A+ for Apprenticeships

We need an improved talent development model to help us more effectively meet the skill needs of our dynamic and expanding digital economy. A modern apprenticeship model is the answer.

BY JESSE JACKSON

Agrowing and pervasive challenge within our post-industrial and ever-accelerating digital economy is that of better preparing the emerging workforce for the future of work — today. The importance of human capital development at every level within our enterprises has become even more critical to innovating and creating the competitive advantage required to meet our customer’s heightened expectations in a globally hyperconnected marketplace.

Customers and prospects have become much more digitally fluent than they were just one or two years ago and we see this trend continuing to accelerate. This is perhaps most visible via the continued rapid increase in e-commerce as reported by Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks both online and offline spending trends; seasonal shopping from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, 2019, was up 3.4 percent over 2018 while online sales expanded by 18.8 percent during the same period. Use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation and other emerging technologies that underlie and enable these online processes is helping consumers solve their e-commerce problems faster and more conveniently than ever before.

As companies continue to respond to dynamic and innovative marketplace forces with greater adoption of these technologies, it will require material shifts to their operating models and workforce. As a result, the talent and skills needed to win are shifting as well. According to McKinsey & Co.’s December 2017 report, “Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation,” by 2030, more than 30 percent of the United States labor market and 375 million workers globally will need to change jobs or upgrade their skills significantly to continue to advance within the workforce.

As learning and development professionals, the principal challenge of our practice is recognizing these changing talent and skill requirements within our organizations while leveraging the educational capabilities at our disposal to support them. Further, in a very direct sense, the continued commercial efficacy of our enterprises and their ability to meet customers on their terms with greater speed and efficiency, while at the same time extending American business leadership throughout the 21st century and beyond, will hinge upon our ability to capitalize on this workforce skilling challenge. As in other areas of our profession, innovating and moving beyond traditional human capital development models will be invaluable as we advance our transition as a global economic system to a knowledge- and innovation-based economy. This is where modern apprenticeships can play a big role.

A Modern Apprenticeship Model

A first step to innovating our talent development approach is to fully recognize that knowledge, courtesy of internet search engines, has become commoditized. Thanks to innovation, every child with a smart phone now has access to practically our entire store of global knowledge with increasing accuracy and speed. In this transformative period, our workforce, commercial enterprises and society as a whole could benefit from earlier talent engagement that provides a more blended and coordinated work/study process in the context of developing required skill sets effectively and efficiently. Also, we must acknowledge that our ability to further prepare the workforce at scale for these economic megatrends is essential to the continued vibrancy and growth of economic output while at the same time increasing standards of living and distributing them more evenly across our nation.

A more rapid and expanded adoption of a modernized apprenticeship framework that provides this blended and coordinated learning approach could help address these talent needs while preparing young adults for the future of work. It is also a solution that incorporates traditional scholastic education with an experiential real-work focus, helping build commercially oriented skills, experiences and credentials. A key objective of the apprenticeship approach is to connect more young and diverse students to our knowledge- and innovation-based economy in a manner that not only provides the skills needed for long-term success but also serves as a process to launch this talent into a career pathway that enables them to optimize their skills in the context of ever-emerging new technologies and career opportunities. The modern apprenticeship program model is focused on in-demand jobs and provides both on-thejob training and classroom instruction. This dual process allows apprentices to earn wages while learning commercial skills. Learning From Zurich

Here to Here, a New York-based nonprofit that links employers, educators and diverse community stakeholders to enhance career pathways for young adults, is one organization that recognizes the value in modern apprenticeships. CEO Abby Jo Sigal recently led a contingent of major employers and educators on a visit to Zurich, Switzerland, in an effort to review the Swiss vocational education and training process. This engagement provided an in-depth review of the system, which integrates workplace experiential learning with academic education via cross-sector collaboration between the Swiss business community and educational complex. A key outcome of this cross-sector cooperation is the earlier engagement of Swiss young adults in the labor force, with a focus on helping them obtain the skills and experiences that prepare them for the future of work.

In contrast, in the United States — with 85 percent of students nationally graduating from high school, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report, and 30 percent going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in four years, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Education statistics by college expert and journalist Lynn O’Shaughnessy — we have accumulated $1.6 trillion in student debt. Despite these statistics, the U.S. Department of Labor reported in January 2019 that 6 million jobs go unfilled due to the mismatch of the skills needed in the labor market.

