Best Recipes Ever

Category: Communication Skills Training

  • How Are Your Listening Skills?

    How Good Are Your Listening Skills?

    I like to listen.  I have learned a great deal from listening carefully.  Most people never listen.

    Ernest Hemmingway

    In order to manage the ever-increasing workload, our lives are focused to processing as much as possible in the shortest time,.  This is further compounded by social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like, all of which demand time, and to which it is easy to become a “slave”.  How are these demands affecting your listening?  Look over the table below and remind yourself of the difference between poor and effective listening.

    Poor v. Effective Listening Behaviour

    The Poor Listener:

    Is distracted by work, other people, interrruptions, noises etc

    Body is oriented away from the speaker 

    Gives no feedback (facial responsiveness, or other appropriate response 

    Ignores speaker’s non verbal communication

    Interrupts and waits to speak 

    Jumps to conclusions – focuses on symptoms and quick fixes

    Takes criticism personally

    Blames others.  Becomes defensive about the organisation or self and is judgemental and punishing when someone complains 

    Blames the organisation.  Takes the side of the person complaining

    Is thrown by stressed-out behaviour of others, and may become stressed-out in turn, Often lacks control of the situation

    Judges others by opinions – prejudices, shuts down listening

    The Effective Listener:

    Focuses on the speaker and what is being said

    Body is oriented towards the speaker 

    Gives feedback and participates appropriately 

    Tunes into the speaker’s non verbal communication

    Occasionally reflects and clarifies.  Allows the other person to finish what they are saying 

    Is patient.  Sees complaints and negative criticism as opportunity for problem solving and learning.  Focuses on underlying causes

    Avoids taking criticism personally 

    Suspends judgement as to who is to “blame”.  Has attitude to focus and find solutions which is seen as being more important than judgement

    Doesn’t blame.  Seeks solutions, is proactive for the future, not seeking revenge for actions in the past

    Realises the other person must have had to “psych up” to make a complaint, and has respect.  Makes allowances for the other person’s behaviour while listening

    Suspends judgement on others – listens to what is being said, not who is saying it

    Listens with head and heart

    Skilled Listeners:

    • Pay attention – focus to the speaker
    • Indicate interest
    • Listen without judgement or prejudice
    • Observe and notice others’ body language and vocal usage
    • Ask questions to expand the other person’s thinking
    • Use the feedback loop to check understanding and show listening

  • How Sustainable is Your Human Resource Strategy?

    Recently I attended a webinar that was focused to helping make businesses sustainable which got me thinking about sustainability in deeper terms than usually addressed through our media and government. My question to the person leading this webinar was, “You have given a case study in this session which you are using to show good measures that this particular company is taking to become more sustainable. In the example, I was confused because as the company is focused to delivery service, they had switched all vans to electric. On the surface we can say that is a good step to take, but going deeper, are electric vehicles really sustainable? How is the electricity generated to charge those vehicles? The company that makes the batteries – are they operating a green, sustainable production? Where and who mines the lithium for those batteries? How much water does production take and so on? Perhaps I digress, as the essence of my question was “Please tell me what does it mean to be sustainable?” What is sustainability?

    Whilst I did not receive a direct answer to these questions, it was clear that we all have to start somewhere in this journey and if we can influence our suppliers to follow suit through buying choices, this can only be a good thing for all concerned, including our environment.

    Seldom do you hear someone in conversation connecting sustainability to human resources. Perhaps I have been sleeping, but it still seems that the emphasis on creating a sustainable workforce is very much on surface level, as perhaps other aspects of becoming a sustainable business are. We measure turnover (churn), sickness and absenteeism, accidents in the workplace, mental ill health and so on. If these issues were truly addressed through the lens of creating a sustainable workforce through effective, caring, nurturing organisation leadership, surely the results of measuring these things would show minimal impact on business productivity and ultimately profitability?

     The conclusion of an article in Science Direct titled, “Systematic literature review on sustainable human resource management” by Janaina Macke, Denise Genari stated “Beyond the triple bottom line concept, leadership plays a very important role in sustainable human resource management. A formal and clear leadership definition is, in fact, the most important element for the implementation of sustainability principles in human resource management”.

    Some organisations take the time to measure happiness, morale and wellbeing in the operation which is a very positive action and one that will be well received by employees if:

    1.    They are privy to the results, in other words results are transparent.

    2.    Actions are taken to change those issues that are not supporting positive morale, happiness, wellbeing and ultimately sustainability.

    3.    Measurement is carried out on a regular basis in order to track results of actions implemented and to track any changes, ultimately making updates to the initial plan as necessary.

     

    In an article by Ed Houghton, CIPD, he stated that “Sustainable HRM recognises performance outcomes, which are broader than financial outcomes (for example, by including environmental and social outcomes) and assumes that in working towards multiple goals there are likely to be contradictory outcomes that must be resolved. In addition to this, sustainable HRM creates and captures value over the longer term and recognises that to be truly sustainable HRM must be able to deal with the internal and external environment and the changing context in which the business is operating.” Surely this again links into the effectiveness and overall approach of leadership within the organisation?

