Great brands, great experiences, great organizations.
Declining brands, woeful experiences and toxic organizations.
Two sides of a cultural stick perhaps.
In the old days, structure told us how things were supposed to work – the designed organization. Something was also telling us that structure may not work as intended – the lived organization. We’ve moved a long way to appreciate the organization today as a place of living and expression as much as a place of processes, roles or corporate outcomes (if not more). Ultimately, culture plays a big part in corporate success, and failure.
Culture was a really trendy topic some thirty years ago, before we realized some challenges with validation and organization effectiveness. Maybe more cult than culture! There are more opportunities today to evaluate this critical feature of corporate and working life; more tried and tested methods. So, let’s use them.
The challenge with culture is what we are measuring and why. Is there ‘good’ and ‘bad’ culture? How do we decide on factors to assess values, beliefs and assumptions? And assuming we can identify dimensions of meaningful insights, how does it relate to effectiveness, individuals, groups, leaders, stakeholders and customers? Or, to change and adaptation? Good cultural insights need tailoring. But don’t wait for the crisis. Culture creeps silently, for better and for worse, surviving the quarter perhaps, but eventually…
There are so many issues from culture it seems impossible to ignore. Talent management, succession, retention, collaboration, communications, structure, risk, resilience, innovation, strategic planning…and yes, even profit. Leadership matters because of the ability to be attuned to culture, the intangible yet very tangible force behind success as well as ruination. However, culture can now be a little more visible and a little less reliant on someone’s intuition, speculation or the occasional away day. Cultural diagnosis may be somewhat science and somewhat art. But now there’s more science, which can help with the art of leadership!
Virtually all aspects of strategy, organization development and effectiveness take something from cultural insights. We meet leaders every day and see the situations they encounter – organization culture is definitely one of them. At Friisberg & Partners we are very well positioned to support incoming and existing leadership with rigorous methodologies and tools for cultural diagnosis and change.
As people become more health-conscious and with better healthcare and medical advances, a higher life expectancy is a new reality, globally.
Companies need to understand what this means for them and come to accept and value of an older worker.
They need to rethink their HR policies and put in place systems and processes to leverage the strengths and potential of an older workforce.
Did you know that from an economic perspective, an older worker is a person with more than 15 years of experience, regardless of age?
According to a recent study conduced by the French Association “A Compétence Egale” (which fights against discrimination in companies) an employee is considered to be an older worker from the age of 49.6.
Despite this numbers, it is important to note that the definition can vary depending on the company, the sector, the country and the position of the Recruiter or Candidate –perhaps we can be more generous with an average of 52.7 years.
While France’s employment rate for the seniors has been steadily increasing, it remains low compared to other European countries, particularly in the over 60 age group.
For a European average of 60.5% at the beginning of 2023, the employment rates of older people vary from 43.8% in Romania to almost 77% in Sweden. France is in 16th place out of 27, with an employment rate for older workers of around 56%.
Broadly speaking, we can observe the culture of "regulation by the labour market" in Western countries, guided by the economic situation, the "culture of duty to work and to remain in employment", which is found particularly in Japan, or the "culture of the right to work at any age" in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, whereas France seems to be more sensitive to a "culture of early exit".
In a particularly tight labour market, this is a major issue linked to demographic change, as people in their fifties represent the main pool of available labour. This raises the question of the respective roles of the different generations in our societies, their place in the production of wealth, the transmission of knowledge, as well as the new forms of solidarity that can unite them.
While the French government is working on new pension reforms, it’s relevant to understand how the situation is evolving, nationally.
In 2021, the rate was 5.8 points lower than the European Union, with a gap that widens to 12 points for the 60–64-year-old age group.
During the 1970s, employment policies encouraged the withdrawal of older people from the employment market in order to favour access to work for younger people. The retirement age was reduced from 65 to 60 years with early retirement schemes, this largely led to a reduction in the employment rate of older people.
