People - Performance - Productivity

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-38281145-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); STEP, an acronym for “Succeeding Through Enriched People”, is dedicated to fostering human potential by providing rich training methods & avenues. http://stepconsulting.org/ Signup for updates! Email Address Your Name Your Company

[stepconsultingindia]

HR Trends of year 2014

    Introduction:

  2014: The Year of the Employee:

Attraction, Retention, and Engagement Will Really Matter

For the first time in nearly a decade, this year one will find the issues of retention, engagement, and "attraction of talent" to be top on your priority list. The Deloitte's Human Capital Trends 2014 reveals that the top two people issues facing organizations in 2014 are leadership and retention. These are the problems we face in a dynamic, growing global economy.

This year, for the first time in more than five years, employees are in charge. Companies have reduced costs, restructured, rationalized spending, and pushed people to work harder than ever. More than 60% of organizations tell us one of their top issues is dealing with "the overwhelmed employee."

This year the power will shift: high-performing employees will start to exert control. Top people with key skills (engineering, math, life sciences, and energy) will be in short supply.

While there will still be high levels of unemployment in places, generally people have changed their perspectives. They want work which is meaningful, rewarding, and enjoyable. Top performers will seek out career growth. Mid-level staff will strive for leadership development.

And we, as an HR organization, will have to compete, adapt, and innovate to stay ahead.

Top Ten Predictions for 2014

  1. Talent, skills, and capability needs become global.

In 2014 key skills will be scarce. Software engineering, energy and life sciences, mathematics and analytics, IT, and other technical skills are in short supply. And unlike prior years, this problem is no longer one of "hiring top people" or "recruiting better than your competition."

One will need to source and locate operations around the world to find the skills we need.

2. Integrated capability Development Replaces Training.

The "training department" will be renamed "capability development." Companies will find skills short and they will have to build a supply chain for talent. Partner with universities, establish apprentice programs, create developmental assignments, and focus on continuous learning. Companies that focus on continuous learning in 2014 will attract the best and build for the future.

3. Redesign of Performance Management Accelerates.

The old-fashioned performance review is slowly going out the window. In 2014 companies will aggressively redesign their appraisal and evaluation programs to focus on coaching, development, continuous goal alignment, and recognition. The days of "stacked ranking" are slowly going away in today's talent-constrained workplace, to be replaced by a focus on engaging people and helping them perform at extraordinary levels.

  4. Redefine engagement: Focus on Passion and the Holistic Work Environment.

Engagement and retention will become a top priority. But rather than focus on engagement surveys, one should now expand our horizons and look at engagement from a holistic standpoint. Work environment, management practices, benefits and recognition programs, career development, and corporate mission all contribute to engagement.

As one HR manager recently put it, "our employees are no longer looking for a career; they're looking for an experience."  Its HRs job in 2014 is to make sure that experience is rewarding, exciting, and empowering.

5. Take Talent Mobility and Career Development Seriously.

Talent mobility is with us for good: thanks to tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook people can find new jobs in a heartbeat. This means an employer needs to provide internal talent mobility and career growth in the organization. 2014 is the time to build a "facilitated talent mobility" strategy which includes open access to internal positions, employee assessment tools, interview guides, and leadership values that focus on internal development.

6. Redesign and Reskill the HR Function.

In the global Human Capital Trends research the need to "Reskill HR" was rated one of the top five challenges in every geography around the world. Why? Because HR itself is changing dramatically and we need to continuously skill our own teams to maintain our relevance and value.

Statistics show that high-performing companies invest in HR skills development, external intelligence, and specialization. In 2014 if organizations aren't reinvesting in HR, they are likely to fall behind.

7. Reinvent and Expand Focus on Talent Acquisition.

The talent acquisition market is the fastest-changing part of HR: new social recruiting, talent networks, BigData, assessment science, and recruiting platforms are being launched every month.

In 2014 organizations will need to integrate their talent acquisition teams, develop a global strategy, and expand their use of analytics, BigData, and social networks.

The company’s employment brand now becomes more strategic than ever - so HR needs to partner with Marketing. Today one’s ability to recruit is directly dependent on your one’s engagement and retention strategy - what your employees experience is what is communicated in the outside world.

8. Continued Explosive Growth in HR Technology and Content Markets.

The HR technology and content markets will expand again in 2014. ERP players (Oracle, SAP, Workday, and ADP) are all delivering integrated solutions now. IBM, Cornerstone On Demand, People Fluent, Sum Total, and dozens of other fast-growing talent management companies are now offering end-to-end solutions. And most now offer integrated analytics solutions as well.

Mobile apps, MOOCs, expanded use of Twitter, and an explosion in the use of video has created a need to continuously invest in HR technology. In 2014 the theme is "simplify" - understand technology but keep it simple. Employees are already overwhelmed and we need to make these tools and content easy to use. The word for 2014 is "adoption" - make technology easy to use and it will deliver great value.

9. Talent Analytics Comes to Front of the Stage.

Talent Analytics is red hot. More than 60% of you are increasing investment in this area and company after company is uncovering new secrets to workforce performance each day. In 2014 one should build a talent analytics centre of excellence and invest in the infrastructure, data quality, and integration tools that one need. This market is finally here, and companies that excel in talent analytics have improved their recruiting by 2X, leadership pipeline by 3X, and financial performance as well.

