HRC – H. Pierson

For many years, being a Local Government Chairman meant managing administration — signing approvals, responding to requests, and overseeing routine matters. But times have changed.

With greater autonomy now comes greater responsibility — not just to act, but to deliver. And in this new era, the biggest shift is not in structure. It’s in how leaders lead.

Autonomy doesn’t just transfer control from federal to local levels. It transfers accountability. Citizens now look to you, and not Abuja for results. That spotlight brings a new challenge: are your leadership systems ready?

The Real Shift: From Oversight to Leadership

In councils across Nigeria, Chairmen are learning that authority is no longer enough. Teams are bigger. Budgets are larger. Expectations are rising. Yet many councils still operate with outdated leadership models — where control is centralised, and decision-making slows down when the Chairman is unavailable.

The real challenge now is not only what you decide, but how you lead others to act.

This was the focus of Rwanda’s Imihigo system, where mayors sign annual performance contracts with measurable goals, reviewed publicly. Beyond the contracts, the real breakthrough came when district leaders were trained to set direction, track execution, and hold their own teams accountable. Leadership became a process — not a personality.

Similarly, in the Philippines, the Local Government Academy has been used to develop mayors and municipal leaders through structured coaching, peer learning, and leadership diagnostics. Over time, councils that invested in leadership saw better service delivery and improved citizen engagement.

These cases show that in a decentralised system, it’s not policies alone that drive progress it is leadership capacity.

What Holds Leadership Back in Many Councils

In our work across Nigeria, we’ve seen four challenges that weaken public sector leadership at the local level:

Reactive, Not Intentional Leadership
Many councils respond to issues as they arise but don’t set a clear performance rhythm that drives focus week by week.

Leadership Gaps Below the Chairman
When Heads of Department aren’t equipped to lead independently, all decisions funnel upwards, slowing action and breeding frustration.

Lack of Team Alignment
Councils often operate in silos. Directors pursue different agendas, and performance reviews rarely happen. Without shared goals, delivery is inconsistent.

Weak Accountability Culture
Because feedback and follow-up are informal or absent, underperformance is tolerated and the system slowly accepts delay as normal.

How We Help Build Leadership That Delivers

At H. Pierson, we help Chairmen and their executive teams strengthen leadership from the inside out, using systems, routines, and coaching that embed performance into daily operations.

Here’s how:

Leadership Development & Coaching

We work with Chairmen and top officials to clarify leadership styles, improve decision-making, and develop successors who can lead without waiting for directives.

Culture Transformation

We help councils move from compliance-based environments to performance-driven ones where people take ownership and execution is expected, not requested.

Performance Management Design

We support councils to introduce structured systems: scorecards, check-ins, and measurable reviews. These create follow-through, even when priorities shift.

Leadership Is the Culture You Create

Chairman, the people you lead take cues from how you lead. If meetings lack clarity, they do the same with their teams. If accountability is optional, it becomes the norm. Leadership is not just your personal example — it is the environment you tolerate or change.

The question isn’t whether you’re in charge. It’s whether your team knows how to perform without your daily push.

Final Thought

Autonomy gives you the platform. But leadership gives you the results. And the councils that will stand out in this new era are not the ones with the biggest budgets, they arethe ones with the strongest leadership systems.

Chairman, now is the time to build the kind of leadership that outlasts your tenure and transforms how your council performs.

Let’s build leadership that works not just for now, but for what’s next.

Here are key tips to strengthening organizational culture:

Define and Communicate

1. Establish a clear mission, vision, and values.
2. Communicate culture through storytelling and examples.
3. Ensure leadership embodies and promotes the culture.

Employee Engagement

1. Foster open communication and feedback.
2. Encourage employee participation and involvement.
3. Recognize and reward employees for cultural contributions.

Leadership Accountability

1. Hold leaders accountable for cultural alignment.
2. Provide training on cultural leadership.
3. Lead by example, demonstrating cultural values.

Inclusion and Diversity

1. Foster a culture of inclusivity and respect.
2. Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
3. Celebrate differences and unique perspectives.

Continuous Improvement

1. Regularly assess and evaluate culture.
2. Solicit employee feedback and suggestions.
3. Implement changes and adjustments as needed.

Employee Development

1. Invest in employee growth and development.
2. Provide opportunities for learning and advancement.
3. Support work-life balance and well-being.

Reinforce Cultural Norms

1. Develop rituals and traditions.
2. Celebrate milestones and successes.
3. Embed cultural values in performance management.

Measure and Monitor

1. Track cultural metrics (e.g., engagement, retention).
2. Conduct regular culture surveys.
3. Analyze data to inform cultural decisions.

Embed Culture in Processes

1. Integrate cultural values into hiring processes.
2. Incorporate cultural considerations in decision-making.
3. Align policies and procedures with cultural values.

Leadership Succession Planning

1. Develop future leaders who embody the culture.
2. Ensure leadership transitions maintain cultural continuity.
3. Plan for cultural sustainability.

Additional suggestions:

– Create a culture committee or ambassador program.
– Host cultural events and activities.
– Incorporate cultural values into performance evaluations.
– Develop a comprehensive onboarding process.
– Monitor and address cultural misalignment.

Here are the top five HR trends to expect in 2025:

Unlocking HR Potential with AI: Artificial intelligence will continue to transform the HR landscape, streamlining recruitment and onboarding processes, supporting effective employee management, and enhancing decision making with data driven insights.

