Although the current unemployment rate has spiked up in many areas, hiring a productive salesperson can still be a huge challenge. Salespeople tend to be outgoing and engaging. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’ve found the right person for the job simply because a candidate is likeable. Before interviewing any sales candidate, make an objective list of what kind of salesperson is an ideal fit. Construct questions to uncover whether a likeable sales candidate really matches up well, or not.

For example, we interviewed a sales candidate for a client of ours. The candidate, Chuck, claimed to have generated millions of dollars in revenue for the last five years, for a reputable local company. He had meticulously laid out the numbers for us to see. It looked very impressive until we asked, “Chuck, these numbers look great, but are they high numbers for your previous company? Were you exceeding your quotas?”

Chuck admitted that his numbers were about in line with projections. After doing a little research, we found that it was actually an underperformance by several hundred thousand dollars. Chuck had “mutually parted ways” with his previous employer for missing quota four years in a row. He primarily missed quota because he sold, virtually no new clients, but rather relied solely on renewal and add-on business, even though new customer generation was an essential expectation by leadership.

The person our client ended up hiring, Dennis, had numbers that looked much less impressive. His best year was $500,000. But when taking a deeper look at his performance, Dennis was much better suited for the job. He had built his sales up from about a hundred thousand dollars to five hundred thousand dollars per year. Furthermore, the increases were steady, with at least a 20 percent increase every year. Given the fact that the sales position required selling new products and developing a new territory, Dennis was clearly a better fit.

Be careful not to let numbers taint how you perceive sales candidates. It takes some careful questioning to get a proper perspective on how impressive, or not, a salesperson’s previous performance was. Impressive looking numbers and likeability does not necessarily make a candidate the right person for the job.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a salesperson hiring tool like a Carfax report which revealed the truth about the salesperson’s past performance and any “sales accidents” they’ve had. Unfortunately, on many sales hires, we never really find out about that person until after we’ve invested $50,000 – $100,000 in them only to find out that the can’t or won’t produce. Nothing hits an organization’s payroll budget harder than carrying a salesperson longer than their mother did – without productivity to justify the organizations commitment in time and resources to them.

How do you get a better gauge on a salesperson’s chances of success? Outside of the performance and productivity questions noted above, look at the sales hiring process as detective work. Unlike hiring an engineer or accountant, whose work product is typically a reasonable gauge of their skillset, even mediocre salespeople, by their very nature, are pretty good at finessing their way through the interview process.

Instead, slow the interviewing process down to come to a better hiring decision. Use multiple interviews, team interviews. Have the finalist candidate shadow one of your people for a half day. Don’t use a cursory reference checking process, but dig in with a horizontal reference checking process to get references from their references; people who won’t tell you “Sharon was fantastic – BEST hire ever.”

One of the biggest sales hiring mistakes we see with our clients is that they fall in love with a candidate without an objective check of their true selling skills. To do this, high performance organizations use a pre-hire assessment tool to identify the candidate’s behavioral competencies, blind spots and skill gaps and communication style. This information, combined with a thorough vetting of the salesperson’s true past productivity and performance metrics usually leads to a much more informed hiring decision.

Some organizations shun pre-hire assessments because of HR concerns or just an inherent disdain of using data in place of their traditional methods of hiring. They’ve gotten comfortable hiring someone based on a friend or customer’s recommendation and/or because a candidate is nice and builds relationships well. However, once these leaders begin to embrace the role of benchmarking assessments in the hiring process they get a hindsight reward of breathing a big sigh of relief that they did NOT pull the trigger on a hire whose assessments reveal substantial (hidden) red flags and high-risk for a lack sales performance.

The best leaders have the ability to be curious, skeptical and detached from the hiring outcome – not necessarily common interviewing skills. They are mindful not to “fall in love” with the candidate BEFORE fully screening them with a rigorous and thoughtful process. And most importantly, they remember one of the most important hiring rules: Hire slow and fire fast.

These quotes from sales professionals could give your staff the inspiration they need.

When business continuity plans kick in, as they have in the current COVID-19 crisis environment, what happens to diversity and inclusion efforts at investment organizations? Do they fall away as nice-to-haves or are they seen as contributing to a cultural edge of resiliency?

Evidence from a call last week with the firms in the CFA Institute Experimental Partners Program suggests not only that many initiatives are continuing but also that organizations that build an inclusive culture are better placed to adapt.

The Experimental Partners Program began in response to the 2018 publication of “Driving Change: Diversity & Inclusion in Investment Management.” Each participating firm selected up to three of the ideas from the list of recommended actions and developed 18- to 24-month implementation plans, through December 2020.

Not surprisingly, no firm was working under normal operating conditions. They all were actively addressing COVID-19 Response Risks, and their situations were changing rapidly. At that stage, most either had a split workforce structure — half remote, half in the office, then rotating — or were fully working from home (WFH) with management implications.

Firms seemed to be adapting well to the technology and infrastructure needs of working remotely, with some firms allocating an additional stipend for employees to cover any equipment needed.

However, there were learning curve challenges that led to changes in practice. One firm reported continuing with recruitment by conducting virtual interviews. An unexpected benefit: They can see how the candidate deals with technology and remote communication — important skills in the tech-savvy, globally connected investment industry. Technology was also used to engage with high school students for possible internships. Another firm is conducting outreach through a video on their website about “a day in the life of an investment manager” that they made available for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) career sites, to reach the beginning of the talent pipeline, before course decisions are made.

Since many organizations, excepting those with offices in Asia, have only recently moved to a 100% WFH model, they are still trying to figure out what best practices should be on virtual inclusive leadership, such as the challenges related to software to use for team meetings, frequency of communications, keeping employee resource groups (ERGs) going, and virtual team socialization.

Partners agreed keeping ERGs engaged was key — these networks can give firms an early understanding of the COVID-19 impacts and can provide input on how to update policies, such as how to better support employees balancing childcare/elder care responsibilities while at home. ERGs are also organizing such activities as working moms’ virtual lunches, veterans’ group sessions on working out at home, and young professionals’ groups offering tech tips to colleagues: all indicative of an inclusive culture at work.

