Global Business Talk Radio

WHO IS SANDRINE?

* Who You See Is Who You Get : I personally deliver the goods and don’t delegate to some junior consultant

WHO IS SOUMEN?

* HR Shared Services, HR Transformation, Talent Mobility, Global Payroll, Leaders Excellence-Harvard Square

* Proven ability to develop individuals and build cohesive global teams with diverse skills through coaching and empowerment.

* Places great emphasis on leveraging and working collaboratively with key business partners to gain maximum benefit and support to achieve personal and corporate objectives.

GLOBAL RADIO TALKSHOW brings together 2 industry experts who have never before communicated to suddenly discuss current business. Hello and Welcome!

SOUMEN CHOWDHURY

currently living and working in Germany

SANDRINE BARDOT

currently living and working in Dubai

SANDRINE BARDOT, Dubai-based RECOGNIZED  INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION EXPERT, discusses how the digitalisation of HR can help provide an employee experience which is on par with the expectations we all now have as digital consumers.

Hi, I am a Total Rewards consultant, trainer, and speaker with +25 years of experience and a strong edge on Middle East approaches. Read More…

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We discuss how the digitalisation of HR can help provide an employee experience which is on par with the expectations we all now have as digital consumers.

Digitalisation of HR

In our region, there is a huge push towards implementing the digitalisation of HR, and some organisations are super advanced.

For instance I recently attended a truly breathtaking demo of a performance management system apparently implemented across many Smart Government entities in Dubai.

But let’s be honest, despite all the hype towards digitalization, the HR systems that I see used at my clients are often old…very old… Like for example this client’s “fill this Excel performance appraisal template and send HR a paper copy (!) signed by your manager” which I had to deal with, well, in 2019 !

The gap between our expectations and the

experience of using current enterprise systems

Millennials are expected to represent 75% of the workforce by 2025. In Dubai, in 2016 already, around 51% of the workforce was between ages 20 and 34, as per Dubai Statistics Centre numbers. The Millennial generation grew up with the internet and cell phones, and technology could be considered part of their DNA.

Millenials have definite expectations about how digital systems should behave, and see a significant gap between their experience of digital systems on the consumer side, and the reality of what digital systems in the enterprise can deliver

Chris Pope, VP of Digital Strategy, Service Now – cited in Tawahultech.com

Indeed, existing software solutions in organisations are often “behind” in terms of user interface and responding to internal customer expectations, and do not fit with the way that people want to interact with their screens nowadays.

Today’s workforce is used to getting results fast from its personal suite of shiny new hardware and apps : social media, wearables tracking their health, getting instant coupons when entering a retail space…

Also think online shopping (Amazon and its recommendations), customer service and instant accessibility on any screen (Netflix), relying on recommendations, user reviews and ratings  (AirBnB or TripAdvisor)…

You may say “Well, but this digitalisation has not affected HR yet”. Really ?

Think about it :

LinkedIn has more information on people than most HR systems do (languages spoken, skills, education and training/certifications, recommendations on the person’s professional achievements, and even career aspirations).

Linkedin has also completely changed the way recruitment is done nowadays, and digital has almost finished to kill traditional classifieds in newspapers, and even job boards.

Despite all their flaws, YouTube and short videos are becoming a by-default learning system.

Who hasn’t looked for answers on a work-related question on YouTube, watched a TED video, taken a course on a MooC or a learning platform like Udemy or Coursera ?

So how can these consumer trends translate in digital HR ?

Imagine if your organisation could transform the employee experience through digital HR, for example by implementing some of these solutions :

Some organisations use social integration and performance management results to reduce hiring time and improve hiring quality

For example in the US, Macy’s track which of their seasonal workers are the most positive about their brand and re-invite the top performers year on year, thereby reducing the number of interviews required and the shorten the time-to-hire.

To give you an idea of the scale, Macy’s recruit tens of thousands of temps for the holiday season and Amazon and Target routinely hire over 100,000 temps each during that season. Efficiency is a must-have !

