Guest Article: Are you 'touching base' ... and pouring your credibility down the toilet? by Ross Clennett

Is it possible to come up with a more clichéd reason to call a client or prospect than 'I'm just touching base'? I cringe if I ever hear a recruiter say that hackneyed phrase. They may as well just say 'I can't be bothered thinking too hard about what I should say but I hope you will talk to me'. It's the ultimate in recruiter laziness. And it's just as prevalent now as it ever was. No
Article source:Ross Clennett - Are you 'touching base' ... and pouring your credibility down the toilet?»

Check out more of Ross Clennett's work at hisblog

You have to be kind to be kind – Employee wellbeing through the Holidays

The old saying “you have to be cruel to be kind” may not be the best advice around the holiday period. Research has found that employee stress and depression levels increase over the Christmas and New Year period. While we understand that giving everyone leave over this time is not always an option, there are ways in which you can support an employee’s wellbeing throughout the festive season. 

During Christmas, it is not uncommon to experience financial pressures from debts, gifts and celebrations; family pressures due to hosting or attending gatherings (or a lack thereof). To add to the mounting social pressures, work pressures accumulate as New Year deadlines approach.
The mental health (and general wellbeing) of you and your team is vital to ensure you are able to contribute creatively and productively, and avoid droning on to get through difficult times where your efforts and output (and let’s not forget satisfaction) may suffer. 

Here are 3 tips to motivate you and your team to safeguard general mental health at this time of year:

1. Keep an eye out for red flags
While it is normal to experience a degree of pressure and frustration at this time of year, it’s important to note when this may become a larger problem for some employees. If a colleague (or yourself) appears sleep deprived, aggressive, anti-social, or negative, or may just appear down, this may be a sign that the stress they are experiencing is at an unreasonable level.  

If you see someone acting out of character for a long period of time, let them know you’ve noticed their behaviour is different and ask them how things are going. Be prepared to hear the response when you ask someone if they are ‘OK’, whether their response is positive or negative. They do not expect you to be able to fix their problems; all you need to do is listen as often people just need to talk something through. 

2. A little empathy or gratitude goes a long way
It cannot be overstated – a simple word of appreciation or understanding can motivate and encourage anyone. You don’t need to organise an elaborate event to thank work colleagues, as genuine personal encouragement can be enough to brighten their day or change their perspective. Go beyond sending an email - genuine communications are best done face-to-face; or, if you are competing with different locations, then a phone call is appropriate. 

3. If possible, review workloads
Stress occurs when our demands exceed our resources. Quite simply, staff may not have enough time or the resources to get the job done to the required standard. Pay close attention to whether work is being completed late or to a reduced standard than normal. Issues such as these may occur due to under-staffing and over-loading rather than a lack of enthusiasm or competence. Communicate these concerns with employees and investigate the cause of any issues. A good analysis to establish the root-cause of an issue is asking “why” 5 times to a response.

While Christmas is a stressful time of year for many, effective management through communicating with and supporting those around you can have a snowball effective to put the peace, love and joy (and the employee productivity and satisfaction) back into the festive season! 

Guest Article: Mastering Leadership – A Roadmap for Personal Transformation by Jennifer Miller

Few would argue that “leadership effectiveness” is one of the most important elements of business success. Yet, how many leaders in their organizations make their own leadership development a top priority? Even fewer set out to make a monumental personal transformation along the way.

Yet that just what’s needed in today’s complex work world: leaders willing to look inside themselves to initiate a personal transformation. This deep work on one’s “inner game” will create leaders who can navigate the complexity and volatility of the business environment—and do so with compassion, courage and character.

An ambitious new management book aims to help those willing to partake in self-reflection towards personal mastery. Drawing on seminal works in psychology, human development,  management theory and more, Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results creates a roadmap for the ambitious journey of personal development.

