Executive Outlook: What is ‘Executive Outplacement’ and Why Do You Need It?

It’s hard to believe that we are fast approaching the final quarter of 2021. As the ‘Out of Office’ replies dissipate and the summer lull picks up pace, expect to see more than just a busier workload and fewer team members on annual leave as autumn beckons.

Many organisations have been discussing the introduction of plans for new, hybrid working models for months now, but many have not truly put them into practice yet. With the entire UK adult population on track to be offered both vaccinations by the end of September, it is likely that people will begin to feel more comfortable returning to the office.

The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been gradually winding down for months now but is currently scheduled to finish on 30 September. The furlough scheme helped businesses keep their staff on payroll during the challenging 18 months of the pandemic, and provided a safety net for many staff. Official figures show that around 3.4 million people were on furlough in July 2021, and the scheme has supported around 11.5 million jobs throughout the whole pandemic.

The development of new business models has required leadership teams to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their organisations together with the imperative to implement further digital transformation. There will have been serious discussions about culture and staff, and an evaluation of the skills and capabilities that will be necessary to drive the business’s plans forward within an environment of new operating practices and greater use of technologies. Other organisations may still be struggling to sustain pre-pandemic levels and will be dealt a blow by the loss of furlough grants. Both cases will unfortunately lead to redundancies.

No business leader wants to have to make staffing cuts and in many cases, it presents both a tough personal and leadership challenge. Cutbacks cause tension, anxiety, and hurt feelings not just with those leaving, but also for those who remain. Executive outplacement services can help mitigate this and enable exiting staff to transition smoothly to a new role. But what exactly is ‘executive outplacement,’ and why might you need it?

What is ‘Executive Outplacement’?

‘Executive outplacement’ is an umbrella term for a suite of services related to helping executives find and secure their next role. You may have also heard it referred to as ‘executive transition services.’ Within an executive outplacement programme, such as those offered by Rialto, you work with an expert or a team of experts who are well-versed in the demands of the rapidly changing senior level job market. The expert(s) will assist with everything related to a job search, such as the development of a compelling value proposition, helping draft your CV and other written materials, assisting with your presentation, interview skills and elevator pitch, understanding the different approaches to managing different campaign strategies and providing advice throughout the process. These are the bare minimum services you should expect from your programme, but the mark of a good programme is its understanding of the demands of the current market and the need for candidates to differentiate by the most effective means possible. These programmes will include services related to market/industry research, skills and capabilities benchmarking, personal branding and reputation building, and digital and real-world networking and influencing.

For example, on a Rialto executive outplacement programme, the executive job candidate will partner with a team of experts that cover different specialties in the outplacement process. The team will start by helping the executive determine their specific goals and by conducting research into the skills needed, the industry trends and conditions, and the competitive landscape for available opportunities. The executive would receive assistance with drafting a strong digital profile and CV to showcase their skills, as well as a compelling value proposition and other targeted personal statements. They would also work with an expert on their personal brand, which will include coaching on strengthening their online presence and generating valuable thought leadership to help them differentiate and get noticed t attract opportunities. A good outplacement will also help with high-level face-to-face or virtual networking, connecting the executive to the right networks and provide advice on the type of people with whom they should be connecting. When discussions are secured, the executive will practice with their expert in a mock format.

While outplacement work is always conducted one-to-one, it is usually offered on a wider scale by corporates for their departing staff, usually via a partnership with a third-party provider such as Rialto. Organisations who provide services that help staff find their next role normally experience good ROI in terms of the company’s reputation and remaining staff morale.

Why Corporates Need Executive Outplacement

Whatever job cuts are being made now, you will need to hire staff in the future and continue to attract customers.  If handled poorly, redundancy can leave employees with a poor perception of your brand. By contrast, executive outplacement enables them to leave on a better footing and builds your positive reputation as a supportive, caring employer, which is particularly important in today’s intensive social media spotlight. Employees who receive outplacement support are likely to feel more valued and appreciated by the organisation, and are therefore less inclined to share their negative thoughts on social media or on review aggregator sites like Glassdoor. Reviews like these don’t just look bad to your customers who may see them, they may also deter excellent candidates from applying for open positions in the future. The COVID-19 and corresponding social and economic issues have created a demand for more empathetic and compassionate leadership. Offering executive outplacement meets this demand.

Offering these services can also have a positive impact on the staff you are retaining by helping to enhance the “psychological contract” between the organisation and its people.  Even in situations when the economic case for making redundancies is clear, your people can still feel very let down and anxious during cutbacks, which will affect creativity, innovation, and productivity.  This will be a time of heightened emotions which need to be carefully managed by leaders in order to maintain morale and mitigate panic. The peace of mind that offering such support can provide should not be underestimated. Knowing that there is a safety net in place to help leavers move forward helps reassure staff that they will not be left hanging should their role be made redundant. Morale and productivity are maintained, or at least not as severely impacted, as remaining staff can find comfort in the fact that their employer cares and is doing whatever they can to help. This will go a long way to assist with retention.

Why Individuals Need Executive Outplacement

If the executive’s current or former company does not offer these services, that does not mean the individual cannot seek them out themselves. An executive can always go direct to a reputable provider such as Rialto. They will receive the same scope of services and personalised attention as corporate clients. The benefits and value these services can provide the executive more than justify the cost of such an investment given the accelerated results of job search and better-quality outcomes.

The executive job market is highly competitive and is likely to become even more so following the end of the furlough scheme. Working with an experienced executive outplacement partner can help you to gain a deep understanding of what you are up against and help you to put your best foot forward in the market. In the case of Rialto, we have successfully assisted more than 5,500 leaders and executives with making successful moves over the last 10 years.

All in all, executive outplacement is a great way for employers to support their people during difficult periods. These services help leavers move forward and successfully navigate the market that they are having to enter. The benefits to the individual are both professional and psychological, offering long term value to one’s career and ensuring that they don’t feel left behind or less valuable because of their redundancy.

If you are interested in partnering with Rialto for your organisation’s executive outplacement services or are interested in seeking these services for yourself, get in touch with our team.

For those who have been following our personal brand series, you should have a firm grasp now on your personal digital brand identity and the value it can bring, developed a strategy for where and how you plan to build your brand online, and begun generating thought leadership content that helps to position you as an aligned and relevant leader in the future world of work, thus ensuring you are better known in your industry and sought after in target areas. It is likely that you’ve put in all this hard work in order to secure a new opportunity or promotion or to gain greater recognition with clients or potential business prospects. But what happens once you have succeeded, and it is time to take the next step in the process?

In this instalment of our Personal Brand series, we will explore the ways in which your brand and online presence can be leveraged to support first meetings.

Pre-meeting

In many cases, your brand may have helped you secure the meeting in the first place. Your content and online presence may have been what attracted the opportunity to you, but it is important not to lose this momentum once you have secured the interview or appointment. Continue sharing your regular content in the lead up to the discussions and remember the content you have shared. That way, you appear consistent and your brand seems more genuine, rather than a means to an end.

In today’s digitally-driven age, your online presence provides a ‘pre first impression’ before the first impression. Most individuals seeking new talent will confess to having Googled candidates or checking their social media before the interview. This also applies to prospect meetings and networking. With this being the case, you will want to review your profile and content to ensure both adequately reflect what you are looking to convey and make the impression you’re hoping to make, especially in comparison to potential peers.

But one of the biggest benefits your online presence can provide before a first meeting is contributing to your research and preparation. Find out who you will be meeting with and take the time to have a look at their profiles. In addition to learning what sorts of topics they discuss, what they’re passionate about or interested in, if you are in the same groups or share similar work experience, you may find they went to a school in the same area as you or are connected to some of the same people. This enables you to learn more about them in order to find potential common ground, which will help to ease some of your nerves and break the ice.

Also be sure to take a look at any relevant company pages. These are usually updated more frequently than the website and will likely paint a better picture of the most recent news, initiatives, and happenings at that organisation. There might be things you could ask about or mention as part of the discussion.

While doing your due diligence in these two areas can help you get the lay of the land before your meeting, you should also research who your likely competitors might be (organisations or peers) and where you potentially benchmark in the market. LinkedIn’s search feature is an excellent asset for this. The site allows you to search for certain job titles and explore the profiles of those who currently hold that role. Let’s say for example you are a Marketing expert. You can go into LinkedIn, type VP of Marketing into the search bar, and when the drop-down menu appears, select where it says “VP of Marketing in People” to see everyone whose profile mentions that title. You can filter your search even further to see results by geography, company, and connections. If you are comfortable with doing this, have a look at their profiles and experience to see how you measure up. What skills do you share? Which of your experiences are similar? How are they presenting themselves online, and how does it compare to the work that you have been doing both online and offline with your brand? You may find yourself at an advantage, which might help to boost your confidence or could potentially be leveraged in negotiations later on.

While to some this all may feel a bit like ‘cyberstalking,’ it is to your benefit to use the tools available in order to improve your visibility, relevance and impact.

During the meeting

One of the first actions we recommended doing in the early stages of developing your digital brand was developing your elevator pitch. If you have done this, then you will already have a crisp and succinct answer to the dreaded “tell us about yourself” or “how are things for you” questions. You should have a strong idea of your ‘why’, and what it is you have to offer. All the self-reflection work you have put in should also have provided you with some solid examples and stories you could share.

