Tag Archives: engagement

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Burying the Hatchet on Work Place Disputes

  By Christina Lattimer • October 31, 2013 - 2:46 pm

Disputes Disputes at work cost us much more than loss of productivity

As we speak I have placed myself at the centre of a dispute. Now for me this is quite a big deal because quite frankly I am against being in dispute per se. The details of the dispute are immaterial because all it really boils down to is that the other person I am in dispute with simply sees things differently to me, and they are trying to foist their perspective on me. (Conversely, I’m at it too!).

Because I know that disputes are futile egotistical diversions, which waste a lot of time and energy I usually avoid them like the plague.  That’s not to say I don’t feel strongly about certain issues, and I abhor it when my values are being dishonoured, it’s simply that I know enough to realise that everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Also life is simply too short to become embroiled.

The thing is with disputes though; it is usually when someone else’s rules, opinions or behaviours impinge on our own personal boundaries that we can no longer turn a blind eye.

Some of the facts

At work in the UK, around were recorded in 2012/13. The introduction of payment of a fee to lodge an employment dispute to a tribunal which was introduced in July 2013, has many HR professionals and employment lawyers waiting with baited breath to see if there is a sharp downfall in claims as a result. The most recent released by the UK Government are pretty inconclusive and the trends have certainly not been established.

But whether or not the payment of a fee helps to direct the minds of claimants whose disputes may be dubious is really a bit of a red herring. The emergence of an application to an employment tribunal is quite often the end result of a long and arduous route whereby somewhere along the line, parties to the dispute have failed to find a solution, or a meeting of minds.

Workplace conflict is extremely costly; in a , it was found that resolving conflict took up, on average, one day per month for each and every worker. If you start doing the math, then you realise that the cost to businesses is pretty huge. But even then, as we all know; disputes at work have a ripple effect. Not only do they take precious time to resolve, they can create an awful atmosphere, absence from work, knotty HR issues while disputes are being solved and simply drag down the business.

Why disputes occur

There are many reasons why disputes occur, but some of the common dynamics present are;  roles of victim and victimiser, a sense of unfairness or injustice, a need to be right and the other wrong and sometimes a need to be better than or indignation at being seen as less than.

Some of the causes of disputes arise from:

  1. Rules imposed by one party have been broken by the other, but the other doesn’t agree on the rules in the first place.
  2. There is a disagreement on the facts
  3. One person is being seen as having an unfair advantage over another
  4. A person’s behaviour is,  or is seen as, unacceptable
  5. Decisions are made which don’t consider the person or their circumstances
  6. There is a personality clash
  7. Inadequate communication exists.

I’m sure there are many more, but in my experience many disputes are contained within those seven causes.

Because we are all so unique and our perspectives are so very different, conflict resolution management is not really a huge success, as can be seen by the number of disputes which have reached employment tribunal.  In fact many companies might argue that the most important HR Expertise  is being able to minimise the effects of disputes in the workplace.

A different mind set

There is no magic wand unfortunately. Human behaviour doesn’t transform instantly. A change of mind is needed, and this is not just in the workplace, but at home, in politics, in global leadership. The following mind-set shifts would produce a significant change in unhealthy disputes which simply squash the spirit, waste time and stunt creativity and innovation.  Creating dynamics of equal value, a goal of harmonious working (healthy conflict is allowed!), and respect of boundaries and understanding each other.

These can translate into possible actions such as:

  1.  Helping people who feel victimised to access their inner strength and honour themselves.
  2.  Creating a common purpose and vision when setting rules and boundaries, and when others can’t or don’t meet them, helping them as much as possible to do so.
  3. Allowing people to make an occasional mistake.
  4. Treating everyone with equal value as a person
  5.  Involving and honouring everyone when instigating change
  6. Being aware of and acknowledging when decisions are made they may have a negative impact on others and finding ways to help people when that is the case.
  7. Raising awareness of how we operate as human beings, and our impact on others.
  8. Creating congruent communication, where different styles are respected and used.

The funny thing is, when I began to get into my current dispute, a big part of me was saying, just surrender, don’t go down that route, let it go!  But my rebel sense of indignation and rightness won over. Well for a short time anyway. I think though, it might just be time to bury the hatchet!

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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3 Reasons Why A Great Engagement Strategy Isn’t Enough

  By Christina Lattimer • August 23, 2013 - 10:44 am

160042113 An engagement strategy means the ability to create an environment where employees are engaged and encouraged to bring out their self-motivation are “must have” leadership skills.

I have worked with many leaders who have made great efforts to put in place a culture which gets the best out of people and gets them involved and committed. But sometimes their efforts simply weren’t, frustratingly, enough. Indeed many organisations invest much time and resource into getting it right, but even though they are well-intentioned, sometimes, often, their initiative is simply doomed; if not to fail, then at best, the outcomes simply don’t live up to expectations.In my experience, there were times, 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. There are positive people and negative people and you can’t get it right 100%: right?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 were missing some vital ingredients in engaging and enthusing their people.

