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Attributes of the t3 framework:
the right stuff

The "right stuff" is about ensuring the right people are in place and ready to deliver. They feel strongly that they are working with a group of people they respect and can get the job done. The foundation of any team are the people who comprise it. The needs of any team go far beyond ensuring they "can do" the job itself (competence) and extend to areas that allow the team, and its individual members, to work effectively together in delivering the desired outcomes.

These include, for example, possessing a growth mindset, allowing people to adapt more effectively to adversity and solve problems that lead to a breakthrough (‘can do’ attitude). Openness to other’s ideas (a true team player), grit and positivity are other examples of traits of people that are important on any team.

Simply put, members of the team "can do, can do".

clarity & alignment

People and teams are clear on what they need to do and why it is important. High-performing team feel strongly that the direction is clear, and line-of-sight exists between their work and that of the teams or organization on the whole.

There is clarity in the vision, mission and objectives of the team and clarity in how such objectives cascade down to each and every member within it.

Clarity is nothing without alignment, at least over the longer-term. People who know what to do can certainly deliver some good results, within their own sphere of influence; however, alignment is vital for sustained execution excellence. Alignment suggests that people are committed to their role and what they need to do to produce good results.

Simply put, members of the team "know what to do."

empowerment

Empowerment is all about ensuring people have the freedom, support, and tools to deliver on what is expected along with the systems and process to work effectively together.

The nature of the way organizations are designed and the likelihood that most are populated by human beings leads to a natural dysfunction that often is referred to as silo thinking or behavior. Left alone, silo behavior and potentially relational-based conflict WILL arise. This calls for organizations to install a ritual that ensure these are outlined, clarified, and negotiated so that people can work effectively together in driving value for their customers, and the business.

Additionally, we find many teams that have too many priorities that are crippling the team’s effectiveness and/or leading to burnout. Typically, ad hoc demands from the business may be the culprit, and without a priority reconciliation process, frustration emerges.

Simply put, members of the team are "allowed and enabled to".

belonging

Belonging suggests that people fit within your organizational context—they "belong" here and are connected to the organization.

Organizations cannot afford to have disengaged employees—and yet, many in the workforce report being actively disengaged. Others are passively disengagement manifesting in some form of "quiet quitting." This results in lost productivity and an unhappy workplace in general.

While there are many factors that may be at play here, the most important one is a sense of connection people have with their company, a belief that they (the company) are doing the right thing (beyond making money) and that they are operating in a way that is consistent with making a real contribution to society. For newer generations of workers this is of particular importance. It all starts with purpose and values.

Simply put, members of the team "believe it's right to do".

agile execution

Agile Execution is all about how the team works together to adapt to dynamic conditions. It is our belief that no initial plan will survive for very long, placing a burden on the team to pivot consistently in order to deliver upon their strategic outcomes.

In today’s VUCA world, planning is taking on new forms as organizations recognize that within weeks after initiating any plan, it can be rendered, at worst case, useless, or in best case, intentions remain on track but how one gets there changes rapidly. The environment is simply too dynamic to invest months preparing, planning, and budgeting for a reality that may not exist in six months.

In our view, get the strategic intent right, plan on how to get there, and instill agile execution rituals that allow the team to adapt to the realities of executing against the plan.

Simply put, members of the team "will do what it takes with integrity".

togetherness

A sense of togetherness results when the teams do the other five attributes well, leading to sustained high-performance and lots of enjoyment working with fellow colleagues. No matter how remote a team may operate, leaders need to work to secure this sense of "togetherness" and, ideally, bring people together every so often.

In such teams, not only do you have exemplary engagement and behaviors from all constituent members but that final piece of "social glue" -- individuals motivated also by the very company of their team colleagues. This is the zone where intra-relationships are defined by shared levels of high professional respect and, indeed, deep friendships.

