Productivity is about getting more done with less. It doesn’t mean working longer, it means working smarter. Unfortunately, modern technology does the exact opposite of making you smart, by constantly distracting you. Enjoy the video.
Continue readingTag Archives: productivity
The Benefits of Employee Engagement
I’m sure you have an opinion on the benefit of employee engagement. Do you believe a 10% uplift in performance is possible? Or 20% or 30%? Or perhaps you think employee engagement is just a PR exercise of no commercial value? Watch the video and open your opinions to change.
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 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 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 readingThe Bradford Factor or how not to manage absence
The process to manage absence relies on data. One of the problems of data is that it is easy to create, instead of being easy to use. The Bradford Factor is a wonderful example. Anyone who has had a face to face meeting with someone to understand and improve their pattern of attendance at work knows this!
Continue readingWhat people want: Achievement, Recognition and then Money
What people want from their employment is obvious. If only people were that simple! Of course, we all need money to live, but how does that explain the millions of hours of volunteer work that is done every year? What is their reward? If you are designing your work environment so that money is the only reward, you are relying on the weakest of three primary work motivations. You can expect to pay a lot!
Continue reading‘Impossible results’ say the HR partners!
‘Impossible results’, why would HR Consultants say that do you think? There is a world of difference between HR and People Management. HR is about behaving properly in a legal sense, contracts, obligations and so on. People Management, Line Management, is about getting work done by the people. Yes, of course it has to be legal, decent and properly done. So HR advice is needed. But their view of People Management is heavily shrouded, peering through fog of legal restriction. In essence, HR is reactive, they adapt local rules and advice to changes in the law and company policy. As a result, they are not on the cutting edge of innovation. Don’t imagine I have a poor view of the HR function! It is necessary and it isn’t People Management. The video proves the point precisely! Because, these ‘impossible results’ are historical!
Continue readingListening to Government Business Advice is a bad idea
Why do I think listening to Government Business Advice is a bad idea? We are two weeks from the supposed date for Brexit. It looks like the decision, the form of the decision may take some while longer. Parliament can’t agree. Fiddling while Rome burns perhaps? Meanwhile, businesses are all demanding that the Government do something to make business more profitable. Unfortunately, there is no academic qualification, no apprenticeship scheme, no training whatsoever needed to be elected to Parliament. The only reason to look to the Government for help is because they have the money, our money. The Government does not understand business! The video has an example of why listening to Government Business Advice is a bad idea.
Continue readingThe thought process to raise productivity
There is much confusion around productivity, and its meaning, not helped by the same word being used to mean different things. The meaning differs for an individual, an organisation and the Government! Productivity is important, indeed vital. It determines your standard of living: whether your organisation succeeds and how much the Government has to spend. We need better productivity to afford the NHS, Education, Police, in fact, for everything the Government provides. You can watch a definition of productivity here Watch the video to improve your thinking on productivity.
Continue reading