Remember how we said that your online presence is your first impression before the first impression? That can work to your benefit. If the person or people you are meeting have seen your content and are interested in it, they are likely to ask questions about it. This is an advantage for you, as it gives you an opportunity to discuss topics you are passionate about and knowledgeable in.

More than that, your brand can actually become a safety net for you. If you already have a brand that’s strong, even if you forget to cover areas of interest in your meeting you have that to fall back on as you will have already made a ‘pre first impression’ of being a knowledgeable and engaged thought leader in your industry or job function.

After the meeting

How does your personal digital brand support a lasting impression?

If you haven’t already, it may be worth connecting with the individuals you have met on social media, especially if you had a good rapport. Be sure to send a message thanking them for the meeting and where appropriate expressing that it would be positive to stay connected going forward. It is important to not lose momentum with your brand or thought leadership. This activity that helped to differentiate you from your competitors may have been a real selling point.  It is essential to not become complacent and treat the development of your personal digital brand as a one-time tactic. There are always new doors that your brand can open, such as networking opportunities, speaking engagements, press interviews, podcast appearances, conference keynotes, and so on. Your personal digital brand should therefore be an integral part of your professional identity and should not be discarded once your goal has been achieved.

While building and maintaining your brand can seem like a lot of hard work, investing time that is consistent and authentic manner will provide some bigger picture benefits that will support you to progress through your career. If you would like individual help developing your personal brand to support with securing your next opportunity or developing new prospects, get in touch with our team.

We have seen a massive shift in what ‘work’ means since early 2020. Instead of being a place that we go to, it is now something that we do from wherever we can manage to do it. Working this way allowed businesses to stay functional and stay afloat when the lockdowns brought the world to a standstill. However, over the past several months, remote working models have transitioned from being a safety net to becoming a mainstay. In fact, the majority of both C-suite executives (85%) and employees (71%) in the UK believe hybrid working will make their organisation more resilient and better equipped to survive future economic cycles.

Some of the world’s biggest companies have taken notice. At IBM, the frequency in which an employee is required to go into the office will be determined by work deliverables or the need for team collaboration, while Ford’s office workers will need to be on site for certain meetings or projects. Other companies like Uber and Citigroup are requiring a specific number of days in the office, typically two to three per week, rather than a full return to work or totally remote model. A few employers such as Salesforce and TIAA will place workers into categories or tiers based on how they will work, ranging from fully remote to flex to fully in-office. Top tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple are embracing flex as their future and professional services firms such as Deloitte and PWC have empowered employees by providing them with a choice. Deloitte has given it’s 20,000 employees the choice of when and where they work and PwC has introduced what they call ‘the Deal,’ a flexible working solution that enables employees to set their own schedules provided that 40-60% of their time is spent alongside colleagues at its offices or at client sites.

This way of working recasts the corporate HQ as a destination (‘hub’) to which employees will travel for collaboration and creative meetings, rather than the base from which they should work every day. The shift to hybrid work is more than a logistical challenge, and there is no single blueprint for success in these models. Companies need to start thinking about hybrid work as an opportunity for transformation and reinvention and by doing so recognise that a fundamental change in leadership mindsets and  skillsets will be required to continue to provide the best employee and customer experiences and to innovate to new required operating models.

Rialto are working with leaders and their teams to create, maintain and enhance high performance through combined best practices from pre-pandemic leadership and new remote working and hybrid leadership. Our work has identified five key mistakes leaders tend to make when adapting to these models, which ultimately lead to friction, lack of results and engagement and retention challenges. We have outlined these areas of concern below to help guide you through your own transition.

Mistake #1: You aren’t managing collaboration or workflows effectively

From the examples above, it seems as though teamwork and collaboration will be the primary function of the office for many organisations and their staff. This is a smart approach, as it gets everyone in a room together so nothing gets missed and no one feels left out. But not every business will adopt this approach, and teams will likely have to navigate working across locations.

This might mean that those who are not on site feel left out of discussions or miss information that their teammates in the office can easily and casually exchange. It may also mean that work is unevenly distributed with the bulk of the burden landing on either the in-office staff or remote team members.

At first, this may be easy to overlook so long as work is getting done. But over time, it can have negative effects on productivity, effectiveness, and team morale. It is likely to become grating if team members feel excluded or overworked. As a result, leaders should encourage their team to follow meeting etiquette where video calls are prioritised over phone calls and remote workers are given equal opportunity to contribute. Extra care and attention should be paid to making sure that remote staff are kept in the loop when it comes to the casual discussions that happen naturally in face-to-face settings. If something is decided during one of these talks, then a call or message should be sent right after informing the rest of the team of any changes or updates. It may seem tedious, but it ensures everyone has the right information at the right time, regardless of where they may be working from that day.

Another option is to keep the office as a hub for in-person collaboration and allow remote time to be spent on independent work. Save team meetings, strategy sessions, brainstorms, or collaborative activities for the days of the week where everyone will be together in the same place. Use that time as productively as possible to align the team and ensure everyone has clear marching orders to take away and work on while they are remote. Communication will still need to be a major focus here, but it is much easier to navigate this format than constantly trying to loop everyone in.

Leaders also need to take care to ensure that work is being evenly distributed. You should not assign work to people simply because they are in the office that day, or alternatively because they are working remote and you feel they need to be ‘kept busy.’ Hybrid model or not, a good leader should always prioritise the workload based on who has the right skills and capabilities first and foremost. You should not be enacting any sort of preferential treatment for those who came into the office, nor using that as a reason to overload them. As a Leader, you need to take care to ensure that the right work is making its way to the right people in order to ensure the right outcomes are achieved in a timely manner.

Leaders in particular need to be more visible than ever. The easiest way to ensure you remain accessible is to run regular check-ins. Frequent contact via video technology is an effective way to maintain your visibility, and provides your employees with the opportunity to ask questions and keep the lines of communication open and transparent. Communication will be crucial for the success of these models, and should be a top priority for all.

Teamwork supports connections between colleagues via the opportunity to discuss projects,

share ideas, network, mentor, and coach, for example. Two-thirds of leaders report that

these kinds of collaborations have enabled high performance. As leaders look to maintain high performance, they will need to design and develop the right spaces for these small interactions to take place, and adapt their culture to support it.

Mistake #2: You’re sacrificing culture

It is easier to create and foster team relationships and culture when your entire staff is in the same place as one another day in and day out. The pandemic will have diluted company culture, removing the chance for certain rituals, routines, jokes and valuable ‘water cooler moments.’ Moving to hybrid working is a challenge because it requires acceptance from leaders that the future will be culturally different to what it was. That said, it also creates an opportunity to review what aspects of a culture are important to keep and which no longer serve the organisation well.

To shift to a hybrid or even remote work model does not mean that culture has to die, and many make the mistake of either doing too much or too little to adapt to this change. On one end of the spectrum, we had those organisations who overloaded their staff with Zoom quizzes, virtual happy hours and online activities when the pandemic first broke out, which was nice at first but eventually became a bit annoying for staff. At the other end, there are organisations where staff’s only interaction with one another is for work-related purposes and there is no real sense of community.

Leaders now need to find a happy medium that fosters those bonds between colleagues but does so in a way that feels natural for this type of working model. It might be as small as starting all meetings with having everyone share an anecdote from their week just to get people talking or arranging in-person events periodically just to get everyone together and mingling. What works best will differ based on your organisation, but the important thing is to meet people where they are and do what feels natural. If you aren’t sure what that is for your organisation, then talk to your people. Make them active participants in determining what your new culture will look like. Not only does that help you to find what works, but it also fosters deeper investment into the organisation and a wider sense of community. The best organisations are those that empower their people to be part of the decision making by being truly inclusive to create a winning culture.

Mistake #3: You’re still in panic mode

There has been a lot of uncertainty in the current circumstances, and many leaders have had to scramble to adapt quickly to changing conditions. That has led to a lot of trial and error, which has proved successful in some cases. Experimentation is a good and necessary step to change, but if you are constantly trying something new without learning from it or acting in support of a solid strategy, you are doing it wrong.

Haphazard experimentation worked fine at the start of the pandemic when everyone was just trying to stay above water, but now is the time to be strategic and deliberate. We shared our advice for maximising the value of your people with strategic workforce planning in this blog, but leaders should be focused now on creating long term plans for the business now that the situation is more stable. Whereas remote working started as a means to an end to facilitate business continuing during the pandemic, leaders would be naïve to continue viewing it this way. It is time to see remote and hybrid work for the strategic and human-focused value they can provide to the business moving forward, rather than just serving as a life raft in tough times.

That’s not to say that experimentation should be scrapped; rather, it needs to be intentional. A failed experiment does not mean you need to immediately launch into another. Take the time to learn and assess. What went wrong? Why didn’t it work? What can be improved going forward? How do attitudes need to adjust? We are no longer operating in panic mode, and it is time for boards to continue making strategic decisions about the future of the organisation that go beyond the end of the pandemic period. Begin to lay solid foundations for your bigger picture objectives and future proof for technologies, changes in consumer behaviours, or shifts in the marketplace. That might mean beginning the process of upskilling your staff or deciding what your organisation’s permanent relationship with the office will be.

