Orlando Ashford Sr

Just attended Hogan Assessments webinar "Accelerate Growth in Private Equity with Smarter Talent Strategies" – and it was packed with insight. Key takeaway? Talent has become the critical lever in value creation for PE-backed businesses. A deliberate talent strategy will move the needle on exit. Back in 2000, over 70% of PE value creation came from financial engineering. Today? That number is closer to 25%. The rest comes from operational improvement – and increasingly, from getting leadership and people strategy right. Great session. Timely reminders for PE leaders: value creation starts – and ends – with people. #PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #LeadershipStrategy #TalentStrategy #ExecutiveSearch #PortfolioGrowth

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The Future of Middle Management: More Facilitator, Less Boss 🚀 Following on last week post from the Gallup State of Workforce 2025, I've read a great piece in Harvard Business Review by Gretchen Gavett on the evolving role of middle management.

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Family business succession is never just a handoff. It’s a deeply complex process shaped by personal relationships, emotional stakes, and evolving governance needs. Jason Hecker and Phyllis Campbell offer a clear-eyed view of why so many transitions falter—and how families can plan with foresight, structure, and trust. This is essential reading for anyone navigating leadership change in a family-owned company. Read the full article: https://ego.nz/45CvIfj #SuccessionPlanning #FamilyBusiness #Governance

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Inclusion isn’t just a concept, it’s a commitment. It starts with intention and moves forward with action. That’s exactly what came alive in the powerful session led by Dedeepya (Dedu) Ajith John, SHRM-SCP, SHRM-PMQ, Senior Director – South & Advisory Services, SHRM India & APAC, at 'MAARGAM' – our exclusive monthly Master Class for the HR&A team at Amara Raja Group. Titled “Intent to Action: Inclusion at Work,” the session sparked critical conversations on psychological safety, challenging biases, and fostering allyship. More than just theory, it was a deep dive into what it truly takes to make inclusion a lived reality in our workplaces. One of the standout moments? The Three Bs framework – ‘Behaviour, Bias, and Belief’. It gave us a practical lens to navigate the dilemmas of allyship with both sensitivity and courage. She also emphasised the importance of regular team conversations about unconscious biases, because the more we talk about them, the better we become at recognising and addressing them. The session also introduced the Will-Skill Matrix, helping us reflect on where we stand in our inclusion journey and how we can grow. And it didn’t stop at awareness, it led to action! The ‘Allyship Signature’ format gave us a structured way to commit to tangible steps toward inclusion, making it a personal and collective responsibility. From recognising microaggressions to creating psychologically safe spaces, the session left us with one key takeaway: Inclusion isn’t about what we say; it’s about what we do every day. A huge thank you to Dedeepya Ajith John for these invaluable insights! Looking forward to embedding these learnings into our journey toward a more inclusive and empowered workplace! #TheAmaraRajaWay #MAARGAM #MasterClass #LearningAndDevelopment #LeadershipDevelopment #InclusionAtWork #InclusionStartsWithI #AllyshipInAction #ChangeManagement #OrganizationDevelopment #DiversityandInclusion #CapabilityBuilding #CultureAtAmaraRaja #LearningAtAmaraRaja #PeopleFirst #GrowTogether #StrongerTogether 

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Learning, Leading, and Elevating Executive Talent I recently had the privilege of joining SHRM’s #HonestHR Podcast, hosted by the insightful Nicole Belyna, SHRM-SCP. We explored a topic that is deeply close to my heart: executive recruiting and leadership development. During our conversation, I shared my belief that executive recruiting is fundamentally different from other levels of hiring — it’s not only about finding someone with the right experience on paper but about identifying a leader who can shape the organization’s direction, strengthen culture, and inspire people to achieve their best. We also discussed how critical it is for HR to take an active leadership role in the executive search process. While I deeply value the expertise that external executive search partners bring, I emphasized that HR should serve as the primary steward of the relationship between the organization and the search professional. By doing so, HR ensures alignment with strategic goals and maintains the authenticity of the employer brand throughout the process. Another key topic we covered was how HR leaders in small or lean teams can still have a powerful impact in executive recruiting. Even without large resources, HR can assert their influence by staying deeply connected to organizational needs, fostering strong relationships with key stakeholders, and embedding themselves in the process as strategic advisors rather than just facilitators. Finally, we touched on the importance of supporting leaders after they are hired — executive recruiting doesn’t end when the offer is signed. It’s the beginning of a journey to help new leaders integrate successfully and make a lasting impact. I’m grateful to SHRM, the SHRM Digital Production team and Nicole for the opportunity to share these insights and for hosting such a thoughtful discussion. If you’re interested in thinking more strategically about executive recruiting and how HR can lead with impact, I encourage you to listen to this episode. Thank you again to SHRM and Nicole for having me. (and boy, I don't know why I am blinking so much at the beginning of this video... maybe I was overwhelmed with the outstanding facilitation and interview skills of Nicole?) ------ https://lnkd.in/gtWiyuag #ExecutiveRecruiting #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentAcquisition #SHRM #HonestHR #HumanResources #StrategicHR

