muniBLOG: Human Resources

UK Workers Given “Paw-ternity” Leave to Spend Time With Their Pets

Imagine getting a few weeks off work to welcome the newest member of your family home? However, it’s not your baby, but your pet. Well, it is now a possibility in the UK.

“Paw-ternity leave” is the newest benefit joining maternity and paternity leave in the UK. Yes, you read that correctly, companies in the UK are allowing pet owners and animal-mad staff to take “paw-ternity leave”. Just like standard parental leave for new mums and dads, employees are granted the time off in addition to their standard holidays. This will give the owner time to help their new pet settle into their new home and have a smooth transition. Almost one in 20 new pet owners in the UK have been offered the so called “paw-ternity leave” by their employers, according to new research by pet insurance provider Petplan.

According to Petplan, 25% of new pet owners in London believe settling a pet into a new home can take up to a month, compared to 1 in 10 Scots that would take just a week off work for a new pet. Regardless of whether the owner already has pets, they will take the same amount of time off work as first-time pet parents.

Mars Pretcare was one of the first companies to introduce the latest policy, which allows employees 10 hours of paid leave when a new pet joins the family. Mars already has a pet friendly environment, which allows employees to bring their dogs to work, so it is no surprise they were the first company to introduce “Paw-ternity leave”.

Employees will get up to a few hours to three weeks paid leave when they get a new pet. They can make use of the leave to carry out training, attend vet appointments or simply, spend some quality time with their new fluffy family member and help them settle in to their new home.

A HR director at a company that offers this new policy said, “We know how important it is to take an animal into your home, and we want to enable and ease responsible pet ownership for our employees.”

Do you think “paw-ternity leave” will become popular in other countries? I definetly wouldn’t say no to paid time off to spend with my new pet!

Another new benefit which has taken off in the U.S., is pet bereavement. Some pet owners can take time off work to grieve properly after losing their beloved companions. At least three national companies have chosen to offer pet bereavement days to their employees. Trupanion, a pet insurance firm, offers one paid day of pet bereavement and Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, now allows employees up to three days off work.

Flexible working can allow employees to adapt to their ways of working to best suit their needs, while being committed to their careers. Nowadays, employees are increasingly concerned about work-life balance and organisations which offer flexibility often find increased levels of satisfaction among employees. If you are lucky enough to have flexi time, would you use it to spend extra time with your new four-legged friend?

Have a look at our white papers/guides and learn about the benefits of flexible working by downloading our free guide – How to Strategically Use Flexible Working Arrangements to Benefit your Business.

Stay up to date by following Softworks on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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Top Five Countries for Work-life balance

Balancing work, family, leisure activities and personal commitments is a constant challenge for many of us. In my house we all either work or go to school and evenings and weekends are filled to the brim with a myriad of sports including; Gaelic football, rugby, hurling, soccer, running, swimming and Pilates to name a few. This means constantly running from work to the next activity and hoping to grab a bite somewhere in between. Being able to successfully do everything so that every member of our little family (there’s only four of us!) gets their activity is a constant challenge. That said, we are some of the lucky ones as I work for a company that values work life balance and the benefits it brings to their employees so all Softworks employees have flexible working/flexitime.

According to the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) “Finding a suitable balance between work and daily living is a challenge that all workers face. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. An important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may impair personal health, jeopardise safety and increase stress. “

The OECD report on Work Life Balance ranks its 36 member countries on balancing work and daily living. In their report, Denmark was ranked as the number one country for work-life balance. The key indicators used were share of employees working long hours (50 hours or more per week), time devoted to leisure and comparing the scores with respect to gender.   Let’s take a closer look at the top five counties for work-life balance and the secret to their success.

1) Denmark

Denmark is the number one country for work life balance. According to the OECD, an important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may damage personal health, risk safety and increase stress.   In Denmark only 2% of employees work very long hours, one of the lowest rates in the OECD where the average is 13%.   Obviously if people are working long hours they have less time to to spend on other activities, such as time with friends/family or leisure activities. Furthermore the amount and quality of leisure time is important for people’s overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits. In Denmark, full-time workers devote 67% of their day on average, or 16.1 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure (socialising with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.).  The OECD average is15 hours.

