Some interesting statistics about social learning.

It's nearly time for the CIPD re-titled "Learning & Development Show" (HRD to you and me oldies).

If you are coming, do visit us and say "hi" at our stand (number 439), or even better attend my topic taster at 1000hr on Wednesday the 30th called 'Developing a Learning Culture'.

I will be suggesting that L&D / HR need to take responsibility for creating an organisations learning culture, it will never happen otherwise.  We will be thinking about what we need to do to facilitate this as learning professionals.  I'm going to outline what can be done using 4 steps:

1.  How to share and store examples of success and best practice.
2.  How to encourage employees to learn and imitate that best practice.
3.  How to support management in observing the employee new behaviours.
4.  How to facilitate managements involvement in motivating employees development.


A learning culture must embrace the benefit of social learning, of which there are many.  Take a look at some of the statistics in our thisworkedwell.com social learning tool info graphic:

I hope that we get to meet some of you at the show.

Best regards

Bob

Thank you for holding, we value you as a customer. A lesson in how not to give customer service...

A lesson in how not to give customer service...

I’m not normally given to complaining anyone who knows me will vouch for this, but occasionally I find myself on the end of such appalling customer service that even I begin to loose my cool.  

Right now we are experiencing unbelievable incompetence, so I couldn’t help but share this with you and try to draw out some thoughts about customer service.  Below is a summary of the failures of Talk Talk since we moved offices in May.  It’s not an exhaustive list on contact and calls, as you can imagine we have actually spent hours (I have it logged) on the phone to them listening to the same tune (I know it off by heart now) and being told “Thank you for holding, we value you as a customer and will deal with you as soon as possible”.  Not many calls by the way are less than half an hour long.  This is how it’s going...

1.  Failure to supply broadband to our change of address within the promised service levels timescale. 

2.  Failure of open reach engineer to turn up on the day promised.  

3.  Failure to communicate our new address correctly to Open reach.  We found them working on next doors phone system! 

4.  Failure to stop the phone service at our old address after we have moved (as agreed). 

5.  Failure to supply the Worksafe facility.  Still unresolved, although we don't currently have broadband anyway so I suppose that’s pretty worksafe!

6.  Failure to supply any phone service at all 16/7/13 to 18/7/13.

7.  Failure to communicate the correct address to the Open reach engineer.  Again found them working at next doors address!

8.  Failure to supply broad and service since 16/7/13 to current, still outstanding!

9.  Failure to supply a business line (open reach engineer advised that domestic line was in place!). 

10.  Failure to have a manager call back as promised, still waiting!

11.  Failure to sell correct service - Was advised by Talk Talk that a fast fibre optic service was not available.  Open reach engineer advises fibre optic fast service is available at our address.  

There is a lesson here, that maybe has something to do with becoming too system driven in the way we deliver our customer service offering.  It seems to be an inability to see the whole, the 11 failures as a single experience, instead anonymously treating each issue as though it existed in isolation.  It would be lovely if we could simply have a conversation with someone who has authority and is willing to accept in this instance they've got it badly wrong, taking responsibility to do the right thing.  That’s not necessarily the system thing.  

There might be another lesson here about using Talk Talk as  your ISP, but we'll let you draw that possible conclusion.  

When we grow as a business it becomes vital that we continue treat customers as individuals, always being prepared to listen and perhaps tend towards giving the benefit of the doubt.  Customer service is a personal thing first, before it is an organisational thing.  Customer service happens as human interaction, so we need people in these roles who have responsibility, take accountability and own the required authority to act.  

Anything less and customer service erodes into a hopeless, unbelievable claim that “we value your call...”

Is it better to learn from the success or the failure?

Where do you prefer to gain your learning insights?  For many companies the answer would  be "from analysing our mistakes".  "So that we don't make them again" they suggest.  This may be the wrong answer?

Tom Rath goes to length in his book 'How full is your bucket' to build the case for learning from our success not our failure.  In his research those that took encouragement from and built on their existing success far outperformed those that were focused on failures.  He went on to identify this phenomena in many walks of life.   Often sports teams would celebrate success but look to learn from failures.  When it went wrong they would run the footage and analyse the game in detail.  When they won they would visit the bar and celebrate together.  However the most successful teams did the reverse drowning their sorrows when they failed, but analysing the game when they won.  In another example children that do well in school exams were frequently offspring of parents who focus on the A score when a child comes home with an A two B's and an C.   This is something of a play on the old carrot verses stick argument - but in a world that has proven many times that the carrot keeps winning.