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At Harvard Business Impact’s 2025 Partners’ Meeting, Prof. Amy C. Edmondson of Harvard Business School, delivered an energizing keynote on psychological safety. In this recap by Michelle Bonterre, Senior Director of Global Marketing & Insights at Harvard Business Impact, explores the key insights from Amy’s keynote and learn how today’s leaders can foster cultures where people feel safe to take risks, voice ideas, and learn from mistakes. 🔗 Read more: https://s.hbr.org/45b4eLM

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Like other C Suite Executives, the role of CHRO needs to have high partnership with the CEO, the Board and peers. This article from the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance does a nice job looking at the evolution of the CHRO role. In our retained CHRO searches, Gig Talent is seeing more and more companies requiring experience for their HR Leader in being the liaison to the BOD on compensation, culture, and human capital. Check out the link in comments.

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Restructuring isn’t just about reducing cost. Done thoughtfully, it’s an opportunity to strengthen strategy, build leadership capability, and preserve the culture that makes your organization unique. Leaders who ask the right questions and align restructuring with long-term goals create lasting value for both people and performance. Read the full piece by Jarrad L. Roeder, Jennifer Streitwieser, and Jacob Cridland: https://bit.ly/4278n2x #Leadership #OrganizationalStrategy #Culture #Restructuring

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The Columbia University Human Capital Management (HCM) program provides students with the tools to lead and innovate in the evolving field of HR. Dr. Timo Sandritter, an executive leader and part-time HCM student, discusses how the program has deepened his expertise in leadership, performance management, and people strategy. Read the full Q&A to learn more about his insights on the future of HR: https://bit.ly/3Rbekpz #HumanCapitalManagement #Leadership #HRStrategy

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Few board responsibilities are as critical (or as varied) as CEO succession planning—yet there’s no universal blueprint for how best to approach it. Our 2025 Board Culture and Director Behaviors Study shows that boards take very different approaches: some manage succession at the full-board level, others rely on special committees or informal groups, and leadership of these efforts can fall to independent board leaders or committee chairs. In my experience advising clients, I’ve learned there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but rather key ingredients: a thoughtful timeline, rigorous candidate evaluation, and active director engagement. These are what truly set boards up for resilient leadership transitions. How has your board approached CEO succession planning, and what’s worked best for you? If you’d like deeper insights into how boards organize for succession planning, explore our latest article: https://bit.ly/48j3eIW

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There's no one single right way to practice the art and science of human resources. There are many ways. (And a few wrong ways as well.) If you are a Department of One, you are the head of HR. If you are a CHRO of a Fortune 500 company, you are also the head of HR. But these roles are vastly different. The skills and experience needed are very different. If you are an HR generalist in a Distribution company, your job looks very different than People Ops in a startup or tech company. Take inspiration from companies of different sizes and other industries. Read and watch what's going on in the world of work and the world. But don't feel like you have to jump on every trend or every Find a way for it to work for your company, and most importantly, your people. Find tools that work for your company, and your people. When looking for new tech to recommend to clients and friends, I love looking at newer or emerging tech. I've bought these systems before, and while sometimes that can be a bit scary if it's not a name you've heard, I have been impressed over and over again with how customizable these solutions are. Take WorkStory - I partnered with them because getting performance management right has been a problem for my entire career. And they get it right, through conversational feedback with insights powered by AI. It's one of the tools that I think works across industries - and allows performance management to go from a yearly event to something that happens in the flow of work - which is good for all of us. I've linked them below - definitely check them out! I've also linked SSR below, if you need help selecting tech tools. And let me know some of your favorite emerging tech tools below. (I'm particularly interested in those that work for Distribution, Manufacturing, Industrials and other similar industries, because I work with these industries daily!)

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