Mid Level Leader

Decoding decision making: Unraveling the complexity of organizational dynamics

Reimagining relationship banking for small businesses

While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in driving economic growth and innovation, they often face unique challenges when dealing with banks. This makes relationship banking crucial to their success. By strengthening their relationship banking models, banks can differentiate themselves from competitors by improving the support they provide to SMEs, helping these businesses overcome challenges and thrive in the marketplace.    In discussions with owners of SMEs about their experiences with banks, four common concerns emerge:     Access to credit. Obtaining financing for purposes such as working capital, expansion, or equipment purchase is a significant challenge for SMEs. Banks often perceive them as riskier borrowers due to their limited credit history, lack of collateral, or volatile revenue streams, which can make it difficult to secure loans.  High interest rates and fees. SMEs may face higher interest rates and fees compared to larger, more established businesses due to banks' perception of greater default risk, as well as limited financial transaction volumes.  Complex application processes. SMEs often face time-consuming and complex loan application processes, requiring extensive documentation such as financial statements, tax returns, and business plans.  Inflexible lending terms. SMEs may struggle with inflexible lending terms, including strict collateral requirements, short repayment periods, or covenants that restrict operational flexibility. These terms can make it difficult for SMEs to manage cash flow and invest in growth.  By adopting the following approach, relationship managers can help businesses overcome these challenges:  Advocate for clients within the bank, helping them secure financing for business expansion, capital investments, working capital growth, and asset accumulation.  Offer guidance on optimizing cash resources within the constraint of limited capital resources.  Provide advice on managing personal wealth accumulated through business ownership.  This approach requires a set of knowledge and capabilities:  Business acumen—an understanding of SMEs’ unique needs and business challenges.  Recognition of the essential role cash flow plays in small business success and an understanding of how to optimize it.  Familiarity with the financial impact of bank products on SMEs' finances.  Understanding of small business funding models, including the roles of owners, banks, and investors.  Insight into the migration of SMEs to medium-sized enterprises.  Equipped with these capabilities and this knowledge, bankers can employ critical relationship management skills at four key stages:  Planning. Gain local market knowledge and industry/sector expertise before engaging with clients.  Discovery. Approach SMEs with a focus on their unique needs, recognizing the distinct characteristics of owner-managed and owner-financed businesses.  Engagement. Position offerings from a client-impact perspective, rather than a bank- product perspective, addressing the specific needs and challenges of SMEs.  Closing. Adopt a partnering approach and act as an advocate for SME clients within the bank, particularly when dealing with credit functions and decision-makers.  By focusing on these areas, banks can enhance their relationship banking model for SME customers, providing personalized support and tailored financial solutions to help small businesses succeed in a competitive landscape. 

What’s the future for retail banking? Hint: it’s digital and brick and mortar 

In today's rapidly evolving consumer landscape, marked by disruptive innovations and increasing competition, retail banks are facing a pivotal moment. Digital banking is here to stay – but shockingly, so too is its predecessor – branch banking. The traditional role of the branch is evolving, however, and leaders in the industry need to stay relevant in this dynamic environment by embracing key changes.  Why are branches alive and well in the digital age?  Despite the proliferation of digital channels, brick and mortar branches continue to play a vital role in retail banking. Research shows that while routine transactions are moving online, branches still remain critical to:  Customer acquisition and retention: Branches remain the primary channel for opening new accounts and acquiring customers, particularly high-value segments.  Personalized advice and sales: Complex and high-value products such as mortgages, loans, and investments require personalized interactions. Branches excel at providing tailored advice and converting sales opportunities.  Trust and loyalty: Human interactions are essential to building trust and loyalty, especially when addressing financial concerns and needs.  The future of branch-level sales management  To stay competitive and relevant, sales leaders in retail banking must pivot from traditional methodologies and adopt a future-forward approach. This means:  1. Adapting to customer preferences: Sales leaders must understand and respond to changing customer behavior and preferences, thus offering a customer experience that seamlessly integrates digital and physical channels. 2. Leveraging data and analytics: Sales leaders must be able to harness the power of data to gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs. This enables leaders to take a targeted and personalized approach to engaging customers.  3. Empowering sales teams: Sales leaders need to invest in the development of their sales teams, enhancing their skills and knowledge and equipping them with the right tools to deliver exceptional customer experiences.  4. Optimizing branch functionality: Sales leaders must rethink the branch model, focusing on smaller, more versatile formats that cater to specific customer needs all within the same branch footprint.  5. Innovation and collaboration: Sales leaders must foster a culture of innovation and collaboration, encouraging their teams to experiment, learn, and share best practices. Organizations should consider collaborating with fintech companies to take advantage of emerging technologies and deliver innovative solutions that better meet customer’s needs.  A call to action  Digital banking may be the future, but branch baking is here to stay. Sales leaders in retail banking who want to thrive in the future need to embrace this transformation, the integration of old and new, and reimagine how they manage their customer experience and how they meet customer needs. By adopting a forward-thinking approach, leveraging technology, and nurturing talent, retail banks can unlock new opportunities, drive growth, and stay relevant amid increased competition. Are you ready to take on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead? 