Incorporating many of the lessons learned from the Swiss vocational education and training process, Here to Here launched a new apprenticeship program in 2019 with 85 apprentices. In a June 2019 Crain’sNew York Business article, Sigal indicated, “We’re using these apprenticeships to really align employers and educators around the goal of making sure that, by the time a young person is 25, they have found or [are] on the path to a family-sustaining career. That’s something we are not currently doing well, particularly for students of color or students growing up in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx or East New York.” Times They Are a Changin’

We collectively understand that education matters, so much so that our compulsory requirement of mandating a high school public education in the United States began in the early 1920s, according to the 2008 Digest of Education Statistics. The focus during this period was providing a rapidly expanding American population with an increased investment in the human capital skills needed to address the labor requirements of the then-emerging industrial age.

The 1920s was a decade when the American economy experienced significant economic growth. The mass production of new consumer goods created an increased demand for a more highly skilled workforce. This economic expansion was exemplified by the birth of the modern auto and airline industries that in part created this demand for higher-skilled talent. As a result, between 1920 and 1940 the “high school movement” enabled increased high school enrollment rates and graduation numbers, which helped fulfill the workforce needs of this industrial expansion. Our compulsory requirement of mandating a high school education began in the early 1920s.

Notwithstanding this progress, it is difficult to argue that in our current post-industrial global economic system, a high school educational attainment level alone is sufficient to position our workforce or our society for the long-term competitive advantage required to maintain our global leadership position. However, we also understand that a four-year college degree may not comport with the aspirations of all students. The modern apprenticeship program provides more flexibility for students, options that provide participants with targeted in-demand skills beyond a high school degree together with job training and employment. Additionally, these experiences are both “braided” with school and work. Plus, they are permeable — should students desire to change career specializations or accelerate their progress toward associate, bachelor or post-graduate degrees, the modern apprenticeship program supports these various career pathing trajectories.

There are 30 million living wage roles — these are roles defined as having median earnings of $55,000 annually in the United States that pay at this level without a bachelor’s degree, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Notwithstanding, bachelor’s degree earners currently occupy 55 percent of all of these living wage positions. Further, traditionally most employees with these living wage roles without a bachelor’s degree have worked in manufacturing, but in the context of our post-industrial age of work, these job types are declining.

At the same time, we are seeing the number of living wage roles in skilled-services industries, like health services and financial services, increasing. Also, for workers without a bachelor’s degree, associate degrees have become increasingly important, and these degree holders are getting an expanded share of the living wage positions while the number held by workers with a high school diploma only continues to decline. With the proliferation and acceleration of digital fluency skills required, the nature of all jobs will continue to change. Even now some three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require education or training beyond a high school diploma. What will help continue to fuel future economic output for society, commercial enterprises and individuals is no longer simply knowing more than other people or other organizations but being able to apply knowledge in an effective and innovative manner. A more rapid and expanded adoption of this modern apprenticeship framework would create this clear and distinct competitive differentiation to extend our leadership in workforce innovation and global commerce.

Legislation is Creating Opportunities When the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act went into effect July 1, 2019, new opportunities were created to improve career and technical education, or CTE, programs, also referred to as vocational programs. Passage of the act signaled strong support for CTE programs by a bipartisan congress, bringing together key stakeholders from the U.S. Department of Education, the business sectors, educators, parents and other community members to set the foundation for helping students position themselves more effectively for the future of work. The act acknowledges that students at all levels of education could benefit from greater innovation and cross-sector engagement while securing greater linkage with workforce development and career pathways.

The nature of all jobs will continue to change.

The bill reauthorizes through 2024 and is focused on ensuring all students can benefit from high-quality CTE programs to help better prepare them for highskill, high-wage employment. The legislation created new opportunities to improve CTE programs, enabling the states to have greater flexibility to meet the unique needs of their students, educators and employers. Provisions in the act allow school districts to use federal funds to provide all students, not just those enrolled in CTE programs, expanded access to career exploration and skill development activities in the middle grades and more comprehensive academic counseling in high school.

A Critical Crossroads

We stand at a critical inflection point with respect to the need for an improved talent development model to help us more effectively meet the skill needs of our dynamic and expanding digital economy. It is a challenge that will require the collective leadership of business, government, higher education and, of course, our students. It is a challenge that will be solutioned by this increased cross-sector collaboration together with further reconfiguration of our talent development processes. It means being open to adopting the changes that a modernized apprenticeship program can deliver in the context of existing national CTE processes.

