As chief digital, know-how, and integration officer at RelaDyne, Ken Piddington oversees digital and enterprise know-how methods in addition to enterprise integration administration and ESG technique. He’s additionally the last word instance of a transformational chief who lives by the philosophy that the perfect leaders are nice academics and mentors.
Once you discuss with Piddington, his ardour for growing leaders is clear. He doesn’t view tradition and folks as aspect initiatives or HR’s duty. They’re the muse of how he drives enterprise impression. On a latest episode of the Tech Whisperers podcast, we unpacked the instructing instruments that assist him lead, mentor, and multiply leaders.
Over his profession, Piddington has demonstrated a novel capacity to evaluate expertise rapidly, align folks to objective, and set them up for achievement. His toolkit blends instinct with assessments, folks information, and expertise analytics to create a holistic, data-driven workforce technique. After we wrapped our dialogue for the podcast, we hung out drilling into his guiding ideas for constructing cultures, rising leaders, and leaving a legacy by folks. What follows is that dialog, edited for size and readability.
Dan Roberts: How do you establish rising leaders, and what steps do you’re taking to multiply their impression?
Ken Piddington: On the subject of figuring out them, they present up actually early. Fascinated about my staff right here, it was clear on day one assembly my direct studies which of them have been going to take it to the following degree and which of them have been actually good at what they do and cozy the place they have been however have been prepared for that subsequent chapter and have been going to develop into one thing particular. You possibly can see that. There’s an additional shine in how they strategy a dialog, how they arrive ready, discuss to you about the place their targets and goals are. You too can discover people who find themselves able to do an excellent job however are comfy of their present pores and skin and don’t wish to change. That’s okay, too. If we wish to win, we want a well-balanced, numerous group of individuals on our staff.
Then there’s the conversations with them about their motivators, their profession goals and targets, which strengthens the connection to say, that is somebody who I see a chance to develop. You determine how far that’s going to go primarily based on their needs and wishes, as a result of you possibly can’t simply say I’m going to put money into you and assist you develop in the event that they don’t wish to do it. There’s acquired to be a want and an vitality from them to take that on.
You additionally need to be intentional about telling them you see they’ve a chance, as a result of they might not have considered it. As you clarify it to them, hopefully the sunshine bulb will go on for them. That’s when it’s time to be purposeful in constructing out a program and speaking them by it. As a result of what you do within the quick versus six months, a yr, two years, three years down the street could be very totally different as that chief progresses. You’re searching for different alternatives — inside and out of doors your group — to develop them. For those who solely do it inside, you get tunnel imaginative and prescient of what your tradition and group is. You want that perspective from the surface, as a result of there’s multiple method to do issues.
What’s your course of for assessing expertise and tradition in these vital first 90 days?
A part of that begins with a bulleted checklist I wrote out three corporations in the past that outlines my beliefs and philosophy because the CIO coming in. They get adjusted for the corporate and as I proceed to change into a greater chief and evolve, simply as know-how evolves. I first share it with my direct studies as we’ve our preliminary staff assembly. Then in my first all-hands assembly, I share a subset about my philosophy of management and profession growth, that it’s necessary to me.
I shut out all of the conferences with, ‘No person cares about know-how, they solely care in regards to the final result.’ I inform them that I get it, that’s arduous to listen to, however it’s true. After we cease worrying about which shiny object, which producer of which product, and begin worrying about what that final result goes to be, we are going to ship a complete lot higher.
I share that with them within the early days, and I can see what resonates with them. You possibly can see it within the expressions on their face, what they have an inclination to repeat, what they ask a query about. It offers you clues about what’s going to be the correct spots for this new group. It helps me assess the staff fairly rapidly.
You’re very data-driven. Are you able to speak about how you employ information to form your workforce technique for the quick and long run?
Knowledge helps me perceive the place our strengths and weaknesses are. A part of that information comes from assessments, a part of it comes from my conversations and observations, and half goes again to understanding and being concerned in setting the company technique, targets, and goals. That’s what drives what we have to do within the quick time period and the long run. The place do we have to herald extra expertise as a result of I want that instantly, or the place do I’ve time to develop and strengthen these expertise, and which expertise ought to they be, primarily based on the staff’s and the group’s wants. We wish to ensure that we’re specializing in the correct issues and what’s most necessary to us. That’s how I leverage all that information to ensure we’re hitting the correct issues.
I exploit the warmth map from the Ability Builder evaluation in quite a lot of methods. As soon as all people takes their first evaluation, I run the report and deliberately wipe off the names. I don’t wish to see who’s the place; I wish to see the place we’re as a division, and have the ability to see the inexperienced, yellow, orange, and pink bins, and see how that blends so I can say, that is what we want as a staff after which take that down a degree and go, what do my managers want? That’s what I exploit to develop this system. It’ll affect books I’ll put in our e-book membership and the workshops we use, in addition to these I run myself. It offers me the advantage of utilizing outdoors assist and performing some issues my very own approach, as a result of they should hear it from me, too. They want the combination of each.
A part of my operating a workshop with our groups and even operating the e-book membership — sitting down for an hour and a half on the finish of the day, as soon as each couple of months, and speaking a few e-book — is that they study me. They be taught what’s motivating me, they usually study our firm, as a result of one of many key questions we at all times ask is, how may we apply this at our group? Ought to we apply this at our group? You by no means know, and I don’t come into it assuming we should always. I convey it to folks to use some vital considering and be taught from it.