The trend has been reversed 20 years later. As a result of the ageing of the population, the increase in life expectancy and therefore the growing cost of financing pensions, the authorities have had to adapt their policy and work to maintain the employment of older people. Many reforms have followed with the effect of increasing the employment rate of older people by more than 8 points in 10 years.
However, in the same period, the unemployment rate of this population has risen sharply, with temporary contracts. Several measures have been implemented, such as the Senior CDD, the employment skills pathway, the cumulative employment – retirement scheme and government subsidies.
In March 2023, a vote was taken to create a new type of contract, an "End-of-Career" contract to promote the recruitment of 60+ employees.
Five reasons why older workers are an asset to organizations:
Mature workers reduce turnover and absence costs. Research consistently indicates that older employees, with their loyalty and commitment, reduce turnover and absenteeism costs in their organisation.
This is probably due to several factors, first of all: the baggage of ambition, courage, and the right to pursue a professional career, which I have carried with me since childhood – I definitely owe this to my mother. I’ve always been driven to do something interesting, exciting, and rewarding. Also, I learn the most from people who are different to me, who come from other cultures, other business sectors, or differ significantly from me, for example, in age. This enabled me to become convinced that diversity is so very important – I have a deep respect for it and see it as a business fundamental.
It is also important that I work in a company which is very open and supports diversity. The presence of such companies in the Middle East instigates and encourages others to follow best practice in business and leadership imperatives and fundamentals, including diversity. It is still difficult to talk about a trend here, as it still may be in developing stages, but I observe a great desire for a change.
Immediately after arriving in Dubai I was elected to the Management Board of the MedTech Companies Association – MECOMED. I also received the Forbes Award for the Most Influential Woman in the Middle East, which gave me significant exposure to both the business world and the wider public sphere. I am now invited to various meetings and I participate in many round-tables, where often I am the only woman at the table, but the message is spreading around the region and I am sure that something is slowly changing.
This is a very important question, and as usual, there is no simple way to address this problem, but it is through embedding a culture of diversity within organizations. It must be processed and consistent. Culture builds powerful organizations.
It is worth noting that at the entry level we have a balance between women and men. We build inspiring development programs, including those focused only on women, but it takes many years for those talents to reach the managerial level, and even more to reach the executive level – unless, of course, it is someone exceptional in terms of performance, leadership, and commitment. Men climb faster, they have time to devote themselves entirely and fully engage. At the managerial level it’s 30% women and 70% men, at executive level the ratio is even worse. Mobility, courage, and openness are necessary to make a career, and women are not so eager to practice those, or at times feels enabled to do so. Also, and all too often, they can be all discouraged by their managers or partners. As I said, building ambition and courage at a very early age plays a significant role, and you need the enabling and safe space to cultivate it.
I am not a big fan of regulations which tell us how to run the business, but as you can see, we did not make much progress the other way. So, I think that is an important step and probably necessary, but it is also important to change the mindset at the executive level. It is important is to teach top managers “inclusive & authentic leadership”.
AUTHENTIC means: “You walk the talk”, you build the trust, you treat your people with respect.
INCLUSIVE means: you are open to different ideas, you learn from your people, you reflect on their point of view, even when and if you do not initially agree, however you still encourage them to be a significant part of important business decisions. It is when you are not biased.
In our company, every VP has a KPI related to increasing diversity as part of their business goals – our assessment of leadership skills depends on it. I have noticed huge progress in this area since this model of appraisal was introduced. At the moment, we are focused on strengthening our talent pool.
I have “exported” a lot of women from my region to the EU and to the USA to develop them further. Having said that, perhaps I didn’t focus enough on acquiring new talents externally – I didn’t close the loop. You have to develop what you have, as well as being proactive and rather aggressive at points, in searching for female talent and inviting them to join your organization.
So what? Our role is to support them to grow even if it is a stretch for them. We can’t be afraid of mistakes, they will happen just like they do when hiring men. It is the part of the game. I believe that if we want to change something we have to start at home with our children: teaching girls that they have right to be ambitious and teaching boys to appreciate that. We also have to focus on building a culture of openness and inclusiveness. If quotas will accelerate this process, we will all benefit from it, not only women.