    A few ideas of how I understand the concept of sustainable human resources:

     

    ·      Employees who stay with the company for a minimum of two years

    ·      A healthy track record of promoting from within into positions that are created due to company expansion or to fill gaps due to natural attrition

    ·      Employees who speak positively about the organisation in which they work

    ·      A willingness of employees to help others without being asked

    ·      Minimal absenteeism according to or lower than internal targets set

    ·      Minimal sickness whether physical, mental or emotional according to or lower than internal targets set

    ·      Orientation away from shareholder value to multi-stakeholder value

    ·      Leadership who has the employees’ best interests at heart while remaining focused to organisation goals

    ·      An environment of kindness and positive energy creating positive morale

    ·      Group problem solving and decision making

    ·   Focus to the positives of what was achieved and not the other way round in order to learn from and strengthen successes rather than only focusing towards mistakes and non-successes and what we need to do about them

    ·      Leadership that provides a strong positive example of what is expected, knows all employees by name and gets out and about into the operation. The “old” style of management by walking about.

     

    I am sure there are many more examples of what could be included into an organisation’s sustainable human resource strategy and approach. However, each one of these points has great depth to implement and get it right in order to result  not only in a strategy, but actual sustainable human resource management that really works.

    Why are sustainable human resources important? With the shortage of candidates in the marketplace, surely it makes sense to look after those you already have. Less time fighting fires, avoids costly time-consuming hiring processes, no need for onboarding training to bring employees up to speed, giving time to focus on developing employees in the roles they hold. This translates into increased loyalty, good company reputation and overall productivity. In fact, I don’t see any negatives in this approach. This is simply effective, caring leadership that is part of the overall organisation strategy and goals for becoming and being a sustainable organisation that serves multi stakeholders rather than shareholders only.

     

    References

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652618331056

    https://www.cipd.org/uk/views-and-insights/thought-leadership/the-world-of-work/sustainable-hr/

     

     

  • International Women’s Day – A Celebration of Female Leadership

    On the 8th March to celebrate International Women’s day perhaps it is appropriate give credit to the many female Heads of State, CEO’s, Owners and Mothers.   How interesting that the world has a strong representation of female leaders, 22 countries in total including  Denmark, Poland, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Brazil and Norway.   This is quite a sizeable representation of women in top leadership positions, some in countries that are culturally showing more masculine than feminine qualities. (Hofstede)  It is irrelevant what you think about them, but the fact is these female leaders are running governments and countries in what can only be termed a very troubled and challenging period, including Teresa May who is grappling with the turmoil created by Brexit.   Angela Merkel holding strong as the German Chancellor who has  just been re-elected (with some help from her friends), and Norway Erna Solberg who has been Prime Minister since 2013.

    What are the principle characteristics of female leadership?  Can we characterize these principles and definitively separate them from the principles of male leadership?  Unlikely, because styles of leadership differ amongst men and women equally depending on education, experience, courage, individuality, stamina and so on.  However, when looking at women and men, there are differences and when women bring these differences into play we might see different characteristics, many of which come naturally to women.

    Female characteristics:

    • Intuitive and sensitive emotional intelligence
    • Ability to sense the emotion behind something as well as see the facts – therefore make decisions on both factual and emotional levels
    • Patience and tolerance
    • Ability to forgive and let go
    • Quiet drive, stamina and courage
    • Ability to multi task therefore being able to think about, understand and action different points with ease
    • Ability to release own emotions to relieve tension and break stress often through crying.  As well as breaking the tension in a situation.
    • Happy to be out of the limelight and just get on with the job

    In this list I am not saying that men do not have some of these characteristics, I am saying that these characteristics are more common in women in general, but particularly in female leaders.

    What does this all mean?  Are we moving into a time when female leadership is more appropriate for the challenges we face in today’s world – starvation, homelessness, loneliness, escalation in chronic disease, environmental damage on a huge scale, greed by the few who want to monopolize the many, to name but a few?

    I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know the questions:  How much longer can we, as human beings go on living in an environment that we are determined to destroy, removing the right to heritage for generations to come?

    How long can we continue to ignore, flush over, minimize the impacts of large industrial farming whether fishing, dairy, crop or animal farming on human health. Not to mention the pain caused to the animals themselves and the impact on waterways, air and the earth?

    How long can we go on not listening to, or covering up the detrimental impact of processing foods on our health and the health of our children, leading to escalation in chronic disease, obesity and stress, all of which we see in most of the English speaking world, with other countries not far behind having adopted a Western diet?

    Lets celebrate all our female leaders and leadership, not only on this day, but everyday whether Heads of State, Heads of Companies, Company Owners or Mothers.  Perhaps it is our leadership that will turn the ship to become more caring and responsible about how we live, what we live for and what we leave behind?

  • Emergence of female leadership

    How interesting that the world is opening up to female leaders.  It is irrelevant what you think about them, but the fact is we see more female leaders stepping forward to run countries in what can only be termed a very troubled and challenging period.  Hilary Clinton in the USA – will she become the next president?  Teresa May slipping through in the turmoil created by Brexit and Angela Merkel holding strong in Germany as the German Chancellor.  Then the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Denmark, Iceland, Australia, Bangledesh and Trinidad and Tabogo are all women, as are the Presidents of Lithuania, Liberia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil and Finland.  Quite a sizeable representation of women in top leadership positions, very often in countries that are culturally showing more masculine than feminine qualities. (Hofstede)

    What are the principle characteristics of female leadership?  Can we characterize these principles and definitively separate them from the principles of male leadership?  Unlikely because styles of leadership differ amongst men and women equally depending on education, experience, courage, individuality, stamina and so on.  However, when looking at women and men, there are differences and when women bring these differences into play we might see different characteristics, which most women have naturally.