Partners indicated that the early reactions to the practices put in place were positive, but they were concerned about the effects of a longer-term disruption to typical working cultures, particularly potential mental health issues such as isolation, loneliness, and morale. If remote working is already embedded, firms are far more comfortable with all employees WFH, while others continue to determine best ways of moving forward.

You can be just as productive when working remotely – if not more so – but there are challenges as well as benefits.

Hiring people is a lot like picking stocks. It’s all about the narrative. We begin by asking “what kind of stock is this?” Is it best-in-class, with strong positioning in the market and consistently solid results; a turnaround story, where there have been struggles but better days are on the horizon; a cash cow, where revenue is flat but the business will pay out dividends for the foreseeable future; or a growth story, with potential for accelerating revenue and expanding margins?

When I started as an equity analyst in 1997, the first stock I covered was a company called CIE (pronounced SEE-a), a concert promoter and venue operator in Latin America. My job was to build a financial model, evaluate the management team, and look for possible catalysts or triggers that would drive the stock up or down, which would then lead to an investment recommendation of buy, hold, or sell.

After months of due diligence, it was time to go public with my recommendation. The valuation looked reasonable, and there wasn’t any obvious reason that it would go down, but, afraid of looking foolish if the price immediately dropped, I decided to rate CIE a “Neutral”: if you don’t own, don’t buy it; if you do, don’t sell. My colleague called me a shrinking violet, and my boss prodded me, “Why wouldn’t it keep going up?” Stocks go up on the basis of what you expect their numbers to be. If you expect the numbers to be good, you are looking at a growth stock. So why not rate CIE a “buy”?

I stopped shrinking, started stretching, and put a “buy” on the stock. This experience was formative in my career, because it led me to discover a deeply personal truth. Asking “Why couldn’t CIE keep going up?” led me to later question “Do I really believe that I and the people I work with have the capacity for growth?” At some point in our lives, nearly all of us are turnaround stories, and on occasion, cash cows. There are even moments where we are best-in-class, but, I believe, all of us have the potential to be growth stocks. We are wired to evolve and increase. We yearn to learn.

How can you as a boss, a leader, a manager, think like a stock-picker and build a portfolio of high-growth individuals for your company, selecting people with the potential to keep going up? Here are three suggestions:

Buy low. Hire people on the launch point of their learning curve. At the Disruptive Innovation Fund, which I founded with Clayton Christensen at Harvard Business School, we used the S Curve, popularized by E.M. Rogers, to help us gauge how quickly an innovation would be adopted. At the base of the S, growth is slow until a tipping point is reached at the knee of the curve. Once you hit the tipping point, you move into hypergrowth up the steep part of the curve, until you reach the top of the S, where growth slows and sometimes stalls.

As we applied S Curve growth to our investments, I realized that the S Curve could also be used to understand how people grow. I call this the S Curve of Learning. When you hire a person into a new role, they are at the low end of their learning curve, and growth will be slow. They may get discouraged. You might become impatient. Once the tipping point is reached, they accelerate into competence and confidence. As they reach mastery, tasks become easy, but they may become slightly — or very — bored. You worry that they are going to leave. Or, if they become complacent, you wish they would leave.

When you hire at the low-end of the curve, looking for potential rather than achievement, you are “buying low.” High-potential hires are driven to move up the curve and will become skilled achievers with some coaching from you and their colleagues. They become increasingly valuable — value that you and your organization can bank on.

Articulate the investment thesis. Be clear on why you are hiring this person and what value they will create for your organization. Just as every stock has a story, so do people. Is this person best-in-class, in the sweet spot, and ready to take on a critical role? Maybe they are a turnaround story: strong skills but slightly beaten up. They were pushed off a prior curve, but with some added encouragement and coaching they could shine. Perhaps they are a cash cow, at the top of their curve, a person who isn’t themselves innovating, but provides stability for those who are.

The investment thesis for each job candidate is fluid. Each potential new hire may be at a different place on their S Curve. Regardless of where they are, the most important question to ask is “Is this person a growth story — ready to go, ready to grow?

Sell high. Encourage your people to jump to new assignments inside your organization once they reach the top of their S Curve. Whether taking on an entirely new role, helping them jump in place through stretch assignments, or inviting them to become masters to the various apprentices within your organization. This is “selling high,” coaching people to new learning curves to avoid stagnation and prevent erosion of the value already created.

Over the past few months, Banks and Financial Services Institutions (BFSIs)across the world have faced unprecedented challenges due to the onslaught of COVID-19. This experience has also been unparalleled in terms of learnings and accelerated the formulation and adoption of new ways of operating in the ‘new normal’. Looking forward, some of the key lessons for BFSIs include the following:

Digital Transformation of customer experience is a business imperative critical for survival

The smartphone has evolved from being a luxury item to a lifeline for most people. Yet, about half of the mobile phone users in the world, around 1.7 billion people, remain unbanked. While several banks already had some form of digital initiatives underway for their retail consumers, successful firms in the future will be those who better understand their consumers’ digital DNA, deliver personalised marketing to ideal prospects and can seamlessly deliver end-to-end customer journeys including fully digital client onboarding experiences.

Digital forms of payment gained ground as cash became a casualty of COVID-19. Retail customers are likely to continue to increasingly adopt contactless e-payments such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Integrating these applications within the retail banking technology landscape will have to be expedited to stay ahead of the curve.

Given the accelerated digital adoption and likely shift in customer preferences, banks will also have to find creative ways to utilise as well as optimise their physical branch infrastructure. New service models will need to be evolved that may include for example, a Genius Bar for help with client’s financial literacy needs.

Digital experiences for employees will have to keep pace

Most BFSI firms were pleasantly surprised with the speed at which their employees could transition to working from home at scale. Going forward, additional investments will be required in digital tools to keep employees safe and make them more productive and efficient. Accelerated adoption of agile ways of working across business and technology teams, digitising employee interactions including inter-operable collaboration tools will be key to successful employee engagement.

Ongoing investments in Data, Technology and Infrastructure will be required to make banks future-proof

Many banks struggled with getting their call centers to be fully functional when the crisis first set in. Often plagued with legacy technology and manually intensive processes, the call center infrastructure in many firms have been overwhelmed with call volumes.Cloud native solutions and collaboration technologies can help achieve an enhanced customer experience while optimising costs. Use of AI and personalized data to enhance pre-call resolution and intelligent triage will transform the call handling process. Workforce management can also be improved by matching supply and demand leveraging virtual agents.