This is the time to determine and understand best practice in the new normal. Keep your focus on the future and on the steps you can take now in order to meet your objectives for long term success. Take risks, learn from your team, learn from outside your organisation, and formulate a strategy to achieve something that matters.

Mistake #4: You aren’t taking a people-centric approach

As we plan for the future, we have the many lessons of the pandemic to take along with us. One of the major takeaways of this past year is the importance of people-centric leadership. This past year was a challenging, humbling, and humanising experience for most of us. Not only did the pandemic bring widespread loss and hardship, we saw major social issues come firmly into focus and businesses take public stances.

For example, sustainability has been a hot button issue for many years but became even more prevalent after the pandemic revealed just how much our previous day-to-day activities impact the environment. A study by KPMG showed that 89% of CEOs want to lock in the sustainability and climate-change gains they’ve made during the pandemic. Hybrid working may be the answer to achieving environmental goals, as cutting commutes or switching business trips to online interactions can significantly reduce a company’s carbon footprint. However, organisations must also consider that many large office buildings are more energy efficient than residences, but for workers at organisations where climate change has been cited as a priority, it is going to be harder to justify the five-day-a-week office model as being aligned with carbon goals without a clearer accounting of exactly how that is being measured. It will be a fine balance for leaders to manage the expectations and priorities of their people while continuing to deliver value.

Beyond catering to what their people care about, businesses need to also begin catering to and caring for their people more. The employee wellbeing implications of COVID-19 will be with us for some time. This may require supporting employees experiencing poor mental health, addressing specific concerns and anxieties about the return to the workplace, supporting staff through personal loss, and mitigating the impacts of ‘Long COVID.’ In the longer term, hybrid working may support improved wellbeing through reducing commuting time, providing employees with more autonomy around their schedules, and allowing extra time for health and wellbeing activities. But every pro has its con, and there are also issues of work like balance involved with remote work.

Leaders will need information and guidance on ensuring inclusion and diversity, effective induction, and employee engagement with a distributed team. More importantly, there needs to be an empathetic understanding of the challenges staff face day-to-day.  The way in which managers monitor performance, engage their team, and approach mental wellbeing are all areas which need to be developed for hybrid working. Understand that staff may be dealing with issues that go beyond their work responsibilities, and work to be empathetic and as accommodating as is appropriate. Your team are human beings with needs, emotions, values, fears, and concerns. While the nature of your relationship is to serve the business, that does not mean that you need to remain cold and detached. In fact, the most inspirational leaders are those who show compassion, respect, and vulnerability with their people. The human face of business will need to take shape over the next few years.

Mistake #5: You’re resting on your laurels

One of the worst things you could do as a leader in a time like this is to settle. Although leaders may have developed new skills for managing a remote workforce over the past, hybrid working brings unique challenges that are different from both fully remote and predominantly office-based models. The leadership styles that worked five years ago, a year and a half ago, or even six months ago might not carry over to hybrid work models.

Organisations will need to put enhanced learning and development in place to ensure effective people management. We already touched on the challenges of navigating dispersed teams and appropriately managing workloads. But another area that may require rethinking is assessment and expectations. High performing leaders need to invest time into themselves and their teams to shift behaviours. Some examples of this include honing and improving soft skills such as communication and mentorship. It also requires an honest and potentially harsh examination of both the positive and negative impact your behaviours can bring forth. Avoid micro-managing, set specific metrics for productivity, encourage open and empathetic communication, and provide actionable feedback. Understand that this is a transition for everyone involved, and seek out constrictive criticism so that you can grow and improve.

Performance management is an area worth reassessing for the hybrid environment. Instead of assessing employees based on time in the office or in virtual meetings, managers will need to adjust to assessing performance through outcomes, contribution, and value generation. Managers will not be able to monitor every aspect of an employee’s work when they are working remotely, nor should they try. Instead, create new systems for ensuring that objectives are met and impact is created without sacrificing the autonomy and flexibility of hybrid work models.

While we may no longer be in panic mode, the rise of hybrid is still a new chapter that will take some adjusting to. These mistakes are common, but very easy to correct once you are aware of them. The key is to listen, learn, and adapt. Remain strategic, yet people centric. Above all else, understand that this new phase will likely require you to personally reflect and make changes to your own style and approach.

If you would like additional support in strengthening your capabilities as a leader or aligning your team for the world of hybrid work, get in touch with our team regarding our range of Leadership Development or Culture, Digital and Business Transformation services.

In recent instalments of our Executive Outlook series, we examined what it takes to secure the seat at the top of the organisation and succeed as a CEO, and provided some insight on joining the board by becoming a Non-Executive Director (NED). While these positions are arguably two of the most desirable and highly sought-after leadership roles, there are several other seats at the table that hold significant voice.

Being appointed as a member of an organisation’s board is both a huge honour and a massive responsibility. As with any position of leadership, one should have a deep understanding of what is required of the role and what your value is. Every day at The Rialto Consultancy, we work with both executives who hold board positions and executives who aspire to them. This has given us strong insight into the process for securing and succeeding in these roles. Read on for our top tips for developing the right strategy to obtain a board position.

Role Overview

An organisation may have various Senior Vice Presidents, Directors, and other senior leaders spread out across its departments, offices, and geographies, but it only has one main board. There is no set number of board seats an organisation is required to have, but most range from three to 30. Some analysts suggest that seven is an ideal number, but the makeup of the main board will really depend on the needs of the organisation.

In addition to the main board, which serves as its primary governance and decision-making body, there are frequently opportunities internal to an organisation to join executive committees or operating boards as well as verticals for specific initiatives, projects, or functions, which can contribute to your career and personal development in a positive way. For example, many companies are putting together committees for COVID-focused health and safety initiatives in the post-pandemic return to work. There are sub committees or verticals tasked with embedding topics such as digital, D&I, and sustainability into day-to-day business operations. While positions on these committees may not always come with a title change or salary hike, they add value by showing initiative, involvement, and a deeper investment into the organisation that may result in a promotion or opportunity down the line.

Similarly, there are external board positions you could secure to help make you a more desirable candidate for an internal role you may be after, such as that of an NED. Some external board positions you could hold might include a role at your child’s school, on the board of a charity you are involved with, or a trusteeship. Holding these positions of leadership can help you develop the necessary skills and positions you well for future high level or high responsibility opportunities.

Regardless of whether it is an internal or external board you are serving on, your purpose remains the same: to lead, govern, and act in the best interest of that organisation and its shareholders/stakeholders. While some board members are brought in from outside of the organisation, many are promoted from within it. Aiming for a board position is like any other job search or attempt at a promotion: you’ll want to put your absolute best self forward. But due to the high demands of these roles, the responsibilities involved, and the limited availability of these positions, you will need to compete effectively. When developing your strategy for securing a board position, we recommend taking the following steps:

Know Your Value

To gain a seat at the table, you must first identify what you bring to it. If you have not yet developed your own personal digital brand, now is the time to do so. This blog can help you get started. Just as every successful business offers something valuable to the marketplace, to be successful as a board member you need to bring your own unique contribution. Take stock of the relevant skills, experience, and knowledge that you have to offer that might be worthwhile to the rest of the board. What perspectives can you provide? Perhaps you have a non-traditional background, a wealth of experience in your field, or strong connections in your industry. What gaps can you fill? Once you can answer these questions, you should have a solid idea of what attributes and skills to champion.

Champion Your Personal Brand

Identifying your personal brand and USP is only part of the battle. You must also communicate it clearly and effectively in both online and offline networks so that you become known for the skills, capabilities, experience, and messaging that you want to champion. There are various ways to do this, including thought leadership on social media. This blog will help you to develop your online presence and drill into the ‘digital’ element of your personal digital brand. The goal of this activity is to be seen by the right people for the right reasons. If your USP is your decades of experience in your industry, share some of that wisdom in your content. Comment on the issues facing your sector and share relevant examples of how you tackled similar challenges in the past. Organisations want executives who are at the top of their field sitting on their boards, and you can build that perception about yourself with strategic thought leadership and personal digital branding activity. It takes time and patience, but will definitely be worth it.

Master the Art of Influence

In order to get in front of the right people, you have to know who you are attempting to influence. Typically, new board members are appointed by the existing board. What do they read and listen to? What social media are they using? What topics are they interested in or engaging with? Meeting your audience where they already are and providing thoughtful insight into topics they are interested in can go a long way for building your name recognition among the right people. If you are aiming for an internal board position and already hold a leadership position in the organisation, you are likely already acquainted or working with at least one member of the board. Even if you have close relationships with several sitting board members, strategic thought leadership and personal branding activity can help to paint you in a new light and position you as the person who immediately springs to mind when a new board member is to be appointed.

While being your own biggest fan is essential to your cause, it helps to have others who can vouch for you. Your influencers can be very valuable for helping build your credibility with the audience you want to influence. Mentors, colleagues, and even past clients can be some of your most valuable assets.