For example in L&D, give employees the ability to comment, vote up or down, add and share videos in the learning system, adapting and complementing the content of the training with what they find really useful.

Identify who is influential in the organisation through the use of internal networks such as Yammer, or even get employee consent and use social media influence.

Using social can help you identify who can become a mentor, who could develop internal courses for better knowledge sharing, or even as a complement to performance reviews.

It seems some of the large service firms, the likes of PwC, Accenture etc, are starting to use that.

Automation and the use of chatbots correspond to the way that Millennials like to interact for the provision of services via screen rather than in-person or on the phone.

They also save time and can answer queries 24/7. For example, HR chatbots can help employees locate documents or forms, highlight the relevant policy, or notify employees of upcoming holidays or events.

Make career development more social

Implement nice visual job descriptions that include a video, testimonials of some employees on that job, links to internal colleagues, an individualised competency gap analysis (based on the employee’s current competencies) with recommendations of skills to develop if the employee is interested in this job for a career move.

Provide customised recommendations to your employees

Using big data, AI and machine learning, some providers for large employers are now providing a customised experience for each employee, giving them their own unique, customised health-related recommendations.

Employers thus support an increase in the health and wellbeing of employees and see quantifiable value (meaning better control in healthcare cost) at the same time.

Use gamification for nudging employee behaviour

In the US, more and more companies are offering incentives to their employees for reaching wellness goals.

Digitalised HR solutions offer fun, visual ways for employees to track their progress and make use of these incentives.

Gamification can also help organisations focus on improving engagement.

Use blockchain to create trust in transactions with employees

With the increasing pace of change, constant learning and up-skilling will become more and more necessary.

Employees will want to stand out and prove that they do possess the skills they claim to have, in order to secure jobs or to support their career growth.

Blockchain and technology will help, for example with digital credentials organisations like Credly or Smart Credentials, a solution designed by PwC for the safekeeping of credentials.

For HR and employers, this will create a layer of trust and will introduce more efficiency in the recruitment and talent management processes.

And there is a lot more, from using “augmented writing” to reduce (gender) bias in job descriptions like McDonald’s does with Textio, to using algorithms to predict candidate future performance or finding the best sourcing channels for each specific job opening.

Some of these approaches are still a bit far-fetched compared to current HR practices in the region, but it’s great to know what’s possible. Because once you see what’s possible, you start thinking differently and you can begin your own journey to a more modern HR, even if you don’t buy a new HR system.

So, think about it. Is it time for your HR systems to get a good revamp, move to the 21st century, offer employees and managers a great and intuitive interface, and bring you access to really useful reporting and analytics capabilities ?

This post is based in part on a previous article : The digitalisation of HR – are your systems in the 21st century yet ?

Strategic

Talent Mobility

Advisory

Award-winning Talent Mobility Thought Leader and frequent speaker on the future of HR and International HR;  providing Strategic Global Mobility Advisory and Coaching Services.

Chris Debner has more than 20 years of experience in international HR advisory and worked in over 35 countries across all industries. Chris runs his own consultancy for Strategic Global Mobility Advisory out of Zurich, Switzerland.

For further info or to contact Chris

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdebner/

 http://www.chrisdebner.com

 www.pickmybrainpaymylunch.com

Originally published April 6, 2020; LinkedIn

We currently have a black swan moment that comes with a massive loss of predictability and control.

No surprise that travel restrictions and social distancing measures have especially impacted Talent Mobility programmes around the world.

They do not only face challenges to which answers need to be found, but also some new dilemmas that are not easy to resolve.

My constant interaction and recent discussions with players in the Talent Mobility market, but especially a virtual networking session with the Heads of Mobility of the Swiss SMI (Swiss Market Index) companies on April 3rd 2020, gave my some valuable insights worth sharing, that might help you to prepare yourself for decisions to be made and give you more confidence and comfort on decisions you already took.

You will also learn about some new perspectives around some current dilemmas for Talent Mobility.