How will your bank wow customers amid digital transformation? Keep it personal 

The financial reports for banking groups around the world today all showcase one recurring investment theme – digital transformation. Many organizations, still hampered by legacy systems, are focusing their transformation on digitizing their ways of working. For others, digital transformation is an opportunity to create more meaningful customer experiences by leveraging the power of data and analytics to reduce cost, adopt intuitive systems, and provide solutions faster.   As customers in both personal and corporate banking take advantage of digital platforms and tools, the role of “in person” sales is diminishing. This is especially true for routine or transactional sales. However, as the ability (and willingness) of customers to self-service using digital channels increases, so does the role of the banker as a trusted advisor.   When today’s customers engage with your sales representative, they are coming to the table more informed than ever before. They have already used digital channels to do their primary research. In these circumstances, the customer is seeking expert advice and the bar is high to get it right, fast. These human-to-human interactions are built on trust – your customers trust your sales representative to solve their specific problem in the moment, quickly, and without friction. The “in-person” seller must be prepared to add value beyond what is available via digital channels.  What does this differentiated “value” look like?  Customers today, more than ever, value brands who show a deep understanding of their personal (or business’s) circumstances and challenges. Sellers who understand this principle are best positioned to not only satisfy the customer’s needs but also accelerate the results they hope to achieve, delivering additional value either in speed of execution, or the quantum of the outcome.   How to make selling personal  1. Speed and seamlessness Customers want to quickly and seamlessly transition from online and self-service channels to a “human” interaction. When it comes to larger commitments or more complex products, communication channels need to provide fast access to human sellers who are available and ready to respond. The transitions are key ways to differentiate your brand against the competition and greatly improve satisfaction and customer loyalty.   2. Quality digital tools Systems integration is requisite for providing a seamless experience for both sellers and customers. Sellers should be able to view a real time, 360° view of the client interaction across all channels and understand how these channels work to ensure seamless customer engagement experiences.  3. Know thy customer Sellers need to be aware that customers are engaging with them notably later in their buying decision process. This means that your sellers need to closely track with where your buyer is in the process – communicating with technology and tracking user experience is key here. The sales and discovery process does not begin from scratch when you join a call or offer a handshake – your customers will lose patience and feel as though their time is being wasted. Begin with questions to first validate what the customer already knows before engaging in discovery. Pausing for understanding will help sellers to solicit additional information and clarify circumstances and needs without alienating or frustrating the customer.   4. Keep it personal Describe your bank’s offering and value proposition in a way that feels personal to the customer sitting in front of you. Generic overviews of features and benefits won’t provide insights-based recommendations to solve the customer’s challenges or leave them feeling supported, informed, and inspired.   5. Keep the support alive Support the customer as they navigate the final steps in their decision-making. Extra touch points up front will help today’s banks build a loyal customer base in the future.   The new age of in-person selling in banking is a departure from the traditional, but is also rich with opportunity. Leading organizations in the banking sector recognize that personalized, in-person service is trending. Successful bankers are adapting by meeting customers on their own terms, using agility to respond to customer needs and clearly connecting banking solutions to customers' financial goals. 

