Two business people smiling at a computer
Opportunity
An organization in the investment industry approached Paradox about trying to develop a talent management program.
Their HR/Talent function was more compliance-driven, reactive, and opportunistic instead of strategic, forward-thinking, and proactive. In the past they had struggled with higher-than-desired turnover and not always successful new hires.
The founders had big goals for the company’s growth, and they knew they needed a motivated and talented team in place to help them achieve it.
The founders had nurtured a driven, entrepreneurial culture, but they needed to put some more structure around roles and expectations to:
- Enable people to take on more responsibility
- Have opportunities for growth and development
- Be recognized for their contribution to the company’s success.
They had some great talent in place, but without clear talent systems and structure, they were at risk of losing them or not realizing their full capability. They also had zero chance of achieving their stretch goals for investment and growth without them.
This organization asked, “How can we develop a human resources strategy, including attracting new talent, hiring, and onboarding them effectively. Plus – just as important if not more so – how do we develop the people we have?”
It was a question of prioritization and sequencing — what projects were needed to develop their strategy, what should they prioritize, and how to develop their organization’s culture.
Ultimately, they wanted to build scalable and repeatable processes.
Solution
Paradox started with an organization assessment. This included interviewing employees to understand what they loved about working there and what some of the opportunities and challenges were.
Based on this, we created and long and short-term roadmap to talent structure and systems in place to create a high-performing, great place to work.
Then, we worked collaboratively with leadership team to implement it.
This roadmap covered strategic HR 101:
- Purpose
- Values
- Career levels and titles
- Development
- Performance management
- Metrics
- Leadership team development
- Pay
- Incentive programs
- Hiring process
To implement this talent program, the leadership level was in need of alignment so that there was clear and not confusing communication to the rest of the organization. They also needed to be clear about goals and expectations so they could better distribute work.
To help manage change and implement the strategy, Paradox joined at leadership retreats and helped the organization hire a key member of their leadership team.
Results
This organization saw remarkable results:
- Retained and grew talent
- Brought in significant outside investment that enabled them to greatly increase their presence and portfolio.
The president of this organization has said:
“Our whole culture has changed. Now people want to come work for us.”