Category: management

The future of learning and development?
The days are numbered for sheep-dip, classroom-based training courses, chosen by the L&D team, and often forgotten by the following week.

Well, maybe not numbered, but the recent CIPD/ Towards Maturity report – Driving Performance and Productivity provides evidence that companies relying on old-fashioned models of learning and development are being outstripped by those embracing a learning approach that is more collaborative, multi-channel, integrated and accountable.

The report’s message is that the top 10% of companies, for performance and productivity, are benefiting from using these modern methods – sometimes 3 times as much as the average, and massively above those in the lowest 25%.

Here’s a few key findings:
- 76% of the ‘Top Deck’ (highest performing 10%) are confident in incorporating the use of new media in learning design (33% average, 14% bottom quartile)
- 62% routinely collect information on the extent to which learning points have been understood (30% average, 5% bottom quartile)
- 71% collect information from learners on the extent to which learning points have been applied at work (24% average, 2% bottom quartile)
- 73% involve learners in the design of the most appropriate learning solution (25% average, 1% bottom quartile)
So the challenge to L&D teams is – how can you harness these approaches so that your company benefits? How can you incorporate these ideas into your strategies, and how to shift the culture towards collaboration, individual accountability for learning, and greater integration into strategic and operational needs?

The report provides compelling ROI evidence that I’m sure will help those arguing for greater resources or the input from colleagues. But the important takeaway for me is the change management and strategic thinking that will be required to embed these ideas. It is about changing the perception of learning and development from a top-down obligation to a more bottom-up opportunity to thrive.

Eszter Molnar Mills is a strength-based leadership and organisation development specialist and founder of Formium Development. She helps organisations and individuals reach enhanced performance by reflecting on what works, and developing skills and strategies for improvement. Eszter leads our learning partnership work; contact us to discuss how we can support your learning and development strategy.
21st May 2018
7 questions for impactful leadership

Review of the Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Your team sometimes just need a bit of support to shine. You can provide this support through changing your leadership approach to coaching.

Helping people to find their own solutions is more impactful than giving advice, providing rules or direction. You can coach anytime, anywhere, and with the 7 simple questions that Michael Bungay Stanier suggests for supporting your team, your session will be both easy and effective.

The Coaching Habit is a lean, inspiring and practical book. In the first few chapters you can learn about habit building and change in order to make the move from the directive habit of a lifetime. The book then outlines the benefits of coaching before you get the tools, the questions and ways of putting them into practice.

The following seven chapters are about the seven essential question you should ask in order to help your colleague to identify and solve their own difficulties. Bungay Stanier added exercises between the questions to help leaders master asking them effectively.

Michael Bungay Stanier’s book is a practical, engaging read encouraging immediate application. It is packed with useful resources and exercises, and should have a place on every leaders’ bookshelf.

We had the privilege of interviewing Michael on the coaching habit, so you can also hear him talk about the habit changing process and how to do more great work.

The Coaching Habit is available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

7th September 2016
Impactful women leaders

Worldwide, at the lower levels of organisations over half of the staff members are female but if you look higher the number of women shrinks. Therefore, we’d like to share with you list of 5 impactful leaders who just happen to be female.

Sheryl Sandberg – The COO of Facebook and founder of the Lean In Foundation. The non-profit organisation is part of a movement to develop a more equal world – as detailed in her book, Lean In – and supports women in the workplace and through empowerment groups.
Ann Francke – Author of the FT Guide to Management and CEO of the Chartered Management Institute, a non-profit organisation aiming to create better led and managed organisations, through creating more qualified managers and establishing management as a true profession.
Meg Whitman – Business executive, currently the President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and also the Chairwoman of HP Inc. A former manager at Disney and Hasbro, she is still best known for leading the online auction site, eBay.
Tamara Box – The chair of the Financial Industry Group and the head of Structured Finance at Reed Smith, and worldwide acknowledged expert in strategic financial advice. Tamara is passionate about engaging millennials and women in the professional world. Also, she is one of our autumn interviewees.
Carolyn McCall – The CEO of EasyJet is one of the business leaders who has been asked to join the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group – the body that advises the PM and the Government on business difficulties.

24th August 2016
Where does the courage come in?

I fairly recently went to an event on Women’s Leadership Careers organised by the Chartered Management Institute’s (CMI) Women in Management (WiM) Network. The keynoter was none other than CMI’s CEO Ann Francke, an remarkably dynamic and engaging speaker.