For me, I have found, there are three common problems which if not tackled and given focus and attention will leave the best intentioned leaders and managers left scratching their heads in their efforts to create a great working environment. At first glance, most leaders and managers would probably deny these problems are alive and well in their workplace, but often denial can stem from the lack of perspective, given their proximity to the problem.

The three problems, I believe if not tackled will sabotage attempts to engage and motivate people are:

Lack of Drive to Excel

This syndrome often occurs when organisations are getting reasonable results. It’s a little like living with an old and trusted cooker. As long as it’s working and cooking tasty meals, then there’s no need to change. Once it’s broken though, then you will start looking around to see what’s out there, and slam, the realisation that your oven was “in the dark ages” compared to the brilliant new technology available and how much time can be saved with technological advances, comes into your awareness.

Many organisations are still “cooking on gas”, in their minds, but they haven’t caught on to the many brilliant possibilities that exist, if they decided to raise their game, and invest in something new.  In a nutshell, the organisational culture is resistant to operating outside of the established comfort zone, which would have been forced had results been poor or disappointing. Results which were “good enough” didn’t leverage sufficient motivation to change and achieve even better results.

Believing in Average Ability of their Employees

Some 5 years ago, I applied to win a place in a local Academy for my son. In those days Academies in the UK were few and far between. This particular school was amazing. At that time, results showed it was in the top ten schools in England. The school didn’t have formal feeder schools, so each one of its 190 odd intake of pupils was by application. They were and continue to be 2 – 1 oversubscribed.

In my ignorance, I expected the school to favour “bright” children, given its amazing results. What I found, still makes me wonder. The school intake policy includes an obligation to take in pupils from the whole spectrum of “ability” from children who had “special needs” to those who were nearing genius status. The bulk and the majority of children had to be sourced from average to below average results. It worked out at about 70% of the pupils were average achievers when they arrived at the school.

When the head was asked about how they managed to get such amazing results given the mix of abilities, he told the silent parents that unlike other schools, they truly believed that everyone was capable of excelling and so from that belief they got the best out of the vast majority of their pupils.

What I have seen in many organisations is a similar syndrome to that which most schools suffer, unlike the Academy. The general belief in the average ability of a large percentage of their employees which resulted in a self-fulfilling prophesy, i.e. they produced average results in the main.

Lack of Internal Customer Service

I have seen many organisations have great outcome related external customer service policies, and strategies. They have plans to engage people with the organisational “big picture”, “mission” and they hold focus groups and ask people constantly how they can make things better, but they continue to ignore the internal relationships between peers, teams and departments.

Insufficient attention is paid to internal relationships, contribution ethos, innovation, values and helpfulness within an organisation. This is all about internal customer service. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with friendly rivalry between teams if their starting line is that they always act “for the greater good of the organisation”. It doesn’t matter how much effort is put into engaging, planning and rewarding people, if the relationships aren’t designed to “serve” each other as internal customers, excellence is never going to be achieved.

Including some well needed perspective to lift your team out of their comfort zone, help foster self-belief in your people and get your internal customer service to work brilliantly must be part of your plan if you want to be brilliantly successful.

 

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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It’s Only Words

  By Christina Lattimer • August 1, 2013 - 6:41 pm
Very powerful but it’s only words

I’ve been hearing a lot of speeches and conversations lately particularly from leaders of companies, organizations, and political candidates. They all got me thinking about language and what a powerful influence for good, bad, or indifferent words can have, how they can stick or simply slide away.

I recently published my eBook on the topic of communicating in today’s market and I must say that I have learned a few revealing truths during the process. I also changed the format a few times. Writing about words and how they should or should not be used can get, for lack of a better word, wordy.

We’ve all heard that it’s not what you say but how you say it and choosing words carefully for best effect can be more productive; best to be succinct and get to the point. This can be easier said than done, particularly when what we say is often linked to our egos, fear, expectations, and past experiences. It’s also interesting to note the statistical fact that 55%-80% of all human interactions are nonverbal. This means that our gestures and movements, no matter how subtle, can provide more impact than a spoken word.

They can also reveal whether we’re lying or not. Having knowledge of body language and being a keen observer can save a lot of wasted time and heartache but, being the emotional addicts that we are, we tend to have selective hearing and choose to believe what we need to at any given time.

Words can make us cry, laugh, make us angry, upset our world and change our lives. They trigger our psyches for better or worse and how we respond is usually based on the past, our fear of failure, our need for acceptance. If we allow them in, words can fool us, diminish our accomplishments, humiliate, and cause great stress. They can also lift us to new heights, provide hope, motivate us, reinvent our attitudes, and create great possibility.

