why you want to leave?
Simply stating that you would like a new challenge or a change of environment can sometimes send out warning signals to employers, as they may be concerned about hiring a job hopper who is constantly on the lookout for something more exciting.
If you answer, “I’m looking for a new challenge”, be prepared for counter questions such as:
Why are you looking for a new challenge?
Why did you not approach your current employers about gaining such a challenge?
Focus more on why the new role is perfect for you and less on why your current role is not.
The next question is really the interviewer’s way of finding out if you are a good “fit” for the job as well as his organisation.
Q: Tell me about yourself.
You need to tread carefully on this one. This is not the opportunity to tell the interviewer your life story.
“Well, I’m from a family of six and I live with my eldest brother near the East Coast Park and have recently just returned from a family holiday to America” is probably not the answer the interviewer was looking for.
When interviewers ask this question, they are actually more interested to know about how you work, what you enjoy in your career and as a person, how well you would fit in with the culture of the company.
They also want to know what interests you, how skilled you are and what strengths you will bring to the organisation.
Be mindful of the type of role youare applying for and adjust your responses accordingly. Avoid expressing your enthusiasm to work as part of a team in a busy noisy office environment if you are aware that you will be a one-man band sitting behind a cubicle in a very secluded room.
A good answer to this is: “I’maverydedicated worker. I enjoy being part of a team and working in a challenging and dynamic environment, and I also work well independently. I like meeting new people and particularly enjoy being involved with administration for projects and events.”
Q: Where do you want to be in five years’ time?
This question is a favourite among interviewers. Unfortunately, many candidates are usually not prepared for this question, and few actually know where they want to be in five years’ time.
A suggested answer for this could be, “I would like to think that I will be working for a successful organisation such as this but in a role with increased responsibility” or “I see myself leading a team and taking on a regional role”.
You could also tailor your answer to suit the specific role that you are applying for. If you are being interviewed for an administrative position or the role of a personal assistant, the succession to that is becoming an office manager or administration manager.
If you are aware of the company’s structure and know that administrative staff are likely to be promoted to business executives, mention it as your desire to reach that position one day.
The way you answer this question is more important than what you say. Be positive and confident rather than defensive and unsure. Try not to give the interviewer the idea that you are still trying to “find yourself” as that can make you come across as indecisive.
Finally, always remember that the interview is a two-way process, so it is important to have a list of questions you can ask your interviewer at the end.
These could include:
What two or three key competencies are you looking for in a successful candidate?
How long have you been with the organisation? What motivated you to join the organisation?
What are the team dynamics like?Who will I be working for?
What are you like to work for?
Have you had an assistant in the past that you get along very well with and what particular qualities will you insist on for your next hire?
Do you have any reservations at this point about my skills or experience?
An interview does not have to be a gruelling process if you are well prepared and know exactly why you are going for the role. The key to a successful interview is to be positive and constantly market yourself by focusing on your key strengths and achievements, and how you can add value to the organisation you wish to join.
- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network
Article by Cheng Mei Leng, a consultant of Robert Walters Singapore.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Give the right answers
When you are up against fierce competition, saying the right thing can make the difference between getting and losing the job you want.
Here’s how to prepare yourself for answering tough interview questions:
Q: Why do you want this job?
Be honest: Why do you want this role? Are you really interested in what the position entails? Are you impressed by the company’s view on social and corporate responsibility? Or is it just the increase in salary?
Besides the pay package, you should always look at all aspects of a job such as cultural fit, management style, benefits and growth opportunities before making a decision. These factors are equally critical to your career.
Be honest when answering the question “Why do you want this job?” - Reuterspic
Tackle this question by knowing exactly what will be expected of you. Be prepared and do some research. Have you seen the job description? Have you researched the company’s website? Do you know people who work there who have recommended the company as a good employer?
Avoid sounding vague or self-serving. Don’t say: “Because I think I’d be good at it”; “Because it seems like a good opportunity for me”; or “Because it pays well”.
A recommended answer may sound like this: “Having read the job description and having looked at your company’s website, I am attracted to the role as I have the suitable skills. But I am also very interested in the additional responsibility and exposure I will gain.”
Adapt your answer to suit the role. Will you have increased responsibility? Will you be supporting one senior director instead of a team of 50? Will you have a more varied work scope and be involved in company projects and events?
Q: Why should we hire you?
This question is all about selling yourself. Why should someone hire you? Are you proficient at Microsoft Office with excellent knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel? Are you creative and do you really think you can add value to the company?
By looking at the job description, try pointing out your strengths by using examples of work you have previously done in relation to the requirements for this role.
You can say, “I believe that I meet the requirements listed in your job description. I feel that I would really excel in this role as I particularly enjoy working in this industry (or role type). In my previous role I was responsible for … (Use exact examples of how you can prove your value).”
Show enthusiasm for the role and sound confident when you answer. If you cannot convince yourself that you are perfect for the role, it will be even more challenging to convince someone else.
Q: What is your biggest weakness?
This is known as a negative question, one that interviewers use often to test your ability to keep your cool. Let’s face it: We all have weaknesses, and no one is perfect.
But that does not mean you should allow your weaknesses to get in the way of your dream job. Instead, you can spin your weaknesses in a positive manner.
Look at the job description and choose one required responsibility you feel you can improve on. For example, are you afraid to make public presentations? Does your time management need a little work? Do you feel you will benefit from Microsoft Office training?
A possible answer (depending on your weakness) is “I am aware that my systems skills, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, are not up to an advanced level, but I’m working on it by teaching myself in my spare time”, or “I think time management is something that I could work on. I’ve been doing some research on planning and am getting better at prioritising my work.”
Avoid saying that you are a “perfectionist” who cannot let a detail go or that “I have no weaknesses that I know of”. This only makes you come across as arrogant and overconfident.
Q: Why are you leaving your current role?
Always remain positive when discussing your reasons for leaving. This is not the time to rant about how unfair last year’s bonus was or how unreasonable your current boss is.
Whatever reason you may have for leaving, make sure you give your answer a positive spin. If you are feeling undervalued in your role or have a personality clash with your boss or colleague, consider how this would sound to a potential employer. Make sure that your answer puts you in a favourable light.
Article by Cheng Mei Leng, a consultant of Robert Walters Singapore.
Here’s how to prepare yourself for answering tough interview questions:
Q: Why do you want this job?
Be honest: Why do you want this role? Are you really interested in what the position entails? Are you impressed by the company’s view on social and corporate responsibility? Or is it just the increase in salary?
Besides the pay package, you should always look at all aspects of a job such as cultural fit, management style, benefits and growth opportunities before making a decision. These factors are equally critical to your career.
Be honest when answering the question “Why do you want this job?” - Reuterspic
Tackle this question by knowing exactly what will be expected of you. Be prepared and do some research. Have you seen the job description? Have you researched the company’s website? Do you know people who work there who have recommended the company as a good employer?
Avoid sounding vague or self-serving. Don’t say: “Because I think I’d be good at it”; “Because it seems like a good opportunity for me”; or “Because it pays well”.
A recommended answer may sound like this: “Having read the job description and having looked at your company’s website, I am attracted to the role as I have the suitable skills. But I am also very interested in the additional responsibility and exposure I will gain.”
Adapt your answer to suit the role. Will you have increased responsibility? Will you be supporting one senior director instead of a team of 50? Will you have a more varied work scope and be involved in company projects and events?
Q: Why should we hire you?
This question is all about selling yourself. Why should someone hire you? Are you proficient at Microsoft Office with excellent knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel? Are you creative and do you really think you can add value to the company?
By looking at the job description, try pointing out your strengths by using examples of work you have previously done in relation to the requirements for this role.
You can say, “I believe that I meet the requirements listed in your job description. I feel that I would really excel in this role as I particularly enjoy working in this industry (or role type). In my previous role I was responsible for … (Use exact examples of how you can prove your value).”
Show enthusiasm for the role and sound confident when you answer. If you cannot convince yourself that you are perfect for the role, it will be even more challenging to convince someone else.
Q: What is your biggest weakness?
This is known as a negative question, one that interviewers use often to test your ability to keep your cool. Let’s face it: We all have weaknesses, and no one is perfect.
But that does not mean you should allow your weaknesses to get in the way of your dream job. Instead, you can spin your weaknesses in a positive manner.
Look at the job description and choose one required responsibility you feel you can improve on. For example, are you afraid to make public presentations? Does your time management need a little work? Do you feel you will benefit from Microsoft Office training?
A possible answer (depending on your weakness) is “I am aware that my systems skills, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, are not up to an advanced level, but I’m working on it by teaching myself in my spare time”, or “I think time management is something that I could work on. I’ve been doing some research on planning and am getting better at prioritising my work.”
Avoid saying that you are a “perfectionist” who cannot let a detail go or that “I have no weaknesses that I know of”. This only makes you come across as arrogant and overconfident.
Q: Why are you leaving your current role?
Always remain positive when discussing your reasons for leaving. This is not the time to rant about how unfair last year’s bonus was or how unreasonable your current boss is.
Whatever reason you may have for leaving, make sure you give your answer a positive spin. If you are feeling undervalued in your role or have a personality clash with your boss or colleague, consider how this would sound to a potential employer. Make sure that your answer puts you in a favourable light.
Article by Cheng Mei Leng, a consultant of Robert Walters Singapore.
What’s good about goodbye?
FOR organisations grappling with layoff decisions, none of the choices are easy. Probably one of the hardest decisions is how many positions should be eliminated.
Organisations must aim to make the first staff reduction deep enough so that subsequent cutbacks — which will only prolong the trauma for the organisation and its people — can be avoided, if possible.
The next set of decisions, centring on “how” and “who”, are just as tough. A company has primarily three methods to consider when reducing its workforce:
Voluntary early retirement, in which employees nearing the age of retirement are offered incentives to retire early;
Voluntary separation, in which employees of any age or level can be offered incentives to leave (those eligible to volunteer are determined in advance by the company); and,
Involuntary separation, in which positions are eliminated, forcing employees to depart at the company’s discretion.
Unfortunately, most companies — because they are financially pressured to cut quickly — are reluctant to offer voluntary programmes. Voluntary separation is generally more time-consuming and expensive, as employees need to be given more than a month to decide if they want to volunteer.
However, workers who are offered a chance to leave on their own accord generally feel more in control of their futures and tend to hold fewer hard feelings toward their former employers.
Therefore, companies are encouraged to implement a voluntary programme before resorting to involuntary measures.
Voluntary programmes
To ensure success, voluntary programmes require two key elements:
incentives that employees will deem worthwhile; and
support, such as a career decision workshop, to help employees understand the situation and decide whether the time is right for them to make a career change.
Companies that offer their employees career decision support typically meet and exceed the number of volunteers they expect to receive. The better employees understand their options, the more comfortable and confident they feel about leaving the organisation.
With regard to incentives, typical offerings include enhanced severance packages (that is, cash bonuses and bridging to retirement) and outplacement/career transition support to assist employees in deciding their futures, whether it be finding a new job, starting a business or pursuing a new career. Early retirement candidates are also typically offered an extension of health insurance coverage and other benefits.
Involuntary separation
In selecting which positions to eliminate, do not use your existing performance appraisal system to evaluate employees unless you plan to establish a new system after the cutbacks.
Once an appraisal system is used to determine who should be let go, it is perceived as tainted. To prevent employees from feeling as if their jobs are on the line every time they are evaluated for raises and promotions, it is best to use separate selection criteria during a cutback.
“Forced ranking” is often used to determine involuntary cutbacks. In this process, managers determine a list of the most critical skills needed among their workers to increase their company’s profitability. Employees are then evaluated according to the critical skills criteria.
Focusing on skill as opposed to performance helps cutbacks to remain directly in line with a company’s restructuring goals. Poor performance should not be a selection factor in restructuring; it is a separate issue that managers should address on a daily basis to ensure their workforce is always operating at the highest level.
Article by Dr Sattar Bawany, head of Transition Coaching Practice with DBM Asia-Pacific.
Organisations must aim to make the first staff reduction deep enough so that subsequent cutbacks — which will only prolong the trauma for the organisation and its people — can be avoided, if possible.
The next set of decisions, centring on “how” and “who”, are just as tough. A company has primarily three methods to consider when reducing its workforce:
Voluntary early retirement, in which employees nearing the age of retirement are offered incentives to retire early;
Voluntary separation, in which employees of any age or level can be offered incentives to leave (those eligible to volunteer are determined in advance by the company); and,
Involuntary separation, in which positions are eliminated, forcing employees to depart at the company’s discretion.
Unfortunately, most companies — because they are financially pressured to cut quickly — are reluctant to offer voluntary programmes. Voluntary separation is generally more time-consuming and expensive, as employees need to be given more than a month to decide if they want to volunteer.
However, workers who are offered a chance to leave on their own accord generally feel more in control of their futures and tend to hold fewer hard feelings toward their former employers.
Therefore, companies are encouraged to implement a voluntary programme before resorting to involuntary measures.
Voluntary programmes
To ensure success, voluntary programmes require two key elements:
incentives that employees will deem worthwhile; and
support, such as a career decision workshop, to help employees understand the situation and decide whether the time is right for them to make a career change.
Companies that offer their employees career decision support typically meet and exceed the number of volunteers they expect to receive. The better employees understand their options, the more comfortable and confident they feel about leaving the organisation.
With regard to incentives, typical offerings include enhanced severance packages (that is, cash bonuses and bridging to retirement) and outplacement/career transition support to assist employees in deciding their futures, whether it be finding a new job, starting a business or pursuing a new career. Early retirement candidates are also typically offered an extension of health insurance coverage and other benefits.
Involuntary separation
In selecting which positions to eliminate, do not use your existing performance appraisal system to evaluate employees unless you plan to establish a new system after the cutbacks.
Once an appraisal system is used to determine who should be let go, it is perceived as tainted. To prevent employees from feeling as if their jobs are on the line every time they are evaluated for raises and promotions, it is best to use separate selection criteria during a cutback.
“Forced ranking” is often used to determine involuntary cutbacks. In this process, managers determine a list of the most critical skills needed among their workers to increase their company’s profitability. Employees are then evaluated according to the critical skills criteria.
Focusing on skill as opposed to performance helps cutbacks to remain directly in line with a company’s restructuring goals. Poor performance should not be a selection factor in restructuring; it is a separate issue that managers should address on a daily basis to ensure their workforce is always operating at the highest level.
Article by Dr Sattar Bawany, head of Transition Coaching Practice with DBM Asia-Pacific.
A perfect world
NANCY, my Director of Everything, and I were talking about how we could better serve our clients and each other. How can we be more efficient and effective in the office? How can we highlight our strengths and outsource or minimise our weaknesses?
Out of the discussion, it boiled down to the one thing we knew we were looking for —the perfect world concept. How do we create each other’s “perfect world?”
Wouldn’t it be nice in our employer- employee relationship if we created a situation in which we both did more of what we loved, outsourced what we didn’t like, make it a point to do everything possible to make sure the other is happy, and stay focused on living true to our values? What a concept!
In fact, that would be each of our job descriptions: to create each other’s PerfectWorld. Simple, yet profound.
My perfect world
Nancy asked: “What is it for you? What drives you? What do you value? What is your perfect world?”
“It’s having more joy and less hassle,” I said. “Freedom to come and go as I please; freedom to create; and freedom to make a difference in this world in ways I would like. If you help me do that, I’ll be one happy boss.”
What Nancy wants
“Okay, Nancy, what is your Perfect World?” I asked.
She replied: “Get rid of anything to do with accounting and technology, have more time for marketing and taking care of our clients. I’d also like to spend more time with my son (who at the time was 12) and with family around the country. I’d like to travel more, have more fun, and partake in the delightfully unexpected more often.”
“Okay, done,” I replied. “No more accounting and technology.We’ll order out. This will free you up to do more marketing and spend more time with clients.
“You can ‘call in well’ anytime you like if it gives you the opportunity to be with David and the family.We’ll create an incentive plan and your reward will be free tickets to travel anywhere you’d like. And I’ll do my best to keep things from getting mundane in the workplace.