Most important, it means advancing this studentcentric approach in a manner that is fit for purpose for the massive technological advances and resulting business operating model changes that await us — changes that will provide a more dynamic ability to deliver the commercial skills required for the workforce of this post-industrial age. CLO

Building Leaders Through Book Club

BY SARAH FISTER GALE

In 2016 Kim Becker, talent manager for MBX Systems in Libertyville, Illinois, had a company manager come to her asking for help. “He was struggling with the culture fit and trying to make a lot of changes fast, but it wasn’t working,” she said. She suggested he read a business book she’d recently come across called “The First 90 Days” by Michael D. Watkins. The book explores challenges that leaders face in times of transition and offers strategies to manage the most common pitfalls that new leaders encounter.

The book had such a profound impact on that manager that he gave it to every member of his team, and soon leaders from across the $100 million supply chain hardware company were requesting the book and asking Becker about it.

With interest so high, she decided to pilot a book club for managers to see if reading the book and talking about it together would help them in their

MBX Systems employees attend a book club meeting. Due to its success, the program has become a permanent fixture of the company’s onboarding program.

leadership journey. The pilot program was instantly popular, and one participant suggested that all new and transitioning employees should get to join in.

Soon after, MBX Book Club became a permanent fixture of the company’s onboarding program. “It has

SNAPSHOT Niche technology company MBX Systems uses its book club to engage new employees and build leadership skills they will use for their entire career.

become a great way to help new employees get acclimated to the company and for us to show them that we care about their development,” Becker said.

Third Time’s a Charm

When a new employee is hired or approved for a promotion, they receive a letter in the mail with a copy of “The First 90 Days” and a description of the book club. “It really made me feel like I made the right choice in joining MBX,” said Lisa Griesser, an account coordinator who was hired in September 2019.

The book club is held once a month and includes employees at every level of the company, from frontline workers to senior executives. The company’s president also attends every book club meeting and openly participates and answers questions.

Each new employee is expected to attend three months in a row and is assigned a different section to discuss for each meeting. The first month they are assigned the introduction through chapter 3; in month two they read chapters 4-7; and in month three they read chapters 8-10.

Because it’s a rolling event, there are always several people ready to discuss each of the three sections. This format also ensures the conversations and connections participants make at each meeting are always different. “A lot of the meat of book club is the perspectives you get from others,” Becker said.

Griesser admits that she was a little overprepared for her first book club. “I brought pages of notes,” she said. She wanted to put her best foot forward, especially in a room full of company managers and the president of the company. But she didn’t need to worry. “It is a very relaxed atmosphere and all of the leaders were so welcoming,” she said. “I didn’t feel intimidated at all.”

To ease new members into the process, Becker starts each meeting with the final chapters that have been assigned to “graduates” who’ve already been to two other meetings. “It eases the trepidation for those who are new to the group and gives them a chance to think about what they will say,” Becker said. Then she moves to the group who read the middle chapters and, finally, the newbies.

Lunch and Learn

None of the discussion that takes place during MBX Book Club is meant to be like a book report or summary. Rather, it is meant to foster casual conversations where groups of employees have a chance to connect over the book, their own experiences and a catered lunch. As the meeting goes on, employees see that it’s OK to push back on ideas and to ask questions. “No one should be afraid to talk,” Becker said.

During the discussions, she encourages employees to share what they found useful in the book and how it relates to their own experiences. For example, Chris Morales, MBX support services coordinator, said he got the most value from the section on making connections and building relationships with leaders in other departments. “I’m in a support role so I deal with everyone in the company,” Morales said. “I’ve found it extremely valuable to be able to identify allies in different departments who I can turn to when situations arise.”

For Griesser, who is returning to work after taking several years off to raise her children, the chapters on the importance of learning the company politics and culture and acknowledging early wins resonated with her. “I’m a person who wants to know everything right away. So I had to wrap my head around celebrating small victories and taking the time to know everyone’s goals,” she said.

The Power of Conversation

Lessons from the book make up only part of the goal of the book club. It’s also an opportunity for new and existing employees to expand their networks and build new relationships with people they might not otherwise get to know.

