Cornerstone Blog

By Kevin O’Donnell

Understanding Leadership appeared in the September-October 1961 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Regular readers of the prestigious journal must have been puzzled. Who was W.C.H. Prentice, the author of the piece?  

Far from being a captain of industry, W.C.H. Prentice was a former professor of psychology who had turned his hand to administering schools:  first a commercial college, then a liberal arts college for women, and finally Swarthmore College, ranked among the top three of the “little Ivies” (Ivy League schools) in academic achievement.

In 2004, more than four decades after this article appeared in its pages,  Harvard Business Review republished Prentice’s foundational insights into the qualities of a successful leader. The editors noted,

While his language in some passages is dated, Prentice’s observations on how leaders can motivate employees to support the organization’s goals are timeless, and they were remarkably prescient.

Eighteen years after this reprint, we think Understanding Leadership still stands the test of time. Consider these insights from Prentice:

• Attempts to analyze leadership tend to fail because the would-be analyst misconceives his task. He usually does not study leadership at all. Instead, he studies popularity, power, showmanship, or wisdom in long-range planning. Some leaders have these things, but they are not of the essence of leadership.

• Leadership is the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. The man who successfully marshals his human collaborators to achieve particular ends is a leader. A great leader is one who can do so day after day, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances.

The theme of the July 2022 issue of the Cornerstone Eagle is the future of work.  Some leadership traits are perennial, it says: “Wisdom and discernment in making the most appropriate decisions are critical.”

W.C.H. Prentice’s Understanding Leadership can help lay the groundwork for making appropriate decisions.  

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The full text of Understanding Leadership can be found on the website of the Harvard Business Review.

By Caroline Kenagy, Brand Manager

Response to https://www.bluesteps.com/blog/4-tips-ace-pre-screen-phone-interview

Like many other things we have adapted over the last 2 years, phone interviews are not going away anytime soon. Phone interviews can be a good way to get an unbiased idea of a potential candidate. For some, phone interviews ease the nerves of being face to face with your potential coworker. Others that thrive on human connection and their own people skills might struggle with the idea of a phone interview. Recruiters often use a phone interview as a way to “Pre-Screen” candidates before spending the time, money, and energy on bringing them into the office. Regardless, there are a couple Do’s & Don’t of Phone Interviews that will always be true.

Do

• Smile, the tone of your voice changes when you smile
• Dress up as if the interview were in person
• Have your resume, the job description, company research and interviewee’s LinkedIn profile handy
• Use a professional tone when speaking
• Send an email following up for the next meeting
• Have clear and concise answers ready for common interview questions

Don’t

• Chew gum, breath mints, eat ANYTHING
• Have any distractions in the room (other webpages, children, pets)
• Be on the go, in the car, on a walk
• Interrupt during the conversation
• Have your ringer on to hear other calls
• Use filler words when speaking
• Take the call off speaker phone or use Bluetooth

Remember, you are dealing with pros who can see you through your voice. This is more than a conversation. This is a first impression whether it is in person or over the phone. Take it seriously, pay attention to the inflection when you speak and be yourself.

We are proud to announce that once again, Cornerstone International Group is featured in Hunt-Scanlon Media’s “Global 40” for 2022.  The Global 40 is a gold standard of excellence that identifies the top 40 global talent firms providing executive recruiting and ancillary services worldwide. Cornerstone’s global reach extends to 56 independently-owned offices spanning 40 countries.  The Group is staffed by 225 consultants specializing in key segments and functions.

Hunt Scanlon Media tracks global talent management developments and relays this information via its digital and print platforms.  The organization publishes specialized reports and hosts webinars and industry conferences. The information they provide enables organizations to make better decisions in choosing how to recruit or develop talent.  

“I am pleased that Hunt Scanlon has confirmed our leadership role in a fast-changing industry,” said Simon Wan, Chairman and CEO of Cornerstone International Group. “It signals that we are achieving our mission: helping our clients identify and engage the best senior management talent they need no matter where these outstanding people may be located in the world.”  

Larry Shoemaker, President of Cornerstone, added that as a long-time member of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), Cornerstone International Group adheres to the ethical standards set by this professional organization.  “We have chosen to exceed both industry norms and client expectations since we began in 1989,” he said.

All Executive Coaches recommended by Cornerstone are ICF-Certified (International Coaching Federation). 