“At the end of every month, we will grade ourselves on a scale of 1 to 10 on how well we did at creating each other’s perfect world. If we aren’t at a 9 or 10, we’ll figure out a way to raise the score the next month.”
And for the last 19 years, we have stayed in tune with each other’s PerfectWorld.
I run a small business and it may be easier for me to make quick changes than it is for you, but the question is, how attuned are you to your employees’ perfect world? Are you self-absorbed and think only of your needs or do you think of what’s best for the people around you?
Help each other
What if we lived our life with each other’s PerfectWorld in mind? What if we spent more time asking questions and paying attention to the perfect world of our co-workers, spouses, family and friends?
What if we made choices in life based on those perfect worlds? Would you sell more?Would you laugh more?Would you love more? Would the quality of your relationships improve?Would the quality of your life improve?
So how do you best go about creating another person’s Perfect World? You start by looking at the world through their eyes. It’s not always easy if you only have eyes for “I.” Get past your self-absorbed self. Pay more attention.
Start by asking questions. Ask the customers: “If we could have done one thing better in working with you, what would it have been?” Find out and then deliver. Ask: How can I create a better experience for my customers? What can I do to truly connect with them? How can I move from being ordinary to extraordinary?
Do you want to keep good customers? Want to keep good friends? Want to keep good employees? Find out what drives them. Find out what constitutes their PerfectWorld.
The most effective company incentive programmes I’ve seen are the ones customised to meet the desires of each employee.
RalphWaldo Emerson said: “One of the most beautiful compensations of this life is that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” It’s a wonderful way to live.
By living the “perfect world” philosophy, we provide an opportunity for joy, spontaneity, curiosity, silliness and laughter to flourish. And that’s not a bad way to live. In fact, that’s perfect!
Article by Scott Friedman, a certified speaking professional.
Out of the discussion, it boiled down to the one thing we knew we were looking for —the perfect world concept. How do we create each other’s “perfect world?”
Wouldn’t it be nice in our employer- employee relationship if we created a situation in which we both did more of what we loved, outsourced what we didn’t like, make it a point to do everything possible to make sure the other is happy, and stay focused on living true to our values? What a concept!
In fact, that would be each of our job descriptions: to create each other’s PerfectWorld. Simple, yet profound.
My perfect world
Nancy asked: “What is it for you? What drives you? What do you value? What is your perfect world?”
“It’s having more joy and less hassle,” I said. “Freedom to come and go as I please; freedom to create; and freedom to make a difference in this world in ways I would like. If you help me do that, I’ll be one happy boss.”
What Nancy wants
“Okay, Nancy, what is your Perfect World?” I asked.
She replied: “Get rid of anything to do with accounting and technology, have more time for marketing and taking care of our clients. I’d also like to spend more time with my son (who at the time was 12) and with family around the country. I’d like to travel more, have more fun, and partake in the delightfully unexpected more often.”
“Okay, done,” I replied. “No more accounting and technology.We’ll order out. This will free you up to do more marketing and spend more time with clients.
“You can ‘call in well’ anytime you like if it gives you the opportunity to be with David and the family.We’ll create an incentive plan and your reward will be free tickets to travel anywhere you’d like. And I’ll do my best to keep things from getting mundane in the workplace.
“At the end of every month, we will grade ourselves on a scale of 1 to 10 on how well we did at creating each other’s perfect world. If we aren’t at a 9 or 10, we’ll figure out a way to raise the score the next month.”
And for the last 19 years, we have stayed in tune with each other’s PerfectWorld.
I run a small business and it may be easier for me to make quick changes than it is for you, but the question is, how attuned are you to your employees’ perfect world? Are you self-absorbed and think only of your needs or do you think of what’s best for the people around you?
Help each other
What if we lived our life with each other’s PerfectWorld in mind? What if we spent more time asking questions and paying attention to the perfect world of our co-workers, spouses, family and friends?
What if we made choices in life based on those perfect worlds? Would you sell more?Would you laugh more?Would you love more? Would the quality of your relationships improve?Would the quality of your life improve?
So how do you best go about creating another person’s Perfect World? You start by looking at the world through their eyes. It’s not always easy if you only have eyes for “I.” Get past your self-absorbed self. Pay more attention.
Start by asking questions. Ask the customers: “If we could have done one thing better in working with you, what would it have been?” Find out and then deliver. Ask: How can I create a better experience for my customers? What can I do to truly connect with them? How can I move from being ordinary to extraordinary?
Do you want to keep good customers? Want to keep good friends? Want to keep good employees? Find out what drives them. Find out what constitutes their PerfectWorld.
The most effective company incentive programmes I’ve seen are the ones customised to meet the desires of each employee.
RalphWaldo Emerson said: “One of the most beautiful compensations of this life is that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” It’s a wonderful way to live.
By living the “perfect world” philosophy, we provide an opportunity for joy, spontaneity, curiosity, silliness and laughter to flourish. And that’s not a bad way to live. In fact, that’s perfect!
Article by Scott Friedman, a certified speaking professional.
Don't always run for cover
TO succeed at anything, you have to take some risks. Remember the saying: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? The trick is to know how to be an effective risk taker. Once you learn how to do this, you can bet on an improvement in your life and career.
Risky business
While you may admire famous successful entrepreneurs and risk takers, when faced with risk, most people play safe and run for cover. This is because people are fearful of making a wrong decision, and focus instead on protective mechanisms, such as avoiding risky activities or delaying difficult choices.
Once you learn how to be an effective risk taker, you can bet on an improvement in your life and career. - Bloombergpic
However, risk is a natural part of life. When starting something new, such as a business or project, there are uncertainties and problems involved. For example, there may be little demand for your products, stiff competition or production issues.
However, even routine activities involve risk. Can you ensure you will never lose your job, have an accident or run into difficulties? Of course not! While we can mitigate risks to a certain extent, it is impossible to eliminate them from our lives because risk is inherent in life.
Making decisions
You have to make decisions every day. These range in importance, from deciding whether to take an umbrella with you to which business project to select. For less important issues, you usually do not deliberate much. However, when faced with more important choices that have a major impact, you invest more time and effort in analysing the situation.
Making a rational decision is often tempered by personal biases, emotions and cultural influences. Additionally, insufficient information and time pressures will also affect the final outcome.
The ability to make good decisions will affect your success in your private and professional life. This is particularly true for difficult decisions that can create value for yourself, your organisation or both.
Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. You need to limit potentially negative consequences, while optimising the potential benefits of new opportunities.
Risk-taking types
People can be classified according to the following risk-taking profiles.
1 The gambler
Everyone knows someone who makes risky decisions by relying on his gut. This is not proper risk management, but gambling! Gamblers may be lucky a few times, but sooner or later, their luck runs out. Many start-ups and new ventures are in this category — their managers take high risks with little risk management knowledge, which leads to failure.
Over 95 per cent of new organisations created each year are gone within five years of operation.
2 The over-cautious pessimist
At the other extreme, is the guywho believes in Murphy’s Law, “If anything can go wrong, it will”. Organisations in this stage have a hard time making decisions, because they want to play safe and over-analyse opportunities and issues.
While this mitigates risk to a certain extent, it also prevents creativity and innovation. Organisations often end up missing the opportunities presented to them.
3 The avoider
This is an unfortunate person who constantly tries to avoid risks by not dealing with reality. Individuals and organisations that adopt this approach ignore problems that eventually blow up in their faces. An example of this is someone who refuses to learn new skills or to make himself more employable by pretending that the workplace has not changed and that his job is for life.
4 The effective risk taker
This is the person who manages risk and makes good decisions. This is a skill set that can be learned and improved upon. By using a logical, systematic and practical approach, individuals and organisations can integrate risk management in decision- making.
Managing risks
When making decisions, it is important to be informed, emotionally aware and rationally capable of analysing seemingly conflicting information and risks to arrive at a sound decision.
Risk management helps you to understand the impact of your decision on all operations. It creates the models and tools to predict outcomes and build countermeasures to prevent unintended and undesirable consequences. The final outcome is minimised risk and higher returns.
As a start, you should:
Improve your risk awareness and understand how your ego, emotions and culture influence your perception of risks and the way you make decisions;
Change your mindset about risk. Since risk is inherent in the nature of life, learn to become comfortable with taking risks. Risk presents us with new opportunities and makes life exciting;
Always do a potential risk analysis when making important decisions; and
Learn risk management methodologies and tools to improve your effectiveness as a decision maker.
Article by Mark Ronez, a trainer with NUS Extension.
Risky business
While you may admire famous successful entrepreneurs and risk takers, when faced with risk, most people play safe and run for cover. This is because people are fearful of making a wrong decision, and focus instead on protective mechanisms, such as avoiding risky activities or delaying difficult choices.
Once you learn how to be an effective risk taker, you can bet on an improvement in your life and career. - Bloombergpic
However, risk is a natural part of life. When starting something new, such as a business or project, there are uncertainties and problems involved. For example, there may be little demand for your products, stiff competition or production issues.
However, even routine activities involve risk. Can you ensure you will never lose your job, have an accident or run into difficulties? Of course not! While we can mitigate risks to a certain extent, it is impossible to eliminate them from our lives because risk is inherent in life.
Making decisions
You have to make decisions every day. These range in importance, from deciding whether to take an umbrella with you to which business project to select. For less important issues, you usually do not deliberate much. However, when faced with more important choices that have a major impact, you invest more time and effort in analysing the situation.
Making a rational decision is often tempered by personal biases, emotions and cultural influences. Additionally, insufficient information and time pressures will also affect the final outcome.
The ability to make good decisions will affect your success in your private and professional life. This is particularly true for difficult decisions that can create value for yourself, your organisation or both.
Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. You need to limit potentially negative consequences, while optimising the potential benefits of new opportunities.
Risk-taking types
People can be classified according to the following risk-taking profiles.
1 The gambler
Everyone knows someone who makes risky decisions by relying on his gut. This is not proper risk management, but gambling! Gamblers may be lucky a few times, but sooner or later, their luck runs out. Many start-ups and new ventures are in this category — their managers take high risks with little risk management knowledge, which leads to failure.
Over 95 per cent of new organisations created each year are gone within five years of operation.
2 The over-cautious pessimist
At the other extreme, is the guywho believes in Murphy’s Law, “If anything can go wrong, it will”. Organisations in this stage have a hard time making decisions, because they want to play safe and over-analyse opportunities and issues.
While this mitigates risk to a certain extent, it also prevents creativity and innovation. Organisations often end up missing the opportunities presented to them.
3 The avoider
This is an unfortunate person who constantly tries to avoid risks by not dealing with reality. Individuals and organisations that adopt this approach ignore problems that eventually blow up in their faces. An example of this is someone who refuses to learn new skills or to make himself more employable by pretending that the workplace has not changed and that his job is for life.
4 The effective risk taker
This is the person who manages risk and makes good decisions. This is a skill set that can be learned and improved upon. By using a logical, systematic and practical approach, individuals and organisations can integrate risk management in decision- making.
Managing risks
When making decisions, it is important to be informed, emotionally aware and rationally capable of analysing seemingly conflicting information and risks to arrive at a sound decision.
Risk management helps you to understand the impact of your decision on all operations. It creates the models and tools to predict outcomes and build countermeasures to prevent unintended and undesirable consequences. The final outcome is minimised risk and higher returns.
As a start, you should:
Improve your risk awareness and understand how your ego, emotions and culture influence your perception of risks and the way you make decisions;
Change your mindset about risk. Since risk is inherent in the nature of life, learn to become comfortable with taking risks. Risk presents us with new opportunities and makes life exciting;
Always do a potential risk analysis when making important decisions; and
Learn risk management methodologies and tools to improve your effectiveness as a decision maker.
Article by Mark Ronez, a trainer with NUS Extension.
Make meetings productive
OH no, not another meeting! We have all had that reaction at one time or another when someone suggests there should be a meeting to resolve a problem, make a plan or update each other on office matters.
Often, it seems that the same topics are discussed over and over, but even though everybody has good ideas, the issues never get resolved.
Meetings can be an effective way to solve problems, or just a frustrating waste of time. The difference is in how the meeting is run.
Every meeting should have a fixed ending time.- APpic
There are five elements needed for a successful business meeting: an agenda, an agreed-upon format, a chairman, a scribe and a system of accountability.
The meeting agenda should be prepared and distributed in advance, so everyone knows what will be discussed.
The chairman typically prepares the agenda, based on inputs from the other participants. It is the chair’s task to balance what everyone wants to include with what can be discussed in the time available.
If you disagree over what should be on the agenda, call for a vote before proceedings begin.
Every meeting should have a fixed ending time. An open-ended meeting will run until everyone gets exhausted or there are too few people remaining to make any decisions.
Agree on the format for the meeting before you begin. Will everyone be asked to speak in turn, or will there be an open discussion? How much time will be allotted for each topic?
Will decisions be made by the most senior person present, or by the group at large? How will the group make its decisions? Must agreement be unanimous, or will a majority vote suffice?
Keep on track
The chairman must actively run the meeting. He needs to keep an eye on the time, adhere to the format, manage interruptions and stick to the agenda.
If someone talks too much or gets off track, the chair must steer the speaker back to the point.
In a group of peers, you may want to rotate the position of chair, unless one of you is particularly good at it and could serve best in that role.
The scribe’s job is to record what topics were discussed, any important points made, decisions reached and accountabilities assigned. He or she should distribute a copy of the record to the participants within 24 hours, while the details are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Accountability means that a person or group is assigned to do something specific by a certain date. “Jane will get quotes for leasing a photocopy machine and report back at the next meeting,” is a statement of accountability.
A common mistake is to decide on a task without assigning who will do it or by when. Another is to make the task too vague, for example, “Jane will investigate our copying options.”
The chair must make sure each decision has accountability assigned before moving on.
When you are meeting to solve a problem, make sure everyone first agrees on what the problem really is. “We need a copier,” is actually a solution rather than a problem. The underlying problem might be, “We are spending too much time running out for copies.”
The solution might be getting a copier, but it could also be organising work better, or designating someone to have all copies made once a day.
Not every issue can be resolved the first time it comes up, but it can be moved along. Make it a standing rule that some action must be taken about every item on your meeting agenda before the meeting concludes.
Article by C.J. Hayden, the author of Get Hired Now! and Get Clients Now!
Often, it seems that the same topics are discussed over and over, but even though everybody has good ideas, the issues never get resolved.
Meetings can be an effective way to solve problems, or just a frustrating waste of time. The difference is in how the meeting is run.
Every meeting should have a fixed ending time.- APpic
There are five elements needed for a successful business meeting: an agenda, an agreed-upon format, a chairman, a scribe and a system of accountability.
The meeting agenda should be prepared and distributed in advance, so everyone knows what will be discussed.
The chairman typically prepares the agenda, based on inputs from the other participants. It is the chair’s task to balance what everyone wants to include with what can be discussed in the time available.
If you disagree over what should be on the agenda, call for a vote before proceedings begin.
Every meeting should have a fixed ending time. An open-ended meeting will run until everyone gets exhausted or there are too few people remaining to make any decisions.
Agree on the format for the meeting before you begin. Will everyone be asked to speak in turn, or will there be an open discussion? How much time will be allotted for each topic?
Will decisions be made by the most senior person present, or by the group at large? How will the group make its decisions? Must agreement be unanimous, or will a majority vote suffice?
Keep on track
The chairman must actively run the meeting. He needs to keep an eye on the time, adhere to the format, manage interruptions and stick to the agenda.
If someone talks too much or gets off track, the chair must steer the speaker back to the point.
In a group of peers, you may want to rotate the position of chair, unless one of you is particularly good at it and could serve best in that role.
The scribe’s job is to record what topics were discussed, any important points made, decisions reached and accountabilities assigned. He or she should distribute a copy of the record to the participants within 24 hours, while the details are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Accountability means that a person or group is assigned to do something specific by a certain date. “Jane will get quotes for leasing a photocopy machine and report back at the next meeting,” is a statement of accountability.
