Training & Development Archives - Page 2 of 2

The Effective Ecologist

17th November 2015

What is being effective in the workplace? First of all, in so many respects it is easy to be able to quantify technical skills and experience. With technical skills you can be taught techniques, go on training courses and gain qualifications. It is a very factual account of what an employee brings to a team. They are either qualified or not. They can either carry out a particular skill competently or not. Then there is experience. This differs from skills. For example you may have passed your driving test, but that does not necessarily mean that you are an experienced driver. It’s not until you have been doing something for a while, and under different conditions, do you then begin to call yourself ‘experienced’. But is a combination of technical ability and experience enough in order for someone to be successful professionally?

Well, no it isn’t that easy. Despite your technical ability and your experience there is also the necessity for you to be effective in the workplace. In fact, despite a huge amount of technical ability and experience, if you are not effective then quite possibly you are not going to be considered as being any good at your job, probably won’t last that long in the position, or if you do, certainly won’t achieve anywhere close to the potential of someone with less skills, but who is more effective.

Being effective is all about doing the simple things well and at the right time. Being in the right place when you are supposed to be; anticipating and dealing with a looming situation before it becomes a problem; standing by your promises; being credible and so much more. For example – what is the difference between a good plumber and a bad plumber? So little of that is down to their broadly similar technical abilities. Assuming they have both fixed the problem, it is down to: did they arrive on time; did they tidy up after them; did they stick to the figure quoted: were they polite etc. The one that got all of these basics right could very well be perceived by the customer as brilliant, whilst the other (if they got all of these things wrong) would be perceived as terrible. Effectiveness is all about getting the basics right. These basics are the foundation to everything else. It is a thin line between being brilliant and mediocre. The line is drawn where being effective starts.

Aimed at the ecological sector, but with so much that is transferrable into other service sector roles, ‘The Effective Ecologist’ covers much about being effective within your workplace. See the following link for more details: http://www.pelagicpublishing.com/the-effective-ecologist-succeed-in-the-office-environment.html

Good & Poor Recruitment Choices

11th June 2015

Choices! Yes I have used this word deliberately in this post, as we employers ultimately are responsible for the decisions (i.e. choices) we have made relating to the people we have chosen to work within our organisations. Now all of this (good, bad or indifferent) is a reflection on our interviewing techniques and selection criteria. And to be truthful, how many of us can truly call ourselves expert recruiters? Unfortunately unless you are specifically trained, or doing it all the time, or part of a larger organisation that has HR support in this respect, the chances are that recruitment is something you only do now and again, as/when the need arises.

So what precisely is it all about? Well most of the time (in fact always as far as I can think of) it is because there is a problem (e.g. lack of resource or expertise) and you (or someone else in your team) are looking for a solution. It is therefore so, so important that in making your decision that you do actually solve the problem. There is the challenge: sometimes not only does your choice fail to deliver upon what is required, but additionally it is such a poor choice that it actually has a negative impact upon your ability to get through the other things on your desk that you are responsible for. Yes, a bad choice has a negative impact upon your time, in that not only are you unable to allocate or transfer the tasks over to the new employee (so the problem has not been resolved, and you now have the expense of an additional salary), but you are also having to manage the situation going forward (i.e. a negative drain on your time). At this stage, assuming that training, coaching etc. have all been properly implemented you may need to be considering going down the route of a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan), and you would need to be a complete saint for not thinking, at least for a few seconds, “If only I had picked the other person for the role at the outset”. Sadly some managers fail to address such issues head on and just let things slide (it’s too difficult; I don’t know what to do; it’s easier just to be nice and forget about it; hopefully they might leave soon and I won’t need to do all the paperwork… ). The issue with not tackling the situation ‘head on’ is that the problem that was so desperately needing to be resolved (to the point that you went into the marketplace and employed someone) is still there and is still not being dealt with efficiently or effectively (if at all!). So it needs to be tackled – and hopefully this will be demonstrated with an improvement in performance by the individual, but ultimately if not, then more drastic action may be needed. Either that or you are accepting that it wasn’t such a big problem in the first place!! REALLY – that’s interesting! That wasn’t what you were saying many months ago when you persuaded someone to release the funds to employ the person.

So here’s a thought. In this situation how often does the first step in the process (e.g. your initial decision as to who to employ) get looked at in any great detail. Are you, as the recruiter, not at least partly responsible for the outcome of your decisions? Yes it’s extremely difficult to know precisely, on the back of an interview, what you are going to get when the new start walks through the door next Monday, but can you be better at ascertaining likelihood of success at the outset? I bet we all could be better at this. OK, it won’t always be perfect, bad decisions will fall through the cracks, but hopefully there will be many more better decisions and you can reflect upon the bad ones to help ensure that you make better ones going forward. The point is to realise that this is a massive decision about a person you are about to employ, and it is full of potential benefits and costs. So, do your homework on the candidate, ask the right questions, put them under pressure, get proper references, follow your HR departments steer (to a point!), but ultimately, having done all of that and more, what is your gut instinct telling you?

Feedback – Get Rich Fast!

