Tag Archives: change

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When navel-gazing can be healthy

  By Christina Lattimer • June 7, 2012 - 10:52 pm

As a young manager it was drummed into me that I focus on my customers and the services or products I provided to the customer.  It didn’t occur to me to question the philosophy in those days, after all the most senior people in the business advocated it and I certainly cared a lot about customers.

If you are outcome focused and performance manage your people against customer service, company standards, results, targets and outcomes, for example, you are practicing the key behaviours which should lead to success.

I don’t know about you, but as I matured as a leader and a manager I often found even when the company was doing well, a constant thread of discontent existed amongst the team or even across the whole organisation.  For a long time I put this down to human nature.  You know “you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and you can only please some of the people some of the time” syndrome.

I even found times when team and organisational results were high, and leaders were celebrating their successes, employee engagement indicators showed there wasn’t a corresponding “high” in the way employees were buying in or not to the success of the business. In one scenario, one organisation won accolades for leadership excellence when the engagement index for staff was actually sweeping the bottom of the industry league tables.  Obviously the criteria for leadership excellence didn’t include engaging employees.

If you’ve come across a similar situation, have you wondered if even greater achievements, results, customer service and profits could have been made if employees had been engaged?

I certainly did, but I also realised that an absence of engagement wasn’t the only problem.  For me the real problem was threefold:

a)      The organisational culture was resistant to operating outside of the established comfort zone, which would have been forced had results been disappointing.  Results which were “good enough” didn’t leverage sufficient motivation to change and achieve even better results.

b)      A general belief in the mediocre ability of a large percentage of their employees existed which resulted in a self-fulfilling prophesy, i.e. they produced mediocrity in the main.

c)       A lack of “internal customer service” existed. This meant that insufficient attention was paid to the internal relationships, contribution, innovation, values, ethos and helpfulness within the organisation.

If your business is operating on any of the three premises outlined then you have some great opportunities to leverage better engagement and better results.  You need to undergo a little healthy navel-gazing.

Including some healthy, purposeful navel-gazing in your organisational strategy can help you out of your comfort zone, foster self-belief in your people and get your internal customer service to work brilliantly.  If positioned effectively, you will create the right environment to develop the capability to achieve even greater results and consistently go the extra mile for your external customers.

Do you think that internal development is important for an organisation, or is there a danger of losing focus on results?  Either comment below, or drop me an email,  .  I’d love to hear from you.

Why not grab a free copy of my first publication “The 6 Secrets of Great Emotional intelligence – For Inspirational Leaders and Managers” It’s completely free and you can access it in PDF format on my website peoplediscovery.co.uk

 

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If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Organisational Change – Making the Best of Bad News

  By Christina Lattimer • March 20, 2012 - 8:32 am

92846673Its not the organisational change – its how you do it!

I recently held a workshop which had a section around organisational change and particularly redundancy.  It’s obviously a big subject at the minute, and one which is exercising many managers and HR professionals.

What struck me about the difference within this workshop to those I had held before was that there was less discussion about the case for redundancy.   There appeared a tacit acceptance that cutting back costs, and organisational change which may lead to redundancy was a way of life right now.

It got me thinking about changes which involved reductions or closures I had managed through in the past.  Some initiated by me, and some which were out of my control, but I had to do the “dirty work” so to speak.

The psychological profile and change

Myers Briggs Type Indicator is a psychological profiling tool which helps people understand how they take in and process information and also how they make decisions.  In the decision making arena some of us make decisions based on logical thinking and rationale, while some of us do so based on our feelings and the impact on people.  It will come as no surprise to you that given my passion for people, I come into the latter category.

Well at a feedback session I held a few months ago, we got to talking about redundancy, and someone stated, “It’s no good looking at redundancy as thinking or feeling process, the process of redundancy is inherently one of logical thinking, so feeling people naturally feel uncomfortable”

So I pondered this statement, because I had been through numerous organisational changes, and actually had never felt uncomfortable with the process.  So was my type indicator wrong?  Was I not a true feeling type?  Well no, of course not, that assumption would be too simplistic.

I realised that organisational change and reductions in numbers of staff in themselves wasn’t a big deal for me.  Not because I don’t care about the people involved in the process and the impact on them.  On the contrary, I realised it wasn’t a big deal for me, because I did care about the people involved and made sure I did everything I could to reduce or cushion the impact on my employees.

Now that’s not to say everyone I have managed through the process has been happy with what was happening.  I am guessing there are very few of us who are threatened with potential or actual loss of their livelihood who would feel happy.  But what can be done is to help them through the process.

Employee relations are key

With some managers and HR practitioners; employee relations in the context of organisational change especially reductions in staff or hours, is synonymous with the trade unions.  But it is much more, and there are lots of great managers and practitioners out there who know this.

Yes, there is a process to be gone through and legislation and regulations to adhere to, but here are my top tips for a manager or HR professional who may be taking someone through any change which is going to impact adversely on their working life.

