download our e-book, Workplace Trends for 2025. Or check out our Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational Effectiveness experts help clients design and implement a plan that maximizes the impact of the HR function. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can help position you and your team for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 17, 2018
6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

6 Tips for Human Resource Budgeting and Planning

Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

When properly adhered to, the an agile software method can help streamline and improve your development process. However, there are plenty of factors and missteps that can limit the methodology’s effectiveness.

Implementing a new strategy can be stressful and it’s important to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' to ensure things run smoothly. When it comes to introducing an agile software development strategy, here are few things to watch out for as you begin adopting the agile process.

Inadequate Agile Buy-In

Let’s say a football team sends out 11 players. 10 of them know the plays and one doesn’t. Chances are that’s going to create some issues along the way. The same is true for your team and the agile method. Adhering to the manifesto is obviously key, but it’s all for naught if the entire team isn’t on board.

The best way to counteract this is by engaging every developer on your team. This is even more crucial if your developers are working remotely. Make sure everyone is constantly on the same page and check in often, inviting feedback. After all, agile is all about placing interactions above arbitrary processes.

Agile Practices Aren’t Part of the Larger Company

Your new process shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. It needs to become part of your company culture. This is especially important if some aspects of your culture contradict agile processes. Does your culture share the same values? If you were attracted to agile in the first place, it likely does. It’s up to your company’s leadership to amplify these shared values and address any conflicts.

If these conflicts aren’t addressed, you run the risk of sacrificing the agile methodology, or at least ignoring those aspects that don’t mesh with company culture. Going about it this way, you’ll discover pretty quickly that agile development doesn’t work when you start cherry-picking certain pieces.

Furthermore, if other departments developers rely on are still relying on older processes, it’s going to make things much more difficult. This is why addressing your company’s overall culture is key. It’s not just about developer buy-in or improving processes, but changing the way your entire team works toward a shared purpose.

Force-Fitting Agile Development into Existing Processes

The whole point of adopting an agile process is to improve what’s already going on in your company’s development department. An agile methodology thrives on adaptability and changing when needed. There’s no reason to adhere to the existing processes simply because they’re familiar. The second you start to cram in the old ways, agile methods lose their, well, agility.

This blending of old and new processes leads many to abandon an agile method prematurely because it doesn’t feel like the “right fit,” or seems like more work than it’s worth. In truth, however, these developers were not willing to toss out the old playbook and look to something better. Responding to change over following a plan is one of the basic tenets of the Agile Manifesto. It might seem like a big chasm to jump, but letting go of old processes is worth it.

How Aspirant Can Help

Adjusting to an agile development method can seem daunting, especially if it mean changing most of your processes and culture. That’s where the experts at Aspirant come in. Our software development experts have seen it all and know how to spot any red flags. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 12, 2018
Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

Common Missteps with Adopting Agile Software Development

Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

 

Judy Johnson, Ph.D., believes that Whole Person Employment and authentic self are helping to pave the way for gender parity in the workforce. Johnson is the vice president and director of operational effectiveness practice at Aspirant. She spoke this past Friday, Sept 7th at a Halfway to International Women’s Day event. The event was put on by Faros Properties at Nova Place.

Johnson said her favorite part about this event was getting to know the other women involved. “They are amazing and dynamic women and it was great to get to meet them and be a part of this with event them,” she said.

Johnson was one of three key speakers who spoke to various concerns and inspirations regarding gender parity. “The event was really energizing and uplifting,” Johnson said. “It was great to talk about what women can do to support one another and be there for one another.”

Her focus was on whole person employment and the authentic self. Johnson is proud to work at a company that she believes excels at fostering and encouraging both of these things. She believes Aspirant is able to move quickly, and be transparent and open with their work, adding that they share news of what’s happening in the company with their employees and include them on decisions.

“Looking at benefits packaging in the new year is very transparent. We get ideas from employees and inform them well in advance of making any decisions,” said Johnson.

A lot of the work Johnson does is with leadership teams and companies to help make their organization a better place to work. The Whole Person Employment trend is growing, and she believes it opens a space for women to raise up issues that have traditionally been seen as “women’s” issues, such as  Family Medical Leave, performance reviews and flexibility in working hours, which are now issues on the table for all employees.

Aspirant has done research regarding work-life balance and recently found that 85% of Human Resource leaders believe that work-life balance will become enmeshed together over the next 10 years. Basically, it will become more important for people to love what they do, as well as who they do it for.

However, the same study found that only 35% of employees say they are happy with their current job. Unhappy employees are looking elsewhere, are not fully engaged, and result in missed opportunities for companies.

Compensation is often seen as the most important part of a job, but that is changing. Employees rarely leave a job for pay, but, instead, to find a happier and more enjoyable work life. There is always a threshold of pay someone is willing to accept, but Johnson believes that good pay does not counteract a negative work environment.

Discussion of these types of issues has positive impact to women. “It opens doors for women to have conversations that in the past they were afraid would be seen as self-indulgence, such as maternity leave” said Johnson.

This was once seen as a “woman’s” issue, but is now an employment standard. With Whole Person Employment, these things are now openly discussed, and expressions of concerns are encouraged. “At Aspirant, we include employees in the decision-making process. They can ask questions without ever feeling like they are stepping out of place.”

Ebony McQueen-Harris, founder and principal consultant of Levels Creative Empowerment and Consulting Group, also spoke at the event. Johnson said she found her talk extremely encouraging. “One of the things Ebony said was: ‘What are you doing to stand in the gap?’ Stand shoulder to shoulder with other women around you and help them.”

Johnson believed this  was a good thing to think about, and says you should trust yourself and your authentic voice, and use it to speak up for other women. “Women should not be afraid to step in and take action for each other, in big and small ways.”

“Ebony gave a really powerful example of taking an opportunity to support one another,” Johnson said. McQueen-Harris discussed a recent meeting where she  and two other African American women were in a meeting of approximately 40 people. The three women were explaining some of the challenges they’ve experienced.  No one else contributed to the conversation.

Afterward, someone approached them and said they were impressed by  her ability to “hold her own,” and did not feel the need to step in for o support. McQueen-Harris said she would have loved for someone  in the room to step up and offer support to the points they were trying to make.

“We often expect someone else to stand up, so feel less obligated to take action ourselves. We need to step up, to stand in that gap, as Ebony puts it, and support other women and minorities,” said Johnson.

Clearly, Johnson was just as encouraged by the other speakers and encourages anyone who can to get involved and attend  similar events in the future. It’s expected that they will have something planned for International Woman’s Day as well, and we will make sure to tell you.

“I would love to go to another event that is as energizing and gives me a chance to network and partner with the same – or even a broader group of amazing women!” Johnson said.

 

Interested in learning about other evolving concepts? Click the image below to download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational experts can evaluate the structure and capabilities of your teams to identify opportunities for improvement and build a plan to make those changes. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges and goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 10, 2018
Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

Build Gender Parity through Whole Person Employment

Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Companies of all shapes and sizes have different needs. One of those needs, especially today, is software. Software requires development. These projects are often incredibly robust, time consuming, require a lot of overhead and may not even have any real value to your business if not done properly. Enter agile software development: a philosophy, or manifesto, to help eliminate many of the pain points of traditional software development.

What Is Agile Development?

Agile software development is far from a new concept. In fact, it’s a methodology nearly 20 years in the making. Based on the Agile Manifesto, agile software development is all about:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

Basically, agile, is all about being agile.

Benefits of an Agile Software Development Team

The biggest benefit to a company utilizing an agile software development strategy is the access to a team with a diverse set of capabilities. When hiring a well-versed agile software development team, you won’t be able to come across a problem someone on that team can’t solve. It truly is a one-stop shop for all of your software development needs. More importantly, it’s a team of experts that will get it done right, and the software will work exactly how your key stakeholders need it to work.

Another benefit of an agile strategy is the overall collaboration between everyone involved in the project. The reason you want the software implemented in the first place is because it’s important to your team. It’s going to make your company run more efficiently. It’s important to talk through the software with those individuals that will be using it most. Find out what they need, why they need it and outline how it’s going to work and be implemented on a daily basis. The agile approach truly is collaborative in every phase.

Plan, Implement, Repeat

Technology is constantly changing. New software is constantly being developed. In business, you often adapt or die. Utilizing an agile approach allows you to have access to a dedicated team of individuals with unique skills that collaborate on projects that help businesses grow. Agile allows you to tackle one big project after another by planning, implementing, and repeating the agile process for each project you have.

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's software development team uses Agile extensively. We’ve seen first-hand how an agile approach can benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we help you do the same.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/09
September 5, 2018
Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Benefits of an Agile Development Strategy

Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

What if you had known years ago that:

  • AI would be a critical member of your team

  • Employees use mobile devices to access the majority of information

  • Remote working goes from a perk to an expectation

How would this information have changed your priorities? Would you have hired other people, invested in alternative projects, or measured success differently?

For the last 10 years, we have dealt with an accelerating pace of change in just about every facet of business, from the globalization of markets to increased speed and diversity of competition, and from changing customer demands to shifting employee requirements.

This is why Aspirant has published a new eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2025 - Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing, written by Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness expert: Judy Johnson, Ph.D. This book helps set the stage for what’s to come and how you can change and prepare your organization to be effective and win over the next decade.

From futurists to technical experts, everyone agrees the world of work is going to change by 2025. That is not revolutionary news, as work constantly evolves and technology accelerates that evolution.

The bad news about these changes? The pace and extent of change is only going to continue.

And the good news? We can see the changes coming and can prepare accordingly.


Why is preparing your organization for 2025 a priority?

  • All signs point to continued shifts in how companies will operate in the coming years.
  • The same issues that have been plaguing us to date are accelerating.
  • Focusing on today’s and tomorrow’s issues will get you caught up, only to be left behind.
  • Building toward being competitive in 2025 will transition your workforce to the agile, skilled workforce you need for tomorrow.

Companies who prepare for future shifts are the ones that survive and thrive. There are a handful of mega trends that cut across all markets; they are consistently discussed and commonly agreed on by strategists across disciplines. When taken together, however, they show a drastically different future state of work, and also create a compelling reason to take action today.

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team has analyzed social, business, technology, and management trends and found unique elements necessary for companies to successfully compete in the next decade. To give a sense of the research contained in the ebook, here are 5 of the 10 trends that will challenge an organization's effectiveness in 2025:

  1. Reputation Over Revenue: Employees, customers and investors want social responsibility, environmental accountability and increasingly social activism from companies.