10. Innovation Comes to HR. The New Bold, CHRO.

Research shows a new model for HR emerging - one we call High-Impact HR. In this new world HR professionals are highly trained specialists, they act as consultants, and they operate in "networks of expertise" not just "centres of expertise." And driving this new world is a strong-willed, business-driven CHRO. In 2014 organizations should focus on innovation, new ideas, and leveraging technology to drive value in HR. This demands an integrated team, a focus on skills and capabilities within HR, and strong HR leadership.

Source Credit:

Josh Bersin

Josh Bersin writes on the ever-changing landscape of business-driven learning, HR and talent management. His favourite topics include strategic talent management, creating high-impact learning organizations, and how organizations drive business change and competitive advantage through talent strategy and technology.

[stepconsultingindia]

Mentors and Role Models: Effective Ways to Motivate Women

“Over the past six years, companies with at least some female board representation outperformed those with no women on the board in terms of share price performance.”

- Study by the Credit Suisse Research Institute in July, 2012

Many successful organisations have recognised the effect of investing in women’s leadership development; however there are some who have not yet realised the need for such an investment. Some recent findings by Mercer will definitely get them to wonder why they did not. As per Mercer, over 140 studies have shown linkages between women in leadership positions and increased financial performance of these companies. Catalyst studied the financial performance of 353 Fortune 500 companies and the results showed that there is a connection between gender diversity and financial performance. Return on Equity (ROE) was 35 percent higher and Total Shareholder Return (TSR) was 34 percent higher for companies with higher representation of women on their top management teams. Another study tracked the performance of Fortune 500 companies with a strong record of promoting women to the executive suite versus other firms in the same industries. Twenty five firms rated as the “best firms for women” outperformed industry medians. Overall profits were 34 percent higher, 18 percent higher in terms of assets, and 69 percent higher in terms of equity.

The above statistics only talk about the success stories of organisations that embrace women’s leadership development, however let’s take a moment to look at bigger picture to understand situation at a macro level. Since almost a decade, women have been entering various corporate positions all over the world at roughly the same pace as men, yet they constitute a very small segment at a higher stratum. In India, just about 11 percent of large company chief executives are women (EMA Partners International, 2010). Advancement of women in management positions has not kept pace with respect to the increase in number of working women. Their existence in senior management ranks is insignificant. Women are graduating and entering management positions, yet there is a bottleneck at middle management levels. While entry is easier, succession slows down post middle level and in most circumstances, despite their technical and professional credentials or accomplishments; women are seldom able to climb up in the management ladder to reach the top.

In confronting the challenges of managing their occupational pursuits of harnessing professional and individual goals, women occasionally struggle with developing their own leadership styles and successfully enhancing their influence and distinction within an organisation. To attain the top management ranks, it is necessary for women to identify, comprehend, and transform frequent corporate obstacles into career-enhancing prospects.

Keeping all these challenges in mind, STEP Consulting, an NCR based Learning and Development organisation that specialises in experiential learning has specifically designed a programme called Women’s Integrated Leadership Development (WILD™). “WILD™ is a women's mentoring programme that provides focussed development and broad exposure for high-potential talent”, says Michael Mitra, Managing Director of STEP Consulting. “The programme has been constituted to enhance the innate leadership qualities in women and aims at further enhancing the influencing abilities of women by managing their own and others’ perceptions. This programme is designed so as to enable the participants to connect with themselves, to be able to successfully perform their multiple roles with a high focus on their internal locus of control rather than the ‘system’ or the ‘glass ceiling’ being perceived as limitations and hence creating a level playing field. The programme encourages the participants to explore their work life balance while being exposed to some real life role models.” Through a combination of interactive exercises, this unique programme allows women executives to discover frameworks and practices to achieve their goals in dynamic work environments.

The impact of such programmes has been studied by ORC Worldwide and has been expressed in “Talent Management Processes for a Diverse Leadership Team” published in 2009. According to the study, organisations offering focussed leadership development/experiences have the highest female representation among senior leaders – 28 percent, versus the organisations that do not find mentors/sponsors for women have the lowest female representation - 12 percent, among senior leaders. This tells us that mentors and role models are an amazingly effective way to motivate women to strive to achieve finer heights. Role models can be found everywhere – be it at home or at work, as well the ones that are visible only through the media.

One such role model, Marissa Mayer, current President and CEO of Yahoo!, was Google’s employee number 20 and was the company's first female engineer. During her interview, Larry Page and Sergey Brin said, “You know, we have seven engineers, and they’re all guys. But we’ve thought a lot about how we want to start our company, and we’ve read a lot of books, and we know that organisations work better when there is gender balance. So it’s important to us that we have a strong group of women, especially technical women, in the company.” Amongst other things, her openness to learning new things was perhaps her biggest growth catalyst. She thought Google had a two percent chance of succeeding, but decided to take a job there anyway because she realised that she would learn more at Google than any other company that she had offers from, regardless of whether they failed or succeeded. Post joining Yahoo! as a CEO, she took many calculated risks. Among other things, in May 2013, she led Yahoo to acquire Tumblr in a $1.1 billion acquisition. In July 2013, Yahoo reported a fall in revenues, but a rise in profits compared with the same period in the previous year. In September 2013, it was reported that the stock price of Yahoo had doubled over the 14 months since Mayer's appointment. Her success teaches many aspiring women leaders that there are no short cuts to success, since according to sources, she pulled 250 all-nighters in her first five years at Google.