Furthermore policy in Denmark provides extensive financial support to families with young children: public spending on family benefits amounts to just over 4% of GDP, compared to 2.6 % on average across the OECD, and close to 60% of such spending is on family services including childcare. In Denmark 37 hours is the standard working week and they have higher female employment rates and better gender equality within the labour market. Gender employment gaps and gender payment gaps are among the lowest among the OECD and all of this has led to the Danes being satisfied with both their working and personal lives.

2) Spain  

In Spain workers have as much personal time as their Danish counterparts however a higher proportion of them stay late at work. According to the OECD,  Spanish workers give 16.1 hours, or 67% of their day, to personal and  leisure activities however 8% still work very long hours.

Spain also has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe and a poor (but getting better) record of female employment, meaning for all that free time, Spaniards haven’t yet managed to successfully combine work and family life to the extent of the Danes.  Female rates of fertility have deteriorated for two decades, among the lowest in the OECD at 1.3 children per woman. It would appear that both men and women have worked to establish their careers before considering childbirth.  This has seen a rise in female employment to  51 per cent, a move in the right direction, but still falling short of the OECD average of 57.5 per cent.

 3) The Netherlands

In the Netherlands workers have no interest in long hours. Only 0.5% of workers work very long hours however surprisingly this for some reason does not convert to more leisure time. Dutch workers spend on average 15.4 hours a day on themselves and their families, ranking them 5th among member states. However in the Netherlands, high levels of gender equality mean men and women share work responsibilities and families are helped by generous state benefits.  High literacy levels, low youth unemployment as well as a 93 per cent above average life satisfaction of 11-15-year-olds, coupled with high fertility rates and low unemployment all lead to a very happy country.

4) Belgium  

Next up is Belgium, where 5% of employees work very long hours, less than the OECD average of 13%. Overall, more men work very long hours; in Belgium 7% of men work very long hours, compared with 2% for women. Workers in Belgium benefit from successful flexible working programmes and a high-level of personal time devoted to friends and family. The Belgian Federal Public Service Social Security has questioned conventional ways of working and this has resulted in them being named as the best employer. Their objective is to find talented people, to retain the right people and to make workers happy. The organisation lets people be in charge of their own life; it does not matter anymore when, where and how they work. Only results are important and evaluated. These new policies have led to a 30% reduction in office space resulting in a saving of 6 million euros per year along with a 55% reduction in the use of paper for printing, and a 60% reduction in office furniture expenditure.

5) Norway

In Norway, 3% of employees work very long hours, again much less than the OECD average of 13% with men working longer hours than women. 4% of men work very long hours, compared with 1% for women.Full-time workers devote 65% of their day on average, or 15.6 hours, to personal care and leisure just over the OECD average of 15 hours. In Norway, men devote approximately 15 hours per day to personal care and leisure, and women 16 hours per day.

Other countries that made the top ten were ranked in the following order

6 – Sweden

7 – Germany

8 – Russian Federation

9 – Ireland

10 – Luxembourg

Out of the 36 countries evaluated, The United Kingdom was ranked number 23, Canada 24, USA 29 and Australia 30.  Turkey was ranked worst coming in at number 36 and is by far the country with the highest proportion of people working very long hours, with close to 41%. If you would like to find out more you can viewthe OECD’s Better Life Index for 2015 via this link  

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Why Sweden is introducing a 6-hour working day with full pay!

Last April the government of Gothenburg announced that public sector employees would work less hours in an experiment to improve mental and physical health and increase productivity.  Mats Pilhem, Deputy Mayor of Gothenburg, hopes the six-hour staff would take fewer sick days. Now other businesses across the country are following Gothenburg’s decision and implementing the change.

Personally I think it’s about time we shook things up a bit.  When you think about it, the so called 9 to 5 or eight hour working day originated out of necessity during the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the 1800s. So much has changed since then in terms of how, when and where we do business, it makes you wonder why so many organisations are holding onto a working day that was created over 200 years ago.

