by Doug Gray | Dec 20, 2024 | Business, Coaching, Consulting, Financial Professionals, Leadership, Managers, Meetings, money, organizational leadership, strengths, Success
… that ANYONE should avoid
A grey-haired patriarch recently told me, “I love my kids and grandkids. But I don’t trust their ability to manage my money when I’m gone. My lawyer tells me that I need to restrict their access. What do you recommend?”
This Family Business Chaos myth assumes:
- That fears motivate most human behaviors
- That Elders need to restrict access to financial assets
- That the Next Gen family members are unable to manage money
- That advisors can recommend effective solutions
How silly.
Tragically, I’ve met “Family Business Consultants” who boast about $100,000 annual retainers to “manage the process.” They presume that family business leaders are inherently unstable, dysfunctional, heading toward chaos. With a wink they say, “And who knows when you will need me?”
How tragic and silly.
I call it the Family Business Chaos myth. In future posts I’ll share some more related myths. In this post, let’s look at each of these 4 statements in turn.
- Fears do motivate most human behaviors. When we are hungry we eat. When we are threatened we fight. When we are confused or uninformed we create stories to “fill in the silence.” I recently heard about two Elders who anticipated a visit from their niece, whom they had not seen in 15 years. They created stories to explain the visit, from “she must have cancer” to “her husband may have abused her.”
In the same way, Elders often create stories to explain their kids and grandkids. It’s a delightful, ancient past time! When I visit Elders they may entertain me with stories, just as we drink lemonade on the porch. They often voice fears such as “she will never find a man who appreciates her” or “he couldn’t make money if we served it on a golden platter.” Those stories are entertaining. But they may be downright silly.
- That idea that Elders need to restrict access to financial assets is ancient, and often based on some local precedent. We all repeat stories that reinforce our biased beliefs. Have you heard about our neighbor named Bubba who received a trust fund when he turned 21, then became an opioid addict? Confirmation bias occurs when we repeat desired beliefs. The fact is that most people with access to money learn to live below their means. They practice financial literacy.
Restricted access to wealth, or any resource, does not accelerate social change. In fact, restricted access can imprison people. Look at global slavery, work conditions, oppression of women or poverty. Restricted access may cause violence. Look at global divorce, broken families, suicides, loneliness, drug abuse. Instead, what if wealth advisors actually shared their knowledge in a series of educational sessions? What if digital courses encouraged Next Gen leaders to ask questions about index funds, incentive trusts, donor assisted funds, IRAs, retirement, employee matches?
The #1 web browser is Google because people search for information. The #2 web browser is YouTube, because people search for answers. And they are both owned by Alphabet. The fact is that Next Gens are digitally trusting, better educated than many Elders, and often want to develop more financial literacy. Just ask them!
- The notion that Next Gen family members are unable to manage money is based on ignorance. Throughout recorded history, in every corner of the world, most assets are quietly transferred to the Next Generation. (Also called the Rising Generation, like a Rising Tide or a tsunami). If Elders are not able to teach responsible wealth management, then other advisors can do so. One positive outcome from the Certified Financial Professional (CFP) designation is that wealth advisors are better self-managed to actually serve their client interests. For many decades “financial managers” were incentivized by higher commission fees or transactional incentives from their product managers.
Throughout my career I’ve taught people how to manage their precious time, money, treasures and talents. Nothing is more important. Perhaps anyone reading or sharing this article shares that same commitment.
Teaching financial literacy assumes that Elders and Next Gens are willing to learn. When I facilitate family meetings, I encourage the Next Gens to ask questions, because curiosity is the currency of learning. When they ask questions, the wealth advisors can share resources. I also encourage the Elders to bite their tongues- which is difficult. They often want to share their values and knowledge. But our kids learn to swim from other adults, not from their parents. Our kids learn to golf from professionals, not from their parents. In the same way, when Next Gen leaders ask questions and learn, the Elders smile with delight. They are practicing financial literacy and seeing that “light in their eyes” when their children and grandchildren actually learn.