Invest in developing your women workforce, who knows, you may have a Marissa Mayer hidden somewhere, with your support and encouragement, she may take your organisation to many new heights. Develop her, she will ensure she develops many new who join. Helping them reach their full potential is the most fruitful investment you can make as an organisation.

Never stop exploring!™

This Article was published in March 2014 edition of "People and Management" magazine, written by our correspondent, Sonal Kwatra

Image courtesy: Microsoft Office Clip Art

[stepconsultingindia]

Grow the talent you have into the leaders you need.

Many organizations are recruiting leaders from competitors but only a few are doing much to develop the talent they have into the leaders they need.

Here is why we think you should develop leaders from within – 

Organizations need to be proactive in identifying and cultivating leaders within their existing talent pool. Look inwards to identify candidates with leadership aptitude and invest in honing their skills with development programs.

Having a leadership development program yields important benefits for any organization so here are reasons to do it –

1. Boost employee engagement and morale

Employee engagement is a key performance indicator for an organization’s success. Many leaders agree that employee engagement impacts business success, yet quite a few have no engagement plan or strategy.  

Development programs give employees the opportunity to strive towards something more meaningful and valuable than just their day-to-day work. This in turn makes them happy.

While engagement programs are important, they have to align with your business goals. “It’s not about the volume of training as much as it is the caliber,” says Larry Gregory, VP of Strategy and Marketing for the DeSai Group. “Your leadership program must be able to catalyze business results.”

Leadership development is serious stuff. It takes time and dedication to make it work. If you’re going to adopt an official leadership development program, be sure to first identify your goals for the program.

2. Increase employee performance

There is a definite linkage between development and performance.  When you’re teaching people how to manage and coach, you’re teaching them how to motivate the people around them. 

“They learn how to identify potential and inspire people to reach their max,” says Beth Miller, Vistage Chair and President of Executive Velocity. “And for leaders to invest time and energy in them, it communicates a real value of getting their employees to their maximum potential.”

The highest performing organizations spend 36% more on development than their less successful counterparts. As Miller notes, “The ones that are doing this effectively understand what their future needs are going to be, and understand how to engage their potentials and give them the opportunity to develop the skills that they need to succeed in the operation.”

3. Improve retention rates

For many organizations investing in employee development-leadership development is a gamble. If the employee leaves, the investment walks out of the door and potentially into the hands of a competitor. 

Turnover is a valid concern when talking about development but if you are losing top performers, it’s rarely because you’ve invested too much in developing them. If you give your staff a chance to innovate and do more, they’re less likely to go looking elsewhere.

Good leadership development is about creating meaningful work and experiences that develop skills your employees need to succeed as managers and directors, while developing a pool of leadership candidates within your organization.

And you can do this without breaking the bank. For instance:

Implement coaching and mentoring programs with top performers.

Assign cross-training projects that give exposure to other departmental issues.

Task them with managing an intern or seven, with a list of deliverables to execute on.

Finally, transparency is key. Whatever decision is made–whether it’s a promotion from within or an external hire, it’s critical to communicate the why. To know more about training your staff for leadership positions please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image courtesy - http://youthmuse.com/

[stepconsultingindia]

CARPE DIEM

“Carpe Diem”………..Seize the Day.

So says Mr. Keating in the very famous movie “Dead Poets Society”. This movie has its own unique way of presenting hard facts of leadership to its viewers. Throughout the movie, Mr. Keating, the protagonist challenges the students to live life. It was living a life sans toeing a line drawn by others. Challenging the status quo prevalent for ages in the world.

Unlike the teachers imparting knowledge in the mundane style, he divulged them with the lessons of life by challenging the very way of life. He got them thinking, engaged them in something they loved and above all keeping them interested. He became their mentor and they became his unique mentees. Together they exemplified the true meaning of the word ‘leadership’. The world witnessed how this movie became a topic of discussion and people started viewing it for the lessons, which challenged the layman’s definition of a leader.

Keating illustrated the difference between conformity and non-conformity in the movie so well. It is not about being non-conformist but about following what we think is right in the conformist environment. His unorthodox style of inspiring the students was a challenge to the Welton way of teaching. The students apparently were allowed to speak their mind but were to follow the structured path of the academia.

Yes, the institute was loaded with extracurricular activities but still there was no free thought and expression. The rigid patterns of conviction were to be followed. Here he jumps in to help them envisage a true leader who thinks and follows the roads unexplored.

The leaders of the modern history like Gandhi ji, Martin Luther and Mandela all challenged the way of life. They all had a dream and a vision and fought against all odds to get it. Keating showed the students a way to follow their dream. He made them do things that were unacceptable, yet transforming their personalities from lemmings to people who know their mind and can follow it.

