tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85479054610938723502024-03-22T01:13:39.936+11:00Who Moved My Fax?The changing face of organisational life and what it means for leaders. By psychologist and facilitator Andrew Beveridge.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-30026075352680483992017-11-10T10:42:00.001+11:002017-11-10T10:42:54.433+11:00Where do you come up with your best ideas? I bet it's not at your desk.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Where do you come up with your best ideas?" - it's a question I love posing to people in leadership workshops. Why not take a moment to answer it yourself?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of the many hundreds of responses I've heard, not one person has ever said "at my desk". In fact, most people tell me they have come up with their best ideas when they're not at work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People often say their best ideas come when they're "in the shower", "going for a walk", "taking a lunch break", "drifting off to sleep", and "on holidays". What do all of these activities have in common? They're all low-stress activities with few distractions. When people come up with their best ideas they're typically in a relaxed state, not stressing about coming up with an answer or distracted by other work that requires high levels of focus. They're free to think in a different way - free to explore new ideas and approaches.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The 19th century German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé pioneered our understanding of the chemical structure of benzene. He had been working with benzene for years, but the way the structure formed eluded him. Later in his life he recounted having a day dream where he pictured carbon atoms dancing, then forming into snakes that bit each other's tails, forming a ring. He woke from that day dream with the answer that had occupied him for so many years - the carbon atoms in benzene form a ring. Would he have come up with this solution with more time in the lab or at his desk? Maybe, or maybe not. But what a great example of how a relaxed mind can produce amazing insights where 'hard work' </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">had failed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chronic stress largely destroys our ability to develop genuinely new and creative ideas. The very stress hormones that are great for focusing our minds on the 'emergency' at hand reduce our ability to take a broader perspective beyond the immediate. We end up suffering from tunnel vision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As leaders, our emotional state is contagious. If we're constantly stressed and fire-fighting through our day, it's likely that our teams are doing exactly the same. We end up cursed to repeat the patterns of activity and thought that we've already established, missing opportunities for continuous improvement and breakthrough thinking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This isn't to say that stress is a bad thing. In fact, stress plays a very important role in stretching us beyond our comfort zones and focusing our attention. But if these moments of stress aren't balanced by moments of recovery and relaxation, we're likely to see negative impacts - not just on the way we think, but also on our health. Chronic stress is a killer, but the combination of stress and recovery is the key to long-term effectiveness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are some ideas to help you to work more effectively and come up with new ideas:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Build some down-time into your schedule: Make sure you take annual leave and opportunities to work from home. Start work a little later every so often, or finish earlier. Change up your routine. Take a longer lunch break and go for a walk.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Use a notepad or the notes app on your phone to capture new ideas or thoughts: Given these ideas will come up when we least expect them, it's worth planning ahead to capture them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Work in 90 minute cycles followed by 10/15 minute breaks to exercise, refuel and rehydrate: Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe this in their book "The Power of Full Engagement". Start your day with the most important work, and take frequent breaks. This will help to keep you focused, energised and far more productive. And the best bet is that you end your day with the energy needed to be successful outside work.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Encourage your team to do the same: As a leader, share these ideas with your team. Encourage them to experiment with their routine and day. Maybe a mid-afternoon gym session works for a team member - great! Maybe working in one hour cycles followed by a 10 minute walk works - brilliant! It requires you as the leader to get over our typical obsession with 'presenteeism' where we measure performance by the hours spent at work, to a more healthy focus on productivity.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So where do you get your best ideas? And what have you tried to improve your productivity and creativity?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-75730534517108897672017-06-28T14:30:00.001+10:002017-06-28T14:30:11.821+10:00Research shows that freedom and control at work might just save your life.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Autonomy is recognised as one of the core motivations people have in the workplace. With greater freedom and control over the way we perform our work comes higher levels of motivation and commitment. Recent research suggests that greater job control also improves our health and reduces our likelihood of dying over a seven year period. Autonomy isn't just motivating - it might just save your life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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We've traditionally seen stress as a killer - that high job demands have a negative impact on our health. But this research shows that this isn't always the case. In fact, job demands can sometimes help improve our health.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Researchers* used a Wisconsin longitudinal study to track people over a seven year period to explore the relationships between job factors and health. They looked at the impact of job demands (including workload and time pressure) and control (the freedom an individual feels they can exert over their job) on health outcomes.</div>
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For jobs where people had low control, the research showed that high job demands did negatively impact health outcomes. In fact, the odds of dying over the seven year period increased by 15%. For those who did make it through the seven years, this combination led to an increase in body mass index. In short, a demanding job where you feel little control is bad for your health.</div>
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Interestingly, for jobs where people had high control, high job demands were linked to a 34% decrease in the odds of dying over the same period. Higher job demands actually had positive health outcomes provided people had control over their work.</div>
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So what does this mean for leaders? Here are two ideas.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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<li>Seek out and provide autonomy: We know that autonomy motivates - people love having freedom and control over their work. Seek out more freedom in your own work. Negotiate greater flexibility and build your sense of control over the work you perform. If you're a leader, provide your team with more freedom. Give them opportunities to vary the way they perform their work. Manage them around the results they produce rather than how they produce results.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
<li>Challenge yourself and others: Seek out greater accountability. Once you have control, it's important to ensure you are stretched and challenged. As a leader, provide your team with greater accountability alongside the greater authority you've granted. Discuss the goals people have, and vary the work to capitalise on what motivates your people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
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Autonomy and challenge aren't just good for business - they're good for our health too!</div>
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<b>*Worked to Death: The Relationships of Job Demands and Job Control with Mortality</b></div>
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Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Bethany Cockburn 2016 Personnel Psychology<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-35439044188021727942016-04-28T09:30:00.001+10:002016-04-28T09:30:51.299+10:00Motivating... on a Budget<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Motivating employees on a budget is a key challenge for the Not For Profit sector in Australia. Wage growth is at the lowest level since the Australian Bureau of Statistics started recording data in 1998, with the Wage Price Index currently sitting around 2%. In addition, State, Territory and Federal governments are seeking to reduce expenditure, leading to funding constraints within the sector. With wage growth barely keeping up with consumer price increases, there is a risk that employees are feeling short changed. They’re simply not seeing the salary increases that were available as recently as 2012 when the Wage Price Index was around 4%.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Given that context, here are five ways you can motivate your employees on a limited budget.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Develop a reward strategy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A reward strategy does not need to be complex. At the core of an effective reward strategy are the answers to two questions: “What do we reward?” and “How do we reward?”. Most Boards and CEOs haven't consciously considered what they reward within their organisation. Rather, an informal approach to reward is developed over time. The easiest way to identify what we reward is to look at the organisation’s policies and practices around pay. In many cases organisations primarily reward tenure - the longer you stay with an organisation, the more you get paid. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s also worth considering whether you’d like to reward the performance, capability and contribution of individual employees. Having a discussion about what we want to reward is a helpful way to ensure your leaders and managers on the same page. This might include agreeing what outstanding performance looks like, and deciding how this should be rewarded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Review and benchmark remuneration</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An important step in making the most of a limited salary budget is to examine the internal consistency and external competitiveness of pay. Internal consistency looks at roles of similar responsibility and complexity to determine how consistently people are rewarded. Salary surveys provide an opportunity to understand how we pay compared to the broader salary market. This provides helpful context for determining any changes that might be required to keep pace with the market within funding constraints.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Build clarity and a feedback culture</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People are motivated by a sense of purpose. We long to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, and to understand how our roles contribute to that broader vision. Goal setting and performance feedback provide a great way of understanding how we are contributing to the success of the organisation. Cloud-based performance management software such as PeopleGoal (peoplegoal.com) provides a fantastic way to build clarity and a feedback culture by allowing people to link their goals to those of the organisation, gather feedback from various sources and capture the outcomes of performance conversations. Employees can also use the system to recognise each other informally through social recognition. The relatively cheap per-user pricing of such software helps make it accessible to many organisations that would have found traditional performance management systems to be out of their reach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Leadership team recognition</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recognition from a leadership team can have a large impact on employee motivation, especially when the reward is unexpected. It can be a very effective way to recognise your most outstanding employees. If you set aside just 0.5% of the salary budget to recognise 10% of staff, it equates to a 5% opportunity for the individual. The leadership team can then decide on a monthly or quarterly basis who the outstanding performers are, and what level of recognition they should receive. The outcome might be a payment, funding conference attendance, or something different altogether.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Manager recognition</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Managers have a significant impact on how it feels to work for an organisation. We can help equip managers by providing them with a modest budget for ad hoc recognition of their employees. This could include vouchers, experiences or gifts. While these are typically liable to Fringe Benefits Tax and require some guidance as to appropriate use, a relatively small expenditure can have a significant impact on the individual when combined with positive feedback and appreciation.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-2500101658159928572015-02-12T13:01:00.001+11:002015-02-12T13:01:27.233+11:00Trapped or Loyal? Trust is the Key to True Customer Loyalty.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently spoke at the 8th Loyalty Summit in Mumbai which focused mainly on the theme of customer loyalty. My presentation was about the clear links between employee engagement and customer loyalty, and how managers are central to building customer loyalty. Preparing for the conference caused me to reflect on my own experiences of customer loyalty. Were there any particular organisations that I was loyal to as a customer? And, if so, why?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recalled my first experience of a loyalty program. I remember sitting in a stifling hot Australian classroom as an eight year old, enduring a representative from a bank espousing the benefits of saving and compound interest. It would be fair to say that the bank probably hadn't chosen their best speaker for the task, and the room of children were starting to lose interest. It was at that point that the man from the bank revealed a secret weapon. If we signed up for a savings account, we would receive a money box. Now, as an eight year old a money box is about as exciting as life gets. The loyalty program worked, and I signed up for an account.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that could have been the end of the story, but some 34 years later I'm still a customer with the same bank. In fact I do all my banking with that same bank, including for the business and some insurance as well. It's fair to say that the bank recouped the cost of their money box gift many times over. In fact, I found a similar money box in the bedroom of my nine year old son - the strategy hasn't changed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But am I a loyal customer? On the surface I am. I've been with the bank for a long time. I use a range of products and services. I use these services almost daily. But, to be honest, I feel more 'trapped' than 'loyal'. It has just been too hard to change banks, and the bank hasn't annoyed me enough to force me to change. That doesn't really sound like loyalty. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I contrasted that with my loyalty to a watch brand - Longines. For a period of time I took to eBay with a singular focus - to buy circa 1950 Longines watches from overseas and resell them locally on eBay. The idea was that I'd add a better description and photos, and make a bit of a profit. Clearly not enough profit to retire, but a bit of fun nonetheless. The challenge was to find out more about the watches I bought to add a more complete description.