“It was great to get to hear how each department runs,” said Olivia Stepp, global logistics manager, who was hired in February 2019. Over the three meetings she met several people from across the company, including Morales, who she’s been able to turn to for help and troubleshooting in her own job. “It made it a lot easier to go to him because I knew he had the right experience to help me, and we had already met,” she said. “I don’t think I could have built those kinds of relationships as quickly as I did without the book club.” Morales has been through book club three times — when he was hired, and after two promotions — and each time it has added value, he said. “It’s helped me paint a clear picture of how to get where I want to go in my career.” As he’s taken on more leadership accountability, the book has become more relevant, teaching him how to guide others and to develop the confidence to lead.

“The power is in the conversations.” — Kim Becker, talent manager, MBX Systems

It may sound like a lot of time dedicated to one book, but it’s had a big impact, Becker said. “It shows people that we value them and also that we will hold them accountable.” While employees miss the occasional book club due to a work conflict, no one is allowed to wiggle out. “It’s part of our new hire experience,” she said.

Becker hasn’t quantified the impact of book club, though she surveys participants after their third session and they consistently say it adds value. Many of them cite the opportunity to meet new people in a casual setting as one of the biggest benefits.

She also notices the book is everywhere in the company. “Everyone has it on their desk, and we encourage people to talk about what they learned,” she said. “It’s a nice icebreaker.”

The anecdotal evidence is enough to convince Becker and the leadership team that the book club is helping the company engage new employees and set them on the path to success. “We are in a tight labor market, and as a niche organization communicating our culture is very important,” she said. “It is one more thing we can do to make people feel welcomed.” Becker believes this model could work for many companies — using “The First 90 Days” or any other book that resonates with leaders and employees as they map their careers. “My advice is to just get started,” she said. “Pilot it with managers, encourage everyone to be open-minded, and if something doesn’t work, tweak it.” The key is to create a space where everyone can contribute, then get out of the way. “The power is in the conversations.” CLO

Buzzwords and Competencies

Data and analytics and lack of data integration are two critical technology gaps CLOs are looking to tackle.

BY ASHLEY ST. JOHN

There are so many technology buzzwords floating around these days that I recently felt compelled to do a Google search on some of the most popular from 2019 and forecasted for 2020. A bunch of familiar ones jumped out: Artificial intelligence. Big data. Machine learning. Data mining. Actionable analytics. The internet of things. Hyperautomation.

I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of that last one, which led to another Google search. According to datapine.com, “Hyperautomation is an innovation that results in the creation of a ‘digital twin’: a self-sufficient bot that can conduct a range of sophisticated human tasks, often under pressured environments.” And it’s supposed to be a hot topic this year.

Yikes. But the point is that our digital landscape (another great buzzword) is constantly changing, and it’s a lot to keep up with. This is certainly true in learning and development. According to a 2019 survey of current and aspiring CLOs, increased use of technology is the top thing changing in the role of a CLO (Figure 1).

Results from the survey, which was conducted by the research and advisory arm of Chief Learning Officer magazine, were compiled as a benchmarking report, “The Role of CLO: What’s Next?” Not surprisingly, it seems that technology will continue to play a big part in that role. Of those surveyed, 92 percent said their role will require them to increase their technical competencies related to technology in the future. Specifically, those competencies most cited include how to apply emerging technologies to organizational learning, learning analytics software and understanding data integration (Figure 2).

Data and analytics appear to be a particularly important focus. The survey showed data and analytics and lack of data integration as the top two critical technology gaps among CLOs (Figure 3). And when asked about the overall most important future competencies needed for CLOs, 41 percent of respondents identified measurement and analytics as the most critical, second only to strategic management at 47 percent (Figure 4). For reference, in 2018 the top future competency cited was influence. Working with metrics and ROI is also the aspect of the role CLOs said they feel the least prepared for: 28 percent indicated this to be the case, far exceeding the second-most cited aspect, obtaining budget, at 18 percent (Figure 5). Using learning technology came in third, with 17 percent of respondents saying they feel unprepared.

Tackling these technology gaps may seem daunting. But learning leaders know the value of lifelong learning. Whether it’s attending a data analytics boot camp, getting certified in data integration, attending webinars or reaching out to your extended network for advice, there are a variety of ways to grow these competencies in 2020. CLO Ashley St. John is Chief Learning Officer’s managing editor. Increased use of technology is the top thing changing in the role of a CLO.