  2. Diversified Power: In 2025, organizational power will neither sit solely with company executives at corporate headquarters, nor with the leaders of the largest business units.

  3. Career Path Reshaped: The employees’ career path will no longer be vertical, or even-staggered vertical movement.

  4. Local Globalization: While globalization continues with companies expanding their footprints around the world, there will be an increased focus on the local market.

  5. Upended Pyramid: For decades we have witnessed the unproductive practice of companies promoting their best and brightest technicians into management roles.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

For the complete list of trends, including in-depth insights and research as well as tactics and next steps to help your organization prepare for the future, request Aspirant’s eBook, Organization Effectiveness for 2025 - Are You Ready? How the World of Work is Changing.

judy-johnson
2018/09
September 3, 2018
Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

Top 10 Organizational Effectiveness Trends for 2025

Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

There are all kinds of consultants willing to help take your business to the next level. While they all can usually lend a hand toward meeting your goals and objectives, sometimes picking the right kind of consultant can be confusing. Lucky for you there are several of us out there with various skills in numerous areas.

Let’s take a moment to look at the subtle differences between management and leadership consulting. First, we have to understand the differences between leadership and management. Many companies will use these terms interchangeably, but there are clear differences.

Management is focused on systems and processes. A manager will organize, budget, deal with staffing and also solve individual problems within departments. They will manage the day-to-day and week-to-week activities needed to keep the company functioning as it should.

Leadership will focus on the company mission, the vision for the future and inspiring the team to help them get there. Leaders will be developing 5-year plans, introducing innovative change and driving to achieve better results.

Sometimes these skills overlap in a person or position, and that’s ok. The important thing is that both sets of skills are necessary for success, particularly in organizational change.

So with that in mind, what’s the difference between a management consultant and a leadership consultant?

 

Aspirant_Comparison

 

Not sure where to start? Check out our consulting services and case studies to learn more about how Aspirant can help you.

Or download our latest ebook:

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/08
August 20, 2018
Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

Leadership vs Management Consulting - What's the Difference?

Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

We've previously posted about topics like master data management, data integration, and other key processes that ensure accurate data. However, we haven’t really talked about analytics and information management. Data analytics is crucial to data driven decision making. Remember, though, analytics are only as good as the accuracy of your data. If you’re confident in your data, then this post will help explain analytics at a very high level, and illustrate how to implement those analytics into your business.

Figure Out What Data KPIs You Need

The old saying, “Go with your gut,” is a great for those times when you can’t decide between choice A or choice C, like on a fifth-grade math test where you don’t have to show your work. But it’s not necessarily a good decision when making decisions that affect an entire company. If you were presented with the following two options, which would you think is a more responsible response?

  1. Go with your gut

  2. Analyze the data outlined in the report and then make your decision based on the numbers

Chances are, you’re going with Option Two. Sure, there are some decisions that require you to go with your gut. However, you should be going with your gut after you’ve done your homework. When considering a strategy to provide better data analytics and information management for your company, it’s important to know what you need to know.

  1. Return on Investment

  2. Customer Acquisition Cost

  3. Lifetime Value of a Customer

  4. How the Customer Found You

  5. How Many Similar Customers Do You Have?

The five bullet points above are just quick examples of information you might need when making an informed decision. For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide whether you should hire another salesperson, spend more money on marketing, or do nothing at all. You can’t make that decision without understanding the return on investment of your marketing dollars, the average revenue a sales rep generates, or the customer acquisition cost. It may sound like a good idea to run a $50,000 television ad, but if you only yield three customers with an estimated lifetime value of $10,000, then that may not be the wisest way to spend those dollars. Business analytics helps decision-makers make informed decisions.

 

Get the Whole Team Involved

Different departments want access to different metrics. If you’re developing an information management and analytics strategy, it’s important to involve your whole team. The more you are able to track, the more informed your decisions will be. These decisions will aid in customer acquisition, customer retention and, perhaps most importantly, a competitive advantage to improve the company’s overall performance.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Microsoft Cloud Solutions team specializes in designing and securing business intelligence programs tailored to each client's unique needs, preferences, and goals. From systems integration to organizational adoption, Aspirant's Integrated Expertise ensures that every component you need to be successful will be in place.

Use the form below to request a no-strings-attached discussion about how a data analytics program would revolutionize your business.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/08
August 15, 2018
Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

Information Management and Data Analytics Basics

Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

You’ve made the decision to partner with a management consulting firm. You’ve worked together wonderfully, and you now have a great plan for improving the company you believe in: yours. You’re definitely going to need a new strategy and a new culture of accountability to go along with it!

This is great news, but, no, your work is not over. In fact, in some cases, it may seem like it’s just begun. Now you need to work on implementing your awesome plan. This will include getting buy-in from both management and non-managing employees.

You know this plan is worth it and you also know that it’s going to work. And since you have partnered with someone like Aspirant, you’ll have someone to help you through this. Together, we can make it happen! Here are some steps to help:

1. Establish Authority

Make sure you’re the right person to on-board this plan. And make sure people know that and know why. Show your talents in leading accountability and earn authority by merit.

2. Communicate Your Case

Make sure everyone understands your vision for a better company. Convince them that having a culture of accountability for the project truly benefits everyone. Continue to point it out as benefits are realized.

3. Train Accountability Champions

Even if you are an amazing leader, you won’t be able to do this on your own. You need champions for your cause and who believe in the need to be accountable. Invest in these people and they will help you get across the finish line.

4. Be Prepared for Resistance

Change always comes with at least a few people that drag their feet. Be ready for that. Identify resistors early to diffuse their concerns as best as possible. You cannot let dissent and resistance build and simply hope it goes away. Be ready to defend your project.

5. Track and Celebrate Success

To know if your project and strategic plan are succeeding, you have to track and measure results. This also helps encourage the culture of accountability that everyone needs. The positive effects can’t not be recognized and celebrated without tracking. And celebrating success is integral to continuing it.

 

Check out our ebook, Workplace Trends for 2025. It lays out key dynamics or contact us to learn more about creating a culture of accountability.

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/08
August 13, 2018
Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

Team Accountability and Implementing Your Consultant’s Plan

Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Working with a consulting firm can make a considerable impact to your company. You now have at your disposal a group of experts dedicated to improving your company’s culture, influencing organizational behavior, developing your talent management system, and driving your strategy.

Like any good relationship, you’ll need to work together. Accountability is a two-way street, and it’s important that both parties are invested in positive results. Clearly, you can do a lot together. Here are five tips to ensure a positive experience.

Tip #1: Have a standing meeting, show up on time, and, of course, be prepared.

How often you meet is up to you, but the important thing is you have a recurring meeting scheduled on everyone’s calendar. In the beginning, you may find you need to meet once a week. If the consultant is helping you through a crisis, you may need to meet once a day. Once the relationship solidifies, meeting once a month or once a quarter will suffice.

The important thing is that you stick to the schedule and everyone shows up, is on time and prepared for the discussion. If you arrive late, or unprepared, you are signaling to the consulting firm that late and unprepared is acceptable behavior. So create an agenda ahead of time, be ready to discuss, and make the best use of everyone’s time. This is a foundational component of a culture of accountability.

 

Tip #2: Have an internal champion to help create accountability.

There will be many people and moving parts involved in any work with your partner. If you don’t set someone from your organization up as the point person to keep track of progress and be accountable for results, you run the risk of each person assuming that someone else is handling it. To clarify, this does not mean this person is in charge of completing all tasks. Simply, they are in charge of keeping up with the people in charge of tasks, within your organization and with the consultants. This way, you avoid confusion of who is responsible. This person will keep track of due dates and tasks assignments, and helping everyone stay on the same page. Your consultant company will likely have a particular champion for you as well.

 

Tip #3: Create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound).

When it comes to accountability in any project, it’s important that everyone involved knows what success looks like. Each player needs to know what’s expected of them; how to track what’s expected of them, but also that itis possible, it’s relevant and why and when it’s expected to be done. There is no way to have accountability without those requirements being met. The best you can hope for without them is to get lucky.

 

Tip #4: Identify milestones.

You’ve created your SMART goals, now establish your milestones. Make sure everyone on the team is aware of what they are. Create status reports for the milestones specifically, and the projects in general. Talk about them at your standing meeting, check the progress and make adjustments if needed. When you achieve your milestone, celebrate it. You don’t have to give everyone a bonus, just acknowledge the completion and show appreciation to your team. This reinforces the importance of the milestone. If a milestone is not reach by its anticipated time, make sure you understand and address the reasons why.

 

Tip #5: Stay consistent.

For best results, set the pace and expectations in the beginning of the relationship and stick with them. Have your meetings on the same day and time when possible. Treat the meetings just as important several months in as they were in the beginning. Don’t let things go slack when the newness wears off. Stick to your deadlines; you can’t let them slide one week and be fine with it, but then get upset the following week when something is not met. They must be consistently important. Of course, there can always be extreme circumstances that will be taken into account, but, as a rule, treat deadlines and expectations the same every time.

 

These best practices can help create team accountability, and in turn, maximize the value of consulting partnerships.

If you think your organization could benefit from consulting support, give us a call at 724.655.4441.

Just looking for a little more information? Download our latest eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Team Accountability.

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 30, 2018
Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Create Accountability with Your Consulting Partner

Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

We’ve all had to work with people that don’t pull their weight. It can be extremely frustrating when your job is affected by the ineptitude of others, right? After all, if <insert random name here> were held accountable, you wouldn’t have any problems!

Does this sound familiar to you? If so, stop and think about it. Now, I’m not going to say other people don’t impact your performance. But I will say, accountability is not about blaming other people.

Defining Accountability

Reading from the dictionary is not always exciting, but, in this case, Webster hits the nail on the head. “Accountability is the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.” Accountability is not about the task, project, or result. It’s about the individuals’ willingness to accept the role they play or played. Basically, it's the opposite of blame.

Where to Start

You may note nothing in that definition talks about other people. The focus is on your actions. As cheesy as it may sound, team accountability always starts with you. This is especially true if you are a manager or any form of leader at work.

Perhaps you think your team is not accountable enough, but, really, aren’t you accountable for your team? No one is going to want to be held accountable to someone they don’t feel holds themselves accountable. This is a time to lead by example.

