CRF Employee Engagement Conference 2010
I went to a great conference last week on employee engagement organised by the Corporate Research Forum. There were several good speakers, covering a range of interesting themes and plenty of time to explore them with participants around the table. This was something I greatly enjoyed as it was good to be at a conference on engagement and actually feel engaged! One particular table exercise was to discuss “what HR can do to create employee engagement?” A... [Read More...]
We must capture their hearts and minds!
This is a picture of an exchange we heard a few years ago in a client session. It’s so rich we just had to make a picture out of it. It is can be easy for leaders to lose touch with the cares and concerns of the people that work for them. By not connecting with what matters to their people, they lose the sense of reality about what’s going on in the wider organisation. In this picture, the leadership team, excited and motivated by their charts... [Read More...]
The crisis in public spending
This picture reflects concerns we heard while working with a number of central government departments last year. Most of these organisations have experienced a steady increase in funding under Labour, but under the shadow of a dramatic economic downturn are having to adapt to a stark new reality. The imminent future is one where social issues continue to rise, fed by increased debt and unemployment, while the pipeline of funding is abruptly turned... [Read More...]
A little thought from each of us…
Who is Transport for London speaking for – and to? This is one of a series of posters around the Underground that have caught my eye over recent months. It’s part of a Transport For London campaign called ‘Together For London’ aimed at reducing anti-social behaviours across London’s transport system. The message is ‘A little thought from each of us. A big difference for London’. Rather strangely, a search... [Read More...]
Congruence and leading change
How leadership incogruence obstructs change After many years working with organisations in change, two things have become clear to me: first, that many leaders see change as something they have to get other people to do and second, that many employees think their leaders don’t ‘walk the talk’ or practice the behavioural changes they preach. A typical change programme in today’s organisations may come packaged as ‘values-based... [Read More...]
What is engagement?
Engagement is Connection … The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills has just published a new report by David MacLeod and Nita Clarke on employee engagement. We wholeheartedly recommend this report – it makes some great points and is filled with useful case studies. It’s very hard to get to the end and still avoid the conclusion that having an engaged workforce really does improve bottom line results. But what actually is engagement? ... [Read More...]
The time cost of poor communication
What I learned about communication from commuting into London every day … Two things I hate: Train delays and boring Powerpoint presentations. They both waste time, and not in an unrelated way, as I want to show. The metaphor of time as a scarce resource is a well integrated part of the Western worldview – we don’t just talk about how we waste time, but how we save time, spend time, how time runs out, how some time can be set aside, how... [Read More...]
Business stress: what’s not being talked about in your organisation?
How unspoken issues and feelings can be the biggest barrier to change and increase the stress in a business I was working with a client last week at an away-day workshop, one session was about exploring the obstacles to change. Before we’d got very far, it became apparent to me that the biggest obstacles still weren’t being talked about. Having had some experience over the years of drawing out unspoken issues to help people talk about... [Read More...]
Can anyone draw?
Can visual thinking be learned? I’m always being told how lucky I am to “be able to draw”. Everyone seems to assume that any artistic ability – musical, visual, poetic or whatever – is an innate skill and that you either have it or you don’t. Harder edged skills – reading, writing, arithmetic – on the other hand, are basic abilities that everyone should be able to develop. Now in my work I get the opportunity to blur the... [Read More...]
Behaviour and theory
Economists and Sir Fred Goodwin … For some reason, the saga unfolding around Sir Fred Goodwin’s pension revelations last week made a connection in my brain with distant memories of economics lectures. The lecture in question was on the “behavioural theory of the firm”, taken from a book of the same name by Richard Cyert and James March. Before this book was written in the sixties, the main theory of the firm in economics circles was... [Read More...]
The meaning of meaning
What does a meaningful workplace actually look like? In my review of Gurnek Bains’ Meaning Inc my main criticism was that it barely said anything about representation, without which there can be no meaning. Unfortunately there wasn’t any space to develop the idea further, and as it probably sounds a bit arcane on first reading I want to spend some time filling in a few blanks. Back in the nineteenth century most scientists believed there was... [Read More...]
Understanding Comics (The invisible Art) by Scott McCloud – review
Just look at the Amazon reviews if you want to know how good Understanding Comics is. Eighteen 5-star ratings out of eighteen is a pretty good sign – and the reviews for this ‘comic-book’ about comics from Scott McCloud certainly explain why. On one level this book is a powerful validation for a whole movement of artists who feel their art form has been overlooked and undervalued by critics. It’s a clenched fist “Yesssss!”... [Read More...]
Meaning Inc. Book Review
Meaning Inc: What does it all mean? Meaning Inc came out about a year ago now, and is basically a manifesto from business psychology consultancy YSC. Although its stated author is YSC’s CEO Gurnek Bains, judging from the Acknowledgements it was very much a collaborative effort. The models and case studies (not to mention cover recommendations) are evidently drawn from client history. This isn’t problematic, although the content does sometimes... [Read More...]
A picture is worth a thousand words – or emails
Delta7’s pictures communicate with more meaning than a thousand emails Our re-working of the old adage “a picture speaks a thousand words” is transforming the way clients communicate in their organisations. By translating current context, vision and strategy into large, colourful pictures, we provide a powerful catalyst for discussing the challenging and complex changes which organisations must negotiate successfully. Our ‘Visual... [Read More...]