Finally we will look on what the current crisis likely means in the long run, when it comes hopefully soon to an end.

There are basically no differences between industries (all are effected in the same way) with the exception of the so-called system-relevant industries, such as pharma, medical supplies, food and supply chain etc.. While for them some exceptions from the travel restrictions are available, they are also far from business as usual.

Different mobile employee groups at different stages of their travel or relocations were impacted by the wide-spread travel bans and immigration restrictions.

The issues arose mainly in the following cases:

It is interesting to see, that currently Talent Mobility is getting involved in situations that they did not necessarily deal with before, such as home office situations of local employees, daily commuters and business travelers.

HR is turning to Mobility to find answers to their questions in this situation.

Let’s look at some of the challenges encountered with these employee groups:

One reasonable activity that is wide-spread is to obtain an overview and tracking of all cases that are currently in planned or unplanned cross-border situations. The tracking of all cases helps to generate an overview, which supports decisions and facilitates a more consistent treatment during a need for many case by case decisions.

In addition, the pandemic has highlighted some dilemmas that Talent Mobility faces. A dilemma is defined as situation in which difficult choices need to be made, which especially are often equally undesirable.

 The compliance dilemma

While more and more states pass new legislation for tax, immigration and social security to adapt to the extraordinary situation and to ease the compliance burden, the question is if compliance measures about e.g. taxability of stranded business travelers should be taken up or if one should hope for legislation to change. Most are tracking these cases and decide on a case by case basis which compliance cases are addressed and resolved with their compliance providers. So, the dilemma is to choose between a wait & see strategy or to follow (today’s) rules. Wait & see comes with the least effort and highest risk and following the rules comes with an admin effort and costs, especially when laws are passed down the line which make it necessary to revert some of these efforts.

The Repatriation dilemma

Decision making about repatriations has to consider business continuity, duty of care and especially the individual situation and preference of the assignee. Typically, their situation and preference trumps the other factors in a situation like the one we face. And when you have someone deciding not to repatriate, but to work from home in the destination country, you still face the duty of care requirements and the provision of medical support. Do you force employees for their own good versus the good of the company or do you bear the consequences of the employees choice and fulfill your duty of care and compliance requirements?

The local employee vs assignees dilemma

This is not necessary a new discussion, but it always gains prominence in crisis situations. Should during a crisis assignees be treated differently from the local workforce in the destination country? If we look back the at the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan 2011, some companies were facing the choice of evacuating all their foreign assignees from Japan or to show solidarity with their local workforce. It should be clear that as an employer you have a duty of care responsibility towards all of your workforce.

In times where the planning horizon is clouded with uncertainty, it is probably best to rely only some careful hypothesis rather than assumptions how this may effect Talent Mobility after the crisis.

If you ever asked yourself, what agility means, this is exactly what you need to practice in this situation. You face an unprecedented situation and have to deal with new challenges and dilemmas.

This is also an opportunity to demonstrate the strategic contribution of Talent Mobility to the business and a subsequently a chance to deal not only with the urgent and important tasks, but also the important and not urgent ones.

There is always a blessing in a challenging situation.

Be well, stay safe – and do what’s in your hands that the assignees and employees you are dealing with will also stay safe.

Wishing you my best.

Dr Rita McGrath

Globally recognized expert on strategy, innovation, and creating growth under uncertain conditions.

Dr Rita McGrath graduated  Magna Cum Laude  from Barnard College in 1981; in ’82 she earned a Masters of Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.

In ’93 she completed her Ph.D. at The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) with the dissertation, entitled Developing New Competence in Established Organizations consistent with her longstanding interest in corporate ventures and innovation.

Dr Rita Gunther McGrath is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, and a longtime professor at Columbia Business School. She is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. Rita has received the #1 achievement award for strategy from the prestigious Thinkers50 and has been consistently named one of the world’s Top 10 management thinkers in its bi-annual ranking. As a consultant to CEOs, her work has had a lasting impact on the strategy and growth programs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

She is the author of the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013).  She has written three other books, including Discovery Driven Growth, cited by Clayton Christensen as creating one of the most important management ideas ever developed. She is a highly sought-after speaker at exclusive corporate events around the globe, such as the Global Peter Drucker Forum.