People Centered HR Strategy: This approach prioritizes improving the employee experience, encompassing wellbeing, engagement, and satisfaction. It recognizes that happy, engaged employees are more productive and less likely to leave their jobs.

Work Life Balance and the FourDay Work Week: As businesses explore ways to improve worklife balance, the fourday work week is gaining traction. This trend reflects a broader shift towards flexible working arrangements, which can increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

Advanced DE&I and Company Culture Initiatives: Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will become more sophisticated, creating an environment where all employees feel valued and included. This requires ongoing training, clear policies, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Adapting to a Distributed Workforce: With the rise of remote work, companies must adapt their HR and operational procedures to support and collaborate with a distributed workforce. This includes effective remote working policies, robust communication tools, and strategies for maintaining team cohesion.

These trends highlight the evolving needs and values of employees, and HR professionals must stay informed to attract, manage, and retain talent in the modern workforce.

Achieving culture change in public institutions can be challenging due to their size, hierarchical structures, and the complexity of their missions. However, with a thoughtful approach, it’s possible to shift behaviors, attitudes, and mindsets to create a more adaptive and dynamic organizational culture.

Strong Leadership Commitment

Role Modeling: Leaders must demonstrate the desired cultural values in their daily actions and decision-making. Leadership commitment sets the tone for the entire organization.
Vision and Clarity: Leaders should clearly articulate why culture change is necessary, outlining a compelling vision that aligns with the institution’s mission and public service objectives.

Engage Employees at All Levels

Involve Employees in the Process: For culture change to stick, employees at all levels should feel involved in shaping the new culture. This can be achieved through workshops, focus groups, or participatory planning sessions.
Identify Change Champions: Empower individuals within the organization who naturally embrace the new cultural values to act as ambassadors, influencing others and spreading the desired behaviors.

Alignment of Policies and Incentives

Review Organizational Policies: Ensure that all institutional policies, performance metrics, and incentives are aligned with the desired cultural values. For example, if collaboration is a core value, performance reviews should reward teamwork rather than individual accomplishments.
Redesign Reward Systems: Public institutions should ensure that both formal and informal rewards (e.g., promotions, recognition, development opportunities) are designed to reinforce the desired cultural attributes.

Training and Capacity Building

Skill Development: Provide training that builds the necessary skills to support the culture change, such as leadership development, emotional intelligence, diversity training, and change management skills.
Continuous Learning: Create an environment where learning is encouraged, and employees are given the tools and resources to adapt to new ways of working.

Communication and Transparency

Clear, Consistent Communication: Communicate the vision for culture change consistently and transparently. Use multiple channels to ensure the message reaches all employees.
Two-Way Communication: Encourage feedback and open dialogue. Leaders should listen to employee concerns and ideas, making adjustments where necessary.

Focus on Small Wins and Gradual Progress

Pilot Projects: Start with small, manageable initiatives that can showcase the positive impacts of the cultural shift. Success in these areas builds momentum and demonstrates the feasibility of broader change.
Celebrate Milestones: Recognize and celebrate early successes and improvements to keep morale high and reinforce the message that change is possible.

Sustain the Change with Accountability Mechanisms

Tracking Progress: Establish clear metrics to track culture change efforts. These could include employee engagement surveys, customer satisfaction ratings, or internal collaboration levels.
Continuous Reinforcement: Embed the desired cultural behaviors into everyday processes, from recruitment to daily operations. Leaders should continually reinforce the values through their actions and the decisions they make.

Foster a Culture of Innovation and Adaptability

Encourage Risk-Taking: Shift from a culture of risk aversion (common in public institutions) to one that supports experimentation and innovation. Create safe spaces for trying new approaches without fear of negative repercussions.
Adapt and Evolve: Public institutions should be prepared to adapt the culture change plan based on what works and what doesn’t. Flexibility is essential as culture change is not a one-time event but an ongoing process.

By applying these approaches, public institutions can gradually shift their organizational culture to one that is more innovative, responsive, and aligned with modern governance challenges.

FURTHER ENQUIRIES, CALL: +234 812 902 3329 (Charity) | +234 802 056 5056 (Ayo)

When it comes to attracting and keeping the best people, money matters. You can give employees all the free snacks, happy hours and wellness perks imaginable, but if they feel they’re being unfairly paid? They’re not likely to stick around for long. With the ongoing Great Resignation causing a mass exodus of talent and salary data becoming increasingly accessible, getting remuneration right is more important now than ever. So, in this post, let’s deep dive into how compensation strategies can help you attract and retain your most valuable asset – a top team.

Attracting Top Talent

We can’t undermine the role of compensation strategy in attracting and hiring the best talent. With pay transparency laws cropping up across the globe and the rise in salary-comparison sites like Glassdoor, potential candidates are screening salaries before even clicking on ‘apply’.

In fact, in a recent survey conducted by LinkedIn, 91% of U.S.-based respondents said that they wanted to see salary ranges in job posts. To do this, organizations need to establish a watertight remuneration structure that they’re happy to have out in the open. Carefully assessed pay bands are essential if – or perhaps when – salary ranges become mandatory in your region.

As well as getting people into the interview room, compensation also comes into play to seal the deal on a fantastic candidate. When a candidate is weighing up multiple job offers, compensation packages are going to play a huge role in their decision making process. For some, money is the deciding factor.

And it’s important to remember that compensation is about much more than the figure that appears in an employee’s account each month. Potential applicants are also going to be weighing up bonuses, incentives and other perks that will impact their finances.

Ultimately, attractive, competitive compensation demonstrates that a company recognizes and values the skills, experience, and contributions of its employees. It sends a clear message that the organization is willing to invest in its workforce and reward them for their hard work.