    Female characteristics:

    • Intuitive and sensitive emotional intelligence
    • Ability to sense the emotion behind something as well as see the facts – therefore make decisions on both factual and emotional levels
    • Patience and tolerance
    • Ability to forgive and let go
    • Quiet drive, stamina and courage
    • Ability to multi task therefore being able to think about, understand and action different points with ease
    • Ability to release own emotions to relieve tension and break stress often through crying.  As well as breaking the tension in a situation.
    • Happy to be out of the limelight and just get on with the job

    In this list I am not saying that men do not have some of these characteristics, I am saying that these characteristics are more common in women in general, but particularly in female leaders.

    What does this all mean?  Are we moving into a time when female leadership is more appropriate for the challenges we face in today’s world – starvation, homelessness, loneliness, escalation in chronic disease, environmental damage on a huge scale, greed by the few who want to monopolize the many, to name but a few?

    I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know the questions:  How much longer can we, as human beings go on living in an environment that we are determined to destroy, removing the right to heritage for generations to come?

    How long can we continue to ignore, flush over, minimize the impacts of large industrial farming whether it be fishing, dairy, crop or animal farming on human health, not to mention the pain caused to the animals themselves and the impact on waterways, air and the earth?

    How long can we go on not listening to, or covering up the impact of processing on our foods, whether additives or nutrients removed to create something that is so far from what nature intended it gives no nutritious value and creates a build up of toxins leading to escalation in chronic disease, obesity and stress which we see in most of the English speaking world, with other countries fast behind once they adopt a Western diet?

    How much longer are we going to ignore the greed of large corporations that only have one goal in mind, lack integrity and do not care about the negative impact whether on humans, animals, birds, insects or bees?

    Perhaps it is female leadership that will turn the ship to become more caring and responsible about how we live, what we live for and what we leave behind?  I hope so.

  • Emotional intelligence & self-care: the missing competence?

    Emotional intelligence & self-care: the missing competence?

    Daniel Goleman the author of “Working with Emotional Intelligence”, talks about several competencies under “Personal” and “Social” competencies – Self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and relationship management/social skills. Perhaps it is now time in our world of intensity, fear, overwhelm and stress to add one more competence – “Self-care?”

    In our present-day world, on most corners you meet headlines referring to poor mental health, burnout, stress and overwhelm. Where are we going wrong? For the last several years we have been bombarded with external factors that have created this undercurrent of fear that continues to steadily eat away at human resilience with no sign of abating. Workload is another of the biggest factors in our daily lives to impact our physical and emotional energy resources. Feeling fearful and or overwhelmed means a sense of loss of control. When we are not feeling in control due to the “unknown” – Covid, inflation, petrol prices etc as well as due to impending deadlines, sheer volume of work and a lack of appreciation we leak energy just like a tyre on your car with a slow puncture, that over time leads into a downward spiral until you are literally “flat”. Eventually resulting in poor health as the endocrine system tries hard to rectify the constant onslaught of “fight and flight” reactions.

    What is Self-care?

    Considering “Self-care” from the point of view of Emotional Intelligence, in my opinion it is a combination of “self-awareness” and “self-regulation”. In other words, the ability to listen to yourself and observe a change in reactions to everyday issues, such as being less patient, overly aggressive in your manner, moody and lacking joy, and then to tune into yourself and pay more attention to these changes to understand the real cause. Having understood the cause, whatever that might be to then put in place some actions to self-regulate. In other words, to “manage one’s internal states, impulses and resources” so that your thoughts, actions and overall behaviour no longer drain energy.

    In order to recognise when things are becoming too much “Self- care” goes a little deeper than self-regulation. It requires taking the foot of the pedal, putting practices in place that regulate work-volumes and deadlines to a point where you are stretched, but not over stretched as to over-stimulate the “fight and flight” response, taking down-time and generally assisting your internal physical and mental mechanisms to return to a state of homeostasis. In short-term circumstances when it is temporarily not possible to take your foot off the pedal to put several actions in place that positively support your energy system, for example:

    Pause, breathe deeply for 3 in and out breaths – always ensuring the out-breath is longer than the in-breath. In this way you slow down your emotional reactions and bring an inner calm to the situation. Using this technique in the moment is very useful when your response would otherwise have been reactive and reckless.

    Create space and time for yourself every day – During this time, which might only be 10-20 minutes a day, stay away from digital distractions and invest time in yourself walking, meditating and generally connecting with yourself. Taking time out creates the space in which to assess, evaluate and tune into your thoughts and emotions around different situations. For effective investment of time:

    • Avoid being distracted by messages, calls and other regular interruptions
    • If weather permits go out for some fresh air and if it doesn’t go out for some fresh air
    • Breathe deeply 3-4 times before tuning into your surroundings, the smells, sights and sound
    • Tune into yourself to acknowledge how you are feeling. Allow any negative feelings to manifest, acknowledge them and then let them g
    • Acknowledge the learning these feelings and emotions have given you and move on from that place.

    “Creating space for yourself on a daily basis, helps to regulate daily stresses and create that breathing space in order to “see” your emotional triggers.

    Respect your personal capacity – say “No” when you know it is one thing too much. Talk to someone when you feel overwhelmed and stressed. They will likely be able to see the “wood for the trees” and help find the way out.

