Transcript Facing the HR Challenges of the 21st Century

Gazing into the Crystal Ball
--The 3 Big Leadership
Challenges of the 21st
Century-MCMA
Lake Ozark
April 23, 2009
Dr. Frank Benest
Palo Alto, CA
[email protected]
Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Trends Impacting Local Government
Premises
Nature of the Leadership Task
Frank’s Big 3 Leadership Challenges
Resources and Questions
Mega-Trends
1.
Select two different mega-trends that
have or will have significant impact on
local government (consider demographic, social,
economic, political, technological, and value trends)
2.
Identify the continuing or anticipated
impacts
Premises
 Local
governments face a world of
accelerating and discontinuous change
 Problems we face are complex, divisive,
and emotionally-laden
 Mega-trends dramatically impact local
governments
 People have lost confidence in all
institutions, including government
Premises
(cont)
 No
one institution, including government,
can solve any major problem
 Power is diffuse (“blocking” power)
 Local government organizations are facing
an era of “permanent fiscal crisis”
 Big challenges require more leadership,
not more management
The Nature of the Leadership
Task

Big issues of the day are leadership tasks
a. Technical work can be addressed by management
b. Adaptive work requires leadership


Leadership vs. management
People skills are more important than
technical skills
“Leaders don’t force people to follow—they invite
them on a journey.” Charles Lauer
The Importance of People Skills
ills
Sk
ills
Sk
le
op
Pe
Lower Mgmt
ills
Sk
al
nic
ch
Te
Mid Mgmt
tic
aly
An
Top Mgmt
80 percent of management failure is related to poor people skills
The Nature of the Leadership Task
(cont)
 Given
nature of challenges, learning
capacity becomes key to success
 The
primary function of leaders is growing
more leaders
 Employee
and civic engagement becomes
paramount
Continuum of Involvement






Informing
One way monologue
Telling/selling
Educating
Presenting technical
information
Discerning public
opinion
People are not
responsible for
identifying or carrying
out decision or solution






Engaging
Two-way dialogue
Listening/responding/
listening
Learning
Eliciting values, hopes,
dreams, concerns, fears
Discerning public
judgment
People are responsible
for identifying or carrying
out decision or solution
Leadership Challenge #1
Collaborating Across Boundaries
Collaborating Across
Boundaries
 Big
problems cut across boundaries,
internally and externally
 “Boundrylessness” must become strategic
goal for organization
 Organizational leaders must take
responsibility for larger issues outside their
domain and control
 Organizations need “external sensing”
capability
Collaborating Across
Boundaries (con’t)
 Collaborations
require building rapport and
relationship before problem-solving
 Organizations must commit resources to
collaborations
 Greatness in social sector has more to do
with work outside organizational
boundaries than internal operations
Leadership Challenge #2
Developing a New Story for the
Permanently Restructuring
Organization
Developing a New Story for the
Permanently Restructuring
Organization
 Recognize
the Challenge of Constant
Resizing and Restructuring
 Create
a Story to Imbue Organization with
New Spirit
What Is Our New Story?
In the next five years…
 Will
our local government shed outmoded
programs or outsource certain discretionary
services in order to better focus on core
services or competencies?
 Will we better utilize technology to promote
efficiency and civic engagement?
 Will
we eliminate non-value added process
and promote more entrepreneurial style of
solving problems?
In the next five years…

Will we sell services to other communities or
collaborate with other entities in delivering
services?

Will we better engage community partners to
solve problems?

Will the local government be able to free up
revenue to make new strategic investments?
Developing a New Story
(cont)
 Recognize
the Challenge of Constant
Resizing and Restructuring
 Create a Story to Imbue Organization with
New Spirit
 Engage People in Creating New Story
Leadership Challenge #3
Creating Talent Strategy for Your
Local Government
Demographic Crisis Facing Local
Governments in U.S.