Banks will need to reassess their priorities in terms of modernising their legacy infrastructure while increasing reliance on cloud technologies to drive business agility and operational effectiveness. More scalable and resilient systems will need to be designed based on flexible and robust architecture. The focus on data quality and the ability to draw insights from that data will be all the more critical going forward. Processes will need to be reimagined with paper being eliminated and flexible workflows designed.

Governance, Risk, Compliance and Operational Controls will need a fresh look

With an overhaul of processes to become more automated and digital, IT and audit controls, supervision and compliance will need to be strengthened. Cyber security has emerged as a key risk and significant investments will be required to keep technology systems, the network and infrastructure secure. Business continuity plans will need to be made more granular with specific scenarios outlined for parallel lockdowns impacting offices around the world. Security protocols for remote working will need to be thoroughly reviewed in line with learnings from recent weeks.

In general, BFSIs can learn from both Fintech firms as well as traditional competitors who may have taken an early lead as digital adopters. Firms that can pivot from an ‘innovate-to-grow’ mindset to ‘innovate-to-sustain will emerge stronger from this crisis.

Work culture is the experience you have that is based on what you see and hear while you are at work. It is a feeling that you have when you think about your coworkers and your work environment. That experience or feeling can be positive or negative, depending on how people conduct business and work with each other. Work culture is shaped by the level of respect, rapport, trust and collegiality employees have between each other.

Every employee has the opportunity and responsibility to shape the culture in which they work, including the new and more prevalent virtual working world. So, don’t wait for your boss to take the lead. Here are five ways you can contribute to your organization’s virtual work culture and set the tone for a new “normal:”

1.     Keep your camera on during team video calls.

If you are on a Zoom meeting with your team and you have your camera off, people are going to notice. Video meetings can be exhausting, and you may not want to always be seen. But not having your camera on when your teammates have their camera enabled can make your colleagues question what you are doing and your commitment to the team. Keep your camera on during team video calls. Stay engaged. Be part of the team.

2.     Dress professionally.

It is tempting to keep your pajamas on or put on sweatpants and a t-shirt. It is easier and more comfortable than putting on a collared shirt and blazer. But try to resist. Wear what you would wear if you were in the company’s office. You want to continue showing up and showing up well.

3.     Be enthusiastic.

If you want to work in a positive work culture, you and your colleagues need to communicate and engage with a positive and inquisitive mindset. Being enthusiastic does not mean having to smile all the time or use a lot of exclamation points. Ask for an assignment. If you are in search of new opportunities within your organization, reach out to people at your company to network and learn more about their career trajectories. Show that you continue to be excited to work and collaborate with your teammates.

4.     Proactively support your teammates, if you sense it would help them. 

While the physical distance separating you from your colleagues may make you feel less a part of the team, you can still be a team player. You can still support your colleagues. Part of being a successful team member is having the emotional intelligence to sense whether a colleague needs help.

You might ask your coworker if it might be helpful to them if you proofread a slide deck or conducted some brief research on competitors that could bolster the proposal they are writing. Supporting your coworkers promotes teamwork and collegiality, which are both critical to fostering a positive work culture.

But don’t step on people’s toes or usurp an opportunity for your colleague to shine. Ask your teammate if and where you can be of help. Support them. Don’t supplant them.

5.     Get personal.

Getting personal can also help to lessen the feeling of isolation or detachment that your coworkers may feel working from home. Ask how your colleagues are doing or something simply like if they have read any good books lately. Talking about things outside of work can help people to feel connected on a more emotional level. 

You don’t have to get overly personal. You don’t have to share everything about your life or every feeling that you are experiencing. You should avoid asking about very personal topics. Keep the conversation light. 

Fostering positive work culture requires people to feel comfortable opening up about other things than just work. When colleagues feel comfortable talking about outside interests and activities, they tend to have stronger relationships that help with working together professionally.

In 2020, there will be exactly 52 Mondays that workers will need to face - week in and week out and every Monday seems to be the same struggle for a lot of people. Have you ever found yourself questioning whether you need or want your job? How important is it that you pay your bills and grow your career or perhaps you even imagine living and working on a tropical island serving Mimosas instead?

A company’s culture defines the values of the organisation and the way in which staff behave or are expected to behave. Work culture is important because this is where most of our time is spent; perhaps you could even go as far as saying that work is your second home as the average worker spends eight hours on the job. That’s 40 hours a week. More hours than we get to spend with family and friends.

Naturally each company has their own unique culture consisting of multiple attributes that make up the DNA of a company and their employees. What are employees looking for from their organisation and what are employers looking for from their employees?

In a recent article from Forbes, the publication conducted research with more than 20,000 employees from around the world.

“One of the biggest things we learned was this: Without deliberate and intentional efforts to improve workplace culture and leadership, companies face a significant risk of increases in burnout, disengaged employees and declining business results.”1

Through online research and personal opinion, I have consolidated a five main points below which I believe assist in creating a culture that works.

• Transparency: Embracing and practicing transparency is not only positive and beneficial for the employees of an organisation, a transparent culture impacts the whole organisation as it fosters better relations, innovations, alignment, solutions and engagement.2
  
  
• Communication and Trust: Trusting in your employees to share a business problem may assist in finding a solution a lot quicker. Regardless of the impact on employees or not, employees would rather know than not know.
  
  
• Action: Acting on positive or negative feedback creates room for growth and allows employers and employees to recognise that they are being heard.
  
  
• Own your culture: Not enough organisations promote their culture as a driving force for future employment. Millennials are becoming the generation of the workplace and seek an appealing culture for future employment. Use the company culture as a method of telling the company narrative. Include a vision of what the company wants to look in six months, a year, or ten years’ time. Sell the vision to new and existing employees.
  
  
• Push for the same agenda: Alignment is the key to a company’s success. visibility, accountability and transparency are key factors in ensuring an organisation is working with their employees towards the same goal.