- We want to believe that advisors can recommend effective solutions because we want to trust “experts.” We go to physicians when we require healthcare, and they diagnose and treat us. We go to lawyers when we require asset transaction or protection. For many years, when I asked Google “Can you provide some business consulting?” it replied “Not at this time.” Now over 40% of my clients use ChatGBT for business consulting. Immediately. I have copied responses from one platform, like Claude, to ask other platforms, like Inflection, to provide more details. And recent studies confirm that some AI platforms demonstrate more empathy than “professionals.”
Let’s assume that advisors using AI will be more effective than those not using AI. And they will become even more effective next month. And every month thereafter. The best advisors are already using AI to provide more recommendations than ever for their clients. In seconds. Converging technologies, such as healthcare and AI consulting, will increase in power and provide even more value. Accurately. Imagine an empathic robot that suggests how Elders can bite their tongues. Imagine a hologram of the founders that can explain the values and challenges faced 50 years ago. Imagine a family meeting with 5 generations of healthy, opinionated owners instead of 3 generations.
Now imagine that one “family business consultant” can serve your legacy needs. How silly.
The example of the $100,000 annual retainer from that winking “family business consultant” who says, “you never know when you may need me” could be a waste of money.
My experience is that the presumption that family business leaders are inherently unstable, dysfunctional, heading toward chaos is downright silly. It may be lucrative for those using retainers. But it ignores the reality that family business leaders can flourish.
Yes, I’ll address HOW to flourish in a series of future posts. Please share this post with anyone who might appreciate it.
And add your thoughts or comments on this post about the Family Business Chaos myth? This could become a discussion.
Schedule a 1:1 with me today.
by Doug Gray | Dec 18, 2024 | change, Consulting, Leadership, Managers, organizational leadership, strengths, Success, talent
… for better consulting
Recently I read Wealth 3.0. and the authors state that interdisciplinary knowledge is one of the key predictors of success for consultants. I agree.
After a recent client engagement, my colleague said, “I never would have asked about the topics you brought up– increasing 1:1 time with each child, and family meetings to discuss charitable giving. How did you become so damned smart about so many different topics?”
I stuttered and paused with embarrassment.
I do read daily, and study new topics on YouTube, I listen carefully to what people say, and I watch what they do. But those are skills.
The deeper questions are “How did I develop my interdisciplinary knowledge?” and “How can I encourage others to do the same?”
Here are some loosely chronological stories about how I developed interdisciplinary knowledge. Perhaps they will trigger similar stories for you. I encourage you to consider HOW you develop interdisciplinary knowledge.
- As a child I was expected to research answers from the set of books on the shelf, called Encyclopedia Brittanica. Long before wikipedia and digital tools, that was the preferred way to answer questions or settle disputes. My siblings were often more correct than me! We all learned to seek answers.
- Multiple Elders challenged me to think for myself. The Boy Scout volunteers used merit badge content to reinforce new skills, and values like honesty and loyalty. Faculty members, who worked with my father, spent holidays with us and quizzed me on any topic- the power of compounding assets at TIAA-CREF, or the wisdom of building a private campground as a long term investment. I learned that adults may share their wisdom, and I may not agree with them.
- That saying, “Never let schooling get in the way of a good education” is attributed to Mark Twain. It could have been a family motto above our doorframe. We were expected to attend schools.
- At a large public high school in Clifton Park, NY, I was expected to take honors and New York State regents classes. I elected to take AP Psychology and Sociology classes. And as a senior I left school at 1:00 each day to work at a nearby food warehouse to save money for college. I didn’t have a car, so my mother drove me there and back for a year. From her I learned to work hard and save my earnings. From those workers I learned that education could create opportunities.
- When I enrolled at Hamilton College, in Clinton, NY, I learned that it was one of the Top 10 Preppiest Colleges in the country. In my ignorance, I created a survey for all the incoming freshmen and stuck it in their mailboxes to ask “how well prepared are you?” and “where did you attend high school?” I learned that a 40% response rate was strong, and that there was no significant difference between self-confidence and high school preparation.
The class size at Hamilton was about 10 students. We were expected to ask questions and respectfully challenge one another. In one mid-January class, 5 of us sat in the professor’s office while he smoked his pipe and we discussed the explosive power of humanism in the Middle Ages. When a different professor shared that she studied with the author of one of our books, I learned that authors are accessible. And that they often disagree! Academics of any age can and should challenge one another. Later I learned that there was no mandatory course of study at Hamilton. Students there are expected to be interdisciplinary.
