Harnessing AI: Best practices for GenAI adoption to drive company growth

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BY Mark Childs

 

The integration of generative AI (GenAI) tools into professional services is more than an upgrade—it’s a transformative journey that reshapes how organizations operate, innovate, and deliver value to clients. Here are a few best practices that can guide any organization through a successful AI adoption.

ENABLING THE ORGANIZATION

Adopting GenAI tools involves a strategic alignment with organizational goals and a thorough understanding of its current and future capabilities. The first step is to ensure that all stakeholders—leadership, learning and development, sales, and delivery—understand the benefits and functionalities of AI technology adoption.

Tailored training sessions are crucial, focusing on practical applications and easing the tool into daily workflows to maximize acceptance and utility. Once your company is aligned, it’s one step closer to effective adoption and unlocking significant growth.

COMMON CHALLENGES AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

1. Approach value realistically.

While AI technologies offer an immense value opportunity, realizing that value entails cultural readiness for change. Measuring value requires a holistic view combining qualitative and quantitative insights to guide initial and ongoing adoption strategies. Furthermore, demonstrating tangible benefits through pilot projects to identify role-specific needs helps identify the highest-value opportunities.

2. Prepare for resistance to change.

Resistance from staff is a common hurdle. Addressing this involves clear communication about AI as an enhancer, not a replacer of human skills. One approach to this includes applying a human-centered design that enables companies to address employee concerns. Creating spaces for sharing best practices and lessons learned helps embed the change deeply within teams and workflows.

Adoption is not a linear path, but the overall journey is worth it with persistence and an open ear for feedback.  Continue reading →

The 6 Things That Make Managers Hate Their Jobs Less

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by Sarah Lynch

Here’s what business leaders and experts say can make a positive difference for overwhelmed and burned-out managers.

Managers are overwhelmed, but a few crucial changes could help them enjoy — or, at the very least, not resent — their jobs.

Since the pandemic, “no one’s job has changed more” than the manager‘s, says Joe Galvin, chief research officer at executive coaching organization Vistage. Many were tasked with managing hybrid workforces for the first time. They had to scramble to find and retain workers during the Great Resignation. And they’re feeling the brunt of economic headwinds, too, he says.

About three-quarters of HR leaders say that managers are “overwhelmed by the growth of their responsibilities,” according to Gartner, the research and consulting firm. This year, almost half (47 percent) of managers were burned out, according to LinkedIn — more than individual contributors or directors.

And yet, managers play a critical role in their organizations, determining 70 percent of the “variance in team engagement,” Gallup has found. Fortunately, there are shifts that can make managers’ jobs easier and more satisfying, according to business leaders and management experts.

1. Fewer reports

Forty-four percent of middle managers agree that “organizational bureaucracy” can negatively impact their roles, says Emily Field, McKinsey partner and author of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work. But CEOs can help get rid of the red tape.

For instance, when it comes to the monthly organizational reports that managers so often must complete, CEOs should consider: “Do we read those reports?” Field says. “What are the reports we can simply delete? And for the reports that actually are beneficial, how do we create them as efficiently as possible?”

It’s not just paperwork that can pile up. Generally speaking, when leaders are coming up with strategies to help managers, that can often manifest in more work for managers, Field says — and this should be avoided. “Instead of asking, ‘What can I add to help my managers?’ ask, ‘What can I take away to help my managers?'”

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Practicing These 3 Good Habits for the Rest of Your Life Will Be a Difference Maker

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  by Marcel Schwantes

The challenge with forming good habits for success is picking the right ones. Here are three to consider.

One of the most valuable insights into life and success revolves around the underestimated power of habits. It’s often said that people don’t fully appreciate just how important habits are until they get older.

As we age, we realize how difficult it can be to change habits, especially those ingrained over decades. This is why it’s crucial to form the right habits early on.

The challenge with forming good habits is picking the right ones! Not all habits are the same; some help us grow and achieve, while others hold us back and make us feel unsatisfied.

So, what’s the key? It’s to identify habits that match our values and long-term goals and nurture them intentionally. Here are three to consider:

1. Living with integrity

Living and working with integrity brings significant benefits, both personally and professionally. When you operate with integrity, people trust you. They know you’re reliable and ethical and won’t cut corners. This trust helps build stronger relationships with colleagues, clients, and customers. Furthermore, maintaining integrity enhances your reputation, opening up new opportunities and advancing your career. Investor Warren Buffett once said, “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first one, the other two will kill you.”

2. Getting smarter each day

Embracing a growth mindset and making a commitment to lifelong learning are really important habits for success. Think about how you can go to bed a little smarter each day, because when you do, it leads to greater achievements. For example, regular reading and learning can make a big difference in your personal and professional life. The saying “the more you learn, the more you’ll earn” really shows how valuable education and self-improvement are.

3. Simplifying your life

Keeping things simple can lead to long-term success and financial security. Instead of splurging and getting into unnecessary debt, focusing on saving and investing is a great idea these days. Many successful people use their resources to help others, rather than just chasing after personal riches. This shows that living modestly can truly make a positive impact on society.

By embracing the power of simple habits and consciously cultivating the right ones, we can set ourselves on a path to success, fulfillment, and a life well-lived.

 

Source: Inc.com

how do you measure success

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Success is something that everyone in any career field would like to achieve. Success may mean different things to different people.

 

 

Here are some perspectives:

 

Success is by the Lives that you positively touch. Encouragement, caring, training, correcting, helping through tough times, being jubilant in good times.

Success is by the lives of those you can call your friends.

 Karl Sachsenmaier, Associate Partner, IBM

 

Great question…and not easy to answer.  Are we talking about personal success, business success or something else?  For me success is first about family…love, support, and their success as they measure it.  Second, it would be about friends, the depth of those relationships and helping friends achieve their success. Business success would be about understanding one’s talents and passions and finding  a way to enjoy them while providing for family.

 

Rich deMoll, Senior Advisory Board Member

 

If I were to try to try to summarize how I measure success I would say it is a consistent measure of an inconsistent target.  The measure of success is making a difference.

          The target can vary by person though.  On society.  In the firm.  On one person’s life.  I think the reason why people ask the question about how to measure success is that variability.

Just my two cents.

Charles Arnold | Principal, KPMG Consulting

 

 We would welcome your thoughts/input, for our next blog on success.

Sincerely,

Larry Janis

Managing Partner I Integrated Search Solutions Group

P-516-767-3030

How to balance your priorities at work

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by Shanna A. Hocking

 

One of the most challenging parts of adjusting from being an individual contributor to becoming a leader is learning how to balance your team’s priorities and needs with your own projects and work.

When I first made this transition many years ago, I believed that always being available for my team was the best way to show team members I valued them. But I found myself getting further behind on my own work. So I would spend evenings at home catching up on my projects. I ended up feeling burned out and pulled in many directions. As I grappled with my own uncertainties about how to “do it all,” I also worried that senior management would determine I wasn’t ready to be a leader after all.

Though many managers feel uncertain about how to simultaneously support their team’s priorities and complete their own work, it’s not something that’s talked about openly. I often remind the senior leaders I coach that the purpose of a team is to achieve more than any one individual can, and that leaders should give themselves the same compassion they offer to their team members.

Learning how to balance your team’s priorities and your own sets you and the team up for success. Here’s what I recommend to effectively manage both aspects of your role:

Communicate consistently with your team

Start by developing a comprehensive understanding of what your team is working on and what they need from you. You can do this through one-on-one meetings with individual team members and collectively through team and project meetings.

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