In the UK and Ireland, the average worker works approximately 8.5 hours per day with Americans working slightly longer with an average 8.7 hours. By working longer hours, we tend to think, we will see the benefits later but this rarely works in our favour.  According to Linus Feldt, CEO of Stockholm-based app developer Filimundus, who have also implemented a six hour day,

“I think the eight-hour workday is not as effective as one would think.  To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge.  In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the workday more endurable. At the same time, we are finding it hard to manage our private life outside of work. We want to spend more time with our families, we want to learn new things or exercise more. I wanted to see if there could be a way to mix these things.”

Filimundus switched to a 6-hour day last year, and say their staff have not looked back.  The rationale behind the move is that because the working day is shortened, staff will now be more motivated and have more energy to get more done in the shorter period of time.

At Toyota service centres in Gothenburg, working hours have been shorter for over  a decade. Employees moved to a six-hour day 13 years ago. Customers were unhappy with long waiting times, while staff were stressed and making mistakes, according to Martin Banck, the managing director, whose idea it was to cut the time worked by his mechanics. From a 7am to 4pm working day the service centre switched to two six-hour shifts with full pay, one starting at 6am and the other at noon, with fewer and shorter breaks. There are 36 mechanics on the scheme.

According to Banck,

“Staff feel better, there is low turnover and it is easier to recruit new people,” Banck says. “They have a shorter travel time to work, there is more efficient use of the machines and lower capital costs – everyone is happy.” Profits have risen by 25%, he adds.

Let us know what you think about introducting a six hour day in your organisation. You may also be interested in downloading our paper – How to Strategically Use Flexible Working Arrangements to Benefit your Business

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Increased Demand for Flexible Working

Increased profits and job satisfaction. Reduced absenteeism. Productive, happier employees.

What’s not to like about flexible working?

Employees are increasingly concerned about achieving a healthy work-life balance and organisations which offerflexibility often find increased levels of satisfaction among their employees. Flexible working can allow employees to adapt their ways of working to best suit their needs, while still being dedicated to their careers.

According to a survey conducted by recruiting firm Ranstad, Canadians want more flexibility in the workplace. 70,000 Canadians were polled with nearly two-thirds (64%) stating they would like to work remotely at least occasionally. Overall, 44% of Canadians are not satisfied with their work schedule, ranking 10th out of 25 countries surveyed.

Between May 16 and June 30, 2016, the Government of Canada will be consulting with Canadians on how to help regulated employees better manage work and family and other personal responsibilities. This can be done by introducing flexible work, such as flexible start and finish times can help employees balance these often competing responsibilities.

The Canadian Government has pledged to allow workers in federally regulated sectors to formally requestflexible working from their employees. Therefore, the Government are currently consulting with Canadians to explore which flexible working arrangements would help them to best manage the demands of personal and family responsibilities.

According to a survey by Vodafone, Flexible: friend or foe?, 75% of organisations globally have now introduced flexible working polices. The survey polled 8,000 employees and employers in 10 countries and found that respondents believed their performance had increased as a result of introducing flexible working in to their organisation.

Some other interesting figures collected from the survey highlight the positive effects of flexible working. 61%stated their organisations profits increased, 83% reported an improvement in productivity, and 58% believe flexible working has had a positive impact on the organisation’s reputation.

So, what are the benefits of flexible working?

  • Increased ability to attract, retain and motivate high-performing and experienced employees
  • Reduced absenteeism
  • Helps employees manage their responsibilities outside of work
  • Increased job satisfaction, energy, creativity, and ability to handle stress

It is evident from the results of both surveys that there is an increased demand for flexible working globally, especially in Canada.

If you are interested in learning more about Softworks flexible working or any of our many other systems, talk toSoftworks today, with over 25 years’ experience, we have a great story to share!

Request a Live Demo

Download our free white paper: How to Strategically Use Flexible Working Arrangements to Benefit your Business.

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What does Bill 132 (Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act) mean to you and your workplace?