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, I thought, why not try the Longines website. So I simply used the 'contact us' link to ask what they could tell me about a particular watch based on its serial number. I honestly didn't expect any response - perhaps a 'thanks for your query, but we can't help you'. But within a few hours a response came back from a guy named Russell. It turns out that Russell worked for Longines in Switzerland and also quite liked the watches they produced across the 1950s. He had gone into the paper archives (I'm picturing the warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark), tracked down the paperwork and emailed me the production date, the sale date and even the name and address of the store that originally sold the watch. Pretty impressive record keeping, but even more impressive service. Over the next year or so Russell and I swapped details of watches, requiring him to take frequent trips into the paper archives. As a result, I would describe myself as a loyal customer of Longines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what was it that made me loyal to Longines but not to my bank? Well, Russell was customer-focused. But importantly that customer-focus came from a genuine passion for the business and its products. He genuinely wanted to help me out, even though his company wasn't making a cent from my trading of second-hand watches. He was a passionate advocate for his business, and clearly engaged with his work. I trusted Russell. He provided good advice rather than trying to flog me a new watch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the research supports this - loyal customers are produced where there is trust, great service, and engaged employees. The trust element is crucial - that's the difference your sales and customer service staff can make. But we also know that sales and customer service staff are typically amongst the least engaged with their work. Our challenge as leaders is to serve these frontline staff well - to ensure they are engaged with their work, aligned with the direction of the business, and committed to customers. That comes back to managers - they're the ones in the box seat to create an environment where trust and engagement flourish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It turns out that Russell did have a great manager - a manager who presumably trusted that his trips down into the paper archives were worthwhile in furthering customer loyalty. Perhaps if there was a Russell at my bank they would have been able to gain true loyalty from me as a customer. The impact of a person like that trumps any reward points they might throw my way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what about your organisation? Are your customers loyal or trapped? Do your managers inspire your frontline staff to further customer loyalty by building trust? Helping managers to understand the links between management styles, employee engagement and customer loyalty might be just what they need. Every business could do with another Russell. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-51079426893638245482015-01-29T10:24:00.000+11:002015-01-29T10:25:28.381+11:00One way to stand out from the crowd.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Looking for that next job can be hard. You spend time dressing up your resume and putting together cover letters, but are still not sure if it will be enough to get you through to an interview. And once you do have an interview scheduled, you worry about whether you’ll answer the questions well and say the right things. It can end up feeling like we’re playing a game where we don’t know the rules, or even where the goals are! Thankfully there is one relatively simple principle that will help you stand out from the crowd.</span><br />
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Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager for the moment. What is it that they want? Obviously they want to hire someone who can do the job well. But how can you prove to them that you’re up to the challenge? Inherent in any recruitment decision is risk - risk that the person isn’t right for the job or can’t actually do what they said they could do. As the candidate, there is an opportunity to help reduce this risk. The more we can provide actual evidence of our capability and experience, the better.</span><br />
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The principle that makes all the difference when reducing risk is “past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour”. It’s hard not to say this without a Dr Phil drawl - it was one of the TV host’s favourite catch phrases. But the principle does ring true. The best predictor of how someone will behave in a particular situation is what they have done in similar situations in the past. Applying this principle to recruitment led to the rise of behavioural interviewing.</span><br />
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You’ve probably been through a behavioural interview before. The interviewer asks you to provide specific examples of how you’ve approached situations in the past. For example “Tell me about a time when you’ve dealt with a difficult customer” would lead you to talk about an actual time when you’ve done just that. The interviewer then explores how you approached the situation and the outcome. As a hiring manager, you’re always going to be more confident in the person who can describe what they have actually done, versus the person who speaks hypothetically about what they would do. Even when an interviewer asks you for a hypothetical example about what you might do in a situation, you’re always going to be more convincing if you provide an actual example of when you’ve done it before. In this way we can help reduce the risk as perceived by the manager who is conducting the interview. So make sure you prepare for an interview by considering relevant examples of where you’ve demonstrated the kinds of capabilities that are required for the role. Having half a dozen examples up your sleeve will help you to demonstrate that you’re up for the challenge of the job.</span><br />
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But providing evidence of our relevant experience and capability doesn’t have to be limited to the interview. Many people make the mistake of using their resume to simply describe the jobs they have had in the past. The resume reads like cut and pasted sections of position descriptions. For a hiring manager, this brings with it a whole lot of risk. How do I know they were any good at that job? Did they ever go beyond what was required? How does this relate to the role I’m hiring for? Applying our principle to resumes means that actual examples are always going to be more compelling than simply listing job responsibilities. You might list some of the successes that you’ve had in each role, or perhaps how you have made an extra contribution to the organisation over and above just doing your job. It is important in this process to always keep the hiring manager in mind. Think about using tailored examples that best relate to the role you’re applying for, rather than simply printing off the same resume for every job. You might also highlight some of the key examples through your cover letter.</span><br />
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Reducing risk for the hiring manager is about using clear and compelling examples of how you’ve already demonstrated the capabilities required for the role. I trust these ideas will help you stand out from the crowd for the next role you apply for.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-4397693817394209032014-10-20T10:27:00.001+11:002014-10-20T10:27:09.464+11:00Staff meetings that work - the cure for performance appraisal phobia!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikGfVMIuuaRDL4K2oakPuFY_3spMbRoLCgiUcd8mISj1HniR8vdRXeDcvX_4IS0uur5JQ92NnGcLCo5zcv3qB5NE_ZQqjjwRyqhid0K0lWB-reKZWV6H9OncNcRm14-GJYnHdbuSLDD11/s1600/iStock_000027183263Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikGfVMIuuaRDL4K2oakPuFY_3spMbRoLCgiUcd8mISj1HniR8vdRXeDcvX_4IS0uur5JQ92NnGcLCo5zcv3qB5NE_ZQqjjwRyqhid0K0lWB-reKZWV6H9OncNcRm14-GJYnHdbuSLDD11/s1600/iStock_000027183263Small.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People hate performance appraisals. Okay, maybe that's a generalisation - there might be 1% of people out there that get excited about sitting down for that typically 6 monthly or 12 monthly review of their performance with their manager. And there's probably 1% of managers who also look forward to conducting performance appraisals with their team members. But performance appraisals are one of those 'must do' activities that both managers and team members tend to dislike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To counteract this, we often focus on the performance appraisal process and content. Making sure we look not just at results ('what' they achieve), but also 'how' the person approaches their work and interacts with customers and colleagues. We might try to gather feedback from multiple sources. We might try to balance discussions about the year past with time to think about the year ahead. But we still tend to run into these pitfalls:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The appraisal is a high stakes 'event' which tends to add pressure to both the manager and team member</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The manager and team member haven't built a strong relationship, which tends to reduce the quality of feedback and the likelihood of acceptance</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's a lack of focus and unclear goals around the job - by the time we discover this during the appraisal it's too late to do anything about the year that has gone by</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a one-way conversation with too much pressure placed on one person - typically (but not always) the manager - to drive the process</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Feedback isn't balanced - we either focus too much on the positives or on constructive/corrective feedback</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think the answer is actually pretty simple. It's about having 1:1 meeting structures that make performance discussions a more frequent occurrence, and that address the issues above. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recommend having monthly 1:1 meetings with team members, along with monthly team meetings as a group (more on the team meetings another time). I scheduled these meetings in our calendars and they took priority over the other day-to-day issues that might come up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The structure for 1:1 meetings below is what I've found to work with people and teams that I've managed. You might want to vary this structure, but hopefully it will provide some ideas for you to think about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1:1 Meeting Agenda</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Performance:</i></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What you're currently doing well</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What you think you need to work on</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Priorities</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Training and development</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Other</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Action items</i></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Review previous month</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Any new items</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The expectation with this monthly 1:1 meeting format is that both the manager and the team member come to the meeting prepared. Both will think about performance - what's going well, and where the person might need to focus more attention. The meeting provides a chance to discuss these areas. We can also focus on the priorities that we see for the coming month. This often helps to clarify differing expectations. Sometimes the team member might highlight a priority the manager wasn't aware of. Sometimes the manager might be able to clarify a priority that the team member isn't placing enough emphasis on. Each month we can look at training and development - not just formal training, but opportunities to be exposed to new parts of the business or to shadow another team member in their work. 'Other' really covers anything else the manager or team member want to discuss. It might include frustrations or challenges the team member is facing that the manager can help to 'unblock'. It might include updates needed to the position description to reflect changes in the accountabilities of the role. We then discuss any action items noted from the last meeting, or add any new items that the manager or team member need to follow up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After each meeting I then typed up some brief notes under each of these areas and shared these with the team member in a document. This document grew across the year, with each meeting as a new page. This document formed the main input into the formal performance appraisal. By doing this, the annual performance appraisal became little more than a confirmation of what had been discussed through the year. Any areas that weren't clear had already been discussed. It reduced the pressure on both me and my team members, and helped us to explore career and development opportunities on a more frequent basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found these monthly 1:1 meetings something to look forward to. They were a great chance to better understand my team members that I relied upon to produce results. I hope you find these ideas helpful in improving your ability to manager performance of your team members across the year.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-50711612139742558052014-05-09T11:36:00.000+10:002014-05-09T11:40:47.223+10:00The best thing about working here? It's the people...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEOEs0FM-b7Iq_kqwmH5Bp1yPw6cdBq83SgP-3-EyKofinjblG9g4EhDEBU9znEN3gyJQgBR23fPlK2Mpnz-kX9ttsC0mXeRZ8T2mUIcXevz0jyWAu4Co71ACpqqFsmtcmc0XGGCFGI3d/s1600/iStock_000017057463Medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEOEs0FM-b7Iq_kqwmH5Bp1yPw6cdBq83SgP-3-EyKofinjblG9g4EhDEBU9znEN3gyJQgBR23fPlK2Mpnz-kX9ttsC0mXeRZ8T2mUIcXevz0jyWAu4Co71ACpqqFsmtcmc0XGGCFGI3d/s1600/iStock_000017057463Medium.jpg" height="270" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been working with employee surveys for nearly 20 years now. If you've been in the workforce for a while, it might feel like you've spent a similar amount of time filling out employee surveys! Thankfully using a more focused approach and better analysis techniques means employee surveys can be a lot shorter than they used to be. One thing that hasn't changed is that most employee surveys include an open-ended question that goes something like this - "What do you see as the best thing about working here?"
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People write about all sorts of things when they are asked to consider that single best thing about working for their organisation. Some say "my manager". Some say "flexibility". It's pretty rare for people to mention "the office layout", "pay" or "meetings". In fact, one of the most frequent answers is "the people". And to be honest that used to frustrate me. After all the effort leaders put in to planning, rewarding, communicating and managing, the best thing you can think of is "the people"?!? I used to think “What can a leader possibly do about that? Is the takeaway for leaders that they just need to hire nice people?"
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But over time I've started to appreciate the business lesson for leaders that sits beneath this response. That perhaps the best thing about working at your organisation being "the people" does serve a purpose, and is something that you as a leader can influence.
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you talk to employees about why "the people" matter so much, they often talk about the importance of working with "nice" people. People who are friendly and accepting of others. And people who will go out of their way to help you, even when it's not in their job description. In contrast, people will leave an otherwise great organisation where people aren't "nice" - where bad behaviour is tolerated and an individualistic "win at all costs" attitude prevails.
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you speak to leaders about diversity, everyone knows that the textbook "correct" answer is "the more diversity, the better". Diversity has a lot of benefits for organisations - it helps your organisation to think in new ways, to be able to relate more effectively to a broader range of customers or clients, to be more nimble in responding to change - in short, to produce better results. But, if we're honest, a diverse workforce is much harder to manage than a non-diverse workforce (I'd say "homogeneous" instead of "non-diverse", but it still sounds to me like something you do to milk).
