A recording of our webinar, Developing Coaching Skills for Leaders, is now available!

Leaders with effective coaching skills are better able to create a collaborative working environment, strengthen engagement of their team members, and retain high-potentials – all the more important as the war for talent starts to heat up. In this webinar, we help you develop your own coaching skills.

You’ll learn:

• The role coaching plays in being a great leader
• How to adopt the right mindset for holding effective coaching conversations
• An easy-to-follow coaching framework
• The four key coaching skills necessary for successful day-to-day coaching conversations

Watch the video embedded below, or click here to watch it on our YouTube channel.

A recording of our webinar, Re-Engaging Your Workforce: Critical Skills for the Ideal Manager is now available!

In this webinar, we’ll share the results of our recent international survey, focused on the current status of employee engagement, and the qualities employees want in their “Ideal Manager.”

You’ll learn:

• How direct managers influence employee engagement
• How U.S. managers stack up against leaders in 10 other countries
• How employee expectations vary across generation, gender and country
• The 5 most critical skills for managers – as reported by their employees
• How to build the Ideal Manager in your organization

Click here to watch the video on our YouTube channel.

We live and work in a global economy. According to an article published in USA Today, U.S. companies added 1.4 million jobs overseas in 2010, and less than 1 million jobs in the U.S. In addition, 39% of U.S. companies plan to increase overseas staff levels over the next 5 years. Outsourcing, immigration, technology and foreign direct investment are all factors driving this globalization of the workforce.

For those of us tasked with managing talent, this new global workforce poses some interesting questions.

Juan-Luis Goujon, President & CEO, BPI group, N.A. was recently invited to speak on the subject at the Georgia Institute for Technology’s conference on “Models for Preparing the Global Workforce.” Click here to read a write-up of the presentation at globalatlanta.com. Read below for some key takeaways.

A global workforce means working in culturally-diverse teams. How does cultural diversity impact team performance?

A study published by the Academy of Management Journal confirms that initially, culturally diverse teams have lower performance than homogenous teams. Among other challenges, culturally diverse teams have to overcome language barriers, differing customs and divergent business philosophies.

Over time, however, performance equalizes among diverse and homogenous teams, and diverse teams actually exhibit more creativity and innovation. The payoff doesn’t come without actively managing diverse teams, though, which leads us to the next key question.

How do we build cross-cultural team performance?

The key to succeeding in today’s global workforce lies in building cultural competence – defined as “the ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures,” in an article published by the Academy of Management Learning & Education.

As individuals, you can start building cultural competence by being open-minded, learning additional languages, traveling or working abroad. According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 80% of executives believe overseas experience improves chances of career progression.

As an organization, you can develop a culturally competent workforce by accepting various ways of thinking and behaving, providing multicultural training for managers and building an inclusive culture. For more suggestions, read this article at diversityresources.com.

Interested in learning more about how you can build team performance within your organization? Contact us at info@bpigroupus.com or +1.800.323.0206.

Are you an HR Leader in the Management Consulting Industry?

Join us at a panel discussion, hosted by the Association of Management Consulting Firms:

Lessons Learned from the Downturn
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
10:00am – 3:00pm

Towers Watson
335 Madison Avenue
21st Floor
Algonquin & Carlyle Conference Rooms
New York, NY 10017

Jonscott Turco, Regional Practice Leader of BPI group’s Executive Advisory Service Practice in New York, will be featured as a panelist.

Topics of discussion will include:

The 2008-2010 Recession: What Worked, What Didn’t

• Maintaining a culture of high performance during the downturn especially with frozen salaries, low bonuses, etc.
• Utilizing the recession to review organizational structure and align for improved organizational effectiveness
• Keeping morale high and motivating key employees during challenging financial time and after lay-offs
• Maintaining or redesigning career tracks for high potential employees during and after lay-offs
• Use of alternative methods of workforce management during the downturn such as furloughs, etc.

Click here for more information, and to register.

The French-American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta celebrated their 7^th Annual Crystal Peach Awards at the Capital City Country in Atlanta on Thursday, February 24, 2011. BPI group was pleased to be in attendance, and is proud to announce that Steve Spires, Managing Director, Southeast Region with BPI group, was awarded the FACC “Award of Excellence” in recognition of his contributions to the Chamber and the French-American community of Atlanta.

Steve was the first person to receive the award as an individual. Previous recipients have included: Michelin, FedEx, Faurecia, GE Energy, and Alstom. Steve’s selection was a unanimous decision by chamber employees.

View a video of the event, including an interview with Steve, below:

BPI group is a proud participant in a new partnership between France and the American Southeast.  In conjunction with the Georgia Institute of Technology,  the Consulate General of France in Atlanta recently began a program called “France-Atlanta: Together Towards Innovation”

Recent events include a workshop titled “Bridging the Atlantic: Leveraging Workforce and Intellectual Capital for International Business Success.”  Using a best practices approach and leveraging the expertise of world-class panelists, this workshop sets out to find responsive strategies to global com­panies’ training requirements; to connect the world of enterprise with the research pool of higher education; to identify managerial talent through the use of international internships; and to create international managerial depth through global university partnerships.