Retaining Your Best People

If you want your organization to thrive, you need to keep hold of your best people. In 2023, retention is more difficult than ever. In fact, three-quarters of nearly 7,000 respondents said they planned to look for a new job over the next 12 months. The primary reason why 67% of these respondents were looking to jump ship? Unsatisfactory pay.

The bottom line is, when employees feel well-compensated, they’re less likely to explore other job opportunities. This means that organizations must make sure they’re regularly benchmarking their own compensation packages against competitors, as well as ensuring that they’re maintaining equity within their own organization.

Talking about what we earn is becoming noticeably less hush hush, whilst platforms like Glassdoor make it easy for employees to see what they could be getting paid elsewhere. Armed with this knowledge, even the most engaged employee will feel disgruntled if they discover that they’re being paid below market value.

Equally, a consistent, equitable salary structure is vital to avoid employees feeling like they’re being shortchanged or undervalued. An objective job evaluation system will ensure fair pay across the board, as well as providing an objective framework that can be openly and easily explained to staff if questions arise.

As organizations know all too well, high turnover is disruptive and eye-wateringly expensive. To thrive long-term, it’s essential to retain the expertise that comes from investing in training and development.

Source: getradar.com

Employee retention has always been an important topic. However, lately, with the fallout from the pandemic, the great resignation, and the great reshuffle, the topic of employee turnover and how to retain employees is on the mind of every leader.

Staying up to date on the latest research and statistics regarding employee retention will leave you better informed and equipped to pull the right levers to ensure your talent remains at your organization, and this article will help you do just that. In it, you’ll find information on what employee retention is, why it is important, the state of employee retention, and what can be done to fix it.

Willam F. Xiebell, CEO of Gallagher’s Benefit & HR division, summed up for HDR why employee retention is so important. He said, “An organization’s ability to retain employees ultimately impacts its bottom line because hiring and training a new employee usually costs much more than retaining someone who is already on the payroll.”

The State of Employee Retention in 2024

As we enter another year of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), it will be crucial for leaders across all industries to understand shifts in the workforce to develop strategies to keep talent from leaving.

The #1 operational priority for organizations is retaining their talent (this is even above revenue) – Organizational Wellbeing Report 2023, Gallagher
The current cost of employee turnover is, on average, 1-2 times the employee’s salary. – Integrated Benefits Institute Study 2023
61% of employers are having difficulty retaining employees. – Integrated Benefits Institute Study 2023
Today, 1 in 2 organizations has a turnover rate greater than 15%, and 1 in 5 has a rate greater than 30%. – Organizational Wellbeing Report 2023, Gallagher
The group most likely to leave their job are Gen Z or Millennials in the United States (53%) and working in the technology/hardware industry (60%) – EY 2023 Work Reimagined Survey
20% of frontline employees are planning on leaving their current job within the next three to six months. – Frontline Workers: How to Connect, Enable, and Support Them in the Modern Workplace, Workday 2023
57% of Canadian employers believe that slowing economic growth is reducing employees’ likelihood of leaving their current employer – EY 2023 Work Reimagined Survey
50% of respondents agreed they accepted a job offer but backed out prior to starting. – Gartner HR Survey, 2023
4.1 years is the average time an employee stays with an employer. – Bureau of Labor, 2022.

9 Employee Retention Strategies

To help leaders and the organizations they work for retain their employees, we’ve compiled nine employee retention strategies that thought leaders recommend and that the latest research backs up.

Develop a Strong Onboarding Process
Prioritize Inclusion
Embrace Flexibility
Focus on Company Culture
Provide Employee Development Opportunities
Develop Strong Leaders
Find Ways To Show Appreciation
Offer Additional Benefits
Ask For and Use Employee Feedback

Develop a Strong Onboarding Process

Onboarding is the employee’s first impression of their new workplace, for better or worse. Alison Stevens, Director of HR at Paychex, shared the benefits of strong onboarding with Fortune, “As organizations look to improve their onboarding process, creating a welcoming, engaging, and clear onboarding experience can vastly improve employee retention and morale.”

82% of employers have seen improvement in retention by implementing a robust onboarding program. – Integrated Benefits Institute Study 2023
80% of new hires who receive poor onboarding plan to leave, especially those who work remotely. – The Effect of Poor Onboarding on New Hires, Paychex, 2023

Embrace Flexibility
Flexible working, autonomy, and work-life balance are significant considerations for employees if they remain at their current workplace or find one that offers more flexibility. In a recent study conducted by Kathryn Minshew’s company, The Muse, she shared that they found that “Flexibility and work-life balance is coming up as the number one thing that employees and job seekers are looking for, above compensation.”

88% of leaders globally agree that flexible working positively impacts employee retention. – 2023 Global Workplace Study, Targus
47% of employees actively seek a new job because they want more flexibility. – Gartner HR Survey, 2023

Focus on Company Culture
A company’s culture can retain employees or have them looking for their next opportunity. Tommy Loh, Partner at Hendrick & Singapore, shares with HR World the impact of a great culture. He said, “It is clear that culture has a positive influence on business and talent management strategies, employee retention, and financial performance. All thriving cultures begin at the top with purposeful leadership, as the model of the leader affects the entire organisation.”