Lead by Example

So what do you do to make yourself more accountable? First, you find someone to help you and hold you accountable. The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) found that you have a 65% higher chance of completing your objectives if you committed to someone else.

Find a colleague to help you with your accountability endeavor. Find someone that you can trust that wants to help you grow. You should probably offer to do the same for them.

Start by:

  1. Making commitments

  2. Writing the commitments down

  3. Creating mini-goals

  4. Celebrating your success

  5. Reviewing your performance

  6. Seeking feedback

Practice Makes Perfect

Spend some time, at least a few months, focusing on doing this yourself. And then see if you still want to blame other people. Your opinion may change. You’ll want to help hold people accountable, not force accountability on them.

If you think your company would benefit from accountability training, let us know. We can tailor a curriculum to your specific needs and budget.

Related Reading

For some more in-depth content, check out our ebook:  The Ultimate Guide for Team Accountability.

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 23, 2018
Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

Be Accountable? You Mean Everyone Else, Right?

The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

There are many things to consider when thinking about bringing multiple sets of data, or software together. Whether you already have some applications in place, or your data is in one big spreadsheet, the processes are much different. As we mentioned in previous posts, relying on a single spreadsheet to house all of your important company data, and then manually mining that spreadsheet to create reports, is just not efficient. More importantly, it’s not reliable.

Data Integration vs. Application Integration

On the surface, these two things may not seem quite similar. They are. However, integrating data is a completely different process than integrating applications. Data integration at its core brings all of your data together in a standard, non-redundant way that doesn’t sacrifice the quality of the data. It’s not an easy process. Application integration is different. Its purpose is to make sure all of the applications you are using can talk to each other in an efficient, easy-to-use way.

 

How to Integrate Data and Applications

When you’re looking at different integration options, it’s important to take a step back and try to figure out what you really need to integrate. If you’re working with a technology firm, they can certainly take a look at what you have, and what your pain points are, and then develop a solution to integrate your data. They can also help your applications talk to each other in a way that helps your company get access to the data it needs at the touch of a button.

 

Can it work with our ERP?

Many companies have a custom ERP they are already working with. It may house important information about their customers, prospects, employees, financial information, or other relevant company information. People in each department may manually be pulling data from the ERP. In fact, someone else may be tasked with turning that data into a report. There has to be a better way, right? There is - through integration.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Application and Data experts help clients identify and implement the ideal integrations for optimizing their operations. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for you.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/07
July 17, 2018
The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

The Difference between Data and Application Integrations

Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

In a CBRE study it was determined that 85 percent of respondents believe that work and life will become enmeshed by 2030. Now is when you need to start thinking about crafting a compelling employee value proposition to embrace this change.

Center Recruitment and Retention around Creating Value for Employees

Thinking about the relationship with employees from their perspective will help clarify how you can improve recruitment and retention by making them happier. This translates to reduced churn and less pressure on talent acquisition. It often proves more successful (and more cost-effective) than doing so exclusively through compensation.  

 

What does your company offer potential employees besides money?

Sure, most people get jobs because they need the money, but that isn’t the driving motivation anymore, and it’s going to become less so as time goes on.

According to the Corporate Leadership Council, companies with a managed employee value proposition are able to engage move than 60% of the talent pool, while other companies only have access to about 40% of the market. That is only expected to increase in the favor of managed EVPs.

 

what can a well-managed EVP offer your company?

Mainly, you’ll have a higher percentage of valuable candidates to choose from when hiring. If you build a reputation with your EVP you may even have those potential employees coming to you looking for a place in your company. You’ll decrease your turnover rate by assuring you are attracting the right people with the right skills and motivations.

Use your EVP to assure that every position is appealing to the top talent you want to attract to it, thus bringing in better qualified candidates. It will create a better environment for current employees, which will, in turn, increase your employer reputation, again, leading to more qualified candidates being interested.

These skilled and talented workers will then be more committed to the success of your company and the mission. And they will be happy.

 

The Components of Employee Value

Financial compensation

This is clearly important, but every job offers a paycheck. If you want to have a good EVP, you need to do more. In addition to having a good start rate, you need to offer opportunities for raises and, possibly, bonuses.

 

Benefits

Benefits will need to mean much more than insurance. Candidates will be looking at time off, paid holidays, retirement plans, education opportunities, work flexibility, and more.

 

Career advancement opportunities

The days of employees just wanting to come to work, doing the same thing every day and leaving eight hours later, are quickly coming to a close. Potential employees are going to be looking for an organization that offers them a chance to develop their skills and learn new ones. They want to feel like their job is stable. They want opportunities for training and education. They also want a company that will work with them on career development and mentoring; someone that will provide honest and constructive feedback on their personal growth and performance.

 

Positive work environment and culture

The future requires a safe environment with a good work-life balance. Nobody wants to live only for the company anymore. They want to be challenged and recognized when they react to those challenges well. They want to understand – and be part of – the goals and missions of the company. They also want a culture of collaboration and teamwork. Also, more than perhaps ever before, people are looking for companies that are socially responsible.

 

Everything your potential employees are looking for will benefit the company as well. So, if you’re wondering if you should change your recruiting and retention strategy to focus on happiness over money … the answer is 'Yes'! 

 

Read the ultimate team accountability ebook

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help your HR team craft and utilize a compelling employer value proposition that improves recruitment and retention. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 16, 2018
Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

Should Recruitment and Retention Strategy Focus on Happiness?

Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

In our first blog about competency model evaluation and development, we laid out some ideas for helping leaders shift their perception from the near to long-term. This second installment provides tangible steps so those leaders can begin applying those concepts right away.

Step 1

Define your current hiring process and make no assumptions. Write out the details of the search, the resume selection, interview process and any outside services your employee used during the hunt. It’s much easier to get where you want to go when you know where you are.

Step 2

Talk to current managers and top performers to identify skills and behaviors that are most appreciated and valued in the company. Define the behaviors and metrics that illustrate the competencies you’re looking for. Be as specific as possible, not general.

Step 3

Research the market and industry you currently work in, and any you can foresee the company working in at some future date. Look at the skills and behaviors expected in your industry.

Step 4

Define the behaviors that demonstrate the competencies you are looking for at each level within the organization of different departments. What do you expect from an entry level member, middle management, and executive level? These traits should be gaining value as they go.

Step 5

Identify all the people and organizations your company interacts with. Include employees, customers, vendors, partners, board members, and anyone with any influence in, or by, the company. These are all relationships you need to understand.

Step 6

Make sure you, or someone in your technology department, is constantly researching future technologies that could benefit or impact your industry. Know what’s coming and either be ahead of it, or be part of it.

Step 7

Think locally and globally. What can your company do to help your community? Start small and then build. Do more than offer good jobs in your area. Give back in every way possible. Stretch your impact beyond your neighborhood whenever you can.

Step 8

Understand that diversity is more than a word. It is truly a requirement, as well as an amazing opportunity. Hire from different communities. Join different organizations that challenge your way of thinking . Encourage your employees to join business-related groups that widen their perspectives. Make sure you and your people are as involved as possible.

 

What’s the message here? Clearly, it is 'do more'. Do more than you have to, and do more than you want to. You should always be working toward the future.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan for building and lead exceptional teams. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 12, 2018
Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

Part 2: How Can You Competency Models for 2030?

The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

In 1996, Robert Kaplan and David Norton published their seminal work on strategy development and execution, "The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action." Since then, their methodology has been implemented across thousands of organizations. Kaplan and Norton's central hypothesis is that companies need to take a balanced look at how their organizations are performing to achieve their objectives. They advocate a multi-perspective ("balanced") view, including financial, customer, operational, and human capital metrics. 

The "balanced" perspective can be applied to any number of organizational sub-units or functions, but one area often overlooked that demands a balanced perspective is ethics. 

Most Fortune 500 companies today incorporate an ethical component into their strategic plans. A major challenge for management, though, is that different stakeholder groups may have vastly different perspectives on what constitutes ethical decision making. For a company to be "ethical," must it:

  • Pay a living wage to employees?
  • Only do business with vendors meeting eco-friendly standards?
  • Act in the best financial interests of shareholders?
  • Support market competition?

Starbucks, known for ethically sourced coffee beans, is dogged by accusations that it crushes smaller competitors. Amazon, which provides customers with top notch customer service, is known for its challenging corporate and fulfillment center cultures. Apple, which revolutionized multiple industries on the way to becoming the world's most valuable company, has come into question for the practices of its suppliers. Chevron, often recognized as America's best oil and gas company to work for, regularly faces complaints that it is environmentally unfriendly.

These successful, well-respected companies look different depending on one's perspective, which is why it is critical to look at your company's approach to ethics in a balanced and holistic manner. Much like a company needs to pursue excellence in operations, people, finances, and customer to be successful, it should consider multiple perspectives to be considered an ethical organization. 

When weighing the ethical implications of a business decision, consider the following perspectives:

Your customers, your potential employees, and the community all want to do business with ethical companies. Weighing multiple ethical perspectives in the strategic decision making process improves the decision itself, helps identify potential objections from different stakeholders, and positions your company as an ethical player.

Understand your culture 

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 10, 2018
The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

The Ethical Balanced Scorecard: Competing Perspectives

Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

It's trite, but true: the world around us is changing faster than ever. And it shows no signs of slowing down. The only way to get ahead (and stay ahead) is to deal with challenges proactively, not reactively. 

This is why we have researched and published our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025, written by our own Judy Johnson, Ph.D. This book helps set the stage for what’s to come and how you can change and prepare your organization to be effective and win in the coming years.

 

What if you knew ahead of time that:

  • AI would be a critical member of your team
  • Employees use mobile devices to access the majority of information
  • Flexible work goes from a perk to an expectation

How would this information have changed your priorities? Would you have hired other people, invested in alternative projects, or measured success differently?

From market globalization to fickle consumer preferences to evolving talent requirements, the accelerating pace of change affects just about every facet of business.

The bad news is that the scope and scale of these changes is only going to grow.

And the good news? We can see the changes coming and can help you prepare accordingly.

 

Why is preparing your organization for 2025 a priority?

  • All signs point to continued shifts in how companies operate over the coming years
  • Issues that are already a nuisance are expected to accelerate
  • Focusing only on the challenges of today will get you caught up, only to be left behind
  • Preparing for emerging trends will help build an agile, skilled workforce that will be a sustainable competitive advantage 


Companies who prepare for future shifts are the ones that survive and thrive. There are a handful of mega trends that cut across all markets; they are consistently discussed and commonly agreed on by strategists across disciplines. When taken together, however, they show a drastically different future state of work, and also create a compelling reason to take action today.