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The key to capitalising on diversity is actually "inclusion" - to what extent does your organisation (and you can substitute "your organisation" with "your people") accept others who are different? You can recruit a diverse workforce, but without inclusion it's a recipe for conflict, distraction and reduced performance. If your organisation and it's people aren't inclusive, you'd likely be better off avoiding diversity at all costs. And "inclusion" isn't a policy or document - it </span><i>IS</i> your people. It's also not how quickly we can force new people to become like us - it's how quickly the organisation can accept difference and build on the new resources a diverse workforce brings.
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why is the response of "the people" so important? Why is it the best thing about working here for so many people? It's because the people are supportive and inclusive. They make you feel like you belong. They make you feel like this is a place where you can contribute and make a difference. The benefit for the organisation is actually collaboration. Inclusion and support breaks down the silos in your organisation. It helps to deliver results that the sum of individuals never could. At our core we are social animals, and the connections we make at work have the potential to motivate us in a way that yet another meeting or presentation never could.
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a leader there are a few things you might consider:
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To what extent do we have an inclusive culture? Do we put up with people who don't "play nicely with others" (as a client once described it)? Or is that kind of bad behaviour something that our culture rejects even when the person in question is hitting all their targets?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a leader, what can I do to build a supportive and inclusive culture? What's something practical I can do to model this to my team, and to recognise and reward it in others?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do we really appreciate diversity? If not, what might be the preconceptions and biases amongst our otherwise well-meaning people that are getting in the way?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recognise that many of your employees will see the best thing about working for your organisation as "the people". Sometimes that means overlooking the slightly longer lunch break, or the bit-too-loud conversation in the kitchen. It might mean considering an idea that initially seems to be too “out there” to be practical. It might even mean dragging yourself along to sing happy birthday around a cake when all you want to do is finish off some work. "The people" matter. Support and inclusion matter. They're not just "nice to haves" - they're core business. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-74890849266243606832013-07-19T10:13:00.001+10:002013-07-19T10:13:39.534+10:00Retaining Generation Y? Help Build their CV.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0stql2u49aWeI88qWLP5E9U_-pGXJ2RrdL9uWszp1IUjFt97I60RSMokBACKSxTFP_mVl2j1naxsnV4RGEKQm0HLlDUMoTaF88JKxvOC8Mqseo7hD2JaJYeIzKVaF3x47xEzmJV2yqg6/s1600/iStock_000020967012Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0stql2u49aWeI88qWLP5E9U_-pGXJ2RrdL9uWszp1IUjFt97I60RSMokBACKSxTFP_mVl2j1naxsnV4RGEKQm0HLlDUMoTaF88JKxvOC8Mqseo7hD2JaJYeIzKVaF3x47xEzmJV2yqg6/s320/iStock_000020967012Small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leaders are struggling to retain
talented younger employees. Many leaders are quick to decry what they see as Generation
Y’s lack of loyalty and commitment. As I’ve <a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/leadership-across-generations-less-than.html" target="_blank">noted elsewhere</a> though,
generational differences are often overstated and don’t necessarily help in
predicting or explaining individual preferences. However it’s easy to see how the
corporate downsizing that has impacted family and friends has taught this
generation that employee loyalty may not be reciprocated by employers. Add to
this Generation Y's high levels of education and mobility, and you have a recipe for high turnover. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So is it all about bean bags, bright
colours and free food? Well, making offices more ‘cool’ only goes so far. Some
organisations try to take these surface elements (from organisations that are
known for their ability to attract and retain Gen Y’s) and inject them into
their own offices. Like all transplants though, they’re often rejected. Cool
offices are an outworking of the culture of organisations – they’re not the
driver of the culture. Likewise pay doesn't guarantee longer tenure – you can
<a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/does-money-motivate-only-when-its.html" target="_blank">read more about why here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is a practical way to help retain
Generation Y employees. While it sounds counterintuitive, helping workers to
grow and build their CV can make them more likely to stay with your
organisation. 'Mastery', or developing additional skills and experience, is a
major source of workplace motivation (<a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/angry-birds-what-motivates-bird-aholic.html" target="_blank">see more here</a>). As a manager, you can
consciously help your people to develop skills and experience that
matter to them. In addition, you can help employees to recognise the
development and progress that they are making. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">During your regular meetings with your
people, make sure you set aside some time to identify what further development
is of interest. Also spend time looking back at the previous month or quarter
to identify the new skills and experience that they have gained. Help them to
summarise this experience in a way that will fit into a CV or LinkedIn profile.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By highlighting and increasing their
employability, you will be able to demonstrate the value staying with the
organisation will have on their development. And the approach also works across
all employees. For example, as people approach retirement, providing them with skills that
will help them to pick up part time roles (if that's what they want) will also
be attractive. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Achieving this at an organisational
level requires managers who can have skilled discussions with employees. This
is likely to involve some investment in skill development for managers as well.
But, as we’ve seen, this development may also help to retain your managers.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-74135705722804452432013-02-12T14:41:00.003+11:002013-02-12T14:47:25.244+11:00Best Practice? Here's a Brochure...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLuYIPybGUQKPpAsWdSl4UHBqoPb1CnBeAPxN0RiagentELhrxtzgxZEAPWWL-I8HMyg-rZ4DtcTBw8il6BfOnH36oykxnbmWni_gzjzA7vTF8pzcr7CAD6MFIXX1hHdxVy_AzLOuxS66/s1600/iStock_000015424386Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLuYIPybGUQKPpAsWdSl4UHBqoPb1CnBeAPxN0RiagentELhrxtzgxZEAPWWL-I8HMyg-rZ4DtcTBw8il6BfOnH36oykxnbmWni_gzjzA7vTF8pzcr7CAD6MFIXX1hHdxVy_AzLOuxS66/s320/iStock_000015424386Small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So you're thinking about 'best practice' for your organisation, and start looking around. It won't be long before you stumble across brochures from all sorts of consulting firms highlighting their version of 'best practice' and what it could deliver. When thinking about implementing 'best practice' in your organisation (and indeed whether it will be 'best practice' for you), it's helpful to explore the different roles of consultants and academics. It also helps to appreciate that 'best practice' for your organisation is unlikely to be found in a brochure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Consultants, and the firms they work for, are primarily driven by the pursuit of 'practical benefit' (oh - and money). They therefore invest in developing approaches that help organisations to produce better results - and that's a good thing. Without this investment, a lot of what we know about organisations and how they operate wouldn't exist. These approaches provide practical guidance to leaders in how to achieve results. In order to protect the advantage their approaches provide, consulting firms hide them from competitors and from organisations who aren't willing to pay to use the approach. And, because of the significant investment it takes to come up with a new approach and all the supporting materials, they will only change their approach if they really have to - even maintaining an approach in the face of contrary evidence. And they're also unable to build on the good work that a competitor may have produced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Academics are driven by pursuit of 'the truth' (oh - and being published, which leads to money). They want to know what best 'explains' or 'predicts' things we can observe in organisations. This approach means that what they develop must be open to scrutiny and to be built on by others. It also means they tend to focus on quite specific issues or questions - something where there can be a clear 'answer'. Academic ideas about 'best practice' will change over time - that's an important part of explaining and predicting. Academics also tend to only tell you when something 'works', but it is possible for others to demonstrate that it doesn't work, or that the idea can be improved. The researchers themselves are inclined to improve their ideas to make sure they're 'correct'. The problem with this level of detail and focus is that it's, well, boring. You can read an article and think 'so what' due to the lack of immediate practical application. The research is still important though, as it may be building towards something that does actually matter in practice, or perhaps it contributes to part of a bigger picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that's great - you want your organisation to improve, and one way to do that is to apply the best thinking to your organisation and its leaders. How can you practically do that without buying into 'fads' and without scaring people off with 'theory'?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Armstrong and Miller give us an insight into this dilemma of explaining and applying scientific theory in this comedy sketch:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are some tips for applying 'theory' to your organisation:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Start with business priorities first - Is this theory relevant to our business priorities?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ensure there's a demonstrable practical benefit - Will applying this approach actually help?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ensure there's relevance to your people and their work - Will this help address the needs of the 'end users'?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Examine other perspectives - What do others think?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Create, or build on, a common language - Does this help us to understand and communicate with each other more effectively?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Balance 'ours' versus 'best practice' - Are we better to customise this to our organisation, or keep the approach unchanged?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Involve leaders early - How can we ensure implementing the change is 'done with' instead of 'done to' leaders?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Have the approach 'sold' by leaders who have experienced it - How can our leaders champion the new approach?</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So what are the main priorities for leaders in your organisation? What have you read, seen or heard recently that you could apply to help leaders meet this priority?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-8028839514513763402012-12-20T15:11:00.002+11:002012-12-20T15:11:57.979+11:00Why You'll Never Retire...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtuByZnV0YBu4jyUrMu2GIvxGq4_L2FQmuerFljfJM0oJTYSC0RUT9Qe8_A8rHetbUo5cJZwoAjldWv1EuYVAcmW8mgDIyGZIDTUc2v1ThiJ8yAzP4drV54HMXSwBKMSPaYLvrCdGxyqc/s1600/iStock_000018757759XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtuByZnV0YBu4jyUrMu2GIvxGq4_L2FQmuerFljfJM0oJTYSC0RUT9Qe8_A8rHetbUo5cJZwoAjldWv1EuYVAcmW8mgDIyGZIDTUc2v1ThiJ8yAzP4drV54HMXSwBKMSPaYLvrCdGxyqc/s320/iStock_000018757759XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What if you never retired? No really... forget about retirement for a moment - let's just assume that you'll never retire. What would you do differently? How would you spend your life right now if retirement wasn't guaranteed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People seem obsessed with working towards retirement, despite it being a relatively recent invention (1880's in Germany in case you were interested, and they set the initial retirement age at 70 years old). And life being a predictably unpredictable thing means that making it to retirement isn't guaranteed. In fact, most retirement ages around the world were set to be a close match to the life expectancy of the time. As life expectancy has dramatically increased, the retirement age has remained largely unchanged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The concept of retirement comes with some drawbacks. For a start it is expensive. People need to save to fund retirement, so will compromise their current life to provide some 'security' for the future. While this makes sense to a degree from an economic perspective, many end up leading an overly compromised 45 year work life, in the hope of 10-15 years of retirement while they're physically fit enough to enjoy it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What about if you worked for 55-60 years instead and didn't retire, but tried to make the most of each year instead? Well, that only makes sense if you enjoy what you're doing. In fact, you wouldn't settle for a job that you didn't find rewarding in a true sense - instead you would seek out (or even create) a career that was truly rewarding. You would find ways to extend your career beyond the typical retirement age. You would identify options for work that would allow for changes in your health and mobility. You would keep on learning and staying up to date to ensure you could continue to be of value to others. You would make a greater effort to stay fit. And I suspect you would be less 'old' in your outlook and ability. In fact, you may not end up being that 'old' at all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have three sons aged 9 and under, and so made a conscious decision to have 'outdoor' holidays as much as possible (those with young kids might relate!). We bought a caravan a few years back because it suited our needs as a young family, and have travelled all over Australia. The other demographic group that enjoys travelling in caravans is retired people. As a result, I've had plenty of opportunities to chat with retired people about their views on life. A regular comment from the retired people I've met is "I wish we had done this when we were your age - I wish we had taken the time to travel and enjoy life more with the kids when we were younger". These conversations have helped shape the way I run my business, the way I work, how I spend my time, and ultimately my desire to never retire (check in with me in 30 years or so!). Instead I've been planned, fortunate and disciplined enough to live a life that I genuinely enjoy, and that I feel I could sustain for a number of decades to come. Sure - that has meant some compromises. I don't have a regular pay cheque (or 'check' for US readers) that turns up each month. But I have quantity time with the ones I love (I don't buy the 'quality time' concept either), and I spend my time doing things that I enjoy and that I find rewarding. That kind of sounds like retirement, eh? And surely where you spend your time is a measure of what's most important to you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So maybe that's fine for a 40 year old, but is it really reasonable for those joining the work force to find a job they love? Well, maybe not - at least not straight away. I've had some pretty diverse jobs that weren't always fantastic. But I have learnt a lot through each job. My passion has unfolded over time and with hard work. So don't expect that first job to be perfect (or the second, or the third). Work hard, keep learning and be flexible, and you might just find that perfect job and wonderful career emerges from the most unexpected places. