Best Recipes Ever

Category: Workplace Communication

  • Being Grateful for 2020

    I was listening to a concert last night on Radio 2 with Rick Astley and the BBC concert orchestra. Rick led a rocking concert that was further enhanced by the wonderful orchestra.  Why do I refer to this concert?  In 2018 I wrote a blog around singer/songwriter Rick Astley and the release of his back then, new album entitled “A Beautiful Life”.

    At that time, Rick said something very pertinent in answer to the question “Why a Beautiful Life?  In his answer he explained that in fact he has had a beautiful life, with the exception of a few curveballs.  Most importantly, he continued with words to the effect that it is all about how you look at life and how you regard things that are thrown at you and things that happen to you, and I might add things you do to yourself.

    This comment has led me once again to think about life and the beauty of each day.  This year has been an extremely challenging year for most people irrelevant of position, age or gender.  Perhaps if you are Bill Gates your year has been rather exciting with the promise of producing a vaccine that is claiming to save the world from Covid19. That aside, with the difficulties of this year, it is easy to focus on how bad this year has been and to miss the small things that each and every one of us has access to. 

    WHAT DO WE HAVE TO BE GRATEFUL FOR IN 2020?

    What do we have to be grateful for in 2020?NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE LIVE

    Living in the Vale of the White Horse I have magnificent rolling countryside all around that is there for me to enjoy.  The power of nature calms the sympathetic nervous system, decreasing the feelings of anxiety, low mood and frustration. Taking advantage of this gift is a daily occurrence for me and each time, irrelevant of weather, never ceases to be a beautiful experience.  Living in England, most of us have access to a park, waterway or open space to enjoy.

    HEALTH

    Sadly this may not be true for everyone. However, I am personally grateful for my energy, health and overall wellbeing.  2020 has and still is challenging everyone’s health through lack of social contact, breathing in our own toxins expelled from the body through the requirement to wear a face mask in public.  Living in an environment of fear which constantly keeps the immune system on alert, giving it no rest.  The importance of being compassionate and kind to oneself and others is critical and will continue to be critical to supporting good health, likely well into the new year.

    WONDERFUL, SUPPORTIVE CLIENTS

    When things are tough, there is no better time to celebrate clients who are there for you and support you despite the constant changing circumstances.  This makes being in business worthwhile and to each and every one of my clients I am extremely grateful and thank you for your continued support.

    UNDERSTANDING TEAM MEMBERS

    The stress and pressure on team members to make the move to work from home, and make a good job of it, overcoming external barriers, such as noise, fluctuating internet connection whilst balancing work and family demands and stabilising a boss who is trying hard to work with government decisions that impact the business climate as well as provide security. For your understanding, I am very grateful.

    GOOD FRIENDS

    Those who check in from time to time to touch base and take the temperature of how I am adapting to the new working requirements, lending an ear to vent thoughts and frustrations as and when needed. To each and everyone of you, I send heart felt thanks.

    This year has been a year that has opened up many doors that perhaps we did not want to go through, such as how we interact and care for others in our communities, especially those we do not know.  How truthful we are and how truthful are those around us, especially those in leadership positions?  Are we protecting our comfort zones, lifestyles and image in sacrifice for having the courage to speak the truth, supposedly fooling all those we lead, or have we withdrawn to a safe place to see out the battle?

    This year Covid has forced us to choose how we resonate and look at “setbacks”, one that is common to our global population.  Are you a person who has reacted emotionally in some way and festered on the consequences, or have you taken the opportunity to understand the message, learn, grow and develop, thus moving yourself forward from under the Covid cloud? In the first place, your choice has probably been based on a combination of how you perceive this situation, your intuition and the facts.

    One of the most important aspects of working through perceived negative situations is the emotional aspect of the situation.  Currently “it” just happens to represent the impact of Covid on each one of us personally, combined with the impact of government decisions, whether you agree with them or you do not. Emotions experienced might be anger, frustration, bitterness, disbelief, shame and guilt amongst others.

    Harbouring emotions is both unproductive and damaging mentally and ultimately physically.  To be an effective leader we need to be able to rise above any situation and look at the cause of why something happened, rectify it with those involved through helping them understand why this particular approach was not constructive, giving necessary guidance on a more constructive way to approach the situation, agreeing on a way forward.  Always avoiding the desire or need to blame someone or something, allowing those involved to take responsibility for their actions, change behaviour, and therefore grow and develop from the experience.

    As Rick Astely so carefully and clearly put it – “Life is beautiful”.  It’s all about how you see it?  Leadership, whilst it can be challenging, is beautiful for all concerned, those being led and those doing the leading.  It all depends firstly on how we see each situation and each person, secondly how we react to it and thirdly how grateful we are for all the little things that when added up are considerable, attracting more of the same.

     

    Wishing you all a healthy, happy and beautiful 2021.

