How do you measure the competency of a founder? Great article: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131024075342-42592294-can-founders-let-go-what-love-s-got-to-do-with-leadership?trk=tod-home-art-list-large_0

Budget Comments Kuala Lumpur, 25th October 2013 I like and love the strategic thrust on Inculcating Excellence in Human Capital in this year's Malaysian budget. Thank You Mr. Prime Minister. While there are some who would have preferred greater development expenditure and lower operating expenditure, some would even prefer a lower % deficit of the GDP, I think the budget has focussed on a key priority area: Human Capital, to improve the long term well being of the nation and our competitiveness. There are no short cuts to success. Education receives 21% of the budget. The commitment to implementing the Education blueprint and improving standards of English and upholding the importance of the National Language, emphasis on Entrepreneur development, supporting employers on the Minimum Wage Policy, the setting up for a private retirement scheme are positive initiatives. RM 400 million from the Human Resources Development Fund for employers for training, 330 million for Skills Training, Tax benefits for Flexible work arrangements, RM 100 million training allocation for the Indian community and 20 million for rural programmes are welcome at this point of time in the global economy.

Competency & Talent Management A strong succession planning program is one that identifies and fosters the next generation of leaders through mentoring, training and stretch assignments, so they are ready to take the helm when the time comes. Research supports sound succession planning. A study some years ago from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton concluded that "over their entire tenures, CEOs appointed from the inside tend to outperform outsiders" when it comes to returns to shareholders. Yet many organizations struggle to take their succession planning programs beyond a static list of names slotted for a few top spots. Every organisation should have a roadmap that offers organisations a framework and advice on how to create a robust succession planning program that aligns talent management with the vision of the company, ensures employees have development opportunities to hone their leadership skills, and guarantees that the organization has a leadership plan in place for success in the future. As companies begin to develop a succession planning process, they should consider these fundamental issues: High Potential programmes, internal development, Diversity issues and Leadership support. Companies make many mistakes when it comes to succession planning. Organisations use the past to plan for the future, miss getting the Board support, not making succession part of the culture and allowing wrong people to make succession decisions. A succession planning program compiles the skills, abilities and goals of each employee, compares them to the needs of current and future roles, and tracks employee progress toward being ready to fill those roles. A roadmap can be structured into three phases to help you implement the planning and execution of you succession planning program - "Plan," "Do" and "Review" of succession planning. As companies expand beyond 200 to 300 employees, it becomes challenging to oversee talent management and succession planning efforts on paper. You cannot effectively track the career development progress of hundreds of employees using spread sheets and sticky notes. While there are many enterprise applications for succession planning, you need to equip your team with the models and tools.

Competency - Developments

Visit http://sabhlokcity.com/2012/10/mou-between-australia-and-india-on-competency-standards-for-vocational-training/ to view this inetersting development

AUSTRALIA has used its skills training expertise to improve relations with India, agreeing to help the country work on its target of training 500 million people by 2022.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Australia's industry skills council, SkillsDMC, and its Indian counterpart, which will see the emerging economic powerhouse learn how to boost its workforce's skills.
SkillsDMC will help its Indian counterpart with the creation of competency standards and processes for affiliation of training partners.
Mr McDonald said the relationship would be based on an information exchange, so India did not make the same mistakes Australia had previously. The support was about training people to meet India's needs.

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Competency Management for Organisations

Many years ago I wrote a book Competency Management: a practitioner’s guide. I have reviewed hundreds of articles and books and let me assure you it has been an overwhelming experience. The lack of clarity in thinking and insufficiency in understanding the concepts has resulted in many flawed approaches. Basically we can start with a simple question: Are you competent in what you do? You better be if you do not want to be out of your job. Whatever the term may mean, we all have a feel for the word – it simply means a person is able to do the job. This is purely from a workplace viewpoint. The English dictionary describes the word “competence” as suitable, sufficient or fit.

