StrategyDriven Project Management Best Practice Article

Project Management Best Practice 6 – A+ Players

Mission critical projects often impact not only large portions of the employee population but the ability of the company to be competitive and to carry out important functions over the long-term. In fact, some projects are so important that board members and company officers literally bet the company’s very existence on the successful outcome of the initiative. With stakes this high, the question becomes: Can company leaders afford to assign anyone other than their most talented personnel to conceive, develop, and implement these initiatives?


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Lessons from the Best Global Brands 2010: Building trust and stability in the age of transparency

This year, Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands 2010 ranking of the top 100 brands was notable for showing a remarkable shift in consumers’ spending habits. Public scandals like the BP oil spill and Goldman Sachs’ mortgage securities fraud compromised consumers’ trust in brands, and as a result, consumer loyalty was at an all-time low. At the same time, the stops and starts of the recession have created savvier, more budget-conscious consumers who are just as likely to cut spending by choosing private label toothpaste, as they are to match a Zara skirt with a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. And not only are brands more vulnerable to shoppers’ unpredictable whims, but tools like social media mean that consumers also have more control. Today’s consumers now have the ability to watch and respond to every brand’s move – positive or negative.


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About the Author

Jez Frampton is Interbrand’s Global CEO responsible for managing the firm’s worldwide interests and enhancing its strategic and creative offerings. Jez is a member of the Marketing Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Market Research Society, the Design Business Association, and the Institute of Directors. He is a frequent lecturer on the subject of branding.

Leadership Inspirations – Recovery

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Confucius (551 – 479 BC)
Chinese thinker and social philosopher

Relational Leadership and Employee Retention – A Match, part 2 (Segment Two)

In Part Two – Segment Two will complete the discussion on a trusting organization. These 10 principles of trust when employed consistently to your entire organization without bias will build a bridge of loyalty that will stand against the elements. People do not willingly leave organizations built on moorings as strong as trust.

This article will examine the last five Building Blocks of Trust. All of the building blocks are important and it is essential to note that you cannot selectively skip one in favor of another. Companies that score high in the Trust Index will see lower turnover and greater productivity.

Figure 1: The Second Five Building Blocks of Trust


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About the Author

Frank McIntosh is author of The Relational Leader (Course Technology PTR, Cengage Learning 2010). During his 36 year career, Frank has worked with many of the most recognized companies and executives in the world. He has provided consulting services for peers across the country and helped initiate Junior Achievement programs in Ireland, the Ivory Coast, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan. Frank was inducted into the Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame in October 2008, one of 38 individuals so honored and the first not-for-profit executive to receive this distinction in Delaware’s 300 year business history. To read Frank’s complete biography, click here.

For more information regarding this subject, visit Frank McIntosh at his website www.FJMcIntosh.com.

Lock in and Engage Top Talent

In good times and bad, organizations have learned about the impact of thinking that employees are dispensable. Such thought is particularly unwise as the economy improves after a downturn.

During the past few years, companies have lopped off employees in the hundreds of thousands for reasons of economic survival. The staff gaps that resulted are now being felt as those same companies are faced with competition both for business and the top talent they still possess.

Slowly, we are seeing a shift from a buyer’s to a seller’s labor market. There may be a high unemployment problem but HR executives are still complaining about a significant skill gap, that is, a difference in proficiency between the majority of individuals in the market for jobs and those that companies want in their labor force.

Rather than having just a replacement mentality, human resources needs a more strategic approach to the situation—one that finds answers to the coming high turnover. They need a solution that also addresses the bad reputation that the recession has wrought on many companies and that identifies cultural changes that will attract new employees.

Evidence has shown a high correlation between employee job satisfaction and engagement and employee retention and recruitment.

Here are some strategies to engage and retain top talent:


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About the Author

Florence Stone is editorial director for AMA and editor of MWorld, AMA’s quarterly membership journal. She is the author of Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring, The Manager’s Question and Answer Book and The Essential New Manager’s Kit.

To learn more about the American Management Association, click here.