Endaba hosted 3 events across all consumer sectors, focusing on how to future-proof the success of your business through your talent. What became apparent was that the challenges that consumer businesses are facing are sector agnostic. One of the key themes was that businesses need to apply a “people before profit” approach to attracting and retaining world-class talent. Further themes and insights include:
- We all agreed that we are in a new era, new economy and VUCA world and we are all Millennials!
- Current uncertainty is the warm-up act so we need to be prepared for what’s to come
- Past successes don’t mean future successes
How to develop leadership and talent:
- Embrace unique and diverse talents
- CEOs become Chief Emotional Officers and Chief Engagement Officers
- Acquire and retain the best talent
- Remove obstacles for talent to thrive
- Strategy is no longer driven in the board room, it is cultivated with your talent
- Attract talent through empathy, skill building, relationship building
- Build career resilience and have humility
- Know your successor
- Appreciate the value of good Non-Executives
- Listen, share and be inclusive
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable
- Give up the idea of controlling everything as the landscape changes all the time
- Create a ‘progress over perfection’ and a ‘no-fear’ culture
- Hold people accountable
- Employ people who are smarter than you!
- Leaders should see themselves as managing people in transition
- People can copy your product but it’s your people that are the differentiator / competitive advantage
- Consider creative job titles to empower and give new focus to employees
How to build a ‘Currency of Trust’:
- Being transparent is critical and gives you the ability to empower people
- Find ways to promote and share it
- Be realistic and honest in your dealings
- Be consistent in your actions
Being human as a leader in this new era:
- Be connective
- Be vulnerable
- Be curious
- Be courageous
- Have EQ (Emotional Intelligence)
- Develop CQ (Cultural Intelligence)
- Bring your ‘whole self’ to work
Education and learning:
- In the past, the only path to success was the avoidance of failure
- Learn from failure – ‘Courageous Penguin Award’ at Google
- Make it ok for someone to take risks and fail but not ok to be rubbish!
- Continuous learning is a must for all
- Need to be entrepreneurial and creative
- Understand the different skillsets in the workforce not only about academic achievement
- Embrace diversity and challenge preconceptions
Digital world:
- Embrace AI, robots and everything augmented!
- Consider social media and how can this be used to engage employees and share ideas
- To be in the future, you’ve got to be up for it!
- For a business to progress, it must embrace young digital natives and learn how to work together