Authors Bob Anderson and Bill Adams write that Mastering Leadership is “two books in one.” The first half is written for executives and lays out the business case for the intense personal reflection the authors describe in the second half of the book. In Part One, Anderson and Adams define their “Universal Model of Leadership” which is the frame for the remainder of the book. Part Two of the book explores the varying theories that comprise their leadership model. There is also detailed explanation of what they call their “Leadership System”, which includes “The Leadership Circle” 360-degree assessment.

It’s a very comprehensive model and one that’s best left to those very familiar with it to describe. Thankfully, Anderson and Adams’ team have put together an excellent video overview. You can watch it here.

At over 300 pages, Mastering Leadership is not a quick read. And that’s OK with Bob Anderson. When I interviewed Anderson in advance of the book’s publication, he told me that he and Adams want their book to “advance the field and shift the way we approach developing [leaders]” in much the same way that Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline did in the 1990’s. Speaking of Senge’s work, you will find him and many other thought leaders such as Peter Block, Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey credited within the pages. Anderson and Adams say much of their leadership model was inspired by these thought leaders. What’s different about Mastering Leadership is that the framework takes the best theories in leadership, organizational development, and psychology and integrates them all into one model for leadership development.

Who should read this book? The authors say that the book is for “CEOs and senior leaders who know that leadership effectiveness drive organizational performance and there must be a better and faster way to develop effective leaders.” I would add that these leaders must also be willing to take a long, hard look at themselves, because this is where Anderson’s and Adams’ model starts. “At its core,” Anderson told me, “this book is an invitation to take [one’s] inner game more seriously.” There are no quick fixes here; executives seeking to use the concepts in this book must be ready to examine their own beliefs the ways in which they contribute to the dysfunction of their team.

This book will also be extremely helpful for practitioners and coaches in the organizational development field. Again, a caveat: for the concepts in this book to be truly effective, managers in the senior-most levels of the organization must be willing to participate. Otherwise, it will be a mostly academic exercise for the reader.

This is a well-written book with the power to change lives. And I’m not speaking hyperbolically. Here’s my proof source: in 2003, before Bob Anderson met Bill Adams, Bob created the basis for this leadership development model. It was called the “The Leadership Circle.” At that time, I used The Leadership Circle in a leadership development program for a nationally known insurance agency. Participants who used the coaching and the 360-degree assessment routinely called the experience “life changing.” It’s been over a decade since I’ve had the privilege of working with Bob Anderson and it’s a pleasure to see that his incredible work has been pulled together in a book that can be shared with so many more people.

Disclosure: I received an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I receive a small commission. I only review materials that I think will be useful to my readers. Of course, you should draw your own conclusions and decide for yourself what is valuable.

Article source:Jennifer Miller - Mastering Leadership – A Roadmap for Personal Transformation»

Guest Article: Teach or Stop Leading by Jay Kuhns, SPHR

"No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it."
- Peter Drucker

Expectations
The leadership lens I use to see the world often tricks me. I am accustomed to talking about leadership behavior, leadership style, leadership savvy, and perhaps most important of all...leadership presence.

I expect myself, and other leaders (including new ones), to perform at a high level. Candidly, that's not entirely fair. But then again...it's not about being fair. Leadership is about doing the hard work...making the difficult decisions...and being both strong enough and humble enough to deliver your words with confidence.

Opportunity
When we see new leaders struggling to establish their executive presence what do we do? Are we quick to criticize to justify our own shortcomings?

When we see early careerists trying to contribute and they fail mightily what do we do? Are we quick to admonish and embarrass to justify our own authority and power?

When we see an experienced leader who has clearly lost touch with how the world works what do we do? Are we quick to write them off as old school and no longer valuable despite their years of experience?

We have an opportunity to teach them. We need to demonstrate what it means to be effective today. We need to use questions to help them understand without sounding arrogant. 

We need to know what we're talking about before we teach them.