    Keep your diet nutritionally rich – Avoid wheat and wheat-based foods. Wheat affects the brain as well as the body, causing stress to the digestive system and ultimately the brain as the two are inextricably linked through the gut-brain axis. If you want to get maximum energy from what you eat choose foods that support effective digestion and an agile mind:

    • Eat the rainbow on a daily basis in fruit and vegetable
    • Eat brain foods – oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, and salmo
    • Chose healthy fats full of omega 3 and 6 – avocado, olive oil and coconut oi
    • Eat good quality protein – grass-fed meat, fish, eggs, and protein from things such as whole grains, sesame seeds (humus), beans and legumes.

    Read my blog about the effect of what we eat has on our minds

    Keep hydrated – when not drinking enough water your body becomes stressed and therefore any additional external stressors accelerate the negative impact on how you feel. Keep a glass of water close by to sip on throughout the day. Aim to drink a minimum of 8 glasses daily.

    Avoid all energy drinks and caffeine – they all serve to dehydrate the body as well as overall increasing the drain on your energy. Before reaching for that caffeine boost, drink a glass of water first and then observe how you feel.

    Long term regulation of mind and body through “Self-care”

    Taking a longer term view on “Self-care” means that you put daily and weekly practices in place to ensure a consistent and constant source of energy to meet demanding periods in your life, which let’s face it we all have. Adopting this kind of practice helps in keeping your mind positive and agile and your body full of energy.

    As we are all unique, practices will differ from person-to-person. In order to find the right practices for you, ask yourself the following questions:

    • What brings me joy
    • What do I love doing
    • Who inspires me so that I want to spend more time in their energy
    • How can I nourish the whole of myself?

    In answering these questions, you begin to identify what activities will help you to switch off from whatever overwhelm, stress and negativity you are facing. In our lives there is abundance of joy, we just have to stop to see it. Is your real passion in baking, cycling, fishing, gardening or walking? How can you build more of this into your weekly routine? What kind of people bring you inspiration? Who are they and how can you see or speak to them as part of your week?

    When I think of personal “self-care” and nourishment, I think of several things:

    • Sitting on top of a hill or by a river and taking in the view emptying my head of circulating thoughts and conversation
    • Taking an afternoon powernap. 10-20 minutes of “switch off” in peace and quie
    • Switching off connectivity and walking outsid
    • Cuddling up on the sofa with a good boo
    • Spending time with an anima
    • Wholesome foods, heart-warming soups, casseroles and stew
    • A long relaxing bath with essential oils.

    These might not be ways in which you prefer to nourish yourself, but whatever it is that nourishes you, how can you take at least 30 minutes each week to create that time for yourself?

    Defined simply, “Self-care” is: Knowing one’s internal sources of energy and how to build a consistent flow through:

     

    Emotional awareness

    Awareness of one’s emotions and their effects on levels of energy

    Physical awareness

    Awareness of one’s daily load and the effects on mental and physical energy levels

    Respecting your personal capacity

    Recognising when everything is too much and putting practices in place to reduce overwhelm

    Positivity

    Maintaining a positive inner and outer dialogue that is positive and constructive

    Self-control

    Managing disruptive emotions and impulses through proactive behaviour

    Self-nourishment

    Taking regular time to nourish oneself to top-up the energy tank

     

    Reference: Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman

     

     

  • Empathy – A Business Case

    Empathy, one of the characteristics or we might say building blocks of emotional intelligence, is an essential aspect of effective leadership. Amid the hurried lives we live today and the demands from employers, family members, government and  ourselves for many and varied reasons, often means we are rushing here and there and consequently might say things in conversation that we don't mean or miss things that someone is either trying to say or has said that are important. The bottom line, empathy ends up taking a back seat.

    Empathy is not sympathy it is the ability to experience the moment in response to a customer, colleague or employee in a manner that “connects” directly to that person, sharing briefly the emotions that the person might be feeling without taking them on yourself. It has an impact on those involved in that moment as well as longer lasting through a relationship of trust, as well as the organisation bottom line. Customer experiences make the difference between them becoming loyal customers or choosing to go elsewhere. In most cases there are plenty of “elsewhere” companies ready to serve customers who have had a poor or even bad experience with your service offering. In the current labour market, it is not just the external customer who might choose to go elsewhere, but your employees, your internal customer also. Now with the possibility to work from home in many job roles, it has removed the need to be based in a particular geographic location, making the employment market a job seekers market, rather than employer market making hiring the right person so much more difficult.

    The 2020 NTT Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report stated that, “Companies who focus on a customer/employee centricity see a 92% increase in customer loyalty with an 84% uplift in revenue and a 79% margin in costs saved. 

    The rising importance of employee service (EX) according to the survey, “94% of CEOs agree that making EX improvements that empower employees and drive efficiencies will improve CX and directly affect net profit. Furthermore, the study explains, “Organizations that strongly identify as being an employer of choice are almost twice as likely as those that do not achieve promoter-level CX performance. Those that have improved their EX capabilities and significantly increased their levels of employee satisfaction in the last year also show a 30% increase in their share of customer value or wallet (including customer retention).”

    Empathy is the linchpin to delivering excellence in customer service as well as for those delivering service to customers. Equipping leaders through the development of emotional intelligence and the skills of showing empathy to team members is no longer questionable in terms of importance to business performance, or even optional, but essential. 