Although you might be working remotely, you can still grow and strengthen your career. Even though you may not be in front of your team members and manager, if you’re dedicated to developing your leadership skills, you can openly communicate about the projects that you’re working on, how you’re fostering collaboration among your various teams, and how you’re demonstrating leadership to your teams and management. Here are several ways you can grow in your position, leverage new career opportunities, and make your mark at your organization regardless of working from home.

Proactively ask for feedback. 

Don’t wait on a structured review to start enlisting feedback from your manager and surrounding teams. 62% of employees feel like their company’s performance review is surface level and incomplete, so get ahead of a structured review process by asking for feedback proactively. Although inquiring about your performance and asking for feedback helps you grow in your position regarding what’s working well and what needs improvement, it also allows you to show your manager that you’re being diligent about evolving in your role. When asking for feedback, be clear about what you would like to know about your work performance, professional development, and projects that you are currently working on. Be sure to provide your manager with time to discuss the feedback presented candidly. 

Work collaboratively among teams. 

Although you’re working virtually, now is the time to work even more collaboratively with team members. Strive to work cross-functionally with team members to gain different perspectives, skills, and contributions to projects and initiatives. By working collaboratively, this will show your teammates that you value what they bring to the table and honor teamwork to achieve a collective goal for the organization. 

Seek ways to provide value actively. 

Aim to add value in different departments and teams by contributing your expertise, skills, and opinions, when you weren’t asked or expected to do so. When working on a team project, take one step further by researching or sending talking points before a team meeting or brainstorm beforehand. By accepting these proactive steps, you are showing your team and manager that you’re willing to give more to the organization and your role than what’s expected of you. A little extra work goes a long way, especially when you are trying to position yourself as a leader within an organization and team. Showing your boss and team members that you are willing to go the extra mile, even when working from home, can positively impact your growth in your role and as a leader. 

 Improve your written communication. 

When working remotely and virtually, practicing effectively, clear, and concise digital communication is vital. Getting in the habit of consistently writing excellent emails and messages will improve your communication with your team members and help projects go along smoothly. To improve your written communication, make sure your ask is clear and stay away from jargon to limit misunderstandings. 

Expand your contribution holistically.

When a new project isn’t available on your team or practice group, look for roles outside your select team to help you learn and practice new skills and raise your professional capital within your organization. For example, you can partner with a team member to assist them with one of their projects or join your company’s ERG (employee resource group) to strengthen your leadership skills. 

If a salesperson hit quota at their last job, they’re much more likely to hit quota at your organization, right?

Not so fast.

According to statistics from our sales professional user base here at RepVue, only 46.7% of sales professionals globally are achieving quota. And it’s even fewer in software sales organizations.

It turns out that quota attainment has become the exception, not the rule.

So that tried and true approach of, “Walk me through your attainment over the past few years,” is not only uncomfortable, it can turn the interview into a dance of half-truths and excuses.

And that’s not where hiring managers should be spending their time during the candidate evaluation process.

Where Hiring Managers Get Off-Base

As someone who has hired sales professionals for over 15 years — both as a sales leader/hiring manager, as well as a consultant helping start-ups with their early-stage sales hires — I made the decision a while back to stop asking candidates about their quota attainment in prior roles.

I didn’t make this decision because quota information was difficult to get. And it wasn’t because I believed they didn’t achieve quota if it wasn’t on their resume. I stopped asking because of a more important reason: I don’t care if the candidate hit quota in their last job.

That’s right. I don’t care. And if you’re a hiring manager, you shouldn’t care either.

The Question of Quota

In today’s market, if a candidate missed quota in their most recent sales role, it likely doesn’t have much, if any, bearing on whether they can hit quota in the role they’re applying for.

What hiring managers should care about is if they can hit quota in THIS job.

So, hiring managers, let’s stop wasting time trying to determine if the candidate hit quota in the past. Put all of your effort and energy into something much more important — asking questions to determine if the candidate has the potential hit quota in this, their potential future role.

This task isn’t easy, but if you truly believe the candidate’s selling skills are a fit for your organization, you’re already doing better than most hiring organizations. And if you can find that perfect fit, they’ll likely be set up to crush their quota in your organization regardless of whether they hit quota in the past.

6 Key Fit Factors When Hiring for Sales

So, how do you uncover if that perfect fit between the candidate and your organization exists? Let’s start with 6 critical fit factors that you can dig into during the interview process.

Is the role primarily an outbound or cold-calling role?

If you ask your new hire to make 60 cold calls a day when they’ve never made more than five in the past, they’re going to have a hard time succeeding.

How does the candidate’s sales methodology align with the vision of sales leadership? Does the candidate subscribe to, or have they been trained in, any specific sales methodologies? Their sales style should fit with the culture and vision your sales leadership is trying to instill.

How transactional is your sales process? A highly successful sales professional, closing 3 deals for $250k per year, may struggle transitioning to hitting that same size quota via 40 deals with a much smaller AOV. The deal cadence, or pipeline velocity, needs to fit what the candidate is comfortable with.

How does the candidate learn? Do you have a training program that will support them in the way they prefer to learn?

Is there an issue between big company vs. start-up dynamics? Many candidates who thrive in the chaotic world of a start-up would run screaming for the exit after a week at a company with 5,000 reps. And the same goes for a candidate who’s used to the formal structure of that 5,000-rep sales organization. They will struggle as the first sales hire for your start-up.

What about inside vs. outside sales? Has the candidate only thrived in roles where they’re in front of the customer or prospect? If your process is primarily phone-based, that’s potentially an issue. They should have experience in the type of selling you focus on.

It’s important to remember that if there isn’t a fit for some or all of these factors, it doesn’t make this sales professional a bad hire. However, they may certainly be a bad hire for YOUR organization.

There will always be areas that you’ll need to compromise on, but don’t rush to fit a square peg in a round hole. Know what those areas of concern are upfront, be open about them, and manage against them.

On the flip side, it’s as important for the candidate to deeply understand your organization as it is for you to understand the candidate. This can only happen when the hiring organization and manager practice extreme transparency during the interview process.

How to Discover “Fit”

The first place to start is to allow more time for questions in all phases of the interview. Try setting aside a separate call for key candidates for THEM to ask questions.