 

How can you prepare for the future?

Aspirant’s Organizational Effectiveness team has analyzed social, professional, technological, and managerial trends to identify unique elements necessary for companies to excel.

To wet your appetite, here are two of the trends we explore in this ebook:
1. Reputation Over Revenue: Employees, customers and investors want social responsibility, environmental accountability and increasingly social activism from companies.

2. Diversified Power: Organizational power will neither sit solely with company executives at corporate headquarters, nor with the leaders of the largest business units.

 

To read through the complete list of trends and the recommended courses of action, click the image below.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Organizational experts about how we can help your company create a competitive advantage by positioning your teams for future success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 9, 2018
Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

Aspirant Publishes Workplace Trends for 2025 eBook

Why Software Integration Matters

Application integration is incredibly important. Picture this: You’re sitting at your desk working on a weekly report. The weekly report you’re tasked with creating each week requires you to manually pull information from five different places. For example’s sake, let’s say you need to pull key data from a spreadsheet your financial team uses; SalesForce data for your sales reps; productivity data through whatever you’re using for project management, and miscellaneous data from three other spreadsheets.

You probably thought you were past the point in your career where you would have to spend eight hours per week working on a report that most of your team uses as a place to etch random shapes or jot notes on when they need something to write on. These reports are complex to digest, but what’s even worse is they are complex to create.

Let’s take a look at how application integration can help you walk into work with a smile on your face and that report already on your desk.

“But that’s the way we’ve always done it!”

There are a few phrases more dangerous to a modern company. There are plenty of companies out there that are still running their day-to-day operations on a spreadsheet. Why would they do this when there is so much great software out there? “That’s the way they’ve always done it.”

It’s very rare to find a company that can purchase one piece of software and have it do everything it needs to do. Business is complex. There are different departments that care about different metrics and need to have all sorts of different information available to them on a regular basis. SalesForce may be great for your sales team, but does it show accounting the information they need to know? Does it give your operations manager an idea of employee workload or utilization rate? No.

Application integration literally means application integration. It allows you to help all of your tools to talk to each other. Even better, if set up properly, it automates many of your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks.

Change is difficult but necessary. Imagine a world where your CRM and your ERP are integrated. Wouldn’t that make your life easier? Wouldn’t it make your whole company more efficient?

 

Software integration is critical

The benefits to application integration far outweigh any hesitation you or any member of your company may have. Once your company reaches full integration the possibilities are endless.

  • Automate reports
  • Develop internal and external workflows
  • Easier to integrate new applications as they come in
  • Improved customer service
  • Real-time data, available whenever you want

Chances are, you weren’t hired to spend hours sifting through spreadsheets and different software applications to put together reports. Application integration allows your team to work on the things they do best. More efficient reporting also helps guide decision-making and in turn, helps your company grow.

 

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch. Sure, some applications are more challenging to integrate than others, but that’s where you bring in a highly skilled, highly experienced team of specialists to do it for you. Integration can be achieved at any pace. If you want to build a full integration right away, then you can, but you can also ease your company into full integration. Depending on how complex your integration is, the second option may be easier for everyone involved.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Regardless of the existing infrastructure or ideal future state, our software experts can make it happen. Use the form below to request an exploratory discussion about how we can develop integrations that streamline operations and drive efficiency.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

phil-kossler
2018/07
July 3, 2018
Why Software Integration Matters

Why Software Integration Matters

What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

According to a recent study from the Harvard Business Review surveying 168 business leaders, two-thirds of HR departments are using HR metrics, but less than one-quarter deliver metrics to the CEO that link HR metrics to business results. Why the gap? According to the same study, only 39% of leaders agree that HR is able to quantify the business impact of the people strategy.

Linking HR performance metrics to business results can be challenging, but can also result in a competitive advantage for your organization by maximizing the value of your HR spend. To efficiently and effectively link HR metrics to business results, it’s important to keep in mind these three questions:

 

What information is most relevant to CEOs?

Let’s assume your CEO asks how much more was spent this year on recruiting. On its face, the question is about cost. Since HR is not a revenue generating function, this is often the case. So you could simply respond that recruiting spend increased from $100 to $200 million this year. That would directly address the question at hand, but that is only part of the picture. Without additional context or analysis, your CEO’s reaction will range from mild disinterest to annoyance that costs are rising.

Instead, make the connection to what they really care about: profitability. The quality of the incoming talent has a massive impact on revenue, so it’s important to highlight the corresponding impact generated by the recruiting spend. Your CEO will be thrilled if the additional $100 million increases revenue by $1 billion.

More granular metrics such as cost-to-hire, time-to-hire, and 90-day turnover could also be cited to illustrate the productivity of your team, and in turn, the value of that $200 million in spend.

Now you’re ready to speak the language of business. That small increase in recruiting spend has reaped massive benefits for the organization. Your additional layer of analysis didn’t answer the exact question that was asked, but it answered the more important question.

 

How are you accessing information?

Having access to clean, consistent, well-defined data is a critical first step in building your organization’s people analytics capability. What’s your process for gathering and synthesizing data for complex metrics like regrettable attrition?

Loss of high performers, people in hard-to-fill positions, and people with less than one year of tenure can all be classified as regrettable loss. When you’re analyzing and reporting on a metric as subjective as regrettable attrition, though, it’s important to keep in mind a few things:

    1. Be consistent. Solicit a variety of opinions from the business to define the metric, then stick with it.

    2. Document it. Once you’ve defined the metric, make the definition clear and accessible so that anyone who is reviewing the metric understands its components.

    3. Simplify the data gathering. Metrics like regrettable attrition can be challenging to build on an ad hoc basis, and data assembly, cleaning and synthesis can require significant effort. Make it easy for yourself and your team by building a custom report in your HRIS or a dashboard in Tableau or Power BI to reduce manual effort.

How are you telling the story?

Just reporting data isn’t enough. To influence strategic direction with people data, you need to present a compelling story and a clear perspective. As an HR leader, you may be focused on reducing pay inequities between men and women, and how you present this story to your CEO will impact the direction your company takes.

First, consider the likely questions and/or objections your fellow leaders may have, and be familiar with data that supports your POV. Regarding the gender pay gap, many people might raise experience level, performance and job title as explanations for a gender gap in compensation. Be sure you have the information necessary to respond to these.

Next, identify root causes that are contributing the most to the gap. One useful framework is to ask “Why” five times. Take the following fictional situation, where an HR leader delves into an internal pay gap:

  • Why #1: Why are women in the company paid 10 percent less than men in our company? (Dig into historical data) Because men receive raises that average one percentage point more per women per year.
  • Why do men receive higher raises than women? (Continue digging) Because men at the company receive more off-cycle performance reviews than women (note: there can certainly be more than one “because” for each why).
  • Why do men receive more off-cycle performance reviews? (Find managers who have conducted multiple off-cycle performance reviews and interview them) Because men at the company have been more likely to ask.
  • Why have men been more likely to ask for off-cycle performance reviews? (Interview men who have asked for a review as well as high performing women) Because men feel more confident that their requests will be granted.
  • Why do men feel more confident in engineering that their requests will be granted? (Continue interviewing) Because women are familiar with multiple cases of other women who have asked for off-cycle reviews and have been denied and labeled as “too aggressive.”

In this situation, asking 'The Five Whys' has revealed a cultural issue where a common behavior by both men and women has been received differently and caused cultural divide and narrowed potential solutions. In this case, however, the company may wish to train employees on subconscious biases, communicate more transparently about gender issues, or review performance management criteria across the organization to ensure consistency.

Finally, present your findings in a way that is visually compelling, drillable and easy to understand. Here is where people data dashboards can be useful tools. Rather than spending time creating and recreating dozens of PowerPoint slides, consider developing a dashboard within your HRIS, or within a simple Business Intelligence tool like Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, which allow you to rapidly generate high impact visuals, slice and dice data, and quickly respond to your CEO’s questions. Building powerful dashboards requires several steps: requirements gathering, metric identification, front- and back-end development, and operationalization, but the benefits – rapid visualization, analysis, and focus – are well worth the investment.

Linking HR data to business data will help you shape and drive your organization’s strategy. Understanding what your CEO cares about, how to quickly access information, and how to convey a compelling story will allow you get the most out of your people data.

 

Want to learn more about leveling up your HR team's perspective? Check out our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness and Data experts can help implement the infrastructure and analytical processes that will elevate the perception of your HR department. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your team and your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 3, 2018
What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

What Is People Analytics? Making Things Add Up For Executives

Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

The inverted pyramid is about embracing the synergies of an empowered and competent workforce. It's about identifying a career path trajectory of your people that directly supports the success of your customers, your company, and you as a leader.

The Inverted Pyramid

The ideal is for everyone to be experts at what they do. After all, why would you want anything less? But in order for your people to be experts, you have to help them get there. You have to show them that you have faith that they will get there.

 

Appreciate Your People

Boosting employee morale and confidence is at least half of the journey to an expert workforce. People work better when they feel appreciated and valued. People are loyal to someone they believe is willing to invest in them.

Take time to get to know your employees and their individual goals and objectives. Collaborate with them on developing career paths. Do they make sense in the position you have them? If not, where could they better serve? You are all serving the company, serving each other and serving yourselves.

 

Get to Know Your People

Know what they want and help them achieve it. Challenge them to push harder, without pushing them into positions they aren’t ready for. Encourage them to develop a diverse internal employee network. This is what it takes to be a leader.

Send them to classes or workshops related to the skills they need to learn. Look for like-minded business groups in your local area. This will help them build skills and network. You may be surprised at the number of such organizations that exist in many cities.

 

Set Expectations

If you are grooming someone for a management role, you need to make sure you are relying on and encouraging more than just their technical skills. It’s also extremely important to know the details of the role they are being geared for. You must make sure the role is defined and the potential candidate knows what will be expected of them.

Once you’ve clarified the role, you need to clarify the attributes required to fill it. You need to foster those attributes in your employee. Even if this move will put the employee in a position that no longer reports to you, it’s still in everyone’s best interest for you to make sure they are prepared.

 

Prepare for Their Future Success

  1. Do they have the Abilities necessary? This applies to both the technical abilities of the job and the leadership abilities of the position. Skills such as decision making, conflict resolution, motivation and planning may be new to them. Help them master them.