Leadership is not all about having an entourage to back you. It is about finding the right direction and steering way towards it. It is about being anchored, it is about having realized the roots and sticking to it and yet spreading the branches to different horizons.

This word “Leadership” forever shouts of values to be followed for paving a way to success. But are these values mere words or they are actually etched in the hearts of people so deep that they need not refer to these words time and again? Welton’s four pillars of its education that is tradition, discipline, honor, and excellence were mocked at by referring to them as travesty, horror, decadence, and excrement.

The values set by most of us are those flowery words which we keep throwing around. Keating showed how these should not be defined but should be realized. These should become lethal weapons for all to face the world and win over the wars of life with heads firmly on their shoulders. Ethics should be the foundation for all future endeavors of life.

The movie drives home the importance of realizing the potential each individual possesses. Keating was the key factor for making the students like Todd Anderson, Chris, Neil and Knox to go beyond the realms of the institute and self; realize the vast potential held by each. Todd got the expression that he never could imagine and Neil experienced his passion of acting.

His coaching produced results beyond even the imagination of the students. Keating stresses, “Now, devotees may argue that one sport or game is inherently better than another. For me, sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel.”

The movie truly drives us to those paradigms of leadership wherein to develop people as leaders we must challenge their own abilities.  By setting stretch goals that push the limits of a person’s abilities, they must improve in the needed area in order to achieve their goals.

Yes, Keating changed “Hell”ton to Wellton. He challenged a way of life and created leaders who could now step in the society with heads held high and do things in a way, which paves way to success despite of failures.

Leaders without the requisite characteristics are exist a dime a dozen. But what we want is the Keating in each one of us. What is required is not only leading a team but also leading self.

Indeed CARPE DIEM.

Image Courtest - http://citricice.com/

[stepconsultingindia]

Use of video to improve training.

The use of videos as a tool for training and education is nearly as old as films and movies themselves. By 1980’s it was possible to use video tape players to create mass training material. Post these, videos appeared as a staple component of computer-based training, though this training was quite boring and had poor production quality.

The next step in training was interactive E-Learning. This emerged as a major factor in the online training industry as instructional designers attempted to create more interaction between the content and the participant. These courses included interactive quizzes interspersed in the content. But often participants found the E-learning courses too long and not very engaging. So, recently training professionals have been using online simulations and games to change the way people view training. But on thing that is returning to the area of training is video, specifically short-form.

The quality of video production has improved many folds from the CD-ROM days. In today’s video training market, production values are excellent, and you can find videos in an amazing variety of styles. Scenario based videos allow your employees to watch behaviors – both good and bad – as learning lessons. “How to”s have also become much easier with the use of videos.

Short-form training videos are emerging as high quality options for a variety of organizations looking to improve the impact and effectiveness of their training programs. And short-form video works well to help us shift learning from short-term to long-term memory. There is some great research reported in “Taming the Terrible Too’s of Training,” by Ken Cooper and Dan Cooper that indicates the ideal length of training is someplace between five and 15 minutes.

Couple the knowledge of this research with what is known about how adults learn in the workplace and the concept of short-form videos starts to make sense.

Malcolm Knowles identified the five principles of adult learning, which we now call “adult learning theory” in the 1970’s.

Adults are internally motivated and self-directed

Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

Adults are goal oriented Adults are relevancy oriented

Adults are practical

Adult learners like to be respected

This theory helps explain part of the effectiveness of video and why it works so well as an employee training method.

For more information on the power of online video please visit - http://bit.ly/1caDyN6

To know more about effective training and development solutions for your business please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image courtesy - http://www.videojacket.com/

[stepconsultingindia]

How to train and motivate employees the right way.

Good employees are hard to find and even harder to keep. They need to be groomed and given space and resources to grow, to realise their full potential.

The goal of training the employees is to motivate them and improve productivity. Unfortunately, if not done right, this training can be an absolute waste. Companies often adopt a one-size-fits-all approach towards training. These methods are known not to work. It is important to treat employees as individuals and give them the guidance and attention they need to perform better.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when planning to train your employees –

Train as per needs – Go from general to individual. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and need training accordingly. The general training sessions that are directed at introducing a new technology or updating methods of work are important, but one needs to go beyond them. If possible, training should be tailor made for an individual’s needs. For example, someone may be a genius with technology but severely lack communication skills. This person has no need to sit in a training session about technology. It is important to take these things into account and come up with training ideas that target the specific needs of your employees.

Shake up the seating arrangement Seat your employees as per who compliments whom, rather than putting all the same type of people together. Encourage people to share knowledge and expertise with each other.

Jig up the routine Introduce at least an hour of fun/play in a week. Give your employees something fun to look forward to. This will relieve everyone from the monotony of the same old same old and combat the attention deficit that comes with being overworked, etc.

Find out what motivates your people. Don’t assume you know what motivates your employees. In our increasingly knowledge-based economy, that is driven by the Internet, where information is easily available for all, we have a lot of young people who are looking for job satisfaction. People these days want job satisfaction as much as, if not more than, money. So, get to know your employees and find out what keeps them happy.