FIGURE 1: HOW IS THE ROLE OF CLO CHANGING?

72%

57%

47% 45%

27%

Increased use of technology Curating versus creating content Tasked with modernizing legacy processes

FIGURE 2: TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES CLOs WANT TO IMPROVE

Expanded audiences

65%

60%

53% Outsourcing content

49% 13%

Other

41%

Applying emerging technologies to learning Learning analytics software Understanding data integration

FIGURE 3: CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY GAPS AMONG CLOs

28%

23% Applying social technologies to organizational learning Applying mobile technologies to learning delivery

18%

15%

Data/analytics Lack of data integration Outdated technologyNo LMS

FIGURE 4: FUTURE COMPETENCIES NEEDED FOR CLO DEVELOPMENT

47%

41%

36% 34% 32%

23% 21%

Strategic management Influence/partnering Measurement/analytics Executive leadership Executive presenceBusiness acumen Learning methods and concepts

FIGURE 5: ASPECT OF THEIR ROLE CLOs FEEL LEAST PREPARED FOR

28%

18% 17%

8% 8%

and see how they work. Then they come back to this safe community to share their lessons from the road, learn more new concepts and take their learnings back to their workplace again.

Leaders need to be able to apply their learnings on a personal level, then use the skills to work with others to influence organizational results. This design is based on four steps that build upon one another. The first step is knowledge of self. It’s very hard for managers to influence other people if they don’t understand themselves. This includes an awareness of how they are perceived by others and how they respond to pressure. It also includes identifying what is and what is not important to them. Understanding themselves and their patterns enables managers to see how others are different from them, which creates a natural interest and empathy for people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The next step is building relationships. In order to create the right energy to lead people and help them reach goals, a foundation of trust and positive regard must exist between managers and direct reports. This involves interpersonal communication and coaching techniques that result in better conversations. When a direct report sees their manager as trustworthy and compassionate, it creates a safe place for them to honestly address their issues and obstacles. A big part of being a manager is understanding how to build these types of relationships. The third step is producing results. This is when the manager leverages what they’ve learned about themselves and leading others so they can identify and set goals for their team, department or business unit. This is where strategic and operational leadership come together around topics like innovation and leading change.

The fourth step is charting careers — addressing people’s needs so that they know how to succeed in their present job as well as how to prepare themselves for promotion. In this component, managers learn not only how to have a career conversation with a direct report but also how to provide that person with tools and resources to use in mapping out their career.

There is no doubt that organizations rely on strong leadership to remain robust, innovative and competitive. However, they must be committed to investing the time, staff and money to ensure they are giving leaders all the tools they need to be successful. The payoff is significant: financial success, competitive advantage, talent retention and a motivating work environment where people can thrive. CLO

Scott Blanchard is principal and executive vice president of client solutions for The Ken Blanchard Cos.

and pick from the best and brightest, you can steer them into your more standard existing leadership and executive development programs. Some candidates may ascend to the top rungs of leadership while others might peak at lower levels. In either case, you will have a much larger pool of new leaders in your organization.

Before leaving this topic, there is an elephant in the room that we need to address — specifically that some may worry that sourcing future leaders from employee networks will lead to ignoring more traditionally qualified candidates. This concern is unwarranted. First, ERGs span nearly every demographic. In addition to those focused on race, gender and ethnicity, some center around other factors, including military status, age, faith and sexual orientation/preferences/identity. Furthermore, in most organizations, these groups welcome allies, partners and other participants who do not share the social identity on which the group is focused. For example, a straight white male can be an ally of an LGBT, female or African American ERG. So based on its structure, this pool is quite inclusive. Finally, as Morris noted, “Who says you have to ignore others to provide an opportunity to ERG/BRG leaders and members?” You can still pick up diamonds lying closer to the surface in your smaller pool of SMEs and high-level individual contributors while digging deeper into your organization via employee networks to expand your candidate pool.

Dig Deep

Diamonds in the rough may be found on the ground’s surface due to volcanic activity. However, these easily found gems are nothing compared to the quadrillion tons of rough diamonds deep below the earth’s surface. Of course, getting to those buried treasures requires additional machinery and may involve a slightly different process of polishing before they can be turned into jewelry.