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For more information:

Hunt Scanlon “Global 40” 
Cornerstone International Group Website
Simon Wan, Chairman & CEO: simon-wan@cornerstone-group.com 
Larry Shoemaker, President: larry-shoemaker@cornerstone-group.com

By Richard Jackson, Managing Director, Cornerstone Thailand (RLC Recruitment)

The biggest thing I see happening in Asia now is the coordinated push to ramp up the manufacturing of EV – electric-powered vehicles. This will have profound effects on recruitment, especially in China and India – the two most important markets for the future of the global auto industry.

A new sector is emerging with this shift towards electric-powered vehicles, as electronics manufacturers increasingly move into the automotive space. Dashboards are becoming more interactive with glass touchscreens. Big companies like Sony, LG, and Samsung are becoming auto suppliers.

Plus, semiconductor chips need to be more advanced for EVs. Because semiconductor chips are in short supply, and will be for the next 6-12 months, the auto manufacturing landscape is very dynamic right now. The entire sector is going through a period of major growing pains. Covid lockdowns in China has further disrupted supply chain issues, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices soaring.

Plug-in vehicle sales last December in China were up 125% compared to 2020, with EV-makers BYD and Tesla leading growth rates among major auto brands towards the end of the 2021. In 2021, EVs represented 15% of China’s domestic market share, up from 6.3% in 2020. China represents 53% of global EV market share, according to the CPCA (China Passenger Car Association).

Ford has plans to invest US$30 billion in EVs and battery technology during the next 8-9 years. Last year, the automaker said it would stop manufacturing and selling cars in India. But already Ford is changing its tune, considering plans to use one of its Indian facilities to build EVs for export, and possibly for sale in the domestic Indian market, citing the “global electric vehicle revolution”.

In Thailand, where I am based, Foxconn is partnering with PTT – the national oil company – to manufacture EVs. The companies plan to invest US$1-2 billion in a joint venture capable of rolling out 50,000 EVs a year, starting in 2024. They are aiming for annual production of 150,000 vehicles by 2030. Thailand is Southeast Asia’s leading auto manufacturer, and the government offers a variety of subsidies, tax breaks, and other incentives for EV production.

This could be one of the first JV’s to unlock synergies between a traditional energy company and a technology leader. With the automotive supply chain reliant on sourcing rare materials such as lithium and cobalt, future OEM business models could trend towards vertical integration with mining and energy companies to control supply and costs.

What does this uptick in EV investment mean for recruiting professionals? I’m advising my automotive clients to start hiring the engineers & designers they’ll need for the future EV market right now. Because when the EV market really takes off, it’ll be too late.

So, ask your clients who are preparing to transition away from the internal combustion engine: How well prepared are you? Do you have the right people in place to manage this transition? How much time have you spent setting up your people to do this?

Because automakers will need to cultivate and recruit from a different talent group; the smart ones are doing it already. Now is the time to hire. Next year will be the time to train the next generation of EV professionals and get everyone up to speed before the EV tsunami overwhelms the traditional market.

Manufacturers should conduct a comprehensive, grassroots review of HR’s ability to get the right staff in place, now, for a market dominated by EVs – or they will have big problems sourcing the right talent later on.

(This article was drafted by Cornerstone Lima in response to a survey conducted in Peru in the third quarter of 2021. The concerns expressed by the South American business leaders broadly reflect the concerns of executives worldwide, so the survey and comments below by Diego Cubas, CEO of Cornerstone Lima, are relevant anywhere.) 

According to the recent survey “Human Talent Challenges Facing CEOs in 2022”, the main business concern of 55% of Peruvian business owners and executives continues to be the scarcity of local talent that fits the needs of their organization.

As a result, strategic positions within their companies are challenging to fill. While the COVID pandemic initially increased the number of professionals available in the market because many organizations had decided to downsize, companies began to recruit again once a “new normal” established itself. But their search focus had changed: now they were looking for talent with much more digital, innovative, agile, and resilient capabilities.

Today, companies take longer to find the ideal candidate with the necessary skills to achieve productivity and growth. And they are casting their recruiting nets farther. Diego Cubas, Cornerstone’s Chairman for Latin America, has observed this upswing in the “talent without borders” drive. “Recruiting a person who has the skills, fits the culture and has the passion for filling the role increasingly motivates progressive companies to scan the horizons.“

The survey highlighted two significant challenges that CEOs face when making their selections.