     

    To find out more about how Green Key can help you and your leadership journey, contact Rachel directly.

  • Building Empathy Centric Leadership

    Empathy, one of the characteristics or we might say building blocks of emotional intelligence, is an essential skill of any leader. When lacking empathy employees feel unheard, undervalued and often frustrated about an apparent lack of understanding of the challenges in any job role or for any difficulties they might be experiencing outside of their working lives, and customers less inclined to entrusting loyalty with your enterprise.

    Having a developed sense of empathy enables you to sense what is happening and how someone is feeling without them having to actually tell you. In groups a leader is able to use the same sense to feel potential areas of struggle, conflict and "holding back" of information, opinions, thoughts and ideas to maximise on the moment and open discussion. Empathy enables responses that take into consideration non-verbal cues whilst sharing openly without contradicting your own thoughts and feelings. Fostering rapport through being empathetic and showing empathy to others are key characteristics of building effective relationships, which is the very foundation to effective leadership and perhaps even business success.

    What is empathy? Empathy is not sympathy it is the ability to experience the moment in response to a customer, colleague, employee, or family member 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 a longer lasting impact through building a relationship of trust. A positive customer experience makes the difference between a customer becoming loyal 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 any particular service offering. In the current labour market, it is not just the external customer who might choose to go elsewhere, but employees, also.

    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. 

    More recent data (March 2024 in an article by Cheyenna Eversoll Duggan “The empathy advantage: Using customer data to personalise marketing,” stated:

    • 68% of customers expect brands to demonstrate empathy, but only 37% of customers say brands generally demonstrate empathy.
    • 68% of customers will spend more money with a brand that understands them and treats them like an individual.
    • 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, but only 34% of companies generally treat customers as unique individuals.

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

    Empathy is an essential aspect of emotional intelligence (Daniel Goldman). Being empathetic and showing empathy has two steps, firstly picking up on others' feelings and secondly responding to those feelings and emotions while interacting with them. Not everyone tells you how they are feeling, even if you ask, but with heightened sensitivity you are able to pick up on emotions and respond if needed, with empathy. Becoming more in tune with the non-verbal and verbal cues that others' are sending increases abilities to respond empathetically. 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.

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

    AI is a major part of providing service to customers, often helping filter and channel callers in the right direction to get them the appropriate help speedily, however the ability to sense and understand feelings, concerns and perspectives of others through intuition is not yet something that AI can do, in fact it is the biggest challenge for  further development of AI. Palming off your customers to an AI assistant may not build the customer loyalty you are seeking for your business, therefore investing in employee development in this area and equipping leaders with the skill of understanding sensitive situations and responding with empathy are still for now essential to the success of any business.

     

    References

    Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman (1999)

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

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

     

     

  • Building Loyal Customers from Dissatisfied Customers

    One of the biggest areas that I address with my customers through training and development of personnel is building and maintaining customer rapport and loyalty, whether that be from the very first contact with the customer or at any other stage in the customer journey, including when the customer is not happy with your services.

    Assuming that everyone is in agreement with maintaining customers and building loyalty, rather than looking for new customers to replace them, what needs to take place when a customer complains? Here are two scenarios:

    Scenario 1

    Customer: “Good afternoon, Mr X, I am calling about the recent holiday my wife and I went on which was organized and reserved through Sun Travel.”

    Agent: “Good afternoon Mr X, how may I help you?”

    Customer: “We have returned from our holiday and can only say that it was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish.  The flight out was delayed, not your fault, but still not a good start!  The hotel was overbooked so we were re-booked into a hotel down the road, at best was 2*.  Our tour guide spoke little English and appeared to only be interested in going home.  From here it does not get any better!”

    Agent: “Oh why didn’t you tell us before coming back and we would have sorted this out?  Now there is very little that we can do! I will put you through to my manager.”

    Scenario 2

    Customer: “Good afternoon, Mr X, I am calling about the recent holiday my wife and I went on which was organized and reserved through Sun Travel.”

    Agent: “Good afternoon Mr X, how may I help you?”

    Customer: “We have returned from our holiday and can only say that it was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish.  The flight out was delayed, not your fault, but still not a good start!  The hotel was overbooked so we were re-booked into a hotel down the road, at best was 2*.  Our tour guide spoke little English and appeared to only be interested in going home.  From here it does not get any better!”

    Agent: “Mr X, this is extremely disturbing to hear.  I am so sorry for everything you have been through, and to be quite honest, very surprised!  Certainly we would have liked the opportunity to solve these issues whilst you were still on holiday, however that is not possible now as I understand you have already returned?

    What I am going to do is firstly call the hotel to find out what happened and then to discuss this with my manager to find a solution, which sadly will not be as good as if you were still on location in Spain.  Mr X, please give me until tomorrow morning latest to come back to you?

    What are the main differences between these scenarios?