Likewise, it may be easier to spot people who you think might make good leaders from that small group of top performers operating in typical source pools within your organization, but further down in your company there is likely to be a mother lode of hidden potential. Reaching your rough diamonds buried deep below the workforce surface and preparing them may require some new machinery and effort, but the results can be bountiful. If you find that your pool of future leadership talent is inadequately constrained, my advice is to leverage your ERGs and dig deeper into your workforce for your hidden treasures. CLO

Joseph Santana is CEO of Joseph Santana LLC, which serves the diversity, inclusion and belonging community.

• Identify patterns of bias in my behaviors and in others. • Be aware of micro-inequities and negative micromessaging. • Challenge my first thoughts and be mindful of when I feel stressed and hurried. • Challenge what kind of opportunities exist for females to rise to the director level. • Rotate persons into leadership roles. • Look at teams: Rank their level of diversity; call it out and develop within those that have low diversity. • Review job announcements and specifications and redo them if necessary. • For our recruiting processes: nameless résumés, recruit in more diverse colleges, more mentoring, teach unconscious bias awareness to my team, increase diversity of recruitment team. • Move toward more of a sponsorship than a mentorship model for those women who can be promoted. • Consciously interact with more people not in my image or likeness. In addition to individual action plans, when training leaders of an organization, an organizational action planning process should be simultaneously introduced and conducted. This process has resulted in many measurable organizational outcomes, including larger pools of diverse qualified candidates through innovative outreach initiatives; increased creativity and innovation across various departments; lower turnover rates and longer retention rates; greater equity in salaries for women and other underrepresented groups; higher engagement scores noted internally and externally via social media; and more.

Additional outcomes we’ve seen come out of this process include increased memberships in employee resource groups, the creation of an international employee ERG and greater contributions of ERGs to the bottom line. Additionally, there’s been involvement of allies in ERGs, with managers and leaders committing to attend ERG groups different from their own backgrounds.

Companies have also seen increased profits in various sectors serving diverse populations in product sales and services, along with the creation of formal coaching and sponsorship programs with outreach to all. Designated phone lines where comments can be confidentially left about a particular policy or occurrence have been another result.

All of these metrics are directly related to the company’s competitiveness. Creating and sustaining actions, policies and mindsets that affect the above noted tangibles is an achievable goal.

Change Starts Now

Unconscious bias is insidious and ubiquitous. It demoralizes, inhibits and impacts people’s sense of belonging.

Well-intentioned organizations that attempt to change employees’ biases and behaviors with a poorly designed and delivered program, aiming to change organizational processes that have been ingrained in their culture over time, will be doing more harm than good. They will lose some of their best talent to their more inclusive competitors, who will benefit from the creativity, innovation and profitability that is the hallmark of diversity and the result of impactful and sustainable training and organizational transformation. CLO

Neal Goodman is the founder and president of Global Dynamics Inc., a diversity and cross-cultural consulting and training organization. ADVERTISING SALES

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Beyond Engagement: Sustainable Inspiration

Strive for inspiration • BY JEN GRACE BARON, ALLISON HOLZER AND SANDY SPATARO

Jen Grace Baron, Allison Holzer and Sandy Spataro are co-CEOs and co-founders of InspireCorps. They co-authored “Dare to Inspire: Sustain the Fire of Inspiration in Work and Life.”

Employee engagement has been the brass ring of leadership efforts for decades, and with good reason: High-engagement organizations report greater retention, safer workplaces and higher productivity. And yet engagement remains elusive — while it is at a 20-year high, still only 34 percent of employees report feeling engaged.

Employees today, led by millennials, report that meaning in their work is more important than ever before. A recent SHRM study, “The Millennial Impact Report,” found that 94 percent of employees want to use their skills and abilities to benefit a cause. They want and demand to use their strengths, to find their calling and to make a difference beyond themselves. Given that employees spend an average of 90,000 hours at work over the course of their careers, it is understandable that people are requiring more than engagement in their work; instead, inspiration is the key to meeting these desires and reaching extraordinary results.

