Human Capital Briefs

Maria, an executive in financial services, stared at another calendar invite in Outlook that would surely kill three hours of her day. Whenever a tough problem presented itself, her boss’s knee-jerk response was, “Collect more data!” Maria appreciated her boss’s analytical approach, but as the surveys, reports, and stats began to pile up, it was clear that the team was stuck in analysis paralysis.

At each step of the leadership journey, the preparation for successfully making the transition is critical to a positive experience certainly for the leader but also for the organization he or she leads. Transitions are not only the visible shifts from one role to another but, when well executed, leaders are prepared, reflective and are poised to be effective quickly in the new role.

Companies are hiring veterans in unprecedented numbers. But once inside organizations, veterans frequently stall and become disengaged, according to research from the Center for Talent Innovation. Among other things, veterans seek meaning and purpose at work. Employers looking to drive philanthropic missions can lean on their veterans to lead the way.

In numerous studies, diversity — both inherent (e.g., race, gender) and acquired (experience, cultural background) — is associated with business success. For example, a 2009 analysis of 506 companies found that firms with more racial or gender diversity had more sales revenue, more customers, and greater profits. A 2016 analysis of more than 20,000 firms in 91 countries found that companies with more female executives were more profitable.

At any given moment, about 5%–7% of companies either are in free fall or are about to be. Free fall is a crisis of obsolescence and decline that can happen at any point in a company’s life cycle, but most often it affects maturing incumbents whose business model has come under competitive attack from insurgents or is no longer viable in a changing market.

A friend of mine was having a hard time balancing her career at a large financial firm with her family demands. She worked at one of those all-too-typical workplaces where employees are expected to log 60 hours or so a week — a perfect illustration of what I call a “culture of overwork.”