“We have one more shot” 7 reasons why CRM implementations fail and how to make yours a success 

Over the past year I have interviewed 100 leaders in sales, marketing, and customer success from across the globe in various industries about their greatest challenges. Among those, CRM and data-driven decisions consistently ranked at the top.  Most interviews confirmed my own observations working with industry-leading clients: CRM implementations don’t fail because of technical challenges, they fail because of human challenges. Too often, organizations over rotate on technology and do not focus enough on adoption. CRM users are the critical – yet often overlooked – component of the initiative’s success or failure.   For example, the Chief Commercial Officer of one life sciences organization shared: “We have one more shot.” After two failed CRM system implementations due to poor adoption by the organization’s people, yet another would impede any possibility of embracing a more data-driven approach to their sales and marketing efforts. As a result, not only would the organization fall behind the competition, it would also fail to realize significant growth potential given the anticipated gains in sales productivity and customer engagement driven by AI.  While CRM implementation is costly and time consuming, its success is mission critical for organizations to get and stay ahead of the competition. So how do ensure your implementation is a success? Here are the top seven people-related reasons CRM implementations fail and how to avoid them:  1. Problem  Lack of buy-in and insufficient planning: Without strong buy-in and support from senior executives, the new CRM system will be met with resistance and low adoption rates. Furthermore, failure to adequately plan for implementation – the timeline, costs, resources, and communication – can quickly drain what little support you have and lead to costly delays, budget overruns, confusion, and frustration. Solution A well-defined plan and purpose: Do not implement a new system just because your competitors are doing so. Be strategic – are you looking to improve customer satisfaction, increase sales, enhance marketing efforts, or streamline internal processes? Having clear objectives will help you align the implementation with your organizational goals and gain critical executive buy-in. In addition, the “why” behind CRM implementation must be clearly communicated throughout the organization. The standard approach – a mandate that “you must use the CRM” – won’t work unless everyone understands the benefits for themselves, their team, and the company.  2. Problem  Insufficient change management: Reluctance to adopt new ways of working is a common obstacle to any change initiative and CRM implementations are no exception. This is particularly true when people have misconceptions about AI and compounding fears of becoming obsolete. Neglect to address change management and even the best system will fail. Solution Focus on shifting mindsets: Involve sales, marketing, and customer service leaders in the change early on to increase engagement. Authorship is ownership. Enlist these leaders as role models in using the system and encourage them to help their teams see the benefits of the new process. Successful implementation relies on shifting mindsets and adopting a more client-centric, data-driven, results-oriented, targeted approach to sales, marketing, and customer service.   3. Problem  Inadequate training: New CRM systems require significant changes for your client development team in both process and behavior. Without sufficient training, even the most willing employees can get discouraged and fall off track. Solution Lean into capability building: Employees need to be trained on skills such as data analytics, data-driven management and leadership, and marketing automation. In addition, ensure they have access to in-the-flow-of-work support that is aligned with the customer’s buying journey and the company’s selling process.  4. Problem  Poor vendor selection: Selecting the wrong partner means you’ll spend time building a system that isn’t fully aligned with your organization’s needs. Consider implementation, integration, and support capabilities before you contract and begin work. Solution  True partnership: The right partner will help make your CRM implementation a seamless process and make you look great while doing it. Find a partner who takes a holistic view of your business and deeply understands both your organizational and customer needs.   5. Problem  Poor data quality: CRM systems rely on accurate and up-to-date data. The best CRM systems in the world will fail without complete and consistent information. Solution  A cleanse is key: Data is the lifeblood of any CRM system. Ensure the quality and accuracy of your data by conducting a thorough data cleansing before migrating it to the new CRM. Develop a data migration plan, validate and map the data fields correctly, and test the migrated data to ensure its integrity and desired insights.   6. Problem  Over customization and limited integration: CRM systems must map to your customer journey nuances and reinforce your sales, marketing, and customer service processes, and methodologies. Often these platforms are sold as the silver bullet solution toyou’re your needs. That said, over-customizing can make the system unnecessarily complex, difficult to use, and challenging to maintain.   Solution  Just right customization and integration: Tailor the CRM system to your organization’s unique needs – but strike the right balance by testing and iterating. Your CRM needs to function as part of a broader company-wide infrastructure, which includes ERP systems, sales enablement platforms, learning experience systems, and marketing automation support. If your CRM system is treated as a standalone tool, or if integration is not well executed, you’ll be at risk for errors and inefficiencies. A slow and thoughtful approach at the beginning will allow your organization to make faster and sustainable progress in the future.  7. Problem  Lack of flexibility or ongoing support: CRM systems need to be adaptable to changing business needs. A system that is too rigid or difficult to modify in response to evolving demands will quickly become obsolete. Solution  Continuous improvement: CRM implementation is a journey—not a one-time event but an ongoing process. Continuous support and maintenance are critical to its long-term success. If support is inadequate, the system can become outdated, ineffective, and irrelevant. Establish a dedicated team to address user queries, resolve issues promptly, and ensure system stability. Regularly review and optimize the system to align with evolving business requirements and changing customer needs. Gather feedback and continuously seek opportunities to improve and enhance the system's effectiveness.  Ultimately, the success of any CRM system relies on user adoption. By communicating a compelling vision that creates alignment, involving stakeholders to drive engagement, developing the appropriate capabilities, driving the necessary mindset shifts, instituting a robust user support program, ensuring data quality, integration, and customization, and employing effective change management, businesses can experience a successful CRM implementation—and achieve their desired business results. 