One in four women and one in ten men say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace. Of the reported cases of workplace sexual harassment, 55% were committed by co-workers; 39% of which involved a supervisor or manager. 8% of those who are sexually harassed at work report the harassment.

Recently there have been some changes made to Bill 168 – Violence in the Workplace, which gives employers’ statutory obligations. Bill 132, Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, which received royal assent on March 8, 2016, requires all employers to have policies and programs including an investigation procedure. The essential changes brought by Bill 132 include: an employer is required to create a workplace harassment program; the program must include reporting and investigating tools for incidents of workplace harassment and violence; the employers must ensure that all complaints are investigated, and investigations are completed in a timely fashion and a new power to the Ministry of Labour (MOL) to order an independent workplace harassment investigation at the employer’s expense.

September 8, 2016, now looms for companies as the date for compliance with Bill 132. The amendments stand to change dramatically how workplace harassment is addressed in Ontario. The new OHSA obligations and expectations have been set and are accompanied by expanded government oversight. Harassment in the workplace is already a challenging issue that could engage multiple forums, with complaints possibly being advanced through a grievance, civil claim, complaint under the Human Rights Code, and, depending on the severity of the conduct, the criminal justice system.

Also, and particularly, the Bill amends the OHSA to require an employer to conduct an investigation of a workplace harassment complaint that is “appropriate in the circumstances.” The phrase “appropriate in the circumstances” is not defined. Further, the Ministry of Labour has not published any guidance material to communicate what factors will be considered by inspectors when determining whether an investigation meets this standard. Assuming that the inspectors could be evaluating investigations against expected best practices which would include such things as an impartial investigator, a collection of all relevant information, and procedural fairness to the alleged harasser could create challenges for employers as the appropriateness of an investigation may be evaluated in hindsight.

Consequences of flawed investigations would impair or prejudice the employer’s ability to establish just cause for termination or discipline. There would also be an issue of due diligence under the OHSA and Human Rights Code. Consequences would include aggravated, punitive or Code damages; penalties from the Ministry of Labour under the OHSA and reinstatement in unionized workplaces. Some of the critical mistakes some employers are making include: failing to act at all; taking the complaint seriously; failure to train investigators; inability to plan, improper or inadequate files; and retention of evidence.

Many situations happening in the workplace may prompt the necessity for an investigation, such as allegations of discrimination or harassment, workplace bullying, inappropriate use of the internet or social media, policy breaches, or statutory violations. Often, employers attempt to resolve minor issues informally through discussions with the employees involved. When the allegations are more serious, employers may depend on managers to conduct internal investigations. However, in many situations, having an organization deal directly with the problem is not necessarily the best approach – informal discussions may rapidly collapse, and basic investigative steps may be overlooked by inexperienced managers, making matters worse. A vital skill for any employer is identifying when a formal investigation by an external investigator is appropriate.

Note: meeting the requirements of Bill 132 could lead to mistakes that can be costly to your organization.

Be prepared. Be proactive.

Contact Monika Jensen, Principal Aviary Group at [email protected]  or (905) 683-9953 if you need a complaint investigated or mediated.

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Benefits of Workforce Management Solutions

Why do you need workforce management solutions in your business? Well, workforce management solutions is a broad term used to describe a set of tools which companies use to increase efficiency and productivity among their employees. Workforce management solutions provide automated resolutions to many of the common, everyday tasks performed by any organisation’s Human Resources (HR) department.

Softworks workforce management solutions helps companies streamline processes, increase productivity and reduce costs through improved management, scheduling and tracking of labour resources.

There are many benefits to using workforce management solutions to reduce your HR department’s operating costs while increasing the organisation’s efficiency. Below are the top benefits of using workforce management solutions:

  1. Eliminate Human Error

When the onus of responsibility rests with humans, there is always a chance of human error, which can lead to lost time and increased discrepancies. Workforce management solutions can reduce the risk of human error and ensure an easy, impartial and orderly approach in addressing specific needs without any confusion.

  1. Increase Employee Satisfaction

Scheduling and handling time-off requests are an important part of maintaining a satisfied workforce. When employee satisfaction increases, issues such as turnover may decrease. With automated systems, it is possible to quickly review, approve, and address absence requests and manage planned absences to minimise their effect on your business.