How About You
When do you intervene to support a colleague? Is it to provide constructive criticism; or, is it something more? Think about a time when one of your role models supported you. It was powerful wasn't it?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Article source:Jay Kuhns, SPHR - Teach or Stop Leading»

Check out more of Jay Kuhns' work at No Excuses HR

Guest Article: How Gaming Builds a Social Culture by Ben

A few weeks ago, one of my good friends was tapping away at his phone, and I asked him what he was up to. He told me that he was playing this “Clash of Clans” game online.

During my college days, I played games regularly. I enjoyed it, and it was a great way to pass the time. Now that I have kids I don’t have much time for games anymore, so I started to dismiss it. Then he said something that struck me. He was playing on a team with some of his peers from work.

After digging deeper into the story, I knew I wanted to share about it. Not just because I still have a fondness for games, but because this has some interesting impacts on the workplace as well.

Growing Up

One of my best memories growing up is playing games with my family: board games, word games, and all kinds of others. One of my absolute favorites is still Scattergories, in case you were curious. And when I think about those games I don’t think about which ones I won or lost. I think about the way I felt playing together and feeling like I was part of something special.

I will never forget playing an especially loud and crazy round of Catch Phrase years ago with family and friends. The purpose of the game is to give clues so that your partner/team can guess the secret word/phrase. We had wracked up quite a few points, and the other team looked at us and said, “It’s like you guys have your own language.”

I’ve never forgotten that, or the significance of it. It’s the same as having a unique culture. The way you talk, the things you say, the actions you take–they all are based on common knowledge and beliefs.

Funny aside: while writing this it reminded me of this scene from Four Christmases where they play a board game similar to Catch Phrase. 

Games at Work

Back to the original point: games can help to develop a culture that is uniquely social and collaborative. The company where my friend works has a “clan” or group of players, and each can invite other coworkers or family members to join the team. Even though some have left and moved to other jobs elsewhere, they remain tied to the group through the game and interact regularly.

I see games being used quite a bit in some of the case studies I publish at work. Companies use gaming and simulation elements to drive training goals. They also use gamification elements to help keep up social recognition and other interactive initiatives. There’s a reason why this industry is growing faster than ever before. It’s because they work!

Companies are seeing amazing results through the use of this new technology and worldview. Using games and gaming elements to keep employees engaged in their work can pay off in the long run.

Before I left my last company, one of the monthly social events I was putting together was a gaming tournament based on old Atari games, such as Pac-Man, Galaga, and Asteroids. I knew that our software, systems, and electrical engineers would be interested, even if they didn’t typically come to other orchestrated “social” events within the company.

So, while you might not rush out to get all of your employees hooked on the latest online game, think about how you can develop some camaraderie and trust among your staff with games. Just don’t pull out Monopoly. I can’t think of a way that ends well. :-)

Article source:Ben - How Gaming Builds a Social Culture»

Check out more of Ben Uebanks' work at Upstart HR

Guest Article: Want to Land that Job? Pay Attention to the “Big 4” of Hiring by Jennifer Miller

I’m a sponsored blog partner with Spherion (a staffing and recruiting organization) and am participating in the release of findings from Spherion’s Emerging Workforce® Study (“EWS.”)  All opinions are mine.

Want to find a new job? You probably figure that prospective employers place a heavy emphasis on your current job to decide if they want to hire you. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. Spherion’s Emerging Workforce Study uncovered this startling fact: less than ten percent of employers think your current employment status is an important factor in hiring decisions.

What are the things that influence whether or not a company hires you? According to the EWS, the following factors are important to employers:

Interview performance- 33%

Cultural fit in the organization- 33%

Resume- 13%

Personality assessment results- 9%

Resume writing is a topic unto itself, so let’s break down the other three factors.