Considered one of your ‘Ken-ism’ sayings is ‘Retention is recognition.’ How do you guarantee folks really feel really seen, valued, and positioned for development in a high-demand, fast-moving IT setting?
A few of it depends upon your group’s tradition, however the best, irrespective of the tradition, is to only say thanks. After I finish my direct studies staff assembly or my all-hands assembly, I at all times inform everybody, ‘Thanks for every little thing that you just do. Let me allow you to go now so you will get again to doing all the nice issues that you just do.’ I say it each single time. That’s one thing I’m very intentional about. It makes them know they’re appreciated and what they do makes a distinction.
My earlier group had an exceptional recognition program, which I feel contributed enormously to retention. They’d one thing known as Thanks Awards, and any worker might give another worker the award. Whereas a few of the awards got here with reward playing cards for our firm retailer, what I noticed come out of that extra was folks hanging the thanks certificates up of their cubes and places of work. I bear in mind within the first week, strolling across the firm and seeing all these certificates and asking about them, they usually have been so excited to clarify to me what it was and why they’d it. There have been totally different ranges of awards, too, some that solely the supervisor might give, or solely a division head, or solely an govt staff member might give. It was a structured approach of doing recognition that was open to all the firm, and it actually made a distinction.
Within the podcast, we talked about methods to talk, being genuine and attending to know our staff, listening to know. That performs an enormous position in retention and recognition.
Attending to know somebody, asking about their household when one thing is difficult, or their child’s beginning highschool or taking part in a soccer recreation — while you come again and ask about that, you’re recognizing they’re necessary. You acknowledged them as a human being who’s a part of the staff, and also you cared sufficient to say, how’d your child play? They usually wish to inform that story to you. They’re excited to. That retains folks saying, ‘I wish to work at this group.’
If I ignored them and didn’t hassle to consider what they do along with all of the work they do at our group, if we’re simply one other job and I’m simply one other ‘boss,’ they’ll be headed off someplace else when the following alternative presents itself.
Stephen Webster, a longtime colleague of yours, says you’re one of many few leaders he’s seen who doesn’t take a ‘rip and change’ strategy to administration when taking up a brand new company position or staff. As a substitute, you get the prevailing staff motivated to excessive efficiency. How do you pull off this staff transformation?
It’s an fascinating query as a result of, in the end, I feel it’s confirmed to be an excellent factor, however generally, as we’re getting there, I’ve been challenged by different management to maneuver extra rapidly and do a few of that substitute. However as a result of I actually imagine within the folks, I’m going to offer them the advantage of the doubt.
On this group, we’re going by a variety of change, however it took time to know our firm. The corporate has been going by a dramatic transition with our govt management staff, what we’re doing, the expansion and continued M&A, all these acquisitions that had already occurred over a few years that have been by no means absolutely built-in, which incorporates all of the folks within the groups, getting double of every little thing, and individuals who have been right here for a very long time, with the ability to perceive how they have been going to play. I actually wanted to see how they have been going to reply to the brand new management and every little thing round it to make the correct choices.
In attending to know them early on, I firmly believed I had a variety of good folks, however wanted to regulate how they have been working, what they have been doing and the place we had these alternatives to develop a few of the expertise we would have liked. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, you’re not the correct individual, time to get off the bus.’ It was, ‘I want you on the bus, however what position do I want you to play? Are you able to play that position, or do I’ve some work to do to assist get you prepared? Or does the position you’re taking part in proceed to be that position?’
I advised a narrative on the podcast a few time early in my profession when there was a push for me to take somebody out of the group, and I used to be hesitant, nonetheless believing. What I didn’t point out is that I truly terminated that individual. It was a really arduous factor to do, as a result of this was his second time working for me, and it actually damage the connection. Later, after we’d made a variety of cuts throughout the group, we have been beginning to construct again up, and I’d see him round, and I noticed that he was altering. So I mentioned to him, ‘I’ll be completely trustworthy, I feel you wanted to go do one thing else for a short while. I’d such as you to come back again, and let’s work out how we work on this collectively to get to the following degree.’
I used to be nonetheless new in my profession and perhaps hadn’t been as purposeful in the best way he wanted it. It was when he got here again that a variety of that extra intentional, purposeful teaching occurred, and he rose to being my high individual. I might belief him, depend on him for every little thing. But it surely took that difficult second within the center the place I did cling on a little bit bit too lengthy, however I did let him go, after which in the end was in a position to convey him again and assist him become an ideal chief who’s performed a variety of actually good issues for his firm since.
What one Ken-ism do you suppose shall be your legacy?
‘Leaders develop leaders’ will be the one that folks take into consideration me and bear in mind for a very long time, as a result of that’s actually who I’m and the one I’m most happy with. The options are cool. They win you a CIO 100 Award, and also you get a plaque to hold in your wall. However when you possibly can see anyone advance of their profession, who comes again to you sometime and asks you a query, says thanks for that steerage, I actually appreciated that little piece of recommendation, and you retain a relationship many, a few years into the longer term, that’s what’s most rewarding for me. That claims to me that I did an excellent job making no matter I acquired to the touch a little bit higher than it was once I acquired there.
For extra of Ken Piddington’s eight pillars of management excellence, tune in to the Tech Whisperers.
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