This month I have been explaining the benefits of proactively managing your employees engagement as the recession begins to lift.
You can read the whole article here in the HR Networking Magazine.
Kim
Archive for the ‘Business Coaching’ Category
Proactively managing employee engagement
Monday, July 26th, 2010What would you do if you had more time?
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Thanks very much to those of you who were inspired to share your thoughts on the comments in our last newsletter about the amount of time that can be wasted at meetings.
Having now done further investigation there is a great deal of interesting research on this subject. In terms of your feedback there appears to be three themes as to why many meetings are not as productive as they could be:
- the meetings culture within the organisation
- self discipline of participants
- lack of training
In response to the feedback we have designed and delivered short ‘Meetings that get Results’ Workshops. Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about these.
Kim
Advance Consultancy – Business training for leaders and managers
Leadership is defining and enabling the culture
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010In my view leadership is about creating a vision and inspiring followership. A critical part of which is to create the right environment or culture where people feel inspired to work collaboratively towards a common goal.
In the past 25 years, the concept of organisational culture and the positive impact that it has on business results has gained wide acceptance. Simply put, the culture is the way things are done around here. It is the norms, expectations, symbols and guidelines that enable or inhibit employees to engage and align to the strategy of the business and deliver their best performance.
Over this time there have been many studies which have shown the correlation between managing the culture and business performance. It is possibly the most critical factor determining an organisation’s capacity, effectiveness, and sustainability. It also contributes significantly to how customers and prospective customers perceive the organisation’s brand image and brand promise.
I am often asked what leaders can do do manage the organisational culture more effectively.
It is a simple process but one that needs leadership and management input and should be reviewed each time there is a review of the strategy or business plan.
- As part of the strategy review process – define the culture that will enable success.
- Conduct a quasi gap analysis – where are we now against where we want to be
- Create a route map of those interventions that will move the culture closer to the desired state
- Evaluate results – over time, it is possible to both assess impact of investment in for example development and/ or correlate the investment in culture on bottom line results
In the recently published 10th annual survey of ”UK’s Best Workplaces’ compiled by The Great Place to Work Institute found that:
- Europe’s Best Workplaces grew their revenues by 15% on average, in the midst of the recession;
- Sickness absence in the UK’s Best Workplaces was 30% lower than the national average saving those organisations £20,760 per 100 employees per year;
- Almost 90% of employees in the UK’s Best Workplaces believe that management is open and honest in their organisation, against the national average of 55%
Solid justification for managing organisational culture. Please do get in touch to share your experience or if you would like more information.
What do you think of employee engagement surveys?
Friday, April 23rd, 2010I have quite a simplistic view of how to drive high performance and business results; that is to create optimal alignment and engagement.
By alignment, I mean building confidence in the strategic plans, direction of the business and the capability of the leaders to deliver it. Engagement means, to me, how much a part people feel they have, that is, can they see that what they do contributes and is a valuable part of the business success.
I regularly recommend conducting employee engagement surveys to understand the base line and to assess the impact of investment in focus areas. I have recently come up against a lot of negativity about the merits of these surveys. I’d really like your views and also any thoughts on what could be used as an alternative to measure employee engagement.
Top tips in selecting a coach
Monday, April 19th, 2010Business coaching is one of the most effective ways to develop. It’s 100% focussed on you, your goals and your performance. When you search for business coaches in your geographical area, the result will be literally thousands of coaches, how do you select the right one?
The following are some top tips to ensure that you select the right coach for your purpose.
• Be clear about your goals and what you want to achieve.
• There is often confusion about business coaching and mentoring, do some research to ensure it is business coaching you want.
• Use your network, can anyone recommend a great business coach.
• Check out experience, qualifications are important, however, in my view relevant experience is paramount.
• Successful business coaching relationship is based on trust. It is a reality that we human beings often base trust on gut instinct. Meet a few to establish who has the right chemistry with you.
• Coaching is not a quick fix. Discuss your requirements with a business coach to ensure that both agree a programme that delivers sustainable change.
• The role of the coach is facilitator. They provide a good measure of challenge, balanced with support. Success is therefore down to you. Do follow up on actions.