Ann shared her wealth of knowledge and experience about progressing in the ranks of organisations as a female member of staff. Among the many things she referred to was the 3 C’s: Competence, Confidence and Connections – the important components in order to get noticed and to ensure your mark in your field. She recommends keeping a list of your competencies and your accomplishments. Have confidence in yourself – avoid the tiara syndrome, i.e. waiting for someone to notice you, and the sorry skirts, connoting apologising for yourself. And the ever important C – connections – reach out to people. Look for colleagues and managers who can guide you, advise you and “sponsor” you.

As I was taking all this in, words of Sir Winston Churchill rang so true: “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities . . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” I add ‘courage’ as the 4th C to Ann’s list.

Courage could be the stepping stone to acknowledging your competencies, to speak up to the person at the office, who you want to connect with. And the courage to leave when you know something is not working – it could be a job that does not nurture your capacities, a relationship that does not support you in achieving your targets. It takes courage to review a past project and to be honest with yourself about what went great and what could have been done better.

It requires courage to lead a team, to disband a team and to implement change when it is needed. However, courage is not about being abrasive. It is very much about being gently assertive with yourself and taking that one extra step – making your competencies list or drawing on your confidence to connect with a colleague. After all, Churchill also purported that “courage is what it requires to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Reetu Kansal

27th July 2016
Celebrating women in leadership

Against the backdrop of Theresa May taking office as the UK’s second ever female Prime Minister and Hillary Clinton potentially becoming the first female President, women at work are still paid significantly less than men and there are fewer of them the higher up the management ranks you look.

Yet there are some shining examples of women at the helm of corporations, their own companies and communities.

As an increasing number of female leaders find their way to the top of organisations and find their voice, one thing is clear: enabling women in leadership benefits all.

It is not a binary or a win-lose issue. Female leaders do not succeed against their male counterparts, they succeed alongside them and with men. Women’s progression benefits all, including male employees as gender balanced organisations are more inclusive, better places to work as well as being more successful.

I also strongly feel that the way forward for women is not be more like men, but to add a different, complementary voice to the conversation. Where everyone is emboldened to be his or her authentic best self, the organisation truly benefits from culmination of all talents within. Over the coming weeks, we will showcase some exceptional female leaders on this blog. You can also access the Women in Leadership issue of People & Purpose the Positive Leadership Journal: http://peopleandpurposejournal.com/issues

13th July 2016
The best LinkedIn Influencers

LinkedIn is the most known professional social networking platform; it encourages the world’s leading thinkers and innovators to be Influencers. As “leaders in their industries and geographies”, they explore news and trending topics. We recommend to follow these 7:

Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management resource, and its CEO is an excellent Influencer to follow. He often publishes interesting and colourful pieces on leadership, management, success, career and other topics.

Gretchen Rubin
A best-selling author who also has a fantastic podcast on habits and happiness. In her various posts on LinkedIn, she gives tips, tricks and ideas to shape habits and ‘boost the happy factor’.

Daniel Goleman
Psychologist, prize-winning author and science journalist, he regularly posts insightful writings on the topics of emotional intelligence and leadership; on how to be a more effective leader and self-aware.

Bernard Marr
Best-selling author, keynote speaker and leading business and data expert, Marr publishes posts mostly on leadership and Big Data. He reflects on popular topics and connects them with his fields of expertise; who knew that Big Data and Valentine’s day can work together in a post.

Jeff Haden
Business and leadership ghost-writer, speaker, contributing editor at Inc. Magazine. He publishes pieces on hiring, success, leadership and various business topics.

Liz Ryan, CEO of Human Workplace
The founder and CEO of the publishing, career coaching and consulting firm has an engaging and inspiring writing style. Ryan writes about job hunting, toxic workplaces, careers and much more.

Bruce Kasanoff
The career coach and social media ghost-writer posts about how can people achieve success, how to be a great leader and bring out the strengths of our people, how to find talent and more. His articles are not only interesting but humorous too.

Who influences you the most on LinkedIn?

Tweet us at @FormiumLtd

29th June 2016
Doing good, doing business

Social enterprise is a dynamic and also motivating way to do business, it’s an interesting and fast growing sector, a movement not only in the UK but around the globe.

Social enterprises are businesses trading to address social problems, improve communities, people’s quality of life or the environment. It seems the same as charity work but it is different. These organisations make and do things to make profits like every other business, but they are reinvesting their profits to make even more good. They do this in various ways: reinvesting in community projects, providing services for people who otherwise might not get them, or creating jobs for people who would otherwise be left out from work. That’s what Unseen Tours did, does and will do.

Unseen Tours is a prize-winning, not-for-profit social enterprise in London. Presently, they offer 6 alternative sightseeing tours through the capital’s most vibrant and exciting neighbourhoods- Brick Lane, Brixton, Camden, Covent Garden, London Bridge and Shoreditch-, led by homeless and previously homeless guides.