 

 

 

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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How to Have Difficult Conversations and Avoid Employee Disputes

  By Christina Lattimer • June 14, 2013 - 1:17 pm

1575490801 Difficult conversations don’t have to end in a dispute

The worst kinds of conversation are those when you have to deliver a negative message to a team member. Whether it is a performance, behaviour or skill set problem, there is something in our human make-up which just makes us feel uncomfortable with the whole thing.

There are many reasons managers don’t tackle negative influences at work.  Sometimes, they just don’t like confrontation, have a misguided sense of politeness, or secretly hope the situation will quickly right itself.  Other times, they know there is something wrong, but just don’t trust their instincts.  And finally some doubt their own ability to be able to have that difficult conversation successfully, and fear counter accusations or even worse the dreaded employee dispute.

They may well rationalise and justify their reasons for leaving things as they are, although secretly feeling resentful and angry inside.  Often the negativity becomes a persuasive culture where substandard performance and behaviour become acceptable. After all if one or two people don’t show up firing on all cylinders, why should the rest of the team?

Unfortunately, some managers struggle about where to draw the line and avoid having that difficult conversation. Very rarely does the negative situation just go away, and the result is layer upon layer of annoyance, frustration and resentment.

In the meantime, the person displaying the poor performance, unwanted behaviour or undeveloped skillset is often blissfully unaware they are causing such unrest; or they simply have been allowed to act in that way for so long, they think it’s acceptable.

It’s not all bad news, because with a simple systematic approach and a positive mind set, managers can have those difficult conversations and achieve a win/win result, increase confidence and achieve clarity about when to step in. Here is how:

1.      Never act when you are feeling negative

Being impersonal and unattached to the problem are crucial determinates of a successful outcome. If you try to tackle a problem when you are feeling frustrated or angry, then you will likely be accusatory, or otherwise alienate the employee. There is nothing wrong with expressing your concern, but own your emotions, don’t blame someone else for them. If you feel uncomfortably emotionally charged, then wait until it passes and follow the steps below before planning how and when you are going to speak to the person.

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy”.  Aristotle

2.      Gather your facts

Writing down your concerns with specific examples and more importantly quantifying the impact on the business or team is essential.  Quite often you are so busy, you know incidents or situations keep happening, but the whole big picture becomes distorted, or blurred.  Getting it down in writing, helps give you clarity and perspective.

3.      Be clear about the standards you expect and why

Refer to organisational standards, or if they aren’t in place, take this as your red flag to set some. Instinctively you know when someone’s actions are below par. The trick to testing your instincts for validity is to identify which standard, code or policy the employee’s action is breaching. If you can’t identify any, then you haven’t set out your expectations, and this is your first step.

4.      Decide what you want to achieve out of having the conversation

You are having the conversation because you need something about the person’s behaviour, performance or skill-set, to change. You need to be clear about the change you want to happen, when, and what the consequences are if the changes don’t happen.

5.      State the facts and own your concerns

Never accuse, but own your concerns. Be factual and don’t personalise the feedback you are giving.  So for example saying “This is what I am seeing, and I am concerned about the impact this behaviour is having on the team” Or “I see that only 10 customer accounts have been dealt with this week” Are much more powerful ways of asserting the problem than “You are disrupting the team by this behaviour” or “You aren’t productive enough, we need more from you”

6.      Listen intently and keep an open mind

While you have a plan as to what you want to get out of the conversation, you also need to keep an open mind and listen intently to what the employee is saying. Most people want to do a good job and there may be many reasons as to why they aren’t meeting expectations or standards.  You need to be flexible in your approach, depending on what the employee is reporting back to you.

7.      Reach common agreement about standards, but where you can’t; be assertive

One of the commonest problems managers fear is that the employee dismisses their concerns as not important.  So for example, if someone is 20 minutes late for work regularly twice a week, and their response is “Well it’s only 20 minutes it’s not a crime”, this where earlier research on impact is essential.

8.      Encourage suggestions for resolution and develop a clear plan going forward

Your way isn’t always the right way, and the employee may well have solutions which you haven’t thought of and which work better for them.  If the employee makes a suggestion which you don’t think will work, but they are adamant, let them have a go (assessing impact risk of course), simply restate the outcome you want and let them take the responsibility for achieving it.

9.      Plan an appropriate time and setting to talk to the employee

Sounds obvious, but the timing is crucial. It’s no good having a conversation when there is a faith based holiday the next day, or they are planning to go on their annual holiday. You also need to think about what they may have to do to improve and how quickly it needs to be achieved.  Much of course will also depend on the seriousness of the impact they are causing.