    The key competencies within empathy according to Daniel Goleman (Working with Emotional Intelligence) are:

    • Sense others' feelings and perspectives 
    • Take an active interest in others' concerns
    • Sense others' development needs and support their development
    • Anticipate, recognise and meet customers' needs 
    • Read emotional undercurrents and power relationships
    • Cultivate and build opportunities through different kinds of people

    The aspect of sensing others’ feelings and perspectives of empathy includes several points that are particularly relevant to leaders and those working in customer service:

    The ability to sense and understand feelings, concerns and perspectives of others through intuition. The feeling aspect is the challenge for the development of AI tools to effectively support employees who provide customer service, truly giving them time to listen and respond empathetically. This likely involves examining interactions, work processes and flows as well as considering overall employee wellbeing. 

    Judith Orloff once said, “Empathy is the medicine the world needs.” This statement sums up the reason why we need this important skill in business to foster the growing need for businesses to encourage empathy centricity in their organisation and work culture both internally and externally. 

     

    Tips for Developing Empathy

    Developing empathy to work with others and communicate effectively takes time and effort, but with willingness and the ability to self-reflect this is a skill everyone can develop and benefit from. Below are some suggestions in how to develop empathy for interacting and understanding others.

    Practice self-disclosure – Self disclosure involves sharing feelings, opinions and thoughts about yourself with others. It demonstrates openness and honesty and leads to a greater sense of ease when communicating, building trust and rapport. Being able to self-disclose develops the ability to show empathy towards others.

    Practice being an empathetic listener – Listening, is about being present in the moment while paying close attention to the other person’s emotions, body movement, gestures, tone of voice and language. It is about showing empathy and understanding rather than evaluating or judging. When listening empathetically you listen not only with your head, but your heart as well. You are oriented towards the person giving them full attention, avoiding any temptation to check an email, answer a text or interrupt in order to speed them up or because you have decided you know what they are going to say. The risk of frustrating the customer when processes require service givers to complete a customer conversation within a set period of time can be detrimental to the overall goal of providing excellent customer service. For example, in a call centre where call length is a key performance indicator (KPI), as is number of calls processed by each agent, ignoring the difficulty of some of those calls by negatively hurrying both service giver and customer, impacting behaviour, tone of voice and response.

    Practice emotional scanning – Tune into the emotional state of others and your team as a whole to sense the prevailing emotional climate at any moment in time. This is achieved through noticing body language, tone of voice, the topic and content of what people are talking about as well as asking, how an individual or group are feeling at any point in time and then responding appropriately.

    Match and mirror – Being able to match means that you closely observe the behaviour of the person to whom you are talking and then adapt your behaviour to better match theirs. For example, if they are speaking slowly, you slow down to match that. This adaptation is called "mirroring". Do not copy or mimic them exactly, the goal is to narrow any gap to be less different and help them feel at ease. Invariably the response is sub-conscious in that they simply feel comfortable with you and as a result the conversation will be more open and trusting.

    Ask open questions – Avoid jumping immediately into offering a solution, some advice or what they "should do" by proposing your own perspective and opinion on the subject. Instead ask open questions to understand the situation and how they feel about it, noticing what they say and how they say what they are saying. The use of open questions and listening to the answers, invariably helps the other person to find the solution for themselves, which is more powerful than any personal advice.

    Keep a journal – spend a few minutes each day writing down how you reacted in one or two different situations. Assess whether empathy was needed and if so did you respond appropriately. How did the other person react? If you feel that you got it right, try to understand and identify what you did in that moment. If on the contrary, you feel you got it wrong, be open and honest with yourself and identify why you responded incorrectly. Think about whether there is something you can do to correct the situation when you next see the person and if there is, do it.

    Empathy is a skill that can be learned. The ability to show empathy with internal customers and to external customers is a foundation stone to building loyalty by reducing churn, increasing job satisfaction and in turn increasing organisation profitability and overall reputation.

     

    References

    Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman (1999)

    The Language of Emotional Intelligence, Jeanne Segal, Ph.D, Jaelline Jaffee, Ph.D

    Leadership in Easy Steps, Jon Poole

    https://services.global.ntt/en-us/insights/2020-global-cx-benchmarking-report#

     

     

  • Employee Engagement

    Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give of their best each day.  It means they are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their personal well-being.

    The 2018 Glint report on the “State of Employee Engagement” states that most participants believe that less than 70% of their employees are engaged’ and that “over 90% believe there is solid evidence linking engagement to performance.”

    Engagement has an impact on a number of performance indicators including product quality, customer service and productivity.  It is logical therefore to extend the thought that poor engagement whilst affecting performance in terms of productivity and profitability will also have a direct link to absenteeism and sickness which is likely higher when there is no engagement.  When looking at MIND figures in relation to mental ill health and sickness, the figures are staggering:

    • More than 1 in 5 employees have called in sick to avoid work when asked how workplace stress has affected them
    • 30% felt that they would not be able to tell their manager they felt stressed

    The second point is directly related to engagement or non-engagement of employees due to negligent or ineffective leadership.

    Engaging employees in their work, the company culture and values is the responsibility of leaders within each organisation. In other words – creating the right environment, building trust, nurturing relationships, and being transparent.  Leadership behaviour is itself driven by the organisational culture and company values.  The old saying of “the fish stinks from the head down” adequately sums up the need within an organisation to ensure senior management lead by example and roll down company values, ensuring they are manifested throughout the organisation.