  2. Do they have the Aptitude to utilize those abilities? Once they have mastered their leadership level abilities, they need to know what skill is needed at what time. They need to be able to read people and know what is needed. This usually takes practice, and an opportunity to use their new skills in lower pressure scenario.

  3. Do they have the right Attitude for the job? If a person has the skills and the aptitude, but not the right attitude, they will not be a boon to your company. Make sure they have developed the values you are looking for, understand the mission of the company and care about their role in it.

Want to learn more about other Organizational Effectiveness trends? Download our eBook: Workplace Trends for 2025.

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/07
July 2, 2018
Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

Utilize the Inverted Pyramid to Build Expertise in Your Teams

Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

People analytics is undeniably a hot topic today. Few would argue that the availability of HR data and the tools to manipulate it enable stronger decision making, development of better people strategies, and increased influence with business leads. Putting aside the many benefits that data can offer, users should watch for mistakes that can result in bad decisions. 

Five common issues with advanced people analytics

1. False causation

Consider your latest employee engagement survey. You had an uptick in engagement over the one you did 2 years ago, and when you look at your financial data, you see that profitability also increased. Engagement caused profitability, right? Or is it that the healthier financial situation caused an increase in engagement? The tricky thing about one-to-one comparisons is that it is often difficult to tell which is the driving factor and which is the dependent variable. To reduce the likelihood of this error, eliminate other possible causes. Regarding profitability, has the general economic climate improved? Were there one or two big contract wins? Was there a reorganization or process reengineering effort? Any new vendor renegotiations? Be sure you’re taking a complete picture of your situation.

 

2. Hasty generalization

Consider exit interviews. You review your data for last year and see that 3 of 8 people leaving under a specific manager cited “poor management” as a reason for leaving. Should you be concerned? Probably. Should you use this data point to decide that this is a manager in need of training, demotion, or firing? Certainly not. When organizations are just starting to gather data, they are often in a hurry to use it quickly. Big mistake. Especially when there are limited data points available, it’s important to gather enough data before using it to make big decisions. Consider additional factors that might be at play – location, life stage, commuting distance, performance ratings – and test additional hypotheses.

 

3. Confirmation bias

So you’ve got a new baby – congratulations, it’s a sales training program you helped create. It has all the bells and whistles – blended learning, role plays, interactive video. You pilot it with a group of ten salespeople. In the next month, their numbers improve by 20%. You show the data to everyone. Your training was a massive success! Not so fast. What you ignored was that across the company, the average salesperson’s increase during the same time-period was 18%, seven of the ten people who took the training had just come off a bad month, and the cost to develop and administer the training was incredibly high. You made the mistake of picking only the data that supported the position you wanted to support while ignoring the rest. Confirmation bias plagues us all in all aspects of our lives (not just work). To overcome, seek out independent opinions, particularly when you have an emotional interest in reaching a specific conclusion. 

 

4. Regression to the Mean

You’ve recently implemented a monthly pulse survey, and you’re measuring participation. Good news! Response rate is 50% after 3 months, so you shift your attention elsewhere. Bad news. The initially high response rate will likely taper off after time. Performance and participation tend to regress to the mean, so whether it’s an average performer having a killer year or a new initiative that has a great deal of early enthusiasm, keep measuring and prepare yourself for a return to expected levels.

 

5. Data dredging

You have a massive HRIS export. You have detailed financial results by division and geography. You run a massive correlation analysis and find a statistically significant relationship between last year’s salary increase and this year’s absenteeism. You deliver the finding to your head of compensation and proudly report that “There’s only a 5% chance this is random!” Ah, but let’s do an experiment.

Do an Excel coin flip test:

  • Type “=randbetween(0,1)" in Cell A1 and hit Enter
  • Copy that formula across the Rows and Columns down to Cell G100, creating 100 Rows of 7 Columns
  • Sum each Row in Column H
  • Count how many times the sum in Column H comes to 7 (the equivalent of 7 flips resulting in Heads)

Statistically, there’s a 1 in 128 chance of this occurring in any single row, but do it a hundred times, and your odds of an all-heads row increases to 55%.

The takeaway: If you randomly test hundreds of variables for statistically significant relationships, you’re going to find them somewhere, but be careful. Data dredging is useful for identifying hypotheses, but don’t make the mistake of believing that the relationships that you find are, in and of themselves, meaningful. Find additional ways to test your hypotheses.

People analytics is an exciting field, filled with possibility for driving decision making at the organizational level. Keeping in mind common statistical and analytical errors and how to avoid them will help you steer the organization in the right direction.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help you overcome these pitfalls as part of enabling an impactful people analytics program. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 26, 2018
Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

Your Data is Lying to You: Pitfalls with Advanced People Analytics

Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

Businesses no longer have the luxury of leisurely analyzing data by digging through books, historical documents, and consulting experts. Everything happens now, and your organization needs to adjust at the same speed.

Focus on your customers needs, not your wants

Agile workflows will be the primary processes for keeping up with change. You’ll need to increase your analytical capacity and decrease you implementation cycle before potential customers glance over your website and move on.

Basically, data is ruling the world. You’ll need to structure your analysis and workflow so that you can evaluate it quickly and efficiently, for beneficial and repeatable results. Therefore, you’ll need to find out what your customer needs and wants, and make sure to show them what you have that fits their needs. Here are some best practices: 

 

Focus on your customers needs, not your wants

But you also can’t bombard potential customers with data. Personally, few things irritate me as much as repeated emails from a company with a link back to the exact things I was looking at on their site and with no sort of hook. I already know what I looked at. Show me something relevant. Show me a sale on the kind of items I was looking at. Or, show me something even better.

 

Don’t just collect user experience data, turn it into action

If you’re recording where I am on your site, you’ll see all the different things I’ve been clicking on and looking at. Put those things together and figure out what I’m really looking for. Analyze my behavior on your site; don’t just copy/paste the page I already looked at. And do that before I’ve left your site, or at least before I‘ve purchased from another.

 

Focus on the user experience

You must base the ads that are visible on the sides of my screen off of what I am looking for. That is already being done by the big guys like Amazon for many years.

 

Implement a data analytics team

Do you have a business analytics team? If not, why? It’s not something that only larger businesses need. And it’s also not something that should be entrusted to one guy who’s good with excel spreadsheets. Your team should consist of these experts:

  • Data Analyst (Pull on demand data, check data integrity, communicate data results)
  • Data Engineer/Developer (Develops and maintains the actual database)
  • Data Warehouse Manager (Controls data accessibility, documents data procedures and upkeep)
  • Data Storyteller (Turns data into story with charts, graphs etc., communicates meaning behind data)
  • Data Director (Data’s “voice” in executive management)

There could be multiple people for some of these roles, and it’s possible they won’t all be needed if you are not growth-oriented. But you will need most of these roles and someone who is dedicated to them. And I don’t mean someone who typically manages a department or other projects and analyzes data on the side.

To prepare, you’ll need people dedicated to data analytics and interpretation. It must be part of your workflow all the time. 

 Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can collaborate with your leadership to install the people, process, and technology that keeps you ahead of the game. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help implement a data analytics program that creates a competitive advantage for your company.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 11, 2018
Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

Build Customer Intimacy through Analytics

How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

Running your company with social responsibility, social activism, and environmental concerns in mind is no longer just a trend in business, it’s an imperative policy. We expect companies to do more than sell a product or service; we also expect some worldly good.

Rising Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

This is most obvious in the younger generations of job hunters and talent who believe reputation is more important than revenue. Today’s workers are willing to take jobs for a lower salary if those companies contribute more to social and environmental good.

 

Financial Implications

A negative reputation can cost a company at least an extra 10% per hire. For top talent, the world is now a candidate-driven market, not an employer-driven one. Not surprising, this is only expected to increase with time.

In an experiment with job applicants, it was found that potential employees who saw a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reputation in the job ad submitted bids that asked for wages 44% lower than applicants applying to the same job not listing their CSR information.

Just imagine by doing good, and being known for it, you can get hard-working and dedicated employees for 44% less. Granted, these employees will expect this reputation to be upheld. You can’t be all talk and no action.

 

substantiating csr commitments

In order for your reputation for CSR to stand out, you need to do more than throw money at a few causes right before tax time. You need to show the world, and potential employees, that you are willing to let CSR trump revenue when it counts.

One such way is to share information with competitors when it contributes to the greater good. Perhaps you’ve discovered new safety technology and processes for your industry? Well, don’t keep it to yourself; share with your competitors. You should care more about the safety of all people than you do about being ahead of the game in technology.

 

Identifying CSR opportunities

Do everything you can to decrease your organization’s carbon footprint. Think about what you can do to use fewer natural resources in your production, if applicable. Make sure anything you purchase comes ethically sourced and sustainably supplied.

 

Where to Go from Here

Not all of this comes easy; you will have to do your homework to make sure you are doing business with other good companies. If a business you purchase from, supply for, or work with in any way gets negative press – that can also reflect on you.

This is especially important with younger generations of workers. A survey of what is considered the millennial generation resulted in 76% saying that the social and environmental reputation of a company influences their decision to work there. It is 58% for an average of all ages.

As you can see, this is something you need to start preparing for now. Once you’ve mastered the thinking in terms of social responsibility, maintaining and adapting will not be as much of a challenge.

 

For more emerging dynamics your HR team should consider, download our ebook: Workplace Trends for 2025

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to schedule a casual conversation with our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how we can better position your company for success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 5, 2018
How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

How Corporate Responsibility Impacts Talent Acquisition

Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

No company can afford to operate like an island in the current ecosystem. You need to be aware of the potential changes coming to your industry and your market. You need to know what your competitors, suppliers and distributors are doing. Companies need to do more than just build partnerships with other businesses. They need to consider their business model and marketing strategies when developing a workforce plan.

Companies are working towards smaller and more agile groups of employees, and there will be value to be gained by partnering with competitors to use both of your resources to deliver a powerful product or service.

Toyota is a good example of a company that is working to seize this opportunity. With the rise of the self-driving car, Uber could be seen as a competitor for them. Instead of fighting to surpass Uber in the automated driving market, Toyota is in talks with Uber to explore the use of Uber’s technology in Toyota vehicles.

Regardless of the conclusion of these discussions, Toyota has opened up a bridge of opportunity for their company while minimizing a contender for their market. Together, they can accomplish more. With shared research, technology and testing, both companies save time and money in research and development. They can achieve the same success having spent less.