“We never wanted to be a charity, we wanted to make profit and reinvest that money, that’s why we are a social enterprise.”– says Faye Shields, the director.
Everything started in 2010 as a project by Sock Mob Events, an informal volunteer network– so called simply because through regular weekly walks these people offered socks, food and friendship for men and women living on the streets of London.

Their guides earn a living through the tours. They directly get 60% of the ticket sales. And what about the other 40%? It’s also reinvested, out of that 40% the guides also receive their travel and mobile top-ups every month and the remainder is used for essential operational costs. Any profit Unseen Tours makes is directly reinvested into the enterprise to engage more guides and widen the scope of the tours.

People are needed to run an organisation. The team that works behind the scenes of the successful social enterprise is formed of volunteers. They fit volunteering around their full-time job responsibilities to help making Unseen Tour a success.

The enterprise works like a real organisation; they have a director, the different tours have coordinators, they even have a person to manage their social media.
Unseen Tours offers a one-of-a-kind experience of London and unique insight into the capital’s life whilst giving visibility and voice to people who often feel unseen and unheard.

Unseen Tours is a social enterprise with great purpose– to change perceptions of the homeless and to provide an income to individuals who might otherwise be excluded from work. They are doing good but also business. With their business strategy, so far they have helped 20 homeless or formerly homeless people back on their feet.

To find out more about Unseen Tours and to book a tour visit their website here. Take part and win prizes in their newest campaign, share your unseen story with #MyUnseenStory on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

1st June 2016
5 of the Best … Quotes on strengths

Formium Development team believe in a strength-based leadership approach. Leaders should concentrate on developing strengths instead of fixing weaknesses. Practicing a positive approach will likely help you and your organisation to become a lot more authentic and also more effective. Read our most-liked quotes on strengths:

What’s your favourite quote on strengths? Share with the online community in the comment section, or tweet us your favourite quote @FormiumLtd!

4th May 2016
Ensure that people know what is expected of them

When I talk to managers and leaders, the theme of high performance is a frequent topic of conversation. We can all agree that being an excellent organisation and delivering exceptional products or services are very important, but does everyone we work with know what we actually mean by excellence in the day-to-day?

6 methods to set obvious expectations for high performance
Too often, managers seem to lead through mental telepathy. Without clearly communicated expectations– in terms of standards or the milestones against which we analyze our progress – team members may not know what to do and how to do it. This can result in uncertainty, undermining effective teamwork, initiative and productivity.
Properly setting expectations for employees or team members is a critical dimension in quality workplaces, according to a large research of managers undertaken in the 1990s by The Gallup Organization. Underneath are a few ideas on setting clear expectations that will set standards for excellence and outcomes.
1. Begin with creating a compelling goal. Describe and explain what you want the end result to look like. Not just what you want done, but the purpose and the results you want to achieve when the project is finished and the responsibility of everyone in its achievement. People want to know that their job, whether large or small, makes a difference.
2. Talk about what you mean by “excellent performance”. This step is needed to make the vision ‘actionable’ and translate it into tangible performance measures. Set metrics where possible, paint a complete picture of the requirements you are expecting. Refer to your performance review form or competency framework for behavioural standards.
3. Concentrate on the required outcomes, instead of on the exact steps you want your people to take. Think of this as coaching rather than controlling. Encouraging your people to design their own way of delivering positive outcomes allows each team member to use their strengths to their fullest potential.
4. Provide regular feedback. The yearly appraisal or performance review is insufficient and often too late to let staff members know how and whether they are meeting your expectations. Give feedback along the road: define the context, refer to the vision and give your reasons for the feedback. Next plan for a way forward, ask for more or less of what you observed. Take a coaching, rather than disciplinarian approach. The more two-way communication, the greater the clarity around the expectations.
5. Give positive encouragement. Until you are particularly experienced at giving feedback, don’t use the ‘sandwich’ of positive– constructive– positive comments. As Ken Blanchard suggest in One Minute Manager, catch employees doing things right and you’ll get even more of it.
6. Give people the flexibility to perform well. As soon as the expectations are clear get out of the way and let people to meet them. Having set clear standards, milestones or due dates, every member of your team will have the ability to track their own progress, check whether they are meeting the milestones and behavioural standards. This approach also allow individuals be accountable for delivering their own work, so that they can course correct where needed or stay on track to make their full contribution.

To find out more about Positive Leadership view our webinar.

26th April 2016
Strength-based Recruitment

Capp founder Alex Linley defines a strength as ‘‘something that you do well and enjoy doing. When using a strength, people feel authentic and energised as they deliver successful performance.’’