    Engagement can be measured in different ways.  However, to be effective it is likely that the process is continuous and uses a combination of ways, such as:

    • Formal employee surveys – will get the feedback that is needed to lead to relevant change, so long as employees feel safe to answer openly.
    • Exit interviews – taking the time to really find out why an employee is leaving is critical to reflecting on what can be done better, whilst also providing feedback about the environment and culture to the manager of the person who is leaving.
    • One-to-ones with managers – Work very well when there is an atmosphere of trust.  Without trust, it may bring limited results.
    • Customer satisfaction ratings – The customer is the one who truly bears the brunt of poor employee engagement, experiencing poorly motivated service people, with a “don’t care” attitude. Thus, hearing about their experiences is a very important gauge whilst also providing pointers for improvement.
    • Employee productivity – measured in different ways, is a valuable measurement of employee engagement.  Low productivity very often reflects low engagement and vica versa.

    How can managers and leaders influence engagement levels?

    Again there is no one answer, there are several answers and in reality a combination of different actions are needed to positively influence employee engagement:

    • Give employees the chance to do quality work
    • Maintain a positive work culture
    • Listen carefully to employee feedback
    • Communicate clear expectations to employees
    • Encourage employee collaboration
    • Build a trusting environment through being fair
    • Give positive feedback and praise employees for their performance
    • Train and coach

    It makes sense that employee engagement is part of the core business strategy. Engagement on a consistent basis will pay dividends in increasing productivity, thus profitability. The work place will be a happier place to be and consequently increase pride in doing quality work and serving customers, as well as succeeding in achieving department and company goals.

     

    References:

    The State of Employee Engagement 2018 HR.com

    Managing for Sustainable Employee Engagement, CIPD

    https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-bank/employee-engagement

    https://www.Mind.org.uk

  • Employee Engagement Stagnates while Mental Health Escalates

    With the advent of the still recent fallout from the pandemic and the impact on society we are seeing an acute escalation in mental ill-health disorders including anxiety, depression, ADHD in children especially, and fatigue. Could there be a link between employee engagement and the need for “social belonging as well as the need for individual autonomy and achievement?” Bruce Alexander the author of “The Globalisation of Addiction: A study of Poverty and the Spirit,” professor emeritus of psychology at Simon Fraser University thinks this is so, naming it “psychosocial integration”.

    Organisations are dealing with a tidal wave of mental ill-health amongst employees and in efforts to support those employees and combat this wave provide aspects of education around the topic, train mental health first-aiders and provide help lines via dial in phone services to those who might need help when feeling desperate. Whilst honourable and necessary, are these actions:  

    1. Correct? 

    2. Enough?

    3. Dealing with the real cause?

    In this blog I am going to try to answer these questions, if not fully answering them to at least put some meat on the bones and give further food for thought.

    Without this integration of social belonging, autonomy and achievement, an individual has conflict between belonging and being oneself which in turn undermines authenticity and the need to belong which might manifest as some form of mental ill- health, lack of confidence and self-esteem and consequently lead to withdrawal, ultimately affecting productivity whether at work or in one’s personal life. In other words, a “dislocation” to oneself, to others and a sense of meaning and purpose, consequently likely asking questions such as, What am I here for both in an organisation and life in general? What is my role and how is my contribution valued? 

    Bruce Alexander likens this state to a dislocated shoulder. “It is a shoulder out of joint, disarticulated. This is not treated by cutting the arm off, so the arm continues to just hang there, unable to work, while at the same time being very painful. This is how “dislocated” individuals feel – useless and in pain.”

    Dislocation does not only happen to individuals but can also happen to groups working in organisations when they are cut off from autonomy, trust and meaning, more often than not through poor leadership. Leaders who choose to micromanage, not allowing individuals and the team as a whole to take autonomy and grow through working within broader parameters, but at the same time with clear goals. The scary thing about social dislocation is that it is now our normal. Prior to the pandemic it was already growing in western societies, but now has fully ballooned in our cultures and most noticeably in work cultures within organisations, leading to the acute escalation in mental ill-health. 

    A recent Gallup poll, January 2014 of US employees identified that only 33% of employees feel engaged at work! Specifically noting that “Employees still feel more detached from — and less satisfied with — their organizations and are less likely to connect to the companies’ mission and purpose or to feel someone cares about them as a person.”

    Part of this is caused by misidentification through material gains and status. When these gains disappear our identity and security goes with it. How many people do you know or perhaps you experienced it yourself who lost their job and consequently their house, car and the lifestyle to find themselves without any so-called friends and perhaps even their partner? This loss is being experienced more and more by individuals questioning their worth both in jobs that carry a professional image in society, such as doctor, lawyer and accountant as well as those whose roles have less apparent status, but never-the-less require long hours in toxic environments ruled by KPI’s and other productivity markers, or bonus schemes connected to individual and group output, but with little attention to the importance of sharing feedback that shows their performance really matters and makes a valuable contribution. This is further exacerbated since the advent of the internet when everyone is expected always to be “on”. It is a bit like chasing a never-ending result that when achieving there is hunger and further drive for more from those in charge within the organisation, leaving those charged with delivery questioning the cost to them due to an inflated view of personal identity, self-importance, material rewards or ambition and the pay back and whether that pay-back is in balance with their effort and the rewards.

