\u201cAs for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.\u201d \u2013 Antoine De Saint-Exupery<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you been wondering how organizations can be ready for the future of work? With the ongoing safety measures for working with Covid-19, tumult in the economy and protests in the streets, many of us are eager to move into the future workplace, knowing that the \u201cnew normal\u201d will not be \u201cback to normal\u201d. What can we do as leaders to enable our organizations succeed in this future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have been scanning LinkedIn over that past few weeks, you may have seen many companies putting out Diversity and Inclusion statements that are inspiring, and actually feel tangible this time. Some leaders have even stepped aside to make way for diverse leaders to take the spotlight, which is truly encouraging. As a leadership coach and learning & development professional, I have been thinking about how to enable diverse colleagues to succeed. My observation over the years has been that even in companies where solid commitments to Diversity and Inclusion have been shown in metrics, something is missing. The return on investment for all those efforts has not shown enough significant evolution in the top-level management and overall cultures of even the most inclusive-minded organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why don\u2019t we position talent development the way that a business leader looks at an investment portfolio? Yes, sometimes you get lucky simply purchasing a single stock, leaving it sit passively, and realizing a significant gain as the stock rises in value. Those instances are often difficult to predict and maintain over time, and present a high level of risk if that particular stock doesn\u2019t pay off. Investing in a stock and letting it be passively managed involves a lot of faith and luck. Most investment portfolios diversify and spread risk across investment classes, and realize gains over a period of time. Portfolio managers are paid high sums to use their expertise to actively manage portfolios: research trends, know when to take risks and leverage opportunities in the market. While I am not an investment expert, my understanding is that while you pay significantly more for an actively managed portfolio, you typically realize a greater return on investment over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why don\u2019t we view an investment in diverse talent the same way? All talent should be actively managed in order to realize the best return on investment, rather than hiring someone and then hoping they work out. Classically, those who have been \u201cactively managed\u201d are those who are naturally more \u201clike me\u201d in the eyes of management structures. This is where the term \u201cold boys\u2019 network\u201d is derived. For many years in corporate America, people who were known quantities \u2013 sure-things \u2013 were recruited and hired. Those same select few were actively managed over time, receiving the most direct feedback (it\u2019s easier to give feedback to someone who is \u201clike me\u201d), invited to participate in key projects (it\u2019s natural to surround oneself with people \u201clike me\u201d) and included in golf outings where they build more bonds and receive more feedback. For those of us who did not grow up playing golf, mingling with corporate types in our families, or attending top schools, that leaves us with significant disadvantages. We also pose significant challenges to the status quo because actively managing us takes much more effort and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that we now recognize the need to diversify our talent portfolios in order to encourage a higher level of innovation in the future workplace. But this is not the time to choose a passive management strategy: a true investment in diverse talent means that we all take on the responsibility of actively managing the talent portfolios so that we realize greater returns on investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is an opportune time for Leaders, Coaches, and all Development Professionals to re-think how we can enable the future success of our organizations. If we have learned anything in 2020, it\u2019s that foreseeing the future is less important than creating the architecture to weather the unforeseen that lies ahead. We all want to not only protect our investments, but also to manage them in a way that our organizations thrive and innovate!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cAs for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.\u201d \u2013 Antoine De Saint-Exupery Have you been wondering how organizations can be ready for the future of work? With the ongoing safety measures for working with Covid-19, tumult in the economy and protests in the streets, many of us are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n