See also:   

“When asked to rate their own confidence in dealing with difficult conversations with any other individual at work, over two thirds of managers (68%) rated themselves as either extremely or very confident. However, when we put the same question to HR managers, only one in five (21%) felt that managers in their organisation were either extremely confident or very confident to address difficult conversations and almost half (47%) of those surveyed felt that managers were either extremely or very unconfident.  Furthermore, half of HR managers (48%) felt that difficult conversations are either frequently or often referred to HR when they could be effectively dealt with by the manager. Overall our results suggested that sensitive conversations are often being delayed, risking a detrimental effect on staff morale.”  Handling Difficult Conversations At Work – lpc.org.uk

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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The 5 Deadly Temptations of Specialness Great Leaders Avoid

  By Christina Lattimer • May 16, 2013 - 10:16 am

MBTI The desire for specialness is often unconscious

Being a great leader is paradoxical. Leaders have to be pretty special people to be great, although in order to be great they fundamentally understand that everyone is the same. We are either all special or all ordinary.In group work, I invariably ask people to give me an example of a great leader. This isn’t always easy. Quite often people quote some of the greats in history, like Lincoln, Churchill, or perhaps Ghandi, or even Luther King Jr. Sometimes they will tell about one of their parents or even a great friend. Not many are able to easily bring examples of great leaders at work.

I expect there are many reasons why there is a dearth of great leaders at work, but one common thread I believe helps leaders fall short of being great in the workplace is that of falling into the temptation of specialness.

Whenever I ask people what they like to see in their leaders, many will talk about values or behaviours. They want leaders to be open, transparent, and fair; or they want them to be decisive, innovative and successful. Easy you would think? But actually leaders don’t have to be monumentally poor to find themselves out of favour with their people. They just have to, on occasion; succumb to the temptation of specialness.

Specialness can come in many forms, and it’s always a way of saying; one person matters more than another; or one person deserves more than another. Well you might be thinking, isn’t that the case? Well if you are, then you are experiencing a dose of specialness.

Specialness is the mistaken belief that we are different, and there are hierarchies of importance in the world. In reality though, it is not true.  We are all simply manifesting different experiences and believing and acting in different ways, with different outcomes.

But what about the lazy worker who comes in and doesn’t do anything, compared to the worker who works 24/7 and gets great results? You might ask.  Well one may be acting in ways which are in the best interests of the organisation, and one might not be. But that doesn’t make one person more special than another. Not at their core and not as a person.

There may be a million reasons that person doesn’t pull their weight as much as the other. There may also be a million reasons why the worker who works 24/7 is doing so. The trick is of course not to treat people differently, but to respond to their behaviours differently. There is a subtle difference.

To illustrate here are 5 common ways leaders give in to the insidious habit of specialism, and in so doing they diminish the “greatness” they can be.

  1. Favouritism

We all like people who are like ourselves, especially when we can clearly see our best attributes in others. There are also people we don’t like so much or who make us uncomfortable. More often than not, we are most uncomfortable when we can see things in other people which we do not like about ourselves. In both cases we are making judgements about other people and indeed ourselves. At work, we need to be aware of our prejudices no matter how mild they may seem. Leaders often fall into favouritism when they form attitudes about people based on how much they like them. They stop being kind, factual, open and transparent and their views can be biased and weighted towards people they like better.

  1. Special favours

A friend of mine was talking about the CEO who had been in the job for a few months. I had listened to her commentary about him before. It had always been complimentary and enthusiastic. However on this occasion, her tone was one of disappointment. Their company was involved in delivering specific services, the levels of which depended on certain criteria. It had become widely known that the CEO had decided to open up a level of service to someone who didn’t qualify, simply because they were viewed as an important person with clout. In one small but incredibly public decision his reputation had become tainted.

  1. Hidden Bonuses

Great leaders will always have a good solid recognition strategy in place. Some actions might be monetary and some may be non-financial rewards. What I have encountered many times are monetary based bonus systems which have no particular criteria and are conferred in secret.

A friend of mine told me gleefully about a hefty bonus she had received for navigating a particularly difficult downsizing strategy. She had however been told to keep it quiet. I asked her why, and she said that if it was known that she had been rewarded for making people redundant, employees would not be happy. Although there seemed to be some logic in this, to me it said a lot about the integrity of the leader, and also demonstrated a lack of understanding about how to manage an effective reward strategy.

  1. Creating a  Valued Role Hierarchy

I worked with a lady who used to work in a major high street store. She had happily worked there for many years. For her and some of her colleagues, the end came quite quickly as many of the team looked for and secured new jobs with different companies in response to a change in strategy by the company.

On the face of it, the change looked fairly sensible in that they decided to give bonuses to their sales people. Under the surface it was one of the most divisive and disruptive moves they had made. What happened was they created a hierarchy of importance, with a disproportionate reward to certain people. The sales support people were not adequately rewarded for their part in the process; and distrust and discontent set in. This dynamic can also be seen where “professional” and “support” employees are given a different status in an organisation.

