Training Leaders for the New Global Economy: How Do We Compete?

In our April Round Table Meetings we discussed the topic: “Training Leaders for the New Global Economy: How Do We Compete?

This proved to be a challenging topic that led to much discussion on the future of the business world and how we as business leaders can prepare for the upcoming changes. Below are the notes from our discussions.

Kalamazoo -Thursday, April 9, 2015

Challenge:

Outsource work
A lot of tax returns are prepared in India.
Radiology reports read in different countries.
Even third world countries have IPhones.
Technology
Global capacity
Not be a commodity-commoditization
People skill set
Funding
Marketing

Solution:

Provide Value and Expand Boundaries
Grow, have affiliates, advisor, resource, and to guide businesses
Hire the “Best Athlete”
People that can learn and deal with people
Upgrade IT
Recruiting never stops
Have the right people and service for a differentiation.
Alliances-Mergers and Acquisitions
Training and Development

Take A Ways:

Global reach –focus on market
Resources
Things are not going to happen organically, be intentional.
Keep athletes passionate about who they are playing for.
Not being a commodity business.
Evolution creates new opportunities
Service Excellence

Kalamazoo -Friday, April 10, 2015

Global Economy – what does it mean to us?

Increasing costs across the globe
Not cost effective to ship across the globe
Seeing more on-shoring
Some exporting is going on as well to China from the U.S.
Hiring staff in other countries and challenged to maintain the same/similar culture
Western Michigan is very global with many students

Challenges

The world wide web has permanently changed things
Competitors can compete more easily – ie. The banking industry
Now purchasing agents can change the way we do business
We tend to think our way is the right way
Dealing with educated buyers
There’s lots of info out there
Other global/foreign businesses could cloud the waters with wrong info
Need to emphasize building trusting relationships
Understand who you’re working with and talking to
Need to be aware of the culture and values of the other countries
Can’t think that it (globalization) doesn’t apply to us
Ie. MSDS – now written on a world-wide level so anyone can recognize the standards

How do we train leaders to compete in the global economy?

Establish a training plan for all employees
Training language barriers/other languages
Understand cultures we may be dealing with
Ie. Mexican vs. Spanish – how do they do business? What are their processes?
Diversity training
What characteristics/experiences do our current employees have that open their perspectives/bring others to the company
Examine diversity – people are fascinated to get to know others
Welcome foreigners to our land – biblical principle

What will happen 3-5 years out?

Swells in technology trends
Diversity training
More global competition
More online evaluation/research/RFP/RFQ
We may need people specifically from the culture/background that we’re doing business with to help train/understand that specific culture
Focus on learning more from others
Tailor your business/marketing to other cultures
Change your website to have it in different languages
Prepare our employees to think in a broader scope
Focus on team decision making – team approach
Get wisdom from global environment
People don’t have the work ethic – experiences can define that
Ie. Corn De-tasseling for children
Think about the bigger picture
U.S. Dollar will loose it’s standard
Federal reserve is broke – watch how that will affect
Shemittah – stock market uncertainty
There are a lot of ways our regional business is affected by the global economy
Look for more information on what’s happening out there and stay educated
Have a better understanding on how our businesses can be affected
Understand how different cultures learn

Closing

Globalization is here and we need to deal with it/embrace it – not fight it
Multiple levels are involved from employees to clients
Team building – learn, adapt, and trust; don’t shy away from it – participate
Educate kids to be more prepared to work with different cultures to bring more exposure

Kalamazoo -Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Challenge:

Development Training
Marketing
Not overselling
Not only dealing with price, but quality.
Competition
Technology, Robots

Solution:

Development Training has to become more important.
Right people
Brain power
Investing, relationships
Promote culture
Integrity foundational
Marketing Process
Look for right match/fit – right partners
Ask the right questions, “How can we help?”
Relationship with the customer
Competition
Convey: longevity, integrity, consistency, quality
Technology
Brain power – people
Quality Standards
Product standards – good value
Relationships with companies
Trust
Integrity
Win-Win Intention
Align with their goals
Service
Integrity
Honesty
Pride in our products
The first Walmart in China was a real disappointment to the Chinese people. They were expecting American quality and found that a lot of what was in the store was from other countries with lower quality. America pride is good quality.
Book Suggestion: “In His Steps”
This book addresses:
What will it cost to have integrity? Long term benefits for standing and keeping focused.