We asked Gurpal Minhas, Head of Customer Solutions at Capp & Co Ltd (www.capp.co) , to explain strength-based hiring. Capp work with a range of UK and multinational corporations across the FMCG sector to banking, helping them hire for what applicants are great at doing alongsidewhere their energy passion and motivation lies.

In contrast to traditional competency-based selection, a strength-based approach allows companies to focus on more than just what candidates have previously done or on their competencies, and to consider their potential, engagement and energy. Minhas outlines the business benefits as shorter time to competence, improved engagement, improved performance and reduced attrition. On an individual level, employees are more engaged, and “there’s an increased level of self-esteem because they’re able to work on things that they enjoy and do well.” – he adds.

A strength-based approaches are also shown to create a level playing field between applicants with different social or cultural backgrounds, to improve the employer brand and to attract better-matched candidates.

The process starts with a Success Analysis. The Success Analysis identifies what the best people currently do in that particular role within the organisation. It also considers what the future of the job entails, for instance, how it will look in 2020 or 2025. The requirements are established through stakeholder interviews, focus groups and a review of the existing job description. Where a company has a competency framework, assessments using the competency framework and the strengths framework can be jointly applied. “That’s where that makes a big difference because you continue to be able to use existing language in the organisation, but you’re getting a lot more specific to what you’re looking for” adds Minhas.

The Sucs Analysist establishes a number of core strengths and potentially some role-specific strengths, such as ‘relationship manager’ or ‘Technofinity’ – all of which will be used in attracting and selecting the best candidates, based on a balance of performance, energy and use.

Candidates are assessed against the required strengths through assessment centres, the Situational Strengths Tests and Strength-based Interviews. “A strength-based interview is quite different from competency-based interviews in the fact that assessors are not probing candidates and likewise applicants can’t necessarily prepare for the questions. We may ask 12 questions in 45 minutes, whereas in a competency interview we might ask 6 questions in half an hour. The questions are shorter and significantly more varied. Candidates are having to share a bit more depth about what they do and how they approach tasks. We ask about how you feel about working on tasks- something that with a standard competency response, you can’t necessarily answer,.” explained Gurpal.

When using strength-based interviews, 74% of assessors felt they could better distinguish between low, average and high performers and 85% of candidates agreed the strength-based interview allowed them to show who they really were. In particular Generation Y and Generation Z candidates are eager to learn about themselves, gain more self-insight and feel recognised as individuals. Working in partnership with EY, Capp found in a representative sample of over 1000 students, 65% of graduates would select a job that would allow them to use their strengths rather than a role that paid them a higher salary.

Ultimately strength-based recruitment allows the selection of employees who are naturally, authentically good at the role and are energised by it, which in turn leads to better performance.

Founded in 2005, Capp have an established academic background in positive psychology and an extensive experience in the provision of strengths-based talent management solutions.

The Capp vision is “To match the world to their perfect job” – whether that’s an individual seeking a new challenge or someone growing and developing with their current employer.

You can benefit from the opportunities presented by better understanding applicants’ unique strengths by incorporating strength-based questions into your current selection practice. 9 Strengths-Based Interview Questions for you: Click Here for Your Copy

19th April 2016
Positive Change Management webinar replay

In today’s fast changing environment agility and the ability to make change effectively is a key organisational requirement. According to research many change management initiatives fail, risking employee’s resistance and change fatigue.

View this webinar recording to explore:

• The key change management mistakes to avoid
• Successful approaches to effectively leading change
• How to minimise resistance, engage and motivate your people
• Positive change management methodologies

The accompanying guide to better understanding your stakeholders – and the presentation slides – can be found here.

12th April 2016
5 of the best…influencers on Twitter

Exceptional leaders hardly ever stop learning, they know they can always improve themselves. Twitter is a great resource for thoughts, ideas and good examples. Here are just some of the top influencers that we follow and retweet on leadership skills or company culture. Check out our selection:

Through Alison Green’s Ask a Manager profile you can ask her a question like ‘this is what my boss says, what does it mean?’ Send her your questions or learn from others’ cases.

Based in London, David Shepherd tweets tweets about Human Resources, employment law, pay, benefits, the labour market, data services, b2b media, and a whole lot more.

Aadil Bandukwala is a social recruiting consultant with a history in Talent Acquisition and Social Media. Worth your while following him if you want to know everything about recruiting.

Lolly Daskal’s Twitter feed is about coaching, management, leadership, consulting. You can find truly informative posts, inspirational quotes and pictures shared by her.

Dan McCarthy , self-described leadership and management development geek. His profile has everything that has to do with leadership and management.

Who is missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below!

23rd March 2016

Category: management

Who influences you the most on LinkedIn?

Tweet us at @FormiumLtd