A common mistake is to decide on a task without assigning who will do it or by when. Another is to make the task too vague, for example, “Jane will investigate our copying options.”
The chair must make sure each decision has accountability assigned before moving on.
When you are meeting to solve a problem, make sure everyone first agrees on what the problem really is. “We need a copier,” is actually a solution rather than a problem. The underlying problem might be, “We are spending too much time running out for copies.”
The solution might be getting a copier, but it could also be organising work better, or designating someone to have all copies made once a day.
Not every issue can be resolved the first time it comes up, but it can be moved along. Make it a standing rule that some action must be taken about every item on your meeting agenda before the meeting concludes.
Article by C.J. Hayden, the author of Get Hired Now! and Get Clients Now!
Make your staff happy
TURN on any nightly newscast, and you will hear the doom-and-gloom discussions about the economic recession.
Reactions inside organisations run the gamut from “Things are great. Go, team, go!” to “Stop all spending now!”, based on manager leadership styles and their comfort level with potential high-risk changes.
During an economic recession, one of the first places a manager will be asked to curtail expenses often affects the very people who keep the business going — team members.
The manager who can balance the bottom line without sacrificing the spirit of the team is the manager who will weather economic highs and lows effectively.
Your team members are doing their job and performing well, and it is only human nature for them to want acknowledgment of those efforts.
Here are my 10 ideas that do not cost a cent:
No-cost ideas
1 Use praise
You know this one, yet many team leaders find it hard to do inthe- moment.
2 Increase visibility
Write an article about your team members’ contributions, send a group e-mail, let your chief executive officer know, or announce it during a staff meeting.
3 Give information
Employees crave accurate information, so communicate often and early. It will stop potential rumours and increase their trust in the company direction.
4 Increase involvement
Create ways to solicit individual opinions on issues facing your organisation. Where practical, allow the team to have a voice in the final decision.
5 Offer interesting work
Create opportunities for individuals to work on a special project team — a plum assignment that encourages their professional development.
6 Give feedback on performance
Report back more frequently what you see the team members accomplishing and how they are meeting your expectations. This may lead to a mentoring relationship.
7 Listen, really listen!
Consciously practise deeper listening to understand and connect with each individual. Pay attention and stay focused on what your employee is saying.
8 Allow flexibility
If it is not critical to customers, can you allow team members freedom in establishing their work hours and time off?
9 Recommend independence
Offer in-house training that allows each team member to learn a new skill. After the training, give them a project to use the new skills and allow them the autonomy of how the task should be completed.
10 Play
As adults, we aren’t often allowed to “play” at work, yet it relieves stress and improves morale. Consider lunchtime walks, team stretch breaks, Joke of the Day challenge, Silly Socks Day, or whatever your team brainstorms.
It does not take much to recognise team members even during harder economic times. It does, however, take consistency for you to get the most impact for your efforts.
Low-cost ideas
If you have a minimal budget, here are three low-cost recognition ideas:
● Recognition box
Fill a box with small supplies (cards, colourful Post-it notes, smiley paperclips, assorted page flags, stickers, markers, coupons and so on) that an individual can select when you have observed him doing something great for internal or external customers.
● Certificates of recognition
Create awards for individual performance. Anything from a customer interaction to a hidden talent can be recognised.
● Celebrations
Acknowledge birthdays, company anniversary, safety milestones and production goals. You might begin just by lunching out together. There is something satisfying about connecting with others through the sharing of a meal.
Article by Marjorie Treu, team leadership expert and CEO of Team Fusion.
Reactions inside organisations run the gamut from “Things are great. Go, team, go!” to “Stop all spending now!”, based on manager leadership styles and their comfort level with potential high-risk changes.
During an economic recession, one of the first places a manager will be asked to curtail expenses often affects the very people who keep the business going — team members.
The manager who can balance the bottom line without sacrificing the spirit of the team is the manager who will weather economic highs and lows effectively.
Your team members are doing their job and performing well, and it is only human nature for them to want acknowledgment of those efforts.
Here are my 10 ideas that do not cost a cent:
No-cost ideas
1 Use praise
You know this one, yet many team leaders find it hard to do inthe- moment.
2 Increase visibility
Write an article about your team members’ contributions, send a group e-mail, let your chief executive officer know, or announce it during a staff meeting.
3 Give information
Employees crave accurate information, so communicate often and early. It will stop potential rumours and increase their trust in the company direction.
4 Increase involvement
Create ways to solicit individual opinions on issues facing your organisation. Where practical, allow the team to have a voice in the final decision.
5 Offer interesting work
Create opportunities for individuals to work on a special project team — a plum assignment that encourages their professional development.
6 Give feedback on performance
Report back more frequently what you see the team members accomplishing and how they are meeting your expectations. This may lead to a mentoring relationship.
7 Listen, really listen!
Consciously practise deeper listening to understand and connect with each individual. Pay attention and stay focused on what your employee is saying.
8 Allow flexibility
If it is not critical to customers, can you allow team members freedom in establishing their work hours and time off?
9 Recommend independence
Offer in-house training that allows each team member to learn a new skill. After the training, give them a project to use the new skills and allow them the autonomy of how the task should be completed.
10 Play
As adults, we aren’t often allowed to “play” at work, yet it relieves stress and improves morale. Consider lunchtime walks, team stretch breaks, Joke of the Day challenge, Silly Socks Day, or whatever your team brainstorms.
It does not take much to recognise team members even during harder economic times. It does, however, take consistency for you to get the most impact for your efforts.
Low-cost ideas
If you have a minimal budget, here are three low-cost recognition ideas:
● Recognition box
Fill a box with small supplies (cards, colourful Post-it notes, smiley paperclips, assorted page flags, stickers, markers, coupons and so on) that an individual can select when you have observed him doing something great for internal or external customers.
● Certificates of recognition
Create awards for individual performance. Anything from a customer interaction to a hidden talent can be recognised.
● Celebrations
Acknowledge birthdays, company anniversary, safety milestones and production goals. You might begin just by lunching out together. There is something satisfying about connecting with others through the sharing of a meal.
Article by Marjorie Treu, team leadership expert and CEO of Team Fusion.
Don’t be an interview addict
In a recession, many people panic when it comes to looking for a new job. This creates a mindset of fear, and when people are fearful, they grab the first thing that comes along.
This means they often end up in the wrong job, become unhappy soon after or under-perform and are doomed to repeat their job search over and over again. But it does not have to be that way — there are ways to find a job that fits.
There are hundreds of books on interviewing techniques and how to land that perfect job. Many people think that if they do the research, look at the classifieds, brush up their curriculum vitae (CV), learn how to answer standard interview questions, dress well, and get through the first interview in one piece, they are on their way to job happiness.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is not about how to get a job, it is how to do a job.
My friend Brian is a good case in point. He has lived overseas for more than 15 years in three different countries in Asia. Recently laid off from his last US-based organisation, with a wife and children to support, he was given outplacement help from a large firm in Singapore. Now he has an “office” and a computer and he was given a psychometric exam, some pointers on his CV and interview tips.
He spends his days calling every headhunter and agency listed, reviewing online recruitment sites and all job boards, and sending out several CVs each week. He has had four interviews so far and he is debating taking on a new job.
The problem? Brian doesn’t instinctively trust his boss-to-be, who he thinks is a micro manager. He is also not sure if the company goals set for him are realistic, and the pay/bonus scheme makes him think it is not a sound company. He also cannot figure out how the company seemingly makes the money it does.
But they do have a nice office, are interested in him, he needs a job — why not grab it and make some money?
Here’s why not. Many people like Brian attend interviews, but they know little about the company, the job or any of the issues it involves. They only know what they have read in the company brochure and some information on its website.
If your boss asked you to spearhead a new strategic initiative, would you wait for him to explain everything to you, or instead find out as much as you could prior to your meeting? Would someone with little background knowledge on a company be able to talk about company challenges during an interview?
You must view an interview as an opportunity to show what you can do for your “new” boss. Act like an employee, not an interviewee. Your goal is to get the right job for you. If you are a mid- to senior-level professional, you should know that there are not hundreds, or even dozens of jobs, that are the right ones for you.
As a headhunter, I get calls and e-mail messages from people asking if I can help them to get more interviews and talk to as many companies as possible. Those are the desperate ones, running from one interview to the next to see if that one fits better.
Maybe you have become like Brian — good at interviewing, checking the Internet every day and e-mailing many CVs (almost all of which never see the light of day). You are working hard and being interviewed at every possible opportunity. That is busy work, not progress.
People assume they have to get plenty of rejections before they get that dream job. They continue trying for jobs they know are not right, hoping that somehow one of these mismatched interviews will blossom into the ideal career.
CV after CV is sent out, keeping an entire industry of in-house recruiters, online job boards and employment agencies busy.
Going for interviews, however, is not your job. Your job is to size up the opportunity given to you. So before you think about going for the next interview, do your homework on the company and the job itself. Ask yourself if it is a good fit, given your skills and interest. If it isn’t, don’t try to ace the interview for its own sake and leave an important career decision to the wrong person — the interviewer.
Use the time you would have spent preparing and going for the interview on activities that help you achieve better results for the right job.
Article by Neal Horwitz, managing director of Henry Hale Maguire.
This means they often end up in the wrong job, become unhappy soon after or under-perform and are doomed to repeat their job search over and over again. But it does not have to be that way — there are ways to find a job that fits.
There are hundreds of books on interviewing techniques and how to land that perfect job. Many people think that if they do the research, look at the classifieds, brush up their curriculum vitae (CV), learn how to answer standard interview questions, dress well, and get through the first interview in one piece, they are on their way to job happiness.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is not about how to get a job, it is how to do a job.
My friend Brian is a good case in point. He has lived overseas for more than 15 years in three different countries in Asia. Recently laid off from his last US-based organisation, with a wife and children to support, he was given outplacement help from a large firm in Singapore. Now he has an “office” and a computer and he was given a psychometric exam, some pointers on his CV and interview tips.
He spends his days calling every headhunter and agency listed, reviewing online recruitment sites and all job boards, and sending out several CVs each week. He has had four interviews so far and he is debating taking on a new job.
The problem? Brian doesn’t instinctively trust his boss-to-be, who he thinks is a micro manager. He is also not sure if the company goals set for him are realistic, and the pay/bonus scheme makes him think it is not a sound company. He also cannot figure out how the company seemingly makes the money it does.
But they do have a nice office, are interested in him, he needs a job — why not grab it and make some money?
Here’s why not. Many people like Brian attend interviews, but they know little about the company, the job or any of the issues it involves. They only know what they have read in the company brochure and some information on its website.
If your boss asked you to spearhead a new strategic initiative, would you wait for him to explain everything to you, or instead find out as much as you could prior to your meeting? Would someone with little background knowledge on a company be able to talk about company challenges during an interview?
You must view an interview as an opportunity to show what you can do for your “new” boss. Act like an employee, not an interviewee. Your goal is to get the right job for you. If you are a mid- to senior-level professional, you should know that there are not hundreds, or even dozens of jobs, that are the right ones for you.
As a headhunter, I get calls and e-mail messages from people asking if I can help them to get more interviews and talk to as many companies as possible. Those are the desperate ones, running from one interview to the next to see if that one fits better.
Maybe you have become like Brian — good at interviewing, checking the Internet every day and e-mailing many CVs (almost all of which never see the light of day). You are working hard and being interviewed at every possible opportunity. That is busy work, not progress.
People assume they have to get plenty of rejections before they get that dream job. They continue trying for jobs they know are not right, hoping that somehow one of these mismatched interviews will blossom into the ideal career.
CV after CV is sent out, keeping an entire industry of in-house recruiters, online job boards and employment agencies busy.
Going for interviews, however, is not your job. Your job is to size up the opportunity given to you. So before you think about going for the next interview, do your homework on the company and the job itself. Ask yourself if it is a good fit, given your skills and interest. If it isn’t, don’t try to ace the interview for its own sake and leave an important career decision to the wrong person — the interviewer.
Use the time you would have spent preparing and going for the interview on activities that help you achieve better results for the right job.
Article by Neal Horwitz, managing director of Henry Hale Maguire.
The art of team building
HOW well are your teams performing? How much more could you be getting out of them? What’s holding them back from greatness?
Are the people on your teams glad they are there? How could you support them even better? How does your leadership harm or enrich your teams?
Donald Kendall, a former chairman of PepsiCo, once said: “There’s only one standard. Once you’re stuck on the flypaper, you’re stuck. If you don’t set a high standard, you can’t expect your people to act right.”
If you want your teams to rise to their potential, you have to approach team-building from a different mindset. Modern team-building requires more than bureaucratic, heavy-handed rules and regulations, and command and control mandates.
It requires updated, creative, flexible, people-centred strategies that are aligned with organisational objectives. Only then will your teams produce results that catapult your organisation forward.
Here are 12 executive leadership strategies for building a world-class team that can compete with anyone.
1 Make your teams fast and flexible
The best teams learn and perform on the fly. Build in extreme manoeuvrability in your teams.
2 Make more teams of smaller size
Make your team size manageable and dedicated to specific issues they can focus on and tackle quickly and successfully.
3 Make sure each team has a unifying vision
A team vision is a winning vision. Create an inspiring view of what the team will do once it is successful.
4 Make your teams learning machines
A team that learns well is a team that succeeds. Help them learn continuously and voraciously.
5 Give your teams a special identity
Give your teams something that will make them stand out and feel special. Give them something to brag about and be well-known for.
6 Continually raise your teams’ self-esteem
Assume your teams will succeed mightily. Tell them you have complete faith and hope in them, and how much you appreciate their efforts.
7 Give your teams decision-making autonomy
Speed up team communication and lubricate team functioning by allowing as many intra-team decisions as possible. Reduce the organisational drag on your teams.
8 Allow your teams to be creativity factories
Honour and encourage innovation so your teams can gain an edge over the competition. Respect bold forays into the unknown and reward big thinking.
9 Give your teams a nourishing environment
Supply your teams with everything they need for success. Support, encourage and nudge them on, and then get out of their way and let them succeed.
10 Make your teams living entities
Slash the paperwork, the reporting and the ponderous meetings. Allow your teams to infuse projects with their own blood and energy.
11 Give your teams crisp, open communication
Construct a friendly, smart and responsive feedback system and watch them bounce winning ideas off each other.
12 Know when not to have a team
A smart leader knows when a team should not be a team. Stop forcing inappropriate work on a team and let its members do the important work they were meant to do.
Teams must be respected for what they are capable of when fortified with the proper organisational nutrients and allowed to run with their mandates.
To catapult your teams to new heights, get out of their way and trust they will perform to their potential.
Article by Bill Cole, the Mental Game Coach™, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching.
Are the people on your teams glad they are there? How could you support them even better? How does your leadership harm or enrich your teams?
Donald Kendall, a former chairman of PepsiCo, once said: “There’s only one standard. Once you’re stuck on the flypaper, you’re stuck. If you don’t set a high standard, you can’t expect your people to act right.”
If you want your teams to rise to their potential, you have to approach team-building from a different mindset. Modern team-building requires more than bureaucratic, heavy-handed rules and regulations, and command and control mandates.
It requires updated, creative, flexible, people-centred strategies that are aligned with organisational objectives. Only then will your teams produce results that catapult your organisation forward.
Here are 12 executive leadership strategies for building a world-class team that can compete with anyone.
1 Make your teams fast and flexible
The best teams learn and perform on the fly. Build in extreme manoeuvrability in your teams.
2 Make more teams of smaller size
Make your team size manageable and dedicated to specific issues they can focus on and tackle quickly and successfully.
3 Make sure each team has a unifying vision
A team vision is a winning vision. Create an inspiring view of what the team will do once it is successful.
4 Make your teams learning machines
A team that learns well is a team that succeeds. Help them learn continuously and voraciously.
5 Give your teams a special identity
Give your teams something that will make them stand out and feel special. Give them something to brag about and be well-known for.