    Level of listening – in scenario 1, we see selective listening which means we are listening for what we want to hear.  In scenario 2 – empathetic listening, which shows the relevant concern, interest and empathy to the customer.

    Empathetic listening gives the customer the understanding that you firstly have heard, secondly that you care and thirdly that you want to solve the issue and that you care about your customers.  Selective listening means you only want to hear the information that you can use to support your own argument and in this case almost blames the customer for not informing Sun Travel whilst still on holiday.

    Authority level – In the first scenario the agent is very quick to hand over the problem to the manager and abdicate any responsibility.  In the second scenario we see that the agent is confident, assertive and keen to sort out the situation, and has decided to discuss everything further with his/her manager once all information has been gathered. The situation was not simply escalated to the manager, showing an understanding of how to solve customer problems as well as some authority for the decision.  These two points help to put the customer at ease, giving time to do this thoroughly.

    Giving out authority to handle customer complaints confidently and competently is vital to building customer loyalty, giving the customer a feeling that they are in the right hands and will be looked after. To give out authority means training team members on what is expected of them when a customer complains and what is their jurisdiction in terms of financial compensation they can give before having to escalate the decision to the next level.

  • Conflict Management

    What is Conflict Management?

    I was looking at the term  “conflict management” the other day and realized that it is often used interchangeably with “conflict resolution”.  The difference, however is that the concept of conflict management is based on a premise that not all disputes end in resolution.  Additionally, conflict management is the practice of identifying and handling conflict in a sensible, fair and efficient manner.  Therefore, in summary “conflict management” is any collection of actions, responses, processes, and/or systems that help manage, improve, or prevent the deterioration of relationship dynamics.

    A part of effective leadership is conflict management.  When parties involved cannot resolve the dispute, leaders use strategies to manage the dispute and acknowledge the differences.  Conflict management brings awareness to the parties in a dispute of their options.  It allows examination of their own assessments, to communicate their feelings and to choose options that avoid defensive or aggressive reactions.

    Words to the Wise

    We often think that other people see the world in the same way as we do, and overestimate the degree to which they understand our approach and actions.  As leaders of ourselves and of others, it is important that rather than making assumptions, we ask for clarification.

    Be willing to take the first step in opening up the conversation.  The fear of rejection may lead to closed body language and lack of eye contact, which may be perceived by the other person inaccurately.  Go out of your way to make eye contact, and open up the conversation constructively.

    Skills for Managing Conflict

    Various skills are utilized in managing conflict:

    1. Open Communication (questioning openly, active listening, reflecting, feedback and focus)
    2. Establish Ground Rules to ensure the discussion is constructive and productive
    3. Confront Current Issues – not the people and not the past
    4. Use Listening Skills – for both logic (content) and feelings (emotions).  Listen to understand – paraphrase, repeat, summarize to check understanding.
    5. Keep Emotions in Check and be aware of the emotions of the other party.
    6. Use humour to relieve tension (when appropriate)

     

    Linda Tropp, Ph.D Director of Psychology of peace and violence concentration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

  • Could your leadership be causing mental ill health

    This blog takes the form of a case study that encompasses both my professional roles as a healthcare practitioner and corporate wellbeing training provider. The aim of the case study is to encourage you to decide, for yourself, what could have been done differently.

    The client in question, is a lady late 50’s who was employed by a high school as the assistant director of the school, a job she has been doing for some years already while also continuing to teach the pupils an academic subject. An active person who was working long hours every day, five days a week in school and some part of her personal time to catch up, mark papers and do other administrative tasks, she seldom did less than a 10-hour day. Her husband also works, and her children are also of working age.

    About 3 years ago, as a part of some kind of change in status and re-organisation of the school, all teachers were asked to re-apply for their jobs to continue employment at that school. Each teacher would be hired based on the new requirements. My client was not re-hired, nor was she given an explanation as to why, she was simply told that her job was no longer needed as of tomorrow. No redundancy payment was offered. That would be a dramatic shock for most of us. Lack of appreciation, feedback and thanks would make anyone angry, likely followed by sadness at having the job and career you love crudely removed with no further contact. From May to September of that year she did not feel well, she lost interest and enthusiasm for life, but tried to regain this by taking up a role as a volunteer in a local charity shop.

    At a similar time, her father died during Covid and this seemed to tip her over the edge into mental illness, specifically severe depression combined with anxiety. Her father also suffered from depression and anxiety. She stated that she remembers shaking uncontrollably at the loss of her father, and perhaps to this day has not yet come to terms with this loss through the normal grieving process.