2nd May 2015

It pains me to see how sometimes people react to being given feedback relating to their performance at work (and for that matter in other aspects of life!). Let’s be clear at the very start, feedback is worth its weight in gold, and those of us that receive feedback in a positive manner ‘inadvertently’ have a huge advantage over those of us who react badly. The positive recipients will often develop faster and further than the rest. It should also be pointed out that feedback does not (and should not) always relate to commenting upon negative behaviours. It is very much as important to discuss the positive behaviours (and hence encourage the continuance of these) of your team members with a similar emphasis. So what’s usually going on during a feedback moment? BTW it may not be called ‘feedback’ at the time – but we all know it when we see it – if it sounds like feedback, smells like feedback, tastes like feedback… IT’S FEEDBACK!

In this example Martin is the Team Manager and Louise is a member of staff who is, unknowingly, demonstrating a poor behaviour that could potentially impact upon her or the team at some point in the future. Martin’s point of view might be as follows: “I need to make Louise aware of what aspect of her performance she needs to be working upon. If I ignore it, experience tells me that eventually it could be a train crash. I am not going to feel overly comfortable about telling her, but in doing so I am protecting her, or at least giving her the opportunity to protect herself and develop more effectively. I hope when we discuss it that she doesn’t react badly. If she does react badly that could influence how I deliver feedback to her in the future, potentially, in the worst case, to the point that I may have to give up on her and stop giving her feedback altogether. If that happens, then things may not progress anywhere near as well for Louise than what they may have otherwise. If she reacts positively, well that would open the door to me being more willing and accessible to providing all sorts of feedback on how Louise can develop positively and effectively within our team.” Martin then proceeds to deliver the feedback.

From Louise’s perspective, assuming she hasn’t been given any guidance on how to react to feedback (positive or negative), it may feel a bit like: “Here we go, Martin is going to tell me that I have messed up. Doesn’t he know how hard I am working? There are reasons why I did what I did – I have a legitimate excuse for my behaviour. If he thinks I am saying sorry, then he can forget it. I don’t agree with what he is telling me – I am going to argue my point and show him that he isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.” Now the problem with Louise feeling like this is that she isn’t going to develop as a result of the discussion, and she is potentially going to deny herself so many opportunities in the future for guidance and ‘on the job’ self-development. Her state of mind here, is similar to saying to Martin “Back off, don’t tell me how to do my job… etc. ” Imagine what Martin is thinking now.

So how can we turn it into a more positive experience all round. Here are some quick tips (Health Warning: there is a lot to this particular subject and all I am doing here is giving a quick hitting taster!).
– Manager’s perspective: Discuss feedback with your team. Describe what it is and why it is important to them as individuals and the business overall. Allow them to appreciate that every time they are getting feedback (in particular where it is guidance as to how they can improve) they should grab it with both hands and treat it as an opportunity to do better going forward. Tell them that sometimes you may be feeling uncomfortable about the point that is about to be raised, but you are doing this to help them improve and/or for them to be perceived more favourably within the business. Give them tips as to how to react/respond when receiving feedback.
– Employee’s perspective: Listen to the point that is being raised; your boss is almost certainly trying to help you develop positively. Don’t make excuses, or pass the buck, or try to take the conversation towards other unrelated scenarios. If something has gone wrong or could be improved, accept responsibility and take on board the guidance as to how you can make it better next time. If you don’t entirely agree with everything that is being said, don’t kick back. By all means give your perspective, but do this in a very measured way and in a way that still acknowledges and responds positively to the advice you are being given. Say ‘thank you’ – your boss has just spent their valuable time trying to make you a better person for the business. And now comes the good bit: the more you respond positively and say ‘thank you’ etc. the more your boss is hearing, “Can I have some more please?” and the more time they are likely to spend with you giving you even more hints and tips (smells like feedback!) going forward.

In conclusion, as a manager discuss feedback with your team. Give them some easy guidance as to how to receive the feedback and the potential benefits all round. Don’t shy away from then doing it. Yes, it may feel odd at first and uncomfortable at times, but it has to be done, as the alternatives to not doing it can be disastrous all round. Be conscious of your timing of delivery. Pick a good moment to do it, but don’t leave it too long after the event (no more than a day or two, max). And if you are the ‘receiver’? Grab every gold coin that comes your way and from a development point of view you will get rich much faster than Louise ever will.

Easy Days Teach You Nothing

9th January 2015

How do we develop as people? There are a number of ways generally how this occurs. Some would say, that as you spend longer performing a job you become more experienced at it and therefore more efficient and also better placed to make judgements in non-standard scenarios relative to the tasks at hand. This reminds me of the classic response you sometimes get from people established within an organisation, for example, “You do know that I have 25 year’s experience?” But with statements being presented such as this, the obvious reaction is “Do you really have 25 year’s experience, or have you merely 1 year’s experience that you have repeated 25 times?”

So, how else do we develop professionally. One obvious area is through training, be it ‘on the job’ or as a result of being sent on a course. Now the thing that needs to be borne in mind here is that someone’s

The Effective Ecologist

Good & Poor Recruitment Choices

Feedback – Get Rich Fast!

Easy Days Teach You Nothing

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