There are in fact limits to the carrots power and it is true that the stick does work on occasions, but if Tom Rath's research is to be believed then the ratio that works is something like 5 carrots being needed to 1 stick.

So yes we should learn from our failures, but we should learn much more from our successes.  This seems especially relevant in the area of informal, or on the job learning.  We do well to create vehicles that share success within our businesses, especially those successes that others can replicate and take advantage of.  For example a retail business relies on the success of its sales staff, So being able to share what worked well on the shop floor today, allows staff to adapt their customer approach tomorrow.  Imagine on a daily basis taking the highest performing staff members and sharing their own recipes for success with the rest of the staff, that's a potential game changer. The same could be said of a managerial scenario, an operational scenario, or any other scenario. If success is shared then others will learn what they must do to succeed as well.  

This is not hard to facilitate, although social media tools can help  (watch this space thisworkedwell.com).   You can also follow our new twitter feed @thisworkedwell.

Work at sharing success in your organisation on constant basis and the research tells us you will begin create high performance on a wider and deeper scale.  Now that's really bringing informal learning to life.

Bus or bike? Informal learning is gaining pace, but will it replace?

Formal learning is a bit like a bus - the learner gets on and the driver takes
them on a journey from A to B.

Informal learning is like a bike, the learner gets on and chooses where, when and how fast they make their journey.

Here’s the issue...

Some people are suggesting that formal learning is dead and informal learning will take over, but that’s just daft!  Informal learning is not superior to formal they are equally valid, we simply need to plan solutions that are like buses and like bikes.

I think this is an example of where people with good ideas take them too far?  Like Pareto who observed the whole 80:20 principle thing, going too far and suggesting that you lose 80% of your friends because they only bring 20% of the value!  Bikes are good, but so are buses and we don’t need a fight to sort out which is best, we just need to find a way of using them both through our life of learning.

I learn daily, I love to learn, I often learn subconsciously like when I hear two colleagues disagreeing on something and somehow I store up understanding of ‘what to’ or perhaps ‘what not to’ say when I’m talking with those people in the future.  We do an enormous amount of informal learning, all of the time.  Yet when I think about some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned recently and when I think about some of the biggest changes I’ve made recently, they have come about through the formal learning cycle.

A significant example of this big change for me is caught up with a personal confession that may be incriminating so please don’t tell!  I have been throughout my life a daily law breaker!!  You see from my teenage years (having motorbikes on the local wasteland) I have loved speed.  This resulted in a driving style that broke the speed limit almost every time I got in a car.  Sometimes deliberately sometimes through absent mindedness.   Anyway, I kidded myself that I was a great driver especially when I took up Motorsport and started to bring home occasional 3rd, 2nd and 1st place trophies.

Today I am pleased to tell you, I do not ever break the speed limit on the roads - no really, I have totally and majorly reformed my awareness and practice.  I know automatically the correct speed limit for any piece of road I am traveling on, I have strategies in place for maintaining legal speeds whether in town or on the open road, and most remarkably this life change took-place overnight about 18 months ago and am still maintaining my new behaviours every day.

So what was the catalyst for this change?  Was it my informal Learning?  Where driving is concerned there has certainly been lots of it over my lifetime.  I love to drive and I like the skill of driving, I have paid attention to great driving and learnt many lessons especially on the track.  I have sat next to ex touring car professionals and learned first hand how they loaded the springs a fraction of a second before a turn to ensure that the car is balanced and settled as they take a corner on the slippery limit of adhesion.  I suspect their has been countless occasions on the highways where I have learnt how to drive better almost subconsciously through what I have witnessed and experienced.  All of this is great informal learning, but my biggest learning and biggest change took place through an afternoons face to face speeding ticket training course - formal learning.

If someone tells you formal learning is dead (like in the currently very popular book I’ve been reading) give them a reality check.  Yes informal learning works and us L&D people can help facilitate it much more, but don’t let the buses tyres down yet because we all need the big crisis / wake up / game changing formal learning interventions too.  

The truth is, we need proper blended learning solutions that maximise learning, 
buses and bikes all the way.  

Bob

The value of learning, a new perspective.

Kirkpatrick has served us all well for many years in providing his 5 ways of evaluating learning.  Effectively evaluating learning is indeed a subject that has taken up much time and attention yet seemed to have developed very little. 

I have a different take on this subject and in a series of blogs I hope to explore my ideas, encourage your comments and if you are willing engage you in some research that may provide some helpful insight.   

Here's my hypothesis, that all education always delivers a valuable return. 