Toxic company culture was the top predictor of employee attrition and is 10 times more important than compensation in predicting turnover. – Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation, MIT Sloan Management Review 2022
34% of CHROs plan to strengthen company culture to retain talent. – The Conference Board 2023

Provide Employee Development Opportunities
Employees want their organizations and leaders to take an interest in their careers and help them grow and develop. Kirt Linington, Owner of Linear Roofing and General Contactors, seconds this notion in his comments to Forbes, “Prioritize training, mentorship programs and clear career advancement paths. This shows employees that the company is invested in their professional growth and development, which can increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover.”

Employees who expect daily or weekly feedback from their direct leader but only receive it once a month or less are 2.5 times more likely to leave their current employer. – Frontline Workers: How to Connect, Enable, and Support Them in the Modern Workplace, Workday 2023
The #1 way companies try to improve retention is by providing learning opportunities, followed closely by upskilling and creating a culture of learning. – LinkedIn 2023 Learning Report
56% of leaders cited concerns over career growth opportunities as the top cause of voluntary resignation at their company – 2023 Global Operation Leaders Insight Survey, Centrical
When leaders or organizations support employee skill building, employees are 4x more likely to work for their company one year from now; when both leaders and organizations support skill building, odds jump to 9x. – O.C. Tanner 2024 Global Culture Survey

Develop Strong Leaders
It’s no surprise that your direct leader greatly impacts your likelihood of staying with your current organization, which is why people leaders need to build their leadership skills. In fact, Hali Vilet, partner with BDO, shared with HDR magazine that “[Effective leaders] help retain talent because those leaders will motivate staff, will have them engaged and staff will want to work for them, and that’s the spot you want to get to. They don’t have to work for you, they want to work for you, and I think it really boils down to leadership. It’s also important for managers to be properly trained, coached and checked in with to ensure that they are able to effectively manage employees and create a good employee experience.”

30% of CHROs are focused on the development of leader’s capabilities to retain talent. – The Conference Board 2023
80% of employees who say their direct leader understands and supports them said they’re happy in their job with no intent on leaving. In addition, a supportive manager can improve an employee’s likelihood of retention by 300%. – Frontline Workers: How to Connect, Enable, and Support Them in the Modern Workplace, Workday 2023

Find Ways To Show Appreciation
Implementing recognition programs and ensuring leaders appreciate and celebrate their team member’s efforts can help employee retention. Dr. Natalie Baumgartner, Chief Workforce Scientist at AWI, explains that “Employees who receive frequent recognition – at least monthly – are more likely to report being engaged, committed, and productive, compared to those recognized less frequently. A simple, meaningful ‘thank you’ can move the needle on engagement and retention as much as a recognition that comes with money.”

76% of American workers agree that employee retention would be higher if their company celebrated personal milestones. – Snappy 2023 Study
64% of employees agree that being recognized would reduce their desire to job hunt. – 2023 State of Recognition Report, Achievers Workforce Institute

Offer Additional Benefits
Employee wellness programs and additional benefits can be a linchpin to retaining employees. Puralator’s CEO, John Fergeson, recognizes the importance of focusing on the well-being of their people and how investing in employee wellbeing initiatives is a proactive step to retaining talent. He explains, “How you treat people can define you as a company. It can differentiate you and build long-term success.”

84% of organizations surveyed agree that offering financial wellness tools in their benefits and wellness programs helped reduce employee turnover. – Bank of America 2022 Workplace Benefits Repor
Organizations see the need to improve their employees’ mental wellness, recognizing that it plays a major role in retention. In 2023, employers will increase investments in these benefits: mental health (91%), stress management and resilience (77%), mindfulness (74%), financial wellness (65%), and telemedicine (65%). – 2023 Employee Wellness Industry Trends Report, Wellable

Ask For and Use Employee Feedback
Everyone wants to be heard, and your employees are no exception. Antonine Andrews, Chief Diversity and Social Impact Officer at SurveyMonkey, agrees. He said, “By giving employees a voice, satisfaction is increased, resulting in a happier workforce with a better sense of belonging. This positive attitude can boost morale and increase retention.”

Organizations and leaders who solicit, use, and acknowledge employee feedback reap the following benefits in a change in their one-year retention, according to the O.C. Tanner 2024 Global Culture Survey. When employees agreed with the following statements, these organizations saw the following positive impacts on retention.
“Organization took my feedback into account”
“Organization communicated how they used employee feedback”
“Organization acknowledged me for giving feedback”
“Organization appreciated me for giving feedback”

Source: niagarainstitute.com

With 2022 underway, employers of all kinds are reckoning with a challenging Human Resources landscape. Increased competition for skilled workers, constantly changing COVID safety protocols, hybrid and remote workplace hurdles, and a competitive hiring space where top talent is setting their own terms have all added a new complexity to hiring and retaining workers. If that wasn’t enough, increased turnover and still-high levels of resignations have countless HR departments scrambling. And that’s true of both public and private sector employers, experts said.

“Like their counterparts in the private sector, [public sector organizations] are facing staff shortages, unmet customer demands, employee stress and burnout, increased resignations — including a higher than typical number of age- or retirement-related resignations — [difficulty] retaining talented staff, and competition for new hires,” said Jack Wiley, Chief Scientific Officer at management consulting firm Engage2Excel and author of The Employee-Centric Manager: 8 Keys to People-Management Effectiveness.

Disproportionately impacted by furloughs, budget cuts, and service stoppages for health-related safety reasons, public sector employers have lagged in relation to the private sector in recovering from pandemic job losses, according to public policy nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts. And that slower recovery is magnified given the immense impact the public sector has on day-to-day life, as well as the significant size of the sector. Public sector employees include federal, state, and local government employees; public transit and public education workers; law enforcement officers; and more. According to October 2021 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), government workers alone make up 21.9 million employees, or 14.8% of the non-farm workforce in the United States.