- After two years there, amid a family relocation and financial stress, I went to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Some of my class sizes were now hundreds of students! I learned that any undergraduate could substitute graduate level courses, so that’s what I did. My classmates were expert administrators or teachers. They all had strong opinions. I recall doing a project on creativity with a student who was also a professional videographer. Somehow we gained access and conducted interviews inside the public schools. Interdisciplinary skills were tolerated for entrepreneurial students.
- My next few years were spent in applied leadership sessions, as an instructor in wilderness Outward Bound courses, backpacking expeditions in Wyoming and Montana, canoeing in Minnesota, trekking in England… Those seasons were great opportunities to observe how people experience stress, resilience, endurance, conflict. Then I spent years teaching English at four independent day and boarding schools. One prevailing lesson is that financial wealth does not protect people from stress or challenges.
- My next formal schooling lessons were at Dartmouth College, in a program called the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. We could study anything! So I explored the influence of landscape art in New Hampshire, educational pedagogy, feminism, equality, and social psychology. My thesis was a longitudinal study on Adolescent Risk Taking Behavior, because I wondered what led some people to embrace risks, and others to avoid risks. Perhaps I’m still collecting data on that topic!
- My last example of formal schooling is called a terminal degree for good reason. After years of managing executive coaches, leading a nonprofit, and some time working in colleges, I knew I wanted to focus on applied psychology. And I needed to continue generating revenue through my consulting! The Chicago School of Professional Psychology was a good fit for online content, with two onsite events to validate our identity and assess our knowledge. I loved the structure of weekly reading, writing, commenting. In the three decades since I had studied psychology, there was a sea change in research away from what is wrong with people (anxiety, depression, violence) and toward what enables people to flourish (meaning, engagement, relationships, achievements). My dissertation focused on Positive Psychology Coaching protocols that accelerate leader development. Yes, I’m still collecting data on that topic too!
That’s my listed attempt to answer the first question: “How did I develop my interdisciplinary knowledge?” In short, by observing and reinforcing the strengths of others.
The second question was “How can I encourage others to do the same?”
I think each of us can say and do a better job of practicing interdisciplinary knowledge.
- I encourage you to make your list of influences- formal schooling or informal lessons.
- I encourage you to share that list with your loved ones. They need to know what you think and value.
- I encourage you to share some of your examples in the comments below. Action leads to learning.
I suspect that when we are vulnerable about our interdisciplinary knowledge, then we are better practitioners.
What do you think?
This can become a discussion if you share any thoughts or comments below.
Or schedule a 1:1 here NOW. I’d love to hear your examples!
by Doug Gray | Dec 16, 2024 | change, Coaching, Leadership, organizational leadership, Personal Development, positive psychology, strengths, talent
… to savor the possibilities.
He stood there for so long that a gigantic security guard said, “You can’t just stand here.”
No response.
Then the guard said, ” If you don’t move along then I’ll have to fine you $100.”
Still no response.
Then the guard said, “What are you doing here? Where are you going?”
The positive psychologist smiled and said, “How about if I pay you the $100 and come back next week? I want you to ask me those two questions week after week.”
And so began the history of professional coaching…
Yes, you can define a meaningful outcome for yourself!
Based on my research, here are the top outcomes for business coaching. Pick one or two.
Top business coaching outcomes:
o Banking and financing
o Board of directors/advisors
o Branding
o Change management
o Communication skills
o Compensation and benefits
o Computer security
o Conflict resolution
o Customer service
o Ethics
o Insurance / risk management
o Leadership assessments
o Managing growth
o Managing others
o Marketing
o Net profit
o Operations
o Personal finances
o Personal health and well-being
o Presentation skills
o Safety/ workers compensation
o Sales
o Talent development
o Time/energy management
Now what?
Find someone who can ask you those two questions: “What are you doing here? Where are you going?”
Any thoughts or comments?
Schedule a 1:1 session now! I’d love to discuss your answers!
by Doug Gray | Dec 13, 2024 | change, Financial Professionals, Leadership, Managers, organizational leadership, positive psychology, strengths, Success, talent
The Future of Family Offices: Why Multidisciplinary Teams Are Essential
The goal of every family office is the same- to serve the financial and capital needs of current and future generations. However, the process is changing.