  1. Excluding people.

Again and again I have seen people be excluded by senior leaders because they are particularly challenging, or simply have different views or beliefs. It can be unnecessarily difficult if you have such a person on your team, but if they are good at their job and are performing well, then their views should be welcomed with open arms. The act of exclusion is more of a statement about the fear of the excluder. Exclusion can be about only inviting certain opinions; not inviting people to meetings; not giving credit for a job well done; blocking promotion; creating succession plans which exclude people with unnecessary criteria.

To counteract such temptations, leaders must develop their own self-awareness and listen to and invite feedback from others. The temptation of specialness challenges all of us, not just leaders, and can sometimes be difficult to recognise or pinpoint. The following values or behaviours can minimise the temptation and keep any great leader on the right track.

  • Be open and transparent with everyone
  • Be kind to all, even those who seem difficult
  • Tackle poor performance or conduct, not personalities
  • Focus on commonalities not differences
  • Accept instead of judge
  • Be comfortable feeling uncomfortable
  • Have a systematic and inclusive approach to reward and recognition
  • Develop Self awareness
  • Understanding your own biases

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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End The Struggle – 5 Ways To Get In Touch With Your Intuition

  By Christina Lattimer • April 17, 2013 - 10:13 am
If you’ve ever been confused, stuck or overwhelmed, when your life has presented you with a critical decision, then you are not alone.  Many of my clients come to me because they are grappling with major decisions.One of the reasons we get stuck is because we look from different perspectives and this can result in a range of options with no real insight into what is best for us or others.Much of my work is based on Carl Jung’s personality types, deriving from which the Myers Briggs Personality Type (MBTI) tool was developed.   Although I use MBTI, it is Carl Jung’s enlightened understanding about how our personality works, which enables me to help my clients to make better choices, as they align with their heart and mind.Part of the decision making process is gathering information.  In simple terms, you usually gather information in two ways:

The first and most common way is through your senses.  What you see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Predominately you are gathering information through the first three, although sometimes all five senses, depending on the situation.  If you prefer gathering information through your senses, then you tend to like evidence, facts, and data.  You are often described as a “down to earth” person and you like to analyse the information you are receiving to inform your decision making.

The second way you may gather information is through your intuition.  Your intuition can work in two ways, it takes the information it sees through the senses, and forms patterns and possibilities, which can be creative and involves using your imagination.  The second way is to tap into insights, ideas and guidance which can be described as coming from your unconscious part of your mind. When your intuition is tapping into your unconscious it can give you illogical insights and wise guidance. This can sometimes be known as your “gut instincts” or “higher self”, or “collective unconscious”.

We all have the ability to tap into both types of information, but as Jung and the Myers Briggs team have demonstrated we have a preference for one or the other.  Sometimes this can be a very strong preference and sometimes it can be border line.

You also have a preference about how you make decisions. The two decision making functions are “thinking” and “feeling”.  Some of us prefer to make decisions based on our feelings about the information, and others through our logical conclusions about the information.   Often when we are confused, we are alternating between the information we receive through our senses, and that which we are receiving through our intuition.  For example, “I have a strong gut instinct to take that job, but the salary is less and there seems to be no promotion prospects”.

For me the best decisions are made when you feel good about the decision, and the logic about the information which informs your decision aligns with your beliefs.  Part of the formula for doing that is to get in touch with your intuition and trust it.  If you have a strong preference for sensing, then this can be uncomfortable, but do-able.  Over the years, I have found the following 5 ways help people get in touch with their intuition.

There are many definitions of some of the descriptors used, the following describes the context and meaning in the way I use them, rather than referring to any universal definition.

Meditation is giving you a holiday from the clamour of your daily thoughts and stream of information.  It is finding the gap between your thoughts and staying there.  Silent and observant, you can watch your thoughts without attaching yourself to them.  It is allowing your intuition or your unconscious wisdom, space.  Through mediation, your intuition may come to you in different ways, either through thoughts, ideas, or an encounter with someone or something.   Use meditation to be open to whatever comes up.

Contemplation is also about clearing your mind, but for me it is more purposeful.  You may have a problem or a situation where you’re not sure what to do, or don’t know what the solution is.  Ask clearly what the problem is, and then simply observe the problem from different angles and instead of actively thinking about the information, let thoughts come up.  Often, you can be inspired with a solution, although sometimes the emerging solution isn’t immediate.  It can pop up at any time.