  • Give them the bad news straight.  People have a remarkable capacity for accepting and processing bad news.   What they don’t like is not knowing, or having to guess what the true picture might be.
  • Be abundantly clear about the drivers for change.  If the change is imperative, then you will have good and sound reasons for it.  Show that you have considered all options and that you have no choice but to go for it
  • Talk Adult – Adult.  You are not responsible for their lives, but you have a responsibility for how you relate with them.  Do not let any fingers of blame point at you or take on board any guilt.  Likewise, treat people with dignity and respect.
  • Be Kind.  Understand that everyone will take the news differently, and that is ok.  Make sure you have support for those who may be affected most seriously and don’t compare the different ways people react.
  • Let them be negative.  In fact encourage negativity, but do it in a structured setting where you can pivot the beliefs and thinking about the impact of the change into a positive focus.
  • Encourage them to face fears.  By facing fears, people then turn their attention to solutions.  If they never face their fear, fear will be the driving force and will sap their energy.  Energy they can put into reskilling or finding alternative employment or other adjustments.
  • Let them talk as much as they need.   Ask them how regularly they want to be updated, in what format and what will work best for them.  Such time is never wasted.  It is much better to be proactive with time, rather than let the time bomb of the rumour mill tick.
  • Celebrate their successes.  Make them understand the vital contribution they make, the unique skill set they have at their disposal and help them identify how to make the most of the experiences they have accumulated while working for you.  This is the most vital time to do this.  It can actually engender great hope.

I know, I know, all of this sounds time consuming.  But honestly it doesn’t have to be.  All you have to do is genuinely appreciate and care about your people and it will come naturally.  It is better to use the time during the organisational change productively and positively than deal with unnecessary stress and disputes.

Later in the week, I have a brilliant guest blogger who has taken their organisation through significant change in a tough unionised environment with a great result.  Watch this space!

What do you think?  Do you have any strategies to help people through difficult changes?  We would love to hear from you.

 

 

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This great article is from the our 6 months themed series based on the Centre for Creative Leaderships Report of 2013, in which they identified the 6 top challenges for leaders across the globe:   Don't Miss Out! Sign up here to be notified of subsequent issues and posts

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If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Great Leaders Communicate at the Level Of Our Beliefs

  By Christina Lattimer • February 24, 2012 - 9:59 am
Understanding how people tick is essential for a leader, especially on the level of our beliefs.
Beliefs create our individual and collective worlds.  Millions of pieces of information are available to us at any one time.  Our beliefs and the parameters which are then laid down by our beliefs determine which pieces of information we receive.  Our beliefs determine which pieces of information we accept or reject.  If we don’t believe it, then we simply don’t perceive it, or won’t allow ourselves to perceive it.  In the words of the song

“No matter what they tell us

No matter what they do

No matter what they teach us

What we believe is true”

Beliefs come in all sorts of packages and create all kinds of effects in our lives.

  • When conflicting beliefs come into our awareness it can create confusion
  • Holding opposing beliefs at the same time can cause internal conflict
  • Limiting beliefs can prevent you receiving what you want
  • Subconscious beliefs appear to control your behaviour and make you feel  helpless
  • You can bring subconscious beliefs into your awareness
  • You can choose your beliefs.  No belief is ever fixed
  • The key to changing your world and experience is to change your beliefs
  • How you interpret reality around you can inform and shape your beliefs.
  • Beliefs are simply an interpretation that you choose to determine as true
  • Beliefs can be changed.

I’m not suggesting that every Leader or Manager needs to get a psychology degree.  Nor am I suggesting that it is your job to change people’s beliefs.  And certainly we need to make sure we respect people’s beliefs, particularly in the arena of equality.

So why  is an understanding about beliefs vital for people managers?  You know that your people act and react in accordance with their beliefs and uncovering those beliefs to enable positive growth is extremely powerful.    Brainwashing people or trying to force people down a different route is not ethical, and it is not what I am suggesting.  Everyone has a free will, and this must be respected.  But it is useful to know,  how and what you need to do to understand when your employees are holding unhelpful beliefs about themselves or others which can help you to influence and persuade your employees to more positive beliefs.

I’ll give you an example.  I worked hard for a couple of years engaging with a particular team and helping them to think and feel like a successful highly motivated team.  In those days I was pretty idealistic and hoped that I would win everyone over, and that everyone would enjoy working in the team.  But there was a core of people, who no matter what,  were still unhappy.  They habitually criticised and caused negative waves.  Simply put, they had fixed beliefs about their working lives and maintaining their belief was more important to them then changing beliefs.

I was talking to one of the employees who could be particularly negative.  I asked her why she seemed so resentful and was there something I was doing which was causing this particular resentment?  Her reply was a real eye-opener.  She told me that it was nothing to do with me at all.  I had come in and she observed that I was trying to get the team on board.  However, she didn’t like management, never had and never would.  She went as far as to say that nothing I would ever do would persuade her otherwise!

We did come to a somewhat uncomfortable compromise in the end, which limited her impact in terms of negativity within the team and how our relationship would work in the workplace given her fixed and unrelenting views.  Not ideal, but then, not my job to change her beliefs.

The real power of understanding beliefs and belief systems is when managers are instigating change.  Work on drawing out existing individual and team beliefs and then understanding how to help people see things through a different lens for the better within the workplace is the key to fundamental and lasting success.

Encouraging your employees to reach positive beliefs about themselves, their contribution and the meaningfulness of your vision and task are the building blocks to brilliant success.

Incidentally for the sake of clarification:  in the Equality Act; belief is defined as “including philosophical beliefs, such as humanism, which are considered to be similar to a religion. Other categories of beliefs, such as support for a political party, are not protected by the Equality Act.”

This blog underpins the work being developed for my leadership programme which will be released later this year.  If you’d like to be updated when this is available,

 

 

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This great article is from the our 6 months themed series based on the Centre for Creative Leaderships Report of 2013, in which they identified the 6 top challenges for leaders across the globe:   Don't Miss Out! Sign up here to be notified of subsequent issues and posts

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If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.