I think L&D people have stopped trusting in this phenomena and are actually trying too hard to measure the wrong things as indicators of learning success.    

Take for example this simple observation from data collected over the past 200 years. 

It shows primary and secondary school enrollment rates alongside birth and death rates.  Given that the population has grown massively over the same period, this is a very compelling set of figures.  It might be easy to challenge the correlation between these sets of figures, surely there are many contributing factors for these improvements in society?  Science and medicine has made huge advances, society has progressed, laws have stabilised communities, our understanding of so many things has advanced, technology has transformed our lives.  Yet every one of these factors are reliant upon people who are able to access these complex worlds and use their ability to progress their own sphere of expertise.  Where does this capability begin?  It must begin with increasing numbers of educated people.  This is two hundred years of evidence that education delivers a valuable return. 

Here's another insight from a very recent study looking at the impact of education in 2012.  

This one looks at the level of unemployment and the average monthly salary of people groups with differing levels of education. 

The story is compelling and not unsurprising. When people drop out of learning early they reduce their potential to be employed and their ability to bring home income.  It is telling to see that that these indicators improve so clearly as the individual sticks with education and so develop their potential.  This is current evidence that education delivers a valuable return. 

Wherever you look it's not hard to find confirmation that education delivers benefits.  

I'm a big fan of real blended learning, the 70:20:10 concept makes sense to me and as L&D people we need to set up all kinds of learning opportunities within our organisations.  What we don't need to do is support the belief which suggests we measure learning outcomes by evaluating the change in the learner.  Focusing on the nitty gritty behavioural level misses the point that all learning delivers a valuable return.  The way to measure this needs to be aligned with the performance indicators of the organisation, not trying to capture the intricacies of the small individual changes. 

Having some data to support this view would be very helpful for all of us L&D folk.  So here’s what we are doing...

If we are able to collect a sample of c.500 L&D budgets alongside the indicators of organisational success we may be able to observe whether an increase in L&D spending correlates with improved performance results.  Perhaps not too many organisations have seen improved results over recent years, so we need to look at organisations within sector to understand how the relative success compares.  

Measures of success are easy to identify within the private and charitable sectors, but we need your help to determine what to measure in public sector organisations.  

If you are at all interested in the question of L&D return on investment, please complete our survey and if possible pass a link to this blog page onto other L&D professionals that you know.  Current results will be displayed on completion of the survey, and our full report on findings will be sent to everyone who takes part.  If you are working in the public sector, then please use our survey to suggest the right indicators of performance.  

Your thoughts on any of the above would be very welcome.  

Regards

Bob

Things to do at HRD 2013 - Free Learning and networking at HRD 2013.

There are 50+ learning sessions taking place at the HRD Exhibition covering a wide-range of topics including L&D, OD, coaching, leadership, talent, e-learning, learning technology and more.

With so much on offer it's difficult to know which sessions to attend, so we've had a good look through the programme and can suggest the following:

1. Firstly the 'must attend' session has to be 2pm on Thursday (25th) with our own Bob Bannister presenting the topic Are Businesses Serious About 70:20:10 Development?  This session will explore what an effective 70:20:10 model looks like, how to establish the relevant learning culture in your own organisation and the 7 key requirements for successful adoption.
2. Making Innovation HR’s Business looks like a promising session looking at the integral role of L&D in ensuring the continued innovation of organisations; training and development of staff to facilitate agility and to help foster innovators; encouraging knowledge sharing and crossboundary working, to realise business benefits.  That's also Thursday at 1545hr.  
3. Finally just because we love the creativity of the title (and therefore we hope the presenter will be equally as fun), there is Mi5takes aer Prabobly Costnig you a Frotune!  Pick up simple, powerful tips to develop accuracy skills and promote attention to detail in your organisation. That's 9:15 am on Thursday too.  

If that's not motivation enough, here are 10 more reasons why you should attend HRD 2013:

1. Focus on specific areas such as coaching or talent or get an update across all areas of L&D.
2. Benefit from sessions in three different formats and find a learning style that suits you.
3. Get practical tips and advice to improve individual and organisational performance.
4. Hear from L&D and business leaders, who are experts in their chosen fields
5. Work through your business issues in practical workshops with like-minded peers.
6. Benchmark your existing approaches to learning and development.
7. Hear from leading organisations who are tackling the same challenges as you.
8. Meet top L&D suppliers and get tailored advice to issues you're facing.
9. Take a look at the latest products and services in learning and organisation development at the free exhibition.
10. Get professional development advice and try speed networking and make new contacts.