Provide important resources up front, after the candidate gets to a certain stage of the process, like:

• A sample comp plan structure
• An org chart
• Details on territories
• Quota capacity vs. TAM

All of this information is designed to allow the hiring manager AND the sales professional to determine if they’ll be successful in that role, hit their targets, and advance their career. Both parties need to be equally confident that this partnership will work out, as both parties have a lot at stake.

Paul Wright, head of the technology practice, Odgers Interim, explores the impact of coronavirus on senior level recruitment in the technology industry

In a matter of days, the socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus created an entirely new playing field for the technology sector, and for senior tech recruitment in this space. The first, and most dramatic shift, was in the unified communications market. What many anticipated to be a seven-year journey for an industry geared around remote working, was accelerated within as many weeks.

Following unified comms, came digital platform businesses and marketplaces as online food delivery and doctors-on-demand saw an unprecedented spike in the need for their services. Not every company that has an app-based offering did well, however. Those in transport, travel, hospitality and events saw steep declines in activity and are having to pivot their models in line with government restrictions.

The fallout on senior tech recruitment within the technology sector has been just as dramatic as the initial operational impact on companies. What we experienced immediately was the volatility of the market. There was a lot of stop-starting on projects – particularly large transformations. One minute we had clients who wanted transformation directors and consultants, the next they didn’t. This was particularly true of start-ups and the big tech players. Our clients are telling us that ‘virus volatility’ makes it nearly impossible to forecast financially, and we’ve noticed scale-ups being incredibly careful about the decisions they make.

Many of our larger B2B and B2C tech clients have frozen all hiring. In the main, this is down to their size and the ability to reallocate resources quickly to areas of demand without the immediate need for new hires. This has had a knock-on effect on their transformation programmes with many postponing or even cancelling as they reallocate transformation teams to the new ‘front-line’. This of course, also has an impact on the transformation people they hire.

It’s in the middle-market that we’re seeing the activity. Within the first week of the lockdown we received exploratory calls from PE firms looking for turnaround specialists; either chief financial/restructuring officers or CEOs with restructuring experience who could deploy on demand if their portfolio companies became financially stressed. More than one has since put in place a restructuring expert.

Sales also saw increasing attention — specifically from software firms backed by private equity; although this was arguably a trend pre-virus. Some have booming sales, especially in remote working or cyber. We know that one firm which has products in both unified communications and information security is so busy, that they’ve reallocated all marketing and head office staff to just taking incoming orders and is asking us for sales leaders who can start immediately as they try to manage a level of demand they could never have anticipated. On the other hand, a financial software firm looked to us for a chief sales officer for immediate start to implement a completely new strategic direction for a 220+ person sales team where revenue has flat lined. It’s an odd world right now.

As you’d expect, HR is busier than ever. We’ve seen a number of chief people officer roles push ahead and almost every tech business that needs a HR leader needs help realigning pay structures, implementing furlough schemes and, in some cases, hiring and onboarding new staff remotely. Whilst some of this might sound negative, it’s not. A lot of tech businesses are making the smart move and securing leaders who can plan workforces for every eventuality, including future growth and restructuring, or phases of both.

Like HR, we had a number of CTO or VP (software) engineering roles in play that pressed ahead in spite of coronavirus. The resilience and scalability of both B2B and consumer platforms are being tested heavily right now, and the tech firms who own them want to ensure they can handle the pressure, and in some circumstances, scale-up in a condensed timeframe. This responsibility falls at the feet of the CTO. These are incredibly busy people right now.

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how employees will want to continue working from home long after government officials give the thumbs-up to returning to the office. Are corporate leaders ready to commit to long-term remote work arrangements for their employees? And what would it mean for managing the organization for the long term? Recent surveys give managers insight into the challenges they’ll face.

What Employees Like About Office Life

While it may sound like everyone wants to work from home indefinitely, that’s not quite accurate. In April and May, Gensler surveyed several hundred employees about why they might want to return to the office. Employees like the office environment specifically because of the types of activities they can’t easily do in their home offices. Here’s what workers told Gensler researchers about the positive aspects of office life:

• Scheduled meetings with colleagues 54%
• Socializing with colleagues 54%
• Impromptu interactions with co-workers 54%
• Be part of the community 45%
• Meetings with clients 40%
• Professional development/coaching opportunities 33%

Productivity Increases Linked to Remote Work

Forthcoming research from MIT shows that about 15% of U.S. employees regularly worked from home before the COVID-19 outbreak. In mid-March, some organizations transitioned 100% of their staff to remote-work situations.

For many employees, and this is documented by research conducted at Harvard Business School, productivity has increased by an average of 4.4% when they transitioned to a remote workspace and left their cubicles behind.

Why? Employees are no longer forced to commute, so they spend some of that time engaged with work tasks. Similarly, they may be socializing less frequently with work friends and have fewer interruptions from co-workers. It’s always been easy to drop by someone’s office or cubicle to get a quick answer. Now, employees aren’t sure if the co-worker is busy and they hesitate to interrupt using the office video chat system.

Other employees, especially those with very young children, find working from home to be especially challenging. They’ve come up with creative ways to get work done, often by taking shifts with their parenting partners. This new arrangement may work well for the short term, but these employees may face burnout if they have to manage both work and kids from home, fulltime, over a period of several years.

Costs and Benefits of Long-Term Remote Work Policies

In instituting permanent remote work policies, corporate leaders can expect to save money on real estate-related costs. If they bring employees together once or twice a year, they could do so at a conference center and therefore remove the obligation to rent or own office space.

While that reduced expense is a clear benefit to an organization, some costs are harder to measure. At some companies, all-hands meetings have served as a regular way for leaders to keep everyone informed. The style of the meetings, whether they involve sharing pizza during presentations or engaging in an informal question and answer session with the CEO, helps to establish culture. But when employees all regularly gather for online meetings, the video tool skews communication. Co-workers can’t always see each other’s body language and aren’t sure how to react to some comments. Managers find they may need fewer formal meetings in the age of remote work, having realized that some meetings weren’t necessary to begin with. However, when they do hold meetings, they may have trouble engaging some employees who will find it easier than ever to play with their phone when they should be paying attention.