Tap Into Your Networks

Business is built on networks, and you never know who your connections might be connected to. So many aspects of business life revolve around who you know, and having the right relationships can lead you to the role you are looking for. But your network can provide so much more than a word-of-mouth referral. Lean into your network for advice, guidance, support, introductions, feedback, and insight. If you have executives in your network who already hold board positions, reach out to them to ask questions, find out more about their experiences, and get their advice for succeeding in the role. Turn to those who know you well and have worked with you closely to glean what you do well and what you can improve on.

A board position is a leadership role, and so many of the core skills required can be gleaned and strengthened from networking. You need to be good with people and work well with others. You need to be the type of person who takes initiative and proactively seeks out opportunity to learn, improve, and grow. Communication skills are key, as is the ability to listen and take feedback on board. All of these are valuable capabilities that nurturing your network can provide.

Carry out Strategic Research

You have decided to pursue a board position, but are you fully aware of what that will entail? Are you up to speed on board competencies and the mindset required for success? Are you clear on the expectations of the role, as well as any potential liabilities? If an external position, executive committee role, or NED position is what you are after, are you clear on what the time commitment will be and able to give that?

Talking to others about their experiences is one of the best ways to answer these questions, but there are some passive methods to explore as well. Read articles from trusted resources or thought leadership pieces from respected executives. If there are bylaws or handbooks available within the organisation, familiarise yourself with them. Another great tactic is to work one-on-one with a knowledgeable and credible executive coach who knows this space and can provide individualised guidance.

Craft a Board Bio

By now, you will have identified what you have to offer and who you are as a professional, and will have found a way to express that. You know who you need to influence, and maybe have some others on hand who are willing to vouch for you. You have tapped into your network and received valuable insight, advice, and feedback. And above all, you are clear on the role you are pursuing, the skills and mindset needed, the expectations involved, and the responsibilities. The time has now come to put the pieces all together into a well-crafted bio.

This bio should be informed by all of the research you have conducted and insight you have gained in early stages of the strategy, and tie your own skills and experiences to the requirements of the role. The bio should clearly and succinctly articulate what you have to offer and why you are the perfect person for the role. It may seem intimidating now, but these are the same messages you have been trying to portray in all of your activity thus far. It’s just a matter of piecing together all of the hard work you have already done. Be patient, be persistent, and be confident in what you bring to the table.

There are many elements to consider when planning to make this significant a career move as you will need to weigh up both the positives and associated risks, but with the right strategy you will be well on your way. Due to the scarcity of these positions, the requirements they entail, and the work required to build your personal brand, we recommend planning your move two to three years in advance of when you would ideally like to secure your role. This will allow you adequate time to make the best impression possible. Be consistent and persistent, and one day you should find the hard work pays off and you gain what may have seemed to be a far off aspirational role.

The workforce landscape today looks quite different to what we saw back in March 2020. Since then, we have seen the unemployment rate fluctuate, predictions about the economy change like the weather, and a shift in the way we do business. Most organisations are battling an increasingly competitive marketplace, navigating disruptions in their supply chains, and adapting to changes in their customers’ habits and needs. Though the situation appears to be looking up, it is likely that businesses will be grappling with these challenges and impacts for many months to come.

As a result, most leaders recognise that there is an imperative to look at and think about ‘work’ differently, including what it really means, how it’s done, and where it is done. After operating in survival mode for the past year and considering these issues from a place of uncertainty and instability, many organisations will feel it is time to establish a more constant and stable foundation. The organisations that will come out on top are those who seize this moment to shape the future of work, developing new business models and ways of working that successfully encompass their purpose, goals, and vision while also improving the customer experience.

At the core of bringing these plans to life and enacting the vision day-to-day is the business’s people. People now need to be valued more highly than capital, or at least on par. Business leaders need to be thinking about the contributions their people can make, how their people need and want to work, and what their people need to do to help the business reach its objectives. This is where strategic ‘workforce planning’ can and should come into play because oftentimes, the most impactful change starts from within.

What is Strategic Workforce Planning?

Strategic workforce planning involves pulling together a coherent and agile plan that blends business strategy, people, data, and technology in order to make workforce composition and capability decisions that meet the organisation’s financial, productivity and customer targets.

During the planning process you may uncover a need to make some restructuring decisions, but there is far more to strategic workforce planning than hiring new talent or making redundancies that, if not thought through, can also create the risk of losing existing talent. These plans need to encompass how you intend to meet current demands in a sustainable, timely, and cost-effective way and they will likely require you to take an honest look at your existing workforce to spot risks and opportunities. If meeting the demands of the business means growing a specific area of it, do you intend to bring in new talent or invest in what you already have? Do you have the right skills in the right roles? Are there internal promotions you could make, or talent that would be better utilised in a different area of the business? Do you have the right expertise on your side in the necessary areas?

Putting people at the heart of any restructure is what will separate a successful attempt from a high risk one. The people in question will include both your internal and external stakeholders, such as your staff and your customers. All stakeholder groups have specific needs and roles to play in the function of your business, and the complex and wide-ranging needs of these varying audience groups may require deeper expertise in topics such as employment law, social planning, engagement, psychology, or consumer behaviour. Identifying the areas that need strengthening and working that into your plans by allocating the appropriate workforce resources will go a long way in helping restructuring efforts or transformation projects to succeed. Putting the building blocks together now ensures that HR teams, line managers, and business leaders have the opportunity to implement a smooth with mitigated risk.

A People-Centric Approach

People are one of the biggest if not the biggest expenditure of most organisations. Maximising the potential in this area is crucial, not just for the sake of your investment but also for the sake of your organisation. While strategising and planning happens at the top, your staff are the ‘boots on the ground’ actually bringing these plans to life. The C-Suite may determine what customer targets need to be met, but it’s the organisation’s employees who interact with those customers on a regular basis and have a direct responsibility for accomplishing the goals set by the higher ups. The people you choose to put in those roles matter.

Each member of the C-suite normally represents a different specific function of the business, whether it be Marketing and Sales, Operations, Technology, Diversity, Innovation, or even People, but they cannot properly fulfil their roles without all of the individuals representing different roles, specialisations, and functions throughout the organisation. Managing a dynamic workforce and supporting capability development that spans the entire business is a central challenge for leadership to overcome and relies heavily on successful communication.

Communication and Culture

In an ideal world, every business experiment, innovation, restructure, or project would run smoothly, effortlessly. Unfortunately, organisations don’t always have all the answers needed in order to make that happen and today’s environment is too dynamic to enable such change. As a result, successful firms are relying on their workforce to be part of the journey and play an active role in developing solutions to the problems that arise.

A key component of keeping a people-centric approach is not just assuming what’s best for your staff or customers, but actually communicating with them and shaping a fully inclusive culture. Don’t assume that your staff automatically have the skills you need, and attempt to identify which areas seem to be lacking. Don’t deliver your plans as edicts and expect buy-in, either. Allow your workforce to be architects of the organisation’s future structure and culture. Clarify and communicate an inspiring vision of what success looks like and how it will be measured, solicit employees’ opinions, listen to their contributions, take feedback on board and allow it to inform the strategy, and share impact measurements as they’re achieved. Ensure individuals know what is expected of them in terms of action and behaviour, and the role that they play in the bigger picture.

It would be remiss of the leadership team to not include elements of organisational culture in their strategic workforce planning. Focus on employee satisfaction in order to dam the flood of staff dissatisfaction or turnover and to build brand goodwill. If the last year has taught us one major HR lesson it is that one uniform way of working may not be the most effective approach for all staff. It’s worth rethinking ways of working to be more stimulating or providing staff with an environment that supports them in how they want or need to work, whether that environment be a designated office or a remote location. If skills gaps have been identified, encourage continuous learning or support upskilling initiatives. By investing in your people, you can broaden your horizons rather than narrowing them and build an environment that engenders a sense of purpose.

The most progressive employers will give their people a choice to join them on this new journey, or to bow out. Those employees who are not committed to the vision should be allowed to go with grace and without spectacle. After all, once they are no longer your employee, they could very well become your customer or a key thought leader in your industry.

The Role of Staff

While the brunt of strategic workforce planning will fall on the leadership team, there are a number of actions staff can do in order to support these efforts and ultimately shape their own career paths and future contributions.

The first and most imperative is to keep up with trends and identify future-focused skills that may be of long-term value to the organisation or may become a requirement for their role down the line. This provides a bit of leverage for the individual during organisational cutbacks and having these skills already on the payroll may help minimise leadership’s need to recruit new talent in order to meet their goals.

Once the new business models or plans have been introduced and the expectations have been clearly outlined, staff should take stock of their own behaviours to identify what needs to change in order to support a potential culture shift. It might involve becoming more open-minded to change, collaborative, communicative, innovative, or curious.

Finally, the people-first focus should not only be a leadership priority. As mentioned, it’s the staff who work most closely with the customers and who have the most first-hand knowledge of what their needs, priorities, habits, attitudes, or behaviours might be. It’s important to understand how these influences might impact the business on a large scale in terms of its products, services, profits, messaging, and so on. However, it’s also valuable to be able to maximise this knowledge on an internal basis in order to further your own career and help inform wider strategy.