For all the other stuff and free registration here's a link to the HRD site.  

Hope to see you there. 

Bob Bannister
@bbbannister

After you...

It's a funny thing when a book published in the 1980s has a lasting impact on the way you live and work. Especially when the idea is so very simple, and it's application so easy to do. For me this is definitely the case.

I am referring to the practice of understanding before you are understood, or to put it another way diagnosing before you prescribe. The book I'm sure will be known to many of you as Covey's Seven habits of highly effective people.

Perhaps there are many good insights in this book, but I have for years found this advise 'to let the other person have their say first' exceptionally helpful. After all who would value a doctor that writes out your prescription before asking you what was wrong?

Understanding before you are understood works in almost every single situation you can imagine. I can't think of a time when I have not benefited from leading the other contributor to have their say first.
Immediately you are put in a position of strength, able to reflect and select your reply in the light of the others position. Able to answer more specifically the need of the other person, able to think for a few seconds more about the response that you make.

Whether this is a new idea to you or just one that you'd forgotten about, give it a chance today. Make the simplest of all behavioural changes and let them go first.
Bob.
Bob Bannister

Do you really care about Health & Safety?

"Health and safety training" I say', "Groan" I hear.  

Few would disagree that mandating health and safety training is a good thing, but many might agree that the frequent repetition of the same old training solutions drives complacency. Sometimes it's even worse, where the training has morphed into a total tick box exercise to ensure legal requirements are covered. 

What we need in the UK is to meet our legal obligations, but beyond this generate a meaningful H&S mindset. 

In the late 80's (yes I am that old) I spent a very enjoyable 8 years of my career with what then (and perhaps still is) the safest organisation in the world.  That organisation was DuPont, a company that has lead the field in H&S since early disaster resulted in blowing up a large number of staff!  

Some of their history reads like this:  

Safety in the workplace, a long-standing hallmark of the DuPont Company, emerged during the trials of World War I. Being an explosives manufacturer had historically made DuPont more safety conscious than most other manufacturers. Especially significant progress in reducing accidents had been made in the years just prior to the war. However, the influx of tens of thousands of untrained workers into the munitions industry during the war created the potential for disasters. Explosions did occur in several American plants, killing hundreds. During the war DuPont made safety an essential and permanent part of engineering and employee relations. After the war, the new company president, Irénée du Pont, intensified the company's safety consciousness and began to award individual prizes for long accident-free performance. Irénée became a major spokesman for the growing safety movement in America generally. By the 1930s, it was established company policy that safety is just as much a part of industry as any other operating feature (quality and quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc.).

When I worked with DuPont it was said you were safer at work than at home.  My overriding impression from that period was that this was true.  The other interesting observation was that we didn’t seem to spend hours attending training on H&S matters, instead as suggested above, it was simply an integrated aspect of business life, just like quality, quantity of finished products, efficiency, methods, etc.  Safety was ever present in all aspects of work.  

When my career moved me on to a different but equally world renown corporate brand (who I will not name) I was for some time shocked by the level of unresolved hazards and near misses.  The apparent lack of attention focused on H&S (which had become something of a comfort factor during my DuPont years) seemed astonishing.  In short I had moved from an organisation that truly considered safety to be part of everything they did, to another that may have believed they were safety conscious, but in fact were ticking boxes not creating a valued culture of health and safety.  

The dilemma brought about by mandating safety training is that the very solution that’s there to support staff and promote safe working becomes over familiar.  Perhaps organisations need to be smarter at varying the training products offered, making sure that they are always engaging, relevant and fresh.  Then start building a safety culture that is give the same prominence within the organisation as other business initiatives and operations.  

So what is your H&S legal training obligation?

Stress awareness training:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 together ensure that employers have legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety at work of all employees. And this includes minimising the risks of illnesses or injuries relating to stress.
• Health and safety policy should address the issue of stress at work and effective risk assessments relating to stress should be carried out and regularly monitored.
• The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:
• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that:
• 2. General duties of employers to their employees
• (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
• (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
• (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
• 7. General Duties of employees at work.
• It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
• (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.  

Manual handling training:

The Regulations state that training should be provided:

• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased.
• Should be repeated on a regular basis and be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety. Under The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 Manual Handling is taken to include the lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and movement of anything by hand or bodily force.
• Identifying manual handling risks and knowing how injuries can happen.
• Guidance in good manual handling technique.
• Advice on how mechanical aids can help.
• Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees should have Manual Handling training. 