Mary Keane and Andrea Chladkova, from our office in Prague, had the pleasure to be invited to this inspiring event:
As a main speaker, Niamh Donnelly, Co-founder & CRO of Akara Robotics shared her story of a female entrepreneurship and was leading the discussion on technology trends and necessity of innovations and adaptability.
It was an evening full of insightful discussions with exceptional women, special thanks to those leading the roundtable discussions:
Andrea Olejarova, Mondelēz International, Lenka Axlerová, Microsoft, Eva Prokesova, JTI (Japan Tobacco International), Aneta Martišková, Edenred Česká republika, Marta Siruckova, Katarína Krajčovičová, Tereza Zavadilova, Monika Mašková, Radka Ondráčková, Senta Čermáková, Erin Swan, Eva Čerešňáková, Lenka Šťastná LION.
The event was organised by the Embassy of Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, and Newstream at the residence of the Irish ambassador to the Czech Republic H.E. Cliona Manahan.
Video credit: Newstream.cz
We see policies becoming increasingly important as things like “work-life-balance” take on new meaning. In the post-pandemic era, companies must grapple with different policies necessary to drive behavior. Work policies (e.g., all remote, hybrid remote/on-site, four-day work week) will vary by industry, economic conditions, geography, products or services offered, etc.
As we look to the ever-evolving workplace, we see where leadership style has meaning and much of that “style” will impact how companies fair post-COVID. The manner in which executives lead through this change will impact how their businesses operate moving forward.
Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested in June of 2022 that the shift to more remote work is the "mother of all experiments”. During the outset of the pandemic, Mr Cook suggested he was impressed employee’s ability to work remotely. His style was inclusive and allowed for experimentation and an evolving approach, but he often suggested a move back to in-office model. In April of 2022, Apple policy set out to drive a hybrid workplace suggesting a three-day-a-week in office policy.
Siemens was way ahead of the curve – in June of 2020 (6 months into the pandemic), Siemens established policies that supported “mobile working as core component of the new normal”. Interesting note in the press release suggesting the “model based on transformation of leadership and corporate culture”. This leadership initiative set aside the uncertainty of remote work and recognized the change of corporate culture.
Elon Musk was faced with two different businesses with very different requirements (and ability) to work remote. His message to Tesla was direct – “if you don’t show up for work we’ll assume you resigned”. In January of this year, Musk sent a different message to his Twitter organization suggesting remote work made sense. Mr. Musk knew he had to adapt to each business circumstance, and he delivered forceful policies to support his position.
CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz offered his policy to reinvigorate “collaboration and camaraderie”. While Mr. Schultz openly states he’s annoyed with the fact that employees are not returning to the corporate office, he is aware of the larger social shift and is willing to build policy to support the growth of the business. Starbucks issued a policy that enabled the workforce to participate in the hybrid work model decision.
There’s one theme that we hear consistently in this post-pandemic era – the workforce is changing and it's increasingly important for leaders to listen more carefully to this shift in social behavior. Well thought out strategies and related policies may lead to increased employee productivity, retention, and longevity. It also impacts ability to recruit employees to the business.
Friisberg, as a firm and a multinational family, stands shoulder to shoulder with Elena, our Partner and her team in the Kyiv office.
She has bravely withstood all that Russia can throw at her, and her family.
These are Elena's thoughts, on this day, after 12 months at war:
A year has passed since that terrible moment when I woke up to the sounds of explosions. But the most difficult task, as it turned out, was to wake up my relatives and say the word, 'War'.
Parts of Kyiv look normal on the surface, but daily we hear air raid sirens. There are now few children in the city because so many have been displaced with their mothers or grandparents living elsewhere in Ukraine, or outside the country. The toll of the human suffering has been staggering – thousands have been killed and more than 8 million Ukrainians have left.
People in Ukraine say that your life is divided into 'before' and 'after’ - and it is true.