 

Stronger Together

So, how can you use this kind of thinking for your own company? What competitors do you have that may be more beneficial to you if you are working together?

These are questions you need to think about now, to prepare for the future. Think outside the box of what you control within your company, and start thinking of who you could work with to expand your capabilities.

 

If you’d like to learn more about this and other ways to prepare for the future...

 

Download Our Ebook Organizational Effectiveness for 2030

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Organizational experts about how we can help account for future trends within your team structure and ways of working.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/06
June 4, 2018
Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

Incorporate Emerging Trends into Organizational Planning

Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

Both business and consumers can instantly access information and order goods from the other side of the planet. This has not been noteworthy for quite some time. The rise of globalization has made more countries more dependent on each other than ever before.

For consumers, this creates the perception that the world is getting smaller, and their purchasing power impacts many social aspects around the world and at home. A the same time, younger generations are making purchasing decisions that are motivated much more by emotion than the lowest price. The catch phrase, “Shop locally, think globally,” is now fairly commonplace. Globalizing is slowly being trumped by localizing, and you need to be ready.

 

Step 1: Define what local means to you

Depending on your type of business, there could be variations of local, and variations of strategies to nurture. For example, if you run a small Asian grocery market in a predominantly Asian community, your version of local is both very specific and obvious.

But what if you have an online company that develops accounting software for businesses? You do business with companies all over the world. What does local mean to you? This is a question you need to be thinking about now, because it will be more important in the future.

 

Step 2: Do some research

The interesting combination of technology and grass roots organization in today’s society, are outstanding for local globalization. There are quiz applications that can be targeted via social networking sites to the physical locations or to specific audiences you need. You can ask the questions to the exact people you want the answers from.

There’s no need to rely only on speculation of what your customers, patrons or potentials want. Tech has provided you numerous tools to ask them yourself. And you should be consistently doing that.

Knowing what your local market is, and understanding its needs, are imperative. You can sell the same product in New York City, and a small farm town in Pennsylvania, but you must know what the audience is looking for.

 

Step 3: Target with laser focus

Large companies acting on a global scale will need to dial down. Instead of an overarching high level position in charge of everywhere, you will need individuals tailored toward understanding specific markets and localities. You will need people with cultural awareness and understanding. Your workers and executives will need to be diverse.

According to a study by the CMO Council, almost 49% of marketers feel that localized marketing is critical to the growth and profitability of business. But, in that same study, only 12% of marketers feel they have a handle on localized marketing. So, companies know that it’s important, but they are still working out the best way to act on it.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant Organizational and Marketing experts can help your company incorporate methods for anticipating and capitalizing on all relevant trends. Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 29, 2018
Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

Post-Globalization Is Here: Pivot to a Local Globalization Strategy

What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

Have you thought about this question? Do you know the answer? If so, do you know if they are working?

Employee Engagement Programs: Commitment or Going through the Motions

Most companies have some sort of employee engagement program in place, but not every organization truly integrates employee feedback into their ways of working. There’s a lot more to engaging employees than just checking steps and best practices off a list. You need to make sure what you’re doing is working, not just fulfilling a required action.

 

Gauging External Engagement

What are you doing to successfully engage people? Keep in mind that 'people' doesn’t only mean employees. The importance of feedback applies to your customers as well as your employees. After all, they want a lot of the same things. They want to feel valued and appreciated. They also want to be heard when they voice their concerns.

Just like with your customers, it’s not enough to conduct regular employee engagement surveys. You have to act on them too. Respond to their concerns and ask questions if you don’t understand. Once you have a handle on what your employees are looking for, set the objectives of what you want to address.

Create an engagement plan that directly addresses employee concerns and suggestions. Make a commitment to your team about what you plan to do, and stick with it. These are the most imperative aspects of engagement.

Without attention to responses, surveys are useless. Without communication, your employees don’t know you’re working to improve things. Without action, they’ll know that you don’t really want to improve things.

 

Steps to Ensure the Effectiveness of Employee Engagement Programs

  1. Solicit employee feedback.

  2. Read the feedback and understand it.

  3. Communicate what you intend to do in response.

  4. Follow through on what you communicate.

  5. Repeat the cycle.

Making it Happen

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

 

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 28, 2018
What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

What Are Your Company's Employee Engagement Programs?

Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Can you describe your organization’s commitment to social responsibility? Is it at the forefront of the executive mind when making decisions?

Corporate Social Responsibility

This is what you want to be true for your company: You have a positive social impact; your mission aligns with broader social goals, promotes employee involvement in social causes, and is regularly recognized for positive social impact.

This is social responsibility success.

Check out the ways these companies achieve it:

 

1. Incorporate hours for volunteer work into your yearly budget.

Letting your employees use paid work hours to volunteer for their favorite causes is a sure win for social responsibility. It gets you good press in the community, increases employee loyalty and morale, and is the right thing to do.

Xerox earmarked over $1.3 million dollars to enable their 13,000 employees to participate in volunteer causes. This is over a period of many years at a very large company. But it’s worth the time to analyze your budget and see what kind of hours you can set aside for this no matter how small your business is.

 

2. Incorporate policies to use fewer natural resources.

All companies use natural resources; take a look at some of what you use and how. What can you use less of without compromising quality or safety? What could make the biggest positive impact on the environment?

Levi Strauss & Co has a trademarked “Water<Less” campaign, aimed at decreasing the use of water while manufacturing their products. They have already saved more than 2 billion liters of water with more planned. How can they make positive impact on their environment?

 

3. Donate per purchase.

TOMS Shoes is well known for its One for One approach to business. For every pair of shoes bought, another pair is donated to a needy child. It is a very simple and direct approach to helping others.

Consumers are glad to know their purchases are doing good things for others. Likewise, employees are glad to know their work is helping others. The community took notice, and the company is now well known for that purpose. People search out TOMS shoes to make a purchase. In addition to the good it does for the world, it actually drives customers to their products.

You might not be able to rearrange your business to match this approach, but you could come up with something, like a special product, or a certain percentage. There are always options.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant prides itself in its commitment to combatting domestic violence through our Connection of Hope campaign. We would be happy to help your team find creative, sustainable ways for your company to support the local or global community. Use the form below to reach out to our team.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 21, 2018
Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Corporate Social Responsibility: 3 of Our Favorite Examples

Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Does your company play the hot and cold game when trying to find solutions or create something new? You don’t have time to research, so you just try as many ideas as possible to see if they seem good or not? It’s like throwing a bunch of things against the wall to see what sticks.

Promote Accountability and Creativity through Process

Some leaders are comfortable with the hot-and-cold approach because they are not able to commit time to planning up front. They wrongly assume that it will be faster to let you just figure it out and keep coming back to them for directional feedback.

This causes frustration for employee, manager and anyone else working on the project. A good worker doesn’t want to waste time; they want to make progress. And trying the same thing over and over again in different ways without any direction sure feels like a waste of time.

According to Brian Tracy, every minute of planning saves 10 minutes in execution. That may not seem like much at first but, it equals out to a 5-hour time savings for every 30 minutes you spend planning. That could apply to both the manager and the employee working on the solution, which would equal out to 10 hours there.

So what’s a better way? Look at the current and future state of what you want to fix or achieve. Talk about it, make sure everyone involved understands it, and plan how everyone can be acccountable.

  • Outline the current state together.
  • Identify the area you plan to improve.
  • Discuss possible solutions.
  • Select a solution that is universally agreeable.
  • Plan, do, check, and act.
  • Turn the new actions into a standardized process.

That is a very simple structure for building team accountability will save hours of time with any project or task. Why does this work?

  • It focuses energy and creativity on the actual problem you’re trying to solve, not just the symptoms.
  • It provides guardrails, keeping you on track to minimize confusion and reduce chaos.
  • It reduces administrative and redundant tasks, freeing up brain power for higher value tasks.

With this process, no one’s wasting their time with trial and error of things that will never work and aren’t even what the boss is seeking. It will help establish a culture of accountability, which is critical to achieving long term success.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 15, 2018
Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Accountability and Creativity Can Be Promoted through Process

Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

How would you describe the connections among people in your organization? Do various departments have an “us vs. them” mentality? Or does everyone work well together?

Well-connected teams have high trust levels within their inner circle and in other areas. A person who is well-connected will be better able to achieve goals during cross-functional projects. They will be respected by other departments and could help open up new career paths.

Let’s look at some examples:

Sally works in marketing at a local convention center. She’s been tasked with creating a promotion for an upcoming sports event, and a boss suggests offering signed baseballs to the first 150 ticket-buyers. The building security policy does not allow objects that can be thrown and potentially cause injury. Chances are, no one will toss the signed baseballs as they are keepsakes. Nevertheless, Sally’s boss told her to “Make it happen.”

 

Here’s an example of how a positively connected employee will act:

Sally respects the other departments. She’s built relationships with many of the managers. She decides to approach the security manager with the idea to get his input. She knows there must be a way to make this work that’s safe and effective for everybody. Since she’s worked well with them in the past, they are usually happy to see what they could do to accommodate her request. Together, they come up with a plan that will increase sales, please the customers, and abide by all required safety regulations.

 

Now, here’s the same scenario if a person does not have positive connections:

Sally is unfamiliar with company safety policy. After all, what does it have to do with marketing? Her job is to sell, and the more she sells the better her department looks, thus the better she looks.

She wonders if this will be an issue with the event security team. She doesn’t know any of them very well, and fears that if she asks she’ll end up having to find a different promo to use. Or, she’ll have to remind them that her boss is higher up on the corporate ladder and they need to listen to what he suggests.

Either way, it’s something Sally doesn’t have time for right now. She assigns people to hand out “promotional materials” without telling them what they will be handing out. The less people know the better. She’ll worry about the backlash when it comes.

You can probably guess how this is going to end up. But I’ll give you a few thoughts first. The promo team will hand out baseballs; the customers will proceed into the stadium, where security will see and attempt to confiscate the baseballs. There will be a level of chaos until everyone figures out what happened and how to fix it.

It’s easy to see which the preferable scenario is. So how do you get there? What can you do to encourage your team to build positive connections all throughout your organization?

