by Bob Gershberg, CEO/Managing Partner Wray Executive Search
As this tumultuous year comes to a close, none too soon for many, we must get laser focused on the future. Now is a great time to reflect, analyze, and strategize. COVID-19 revealed many strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for us all. We are well-advised to use that fresh knowledge to our advantage entering 2021 as we build our new year plan.
Investing in great people will, indeed, be the path to glory. Surviving and thriving in challenging times requires an extraordinary team. Hiring needs are rapidly changing; the talent market is continually evolving and becoming increasingly diverse.
It is to be expected that our approach on many fronts will change. In innumerable cases, it already has. We must all boost our performance and focus on unison and empathy, adapting our business approach to fit the challenging times.
Flexibility, good judgement and a positive attitude will bring us to the Victor’s Cup! We are, if nothing else, a resilient lot.
As we enter the holiday season, pause to be thankful and thoughtful and let’s all make great decisions in the New Year!
May the holiday season bring you and your circle, good health and good cheer!
“The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell.”
Extreme times call for extreme creativity: new inspiration, new ideas, and new solutions. Many of us are being called to be more creative than we ever have before. Here are six tips on how to maximize creativity, from people with vast creative accomplishments and from my own experience in consciously nurturing a creative existence.
Believe deeply that your problem is solvable, have a passion for solving it, and be willing to put in the work. Negative thinking or claiming not to be creative is creative laziness. Positive thinking and staying open to whatever ideas arise helps open the channels to the eventual solutions. Putting in consistent time and effort pay off in forging the mastery needed for better solutions. Positivity combined with hard work raises creativity exponentially. In the words of the immortal RuPaul, “Negativity is basically laziness. It takes a lot of hard work to remain positive, but positivity always pays off.”
by John A. Gordon, Principal and Founder, Pacific Management Consulting Group
Last week, a wave of complaints emerged in the US McDonald franchisee community when the franchisor notified franchisees that a series of new fees and subsidy cuts would be initiated in 2021.[1] The fees and subsidy cuts, about $12,000 per location, were described as last-minute and uncoordinated by senior McDonald’s franchisees I know. The fees include costs for the “Archways Opportunity” employee tuition program (of which franchisees certainly benefit; moving it to jointly funded ) as well as costs for digital/IT. These fees in total apparently amount to $170 million in 2021; it is not difficult to see a corporate PowerPoint slide showing this number being used during corporate budget development sessions.
What Happened?
What surprised many is that just before MCD Quarter 3 earnings in September is that the US franchisee mood was said to be extremely positive—the highest ever—as reported by Mark Kalinowski’s Quarterly McDonald’s franchisee survey. On its November 9th earnings call, Kevin Orzan the CFO mentioned the US business returned to positive comps and grew company-operated margin dollars in the US.[2] While not franchisee numbers, it is a proxy. While McDonald’s corporate and franchisee relationships have been up and down, there had been an improvement with more field focus under Joel Erlanger, the US McDonald’s Division President, and with the creation of the McDonald’s National Owner Association two years ago. However, franchisees do not like fees; almost every franchisee I’ve ever talked to over time doesn’t see why the royalty paid isn’t good enough.
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
Love it or Leave it
By Tom Rollert, Vice President, Wray Executive Search
Some years ago, I attended a lecture by a professional management guru who informed us that Amateurs do what they love, but professionals love what they do. Sounds simple, right? As years have passed, I have learned that it’s not simple at all. I’ve learned that if professionals are not doing what they love then the reason they love what they do is about money or power or influence or self-aggrandizement or any number of other non-sustainable gratifiers. If you have worked in an environment in which the leader is one who is motivated by something other than passion for what they, and in turn their team/company does I think you’ll understand what I’m writing about. It’s a drag and the best thing to do is get out and find a better gig.
Gaps in employment happen for innumerable reasons. Yet their mere existence purports to be a red flag for many hiring managers. So, before you make hiring decisions based on such gaps, it’s worth keeping in mind that there are at least three legal reasons that doing so could spell trouble.
Familial/Parental Discrimination
Did you know that 17 states prohibit discrimination on the basis of whether an individual is a parent?
Familial and/or parental discrimination is unlawful in Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. (If that’s not the oddest-ever group of states…)