Rita is the founder of Techtonic a company focused on helping organizations go beyond innovation theater by developing tools to implement the Discovery Driven Growth approach.

She received her Ph.D. from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and has degrees with honors from Barnard College and the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

Follow Rita on Twitter @rgmcgrath. For more information, visit RitaMcGrath.com

Steven Howard is an award-winning author of 20 books on leadership, management, corporate branding, and marketing.

He now specializes in creating and delivering leadership development curriculum for front-line leaders, mid-level leaders, and high-potential leaders.

For over 25 years he has delivered leadership development programs in the U.S., Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa to numerous organizations and institutions.

He is well-known for his truly international and multicultural perspective, having lived in the USA for 30 years, in Singapore for 21 years and in Australia for 12 years.

BOOK  

Silver Award Winner, Nonfiction Authors Association Book Awards Distinguished Favorite Award, Leadership Category, 2019 Independent Press Awards

Stress and our overloaded brains are two of the underlying causes creating conflict, tension, and drama in the workplace. They also result in poor decision making and less-than-optimal thinking by leaders at all levels of the workforce. Daily juggling of data, reports, email, meetings, decisions, and way too much information has leaders operating in “mind full” modes.

This is not good. A more effective method is to make decisions in a mindful mode, a skill that can be learned.

As a leader, the decisions you make and execute shape the lives of team members, colleagues, direct reports, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which you operate and live.

Unfortunately, the majority of leaders are unaware of how stress, multitasking, and overtaxed brains trigger poor decisions, thinking, and outcomes.

This book will help readers become more cognizant of when stress is triggering them toward poor decision making. It will also help leaders become more aware of the many benefits that mindfulness practices will bring to their decision-making and thinking capabilities.

WHAT I DO

I help companies turn good managers into GREAT LEADERS using development workshops and coaching services while bringing the best practices of Fortune 500 leadership training programs into your organization without Fortune 500 costs.

WHO I WORK WITH: I help local, regional, national, and international organizations that are in need of leadership development, training, and coaching. I have extensive experience in financial services, petroleum, manufacturing, and high-tech industries.

WHY IT WORKS: Having trained over 10,000 leaders in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and the Persian Gulf,. I bring a unique mixture of cross-cultural experience and knowledge into my leadership coaching, training programs, and keynote speeches.

WHAT OTHERS SAY:   “I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Steven speak at several major conferences over the years and he brings both energy and valuable new insights to his audiences. I was delighted to have him accept our invitation to speak at our Financial Times sales team regional meeting. He is equally good with small audiences and groups as he is with larger ones.” Deirdre Ball – Investment Strategy and Marketing Consultant, Singapore

“Steven Howard is a very effective instructor. It was clear he has years of experience and was able to answer any question and help with any scenario we asked. Steven is highly effective both because his teaching style is engaging on a high level and because the depth of knowledge and experience he brings to the class.” Team Lead Supervisor, Oil & Gas Industry

READY TO TALK? Message me on LinkedIn, email me at [email protected] or schedule a quick 15-minute call to discuss your needs, with no obligation.

EXPERTISE: Global Leadership Development / 1:1 coaching / workshops / bespoke course development / training programs / facilitation / leading teams / leadership pipeline strategies / train-the-trainer / keynote speaker / conference workshops / award-winning author

STEVEN HOWARD

[email protected]

760-835-7870

Palm Springs — “Too many decisions are made by leaders and employees impacted by stress, overloaded brains, and constant interruptions… 

Leaders and managers need to learn to become first-responders, not first-reactors, when facing stressful and difficult workplace situations” …

 notes award-winning author Steven Howard.

Decision-making is a fundamental component of every leader’s daily life, both professionally and personally. Every day we make dozens, even hundreds, of decisions. Unfortunately, stress and other factors often lead good leaders to make bad decisions.