The Cultural Impact

Other research shows that a company’s culture can quickly erode when it operates purely as an online entity. Ben Waber, CEO and president of Humanyze, reports that employees have ‘strong ties’ in some cases and ‘weak ties’ with other co-workers. Team members with ‘weak ties’ have spent less time engaging with each other since the pandemic started. And this outcome could negatively impact the bottom line. Why? Because team members who encounter one another in the break room or the hall may chat about concepts that will evolve into new product or service ideas. This in-person interaction is not easily replicated online because employees often stay siloed in the virtual world. As you ponder these issues, remember that up to 27% of employees will leave a company because they don't like the culture.

Ultimately, the spread of the coronavirus and the timing of the hoped-for vaccine may act as an invisible hand in the marketplace when it comes to determining when or if many employees engage in long-term remote work arrangements. In the meantime, managers and leaders may need to come up with new ways to help employees stay engaged and to ensure that corporate culture thrives.

They say a lot can happen in a year, so imagine what can be done in a decade.

It’s been over ten years since the first contactless payment was made and since then payments over card have increased considerably. In fact, last year contactless payments amounted to 740 million transactions in November alone.

The rise in digital payments has seen a subsequent uptake in the number of digital-only challenger banks, that offer more agile services than traditional high street banks and a slicker user experience. New entrants into the market mean that customers are now spoiled for choice – but also face tougher decisions when it comes to deciding who to bank with.

This has led to a new key determinant for banks to survive in an ever-competitive marketplace: trust. Consumers will be looking to invest their money in organisations that they trust, and with more competition than ever, banks should look at ways they can prove their value to customers in more than just finance.

Rising to the challenge in the digital age

A lot has been said about challenger banks over the past few years, with the likes of Monzo and Starling seeing success in their crowdfunding ventures last year.

But those banks have still not reached their full potential. Over the coming year, I expect them to continue to grow their customer base; more significantly, that will likely be through acquiring customers whose traditional loyalty lies with legacy banks.

This is likely to happen as the agile and cheap model that challenger banks boast is something that traditional counterparts have attempted to catch up with for years, to little avail.

Subsequently, don’t be surprised if a traditional bank attempts to acquire one of these challengers over the next year. If you can’t beat them, you may as well join them.

Digitisation will change the way companies work

This year, we are likely to see the biggest transformation to the workforce yet. As the digitisation of banking continues, organisations are shifting from traditional, functional roles and are prioritising people who can help evolve what the bank does.

While this approach will benefit banks in the long run, it will result in a vastly different workforce that has a different skillset.

Banks will be looking for employees that can interact with customers in new and creative ways, and who are able to collaborate and express empathy. They will shift from looking for employees with more technical expertise to those who have the soft skills that will help banks build the services that will attract customers – and those who are fast learners.

This shift in the workforce will be part of a move from legacy IT systems to newer, modernised services. And banks will likely outsource the development of their new cloud systems and digital solutions to third parties.

Trust and social purpose will be at the heart of services

The banking industry’s social purpose has been increasingly put in the spotlight in recent times. With the Bank of England paying closer attention to climate change and leading world financial institutions such as J.P. Morgan taking further action towards sustainability, banks across the world are focusing on new ways to go green.

This is part of a wider movement in banking to put trust at the heart of their services. Banks are some of the most trusted organisations; given the data they hold, customers trust that they will keep it safe and act responsibly.

Take Lloyds’ M-word campaign. Finance is only a part of a person’s mental wellbeing; but by being candid about these sorts of topics, banks are able to support on issues that are top of the mind for many customers. These measures can help to improve the relationship they have with their customers.

This is particularly important for traditional banks. These banks have been household names for much longer than challenger banks, and many people will bank with them from a young age – when parents have more of a say in what Bank to choose.

This position of trust will be crucial for traditional banks as they look to compete with challengers. We found that two-fifths (40%) of customers in the UK don’t trust challenger banks at all, amid 77% banking with high street banks.

Thanks to technology, more employees can work remotely from the comfort of their homes. And businesses are willing to make the change. About 69 percent of U.S. businesses now offer a flexible workplace policy, according to the 2019 IWG Workplace Survey.

However, working from home can also be tied to another trend in the workplace: diversity initiatives. Many businesses are making inclusivity pledges to attract, recruit and retain diverse teams. And it's a welcome change in white, male-dominated industries. Businesses and their customers benefit from the unique perspectives historically marginalized individuals can bring to the table.

But how does remote work factor into diversity initiatives? Primarily, remote work can benefit employees with disabilities in substantial ways.

The truth About Employees With Disabilities

Disabilities come in many different forms, both visible and invisible. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the federal standard for defining disabilities. Enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the ADA also sets accessibility and anti-discrimination standards for private businesses in the United States.

According to the ADA, an individual with a disability "has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment."

The definition is broad. But examples can include a visible physical disability that limits a person's motor skills. It can also include diagnosed, invisible mental health conditions such as anxiety or major depression. Pregnancy and medical conditions that occur due to pregnancy can also be considered disabilities. Surprisingly, very few people who self-identify as having a disability are actively seeking employment.

Just over 19 percent of people with self-identified disabilities are employed, according to a 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report. Overall, about 8 in 10 respondents in the BLS report are not in the labor force. They're neither employed nor unemployed nor seeking work. The data doesn't account for undiagnosed workers or workers who choose not to disclose their status.

The truth is Americans with disabilities face a harder time finding employment and succeeding in the workforce. Many also experience workplace discrimination, fear of which could prevent them from disclosing their disability status to their employers. Stigmas around mental disorders also makes some people less likely to seek a diagnosis. However, there are workplace accommodation measures that employers can take to help existing and future employees with disabilities feel valued and welcome.

How Remote Work Benefits Those With Disabilities

Luckily, this is where remote work can come in handy for any employee with a disability. Working from home can provide many benefits, but below are three of the biggest.

1. Improved Productivity

Offices are full of distractions. Working from home provides an easy solution. In a 2019 TSheets report, 54 percent of remote employees rated their work performance as "above average," compared to those who work in an office. Additionally, 59 percent of employers rated remote workers' performance as "above average." Fewer distractions at home means employees can focus on their work and improve productivity.