Customise incentives. Cash incentives are often the best and the most satisfying, but if you can't afford to hand out frequent bonuses or financial incentives, make it up by indulging your employees’ personal likes.

For ex. gift vouchers for book and gadget lovers, retail vouchers for the fashion conscious, restaurant vouchers for the foodies, etc. Of course, for this, you will need to know your people.

Do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg Employers often become very greedy specially when they find someone who is good at their job. Instead of giving this person flexibility and incentives they are burdened with more and more work. This often affects the employee’s performance for the worse.

Training and motivating people is a tricky affair. You have to find the right balance. Once you train your employees the way they should be trained the overall performance is likely to go up significantly. To know more about training and motivation for your employees please visit http://stepconsulting.org/

Image courtesy - http://analyticalconsulting.info/ 

[stepconsultingindia]

The 6 sins of leadership.

Being a leader is a daunting task for most of us. No matter how long we have been at it, and how much we try, it is ever changing and practicing the right behaviours is a never-ending task.

An article by Jack and Suzy Welch tells us about the 6 deadly sins in leadership.

Here’s what to avoid at all costs. –

Not giving Self-Confidence its Due. Self-confidence is the lifeline of success. It makes people bold. They become open to trying new things, offering ideas, being more positive. It makes people more open to cooperating with their colleagues instead of attempting to bring them down. When someone lacks self-confidence the situation is just the opposite. People cower, plod and spread negativity. Very often leaders end up ignoring this very basic condition. It is a leader's job to instill self-confidence in their people. The full potential of a person will not be unleashed if they doubt themselves. A fortunate few are born with self-confidence while others gain it from life and the work they do. Regardless of the type of person, leaders cannot stop pouring self-confidence into their teams. Make sure the goals are challenging – but achievable. Give positive feedback and constructive criticism. This is not say that leaders should blindly extol and exalt. But they have to find the right balance. 

Muzzling Voice. The quickest way for a leader to underperform is by over-talking. That is, they make their team think they are know-it-alls. They can tell you how the world works, what everyone is thinking and what it is that you should do. These types of people are just victims of their own personalities. Ultimately, the team and then the company end up being victims too. These know-it-alls aren’t just insufferable, they’re dangerous. They don’t listen and it becomes incredibly difficult to get any ideas across, debate, expand upon or improve anything.

Acting Phony It is quite easy to spot a phony. If there is one widespread human capability, it is finding out if someone is putting on airs, pretending to be someone they are not. Yet too many leaders end up wasting time on creating personas that put up walls between them and their employees. Authenticity is what makes people love you. Seeing you grapple with problems, sweat the details, laugh, care, etc. will make people respond and engage. But one must be careful because authenticity is unattractive if coupled with immaturity or an overdose of informality. Your realness will make you accessible and help you connect and inspire.

Fixation on results at the expense of values. We all know that the job of a leader is to deliver. But it is not sensible to care only about the numbers. They also have to care about how those numbers came to be. Were the right practices adopted? Was the work done with integrity? Were people taken care of? Etc. Values are often spoken about in companies, hung up on plaques in lobbies and discussed with potential hires and customers. But these statements are meaningless if the leaders don’t imbibe them. It is difficult sometimes to follow through with something but it is for the leaders to make the tough calls. Make sure work is done according to the right values.

Lacking the guts to differentiate. Not all opportunities are equal hence not all resources can be distributed equally. Leaders who don’t differentiate do the most damage when it comes to people. Unwilling to deliver candid, rigorous performance reviews, they give every employee the same kind of bland, mushy, “nice job” sign-off. Because of this, when the rewards are doled out, the star performers are rewarded only slightly different from the rest. This demotivates people and shows weakness.

Skipping the fun part. What is it about celebrating that makes managers so nervous? Maybe throwing a party doesn’t seem professional, or it makes people worry that they won’t look serious. Whatever the reason, too many leaders don’t celebrate success enough. Celebrating makes people feel like winners and creates an atmosphere of recognition and positive energy. Work is too much a part of life not to recognise the moments of achievement. Grab as many as you can. Make a big deal out of them.

That’s part of a leader’s job too – the fun part. To know more about leadership training please visit -  http://stepconsulting.org/ Image courtesy - www.instantshift.com 

[stepconsultingindia]

10 workplace changes to incorporate today!

  If you intend to be at the top of your industry you have to change outdated management styles.

Right now is the day and age of "transactional" leadership from what used to be "transformative" leadership and there is no going back. What this means is that the old days of command and control no longer exists. Businesses are moving towards more of a trust-and-track method, in which people are not just told what to do, but why they are doing it.

This transition is tough for a lot of businesses, especially the more established ones. But there is clear evidence that creating a company with a clear purpose and values will help your employees connect themselves to something bigger, and that, in turn, will increase productivity.

So here’s a simple list of some old practices that you should let go off and what you can move towards instead.

1)      No more – Micro management. You don’t have to control every tiny aspect of everything.

Instead – Empowerment. Let people have some space. Space to grow and learn. People do learn from their mistakes after all.

2)      No more – Management by walking around the office. It’s not enough to just be visible.

Instead – Leadership through engagement. Talk, listen, implement the ideas and distribute the results

3)      No more – Being a know-it-all. You don’t have all the answers. No one does. It serves no one to pretend that you do.