We will always require attorneys and wealth advisors to “stay in their swim lanes” and practice compliance. That will never change. Those silos are necessary, but NOT sufficient. Today, cross functional teams of interdisciplinary advisors are collaborating and providing external expertise.
Recently I was asked to create video recordings for a multi-family office (MFO) with over $1B in assets under management. They wanted me to share succession planning advice with their 80+ clients. Last week I talked with my new friend, Charmaine Tang, CEO of Orca Americas, about the need for people and technology to model innovation for family offices. Also last week I invited Brannon Fisher, a MFO partner, to share advice with our Next Gen Peer Group leaders when we met in Denver. Minutes ago I spoke with Bradley Franc, CEO of Succession Strategies, who said, “We don’t do what you do. We should partner.”
Notice the pattern?
We all have such meetings, because we all serve the current and future needs of our clients.
I can only imagine that such collaboration will accelerate. There is a growing trend toward building multidisciplinary teams within large family offices. Those internal teams may include specialists from various fields together to collaborate and provide comprehensive advice. Naturally, each advisor brings unique legal, financial, or relational expertise. Every smaller Family Office needs to do the same. They need to develop external teams of expert advisors. The power of multidisciplinary collaboration lies in our ability to address the full complexity of family dynamics and wealth management.
Wealth advisors, thankfully, are focused on maximizing assets for long-term gain. Attorneys and insurance advisors focus on protecting assets and minimizing risk, thankfully! Both roles are critical and are NOT sufficient for Next Gen leaders who expect more transparency, digital access, and opportunities to learn.
Family Offices, like any social organization, need to evolve. Every aspect of the family’s wealth or legacy deserves expert advice.
Navigating Intergenerational Conversations
Consider a typical family office meeting: the Elder Generation is planning for retirement and succession, while the Next Generation is learning about investments and long-term financial planning. In the middle, a team of advisors—legal, economic, and often behavioral psychologists (like me) —helps facilitate the conversation.
These discussions may be delicate. The Elder Generation needs to learn to bite their tongues. They need to encourage the Next Generation to ask questions about access to funds, investment strategies, and their personal goals.
For younger family members, these meetings present an opportunity to learn about critical topics like compounding interest, wealth distribution, and long-term planning. I’ve been facilitating a series of family meetings with three Elders, five Next Gens, and three wealth advisors from Northern Trust. By the end of the last session, the Elders were beaming with satisfaction. A multidisciplinary team ensures that these meetings are not just about financial details but about fostering open, constructive dialogue across generations. Advisors from different fields can help ensure that the right questions are being asked and that all voices are heard.
The Expanding Role of the Family Office
Family offices have historically focused on wealth management—handling investment portfolios, estate planning, and tax strategies. But the role of the family office is evolving faster than ever. Many family offices are expanding toward a more comprehensive model that addresses both financial and Family Capital.
The Family Capital Model includes five key areas:
- Health and well-being
- Family governance and decision-making
- Succession planning and education for the next generation
- Family dynamics and interpersonal relationships
- Risk management, both financial and relational
This expansion reflects a broader understanding that to preserve a family’s legacy, the focus must be on the whole family, not just its financial assets. How do Family Office leaders support that broad need? With timing and expertise.
The Importance of Multidisciplinary Collaboration
Timing matters. Bringing in the right expertise at the right time is critical for any family office. A well-rounded team of advisors can ensure that a family’s needs—whether related to wealth, legal matters, or family dynamics—are met efficiently and effectively. When a Family Office relies solely on financial experts, it risks overlooking other vital family legacy elements. A multidisciplinary team mitigates this risk by ensuring that all aspects of the family’s life and legacy are considered in decision-making processes. Quarterly meetings work well. An annual cadence of ownership meetings is a minimal requirement.
Expertise matters. Advisors from different disciplines often approach problems from unique perspectives. After years of formal schooling, credentialing, and serving similar clients, those perspectives are reinforced and they bias every advisor. Thankfully! Think of any trigger event, like the sale of an asset or death of an Elder. Financial advisors are adept at identifying the right moments—like liquidity or birthdays or significant life milestones—to reassess strategies. Legal and insurance advisors ensure that these strategies are sound from an asset protection or risk management perspective. Family psychologists or governance consultants may facilitate conversations around succession planning, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making structures. Nothing is more crucial.