But while the challenges are real, experts say there are concrete steps public sector HR professionals can take to tackle the most pressing public sector HR issues head on — and to position their organizations for growth and increased employee engagement going forward. Here’s what they recommend.

The Challenges

Finding, hiring, and retaining qualified candidates for open positions is at the core of Human Resources, but for public sector employers, making sure jobs are filled takes on an additional urgency.

“When there are vacancies within public sector positions, it has a direct impact on the communities those agencies serve,” said Greg Preece, principal and senior consultant at Human Resources consultancy FireHR and a former firefighter and paramedic. “This ranges from solid waste collection and police, fire, and EMS responders, to Head Start [program] delivery, street repairs, 911 call takers, and beyond.”

“The mission of [these] agencies is literally…critical,” agreed Gary Leikin, CEO of government workflow automation platform SimpliGov. “Administration of health and human services, particularly for displaced populations; child support applications; emergency rental assistance; and related safety-net type of services is of utmost importance. It’s not like a glitch in a streaming service where you can’t download the next episode of a series — life literally depends on it.”

With stakes this high, confronting and overcoming pressing challenges is essential. These are the issues experts say Human Resources teams should be prioritizing.

4 Public Sector Issues HR Teams Need to Prioritize

1. The Bureaucracy Bind

Experts said that the stereotypes about government bureaucracy don’t necessarily come from nowhere; there’s a grain of truth to them in that many public sector and government jobs have more layers to navigate than comparable private sector positions. And when it comes to hiring, that can cause problems, they cautioned.

Hard-to-find job listings, difficult-to-parse job titles, and cumbersome application processes can weed out promising candidates before they even complete their applications, and slow response times can mean the candidates that do apply can be snapped up by faster-moving firms before they’ve even been offered a first interview.

The solution? Public sector firms that want to compete for and keep sought-after candidates need to make applying easier — immediately, experts said.

“The public sector needs to make it easy to apply for roles and make opportunities visible to citizens [of the community],” Leikin said. “It’s also important to ensure the application and candidate review process is efficient and timely [so] candidates [aren’t] hired by other organizations or companies [first]. The government is often competing with the private sector for the same candidates and needs to move at the same speed to hire the best [people].”

“With the job market as competitive as it is, applicants have little patience for overly burdensome and lengthy hiring processes,” Preece agreed. “Public sector employers should review their hiring processes and work with all stakeholders to make reforms that will allow for more efficiency and streamlining.”

2. On-the-Job Opportunities

Similarly, the same issues — which can manifest as frustratingly rigid job parameters, hidebound work processes, and constrained opportunities for promotion or increased compensation — can show up as challenges in the retention of employees, too. “One of the biggest issues that HR departments face in the public sector is that there is a lack of engagement due to the bureaucratic systems and budgetary constraints that many organizations have in place,” said Paola Accettola, principal and CEO of HR services firm True North HR.

While some elements aren’t changing anytime soon (overhauling pay scales and job classifications may not be within HR’s mandate), forward-thinking Human Resources departments can work with management to increase job satisfaction where they can. A major factor in the satisfaction employees feel in their day-to-day jobs and careers overall is how much opportunity they’re being offered for training and development and learning new skills.

“In the context of the current war for talent, an organization must make an appealing statement about what it has to offer a new hire in terms of experiences and rewards in exchange for what the prospective employee brings in talent and commitment,” Wiley said.

3. More Visibility

A rigid, unchanging hiring process can go hand in hand with insularity in some public sector positions, which keeps potential hires from even knowing a job (or an employer) exists. To maximize the chances of finding the best possible candidates, governmental organizations and public enterprises need to make sure they’re meeting job seekers where they are, with a special focus on outreach to younger workers.

“Public agencies must do a better job of getting into the community and in front of high school and college students and other community organizations to tout the benefits of working in the public sector and the ability it provides to serve the common good,” said Preece.

4. Communicating the Benefits

A continual problem, experts said, is the perception that public sector jobs underpay relative to the private sector. And while it’s not always the case that public sector employers pay less than their private sector counterparts, there are fields and positions where public sector employers simply can’t match the compensation and benefits packages that for-profit firms offer. In the current race to win over top talent, even highly motivated public departments may find that they can’t move as nimbly to adjust salary offerings, or be as flexible with other benefits, as less constrained private firms can.

So what can public sector HR departments do? Preece said the key is to play up the benefits they do offer. “While the public sector may not be able to compete with some of the compensation and perks of the private sector, it is imperative to communicate the benefits they do provide, such as a defined pension and deferred compensation plans, and the sense of service [that] working within the community provides.”

In fact, it’s that last element — the appeal to a sense of service and of working within a community — that can be a uniquely compelling selling point for public sector positions. The work of the public sector is crucial, and the pandemic only highlighted for many job seekers just how vital the roles that local government employees, public safety officers, healthcare workers, and social service providers are in supporting our collective well-being.

“At the top of the list of what employees most want [are] recognition for a job well done; interesting, challenging, and exciting work; job security; fair compensation; opportunities for career growth; positive working conditions; and confidence in the truthfulness of leaders at all levels,” Wiley said.

Much has been made of the generational preference of both millennials and Gen Z to have jobs that they find purposeful, meaningful, and impactful. So for many of these motivated, younger workers, working for the civil service or one of the many public organizations that keep society running could be highly appealing. There’s an opportunity for public sector employers to connect with employees who believe deeply in their mission and want to apply their talents in service of it. But HR needs to make sure they’re giving those candidates a chance to find them — and a reason to stay.

