Employee engagement is the way to raise productivity. This is widely accepted now. But how do you install “employee engagement”? The hint is that it isn’t software, it isn’t surveys, and it isn’t perks or benefits. What is left you might ask? Watch the video?
Continue readingCategory Archives: Positive
Employee Engagement is caused by the Managers!
It is astonishing to me to see how vast the “Employee engagement” industry has become. Billions are spent on surveys, software and every kind of employee benefit. It’s a shame that the results are questionable at best. The simple, and best, Employee Engagement Intervention is ignored. You might also like ‘Employee Engagement Initiatives that don’t work!’ and ‘Praise the person’ on this website.
Continue readingProductivity through Gamification – The Sequel
Just a little more to wrap up on Gamification. It really is THE way to make work fun and addictive! Just look at the popularity of Social Media, engineered to grab your attention and make you play the game. Good luck with your Games. Just make sure that you manage the Game and that the people working for you are not playing a Game of their own! We are always here to help.
Continue readingProductivity through Gamification
Have you, or someone you know, been totally addicted to a game? Minecraft,Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario? Avid players become totally absorbed in the game, in the “Flow”, and lose track of time. They put every ounce of effort into achieving the objective. They even read about how to do it, how to improve their game playing skill! Don’t you wish people showed the same addiction to their work? Why don’t they? Enjoy the video!
Continue readingDouble your Profit
Have you ever thought why you make the profit you do? Yes the market sets your selling price based on perceived value, your value proposition. How quickly do you react to that market information? Do you have a business that is constantly trying to improve its competitive advantage? Largely that is to do with productivity, and the productivity economics in particular. Can we afford to be more productive? What can we do for achieve better work productivity? How can we increase productivity at work? What if your people were 10% more productive? Or 20%, 30%….. Ask your finance people what that would do to your profit. How do you achieve great increases in people’s productivity? That’s largely down to leadership styles and management skills to boost employee engagement. Forget the employee engagement survey, the real measure of your employee’s relationship with your company is your bottom line, your profitability. Enjoy the video then call us! It could be the best investment of five minutes of your time this year!
Continue readingPositive management
Have a look at the management practice in your organisation for a moment. I’m sure you give people objectives, goals or targets and check to see they have accomplished them. That is catching people out who have failed! Wouldn’t it be better if the management process helped people achieve what was needed. The video has a trivial example, but what could you do in your organisation?
Continue readingPraise the person, criticise the behaviour – Performance Review
Whether you do annual Performance Reviews or have adopted a process of regular ‘chats’ the title applies – Praise the person, criticise the behaviour. It is possible to have a conversation about what they did, their behaviour, as something apart from their self. You can have a dispassionate discussion as to why the behaviour was not appropriate, not optimal. It is impossible to discuss what went wrong when the person feels attacked and threatened. Conversely, when someone has done something well, praise the person for the behaviour. The balance makes a person feel more positive about their work, their manager and their employer, so they seek to achieve more positive feedback. Don’t forget “Praise the person, criticise the behaviour”! I’d call that a win-win, wouldn’t you?
Continue readingAdvanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
And not just advanced technology! Anything that is achieved that is outside people’s expectations and experience is either magic or simply not true? This is exactly why I made this Executive? What do you and what should you do? The higher you are in an organisation the more you should be looking outside, looking for opportunities and threats. In medieval times the King would have a Jester. A Fool who would tell him things he didn’t want to hear, things that would upset his cosy existence. What do you do to get outside your cosy existence, your comfort zone? Where do you look for the magic, the next innovation, the game-changing technology?
Continue readingEmployee Engagement Initiatives that don’t work!
Employee Engagement Initiatives, I’m sure you’ve tried some or seen some? They promise to fix your low engagement score yet your survey results barely change? Using to a survey is like using a microscope – any change you see will be microscopic! An effective employee engagement programme will show on your bottom line. If it doesn’t then it hasn’t worked.
Continue readingFocus on improvement, not results
We all have targets don’t we? The target at the top determines the strategy and the direction of the organisation. Have you ever been on a trip with your children and five minutes down the road they start with “are we there yet?” If you have you know how annoying, frustrating and miserable the journey can be! It’s supposed to be a fun trip! Is your Boss one that asks “are we there yet incessantly”? Don’t be the Boss that asks that! Watch the video for what to do instead – the clue is in the title!
Continue reading