The daily juggling of data, reports, email, meetings, decisions, and way too much information makes it difficult to cope and results in leaders running on autopilot. We see these zoned out and inattentive leaders struggling to lead their teams and team members, as well as themselves.

Many leaders are so consumed with firefighting activities that few realize these fires have been caused by the bad decisions and choices they have made. Thus the cycle of stress-induced poor decision making is perpetuated by the stress of correcting unanticipated results from previous poor decisions.

No wonder so many leaders operate in a “mind full” mode. This is not good. A more effective method is to make decisions in a “mindful” mode. Fortunately, this is a skill that can be learned, ingrained, and practiced.

Mindfulness has been proven to be a skillful method for stress reduction and all of the many associated ills and problems that result from accumulated stress. Additionally, stress reduction through mindfulness practices is a proven leadership performance advantage that comes with the side benefits of greater happiness, health, and well-being.

Leadership Mindfulness Training

Mindfulness is no longer just a New Age buzzword with no relevance to the rough and tumble world of business and leadership.

Rather, this centuries-old practice of paying purposeful attention in the present moment without judgment is now being used by an ever-growing list of corporate leaders from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.

Based on his award-winning book, Better Decisions Better Thinking Better Outcomes, leadership author Steven Howard created a one-day workshop to help leaders and managers respond, rather than react, to workplace situations and stress.  Called Better Decision Making: Shifting From Mind Full to Mindful Leadership Skills, the foundation of the workshop is the importance of improving short-term and long-term brain health, combined with steps on how to prevent emotional hijacking of the decision-making process.

“Many of our leaders and managers have been requesting mindful leadership training,” notes Ms. Angela DeSarro, Director IT Workforce Development, at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Recently trained as a certified facilitator of the program, she adds, “I was particularly impressed with how the workshop combines neurological research, easy-to-use mindfulness techniques, and important brain health information into a highly informative and engaging one-day workshop.”

In this workshop leaders and managers will learn:

How stress leads to poor thinking and bad decisions.

How the brain and body communicate during conflict and stress.

How mindfulness can impact thoughts, reactions, and behaviors.

How to use mindfulness to make better decisions.

How to use mindfulness to reduce unconscious bias in decision making.

How to easily shift into mindfulness at work or home with practical techniques and tips.

The benefits of mindfulness on your attention, memory, people skills, and personal health.

A range of methods for improving brain health.

Why mindfulness produces better results than so-called brain training activities.

Steven Howard is currently certifying workshop facilitators across the country to deliver the Better Decision Making: From a Mind Full to a Mindful Leader workshop in organizations and public programs.

I am on a mission to reduce the rapid increase in Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and stroke in this country.

Current projections call for a 60% increase in Alzheimer’s, dementia, and stroke by 2030. So in 12 years over 10 million people in the U.S. — and over 76 million worldwide — will be struggling with these mental wellness issues.

The financial and emotional costs to families and caregivers, especially adult children with aging parents, is humungous. 10% of adults aged 60-69 whose parents are alive already serve as parental caregivers, as do 12% of adults 70+.

There is no excuse for allowing a 60% increase in the number of people suffering from dementia. Especially when this is postponable — perhaps even preventable —through a handful of common sense steps and actions.

My new book, Better Decisions Better Thinking Better Outcomes, has a range of strategies that I would love to share with your audience. These tips and techniques will help your listeners regain control of their decision-making processes and prevent the emotional hijackings that lead to regrettable decisions, comments, and actions.

I would be thrilled to be your guest and to promote our conversation to my 1600 Twitter followers and 2000+ LinkedIn Connections.

Topics we could discuss are:

The media page for my book is at: http://www.calienteleadership.com/better-decisions-better-thinking-better-outcomes-media-press-kit/ and I can provide you with a range of background materials including:

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Steven Howard

760-835-7870

Key topics:

How stress leads to poor decision making.

The impact and benefits of mindfulness for leaders.

Steps for reducing stress.