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, you might read this and want to examine your priorities and how you spend your time. If so, please email me (info@bevconsulting.com) and I will send you a worksheet that will help you to examine your purpose and values. Working through this may assist in clarifying where you want to head. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In conclusion, a healthy and happy retirement isn't guaranteed, so why live your life as if it is?</span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-10808279687086083182012-12-03T08:55:00.001+11:002012-12-03T08:56:23.392+11:00Top Six Tips to Improve Any Employee Survey...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZrzUTvFa_Ct5eiRiACWXRIyZyqctBkovsK7AoBIXiIYcgnUi6yMheROJuieQWABFh66LLYxdwl1tGH_aGaqSs5MziQrW0FEwT_xb11exhxe3tcinEf7mzJ0dYzuSGFaFocRaVRxXk11d/s1600/iStock_000017057463Medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZrzUTvFa_Ct5eiRiACWXRIyZyqctBkovsK7AoBIXiIYcgnUi6yMheROJuieQWABFh66LLYxdwl1tGH_aGaqSs5MziQrW0FEwT_xb11exhxe3tcinEf7mzJ0dYzuSGFaFocRaVRxXk11d/s320/iStock_000017057463Medium.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's very easy to run an employee survey. In my opinion, it's far too easy to run an employee survey! Something that used to require a fair degree of technical understanding, planning and investment can now be done on Survey Monkey (or a similar online survey system) in a matter of minutes at almost no direct cost. While this has made surveying far easier, more reliable and more cost effective, many organisations have become overrun by employee surveys ranging from 'great' through to 'destructive' (in fact - that would make a brilliant rating scale - please rate your manager on a scale from 'great' through to 'destructive'). Here are six reminders of ways in which you can improve any employee survey. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>1. Survey what really matters... really.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Employee surveys work best when there's a sponsor who can establish a clear purpose for the survey. Once people hear that you're conducting an employee survey, they will start making requests such as "can you just add a question or two about this" or "great - we can roll in the other survey that we conduct on this". The risk is that the survey blows out and lacks a consistent theme or purpose. Having a clear purpose and defined sponsor enables you to make decisions about what (and what not) to include in the survey. Surveys need to be short and focused. If the survey takes more than 10 minutes to complete, you'll start losing people. And it's always better to have more people complete fewer questions than vice versa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>2. Communicate communicate communicate. And when you're done with that, why not communicate again?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now you have established a clear purpose for the survey, it's time to start letting people know about it. During the weeks leading up to the survey, it's important to communicate the purpose of the survey (i.e. why I should complete this), the level of commitment to action (i.e. what will be done with the results), and the confidentiality of responses and how this will be assured (i.e. who will see the results, how much detail they will see, and the independence or otherwise of the person conducting the survey). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>3. Survey what you're prepared and able to change.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's important to only survey about areas that you are genuinely willing and able to change. Once you ask about an area, whether it be as important as the relationship with a manager or as pedestrian as the brand of coffee provided in the staff room, you have raised an expectation that something will change. People naturally equate 'having my say' with 'getting my way'. You need to manage this natural reaction through communication, and by only asking about areas you're willing to address and change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>4. Open ended opportunities.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Open ended or free text questions provide opportunities for people to add any other areas of interest or importance to them. You can never fully anticipate every possible area of interest to employees. Open ended questions can be used to provide helpful suggestions (e.g. What one change would have the most significant impact on your satisfaction?), or allow you to clarify your employee brand (e.g. What's the best part of working for this organisation?). They also help ensure that people feel they've had every opportunity to express their opinion or bring their perspective. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>5. Start with the final report first.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Survey design typically starts with the proposed survey questions. It's actually better to start with the final report first. What exactly is it that we want to explore? What's the best way of presenting this data? Starting with the final report helps you to confirm what really matters, and also confirms that your questions will give you the kind of information that you're after.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>6. Do something with the results.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you're conducting an employee survey it's critical that you intend to take action. Link initiatives back to the survey whenever you have the opportunity. Let people know how their opinions are shaping the direction of the organisation and how results are achieved. But most importantly, do something! Even if you don't have all the answers, let people know how you will be exploring potential options or gathering further data. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Employee surveys can be a powerful vehicle for change in an organisation. Hopefully these tips will help improve your survey. Oh, and as a final point, don't forget that sometimes you just need to go and speak to people! Don't ever let a survey get in the way of genuine communication. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-72654599443972668392012-10-09T19:30:00.001+11:002012-10-09T19:30:14.928+11:00A Tale of Teflon and Velcro...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVC1wkgQdxOXUxO-j0sKtHen8vyJk-gURFQC7-X-O89eNHZpf2YA5gZIxqVQJ2rgryYyx0G9T638vrrRcodwAeG2QkHu4Ef4qlKZuI1iM2VQDvpAqq1DOUA9vdbHYtI2MsH0259rib7KA/s1600/iStock_000002533143_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVC1wkgQdxOXUxO-j0sKtHen8vyJk-gURFQC7-X-O89eNHZpf2YA5gZIxqVQJ2rgryYyx0G9T638vrrRcodwAeG2QkHu4Ef4qlKZuI1iM2VQDvpAqq1DOUA9vdbHYtI2MsH0259rib7KA/s320/iStock_000002533143_Small.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A colleague of mine once remarked that when it comes to accountability, there are two types of people in the world - 'teflon' and 'velcro'. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Teflon' people are those who have a seemingly amazing ability to avoid taking on any kind of accountability for action. 'Teflon' people are 'style over substance', or 'all sizzle and no steak'. 'Teflon' people are those who could also have the nickname 'mirrors' because, when they're asked for an opinion on something, they respond that they'll 'look into it'. Ultimately, 'teflon' people are able to navigate through their work day without anything 'sticking' to them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In contrast, 'velcro' people are those who are always happy to give things a go and to take on more responsibility. They're the 'salt of the earth' types who take on tasks and run with them. They rarely complain about something 'not being my job', but are content to be contributing to the broader achievement of goals, even when their individual contribution may be overlooked or unappreciated. 'Velcro' people are the quiet achievers that move things forward. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over time, people start to see 'teflon' people for what they are, and ultimately their success is limited by their unwillingness to take on accountability. However, 'velcro' people can also experience problems over time. For those with kids, you may have noticed their shoes with velcro 'laces' have a pretty limited life-span. They start to lose their 'velcro-icity', gradually accumulating fluff that prevents the velcro from working properly. At the risk of taking the analogy too far, 'velcro' people can suffer a similar fate by accumulating tasks that they then can't get rid of, or by not being selective about what they choose to take on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The really successful leaders take accountability, but also know when to 'let go'. They also know how to hire 'velcro' people like themselves, and don't become distracted by the flashy antics of the 'teflon' people that exist in every organisation.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-63330212628455795782012-09-20T18:16:00.002+10:002012-09-20T18:16:37.668+10:00Questions are the new answers...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCd4j5VG_14F0u73xFi2kveGZTt_fT8gTazxVj0_xAldTCylPZI3lxgvCKdftvLbuBS52Ykxx_zkTgZ4AvT3ducwt-LmSEVEgw0amd6StwGfJpYI2ySsKo6krb7a3pScolRQ9RyfxjQN-/s1600/iStock_000020193689_ExtraSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCd4j5VG_14F0u73xFi2kveGZTt_fT8gTazxVj0_xAldTCylPZI3lxgvCKdftvLbuBS52Ykxx_zkTgZ4AvT3ducwt-LmSEVEgw0amd6StwGfJpYI2ySsKo6krb7a3pScolRQ9RyfxjQN-/s320/iStock_000020193689_ExtraSmall.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the most significant shifts I've noticed over the past two decades is that questions have become the new answers. Let me explain by pointing out that, like many of you, I grew up before the internet. If I had a question about something, there was only a few options of where I could turn for answers. There was the school library which had, amongst other books, a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. While at home we had the more budget version - the World Book Encyclopedia (complete with the 'Year Book' updates that were sent out each year). Answers were relatively difficult to come across and expensive. Even simple things like working out movie session times involved a trip to buy the newspaper. The relative cost of answers meant that you were very careful in the questions you asked, and relatively trusting in the material presented. I never thought to question the information in our trusty World Book encyclopedia despite it being highly likely to be out of date. I remember the exact moment that all changed in High School. I was sitting in a physics class and we started discussing things that weren't clear from modern physics (well, 'modern' physics as it was at the time!). We started with light, and discovered that it was kind of like a wave and kind of like a particle. We then moved onto electrons which could be thought to orbit around a nucleus, but could also be thought to be a 'cloud' around the nucleus of an atom. Checking the World Book didn't reveal the answers to these big questions. I had to rely on my teacher and the particular text book we were given. Education was basically about cramming kids full of as many answers as possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the risk of stating the obvious, the internet changed everything. I remember the moment I first saw the internet in action. A friend was studying computer science and had brought home a modem. After plugging it in and surviving the string of seemingly random squeaks and squawks as the modem connected over the phone line, he then accessed 'the Internet'. We loaded up a live picture of a coffee pot at a university in America (presumably to save the IT nerds at that university from making a fruitless trip to the coffee pot should it be empty). The grainy black and white image took minutes to load, but I still remember shaking my head in disbelief and saying "that is the most amazing thing I have ever seen". The idea that we could be watching a coffee pot on the other side of the world was unlike anything we had come across before. Information and answers from all over the world were suddenly at our finger tips...if only we could find them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over the next few years answers became suddenly cheap. You didn't need to go to the library or buy the book, because chances were someone had ripped off the ideas or at least written a summary. If you wanted to know the history of France, how birds fly or how to fix your car, the Internet was the one stop shop for information. Answers and information were everywhere. Answers became prevalent and cheap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Questions are the valuable commodity now. Perhaps they always have been, but even more so in this landslide of opinion and content. As leaders our role isn't just to provide answers, but to help people to ask the right questions - to discern between competing opinions in order to craft a way forward. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There will always be places on leadership teams for those who can ask the right questions. Perhaps as leaders we need to focus less energy downloading all the answers, and spend more time getting the questions right.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-35126080606137236252012-08-30T16:43:00.001+10:002012-09-14T17:27:16.697+10:00Does money motivate? Only when it's reasonable and fair...<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1727567267"></span><span id="goog_1727567268"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Half a century of research into the question of whether people are motivated by money provides a very clear conclusion - put simply, the answer is 'yes' and 'no'. Before the more rational amongst my readers decry my newfound propensity for fence sitting, allow me to clarify my position. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Money clearly has an impact when it comes to work. Being paid provides the incentive we need to invest time and energy into an organisation, while also funding things like food and shelter. But once someone is in a job, simply paying them more doesn't necessarily lead to higher levels of performance or greater satisfaction (<a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/leadership-and-employee-engagement.html" target="_blank">see my previous blog</a>). So our interest and concerns about pay vary depending on which point of time you're looking at and the nature of the relationship with the organisation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Is the pay reasonable?