We have all changed during this year, but we are not broken and we believe in Victory. It keeps us going.
Ukraine will continue to defend the unarguable fact that it belongs within Europe. We uphold the values, rights and freedoms that underpin Western civilization.
The Friisberg family looks forward to holding a Partner Conference in what will again be a free Kyiv, as capital of a sovereign Ukraine.
Within a social context that is as thrilling as it is changing, in which constant economic, socio-cultural and health (pandemic) milestones have led us to a labour paradigm where markets value creativity and innovation, flexibility and adaptability, companies are looking for workers who can adapt quickly to changes in business dynamics, technological evolutions and where workers seek companies where they can work in multidisciplinary teams, from anywhere in the world.
Where work-life balance is valued above salary parameters, where diverse and inclusive cultures are organizational drivers, sustainable organizations that extol social and environmental responsibility, foster the ability of employees to find sustainable solutions in their work.
In this context I consider the management of multicultural teams as a challenge, but also a thrilling opportunity to cultivate creativity and innovation in the workplace.
Let's start with the definition of a multicultural team as a group of people with different cultural backgrounds, values, norms, perspectives and competencies working together towards a common goal.
Leadership of such a team can be complex due to cultural and communication differences that can affect team collaboration and performance. Factors such as language, cultural traditions and values, decision-making and conflict management, among others, need to be taken into account to ensure effective team leadership. Therefore, it is important that leaders are informed and adequately prepared to manage these differences and promote an inclusive and respectful work environment.
In conclusion, managing multicultural teams requires a conscious approach and a reverent attitude towards diversity underpinned by a number of competencies that are key to helping a multicultural team work together effectively and achieve those common goals.
Biases in Executive Search can negatively impact the process and result in bad hiring decisions.
They can cause overlooking qualified potentials who don't fit the stereotype of the ideal candidate for the role.
It's important to be aware of unconscious biases and ensure that the assessment process is fair and objective.
It's crucial to be mindful of these biases and take steps to reduce their impact on the Executive Search process.
In many cases, AI can reduce humans’ subjective interpretation of data.
It is clear that AI can quickly screen every applicant’s resume for specific requirements like a degree or a specific amount of experience. If a hiring manager has a certain bias for or against a certain university or region, that bias can be eliminated with AI. At the same time, extensive evidence suggests that AI models can embed human and societal biases and deploy them at scale as underlying data rather than the algorithm itself are most often the main source of any issues.
“In theory, AI can help remove biases and subjectivity from the executive search process. By relying on data and algorithms to make hiring decisions, AI can help reduce the influence of human biases in the selection process. However, it's important to keep in mind that the algorithms used by AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on, and any biases present in the training data can be reflected in the results produced by the AI system.
To ensure that AI systems are used in an unbiased and effective manner, it's important to regularly monitor and evaluate the results they produce, and to address any biases that are identified. Additionally, human oversight and involvement in the executive search process is still important to ensure that candidates are evaluated holistically, and to provide a personal touch to the recruitment process.”
Lorraine Wrafter is a Supervisory Board Member and Chair of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee with Ignitis Group.
It is already more than a year since the new Supervisory Board of Ignitis Group, one of the largest energy companies in the Baltic states, was elected. The collegial body of the Group comprises five independent members with international experience and two representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Group‘s majority shareholder.
Our colleagues in Vilnius talked to Lorraine Wrafter, the independent member of the newly elected Supervisory Board, about the role and value of a collegial body in a listed company with the state as a majority shareholder and what it takes to be successful as a member of such a body.
In the Supervisory Board our role is to look after the strategy, key risks (managed risks), ensure business compliance and performance.
My role as the Chair of NRC is to lead the committee and ensure the company is using the right tools and processes to develop the capabilities through succession planning and building the talent pipeline and to engage and reward people. Our role is also to propose an effective organisation structure for decision making and offer assistance in the hiring for Board positions within the Group companies.
