Articles

Managing Pretirement

December 19, 2011

As soon as they crawled out of their collective cradle, boomers began changing just about everything they touched—politics, technology, business, music,concepts of justice, parenting—the list is endless. Now the earliest boomers have reached age 65, and they’re set to change retirement.

In April 2011, Knightsbridge convened a focus group of human resource leaders from a dozen of Canada’s largest companies to discuss retirement in the twenty-first century.

This paper combines findings from the focus group with additional research. In developing the paper we’ve adopted a new word: Pretirement. We can’t claim to have invented pretirement, but we do find it useful for defining that period of life between traditional career and traditional retirement.

Can You See Beyond Your CEO

November 01, 2011

By Leslie Carter, Vice-President, Marketing, Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions and Matt Fullbrook Manager, Clarkson Centre for Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management

As a director, you know that human capital is your organization’s greatest asset: the key to providing competitive advantage and driving performance. And yet, do you know who your next CEO will be, and whether there is someone within your organization who might fill that role?

A new study authored by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions and the Clarkson Centre for Board Effectiveness (CCBE), in partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) – many Canadian boards are operating without basic information about their human capital assets, often because they cannot see beyond the current CEO. This is a blind spot that can create many problems, including an impairment of succession planning and even the loss of top talent.

Doing Better With Less

October 31, 2011

By Tammy Heermann, Senior Consultant, Leadership Solutions, Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions

Faced with a turbulent and uncertain economy, you’ve made all the tough decisions to stay competitive. You’ve downsized, doubled-up workloads and extended overtime. In short, you’ve learned to do more with less.

But what if ‘more with less’ isn’t sustainable? Shouldn’t your organization be trying to do better with less?

In the end, it’s not just about getting the work done; it’s about getting it done in the most effective way possible. And if you’re like a lot of organizations, your employees are so busy that they’ve got no chance to be productive.

Improving Workforce Productivity

October 31, 2011

By Bob Clements, Senior Partner, Axsium and Bethany Lightbown, Director of Operations, Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions

If you are in search of a productivity boost, people and process are the two main areas most organizations study. But which one is likely to give you the biggest bang for your buck?

Having the right person in the right job is, of course, critically important to improving output. On the other hand, the way your employees perform their work and the technology used to aid them in this endeavor is also an important element.

Coaching From the Inside and Out

October 24, 2011

By Vince Molinaro, Managing Director, Leadership Solutions

Through our research with Retail Council of Canada, we have come to learn that the sector is facing considerable challenges in developing leaders today to be ready for the demands of tomorrow. Common questions asked by retail organizations are: how can we effectively use coaching and mentoring to accelerate performance? What are the differences between coaching and mentoring? When should we use internal coaches rather than external ones? This installment of RCC’s Leadership Series aims to answer these questions.

Coaching From the Inside and Out

October 24, 2011

By Vince Molinaro, Managing Director, Leadership Solutions

Why Are We Leaving Selection and Succession Decisions to Chance?

October 17, 2011

By Seonaid Charlesworth, Senior Consultant, Leadership Solutions & Stephanie Paquet, Consultant, Leadership Solutions

In our roles as advisors to many organizational leaders, we are called upon to offer insights and expertise on numerous businessrelated decisions. One area that continues to preoccupy executives, corporate directors and business leaders is succession. The challenge of identifying and developing the right individuals who will thrive in key roles within an organization is one that transpires across industries, professions and geography. What bothers HR professionals and organizational leaders most is making a hiring mistake.

Where we are headed with learning?

October 12, 2011

By Brad Loiselle, Managing Director, iPal - CSTD eNewsletter

With the advancement of global communication, the downturn of the economy and the advancement of technology, learning is moving from the classroom door to the computer window. Many organizations are hesitant to make the adoption of e-learning, but when costs are required to be driven down to help weather the financial world winds of the economy, training is one of the first programs to be scaled back and in some cases, cut off completely. These training dollars are then being reallocated into recovery and restoration spending in order to help compensate for the reduction of cash flow, available credit and help gain back lost opportunities – although, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Beyond the CEO: The Role of the Board in Ensuring Organizations have the Talent to Thrive

October 03, 2011

Most Canadian directors acknowledge that human capital oversight is an essential part of their work. The vast majority indicated their boards have direct responsibility for CEO compensation, performance management, and development, including succession planning. But the majority of directors also believe that boards should monitor strategic talent management areas such as HR strategy, organizational culture, employee engagement, succession planning, and learning and development.

Building an Authentic Customer Experience

September 23, 2011

Most consumers have experienced half-hearted efforts at customer service that seem forced and insincere. Is that greeting when I come in the store genuine, or is it something the employee has been forced to do? When someone says “Have a nice day,” did they really want me to have a nice day, or was that a line in the script. The most effective organizations realize that their customers can tell an authentic experience from a fake one.

A True Example of Customer-Centric Culture

September 23, 2011

In a wide-ranging interview with Knightsbridge onPeople, Saretsky said the jokes are just one example of how WestJet attempts to put an added element of care into all aspects of its operations. “To succeed, you cannot just pay lip service to the idea of putting the customer first,” said Saretsky. “It has to show up in everything that you do.”

Alberta’s Labour Crisis Back with a Vengeance

September 12, 2011

By Brad Beveridge, Managing Director, Executive Search & Mark Hopkins, Managing Partner, Executive Search

It’s hard to pick up a newspaper in Alberta and not see a headline that reads “Labour shortage.” Alberta’s energy industry, particularly on the oil side, is ramping up once again. While that’s good news for Alberta and the Canadian economy, the shortage of skilled labour (which never really went away) has returned as one of the most pressing business issues in the province.

Role of CFO Rapidly Evolving to Strategic Executive

June 13, 2011

By Vince Molinaro, Managing Director, Leadership Solutions

The role of the chief financial officer in Canada is rapidly evolving from traditional technician to strategic executive, according to a study by the Canadian Financial Executives Research Foundation (CFERF) and Knightsbridge Human Solutions.

An increasingly important aspect of their role now is to support executive decision-making and to act as a strategic leader, found Beyond the Numbers: The Evolving Leadership Role of the CFO. This means CFOs would benefit from broadening and developing key skills such as communication, relationship-building and team investment in addition to their traditional areas of expertise.

Secrets to Success: Planning Your Job Search

June 02, 2011

By Kelly McDougald, Managing Director, Career Solutions

Whether you are a post-secondary student in school, a recent graduate or just entering the job market, planning your job search can often be a daunting task but there are a number of actions that you can take that will increase the effectiveness of your employment search.

In the Spring/Summer issue of the Humber dialogue magazine, Kelly McDougald, Managing Director of Career Solutions at Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions, shares step-by-step advice job seekers can leaverage during their search.

Resolve is the New Resiliency

April 21, 2011

By Vince Molinaro, Managing Director, Leadership Solutions & Tammy Heermann, Senior Consultant, Leadership Solutions

Faced with increased competition and an economic downturn, senior leadership at the company tried to ride out the recession by cutting back on advertising and laying off staff. These decisions meant that fewer customers came into The Brick's stores, and those who did had trouble finding a sales associate. Instead of stopping the bleeding, these decisions only expedited the losses.

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