Fire awareness training:

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 states that the responsible person must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate safety training:

• At the time when they are first employed
• On being exposed to new or increased risks because of:
• Change of responsibilities
• Introduction of new equipment
• Introduction of new technology
• New system of work
• Suitable and sufficient instruction and training on precautions and actions
• Be repeated periodically where appropriate
• Adapted to take account of new or changed risks
• Provided in an appropriate manner to the risk identified
• Takes place during working hours.

Slips, trips and falls training:

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training:

• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (12 Conditions of floors and traffic routes) state that:
• (2a) The floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as to expose any person to a risk to his health and safety;
• (3) So far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.
• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that :2. General duties of employers to their employees.
• (2:1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
• (2:c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
• (2:e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
• 7. General Duties of employees at work.
• It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -
• (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.

Computer and ICT training:

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (2,4,6,7) require that:

• All employees are provided with adequate health and safety training in the use of any workstation upon which they may be required to work.
• Employees are provided with adequate information regarding all aspects of health and safety relating to their workstations.
• Employers should ensure that work on display screen equipment is interrupted by periodic breaks or changes of activity.
• Employers should perform health and safety risk assessments of workstations.
• The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (13(2)) require that every employer must ensure that their employees are provided with adequate health and safety training.
• When employment is started.
• Be repeated where risks may be increased due to changes of responsibilities or changes in working practices.
• And that training should; Be repeated on a regular basis, Be adapted to take account of new risks to health and safety, Take place during working hours.
• Regardless of the size of your company
• Whatever the type or size of your company all your employees who sit at a computer for any part of their working day should have DSE - Display Screen Equipment training.

Asbestos training:

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 which came into force on 6th April 2012 require that the responsible person (or duty holder) in all non-domestic premises is responsible for ensuring that people who work there or visit the premises are protected against ill-health from exposure to asbestos.

• This includes all non-domestic buildings – industrial, commercial or public buildings – for example offices, schools, hospitals, factories, shops and warehouses.
• The Regulations state that an employer must not undertake work in demolition, maintenance or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose employees to asbestos unless a suitable and sufficient assessment has been carried out and that the assessment has ascertained whether asbestos is present, and if so, what type it is, where it is and its condition.
• The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012Section 10 : INFORMATION, INSTRUCTION and TRAINING stipulates that every employer must ensure that any employee who is liable to be exposed to asbestos is given adequate information, instruction and training so that they are aware of :
• The properties of asbestos and its effects on health, including its interaction with smoking
• The types of products or materials likely to contain asbestos
• The operations which could result in asbestos exposure and the importance of preventative controls to minimise exposure
• Emergency procedures, use of protective equipment, decontamination and asbestos waste handling.

Perhaps your staff have become over familiar with the repetitive nature of meeting your legal health & safety obligations? 

This often happens resulting in a lacklustre user experience and a sense of 'going through the motions'. There is a significant danger with this; it reduces the level of learning that takes place within the organisation. Using our interactive health & safety eLearning courses you will deliver fresh and current learning that will engage your staff and enable a richer learning outcome. That means you will meet your legal requirements, generate increased user interest and most importantly make your staff more safe.

Arrange a free demo of our leading Health & Safety eLearning solutions from only £3 per person per course.  

A five staged performance framework

In previous blogs we have spoken about the need for a robust performance measurement framework when assessing objective achievement.

Here is one we've developed as an example:

Achievement level	Guidance notes
Exceptional achievement	Delivering above expectations in all set objectives.	Where all agreed objective targets have been exceeded.
Additional achievement	Meeting all set objectives but delivering above the expected level for some.	Where all agreed objective targets have been met with one or more achieving above the expected level.
Fully achieved	Achieving a high standard of work meeting all set objectives.	Where all agreed objective targets have been achieved. Or where there is a spread of partially achieved objectives and additional achievement objectives.
Partially achieved	Meeting expected level for some objectives but not all.	Where one or more objective measure has not been fully achieved.
Not achieved	Not delivering against any set objectives.	Where no set objective has been achieved.

Managers can still use their professional discretion, but on the basis of a clear datum provided in these descriptions.  The further they stray from the guide, the more they will need to justify the chosen level.

Working with this style of framework at least ensures that all managers start from the same point of understanding.

Happy Christmas

Well it's nearly here, and we just want to say...

Have a great holiday and we hope a prosperous new year.

Best regards

Bob

Why does everyone think all business relationships have to be partnerships?