6 Continually raise your teams’ self-esteem
Assume your teams will succeed mightily. Tell them you have complete faith and hope in them, and how much you appreciate their efforts.
7 Give your teams decision-making autonomy
Speed up team communication and lubricate team functioning by allowing as many intra-team decisions as possible. Reduce the organisational drag on your teams.
8 Allow your teams to be creativity factories
Honour and encourage innovation so your teams can gain an edge over the competition. Respect bold forays into the unknown and reward big thinking.
9 Give your teams a nourishing environment
Supply your teams with everything they need for success. Support, encourage and nudge them on, and then get out of their way and let them succeed.
10 Make your teams living entities
Slash the paperwork, the reporting and the ponderous meetings. Allow your teams to infuse projects with their own blood and energy.
11 Give your teams crisp, open communication
Construct a friendly, smart and responsive feedback system and watch them bounce winning ideas off each other.
12 Know when not to have a team
A smart leader knows when a team should not be a team. Stop forcing inappropriate work on a team and let its members do the important work they were meant to do.
Teams must be respected for what they are capable of when fortified with the proper organisational nutrients and allowed to run with their mandates.
To catapult your teams to new heights, get out of their way and trust they will perform to their potential.
Article by Bill Cole, the Mental Game Coach™, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Go on, let your people fail?
Failure is essential to success. Without failing, big breakthroughs or new innovations do not happen
WE all fear failure. In fact, Singapore, has an entire industry dedicated to ensuring that people fear failure and never lose called “kiasu-ism”.
In the business world, companies strive to achieve perfection – building zero defect organisations, and embracing initiatives like Six Sigma to ensure that there is no room for failure.
Failure is bad and we have been taught to distance ourselves from failure.
Yet, if you look back at history, great breakthroughs are dependent on failures. In fact, great achievers are born out of failures. Michael Jordan, The Beatles, Walt Disney, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison all had one big thing in common – they were major failures before success came to them.
Michael Jordan, probably the greatest basketball player in history, almost quit the game in high school when he was dropped from the senior team.
He described that day as the worst day of his life. Yet, it marked an important day in Jordan’s life as he decided (after a lot of tears and crying) that he would learn from his failure and make the team the following year.
The Beatles were turned down by Decca Records and were told “We don’t like your sound, and ‘guitar music’ is on the way out”. Capitol Records also rejected them a few years later. Instead of giving up and feeling dejected, they kept going and eventually went on to sell millions of records.
Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper early on in his career because he lacked imagination and was not creative. Yet he turned that failure to build one of the most creative companies in the world – Disney.
In school, his teacher told Thomas Edison that he was too stupid to learn anything. Yet, he became one of the greatest inventors of all time and the founder of General Electric (GE).
The very first time Edison was working on his light bulb experiment and failed, he made notes of his failure. He then made adjustments and tried again and again and again. It took him about 10,000 experiments to invent the perfect set-up for the electric light bulb. To quote him, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
All these stories on failure make one simple point – failure is essential to success. Without failing, big breakthroughs or new innovations do not happen.
Learning from failure is what makes great leaders who they are. Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once declared: “That’s where success lies – on the far side of failure.”
So, if failure is so pertinent to success, why do we not embrace it? In fact, why don’t we build failure into our organisations, our leadership development programmes and even our product development processes?
At GE, not only was failure funded for in the new product development process termed “breakthrough innovation”, they also ensured failure was built into the talent management process.
While I was working at GE, I was moved around from role to role, being forced to experience numerous failures but encouraged to learn and grow from these failures.
In my first role, I was “fired” by my boss for a big boo-boo. In my next job at GE, I was put into a role that was a huge challenge for me. I failed initially but did not give up and ultimately succeeded.
In my third role, I was sent to the city of Dallas to work on integrating an acquisition. I completely failed in this role.
In fact, I lost US$20mil on a project that I was tasked to handle which never saw the light of day. Failures were common in my next few roles too.
But in each failure, I learnt valuable lessons. And ultimately, when GE sent me back to Asia to help turn around a troubled entity, all these failures helped me ensure we quickly and efficiently turned around this company.
As I look back, I realise that these failures were intentionally designed for hi-potentials to accelerate our development.
So, making mistakes early in your career actually benefits the organisation in the longer run. Organisations that built career systems which embraced failure as part of its development process, ultimately became big leadership engines, producing world-class leaders.
My brother’s story illustrates why companies should build failure into the development of their employees.
When he was young, he found the cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home and a few days later, a small opening appeared. He was thrilled and sat watching the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. After awhile, he noticed that the butterfly stopped making any progress and it appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther.
My brother decided to help the butterfly with a pair of scissors by snipping off the remaining bit of the cocoon. And with his help, the butterfly then emerged.
But the story does not have a happily-butterfly-after ending. The butterfly that emerged had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. My brother continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that at any moment, it would expand its wings and fly off. But that never happened.
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It never was able to fly.
My brother had not understood then that the restricting cocoon and the struggle to go through a small opening was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to prepare it for flight.
The same can be said for building leaders. In our kindness to help our employees, we shield pain and failure away from them.
Personally, I believe that if someone wanted to succeed quickly, he or she needs to experience as many failures as possible in the shortest possible time.
So, if you are a leader reading this, let your employees fail. In fact, create opportunities for your employees to learn through their failures.
But don’t just stop there. Share stories of your mistakes and failures with your employees. And then watch them grow and develop into majestic butterflies. Go on, let your people fail!
Roshan Thiran has a passion for helping people fulfil their potential and purpose and believes there is a science to developing leaders
WE all fear failure. In fact, Singapore, has an entire industry dedicated to ensuring that people fear failure and never lose called “kiasu-ism”.
In the business world, companies strive to achieve perfection – building zero defect organisations, and embracing initiatives like Six Sigma to ensure that there is no room for failure.
Failure is bad and we have been taught to distance ourselves from failure.
Yet, if you look back at history, great breakthroughs are dependent on failures. In fact, great achievers are born out of failures. Michael Jordan, The Beatles, Walt Disney, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison all had one big thing in common – they were major failures before success came to them.
Michael Jordan, probably the greatest basketball player in history, almost quit the game in high school when he was dropped from the senior team.
He described that day as the worst day of his life. Yet, it marked an important day in Jordan’s life as he decided (after a lot of tears and crying) that he would learn from his failure and make the team the following year.
The Beatles were turned down by Decca Records and were told “We don’t like your sound, and ‘guitar music’ is on the way out”. Capitol Records also rejected them a few years later. Instead of giving up and feeling dejected, they kept going and eventually went on to sell millions of records.
Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper early on in his career because he lacked imagination and was not creative. Yet he turned that failure to build one of the most creative companies in the world – Disney.
In school, his teacher told Thomas Edison that he was too stupid to learn anything. Yet, he became one of the greatest inventors of all time and the founder of General Electric (GE).
The very first time Edison was working on his light bulb experiment and failed, he made notes of his failure. He then made adjustments and tried again and again and again. It took him about 10,000 experiments to invent the perfect set-up for the electric light bulb. To quote him, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
All these stories on failure make one simple point – failure is essential to success. Without failing, big breakthroughs or new innovations do not happen.
Learning from failure is what makes great leaders who they are. Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once declared: “That’s where success lies – on the far side of failure.”
So, if failure is so pertinent to success, why do we not embrace it? In fact, why don’t we build failure into our organisations, our leadership development programmes and even our product development processes?
At GE, not only was failure funded for in the new product development process termed “breakthrough innovation”, they also ensured failure was built into the talent management process.
While I was working at GE, I was moved around from role to role, being forced to experience numerous failures but encouraged to learn and grow from these failures.
In my first role, I was “fired” by my boss for a big boo-boo. In my next job at GE, I was put into a role that was a huge challenge for me. I failed initially but did not give up and ultimately succeeded.
In my third role, I was sent to the city of Dallas to work on integrating an acquisition. I completely failed in this role.
In fact, I lost US$20mil on a project that I was tasked to handle which never saw the light of day. Failures were common in my next few roles too.
But in each failure, I learnt valuable lessons. And ultimately, when GE sent me back to Asia to help turn around a troubled entity, all these failures helped me ensure we quickly and efficiently turned around this company.
As I look back, I realise that these failures were intentionally designed for hi-potentials to accelerate our development.
So, making mistakes early in your career actually benefits the organisation in the longer run. Organisations that built career systems which embraced failure as part of its development process, ultimately became big leadership engines, producing world-class leaders.
My brother’s story illustrates why companies should build failure into the development of their employees.
When he was young, he found the cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home and a few days later, a small opening appeared. He was thrilled and sat watching the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. After awhile, he noticed that the butterfly stopped making any progress and it appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther.
My brother decided to help the butterfly with a pair of scissors by snipping off the remaining bit of the cocoon. And with his help, the butterfly then emerged.
But the story does not have a happily-butterfly-after ending. The butterfly that emerged had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. My brother continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that at any moment, it would expand its wings and fly off. But that never happened.
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It never was able to fly.
My brother had not understood then that the restricting cocoon and the struggle to go through a small opening was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to prepare it for flight.
The same can be said for building leaders. In our kindness to help our employees, we shield pain and failure away from them.
Personally, I believe that if someone wanted to succeed quickly, he or she needs to experience as many failures as possible in the shortest possible time.
So, if you are a leader reading this, let your employees fail. In fact, create opportunities for your employees to learn through their failures.
But don’t just stop there. Share stories of your mistakes and failures with your employees. And then watch them grow and develop into majestic butterflies. Go on, let your people fail!
Roshan Thiran has a passion for helping people fulfil their potential and purpose and believes there is a science to developing leaders
Want to be a genius? Just practise
Comment by Roshan Thiran
WHAT do The Beatles, Warren Buffett, David Beckham, Mokhtar Dahari and Bill Gates have in common? They’re all famous, they’re all gifted, and they’re all geniuses in their own realms. More importantly, they have all reached the top by doing one thing – they poured their hearts and souls, their blood, sweat and tears, into achieving “perfection” through lots of practice.
Thomas Alva Edison once said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Based on their research, Anders Ericsson and a team of scientists claim to know just how much perspiration is required to become a genius – apparently 10 years or 10,000 hours.
Ericsson writes, “A lot of people believe there are some inherent limits they were born with. But there is surprisingly little hard evidence that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it.”
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reinforces this point with evidence that geniuses simply become great through practice.
The Beatles remain the best-selling musical group of all time, but this success did not come overnight. Gladwell explains that the Beatles became so good because they played for hours and hours in the German underground scene in Hamburg, receiving little money or recognition.
According to John Lennon, they played eight hours per night, seven nights a week for 270 nights. In comparison, most bands of their time (and probably even now!) only performed one-hour sessions every week.
Fortunately for the Fab Four, by the time they were ‘discovered’, they had performed an estimated of 1,200 times! Most bands today don’t even perform that many times in their entire careers. These 1,200 live practice performances really was the differentiator.
Buffett is widely recognised as the world’s greatest investor. But his success is the result of sheer discipline, hard work and lots of practice. He practised the discipline of “mental strategies” of investment for years and years, and became an expert in investments over time.
Beckham is no different. Famed for his lethal free kicks, he wasn’t born with those skills. He practised free kicks diligently to impress his dad at first and developed it into his trademark.
Said his former boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, “He practised with a discipline to achieve an accuracy that other players wouldn’t care about.” After the usual practice session, Beckham would stay back and continue practising and practising – 500 free kicks a day, 180,000 free kicks a year.
That effort soon translated into an ability and talent that we called genius.
We know that Gates, a Harvard dropout, is among the world’s richest men because of his Microsoft fortune. But there is more to his story than meets the eye.
For starters, he went to an elite high school, with access to a computer. This was back in the 1960s, when many universities didn’t even have computers. This allowed him to do real-time programming as a 14-year-old.
Obsessed, he programmed eight hours a day, seven days a week. He skipped athletics, sneaked out after bedtime, hacked passwords, and told the occasional lie, just so that he could have more hours of programming. By the time he dropped out of college, he had 10,000 programming hours under his belt.
Think of teenagers who are computer whiz-kids. How do they become experts? With their short attention span, how do they learn? Observe them for a day and you will see them surfing the Internet, playing video games, and sharing everything they learn on blogs and YouTube.
Considering the hours they spend daily on the computer, it’s no wonder that they are so good with all things digital. Clearly, there is a correlation between time and expertise.
Greatness is only achieved through hard, painful, and demanding practice. “It can take 10 years or 10,000 hours of extensive practice to excel in anything,” says George Kohlrieser, the head of leadership at business school IMD.
“Mozart was six when he started composing, but his world-class compositions started at age 21.” Kohlrieser believes that talent and luck are important, but it is practice that makes the difference between being good and being great. So what does this all mean? We live in a world where we expect everything to be instantaneous. Maggi Mee, instant coffee, instant profits, and we even produce leaders by using the 1-Minute Manager manual.
Yet, to be truly exceptional and great, we need to put in the time. We expect world-class football players in Malaysia, and yet we start formal football training for kids at age 12, when teams like Everton start developing their Wayne Rooneys at age 4. And we wonder why we don’t see football geniuses?
There are no shortcuts. We can conclude likewise on leadership. Nobody becomes a great leader without working at it. To develop leaders, we need to provide our future leaders with early exposure and practice to leadership, possibly even in their schooling years. Why aren’t there leadership clubs in our schools that enable our kids to practice leadership?
There is a belief that if you’re good at something, it should be effortless. That unfortunately is baseless. To become a great leader, you need to notch up hours of practise. Even Jack Welch spent 10 years as CEO of General Electric, practising and practising before he finally got it right.
If you do the math, just three hours a day of practice for 10 years makes you an expert.
Just one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, deciphering financial statements – you can practise them all. And even the softer pieces of management, such as giving feedback on performance, coaching your reports and hiring the right people can all be practised.
I played football under the great Mokhtar Dahari. He was an intense coach, always pushing us to the limit during our training sessions. One day I asked him about the goal he scored against England. He replied, “I guess I was just lucky.” Then he said, “But, Roshan, you make your own luck. The more you practise, the luckier you get. So stop asking questions and keep practising.” I took his advice and before long, I broke into the state team.
Roberto Galeotti, president of Scoula Superiore, once said, “Genius is NOT reserved for the special few”. Then again, practice is never easy. If achieving great performance was so easy, it wouldn’t be rare. So, you want to be brilliant or a genius, just practice la. Hopefully, you have 10,000 hours to spare
WHAT do The Beatles, Warren Buffett, David Beckham, Mokhtar Dahari and Bill Gates have in common? They’re all famous, they’re all gifted, and they’re all geniuses in their own realms. More importantly, they have all reached the top by doing one thing – they poured their hearts and souls, their blood, sweat and tears, into achieving “perfection” through lots of practice.
Thomas Alva Edison once said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Based on their research, Anders Ericsson and a team of scientists claim to know just how much perspiration is required to become a genius – apparently 10 years or 10,000 hours.
Ericsson writes, “A lot of people believe there are some inherent limits they were born with. But there is surprisingly little hard evidence that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it.”
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reinforces this point with evidence that geniuses simply become great through practice.
The Beatles remain the best-selling musical group of all time, but this success did not come overnight. Gladwell explains that the Beatles became so good because they played for hours and hours in the German underground scene in Hamburg, receiving little money or recognition.
According to John Lennon, they played eight hours per night, seven nights a week for 270 nights. In comparison, most bands of their time (and probably even now!) only performed one-hour sessions every week.
Fortunately for the Fab Four, by the time they were ‘discovered’, they had performed an estimated of 1,200 times! Most bands today don’t even perform that many times in their entire careers. These 1,200 live practice performances really was the differentiator.
Buffett is widely recognised as the world’s greatest investor. But his success is the result of sheer discipline, hard work and lots of practice. He practised the discipline of “mental strategies” of investment for years and years, and became an expert in investments over time.
Beckham is no different. Famed for his lethal free kicks, he wasn’t born with those skills. He practised free kicks diligently to impress his dad at first and developed it into his trademark.
