Caution: Career Derailment Ahead! Why do executives, managers, and professionals either derail or flounder and then get shunted off to roles that are out of the mainstream? Typically it's because they have a psychological blind spot that is all too visible to others. Research studies have pegged failure rates for senior executives at up to 33 percent. There's a good chance that the descriptions below of potential derailers will remind you of some key people in your organization:   He lacks effective interpersonal skills. He's - Insensitive: (He's too abrasive") Overambitious: ("He batters people with his competitiveness; he needs to be seen as powerful") Isolated: ("He's a perfectionist and seems to do everything his own way") Volatile: ("He comes apart at the seams when underfire")   She has difficulty making tactical shifts. She is - Mired in detail; thrown by change and innovation; too cautious; action-averse. Unable to adapt to those who have different styles. Conflict-averse; unable to harness conflict constructively, as a creative medium for change; a poor negotiator. Over-reliant on one skill, on natural talent, or on just raw energy. Rigid in response to most situations; for example, blazingly decisive but without regard for overall organizational strategy.   He lacks follow-through. He - Makes a big splash at the front end of a project, then moves on, leaving a trail of loose ends. Leaves people hanging because of unmet promises and commitments; not fully accountable.   Her area has never really gelled. She - Over-/undermanages: (Either as the over-controlling Godmother or as the benignly neglectful Ostrich; can't collaborate or delegate) Staffs in her own image: ("I have a good gut feeling about him; the chemistry is right") Communicates poorly: ("She operates like she thinks everyone can read her mind") Creates mediocrity: (Undermines talented subordinates and/or habitually hires weak candidates)   Terminate or Turnaround? So, what can be done with the under-performing employee? Often, the response is to terminate. But, the complany must then absorb the staggering costs associated with the loss of a key person. These costs include: Exit costs Recruiting, hiring, and restart costs Cascade effect of multiple position shuffles Opportunity costs, disruption, down time, and lowered morale of the team Disputed termination litigation   A significantly more effective solution is available and it prevents the termination costs. The experiences of our clients have clearly shown that a turnaround program produces better results. In most cases under-performance is not the result of an ability deficit. Rather, it typically results from a person's blind spots. With the proper intervention, the struggling employee can be turned around and, as a consequence, a number of benefits accrue to the organization and the individual: The company is spared the organizational disruption and corporate expense (frequently exceeding $100K) that inevitably occur with the termination of a key employee. The company is protected from thr loss of the person's accumulated industry knowledge, experience, and competitive information. The turnaround program offers a potent management option for handling a potentially unpleasant and difficult dilemma. The turnaround option brings objectitity and behavioral science to bear on conflict and, thereby, gives the organization and its people a greater sense of mastery and less apprehension about handling difficult human problems. The message: "We care, and we can work it out." It equips the organization with an effective tool for retaining its human resources, an increasingly critical strategy in an age of a shrinking human resource pool.   How we Do It Specializing in human performance, our firm has designed a powerful individual development program that integrates our core competencies: Expert software systems that enhance psychological testing and assessment Computerized 360 degree technology Keen diagnostic skills Advanced rapport-building methods Accelerated development strategies Motivating and creating true behavioral change By integrating these performance development technologies, we assist the candidate in assembling the three essential ingrediants for high performance: feedback (both broad and deep), multi-lateral motivation to make changes, and multi-source change partners for their development initiative. Together, these three elements serve as the infrastructure for a Blueprint for Action, which guides the employee's achievement of measurable results.   Turnaround Program: Four Key Steps I. Assess Conduct a series of life-career interviews with the candidate focusing on: Personal and work history Interpersonal experiences Attitudes, values, and interests Aspirations Assess the candidate, using an array of business-based psychological inventories and 360 degree tools, most of which are computer analyzed. Integrate performance management data into assessment. Forge a consensus on the problem areas and the turnaround objectives.   II. Plan Deliver an in-depth, confidential debrief of all assessment findings. Identify the candidate's key strengths and areas in need of development. Highlight limiting tendencies and origins of the derailment problem. Clarify inner motivators for change and inner resistances to it. Harness the former and neutralize the latter. Explicitly specify IIFM (What's in it for me?) and WIIFOrg. Synthesize findings into a Blueprint for Action Detail the specific behavior changes required - precisely what does the candidate need to continue, start, and stop doing? Resources: computerized assessment reports and 90-plus activities for development in place (i.e., activities that do not require a job change). Identify all the benefits that will accrue to one self and to the organization once the change objectives are achieved. Similarly, identify all potential impediments that could hinder the turnaround effort - inner, interpersonal, and organizational. Specify the action steps required to achieve the prescribed changes. Enlist the involvement of others. Turnarounds require support from others, playing an array of roles: coach, mentor, collegue, friend, role model, protégé, advocate. Change requires change partners. Establish time frames and metrics, against which progress is measured.   III. Act Acknowledge and reciprocate with those who gave feedback to the candidate. Enlist one or some as change partners. Debrief candidate's manager and involve them in the Blueprint for Action. Begin action experiments during real-time, day-to-day work life, then debrief and refine with coach. Adopt high-impact behavioral change techniques. Measure progress against plan. Design simple and practical feedback loops into work routine.   