Leadership Development

A great leader can motivate and inspire employees by making them feel as though they are working alongside management and not for them. Poor leadership can have as great an impact on the organization’s success or failure as a recession.

Ongoing development for leaders helps companies. Businesses that invest in leadership development enjoy distinct advantages. These advantages include:

• Improved bench strength
• Improved employee retention
• Improved bottom-line performance
• Improved ability to attract talent
• Solving problems earlier and at lower levels
• Increased organizational agility
• Improved business sustainability
• Greater market value over time
• Development of leader, team, and organization competencies
• Ability to outperform the competition with increased market share, revenue, profitability, and rising stock prices
• Sustained performance
• Distributed leadership at all levels

While it is common for companies to measure engagement levels within employees, top companies are now paying particular attention to engaging leaders and employees with strong leadership potential. They are starting to look at what actions and behaviours demonstrated by leaders create engagement within their workplace. The idea being to then replicate it and drive engagement in their company.

In top companies leaders are being tasked with fostering organisational talent within their company, this contradicts the attitude of many other organisations. Effective leadership development produces leaders who can coach, mentor, and develop other leaders in the organization, providing a steady stream of leaders at all levels.

Leadership development can no longer focus solely on the senior team. Leaders must be developed at all levels throughout the organization to ensure an organization’s
success.

Although it’s typical to evaluate leaders on their past performance, top companies are assessing leaders on their potential more frequently and thoroughly. These companies are using personality profiling to ensure a perfect fit for an organisation instead of simply assessing their skills.

One of the greatest benefits of training employees and leadership development is that it can discover diamonds in the rough among your workforce. Often some of the best leaders are in fact already working for you bur have not had the opportunity to develop or display their skills.


Regular leadership development can create a culture of lifelong learning among your employees. No matter what business you are in there is always something your employees can learn that will benefit your business.


When employees and management obtain significant and effective relevant training and work together with mutual respect, everybody benefits from it the end result is increased productivity.

By developing leaders in this way, the main measure of success is organisational performance as opposed to divisional performance.


New Year’s Resolutions to make your Workplace Happier

It is the beginning of a new year and generally the time you start making a list of resolutions.

Essentially most resolutions revolve around living a happier life and having more success in the workplace.

This year instead of making the same negative resolutions about taming bad habits, this year simply make your resolution to obtain workplace happiness by trying to focus on the positives.

1. Be mindful. There is significant evidence that a few minutes of mindfulness, or simple meditation, throughout the work day can give you substantial health and happiness benefits.
2. Use your strengths. It makes sense that your happiest when you align your work with your strengths and personality. 
3. Learn to be optimistic. Optimism is actually something that can be learned if you’re not a naturally optimistic person. Start by challenging your own negative thoughts. When a setback occurs try to look at it in perspective and see that it is not the end of the world. Essentially optimists see every setback as temporary.
4. Have a little fun. It is totally acceptable to have a bit of fun and a laugh at work. It will make your work life more enjoyable and even encourages team building and promotes healthy work relationships.
5. Get on the move. If you work behind a computer or in an office where you are mostly sitting down all day, take the time to have a walk around the office every few hours. Eat your lunch in the sunshine when possible. It will help you concentrate better and help you to feel refreshed.
6. Be your own cheerleader. If your boss doesn’t praise your work every day, don’t take it personally, it’s very likely they have other things on their mind. Try and take satisfaction from knowing that you have done a job well.
7. Be nice. Talk to the people you work with about things other than work.  It doesn’t cost you anything to be pleasant and you will find your work life more meaningful if you can build relationships with your colleagues.
8. Be resilient. Learn to bounce back from a setback. As with resolution number 3 , being able to see a setback as temporary will be an invaluable quality and you will be able to handle just about anything.
9. Be Grateful. People who show thankfulness and express gratitude to others often have a higher appreciation for the good things in life and experience higher levels of wellbeing than those who do not.
10. Avoid gossip. Avoid workplace gossip at all costs. If someone in your workplace try’s to engage in gossip with you, make an excuse and walk away. Gossip is negative and harmful and does not truly make anyone feel good about themselves.

Don't trade candidate experience for recruitment efficiency

Holding your interviews by video may appear to improve the efficiency of the recruitment process, but in fact most candidates prefer more face to face contact.

The majority of candidates would rather have an in person or telephone interview to a video interview, according to research from ManpowerGroup Solutions.