The Supervisory Board's first meeting was online and we continued to work online for six months due to Covid and then start of the war in Ukraine. One of our first meetings was to get to know each other, who we are outside of the board room. We had weekly/ fortnightly meetings for the first few months to get us all up to speed on the business. The Supervisory Board and NCR meet monthly.
I was new to the Energy sector and my colleagues were a great help to get me up to speed quickly. I had one to one online meetings with all the Supervisory members to learn about the industry, state and a publicly listed company. We can also call each other whenever we have questions.
What helped me to prepare for the role was the education I received from the Institute of Directors and two advisory Board positions. In addition, Ignitis Group invited me to attend, on behalf of the Supervisory Board, a programme run by an external company to understand corporate culture and governance in the Baltics. They also invested in Sustainability and the Board‘s role.
It is a Energy business, with a fast growing Renewables business that is competing in global markets. We acknowledge the tensions between being both a local Lithuanian company and growing internationally (in Europe) within a highly competitive market. Ignitis Group is a strictly regulated and listed company that has to manage the demands of the state and private investors. All these factors add to the challenges for the business particularly in finding the right talent to run the business and to reward people.
The complexity of the Group structure and decision making processes was one of the first areas the Supervisory Board identified that needed to change. Ignitis Group is now introducing a new structure to help them make faster decisions across the group while ensuring accountability and controls are in place.
We, in the Supervisory Board, were happy to see the resilience and proactiveness of the Group Management team / Executive Board when facing the challenges related to the war in Ukraine – ensuring the energy supply to customers and at the same time moving forward with the agreed strategy, not stopping with growth, especially in renewables (the company "Ignitis Renewables" which expanded quickly in terms of people during the last year).
Challenges were more for the Management Board – our concern was for the Management Board and employees' well being. It has been a very tense year for the business with the war, energy challenges, growing the business and meeting their financial commitments to the state and private investors. During this period employee engagement remained high confirmed by the recent eNPS results.
The role of the Supervisory Board is evolving and the area of focus is the growth of Renewables from reviewing Renewable Projects, preparation for bids, sourcing talent around the world and paying competitive market rates.
Firstly we are a diverse team. There are seven members with seven different skills sets and six nationalities. This gives a great balance of perspectives. We all have an expertise and at the same time we can contribute and challenge each other in their area of expertise.
We are functioning very well as a team.
Being new in the Supervisory Board and also in the Energy market I think it is very useful to get an overview/ knowledge both about the specifics of business, corporate governance and culture at the early stage.
We talk, ask questions, and are open to being challenged and are of course supportive of each other.
Another important area is setting clear accountabilities and boundaries with the Boards of the Group companies so that each collegial body feels accountable, acts within the boundaries and decisions are made on time.
At the end of our meetings we have roundtable time just with the Supervisory Board or Committee members. At these sessions we reviewed what went well and what could be improved and share this feedback with the Management Board. There is no defensiveness.
We have an annual self-assessment of the Board and committees done by external company – another opportunity to reflect and improve the effectiveness of the Board.
Our interactions with the Boards of the Group companies are limited – mainly strategy meetings and business updates. Each of the Group companies has its own board to manage the business and controls. The Group Supervisory Board does not need to get involved with them. They have the controls in place. Our goal is to ensure the Group organisation structure and decision making processes are in place for transparency and in line with anticorruption policies while supporting a fast changing and growing business.
Another important thing in ensuring effective governance is implementation of the principle "Nose in, Fingers out". We, as the Supervisory Board, are responsible for hiring the right people for the Boards and making them accountable, for guiding them based on overall business perspective ("business lenses") and support in decision making – but not making decisions for them. It is a challenge for all of us – especially in a fast growing business, i.e. Renewables, where we say "We are flying the plane while building it".
The Group Organisational Development Director, Executive Board member, and I have a good working relationship; we are open and direct and we learn from each other. It is a two-way process. Before each NRC meeting we have a pre-meeting to review the agenda items and the materials. We discuss areas on which to focus, what could be contentious topics and how to manage the discussions. I play "devil‘s advocate" to pre-empt what questions could be asked by the Board members so that the presenters are prepared.