Management Books – what’s your favourite?
Sunday, April 4th, 2010In my February newsletter I asked readers to name their favourite management books and here are the results. The fable style of book is clearly a very popular choice:
Who moved my cheese by Spencer Johnson
Good to Great By Jim Collins
Supercoaching by Graham Alexander and Ben Renshaw
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur by Sir Richard Branson
What would you do if you had more time?
Friday, March 26th, 2010I stumbled across an article in The Journal of Management Development that suggested that we each waste a third of the time we spend at meetings. When I read it I have to confess to initially being a bit defensive and then the more I thought about it I did realise that I was not always as focused and productive as I could be.
I have started planning my meeting time a bit more effectively. A small step but already I am finding that I have a little more time.
What do you do or could you do at meetings to ensure that you your time effectively?
When is a team not a team?
Monday, March 22nd, 2010We all work as part of a team or do we? Team working is very much part of what is considered to be the most effective way of working. That said we often use the word team without really thinking what it means.
Over the last couple of years we have worked extensively with teams to help them identify ways to improve their individual and collective performance. There is often surprise and sometimes a sense of unease when we start to question whether the team is and should be a team or a group of people who work together. So what is the difference:
A team is a group with a shared purpose and every member is committed and accountable for delivering the purpose. The team understand that each member is interdependent upon the other which creates a strong commitment to working together. To achieve high performance, individual team members understand their strengths and those of the team and how these can be used to best effect.
A working group is often brought together for a short period of time and are created because of their diversity. This group can be highly innovative and creative.
Teams and working groups can both be very successful in what they are aiming to achieve but as is the case with so many things the key is to understand what they are trying to achieve, how best to deliver it and how to monitor progress and success.
Business coaching or training – which is best?
Thursday, February 11th, 2010We are often asked which is best coaching or training. Keen not to be seen to sit on the fence my answer is ‘it depends’. Business coaching is extremely valuable particularly for senior managers or executives who have a specific agenda. The coaching relationship offers 100% focus and attention on their agenda proving them the opportunity to scenario plan and test out options in a safe and confidential environment.
Relevance is very important to successfully transfer knowledge and improve skills. For this reason, we tailor all of our training to meet the specific needs of the business and the participants. An added benefit of training is that there is a sharing of experiences and as well as developing from the course the participants can develop with the support of the others.
My answer is that it depends because we always aim to extend learning and support the effective implementation of the new skills back in the workplace. We all know how easy it is to leave a training course with an action plan of things to do differently but back at our desk there is a mountain of work to do and somehow our action plan slips down our priority list. We often suggest that a short coaching programme follows any training intervention to help participants apply their new knowledge and skills in their day job.
The feedback has been fantastic with many participants saying that a combination of coaching and training is best.
What is your favourite management book?
Like many people I follow a number of blogs on topics that interest me most; culture, leadership, business strategy etc. However, I just can’t quite walk past a bookshop without having a browse and I spend agencies reviewing Amazon’s sale every time I get an email alert.
I have to confess to having lots of favourites, one of which is ‘The Iceberg is Melting’ by John P Kotter. This is a simple fable about a colony of penguins and their initial resistance and then reaction to change. It brings to life the other Kotter books on effectively leading and implementing change. An easy and fun read.
Please tell me what your favourite business book is by logging into our website at www.advanceconsultancy.co.uk and filling in the contact us section. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kim
Clarifying our services
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Did you wait with great excitement for the new Harry Potter book to be released. For me today, the excitement is about the same. Over the last couple of months a colleague and I have spent hours defining our values, services and approach in a way that can be published in a brochure.
Today is the day, the printed version has arrived.
A few years ago I read an article about Tom Hanks. He is one of very famous people that has a common condition called ‘imposter syndrome’. Any minute on set he expects someone to tap him on the shoulder and say what are you doing. The inference is that he doesn’t believe that he is good at what he does.
I have to confess to having a sense of how he feels. As I flicked through our brochure – there is a bit of me that says – is this really us…..
If you would like a copy of our new brochure. Please request a copy via our website www.advanceconsultancy.co.uk