Referring to suppliers as ‘partners’ has been common practice within many organisations for a some time, but is that at all helpful?  Even the most well intended arrangements seem to begin operating in a ‘partnership style’ but quickly decline into ‘N.A.T.O. style’ that’s No Action Talk Only!  Many more decline even further, some into open warfare before the contract term is out. 

Wouldn’t it be better for organisations to at least ask the question; should this arrangement be a partnership?  The answer to that (by the way) is a resounding ‘yes’, simply because not every arrangement works best as a partnership.  This is the case with any buyer / supplier scenario, but is especially relevant in the sphere of commissioning and outsourcing where the de facto approach is to attempt partnership working.  

Part of the problem is that people don’t realise that  there are alternative ways to approach these big commercial arrangements.  We’ve identified at least four which we call, the colleague, the capitalist, the collector and the controller.  They each have distinct ways of working to bring about best value from the relationship; without too much thought you can probably decipher the intended focus just by considering their name.  Each approach has different visions, behaviours, structures, goal setting, systems, rewards and contracts.  So it makes a lot of difference which one you select and apply to your arrangement.  

In addition it is also really important to understand the differing market conditions which make these alternative approaches the most suitable.  You can be guided as to which is the correct approach by understanding the ease or difficulty of a market, alongside the level of expenditure you command in that market.  

It really is no wonder that some major commissioned services disappoint, when they are being managed with a style which encourages the wrong responses, practices and behaviours on both sides of the relationship.  Smart organisations are tuning into the fact that each major service provision needs to be managed via a different approach strategy.  When they start doing that, they start delivering real value. 

Are managers able to assess staff training needs? Sometimes an external view is needed.

Over the summer we have been involved in carrying out a number of training needs analysis for some of our clients.  It’s one of those activities that most organisations carry out, but then often realise that the results are not very satisfactory.  

Often when HR professionals are faced with summarising the training needs following around of appraisals or personal development plans, they can be left pulling out their hair  in frustration at some of the suggestions being made.  We have probably all seen it; lists of bespoke software training courses, the blandly generic comments like “This person needs assertion training”, and the obligatory “French classes” even if there’s no need for French!   Perhaps in a school teacher kind of way you may have looked at the suggestions, wanted to put a big red cross over it and write “Must try harder next time” before returning to the offending manager.  

Effective training needs analysis can be a challenge in any organisation especially if linked to the performance management cycle.  Learning solutions can easily be based on the wrong indicators of training needs.  We follow four simple training needs analysis steps to deliver assessments based on genuine organisational learning need.

Here they are for your own consideration:

First, define the competence menu.  Many organisations have a competence framework from which to build this assessment menu, but be careful that it is granular enough to gain the insight you need.  We have our own menu, and often find we merge this with client organisations own to create the right level of understanding.  

Second, select the target population.  In practice it is difficult to engage everyone in training needs analysis.  We recommend searching out a target population of people that are representative of the business, but also have a good understanding of the challenges and difficulties faced by them and their colleagues. 

Thirdly, we set up focus group sessions.  These have the purpose of completing the competence assessment, surfacing any areas of business challenge and begin identifying the potential learning needs.  

Fourthly, summarise findings and make recommendations.  You will need a quite room and a few hours to summarise your findings and make  your training recommendations.  You will be sure however, that they are based on genuine needs arising within the business.  

If you are tired of the results delivered from your traditional performance management cycle training needs analysis maybe it's time to do the bold thing and recommend something new? Feel free to ask us at iManage for any support in how to refresh your training needs analysis, if you like we’ll even have us carry it out for you with no cost or obligation. 

What happens if you stop tweeting for a whole month! A personal lesson in the benefits or otherwise of social media.

34 days ago I tweeted my last chirpy goodbyes to you all announcing that I’d be back in a couple of weeks and thereby my abstinence from social media began.  

My plan was always to start chirping again in a couple of weeks tweeting as good as before, but as that deadline drew to a close (along with my annual family holiday coming to an end), there was something in me that urged me to abstain yet further.  Why not extend it a tad longer and refrain from social media for the whole of August?  After all, across europe our whole L&D industry seems to go to sleep, there would likely be no one there to read my ramblings anyway I mused.  I needed little persuading, the truth was I had felt something of a burden lifted over the past two weeks, releasing my slavish attendance to various social media streams had proven to be a pleasurable thing.  So in a moment the remainder of August became not only twitter free, but FB and Blog free.  What would become of me?

The good news is, I’m still here - astonishingly you can see this change had no detrimental impact on my well being.  Neither did the world come to an end, although it has to be recorded for purposes of accuracy that my longstanding cat Figaro did kick the bucket in circumstances too unpleasant to write of here.  