In order to create impactful and widespread change for the business, the process often needs to start at its core with its people. From top to bottom, an organisation’s people play a crucial role in driving success, and therefore need to be one of the first areas considered when developing plans and solutions. But in order for a business to get the most out of this resource, it’s crucial to invest the time into proper planning, the resources for proper skills development, and the effort of cultivating a culture worth buying into. This may be a challenge for some Leaders, but it can make all the difference.

Every organisation needs third-party oversight to keep it accountable, and for listed companies this is even a listing requirement. This is enacted by government, trade and regulatory bodies, the organisation’s customers, and the court of public opinion. Just as important, the organisation’s own leadership and executive board need oversight as well. While the influences that impact the organisation as a whole will steer the board, many companies choose to bring in a Non-Executive Director (NED) to keep their decision makers accountable and ensure that leadership is running the business properly.

These executives are independent, objective, and typically have subject matter expertise, commercial knowledge, experience, or excellent reputations within the industry. They are brought in to provide key insights and fresh perspectives. NEDs have a seat in the boardroom, but unlike the rest of the C-suite, they are not involved in the day-to-day running of the business. Rather, they are there to guide and advise on policies, plans, and other major decisions.

There are more than 6,000 NED’s serving on the boards of the UK’s top 1,000 firms, and numerous others within the public sector, SMEs, NGOs, and non-for-profit organisations. But what does it take to secure one of these coveted roles, and how do you succeed once you get there?

Role Overview

The main purpose of an NED is to hold the board to account, represent the interests of the organisation’s various stakeholders, and provide outside perspectives to various organisational challenges. NED’s are not involved in the day-to-day running of the business, and therefore can usually provide a different perspective on issues such as policy, compliance, risk management, corporate governance, succession planning, and so on.

Four key areas where an NED might advise include:

• Strategy: NEDs should constructively challenge existing and proposed practices, and assist with the development of strategy.
• Performance: NEDs need to keep an eye on performance throughout the organisation to ensure goals are being met effectively, on time, and on budget.
• Risk: NEDs should ensure that all reported financial information is accurate, and that systems of risk management are compliant, thorough, and defensible.
• People: NEDs play a key role in determining succession plans as well as the appropriate remuneration of executive directors. They are also responsible for taking part in the process of appointing and removing senior management, when needed.

Remuneration for the NED role will vary based on a number of factors such as the organisation’s size and type, the industry, the experience of the individual, and the time commitment required. According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for an NED is around £71,000 per year, however this tends to be based on FTSE data. In contrast, those within charitable organisations, may be held on a voluntary basis without pay. Typically, for commercial organisations, remuneration varies widely, between £12,000 to £20,000 per annum in private SME’s, moving between £30,000 to £45,000 per annum at larger private companies. In the FTSE250, the average base salary for an NED is £53,000, while in the FTSE100 it can be anything from £100,000 – £300,000.

A more competitive and challenging business environment has also altered the mix of experience, expertise and skills which organisations are looking to add to their boards, including AI and digital knowledge and skills. Therefore, the criteria for choosing an NED may vary, and businesses may seek to increase the diversity of their board by onboarding NEDs of varying genders, ethnicities, backgrounds, and even ages.

Top Attributes of Successful NEDs

NED roles are highly sought after in almost every industry, so when these opportunities arise, they attract a large number of qualified applicants. To be successful in securing a role you must be clear on what you have to offer and what value you can add to an organisation and its board. You must align your objectives with your experiences and aim to match your skills and characteristics with an organisation that shares your values and can benefit from your input.

You will have your own unique set of personal and professional experiences that will shape what you have to offer, but several universal skills and attributes will set you up for success and allow you to be most effective in the role.

Though not an official executive of the company, NEDs are members of the board and part of the organisation’s decision-making process. Therefore, strong leadership and management skills are essential. As many of those decisions will impact people outside the boardroom, an NED should be people-focused, have high EQ, and be able to make judgements and decisions with empathy. It is crucial to be analytical and think about the big picture as well as all of its smaller moving parts. Successful NEDs stay up to date with the latest industry trends, keep up with technology, have strong knowledge of governance requirements, and always keep one foot planted firmly in realistic territory when drawing up future plans. Strong problem-solving skills are a must have, as that is a central tenet of the job. And while they may technically be an outsider, an NED still represents the organisation and should conduct themselves accordingly.

The responsibilities of an NED require skilful challenge, therefore one of the most critical keys to success in these positions is communication skills. Boards look for candidates that they can confidently rely on to deliver expert advice, and expect honest opinions. However, while an NED is there to hold power to account, most of the time the role is spent working alongside the company’s executives to solve problems and make plans. At the end of the day, the C-suite and the NED share the same goal: to ensure the future sustainability of the business. There needs to be clear communication, open-mindedness, collaboration, and constructive discussion in order to reach these objectives.

A Worthwhile Position?

If you’re considering pursuing the role of an NED, you should first consider the following:

• Time commitment: The average NED role will require a commitment of at least 10 days per year, with some requiring much more than that. Some organisations may ask for a commitment of up to three days per week, likening the position to a part-time job. Should a crisis arise, an NED may be asked to put in more time than usual, and often this does not come with additional compensation. It’s worth weighing up whether or not you have the time to commit fully to the role in addition to your other professional or personal obligations.
• Legal liability: NEDs are still considered to be directors of their organisation and therefore may be liable in various legal scenarios. An NED can be tied up in civil action for negligence, breach of duty, or criminal action for breach of statutory duty, wrongful trading, and director disqualification. Before accepting a role, decide whether or not you are comfortable accepting this level of responsibility should things go wrong.
• Personal Brand: Just as you are a reflection of the organisation, your association with that organisation becomes part of your personal brand as an NED. Choose a role with a company whose vision you believe in, whose values you share, and who you feel comfortable going to bat for publicly.

Practical Steps for Securing an NED Role

If, after weighing the pros and cons, you decide that an NED role is worth pursuing, you should take a proactive approach to planning and preferably start 12 to 18 months prior to when you would like your appointment to commence. This may seem far in advance, but it helps you to nail down what it is you’re looking for and what you can offer. Think critically about where you would like to be in three to five years’ time and chart a path for how you intend to get there and why it is compelling. Determine the types of organisation you could see yourself fitting into and adding value to, taking into account factors such as scale, ownership, skills and challenge. That way, you can better define your USP and hone the way in which you present yourself.

Experience is crucial, and the more you have of it, the more attractive a candidate you will be for the highly competitive roles. Consider applying for a voluntary NED position with a charity to gain a foundational understanding of the role.

If you already hold an executive position, connect with and talk to some of the NEDs on your own board to learn about their journey and experiences. If not, ask your current network if they can put you in contact with anyone for a chat, or reach out on social media. You will likely find that the vast majority of existing directors and NEDs are happy to speak about their experiences. This outreach may actually lead you to the role itself. Although a number of NED roles are advertised, many are still found through networking and it is therefore important to invest time and resources in building a network of professionals who operate at board level. Identify and meet with board members that have succession planning and decision-making responsibilities for the appointment of new directors. Training, individualised coaching and support, strategically shaping an NED CV and personal digital brand can also pay dividends.

Additionally, we regularly run virtual events focused on specific topics relating to NEDs. Visit our Events page for our upcoming dates and sessions.

We have reached an interesting point in our professional lives. The digital revolution and its implications coupled with the economic and societal aftermath of the pandemic have presented organisations with a new set of critical of challenges to overcome. The responsibility may fall on the board or a group of key decision makers to carve a successful path forward and present solutions for helping their organisation to stay relevant in the future. While those plans may look different for every business, it is clear that strong and engaging leadership will be crucial for success in whatever comes next.

But what makes an effective and successful leader? What skills, capabilities, and attributes do they possess that inspire others to follow their lead and buy into their vision? How do these individuals seem to effortlessly navigate even the most challenging circumstances?

The harsh reality is that not everyone is cut out for leadership, and not all who attempt it will be successful. We work very closely with global leaders of all backgrounds from organisations of varying types and sizes, and while there is no clear-cut formula for what makes a leader successful, several patterns have emerged.

Here are the five factors that most often result in leadership success, as identified by our ongoing research and multi-disciplinary team of specialists:

1. Mastering Buy-In

Good leaders have the ability to engage teams in facilitating change within the organisation, and know that speaking in edicts and assuming that their word will be taken as law is not the same as generating buy-in. Similarly, you cannot expect automatic buy-in on your initiatives simply because of your position in the company. Mastering buy-in is all about building strong collaborative relationships with the people you need to have on your side and giving all a voice in shaping the future.

Networking and fostering your connections over time helps to build a strong reputation and rapport. Good networking helps build a basis of trust and support that can help you to win new business or engage staff more effectively. These connections will not only enable you to win support more easily, but also allow you to gain understanding and perspective that can help to inform the plans and initiatives you create.

The most successful leaders are constantly looking for patterns, opportunities, and problems across their teams, industry, and markets that they can leverage to help further their business objectives. They are skilled at assessing concerns by asking the right questions and listening effectively. However, the challenge top leaders face is getting others to also understand these issues, see the opportunities to be gained, and get on board with making any necessary changes. It goes beyond persuasion. The most successful teams are those who truly buy into the bigger vision and purpose and are committed to delivering impact. It falls on leadership to create and encourage those attitudes.

