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Power of networking

Philippe De Bock

Vice President Talent Management

Delhaize Group

11/04/2023

Something about myself

2

49 y3

Germany

AmexCumminsChiquita

BelgacomTelenet

Delhaize Group

SkiRunningReading

HR BP &Talent

Management

ENFPYellow

R1 – R2GIVING

Retailin the Blood

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United States:- Stores: 1 514 - Revenues: €12 889 mln

Belgium, Luxembourg: - Stores: 852- Revenues: € 5 071 mln

Southeastern Europe & Asia:- Stores: 1 168 of which: Greece: 281 Romania: 296 Serbia and Bosnia &

Herzegovina: 420 Bulgaria: 54 Indonesia: 117

- Revenues: € 3 148 mln (excl. Indonesia)

Period ended December 31, 2013

Delhaize Group:

- Stores: 3 534- Revenues: € 21 108 Bill.- Employees: 160 000

Delhaize Group: an international food retailer operating on 3 continents and in 9 countries

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Delhaize Group Strategy

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Delhaize Group Values

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LET’S SET SOME CONTEXT

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My 2 cent opinion:• Change is faster & more disruptive• Knowledge was power• People want to be inspired & empowered - not being TOLD

• The global perspective is only growing• Associates and Consumers have more options• More individual tailored solutions are needed• Expectations towards leadership are increasing

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CEB study shows that leaders experience:

• 80% are getting more responsibilities

• 76% are being asked to achieve more or broader objectives

• 65% must deliver business results faster

• 54% have frequent shifts in job responsibilities

• 50% have more a global role

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Leadership model = changing

Inspirational

• Setting direction • Leading change• Inspiring

Managerial

• Set objectives• Communicate• Control• Feedback

Networked

• Building the right environment based on autonomy, trust, sharing and collaboration

• Create connection for your co-workers

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Traditional framework

Add-on framework

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Network characteristics:

EMERGENT

RECIPROCITY

SENSE OFCOMMUNITY

RISK TAKING

CROSS BOUNDARIES

Networked

SOURCING NEW IDEAS

BASED ONRELATIONSHIPS

INTERDEPENDENT

LESSCONTROLLINGMECHANISMS

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What are the consequences for leadership behaviors?

TRUST

AUTONOMY

EMPOWERMENT

TRANSPARANCY

OPENESS

DIVERSITYOF

THOUGHTS

MODELPERSONAL

VALUESSHARING

Networked

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And……..and

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NetworkedInspirationalManagerial

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My 5 c

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Let’s get our ducks in a row…..

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My quick view on talent attributes

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

Company Culture

IQ

EQ

AQ

LA

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

IQ

• Smart wins every time….….but it only explains 25% of the performance differential….so don’t only go for brains • But over time it has been the

most consistent characteristic of successful leaders

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

EQ

SelfAwareness

SelfManagement

SocialAwareness

RelationshipManagement

EmpathyOrganizational Awareness

Conflict managementInfluenceTeamwork

EmotionalSelf-Awareness

Achievement orientedAdaptability

Emotional Self-Control

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

AQ

Jack Welch described them as the 4 E’s:

• Energy• Energize• Execute• Go to the Edge

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

LA

• Learning Agility is the ability & willingness to learn from experience and then apply that learning elsewhere in a new situation and first time right.

• Leaders who are high on LA : Search for feedback and new experiences Are critical thinkers Know themselves Can deal with the discomfort of change

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Example 1:DG International Graduate Trainee Program

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Our starting point• About 5 years Stefan Descheemaeker (ex-CEO Delhaize Europe)

requested to build a solid pipeline for the next generation of leaders

• Our base line = « Develop the next generation of leaders »• Our opportunities:

– International experience– Green field approach– Support from top management

• Our challenges:– Retail is not a high margin business– We are fighting all for the same talents– Internal skeptics' and conflicting against RMT programs

• Existing believe : « If you have not started in retail operations; you don’t know anything about retail »

– Engage local operating companies

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How to catch?