Interview performance. No surprise here. Interviews are your way of “auditioning” for the company. If you clam up when on a job interview, you’re virtually guaranteed to get a pass from a company. In my experience, people simply don’t prepare enough for their interviews. They invest lots of time looking the part by deciding what to wear, but not nearly enough in crafting their interview responses. The single best thing you can do is learn about the behavioral interview process. Even if the interviewer doesn’t use this technique, if you prepare with this style of interview in mind, your answers will be well-thought-out and you’ll still be able to use them.

Cultural fit. When interviewers looks for “cultural fit,” essentially they want to know: how well will you fit in with “the way we do things around here”?  Again, doing your homework pays off. What is this company’s culture? Is it free-wheeling and dynamic? Serious and procedurally oriented? When you interview, give examples that showcase how your personal style matches that of the company’s predominant culture. Here’s the thing about culture: you either “fit” or you don’t. Yes, you’re being judged, no way around it. But I always advise people that being a square peg in a round hole is very uncomfortable. No matter how great the actual job is, if you’re not comfortable operating within the company’s vibe, it’s not going to work out for the long run. Better to figure that out during the interview and then move on if there’s not a fit.

Personality assessment. Your personality is uniquely you. It’s the summation of your values, your life experiences and the distinctive wiring that you were born with. There’s very little you can do (if anything) to change your personality. And why should you? A personality assessment that’s specifically designed for the hiring process can help companies decided if there’s a good “fit” with both the job you’re being hired to do and the organizational culture. In that way, they’re a helpful interviewing tool. Unfortunately, as a practitioner who has used assessments extensively for the past 25 years for professional development, I’ve also seen assessments misused in the hiring process. My best advice is don’t try to game the assessment. In most cases, you can’t and your results will be deemed inconclusive. And even if you could skew the results, why bother? You’re just telling the company a lie—and one that soon enough will come to light once you start in your new job.

What you’re doing now in your current role matters less than you might think for your job search. Pay attention to the “big four” of hiring—resume, interviewing, cultural fit and personality assessment—and you’ll make a great strides in landing your next great job assignment.

 

 

About the Emerging Workforce Study: For more than 18 years, Spherion has examined the issues and trends impacting employment and the workforce. This year, Spherion’s “Emerging Workforce Study” was conducted between March and April of 2015 by Harris Poll, a Nielsen company. The study polled over 2,000 workers and 225 human resource managers on their opinions and attitudes regarding important workplace topics such as employee engagement, job satisfaction, generational differences and work/life balance. One of the study’s goals was to look for indicators for what the workplace will become. As the perspectives and attitudes of the workforce evolve, employers must better understand employees for greater business success.

You can also follow Spherion on Twitter (hashtag #EWS2014) or join them on Facebook.

Disclosure: Spherion partnered with bloggers (like yours truly) for their Emerging Workforce Study program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. I was free to form my own opinions about the data supplied by Spherion and all opinions are my own. Spherion’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
Photo credit – copyright: racorn / 123RF Stock Photo

Article source:Jennifer Miller - Want to Land that Job? Pay Attention to the “Big 4” of Hiring»

Guest Article: The Many Benefits of Gratitude by Jennifer Miller

What are you grateful for? Our national holiday of Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so naturally, gratitude is on my mind. I was curious about the tangible benefits of gratitude. Can the act of being grateful have mental benefits? What about physical benefits? Turns out that yes, giving thanks provides more than just a temporary “feel good” state. Here’s what I discovered:

Gratitude improves your sleep, mental health and ability to make friends.

Managers who say “thank you” help increase their employees’ motivation to work harder.  

Teens who are grateful have better overall mental health and higher grade point averages.

Gratitude during times of tragedy can help you manage the stressful event.

People who say they’re typically the “grateful” type also report better health factors such as lower cholesterol, blood pressure and risk of depression.

Clearly, gratitude is an emotional state that reaps many benefits. Even though the focus is on gratitude this week, see if you can make it a daily habit—all year long—for maximum effectiveness in your personal and professional life.

 
Image credit: pixelsaway / 123RF Stock Photo

Article source:Jennifer Miller - The Many Benefits of Gratitude»