NRC has varied activities such as agreeing a new Expat Policy, Succession Planning, Female Talent Pipeline, Engagement and Reward programmes. One of the biggest challenges is around Reward where we try and balance the needs and concerns of a state-owned company that is operating in European/Global markets and is publicly listed.
During the last year we did a lot of hiring for the Boards, currently we are also looking for the members of the Committee for Risk Management and Business Ethics Supervision, with the focus on Safety and Health.
I am glad to work with a management team which is very motivated.
I am excited to work in such a team and I am excited to talk about it.
We work very well together. We talk very openly, have discussions and debates, looking at things very objectively from the business perspective – actually we do not have many disagreements, and when we do, we manage to find solutions. Always looking through business lenses, and never with any emotional load when discussing the questions – maybe this is why we are working well.
The independent Supervisory Board members are from 5 different countries/ different nationalities, we all worked for private businesses where the things are done differently than in state owned companies (less bureaucracy and faster decision making).
It is good and useful that we can share our different experiences/ ways of working in different cultures. Two of us in the Supervisory Board are not from the Energy sector (myself and Tim Brooks) – so we have all the opportunities to learn about the Energy sector from other team members.
It is also very useful that we have very open minded members representing the state – through them we 'educate‘ the Finance Ministry on international business best practices.
I really enjoy being a member of a Supervisory Board. I 'have got' everything: state owned, publicly listed, changing and growing business with a truly diverse Supervisory Board. It is a business that can have a big impact on the planet too. I am passionate about the Company and my role in terms of how I can contribute to the business
Be proactive, use all the opportunities to network and let people know you are interested in obtaining a Board position. Take on advisory Board roles to gain experience. I would recommend attendance at a Board/Director Programme for collegial body members – to better understand the role and responsibilities of Board members and understand the governance issues. It also shows potential Boards you are serious about joining them.
Burnout is a widespread leadership topic that has grown in importance recently.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a clinical condition resulting from extreme, unaddressed workplace stress and can affect both employees and executives. The hot question of 2023 is not if executives will experience burnout - but when.
Dealing with burnout is a prevalent theme that appears not only in leadership development coaching sessions but also seems to be a major driver of senior managers wanting to change their jobs.
Commonly recognized as an emotional state where a person feels exhausted and out of touch with their work, burnout is also a well-known term in psychology and management used to explain why some people quit their jobs and look for new opportunities.
A recent Deloitte survey shows that nearly 70% of C-level executives are considering jobs that might better support their wellbeing. Although not on the same scale, we can say that our experience with executives confirms this trend.
Burnout becomes a serious challenge that may undermine the success not only of the career seekers but also of many businesses.
Knowledge about most typical signs and symptoms of burnout state is crucial. This can be a starting point for taking further actions or seeking and providing support. Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach-ache, neck pains combined with concentration difficulties, mental fatigue, impatience, cynical reactions, lack of motivation, anxiety and depression may be solid indications that burnout is there.
If an executive identifies these signs in their state and behaviour, a possible solution could be starting looking for a new job. However, if this new job is not in a less stressful environment, this solution could make the things even worse.
Taking a sabbatical - a long break from work that will help executives recover from the work-induced stress. It can be paid or unpaid, and companies usually have a sabbatical policy that details the application procedure. Sabbaticals can help if the senior managers feel overworked or need some time to recover their creative capacity. However, if the burnout is due to some underlying issues in the team, or some personal reasons, it will be better to choose a different solution.
Downshifting - Starting a gradual process of changes that makes the work life balance easier, quieter, balanced, and much less stressful. This can happen by reducing work hours and/or responsibilities and may impact managers' incomes.
Working with a coach – taking this approach may help to constructively deal with burnout symptoms, identifying stress points and building new habits.
Finally, businesses contribution can make a huge difference. Prioritizing executives’ and employees’ well-being is essential for growth-oriented companies and building a strategic approach for prevention and support in case of burnout may turn out as significant competitive advantage.
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