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we're considering whether to take up a new job, we're initially concerned with whether the pay on offer is 'reasonable' - that is, does the amount we are going to be paid meet our expectations of what the job is worth. We do this by looking at other job ads, speaking to others in the industry, and balancing this with our financial needs and commitments. What we're effectively looking at is commonly referred to as the 'external competitiveness' of pay. Literally how competitive is the level of pay on offer versus other employers. Now, I'm using the word 'pay' in a pretty broad sense here to include other conditions which may include other benefits provided. Once we finish the negotiation with the employer, our concern about how 'reasonable' our pay effectively takes a back seat to another concern.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Is the pay fair? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once we start in a new job, we suddenly become far more interested in how our pay compares to others within the new organisation, and less focused on how it compares to other organisations. Our thinking shifts from how 'reasonable' our pay is to how 'fair' our pay is. That is, are people who are performing roles of similar complexity and responsibility being paid a similar amount to me, and is my individual contribution being recognised in some way. Therefore, when employees have an issue with their pay, it is most often about how their pay compares to others within their organisation - typically referred to as 'internal equity'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What does this mean for my organisation?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Many organisations focus primarily on the external competitiveness of their pay. They assess what they can afford to pay people, and then try take a position in the broader market that allows them to attract the people they need. These organisations will therefore often participate in salary surveys or other ways of gaining an appreciation of how competitively they pay their people. While this helps people who are applying for roles with your organisation to cover off how 'reasonable' your pay is, it does less to address the shift in mindset to 'fairness' that happens once people start with the organisation. Once people are working for you they are typically less interested in how well you stack up against other organisations, and they're far more interested in how they are paid relative to 'Fred' who sits next to them. Employees will express these concerns in a range of ways - perhaps directly questionning how pay levels are determined, or perhaps by putting in less effort and starting to look around for another job. Either way, being able to address how 'fair' your pay is forms a critical part of your overall position on pay - as critical (if not more critical) than how you compare to other organisations. Ultimately as an organisation you want to remove 'pay' as a concern altogether so you can focus on the other elements that really motivate people (<a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/leadership-and-employee-engagement.html" target="_blank">see my earlier blog</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are some ways you can help ensure your organisation's pay is 'reasonable' and 'fair':</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Reward strategy:</b> Developing a reward strategy doesn't have to be a huge exercise. The reality is that your organisation already has a reward strategy, whether it's formal or not. A reward strategy provides a framework for reward, remuneration and benefits. It provides a shared understanding of what we reward and how we reward as an organisation. A reward strategy provides the broader context and philosophy from which new policies can be generated and existing policies tested. The key is to identify some core principles that articulate what you reward, and how you reward. These principles can then guide decision making around pay and communication to employees.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Grading structure:</b> Again, developing a grading structure doesn't need to be a costly and lengthy exercise. A grading structure (as the name suggests) provides a framework within which all jobs sit within specific grades. These grades recognise the varying knowledge/experience, planning/coordination and guidance/impact that characterise different levels in the organisation. Jobs can then be placed within these grades and salary ranges for each grade established based on external market data and your capacity to pay. An effective grading structure allows you to ensure internal equity (or 'fairness') is addressed in a systematic and consistent way.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Differentiate based on performance: </b>People often assume differentiating reward based on performance automatically means 'incentives' or 'bonuses'. However, in many organisations incentives and bonuses don't match the culture the organisation is trying to build. And other research (<a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/angry-birds-what-motivates-bird-aholic.html" target="_blank">covered in this blog</a>) suggests that many incentive schemes actually have negative impacts, leading to poorer performance and decreased motivation. Differentiated reward may however include other benefits like access to training, opportunities to be seconded into more senior roles, or internal career opportunities in other areas. It may even be as simple as recognition for your efforts from members of the senior leadership team. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Communication:</b> A reward strategy and grading structure provide a great opportunity to communicate to your people what is valued and how they can make a contribution.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Collectively these approaches will help to ensure the pay your organisation offers is both 'reasonable' and 'fair', so you can then concentrate on the things that really drive performance.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-36458313273725502592012-07-26T17:42:00.002+10:002012-09-14T17:27:35.161+10:00We Recruit People Just Like Us - MasterChef Proves It!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There's an old adage in recruitment - if people are left to their own devices, they will typically recruit people who are strikingly like themselves. Rather than taking my typical approach of tracking down some research to back me up on that, I was fortunate enough to see a perfect example unfold before my very eyes. My family have been fans of the Australian version of MasterChef for a couple of years now, and so it is little surprise that we tuned into the grand finale last night. MasterChef is produced in over 35 countries, so chances are you may have stumbled across the show before. It basically involves amateur cooks undertaking a range of challenges to become (insert country name here)'s MasterChef. As part of last night's Australian grand finale, the remaining three contenders were allowed to each choose two people out of the previous contestants to help them complete one of the challenges. And you won't be surprised to learn that despite the broad range of options available to them, each contestant chose two people who were the most similar to them. As you can see from the picture (taken from <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/tv/Series/MasterChef-4260195.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">http://www.theage.com.au/tv/Series/MasterChef-4260195.html</a>)<span style="background-color: white;">, </span><span style="background-color: white;">the three contenders for MasterChef are wearing white chef-y type shirts, while their chosen helpers stand next to them in aprons. While the groups look similar in terms of gender and cultural heritage, people who have been following the show will also have noticed similarities in their approach and personalities as well. They basically chose the closest thing they could to recruiting themselves.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So why do we tend to recruit people just like us? Well, it's easy, isn't it. We know how we think and approach things, so it's often easiest to manage people who think and work the same way we do. And is this a problem? Well, it often turns out to be in the long run. Rather than looking at what the job requires and what each candidate will bring, we're 'drawn' to particular people who are similar to us. When we take this approach, we miss out on the benefits that diversity brings to our workplaces. While gender and cultural diversity are those most often cited, we could easily include diversity of opinions, approaches and views. It's this diversity that allows us to avoid pitfalls, address a broader range of issues more effectively, and deliver the best outcomes for our customers and clients.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So next time you're hiring, take a moment to consider what MasterChef can teach us about recruitment. Make sure you focus on the job requirements and the best ways of gathering evidence about how each candidate measures up. Get another opinion by involving someone else in the selection process. By being aware of this risk you'll help to build a more diverse and capable workforce.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-69994828115557760322012-07-09T09:00:00.000+10:002012-09-14T17:27:51.186+10:00The Resilient Leader - What Michael J Fox Can Teach Us<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For someone who was a teenager in the mid-1980's like me, the actor Michael J Fox was seemingly everywhere. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Not only was he the star of TV's 'Family Ties', but he also broke into film with the hugely successful 'Back to the Future' trilogy. (By way of a side note, the theme song for Family Ties included the amazingly confusing line "there ain't no nothing we can't love each other through" - to this day I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing given the number of negating words, but alas I digress). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In 1991 Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease - a progressively degenerative disorder of the central nervous system with no cure and relatively rare for someone his age (29 years old at the time). His diagnosis obviously came as a shock. Seven years later he publicly shared his diagnosis while on the successful TV show 'Spin City'. He has written several books about his experience and has become a campaigner for further research, particularly stem cell research, to find a cure for Parkinson's through his own foundation. It is in these roles that he has arguably had his greatest impact. There is a lot to be learned from Michael's optimism and resilience in the face of incredibly challenging circumstances. In the sessions I conduct with clients around resilience, I often start with this remarkable interview Larry King conducted with Michael. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some of the lessons about resilience we can learn from Michael's story include:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It's not about circumstances: In Michael's words, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">"don't wish for a lighter load, wish for broader shoulders". Most people would forgive someone in Michael's circumstances to feel sorry for themselves, but despite his circumstances Michael says "if I want to feel bad for anybody there's a long list of people, and my name is not on it".</span></span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Resilience isn't just about 'dealing with' life, it's also about 'getting the best' out of life. Resilient people aren't just adept at meeting challenges, they also look for the positive in life and chase after it.</span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Resilience takes time - it's not about naive 'positivity'. In Michael's case there was seven years between diagnosis and his public announcement of having Parkinson's disease. As he admits, there were dark days during this time. Michael doesn't come across as someone who is naive about the challenges and difficulties, but he does consciously choose his response.</span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are habits that build resilience. In Michael's case, each morning as he walks past a mirror he looks at himself and says "What are you smiling at?". Resilient people have a range of habits in their everyday lives that shape the way they experience the world. I provide one example of a habit you can try later in this blog.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Resilience can sometimes be about living in the moment. The unpredictability of Michael's condition has the potential to dis-empower. However Michael uses this unpredictability to his advantage, choosing to make the most out of every moment.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bad things will pass. Resilient people see the inevitable bad moments in life as temporary and restricted to one part of their lives. In contrast, people with less resilience tend to extend bad events to longer time horizons and stretch them across all aspects of their life. So the argument with a colleague at work can either be a one-off situation to be managed, or can take on broader and more negative impacts for those with less resilience. </span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Resilience is often associated with meaning and purpose in life. Michael has found something beyond acting to give his life even more meaning and purpose. He is seeking to have an impact well beyond his life, and this helps motivate and drive him.</span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Social connections build resilience. In his books Michael often speaks of the support he has received from his wife and children, and how this helps to sustain his optimism. For some people this will be about having broad networks for people, while for others it may be a close friend or companion. Either way, these social connections are a good investment.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At this point you might be thinking 'well - that's great for Michael, but I'm not a resilient or optimistic kind of person'. The good news is that both resilience and optimism can be learnt and developed. One approach I recommend to resilience program participants is to note down three things you're grateful for at the end of each day (variations of this exercise and others can be found in the books 'Flourish' and 'The Happiness Advantage' - see resources below). Doing this keeps you focused on the positives and, overtime, you start looking for positive things around you during the day. Now this isn't just a 'nice thing to do', but has scientific merit - people who practice this approach develop resilience. As a family, we've built this into a meal-time ritual. Our three kids (who are still under ten and pretty used to their psychologist dad's crazy experiments) each share something good that happened to them during the day, and we as parents share ours too. What's interesting is that on the occasional 'bad day' I've had, the kids have often kick started this process themselves. In this way the kids have forced me to find some positive things that have happened even on the inevitable 'bad days' we all experience, and it's not long before I'm smiling and appreciating just how blessed I am. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Resilience-Factor-Strength-Overcoming/dp/0767911911" rel="" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte (2003) The Resilience Factor</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Always-Looking-Up-Adventures-Incurable/dp/B0041T4SCM" rel="" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michael J Fox (2010) Always Looking Up - Adventures of an Incurable Optimist</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Man-Michael-J-Fox/dp/0786888741" rel="" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michael J Fox (2003) Lucky Man - A Memoir</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Advantage-Principles-Psychology-Performance/dp/0307591549" rel="" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Shawn Achor (2010) The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flourish-Visionary-Understanding-Happiness-Well-being/dp/1439190763" rel="" style="color: #339999;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Martin Seligman (2012) Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.michaeljfox.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Link to Michael J Fox Foundation</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bevconsulting.com/Resilience.html" target="_blank">Want to build resilience in your organisation? Click here for information on my half-day resilience program. </a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-18838231948968038802012-06-21T12:34:00.000+10:002012-09-14T17:28:04.235+10:00"People Fifth"? The Importance of Authentic Values.<br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I met with a General Manager of Human Resources a number of years ago shortly before the public listing of their business. He was particularly excited about a new set of values that had been developed by the executive team and were about to be rolled out to employees in the coming weeks. He was then kind enough to give me a preview of the five new values, all nicely laminated on cards and numbered, which went something like this:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Number 1. Deliver for Shareholders - as a business about to be publicly listed, the executive team were keen to focus people around the importance of delivering on the promises made to those about to invest in the business.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Number 2. Delight Customers - this seemed pretty sensible, and was focused around providing a great experience for customers every time and responding to customer feedback.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Number 3. Operational Efficiency - streamlining processes to improve efficiency and provide greater consistency across their various locations.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Number 4. I honestly don't remember what the fourth value was, which is probably because of the fifth value.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Number 5 - People First. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At that point of the conversation I had the same reaction you're probably having now. Before I could fully think it through, I found myself saying "Do you think you should change that last one to 'people fifth'?". At that point he understood the irony of their fifth value.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In this instance the executive team had actually constructed what they saw as the most important values for the business in order of importance, and for them the reality was that people came fifth. However, being accustomed as we all are to saying "people are our most important asset", the "people first" tag line seemed like the right name at the time. You may not be surprised to learn that following the public listing of the business, they closed their doors for the last time within a few years. Perhaps putting "people fifth" was part of the problem. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've seen some great examples of business values. When done well, a set of values can provide an invaluable framework for employees throughout the organisation to make decisions in the 'grey space' between black and white rules and procedures. One senior leadership team I was a member of would often refer back to the organisation's values when making tough decisions while navigating the global financial crisis. In the absence of precedents and guidelines, the values allowed us to choose between options based on their alignment with the values of the organisation. The values also helped us to explain these decisions to those affected in the context of the organisation's strategy. Furthermore, it provided a consistent framework for doing business across diverse cultures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However values can sometimes be poorly developed and inauthentic. 'People fifth' is one example. In some organisations values are developed from the ground up - a sort of democratic discernment of what's important through seemingly endless focus groups, interviews and surveys. In my experience this approach almost always produces a bland set of values that are more about avoiding offending anyone than they are about guiding decision making. In my view, values need to be developed at 'the top' and then refined through conversation across the business. In our earlier example, some refinement of the proposed values with employees would have highlighted the 'people fifth' dilemma, and possibly enabled a better end result. However too often executive teams are presented a set of values emerging from an overly consultative process and, as a result, they don't match the strategy of the organisation. The executive team haven't bought into the values before they are printed on a fancy sign that starts off behind the reception desk, and is gradually relegated into a store room to gather dust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An organisation's values need to be authentic and matched with the strategic direction of the business. As a leader you need to hold yourself and others accountable to these values. If you're going to do this, you will want to make sure you're 100% comfortable with the values. I know of one organisation that had its values printed onto the building security pass lanyards people wore around their necks. When the senior leaders of the organisation made a number of decisions that didn't seem to align with these values, many employees staged a quiet protest by removing their official lanyards and replacing them with plain ones that didn't include the stated values. In that case, the inauthentic values probably did more harm than good, speaking of a promise that wasn't fulfilled by leaders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In summary, authentic values can be a valuable tool to aide decision making in uncertain times. They can be used to hold leaders and employees to account, not just around <i>what </i>results they achieve, but also <i>how </i>they achieve results. A process that starts with the senior team considering the values they believe are required to achieve their strategy is a great start, and needs to be coupled with a refinement or 'testing' process that involves groups of employees. Clearly defined values can provide that all important compass that people need when navigating uncharted waters. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-86660976497353426022012-06-14T14:17:00.000+10:002012-09-14T17:28:20.847+10:00Workaholics and Burnout - Does Employee Engagement Really Help?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7X2SQYUrE9GzXBm1ZltBAyzveAAK8m6udY8Or2E-xebZb0WL1COaHd1RDDv0tGj7q1VCrVdaLRhCyLJJTD0Dot2X9BaZ_r2uY6sSV_tP59i0-_TRDsNwR3Fgr1zUtYYICpxPSJ-zXvD5/s1600/iStock_000018516780Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7X2SQYUrE9GzXBm1ZltBAyzveAAK8m6udY8Or2E-xebZb0WL1COaHd1RDDv0tGj7q1VCrVdaLRhCyLJJTD0Dot2X9BaZ_r2uY6sSV_tP59i0-_TRDsNwR3Fgr1zUtYYICpxPSJ-zXvD5/s320/iStock_000018516780Small.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's a commonly held belief that people who are engaged and work hard are good for an organisation, producing better results and demonstrating higher levels of commitment. But what about those who work too hard? Is it possible for a person to be too engaged with their work? And does that lead to burnout and negative performance?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I've discussed in a <a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/passion-missing-piece-in-employee.html" target="_blank">previous blog</a>, most models of employee engagement don't examine what actually drives people to work hard and contribute more to an organisation. This muddies the water between workaholism and work-engagement and may explain why employee engagement scores and measures of performance don't always align. Organisations with supposedly high employee engagement can sometimes be perplexed by relatively poor performance and the incidence of burnout and other negative health outcomes amongst their people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A recent study by van Beek, Taris and Schaufeli* separated workaholism and engagement into two distinct concepts. They then looked at various combinations of the two looking at the impact on burnout. They used the following definitions:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Workaholism - characterised by the tendency to work excessively hard and being obsessed with work - working compulsively. Workaholism has been associated with negative outcomes such as interpersonal conflict at work, lower job satisfaction, greater work-home interference, poorer social relationships outside work, and more frequent health complaints.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Work engagement - a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption. Work engagement has been associated with high job satisfaction, greater commitment to the organisation, more personal initiative, higher performance, lower intention to leave the organisation, and lower absenteeism. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Their research showed that workaholism and work engagement both lead to people working harder and for longer hours (which would often be seen as 'engagement'). In fact, people who combined the two worked even longer hours. But it was the incidence of burnout amongst these groups that was most interesting (as per the figure below). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnayP0qcrZlkbYjZuA1uX4AGLEf1J05iwiBykPxY3UB8pskYccoDCxVWDIH_qPzDWUWYlh9W0S4_W89UflZkXcsfb9-wtzvIsYUPAujHVtlvb-HVVsNX_SvsvmKXgKW8AFIvhDnUbd1Qeo/s1600/Workaholic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnayP0qcrZlkbYjZuA1uX4AGLEf1J05iwiBykPxY3UB8pskYccoDCxVWDIH_qPzDWUWYlh9W0S4_W89UflZkXcsfb9-wtzvIsYUPAujHVtlvb-HVVsNX_SvsvmKXgKW8AFIvhDnUbd1Qeo/s320/Workaholic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Perhaps not surprisingly, being a workaholic increased the incidence of burnout over non-workaholics. The researchers linked this to work-home interference, poor social relationships, and high levels of job strain. In contrast, being engaged with work decreased the incidence of burnout versus the non-engaged. Interestingly, combining the two (I.e. being a work-engaged workaholic) decreased the level of burnout below that of your regular workaholic. It also reduced the incidence of burnout to below that of non-engaged non-workaholics. Being engaged with work appears to dampen the negative impact of being a workaholic when it comes to burnout. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Approaches used to improve work engagement are likely to lessen the chance of burnout, even for the workaholics in our organisations. Individual leaders can also help workaholics in their team to become aware of what motivates them, and help them identify greater meaning and purpose in their work. Understanding the difference between workaholism and employee engagement may well increase the sustainability of performance in your organisation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>* Definitions and results from Ilona van Beek, Toon W. Taris and Wilmar B. Schaufeli (2011) Workaholic and Work Engaged Employees: Dead Ringers or Worlds Apart? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 16, No 4, 468-482. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the regular readers of this blog, and particularly those who have shared the blog with others. The blog is now read by over 1,300 people each month from as far afield as the USA, UK, Russia, Canada, India, Singapore, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark and Lithuania. I really appreciate your feedback, and please check out my website at <a href="http://www.bevconsulting.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.bevconsulting.com</a> - I'd love the opportunity to partner with your organisation in developing your leaders and engaging your people. Please continue to share the blog with others, connect via LinkedIn and follow by email to make sure you don't miss a blog.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-82703465738456221802012-05-31T12:07:00.001+10:002012-09-14T17:28:34.469+10:00Moving the Engagement Data Glacier - guest blog by Jason McPherson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjes2FAJV6L8XzRdJBbObpKR6xu-rBmDlR-mLkk7p0tQGHB_5AwNr4aWoUX24ZxOKgHKaqyKV8cjxgxNGh1GJtsRKRgQ2asxZsfn84qnFgKw7PrSFtBwp23o20spZ_RKA2GsukpMzDQGndR/s1600/iStock_000010215093XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjes2FAJV6L8XzRdJBbObpKR6xu-rBmDlR-mLkk7p0tQGHB_5AwNr4aWoUX24ZxOKgHKaqyKV8cjxgxNGh1GJtsRKRgQ2asxZsfn84qnFgKw7PrSFtBwp23o20spZ_RKA2GsukpMzDQGndR/s320/iStock_000010215093XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>In this guest blog, Jason McPherson from <a href="http://www.cultureamp.com/" target="_blank">CultureAmp</a> reflects on our appetite for more timely data, and what this means for measuring employee engagement and culture.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We are seeing a trend towards a more constant streaming of data - we are looking at daily data or even hourly data wherever we can. Now, this is not to say that more regular data is always the best, but to my mind the trend is towards the finest temporal resolution that people can make sensible use of - which of course will be determined by a mix of subjective, pragmatic, and statistical (probably also somewhat subjective) factors.
Take house prices for example. Australians are obsessed with house prices and nearly as many are obsessed with arguing over the data and predictions. Recently we have seen the development of the <a href="http://www.rpdata.com/research/daily_indices.html" target="_blank">RP Data-Rismark Daily Home Value Index</a> which imputes a daily estimated house value for all Australian Capital cities. I won't be going into the methodology - the point I am making is that such is the hunger for frequent data that imputation methods are being developed so that we can keep an eye on what is happening daily. Interestingly, it appears some commentators have developed some fatigue in trying to comment on the results on a daily basis and are instead analysing the <a href="http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/04/weekly-rp-data-house-price-analysis/" target="_blank">weekly figures</a>. The important observation is that the data allows people to make an informed choice as to what timeframe is appropriate.