For more information visit www.france-atlanta.org

Figuring out the logistics for a virtual work environment can be challenging in and of itself. On top of that, transitions of this type can also pose challenges to how effective people will be in their roles. Recently, BPI group was asked to advise an organization moving to a flexible “hotel” environment by Workforce.com, publishers of the weekly e-newsletter, “Dear Workforce”. Three “Golden Rules” for managing such a transition follow – to link to the entire article click here.

Rule #1: Leverage technology and social networking portals for employees to connect. There are both established and emerging technologies to distribute information and engage virtual teams, with a few key options outlined here. (Be sure to clarify your organization’s policies before beginning these initiatives.)
• Rarely, if ever, is no news perceived by employees to be good news. Senior leaders should conduct virtual “town hall” meetings to share information, clarify expectations and foster dialogue.
• Use “convergence software” (like WebEx, GoToMeeting or Live Meeting) to facilitate online meetings with audio and video. These tools also offer virtual document sharing, white boards and breakout sessions, mirroring what can be accomplished in person.
• Leverage online social networking and collaboration portals (like Huddle) to manage team documents and use message boards. An existing intranet portal may also be enhanced for these activities. Consider these options for formal and informal exchanges among employees.
• Use communication tools like instant messaging for real-time interactions and questions. This is a great way to communicate efficiently and build rapport among colleagues.

Rule #2: Designate opportunities for face-to-face interaction. Maintaining productivity and engagement requires a balance between virtual and in-person contact between colleagues, teams, managers and leaders.
• Teams and work groups should schedule regular times to meet in the office to ensure alignment around key activities and enhance rapport
• Formal and informal opportunities for cross-level and cross-functional interactions should also be established. This will help prevent people from becoming “silo-ed” and isolated.

Rule #3: Leverage the manager role to drive performance and engagement. Managers play a vital role in helping employees stay focused and motivated in a dispersed environment. They can do this in the following ways:
• Clarify any changes to roles and expectations for all employees, including themselves (in particular, any new responsibilities around virtual interactions).
• Partner with employees to set short-term goals for projects and assignments. They should also conduct regular teleconferences/videoconferences to discuss achievements, next steps and additional support needed.
• Hold weekly conversations with each employee about current performance and development goals. Make sure to allow time just to catch up and talk about how they’re adjusting.
• Help their teams develop guidelines for how they expect to work together in the virtual environment, referring to the guidelines as needed.

Jay Scherer, Robyn Clark, Mary Herrmann and Amy Dordek were back in class this week at the Learning and Talent Development Leaders Conference, held at McDonald’s Hamburger University in suburban Chicago. Jay led a panel discussion entitled, “Making Leadership Development Stick”. The panelists, including John Lawton, CLO of Grainger, Don Beeman, Director at Grant Thornton, Linh Lawler, Director at North Shore University Health System and Mike Kaspar, Executive Director at Blue Cross/Blue Shield Illinois, shared their thoughts on how to go beyond formal training events to use informal learning, social learning, performance support and reinforcement methods to support leadership thinking and behaviors.

The group shared many perspectives how various companies are implementing innovative methods for making leadership development stick. These included internal marketing ideas, motivation and incentives, web-based tools and social media. The panel also touched on cultural change as a method of reinforcing learning. For more information on this annual event or to get on the mailing list for next year’s event, see the Learning Executive Exchange website.

The BPI group Southeast team was a Bronze Level Sponsor and exhibitor at the 20th annual Atlanta SHRM conference held in October. With nearly 1,000 HR professionals in attendance, SHRM Atlanta is one of the largest HR conferences in the country with nationally known keynote speakers and 48 concurrent education sessions. 

The BPI group team featured in the photo above, from left to right, is Bernie Pritchard, Vice President, Client Solutions; Kalpana Shanmugham, Senior Consultant; Steve Spires, Managing Director, Southeast Region for BPI group and Joanne Start, Senior Consultant. For more information on our Southeast region, please contact our Atlanta office at +1.770.399.8400.

On August 6^th, BPI group Managing Partner Kevin Pallardy delivered a presentation on Sparking Creativity and Fostering Innovation to over 150 participants attending the Missouri SHRM conference.  The session focused on how HR leaders can develop cultures that support creativity and innovation. 

One of the key points he made was that the competencies required to be innovative are not always easy to identify… and aren’t always valued within organizations. For instance, how many of us really value people who question the status quo relentlessly? Without those people, however, many innovative ideas would never materialize.  

The HR function can be a steward of creativity by making sure that their organization remains open to new ideas. As Kevin put it, “An impediment to innovation is adherence to dogma. In fact, innovative people are wired exactly the opposite way. They frequently have a core deep-seated aversion to the status quo. While this behavioral characteristic may not always be constructive or appropriate, it is exactly the “disruptive” characteristic that can help foster innovation.”

Kevin shared additional ideas on driving strategic and transformational thinking to facilitate the development of innovation in organizations of all sizes. He also shared ways that HR practices are critical in order to ensure that the right people are in the right places. To get a copy of the presentation, contact Kevin Pallardy at kpallardy@bpigroupus.com.

BPI group and Grant Alexander had a very successful presence at the Missouri SHRM Conference held at the Lake of the Ozarks August 4 – 6.  The conference had its largest attendance ever, over 500 participants.