40% of CEOs said that finding a candidate who will fit into the firm’s organizational culture is a core concern. 27% also mentioned the need to find a hire with the potential to step up to a higher position.

Recruiters, understanding that these challenges are related, need to spot the ideal candidate’s potential as well as their ability to fill the current position. “In principle, companies must come to grips with the key talent needs in their organization. They should design strategies to identify professionals who possess the skills and knowledge needed now and who can be relied upon to handle what the future may bring,” observes Ignacio Mealla, director of Vistage Peru.

Diego Cubas notes that often the future can be near at hand when a senior hire is almost immediately given responsibilities in addition to the ones usually assigned to a position.   Administrators have to hope that the new employee can handle the added challenge.   But this casual expansion of mandate can result in severe problems for both the new executive and the organization. “As important as identifying talent, the recruitment and selection process must adhere to these four fundamental pillars: holistic understanding of the need, in-depth market research, exhaustive 360 ​​evaluation, and, in some cases, support for the executive through an executive onboarding process”, says Diego Cubas.

Review the management climate of the organization.

Selection is becoming a two-way street at senior levels (and even lower down the hierarchy).  More and more people are looking for workplaces with solid organizational cultures that align with their professional and personal values.  This is why the chemistry with a prospective new boss and the signals emanating from this possible new work environment will influence a candidate’s decision to continue or leave the selection process.

Continually reinforce training programs.

Training programs are vital for both seasoned workers and candidates entering the company. These training programs should respond to the real needs of the organization’s workforce. Building robust programs can be attractive to applicants considering working for an organization.

Click on the links below to learn more about Cornerstone Peru and Cornerstone International Group. Established in 1989, Cornerstone International Group is one of the world’s largest Executive Search groups. Currently, Cornerstone’s global reach extends to 60 offices and 40 countries.

https://cornerstone.com.pe/ (In Spanish) and https://www.cornerstone-group.com  (in English)

Companies that aren’t structurally and culturally inclusive can be harmful to the mental wellbeing of employees who have been hired as part of a diversity program. It often happens that these organizations end up in a zero-sum situation: as they increase their number of diverse employees, many in the original cohort leave.

The problem can be laid to companies not doing the real work of making inclusion a priority. In these situations, negative behavior – from microaggressions to full-on harassment – can frequently arise.

When this does occur, the diverse employee’s complaints are typically not taken seriously. In the aggregate, incidents like these can lead to a workplace that is toxic to diverse employees.

Promoting a culture of inclusion will help diverse candidates feel like they belong, that their ideas are valued, and that their contributions are welcome.

As a policy, increasing inclusion in the workplace will help create a culture of psychological safety. This in turn increases engagement and pays dividends in a more collaborative and innovative workforce.

Hear from Tamica on Inclusion before Diversity

During a conversation I had with a company director, he posed questions whose answers are still not clear: How can hybrid work be made effective? How should we reframe our relationships with employees now that their on-site presence will be limited? And finally, he asked about an age-old problem that will still crop up in this new corporate setting: How do I attract and retain talent?

As the conversation progressed, we managed to work our way towards tentative conclusions. In a hybrid work situation, we do risk losing some of the beneficial aspects of working “face to face”. Collaborating directly with colleagues – so useful in planning and developing innovative solutions – is an important advantage in reaching corporate goals. 

On the other hand, remote work can also prove to be beneficial. Remote work can help generate new ways for colleagues to relate to one another. This new way of working can optimize the time spent on task and, in many cases, improve our quality of life.

Faced with this reality, it is essential to rethink and, in many cases, redesign the culture of an organization. Face-to-face time will be a limited asset and, therefore, must acquire a greater value within the company. How we give value to it is key, and this largely depends on corporate leadership.

This is part of the change in the dynamics of the employer-employee relationship; today understanding and improving the “workforce experience” has become a priority. 

What does it take to engage, motivate and build buy-in to the hybrid work situation? The company director said that he was still grappling with this new experience, but one thing was clear: executives and managers must make themselves available to their employees so that together they can iron out difficulties.  Also, being able to articulate clear purposes and establish solid lines of communication are evergreen priorities, even in this new work environment.

Executives have to be aware that talent, across the board, is demanding more flexibility in the time they commit to their jobs. Companies that do not listen and do not accommodate legitimate requests risk losing key members of the team. 