  1. Save Time

How much time do you or your HR manager spend each week (or day) trying to make a work schedule? Using workforce management software can save you and your business hours per week so more time can be spent on the human aspect of HR within your corporate environment. As Softworks have a web based system, you can manage tasks wherever you are instead of rushing back to the office.

  1. Boost security

Biometric data collection devices (i.e. fingerprint scanners) make it so only an actual employee can clock in and out, which helps eliminate “buddy punching”, the practice of one worker clocking in for another.

What are the benefits of operating your workforce management software in the cloud?

A cloud-based workflow management solution that operates as a SaaS has immediate benefits for both small and big businesses. As the software is a web application, it can be accessed from any smartphone, tablet, or computer with an Internet connection. Cloud workforce management software merges company data onto a single platform and allows employees to easily handle self-service processes. This helps bridge the gap between departments and allows your company’s HR staff to stay focused on analytics rather than manual tasks.

Download our free paper: Top 10 reasons why you should move your Time and Attendance to the cloud.

Spreadsheets are not very accurate, time consuming, and do not provide useful insights. Your organisation should begin thinking about the better alternative – Softworks workforce management solutions. It is a powerful tool for optimising operational efficiencies, employee satisfaction and ultimately the customer experience. So what are you waiting for, sign up for a free demo with Softworks today!

Have a look at our extensive range of products and keep up to date with Softworks by following us on Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and don’t forget to watch our two minute video.

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A Healthy Workplace Is a Happy Workplace

With Ireland’s second National Workplace Wellbeing Day approaching on Friday, April 8, we thought it was the perfect time to highlight the best practices to ensure your workplace stays healthy and happy. The National Workplace Wellbeing Day will help to improve employee health through promoting better physical activity and nutrition in the workplace.

Ireland’s workforce wants to get healthier and they believe their employers can play a role in helping them.Behaviour & Attitudes examined how healthy Ireland’s workforce is and their nationwide research found that:

  • Two thirds (65%) of employees who participated in the nationwide survey recognise their need to consume healthier food and drink.
  • Just 15 percent said their employers provide healthy food choices in company canteens or vending machines.
  • Only one third of employees take the recommended weekly level of exercise for a healthy lifestyle.
  • Four in ten office bound workers say they are not physically active at all during their working day.

Dr Muireann Cullen of the Nutrition & Health Foundation says: “A healthier workforce is in everyone’s interest. Four out of five employees believe there is a positive link between their health and wellbeing and their company’s productivity.”

Our Top Tips for a Healthier Workplace

1. Encourage employees to incorporate healthy activities into their workday

This can easily be incorporated by introducing flexible working in to your business (if you have not already done so!) With flexible working, employees can have more time to attend the gym or go for a walk/run before they even start work or have the ability to take a longer lunch break to fit in some exercise. They will also have the option to finish before rush hour and hit the gym when it is not overcrowded.

2. Ask employees’ for feedback

Conduct an employee survey or questionnaire and find out how employees think the business can improve health. Take all the suggestions on board, even if it doesn’t work it will show employees that their suggestions are being taken on board and in return help increase engagement.

3. Start a (healthy) breakfast club

Once a week or month, start a healthy breakfast club where people bring in food to share with the office that isn’t cake-related. Think actual fresh fruit, homemade scones, smoothies, porridge with fruit/nuts – the list is endless! Nominate yourself to be one of the first to bring breakfast and set the tone.

4. Cleanse the kitchen

If your business has an open kitchen, cafeteria or vending machines, make healthy options more available and remove the junk food. Ask employees what healthy food/drinks they would like to see more of in the kitchen.

5. Invite employees to share their success

Encourage employees to share health-related efforts and success with others. If an employee is taking part in a 5/10K run, ask them to send updates to other employees and ask if anyone would like to take part with them. If your business has an internal newsletter or a newsletter/blog for customers, share the success especially if it is for a charity. This might encourage other employees to share their stories or take part in more activities.