  • Allow them to develop their people skills. Encourage them to take classes on emotional intelligence and working with others. Send them to networking events with each other.
  • Hold team building events regularly. Mix up the teams.
  • Let them know it’s okay to spend time building relationships. Demonstrate by asking others about their weekends, their kids, etc. Let people see you asking members of other departments their opinions on current projects.
  • Create cross-functional teams. Praise them when they do well. Encourage off-site meetings when possible, as this has more of a relationship-building atmosphere.
  • Celebrate personal and professional moments. Celebrate birthdays once a month, give people time away from their desks to enjoy cake and conversation. Have a good sales month? Buy everyone lunch and bring them in at the same time.
  • Once people build camaraderie, they are more likely to trust in each other. They will express their ideas and opinions more. They will respect others’ opinions and viewpoints more than they did before.
  • Employees that get to know members of other departments will learn who the experts are. They will then know who to ask in the future when something is needed.
  • Positive connections promote collaboration and the exchange of information and knowledge. Not to mention, it creates happier more satisfied employees. The Gallup Organization has shown that people who have best friends at work are seven times more likely to feel engaged and dedicated to their job.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams build their own employee network? That can go a long way in overcoming siloed thinking or competing priorities. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/05
May 14, 2018
Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

Encourage Your People to Build an Internal Employee Network

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

In Part 1, we discussed how meeting hygiene can help hold people accountable. This installment will focus on the facilitator's role in accountability.

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

Best Practices

  • Have a scheduled check in at the midway period.

  • Make sure all deadlines are realistic.

  • Remove any barriers to task completion.

  • Kill action items that don’t make sense anymore between meetings.

  • Task the action owner with giving a status update.

One of the most important factors here is being able to kill action items when they are no longer relevant. What you choose not to do is just as important as what you choose to do. Part of the facilitator’s job is to make sure time is used efficiently to progress the overall objectives. If action owners are dedicating time to tasks that no longer help the progression of the overall goals, then they are not doing their job.

How do you decide this? The first and most obvious, the action owner can recommend killing the item. If the facilitator can’t reply with the reasons why that task is still important, then it’s time to kill it. The argument for the action item needs to be stronger than “My boss said so.”

If it’s not suggested, but the facilitator’s friends and others are asking, why they are doing this again, or how this relates to such and such, then it is time to reevaluate the purpose of the task. Ask the action owner and anyone involved in assigning said task. Don’t be afraid to delve into the meaning of all aspects of work.

Monthly Process Review

  • Ask yourself and others if the standing meetings are working
  • Are you getting better at completing tasks and moving forward?
  • Evaluate what’s working, what’s not, and revise accordingly

Consistent reviews are important. There’s a difference between evaluating your progress and second-guessing yourself. A good facilitator will want to make sure that the team is always moving forward in the right direction, not just working for the sake of working.

 

Establishing and maintaining a culture of accountability is vital for the long term success of any company. If you would like to talk about how better accountability could benefit your company, free to reach out to our experts through the form below.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 8, 2018
How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

How to Hold Employees Accountable: Part 2

Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

Technology is amazing, right? And not only do you love it, you are so excited to have brought this incredible new technology to your team. But when you look around at their faces, you don’t see that same excitement. In fact, you might not see any enthusiasm at all. Why not? Don’t they realize how GREAT this new tech is?

No, they don’t. This is where you must take a step back and realize not everyone thinks like you do. For a lot of people, changing from one kind of tech to another is inherently complicated, scary and considered a waste of time.

Leading this change management is part your job. Here are some tips:

 

Identify those open to technology adoption

These early adopters are the other people in the organization that are interested in technology and actually use the current systems that are being replaced. They can be key advocates that can make a big difference in getting buy-in from others. You have to pick the right people, though. They...

  • Are influencers in their areas

  • Have a strong network with their peers

  • Are recognized for their honesty and integrity



Reinforce the 'why'

Users typically don’t care about all the “Ooh, shiny!” aspects of new technology. They want to know what it’s going to do for them. What problem is it going to help them solve? How is it going to make their job easier? How is it going to make their customer’s experience better? These are the whys you need to highlight for them.

 

Make the tech easy to access

Surprisingly, this step is commonly overlooked. The steps for accessing and using this tech need to be easily integrated into the current routine. Make it so. Otherwise, inconvenience can be an easy excuse for resisting technology adoption.

 

Give early adopters a voice

Remember those influencers you picked out earlier? Listen to them. Respect their opinions and criticism. Incorporate that feedback into your team's path forward. Make the changes they request. Show them you value their input. Because you do.

 

Minimize the pain

  • Make sure training and support tools are available and easy to access.

  • Have subject matter experts immediately accessible.

  • Create a gamification angle that encourages participation.



Build reinforcement across the organization

  • In the beginning, recognize and reward behaviors - not results. Show appreciation for those engaging in the change management process, regardless of how 'well' they are using the new tools.

  • Use peers to reinforce good behavior. Incentivize them to encourage each other.

  • Have management track and reinforce technology adoption. This means make sure managers are proficient in the new tech. They have to use it themselves.



Track early indicators to target support and success

Make sure you are consistently showing everyone why this tech is a good idea. Show how using it positively influences your organization. Onboarding new tech isn’t over once people start using it. You need to prove its validity over time.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Use the form below to request a casual discussion with our Digital Transformation and Organizational experts about how we can help you devise and implement a plan for overcoming resistance to new technology and eliminating technical debt.

 

Any questions or feedback?
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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 7, 2018
Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

Tips for Leading Technology Adoption

How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

Have you noticed that your seemingly quick and efficient standing meetings don’t seem to produce the follow-through that you’re expecting? Does everyone nod and agree as people are talking, but when the deadline comes around the work is not done? Knowing how to hold people accountable can revolutionize a company's efficiency and effectiveness.

One of the most important aspects of business is the ability to commit to and follow through on promises. You are held accountable for results. Therefore, your team needs to be accountable for their promises as well.

How to hold people accountable: Part 1 - Good meeting hygiene

  • Begin each meeting with a quick review of all previous actions. One minute per action owner.
  • Your agenda should have a purpose and an intended outcome.
  • Make sure action owners specify the schedule and expected result.
  • Identify the root cause of the need for an action before assigning it.
  • Avoid the activity trap by always focusing on the intended result.
  • Recap the action items and remove as many as possible.

These are vital parts of making sure you’re running an efficient meeting. It must be productive and quick. Make sure to hit on every action item without spending too much time on any of them.

Everything you talk about, and everything you assign, should contribute to your team’s objective. If you don’t know why you’re assigning a task, stop. If nothing else, table it for the next meeting.

Make sure the majority of items on your list get completed each week. Standing meetings should be focused on accomplishable tasks as much as possible. Concentrate on breaking up the larger objectives into the manageable tasks

 

These concepts may seem obvious or elementary to some, but can easily be overlooked without a concerted effort to take them into consideration. Communication that establishes shared expectations underpins the accountability that fuels organizational success.

 

Please check out Part 2, which explores how to hold employees accountable from the facilitator's perspective.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

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judy-johnson
2018/05
May 1, 2018
How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

How to Hold People Accountable: Part 1

Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

It’s never too early to plan for the future. Having a current competency model for your business is vital. But if you have long-term success in mind, you should have competency models for the future of your business as well.

 

Here are some key components of future-proofing your competency model:

Hiring Employees → Increase Company Membership

Employees must become more valuable and more than just a tool for the organization. Every hire will be looked at as a vital contributing member of the larger team. It will be a more detailed and more collaborative process.

 

Evaluation → Appraisal

This is a process of determining both company and individual value. What is your employee worth to you and why? What are you worth to them? This should be mutually beneficial. If it’s not, put a plan in place to fix that.

 

Promotion → Upgrade

Any promotion should be seen as an upgrade for both the individual and the company. Think of it like software. Upgrades provide improved versions of a current program for both user and company. Promotions should work the same way.

 

Employee Engagement → Total Stakeholder Engagement

To truly engage, you will need to include employees, customers, vendors, partners, universities, etc., in shaping your strategy. The company will be an engaged community; everyone the company interacts with has a contributing and reciprocal part to play.

 

Technically Competent → Digitally Proficient

More than just competency in standard office software, 2030 requires embracing and thriving in all manners of digital technology. Mobile/web applications, collaboration tools, social networks, and likely, virtual and augmented realities, will be a fact of life. Be more than ready, lead the way.

 

Ethical Corporate Values → Socially Conscious Actions

We must go from conducting business with ethical values to conducting business with actions that benefit society and our communities. Values must become actions; ideas procedures. Everything you do should make a difference.

 

Objective-Focused Diversity → Embracing Diversity

We must go from striving to meet diversity metrics in our processes to existing personal and professional networks that are already diverse in background, thought, etc. Diversity should be expected and in place, not worked toward.

 

Be sure to check out Part 2, where we provide tangible steps for leaders looking to apply these concepts to their competency models right away.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan for building and lead exceptional teams. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 23, 2018
Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

Part 1: What Will Your Competency Model Look Like in 2030?

Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Conflict is generally seen as something to be avoided at work, but more companies are realizing that’s not always the best method. In his book The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work, author Peter Block says that avoidance of organizational politics and conflict can result in a lack of accomplishment in the important aspects of your work.

Productive Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict helps us grow. If everyone at a meeting agreed with each other and never questioned ideas, there would be no innovation. So, how do you support productive conflict without causing damage from disagreements?

 

Encourage all of your team members to speak up and express their viewpoints

If there’s a point of view with which they disagree, there’s no need for silent resignation. People can express disagreement without being disagreeable. Make sure people show respect and consider others’ perspectives when voicing concerns.

 

Any debate should focus on facts

People need to have passion for their work and what they are discussing without letting that passion overplay their logic. You need to encourage these debates among your team, reinforcing idea generation. Challenging the status quo is a path to innovation. You should encourage your whole team to learn from each other’s ideas, even if they don’t agree with them.

 

Ensure no harm comes to any participants

If your team is composed of polite introverts, the rigorous conflict will likely be a shock to their existing norms. As a leader, you’re supporting and recognizing those who publicly raise respectful disagreements.

 

Conduct regular cross-functional brainstorming sessions

Build in dedicated time for challenges and disagreements, and most importantly, don’t skip over the 10, 15, or 20 minutes if nobody initially raises objections. This serves two purposes - first, it doesn’t allow disagreement to get in the way of idea generation; second, dedicating time to challenges ensures that ideas go through a vetting process.

Use a round-robin approach, giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts, suggestions, and ideas. Encourage them to build on each other’s ideas. Ask them why. Not just why they disagree, but what they do agree with. Include why they think this idea is best, and why they don’t.