Taking things to the extreme recently, Stephen Wolfram posted a mesmerisingly geeky/interesting <a href="http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-analytics-of-my-life/" target="_blank">blog article</a> summarising hourly data for his email (ingoing, outgoing etc.) keystrokes, calendar events, phone calls and footsteps. The resulting dataset allows him to track various stages of his life and the overall patterns that have governed his working life since 1989. Some of the patterns are at the day level (more footsteps at lunchtime), some of them week level (writing a blog) and some of the patterns reflect multi-year trends (working on a major book). Again, Stephen's data collection allowed him to zoom in and out and decide the appropriate levels of analysis.
Now, where does this leave the average employee engagement data stream? With many companies asking their employees for culture feedback once a year - it seems engagement measurement is lagging nearly every other metric in the world. However, there are a growing number of companies who have realised that yearly culture and engagement tracking is not timely enough.
We regularly collect daily data from different employees and this allows leaders and managers to decide what the appropriate and meaningful timeframe for analysis is. We have observed interesting intra-day effects. However, for most companies, or business units undergoing change management, weekly data has been the smallest timeframe of value. Whereas other companies are settling into a rhythm of checking data on a monthly and quarterly basis. Since we have begun collecting this data we are yet to see an organisation who finds a yearly datastream adequate.
The verdict: </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hourly = academically interesting and fun to watch on your screen </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Daily = see above </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Weekly = beginning to become very useful in change management scenarios and large companies enacting initiatives - allows managers to try different things each week if they have large enough teams </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Monthly = as above for weekly and great in change management, and larger companies, and also for linking to other monthly data such as customer satisfaction or Net Promoter tracking </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Quarterly = commonly makes the most sense for many companies and ties in well with most other business metrics - many companies are gravitating to this as it also only requires each person to complete a 5-10 minute survey once every 3 months </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yearly = generally fine for global climate change data (sea levels, glacial melting etc.)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>About Jason McPherson: <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;">Jason is a reformed academic psychologist who still finds it hard to kick the habit from time to time - his PhD was on the gamification of neuropsychological assessments and he has also published extremely boring papers on survey methods and statistics. He has spent some years of his life working for Tower Watson, Kenexa and Ipsos but is now thoroughly enjoying helping to build the Murmur application - a next generation approach to employee engagement and performance measurement at Culture Amp.</span></i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-25123796175173370462012-05-24T16:38:00.001+10:002012-09-14T17:28:49.738+10:00Leadership Across Generations - Less Than Meets the Eye...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Much has been made of generational differences and the impact they have in the workplace and upon leadership. The generation view suggests that people, by virtue of the year they were born, share common experiences that shape their expectations of employers and leadership. It has also been suggested that these generational differences impact the way members of different generations lead. Depending on who you listen to, Baby Boomers were born somewhere around 1946-1964, Generation X were born 1965-1979, and Generation Y were born 1980-1994. The stereotypes then flow thick and fast - Generation Y's that can't focus, Baby Boomers that are scratching their heads wondering where the fax machine went, and Generation X's that are bravely trying to keep it all together (okay - that may have been a Generation X's summary). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In my own experience as a manager, I've found the generational view to be pretty hit and miss as a practical way of understanding individual needs, particularly when it comes to effective leadership. While there are definitely some differences (a Gen Y requesting annual leave via Facebook was up there - and you know who you are!), in my experience the differences seem to be peripheral, or related more to the person's stage of career rather than their generation per se. For example, the desire for increased flexibility in the workplace is not the sole domain of any one generation - it's something people from all generations want, perhaps for slightly different reasons. In addition, most discussion of generations in the workplace completely overlooks cultural differences. For example, one research paper I recently read targeted at an international audience suggested that my life as a Generation X would have been shaped by Watergate, President Reagan, the Three Mile Island nuclear leak, and someone I'd never heard of that was particularly good at baseball. As a Generation X growing up in Australia, it is fair to say that none of these people or events had any impact on my life at all. The point being that even the societal shifts that occur are often specific to a particular country or region, so extending assumptions to other countries beyond ones own borders is fraught with risk. In my opinion, most generational models understate what we have in common by virtue of being human beings, and overstate the impact of societal events upon development versus individual differences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Having said all that, it's always helpful to inject a bit of research into the discussion. So you'd expect from the generational view that managers from the three generations would have quite different views about what makes a leader effective, would demonstrate different leadership skills, and would have different development needs as leaders. After all, their experiences and expectations are presented as being so different. In fact a study* looking at exactly this with over 7,000 managers from the three generations concluded that these groups were more similar than different in regard to the leadership practices they thought were most important, and in their level of skill in these leadership practices as judged by their managers. Furthermore the main skill gaps were exactly the same across the three generations. The conclusion from these researchers was that the concept of generations isn't of practical benefit when developing leaders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So when it comes to leadership development, I think it's far more helpful to look at what we have in common independent of our generation - for example our shared needs for meaning in our work, the freedom to do things our own way, our desire to develop skills that matter to us, and our need for relationships. Then it makes sense to look at our different needs based on the the major transitions in leadership - e.g. first people management role, first leadership role, first executive role etc. Generational models are a helpful reminder of the diversity in our workplaces, but don't provide a lot of help when it comes to developing leaders.</span></div>
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<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">* Gentry W, Griggs T, Deal J, Mondore S, Cox B (2011) A comparison of generational differences in endorsement of leadership practices with actual leadership skill level. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol 63, No 1, 39-49. </span></i><span style="color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">WUDAKUFDVQXX</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-4839166622945461592012-05-09T10:29:00.000+10:002012-09-14T17:29:03.420+10:00Passion – the Missing Piece in Employee Engagement?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When people talk about employee engagement they typically describe employees who are passionate about their work and their organisation. But the questions used in employee engagement surveys often don’t directly measure this passion. Instead the questions focus on job satisfaction, whether you have the resources you need, how long you want to work there and whether you’d recommend the organisation to others – all important, but not directly measuring passion. There’s also an assumption that all engagement is good engagement, when research suggests there can be a dark side to some types of employee engagement and passion for the work. This may help to explain why ‘engagement’ and ‘performance’ don’t always line up – there’s a missing element in the equation. <br /><br />Robert Vallerand is a Canadian psychologist who has directed most of his research towards understanding motivation. More recently, his focus has shifted towards the concept of ‘passion’, which he defines as “a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity (or object) that one likes (or even loves), finds important and meaningful, and in which one invests time and energy” (see reference at the end of this blog). The key difference between this and most definitions of motivation and engagement is the ‘self-defining’ element. Vallerand provides an example highlighting that “a passionate tennis player does not simply play tennis, he or she<i> <u>is</u> </i>a tennis player” – their passion defines who they are and how they think about themselves. You can see this passion in response to the simple question we so often ask when we meet people for the first time - “what do you do?”. Some people will start with “I work for Company XYZ” while others will start with “I’m an engineer” or “I’m a father of two kids”. The way the person identifies themselves provides an insight into what they’re passionate about – their organisation, their profession, their family etc. Passion is what most people think of when they picture employee engagement in action. <br /><br />So the answer to improving employee engagement and producing better results seems simple – recruit people who are passionate about your organisation and the work you perform, be clear about their role and its contribution, give them the tools they need, add a dash of positive feedback, and away you go. Unfortunately it’s not quite that simple, as Vallerand has identified two types of passion – one ‘good’ (harmonious) and one ‘bad’ (obsessive). <br /><br />Obsessive passion comes to control an individual as they cannot help but undertake the activity that they’re passionate about. It’s easy to identify the passionate poker player as someone who could easily ruin their lives by becoming obsessive in their passion for playing poker and gambling more than they can afford. But perhaps you can also identify people with an obsessive passion for their work – those who ultimately run themselves into the ground pursuing their passion by working long hours, neglecting other ‘competing’ elements in their life like their friends and family, not looking after their health, failing to connect with others. They’re the ones at the barbeque on the weekend avoiding their friends and children in preference for their iPhone or Blackberry. <br /><br />In contrast, harmonious passion is integrated with the rest of the individual’s life. People with a harmonious passion don’t feel the same uncontrollable urge to undertake the activity. Rather, they freely choose the activity because they enjoy it, not because they feel they must do it. The consequences of harmonious passion are positive for the individual – not just when they’re involved in the activity, but before and after as well. Obsessive passion doesn’t have these positive consequences. Instead it leads to a range of negative consequences such as anxiety and depression, as well as negatively impacting on relationships with others. <br /><br />It’s easy to mistake obsessive passion for engagement – the person who puts in long hours, is committed to the task and motivated (well, compelled) to keep going long after others have taken a break. Ultimately this type of engagement negatively impacts performance, relationships and the individual. <br /><br />If this topic is of interest, I recommend making the effort to track down Vallerand’s article through your library (Vallerand, R. J. (2012) From Motivation to Passion: In Search of the Motivational Processes Involved in a Meaningful Life. Canadian Psychology, 53, 1, 42-52.). It's a great summary of 30 years research into what motivates people.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-48660821175596078122012-04-23T17:14:00.001+10:002012-09-14T17:29:20.145+10:00Hiring? Six tips to help them to make an informed decision...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I had the opportunity to run a session recently with small to medium business people (the size of the business, not their stature) looking at how to attract, retain and motivate great people. Amongst the topics we discussed were:</span></div>
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<li>What motivates people? - the role of money and motives</li>
<li>Being true to yourself - your brand as an employer and how it aligns to your customer brand</li>
<li>Knowing what you need - the non-boring job description</li>
<li>Getting to know them - selection processes that predict job performance</li>
<li>Allowing them to bring their best - engaging people so they can perform</li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A topic that generated a lot of discussion was how to help potential recruits to make an informed decision about whether the organisation and the job on offer are right for them. It's an often overlooked part of the recruitment process, but businesses are increasingly needing to 'sell' the role and organisation to the best candidates. This can sometimes lead to 'over-selling' the role, leading to disappointment and disengagement. While the induction process is crucial, giving people a clear idea of what it's like to work at your organisation before they join makes a big difference in ensuring people are making the right decision on both sides of the hiring desk.<br /><br />Here are six tips for helping candidates to make an informed decision:</span></div>
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<li><b>Job description:</b> Most job descriptions are written around tasks rather than the aspects of work that really motivate people. Make sure you include how this role contributes to the broader direction of the organisation (purpose). Instead of tasks, ensure you talk about what the role is accountable for. This will give the potential recruit an idea of the freedom they have to do things their own way. </li>
<li><b>A typical day:</b> No matter how good your position description is, it will never quite capture what a typical day/week/month looks like. Talking to the candidate about the typical day will help bring the role to life for them. </li>
<li><b>Meet the people:</b> The people you work with have a big impact on what it feels like to work for an organisation. Make sure you provide an opportunity for candidates you're ready to hire to meet with key people. Not only will this help them to make their decision to join you, but it will also help them to hit the ground running when they join. </li>
<li><b>Values and strategy:</b> Talk to candidates about your organisation's story - not just what got you to this point, but also your plans for the future. Also let them know about your values - the way you go about working. </li>