Video interviews may be more efficient and time savvy but employers must be careful to not make the candidate feel uncomfortable. Research has revealed that job applicants interviewed through video conferencing come across as less likable, while those doing the hiring are viewed as less competent.

In the last 12 – 18 months video interviewing has become more common but realistically it should only be used when absolutely necessary and other options are not available, it should not be the means to an end.

Video recruiting can be useful at the beginning of the recruitment process when screening candidates but as the recruitment process progresses you should not underestimate the value of sitting with a person face to face and having a conversation with them.

In some respects, by trying to speed up the hiring process you may actually be reducing the quality of the candidates.

The research carried out by the ManpowerGroup also reveals how much the recruiter’s personality in an in-person interview influences the outcome of the hiring process.

Candidates that cannot relate to an interviewer may look elsewhere or accept an offer from a competing organisation.

A recruiter’s personality should portray the company brand, culture and values. They are the first impression a candidate gets of a company or organisation and this initial contact is absolutely crucial for a candidate to form their own opinion about whether or not they would like to work there.

Employers should utilise recruitment technology that suits their intended talent pool, tailoring their hiring approach to candidate profiles.

It is important not to view the interviewing process as a transaction. At the end of the day you are hiring a person whom you wish to embody your brand, so you must try and engage them and make them feel connected – not part of a transaction.

If your hiring someone to fill a position that may involve interacting remotely with clients or team members a video interview may give you some insight into how well a candidate may perform when they are needed to conduct a video conference.

Tips for Implementing a Performance Management System

The basic theory behind a performance management strategy is that if employees know what is expected of them, they are more likely to excel at their jobs. This is also a vital aspect of employee engagement.

By implementing a system like this you will see improved individual performance, greater employee engagement and overall better organisational performance.

Here are some keys steps to implementing a successful performance management system.

1. Clarify Objectives

An important first step is identifying some major objectives for the program and refining the need for a performance management system. What should be included within the system? You can choose to get input from your employees when trying to define the parameters of your performance management system or you can delegate it to your HR department. A good place to start is to use the definition of improving performance and satisfaction.

Some helpful things to include in a performance management system are:

• A clear company vision
• Documented and communicated core competencies
• Formal and Informal rewards which are seen as consistent and fair

2. Support of Your Managers

Once your objectives have been identified along with your expected business outcomes, you have to ensure that your managers are on board. The agreement of the senior management team is needed before any implementation steps are taken. Many systems fail because they are not seen to be included in a managers basic day to day responsibilities. Senior Managers must be seen to be actively supporting the process.

When training your managers in the implementation of a performance management system it is important that they understand:

• How much time is required to implement the system and maintain it on an ongoing basis?
• How the system works and what it will deliver if its implemented successfully
• And developing the skills necessary to carry our effective performance management often take time – more time than expected.

3. Prepare system and supporting materials and documentation
                            
Develop a process and documentation to support the system. Ensure core competencies are defined with associated behaviours and are communicated to all staff.

Included in the documentation should be:

• Review performance against the key parts of the job
• Review performance against any specific goals or objectives which have been set
• Review performance against the organisation’s core competencies if they have been defined
• Identify any learning and development needs for both short and longer term
• Allow for feedback on progress on an ongoing basis
• Ensure job descriptions are current and in a form that provides clear and measurable results required

What Motivates Employees?

Other than the obvious, money, what motivates your employees to do their best work?

Here are a few non-monetary ideas to motivate your workforce.

• Praise. If someone does a job well, let them know, give praise where it is due. This costs you nothing but it means a lot to your employees. Giving regular praise where it is warranted helps to validate your staff’s hard work and encourage them to do their best all the time.
• Communicate with employees. It may sound very basic but employee communication can often be overlooked in many organisations. If an employee has a concern or some other issue that may prevent them from working productively, they need to know that communication channels are open. Taking the time to converse with employees can make them feel more comfortable in their jobs, more settled and better-motivated to work hard for the organisation
• Ask your staff for their input. Ask for their opinion, it makes staff feel as though their opinion matters. Instead of making a demand, ask them “what do you think about doing it this way?”
• Never point fingers. Being called out for making mistakes destroys your staff’s self-esteem. Instead of blaming or criticizing your employees, have a conversation with them. Discuss the problem with them and work out how it could have been handled differently. This will help them to learn from their mistakes.
• Establish a good work environment. A clean, aesthetically pleasing workplace can go a long way to motivating staff. Make the effort to make your workplace look nice. 
• Award Leadership roles. By rewarding good performance with leadership opportunities you inspire your employees to work hard and aim high.
• Take your team out for a meal every once in a while.  This brings everyone together outside of the office and encourages them to get to know each other and bond. Having a tight knit workforce makes work a more enjoyable place to be.
• Plan some fun activities. Planning something fun for your employees to do together helps them to blow off some steam and see their workplace in a more positive light.
• Organise a friendly competition. It’s astounding what a little competition can do for your employees. Hold a weekly or monthly competition with a small prize for the winner, it can be as simple as some movie tickets. Keep track of the results and display them somewhere in the office where everyone can see them. This is a great way to motivate people to work harder.

