Why Successful Companies are Shifting to a Talent Network (And What is it)

Developing a high-performing engaged workplace is changing from the hierarchial, reporting structure (with cross-functional teams as side projects) to viewing a company as a “talent network” where skills and experience are shared. You still have a job/role, but you help others across the business succeed. This is the cutting-edge strategy for talent management and development.

Example: Suppose you need a team to build/market a new global product/service? Can you just “borrow” the experts from other groups to help you accomplish this? Will their managers let them?

Companies such as Unilever (check out their press release) have designed cutting-edge systems (such as InnerMobility by Gloat) for employees to market themselves and see internal opportunities. Studies show it’s much easier for employees to find a new job than new opportunities internally. 

“Unilever encourages its teams to create capability through lifelong learning, encouraging people to never stop growing. By accessing the platform, Unilever employees can work on projects for a small or large proportion of time, increase the depth of their expertise of a current skill or build new skills and experiences. Through the power of AI, people are suggested opportunities that match their profile and aspirations, and at the same time, giving full visibility to all opportunities available globally across all areas of the business, ultimately democratising and giving transparency to the way the company develops talent.” (Read more here)

Why?

1) Increase retention and engagement

2) Create growth opportunities by increasing their skill sets through new experiences

3) Help others succeed, increase competitiveness and drive key company metrics

4) Increase employee connectedness and belonging (which all goes to employee experience)

5) Increase a new breed of leaders 

6) Truly leverage teamwork company-wide

It also solves the problem of having to promote employees. In this model, you reward employees by their skills, problem-solving and successes.

HR Social Hour Episode #93 -Jon Thurmond & Wendy Dailey Chat with Jason Treu

Fantastic time on the HR Social Hour podcast with the incredibly talented Jon Thurmond and Wendy Dailey. We discussed culture, employee experience and engagement, teamwork, team building, building trust, my game Cards Against Mundanity, and much more.

I also shared two HR leaders that you should check out Heather Dulin​ and Emily Markmann (and I’d in Susan Hamilton Mahaffey who I had a fantastic conversation last week with!).

We’re joined by Jason Treu, Chief People Officer and Company Culture Expert with Unstoppable Workplaces in Dallas, TX.  We talk about why companies struggle to develop high performing cultures and teams and what lead him to create “Card Against Mundanity.”  Jason also describes a decision he made in 30 minutes that changed his life and routine for the better.  There’s wine app talk and much, much more! 

Jason’s recommendations for HR leaders to check out:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymarkmann/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dulinheather/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanhamiltonmahaffey/

How to reach Jason:

JasonTreu.com

http://cardsagainstmundanity.com/

HR Podcast: Practical Teamwork & Onboarding w/ Jason Treu

Anthony & I get into a “meaty” conversation on his fantastic human resources podcast (E1B2 Podcast -Employee 1st Business 2nd) on the challenges w/ employee engagement, employee experience, culture building, teamwork, new employee onboarding, & other HR areas.

“In today’s episode, we cover the following topics ( Why teamwork is the most important company asset and least understood. We also discuss why and the cost/impact strategies and tools to build it. We also conduct a deep dive into Why 99% of onboarding is broken and what to do about it; what matters the most as it pertains to onboarding new employees? Finally what brands need to care about the most from a psychological perspective during the onboarding process!)”

Keynote Speaker at SHRM Columbus 2019 HR Symposium on October 24th

Honored to be the keynote speaker at 2019 HR Symposium for the Columbus, Georgia SHRM Chapter on October 24th 2019. The theme is: RIDING THE RAPIDS OF HUMAN RESOURCES. Grab your life vest and join hundreds of HR professionals from all over the State of Georgia and east Alabama at our 11th annual fall Symposium as we learn to ride the Class VI rapids of HR!  This year”s event will feature several high impact speakers, concurrent sessions, and much more.

My interactive keynote presentation will be on building high performing teams and engaged cultures. Attendees will be playing Cards Against Mundanity in small groups to experience how to build high levels of trust, closeness, and teamwork in minutes.

Here’s an overview (and more information on my keynote speaking can be found here):

Think about the best team you’ve ever been on. The team that was the most collaborative, connected, and productive. How did it feel to be connected to something bigger and feel like you could accomplish anything? What if you could recreate that feeling and success on every team you were on? What if you could accomplish this across your entire company? 

That feeling (and success) you just thought of is the most powerful business asset. It’s the foundation for a highly successful “culture and people strategy.”

In this interactive presentation, attendees will learn how to “dial in” to the right behaviors to build a high performing culture and maximize teamwork and employee engagement in minutes. They’ll also play the Cards Against Mundanity game (in small groups) so they’ll experience how these strategies will work for them (including how to skyrocket trust in minutes). 

Attendees will walk away with deep relationships with other attendees and be much more engaged at the conference.

The presentation based on research studies where participants built their closest relationships in their lives with a complete stranger.

HR professionals can also use these strategies with hiring, new employee onboarding, conflict resolution, trainings, and many other areas.

More than 25,000 employees have played Cards Against Mundanity at Amazon, Southwest Airlines, Ernst & Young, Google, Gillette, Microsoft, Oracle, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Worldwide Express, CareHere, Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA team), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Novartis, Merck, Vonage, and many others.

Attendees will:

1. Learn the “secret” strategies to quickly maximize engagement, teamwork, culture-building and employee retention.

2. Discover how to build high levels of trust both internally and externally with third-parties to instantly create great working relationships, reduce conflicts and maximize productivity.

3. Walk away with best practices tools (including a free copy of Cards Against Mundanity PDF version) that can they can implement right after the session to improve company culture and employee engagement. 

4. Use the strategies from the session to influence others and get more buy-in for HR initiatives. 

3.0 HRCI Recertification Credits & SHRM PDCs will be applied for those attending.

Wendy Dailey, HR Rockstars, Interviews Me on Trust and Employee Engagement

I had a chance to briefly meet the HR Rockstar, Wendy Dailey, at HR Florida 2019 at the end of August. We got a chance to speak for a little while on the phone a few weeks earlier on teamwork, trust, employee engagement, and a few other topics.

You can check out the article she wrote on it, “Building Trust: the Key to Employee Engagement.” She also hosts the fantastic podcast, The HR Social Hour (check it out here).

Here is a snippet:

“Here we are again, still, talking about Employee Engagement. Constantly. The TOP conversation in HR. And why? Because we continue to get it wrong. Any why do we continue to get it wrong? Because we are looking for that One Thing. Just tell us what to do, we seem to be asking the speakers, the writers, but make it quick and easy because we’ve got a lot of “real” work to do.

But here’s the not-so-secret secret: Employee Engagement means work. Ongoing works. There is no one-and-done for employee engagement. Engagement isn’t about foos-ball, after-work drinks or potlucks. All of those come out of the one thing you must do. You need to TRUST your employees and gain their trust.”

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