<li><b>Tour the location:</b> Giving people a chance to see where they will be working helps them to visualize themselves in the role. If you're worried about scaring them off, remember that it's probably better for everyone to find out before they join! </li>
<li><b>'Stupid questions': </b>They say there's no such thing as a stupid question - only stupid people... Some organisations provide a 'buddy' through the selection process. It helps to have someone who isn't directly involved in the selection decision who can field the questions a candidate may otherwise be worried to ask (e.g. what are the real working hours, what do people wear to work, what are the people like)</li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Making a little extra effort for your short listed candidates will help them to feel that joining your organisation will be the right decision for them. Not only will you attract and hire better people, you're more likely to retain and engage them.</span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867538086347448220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-67072139713569987242012-04-19T13:48:00.002+10:002012-09-14T17:30:46.178+10:00Leadership and Employee Engagement - The Great Balancing Act<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There is a myriad of leadership and employee engagement models - some good, some not so good, and some that are downright wrong when you compare them with the wealth of leadership research conducted over the past 50 years. As I accelerate towards 40, I've now spent 22 years studying, researching and applying various models of leadership and employee engagement. While I'm still learning new things every week (mostly via the clients I'm privileged to work with through my consulting business), I figure now is as good a time as any to share some of my thoughts. Hopefully it will help to cut through the 'noise' confronting those contemplating leadership development and trying to get the best out of their people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are some core principles that underpin the approach I take to leadership development:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Principle one - leadership can be developed.</strong> The reality is that anyone can learn to become a better leader. While some people reach their first leadership roles with capabilities that help them to 'hit the ground running', I'm yet to meet a leader that doesn't have some flaws. The best leaders recognise that they still have plenty to learn. They also appreciate that great leadership starts with understanding yourself, and working out ways to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Your ability to lead others is grounded in your ability to understand and manage yourself. The good news is that we can all develop these core capabilities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Principle two - there isn't one 'right way to lead'.</strong> The research is clear - the best leaders are flexible and can use a range of leadership styles. Despite this, there are plenty of leadership models that present a 'correct' way to lead others and a 'correct' culture to create, ignoring that what people need from their leaders varies greatly depending on the situation and individual. In my view the best leaders are true to themselves. There's a lot we can learn from people like Steve Jobs and, if we were seeking to turn Apple around over the past 15 years, then we could robotically apply his approach to leadership. However the important factors are understanding who you are, being genuine to that, and being adaptable to the situation you are in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Principle three - great leaders deliver results.</strong> The best leaders balance the needs of individuals with the needs of the organisation. I'll talk more about how I see that working in a moment. In my view, the best way of measuring leadership effectiveness is to look at the results that leaders achieve through others. The level of employee engagement provides the link between the leader and the results that are achieved. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The key to delivering results is to create an environment that appeals to what motivates people (see more in my </span><a href="http://www.whomovedmyfax.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/angry-birds-what-motivates-bird-aholic.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">blog about Angry-Bird-aholics</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">). </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Daniel Pink</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805" target="_blank"> in his book "Drive"</a> summarises a wealth of research indicating there are three motives that drive people once pay is 'reasonable' and 'fair' (more on that in a future blog), namely:</span><br />
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<li><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Purpose</strong> - desire to contribute to a cause greater and more enduring than myself</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Autonomy</strong> - desire for freedom over task (what I do), time (when I do it), team (who I do it with) and technique (how I do it)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Mastery</strong> - desire to become better at something that matters to me</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These motives link to a number of expectations that individuals consciously or sub-consciously seek from their organisation:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Clarity</strong> - being clear about the strategy and my role in helping to achieve it</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Authority</strong> - having an appropriate level of freedom to achieve results</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Capability</strong> - being appropriately challenged and able to develop my capabilities further</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In return, the best leaders create an environment that balances these individual expectations with those of the organisation:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Expectations</strong> - in return for clarity, there are standards required of me</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Accountability</strong> - in return for authority, I am held accountable for the results expected of me</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Excellence</strong> - in return for capability development, I am expected to strive for excellence both in what I achieve (results) and how I achieve (capabilities and behaviours) </span></div>
</li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The model is summarised in this diagram, showing the balance between the needs of the individual and the organisation:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Great leaders are the ones who create an environment that balances the needs of the individual and organisation. In doing so, they create the best opportunity for both the individual and the organisation to achieve, and also create a great place to work.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-85213711332988129862012-03-21T16:10:00.000+11:002012-09-14T17:30:59.606+10:00Horizontal corduroy beats vertical integration...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZusUoM471iqWGrr2ilSNDVymKj9C6dPprzFwyqxCGAXwjZEKur8yUjd7NJWTOZy1DJQxk0vVdf7t2n09-EzYm3GGtUY3eFS2RvZzJ7rkRkJQ7M1HBhYKhHZjUK7TJh6ipz6nt21hWzDS/s1600/Betabrand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZusUoM471iqWGrr2ilSNDVymKj9C6dPprzFwyqxCGAXwjZEKur8yUjd7NJWTOZy1DJQxk0vVdf7t2n09-EzYm3GGtUY3eFS2RvZzJ7rkRkJQ7M1HBhYKhHZjUK7TJh6ipz6nt21hWzDS/s320/Betabrand.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">It takes a brave organisation to go horizontal when most others are chasing vertical integration. But in the words of Betabrand, "an evil multinational corporation has to start somewhere". And so what started as a joke between friends became 'Cordarounds' - the world's first pair of corduroy pants where the grooves are horizontal rather than vertical. Apart from the obvious reduction in that annoying 'swish' sound, Betabrand also claim decreased heat generation and a 16.24% reduction in drag coefficient due to the improved aerodynamics. Hot on the heels of this surprise success story, Betabrand released a range of other limited-edition clothing. I could try to explain what this includes, but you're better off seeing it for yourself at their website <a href="http://www.betabrand.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. They've also been profiled in the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/business/31proto.html?_r=2" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At a time when many other manufacturing companies are going to the wall, Betabrand has managed to carve out a niche in, well, highly specialised clothing. They now count their revenue in the millions and sales growth of over 10% per month - not bad for a business born out of a joke. They manufacture their clothes in the US for export to the world, with new products released every week. And the secrets to their success may well have lessons for your organisation:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Consistent and unique voice: Betabrand has developed a strong online presence through their quirky website and regular email newsletter (as a side note, their newsletter was developed to try to keep customers happy while they had the clothes made on demand, initially leading to a backlog in fulfilling orders). Building on the previous experience of the owners in web-based marketing, they have used humour to parody the clothing industry and to keep their customers engaged. What's your unique voice as an organisation? Are you consistent in the way you present yourself to the market?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Applying principles from other industries: Making clothing in limited editions is an idea the team drew from the beanie baby phenomenon, where demand for toys was generated by short runs of varied designs. The limited runs of clothing also reduced risk for Betabrand while appealing to customers who wanted to make a unique statement through their clothes. To what extent do your leaders look to other industries for ideas and to identify trends? Are you a leader in your industry, or simply following the pack? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Involving customers in brave new ways: The Betabrand website doesn't include your typical line up of clothing models. Instead they have asked real customers to send in photos of themselves modeling Betabrand's clothes. This has become one of the more entertaining parts of their website as customers seek to out-do each other with increasingly extreme modeling. Are there new ways that you can engage with your customers? How can you use your current customers to help sell to potential customers?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Experimenting openly: Ideas like the executive hoodie (a traditional pin stripe suit jacket with the addition of a hood, as seen <a href="http://www.betabrand.com/hoodies/executive-pinstripe-hoodie.html" target="_blank">here</a>) are shared with customers on the Betabrand website before they go into production to gauge reaction and demand. It also helps to build a website that is worth returning to. Most organisations hide their ideas away until they're perfect. Betabrand's approach allows them to tweak their designs and generate demand. Are there ways in which you can open up the product and service development process to include your customers?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Betabrand is an unlikely success story - the kind success story that comes about when people are passionate about an idea and relentlessly pursue it. Betabrand has lessons for any organisation that may just be the key to your next stage of growth.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8547905461093872350.post-55054942812055580902012-02-16T14:22:00.001+11:002012-09-14T17:31:33.504+10:00Eight Leadership Lessons from a Lego Man in Space…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAOCpK4N1hIXjH3b5cw1riTM0DM1TkRXJ8pj_nEcUBwRXOdUMQ9tpTvScvhVs79bZpPiBwquhENT3S6-PKwKP3HJNkhmzCjaekIj9-azELjqNArBF4EWie5PYZJhLGe0an4gd9g7JiDuh/s1600/Image-2-Column-New-Space-Lego-Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAOCpK4N1hIXjH3b5cw1riTM0DM1TkRXJ8pj_nEcUBwRXOdUMQ9tpTvScvhVs79bZpPiBwquhENT3S6-PKwKP3HJNkhmzCjaekIj9-azELjqNArBF4EWie5PYZJhLGe0an4gd9g7JiDuh/s320/Image-2-Column-New-Space-Lego-Man.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While NASA spends over $18 billion annually exploring space, two Canadian teenagers manage to send a Lego Man into space, have it return safely to Earth and then find it – all for under $400. What can this teach leaders? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The two 17 year olds achieved this by using a helium-filled weather balloon, a Styrofoam box, a video camera, three still cameras, two mitten warmers (to keep the cameras from getting too cold), a hand sewn parachute, and a mobile phone with GPS tracking so they could find it. The Lego man was superglued onto a plank attached to the side and, in a nice touch, was carrying a Canadian flag. The whole thing travelled 25 km into the air (technically not ‘space’, but close enough), and took amazing photos showing the curvature of the earth and the vast blackness beyond. Here's a video:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now, I’m not sure what you were like at High School, but when I was 17 my biggest achievements included playing guitar in a U2 cover band and blowing things up in Chemistry when the substitute teacher foolishly allowed us access to some of the chemicals ‘out the back’. Exploring the outer-atmosphere wasn’t on the agenda. It’s such a great story, and I believe there are eight leadership lessons we can learn from the Lego man in space:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Set an inspiring goal – this wasn’t your typical ‘mouse trap powered car’ school project but rather an inspiring and audacious goal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Importance of autonomy – their teachers and parents allowed them the freedom to attempt the seemingly impossible, giving them the autonomy to research and experiment</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Avoid the normal –it’s true that almost without exception when people say they’re ‘thinking outside the square’ these days it’s a giveaway that they’re thinking firmly within the square, but this was genuinely outside the normal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Learn from those who have gone before – it turns out the teenagers were inspired by video of MIT students doing something similar – they took some ideas based on the video, but then added their own unique touches</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Persistence and hard work – the project took over 2 years, which is basically a lifetime for most teenagers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don’t forget the mitten warmers – often times the success of a project hinges on the equivalent of ‘mitten warmers’ – the simple and creative solution to a challenge that could otherwise derail a project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Give it a go – as adults we’re wired to place more attention on ‘risk’ over ‘reward’ – teenagers have a lot to teach us about correcting this balance to ensure we grab opportunities</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Share the success with others – they shared their video on YouTube, set up a website, and eventually captured the interest of the world’s media, inspiring others to try the same thing</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> So, a Lego Man in space… could your organisation have done the same? Do your leaders create an environment that would allow others to come up with something extraordinary?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0