Today, more than ever, families face complex challenges beyond financial management. We all require a team that can holistically serve our needs for expertise in health, wealth, and relationships.
Embracing the Complexity
Let’s assume that Family Offices will play an increasingly important role in managing wealth and the complex needs of families. The sheer scale of assets expected to be transferred between generations in the next decade—estimated to be over $80 trillion USD – makes succession planning and Next Generation leadership development essential priorities for Family Offices. That’s why our team partners with Family Offices. People need our 360 assessment process to confirm who has leadership capacity and what behaviors to develop. People need our Peer Groups to improve communication, reduce conflict, and reduce anxiety about succession.
Let’s also assume that technology will also play a more significant role. Advanced tools, from AI-driven assessments to virtual platforms for family collaboration, are already being used to enhance family governance and communication. Can you imagine a hologram with your 100-year old Elder or Founder in a discussion? Can you imagine 5 generations of family in a meeting, rather than 2-3 generations, as a result of enhanced lifespans? Those technologies will never replace the need for human expertise. Curiosity and humility can never be replaced by AI, and those are two competencies worth developing in most family systems.
Preparing for the Future
To navigate this evolving landscape, Family Office leaders must ensure that their teams can handle both financial and family capital needs. Multidisciplinary teams are not just a trend—they are becoming necessary for Family Offices looking to sustain their success across generations. External advisors provide scaled solutions and reduce costs.
For advisors who serve Family Offices, now is the time to evaluate whether your advisory team is comprehensive enough to address the full range of family needs. Are you prepared to guide your clients through complex psychological and social transitions?
If not, consider expanding your advisory network to include experts who can help you address the evolving challenges facing family offices today. We can help.
Schedule your 1:1 session here.
by Doug Gray | Dec 12, 2024 | change, Coaching, family, Financial Professionals, Leadership, Managers, organizational leadership, Sales, strengths, Success, talent, talent assessment
I’m often surprised at what business psychologists know, that ANYONE could benefit from knowing and practicing…
This content is #1 of 3 articles.
Title: The HERO Model: An approach for Navigating Organizational Changes in Family Enterprises
All leaders and advisors struggle with Organizational Change. How could our work be anything else? Family enterprises are infinitely complex. No one likes to be told to change. We all bring our biases and adopt heuristics to reduce that complexity. Attorneys say, “We mitigate risk.” Wealth advisors say, “We leverage capital assets.” Next Gens say, “We want to innovate.”
We all use heuristics (patterns for what works) to reinforce the structures that reflect our worldview for each family system. One common example is the multidisciplinary views of capital, that include financial, social, human, family, legacy, and intellectual views of capital. Those views of capital are resource-based, and the capital diminishes as we age. In my final years, for example, I will forget people and information, and my financial assets will be invested into healthcare… just like each of our clients.
What would happen if more practitioners adopted a more pervasive and universal view of capital?
Social psychologists (like me) know that Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a dynamic, validated construct that can be used to describe our clients. PsyCap is defined as a construct based on 4 inter-related competencies: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism (see the APA link here, or read the book here).
As the primary author, Fred Luthans, recently stated to me, “PsyCap has and continues to take off across the world … I have over 166,000 citations of my research which has been awarded in the top 1% of all researchers in all fields in the world and ranks #1 in organizational behavior textbooks. In other words, I am very happy with how PsyCap research is going, especially in the global economy.” (direct communication 9.5.24).
The HERO model is more than a convenient acronym. The HERO-within model is a critical approach that practitioners can apply at multiple levels- individual, team/ family, and organizational/ societal.
I have applied the PsyCap model with countless clients for decades. You can also do so!
And ANYONE can apply this model to themselves.
Practitioners, by definition, need to practice new behaviors and share them widely. My opinion is that practitioners have a fiduciary responsibility to practice both new ideas (innovation) and celebrate strengths (stability) every day.
The purpose of these 3 short articles is to introduce the HERO model, like a new vocabulary term, and examples that can be applied by advisors in any discipline. I invite you to assess how you can apply these practical examples with yourself, your loved ones, and with the clients you serve.