    Certainly, we can debate if how she lost her job was according to the law? That is not the purpose of this blog and therefore we will avoid going down that route. The client is now on four medications for anxiety and depression, some of which are also negatively affecting hair growth, leading to an increase in hair loss. In addition, she is putting on weight, both of which negatively impact how she feels about herself. Her quality of sleep is poor due to twitching caused by one of the medications she is taking. To aid sleep she has been subscribed Zopiclone, a common sleep medication which can cause drowsiness during the day. In her own words, she “has no reason to get out of bed and most of the time feels blank and tense,” therefore can spend the whole day in bed sleeping with no desire to get out of bed. In order to end this cycle, she tried to commit suicide. Luckily, she was not successful.

    She had her gall bladder removed approximately 10 years ago and despite this has no  difficulty in digesting most foods. However, looking at this energetically, the gall bladder – “How can you have the gall to……?” is a representation of rage, extreme anger that has been suppressed within the body, ultimately damaging the functioning of the gall bladder until such time as it has to be surgically removed. This is an example of how suppressed negative emotions manifest on the physical level to show us what it is we need to deal with. Does removal of the gall bladder mean we have dealt with these negative emotions, or do they still remain in the body as the person’s behavioural pattern remains the same?

    She is under the guidance of the mental health team in her area, but at best is staying numb to life, at worst is not living. After several years of guidance from this team, she and her husband, whose life has also been tipped upside down, decided to try something different and on recommendation from one of their friends who was treated successfully for similar conditions, have sought a health consultation with me. The main goals for treatment are:

    • To get better from severe depression and anxiety to live her life as before.
    • To improve her quality of life and reduce medications.

    This gives you the background of this client. Now look at this situation from a leadership perspective and answer the following questions:

    1. How did this person end up with severe depression and anxiety when previously she was a capable, active woman who up until losing her job we can assume was able to take responsibility and get things done?

    2.  What role did the school management team/leadership play in what this lady is today?

    3. What could have been done differently from those responsible to lessen the emotional impact on this individual anticipating that redundancy for anyone is often a shock?

    4. Why is thoughtful, nurturing leadership of others so very important?

    5. How can leaders balance a nurturing style of leadership with accomplishment of organisation goals? (A school is also an organisation)

    6. What are the key things for the leadership team to learn from this case?

    7. What have you learned from this case about how you address difficult, possibly life changing situations from this case. 

    If you feel affected by this case study then you maybe interested in this new course on how to lead compassionate conversations. 

  • Do You Need an Attitude Shift?

    As Simon Tyler says “attitude is a choice you just keep choosing”.

    Attitude affects everything that we do. The attitude you have chosen right now may not be serving you in the situation that you are in, or indeed the situation you are about to go into. I am a great believer in creating the right attitude for each situation to generate positive energy for all involved, including oneself. Interacting with different people every day through the many communication channels means that we have the power to affect our connection at each moment of truth, to the other person.

    It is our attitude that determines how much we can affect them and how much they in turn can infiltrate and affect us, either positively or negatively. Being aware of the affect that others have on your attitude gives you the ability to become more deliberate in setting your own attitude and more resilient to the attitude of others, by consciously choosing a positive response.

    Our attitude impacts more than we realise. Not only can it affect those around us, but it can also hinder our chances for success. Shifting your attitude is possible. Read how and why an attitude shift might be the perfect solution!

    How do leaders impact the attitude of team members?HOW DO LEADERS IMPACT THE ATTITUDE OF TEAM MEMBERS? 

    By nature of leadership, the role of a leader is to “inspire others to want to do the job”. Clearly inspiration of others cannot be done through a negative attitude. Can we honestly put hand on heart and openly say that we do aim to affect others positively in every interaction with employees, peers and colleagues?

    How do you correct attitude when one of your subordinates is just not performing and his or her behaviour is potentially causing an attitude shift in yourself toward that person?

    There is a danger that this attitude shift will infect your thinking and consequently the approach that you choose to discussing the possible reasons behind the current level of performance, and to changing that performance to something more desirable.

    DEALING WITH A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

    What can you do to change a creeping negative infiltration of your attitude, whatever the reason for this might be?

    Be grateful and be thankful for all the positive things that exist in your life including, the individual’s performance before this change, performance of others, thankful and grateful clients, the sun, other relationships in your life, nature, friendships and so on.

    The power of gratitudeTHE POWER OF GRATITUDE

    Our attitude impacts more than we realise. Not only can it affect those around us, but it can also hinder our chances for success. Shifting your attitude is possible. Read how and why an attitude shift might be the perfect solution!

    Gratitude can make us less self-centered and more open to hearing.  It can increase self-esteem, and make us more likeable by enhancing relationships, our personality, and our leadership skills.  Like any habit, after a few days of expressing gratitude it becomes natural and a part of your communication style.

    As Oprah Winfrey once said “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

    TOP TIPS TO SHIFT YOUR ATTITUDE

    Manage personal attitude by surrounding yourself with positive people and limit those that drain energy.  Read and consume articles, books, or podcasts that further support a positive outlook and attitude.

