Nagle & Associates

When I talk to most execs, most still feel good about the ability to attract top talent, but their concerns typically lie in its retention over time. Retaining talent typically leads to better cohesion amongst the senior leadership team, improved strategy implementation, and increasing market share over time. For years we have included several months of executive coaching as an integral part of our search process for the chosen candidate which is squarely aimed at improved integration and retention. Gallup estimates that it costs anywhere from 50 percent of annual salary to 200 percent to replace key executives, making retention the most cost-effective way to gain and maintain competitive advantage.

Well, time to reflect on last year’s resolution(s) and set a new one(s) for 2025. Resolutions seem by definition to be big hills that are a long hard climb. Let’s change the mindset to consider setting monthly goals vs resolutions which typically get abandoned once a failure occurs. Let’s focus on goals that are attainable with some stretch built in. Let’s grade ourselves monthly with a simple pass or fail. Here’s a format that has worked for me for many years.?I set annual goals in 4 categories professional, personal, physical, and spiritual. Each month I grade myself on a pass or fail basis in each category. You get a fresh start every month bearing in mind that there is a lot of room above failure including progress. At year end I give myself a final grade, pass or fail, in each category and then hit reset! Like an athletic team you typically can’t win them all but in the case of the athlete with film study and reflection you can be successful more often than not particularly if you make course corrections that lead to future success. I have found this model workable and satisfying. Give it a try and shape it to your own endeavors.

Well, time to reflect on last year’s resolution(s) and set a new one(s) for 2025. Resolutions seem by definition to be big hills that are a long hard climb. Let’s change the mindset to consider setting monthly goals vs resolutions which typically get abandoned once a failure occurs. Let’s focus on goals that are attainable with some stretch built in. Let’s grade ourselves monthly with a simple pass or fail. Here’s a format that has worked for me for many years.?I set annual goals in 4 categories professional, personal, physical, and spiritual. Each month I grade myself on a pass or fail basis in each category. You get a fresh start every month bearing in mind that there is a lot of room above failure including progress. At year end I give myself a final grade, pass or fail, in each category and then hit reset! Like an athletic team you typically can’t win them all but in the case of the athlete with film study and reflection you can be successful more often than not particularly if you make course corrections that lead to future success. I have found this model workable and satisfying. Give it a try and shape it to your own endeavors.

The inroads AI has made and will continue to scale in the talent acquisition process are influencing many employers to increase their emphasis on the soft skills a potential executive hire brings to the table. These often include effective communication in the context of leadership culture, relationship building, learning agility, adaptability, emotional IQ, etc. What we have seen over the years is that many of our clients don't realize these soft skills are coachable. Given that, we place a lot of emphasis on understanding and defining leadership culture at search inception and once complete we provide executive coaching to the chosen professional for several months to ensure integration with leadership culture which almost always includes coaching up the soft skills ensuring the chosen candidate gets closer to the "ideal" candidate profile. An added benefit of our coaching is the positive impact it has on retention which to many CEO's and hiring authorities is more of a concern than the ability to attract top talent. #leadershipdevelopment#executivesearch

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Importance of Understanding Executive Team Culture When beginning a search, we place a tremendous amount of importance on defining executive leadership culture. That definition will go a long way towards ensuring fit and retention. We listen to the perceptions of the executive team, but we also test them against what an evidence-based assessment shows. We are looking for pretty close alignment between perception and data. In the absence of that we work with the executive team to redefine the “ideal candidate” profile, get buy in and proceed from there. Quick example if a leadership group is seeking to replace or add a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and perceives itself to be strategic and entrepreneurial and the data shows they don’t lean in that direction then if we had gone solely on perception we likely would put a strategist in place who was continually looking back over his/her shoulder wondering where the rest of that entrepreneurial team was while the other executives were wondering why they couldn’t see the CSO in the distance. Fit would be poor and the ability to retain the new professional over a time non-existent.#executivesearch#leadershipdevelopment