By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry

Plan and Replace Your Top Talent Seamlessly with Succession Planning

Succession planning is the process used to find potential leaders and high performers, helping them to develop and advance within an organization. An effective succession plan prepares identified successors with the skills and competencies needed for any future roles. Using a customized development plan can help employees grow and ensure your successors are the right fit for the future position. Creating no need to worry about open positions when top leaders leave.

Succession Planning is essential because, as a business grows, developing current employees for future critical positions is more cost-effective than hiring new talent. Succession planning can also boost engagement and retention rates by providing employees with a clear path forward in their careers and your organization.

The Importance of Succession Planning

The succession planning process is key to long-term business success. It fosters growth in future leaders and replaces them when key contributors leave.

Here are some top reasons why succession planning is essential to your business:

Reduce Costs when Hiring Top Talent

Hiring top talent can be expensive, and your company could lose money if you are not confident in the new replacement. By creating an internal talent pipeline, you can protect the return on your hiring investment with potential successors.

If your successors come from within your organization, you will not need to recruit externally, which reduces costs even further. You can invest the money you save in other areas – like employee training and development.

Find Key Leaders

With the right approach, you can find key employees who can perform well in new specific roles. Helping to measure options and make the best decisions regarding successors for a role. You can also ensure the succession pool aligns with your diversity and inclusion goals for the company and its future growth.

Mitigate Risk

When top roles within your company go unfilled for tooling, your business success will be at risk. With succession planning, you will have a plan when changes occur so your business is always prepared.

Create Your Legacy

When business leaders are aware of their successors for a critical role, they can provide mentorship and share knowledge. All their experiences will be translated into the future efforts of their successor, so your key employees can leave a lasting mark on the company.

Shapes an Exit Strategy

Succession plans ensure leadership exits are smooth and seamless. An effective plan outlines key resource replacements, so your business can run adequately whenever those individuals exit.

Promotes Progression

Succession planning helps you shape the mindset of crucial employees for continuity. When leaders consider how certain events could affect the business, they might be more agile in facing unexpected events.

How Technology Helps in Succession Planning

Most businesses consider succession planning as a time-consuming and ineffective process. With a traditional approach, leaders spend hours compiling spreadsheets which can quickly become outdated and might not lead to actual employee development.

These latest technology features can eliminate risks and streamline your succession planning strategy. You can boost employee growth and drive business success with the right tools.

Identifies Talent and Readiness to Fill Top Positions

For the best hiring decisions, businesses should be able to see their talent all in one place and understand the full scope of each employee’s skill set. With the right tools, you can find the highest potential talent and add them to your succession plans for future growth.

Make Firm Decisions When Talent Leaves

When your key employees leave unexpectedly, it is essential to have a plan in place so you are not rushing to fill the open position. Technology helps you find the best fit for each role, help make precise hiring decisions and reduces negative business impacts.

Promote Growth and Development for Successors

The solution helps you find the employee skills gaps when they are recognized as a successor. This way allows the employees to support their growth and development in the areas that matter. When employees are ready to fill those crucial roles, there is no break in progress.

Your Succession Plan is Always Ready

An advanced tool will keep your succession plan up-to-date, ready, and at your fingertips to illustrate your business’s longevity. A robust succession platform tracks the metrics and ensures your top positions are filled when needed.

Takes the Difficulty Out of Succession Planning

An advanced succession planning system works seamlessly with your employee’ reviews and overall goals. When you can measure and align performance with your succession plans, you will find the best talent and ensures they develop correctly.

Reference: https://www.sutisoft.com/

There is a school of thought when recruiting that you should ‘Hire for culture fit, train for skills’. So what does this mean? We cover practical strategies on how to hire employees for cultural fit and why it’s so successful.

Let’s start by understanding what culture fit is all about. Simply put, culture fit is the likelihood that a person will be able to conform and adapt to the core values and collective behaviours that make up an organisation. When you hire employees for cultural fit, you’re ensuring a better chance of success.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you are hiring for an exact personality replica as yourself either; diversity in people and opinions are important.

However if you have two candidates, one who needs further skills training and the other who enjoys a great skill set, but doesn’t seem like a ‘good fit amongst the team’, then I would always hire the former.

Let me explain.

If you assess cultural fit throughout your recruitment process, you will ensure you hire people who will become fantastic in their new roles, which will certainly help drive long-term growth and success for your organisation.

When you hire employees for cultural fit, the fit within your existing team and understanding of your company values will ensure that they will save you time and money in having to replace them later.

What this means is that when you hire on both job fit and cultural fit, you’ll find that your new recruits are

Faster to start really becoming part of your team
Start contributing quicker than others
Are happier in their new role
Tend to stay longer with your business
Become brand ambassadors, and;
Are likely to become ‘star performers’.

When you make recruiting decisions purely on skills, and don’t take into account the cultural fit of the candidate, you may find;

The candidate doesn’t fit in with your existing team
They will quickly become dissatisfied with their role
Will not adhere to the values and behaviours expected of them
May end up leaving through resignation or termination, faster.

So you can see the benefits of ensuring a great cultural fit through the recruitment process.

The trick is, how to hire employees for cultural fit, without just relying on ‘gut instinct’?

