Human Resources

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 aug 2014

Amazon's growth and success has been amazing since its founding by Jeff Bezos. As in any other successful company, employees played an important role in its phenomenal development. Over the years, Jeff Bezos has directed his hiring managers to recruit employees based on three important considerations - (1) Will you admire this person? (Bezos extrapolated that admiration meant this was a person who could be an example to other and who others could learn from); (2) Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group they're entering? (According to Bezos, the goal for new hires is to elevate the company. He insists that the bar has to continuously go up and apathy should diminish and new hire should fight entropy instead of contributing to it); (3) Along what dimensions might this person be a superstar? (Bezos expects new hire to have a distinct skill or interest to contribute to the company's culture and help cultivate a fun and interesting workplace). Read on...

Mashable: 3 Hiring Questions to Steal from Amazon's CEO
Author: Vernon Gunnarson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 aug 2014

The value of ideas is fully achieved when their creativity is transformed and translated into workable and actionable mechanism for the betterment of the world. But its also the case that most creative ideas evaporate within the brain without even providing any value. Writing is a creative activity that requires consistent flow of new ideas that can be shared with the audience. There can be reasons for the failure of creativity and incoming of new ideas, but there are also the possible fixes that can assist in overcoming it - (1) Because the Ideas aren't Finished (Fix: Talk about the ideas with others. Share them on social media. Get feedback); (2) Because it's too Hard (Fix: Just get started. Take small steps); (3) Because I'm Focusing too much on Other People's Stuff (Fix: Value other's work but build your own ideas on them. Add to them & nurture the right balance); (4) Because I'm too Busy with other Work (Fix: Include time for creative work. Prioritize. If it seems difficult to execute ideas due to time constraint, ask someone else to execute it); (5) Because I get Distracted (Fix: Create artificial pressure. Create a deadline. Realize the difference between productive & non-productive distraction); (6) Because I'm Afraid (Fix: Do other creative things. Share more with others. Create more meditative time. Allow to be vulnerable). Read on...

Fast Company: 6 WAYS YOUR BRAIN TRIES TO KILL YOUR IDEAS AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM
Author: Courtney Seiter

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 aug 2014

As companies grow in size and become big corporations they tend to loose their appetite for risk taking and the dynamic spirit of game changing entrepreneurship and innovation. And the bigger the company gets the more risk averse it becomes. George Deeb, Managing Partner at Red Rocket Ventures, provides reasons for this phenomenon - Shift in Ownership; Shift in Leadership; Shift in Human Resources; Managing Towards the Middle; Promotion from Within, Feat of Unknown. Moreover his suggestions for big companies include - constantly innovate; build an entrepreneurial culture where risk-taking is encouraged; hire diverse team of smart people who are entrepreneurs at their core. Read on...

The Next Web: Why big companies struggle with innovation
Author: George Deeb

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 aug 2014

Uri Neren of Innovation International extensively researched on the best practices that companies implement to succeed at innovation. According to him, 'organizations have to structure themselves to allow innovation to flow through them.' Execution is the key for the innovation to succeed and originator of the idea need to be involved at every stage of the innovation process to make it happen. The top five business practices that resulted from the Neren's research and help make innovation repeatable and reliable are: (1) Belief Systems - Bring everyone at the same page; Specifically define innovation and how it fits organization's mission & goals; Imbibe in the team that innovation can be managed (2) Structure Equals Commitment - Commit to the percentage of growth that the business expects from innovation and stick to it; Obsolete your processes and products & and reward those who help achieve this; Create a set of agreed to metrics & decision process to fund or kill particular products and services; Incorporate CEO ownership & innovation teams should report to CEO or COO (3) Process that Leans on Research - Spend substantial time in the discovery phase, at the front end, understanding the behavior and drivers of your intended audience and the problem thats being solved; Design a really solid consumer research phase as a foundation to better understand the problem (4) Talent Encouraged and Rewarded - Put the right people with the right skills in the right spots with the right team and get out of the way; Assign innovation to the employee scorecard and then recognize and reward it (5) Connected Culture - It matters most that the culture is connected, so that people have access to one another and their ideas, and all the contributing parties are recognized and rewarded. Read on...

Forbes: Innovation Ready - The 5 Traits Innovative Companies Share
Author: Mary Meehan

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 jul 2014

In a fast paced and highly competitive global environment with cultural and diversity challenges, there are needed some exclusive competencies in business leaders to succeed and grow their organizations. A study of 108 senior executives conducted by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman found 6 behaviors or competencies that differentiated successful global leaders from others - (1) Strategic Perspective (2) Customer Focus and Understanding (3) Ability to Spot the Trends and Connect the Dots (4) Engaged and Committed Teams (5) Willingness to Take Risks (6) Deep Knowledge and Expertise. Read on...