    How does all this link to mental and physical health? It is well known that those who lead a meaningful life are more likely to be mentally, physically and emotionally healthy. Having this knowledge, how are organisations tapping into this foundation of helping individuals and teams be their best which not only serves the employee interests, but the organisation interests as well?  It is clear how many organisations use the importance of belonging to promote their products through selling meaning and identification and a sense of belonging through the brand. Take Apple for example. It now has almost a cult following to share in the belonging giving the impression that a particular iPhone is tailored to your exact needs with the question and chosen imagery of “Which iPhone is right for you? Of course, Apple is not the only one, this is a well-known marketing approach amongst all in business whether large or small organisations.

    While such marketing messages have been in our societies for many years, the question is at what cost? Encouraging individuals to lose their self-identity in pursuit of a product that helps them feel they belong. It is very sad that individuals might be building their identify, self-confidence and self-esteem on a product. Surely there is something wrong here?  Does each organisation provide that much needed belonging, sound self-confidence and esteem to fill that gap by encouraging employees to belong in a way that has a strong foundation and breeds good health and wellbeing, or is this simply a marketing ploy, that is all about driving productivity and goal achievement for the benefit of an increased bottom line? 

    Forgetting that employees are human and they give of their best when they are given autonomy, clear direction as well as being treated in a way that fosters a feeling of belonging, care, gratitude for the value they deliver within an open, honest environment that listens, shows empathy and concern when needed, and above all creates social belonging might just be fuelling the pandemic in mental ill-health.

    References 

    https://www.gallup.com/workplace/608675/new-workplace-employee-engagement-stagnates.aspx?version=print

    The Myth of Normal, Gabor Mate & Daniel Mate

  • Female Leadership: Leading Change Now

    On 8th March, as we mark International Women’s Day around the globe, it feels more relevant than ever to recognise the women leading at every level — from Heads of State and CEOs to founders, frontline managers and mothers. Female leadership is quietly leading the way as the world around us appears to go from one crisis situation to another. A change is needed. Are women able to live up to the needs of a changing world?

    The global picture has shifted significantly in recent years. While women still hold only around a quarter of national parliamentary seats worldwide, and fewer than 10% of countries are led by a woman Head of State or Government at any given time, representation at senior levels is slowly increasing. In the corporate world, women now hold over 10% of Fortune 500 CEO roles — the highest proportion in history — and in the UK, women occupy more than 40% of FTSE 350 board positions. Progress, while uneven, is real and perhaps even to be accelerated in the Year of the Horse and the age of Aquarius.

    Recent and current female Heads of Government and State have included leaders such as Mette Frederiksen in Denmark, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, Ingrida Šimonytė in Lithuania, and Katrín Jakobsdóttir in Iceland. In recent years we have also seen influential leadership from figures such as Angela Merkel in Germany and Sanna Marin in Finland, who served as Prime Minister from 2019 to 2023 and became one of the world’s youngest serving heads of government, leading through the COVID-19 pandemic and complex security shifts in Europe.

    It is not about whether we agree with their politics or even like them. The fact remains: women are leading nations, steering economies, managing crises and shaping global policy during periods marked by geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, climate disruption and rapid technological change.

    What are the principal characteristics of female leadership?

    Can we clearly separate “female” and “male” leadership principles? Probably not. Leadership styles vary widely among individuals, influenced by upbringing, education, experience, personality, culture and values. Courage, decisiveness, empathy and resilience are not gender-bound qualities.

    However, research consistently shows that women leaders are often associated with strengths such as:

    •    High emotional intelligence and relational awareness

    •    The ability to consider both data and human impact in decision-making

    •    Collaborative and inclusive approaches

    •    Patience and long-term thinking

    •    Resilience and quiet determination

    •    Comfort with shared credit rather than personal spotlight

    •    Strong communication and listening skills

    •    Systems thinking — balancing multiple priorities simultaneously

    This does not suggest men lack these qualities. Rather, many of these attributes are frequently socialised and strengthened in women, and when brought consciously into leadership, they can significantly influence organisational culture and performance.

    Why does this matter now?

    We are living in a time defined by complex, interconnected challenges:

    •    Climate change and environmental degradation

    •    Rising chronic disease and health inequality

    •    Economic instability and widening wealth gaps

    •    Loneliness, mental health pressures and social fragmentation

    •    Food system sustainability and public health concerns

    These are not problems that respond well to purely hierarchical or short-term thinking. They require courage, collaboration, empathy, systems awareness and long-term stewardship.

    The question is not whether female leadership is “better.” The question is whether broader, more balanced leadership — drawing on the full spectrum of human capability — is essential for the world we now inhabit.

    How long can we continue to live in ways that compromise the inheritance of future generations?

    How long can we ignore the impact of industrialised systems — in food, energy and production and on health, ecosystems and communities?

    How long can we overlook the connection between how we lead and the wellbeing of those we lead?

    How long can we blindly drive forward in disharmony with the all living beings and the environment in which we live?

    A celebration — and a responsibility.

    Let us celebrate female leadership not only on International Women’s Day, but every day — in government, in business, in communities and in homes.

    Progress is not about replacing one form of leadership with another. It is about expanding what leadership looks like. It is about ensuring talent, perspective and capability are not limited by gender.

    Perhaps it is this more inclusive, emotionally intelligent and system-aware leadership — embodied by many women and increasingly embraced by men — that will help us steer the ship toward a more responsible, sustainable and humane future.

    And perhaps the real leadership question is not who leads — but how we choose to lead, and what legacy we intend to leave behind.