Writing is extremely powerful if you are disturbed or upset, even if you aren’t sure why.  Writing down how you are feeling, why you are feeling that way and then ask your intuition how you can look at the situation differently.  Then write down different ideas, until you find a perspective which feels good and you can believe.   Writing is about telling the story of what is going on in your mind and giving you an opportunity to see it from a better perspective.  The true trick is to ask your intuition how to perceive the situation so that you can be at peace with it.   It’s not about repressing feelings though. Feelings are a great emotional guidance system, and it’s important to let them come up and help to inform the writing process.

Listen to Music – You are better aligned with your intuition or higher self when you are feeling good.  You know you are feeling good when you are in touch with appreciation, gratitude, love and laughter.  Listening to music you love can quickly help you get into those places which feel so good.  A daily dose of music you love can definitely align you with your intuition.

Going outside -  Whether it’s fresh winter air or warm summer sunshine, getting away from the clutter of a busy workplace, or a demanding home can clear your mind and give you a space which you might not otherwise give yourself.  Staying in the present moment and clearing your mind while you are outside is a must.  It’s no good getting out into the open and taking all your clamorous thoughts with you.

Are you a sensor or an intuitive? Or do you flex between the two?  What do you think?  If you’d like to undertake the MBTI type tool and find out about your preferences, contact me at

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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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7 Key Questions Astute Interviewers Should Ask Potential Candidates

  By Christina Lattimer • February 21, 2013 - 11:28 pm

  149045925 (1) Probing Questions can really dig out the best candidate for any job.

I was the recruitment campaign manager for a busy organisation in South East London for several years.  At that time, recruitment was a little like painting the Forth Bridge, it was a continuous task.  Not only was it difficult to consistently attract that elusive star candidate, but, an abundance of jobs and competitive salaries meant people moved on and up pretty quickly.

In those days the recruitment process was relatively simple, in that it consisted of  the candidate sending an application in the post and then being invited to face to face interviews.  I was trained in interviewing skills and had to reach a certain standard, you either passed or you were sent home in shame.   I was videoed, given detailed feedback and trained in past . Simplistically this meant acquiring the knack of helping the candidate enlarge on key specific examples which displayed whether or not they met the criteria we were looking for.

For the majority of jobs, the key criteria consisted of some pretty simple requirements too. For example, what the candidate considered when they made decisions, whether the candidate  took the initiative, made a difference, got on with the rest of the team and achieved results. There were more, but you get the picture. Although skill based criteria also had to be met, the main focus was about behaviours.

I took a break from interviewing for a couple of years, only to find that when I took up the reins again, it had all changed. Competence based interviewing had become the norm and the candidate expected an entirely different assessment process.

Always open minded about how to do things better, I embraced the concept, and learned all about the intricacy of competence standards, levels of competence, assessments, test and psychometrics.  Pretty complex stuff, and as things have evolved it can be pretty lengthy too.  One set of assessments I was involved in (I didn’t design it, I hasten to add) lasted three days.

Still, if it meant getting the right candidate, then time well spent.  Competency based assessment was fairer, the new thinking exclaimed, because it concentrated on the skillset, mind-set and knowledge.  Competency based interviewing would get the right people in the right job.   Right?

The problem is though; I don’t actually think it did.  When I think back to the type of people I recruited under past behaviour questioning, I hired people who took the initiative, made sound decisions, taking all the information into account.  They dealt with difficult people with skill, and were team players.   Very few got through the net that didn’t live up to their promise.  Because when they were expertly questioned in detail about what they did in certain circumstances, it was difficult for them to make it up.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think skill and knowledge is important too. I just think that quite often we choose people simply on qualifications, skills and knowledge and the skill in determining their propensity to behave in certain ways has become a bit of a lost art.

What is really needed is a qualitative combination of both competence and past behaviour.  Then the odds of getting the right candidate, has greatly increased by recruiting people with the right skills and the right behaviours.

So when recruiting, employers must of course set up the right selection method to get the right skills, competences and knowledge.

If it were me though, interviewing a key candidate, I would make a point of knowing the answers to the following questions, and if answered in the right way, I would be pretty sure I had the right person for the job.

1. Why this job? 

Tests, purpose, alignment with your vision and values, and how much they have found out about the job, and why they think it fits them.

2. What is your most significant achievement at work?

Tests, effort, capacity for achievement, as well as an awareness of their ability to make a difference.  It demonstrates their expectations about their contribution, and their ability to deliver results.

3.  How did you contribute value to your team?

Demonstrates an understanding and awareness of being a team player and the way they, as individuals, play a part in making the team work.

4. Give me an example of a time when you recognised an improvement in the workplace was needed and what you did about it

Shows their ability to take the initiative, recognise problems and how they take responsibility to put them right – they are part of the solution

5. Give me an example of the most difficult person you’ve encountered at work   and what you did

Demonstrates how they relate to others and their ability to handle difficult people

6. What has been your greatest learning curve at work?

Shows how they recognise and learn from situations or mistakes

7. Give me an example of when you have worked under pressure and what you did to manage the situation

Will show how they manage, if they take responsibility, are prepared to go the extra mile, and their attitude when the going gets tough.