    Humans are electrical energy, we are emitting and receiving all the time.  This means we are able to attract to us what our current thoughts are giving out, in terms of people, thoughts, activities and so on.

    If you want positive people around you, and to have a constant stream of positive thoughts from within and from others, you have to set the scene by considering what you want to attract or repel.

    HABITS ARE KEY

    Make it a habit to look for at least one positive aspect of any idea, solution, suggestion, or behavior before honing in on the negative aspects of why something will not work.  We all see the weak, negative unhelpful aspects of a person, thought, suggestion and idea easily.  Train yourself to see the positive first, maintaining balance and a realistic outlook.

    Behaviour is driven by thoughtBEHAVIOUR IS DRIVEN BY THOUGHT

    Our attitude impacts more than we realise. Not only can it affect those around us, but it can also hinder our chances for success. Shifting your attitude is possible. Read how and why an attitude shift might be the perfect solution!

    All of us have mental patterns that lead to physical behaviour.  It is these patterns that cause us to repeat the same, further getting frustrated at ourselves for not succeeding, excelling, or doing, and sometimes even regretting the repetitive behaviour and result.

    Remember, what Albert Einstein said: “If you always do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got!”

    Make a conscious effort to release the thought process – thank it for serving you, and let it go.  In letting go you make space for something new to move in, and what moves in is your choice.  The sooner you let go of the irritation, regret, frustration, the sooner it ends, giving the possibility to create a more meaningful pattern that will serve both you and others better.

    ASK THE DEEPER QUESTIONS

    If you still struggle to move on with this change and experience resistance, ask questions of yourself to promote the thinking and mood that you desire, avoiding self blame or blame of others.  In other words, looking for a reason that gives you a scapegoat.

    Excellent questions take you in the direction of finding your truth and depth of understanding, for example. “Where am I at my best?”  “What do I want more of?”  “What do I need to learn from this situation?”

    Such questions are also invaluable when coaching others to excellent performance.  Finger-pointing never motivated anyone. Dipping into The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, giving a one-minute praising goes a long way to encouraging a positive attitude in yourself and in others.

    And when that one-minute reprimand is needed, keep it in perspective and give it clearly, confidently and with sincerity, and then move on avoiding dwelling on the negative.

     

    References:

    Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson – The One Minute Manager,

    Simon Tyler – The Attitude Book

     

    Rachel ShackletonRachel Shackleton is an entrepreneur who owns and manages Green Key Personal Development and Green Key Health. Working with local and multinational organisations, she is a public speaker and trainer in the spheres of leadership, communication and customer excellence. She ensures sustainable productivity and profitability through healthy self-management and leadership practices, ensuring a focused and successful workforce.

  • Addressing uncertainty and morale at the start of the new year

    The start of a New year is a time of excitement for many as we embrace the new year coming in and let go of the old year and whatever that encompassed. For most organisations the new year is a time for goal setting and budget planning. After the initial shock of the first week back at work, most of us are inspired, our batteries are full and we feel ready to face the year ahead and what that has in store. The end of 2021 left many feeling exhausted, demotivated and perhaps even lost. Morale was low as dedicated and loyal employees tried to hold it together up to the Christmas break. For many organisations, the final straw that broke the camel’s back, so to say was the cancellation of company Christmas parties, which was until that point been seen as a chance to build morale and set the tone for the coming year, whether to be held in an office, restaurant of other location in line with new government guidance.

    Once again, we find ourselves in a degree of uncertainty around what is and what might be. For some the prospect of redundancy or losing their job due to coerced  personal choice around the actuality of “no jab, no job.” Uncertainty is very draining for all involved and leads to the constant questioning and worry through circulating thoughts and conversation with self and whether things will ever get back to normal.

    Living with change is an important element of doing business. Change does create uncertainty for many, but it usually has a clear end in sight. The current global situation does not share this characteristic. Leaders contradict each other, apply varying degrees of mandated behaviours for it’s citizens and constantly monitor results whilst changing the goalposts with regular aplomb deepening the levels of uncertainty and creating fear.

    On a human physiological level, this translates into fear which is very draining. Fear as an emotion is extremely damaging to health, increasing the potential for burnout. We might not realise that we are fearful of the current situation, but somewhere in our subconscious our brains are looking for ways to protect us from what might be perceived as danger. Hence it is no surprise that having a background alert switched on all the time means we are less happy, less engaged, less creative and hence unproductive and more prone to sickness and absenteeism.

    How can leaders turn uncertainty into certainty?

    For most leaders, it is not possible to predict a certain outcome in circumstances that are beyond our control. Therefore, looking at the circle of influence and control by Stephen Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, leaders are advised to focus on the areas that they can influence. The first circle is the “Circle of Concern” and includes all the challenges and concerns you have in your life including your working life. The trick with this circle is to understand in the list of items the things that are inside your Circle of Control and not to worry about those that are outside your Circle of Control. The Pandemic is out of your control, and therefore spending time on worrying about it, will not bring any productive or beneficial results.

    As leaders, we need to consider how our team members are feeling in response to the pandemic, and while we cannot control the pandemic and government reactions to changing circumstances, we can influence morale and consequently work performance by focusing on the Circle of Concern and to a certain degree Circle of Influence.

    Can you influence someone’s morale through your leadership? Can you take time to listen to your team members concerns about job security, feelings of anxiety and fear? Truly listening to someone by taking time in a space where devices are switched off the environment safe and “being” with them is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Finding a solution for them is not necessarily required as they will find their own solution to whatever is causing their unrest. Being proactive, instead of waiting for something to happen to encourage these one to one conversations will expand your Circle of Influence while having a positive impact on levels of fear and anxiety.

    Drawing feelings out of your team members either individually or with your department as a team can be very enlightening as well as productive when done using the model of Circle of Influence and Control, as it provides a structure to share safely and openly. Try the following exercise:

    1. Draw the Circle of Concern on a large sheet of paper or interactive whiteboard.
    2. Ask all team members to write their areas of concern on stick-its and then add them to the circle.
    3. When complete, draw another circle that is smaller and in the middle of the first circle. This is the Circle of Control.
    4. Ask them to move any of their stick-its that they have direct control over from the Circle of Concern into the Circle of Control.
    5. Discuss those items that they feel they have no control over and ask the question: What influence can you have over this point/situation?
    6. Draw another circle between the first 2 circles of Concern and Control. This is the Circle of Influence.
    7. Ask them to explore ways they could influence issues in the Circle of Concern. In doing so you might discover solutions and suggestions coming from different group members that are useful for all to structure a way forward despite the fact that there is no possibility to control how the pandemic unfolds.

    When working in times of uncertainty, it is important to realise what you can control, what you can influence and what to avoid wasting time on. Doing this exercise helps visualise and verbalise through constructive discussion aspects of a situation that are causing uncertainty, anxiety and perhaps even fear. Transparency as a leader is critical to enabling constructive discussion, openness and a way to positively ease feelings of uncertainty and anxiety that are being exacerbated by worry and trying to control the uncontrollable. Overall through lightening the load and improving morale we improve productivity and performance and decrease absenteeism and sickness.

    The Christmas party might have been cancelled through factors beyond the control of department and company leaders, but we can still positively influence employee morale, motivation and performance.

    References:

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/368994

    Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

  • An Attitude of Gratitude

    Today is International Women’s Day. This is a day where women all over the world are celebrated for the many roles they play – mother, daughter, wife, aunt, chef, general director, receptionist and so on. Women are everywhere, you could argue the same for men and I would agree. My question is why are women only given formal recognition on one day of the year? Why 8th March? The answers to my questions will be many and varied depending on country and culture, your level of acknowledgment of this day and so on. But underneath the meaning of this day is appreciation and gratitude. Both worthy actions to show someone, whether male or female that you value them and that you are grateful for what they do and how they contribute to your life.

     

    Gratitude and appreciation are the foundations to showing employees whether male or female how much they are valued and how much you appreciate what they do within their role in your organisation, however large or small. Gratitude is for both large and small actions that contribute to the collective outcome of achievement of goals, to teamwork and to organisation profitability. As in the April 2022 Oak Engage report, “Not feeling valued is the top reason for unhappiness.” Therefore, it is safe to say that feeling valued is the foundation to happiness in the workplace and that according to an Oxford University 2023 study, “Happy employees are 13% more productive”.

    https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-10-24-happy-workers-are-13-more-productive

     

    Who is responsible for giving appreciation and showing gratitude in an organisation?

     

    Gratitude when coming from a boss makes employees 50% more successful”.  (Forbes, April 2022)

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2022/04/24/how-to-create-a-culture-of-gratitude-at-work/

     

    As in the quote above from the Forbes April 2022 report, the obvious answer to this question, is the supervisor, manager and direct boss. If they want to lead and manage a motivated and inspired team of individuals, showing appreciation regularly is a top priority. That can be a simple “Thank you for…….” given directly to the person with presence showing authenticity through facial expression and body language as well as words used, or more elaborate in the form of “Employee of the month,” or other similar award. In all cases the person needs to recognise what they have done and the value it brings. Sometimes we might refer to appreciation as giving positive feedback on the spot, rather than in a formal situation, such as performance appraisal or other form of performance management.

     

    Is it just a manager that is supposed to or can say “Thank you” and show appreciation? Actually not. Fostering collaboration within teams is based on appreciation of the role that each person is responsible for and how that person takes responsibility to meet deadlines, commit to and fulfil actions and tasks, jump in to support or cover when someone in the team is struggling, share ideas, help developing those who are not as experienced and encourage fellow teammates in achievement of the goals ahead. We can all share our appreciation of each other by saying a “Thank you” and meaning it whether directly to the person or in a regular meeting where the opportunity is taken to show appreciation and give gratitude in front of the rest of the team.