In 2021, McKinsey & Company made valuable contributions to the Jobs Reset Summit sponsored by the World Economic Forum.  All executives should read their brilliant “reset” summary, “Four Things Workers Want Implemented by Their Bosses Post-Pandemic”

It is definitely time to stop and reset. It is time that management and staff come together and reconfigure a new way of working.

The devil, of course, is in the details.  Resets are being worked out by companies on a trial-and-error basis, with each new arrangement dependent not only on the current culture but on the new environment a company hopes to implement, all this consistent with corporate objectives.  And shareholder expectations.

Onsite gatherings will still be a valuable aspect of our working lives. But let’s not succumb to nostalgia for the way things were done in the good old days. We’ve all endured face-to-face meetings where we left muttering, “What a waste of time. This meeting could have been done by email” – forgetting that email threads can also waste time.  

Similarly, we can expect bumps in the road to an innovative future. But “the great reset” described by the World Economic Forum challenges us to accept that innovation is the only path forward.   

We are at the beginning of a phase in which the way we (and goods) get around will drive enormous growth in the automotive industry. Autonomous driving immediately springs to everyone’s mind.  But the electrification of vehicles will have an enormous impact as well.  

Around 100 components familiar from the classic combustion engine are in line to be replaced by about 40 new components.  In the next ten years, EVs and autonomous vehicles are predicted to generate approximately $400 billion in sales per year.

The images of the classic automotive industry employee will recede into the past.  In many areas, specialists in software and EE (electrics/electronics) will predominate over classic mechanical engineering.  

However, we are already in the grip of too few skilled professionals for these changing requirements. The German automotive industry is faced with even greater challenges, ones not limited to this sector alone. As recruiters, we notice that many of our clients still refer to the failures of politics and see themselves in a victim role.

The immediate focus of the automotive industry should be addressed in−house. The industry has to tackle serious strategic issues regarding new products, manufacturing processes, and digitalization.  In addition, effective recruiting strategies have to be put in place.   

Product Strategies

How long will legacy products still be in demand? How dependent are current products on the technologies of yesteryear? What are a firm’s core competencies, its advantage over the competition? Which technologies can be vertically integrated into value creation processes to complement new products, components, or systems? Which new industries need new or legacy products in profitable batch sizes, and how can these needs be addressed?

Manufacturing Strategies

In the future, which locations will allow which products to be manufactured competitively? At which locations can product manufacturing processes be bundled to maximize efficiency (value streams, resources, setup times, tool availability, application expertise, logistical capabilities, etc.)?

Digitization Strategies

How can suppliers and customers be integrated into a simple “end−to−end” SCM software solution in order to map a smooth and quality−assured material flow and value creation process? How can new digital technologies available on the market be used in the future to develop and manufacture high−quality products faster and more effectively per employee? Only in this way will labor costs play a subordinate role in international competition.

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These strategic issues are confronting not only the German automotive industry but other sectors of the nation’s economy as well.  The issues are, in fact, global.  So is the need for companies to deploy effective recruiting strategies.  

One month after Zuckerberg’s October 2021 announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella unveiled his company’s vision of the Metaverse at their Ignite Fall Conference – on video, naturally. 

Microsoft’s Metaverse will also be a place of creativity and fun, Nadella claims, but he focusses on the corporate potential of this digital world. “I can’t overstate how much of a breakthrough this is…It’s no longer just videoconferencing with colleagues, you can be with them in the same room.”  These immersive capabilities will be built into Microsoft’s applications like Microsoft Teams.  He announced a new layer to Teams called Mesh. “Mesh for Microsoft Teams will allow you to connect with presence and have a shared immersive experience directly in Teams.”

Nadella provides proof of concept by bringing in two executives from Accenture, the global consulting and technology firm prototyping Microsoft’s ventures in the Metaverse. Jason Warnke and Ellyn Shook’s avatars are very enthusiastic about how Microsoft’s digital advances can facilitate a traditional HR process like onboarding.  

A Gamechanger for Onboarding

Shook explains that Accenture onboarding involves about 100,000 people a year. “Like many organizations, onboarding has been remote for the past 18 months, so bringing new hires into this immersive environment fosters immediate and deeper connections.  It transcends physical boundaries and helps individuals experience a culture in a very personal way.  Our new hires meet many more people and grow their professional network much faster.”    

Warnke says that Accenture is implementing Mesh’s capabilities through Teams by installing it on all the company’s computers; they have also recently deployed 60,000 VR headsets throughout the network. “The integration with Microsoft 365 makes everything feel familiar. But on top of that, spatial audio makes everything sound just like it really would in person.  I love seeing our colleagues collaborating and whiteboarding, and using this space for productivity.” 