Instead – Trust your leadership team members. Choose the right people with the right skills and attitude, trust that they will do the right thing, get out of the way.

4)      No more-‘No tolerance policy’. Mistakes are human. Accept that they will happen

Instead – Learn from mistakes. Learn from your errors.

5)      No more - Making decisions based on the balance sheet. Believing it drives the business.

Instead – People drive business. Boost customer loyalty and profits.

6)      No more - Job competency is sufficient. Do the job asked, and you'll survive.

Instead – Hire ‘A’ players. People who want to go the extra mile.

7)      No more – Investing in technology to increase productivity.

Instead – Invest in people to increase productivity.

8)      No more – Demanding change.

Instead – Nurture change.

9)      No more – Junk food in the cafeteria.

Instead – Wellness in the workplace

10)   No more – Incentives. Pay more to get people to do more.

Instead – Rewards. Being valued matters more than money.

To know more about what you can do for your company and its people visit - http://stepconsulting.org/ Image courtesy - http://bit.ly/h7WIwu

[stepconsultingindia]

STEP Office Activity

Try this high-energy, interactive activity to liven up the weekend at work. Its simple yet fun and will leave everyone in splits.

Within moments of introducing this simple ice-breaker, you will visibly see your group start to relax, smile and interact easily. Try it out!

[stepconsultingindia]

6 Things powerful leaders do

According to Seth Godin’s new book, more than 100 years of industrialisation have led to institutionalism, and the glorification of being a follower. Living with a feeling of having a safety net has created a lot of scope for mediocrity. Without repeating what Seth has said, we’re sharing with you some inspiration Kevin Daum has derived from his book.

1) Build on your own authenticity

Powerful leaders are authentic. They know what it takes to get ahead and know how to make the machine work. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are well liked. However, they are comfortable in their own skin and they know how to create an environment that supports their view.

As a leader it is important to own who you are and wear it proudly.

2) Clearly define your following

With the evolution of Internet technology and connectivity it is now easier than ever to attract followers as well as leaders. Although, it is important to accept, that, not everyone is a follower. Figure out what, those who follow you, will gain from what you teach, share or sell. Never assume that being the boss makes you a leader. Broadcast your vision.  Provide people inspiration. Also realise that you will not have the time or energy to cater to everybody. The most powerful leaders focus on where they are going and trust that the right people will follow. Make your voice heard so they'll find you.

3) Break away from what you know

No one has it all figured out. Not even the greatest minds in history.  They too had to experiment to discover the truths of their inventions. But today knowledge is easy accessible. In this fast paced environment of constant change it is imperative to keep exploring. Learn broadly so you can assess where the opportunities and dangerous hazards lie ahead.

4) Make yourself vulnerable

Failure is tough. It is embarrassing, frustrating and at times devastating. Yet, without it, massive growth and success are impossible. Limits are not truly tested without the risk of breakage. Although, the breakthroughs you have after facing failures are exhilarating. You don’t need to become an expert on everything, but it is important to broaden your horizons.

Stretch, risk, grow, and revel in the risks and rewards ahead.

5) Be generous to your tribe

Followers sign on because they believe you can affect them in some way.  What’s the point of a following if you are not going to lead them anywhere? Share what you learn and what you are producing. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect. Include them in the process and get inputs. Give them gratitude, recognition and encouragement.

6) Allow time to work its magic

People who are true leaders use time as a powerful tool for change. People need time to adapt and change, embrace new ideas and determine what action they are going to take. Credibility comes with time. Also a lasting impact is not made instantaneously but from a steady consistent march forward.

Embrace the blessings that come with patience.

Whatever your motivations, leadership brings a mammoth amount of responsibility. It’s hard, tricky and risky but the highs from the success well outweigh the lows from failures.

  To learn more about effective leadership please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

  Image courtesy - www.likeateam.com 

[stepconsultingindia]

Be a more gracious leader in 12 easy steps.

People like to follow strong leaders with drive and ambition. But here are 12 gracious actions that will make you a leader worthy of a following.

Strong leaders often have to be aggressive and cutthroat to get ahead in their career and drive their companies forward. In one’s march to success it is important to remember the human side.

Inc.com shares with us 12 qualities that will leave you a more gracious individual.

Be Confident and Show Empathy People will follow you if they can see that you know what you’re doing and where you are heading. But not everyone may be able to keep pace with you. Understand that people move ahead differently and try to look at things from their perspective

Be Punctual and Show forgiveness Good leaders manage their time well and care for others equally. When someone is late don’t think the worst of him or her. Just make a note and move on.

Be Proud and Show Humility Take pride in your accomplishments but people admire those leaders who let their accomplishments speak for them.

Be Disciplined and Show Humanity Focus and discipline gets most jobs done. But not everyone can function the same way. Let people be who they are. They need time to relax and get back in the game. Show your team your fun side as well. A little humor goes a long way.

Be Recognised and Show Recognition Accept accolades graciously but never hog the limelight. Share the spotlight with those whom you have shared your journey with.