The Numbers
 80 million Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) leaving U.S.
economy
 50 million Gen Xers (born 1965-1981) replacing them

Large talent “replacement gaps”
Age Distribution of Gov. &
Private Sector Workers – 2001
30
25
20
Gov.
Private
15
10
5
0
<25
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
City of Palo Alto
Organization Chart
City Manager’s Office
City Manager
Asst City Mgr
Asst to the CM
Asst to the CM
Administrative Asst
Dir Human Res
Director Libraries
Dir PW/Cty Eng
Fire Chief
Exec Asst to CM
Public Comm Mgr
Office Specialist
Office Specialist Reception Desk
Director, ASD
Director, CSD (#
Director Utilities
Dir Pln/Com Envn
Police Chief
City of Palo Alto
Organization Chart
Public Works Department
Administration
Director PW/Cty Engineer
Mgr, Wqc Plant
Fleet Mgr
Mgr, Envrn Comp
Depty Dir PW Ops
Sr Administrator
Asst Dir PW Eng
Mgr, Fac Maint/Prj
Admin Asst
Sr Engineer
Staff Secretary
Sr Engineer
Asst Mgr Wqc Plnt
Staff Secretary
Staff Secretary
Staff Secretary
Mgr, Maint Ops
Refuse
Project Engineer
Mgr, Lab Svc
Supv, Wqc Oper
Asst Fleet Mgr
Mgr, Env Cont Prg
Mgr, Maint Ops
Operations
Sr Engineer
Engineer
Office Specialist
Supv, Wqc Oper
Mgr, Env Cont Prg
Sr Engineer
Sr Eng Strm Drn
Supv Facil Mgt
Supv, Wqc Oper
Mgr, Solid Waste
Refuse
Project Engineer
Supv Bldg Svc
Supv Wqc Oper
Managing Arborist
Coord PW Proj
Project Mgr
Executive Asst
Office Specialist
Acct Specialist
Sr Proj Mgr
Staff Secretary
Supv Insp/Surv
City of Palo Alto’s
“Retirement Wave”
50% of Management and Professional
Employees are eligible to retire in
three years
35% say they will definitely retire
A View From The Trenches
1.
What are some indicators of a talent
challenge in your organization?
2.
What are the organizational impacts?
Organizational Impacts
 Promoted
managers or professionals not
ready
 Difficulty recruiting seasoned managers or
professionals
 Loss of productivity
 Service problems
 Loss of institutional knowledge
 Increased recruitment and training costs
 Loss of organizational capacity
Creating Talent Strategy
1.
2.
Analyze workforce and identify
vulnerabilities
Initiate succession planning to respond
to “retirement wave”
a. Identify talent and accelerate
development of aspiring managers
b. Transfer knowledge
c. Attract young people into local
government careers
Creating Talent Strategy
(con’t)
3.
4.
Identify competencies required for future,
especially in “pivotal” positions
Retool hiring practices (see “Hiring 2.0”
Guide of Best Practices)
Creating a Talent Strategy
(cont)
5.
Create learning organization
a. Provide strong rationale
b. Offer array of learning opportunities
c. Focus on “doing”
d. Provide coaching resources
e. Encourage learning plans
f. Re-conceptualize role of managers
g. Allow for mistakes
Creating a Talent Strategy
(cont)
6.
7.
“Re-recruit” employees
Align all organizational systems to
support talent strategy
Resources
Cal-ICMA Coaching Program
www.cal-icma.org/coaching
Check out “Hiring 2.0” Guide
ICMA Next Gen resources
www.icma.org/nextgen
Articles—contact Frank at [email protected]
“Creating a New Future for the Downsizing
Organization”
“Retaining and Growing Talent—Strategies for
Creating Organizational Stickiness”
Good to Great and The Social Sectors, Jim
Collins, 2005
Follow-Up Action
“As a result of this workshop, what is one
idea that I would like to incorporate into my
city management practice?”
Wrap-Up
 Questions?
 Perplexing
issues?
Thank You!
www.frankbenest.com