Techniques for shifting into mindfulness at work and elsewhere.

Brain facts and myths

Tips for improving brain health

Mindfulness techniques that can be used at work and elsewhere

Mindfulness meditation techniques that can be used at work and elsewhere.

Additionally, Better Decisions. Better Thinking. Better Outcomes. delves into some of the latest neuroscience research on the steps that all of us can take to protect our brains and manage the health of our brains well into our elderly years.

Unfortunately, we are entering an era when increasing dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke are going to hit individuals, families, and society hard. Current estimates predict the United States will see a 60% increase in Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia by 2030 from today’s already staggering levels.

Fortunately, using the techniques and tips in this book, such an increase is preventable. But only if the right actions are taken now, by you, your family members, your work colleagues, and everyone else.

By helping ourselves, and one another, take the proper steps to enhance brain health, we can reduce the financial costs to society – and the brutal emotional costs to families – of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

This book shares some of the new scientific research that shows how mindfulness, stress relief and management techniques, meditation, and better dietary habits could slow and even postpone the debilitating effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

You will also learn about new neuroscientific studies showing that neuroplasticity — the ability to grow neuronal connectivity across the brain — can continue well into our 70s.

The techniques described in this book will help you make better decisions and improve your thinking prowess.

They will also result in you becoming a less stressed and far healthier person.

Those are four great outcomes that will benefit you immediately, and for years to come.

JANNA MACIK CRP, GMS-T

Host of Weekly #LinkedInLive Broadcast “Powering Unique You” Saturdays @ 3:30 pm EST

Global Staffing & Mobility Manager

Immigration Expert

Leadership Development

Career Strategist

Empowerment Enthusiast

Having extensive experience across international relocation, immigration, and labor compliance I serve as a trusted global mobility subject matter expert.

I have successfully relocated over 2000 transferees globally, personally went through the relocation experience and lived in 2 countries which allows me to take an empathetic approach towards the people I support.

As a curious self-starter, I expand my knowledge of the mobility landscape by observing and evaluating the latest global trends.

With my consulting mindset and abilities to innovate, I cultivate progressive ideas for innovative mobility solutions.

I am known as a results-driven professional with a global mindset and multicultural background.

My specialties are:

My professional volunteer experience with Southeastern Regional Relocation Council has been exceptional.

It is exciting to serve as a Corporate Liaison in 2020 alongside many amazing Board Members as we build, align, energize and grow this high performing non-profit organization.

Membership and conferences are free for corporate HR and Mobility professionals.

Visit SRRC at http://www.srrconline.com to learn more.

? Career and Life Coaching

I help inquisitive professionals to strategize and strengthen their personal empowerment.

Personal empowerment is the sense that you are in control of your life. It enables you to make positive decisions and to take action that will bring you closer to achieving your goals and ambitions. (source: MindTools)

Through the unique comprehensive analysis of your assets, you will have data, tools, and guidance to improve your professional and personal inventory to bring your career and life to the next level.

The analysis includes an evaluation of:

Message me up via LinkedIn if you would like to learn more about my services. 

A Senior Human Resources and Organizational Development Executive with over 15 years of experience across multiple industries globally.

Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Strong record of achievement in developing and leading effective change management and transformation initiatives.

Expertise developing and executing human resource strategy in support of business growth.

Able to impact business through talent and change management, leadership, organizational development strategies and mergers and acquisitions.

A trusted advisor with the ability to coach and build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

A strategic Learning and Organizational Effectiveness, Recruitment, Organizational design, change management, Talent Management and Performance management specialist.

Expertise with international expansions, M&A and culture integration and scaling organizations.

Specialties: Organizational Effectiveness & Human Capital Strategy, Recruitment, Learning and Training, Transformational Change, Talent & Succession Management, Leadership Development, Labor Strategy, Lean Manufacturing, Diversity, Communication, Team Building, Technology Industry

MONICA NEVASCUES

VP HRBP America’s

bestofcoaching.com/monicanavascues  

TORONTO-based