2. Communicating Effectively

Of course, if you want people to buy into the plans, objectives, and initiatives you are proposing, there needs to be clear communication of what you are looking to accomplish and how. Leaders are tasked with managing countless relationships throughout the organisation, the industry, the community, and perhaps even the world at large. Learning how to convey the right messages to these various groups so that everyone truly understands and can act accordingly is a major skill for leaders to develop.

Effective communication is vital to gain trust, create alignment, and drive change. Without it, objectives get lost, vital information can be misinterpreted, relationships suffer, and unnecessary hurdles are created.  Being able to communication across multiple channels authentically, consistently, simply, and clearly is what separates a successful leader from the rest.

The best performing teams are typically supported by an environment that enables them to feel safe and enthusiastic about sharing their ideas and allows them to work through problems collaboratively and constructively. Strong leaders encourage and seek out the opinions of their people, and they take the time to actually listen. Staff usually have a deeper insight into the day-to-day workings of the business and the needs of the customer than those at the top of the organisation do and can provide a much-needed reality check when proposing new ideas. Leaders should encourage these discussions and take feedback on board in order to ensure their initiatives will actually provide value to the organisation.

3. Delivering Results

Making plans and setting objectives is only half of the battle. How well do you actually deliver on them? In our blog about leading with purpose, we discussed the idea of ‘walking the talk,’ or essentially practicing what you preach. If you are making promises to your team, your customers, and the organisation’s other stakeholders, there needs to be action attached.

You could have every sought-after soft skill there is, but at the end of the day success boils down to delivering results. In order to do this, get clear on expectations and responsibilities, clearly define your goals and determine what metrics you will use to measure individual and team. What is the value of your initiatives, and how will others experience it? Success will look different for every project and every leader, but some good areas to observe for benchmarking include efficiency, profit, productivity, leads, and satisfaction levels.

Your effectiveness as a leader hinges on your ability to not only make plans and get the team involved, but also to turn your ideas into positive outcomes. That sends the message to your team and your organisation’s stakeholders that you are trustworthy, dependable, and can follow through. All of these contribute to deeper trust and easier buy-in in the future.

4. Setting Standards for Wellbeing and Professional Development

Leaders are the most visible figures in the organisation. Depending on their level or role within the organisation, they may even be the public figurehead for the business. That responsibility comes with a unique set of pressures and expectations. The way a leader behaves, carries themselves, and manages their role is a reflection on the organisation and has been proven to directly impact staff’s attitudes and performance.

That is why it is vitally important for leaders to set a good standard and model the behaviours and attitudes that they would like to see reflected throughout their organisation. This includes being aware of and open about their own strengths, weaknesses, and limitations as not only a leader but also a person. Leaders carry a lot of responsibility, and that comes with heavy expectations. By looking after their own wellbeing, leaders are able to send an important message about the importance of mental health and work-life balance. While we may be in business to create a profit, we are not alive to be in business. Those who lead with emotional intelligence, mental agility, empathy, and humanity are more likely to be viewed favourably by the people they are looking to gain the support and trust of.

Because of the added pressures and responsibilities, leadership can often feel isolating. While a big part of the job is creating and managing relationships in order to further business objectives, it is important for senior leaders to create their own support network. The most effective leaders recognise that they cannot and do not have to go it alone. Having formal confidants such as other board members, trusted colleagues, a mentor, or a career coach can help to provide professional support when the stresses of the job begin to pile up. Outside of work, having an informal network such as friends and family helps to provide personal support and encouragement when needed.

Additionally, successful leaders know and understand that the only way forward is through experimentation, exploration, agility, and open-mindedness. At times, progress will require even the most experienced leaders to unlearn old habits in favour of new future-focused practices. The best leaders are those who are constantly evolving and adapting. These leaders seek out opportunities for continuous learning and encourage their teams to do the same.

5. Embracing New Technology and AI

Of course, technology is one of the most vital areas for reskilling and retraining. With our increased reliance on digital technologies and the rapid adoptions of new tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), proficiency in digital skills has become a must-have. It is vital that leaders familiarise themselves with these tools so that they can champion them within their organisation. As with any major change, there is likely to be pushback from some members of staff. Along with the other capabilities already discussed that help to build trust and credibility, a leader’s ability to reasonably explain the uses and benefits of emerging technology can go a long way for getting the sceptics on board. Once that happens, the organisation is able to better keep pace with the evolving business landscape and ever-changing habits and increasing expectations of their customers to deliver long term value.

Again, there is no fool proof formula for successful leadership. What sets effective leaders apart is a willingness to continuously learn, evolve and adapt, effective communication and listening skills, strong relationships, and a focus on the future. Focusing your attention on the five areas above will position you and your organisation well for long-term success.

2020 proved a challenging period to make a career move. Many executives choosing to put their transition plans on hold as organisations grappled with navigating remote working, creating new target operating models, adapting to rapidly changing customer behaviour, and new views about society impact. As we move into Q2 of 2021 with over a quarter of UK adults already fully vaccinated and the lockdown roadmap proposing a full lifting of restrictions ready for Q3, the remainder of 2021 promises a more optimistic outlook.

Many will now be contemplating whether this is the right time to reignite career plans that have been put on hold and invest some serious effort into career planning. With the furlough scheme due to end at the end of September, there is also a recognition by many that they will need to be match fit to be offered a new executive career challenge whether that’s internal to their current organisations or their role is placed at risk and in the worst scenarios they find themselves in need of executive outplacement.

Executive Job Market Snapshot

According to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s overall employment rate is at 75.1%, which is 1.4% lower than it was at this time last year, and 0.1% lower than it was in Q4 of 2020. The unemployment rate is approximately 4.9%. This figure is higher than it was at the start of the pandemic, but lower than it was when the second wave of the pandemic began last autumn. Businesses have become better at coping with lockdowns, and the government has invested heavily in supporting jobs in order to keep this figure low.

That said, there were some in small shifts in employment opportunities in Q1 2021. Since the start of the pandemic in March, a total of 813,000 payroll jobs have disappeared. According to the ONS data, 56,000 fewer people were on the payroll between March 2021 and February 2021 alone. It is not just existing jobs that are disappearing, but also new opportunities. There were an estimated 607,000 job vacancies in January to March 2021, which is a 22.7% fall compared to the previous year. However, this number increased month on month in Q1, rising nearly 16% between February and March alone. Things continue to look up as reopening plans provide businesses with more optimistic outlooks.

According to data from two latest labour market trends reports, the biggest gains in active Q1 job postings in the UK were found in a variety of professional functions. The number of active Executive Management job postings climbed an impressive 14% between January and February 2021 alone, and a further 3.2% between February and March for a total rise of 17.2% across the quarter. Marketing and PR postings increased by a total of 28.4% between January and March. Other Q1 gains include Sales/Business Development by 27.6%, Finance/Accounting by 23.2%, Administration by 21.8%, IT by 22.1%. HR by 17%, and Operations/Logistics by 15.7%. This signals a positive step forward for businesses and is encouraging news for executives looking for their next role.

Sought-After Skills

For those executives considering a career transition or in the midst of a job search, our research reveals that after technical capability to do a job, the capabilities that businesses will be most looking for in executives to lead the future include:

1. Technology Savvy

Digital transformation and next gen technology adoption are rapidly accelerating worldwide and will continue to do so. With hybrid work models becoming the norm, a basic knowledge of video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Webex, Teams, and Google Meet, and the ability to use collaboration platforms like Slack, have become the bare minimum baseline. However, employers are going to expect much more than that from candidates in the future workplace. In general, executives should focus on gaining an understanding of new tools and their impacts, uses, and risks. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the importance of data are excellent and very valuable places to focus one’s attention. Adoption of disruptive technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT, 3D printing, and so on is accelerating in every industry across the world. An understanding of these tools and the necessary skills to employ them successfully will be a crucial requirement for executives moving forward.

2. Strategy and Creativity

With this rise in new technology, various functions of executive roles will undoubtedly change. It’s likely that AI will pick up some of the more mundane or routinised tasks, freeing up time for higher value business activities. Future executives will be expected to be able to provide value in the human intelligence areas that technology does not currently have the ability to replicate. While tech can derive some incredible insights from data, it takes human intelligence and experience to translate those insights into strategy and actionable plans for the organisation. Similarly, while AI can write great copy or even music, its capabilities have yet to match human creativity. Executives may be able to find valuable niches in these areas to enhance their desirability in the future workforce.

3. Agility

The challenges presented by COVID-19 and the digital revolution have made rapid change a regular fixture of professional life. The ability to pivot to these changes, keep an open mind, and experiment will be one of the most valuable assets an executive can bring to their team. As a Agile leaders you should be able to demonstrate that you can align actions to thinking. For example, to gain competitive edge it may be necessary to quickly get a beta product to customers and then refine it with feedback rather than undergo prolonged research and development cycles. Show you are prepared to take risks and capitalise and learn from failures rather than fear them. Success as an agile leader also depends on learning new skills and acquiring knowledge and tools that allow you to determine how working practices can evolve.