On the positive side I managed instead to go about some things that were if nothing else of personal therapeutic worth.  In the past few weeks I’ve read more books than the last 7 months put together.  I’ve really enjoyed some long dog walks on some of the UK’s finest beaches, to-boot generating some pleasure fiddling about with the B&W setting on my little camera.  Then perhaps my crowning glory (although family members aren’t in total accord) was to purchase a little Ukelele and learn a bundle of hits from decades now referred to only in history books!  If nothing else I’ve had fun filling my time without feeling the need to draught a single witty or profound tweet, not even during more than a few hours of BBC Olympics coverage.  

But what of my presence on the web?  A google search for “iManage” now returns us in third place when it had been first place all year, and my blog views are only down 90%!  Yes down 90%!!!  

Ho hum, I suppose as September dawns in the name of marketing I do need to get back to it then, but in so doing I’m introducing a handful of simple rules to help calibrate my social media fix:

1. Stop doing social media when involved in other things like walking the dogs or spending time with loved ones. 
2. Limit the frequency of tweets, for me a few a day is fine.  
3. Use social media just as much for my personal pleasure as for business marketing (I may follow a few Ukelele feeds!).

If you haven't already you really should try a little SM abstinence sometime soon, at least so long as you don’t have a cat.

Does someones nappy need changing? Will HR rise to the challenge of babies in the work place.

The BBC series Babies in the Work Place has been an interesting insight into the prospect of parents bringing their babies and toddlers right into their workspace.  As an experiment the program is brilliant, but for me the long term potential of this concept seems limited.  

I suppose that they chose a call centre setting to maximise the difficulty of coping with screaming children while large teams of people were on the phone to customers.  The result was far from ideal but it wasn't only the customers that I felt concerned for, it was more so for the toddlers themselves.  Even if you place these little tots in a room full of exciting amusement and interesting stuff to distract them, they are inevitably going to get tired and grouchy.  How much more so when you are expecting them to be quiet and well behaved within a workspace where there isn't enough to distract them beyond thirty minutes?  

If I were two years old I don't think I would relish the monotony of my mum or dads office space 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  My propensity for mischief would kick in very quickly!  If companies are genuinely serious about supporting parents in the workplace, wouldn't it be far better for them to supply purpose built crèche facilities?  This is of course what many companies choose to do. Many of the parents interviewed in the program expressed sadness at having to leave their children at a crèche somewhere across town, but equally their concern was in the significant (sometimes prohibitive) costs associated with child care.  

Being realistic about this we know most business are not charities, setting up a crèche facility has significant cost associated with it.  There does need to be some offset here for the employer, which is likely to come in the shape of reduced recruitment and the training costs associated with replacing workers that have failed to return and stay post maternity leave.  The model of a subsidised crèche at the workplace rather than in the workspace is already well tested and valued by employees who have such facilities made available.  It would be good for organisations to share the economics of this more openly to help other employers make informed decisions.  We would love to hear from you if you have such insights. 

Child Care facilities are still only one part of the solution. Forward thinking organisations are putting effort into assisting parents in the workplace not only in the practical areas, but also in the emotional challenges that are faced. Tangible benefits are being realised by organisations who are supporting parents in the way they approach and carry out starting families.  

In fact there is such a lot more that organisations are able to do for expectant or new mums and dads at work.  Have a look at this post for a starter.  It’s great that the BBC are raising the discussion with Babies in the Work Place. but it will be over to those in HR to pick up the challenge and take practical solutions forward.  Here’s hoping they rise to the challenge.  

Mummy, where is my Daddy? Do businesses care about fathers at work?

Research also  shows many fathers are dissatisfied with the amount of time they spend at work and the amount of time they spend with their children. Some 54% of fathers with children under one feel they are not devoting enough time to them, while 42% of fathers feel they are not able to spend enough time with their children. Additionally, 62% of fathers think that, in general, fathers should spend more time caring for their children: fathers are working long hours too, with six out of 10 working more than 40 hours a week.

All this makes the topic of work-life balance for dads a major social significance. Here in the UK family policy emphasises the need for fathers to be more involved with children, in the pre-school and infant years which are crucial in relation to later child development, and especially in relation to families with limited incomes. The economic situation has changed, and labour market participation in the UK among women with pre-school and infant children has risen sharply over the past 30 years since the advent of equal pay acts and anti-discrimination policies. Divorce rates and rates of family breakdown have also risen, meaning that fathers may be less able to rely on mothers to manage the father/child relationship on men’s behalf but must work to establish meaningful father/child relationships on their own behalf. This affects not only divorced and separated fathers, but also men within intact relationships.