 

Measure initiative success

Without provable and definable metrics you’ll never understand your results. It’s important to know whether or not an idea worked and how 'success' is being determined.

 

empower rank-and-file participation

The higher you are on the org chart, the less you should comment on the discussions. You want ideas, not just head nodding at your brilliance. Think of your job here as encouraging the conversation, not adding to it.

You can also consider getting an outside mediator who can help keep your team focused and honest in the process of productive conflicts. This may not be necessary for smaller disagreements but can often be helpful with large projects and big ideas.

 

Everyone stands to gain from properly facilitated productive conflict. This is a great opportunity for participants to broaden their personal cross-functional employee network. Challenging norms can also reveal external career paths that would benefit the employee and company over the long run. Standing up these programs on your own can prove to be tricky, for a variety of reasons.  

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Would the support of an impartial, unbiased partner help your teams overcome siloed thinking or competing priorities? Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company engaged and actively collaborating. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion to explore how we can help amp up your team's productivity.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

 

 

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 10, 2018
Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Why is Productive Conflict Important?

Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

The days where HR only handles company insurance, conflicts, and policies are coming to an end. HR planning is now integral to corporate strategic planning and the Human Resources department is a vital part of having a company that propels itself toward innovation.

While often they are seen as someone who puts the brakes on new ideas and operates from a place of risk assessment, the time has come for adaptation. As companies increasingly recognize the importance of human resources, they expect HR to be an agent of change from the start. They need to become more proactive with solutions and ideas instead of reactive to concerns.

Here are three ways in which to drive HR business innovation:

 

Align the People Strategy

Innovation starts with hiring. Are you hiring to meet diversity quotas and exact job descriptions? Or are you hiring diverse candidates who can help drive organizational change? Hire people who can help the company move forward, not just people who check all the boxes.

Design a performance management system that encourages innovative behaviors. What gets measured is what gets done. Establishing specific yearly goals to gauge individual performance reinforces your organization’s commitment to growth at all levels of the organization.

Elevate your top performer. Reward your team with more autonomy and engaging work and turn innovators into leaders. In a study by SHRM, 31% of HR professionals believe developing the next generation of organizational leaders is their biggest challenge in Human Capital.

 

Shift your Questions into Statements

Learn to be an innovator yourself; part of your job is to be a leader in your company. Instead of asking what you can do to help a situation, offer ideas and encourage productive conflict. When you see a roadblock to a company goal, don’t just point it out. You want to offer an alternative solution to pass the hurdle. 

Take control of what you have influence over. If upper management is looking for new talent offer to write up the job description, do the research needed and start the process of looking for candidates. Your value as HR is in more than just doing what you are asked, prove it.

 

Demonstrate Innovation in HR with Data

Goal tracking related to performance management, hiring, and contributing to innovation is critical. Everything should be measurable. You should be able to show how successful your strategies are.

Research your ideas, look at what other companies are doing, and share studies that reinforce your strategies. 

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Identifying and pursuing opportunities to innovate through HR can be challenging, but can also have a significant impact across the organization. Aspirant's Organizational Effectiveness experts can help develop and socialize a cohesive plan that keeps your company rowing in the same direction. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about how we can help your team overcome your unique challenges.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/04
April 9, 2018
Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

Innovation in HR Can Accelerate Your Business

Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

There is a change needed in your company, you know what the ultimate goal is but you’re not sure how to get there. Proper use of consequences can greatly improve your employees’ ability to adapt and change their behavior as needed. This is not in reference to negative consequences. Here, we mean results - the effect of actions taken.

Benefits of Change Management 

These changes should not just be for the good of the company, but the good of the employee as well. Successful company culture change should benefit everyone in the end. You want better, more motivated employees that bring better value to their work and the company.

There are four things that impact the power of a consequence. Johnson, J. (2008) Switchpoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success

  • Timing
  • Importance
  • Probability
  • Where it comes from

 

Timing from Behavior

Timing is a simple concept. Does the consequence immediately follow the behavior? Such as; the first person to arrive to a meeting gets to pick what they are going to work on? Or is it delayed, such as getting a thank you from your boss for work on a project three months after it has gone live?

The recognition of immediate consequences is a important component of the change management process. When behavior is new and uncertain, employees want to know right away if they are doing it right. If you want to encourage the positive behavior, reward it right away with positive consequence.

 

Importance to Employee

Importance seems like an easy one, but you have to take the time to understand what is important to individual employees. If John likes public praise, it would be extremely valuable to him if you thanked him for his hard work on a project at an office wide meeting. Mark, however, will appreciate more if you take time outside of regular routines to thank him privately for his contributions.

It’s imperative to make sure that they consequence bestowed to reward behavior is done in a way that is truly important to the person receiving it. This will have the greatest impact on your desired change.

 

Probability of Recurrence

Now that you know the right kind of feedback, and the timing of it, you have to be consistent. When an employee knows they can rely on consequences from their manager they will continue to strive for it.

Employees thrive with consistent consequences. When the cause and effect of work becomes reliable, good work increases. Employees trust that good work will result in good consequences. They can also trust that bad work will result in a consequence they can learn from.

 

Understanding the Sources of Consequence

Where does the consequence come from? The Consequence Pyramid helps explain this.

 

Change Management Consequence Pyramid

 

Johnson, J. (2008) Switchpoints: Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success

The consequences on the bottom of the pyramid are the strongest impact, but the consequences on top of the pyramid are the easiest to apply.

Natural consequences occur on their own, without effort to make them so. Such as the feeling you get when you’re finally alone in your office, or take your shoes off after a long day. This is not something that as a manager you can bestow upon an employee.

Self-consequences similarly cannot be motivated by management. This has to be something the employee sees and thinks or says to themselves. There’s a great impact with self-consequence, but it’s not something you can directly control.

Peer consequences are slightly less powerful than self-consequence. This refers to good and bad consequences employees receive unbidden from their coworkers. The next one, which you have the most influence over, is managerial consequence. This is performance reviews, preferred job assignments, constructive criticism, etc.

These are very important to employees, but often the consequences of their peers have more weight. This is why in order to motivate employees and make change in your culture you need to engage all employees in the change. This will naturally help create the stronger base of the pyramid, instead of trying to force it.

Last and actually least powerful, is organizational consequence. These are what many first think of when they think about rewards and consequences at work: bonuses, raises, write ups, employment anniversary awards, etc.

This maybe the first think you think of, but they are usually delayed for such a time that it’s not truly correlated to employee performance. If an employee completes a successful project, and 9 months later gets a bonus because of it, they will barely see the connection between their performance and the consequence.

That does not mean organizational consequences are unimportant, however true success must incorporate more. It also relies on the employees at hand. For some, organizational consequences might hold more power than peer consequence.

So then what do you do? One of the most important things, you have to know your employees. Be close enough that you understand which consequences will have the most impact on them.

The next thing, you need to make sure the consequences that you provide will support the behavior that you need. Focus on consequences that are positive, immediate and important.

The top of the pyramid is a good place to start creating culture change. It’s also they only part that you have direct influence over. This is how you will get started, but in order to achieve success the more powerful consequences will need to come next.

When you manage to engage your employees in the change, peer and self-consequence will follow. And when managers make strides to change processes, the natural consequences will come next.

When it’s going smoothly, you will notice that consequences are mainly coming from the bottom of the pyramid, and the upper levels are like backup for the real magic. The more you understand about the effects of antecedents and consequences on employee behavior, the stronger your transformational leadership will be.

 

How Aspirant Can Help

Our Organizational experts can evaluate the structure and capabilities of your teams to identify opportunities for improvement and build a plan to manage those changes. Use the form below to request a casual discussion about your company's unique challenges and goals.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/03
March 26, 2018
Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

Change Management: Utilizing Consequences to Influence Change

Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions

 

Through the adoption of the right technology, companies can measure and improve employee engagement better than ever before. Here are answers to some of the more common questions related to that topic.

Q1. How can I improve collaboration among employees using technology?

Utilize cloud-based storage and sharing platforms to encourage collaboration. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Dropbox and Google Drive can help make teamwork quick and simple.

It shortens the time looking for shared files and keeps track of who’s in what file. This makes working together less frustrating. Employees can access files from anywhere and always know when someone else is working on their shared project.

 

Q2. How can technology help my company provide consistent feedback?

By now, we have established the importance of feedback. Providing feedback and performance reviews for your team is an integral part of an engaged workforce. Unfortunately, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), only 2% of companies are offering consistent feedback to their employees. 

Employ technology with talent management software to enable giving and receiving of feedback in real time. On the spot feedback tools will make measurable improvements to engagement. It will motivate workers by regularly guiding them in the appropriate direction. This also encourages employees to provide feedback to management, and when employees feel their opinions are valued their engagement improves even more.

 

Q3. How can I use technology to provide a 360-degree view of employee performance?

Talent Management software is the answer to this. It exists to help broaden the perspective managers have of their employees. Having access to more of what people are doing helps you give reliable feedback. It also creates an avenue for peer to peer feedback.

Two considerations when it comes to 360-degree feedback.  First, do you want an off-the-shelf product or a customized tool? Off-the-shelf products tend to be less expensive and use preexisting frameworks for assessment. Customized solutions can be tailored to your organization's competency models and performance frameworks. Off-the-shelf is a cheaper, faster implementation, while a customized solution is likely to be pricier and more time intensive.

A second consideration is that 360-degree feedback is most useful when accompanied by regular coaching. Technology enables the process, but a 360 report provides little benefit to participants if they are left to address feedback on their own. In fact, research shows that a one-off 360-degree assessment can lower morale and performance, so be cautious when implementing this type of program.

 

Q4.  New generation social media tools are improving employee collaboration and engagement more than ever.

Organization and Project Management Tools such as Asana and Basecamp, along with whiteboard and forums such as Slack, are helping companies to make social media a part of their day to day workflow.

To fully realize the benefits of these platforms start by focusing on specific areas where the tools would be most useful. After successful implementation expand to other areas.

 

Q5. What's the first step to begin leveraging technology for employee engagement?

The first step is to understand the effectiveness of current employee engagement programs and how effectively your company uses technology to enable productivity. Sign up for your free assessment to see how you are doing in these and many other areas and where you can improve.

 

Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.

Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.

 

Any questions or feedback?
We'd love to hear from you.

Let's Connect!

judy-johnson
2018/03
March 7, 2018
Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions

Employee Engagement Tech: 5 Common Questions