Leaders already know that inspiration is the new resource to cultivate. In an IBM study, “Leading Through Connections,” 60 percent of CEOs reported the single item they found most critical to their organization’s success was inspirational leadership. Inspired employees perform better, are more strategic and visionary, build more collaborative relationships, and are more determined and persevering. Perhaps most important, they are more agile in responding to ever-present market, industry and organizational dynamics that require leading change and growth. By identifying with the company and why it is important, inspired employees take ownership of driving the organization’s growth and success. Traditionally, engagement is considered the employer’s responsibility. Inspiration differentiates itself in an important way by being a two-way street. On the employer side, the best companies cultivate inspiration as a resource through inspiring environments and leaders and by holding their employees accountable for being inspired by their work. This accountability includes employees bringing their whole selves to work — from their distinctive strengths to their personal values, aspirations and their own search for meaning. Employees drive their own inspiration by crafting and shaping their work and career, helping them realize their calling while driving success and growth toward a cause they believe in, resulting in success for the organization in tandem. The best companies build a corps of inspiring leaders who walk the talk of being inspired in their work

and leading successful projects and teams through inspiration. This is beyond what people currently think of as engagement. It is a co-active model where work not just satisfies or motivates or even engages, but rather compels passion, innovation and commitment in the most rewarding ways. This is inspiration. Inspiration differentiates itself by being a two-way street.

The building blocks of inspiration are leaders, teams and cultures. Begin with what lights you up. Notice patterns in what inspires you and start to reactivate the most enlivened behaviors deliberately. Turn to your team to see where they are most inspired. What takes the team to the next level; when are they performing at their best and what makes this possible? Then, zoom out even further and look for where your organization currently is truly inspired. Who are the leaders inspiring those around them? What are the teams that are exceeding expectations? What are the parts of your culture that you know are driving the best results?

Next, activate a companywide inspiration strategy. The key to sustaining inspiration once it is sparked is to build a practice around it, to build it into the organization’s culture. It’s helpful that inspiration is contagious — once it takes hold among some individuals in the organization, momentum will build naturally. An inspiration strategy includes alignment to systems, structures and operations that activate and sustain inspiration further. For example, one of our clients implemented companywide meeting effectiveness guidelines that include celebrating progress and wins in every meeting while also formulating plans to address obstacles and challenges.

Finally, strategize for the future. Organizationwide inspiration requires a strategic perspective and approach. Turning to inspiration aligns individuals within the organization to see new possibilities in their work and gives them greater courage and confidence to go after them. Don’t settle for engagement — strive for inspiration. The return in next-level results will be extraordinary. CLO

INVEST IN SUCCESS with Kellogg.

According to CLO’s most recent State of the Industry Survey, over 50% of respondents said their top goals for leadership development are growing their succession pipeline and retaining high-potential employees. In today’s highly competitive employment market, Kellogg Executive Education is your best leadership development partner to help meet these goals.

We o‚ er more than 45 programs designed to help your highpotential people prepare for leadership roles throughout your organization.

To discuss your fi rm’s leadership development options, contact an Executive Development Advisor today at 847.467.6018 or ExecEd@kellogg.northwestern.edu

Download a Program Brochure at kell.gg/kxclo

YOU’VE GOT TALENT Bring out the best in it.

Meet Mike Small, CEO – Americas at Sitel Group, one of the world’s leading outsourcing providers of customer experience management. Mike is responsible for all functional aspects of the North America and Nearshore (Latin America) organizations, including HR, Workforce Management, Operations, Finance, Project Management and more.

“At Sitel Group, we are committed to living our values – Be Bold, Work Together, Build Trust and Wow Customers – and to growing talent from within…We give our people the autonomy to stretch, learn and grow, encouraging them to find their voice at every level.

By partnering with DeVry University, we enable our people and their families to continue their education. This opportunity helps us to continue building an environment where our talent can truly soar.”

We’re proud that our partnership has helped Mike lead the way for people to bring their best and rise to new heights within the organization.

THANK YOU, MIKE. SITEL HAS TALENT, AND YOU SHOW US HOW TO HELP A WORKFORCE SPREAD ITS WINGS!

In New York, DeVry University operates as DeVry College of New York. DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. DeVry is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Arlington Campus: 2450 Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202. DeVry University is authorized for operation as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, www.tn.gov/thec. Nashville Campus: 3343 Perimeter Hill Dr., Nashville, TN 37211. Unresolved complaints may be reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education through the online complaint system http://complaints.ibhe.org/ or by mail to 1 N. Old State Capitol Plaza, Ste. 333, Springfield, IL 62701-1377. Program, course and extended classroom availability vary by location. In site-based programs, students will be required to take a substantial amount of coursework online to complete their program. ©2020 DeVry Educational Development Corp. All rights reserved. 1/20

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