Who you hire ultimately defines your culture.
– Ryan Hoover, Product Hunt

7 Proven Steps to Hire for Cultural Fit

You should start by following these steps;

Ensure you have a set of values and how they translate to the role
Include a page within your website about your company values
Reference these company values in any advertising for the role
Discuss the values and how your culture is during the initial interview
Ask questions that relate directly to these values
Ensure you have a solid induction process that involves cultural induction
Schedule a meeting within their first month in the role to discuss further

Let’s get into some more detail what each of these strategies actually mean.

Ensure you have a set of values and how they translate to the role

If you are in your very early stages, it is likely that you haven’t put thought into creating and documenting your company values.

I believe company values are incredibly important to distill and communicate as early as possible in your businesses lifetime. They explain what the founders and management hold as important, and they help explain the behaviours that all employees are expected to uphold.

Without clear direction and leadership, your business may keep plodding along, however the lack of cohesiveness will eventually start to show, and affect productivity and profits.

You should spend time analysing your inherent values, and document them into specific, clear words.

My previous article, Creating company values that boost company culture, explains my thoughts in more detail, and also outlines the process we went through to achieve our values.

Include a page within your website about your company values

These definitely should not be just static website content that you cut and paste somewhere deep within your website, and promptly forget about.

You should be using other opportunities to link back to these value statements. For example, they should always appear on your careers section, and also be mentioned within any corporate blog or social media. This helps you hire employees for cultural fit.

Some companies go one step further, and create slide decks that portray their values and culture. Here are some recent examples that do a fantastic job of explaining the cultures at these companies;

For extra impact, you could also get written or video testimonials from existing employees, about what the values mean to them, and ask them to explain what the culture of your organisation is. You could then make a series of social media videos or upload them to your YouTube channel.

Reference these company values in any advertising for the role

We always make mention of our values in our position advertising, for example in a recent advertisement, we included a link to our company values page on our website, along with the closing statement of what the application should contain;

Many of the applications we received for the position had well considered responses to these values, and it is not burdensome to ask applicants to do so.

In this recent example, those candidates that did not go to the effort of providing these responses were not afforded an interview with us.

Discuss the values and how your culture is during the initial interview

You don’t want to hire someone and find out within days that they didn’t understand the role, causing you additional costs and time in replacing and re-training yet another candidate.

It is crucial that anyone involved in the hiring process has a good grasp of your company culture, and that they themselves personally display the right behaviours and attributes you expect in your values. This is key when you hire employees for cultural fit.

I like to explain what we look for in candidates, and how we work as a team; the good and the bad. In fact, many candidates are given a tour of our offices, and encouraged to ask any employees that are introduced to, any further questions around culture, teamwork and our mission.

Ask questions that relate directly to these values

During the recruitment interview, rather than just sticking to skill based questions, I recommend that you include a number of questions to determine the candidates personality and cultural fit. For instance, when hiring a dedicated development team, you should not only ask them technical questions but also test their soft skills, whether they are easy to communicate, etc.

Whilst asking for their own personal values is a good start, you will find more benefit by asking them specific questions around your values and determine their reactions and answers.

I like to also ask questions to determine who they are, outside of the office.

For example;

Tell me a little more about yourself; what does your typical weekend consist of?
Tell me what your most positive personality trait is, and why?
Tell me what your worst personality trait is, and why?
What values are important to you as a person?
If given the choice of any role here, what job would appeal to you the most?

I then get into specific culture based questions, such as

What type of team do you thrive in?
How important is recognition to you?
Have you read our values? Which one resonated with you the most?
How would you describe oru culture, based on what you have seen and heard so far.
Why do you want to work here?
What is an example of a time you feel that you feel reinforced our value of [insert one of your values]
Do you feel the role you are applying for, has meaning?
Are you comfortable with our values and what they mean?

As you can see, rather than just asking a candidate to repeat your values, or find out what their favourite movie is, I prefer to dig a little deeper and ask questions to understand their personal motivations and drivers, and get a sense of how they would interact within my existing team and our culture.

When you hire employees for cultural fit, pay attention not only to their verbal answers, but also their body language and comfort levels. Feel free to ask for them to clarify an answer, if required.

By doing this each time you interview, you will quickly find out which candidates best resonate with your values and culture by doing this.

Ensure you have a solid induction process that involves cultural induction

We set aside a 2-3 hour meeting within the first few days of a new hire beginning to take them through a cultural induction process. This meeting has evolved over the last few years, from being a literal reading and discussion around our values, to a more formal approach, where we dig down into the values, what their intent and meaning are, and we describe behaviors that are both reinforcing and against each value.

Whilst this may seem superfluous from the outside, we have found that new recruits appreciate the additional time and effort that we set aside to ensure they are comfortable with our culture, and have an opportunity to discuss their concerns or questions with us.

Schedule a meeting within their first month in the role to discuss further

I always make a point of following up with another one-on-one meeting after a few weeks of the new hire settling into her role. In this meeting, we go through both the position expectations, as well as culture and values, and ensure that they feel comfortable in what they are doing.

I also use this meeting as a way to delve into their thoughts, as a new person within the team, about how our culture and work is, and what improvements or suggestions they could make, based on their prior employment history.

In Summary

We’ve now shown you practical steps on how to hire employees for cultural fit. Using these strategies before, during and after you’ve hired a new person, ensures that you will enjoy a happier, more productive team, more cohesiveness, a reaffirmation of your company values and better employee longevity.

Your company culture is very important; it provides your team with direction, a shared understanding of the behaviour expected, and is effectively ‘the glue that binds the team’.

