Can you train well on the job?

When I studied for my Masters in HR, I loved the fact that they related the theory to the practical work that you would need to do as a HR professional. At the time of my studies, I was working for a small management consultancy, so I was involved in everything and could apply my learning almost instantaneously. Apart from one area, union negotiation!

My company was not unionised, there were not any union members in the organisation, so while I got the theory of negotiation and how long it could take, I really couldn’t see it as being a reality for me, as unionised organisations were big and largely nationalised when I was studying. So I filed it away and left the knowledge in a DEEP recess in my mind!

Fast forward 3 years and I found myself working for one of the largest international consultancies and negotiating redundancies for IT staff in the manufacturing sector with THREE angry union representatives.

Now it wasn’t the fact that they were angry that I struggled with (their jobs were on the line, so they had every right to be angry). It was the fact that I didn’t know how to respond, how to defuse their anger and find a solution that everyone could sign up to.

Luckily for me I wasn’t alone, my much more experienced colleague was there, and as he spoke I took note of his tone and the words he used to defuse the situation. When one particular individuals behaviour became unacceptable, he adjourned the meeting and spoke ‘unofficially’ with a few key individuals. It took two more meetings but in the end an agreement was made.

The next time there was a union related issue, I led and my colleague supported and gave me feedback. That training has stayed with me for my entire career. I’ve built relations with union representatives and am able to smooth difficult paths, without tempers becoming frayed.

I am definitely a person who learns by doing, the technical term is kinaesthetic. I can read all the books in the world, but I need to roll my sleeves and get in there for it to stick.

I think this is true for a lot of people and from a business owners point of view, on the job training has many positives:

• It’s not too costly
• You can quickly assess if the training is working
• It helps to keep staff motivated
• It can free you up to do other things

You still need to have a plan of action for on the job training and documentation to support it, e.g. process maps (although you can get your trainee to do that to check they really get the process).

Good ways to train on the job include:

• Shadowing
• Attending Meetings
• Listening in on calls
• Drafting communication
• Minute Taking
• Providing Holiday Cover

If you think on the job training would be great for you team, but are unsure where to start, contact us and we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can assist you.

Growing Pains are SO Painful!

When I was a teenager I dislocated my knee, not doing anything particularly adventurous! I had a growing complication; my bones and the ligaments supporting them, were not growing at the same rate! I managed to dislocate my knee three times in four years. Every time was painful, I had my leg in plaster from my thigh to my ankle for 6 weeks and then had to have physiotherapy to rebuild the muscles that had wasted away. I hated being on crutches and unable to be as active as I wanted to, but the things I remember most is the first time I was able to be active again.

There are all sorts of changes going on an Eden Mayers HQ – We are changing office location, working with more and more amazing entrepreneurs and our career development offerings (because not everyone wants to run their own business) is really scaling!

It has meant making decisions about where to focus our energies and deprioritising some things I really want to do, to focus fully on other things I really want to do!

Change is hard, but I’ve learnt through years of supporting others through change, that there are a few things you need to help it go smoothly:

Detail the Rationale – Be clear about why the change is necessary.

Detail the steps – Have a clear plan, with steps for part of your change project.

Celebrate each milestone – Don’t wait until the end to celebrate, each achievement is worth celebrating and having some fun will energise you for the next step.

Take a break – Change can be all consuming, it’s good to do some tasks that are unrelated to it. Also, taking time to step away, can give you more perspective.

Try these tips and growing pain won’t be such a pain.

When the team dynamic is tragic!

This week’s case study looks at resolving conflict using mediation.

I always say that the interesting thing about HR is working with people, it’s the interaction with individuals, learning about them and building relationships, then using that knowledge to influence, motivate, develop and exit them where necessary.

One of our clients contacted us, as they had a manager whose relationship with one of their team members had broken down to the point where they could not sit in the same room together. They asked us to come in and mediate with the pair as an outcome of a grievance, and see if their working relationship could be repaired, as they didn’t want to lose either person as they both had unique and hard to source skills.

We arranged a time to meet, laid down the ground rules for the discussion and began. It was soon established that some of their issues was due to cultural differences. The manager came from a country where disagreeing with your manager was not deemed as acceptable behaviour,  you were expected follow commands without questioning. The other individual came from a country where speaking your mind was expected and respected – Can you guess the countries?

The manager kept speaking over their staff member during the mediation process, every time they expressed their feelings, to the point that we had to adjourn the meeting to calm the staff member and reiterate the ground rules to the manager. After an hour and a half of clearing the air, we established the foundation for their working relationship going forward. We followed up with each individual at 1, 4 and 8 weeks post the mediation session and the relationship was much improved. They would never be friends, but had found some common ground and a language to communicate in.

Here are some tips for mediation:

• Both parties must be open to the process.
• Set ground rules.
• Remember you are there to facilitate only.
• Do not take sides.
• Compromise is the key.
• Listen actively – without interruption.
• You can adjourn if the meeting is getting heated.
• It may take more than one meeting to find a resolution.
• Not every situation can be solved by mediation.

Watch our managing directors Facebook live on the mediation here.

While mediation is not a guaranteed solution for conflict and can be time consuming. It gives you an insight into individuals and may help highlight some action that needs to be taken within your organisation to build better working relationships both internally and externally with clients. For details on how we can support you, click here.