Be Bold and Show Discretion Effective leaders step out to the front and take charge. But they also know how to pick their battles. Determine the time and energy you and your team want to spend on a situation and then stick to it.

Be Spontaneous and Show Thoughtfulness Being ready for anything will help in a lot of situations. Shake things up with some excitement. Keep your team alert and inspired but remember to always think what you’re doing through. People find a lot of comfort in familiarity.

Be Directed and Show Consideration Lead your team by example. Demonstrate how the choices that you’ve made will have a positive impact on them. Consider that their experiences are different from yours and help them comprehend what they don’t understand.

Be firm and Show Compassion Most leaders are likable not because they are lax but because they set reasonable boundaries and stick to them. They approach failures with compassion, correction and learning.

Be generous and show gratitude As a leader one has to give a lot. Give your time, energy, motivation, knowledge and insight. The more the team knows the more they will succeed. But a team gives back as well. Make your team feel worthwhile by showing them you appreciate when they go above and beyond.

Be a listener and Show Appreciation Listening is important to leadership but it does not always demonstrate acceptance. Artful leaders are capable of making teams feel appreciated for simply having the opportunity to share their point of view.

Be a leader and Show Compliance The most gracious and powerful leaders are those who know when to step back and let the most appropriate person lead.

  To know more about leadership development visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image courtesy - cmcacorner.com

[stepconsultingindia]

What climbing the Mount Everest can teach you about team building.

Much like in an office team, teams that take on extreme sports or adventure activities can spend up to six weeks together in developing camaraderie and trust with each other before the actual work starts. 

Scott DeRue, the University of Michigan Ross School professor who reached the summit in March of 2013, says that this team development is not only crucial to conquering something like the Everest, but also essential for business executives who want to lead high-performing teams.

Here are the three major lessons about team building he’s learned while summiting the Everest –

Know your team's goals and stress points. Climbing the Everest is a high stakes situation because of the inherent dangers and also because nobody wants to fail once they have put in so much time, training and resources. This situation is quite similar to investing in a project at work. Some people are completely gripped by the idea of "Everest" and have their own interpretation about what it means to summit the mountain. Others play down the troubles, the dangers and the accomplishment — acting as if it were not a big deal. One has to monitor and assess where on this spectrum each person of the team lie. You can do this by encouraging transparency. Try starting with yourself; communicate your goals and motives to the team. Make it clear that achieving team goals can enable achieving personal goals. Be honest about what is possible and what isn’t. Cultivate psychological safety. Fear is the biggest enemy of success. There will always be unexpected events and setbacks. You have to make team members believe that they can be honest and speak up even if their point of view is unpopular. Here’s how you can do this:

Minimise status differences - For example, minimise discussions about differences in experience levels among team members. Scott worked with an executive who would intentionally not attend brainstorming meetings with his direct reports, so they wouldn't feel intimidated by his rank and hold back ideas.

Tell stories, even ones that make you vulnerable. - Sharing experiences about your mistakes is not a sign of weakness. It makes clear that nobody is perfect and creates a norm of sharing in the team.

Engage one-on-one. - Trust is key. Personally engage with every team member and get to know him or her.

Be inclusive and forgiving. - Invite other’s contribution towards major decisions. Appreciate their help. Demonstrate a commitment to forgiveness. Let your team know that mistakes will occur, but they can’t happen twice.

Be decisive but patient

In time bound situations leaders need to be decisive and have clarity, without feeling pressured to take any immediate calls. Imagine being at 28,000 feet with unpredictable weather, limited communication, and incomplete information. The team is anxious. This is the time when a leader cannot afford to get emotionally wrapped up in a high anxiety situation. Reinforce “what if” scenarios in advance. It will enable you and your team to more effectively deal with uncertain situations.

To know more about effective team building and motivation please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

To learn more about Scott DeRue's journey to the top of Mount Everest, see PoetsandQuants.com

Image courtesy - www.pixhd.net 

[stepconsultingindia]

Get more inspired at work!

In a recently released report on "The State of the American Workplace," based on a survey of millions of employees it was discovered that about 30% of American workers are "engaged and inspired [by] a great boss" while 20% "have bosses from hell that make them miserable [and] roam the halls spreading discontent."

What about the remaining 50% you ask? Well, according to the survey they are not “engaged” and are merely present, without any real inspiration from their work or the boss.

Although there are many suggestions that one can give to managers to motivate and inspire their team but that is not all it takes. An average manager/boss cannot overnight become amazing at his/her job. This means that the onus to bring change lies on those 50% of employees themselves. Rather than waiting for something to change higher up, they have to change themselves.

Here are some simple rules from an article from inc.com that you can follow if you feel you are like the above mentioned 50% who are searching for inspiration.

Cut your boss some slack. Truly exceptional and understanding bosses are quite rare. Just like everyone else your boss might be a ‘work in progress’. Cut him/her some slack and treat them as normal people.

Become more self-reliant. It is easy to be engaged and inspired when your boss provides you the mental and emotional support. If that is not available, find the energy within yourself. It’s challenging, but there is an upside - you won't be dependent upon somebody else to be happy at work.

Focus on what's good about your job. Maybe you are focusing on the wrong things and they are getting you down. Try not to obsess about the little things and look at the bigger picture. Celebrate every time you get something major accomplished.

