Instead of worrying about the Great Resignation, it’s time for organizations to pivot to a Great Re-Negotiation. But keep in mind – a good negotiation requires strong relationships.Where working relationships are strained, it’s hard to openly communicate needs and collaborate towards win/win scenarios… which leads to a breakdown of trust between employer and employee, and ultimately increases attrition.This dynamic makes it clear that in order to turn the Great Resignation into the Great Re-Negotiation, there has to be a real investment in relationships. Is your organization investing in the type of relationships that can evolve and grow as circumstances demand? Do employees feel like they can engage in a re-assessment of their skills and contributions– or do they have to jump ship in order to get their needs met? With a foundation of strong relationships, re-negotiation can simply become a normal, healthy, and expected part of the work relationship – not just a reaction to a VUCA business environment.

We are in the middle of one of the most volatile and complex business environments I’ve ever seen. Since March 2020, organizations have been forced to navigate a pandemic, new work tools and collaborative technologies, supply chain issues, shifting public safety measures… and now, companies are facing the “Great Resignation.”The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August, a record-breaking statistic. According to McKinsey, up to 40% of employees are stating that they are at least “somewhat likely” to leave their jobs in the next 3-6 months. And resignation rates have increased more than 20% for workers between 30 and 45 years old – valuable employees who are in some of the most productive years of their career.We’re hearing that the Great Resignation is being driven by employees who are burnt out, don’t feel invested in, and don’t see future opportunities in their roles. The past year has pressured employees to be endlessly resilient while, in some cases, not being given the support or tools to thrive in our VUCA environment. This is an unsustainable pattern, especially for mid-career employees who have complex responsibilities outside of the workplace.

A Chief Growth Officer is someone who can make a path where there is none. They see opportunity where others can’t, inspire others to use their skills in unconventional ways, and probably get exceptionally excited looking at data reports and trend lines.

Southeast Louisiana suffered yet another devastating hurricane this month, and it has got me thinking about how leaders approach challenging times. The business community has had no shortage of difficult events in the past few years – storms, a pandemic, market shifts, and employment volatility, to name just a few. While we often talk about VUCA leadership (leading your team or company through volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous events), sometimes it’s unclear where one VUCA event ends, and another begins. Or are we just in an unceasing pattern of crisis? Is the “new normal” just a mirage?

This summer, Success Labs consultants spent time with the fantastic employees of BWI Companies, Inc. – a large distributor of landscape, agriculture, pest management, and animal health supplies, among other products.As a team with offices and territories across the south, communication and relationship building is paramount. BWI knows that investing in its people strategy through development planning is vital for the long term success of the organization. They brought in Success Labs to jump start the career development planning process, with the goal of building teamwork and leadership skills through virtual workshops and in-person coaching sessions.Every organization has unique goals based on their team needs and people capacity. However, at the end of the day, investing in people and growing their capacity to perform at a high level is what we’re all aiming for. Read on to learn more about the process we engaged in with BWI to grow leaders and drive the results they seek as a company.

So you want to develop your leaders and invest in your people strategy. Why send your emerging talent to a workshop, versus asking their managers to just… coach them a little extra?Leadership development workshops differ from the training, supervision, and mentorship that typically happens as part of an organization’s management structure. It’s not a replacement for those things – but it does create an environment that greatly accelerates growth, giving your people the time and opportunity to intentionally work on leadership skills they may not otherwise have a chance to focus on.That time is invaluable for your entire organization. By giving your emerging leaders the gift of focused growth, you are building resilience, agility, and strategic thinking throughout every team. As one of our previous Resilient Leadership Series participants said – “Where you go, your team goes. Where your team goes, your organization goes.”That’s why leadership training isn’t just an investment in individuals – it’s an investment in your overall people strategy.

he consultants at Success Labs frequently recommend that teams get together and complete a SWOT exercise in order to assess their capacity to take on challenges and opportunities. The idea is to fully understand how your strengths and weaknesses interact with the tasks you’re taking on – so that you are in a better position to seize opportunities and sidestep threats.This process is relevant to anyone pursuing a challenging task, whether that’s launching a product or taking a full load of classes. As a student, I think it’s important to periodically check in with yourself and actually write down how your strengths will help you achieve your goals – and how your weaknesses might present a barrier to success. This SWOT matrix for students will help you complete that check-in, AND better prepare you for the exciting year ahead.These days, we know more than ever that NO one knows what a new year will bring. Put yourself in a position to be proactive and accomplish your best work by filling out this matrix:

mily is in her senior year at LSU, majoring in Leadership & Human Resources Development, and she already has the strong resume of a goal-driven young professional. An aspiring training and development specialist who is already preparing to take the SHRM-CP exam – a human resources professional certification typically pursued by post-grad professionals – she has the confidence of a student who is all-in for her chosen path. But that hasn’t always been the case. Emily says that she arrived at LSU thinking she wanted to major in fashion design, and had several courses in sewing and other relevant skills under her belt before she realized she didn’t feel fulfilled. “I knew I wanted to help people in a more direct way,” said Emily, discussing her path towards human resources development. “I didn’t know much about the LHRD major, but talking to professors like Dr. Gibbons helped me gain the confidence to realize I could change majors and have great opportunities while helping people.

For employees just entering the workforce, COVID-19 accelerated a few key trends. Where Millennial and Gen Z employees were already leading the transition to adopting collaborative tech and asking for flexible or hybrid work schedules, these trends – almost overnight – became the norm rather than the exception, including everyone from senior executives to the brand new hire. The rapid-onset of this shift meant that many organizations spent much of the past year just trying to keep up with new norms, without giving due diligence to best practices around onboarding and engaging new employees.

The acceleration of the work-from-home (WFH) trend has been much discussed since the onset of COVID-19. Depending on your industry, organizations had to get comfortable FAST with remote technologies and leading teams from a distance. The general consensus seems to be that the end result of our national remote office experiment was good, as it provided room for much-needed discussions around work/life balance, employee flexibility, and the fundamentals of leadership.One discussion has been neglected, however. With so many offices going hybrid or fully remote, best practices for onboarding new employees have sometimes been lost in the shift.

Nonprofit organizations are known to do a lot with less. With the demands of outreach, fundraising, service provision and program development, they rarely have the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day and really look at their strategic plan and facility needs. This is where the Success Labs LAB Grant steps in.The grant connects local nonprofits with emerging business leaders in our Resilient Leadership Series and Management Incubator classes, who are charged with providing consulting services to the LAB Grant recipient. These services include:

A total assessment of a strategic problem facing the grant recipient

Actionable recommendations to solve or mitigate that problem

A day of facility enhancements at the nonprofit site

Melissa Terito believes in exploring new paths and new ways to use her skills – and she isn’t afraid to step out into unfamiliar endeavors. This ability to push her own boundaries and encourage others along the way adds to her strength as a leader at Faulk & Winkler, where she is a Partner in their pension division.Before Melissa went back to school to get her accounting degree, beginning a journey that would eventually see her directing over 200 plans and hundreds of millions in assets, she was a math teacher at St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge. While Melissa enjoyed the challenge of teaching and inspiring her students, she eventually realized that teaching was not her ultimate calling; and committed to working from the ground up in different field. In her current role, she greatly enjoys helping the public with challenging and personal financial products.