Team members bearing this attribute scale even greater heights (sometimes literally!) because not only are they passionate about what they do (as built on all the preceding qualities) but it is this comradeship that sits at the very nexus of this passion. There is no place they would rather be than with the companionship of their comrades and, with this fellowship, a sense of collective invincibility. For such teams, there is a mindset of "anything together".

Simply put, members of the team "build a legacy".

Perpetual insights

Shoptalk 2019: seven things to watch for

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Still feeling energized and inspired from our visit to NRF, we were excited about Shoptalk opening in Las Vegas this week.

A quick glance at this year’s Shoptalk speaker lineup strongly suggests that running a retail company is increasingly becoming more like running a technology company. Whether you’re reaching your customers online or in person, it’s clear that satisfying their ever-rising expectations will only be achieved through a growing reliance on a wide variety of tech innovations.

Here are just seven of the tech topics we’re most eager to explore this week at Shoptalk. All of them rank among technologies now having the greatest impact on marketers and HR leaders within retail organizations.

  1. The expanding use of AI to help predict consumer demand and boost supply-chain efficiency.
  2. The developing role of AI in enhancing customer experience by providing guidance for store associates.
  3. The experimental use of in-store robots to handle basic tasks, freeing up store associates to take better care of customers.
  4. The latest in intelligent carts, digital shelves, and endless aisles.
  5. The ongoing advancements in convenient cashierless checkout.
  6. Innovative use-cases for voice recognition and facial recognition, as well as experiential AR and VR applications.
  7. Projections for how and when driverless vehicles and drones will become viable modes for fast and efficient home delivery.

Shoptalk 2019

All these developments embody immense opportunities, and a certain degree of risk, as well. For instance, digital devices and in-store technologies promise a revolution in personalization, helping marketers boost sales by targeting customers with more precise offers. On the other hand, marketers remain under mounting pressure to strike the right balance between the constructive use of customer data and the protection of consumer privacy.

Retailers are finding that customer personalization must be integrated across many functions of the retail organization, touching a variety of departments. That, in turn, requires identifying employees with the skills and abilities to move among the various departments, so they can gain a broad understanding of all the synergies essential to delivering exceptional customer experiences.

For HR leaders in the retail industry, these developments point to an urgent need to stay on top of the technology employment market. Retail is adding new functions, new titles, and new candidate profiles at a rapid pace, with an increased emphasis on data scientists and AI experts. Senior roles in these areas are now being taken up by Millennials, who will need to lead teams populated mainly by a rising generation of so-called “digital natives” —  Gen Z.

So much change is taking place so fast that a certain degree of cultural adjustment and adaptation will also be necessary, for both marketers and HR leaders in retail. Successful HR leaders will be those who can continue to hire for diversity and inclusion, while seeking to attract top talent from the world of digital start-ups.

Anil Aggarwal

None of these changes are arriving easily and comfortably. However, it seems inevitable that the retailers destined to survive and thrive will be those who embrace these emerging trends. The coming years will see winners among retailers willing to make smart investments in impactful technologies that meet evolving consumer demands. The dinosaurs of the retail industry, meanwhile, risk extinction much sooner than they may have thought.

Shoptalk, meanwhile, has grown in a relatively short period of time to become the world’s largest retail and ecommerceconference. Shoptalk founder Anil Aggarwal has said that he wants “to lead a new conversation and community with a mission to be a catalyst for the evolution of the new retail and e-commerce system.”  Shoptalk’s reputation as an unbiased forum is buoyed by its rejection of the practice of pay-to-play speaker engagements. That decision lends credibility to Shoptalk’s claim of having “the world’s best speaker lineup.

There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the retail industry. Shoptalk has attracted some of the retail world’s best minds and most original thinkers to Las Vegas this week. We’re looking forward to learning from them, as well as sharing our own insights about talent acquisition, development, and analytics.

For info on our Retail Practice, please contact Jan Schüler
M: 917-935-9305
E:  janschuler@piexecutive.com

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