Said his former boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, “He practised with a discipline to achieve an accuracy that other players wouldn’t care about.” After the usual practice session, Beckham would stay back and continue practising and practising – 500 free kicks a day, 180,000 free kicks a year.
That effort soon translated into an ability and talent that we called genius.
We know that Gates, a Harvard dropout, is among the world’s richest men because of his Microsoft fortune. But there is more to his story than meets the eye.
For starters, he went to an elite high school, with access to a computer. This was back in the 1960s, when many universities didn’t even have computers. This allowed him to do real-time programming as a 14-year-old.
Obsessed, he programmed eight hours a day, seven days a week. He skipped athletics, sneaked out after bedtime, hacked passwords, and told the occasional lie, just so that he could have more hours of programming. By the time he dropped out of college, he had 10,000 programming hours under his belt.
Think of teenagers who are computer whiz-kids. How do they become experts? With their short attention span, how do they learn? Observe them for a day and you will see them surfing the Internet, playing video games, and sharing everything they learn on blogs and YouTube.
Considering the hours they spend daily on the computer, it’s no wonder that they are so good with all things digital. Clearly, there is a correlation between time and expertise.
Greatness is only achieved through hard, painful, and demanding practice. “It can take 10 years or 10,000 hours of extensive practice to excel in anything,” says George Kohlrieser, the head of leadership at business school IMD.
“Mozart was six when he started composing, but his world-class compositions started at age 21.” Kohlrieser believes that talent and luck are important, but it is practice that makes the difference between being good and being great. So what does this all mean? We live in a world where we expect everything to be instantaneous. Maggi Mee, instant coffee, instant profits, and we even produce leaders by using the 1-Minute Manager manual.
Yet, to be truly exceptional and great, we need to put in the time. We expect world-class football players in Malaysia, and yet we start formal football training for kids at age 12, when teams like Everton start developing their Wayne Rooneys at age 4. And we wonder why we don’t see football geniuses?
There are no shortcuts. We can conclude likewise on leadership. Nobody becomes a great leader without working at it. To develop leaders, we need to provide our future leaders with early exposure and practice to leadership, possibly even in their schooling years. Why aren’t there leadership clubs in our schools that enable our kids to practice leadership?
There is a belief that if you’re good at something, it should be effortless. That unfortunately is baseless. To become a great leader, you need to notch up hours of practise. Even Jack Welch spent 10 years as CEO of General Electric, practising and practising before he finally got it right.
If you do the math, just three hours a day of practice for 10 years makes you an expert.
Just one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, deciphering financial statements – you can practise them all. And even the softer pieces of management, such as giving feedback on performance, coaching your reports and hiring the right people can all be practised.
I played football under the great Mokhtar Dahari. He was an intense coach, always pushing us to the limit during our training sessions. One day I asked him about the goal he scored against England. He replied, “I guess I was just lucky.” Then he said, “But, Roshan, you make your own luck. The more you practise, the luckier you get. So stop asking questions and keep practising.” I took his advice and before long, I broke into the state team.
Roberto Galeotti, president of Scoula Superiore, once said, “Genius is NOT reserved for the special few”. Then again, practice is never easy. If achieving great performance was so easy, it wouldn’t be rare. So, you want to be brilliant or a genius, just practice la. Hopefully, you have 10,000 hours to spare
Why it pays to getyour hands dirty
WHAT do Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Simon Cowell have in common? Other than being incredibly rich and successful, they are also drop-outs.
Apple founder Jobs did one semester in college before taking his chances with the real world. So did Dell, who started his company with just US$1,000 and a short-lived college career.
Gates, the richest man in the world, is still ‘on leave’ from Harvard to run his billion-dollar company, Microsoft Corporation.
Branson didn’t finish high school but did manage to make Virgin one of the most valuable and bankable brands in the world. And before he was making Idol wannabes miserable, Cowell was just a humble mailroom boy.
Evidently, somebody forgot to tell these guys they need to score straight As first and then make a success of themselves!
Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the value of good education as much as the next person. I would be the last person to condemn a great education as my university experiences have added immensely to my personal, social and professional development.
But I also am a firm believer that getting your hands dirty on the job is perhaps far more important than a good report card. Work experience always triumphs over the classroom because people learn better while they are doing.
The common myth is that our growth and learning is mainly attributable to course work or formal training. Most people believe that about 70% of what we learn comes from training and classroom sessions. Then networking, role modelling and mentorship (about 20% of our learning) comes next and finally job experience (10% of what we learn).
And so, there is an overemphasis on classroom learning because of the belief that training is the way to enhance learning. Most corporations structure their organisations and training teams based on this belief that more classroom training means better, more learned employees.
However, based on research conducted by a number of multinationals, including General Electric, and later validated by research firms, classroom style training, in fact, accounted for only a mere 10% of real learning and growth.
In a reversal, it is on-the-job experience that develops business acumen and long-term career growth. The harder the role, the tougher the environment, the more challenging the assignments, the more you learn and grow.
Consider GE’s Financial Management Programme (FMP) which I was a part of when I was in the US, and helped to set up and manage here in Malaysia.
We put out recruitment ads for young graduates from diverse backgrounds, universities and required Grade Point Average (GPA) scores. Granted, we had some very brilliant recruits but many were also average students in whom we saw drive, potential, and a desire to make a difference in the world. And this was evident in their non-academic experiences even if their report cards were decidedly ordinary.
We picked these over some super straight A students, even turning away a seemingly brilliant Ivy League student. Today, each FMP graduate is holding a senior level position in GE offices around the world – regardless of their grades when they joined us.
How did we do it? I believe a major part of our success in churning out global leaders – and not just in Malaysia, but everywhere around the world – lies at the intent of the FMP modules, which pushes each trainee into a new job every 6 months for 2 years. And this is where real learning and growth happens – at the job and on the job.
Learning that comes from the field is invaluable as it changes based on context and situation. Each new instance is a new learning experience and a new growth opportunity.
As we look back on the Bransons, Gates, and Jobs of this world, it’s not surprising why they succeeded. They learnt their trade in the field facing new situations and learning and growing through experiences. And the more experiences they accumulated, the greater their learning and growth.
I have had 9 jobs, and a number of roles, in the 13 years I was with GE. In that time, I’ve been exposed to different industries from Oil & Gas to TV/Media to Financial Services to Aviation and Healthcare. My job functions ranged from Finance to HR to Operations to various leadership roles.
Each experience helped build my personal learning and each experience contributed to my personal growth. So, although classroom and training has its benefits, my advice is if you really want to be a leader, go out there and get those experiences – even if it means working in a dingy start-up or a company that is struggling.
Those experiences will mould you and teach you much more than you would ever gain from attending a lecture from a professor.
Comment by Roshan Thiran
Apple founder Jobs did one semester in college before taking his chances with the real world. So did Dell, who started his company with just US$1,000 and a short-lived college career.
Gates, the richest man in the world, is still ‘on leave’ from Harvard to run his billion-dollar company, Microsoft Corporation.
Branson didn’t finish high school but did manage to make Virgin one of the most valuable and bankable brands in the world. And before he was making Idol wannabes miserable, Cowell was just a humble mailroom boy.
Evidently, somebody forgot to tell these guys they need to score straight As first and then make a success of themselves!
Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the value of good education as much as the next person. I would be the last person to condemn a great education as my university experiences have added immensely to my personal, social and professional development.
But I also am a firm believer that getting your hands dirty on the job is perhaps far more important than a good report card. Work experience always triumphs over the classroom because people learn better while they are doing.
The common myth is that our growth and learning is mainly attributable to course work or formal training. Most people believe that about 70% of what we learn comes from training and classroom sessions. Then networking, role modelling and mentorship (about 20% of our learning) comes next and finally job experience (10% of what we learn).
And so, there is an overemphasis on classroom learning because of the belief that training is the way to enhance learning. Most corporations structure their organisations and training teams based on this belief that more classroom training means better, more learned employees.
However, based on research conducted by a number of multinationals, including General Electric, and later validated by research firms, classroom style training, in fact, accounted for only a mere 10% of real learning and growth.
In a reversal, it is on-the-job experience that develops business acumen and long-term career growth. The harder the role, the tougher the environment, the more challenging the assignments, the more you learn and grow.
Consider GE’s Financial Management Programme (FMP) which I was a part of when I was in the US, and helped to set up and manage here in Malaysia.
We put out recruitment ads for young graduates from diverse backgrounds, universities and required Grade Point Average (GPA) scores. Granted, we had some very brilliant recruits but many were also average students in whom we saw drive, potential, and a desire to make a difference in the world. And this was evident in their non-academic experiences even if their report cards were decidedly ordinary.
We picked these over some super straight A students, even turning away a seemingly brilliant Ivy League student. Today, each FMP graduate is holding a senior level position in GE offices around the world – regardless of their grades when they joined us.
How did we do it? I believe a major part of our success in churning out global leaders – and not just in Malaysia, but everywhere around the world – lies at the intent of the FMP modules, which pushes each trainee into a new job every 6 months for 2 years. And this is where real learning and growth happens – at the job and on the job.
Learning that comes from the field is invaluable as it changes based on context and situation. Each new instance is a new learning experience and a new growth opportunity.
As we look back on the Bransons, Gates, and Jobs of this world, it’s not surprising why they succeeded. They learnt their trade in the field facing new situations and learning and growing through experiences. And the more experiences they accumulated, the greater their learning and growth.
I have had 9 jobs, and a number of roles, in the 13 years I was with GE. In that time, I’ve been exposed to different industries from Oil & Gas to TV/Media to Financial Services to Aviation and Healthcare. My job functions ranged from Finance to HR to Operations to various leadership roles.
Each experience helped build my personal learning and each experience contributed to my personal growth. So, although classroom and training has its benefits, my advice is if you really want to be a leader, go out there and get those experiences – even if it means working in a dingy start-up or a company that is struggling.
Those experiences will mould you and teach you much more than you would ever gain from attending a lecture from a professor.
Comment by Roshan Thiran
Do you know who you are?
Self-awareness is starting point of leadership
“If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions.
If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.”
— Proverb
GOLEMAN, Boyatzis and McKee in their book, Primal Leadership, refer to “CEO disease” as “the information vacuum around a leader created when people withhold important (and sometimes unpleasant) information.”
Unfortunately, we see numerous instances of “CEO disease” in Asian organisations. This happens when the CEO is in denial of the real state of the business and is not open to criticism or bad news. In fact, in some organisations, the boards of directors are filled with cronies and others unlikely to be critical of the CEO’s performance.
The CEO is unlikely to be offered much in the form of constructive criticisms needed to improve performance. He will have significant blind spots that he will never know exist. The antidote for this disease — self-awareness.
“The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them,” says Colin Powell. “They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care.” No one welcomes bad news about themselves, but self-aware leaders not only accept feedback, they even seek it out.
They do so because they want to keep learning and growing. Without awareness there is no growth.
Ask almost any leader and he will readily agree that self-awareness is critical to success. However, many are not aware of their real strengths or areas of development. The deeper the self-awareness obtained, the greater the leader. Yet, most leaders have no time for personal reflection.
Why do people avoid exploration of the self? Self-awareness is simply being conscious of your strengths while acknowledging what you still have yet to learn. This includes admitting when you don’t have the answers and owning up to mistakes, which can sometimes be painful. Whether you acknowledge your weaknesses or not, everyone still sees them.
Constant self-awareness
Constant self-awareness is critical because your strengths, which may have previously got you to where you are, may become an issue today.
»I needed to be a better listener coming out of the crisis ... I should have done more to anticipate the radical changes that occurred« GENERAL ELEC
Years ago, we promoted a high-performing individual contributor to a managerial role. He was great with details, executed well and had strong process skills. Once promoted, he had significant problems with his team.
His strength in process rigour and execution became his weakness as he micro-managed instead of empowering his team. Neither could his strength of individual execution be translated to the team environment. We all saw these weaknesses playing out but he just could not see why he was not succeeding.
Self-awareness is extremely challenging as it is difficult to see in you what others see so easily. So how do we get started in this journey of self-awareness?
The Johari Window
Recently, I was helping a senior leader gain more insights into his leadership. I explained the Johari Window, which has four major quadrants:
·Open Self: What others know about you and which you know too;
·Blind Self: What others can see about you, which you can’t see;
·Hidden Self: What others don’t know about you, but you do. In other words, your secrets;
·Unknown Self: What others don’t know about you and neither do you.
Howard Schultz created Starbucks because of a self-awareness moment early in his childhood
We all have blind spots and if we can learn what they are, we become better leaders. The Johari Window encourages us to enlarge our Open Self while shrinking our Blind Self and Unknown Self, enabling you to be in control of yourself. Not knowing your blind spots is the reason ‘CEO Disease’ continues to proliferate.
The best way to shrink your Blind Self is to get constant feedback and there are numerous tools including the 360 multi-rater assessments, Myer-Briggs Type Indicator or even a Strength-finder assessment.
It may take a lifetime to gain complete awareness of yourself, but it can be accelerated by honest feedback from others. Peter Drucker encourages all leaders to periodically re-examine expectations set versus actual results achieved.
Doug Baker was a rising star in his 30s at Ecolab Inc and was promoted to run a subsidiary. As he was always successful, he became arrogant and self-centred. But his subordinates gave him some tough feedback and exposed his “blind self”.
He explained: “It was as if someone flashed a mirror in front of me at my absolute worst. What I saw was horrifying, but a great lesson. After that, I did a lot of soul-searching about what kind of leader I was going to be, talked to my team and asked for their help.” Baker’s self-awareness led to him becoming CEO of Ecolab nine years later.
Even business schools are looking for self-aware applicants. “Nothing can replace an individual’s self-awareness and ability to articulate how they fit,” says Wharton’s admissions director Rosemaria Martinelli.
Pete Johnson of Berkeley’s MBA admissions, says: “It’s better for applicants to be self-aware than claim no weaknesses.” Yet, most business schools hardly teach MBAs how to take time out and find their true self.
Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, said: “I needed to be a better listener coming out of the crisis ... I should have done more to anticipate the radical changes that occurred.” Such an admission of self-awareness reveals he may finally be able to take GE forward.
Just as being able to see your reflection in the mirror helps you to fix your hair, feedback on your behaviour helps you to be a better leader, improving your judgment. Many of us have large Johari Window blind spots and need to rectify them quickly.
I recently worked with a CEO whose aggressiveness made colleagues resent and distrust him. He did not truly understand these blind spots until he was forced to seek feedback on a regular basis. We are all going to struggle with negative feedback, but if we are unaware of how people view us, we will never be effective.
Being an authentic leader
Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products, took time reflecting and becoming aware of her strengths and purpose before transforming Avon’s mission from selling cosmetics to the empowerment of women. Howard Schultz created Starbucks because of a self-awareness moment early in his childhood where he vowed to fix a wrong suffered by his father.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of interviewing and spending time with Ram Charan, a business guru. Ram reinforced to me the importance of self-awareness and how that leads to being an authentic leader.
Kevin Sharer, CEO of Amgen, worked with Jack Welch in the 1980s and saw many Jack copycats: “Everyone wanted to be like Jack, but leadership has many voices. You need to be who you are, not try to emulate somebody else.”
The reality, as Harvard Business School professor Bill George puts it, “is that no one can be authentic by trying to be like someone else. There is no doubt that you can learn from the experiences of others, but there is no way you can be successful trying to be like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not an imitation.”
And you can only be an authentic leader by building your leadership from who you are – the distinct personality, traits and preferences that make your leadership unique.
Focus on strengths
In 1982, researchers videotaped two bowling teams playing several games. Members of each team then watched the recordings to improve. But the videos received were edited differently with one team receiving a recording of only their mistakes whilst the other team’s video highlighted only their good performances.
After studying the videos, both teams improved their game, but the team which studied its successes improved its score twice as much as the one studying mistakes.
This research concludes that focusing on yourself, regardless of mistakes or strengths, yields improvement, but zooming in on your strengths is significantly more beneficial. Rath and Conchie in Strengths Based Leadership, revealed the secret to being an effective leader: Knowing your strengths and leveraging it.
