Planning for 2016

We are beginning the 4th quarter, a time when workloads increase and managers endeavor to complete projects due at the year’s end. Q4 is also a time of planning for the coming year, when upcoming strategic initiatives are vetted, confirmed and budgeted. Most HR and Talent Management executives, as a result, have more on their plate than is realistic to accomplish, and are reluctant to offload the work to their own direct reports, who are equally burdened with year-end deadlines.

Effective managers cope with this crunch time by developing a small cadre of trusted outside specialists to delegate overloads of work to in Q4 or at any other time. Over the years, these consultants learn the company and culture and are available on call to use their specialized expertise to complete initiatives, from start to finish, with limited guidance. Many are also trusted resources for designing, facilitating and documenting strategic planning efforts so that the executive’s time and bandwidth are freed to think and execute at the appropriate leadership level. 

My work prepares leaders and their workforces to think strategically about their resources and to excel under conditions and in environments that are often quite different from what they have known historically. It moves through the entire employee lifecycle, from attracting and onboarding new hires, to developing and retaining them, to ensuring that career paths and succession plans are in place for the roles that matter most to organizations. The results create cost savings and stabilize companies for growth and profitability.

In support of completing 2015 project initiatives or your 2016 planning efforts, please feel free to access my whitepapers, blog posts, and multi-media for useful thought leadership and insight.

Amy Hirsh Robinson, Principal, Interchange Group

Workforce Strategies for the New Economy

Millennials’ “Don’t Ask, Do Tell” Vacation Policy

Managers of Millennials complain to me that their young employees will tell, not ask, their managers that they will be taking vacation or time off. Or the Millennial will opt to work remotely without clearing it with their boss. From the Manager’s perspective, this shows a brazen lack of respect for the manager and the workload of others.

The Millennial perspective is quite different. Millennials believe that the 9-5 construct of work is dead. They intuitively understand that the future of work requires a high degree of flexibility – from the employee and the employer. Their willingness and desire to work in such dynamic ways, however, is ahead of what most employers understand, or have the capacity and infrastructure to currently support. Millennials assume their bosses are on the same page about this flexibility, but that cannot be farther from the truth.

Most conflict between Millennial employees and their older managers stem from generational differences in upbringing, work history and present-day expectations of the job. For insight into the most common areas of conflict and for strategies on integrating Millennials into organizations for long-term success, download my latest whitepaper, The Top 3 Conflicts Between Millennials & Their Managers or feel free to contact me directly. 

Amy Hirsh Robinson, Principal, Interchange Group

Workforce Strategies for the New Economy