Imagine that you are building a house with a garden that you hope will support generations of loved ones. Hope is defined as “the will and the way” to build a better future (read the book here). Every business founder believes “I can build this product or service.” Their hopes are often defined in founder’s history books or videos, vision statements, the stories told and re-told at gatherings. Efficacy is the capacity to build that new house, to get the job done. We all use blueprints such as values statements, family constitutions, charters, phased strategic plans for new projects. Resilience is our capacity to respond to adversity by returning to the same or a better level. Examples include our responses to global disease, market adversity, or loss of our loved ones. Optimism is our choice to believe in a positive outcome, such as well-being for our children and grandchildren. All four of these competencies can be measured, taught in under 90 minutes, and developed over time. The PsyCap impact is more significant when all four competencies are measured (a second-order effect) than when only one or three competencies are measured.
Here are examples for how we can accelerate PsyCap at three levels: Individual, Team/ Family and Organizational/ Societal.
Article #1 of 3: The HERO Model applied at the Individual level
We all need to look in the mirror at times. We all need to exhale. All good leadership development models start with self-awareness and lead to new actions, so it makes sense to start this list of activities with assessments, then several new behaviors that you can implement immediately.
A. Pre-Meeting or Annual Surveys. For years I’ve embedded these 4 questions into surveys so that I can provide a summary of PsyCap changes over time. Directions: On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) how do you assess each of the following?
1. Hope. I have “the will and the way” to achieve my goals.
2. Efficacy. I feel confident that I know what I need to do to achieve my goals.
3. Resiliency. I can get through difficult times or challenges.
4. Optimism. I am optimistic about what will happen to me in the future.
When I share the data, I also encourage people to use these four vocabulary words regularly.
B. Self-Assessments. Individuals and teams can clarify values using free tools like https://www.viacharacter.org/ or https://www.lifevaluesinventory.org/
Personality and behavioral data including strengths and derailers can be assessed from https://www.hoganassessments.com/ or https://www.discprofile.com/
C. 360-Assessments. The most valid form of assessment is anonymously collected from others and focuses on the behaviors of family and non-family leaders. See my process at https://assessnextgen.com/
D. Reflected Best Self activity. When I ask 10-15 people to describe my strengths and weaknesses, those details can help me identify how I can be “At My Best.” Our colleagues and loved ones may never have been asked to provide feedback or advice. (See details at https://hbr.org/2005/01/how-to-play-to-your-strengths).
E. Three Good Things. The gold standard in social science, with over 100 years of research, occurs when a random sample population repeatedly has a significant result from an isolated behavior. Imagine that you practice this new behavior for a week. When going to bed, write down or state out loud Three Good Things that happened that day. Simple activity, right? If we measured your subjective well-being (happiness) daily, it would increase. Related prosocial measures, like gratitude and kindness, also increase. If you extend your Three Good Things activity into a journal for months and years, then you can ask your loved ones if they notice any results. (read the book here).
F. Adopt a metaphor, such as building a new house with a garden where your great grandchildren can flourish. When we “design a future self or future house” then we can adopt that metaphor and practice flourishing. Ask any founder. Or ask any parent. When we hold newborn children, we always whisper our best intentions and hopes. Why not do the same for yourself and your clients?
Time to pause… what do you think?
Article #2 in this series will focus on the team/ family level.
Article #3 in this series will focus on the organizational/ societal levels of organizational change.
Conclusion
Like every practitioner, I’m regularly reminded of how little I know. I ask for advice, and read, and on good days I listen well. Then I try something new. The PsyCap term may be new to some readers. However, the words “hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism” are ancient and familiar.
If we embrace the HERO model for our loved ones and our clients, then we are practicing ancient wisdom, in a new way. (See my riveting dissertation here).
My experience is that Psychological Capital describes family-centric values over a longer term than any other measure of capital.
Please add your thoughts if you share that bias or want to continue this conversation!