Every single business leader I have interviewed have started their journey of leadership with the discipline of self-awareness. All of them focused on their strengths and built an authentic leadership style from who there were. You can do likewise.
So, take time off this weekend and start thinking about yourself and who you really are. Better still get some feedback. But be careful, you may actually start changing!
>Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics
“If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions.
If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.”
— Proverb
GOLEMAN, Boyatzis and McKee in their book, Primal Leadership, refer to “CEO disease” as “the information vacuum around a leader created when people withhold important (and sometimes unpleasant) information.”
Unfortunately, we see numerous instances of “CEO disease” in Asian organisations. This happens when the CEO is in denial of the real state of the business and is not open to criticism or bad news. In fact, in some organisations, the boards of directors are filled with cronies and others unlikely to be critical of the CEO’s performance.
The CEO is unlikely to be offered much in the form of constructive criticisms needed to improve performance. He will have significant blind spots that he will never know exist. The antidote for this disease — self-awareness.
“The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them,” says Colin Powell. “They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care.” No one welcomes bad news about themselves, but self-aware leaders not only accept feedback, they even seek it out.
They do so because they want to keep learning and growing. Without awareness there is no growth.
Ask almost any leader and he will readily agree that self-awareness is critical to success. However, many are not aware of their real strengths or areas of development. The deeper the self-awareness obtained, the greater the leader. Yet, most leaders have no time for personal reflection.
Why do people avoid exploration of the self? Self-awareness is simply being conscious of your strengths while acknowledging what you still have yet to learn. This includes admitting when you don’t have the answers and owning up to mistakes, which can sometimes be painful. Whether you acknowledge your weaknesses or not, everyone still sees them.
Constant self-awareness
Constant self-awareness is critical because your strengths, which may have previously got you to where you are, may become an issue today.
»I needed to be a better listener coming out of the crisis ... I should have done more to anticipate the radical changes that occurred« GENERAL ELEC
Years ago, we promoted a high-performing individual contributor to a managerial role. He was great with details, executed well and had strong process skills. Once promoted, he had significant problems with his team.
His strength in process rigour and execution became his weakness as he micro-managed instead of empowering his team. Neither could his strength of individual execution be translated to the team environment. We all saw these weaknesses playing out but he just could not see why he was not succeeding.
Self-awareness is extremely challenging as it is difficult to see in you what others see so easily. So how do we get started in this journey of self-awareness?
The Johari Window
Recently, I was helping a senior leader gain more insights into his leadership. I explained the Johari Window, which has four major quadrants:
·Open Self: What others know about you and which you know too;
·Blind Self: What others can see about you, which you can’t see;
·Hidden Self: What others don’t know about you, but you do. In other words, your secrets;
·Unknown Self: What others don’t know about you and neither do you.
Howard Schultz created Starbucks because of a self-awareness moment early in his childhood
We all have blind spots and if we can learn what they are, we become better leaders. The Johari Window encourages us to enlarge our Open Self while shrinking our Blind Self and Unknown Self, enabling you to be in control of yourself. Not knowing your blind spots is the reason ‘CEO Disease’ continues to proliferate.
The best way to shrink your Blind Self is to get constant feedback and there are numerous tools including the 360 multi-rater assessments, Myer-Briggs Type Indicator or even a Strength-finder assessment.
It may take a lifetime to gain complete awareness of yourself, but it can be accelerated by honest feedback from others. Peter Drucker encourages all leaders to periodically re-examine expectations set versus actual results achieved.
Doug Baker was a rising star in his 30s at Ecolab Inc and was promoted to run a subsidiary. As he was always successful, he became arrogant and self-centred. But his subordinates gave him some tough feedback and exposed his “blind self”.
He explained: “It was as if someone flashed a mirror in front of me at my absolute worst. What I saw was horrifying, but a great lesson. After that, I did a lot of soul-searching about what kind of leader I was going to be, talked to my team and asked for their help.” Baker’s self-awareness led to him becoming CEO of Ecolab nine years later.
Even business schools are looking for self-aware applicants. “Nothing can replace an individual’s self-awareness and ability to articulate how they fit,” says Wharton’s admissions director Rosemaria Martinelli.
Pete Johnson of Berkeley’s MBA admissions, says: “It’s better for applicants to be self-aware than claim no weaknesses.” Yet, most business schools hardly teach MBAs how to take time out and find their true self.
Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, said: “I needed to be a better listener coming out of the crisis ... I should have done more to anticipate the radical changes that occurred.” Such an admission of self-awareness reveals he may finally be able to take GE forward.
Just as being able to see your reflection in the mirror helps you to fix your hair, feedback on your behaviour helps you to be a better leader, improving your judgment. Many of us have large Johari Window blind spots and need to rectify them quickly.
I recently worked with a CEO whose aggressiveness made colleagues resent and distrust him. He did not truly understand these blind spots until he was forced to seek feedback on a regular basis. We are all going to struggle with negative feedback, but if we are unaware of how people view us, we will never be effective.
Being an authentic leader
Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products, took time reflecting and becoming aware of her strengths and purpose before transforming Avon’s mission from selling cosmetics to the empowerment of women. Howard Schultz created Starbucks because of a self-awareness moment early in his childhood where he vowed to fix a wrong suffered by his father.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of interviewing and spending time with Ram Charan, a business guru. Ram reinforced to me the importance of self-awareness and how that leads to being an authentic leader.
Kevin Sharer, CEO of Amgen, worked with Jack Welch in the 1980s and saw many Jack copycats: “Everyone wanted to be like Jack, but leadership has many voices. You need to be who you are, not try to emulate somebody else.”
The reality, as Harvard Business School professor Bill George puts it, “is that no one can be authentic by trying to be like someone else. There is no doubt that you can learn from the experiences of others, but there is no way you can be successful trying to be like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not an imitation.”
And you can only be an authentic leader by building your leadership from who you are – the distinct personality, traits and preferences that make your leadership unique.
Focus on strengths
In 1982, researchers videotaped two bowling teams playing several games. Members of each team then watched the recordings to improve. But the videos received were edited differently with one team receiving a recording of only their mistakes whilst the other team’s video highlighted only their good performances.
After studying the videos, both teams improved their game, but the team which studied its successes improved its score twice as much as the one studying mistakes.
This research concludes that focusing on yourself, regardless of mistakes or strengths, yields improvement, but zooming in on your strengths is significantly more beneficial. Rath and Conchie in Strengths Based Leadership, revealed the secret to being an effective leader: Knowing your strengths and leveraging it.
Every single business leader I have interviewed have started their journey of leadership with the discipline of self-awareness. All of them focused on their strengths and built an authentic leadership style from who there were. You can do likewise.
So, take time off this weekend and start thinking about yourself and who you really are. Better still get some feedback. But be careful, you may actually start changing!
>Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Uncover your passion
Uncover your passion
Everyone has a passion, a vocation in life, and maybe in these turbulent times, you should step back and ask the question: What do I really want to do?
If you play to your strengths, you will discover opportunities and enjoy a career you love. Here are some tips to get you started:
Identify your interest
Think of something that you always wanted to do.
Follow your passion - be it the art of makeup, or something else - and you may end up in a totally different enjoyable and lucrative occupation.
I know a woman who had worked for some time in the hospitality industry. The lengthy hours and working weekends and public holidays became a burden for personal reasons, and she decided to leave it all behind.
Thinking carefully about what she would enjoy doing, makeup skills came to mind. So, she took a diploma in the art of makeup and is now a successful freelance makeup artist who is sought after by beauty salons.
She is even asked to give talks on her profession and they are very well-attended. This is an example on how stepping back and carefully identifying a passion can be put to lucrative use.
Positive mindset
Focusing with a positive mind is thinking of success: It is the power of self-belief.
In this sense, once you have identified your purpose, you will start to notice things you were not aware of before!
A positive mind will lead you where you can succeed.
Here is another example of a woman with a high-powered job who was retrenched at the age of 40. She took the time to identify her passion: helping people. This, however, was too general, so she narrowed it down to helping young expectant mothers.
So, she set up a company to do precisely that and her services are so customer-focused that referrals have made her business a success.
She now operates across the country and her business has even attracted the attention of major hotel chains needing babysitters.
Age is just a number
Some people think that above the age of 45, you are “past the sellby date”! Not so.
An executive I know, who had spent the last 10 years of his corporate life in leadership development, gave up his highly paid job in the financial industry because his passion was to help people. He was 55 at the time — and keen to embark on a new career!
He became a internationally renowned coach and put his vast experience and knowledge of people to good use.
Age brings experience and knowledge, the application of which brings wisdom. Some midcareer executives have turned to helping others in hospitals or working in facilities for the disabled.
Transferable skills
It used to be that once you were settled into a certain industry, you were boxed in forever. But recent employment trends — the death of the iron rice bowl, for one — are persuading people to think of alternative careers. Today, the emphasis is on transferable skills.
There are so many examples of people making a switch: from law to teaching, from art to the media industry, from nursing to law mediation.
One person I know was an expert in the perfume industry. His skills were the knowledge of products, distribution and customers. So, he was recruited as a marketing manager in a financial institution. Focus on where your skills can be applied and a new, broader horizon will open up to you.
Play to your strengths
Once you know your passion, you will soon be able to identify your strengths and minimise your weaknesses.
The most successful people have always played to their strengths. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University and created Microsoft. Where would he be had he not followed his passion and graduated?
It’s not enough just to follow your instincts. Train yourself — get a degree, if possible, in your passion. Then, be recognised for what you are bringing to the table.
Age is of no importance, provided you play to your strengths. Opportunities are there to be grasped and skills can leap across boundaries. You may end up in a totally different occupation which is both enjoyable and lucrative — all because you followed your passion.
Article by Bernard Bulens, the chief executive officer of Ashmore International, which specialises in executive coaching.
Everyone has a passion, a vocation in life, and maybe in these turbulent times, you should step back and ask the question: What do I really want to do?
If you play to your strengths, you will discover opportunities and enjoy a career you love. Here are some tips to get you started:
Identify your interest
Think of something that you always wanted to do.
Follow your passion - be it the art of makeup, or something else - and you may end up in a totally different enjoyable and lucrative occupation.
I know a woman who had worked for some time in the hospitality industry. The lengthy hours and working weekends and public holidays became a burden for personal reasons, and she decided to leave it all behind.
Thinking carefully about what she would enjoy doing, makeup skills came to mind. So, she took a diploma in the art of makeup and is now a successful freelance makeup artist who is sought after by beauty salons.
She is even asked to give talks on her profession and they are very well-attended. This is an example on how stepping back and carefully identifying a passion can be put to lucrative use.
Positive mindset
Focusing with a positive mind is thinking of success: It is the power of self-belief.
In this sense, once you have identified your purpose, you will start to notice things you were not aware of before!
A positive mind will lead you where you can succeed.
Here is another example of a woman with a high-powered job who was retrenched at the age of 40. She took the time to identify her passion: helping people. This, however, was too general, so she narrowed it down to helping young expectant mothers.
So, she set up a company to do precisely that and her services are so customer-focused that referrals have made her business a success.
She now operates across the country and her business has even attracted the attention of major hotel chains needing babysitters.
Age is just a number
Some people think that above the age of 45, you are “past the sellby date”! Not so.
An executive I know, who had spent the last 10 years of his corporate life in leadership development, gave up his highly paid job in the financial industry because his passion was to help people. He was 55 at the time — and keen to embark on a new career!
He became a internationally renowned coach and put his vast experience and knowledge of people to good use.
Age brings experience and knowledge, the application of which brings wisdom. Some midcareer executives have turned to helping others in hospitals or working in facilities for the disabled.
Transferable skills
It used to be that once you were settled into a certain industry, you were boxed in forever. But recent employment trends — the death of the iron rice bowl, for one — are persuading people to think of alternative careers. Today, the emphasis is on transferable skills.
There are so many examples of people making a switch: from law to teaching, from art to the media industry, from nursing to law mediation.
One person I know was an expert in the perfume industry. His skills were the knowledge of products, distribution and customers. So, he was recruited as a marketing manager in a financial institution. Focus on where your skills can be applied and a new, broader horizon will open up to you.
Play to your strengths
Once you know your passion, you will soon be able to identify your strengths and minimise your weaknesses.
The most successful people have always played to their strengths. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University and created Microsoft. Where would he be had he not followed his passion and graduated?
It’s not enough just to follow your instincts. Train yourself — get a degree, if possible, in your passion. Then, be recognised for what you are bringing to the table.
Age is of no importance, provided you play to your strengths. Opportunities are there to be grasped and skills can leap across boundaries. You may end up in a totally different occupation which is both enjoyable and lucrative — all because you followed your passion.
Article by Bernard Bulens, the chief executive officer of Ashmore International, which specialises in executive coaching.
Going the distance
ANXIETY and uncertainty about the future can influence employees’ attitudes, and lead to confusion and unproductive behaviour.
Anxious employees tend to focus their efforts on themselves rather than the organisation and customers.
Employers need to understand the importance of employee engagement in creating an effective and resilient workforce to perform well during turbulent times.
Remain focused
With tough external conditions, employers need to stay more focused on harnessing the discretionary effort that will engage employees to deliver.
It can make the difference in how severely organisations are affected by a downturn, how quickly they emerge from it, and how strongly positioned they are after the downturn passes.
Human resource specialist Hewitt defines employee engagement as the extent to which individuals are emotionally and intellectually committed to the organisation or group. This can be measured by three factors:
Say: The employee consistently speaks positively about the organisation to co-workers, potential employees and customers;
Stay: The employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organisation despite opportunities to work elsewhere; and
Strive: The employee exerts extra effort and exhibits behaviour that contributes to business success.
The power of “say”
When Singapore was hit by an outbreak of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), layoffs were rampant, especially in the hospitality industry. Yet Hewitt came across employees of Best Employer companies who had been laid off, who had nothing but good to say of their organisation.
Said one employee: “Today is my last day because my department was shut down due to the downturn. However, I am still very thankful to this organisation for being so nice to me throughout my employment. When the economy turns around, I hope to join this company again because I truly think this is a great company to work for.”
Imagine the power of such an advocate in influencing both existing and potential employees. Existing employees will believe that the organisation will do its utmost to take care of them. A strong advocate also serves as an effective referral to the larger pool of talent available in the market.
Since defining the engagement approach in 1994, Hewitt has conducted studies with over 6,500 companies representing over 20 million employees.
Its comparative and longitudinal analysis of this data, validated by academic and third-party research, has uncovered a strong relationship between employee engagement and a wide range of organisation performance measures.
It has shown that an engaged workforce means higher customer satisfaction, higher productivity, better total shareholder returns and other important business metrics.
The power of “stay”
Understanding what drives employee behaviour during economically difficult times is critical to business success.
With limited resources, it is important to focus on doing a few things absolutely well.
Hewitt has conducted the Best Employers in Asia Study since 2001 to identify key levers that drive business success through human capital.
The most recent 2009 study, one conducted in the midst of the global economic crisis, revealed career opportunities as the area to drive engagement among employees in both Best Employers companies and the rest.
Employees want to know that they have a promising career with the organisation.
At the same time, there are factors that can affect existing levels of engagement:
A sense of accomplishment. Employees want to continue to derive a sense of accomplishment from the work they do.
Customer focus. Employees want to know that they are working for an organisation that is customer-centric.
By understanding what drives engagement, you can plan how to best allocate limited resources to motivate talent to stay and continually drive performance.
The power of “strive”
It is critical yet challenging to drive performance in employees to strive to pull organisations out of a downturn.
Leading companies drive performance through a holistic performance management system that:
Builds accountability through high-achievement goal setting and effective performance coaching;
Provides opportunity by building growth into every job and equipping employees with future critical skills;
Builds trust through authentic business-focused conversations; and
Provides rewards that motivate and ratings that send the right message.
The key to unleashing the “strive” factor lies in the hands of a company’s people managers. Effective people managers are performance coaches who use the above four elements well tooptimise each employee’s strengths, knowledge and creativity.