6. Set up a sports team

Encourage health and fitness by setting up a football, tennis, or tag rugby team within your company. Team members can train during the week and take part in matches, weekends away and social activities associated with the particular sport. This can be highlighted on your website and newsletter which will also demonstrate your businesses importance of working together as a team and help increase employee engagement.

Other tips to take on board:

  • Take the stairs instead of lifts/escalators
  • If possible, cycle to work even 2 – 3 days a week
  • Bring your own lunch and snacks
  • Make sure you have a healthy breakfast – make use of flexitime by having a protein filled breakfast to keep you full of energy throughout the morning

Does your company do anything to promote health and fitness in the workplace? If so, let us know, we would love to hear from you!

Want to find out more about Softworks? Watch our Video  or contact us today for a free demo.

Stay up to date by following Softworks on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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Embracing Civility for a More Satisfying WorkPlace

Complaints of harassment, discrimination, bullying and now violence and disrespectful workplaces have become a standard concern for managers and Human Resources specialist. As we cope with the many arising situations, I have found the word incivility is becoming frequently used. So what does incivility mean? To define it, let’s look at how the Institute of Civility describes it. Civility is about more than merely being polite. Civility requires a profound self-awareness being characterized by true respect for others. Civility involves the tremendous hard work of remaining present even with those with whom we have inherent and perhaps fierce differences. It is about continuously being open to hearing, to learning, to teaching and to changing. It pursues mutual ground as a start point for discussions when differences may occur, while at the same time be aware that differences are heartening. It is persistence, grace, and strength of character.

Recently research has expanded our practical understanding of incivility by identifying behaviours which employees have deemed disrespectful. The most frequently occurring forms include: neglecting to turn off cell phones; talking behind someone’s back; doubting someone’s judgement, using demeaning or disparaging language, gestures or behaviours; communicating with the intent to belittle or degrade, eye rolling, giving the silent treatment and using sarcasm; gossip and slander; paying no attention or ignoring someone; taking credit for someone else’s work or ideas; intimidation by intentionally using fear to manipulate others. It may also include yelling, invading personal space, throwing things, slamming things and losing one’s temper; and sabotaging by setting someone up to fail or intentionally creating a situation to make another person look foolish or incompetent. Also may include hate-ism by deliberately pointing at a victim based on age, gender, race or sexual orientation are instances of profiling because of an “ism.”

Many examples include blaming others rather than accepting responsibility; checking email or texting during a meeting; using email to send a difficult message to avoid facing the person, which may be misunderstood and misinterpreted; not saying “please” or “thank you”; not listening and talking over or down to someone.
The cost of incivility is high. It is not only about money! There is research to support impacts on performance through lost time and absenteeism, lack of creativity, less helpfulness and less likely to assist another employee. The impact of teams is on the level of energy, emotional engagement, and performance. The conduct reaches into our physical health; impacts our customers and commitment to the organization and willingness of employees to stay with their companies. All affecting the bottom line of productivity.
So how do we address these issues? I would like to explore some recommendations for your consideration. It starts with us as individuals. Managing ourselves. How? If you throw a ball at the wall…it comes back. It works with people too. If you are, mean…it comes back! People will be mean to you.

How can you be kind and patient all the time when life is so stressful—and just plain hard? You do it by embracing civility! Civility requires self-awareness.

With self-awareness you can:
 Control your attitude
 Manage your moods
 Choose behaviours that do not negatively impact your life or disrupt those around you

Can you…
 Feel and express annoyance, irritation or frustration without hurting others— and then let it go?
 Accept and even appreciate that other people have needs and opinions which are different from your own?
 Encourage and enjoy the successes of others?
 Recognize when someone else feels irritated, upset or frustrated and keep yourself from reacting impulsively in response?