Where to fish?

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We choose the Web

• Created a simple mini-site with all info available• We use virtual spread with « Endorse a friend »

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www.dreamjobdelhaize.com

• Endorse a friend• Testimonials and

connection with past or current trainees

• Full transparency during recruitment process

• Endorsements are visible to everybody

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How to find the ones?

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Remeber the ducks?

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IQ

EQ

AQ

LQ

Objective Selection Criteria< than 2 years of work experience

We attribute points to different criteria

Abstract reasoning testWe loose about 60%

BAQ testLooking for LA,

Teamwork, EQ, Drive, Decision Making….

Culture

Fit

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DG IGTP Class 2013 – the numbers

Starting

Population

(1627)

CV Screening:

(994)

Abstract Reasoning:

(314)

Personality questionnaire:

(278)

Interview Event:

(36)

Final selection:

(9)

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Objective criteria

Company, culture & Values fit

EQ, AQ, LAIQ

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Recruitment event = culture test

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• Invite “Top 18” candidates to a recruitment event (1 in US & 1 in Europe) = 2 days event

• “You have give to get something” – During the first half day we give info about DG, our

strategy, the program, create a leadership dialogue with a DG ExCo member, etc….

• Interviewing all candidates– 10 people (5 HR professionals + 5 business people)

conduct 50 min. interview rounds – Candidates are paired by 2 and rotate with colleagues

• Informal dinner with candidates, interviewers & former or current trainees

• Finally we select the ones that fit best our culture– KISS

• Inter-subjectivity = objectivity• YES – NO - MAYBE

• Alumni trainees act as interviewers

• Alumni & current trainees join dinner

• Leadership dialogue with DG ExCo member

• We share decision making process & criteria

• We share test results to all

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The ones who made it

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The program

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Getting started Retail operations Going abroad Prepare for landing

Support from DG Talent Management group

Mentor @ VP or Director level

Learning Groups (+/- every 6 weeks)

Individual performance conversations

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Getting started

• Induction program– Voice & hear expectations– What is ahead– Leadership connection with C-level– Develop as a leader – Give insights on self

• Life-line exercise• Insights Test• BAQ• Career Anchor (E. Schein)• Strengths-finder (Gallup)• EQ testing

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Understand self

Step out of the box

Deal with power, W/L balance, etc.

Being a manager

Getting started

• Connection with DG CHRO & CEO

• « Leave the room meeting »

• Cooking event • Life line exercise• Assignment of

mentor• Assignment of

buddy

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Retail Operations

• 6 months retails ops– Go through all categories– Learn the basics– « Get respected » & « Learn to respect »

• Develop tenacity by living the values (ex. year end in Deli)

• Regular switch of stores– Change leadership

• Project delivery– IDP– Retail ops review

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Retail

Operations

• Change to different stores

• Between stores – spend time in banner HQ

• Every 6 weeks – learning groups

• Trainee sharepoint site

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International experience

• 6 months in retail related department– A - Z project responsibility– Focus on Result Orientation– Stretch department choice

• Cultural learning– Adapt to different environment– Integrate to both country & OpCo culture

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Going

Abroad

• Learning groups continue

• Peer coaching• Inter-cultural

learning course• Networking trips –

to build up relationship in prep. to landing spot

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Prepare for landing

• 6 months in an OpCo job– Conduct a regular job for 6 months– Selection is closely linked to first job

• More difficult period– Get out of the program– Long term development vs. short term

opportunity– International vs. going to home

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Landing

Spot

• Learning groups continue

• Project groups assignements

• Graduation session with Executive sponsor or CEO DG

AFTER THE PROGRAM• Mentoring relationship

can continue• Act as interviewers or are

source of info for candidates

• Involvement in campus recruitment (=US)

• Bi-annual learning groups

• (Mini-leadership College)

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Development support during program

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Support from DG Talent Management groupMentor @ VP or Director levelLearning Groups (+/- every 6 weeks)Individual performance conversations

• High focus on self-awareness & leadership development• All trainees have an IDP (max. 3 development areas &

plenty of strengths they discover)• All have a mentor at VP or min. director level

(attachement to home market) • They have every 6 weeks learning group (tele-presence

usage) focussing on our DG LC model• Strict follow-up on performance reviews during each

rotation + individual feedback on results

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Are we successful?