Talent Solution: I imagine you would agree that executive leadership sets the culture and tone of an organization. Leaders motivate, set the pace and cadence, as well as modeling clear standards of behavior. Leaders should also have a steady hand on the tiller in times of organizational stress and uncertainly which seems to be a steady state these days. Understanding leadership culture when selecting key executive talent is essential to finding the right executive(s) that are a good fit for the senior leadership team. That fit also positively effects retention. We accomplish this by listening to executives perceptions of senior leadership's culture and then testing those against what an evidence-based assessment that defines senior leadership culture shows. We are looking for a fairly close alignment between perceptions and evidence/data. That alignment is essential to talent acquisition, fit with team and leadership culture and most importantly retention. #leaderhipdevelopment#executivesearch#leadershipculture

There are many times when we draw upon our past to face the challenges of the future.

#ChiefOperatingOfficerChemicalIndustry #COOMultinationalChemicalCompany #ChemicalCompanyOperationsLeadership #GlobalChemicalOperationsExecutive #SeniorOperationsManagerChemicalSector #COOChemicalManufacturing #ChemicalIndustryExecutiveManagement #GlobalCOOChemicaiIndustry #MultinationalChemicalOperationsExpert #ChemicalIndustryLeadershipRoles #ChemicalOperationsStrategyExecutive #InternationalChemicalCompanyCOO #ChemicalSectorOperationsLeadership #COOChemicalProductionandStrategy #ChemicalIndustryCOOResponsibilities #GlobalOperationsChiefChemicalCompany #ChiefOperationsOfficerChemicalIndustry #MultinationalChemicalFirmCOO #ExecutiveOperationsRoleChemicalIndustry #COOChemicalManufacturingGlobalOperations

DEI Initiatives It seems to me DEI initiatives are less part of the conversation now when we start senior executive leadership searches than they used to be a couple years ago. I am noticing a shift in emphasis at least in the healthcare sector where we do the majority of our search work. In fact, it is often me that brings it up and the typical client response is just bring us candidates with the requisite experience, skills, and best fit our senior leadership culture. I mentioned a couple things that are behind the perceived deemphasis in a prior post and had a few more thoughts: * The immediate pressure of financial stability and changing priorities in a very fluid marketplace where DEI initiatives are competing for attention perhaps subverts ensuring a diverse and inclusive senior executive team. That team takes time to build, and benefits are potentially realized over a longer term. So, immediacy may be trumping long term DEI culture building and performance right now. * DEI overexposure in organizations that have prioritized it may be taking a breath and considering DEI as an equal factor to others in the hiring process. Our clients seem to be leaning that way preferring a more balanced set of executive hiring criteria. * "Fit" with senior leadership culture and a focus on executives who can rapidly contribute to the bottom line operationally, financially or strategically is also very much at play right now and likely will continue to be.

DEI Initiatives It seems to me DEI initiatives are less part of the conversation now when we start senior executive leadership searches than they used to be a couple years ago. I am noticing a shift in emphasis at least in the healthcare sector where we do the majority of our search work. In fact, it is often me that brings it up and the typical client response is just bring us candidates with the requisite experience, skills, and best fit our senior leadership culture. I mentioned a couple things that are behind the perceived deemphasis in a prior post and had a few more thoughts: * The immediate pressure of financial stability and changing priorities in a very fluid marketplace where DEI initiatives are competing for attention perhaps subverts ensuring a diverse and inclusive senior executive team. That team takes time to build, and benefits are potentially realized over a longer term. So, immediacy may be trumping long term DEI culture building and performance right now. * DEI overexposure in organizations that have prioritized it may be taking a breath and considering DEI as an equal factor to others in the hiring process. Our clients seem to be leaning that way preferring a more balanced set of executive hiring criteria. * "Fit" with senior leadership culture and a focus on executives who can rapidly contribute to the bottom line operationally, financially or strategically is also very much at play right now and likely will continue to be.