Is your organization future relevant? The 6 next practices to get you there

In 1998, Netflix introduced its DVD delivery service, taking the video rental industry onto the web and simplifying the customer experience. Access to the Internet provided a new connection to the customer, streamlining video rental services through a more centralized distribution strategy and reducing the need for store front business models. Passed over by Blockbuster for acquisition, Netflix went on to roll out its streaming services nearly a decade later, and while it was not the first to do so, the success of the venture shifted an entire industry to pursue the web-based distribution model. In addition, the company’s use of data to inform content decisions, as well as improve the customer experience, has been a model for leveraging the power of big data. Netflix took emerging technologies, recognized customer needs, and slowly adapted to become the online service provider for over 240 million subscribers as of 2023. During its rise to streaming dominance, Netflix also challenged HR norms and implemented a new set of talent policies focused on creating a culture of excellence and transparency, elevating the expectations for managers and leaders of teams. The PowerPoint on talent management released by CEO Reed Hastings and his team went viral and influenced some of the modern policies used by businesses to attract and retain talent. Although an extreme example of business achievement, Netflix is a case study for the impact of future relevant business strategies. The organization remained quick on its feet, adapted ahead of its competitors, elevated talent strategies, and capitalized on opportunities to leverage technological advancements. In doing so, Netflix challenged industry norms and created a dramatic change in how customers interact with video content. So, what does it mean to be future relevant and why is it important to consider, now? At a high level, future relevant organizations recognize that their current success does not ensure future success in an ever-changing business environment. Instead, future relevant organizations continuously reevaluate and establish internal strategies for adapting and elevating internal capabilities to ensure future success is achievable in the face of change and uncertainty. This is especially important in today’s world of constant change. We know from our client conversations, what we see in the news, and challenges expressed in annual reports – disruption across all industries is top of mind for CEOs. The disruption is coming from many fronts, all at once: technological innovations, geopolitical upheaval, economic uncertainty, to name a few. Some we’ve been talking about for years, such as AI (although only recently hitting the mainstream), while others are emerging, such as remote work. CEOs and their leadership teams are faced which an ongoing need to plan, pivot, adapt, and determine the best way to respond to position their companies for future success.