Forbes: The 6 Competencies Global Leaders Need To Succeed
Author: Jack Zenger

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 jun 2014

Businesspeople have skills and expertise that can benefit nonprofits for better operations and governance. On the other hand by joining nonprofits and their boards, business executives not only provide value to themselves but also their employers. According to research by City of London, there are increased skills among volunteer leaders in categories including team building, negotiating, problem solving and financial knowledge. Moreover research by Deloitte shows that among socially engaged employers, 87% of employees had an improved perception of their company and greater loyalty. Nick Hurd, UK Minister for Civil Society, points out that potential trustees should look for opportunities to align board service 'with a social issue they care about.' Read on...

NonProfit Quarterly: The Skills Businesspeople Gain on Nonprofit Boards
Author: Eileen Cunniffe

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 11 jun 2014

Education and learning are continuous evolving fields and in the present world there is a debate regarding the role of technologies to improve and enhance the learning experience of students, impart required knowledge & skills and better prepare them for the future. According to Juan Lopez-Valcarcel, Chief Digital Officer of Pearson, 46 percent of US college students do not graduate, and those that do, 40 percent are told that they do not have the right skills for a job they are applying for. Moreover there is lack of availability of courses and programs in colleges and universities that can prepare students for in-demand jobs of today and tomorrow. He suggests 7 technologies that are capable of revolutionizing education - (1) Invisible Computers (Classroom objects serve as computers & all data is availablee when needed); (2) Body Language Assessment (By becoming aware & to determine whether student is able to follow classroom learning); (3) Robot-Assisted Learning (Kids respond better with robots than a tablet); (4) Global Rockstar Teachers (Best teachers available for anyone in the world); (5) Stealth Learning (By making popular games more educational); (6) Social Learning (Use social media to deliver educational material); (7) Open Hardware (Give access to developer-aimed devices to students). Read on...

Silicon Angle: 7 Technologies that Could Revolutionize Education
Author: Mellisa Tolentino

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 may 2014

Nobel laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus, build the idea of microcredit and developed the concept of social business to solve social problems and created a substantial number of social entrepreneurs. According to him, 'application of social business concept in overcoming unemployment can produce a sustainable solution.' He is now embarking upon next level of social business concept, where loan or microcredit borrowing is displaced by equity investment in prospective social businesses, to tackle the problem of large number of youth unemployment. Social business funds are created for this purpose and the New Entrepreneur initiative was launched alongwith the Design Lab platform to bring entrepreneurs and investor funds together. (Social Business Funds -> Equity Investments -> Entrepreneurs -> Employment). This concept will be further expanded into self sustainable, unemployment and social problem free, autonomous Social Business Villages. Read on...

Huffington Post: "We Are Not Job-Seekers, We Are Job-Creators"-- Turning Unemployment into Entrepreneurship
Author: Muhammad Yunus

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 may 2014

As business environment continues to change and evolve, the present set of skills and competencies of employees and business leaders may not be the desired ones in the future. They need to adapt to the realities of the times to survive and succeed and should continue to update and upgrade their skills. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, of the executive search firm Egon Zehnder, in his latest book 'It's Not the How or the What but the Who' focuses on 'potential' as the key element and characteristic that defines the next wave of talent acquisition. He suggests that companies should focus more on qualities that grow and get enhanced with times while hiring prospective employees and less on their current skills. More on where they intend to be then on what they are. This becomes even more important and critical in case of hiring for top management positions. According to Fernández-Aráoz, companies should acquire talent on the basis of five indicators of an individual's potential - (1) Motivation (desire to have an impact) (2) Curiosity (illustrated by history of seeking out new experiences, skills, roles and challenges) (3) Insight (comes to those with industry expertise and exposure to diverse disciplines) (4) Engagement (ability to connect with others & motivate them for success) (5) Determination (resilient, overcome failures, adapt as markets change). He further mentions that it would be a mistake to assume that potential is only found in younger, less experienced people and cites the example of 77-years-old, Pope Francis, as a role model of potential due to his focus on dialogue, engagement and ability to challenge conventional wisdom. All these qualities demonstrate his willingness and openness to growth. Read on...

Businessweek: The Next Wave of Talent? The High-Potential Boss
Author: Diane Brady

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 may 2014

The recent report by PwC, based on a survey of 1300 CEOs in 68 countries, finds that 63% of UK business leaders consider availability of skills as the most serious concern for their organizations. Moreover megatrends like technological development, demographic change and urbanization have created substantial challenges for the future of business and workforce. UK-based businesses have to expand their talent sourcing reach to newer countries as labor costs are rising in high growth markets. Another challenge cited is the current state of regulation that hampers talent acquisition. According to Jon Andrews of PwC, 'Business leaders are looking for people with a far wider range of skills than ever before.' He further mentions, ' The most successful organisations will combine recruitment with internal mobility and the development of their own people to be more adaptable to its evolving strategy and business environment.' Read on...

CIPD: HR 'unprepared' for global transformation, say business leaders
Author: Grace Lewis

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