4. Soft Skills

We have seen a rise in the prioritisation of basic soft skills as technology and the pandemic reshape and redefine the world of work. Communications, listening, and teamwork skills will be imperative for successfully navigating hybrid work models and collaborating with dispersed teams. Time management and accountability are also necessary for keeping on track when working this way. Empathy is essential as organisations place higher importance on wellbeing, diversity, and inclusion and begin to actively champion social causes.

Areas to Focus on for a Successful Executive Transition

Many people don’t appreciate the unique challenges presented when seeking a new senior level role. From our experience working with Senior Executives over 29+ years, we have found that the key challenges include:

• Family and money commitments
• The changing dynamic in organisation structure and reward.
• Fewer jobs at the right level (Our research indicates that approximately 800,000 senior roles have disappeared within the UK in the last decade).
• Competition from a wider talent pool including geography, age and skillsets.
• Time management.

It’s only when you actually sit down and start thinking about your next challenge that you realise the process is a lot more complicated than you initially thought. You need to be clear on how your skills and experience translate to your target role’s required specifications, your target organisations and their challenges, areas where you can add value, and where you will find opportunities.

All of the above make it more important than ever to ensure you create a market winning strategy to differentiate yourself and position yourself as indispensable to prospective employers or customers. Focus on the following high-performance behaviours:

1. Networking

As the old saying goes, much of business is all about who you know and as a result many opportunities are secured through referrals from connections. Foster your existing relationships and let them know that you are open to new opportunities. The pandemic has given rise to more virtual networking opportunities, which makes it easy to meet and connect with others. That said, do not simply view networking as a potential gateway to your next job, though this may be the case. Identify peers that you admire, can learn from, or can engage with in thought-provoking and insightful discussions about industry issues or the landscape for your role or field. These discussions may highlight other areas you can improve on or skills you can champion in your search, helping you to become a more valuable executive overall. As one executive explained: “Following the trail of “breadcrumbs’ from one contact to the next and to the next until you land in front of someone that has a position, or is in a position to create one, is the key.”

2. Personal Branding

Making a lasting impression as a senior executive is harder than ever, especially now that the entire process is much more digitally driven. If you have been out of the job market for a while and are now considering a transition, it’s worth reading up on the latest hiring trends in more depth to get an idea of how you need to be found digitally and how you may be assessed. A good place to start is by looking at the individual personal profiles of those in similar roles in order to understand how they present themselves. It’s fundamentally critical for leaders considering a transition to answer the question, “What makes you so great and what specifically can you achieve when you walk through the doors of your next employer?” Don’t underestimate the time it takes to do this nor leave it up to others to work out your story. Your positioning needs to be relevant and compelling. You also need to be crisp, succinct and articulate in your presentation and be ready to present with the same level of coherence regardless of the setting you might be in whether that’s online, at an interview, in a networking meeting, or with a colleague having coffee. Platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram provide an opportunity to build your credibility and brand to support this process through the creation of a digital trail that builds credibility, authority, and name recognition. You can read our advice for developing your personal digital brand in this blog and our tips for content creation here.

3. Remote communication

Online meetings have become the centrepiece of much of our lives, and this is no different when looking for a new executive position. Although we have been ‘practicing’ for the past year, many executives who have gravitas, presence, and confidence in person come across as stiff, unapproachable, or even uncomfortable during video meetings. Not all physical cues translate from in-person to video, which make the ones that do even more important. It takes time and practice to appear confident and show your true self, especially to people we don’t know. Unlike an in-person or phone meeting, you also need to remember that your first impression during an online meeting doesn’t always involve you. The first thing individuals see is your username and picture, followed by you and your chosen background. All these aspects could result in signals being misread even before you start to speak which doesn’t begin to take into consideration technology issues, lack of personal interaction, and the difficulty of being able to read people without social in person cues. Don’t just pitch up; prepare, practice and dress the part.

4. Upskilling and Reskilling – Acknowledging Development Needs

The world of work is changing more rapidly than ever. The skills sought by employers are evolving with it. An astounding 133 million global jobs are at risk of automation by 2030, and more than 10 million of those are in the UK alone. Companies are facing the challenge of not only hiring to enhance their teams but also finding candidates who have these newly in-demand skills. Successful executives are always iterating and adapting, and continuously learning. We have listed some areas to focus on, so if you find you are lacking in any of these areas, we recommend taking the time to invest in upskilling or reskilling. In our work with senior executives, we are finding that approximately 80% need to invest in personal development in order to increase their market value. You might consider a higher education course, short professional education programmes, masterclasses, or membership of professional initiatives such as the Rialto AI Leaders Programme. Whatever path you choose to pursue, you are very unlikely to ever regret investing in your own professional development and knowledge.

Making a career transition, especially amidst such a challenging economic climate and increasingly competitive executive-level marketplace, can be daunting and intimidating. Desirable roles are hard to come by and usually competed for by a large pool of qualified candidates. The data from Q1 provides some optimistic outlooks for the remainder of the year and suggests that there will be uplift in the job market. Executives in transition should take the time to assess their capabilities, strengths, and skills to best position themselves in the marketplace and prepare for future success.

To find out more about enhancing your value or to transition to a new executive role, do contact our team of professional career transition coaches. The Rialto Consultancy offers a range of career strategy services including Executive Outplacement, Executive Coaching, and Personal Branding.

The past year has been challenging for leaders everywhere, even surpassing the 2008 financial crisis. It has forced executives to adapt to professional and societal change at record speed. Waves of change altered the modus operandi, and the way customers and clients behave, requiring a new mindset, changed behaviours and in some cases, innovative operating models.

Some leaders responded by casting aside pride, bureaucracy and tradition to enable new positive behaviours that drove rapid change and helped their organisation stay competitive. This period proved to be a true ‘trial by fire’ lesson in digital transformation, consumer behaviour, and compassionate leadership. As a result, some of the most effective leaders were those who adapted swiftly to become more agile, decisive, innovative, digital and data savvy, collaborative, customer-centric and empathetic.

While some elements of our professional lives may return to the way they were before COVID-19, many aspects have changed permanently. If the Government’s plans are successful and truly irreversible, we will have no choice but to address them sooner rather than later. What lessons can be learned from the workforce to lock in the best practices developed during the pandemic, and how can they successfully combine with the ways we worked pre-COVID? How do we do this successfully when teams are split between remote locations and the shared office? Here are our top tips for successful leadership in a hybrid working environment.

The ‘Best’ Best Practices

What really constitutes ‘best practice’? Is it what works best for the most amount of organisations, creates the most profit, or causes the least friction? Normally what becomes considered ‘best practice’ involves a combination of these factors, but it can also vary on a case-by-case basis. Government and trade bodies give us regulations that serve as macro benchmarks, and there are a few that have become engrained in overall working life and were very prevalent pre-pandemic. For example, working from an office was the standard for most organisations.

But then during the pandemic, certain things became best practice out of necessity. Working remotely or from home is a prime example. When nonessential businesses were given no choice but to close their doors due to lockdown and the stay-at-home orders mandated working from home wherever possible, having the ability to log in remotely and continue to get work done was a saving grace that allowed staff to continue on with the essential activities of the business. But what happens now that these restrictions have lifted? Organisations and their leaders will need to assess the benefits and determine the best course of action. Was working from home successful simply because it was a necessity, or were there notable changes in morale, efficiency, and productivity?

This transition period requires leaders to take stock and be honest about what best serves the organisation’s objectives, its customers, and its staff. This may require letting go of preconceived notions and long held biases or beliefs about what best practice truly means.

One of the most valuable resources a leader has is the team. Open up a dialogue with staff to discuss what is and is not working. What elements of remote work do they like, and what benefits have they seen? Have they found a better way of doing things this past year? Do they even want to go back to the way things were? With their feet on the ground, your team’s feedback and performance will give you the best idea of what should or should not be considered best practice.

What you learn from your staff and what you have observed over the past year can be weighed against what you have traditionally done in order to determine the true best practices for your organisation. However, the only way for this to be successful is to be honest and to leave your own biases behind. Embrace agility and new ideas, whilst keeping your focus fixed on the future and the evolving needs of your core stakeholders and customers.

Creating Alignment and Clearing Communication Hurdles

Many major organisations have already announced their intention to allow staff to continue working remotely at least some of the time.  Many others are poised to follow suit. If you have determined this to be the best course of action for your business, your challenge is now to embed your new best practices into a hybrid work environment.

When all staff work from the office it is perceived to be easier to monitor performance and impact, and it enables easier collaboration between teammates. When staff were working from home, they all had no choice but to rely on email, video conferencing, and collaboration platforms to communicate with no in-person elements. A return to the office with a hybrid model will split the workforce between locations and may cause communication hurdles or confusion. Not only that, but how can you monitor impact and individual contribution this way?

In our consulting work with organisations, we at The Rialto Consultancy have found that the issues that most organisations have with mindset, impact, and performance stem from poor or ineffective communication and lack of alignment. Overcoming barriers to clear communication will be an essential first step for implementing hybrid working models effectively and creating much-needed alignment across the entire organisation.

You cannot have everyone on the same page and aligned if no one knows what the business’s goals are or what is needed to achieve them. Now that you have hopefully identified what is to become best practice in your organisation’s new normal, you need to be sure that all members of the team have a full understanding of what will be expected of them. Set standards for behaviour and benchmarks for performance, making time and putting systems in place to monitor whether or not these are being met both when the employee is in the office and at home.