Mastering strategic transformation through a retail rebrand

Client need A leading fashion retail company found itself at a crossroads post-spin-off from its larger parent company. With a new CEO at the helm, the executive team was determined to usher the company to a better, stronger future. In recent years, the company’s brand perception has taken a hit and loss favorability in the marketplace. With the momentum of a new CEO and strategy, the company turned to BTS to help address culture challenges and chart a path forward. The client need: Evolved corporate values: The organization needed to redefine their values and codify their new aspirational culture. Executive alignment: The newly appointed executive team needed to align on the company's direction and values. Brand perception: The company was challenged with shifting the public perception of the brand, thus requiring a strategic approach to rebuild trust with the market. Solution At the beginning of the engagement, BTS assembled the executive team to participate in a series of alignment sessions designed to create an aligned vision about shaping the future culture, values, and ways of working across company. The goal of these sessions was to foster a shared vision amongst the leadership team on what needed to shift culturally to transform the company and regain the hearts and minds of the market. Elements of the executive team alignment journey: Culture assessment: An assessment designed to collect data on the existing culture to give the team an honest and real perspective on how the current culture is experienced across the organization. Values re-articulation: A series of executive alignment sessions and focus groups conducted to shape the company's values and ensure they reflected the desired culture. Leadership commitments: A set of leadership commitments, or expectations, aligned with the organization’s values to drive behavioral change at all levels of the organization—making the values practical and tangible. Playbook creation: Crafting playbooks for both leaders and individual contributors that outline the critical moments and behaviors necessary for cultural transformation. Engagement of the organization: To shift way of working and create the conditions for the values to stick, a series of digital engagement experiences was designed for leaders to cascade and engage their teams’ in the new values. As a result, the organization would achieve a more cohesive and streamlined organizational dynamic, successfully reduce ambiguity, and cultivate a shared understanding. Results At the end of this journey, the organization was proud to have achieved the following: Enhanced leadership alignment: The executive team was aligned on the new values and commitments, fostering a unified vision for the company. Cultural embedding: The new values were integrated into talent processes and business operations, creating a consistent cultural foundation. Positive perception shift: The organization experienced a positive shift in brand perception, with the executive team receiving overwhelming support from the board. Simplified performance management: The values were seamlessly integrated into performance management, influencing talent acquisition and selection processes. While the full impact of the culture transformation is still unfolding, early employee feedback is strong. The new values have already started shaping daily activities, emphasizing a sense of purpose, collaboration, and accountability throughout the organization. The new CEO and the board of directors also expressed immense satisfaction with the transformation, noting that the new values perfectly captured the essence of the company's new vision and charted a clear and concise direction for the future.

5 global macrotrends poised to change your business

Decoding decision making: Navigating organizational and individual realities

Wildlife Conservation Society Leader Development Journey

*Photo credit: Julie Larsen Maher* Facing rising threats to wild species and habitats, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) experienced a surge of support for and investment in its people and mission. To equip its more than 4,000 scientists and staff based in over 50 countries for the unique challenges that WCS leaders face in the field, WCS sought to develop its talent. Thus, WCS selected BTS to create an engaging learning journey, both customized to fit its leaders’ specific needs and aligned to the organization's mission to “save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education and inspiring people to value nature.” The resulting learning journey, Amplify, helped scientists and conservationists scale their leadership impact. Through the six-month leadership journey, WCS identified two primary learning objectives: 1) leaders were clear about what is expected of them and how to lead in specific leadership moments, 2) leaders developed more effective mindsets, skills and behaviors described by the WCS’s new Leadership Principles. To develop WCS’s Leadership Principles, BTS conducted interviews across the organization to ensure that the language and context of the principles were customized to the unique experiences of WCS’s leaders. This research resulted in seven Leadership Principles, including Collaborate with Curiosity, Connect with Purpose and Foster inclusion, which serve as the red thread connecting every aspect of the learning journey. The goal of Amplify was to ignite a shift towards more people-focused leadership, transforming the way they inspired, motivated, supported, and enabled their people to achieve an even greater impact in saving wildlife and wild places. The program combines in-person workshops with virtual small-group discussions to create greater levels of self-awareness, intentionality, peer accountability, and support. Throughout the journey, participants wrestle with realistic leadership scenarios that have practical application. Amplify is viewed by WCS Executive Leadership as an important enabler to scale the capacity of hundreds of WCS leaders around the world as they continue to strengthen their impact to educate and save critical wildlife species and habitats under threat by climate change, poaching, rural and urban development and even war. The initial cohorts of Amplify focused on regional, country and park directors of large conservation programs that protect endangered species and habitats. Moving forward, BTS will support the delivery of Amplify to additional senior leadership audiences throughout WCS. BTS was able to offer WCS as a mission-driven not-for-profit (NFP), the option of coaching pods via BTS Spark, our social impact arm, that provides leadership coaching to the education and NFP sectors at NFP pricing. This hybrid BTS & BTS Spark style contract can be a model moving forward to support NFPs and maximize our impact. Looking ahead into 2024 and beyond, BTS is committed to extending the reach of Amplify to encompass a broader spectrum of senior leadership within WCS. The effectiveness of this endeavor will be measured, in part, by the level of engagement reported by participants and employees, alongside assessments of enhanced leadership capabilities across the organization.