As leaders, we need to model. The Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy wrote: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.” Employees look to leaders for guidance and someone to aspire too. What are they seeing? Watch your language and put away your smartphones when engaging with your staff. Be mindful of the perils of emails and other electronic communication. Pick up the phone or set up a face to face meeting instead. Take immediate and corrective action when warranted. Rude and disrespectful behaviours emerge quickly and sometimes without warning. As the leader, you need to respond at the moment. By delaying a reaction or action, it sends out mixed messages to the offender as well as the entire team. Take all complaints seriously, realizing that coming forward by the individual is difficult, and they need to know they are supported.

We attend seminars and workshop on harassment prevention, Creating Respectful Workplace and Violence in the Workplace. I have put together a workshop on “How Embracing Civility can Create More Satisfying Work Environments”. The agenda is:
• Why Civility Matters
• It Starts with You!
• Do What You Say and Say What You Mean
• Good Fences Make Great Neighbours
• Working in the Salad Bowl
• Eliminate Gossip and Bullying
• You Can’t Always Get What You Want
• Taking It to the Extreme
• Paving the Path to Civility

Contact Monika Jensen, Principal, Aviary Group, at [email protected]  if you are interested.

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You Can’t Build a Team or Organization Different from You

We can’t build a team or organization that’s different from us. Successful team or organization leadership begins with successful self-leadership. The first step in improving my team or organization is improving me.

 “The management of self is critical. Without it, leaders may do more harm than good. Like incompetent physicians, incompetent managers make people sicker and less vital.“

— Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders (in a chapter entitled “Leading Others, Managing Yourself”)

Too many managers who aspire to lead and develop others haven’t learned how to lead and develop themselves. They are trying to build organizations or provide services that are different than they are. These well-intentioned managers are trying to improve their teams or organizations without improving themselves. Many seem to be living along the lines of Mark Twain’s observation, “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”

Here are some examples of these all too common disconnects between organization and personal performance:

  • Pessimistic managers push their companies to be market and industry leaders while blaming external factors like the economy for their poor performance.
  • Managers with stunted personal growth set strategies to build a “Learning Organization.”
  • Managers produce team and organization vision, values, and mission statements without having clarified and aligned their own personal preferred future,      principles, and purpose.
  • A major program to improve customer service is initiated by managers who boss, direct, and control rather than serve their organization’s servers.
  • Managers with weak levels of continuous personal improvement implement change and improvement programs — for others.
  • Strict Techno managers (bureaucratic or technical experts) oversee rigid systems and processes while trying to encourage risk taking and innovation.
  • Management groups comprised of turf protecting departmental managers, fighting like three kids in the back seat on a long hot drive, try to get others to build stronger teams.
  • Disorganized managers with poor time management habits are setting goals, priorities, and disciplined processes for everyone else.
  • Although they have no personal improvement plan, process, or habits, managers develop extensive organization transformation and improvement plans.
  • While avoiding (and shooting messengers of) personal feedback, managers construct extensive performance appraisal systems and talk about the importance of accountability — for everyone else.

 

A Team or Organization Can’t Rise Above the Level of Its Leadership

“Organizational change begins with leaders who walk the talk by transforming themselves.“

— Stratford Sherman, “Leaders Learn to Heed the Voice Within”, Fortune

It just doesn’t work. We can’t build a team or organization that’s different from us. We can’t make them into something we’re not. But I’ve watched countless managers and management teams try. There are two major reasons that this disconnected approach doesn’t work. First, unless you’re a superb actor, you can’t be a split personality and teach or lead others to do something that’s out of basic alignment with your own habits, skills, and characteristics.

Second, everyone’s “phoniness radar” or “BS meters” are getting ever more sensitive (from overuse). We’re getting fed up with sanctimonious church leaders charged with sexual abuse, fat doctors telling us to get into shape, politicians giving retractable promises to get elected, executives drawing big salaries and bonuses while their company’s financial value declines, municipal transit managers who don’t take their own buses to work, training and consulting companies who don’t practice what they teach, and the like.

I once wrote a scathing note (which was never answered) and quit a speakers’ association because I kept hearing “the old pros” telling people who wanted to get on speaking platforms and tell others how to be successful to “fake ’til you make it.” (The personal and organization improvement field has its share of aspiring speakers and consultants who don’t practice what they preach). One of those speakers also asked me to provide a jacket quote endorsement for a “motivational book” he bragged he’d written “on a six hour airplane flight.” And that’s about how much research and thought the warmed-over platitudes, old jokes, and generalities he’d pieced together obviously had. I declined his invitation.