Plus, for people with disabilities such as ADD or ADHD, working from home can be a serious productivity game-changer. They can cater their environments to their needs. People with other disabilities can benefit too. They may feel more comfortable working at home and less likely to experience microaggressions from their co-workers.

2. Shorter Commutes

For many workers with disabilities, traveling to work is difficult. This is especially the case for those who rely on mobility assistance like vanpools and wheelchair-accessible public transportation, which can add time to an already lengthy commute.

Working from home could help these employees tremendously. They can spend less time worrying about how to get to work and more time actually focusing on work. They can also have more freedom to decide where they live and work, as distance to the office won't be a concern - which can be a major competitive recruiting advantage.

3. Greater Flexibility

For employees with disabilities, the home environment  may provide them with access to much-needed medications, assistance apparatuses, emotional support animals and much more. Their home environment already caters to their needs, so it can also serve as a comfortable and accessible office environment.

Furthermore, working from home gives people the opportunity to have a more flexible schedule. In the TSheets survey, 64 percent of employees surveyed said they "sometimes take care of personal tasks during the workday." Employers were certainly aware of this. But they still thought their remote employees were more productive and provided "above average" work.

Working from home also allows people with disabilities to take care of personal tasks, as well as themselves. Working from home is no vacation, but it makes self-care much easier. Plus, for those who work from home and have a flexible schedule, they have increased accessibility to doctor visits and other medical appointments. Even if an appointment is in the middle of the afternoon, they can go home and make up their work long after the office has been locked up for the night.

The list of possible careers is an incredibly large one. To those trying to decide on a path for the rest of their life, it may seem to be an endless list. So many possibilities and a variety of specialties within each career path. There are many decisions to make when it comes to choosing a career for yourself. However, if you have already chosen a path to take, you are now in the position of needing information on how to achieve your goals.

One excellent career choice is that of a CPA. If you are interested in becoming a CPA or have already decided that this is the career for you, it is time to begin the process to achieve this. If you are not entirely certain, you still need to take steps to determine whether or not this is the best path for you and your life. This is exactly the type of information that you will find here. Details about what steps need to be taken to become a CPA, tips on deciding if this is what you want to do, and what all being a CPA entails.

Before making a decision, you must first have all the information about what exactly a CPA is and what they do. This particular acronym stands for Certified Public Accountant. The goal is to assist clients in planning and reaching their financial goals. an accountant of this status has the option of working with individuals, small businesses, large corporations, organizations or any size, or all of the above. The most common areas of work are corporations, non-profits, organizations, government offices, and other similar companies.

The first step is determining if you truly want to be a CPA. While no one can make this decision for you, there are a few tips that can help you make your decision. The first tip is incredibly simple, research. Rest assured that research is your new best friend. First on the list of things to research is information about average salary, demand in your area (or the area in which you intend to work), and the exact requirements for your state. We will be talking about general requirements that must be completed regardless of what region you are in, but there are some that vary by state. During this stage of your research, you will be learning vital information about exactly what you will be getting yourself into if you choose this particular path. The more you research about what it is really like to be a CPA, the more you will understand, not only about the job but about yourself as well. This is a crucial point in the process of making a decision.

The second step is to study then take and pass the uniform CPA exam. This is a long, in-depth examination that is necessary to be certified as a public accountant. The exam takes sixteen hours to complete and it is entirely computer-based testing scenario. There are four distinct parts to the exam The first is Auditing and Attestation (AUD). The second is Business Environment and Concept (BEC). The third is Financial Accounting and Concepts (FAR), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR). The final section is Regulation (REG). This exam is designed to assess the entry-level skills of the potential public accountant. This exam must be successfully completed to become a public accountant; however, there is no such thing as a national CPA license. This means that if you get a license in one state and later move to another state, you will have to get recertified under the regulations of that state.

There are a few other requirements. Some states require an ethics exam to be taken before you can become licensed. Other requirements including experience and other testing is determined based off of the state you are planning to practice within. So many requirements differ from one state to the next. This is where more research is a necessity. Search engines are a fantastic lifeline when it comes to determining what the requirements are for your region. It is generally best to stick to general search terms such as “CPA licensing requirements in *insert state here*”.

Before you can challenge the uniform CPA exam, you must have the opportunity to learn the information that you will need to pass the exam. Many states require licensing applicants to have at least one hundred and fifty (150) credit hours from an accredited college. You do not have to have a masters degree, but you do need to have a good education base. This can be in a myriad of educations courses. It is recommended to have at least some education in the realm of business as well as that of accounting. Many people wonder if there is a difference between an accountant and a certified public accountant. This is a somewhat difficult question to address because the answer can be thought of as both yes and no. Consider that all CPAs are accountants, but not all accountants are CPAs. The main differences are time invested and education. Because of this, it is best to decide if this is what you want early on so as to get a jump on the courses and credit hours that you will need.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, working remotely suddenly became a reality for employees around the globe. Even as restrictions are starting to lift, it’s clear more work can be done from home than previously thought possible. Experts now believe that the trend will last beyond lockdown as it not only benefits employees but businesses too.

Although there are benefits, there are challenges too.

If you’re among the millions of Americans working remotely you might already know that it’s not always easy to keep yourself motivated when not in an office or place of business. However, there are some effective, simple steps you can take to stay fired up and complete your work to expected standards.

1. Create a Schedule

Forming good habits takes practice and sticking to a work schedule will help you stay on track. Get up and start working at the same time every morning and finish at the same time every evening. Try to take your daily lunch break around the same time too. If you can, take weekends off completely.

By creating a routine your body will get into a rhythm and you’ll have boundaries in place to maintain a good work/life balance.

1. Always Get Dressed for the Day

A good way of shifting gears from relaxing-at-home to getting-work-done is to get dressed as if you were going to the office. If you sit at your desk in your pajamas you probably won’t feel as full of energy as if you’d showered and put on corporate attire. That energy is crucial to your overall level of motivation and putting you in a working mindset.

1. Set Up a Dedicated Workspace

Many people fall into the trap of trying to be productive from their bed or a favorite spot in the living room. Instead, set up a calm, ordered workspace for yourself. You don’t want your mind to associate the area where you need to be productive and industrious with the place you sleep or relax.