Back to Nadella, he “just loves seeing how Accenture has been able to re-create the human connection you feel around water cooler-type conversations and even the design and whiteboarding sessions you would typically have in person…. The Metaverse is not just transforming how we see the world, it’s changing how all of us are actively participating in it.”

Like Meta’s, it’s easy to look at the Microsoft video with a jaundiced eye. Its avatars are stiff cartoon-like creatures, missing the bottom halves of their bodies.  But Nadella does offer an interesting vision of how technology can have a positive impact on two major trends of work: hybrid (post-pandemic, people want a say in when, where and how they work) and what LinkedIn’s Ryan Roslansky calls “the Great Reshuffle” (workers want to reconfigure the real meaning of their work and will search for the companies which can provide them with this meaning.) You can follow Nadella’s thoughts about the post-pandemic meaning of work in the links below.  

What will be the implications for recruiting and search in the post-pandemic, at least partly Metaverse world we’ll be entering, ready or not? 

Stay tuned.

Read our previous post on the Metaverse…

Facebook Becomes Meta – The Dawn of a New Era? 

Read More
CNET Highlights, “Watch Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s vision for the Metaverse (with Teams)”

Harvard Business Review, “Microsoft’s CEO on the Metaverse and Flexible Work”

What exactly is the (or a) “Metaverse”? Why do enthusiasts claim it is the dawn of “Web 3.0”, that it will render flat-screen technologies such as Zoom obsolete? Why did we start hearing about the Metaverse tsunami less than six months ago?  

In October 2021 Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg startled the world by announcing that he was changing his company’s name to Meta.  He explained his decision by pointing out that in just a few years computer hardware and software technologies had evolved from desktop to web to phones, and from text to photos to video as internet capacity increased.  But this isn’t the end of the line, Zuckerberg notes.  “The next platform and medium will be even more immersive, an embodied experience where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” This new platform will allow you to do just about anything: “get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create – as well as entirely new categories that don’t really fit how we think about computers or phones today.”  Hence his company’s change of name, signaling that Facebook realized its social media empire was receding into the background, but Meta was positively embracing the new. Until now, cyberspace was actually a two-dimensional flatland; now – soon – we would live in the 3-D splendor of the real cyberspace.  

The rest of the hour+ video is devoted to illustrating how Meta envisions this somewhat-hazy future.  Boiling it down, to enter Zuckerberg’s immersible VR world we will have to put on headgear such as his company’s Oculus 2 Quest headset, linked to your Facebook (sorry, I mean Meta) account.   Meta is working hard to reduce the cumbersome headset to a device resembling today’s glasses.  

While we’re there we’ll need to create digital versions of ourselves as 3D “avatars”.  Some avatars can be highly realistic, useful for business or talking to your mother.  But we can also create fantastical avatars for gaming ventures.  Currently Zuckerberg’s avatars tend to be cartoon likenesses showing heads, arms and torsos only.  Nothing from the hips down. The glimpses he shows of avatars conducting business in the Metaverse are cringeworthy.

The reaction to the prophecies the former wunderkind presented was mixed. The financial services/investment bank Jeffries positively swooned: “could be the biggest disruption to human life ever seen.” Others were more guarded: its future technology incursions could make Meta even more invasive of individuals’ privacy than the old Facebook.  Besides, other corporations such the gamers Roblox and Fortnite had beaten Meta to the punch with their own versions of the Metaverse.  Niantic’s CEO John Hanke condemned Zuckerberg’s vision as a “dystopian nightmare”; technology should try to augment reality, not replace it with a couch-potato version. On February 3, Meta stocks fell by 26%, a major unfriending by investors.

But the consensus is that we are indeed embarking on a new version of the internet, online destinations where (places like workspaces excepted) we pay with “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) based on blockchain technologies. This future is only in its infancy, hobbled with regulatory issues and questions of interoperability, but it will reach maturity in a few years. Already, CNBC reports, “Siemens and Hyundai have used virtual worlds for hiring and people management.” 

It’s worth keeping tabs on this serious implication for recruiting and working.     

FURTHER READING
CNBC, “Looking for a job? You might get hired via the metaverse, experts say”
Zuckerberg’s Vision of the Metaverse (YouTube)
John Hanke’s Objections to Zuck’s Dystopian Nightmare: