“But it’s not the same as the old place, is it? There just isn’t the same atmosphere.” An engineering company that I know had just moved to impressive new offices, far more spacious and stylish than the old ones. But people were complaining constantly and the employee who made the comment above certainly wasn’t alone. This was frustrating for the Head of HR and other senior leaders, who had put loads of energy into the big move. Despite everyone’s best ...
“You’d better make this investment worth our while. You’re asking us to give up the equivalent of five years of our senior leaders’ time to learn how to have better performance conversations. That’s a big ask.” I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone as sceptical as this director of an engineering firm I worked with a couple of years ago. And I certainly left that particular Board meeting with his words ringing loudly in my ears. He, along with three ...
“I’ve got to let you into a secret. I never liked the whole formal performance management thing – and it’s not just because the managers hate me for nagging them about it!” The Head of HR who made this confession isn’t unique. I’ve been there myself. As a former Head of HR & OD in the financial services and utilities sectors, I spent many hours trying to convince leaders that performance management was their responsibility – not something that ‘belonged’ ...
A few years ago, a friend of mine suffered serious stress as her marriage went through a rough patch. She couldn’t sleep and couldn’t concentrate properly. She began making mistakes at work as well. To help her get through this difficult period, she decided to give herself frequent opportunities to relax. She treated herself to spa treatments. She made a point of going out for coffee regularly with her friends. And she also joined a meditation class at her local gym ...
Nothing changed from one annual staff survey to the next. Every year, the scores around communication were low. And every year, the answer was the same, as well – put on more training for managers. By the time I got involved with this company, there was an unbelievable array of communication workshops available for the leadership. There was one on communicating by email, another on leading teams remotely, and still more on delivering staff briefings, coaching, influencing, and running team ...
A couple of months ago I was chatting to a senior leader, who was telling me how he’d managed to change his company culture. “You must have communicated well!” I told him admiringly. “Oh no,” he replied. “This wasn’t about comms. This was about getting people engaged with ideas and projects, and getting them to feel they can really influence the decisions taken at the top.” I smiled. To me, this all boils down to one thing – communication. We tend ...