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Some numbers

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2010 2011 2012 20130

200400600800

10001200140016001800

# of applications

13%

35%

8%5%

2%

25%

12%

# of applications per country

BelgiumGreeceRomaniaSerbia Bulgaria

8%

29%

54%

7%

2%

# of applicants/degree

High school Bachelor Master

MBA Unknown

• Extremly high retention rates (only 1 drop out on 30 trainees in 4 years)

• Attracting a majority of female trainees (65% female & 35% male)

• Candidates have a good geographical spread and a solid educational background

• Program is handled completely internally (high quality @ low cost)

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Example 2:DG Leadership College

« Be humble teacher and a proud learner »

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ExCo gives mandate(2009 – develop the digital strategy for DG)

12 Vice President/directors get selected during the Talent review and start a 3 months journey

1 week together • investigating the mandate• get swamped with info (external info + benchmarking) • assignment to an external executive coach• develop triads + peer coaching

5 weeks virtual • continue to explore – divergence phase • connect weekly through virtual media• coaching & peer coaching ongoing

1 week together • start convergence phase• coaching & peer coaching ongoing

5 weeks virtual • formulate strategy - define recommendations – create experiments

and get support in the organization implementation• prepare for presentation to the ExCo• coaching & peer coaching ongoing

Divergence

Convergence

Foc

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eliv

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Cre

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ithin

DG

Goals of the program

Presentation to ExCo• LC presents learning, makes recommendations and asks for

testing of experiments & puts forward other recommendations• Shares leadership development learning

Bring to life recommendation + Connection remains

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Example – high level output

1. A clear picture of situation1. A clear picture of situation

2. Impact of the new reality of our traditional consumer shopping path2. Impact of the new reality of our traditional consumer shopping path

3. How to activate our new digital consumer shopping path3. How to activate our new digital consumer shopping path

Customerperspective

What is Digital media?

Internalcases

Externalcases

Traditional consumer

Shopping path

Digital consumer shopping path

Experiment 1

Meaningful Observations

Vision

Actions- What - How - Enablers

Experiment 2 Experiment 3

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The Vision and Strategic Elements

• Connecting Delhaize for life

• Strategic Elements– Common Platforms– Organizational Structure– Multi-Channel– Transformation -

Commitment– Engagement for life– 31 - Seamless connections

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Recommendation Recap

Delhaize in a box

1.E-Commerce

2.Customer Connection Center

3.Localization

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Leadership Learning Themes

• Diversity of thought

• Acknowledge cultural differences

• Trust your peers

• Respect and listen to others ideas

• The power of inquisition

• Ask clarifying questions

• Self reflection

• TEAM – « Together wE Achieve More »

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Efforts to create the networks

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Networked approach• Face to Face meeting to start and mid-point

• Exploring/starting from scratch together

• Peer coaching

• Self-directing

• Self-regulating

• Little to No agenda

• Leadership role is rotating

• Development triads

• Peer feedback

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Networked

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What I learned on Facebook last night

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Book-Tip for free

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“One-Page – Talent Management”By Marc Effron & Marian OrtPublished by HBR, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4221-6673-4

Why do I like the book?• Trying to explain something complex simply

• Repeating the same approach: Start with the science Eliminate complexity, add value Create transparency and accountability

• Applying it to main talent processes: PMP 360° feedbackTalent reviews Succession planning Engagement Competencies

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Don’t copy Luka

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FEEDBACK = A GIFT

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Appendix

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The inter-subjectivity problem

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It goes fast

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