When setting up a workspace ensures you have access to all the resources you need and everything is running smoothly. If your office uses a VPN make sure it’s connected, and check that you have access to your emails, you can operate video conferring software and all other business tools. Spending endless hours trying to mitigate issues will detract from getting your work done. Your dedicated workspace should function as smoothly as your office to put you in the right headspace.

1. Limit Interruptions and Distractions

When working from home, you’re almost certainly going to get distracted or interrupted. Some things you can’t control and just need to accept that you will lose a little time. However, you should also take whatever measures you can to limit these disruptions. Not only do they slow your momentum, but you can also find it difficult to get back to a task once your concentration is broken.

If there are children around, give them set times to come and talk to you. Additionally, mute your phone notifications and limit your social media checks to a few specific times to help you maintain focus.

1. Take Regular Breaks

Regular breaks are crucial to maintaining productivity levels. You won’t be able to concentrate for extended lengths of time and working for too long can also leave you seriously unmotivated.

Three hours can feel incredibly daunting, but six stints of 30 minutes are much more manageable. Most people do well working industriously for 50 minutes and then taking 10 minutes off. Vary your activities during these breaks to make them count, and wherever possible, get up and move around a bit.

1. Create New Challenges

If you’re engaged in what you’re doing you’re a lot likelier to stay enthusiastic about the task. Among the best ways to ensure this engagement is by challenging yourself. For example, try to write a certain amount of words in the next 20 minutes, or prepare a presentation in a new way.

1. Focus On Rewards

The regular breaks that you take throughout the day are small rewards, but you should also use bigger incentives to keep your motivation strong. At the end of the workday make sure you have something enjoyable planned. This could be watching your favorite show, relaxing with a glass of wine, taking a bath, or working out. Just make sure that it’s something you can look forward to.

1. Review Your Work Daily

Adapting to working from home can be tricky, so at the end of the day take a look at what you’ve accomplished and congratulate yourself on your achievements. Then, before you close up shop for the evening, make a list of what you need to do when you sit down at your desk the next day. You’ll feel calm, accomplished, and in control – all of which is highly motivating.

The recent arrival of Gen Z in the workplace has triggered a flood of generational comparisons, some thought-provoking and most merely whimsical. The media seems endlessly fascinated by the different historical, economic, and cultural influences that have shaped Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers. 

They have scrutinized each generation’s favorite slang (groovy for Boomers and FOMO and meh for Millennials) as well as the average price of a home sold in the United States ($72,400 in January of 1980 and $200,300 in January of 2000).

In LinkedIn’s just-released Global Talent Trends 2020 report, the multigenerational workforce is identified as one of the four main currents that will shape talent acquisition in the coming years. And 89% of the talent professionals surveyed by LinkedIn told us that a truly multigenerational workforce makes a company more successful.

But many companies are finding it hard to attract and retain talent from all generations with equal success. Tech firms and hospitality businesses in the United States, for example, tend to have younger teams while energy and manufacturing companies typically have older workforces.

Global Talent Trends defined Baby Boomers as workers born from 1946 to 1964; Gen Xers, from 1965 to 1980; Millennials, from 1981 to 1996; and Gen Zers, from 1997 to 2012 (though we’re not seeing a lot of workers yet born in 2012).

No matter how you’re defining the generations, their differences tend to be overstated and their similarities underplayed. Nonetheless, understanding where and how they do vary can help you build a team that successfully leverages the skill sets, perspectives, and experiences of workers across the age spectrum.

Here’s a guide to understanding how the generations, when taken in aggregate, vary from one another:

1. They have strengths in different skill sets

When looked at as a whole, each generation has certain strengths that stand apart. LinkedIn data shows that Gen Z, the first generation of digital natives, is particularly strong in emerging tech skills and has a larger share of people, say, with Python programming chops than its generational counterparts. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, on the other hand, have a higher concentration of people with business and real estate expertise.

There are, of course, individuals in each generational cohort who have the skills and knowledge you may be looking for. Your candidates may or may not fit into their generation’s mold.

These differing strengths offer companies a huge opportunity. “What if you believed in your heart that every single person, at any age, had something to teach you?” asks Chip Conley, founder of the Modern Elder Academy and a strategic advisor to the leadership at Airbnb. “And what if it was partly your job to discover what it is that they are supposed to teach you?”

Forward-looking companies have cultivated the possibilities of cross-generational teams with their different skills and perspectives by creating reciprocal mentorship programs, in which younger employees and their more experienced colleagues share their specialized knowledge with one another. For example, SAP designed a Mature Talent program to boost cooperation in multigenerational teams by having coworkers of different ages teach each other. This allows SAP to raise the performance of everyone in the program — and to quell potential intergenerational conflicts. 

And if you want to tap into the wisdom of all the generations in your workforce, consider first tapping into the LinkedIn Learning course “Mentoring and Reverse Mentoring Programs at Work.”

2. They have different job priorities

When it comes to what they value at work, the generations actually share more similarities than differences. They all love good compensation and benefits, work-life balance, and inspirational colleagues.

There are, however, some important and measurable differences in what each generation hopes to find in the workplace. Gen Z, for example, values training more than other cohorts, with 36% of Gen Z saying it’s a top factor when they’re considering a new job as opposed to only 20% of Gen X. 

Nearly half of Gen Z is looking for a training program that allows them to pick up knowledge and skills independently, with a learning program they get to shape themselves. Some 62% of Gen Zers say that they want to learn to get better at their jobs, which is even higher than the number who say they want to learn for a raise (59%) or a promotion (46%). And training can be a win for everyone — LinkedIn data shows that companies that are rated highly on employee training see 53% lower attrition than those that aren’t.

While each generation values, to some degree, finding a company with a purposeful mission, Baby Boomers are the most likely to identify this as a key driver. Your company should create inspirational vision and mission statements that will not only help you attract and retain talent but will help shape your most critical decision-making.

Companies rated highly for having a purposeful mission have 49% lower attrition than companies rated poorly on this dimension, according to LinkedIn data. Dean Carter, the CHRO for Patagonia, suggests that companies have at least one “jaw-dropping, ridiculous” way to support their values — his company has three different onsite childcare centers.