There is a technique about how to give candidates the best opportunity to answer, such as allowing them time to remember, reframing questions and prompting them to explore their past.  Additionally, once they have got a specific example, its important to get them to talk about what they did, what they said and why.  This takes patience and great listening skills, as well as an ability to ask the same question in different ways.

 

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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Dealing with the Negativity Epidemic

  By Christina Lattimer • February 14, 2013 - 10:14 pm
You can do something positive about negativity

As a result of an internal transfer, a client recently took over a new team. But he quickly realised that some of its members had a negative and unhelpful attitude.

This negativity manifested itself in a small clique complaining about customer expectations, some of their working conditions and the amount of work that they had to do (for which they believed that they got little thanks).

Although my client knew that he couldn’t let the situation continue, he felt that he didn’t have much of a lever with which to tackle it because, not only was the work being done, but fellow colleagues seemed to have a fairly neutral stance towards the others’ negativity. It seemed to have become the cultural norm.

Negativity is a badly acquired habit

Unfortunately, negativity can become an insidious habit within organisations. If such behaviour falls short of misconduct or appears not to have a detrimental effect on outcomes, however, it can seem easier to simply let it go.

Many teams that show a mixture of positivity and negativity muddle along without too much drama. Unfortunately though, even though performance may not appear to be hit, habitual negativity will inevitably prevent them from reaching standards of excellence or exceeding goals and targets.

For this reason, if you want your team to be outstanding, you need to tackle the negativity issue and, paradoxically, introduce a change of focus. Here are some tips for how to it:

  • Pay attention to negativity, but only with a view to moving the attention towards positivity
  • Don’t take the complaints personally
  • Be kind and don’t react to negativity with negativity – it simply perpetuates the habit
  • Remember that complaining is simply a form of communication, but you can teach people to communicate in more empowering ways
  • Talk to complainers on a regular basis and challenge their negative views. Do this on a one-to-one basis, if possible, as it is far more effective that way
  • Describe the impact that negativity has on the rest of the team
  • Help complainers reframe how they communicate their dissatisfaction
  • Where possible, help complainers to get what they want, but also show them possible means of communicating that will get better results
  • Be clear about the consequences of unacceptable negativity, which amounts to either attacking other people or having a detrimental impact on performance.

If you simply focus on the negativity, quite often the focus as with most things creates more of it.  You have to be able to swivel the focus from negativity to any positives, and there always are some.  Here are some ideas about how you can make sure the attention returns to the positive.

There are tactics you can use to replace negativity with positivity:

  • Reward positive behaviour and communication
  • Tell positive stories
  • Celebrate success regularly
  • Start meetings with positives. Be prepared to bring out the negatives, but ensure that you move back to the positives, ending with an upbeat summary
  • Set challenging targets and objectives that bring out the best in the team
  • Help the team to connect emotionally to its purpose and meaning and ensure that you get positive buy-in
  • Treat others on an adult-to-adult basis – and remember that negative complaining is a sign of immaturity.

negativity
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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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How to accelerate workplace experience – for new or inexperienced staff

  By Christina Lattimer • June 22, 2012 - 11:19 am

skills Experience is often essential, but it takes time!

One of the most valued attributes an employee can bring to the workplace is their experience.  In a fast changing world where employees are more likely to move from job to job for a number of reasons;  sometimes great knowledge and skill are present, but not necessarily experience.  The problem is of course experience takes time and often we are short of that commodity!

If you have great staff but they simply lack experience, or you want to recruit new people and you have a misgiving about an otherwise great CV because experience hasn’t been gained.  There are 3 strategies you can employ to accelerate experience and give your employees a valuable edge.  These are:

Workplace action learning

Workplace action learning can be a vastly successful means of developing people and teams.  Used in the UK since the 1940′s. It has been shown to help improve performance, and  be a means of deepening experience in short periods of time.    Action learning is conducted in a set or a team of people.  Members can come from similar type jobs or roles within an organisation, or be members of a specific team with a variety of roles.

Drawing on members experiences and learning within the workplace:  Action learning is an excellent and powerful way to accelerate experiential learning.  The motto of learn from others mistakes and successes is paramount here.  It has a clear system of enquiry and solution.  Members will present or bring their challenges, problems or questions to the set.  The rest of the set will challenge and bring observation to the issues raised, broadening and developing ideas.  The set will go away and take action on the issue.   The outcome of the action taken will be assessed and discussed.   Best practice may be agreed.  Further action may be taken to integrate the solution into the organisational infrastructure, depending on the issue.