     

    When we show appreciation and give gratitude, we create an environment that thrives on support of one another. It is positive, warm and fuzzy, like drinking a mug of hot chocolate in your pyjamas, while still being focused to the job in hand. It is an environment that thrives on individual employees who want to go to work because they love what they do, feel supported and valued. And the benefit according to Forbes 2023 report found that, “Happy employees are 20% more productive.”

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/13/promoting-employee-happiness-benefits-everyone/

     

    How does working in such an environment help organisation performance?

     

    There are many research papers and reports that show positive outcomes for all concerned, for example,

     

     “Highly engaged teams experience 59% less turnover compared to their disengaged counterparts.” (Gallup, November 2023)

     “Highly engaged teams experience 59% less turnover compared to their disengaged counterparts.” (Gallup, November 2023)

     

    Companies that actively engage employees have customer loyalty rates 233% higher.” (Aberdeen group, 2015)

    https://www.verint.com/Assets/resources/resource-types/white-papers/aberdeen-employee-engagement-paving-the-way-to-happy-customers.pdf

     

    5% increase in employee engagement can lead to a 3% jump in revenue.” (AON, 2015)  5% increase in employee engagement can lead to a 3% jump in revenue.” (IN, 2015)

     

    Doubtful that I need to add anything further to answer this question as the quotes above do this vividly. I hope that by joining the dots and making genuine appreciation a regular occurrence and making a habit of giving gratitude that you and your organisation will discover and see the list of positive benefits for both the individual and the organisation when you make “An attitude of gratitude” common place.

     

     

    References:

    https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-10-24-happy-workers-are-13-more-productive

     

    https://www.oak.com/blog/employee-satisfaction-stats/#:~:text=1.,employer%20as%20the%20main%20reason.

     

  • Anyone got a plan b?

    The General Election results have for the second time in recent history demonstrated the importance of having a Plan B.  What I am referring to is the Brexit vote – for most people there was little thought to the fact that Britain would vote “out” seen through comments such as “If I had known we would be out, I would have voted to stay in!”  The Conservative government at the time, also did not consider the fact that the British people would vote “out” and therefore create a Plan B, or contingency to kick in if the unspeakable happened.  Thus, the hasty resignation of David Cameron immediately afterwards and the chaos that ensued to find another Prime Minister.  Not to mention the “no man’s land” that we all seemed to feel with no leader at the helm and the potential impact that had on business both nationally and internationally.

    Again in the recent election results, there was no thought to the fact that the Conservatives would not win.  How can any leader be so confident, or we might say egotistical?  In this blog I am not advocating any particular party preference or view.   It is strange however that on both occasions, not too far apart from each other, it is the Conservative leadership who have fallen into the same trap of not expecting the unexpected.

    Where was Plan B?  In other words why, in both cases was there no apparent discussion on the possibility of the vote going in the opposite direction to firstly the planned goal and secondly the desires of the leadership party?   Effective leadership is certainly about driving towards a specific goal by inspiring and motivating those that are responsible for making it happen, but we should never be so overly confident as to not ask the question “What if…..” and have a plan B for that eventuality.

    Most leaders are motivated to avoid failing, because firstly we plan to succeed, but secondly we need to manage the emotions of disappointment and self shame which often turns to self anger and self-beratement when we realize that we did not achieve that goal, and therefore are imperfect, and consequently everyone else suffers in the same manner.  OK, we had no Plan B.  Now what?

    Failure is an opportunity.  In a crisis many leaders want to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders – “I got us into this mess, I will get us out”  (Theresa May) when actually the way forward is to work with your team with humility and collaboration to find a new way forward and to learn from the experience.  Failure helps to re-visit and re-define priorities.  This might mean giving up the original goal or re-defining the goal and then moving forward.

    Columbus was looking for India, Alexander Graham Bell was trying to invent a hearing aid, and Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was planning to sell his chicken recipe to restaurants.  Often what we are planning to happen leads us to something very different.

    Plan B is not only for large scale situations, such as running a country, but for smaller situations where the impact of if it goes wrong carries high risk on business operations – the server crashes, your main supplier goes bankrupt, your tanker transporting goods damages it’s hull etc.  Whilst it might not be the most sexy task, it does help provide calmness in the ensuing chaos, focus, and ultimately a framework and goals to continue to exercise effective leadership.

    Sir Ernest Shackleton, The Great Antartic Explorer and his men survived the wreck of their ship “Endurance” coming home in good health and good spirits all because of Shackleton’s leadership.  He later wrote “The disaster had been looming ahead for many months, and I had studied my plans for all contingencies a hundred times.  The task ahead was likely to be long and strenuous, and an ordered mind and clear program were essential if we were to come through without loss of life.”  (Shackleton’s Way, Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell)

    Perhaps its time for us all to take a leaf out of Shackleton’s book and ensure when the risk is high to our operations that we have a Plan B?