Equip your people managers with the right tools to complement strong leadership and align people practices to drive a high performing and engaged workforce.
Article by Eileen Keng, a senior consultant with Hewitt’s Talent and Organisation Consulting Practice.
Anxious employees tend to focus their efforts on themselves rather than the organisation and customers.
Employers need to understand the importance of employee engagement in creating an effective and resilient workforce to perform well during turbulent times.
Remain focused
With tough external conditions, employers need to stay more focused on harnessing the discretionary effort that will engage employees to deliver.
It can make the difference in how severely organisations are affected by a downturn, how quickly they emerge from it, and how strongly positioned they are after the downturn passes.
Human resource specialist Hewitt defines employee engagement as the extent to which individuals are emotionally and intellectually committed to the organisation or group. This can be measured by three factors:
Say: The employee consistently speaks positively about the organisation to co-workers, potential employees and customers;
Stay: The employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organisation despite opportunities to work elsewhere; and
Strive: The employee exerts extra effort and exhibits behaviour that contributes to business success.
The power of “say”
When Singapore was hit by an outbreak of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), layoffs were rampant, especially in the hospitality industry. Yet Hewitt came across employees of Best Employer companies who had been laid off, who had nothing but good to say of their organisation.
Said one employee: “Today is my last day because my department was shut down due to the downturn. However, I am still very thankful to this organisation for being so nice to me throughout my employment. When the economy turns around, I hope to join this company again because I truly think this is a great company to work for.”
Imagine the power of such an advocate in influencing both existing and potential employees. Existing employees will believe that the organisation will do its utmost to take care of them. A strong advocate also serves as an effective referral to the larger pool of talent available in the market.
Since defining the engagement approach in 1994, Hewitt has conducted studies with over 6,500 companies representing over 20 million employees.
Its comparative and longitudinal analysis of this data, validated by academic and third-party research, has uncovered a strong relationship between employee engagement and a wide range of organisation performance measures.
It has shown that an engaged workforce means higher customer satisfaction, higher productivity, better total shareholder returns and other important business metrics.
The power of “stay”
Understanding what drives employee behaviour during economically difficult times is critical to business success.
With limited resources, it is important to focus on doing a few things absolutely well.
Hewitt has conducted the Best Employers in Asia Study since 2001 to identify key levers that drive business success through human capital.
The most recent 2009 study, one conducted in the midst of the global economic crisis, revealed career opportunities as the area to drive engagement among employees in both Best Employers companies and the rest.
Employees want to know that they have a promising career with the organisation.
At the same time, there are factors that can affect existing levels of engagement:
A sense of accomplishment. Employees want to continue to derive a sense of accomplishment from the work they do.
Customer focus. Employees want to know that they are working for an organisation that is customer-centric.
By understanding what drives engagement, you can plan how to best allocate limited resources to motivate talent to stay and continually drive performance.
The power of “strive”
It is critical yet challenging to drive performance in employees to strive to pull organisations out of a downturn.
Leading companies drive performance through a holistic performance management system that:
Builds accountability through high-achievement goal setting and effective performance coaching;
Provides opportunity by building growth into every job and equipping employees with future critical skills;
Builds trust through authentic business-focused conversations; and
Provides rewards that motivate and ratings that send the right message.
The key to unleashing the “strive” factor lies in the hands of a company’s people managers. Effective people managers are performance coaches who use the above four elements well tooptimise each employee’s strengths, knowledge and creativity.
Equip your people managers with the right tools to complement strong leadership and align people practices to drive a high performing and engaged workforce.
Article by Eileen Keng, a senior consultant with Hewitt’s Talent and Organisation Consulting Practice.
Yes, you can!
Many people lack self-confidence. This is a common phenomenon that varies in intensity and is often situational.
The good news is that if you examine some of the causes of a lack of confidence, they will illustrate that it is self-inflicted — and can be improved, if not eliminated, with a change of behaviour.
Here are some basic tips on how to start breaking down the barrier to a more confident and balanced life.
1 Fear of rejection
One of the most basic human needs is to be loved and accepted. Some people go to extraordinary lengths to fulfil this need.
People who excessively strive to be wanted, accepted and loved may be doing themselves more harm than good, because they do things to please others in the hope of “buying” their acceptance. They fear that standing up for themselves or for what they believe in will make others reject them.
On the contrary, standing your ground is the clue to getting other people to respect you. If the people you want to please only accept you for what you can give them, they are probably not worth your time.
Give yourself the chance to be with people who like you for yourself. Learn to see rejection as the opportunity to move on to better things.
Tip: Say to yourself that “perceived rejection” is only feedback. Not giving in to others who want to impose their will on you for selfish reasons will benefit you in the long term.
2 Self-doubt
Negative self-talk creates selfdoubt. This is when we convince ourselves that we are not good enough and it becomes a selffulfilling prophecy.
Every single day of your life, the person you talk to the most is yourself. That is why training yourself to talk positively is so important.
An example of this: one of my clients — an entrepreneur — started to doubt his abilities when some of his prospects refused to buy his products. He soon came to realise, through positive self-talk, that these people were rejecting his products, not him. It was nothing personal.
Tip: Practise turning every negative thought into a positive — from a “cannot” to a “maybe”’. Eventually, you will acquire a “can do” mindset.
3 What will others think of me?
You are likely to ask this when you have to make a presentation or when you are expected to make conversation at a social gathering.
The root cause is selfconsciousness. If you focus only on yourself or on possible negative outcomes (loss of face), sharing a thought or point of view becomes difficult.
In a social setting, try to worry less about being interesting and more about being interested in other people. Focus on your audience, not yourself!
If you are giving a speech, make sure you thoroughly prepare for it — that is the least your listeners expect from you. If you try to “wing it”, you will not sound confident and will be more likely to worry about what others will think!
Tip: Focus less on yourself. You will be lifting a huge barrier in interpersonal communication.
4 It is situational
Your self-confidence can take a dive in certain situations.
If you are generally able to put forward your views confidently with friends and colleagues, why is it that you feel less sure of yourself when engaging in conversation with “important” people, such as your boss or a high-ranking client?
The answer lies in your aversion to risk taking — you want to make a good impression and become extra careful about what you say.
I am not suggesting that when addressing a Board of Directors you should treat them like buddies — that would be inappropriate.
The thing to do is to adapt your communication style to the circumstances — treat people with the respect that is their due but don’t apologise for having opinions.
Tip: If you encounter circumstances where you feel uneasy, think of a similar situation when you felt totally selfconfident.
Capture that positive situation in your mind with the feelings that go with it: your demeanour will follow in a positive way.
The key is to start your journey to more self-confidence in a small way. As the old adage goes: “A journey starts with the first step.”
With increased self-esteem, a more balanced and purposeful life will follow.
Article by Bernard Bulens, chief executive office of Ashmore International.
The good news is that if you examine some of the causes of a lack of confidence, they will illustrate that it is self-inflicted — and can be improved, if not eliminated, with a change of behaviour.
Here are some basic tips on how to start breaking down the barrier to a more confident and balanced life.
1 Fear of rejection
One of the most basic human needs is to be loved and accepted. Some people go to extraordinary lengths to fulfil this need.
People who excessively strive to be wanted, accepted and loved may be doing themselves more harm than good, because they do things to please others in the hope of “buying” their acceptance. They fear that standing up for themselves or for what they believe in will make others reject them.
On the contrary, standing your ground is the clue to getting other people to respect you. If the people you want to please only accept you for what you can give them, they are probably not worth your time.
Give yourself the chance to be with people who like you for yourself. Learn to see rejection as the opportunity to move on to better things.
Tip: Say to yourself that “perceived rejection” is only feedback. Not giving in to others who want to impose their will on you for selfish reasons will benefit you in the long term.
2 Self-doubt
Negative self-talk creates selfdoubt. This is when we convince ourselves that we are not good enough and it becomes a selffulfilling prophecy.
Every single day of your life, the person you talk to the most is yourself. That is why training yourself to talk positively is so important.
An example of this: one of my clients — an entrepreneur — started to doubt his abilities when some of his prospects refused to buy his products. He soon came to realise, through positive self-talk, that these people were rejecting his products, not him. It was nothing personal.
Tip: Practise turning every negative thought into a positive — from a “cannot” to a “maybe”’. Eventually, you will acquire a “can do” mindset.
3 What will others think of me?
You are likely to ask this when you have to make a presentation or when you are expected to make conversation at a social gathering.
The root cause is selfconsciousness. If you focus only on yourself or on possible negative outcomes (loss of face), sharing a thought or point of view becomes difficult.
In a social setting, try to worry less about being interesting and more about being interested in other people. Focus on your audience, not yourself!
If you are giving a speech, make sure you thoroughly prepare for it — that is the least your listeners expect from you. If you try to “wing it”, you will not sound confident and will be more likely to worry about what others will think!
Tip: Focus less on yourself. You will be lifting a huge barrier in interpersonal communication.
4 It is situational
Your self-confidence can take a dive in certain situations.
If you are generally able to put forward your views confidently with friends and colleagues, why is it that you feel less sure of yourself when engaging in conversation with “important” people, such as your boss or a high-ranking client?
The answer lies in your aversion to risk taking — you want to make a good impression and become extra careful about what you say.
I am not suggesting that when addressing a Board of Directors you should treat them like buddies — that would be inappropriate.
The thing to do is to adapt your communication style to the circumstances — treat people with the respect that is their due but don’t apologise for having opinions.
Tip: If you encounter circumstances where you feel uneasy, think of a similar situation when you felt totally selfconfident.
Capture that positive situation in your mind with the feelings that go with it: your demeanour will follow in a positive way.
The key is to start your journey to more self-confidence in a small way. As the old adage goes: “A journey starts with the first step.”
With increased self-esteem, a more balanced and purposeful life will follow.
Article by Bernard Bulens, chief executive office of Ashmore International.
Cultivate the grapevine
A keen sense of office politics can have a dramatic effect on your business and career. People often complain about office politics, claiming that they just want to do their jobs well.
Let me share a time-saving technique: Don’t waste time lamenting about the horrible politics in your firm, company or association. There is no gathering of three or more persons that is free of politics.
It is necessary to separate your skills as a professional from that needed to compete politically. Political skill requires an awareness of how the organisation operates and who operates it, the unwritten policies as well as the written rules.
Office politics has taken a rap from people who don’t get the plums. No one complains about politics if he has been the beneficiary of some savvy actions.
Some people sincerely believe that if they change jobs or firms, the politics will go away and they will live happily ever after. It isn’t true of marriages; why should it be true of work? The change that ultimately will be of value is that of practical, political awareness.
There are drawbacks to your career if you don’t have political savvy. You may be perceived as:
Lacking career-management skills
Being unpromotable
Being a loner, rather than a team player
Lacking in common sense, which has been used to describe logic, practicality, savvy, and know-how, and
Untrustworthy of confidences and critical information.
To increase your savvy quotient, here are some strategies you can implement.
Observe your colleagues, subordinates and supervisors. Who eats with whom? Which colleagues work out together or commute together?
Read the body language of your co-workers as names and assignments are mentioned.
Listen to conversations in staff rooms, at clients’ and even in the washrooms.
The good old office grapevine has received a tremendous amount of bad press, some of which is unwarranted. If used properly, it can be a powerful career aid. It can provide you with a great deal of useful information, including rumours, many of which become fact.
For those of us who consider such informal communications to be gossip, for which hard-working professionals do not have time, consider this:
Information is not necessarily personal gossip. Probably 80 per cent of it is business-related office politics.
Gossip can be an intentional leak by top management of information you should know.
Conveying a superior attitude about the grapevine could eliminate your sources of information.
Smart people make time to manage their careers. Cultivating sources of information makes sense.
The grapevine may forecast events through leaks to provide news of the future, which the politically savvy can take advantage of. For example, you may overhear that your firm is developing a marketing strategy designed to attract engineering and architectural firms.
Therefore, you attend several functions of those professional associations, start connecting and develop a network of potential clients.
The market plan is presented, and you have already nurtured leads that turn into major accounts. You get a percentage and a promotion. Sounds unlikely? It has happened to an acquaintance with a major accounting firm in San Francisco.
We are in an information society. Spurning informal information is naive. Rather, you should seek access to this information.
There are, however, two cautions to heed when operating within the grapevine: Listen actively and don’t add grist to the rumour mill — it could come back to haunt you. Everyone knows who has formal power, since positions and titles are obvious. However, the politically savvy are also keenly aware of who has informal power.
How do they determine this? They observe at the office, at meetings and at office parties. They notice colleagues who laugh together, lunch together, jog or commute together. They observe facial expressions and body language. They listen to people to discover their values, goals and lifestyles. They learn people’s interests, such as who sails, runs, plays golf, sings or makes furniture.
If you do not want to be left behind, you have to cultivate the grapevine. Ways in which you can do it are:
Determine who has access to relevant, powerful sources of information.
Trade information when it is required.
Don’t fan the flames of gossip with your opinions.
Observe co-workers and those with whom they interact or socialise.
Buy lunch or dinner for those who are prime grapevine sources.
Recognise that members of professional associations may have information about your firm or company.
The grapevine now has its own web — become a web-savvy networker.
Don’t send e-mail that may return to haunt you.
Be aware!
The grapevine has biblical and historical roots, and is here to stay. Instead of wasting valuable time cursing or questioning the grapevine, cultivate it!
Article by Susan RoAne, an in-demand keynote speaker and the author of How To Work A Room, What Do I Say Next?
Let me share a time-saving technique: Don’t waste time lamenting about the horrible politics in your firm, company or association. There is no gathering of three or more persons that is free of politics.
It is necessary to separate your skills as a professional from that needed to compete politically. Political skill requires an awareness of how the organisation operates and who operates it, the unwritten policies as well as the written rules.
Office politics has taken a rap from people who don’t get the plums. No one complains about politics if he has been the beneficiary of some savvy actions.
Some people sincerely believe that if they change jobs or firms, the politics will go away and they will live happily ever after. It isn’t true of marriages; why should it be true of work? The change that ultimately will be of value is that of practical, political awareness.
There are drawbacks to your career if you don’t have political savvy. You may be perceived as:
Lacking career-management skills
Being unpromotable
Being a loner, rather than a team player
Lacking in common sense, which has been used to describe logic, practicality, savvy, and know-how, and
Untrustworthy of confidences and critical information.
To increase your savvy quotient, here are some strategies you can implement.
Observe your colleagues, subordinates and supervisors. Who eats with whom? Which colleagues work out together or commute together?
Read the body language of your co-workers as names and assignments are mentioned.
Listen to conversations in staff rooms, at clients’ and even in the washrooms.
The good old office grapevine has received a tremendous amount of bad press, some of which is unwarranted. If used properly, it can be a powerful career aid. It can provide you with a great deal of useful information, including rumours, many of which become fact.
For those of us who consider such informal communications to be gossip, for which hard-working professionals do not have time, consider this:
Information is not necessarily personal gossip. Probably 80 per cent of it is business-related office politics.
Gossip can be an intentional leak by top management of information you should know.
Conveying a superior attitude about the grapevine could eliminate your sources of information.
Smart people make time to manage their careers. Cultivating sources of information makes sense.
The grapevine may forecast events through leaks to provide news of the future, which the politically savvy can take advantage of. For example, you may overhear that your firm is developing a marketing strategy designed to attract engineering and architectural firms.
Therefore, you attend several functions of those professional associations, start connecting and develop a network of potential clients.
The market plan is presented, and you have already nurtured leads that turn into major accounts. You get a percentage and a promotion. Sounds unlikely? It has happened to an acquaintance with a major accounting firm in San Francisco.
We are in an information society. Spurning informal information is naive. Rather, you should seek access to this information.
There are, however, two cautions to heed when operating within the grapevine: Listen actively and don’t add grist to the rumour mill — it could come back to haunt you. Everyone knows who has formal power, since positions and titles are obvious. However, the politically savvy are also keenly aware of who has informal power.