Having said all of this, for whatever reasons the facts tell us that men are less likely to access work-life balance policies than woman.

Working Families and Lancaster University Management School are currently researching men’s levels of stress and engagement at work, with a particular interest in men’s participation in family life, and how their working life affects (and is affected by) their efforts to reconcile work and home life. This research indicates that for the fathers surveyed engagement with work is low, and lower than that of other groups of employees than is generally found. It is accompanied by high levels of stress and self-reported physical and mental ill-health. In particular, motivation amongst these fathers is low.

The reasons for this are being sighted as lack of control over work alongside work interfering with home life. Fathers questioned so far also seem less committed to their jobs than would be expected, which is interesting in light of many of the perceptions about workers’ commitment levels and what constitutes an ideal worker (especially in relation to working patterns) which are often dominant in organisations.

Maybe it’s time for organisations to wake up to potential benefits that can be obtained through caring parental policies. This support could take on many forms, but most definitely it would do well to include a new dads workshop giving ‘expectant’ and new dads the recognition and support they need to help them navigate the early stages of being a new dad at work. Our own sessions cover the facts, the practicalities but also helps them identify the values which drive a happier work-life balance.

Is yours a family friendly organisation?

Any organisation with more than a few employees will have staff that are having children.  It’s a big deal, not only for them, but for the employer too.  Even though this is the case many organisations provide little in the way of learning support for these staff.   Interestingly those employers that do assist there staff plan and prepare for this major exciting life change can sight multiple benefits as a result.  Real measurable benefits. 

In one example where a comprehensive evaluation exercise for a client’s Maternity coaching programme was undertaken, it revealed the following results: 

• Return rates (of women returning from mat leave) increased by 4%
• Retention rates (of women staying after maternity leave) increased by 15%
• In a telephone evaluation exercise, 25% of the ladies voluntarily said that they would not have returned to work following maternity if they hadn't attended the workshops

So what types of training can be given in this area?  

Workshops to provide pregnant employees with confidence through change, a supportive network and practical ways to increase their productivity and professionalism.  Covering topics such as:

• ‘professional to parent’ – managing your change of image at work,
• maintaining your confidence and assertiveness through change,
• strengthening your relationships at work,
• creating and communicating a handover plan,
• setting up a support network and communication plan,
• preparing for the maternity leave ‘culture shock’.

Workshops to encourage new mothers to reconnect with work and colleagues in a safe, supportive environment and to begin to plan their return.  Covering topics such as:

• ‘reconnecting’ – sharing of experiences, highs and lows and key learns,
• assessing options for returning to work,
• preparing your first ‘return to work’ meeting with your line manager,
• preparing for the return to work – the practical considerations,
• managing your change of image from ‘parent’ back to ‘professional’.

Workshops to support those employees who have recently returned from maternity leave to be able to confidently and quickly reintegrate into the workplace.  Covering topics such as:

• benefits of working parents to the family, 
• banish the guilty feelings,
• managing separation anxiety positively,
• the affects of childcare on the family,
• time management for managing work/family balance,
• agreeing roles and responsibilities with your family at home and your team at work,
• managing your own stress levels,
• managing your image and your relationships,
• reviewing your career plan.  

Or how about learning for line managers to support those employees who have recently returned from maternity/adoption leave, to be able to confidently and quickly reintegrate into the workplace.  Covering topics such as:

• the importance of managing an employee well through a period of maternity,
• the company and policy-based requirements of managing an employee through maternity,
• additional support that can be offered to boost confidence levels of employees and assist in retaining talent.  

A National Childbirth Trust (NCT) survey of over 1500 working mums confirmed that 33% of respondents reported concern about the attitude of their boss and/or colleagues as being one of the main worries about returning to work.  Clearly there is so much more that can be done to help employees and employers manage this whole area.  Duncan Fraser in Personnel Today 2008  said “The cost to a company of a badly managed maternity leave is not purely financial...it also negatively affects client relationships, performance, organisational knowledge and goodwill”.  

By providing specialist professional training for your employees you can see tangible measurable benefits within your own organisation, which has got to equal genuine value from an L&D budget.  If you would like to know more about these and other courses such as a ‘new dads workshop’ do get in contact with us.  I think this is an area that warrants greater attention in the workplace and I’d love to hear what you think.