Develop a staying, growing, thriving culture

HR Daily Advisor editorial… In a rapidly changing work environment, organisations grapple with retaining quality talent amidst an exhausted workforce, shrinking budgets, and an uncertain economy. The desire to stick around is decreasing among employees. According to Gartner, employee attrition averaged around 20% in 2022. The evolving landscape of employment—characterised by a surge in remote working, the loss of critical knowledge due to an aging workforce, and a demand for purpose-driven roles—underscores the need for a fresh approach. In fact, purpose has arisen as an important driver for employees because it connects individuals to their companies. Traditional development systems no longer suffice. Instead, companies must democratise and personalise learning at scale, fostering a culture that aligns with both individual and organizational purposes. While 83% of business leaders agree that development is important at every level, only 5% of businesses have implemented development initiatives at all levels. As jobs and careers undergo transformative shifts and the lines between global and local blur, businesses must adapt. The significance of a purposeful learning culture, its impact on retention, and practical strategies for its implementation become paramount. It’s not just about equipping employees with skills. It’s about giving them a reason to stay, grow, and thrive. Here are three steps for implementing a learning culture throughout an organisation… Step 1: Aim For Personalisation in Corporate Learning The world of work progresses at a breakneck speed. To keep up with change, employees and teams need to consistently reskill. Though investments in learning and leadership development are at an all-time high, 70% of employees surveyed by Workplace Intelligence feel unprepared for the future of work. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to learning. Personalisation enables learners to focus on areas where they need the most improvement, allowing for targeted skill-building and efficient use of time and resources. This requires a blended and modular approach to give all learners access to training and materials at the right moments to unleash their potential. Sadly, many learning programs prioritise ease of implementation and compliance, employing a rigid design suited for traditional learning academies and generic perspectives. Modern learners demand flexibility, including full access to quality materials, opportunities for exploration, and learning from others. Democratising materials and personalising learning at scale across verticals can be challenging. However, adopting a more self-directed, human-centered approach is vital for the future of learning. Embracing technology to make learning tools and experiences accessible and relevant to everyone empowers workers to cultivate their skills and foster a stronger connection to their companies, reducing turnover. Step 2: Create Ownership of Learning and Reward Curiosity With a learning culture, every member of an organization must lead by example. It’s not enough to 'sell and tell' a learning strategy. People—including the executive team members—need to know the 'why?' behind learning. All must feel a deeper commitment to the outcomes and impact of knowledge improvement. Individuals must perceive and experience the rewards of investing time and energy in learning. For instance, when everyone develops their business and technology acumen, the path to digital transformation becomes smoother. Corresponding productivity gains benefit both employees and the business. The cause and effect of learning on business results must be highlighted and rewarded. Rewarding curiosity goes beyond praising and promoting those who show eagerness to learn. It also involves cultivating an environment that nurtures critical thinking, where debates and voicing opinions are encouraged, even if it leads to disagreement. As an added advantage, transparency in learning and development fosters psychological safety. Employees understand that they are encouraged to enhance their skills and won’t face penalties for applying newly acquired knowledge, even if the outcomes are unexpected or undesirable. Rather than fearing excessive innovation, employees will be motivated to present novel strategies. Ultimately, this strengthens their connection with their work and the organisation’s culture. This doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a balanced perspective between learning, testing, and relearning. An organization’s strategy and culture need to be mutually reinforced by means such as finding an equilibrium between accountability for progress while allowing the experience to be rich in positive, authentic coaching and feedback. Step 3: Design Learning Portfolio Offerings Rich in Community, Experiences, and Content More than 50% of employees who work remotely at least some of the time say they feel disconnected from their colleagues. Compounding this feeling, many learning strategies actively scale out human connections through technology. A well-balanced learning and development strategy will stimulate a learning culture when it optimises for the right mix of three key things: community, experience, and content. Communities are the best way to deliver lasting change because they create a connection between people and accountability Experiences are one of the most effective ways to disrupt mindsets and create the capacity to change Content is the foundation for guiding and reinforcing perspectives and ways of working Getting this balance is critical and should be the top priority for any learning organisation. One method of determining if participants are finding meaning from a learning portfolio is by measuring the impact through employee engagement surveys and similar vehicles. Together, the vehicles should measure three categories: the head, the heart, and the hands. In terms of the head, measurements should identify if the learning unlocks people’s intelligence so they can contribute to the company’s mission of outstripping the competition. When it comes to the heart, the measurement should reveal whether employees are happy. As for the hands, the measuring device needs to indicate whether training has prompted productivity and performance. Most companies accept that training their people is essential. However, far too many leaders haven’t changed their learning and development focus in years. That’s a liability in a modern labour market where talented individuals are quick to switch jobs. The better way to ensure more retention and higher engagement is to invest in purpose-rich training that benefits all parties and creates a dynamic learning culture.