How do they determine this? They observe at the office, at meetings and at office parties. They notice colleagues who laugh together, lunch together, jog or commute together. They observe facial expressions and body language. They listen to people to discover their values, goals and lifestyles. They learn people’s interests, such as who sails, runs, plays golf, sings or makes furniture.
If you do not want to be left behind, you have to cultivate the grapevine. Ways in which you can do it are:
Determine who has access to relevant, powerful sources of information.
Trade information when it is required.
Don’t fan the flames of gossip with your opinions.
Observe co-workers and those with whom they interact or socialise.
Buy lunch or dinner for those who are prime grapevine sources.
Recognise that members of professional associations may have information about your firm or company.
The grapevine now has its own web — become a web-savvy networker.
Don’t send e-mail that may return to haunt you.
Be aware!
The grapevine has biblical and historical roots, and is here to stay. Instead of wasting valuable time cursing or questioning the grapevine, cultivate it!
Article by Susan RoAne, an in-demand keynote speaker and the author of How To Work A Room, What Do I Say Next?
Build your business on trust
Noted author and management guru Tom Peters once said: “The hyper fast-moving, wired up, reengineered, quality-obsessed organisation will succeed or fail on the strength of the trust that its managers place in the folks working on the front line.”
I’ve always liked that quote. I’m sure that we would all agree that trust is at the heart of all human relationships, and it stems from the personal integrity that we, as leaders, bring each day to our work relationships with associates.
If trust is such an essential ingredient for all successful relationships, then how do we as leaders build and sustain it in our work culture with those we are privileged to lead?
Here are five time-tested “best practices” that you can use to create trust in your organisation:
1 Share information freely
It is always a good idea to share information with associates without filtering.
It makes the statement that, as leaders, we value our associates and trust them to use the information in the best interests of the organisation.
Of course, there will be times when information is confidential and sensitive and, therefore, cannot be shared.
However, in my experience, these instances are the exception and not the rule. Be open and honest in your communications with your team. Then see how they respond.
2 Seek input
Don’t be afraid to ask your team for advice and input. Often times they are the experts and will be very open with sharing their views when asked.
The trick is that leaders must be ready to ask. This sends a clear message to associates that we value their input.
Also, remember that when we ask for input, we must be ready to either implement ideas or offer a clear explanation as to why an idea or suggestion cannot be used.
This brings us to an important word of caution here: If we ask for input and then ignore it, then we are sending the wrong signal to our team. Take the initiative to ask and then act on the input. Then observe the positive changes in your culture.
3 Don’t play favourites
This seems pretty trivial and even obvious to seasoned leaders. However, it is surprising how often we overlook this step. We often want to have a set of rules for our “A” players and another for the balance of the team.
However, leaders must always keep in mind that the policies and rules apply to all. Avoid the temptation to play favourites with policies.
Although talents will vary among team members and not everyone’s contributions are the same, the policies must apply to all. That goes for performance standards and expectations as well.
4 Take responsibility
We must be willing to own up when we err as leaders. When we do so, we send a clear message to our associates that we are willing to take responsibility for our actions, just as we hold others accountable for theirs. This also makes us more human and approachable in the eyes of those we lead.
5 Respect confidences
When our associates share information of a personal nature with us, we have an obligation to treat that information as confidential and not to be openly shared without the permission of the associate.
Again, as is the case with playing favourites, this may seem obvious.
However, one misstep in handling these situations can create a very undesirable effect ... the associate never again trusts us.
Take special care with confidences shared, and you will create a trusting associate.
I am confident that, as leaders, if we focus on practising these basic steps, we will go a long way toward building an atmosphere or culture based on trust in our organisations.
Article by Michael Crompton, the founder and president of The Excel Leadership Group.
I’ve always liked that quote. I’m sure that we would all agree that trust is at the heart of all human relationships, and it stems from the personal integrity that we, as leaders, bring each day to our work relationships with associates.
If trust is such an essential ingredient for all successful relationships, then how do we as leaders build and sustain it in our work culture with those we are privileged to lead?
Here are five time-tested “best practices” that you can use to create trust in your organisation:
1 Share information freely
It is always a good idea to share information with associates without filtering.
It makes the statement that, as leaders, we value our associates and trust them to use the information in the best interests of the organisation.
Of course, there will be times when information is confidential and sensitive and, therefore, cannot be shared.
However, in my experience, these instances are the exception and not the rule. Be open and honest in your communications with your team. Then see how they respond.
2 Seek input
Don’t be afraid to ask your team for advice and input. Often times they are the experts and will be very open with sharing their views when asked.
The trick is that leaders must be ready to ask. This sends a clear message to associates that we value their input.
Also, remember that when we ask for input, we must be ready to either implement ideas or offer a clear explanation as to why an idea or suggestion cannot be used.
This brings us to an important word of caution here: If we ask for input and then ignore it, then we are sending the wrong signal to our team. Take the initiative to ask and then act on the input. Then observe the positive changes in your culture.
3 Don’t play favourites
This seems pretty trivial and even obvious to seasoned leaders. However, it is surprising how often we overlook this step. We often want to have a set of rules for our “A” players and another for the balance of the team.
However, leaders must always keep in mind that the policies and rules apply to all. Avoid the temptation to play favourites with policies.
Although talents will vary among team members and not everyone’s contributions are the same, the policies must apply to all. That goes for performance standards and expectations as well.
4 Take responsibility
We must be willing to own up when we err as leaders. When we do so, we send a clear message to our associates that we are willing to take responsibility for our actions, just as we hold others accountable for theirs. This also makes us more human and approachable in the eyes of those we lead.
5 Respect confidences
When our associates share information of a personal nature with us, we have an obligation to treat that information as confidential and not to be openly shared without the permission of the associate.
Again, as is the case with playing favourites, this may seem obvious.
However, one misstep in handling these situations can create a very undesirable effect ... the associate never again trusts us.
Take special care with confidences shared, and you will create a trusting associate.
I am confident that, as leaders, if we focus on practising these basic steps, we will go a long way toward building an atmosphere or culture based on trust in our organisations.
Article by Michael Crompton, the founder and president of The Excel Leadership Group.
What it takes to be a top employer
TO be successful and be regarded as among the best employers, a company among other things should be able to strike a balance between business goals and employee needs.
Although earnings and cashflow are vital and a reflection of an organisation’s strength, human resource is equally important in determining its path to success. An organisation will cease to exist if it has no people.
"A work environment that encourages suggestions, feedback and openness, without fear of reprisal, is vital for employee success" RAHMAT HASHIM ROSLAN
Business and political leaders are increasingly aware that having good people who are skilled and motivated can make a significant difference to an organisation.
Large corporations that started as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), for example, in Japan, Europe and the US, have made it big because they had been successful in strategising their business operations and workforce for optimum results.
From various findings and, according to a consultancy’s website, some of the main criteria in determining whether a company is a top employer, is its ability to engage with employees, the capability to streamline its workforce in line with its business objectives, and the effectiveness of sustaining employee engagement in the long run.
Engagement will enable positive interaction between employers and employees, and minimise stumbling blocks popping up in the companies’ relations with potential employees and customers.
Sharing his views on the subject, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd country head human resources for Malaysia, Brunei and Mekong region, Rahmat Hashim Roslan, says the ability to earn the best employer label is not solely based on the virtue of an organisation but also its workforce.
Human needs and desires in a workplace are different individually and, as such, the organisation that wants to be known as a good employer must be able to strike the right balance in catering to its needs and those of its workforce, he adds.
A balance that works
Identifying an ideal balance of needs is crucial, but equally important is how to then make it work.
“To see whether a company is considered to be a good employer or the opposite, much depends on how it delivers this balance of needs. A best employer is one that is able to identify and deliver in the most effective approach and apply the most accurate balance of needs for its organisation and its workforce,” says Rahmat.
“A ‘best employer’ has a holistic approach to building a work environment in which employees are fully engaged and committed to business success.”
An organisation that strives to be a best employer must be committed in determining the optimal balance of needs between itself and its workforce, as well as in delivering that effectively. Such commitment is necessary to ensure that both parties achieve progress.
Rahmat points out that an organisation that strives to become a good and efficient employer must at the same time understand that the most important element that drive commitment is its workforce.
“The workforce comprises human beings. Every human need and desire in a workplace is different individually, but there are some similarities when it comes to engagement and career development. Everybody wants a workplace that promotes a working environment that is conducive and has a culture that is comfortable to work in.
“A work environment that encourages suggestions, feedback and openness, without fear of reprisal, is vital for employee success,” he notes.
An organisation, he adds, should always ensure that the employees’ values and beliefs are aligned with the company’s culture and values so as to achieve a common goal for future success.
Developing talent
Apart from this, a company must be committed in the area of engagement with and career development of its staff.
To this end, he says, it must identify high-potential employees as well as nurture and groom them to help attain leadership skills and master the relevant technical skills, and eventually take them to the next level.
As talent development is crucial for a company to move forward and become more competitive with the right skill sets, many organisations are now investing in training and development.
The Government and the private sector in the country are more serious now compared with a decade ago and are increasing their investments in training and development to ensure there is sufficient skills, know-how and expertise to be competitive in the global arena.
Elaborating on the training programmes, Rahmat adds that there must be commitment and investment in well-established training and development channels and programmes. This, he says, include formal training (on leadership and technical skills, culture and values), job rotations, assignments, mentoring/coaching, self-learning (company library and online resources).
Each employee must have a clear set of objectives that are aligned to the organisation’s goals, with regular feedback on performance, he notes.
Besides this, organisations should provide competitive compensation and benefits, including long-term financial reward to employees as well as recognise high achievers with good rewards, while enforcing strict consequence management for low performers.
Making things clear
Communication is also essential in achieving such commitment from the workforce, Rahmat adds. “Leaders must be visible and accessible, and provide clear direction about the organisation’s business strategy, goals and progress.
“Communication should be both top-down and bottom-up and through various channels. Top-down communication channels include town-hall meetings, employee meetings, emails from CEOs, newsletters, memos, and via Intranet (top-down). Bottom-up communication channels can be via regular employee opinion surveys and focus groups.”
In a nutshell, he says, the steps or initiative which must be undertaken by a business concern to be labelled as a best employer are first, to identify the organisation and workforce needs accordingly. Second, find the right or most accurate balance that wll not put either party at a disadvantage.
Third, Rahmat says, communication and approach in the delivery of the needs to the workforce must be impactful with clear elaboration of objectives and how these can fuel the organisation’s progress.
Lastly, there must be continuous or regular communication with the workforce to ensure the employees recognise that they are an important part of the whole effort as well as important contributors in achieving the organisation’s needs.
Commenting on the challenges facing businesses in becoming the best employers, he says: “The challenge is always in the area of communication and the approach in the delivery of the workforce’s needs.
“In most large organisation, the managers are empowered to handle the communication and delivery. But there will be some managers who are not equipped with the right skills to handle such tasks. This will result in distorted messages and uncertainties among the workforce.”
These will indirectly impact the organisation’s productivity or performance in achieving these needs.”
Rahmat says another challenge is to balance expectations and needs of the different generations in the workforce.
By DALJIT DHESI
Although earnings and cashflow are vital and a reflection of an organisation’s strength, human resource is equally important in determining its path to success. An organisation will cease to exist if it has no people.
"A work environment that encourages suggestions, feedback and openness, without fear of reprisal, is vital for employee success" RAHMAT HASHIM ROSLAN
Business and political leaders are increasingly aware that having good people who are skilled and motivated can make a significant difference to an organisation.
Large corporations that started as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), for example, in Japan, Europe and the US, have made it big because they had been successful in strategising their business operations and workforce for optimum results.
From various findings and, according to a consultancy’s website, some of the main criteria in determining whether a company is a top employer, is its ability to engage with employees, the capability to streamline its workforce in line with its business objectives, and the effectiveness of sustaining employee engagement in the long run.
Engagement will enable positive interaction between employers and employees, and minimise stumbling blocks popping up in the companies’ relations with potential employees and customers.
Sharing his views on the subject, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd country head human resources for Malaysia, Brunei and Mekong region, Rahmat Hashim Roslan, says the ability to earn the best employer label is not solely based on the virtue of an organisation but also its workforce.
Human needs and desires in a workplace are different individually and, as such, the organisation that wants to be known as a good employer must be able to strike the right balance in catering to its needs and those of its workforce, he adds.
A balance that works
Identifying an ideal balance of needs is crucial, but equally important is how to then make it work.
“To see whether a company is considered to be a good employer or the opposite, much depends on how it delivers this balance of needs. A best employer is one that is able to identify and deliver in the most effective approach and apply the most accurate balance of needs for its organisation and its workforce,” says Rahmat.
“A ‘best employer’ has a holistic approach to building a work environment in which employees are fully engaged and committed to business success.”
An organisation that strives to be a best employer must be committed in determining the optimal balance of needs between itself and its workforce, as well as in delivering that effectively. Such commitment is necessary to ensure that both parties achieve progress.
Rahmat points out that an organisation that strives to become a good and efficient employer must at the same time understand that the most important element that drive commitment is its workforce.
“The workforce comprises human beings. Every human need and desire in a workplace is different individually, but there are some similarities when it comes to engagement and career development. Everybody wants a workplace that promotes a working environment that is conducive and has a culture that is comfortable to work in.
“A work environment that encourages suggestions, feedback and openness, without fear of reprisal, is vital for employee success,” he notes.
An organisation, he adds, should always ensure that the employees’ values and beliefs are aligned with the company’s culture and values so as to achieve a common goal for future success.
Developing talent
Apart from this, a company must be committed in the area of engagement with and career development of its staff.
To this end, he says, it must identify high-potential employees as well as nurture and groom them to help attain leadership skills and master the relevant technical skills, and eventually take them to the next level.
As talent development is crucial for a company to move forward and become more competitive with the right skill sets, many organisations are now investing in training and development.
The Government and the private sector in the country are more serious now compared with a decade ago and are increasing their investments in training and development to ensure there is sufficient skills, know-how and expertise to be competitive in the global arena.
Elaborating on the training programmes, Rahmat adds that there must be commitment and investment in well-established training and development channels and programmes. This, he says, include formal training (on leadership and technical skills, culture and values), job rotations, assignments, mentoring/coaching, self-learning (company library and online resources).
Each employee must have a clear set of objectives that are aligned to the organisation’s goals, with regular feedback on performance, he notes.
Besides this, organisations should provide competitive compensation and benefits, including long-term financial reward to employees as well as recognise high achievers with good rewards, while enforcing strict consequence management for low performers.
Making things clear
Communication is also essential in achieving such commitment from the workforce, Rahmat adds. “Leaders must be visible and accessible, and provide clear direction about the organisation’s business strategy, goals and progress.
“Communication should be both top-down and bottom-up and through various channels. Top-down communication channels include town-hall meetings, employee meetings, emails from CEOs, newsletters, memos, and via Intranet (top-down). Bottom-up communication channels can be via regular employee opinion surveys and focus groups.”
In a nutshell, he says, the steps or initiative which must be undertaken by a business concern to be labelled as a best employer are first, to identify the organisation and workforce needs accordingly. Second, find the right or most accurate balance that wll not put either party at a disadvantage.
Third, Rahmat says, communication and approach in the delivery of the needs to the workforce must be impactful with clear elaboration of objectives and how these can fuel the organisation’s progress.
Lastly, there must be continuous or regular communication with the workforce to ensure the employees recognise that they are an important part of the whole effort as well as important contributors in achieving the organisation’s needs.
Commenting on the challenges facing businesses in becoming the best employers, he says: “The challenge is always in the area of communication and the approach in the delivery of the workforce’s needs.
“In most large organisation, the managers are empowered to handle the communication and delivery. But there will be some managers who are not equipped with the right skills to handle such tasks. This will result in distorted messages and uncertainties among the workforce.”
These will indirectly impact the organisation’s productivity or performance in achieving these needs.”
Rahmat says another challenge is to balance expectations and needs of the different generations in the workforce.
By DALJIT DHESI
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