Schedule a 1:1 session here
by Doug Gray | Oct 1, 2020 | ISO 30414 Compliance, Leadership, Managers, organizational leadership
Guest author John R. Mattox, II, Ph.D., VP of People Analytics, Action Learning Associates, LLC
I doubt that your team is ready for the SEC. Let me explain.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) currently requires publicly traded companies to report ONLY ONE metric about human capital: number of employees. Human Capital is their biggest expense. For investors, that ONE METRIC does not provide adequate information about an organization’s most profitable intangible resource- human capital. For HR and business leaders, that one metric is NOT SUFFICIENT to monitor and manage the workforce effectively.
Human Capital metrics are essential to 1) manage the workforce and 2) drive business value.
On August 26, 2020 the SEC revised its rule on Human Capital Reporting. Anything that has a “material influence on the operations and profitability of the organization should be reported.”
Privately-owned businesses WILL follow publicly-traded organizations. They always have.
A wide range of human capital metrics will apply. Thankfully, there is a well-researched and comprehensive framework for measuring and reporting human capital metrics. We can help your team immediately.
The International Standards Organization, (ISO) which has improved product quality and consistency around the globe with ISO 9000, has developed a NEW standard for sharing meaningful measures of human capital called ISO 30414. You need to know about it.
The ISO 340414 standard outlines 11 areas that organizational leaders should measure and report on various aspects of your workforce. The purpose is to give investors insights into the people-side of the business. Equally as important, ISO 30414 gives the c-suite a standard set of metrics to monitor and manage to improve the organization.
What are the Human Capital Measures?
The ISO standard contains 11 general reporting areas which are listed below:
- Compliance and ethics
- Costs
- Diversity
- Leadership
- Organizational culture
- Organizational health, safety, and well-being
- Productivity
- Recruitment, mobility, and turnover
- Skills and capabilities
- Succession planning
- Workforce availability
Along with these reporting areas, the new ISO 30414 standard provides specific metrics and recommended ways to calculate each of these measures.
You can expect updates to definitions and calculations in the coming years as practitioners adopt and apply these ISO 30414 standards. We can help you.
Back to my question: Is Your Organization Prepared?
The question for you is simple: Are you ready? I doubt it.
Is your organization ready to adopt this ISO 30414 framework, measure your workforce, take action to improve your organization, and also report that information internally and externally as needed? I doubt it.
If you have an HR analytics team, there is a good possibility that you can analyze and report some or even all of these metrics. If you do not have an analytics team, your system administrators might be able to cabal together a representative set of measures. But you will still require our help.
Based on the LinkedIn Global Talent Trends study (2020), 85% of those surveyed think people analytics will be a dominant function in human resources in the coming years. Yet, 55% of those surveyed say they “still need help putting basic people analytics into practice.”
Nearly half of all organizations are not prepared for ISO 30414 human capital reporting.
Sadly, I doubt that your team or organization is ready for the SEC. We can help you.
Is Human Capital Reporting Required?
This is a simple question that has a complex answer. The current answer is “no.” The SEC does not require publicly traded companies to report anything more than the number of employees. However, other countries like Germany are requiring extensive HC reporting and they are basing their efforts on the ISO 30414 standard. Dave Vance, the Executive Director of the Center for Talent Reporting (www.centerfortalentreporting.org), recently published an article in CLO Magazine describing when the SEC will require human capital reporting. The current answer is that the SEC is likely to require publicly traded companies to report “material information”—meaning anything that an investor would find valuable when considering buying a security. That is very broad language and will likely encompass all Human Capital measures.
The ISO 30414 provides a useful framework, valuable metrics, and informative calculations and will likely serve as a guide for future organizations. We recommend that YOU adopt these measures today.
Conclusion
Most organizations are not prepared today to augment current public financial statements about the health of their company with information about human capital. However, information about “material influencers of the business including human capital” are now required by the SEC for publicly traded companies.
ALL organizations need to prepare for ISO 30414 compliance. You will soon be required to leverage internal resources like analytics groups, HR systems, and standard measurement processes.
Most business leaders will need to hire external consultants like Action Learning Associates, with expertise with HR analytics and the ISO 30414 standard. Not only will you need to be compliant with new SEC rules, you will be able to recommend solutions to your c-suite leadership team. Your biggest expense is Human Capital. Soon you will be required to manage your investments in people and improve all aspects of your Human Capital business. Why wait?
Call us TODAY to get started.
John Mattox, PhD and Doug Gray, PhD can be reached at contact us or 615.236.9845.
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