Are you a Leader or a Follower?

“Leaders Bring You Along, Managers Push You Along”, have you ever heard that saying?

There are distinct differences between a manager and a leader, even though you do have leaders who manage and managers who are leaders.

Remember when you started your business? You had to motivate yourself, push forward and make things happen. You had to win that business, make the sale and convince your family, friends and funders that your business was a going concern that will be hugely successful?

You led them to understanding your business, to join you on your business journey as a client, investor or cheerleader. That’s what a leader is, someone who takes people with them, using a compelling message.

Sounds easy right?

As an entrepreneur, you need to have the skills of both a leader and a manager. It’s not easy as often influencing others can take more time than just directing them to a task! And time is always short for an entrepreneur!

However the pluses for leading your team, is that by giving them greater autonomy, you get freed up to do the high value tasks that only you have the skills to deliver and who knows what amazing ideas your team may have for improving your business, creating efficiency and increasing your bottom line.

Below are some of the differences in the behavioural characteristics of a leader and manager:

Manager v Leaders Behaviours

Manager Drives employees ... Leader Coaches them

Depends on authority ... On goodwill

Inspires Fear ... Generates enthusiasm

Says “I” ... Says “We”

Places blame for the problem ... Fixes the problem

Knows how it is done ... Shows how it’s done

Uses people ... Develops people

Takes credit ... Give credit

Commands ... Asks

Say “Go” ... Says “Let’s Go”

See my Live Video on the subject here.

Next week we will be looking at how to develop your leadership behaviours.

Are you Flexibly Friendly?

This is the final week of our July focus on Health and Well-Being. This week we are looking at flexible working and family friendly policies.

When I speak with Entrepreneurs about the reasons why they started their companies, flexibility almost always comes up, whether it is to able collect the children from school, watch their favorite teams home and away games or take a holiday 8 times a year!

Obviously if you are the boss, you can make your day work for you, but that may be different for those that work with and for you. Being able to work flexibly is a really great perk to offer your staff and for more and more individuals it is becoming a deal breaker.

All employees has a legal right to ask for flexible working once they have completed 26 weeks of employment. Flexible working can come in many forms including:

• Job Share – Splitting a role between two individuals
• Working from home – Performing all or part of their role from home
• Part time working – Reducing the contractual days or hours a person works
• Compressed hours – Working the same contractual hours in less days
• Flexi-time – Working core hours, but flexing the start and end times

Employers have to reasonably consider the application and make a decision within 3 months.

If the request is agreed, it should be confirmed in writing, with a start date and any contractual amendments made.

You can reject applications for the following reasons:

• Extra costs that will damage the business
• The work can’t be reorganised among other staff
• People can’t be recruited to do the work
• Flexible working will affect quality and performance
• The business won’t be able to meet customer demand
• There’s a lack of work to do during the proposed working times
• The business is planning changes to the workforce

Again, this would need to be communicated to the individual in writing. While there is no obligation to allow an employee to appeal the decision, it would be best practice to do so, as you could be taken to employment tribunal if an individual believed that their applications wasn’t being treated fairly and it would be good to be able to evidence a best practice process.

Giving your staff some flexibility around their working times and location, can reap massive benefits for your organisation from a point of view of motivation, retention and work quality.

What flexible policies do you currently offer to your team members?

The link to the blog on this subject is here.

This is the last blog on health and well-being. Do let us know which subject has been most useful for you this month and what changes you have implemented.

For August we will be looking at building our leadership skills.

Are you Managing Your Stress or is Your Stress Managing You?

Everyone has Stress in their lives and while there is no universal definition of Stress. Put simply, Stress is the way that your body physically responds to mental or emotional pressure. Your job, relationships, family life, money and other commitments can all contribute to your levels of Stress.

The challenge isn’t removing instances of stress (that would be impossible!), it’s recognising when there is too much pressure and what we do to address it in ourselves and our teams.

I like to say people can be either problem solvers or problem multipliers. I once had a manager who would always up the pressure, when she had a run in with her boss; it was as if her way of dealing with stress, was to stress everyone she came across! It wasn’t an endearing quality in a manager, so soon grievances and sick notes became a common occurrence!

The most important thing you can do for yourself and your team, is to keep the lines of communication open and think out of the box when it comes to how you can support your team at times of stress.

Signs to look for in yourself and your team include:

• Negative or depressive feeling
• Disappointment with yourself
• Increased emotional reactions - more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
• Loneliness, withdrawn
• Loss of motivation commitment and confidence
• Mood swings
• Confusion, indecision
• Can’t concentrate
• Poor memory
• Changes in eating habits
• Increased smoking, drinking or drug taking 'to cope'
• Mood swings effecting your behaviour
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Twitchy, nervous behaviour
• Changes in attendance such as arriving later or taking more time off.

Techniques of stress management include:

• Developing an understanding of Stressor's
• Time management (including delegation)
• Conflict resolution
• Adopting a more Positive attitude
• Talking to others
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Exercise
• Altering your diet
• Taking more regular and effective rest

You can get more information on stress management, from The Health and Safety Executive here

The Vlog on this subject can be found here.