Since early last year, the Great Resignation has been widely debated and reported, but analysis and tactics for battling its ill effects seem scant. Looking deeply at the reasons why people are leaving, poor bosses and sub-optimal work cultures rise to the top of the list. Note…we didn’t say toxic bosses or negative cultures. We said poor and sub-optimal. That’s because today’s battle for talent is slanted heavily in the favor of candidates looking to find value at work and to work for people and organizations that maximize their value. In this deep-dive discussion, Catalyzer presents their analysis and directly maps Great Game thinking and approaches. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of the Great Resignation’s realities, but with practical, tangible approaches their organizations might explore to mitigate its often dramatic effects.

Succession planning is all too often centered around “what happens if the leader gets hit by a bus” and too narrowly focused on the most senior leaders in an organization. In fact, getting “hit by a bus” is replacement, not succession, and it’s the “single points of human failure” that are most likely to derail an organization in the event that individual unexpectedly left. After an eight-month endeavor with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Catalyzer will share implementation steps with Agency leaders for a plan that comprehensively considers talent and unique development tracks that, together, inform future succession and more effective performance management. The effort is a collaboration with the Agency’s senior leadership and involves Ellen Houlihan, Guy Hatch, and Stephen Ingalls from Catalyzer.

There are four hurdles that stand in the way of a leader making decisions. They include (1) lack of clarity around roles/responsibilities (is it my decision?), (2) incomplete or absent delegation (is it really my decision?), (3) individual indecisiveness, and (4) the culture surrounding what happens when poor decisions are made. This session explores these hurdles, outlining remedies for each. Stephen Ingalls, our President/CEO, leads this discussion for the Management Academy-12 cohort.