We loathe phoniness and crave genuineness in our leaders. If I aspire to be a leader, the authenticity (being the real thing) that stems from aligning who I am with where I am trying to take my team or organization will inspire trust, cooperation, and forgiveness in the people who’ll help take me there. Nobody expects us to be the perfect role model. But they do expect to see a close connection between who we are and the direction we’re pointing the team or organization toward.

Or they at least need to see that we recognize our shortcomings and we are working hard to improve ourselves so we can close the organization-personal performance gap. Otherwise they’ll shrug off all our team and organization improvement rhetoric and planning with a sense that this is just Kidney Stone Management — it will hurt for awhile, but this too shall pass. “Watch out, he/she has been off to another seminar (or read another book). If we lay low long enough, he/she will move on to the next fad”.

Successful team or organization leadership begins with successful self-leadership. The first step in improving my team or organization is improving me.

Reprinted with the permission of Jim Clemmer. For over three decades Jim Clemmer’s keynote presentations, workshops, and management team retreats, and seven best-selling books translated into many languages, articles, blog, and newsletters have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The CLEMMER Group is Zenger Folkman’s Canadian Strategic Partner, an award-winning firm best known for its unique evidence-driven, strengths-based system for developing extraordinary leaders and demonstrating the performance impact they have on organizations.

http://www.clemmergroup.com

 

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Traditional versus Strengths-Based 360 Assessments

Joe Folkman is a global expert in psychometrics or measuring psychological factors. He wrote his PhD dissertation on data he collected from 360 assessments. Over the decades he’s developed feedback and measurement tools around a growing database now compromised of over a half million assessments on almost 50,000 leaders. Long-time feedback, executive coaching, and leadership development clients include AT&T, General Motors, Boeing, ConocoPhillips, CIBC, General Mills, Wells Fargo, and many others.

Recently I asked him to reflect on what he sees as the biggest difference between traditional 360 assessments (where he began his career) and the strengths-based 360 he developed and has used for the past 14 years:

  1. Traditional 360 has a very powerful message — focus on weakness — identify problems — find the losers.  Introducing a 360 process and letting people know we’re looking for strength takes the threat out of the process. The surprising thing is that those with fatal flaws are much more willing to acknowledge that they have a fatal flaw because we framed the conversation around strengths.
  2. Traditional 360 assessments typically ask “what does this person do well?” and “what areas could this person improve?” The list of improvement areas is long and compelling. Weaknesses are huge distractions. Even the best leaders have weaknesses. Great leaders are not perfect. The process of working on weaknesses encourages people to work on the wrong issues. Instead leaders need to know how others perceive their strengths and align those with “what does the organization need you to do to be successful?” and “what are you passionate about?” These questions identify the most powerful things for leaders to focus on.
  3. The Gestalt or overall feeling that is created by weakness-based 360 surveys is, “what is wrong” while the gestalt of the strengths-based approach is “what is right.” Weakness-based approaches equates with failure, faults, problems and pessimism. Strengths-based equates with success, strengths, what is right, and optimism.  The body of research on how optimists are happier, more effective, and stronger leaders is compelling.
  4. Basically organizations are successful because of how they stand out, what differentiates them, basically their strengths. They are not perfect. Organizations fail because they do something terribly wrong. People are the same.

If you’d like to explore the compelling research behind Joe’s reflections see Focusing on Strengths or 360 Assessments.

Reprinted with the permission of Jim Clemmer. For over three decades Jim Clemmer’s keynote presentations, workshops, and management team retreats, and seven best-selling books translated into many languages, articles, blog, and newsletters have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The CLEMMER Group is Zenger Folkman’s Canadian Strategic Partner, an award-winning firm best known for its unique evidence-driven, strengths-based system for developing extraordinary leaders and demonstrating the performance impact they have on organizations. http://www.clemmergroup.com

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