Take A Ways

Stay ahead of Technology
Reputation now, based on quality and service. Employees pick this up too.
Training and Development of Leadership and People – Character development, having an info-structure, process very well defined.
Drive quality
Integrity of the Company – which will be sparked by the integrity of the leadership.
Create a Culture people are more important than things.
Go back to fundamental principles. The Pride and quality of America.
Win- Win Intentions –have no fear

Holland -Thursday, April 9, 2015

CHALLENGE:

Technology changes
Environmental challenges
Lack of an opportunity to grow
Knockoff products
Cost pressure / competitiveness
Implementing technology changes
International culture
Other countries are negative to outside influence
Good suppliers
Leadership Training

SOLUTION:

Mentoring
Providing the right environment
Education and training
Hire young
Scorecard suppliers
Servant style
Balanced scorecard
Transferring knowledge from older workers to younger workers
Help current suppliers get up to speed
Relationship based
Look at whole person
Stay ahead of competition
Go inside country / use nationals
Work with faith based communities

TAKEAWAY:

Working within the culture
Mentoring / on-going education
Develop a leadership track

Grand Rapids -Tuesday, April 14, 2015

CHALLENGE:

No borders / worldwide
Keeping up with technology
Cannot plan based on the past
How to play / engage in this arena
Lack of human capital
Level of sophistication
Government involvement
Poor educational infrastructure – today’s worker not ready for the global economy
Restrictions on imports
Insufficient background / education
Trying to predict
How to imagine…..quick enough
Communication
Logistics
Changing product sets
Competition
Changing demographics / language

SOLUTION:

If you can imagine it…..do it
Adaptation to the changes
Identifying the needs of the customers
Learn / re-education
Grow – do not tread water
Create a diversity officer
Hire to bridge diversity within company
Market to the customer
Build cross cultural teams
Create international partnerships
Step outside comfort zone
Hire with diverse set of experience / including generational diversity

TAKEAWAY:

Learn to adapt and grow
Diversity officer
Flexibility
Open and willingness to change / including technology

Grand Rapids -Thursday, April 9, 2015

Key Challenges

This is no time to be myopically focused on just our local markets! Everything is connected globally now, and will be even more so in the next 5 years.
Distractions are increasing. The volume of information overload is growing. Discerning between what is important and what is not important is requiring more and more energy to figure out.
The gap between what higher education teaches, and what our incoming work force really needs to know, seems to be widening.
Employer loyalty is not a high value attribute in today’s younger work force, yet retaining our top talent is becoming more and more essential.
Globally, economic factors like inflation, interest rates, stock markets, unemployment, war, etc. are unpredictable, creating an unstable global environment, and increasing risk factors for us locally. (What happens in Europe DOES NOT stay in Europe)
Analysis paralysis is creeping in, “I just can’t figure out how I’m going to have enough $ to take the risk.”
Investing in better cyber security is expensive, essential and rapidly changing. Not addressing this need will be devastating.

Key Solutions

Make our mission clear; communicate it frequently, live it daily.
Get a good handle on our long term debt, now.
Connect our business, our people, our mission and our impact with our local communities. Invest in our local communities. Doing so creates a work environment that works. (tee hee, sorry, I couldn’t help myself on that one…)
Private industry must continue to thrive and lead in creating innovation, particularly in the area of customizing locally services and programs across broad ranges of social, cultural and demographic needs. Think the opposite of one size fits all, aka government programs.
Make our organizations more like a family. But, don’t just instill family values; model the principle that being a family IS the value.

Key Takeaways

Listen: to one another, and to God. Create deeper partnerships, invest in more profound collaborations. Synergy must be increased.
Be open to change, more so in the future than in the past.
Be visionary, more so in the future than in the past.
Be servant leaders, more so in the future than in the past.
Strategically export our mission; do so in a nurturing way.
Seek God’s will and guidance in prayer, especially when things are going well. (As opposed to more frequently seeking God’s help when we think things are not going well.)