Harnessing the Power of Business Simulations: Why they are key to organizational effectiveness

In today's business landscape, change is a constant. Thriving organizations know that they need to focus on equip their employees with mission-critical skills. Business simulations are quickly becoming one of the most effective methods for businesses to train, align, and transform workforce culture and capabilities. Custom business simulations are designed to mimic the real-life scenarios that an employees will encounter, effectively preparing them for real-world situations. So, what makes business simulations so effective? Realistic scenarios. One of the main reasons why business simulations are so effective is that they engage employees in realistic, relevant, context-based scenarios that allow for safe practice. Simulations allow teams and individual contributors to develop skills that need to be high-performers in their roles. As a training method, simulations enhance a leaders ability to think critically, make quick decisions, and solve complex problems. Active engagement. Employees who participate in business simulations are active participants. They are not just sitting and listening to a lecture; they are actively working through problems and putting their skills to the test. This level of engagement is critical for ensuring that the information presented is retained and used when needed. Instant feedback. Business simulations provide real-time in the moment feedback. Employees experience constant feedback as they work through the simulation exercises, equipping them with the critical information they need to improve their performance in real-time. Immediate feedback allows for necessary course corrections and ensures that the learning process is effective and transformational. Risk-free learning. Simulation provides a safe space for employees to experiment where they can try new things without fearing the repercussions of making potentially costly mistakes. Immersed in learning, employees are able to learn from failure without risk or repercussion, which is essential for new skill development and improved performance. Teamwork and collaboration. Business simulations almost always involve teamwork and collaboration. As they working together, employees develop an understanding of how to collaborate and work as a team effectively. These interactions create critical opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and allow leaders from different parts of the organization to learn from one another and subsequently better understand and appreciate differing perspectives. Business simulations are one of the most effective methods of employee upskilling in today's corporate world. Simulating real-life business scenarios fosters active engagement, provides critical feedback, offers a risk-free learning environment, and encourages teamwork; they are an indispensable and game-changing  training tool.