News, Advice & Insight About
Executive & Organizational
Development From WJM Associates, Inc.
July-August 2006 - Vol. 5 Issue 4
Welcome to
WJManagement
Advisor, a bi-monthly newsletter about executive
and organizational development from WJM Associates,
Inc., a leading human resources management consulting
firm. Delivered via e-mail and archived on our Web site
www.wjmassoc.com, WJManagement Advisor
presents issues and trends affecting the successful
development of organizational leadership as well as
strategies for executive career growth.
We hope you
find WJManagement
Advisor useful and welcome your comments. Send
comments to our editor Tim Morin attmorin@wjmassoc.com.
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How to
Survive a Merger
By Carolyn
Ott
According to The Wall Street
Journal, 2006 is on pace to be the most-active
merger and acquisition year in history, with the value
of completed deals projected to reach $3.5 trillion by
year-end. Of course, this huge figure doesn't
account for the human cost associated with corporate
matrimony, which can often represent wrenching change
for the affected employees. I have done significant
work with clients on mergers, specifically with a
smaller organization that is "joining" a larger
one. The following are "survival tips" for
executives at the merging companies as they go through
the process.
Be
Prepared to Adapt Recognize that the larger
company is buying expertise and market penetration and
while they value this they do not necessarily value the
way you accomplished this, meaning be prepared to adapt
to their culture, style, and processes of getting work
done. Adapting to a new culture does not mean you
need to abandon life as you know it, it does mean you
should be open to how they do things, share ideas for
alternatives, and be clear on the compromise or
outcome. While most merging organizations talk of
"creating a future with the best of both companies" in
actuality the processes of the larger company are not
likely to be totally abandoned or adapted.
Advice to employees of smaller organizations:
take every opportunity to learn about your new business
partners. Ask about how they are organized, listen
to responses and find commonalities where you
can. For leaders I recommend they role model an
open-minded approach that demonstrates pride in what
they have accomplished as well as a willingness to be
open minded about new processes. The key here is to
not encourage "us and them talk" but to move to "how we
will do it together in the future".
Learn to Speak the Language
It is critical to note that even if we are
speaking the same language we do not always mean the
same thing. "Delivering the highest quality
service", "caring for our environment", or "trusting in
our people to act for the customer" can mean very
different things in terms of actual behaviors. The
key here is to be clear about what you mean and ask
others to do the same. Asking "what would success
look like", or "what behaviors are people demonstrating
when they are successful in these areas" gets you to a
better understanding of intent. All too frequently
people want to find the commonalities in cultures and
jump to conclusions of understanding, for example I was
working with a leadership team recently and of the 5
people around the table "immediately responding to
requests from your peers" meant anything from 15 minutes
to 2 days. Those that thought immediate meant now
were insulted and frustrated by others that thought a
day or two was soon enough. For leaders, I recommend
role modeling a questioning approach that gets beneath
the surface understanding to provide real clarity of
understanding and to be clear that questioning for
understanding is not challenging or confrontational.
Be Ready to
Contribute Know your personal value and the
impact you have on the business. Anxiety is part of
any transition and we need all of our self-confidence to
move gracefully through changing work
conditions. Take stock of your strong points then
look for opportunities to showcase what you can
do. Offer to assist in transition teams or other
opportunities to be visible and demonstrate how you can
collaborate with new colleagues. Behave as though
you expect to be part of the new combined company and
are looking forward to the future opportunities this
merger may present. For leaders, I recommend
encouraging each employee to prepare a career profile
that outlines major contributions, skills and impact on
the business, as well as future goals and career
aspirations. This will help each person be more
grounded in their personal confidence and gives leaders
a deeper insight as staffing decisions are made.
Communicate! Communicate
more often than you think you need to. Ask
questions, share insights and keep positive about the
future. For leaders it is critical that they share
updates on a routine basis even if there is no new
information or a deadline is not going to be
met. Set expectations for how often communications
will occur and keep your promise. Have an open door
policy and encourage your staff to come in with
questions or concerns.
Carolyn Ott is a member of
WJM Associates' executive coaching and organizational
effectiveness
faculty.
Maximizing
the Value of Coaching
By M.J.
Blocker
Many organizations today believe in
the value of employee and leadership development and
demonstrate that belief by utilizing professional
coaches. However, there are situations where even a
professional coaching process can fall short of
expectations and fail to bring value to an individual or
organization. This can be the result of an
ineffective coaching model or shortcomings on the part
of the coach, the client, or the client's
organization.
Ineffective Coaching
Models Increased interest in coaching
today has created opportunities for coaches with a
variety of backgrounds and
experience. Unfortunately, the result can sometimes
be a commoditized approach to coaching by organizations
that utilize coaches with little organizational
experience or expertise because the price is right.
There are two ways that
organizations often cut coaching costs-and achieve a
less-than-desirable result. The first is when they
utilize inexpensive-and inexperienced-coaches to work
with high potential clients or clients at lower levels
of the organization. The thinking is that clients
with more experience should have more experienced
coaches and that middle managers or employees with less
experience can "get by" with less coaching
expertise. In truth, inexperienced clients
typically have greater needs than seasoned managers and
consequently require a coach with significant
organizational experience and highly developed coaching
skills.
The second way that organizations
minimize the value proposition of coaching is by
utilizing an option that has been created by today's
technology: distance coaching or phone
coaching. Although coaching can be delivered
efficiently and effectively in today's virtual
environments, initial meetings with the client are most
valuable when they are conducted
face-to-face. Why? First, because coaching
requires a high level of trust between client and coach,
and it is difficult to build trust in early stages of
the process in a virtual setting. And second,
successful coaching is predicated on the coach's ability
to read a client's non-verbal communication, especially
during early stages of the coaching
relationship.