    Interested in developing your leadership team? Contact rachel@greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com or book a call https://www.greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com/pages/contact

    #leadershipdevelopment #managementtrainingcourses #Leadershiptrainingoxfordshire #Hospitalityleadership

  • Game-Based E-Learning – Six Reasons to Include Games in Your Content

    The latest figures on attention span of most people is anywhere between 10 seconds and 2 minutes. How does this impact learning and development especially in relation to on-line e-Learning? Basically, what this means is that content needs to include a variety of activities to support content while capturing attention to lead to learning. Talking heads are no longer of interest nor cable of holding attention for long. Seeking more creative and interactive content, perhaps turning to Gamification is the answer.

    Here are 6 reasons why Gamification is not just a passing fad or trend and why it is here it is a strong candidate to grab and hold attention while bringing in creativity.

    1. A carrot instead of a stick

    When it all comes down to it, gamification is really about motivation. You can always motivate someone with the stick approach and the threat of failing. Or you can take the Swedish National Society for Road Safety’s carrot approach that applied gamification principles to road safety. Remarkably, they found a way to make it fun to drive below the speed limit by rewarding safe drivers with lottery tickets. 

    2. Not just fun and games  

    When a new concept is introduced to e-Learning, it’s only natural for people to try to make sense of what it means and to want to understand how it works. One misconception with gamification is that it means we are adding games to our e-Learning modules that detract from the main topic to be learnt.  

    Gamification does not have to involve games. In fact, some of the best uses of it so far have had no games whatsoever.  It is interactive learning with a goal. Now you’re probably thinking; ‘well quizzes do that already.’  What is different between traditional e-Learning quizzes and a gamified quiz is the competitive element.

     The principles of gamification are widely linked to Game Theory. Any non-mathematician who watched Russel Crowe’s a Beautiful mind knows Game Theory explains why we make the choices we do based on our perceived probability of success. 

     As you will recall, there were no games in that movie but the principles of gaming and game theory are somewhat linked by the desire to succeed. Gamification simply takes the best elements of games and applies them to learning to make it more engaging.  

    3. Competition is healthy 

    Quizzes are an essential building block of e-Learning courses. For the competitive animal, quizzes can be boring when you are only competing against yourself. Sure, you can earn bragging rights but who else will  really care that you answered 95% of the questions correctly other than someone who is taking the same course?  Here’s a lesson you don’t have to learn the hard way; bragging to people not taking the same course just doesn’t work and in fact it is a recipe for social disaster and dateless Saturdays! 

    This is why leader-boards make sense. Depending on the LMS you choose, you can set up leader-boards where all course participants can compete against each other.  You get to see who is on the top percentile and where you fall in comparison. It is this type of healthy competition that motivates a participant to do better and achieve great results. Studies show that 89% of participants would be more engaged in an e-Learning application if it had a point-system.

    Being mindful not to ostracise under performers, there should always be a button that asks participants if they would like their results to be published or not.

    4. Celebrate achievements  

    It’s always good practice to recognise anyone who is working hard and achieving good results. When e-Learning is gamified and a user performs well, they can be awarded with a badge or an endorsement that is linked with their profile. 

    Collecting badges motivates users to learn more and earn more. Let’s say you are teaching a communications course. You can use gamification to award badges along the way such as: good situational judgement, empathetic listener or communicator extraordinaire. These endorsements can then be used by the user to market themselves and their skills, creating a win-win situation.

    5. Make learning addictive

    When it’s gamified, the goal is to learn but the methods used are designed to motivate the user. One simple example of this that works incredibly well is vocabularly.com. I’m sure I’m not the only person who tried to read the dictionary when they were a kid thinking we would have a great vocabulary at the end. I don’t know about you, but I gave up just after aardvark (ˈärd-ˌvärk) when I realised how boring the dictionary was. 

     Along comes vocabularly.com and suddenly reading the dictionary becomes fun and highly addictive. Vocabulary.com often has amusing definitions, not as amusing as those of the dirty minded urban dictionary, but they are certainly funny enough to be memorable.  Now here comes the gamified part. You get to build a vocabulary list and the site generates a quiz or you can take one of their generic quizzes such as the top 1000 words and compete against users worldwide. The last I checked, the top of the leader-board was some guy in India who had an English vocabulary of 1,341,365 words. Thanks to gamification, the user is learning and for the first time ever, reading the dictionary is fun. 

    6. Boost Retention

    When done right, gamification makes learning fun rather than an onerous chore. Frank Farral, leader partner at Deloitte said: "If you can gamify the process, you are rewarding the behaviour and it's like a dopamine release in the brain. Humans like a game."

    Gamification encourages the user to experiment and discover what they think they need to learn. It puts them in the driver’s seat of learning. The science behind it is when they are having fun while learning, those ‘feel-good’ endorphins are released which make the user excited because they are achieving something. It is this excitement that makes them more motivated, it hooks and extends their attention  span and overall makes learning more memorable. 

    It is the precise point when they stop becoming passive observers and become active participants that the knowledge you need them to retain gets stored in their long-term memory, right where you want it.

    To sum it up

    Gamification is not a buzzword but a useful technique to engage your learners, motivate them, and boost retention of your content whether individual e-Learning, virtual training or face-to-face training in groups. 

    Take a look at Green Key courses. https://www.greenkeypersonaldevelopment.com/pages/e-learning