Dos and Don’ts of your Work Christmas Party

The work Christmas party is a time to celebrate and let your hair down with your colleagues after a busy year, however it is important to remember that you are at a professional function and you must behave that way.

Your work Christmas party is a great opportunity to build relationships so use this time wisely and don’t do anything that may cause these relationships to be damaged or deteriorate.
Read our tips for enjoying yourself without jeopardising any professional relationships here.
Dos and Don’ts of your Work Christmas Party.

The work Christmas party is a time to celebrate and let your hair down with your colleagues after a busy year, however it is important to remember that you are at a professional function and you must behave that way.

Here are a few tips for enjoying yourself without jeopardising any professional relationships.

• Drink responsibly. Don’t forget that you are at a work function so treat the party as an extension of your work day. The more you drink the bigger the chance that you may do something you regret.
• Eat before you start drinking. Drinking on an empty stomach is asking for trouble. Alternate alcoholic drinks with water and more food.
• Find out the dress code and dress accordingly.
• Arrive on time. This will give you the opportunity to mingle with everyone and still leave early without appearing rude.
• Mingle. Do the rounds and make sure to acknowledge all of your colleagues. The Christmas party is a good opportunity to talk to everyone in a relaxed and happy atmosphere and find out a little bit more about them, their hobbies, family, etc.
• Even if it’s someone you don’t particularly like or get along with, make an effort to have a brief chat with them.
• Although it’s important to relax and chat with people at a Christmas party, try not to let your guard down too much and reveal things about yourself that you may not necessarily want your co-workers to know.
• Be mindful of your body language and how you speak to people. Do not touch people in a way that could be misinterpreted or say things that are provocative or demeaning. Dirty or off-colour jokes may be offensive to others so avoid telling them.
• If you see a co-worker that has obviously drunk too much or is behaving inappropriately, step in and bail them out. Explain to them how their behaviour appears to other people and if this doesn’t work, discreetly call them a taxi and send them home.
• Make arrangements to get home after the event in advance, pre order a taxi or organise a spouse or friend to come and get you at a designated time.

Your work Christmas party is a great opportunity to build relationships so use this time wisely and don’t do anything that may cause these relationships to be damaged or deteriorate

One on One with the Boss

Most management conversations happen during group meetings, emails. Over the phone or when a problem arises.

However, it is good practice to meet with your boss one on one more frequently to get a little advice, support and motivation.

The main goal of a one on one meeting with your boss is communicating with them about the work you are carrying out for them.

• Before you go into a meeting with your boss ask yourself the following: 
• Are there problems that haven’t been spotted yet? 
• Problems that need to be solved? 
• Resources that need to be obtained? 
• Are any instructions or goals not clear? 
• Has anything happened since we last talked that the boss should know about? 
• Are there questions the boss needs to answer? 

Here are a few tips for making the most of a one on one session with your boss.

• Be prepared – make notes about what you would like to discuss with your boss ahead of time. If you have a problem to discuss bring your recommended solution, likewise if you have a decision to be made, make your recommended decision known.
• Keep your boss informed of all the key things you have been working on. This is a good opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and get some guidance and coaching from your boss.
• Own up to your mistakes. If you are having a meeting due to a mistake you have made, don’t be afraid to own up to it and make yourself accountable. Do not try and pass the blame or point the finger at your colleagues. 
• Always try to have a positive attitude in meetings with management. It is not productive or helpful to go into a meeting with a negative state of mind and you will cover more ground in your meeting if you stay upbeat.
• Include career development as a regular agenda item in your meetings. This will help you determine and achieve your goals as well as demonstrate to your boss that you are ambitious and have a desire to improve.
• Ask for feedback. Many bosses find giving feedback uncomfortable but by asking for it you are opening the lines of communication and making them feel more comfortable. 
• Let your boss know what you need in order to be successful. If you let your boss know in a constructive way how they can support you, most will do what they can to help.