Career Development the CG Way |
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CG recognizes that the ability to serve our clients rests on the knowledge, motivation and respect of our most important assets, our people. Our elite retention and refinement programs are designed to create an environment that is focused on the professional growth and development of our employees and partners. This environment allows for relationships to be established where you will have the opportunity to create an individualized career path, with sincere developmental coaching, and feedback from someone who cares about you and who knows how to take you where you want to go.
Our partnerships with Advisa Management Solutions Ltd. and Predictive Index, Lou Adler and Performance-based Hiring, Bruce Tulgan and RainmakerThinking, have led us to create some of the most innovative and progressive human resources practices in the profession. First, Break All the Rules, is the core of our foundational human resources programs and the basis for which many of our programs have been built upon. Read more below on how these industry experts have assisted us in creating a Best Place to Work at CG!
First, Break All the Rules
To lay the groundwork for First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Manager's Do Differently, authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman surveyed more than 80,000 of the world's greatest managers from more than 400 companies, asking them what they do differently to succeed in effectively managing their organizations in today's competitive business environment. The answer: these companies said that the manager is the most important factor in recruiting and retaining the employee. At CG, we invest in developing great managers to develop our most important asset, our people.
First, Break All the Rules says that managers need to position employees towards their strengths and passions, and select employees based on their talent, not just on their skills and knowledge. The book focuses on 12 core questions related to assessing the strength of your work environment and how the individual's manager impacts that environment. These questions are the basis for CG's Annual Career Development Survey (Employee Satisfaction Survey), and have been used as the foundation in developing CG's elite recruitment, refinement and retention programs.
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HOT Management
Clifton Gunderson was the first major firm to practice HOT Management, a proven management technique created by generational expert, Bruce Tulgan of RainmakerThinking Inc. The term "HOT Management" describes the highly engaged, developmental management style, techniques, skills, best practices, and habits of the most effective supervisory managers in today's extremely demanding workplace.
HOT Management as a tool is largely based upon the focused research performed by RainmakerThinking about breakthrough management approaches that maintain the flexibility and innovation required for today's workforce, while balancing the productivity needs of employees and organizations.
At CG, the fundamental principle of HOT Management is that work is a transaction between employees and supervisors, one that requires supervisory, hands-on strategies in place of out-dated and less effective hierarchical tactics.
HOT Management creates open communication, accelerates career growth and links rewards to performance. Through HOT Management, employees and supervisors discuss assignments and expectations together and hold each other accountable, forming a cohesive and effective team.
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The Predictive Index
Clifton Gunderson further invests in our people by providing the Predictive Index (PI), a tool that measures the work-related behaviors and motivational needs of people in organizations. The PI gives CG managers the power and knowledge to best motivate, lead, and position people to achieve goals.
Through the PI, team members at CG better understand each other and communicate more effectively, thus enhancing the overall office culture. CG has incorporated the PI as a development tool in CG University, Senior Manager Orientation, Mentor Training, Feedback Training, and merger due diligence, and made it a tool in our Performance-based Hiring practices, leadership retreats, and conferences.
CG also recognizes that the benefits of understanding and using the PI extend beyond recruitment or teambuilding tools. It can provide insight into motivating our workforce to maximize communications, productivity and profitability.
Using the PI is another step to successfully completing Project: Life. CG has partnered with PI Worldwide and Bob Wilson from ADVISA in effectively implementing this tool.
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Performance-Based Hiring
Our recruiting program, Performance-based Hiring, combined with CG's employment brand, Project: Life, helps us attract, hire and retain the best and brightest talent.
Performance-based Hiring, is based on the philosophies of recruiting industry expert Lou Adler. It begins with a performance-based job description, called a SMART Profile, which defines key responsibilities of the role and places emphasis on characteristics of the most successful people in the position. We then identify and aggressively source top candidates, complete an objective interview and evaluation, determine best fit, and ultimately, close the deal with a competitive compensation package. Performance-based Hiring assists CG in achieving our goal of hiring the best and brightest talent with the proven ability and attributes of successful performance on the job.
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