  • Are Bots Really The Best Option?

    With the ever-advancing fast pace of technology, more and more customer support functions are being taken over by bots.

    WHAT IS A BOT?

    As defined by www.Techterms.com, “A internet bot, also known as web robot, www robot or simply bot, is a software application that runs automated tasks (scripts) over the Internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone.” 

    There are many types of bot, the most common being Web Crawlers, Chat Room Bots, and Malicious Bots.

    Bots are becoming ever more popular for small and large businesses alike. While they have some clear benefits, do they really outweigh the negatives?

    Do bots provide the best customer service?DO BOTS PROVIDE THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE?

    Why do we think that a robot can do the job of a person in areas of customer interaction?

    Perhaps I am the dinosaur here?   The impact of using a bot in place of a human has some advantages certainly, but also many glitches, not to mention inabilities.

    A bot cannot answer anything that is non standard.  In my experience there are few customers that want to be classed as “standard”.  Certainly, there are questions that customers ask that are common to many customers and these can easily be handled via search or frequent questions on the same web page.

    However, non-standard questions, which for me seem to be the norm, cannot be addressed by a programmed robot.  In fact, what ends up happening is a deep frustration on the part of the customer who spends a great deal of time chatting with Philip, the bot, who is chatting to lots of other customers at the same time.

    Ultimately, you find ‘Philip’ either gives you an unsatisfactory answer that does not address the question because he does not understand it in the first place, or you stop the chat out of shear frustration due to slowness of response. 

    THE POSSIBLE IMPACTS

    Has anyone stopped to assess the impact of these so-called improved steps on:

    • Customer satisfaction?
    • Loss of customers due to lack of human contact?
    • Whether or not the customer’s issue was addressed?
    • Whether or not the customer’s issue was resolved?

    It seems to me that evaluation of the use of a bot is done from a cost effective position only.  However, I will be glad to stand corrected on this point.

    What drives a company to use bots?WHAT DRIVES A COMPANY TO USE BOTS?

    Bots are becoming ever more popular for small and large businesses alike. While they have some clear benefits, do they really outweigh the negatives?

    Asking the question in another way – Why do company’s wish to avoid or be uncontactable by its customers? There are several answers that I can think of:

    • Companies want to avoid a training cost that is inevitable to ensure excellent customer service.
    • Companies don’t want to invest in hiring and training management who lead the support team.
    • The operators, support team etc. are afraid of customers’ questions because firstly perhaps they do not know the answers to the questions asked and secondly do not know how to get the answers.
    • The companies believe their own product and service to be perfect and therefore there is no reason for customers to contact us.
    • The customer is not a priority or important, therefore why have personnel to provide a service to the customer.

    There are probably many more answers to this question.  However, just looking at these possibilities is both scary and thought provoking at the same time. 

    CUSTOMER SERVICE BUILDS LOYALTY

    Is it just me who wants to talk to a person because I believe in the human ability to solve the issue they are faced with, and if not able to, can at least share some empathy to your dilemma or difficulty?

    Perhaps I need to think differently about customer service and how I work with my customers to train team members – team leads, managers and leaders to inspire and drive excellent service in their teams. This is both enjoyable and essential to building customer loyalty and therefore business sustainability.

    ARE WE LOWERING OUR EXPECTATIONS?

    My expectations of banks, airlines, suppliers, shops and similar businesses, is one of excellence; of genuine interest in the client and customer base. I also expect these businesses to have the ability to communicate effectively, irrelevant of the issue, and have the desire to resolve the issue, provide the answers and ensure that the customer is overall satisfied.

    Are we really expected to accept mediocrity because a bot can only do what a bot is programmed to do? In other words a bot can only deal with issues that fall within the area of bot-expertise.  On either side of this expertise it is necessary to have human skills.

    Bots are becoming ever more popular for small and large businesses alike. While they have some clear benefits, do they really outweigh the negatives?

    Are we lowering our expectations?

    THE BENEFITS OF HUMAN CUSTOMER SERVICE

    In drawing a parallel to the current level of bot-expertise, you can say that humans have the same issue if untrained.  In any event, a human can respond and express empathy, respond at a normal pace of conversation and through human logic and expertise suggest a suitable way forward.  A human customer service expert can also be proud of what they do, how they do it and of the company that they work for.

     

    Rachel ShackletonRachel Shackleton is an entrepreneur who owns and manages Green Key Personal Development and Green Key Health. Working with local and multinational organisations, she is a public speaker and trainer in the spheres of leadership, communication and customer excellence. She ensures sustainable productivity and profitability through healthy self-management and leadership practices, ensuring a focused and successful workforce.