Happy Birthday to Us

Last year, in celebration of Labor Day, we launched coLeague. coLeague matches Chief People Officers and other Talent specialists with organizations in a fractional, embedded capacity to support organizations to create and nurture a culture worthy of their mission. Now, a year later, we are celebrating a great first year, working with organizations and companies across the country, and wanted to share some of what we are seeing in the field. 

“coLeague is a 10/10! If you are a high-level executive or manager and looking for some embedded support this team can provide that. I am a c-suite leader responsible for seven distinct departments. I contracted with coLeague to support a very important area during a peak season while I was out on family leave; hands down the best decision. Our assigned coLeaguer listened to the priorities I set forward and has executed them flawlessly while also identifying areas for improvement and addressing them.” 

EDs and CEOs are tired!  

Leading through the changes that the last few years have thrown at organizations is no easy feat. And many of the places where we placed coLeaguers are feeling that pain, particularly at the top. It is often the leader of the organization that is bearing the weight of managing change, often spending too much time working on culture, personnel, or other internal challenges, leaving the rest of their work for nights and weekends.

Companies are sabotaging themselves 

Start-ups and organizations that are growing significantly invest in developing their strategy early. However, when they don’t think about the culture they want to create, they pay for it later. What worked in a small organization, with all hands on deck, quickly comes to a grinding halt when more people join without clarity on their role or decision making rights. That inertia leads to mistrust. And when trust starts to erode, we are seeing many companies having to systematically rebuild or create everything from compensation and benefits to talent recruitment and performance management from scratch. And now they are doing it with staff members who are not feeling supported. 

Growing their own can have pitfalls

Given how tough the employment market has been, companies have been smartly growing their own heads of people. This goes a long way toward helping staff see there are promotion opportunities. And when hiring for senior level positions, knowing that the person has the right mindset and aligned values goes a long way. However, often these folks lack some of the skills and experience necessary. And if they aren’t set up for success, they don’t stay in their roles for long.

In general, we don’t think leading companies (or working for them), needs to be this hard.

This year, one coLeaguer helped an organization that has been around for years, but hadn’t yet set up their systems to build out their competencies, performance review system, compensation process and hyrid working policies. Another coLeaguer spent their time supporting a charter management organization to increase their retention by serving as an ombudsperson and bubbling up the greatest needs to then be able to tackle them. We also helped  a company by performing a talent audit and building out their talent strategy and implementation plan. And in most cases, we become the confidant to the CEO so that they aren’t trying to make these decisions alone.

I often tell folks that part of creating coLeague was in response to wishing that there had been a grown up in the room when I was first building out systems and structures for a large non-profit organization—someone that could flag potential pitfalls of a policy or process and share ways to mitigate challenges. Our coLeaguers have the experience to be that person, and the desire to get into the weeds to take the next steps.

By placing previous Chief People Officers and other specialists with deep talent expertise into new, growing, and evolving organizations, they are better positioned to implement ambitious talent plans and to proactively build the people-centered talent systems and structures in a way that will support healthy organizational growth. 

What better way to celebrate Labor Day than to invest in your team in a meaningful way.

“Serving in a leadership role can sometimes feel incredibly isolating. Imposter syndrome creeps in on me often as I navigate a new role and new organization. My coLeaguer has provided me with space and support to encourage me, strengthen my confidence, and push me to think about challenges from multiple perspectives. I'm so grateful for the partnership!”