Yet coaching can fail even when
organizations fully commit appropriate resources to the
process and hire skilled and experienced
coaches. Let's see how that can happen.
Coaching
Failure Paramount to a successful coaching
assignment is a skilled and experienced coach who
operates on the basis of integrity and
objectivity. If a coach is not able to separate
emotion (his/her own emotion or the client's emotion)
from fact, the value of coaching can be
compromised. This is not to say that coaches
shouldn't help clients leverage positive emotions and
work through negative ones. However, effective
coaching needs to be fact-based-and facts need to be
objectively interpreted by the coach and client.
Coaches diminish the value of the
coaching process when they attempt to impose their own
values onto clients (or onto client
organizations). For this reason, it is critically
important for a coach to deliver services within the
context of the client organization's unique
culture. To do this, coaches must be able to read
the organization's culture and help the client do so as
well. Anything less can result in a superficial
approach or failure to see that a client's behavior and
performance may not be matching up to organizational
norms and expectations.
So far,
we've described how coaches can fail clients, but let's
also look at how clients and client organizations can
negatively impact coaching outcomes as well.
Client
Failure Clients most often fail in the
coaching process when there are competing issues,
priorities, or outside forces that take them off
track. The coaching process can also fail if these
issues require professional psychological assistance
that goes beyond the scope of coaching. However,
there are two other common causes of client failure that
bear mentioning: (a) little receptivity or
commitment on the part of the client and (b) a lack of
integrity (i.e., not honoring commitments or failure to
work on agreed-upon action/development
plans). Bottom line: Coaches can help clients
change, but clients have to bring commitment and
dedication to the process.
Organizational
Failure Organizations too can negatively
impact coaching outcomes. If a client's manager
doesn't provide an environment that is conducive to
development and change, it is unlikely that the client
will attempt it-despite good intentions. Also, if a
manager doesn't recognize change or provide positive
feedback, a client may become demotivated.
Additionally, if organizational reward systems
fail to recognize or reinforce new or improved
behaviors, clients may go in search of a more supportive
environment in other parts of the organization or
outside of the organization. For change to be
sustained, reinforcement needs to occur on two
levels: tangible (compensation and rewards) and
intangible (positive feedback).
In
concluding, coaching has the potential to be a
high-value proposition for both individuals and
organizations. As is the case with any process,
however, certain elements need to be in place. We
have seen how the coaching process requires a delicate
interplay between the coach, client, and client
organization. When any one of these elements fails
to support the coaching process, the entire system is
affected.
Although coaches need to bring a
certain degree of knowledge and skill, organizations
need to ensure commitment on the part of the client and
the people he/she interacts with-particularly the
manager. The coaching process is, in many respects,
similar to a team development process: Although the
team needs to possess certain skills and abilities, team
development can only be enhanced when all parties work
together, to achieve a common goal.
Marilyn Blocker is a member
of WJM Associates' executive coaching and organizational
effectiveness faculty. Drawing upon over 20 years
of experience with leading Fortune 500 and healthcare
organizations, she specializes in coaching, succession
planning, and large-scale organizational
change. Marilyn has coached over 200 clients who
range from high-potential employees to C-level
executives.
Two Additions to
WJM Team
We are very pleased to announce the
addition of two very talented and experienced
customer relationship managers to
WJM.
Marilyn
Kaufman comes to WJM with an extensive
background in assisting corporations to find
solutions to their talent management issues.
Most recently, Marilyn was Vice President Client
Relations with Right Management Consultants, a
global provider of human resource
consulting. In this position she partnered
with clients across a broad range of Industries
and functions. Previously, Marilyn managed
the Connecticut division of The Five O'Clock Club,
a career transition company. Marilyn has
held positions in human resources with Kraft and
with General Cologne Reinsurance. In
addition to working for and with Fortune 1000
companies, she co-founded a promotional marketing
company that gained a national reputation. Marilyn
holds a Bachelors Degree from Cornell in Human
Development and a Masters Degree from Cornell in
Counseling.
Randall Thames
comes to WJM with 18 years experience as a client
partner who has collaborated with hundreds of
corporations in the Washington DC/Philadelphia
region on performance management, organizational
development and other human capital
challenges.He brings his
extensive experience and broad knowledge of Human
Performance to WJM Associates.Prior to joining WJM, Randall served as
Senior Account Executive for DBM, Inc., the
international strategic human resources services
company. Before DBM he spent several years
in the executive search and employment outsourcing
business and has held sales positions at U.S.
Surgical, Johnson & Johnson and 3M
Corporation. Randall has a BA in Psychology
and Communications from the University of
Pittsburgh. He also holds several
strategic sales certifications and is a licensed
Minister.
We are confident that
Marilyn and Randall will deliver great value as
they collaborate with WJM's customers on all
issues related to organizational and executive
effectiveness.
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About WJM
Associates
Headquartered in New York
City, WJM Associates is a recognized leader in the
fields of executive and organizational development. WJM
has a Faculty of over 100 experienced executive coaches
and consultants delivering coaching, assessment and
other organizational effectiveness services throughout
the world. To learn how we can help you, visit www.wjmassoc.com, contact one of our
Account Directors toll free at 1-877-667-4647 or e- mail
us at tmorin@wjmassoc.com.