IV. Reflect/Evaluate and Reassess/Refine This is the final phase of the turnaround process and works best when it is hard-wired into the Action Phase of the cycle. By designing monitoring and evaluation tools, the candidate can regularly assess progress and then recalibrate the Blueprint for Action.   Final Thoughts If people are truly the primary resource of a company, as most organizations assert, then they must be managed and developed like other assets. It's really not unlike the management of any asset portfolio. That is, every person is like an individual portfolio with a strong potential for either managed growth or sub-par performance. The portfolio, however, is at least partially opaque, as regards its assets and liabilities. We have the expertise, though, to "value" the portfolio. If one is to optimize the asset-liability mix, the portfolio must first be valued; that is, assessed for its strengths and weaknesses. Then after this initial appraisal, we are in an excellent position to optimize the potential of that individual's set of assets. The optimization process involves maximizing the person's strengths, minimizing their weaknesses, and adding new "assets" to their portfolio (i.e., skills, behaviors, and attitudes), in order ro maximize performance and protect against downside risk. Whether we're talking about the development of key contributors, the turnaround of potential derailers, careerpath development, or even teambuilding, there is one strategy that is more effective than any other. People can change, but the most substantive and permanent change is realized when people develop from the inside out. This is the surest way to prepare and motivate someone to acept the new change opportunities made available to them. Consequently, whenever we're working to enhance an "individual human resource portfolio", the surest strategy is to begin at the beginning and focus on the inside (that is, self-awareness and self-understanding) before the outside (that is, skillbuilding and on-the-job development). This change strategy has proven to be a more certain way of assisting people through the process of behavior change, self-development, and performance enhancement. Return to Top Hiring By Design, Not By Chemistry Every new hire will ultimately contribute either to moving your business forward or to holding it back. The acquisition of "intellectual capital" is fast becoming the primary competitive advantage as we move toward the new millenium. So, why handicap your organization's competition for human resources by not exploiting the most advanced technology available for selecting the strongest candidates and for avoiding coastly selection errors? The Facts 50,000 organizations in the U.S. use testing to help them make decisions about hiring, placement, and promotion. Turnover, replacements, and retaining costs for a mid-level manager average $320,000 (TRW Corporation study, 1991). The cost spiral that results from poor hires: salary, benefits, recruitment, training medical claims, opportunity loss, impact on morale, customer ill-will, legal exposure, productivity, quality, and profits all decrease. The worst candidates are typically screened out, but it's the marginal ones who slip through and who adversely impact your organization's productivity and morale (and it's hard to terminate them). EEO guidelines state: "…tests, when used in conjunction with other tools of personnel assessment…aid in the development and maintenance of an efficient work force and…aid in the utilization and conservation of human resources." The Benefits It's objective, cost-effective, legal, and it works. Candidates are uniformly impressed that the organization takes its mission so seriously that it uses such a systematic and thorough approach to the acquisition of human resources. Testing significantly reduces turnover and the high costs associated with it. When the best-fit applicants are hired, they settle into new position more quickly and travel the learning curve faster. The hiring evaluation report becomes a working document for the individual and their manager. With the evaluation report in hand, the manager has a much clearer understanding of how to motivate, develop, and coach the new hire. When correctly matched to a job, individuals perorm for the satisfaction of mastery and achievement. The Process Job analysis The job in question is evaluated with that job's immediate boss. We identify the job's critical success factors and understand who succeeds and who fails in this role. Interview The candidate spends two to four hours in a structured interview with a professional hiring expert. Computerized testing: Cognitive abilities The candidate is administered a battery of tests, tailored for the job in question. Tests used asess numeracy, verbal skills, critical thinking abilities, and mental alertness. Norms used by our expert systems are specific to the job class. Computerized testing: Personality and vocational inventories The other portion of the tailored assessment battery generates insights into goodness-of-fit issues such as thinking style, motivators, emotional maturity, work style, interpersonal orientation, and influence style. Norms used by our expert system are specific to the job class. The information You'll Have About The Candidate Career outlook: evaluation of career history, personal mission, and job motivators and de-motivators. Cognitive abilities: in-depth description of critical analytic skills, reasoning abilities, verbal and numeric skills, and mental quickness. Use of cognitive abilities: receptivity to ideas, problem-solving aptitude, and practicality/creativity of thought process. Work style: energy, pace, approach to planning and thinking, need for recognition, need for organizational freedom, attention to detail, orientation to action, work ethic and conscientiousness. Emotional style: optimism, restraint over feelings, objectivity about feedback, handling stress, amnagement of strong emotions, resilience and composure. Interpersonal factors: socialbility, assertiveness, first and lasting impressions, perceptiveness, competitiveness, agreeableness, acceptance of diversity, and service orientation. Management and leadership style: desire to persuade and influence, approach to persuasion and influence, approach to managing relationships and conflict, communication style, and adverse factors that could impact relationships. And more: a graphic profile of 21 personality traits plus selected cognitive ability measures; topics for special consideration and their implications; management advice; specific follow-up interview probes to pose to the candidate and another set of questions to ask of referenes; and the ability to reanalyze the same data set and produce an in-depth developmental report. Hire by design. Improve the odds.