January 2013 Post

Workplace predictions for 2013 A thought provoking article in the Talent Management magazine lists out what’s in store for business leaders in 2013. Halley Bock, the author says the organizations that are more adept at embracing these changes and leveraging them to build stronger relationships with their talent will be better positioned for success in the long term. The prediction is that this year will see the adoption of non-traditional approaches to communicate with and engage talent. Firstly, the annual performance review will become history as conversations about specific, real-time performance issues occur on a much more frequent, as-needed basis. These ad hoc conversations can provide the instantaneous feedback employees crave and dramatically improve overall communication. Secondly, organisations will realise that money is no longer the king. An increasing number of employees will seek non monetary incentives such as increased vacation time, pursuit of personal interests and continued education. Thirdly, social media policies will mature and eliminate the ambiguity that may exist allowing some gray areas to exist. Fourth, succession planning becomes a higher priority as attrition becomes a serious issue for top management. Fifth, organisations will value workplace versatility. While organisations have always valued specialisation, employees who have the competency to wear multiple hats will be greatly preferred. Additionally, millennials entering the workforce are actively seeking career opportunities that offer broad experiences not narrow ones. For more details http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/five-workplace-predictions-for-2013/2

You Spoke No One Listened

This is a great piece by Marshall Goldsmith and Kelly Goldsmith One of the great causes of corporate dysfunction is the glaring gap between “I say” and “they do.” It’s a huge mistake to assume that just because people understand, then they will do. A few years ago, I saw a doctor for back problems. After running a few tests, the doctor sat me down and quickly rattled off 10 different exercises that I was supposed to do regularly. He assumed that once he had made the correct diagnosis and told me what to do, his job was done. Knowing about communication, I realized there was no way that I was going to remember what he said, much less do it. But he had checked the box on his to-do list. Time for the next patient! Like this doctor, leaders all too often believe that their organizations operate with strict down-the-chain-of-command efficiency. In a perfect world, every command is not only obeyed but obeyed precisely and promptly, almost as if it were a fait accompli. The manager never has to follow up — because he said it — it was done. I dealt with this head-on with a client, a CEO of a major high-tech firm. He was 54 years old with a degree from MIT. He was also — like most of my clients — extremely action-oriented and impatient. Surveys indicated that his employees felt they didn’t understand the company’s mission and overall direction. “I don’t get it,” he groaned. “I clearly articulated the mission and direction in our team meeting. I’ve summarized it in a memo, which was immediately distributed. See, here’s the memo! What more do they want?” I thought he was kidding, that he had a very refined sense of irony. Making people understand the company’s mission doesn’t happen by fiat. It also doesn’t happen overnight. Surely this smart CEO understood how difficult it was to communicate even a simple message. But by the pained expression on his face, I could see he was serious and (if only in this one area of management) clueless. “Let’s review,” I said. “How was this memo distributed?” “By email,” he replied. “It went to everyone.” “Okay. How many people actually read the memo?” “I’m not sure,” he said. “Of those who read the email, how many do you think understood the message?” He thought for a second and said, “I don’t know.” “Of those who understood it, how many actually believed it was serious - not just PR hype?” He shook his head. “Of this dwindling group of believers, how many remembered it?” Another sorry head shake. “That’s a lot of unknowns for something you regard as vital to your company’s existence,” I said. “But that’s not the worst part. Once you eliminate all those people — and it’s quite possible there aren’t many people left — how many people do you think will change their behavior based upon the memo? How many will begin living and breathing the company’s mission because of your memo?” The CEO just grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. I tried to revive his spirits by pointing out that the deeper issue was his mistaken belief about communication, not this memo. “The only thing you’re guilty of,” I said, “was that you checked the box. You thought your job was done when you articulated the mission and wrote the memo, just one more item on your to-do list. You moved on. Mentally, you smiled and said, ‘Next!’ ” Like most extremely busy leaders, this CEO wanted to believe that after he communicated direction, people heard him, understood him, believed him, and then executed. I can understand why executives persist in thinking this way. We all want to believe that our comments have great meaning. We usually assume that the people around us are smart, and they can understand what we’re saying and see the value of our remarks. We’re often busy and overcommitted. We all wish we could just move on to the next item on our list. The good news for every manager, including my CEO friend, is that this false belief has a simple cure. It’s called “follow-up.” After communicating, follow up to make sure that people really understand, talk with them to get a read of their buy-in, and involve them to make sure that they’re committed to execution. Follow-up may take a little time, but it’s less than the time wasted on miscommunication. Originally published in bnet Dr. Marshall Goldsmith was recognized as the #1 leadership thinker in the world and the #7 business thinker in the world at the Thinkers 50 ceremony sponsored by the Harvard Business Review. He is the million-selling author or editor of 31 books, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – a WSJ #1 business book and winner of the Harold Longman Award for Business Book of the Year. His books have been translated into 28 languages and become bestsellers in eight countries.