It may require extra effort to level the playing field to make sure that communication is consistent across locations. When hosting a meeting in the office with the staff who are physically present, determine how remote staff can participate and ‘be present’ in a similar way. Will you require additional facilitation and means of sharing communication. Likewise, if hosting a meeting virtually, encourage in-office staff to gather and dial in together. Make sure that all parties are granted an equal opportunity to speak and share perspectives and ideas and foster an environment where they feel encouraged to do so. If an in-person conversation lends some valuable insights, recap and share on the Slack or Teams platform as routine to keep remote staff looped in. It may take reinforcement and frequent check-ins to ensure everyone is clear and nothing is missed.

This might seem difficult to accomplish and may take some getting used to. But once this in-depth level of communication has become standard behaviour, it will be much easier to keep the team on track and monitor progress. Thankfully, the technology we are fortunate enough to have access to can smooth out the transition and make hybrid working more seamless overall.

Easing the Transition

Technology has undoubtedly played a critical role over the last year, and it will continue to be essential in order for hybrid models to be both feasible and successful. But even after a year of relying on it, technology can still cause friction, annoyance, and discomfort. Is your staff ready and willing to work this way? Are they willing to potentially adapt their own communication styles in order to make sure all members of the team stay in the loop?

Of course, communications will be crucial to success here as well. Ask staff about their concerns and hesitations with the new model, and work with them to ease their concerns. Clearly communicate why the organisation is choosing to implement a hybrid work model, how it is expected to work, what communication channels will be needed, and what outcomes are expected to be achieved. Making staff feel included and heard as part of the process will go a long way to creating a culture that supports and embraces change and innovation.

There will undoubtedly be some grey areas and ambiguity throughout the transition period. By following the advice above, leaders will be better armed to help their team settle comfortably into a hybrid working model as a part of the culture.

Career transitions can be challenging for most executives, but there is an extra level of scrutiny, responsibility, and forward thinking that comes with considering a career as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). These individuals are at the helm of the organisation and are tasked with driving the business forward. They are often credited for their company’s success, and on many occasions the first to be blamed when things go wrong.

But what does it take to be a CEO today? And what do current and aspiring CEOs need to build for future stages of their career? Here is the latest outlook and key considerations for current and aspiring CEOs.

CEO Snapshot

Our research has found that the average age for a CEO is 58 years old. Based on the current metric that only 5% of FTSE 100 and 2% of FTSE 250 CEOs are female, the CEO is more likely to be male. While this split is heavily unbalanced at present, we have seen the number of female chief executives rise in recent years as boards look to appoint more diverse leaders.

The average tenure for the role is 6 years. It is most likely that the CEO was appointed to the position through internal succession, as supported by recent research[1] which found that 72% of new CEOs are promoted internally, and 8.4% are former executives or current or former board members. That means that only 19.6% of CEOs are brought in externally for the role, but most of these ‘outsiders’ are not as disconnected as one might think. More than 90% of these candidates have pre-existing connections to the firm or its leadership. Most outsider hires are not CEOs poached from other firms (3.2%) but are instead in roles below the CEO or Board at other firms (55%) or those not currently in an executive position (31%).

For those considering a transition into a career as a CEO, it is worth examining the connections and networks you already have, and the need to invest in developing new ones within the companies and sectors you would like to work for.

Top Market Challenges impacting CEO’S

If you are a current or aspiring CEO, these three areas of concern will be most prevalent in coming months according to our research:

1. COVID-19 As we transition out of lockdown and face the economic repercussions of the pandemic, CEOs will be tasked with helping their company to thrive in the next normal. This may mean spearheading a change project, making tough decisions about the organisational structure, or creating a new strategy for the business and developing and launching innovations whist workforces get used to hybrid working.

2. Technology Adoption of new technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating in every industry across the world. Contributing to the creation of a new digital strategy will be a critical responsibility for the foreseeable future. Future-ready CEOs have a duty to understand the technology, its impacts on their industry and beyond, the potential benefits to the business, and any ethical risks or consequences for human staff.

3. Environmental Impact Sustainability and greener practices have become a top priority for both businesses and consumers in recent years. This issue is expected to remain prevalent, and responsible CEOs should understand their organisation’s impact and participate in any plans to help reduce it.

Top CEO Priorities

Current and aspiring CEOs should expect to focus their energy in the following four areas:

1. Data to Drive Execution Data has become a critical component of the digital-driven business landscape. This data can be harnessed and analysed by AI to make decisions based on insight rather than intuition. CEOs need to understand how their organisational and customers’ data can be safely collected and used, and how instrumental it can be in turning the generated insights into real, actionable strategy for the organisation.

2. Agility and Speed A crucial capability for today’s CEOs is the ability to pivot. They need to understand how to adapt their businesses and deliver sustained outcomes in a rapidly changing external environment. All of the challenges listed above will require CEOs to embrace a lot of change over the next several years, and the ability to be flexible without losing momentum is imperative for success.

3. Digital Evolution The future of business is digital, and the companies who are leading the pack in implementing digital technologies have radically improved their operational efficiency and their customers’ experiences. Understanding the capabilities available from harnessing digital technologies will help CEOs guide their organisation in reimagining its purpose and business models.

4. Linking the Company with the World at Large: The role of the CEO is that of the figurehead of their company, serving as the liaison between the organisation, the industry, and the world at large. Fulfilling this responsibility effectively is more important than ever for today’s CEOs as they navigate an era of digital technologies, social consciousness, and scrutiny across a vast range of media platforms. A CEO needs to be able to react quickly and effectively to a crisis should one arise.

People Priorities

A CEO is ultimately a leader and is responsible for guiding the organisation and its people into the future. CEOs should expect to focus on these people-centric priorities for the foreseeable future:

1. Hybrid Working The pandemic required teams to adjust to remote work models, and this way of working looks poised to stay in some form as we return to normalcy. CEOs will need to adopt a leadership style that is effective both in person and virtually, setting a precedent for leaders  around them to follow. There needs to be an understanding of how staff work best, and clear communication of responsibilities and expectations in order to maintain productivity and wellbeing.

2. Productivity For many organisations, this past year has produced a lot of creativity and productivity. The CEO needs to be able to capitalise on this in order to ramp up innovation capabilities. Some organisations struggled to adapt to remote working formats, or to the overall challenges posed by the pandemic. Within these companies, the CEO should prioritise a review of what needs improving and iron out any issues before proceeding with new initiatives.

3. Board Make-up and Upskilling The CEO often plays an integral role in the hiring decisions for other top roles within the company. Who are you seating at the table alongside you? Are you willing to champion, digital savviness, experimentation, diversity, inclusion, and or sustainability within your organisation? How do you plan to reflect this dedication in the decisions you make? These are all essential questions for CEOs to have in mind. Not only that, but consideration needs to be given to how existing staff will be supported and invested in long-term. The pace of change and rise in digital technology is going to cause potential displacement of staff and a critical need for upskilling. The CEO should work with the rest of the board to devise a strategy for supporting people through the transition, whether that means investing in training and development opportunities or making touch decisions investing and providing outplacement and career transition services.

Personal Development

Personal development is a critical component of a successful professional career, and your efforts here can make or break your career transition. Based on our research, we advise focusing on these core areas:

1. Being Accessible, Inclusive and Transparent The priorities and needs of staff have shifted in recent years to become more purpose driven. Our research shows that it is not just millennials and Gen Z staff who feel this way, as older employees expressed similar views. Staff want to work at a company that stands for something, and follow leaders who they respect and admire. It falls on the CEO to set the tone for the culture of the organisation and to ensure that the purpose statement is lived out day-to-day. Learn to be respectful of diverse viewpoints, be transparent, and work on your communication skills.
2. Experimentation Strategic, contemporary CEOs do not look for a niche but instead study the changes in the marketplace, actively seeking out new opportunities, and seizing them. Radical change, pivots, and growth rarely happen overnight or at the first attempt. A successful CEO is one who understands that they need to take risks but knows when to switch gear or change direction to achieve the right results. Be open and ready to sprint in the short term and set realistic goals to focus on and achieve.
3. Building Knowledge and Networks As mentioned, a majority of CEO roles are obtained through connections. ‘Who you know’ has always been an important aspect of business life, but it is even more imperative for the CEO.  While your connections may open the door to your next role, they will also be valuable for your success once you are firmly rooted in your role. It is common and highly beneficial for CEOs to connect with other CEOs to share ideas and experiences, encourage and support one another, and create a dialogue surrounding the challenges or opportunities in the market. Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in digital technology have accelerated this dialogue and fostered greater learning across industries. This has provided CEOs with the opportunity to share their successes, failures and best practice. Do not simply view your network as a potential gateway to your next job, though this may be the case. Identify peers that you admire, can learn from, or can engage with in thought-provoking and insightful discussion about the role.

The role of Chief Executive can be one of the most demanding and most rewarding executive positions available. This individual is responsible for the future of the organisation and its people. Success takes innovative thinking, resilience, flexibility, transparency, and initiative.

[1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3644496