Set some inspiring goals. If you’re sitting and waiting around for something good to happen you might be waiting for a long time. Set goals for yourself, it will help put everything you do into perspective. The determination to achieve your goals can turn the most boring job into a valuable process.

Decide to enjoy the moment. You are where you are. Extract some pleasure and joy from the experience rather than just wishing that you were somewhere else. It’s entirely up to you.

For more on working better, individually or as a team visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image Courtesy - andrewschultz.com

[stepconsultingindia]

Why we have too few women leaders in the world.

“If you ask women why they did a good job, what they'll say is someone helped them, they got lucky, they worked really hard. Why does this matter? Boy, it matters a lot because no one gets to the corner office by sitting on the side, not at the table, and no one gets the promotion if they don't think they deserve their success, or they don't even understand their own success.”

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, talks about what it takes to be a strong, successful, woman in the workplace. One who actually calls the shots.

Watch this video to find out why we have too few women leaders in the world.  

Check out http://www.slideshare.net/Step_Consulting/tapping-untapped-potential to know more about training programs for women in leadership roles. Please visit http://stepconsulting.org/ for any further information.

[stepconsultingindia]

STEP Office Activity

If you’re looking for a sure- fire, high-energy, interactive, leave-them- wanting-for-more activity to liven up the weekend at work, try this simple and fun game.

Within moments of introducing this simple ice-breaker, you will visibly see your group start to relax, interact, smile and, most importantly, laugh.

Try it out! 

[stepconsultingindia]

Benefits of an Offsite

A lot of organizations feel that offsites are good social outings for the employees without having any real significance. They require a lot of time and effort on everybody’s part, but do they actually deliver the desired results? We believe they do!

Here are something to keep in mind to get and offsite session right.

What are the goals of your offsite? For Example –

To gain strategic alignment on what’s important, which helps get everyone on the same page.

To strengthen relationships across the leadership team, especially across different offices.

To gather in an unordinary setting to encourage differentiated thinking and behavior.

How often can you do an offsite?

It really depends on the company and how quickly the team and the industry are changing. One shouldn’t do it too often as it involves a lot of time and planning. One overnight annually is the minimum a company should do.

It also depends on what type of staff available to coordinate such an event. If there is dedicated staff available then doing it more often is feasible.

Whom to invite?

The executive team tends to spend a lot of time together already and get along pretty well so it makes sense to go deeper into the organization to figure out this sort of a thing. The director level employees should instead spend more time interacting cross-team.

How structured to make it?

Its good to have a mix of structured discussion time and semi-unstructured social time. Have meeting in the morning followed by social and athletic events to choose from in the afternoon.

Other tips-

Create a safe environment where the leadership team can speak openly.

Assign seats for all sessions; the seating arrangement is very important.

Communicate back to the company what was discussed, either via email or via attendees discussing it with their team; don’t let the company think there are any big secrets that were discussed without them, or it will create distrust and jealousy.

Choose the selection of the setting carefully; it needs to balance logistics (cost, ease of access) with the desire to be a little out-of-the-way so that people feel psychologically “far enough away” from the office.

If done right, an offsite is a great use of time and company resources. It can invigorate and inspire the leadership team and can really payback dividends for a long time.

To know more about offsite training and leadership programs please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image Courtesy: www.monalto.com

[stepconsultingindia]

Dilemma of talent development in an economic downturn

“Pay packets to shrink as slowdown dents growth” “Worst is still to come….” “Salary cuts of between 15% and 25% on the cards for…..”

These are just some of the headlines screaming out of leading newspapers. So what does an organisation do about talent development in such tough economic times – should it be treated like other operational levers which are pulled to reduce costs? My opinion? Now is the best time to invest in talent development.

Sounds insane? No. Here’s why...

When things are going well, people are ‘too busy’ or ‘too successful’ to take the time to pursue a learning initiative, leave aside apply the learning at the workplace. Today staff are far more focused on up-skilling.

A large number of people have grown through the organisational hierarchy as a result of their technical skill base, less so as a result of their ‘conceptual’ and ‘human skills’. Now is the time to pause and implement a range of talent development strategies focused on these gaps as ‘minds may be more open’

Investment in talent development in these times has long term ramifications in terms of building company loyalty since the support and investment is available when it is most needed.

An objective assessment of individual capability is far easier since the historical perspective becomes less relevant as the focus is towards building a “new order.”

To create a new order, a ‘back to basics’ approach must be adopted where the fundamentals rather than experience play a larger role. Learning initiatives are key to refreshing these business fundamentals.

To quote Ramsay Clark, “Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change”. While a number of today’s success stories may be form a part of the ‘successes gone bust’ section of management reading of the future, and others may be in panic and cutting costs indiscriminately to survive, now, when the rules of the past no longer hold true, is the time to invest in building talent for the future and sustaining the cutting edge as far as human resources is concerned.

By Gautam Bhushan

To know more about L & D expert Gautam Bhushan you can visit - http://linkd.in/104ExqA

For more on the latest in training and people development please visit - http://stepconsulting.org/

Image Courtesy - www.topnews.in