Project Management/involvement

Involving employees in projects  in areas of work outside of their day to day job role can help to increase experience in a short space of time.  Depending on their usual  job specification, the type of project they might be involved  in can be specifically chosen to enhance knowledge, skills and interpersonal skills.

Managing or being involved in a project from project initiation to project closure will involve them in all of the steps required to be able to execute any task.  After all great project management is about planning, scoping, communication, negotiation and customer/stakeholder involvement to name but a few aspects.

Project membership will bring the employee into contact with people outside of their usual remit, and expose them to problems, issues and challenges the day job simply might not give them access to in a short space of time.

Job Swap/Shadowing

A job swap or shadowing exercise which is undertaken to specifically accelerate experience would involve employees swapping or shadowing more experienced job holders.  A swap/shadow could be arranged at peer or higher level.  It might be that there are suitable people in the employee’s organisation or it might be that a swap/shadow is organised in a different company.

Being exposed to the workload and work practices of more experienced colleagues/colleagues with greater responsibilities, can help to develop a perception of the challenges these people would face, and how they would respond.   A job shadow would allow the employee to observe and a swap would give them the opportunity to experience the different role for themselves.  Either way, swapping or shadowing will give a greater number of insights which can help accelerate experience.

Some of the benefits of integrating these 3 strategies are:

Helps employees to:

  • Become more self confident.
  • Work better as a team
  • Take responsibility for problem solving
  • Be innovative
  • Develop networking and communication skills
  • Develop theoretical into practical examples
  • Work smarter

Provides:

  • Structured support
  • Disciplined thinking skills
  • A platform for meaningful and relevant work-based learning

Builds

  • Organisational coherence
  • A consistent approach to problem solving
  • greater experience in a short time.

Do you have any strategies to help employees to accelerate their learning, or have you been involved in an activity which has accelerated your learning?

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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The Followers’ Guide to: What your Leader wants

  By Christina Lattimer • June 15, 2012 - 8:45 am

emotions Do Followers know what their leaders want?

Today, a search on showed 98,516 results for “leadership”.  A further search for “followship” came back with a mere 39 results.  I searched again for “team player” and received over , although “team player” wasn’t quite what I was looking for.   I know sometimes part of great leadership is setting out what you expect and need from your followers, and “followship” is a little used word, but the yawning gap between the results surprised even me.

You may be a leader or a follower or both.  As a leader do you ever think we are disproportionately focused on your behaviours, skills and values?  As a follower, do you ever think about what your leader might require from you?  As a leader, do you take time out to articulate what you need from your followers? And I’m not talking about job specification or role here.

I guess some leaders would say they need different things from the people who work for them and industry differences would drive some of the skills, characteristics and behaviours of followers.    When you consider different dynamics across millions of organisations,  it’s a sure bet if people decided to write about followship with any enthusiasm, you would end up with considerably more books than those written on leadership.

As a leader I am sure you will either consciously or unconsciously know what you require of your followers, over and above their job role.  But do you articulate those wants, or do you get frustrated because your followers don’t actually follow very well?  If you are a follower, do you know what your leader expects of you, and if not would you like to know?

As a leader and manager, and a follower, and subsequently a coach for leaders and managers, I have over the years, experienced and listened to many views and opinions from leaders about their teams and what does and doesn’t work.  As a follower, I have consciously tried to support my leader and have sometimes found continuous support challenging.

As a starter for 10, I’ve brought together the main points gathered over the years and the following describes what I believe leaders commonly want from their followers.

As a follower involved in my leadership I need you to:

  • Take responsibility for yourself
  • Get the big picture and understand exactly what we are trying to do together
  • Have an affinity with and believe in what we are trying to achieve
  • Give a positive account of the organisation and concentrate  on what is good about it
  • At times when it is crucial for the business, go the extra mile
  • Care about others on your team
  • Commit to resolving differences in an adult and win/win way
  • When you’re not able to fulfil your contract for any period of time for family or medical reasons, you commit to doing your best to get back to work as soon as you can because you know how crucial you are to the excellence of the business.
  • Commit to getting the work done, on time and to the best of your ability
  • Give me the benefit of the doubt
  • Trust me to take the best decision I can with the information I have, even if you don’t like it.
  • Understand we have a mutual contract and I will respect your rights, and you respect mine.
  • Forgive me for my mistakes, we all make them
  • If you aren’t happy come and tell me about it constructively, trust me to listen and do something about it
  • If you can’t commit to any of the above, consider how you are contributing to the success of the organisation, and if you can’t or won’t commit then consider if you are in the wrong job.
  • If you are in the wrong job, then do your best you can while trying to find the right job.

Do you think it’s reasonable for a leader to expect certain behaviours and attitudes from their followers?  Do you think employers have a right to state so explicitly what they want and need from their staff?

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.