Employees who embrace your culture and values go on to become great brand ambassadors; they boost morale and teamwork and help positively affect future recruiting.

Always hire employees for cultural fit first, and technical knowledge second.

Reference: https://inside.6q.io/

Introduction

The modern era of governance and its handmaiden “compliance” has spawned a plethora of rules and guides about how boards and management should do their respective jobs.

This is fine, but many situations encountered by directors in boardroom settings are not straightforward, nor can they be neatly categorised so that they can be dealt with “by the book.”

This article discusses how chairs should deal with what can often arise in boardrooms, where subjective comments, biased or pre-emptive behaviour and strong personalities can cloud good decision making.

As a corollary, management can be guilty of the same shortcomings, and management reports received by boards can vary greatly in content and format, and on occasion, are characterised by what they omit, as well as what they say. Facts can be in short supply, and opinions can often drive decisions.

The article also question why there is so much variability in board papers, not just between companies, but also within companies. It also looks at how boards of directors can understand and deal with what can be misleading reports with the underlying management behaviour and shortcomings.

Quite simply most of these issues can be put down to the fact that companies are run by groups of unique individuals with a range of personalities and behaviours. A good CEO can get the best out of his or her team, and good chairs can navigate the path towards rational, and evidence-based decisions by the board. However, it is important that the leaders, in this case the CEO and the chair, understand what is going on and have strategies to deal with them.

The board

Much has been written about boardroom personality types and how to build and operate a balanced and effective board, and also about correlating CEO behaviours with success. Understanding what you are dealing with is important, but knowing how to manage these personalities to drive success is also crucial.

To put this into context it would be interesting to know how many company successes and failures are the result of, on the one hand, exceptional individual CEOs, supported by good boards; and, on the other, poor choices of CEOs by incompetent boards of directors?

Changing CEO’s early on in their careers is not a good look but recognising problems early on may make this decision crucial.

Boards are a collective, and consensual decisions are best practice in most circumstances. Agreeing to disagree can sometimes be the only way forward where there are significant differences of view over issues, and where the best outcome for the Company becomes the key driver for the decision.

Likewise, major problems can arise where the board has significant shareholders as directors, who push their personal agendas in preference to the interests of the company. The role of the independent directors is more important in these circumstances and they need to step up and have their voices heard, over what can be dominant and aggressive behaviour.

Management

Boards have more face-time with CEOs than any other management team member, with the exception sometimes of the CFO, who can often double as the record taker, and therefore is generally present for the entire meeting. It is axiomatic that the CEO should preface and present major proposals to the directors, but CEOs vary in their abilities to do this thoroughly and objectively. At one end of the scale CEOs can have an overdose of leadership traits, characterised by hubris; whereas others struggle to present a coherent and persuasive argument, even when important information is available.

With the former, there is one celebrated case where an extremely persuasive CEO was able to convince the entire board of his SOE to go along with his view of the world, and in the process disregarded what were obvious risks, and matters which ordinarily boards would have had have a duty to address and scrutinise. “Black Hats” around the board table can be very challenging for some CEOs, but are a necessary element in board composition and behaviour. Having said that, the Black Hats need to be careful and non-confrontational in putting their views forward.

Management needs to recognise this, and address director’s concerns factually and professionally, even occasionally conceding that there are unresolved issues when seeking decisions.

In the case of an over-assertive CEO, a well-balanced board with an experienced chair will know who they are dealing with; and indeed may have had the responsibility for choosing the CEO — although this is not always the case.

This is why recruitment of the CEO is such a crucial decision, and it is important to know whom you are really employing before it is too late. Thorough due diligence with trustworthy referees can often reveal unsatisfactory characteristics and it is vital that a CEO has integrity, balance and openness in all their dealings with the board. Mutual trust is essential.

Conventional wisdom says that CEOs have a “use by” date and this is often quoted as being seven years, which is also the average longevity of a CEO in New Zealand. Equally some exceptional CEOs grow with the job and the challenge, and they should be supported by their boards and chair to go the distance, providing they continue to grow the company without taking excessive risks.

There are significant differences in approach between management and boards, and how personality and style can impact on company decisions. The board collective, more often than not, has a wide range of competencies, skills, experience and personalities. On the other hand, management can often be embodied in a single individual who has the delegated responsibility to report to the board on behalf of a team of functional managers, whom collectively run the business, operationally and financially.

As we have seen very recently with one of our SOEs, the wrong choice of CEO can lead to the hollowing out of the senior executive team and a huge loss of talent and experience. “Command and control” behaviours are no longer acceptable management styles in today’s world.

Strategy

Strategy formulation is at the intersection between the board and management, which is why good boards share the load with management in this area, and follow good process to ensure there is a high degree of ownership of the final document. Someone once said that strategy doesn’t just happen once a year, and in these uncertain times it needs to be frequently re-visited, and revised if necessary.

It can be tricky when the strategy is not agreed by all the directors, and there have been cases where this has led to “throwing the toys,” and resignation. While understandable, it may be better to stay and see how things play out, and perhaps persuade the board to an alternative view over time.

Key takeaways for boards

Both directors and chairs need to be aware of the influence of individuals and their behaviours in the debate and the discussion which precedes decisions.
Chairs need to know their board members and their personalities. They should be alert to where some directors may choose to take the discussion and be prepared to nudge it gently back on course.
Similarly, individual directors should keep their own counsel and contribute objectively and constructively, particularly when management is present. Enthusiasm needs to be tempered with sound reasoning.
Strategy is about the longer term and tactics are usually short term. Even some directors struggle to know the difference.

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