The Importance of Evaluation in Leadership Development (and how to do it effectively)

In most cases, evaluation is usually carried out towards the end of a process. We do this because want to examine if what we did or experienced went well, where it struggled and what could be done differently next time. But what if this is actually the wrong way to carry out Leadership Evaluation?

Leadership Evaluation should be a continuous process for it to become truly effective. The key here is to have more chances to reflect on the whole process, not just at the end. This allows you to adjust things as and when you need to and not wait until the end of the process to find out if you achieved everything you set out to.

Continuous Leadership Evaluation

When developing your leadership skills, it can be very easy to fall prey to not allowing enough time for effective evaluation. If you do not take stock of how close you are to progressing towards your objectives, you will not be able to identify what you have achieved and where further growth is required.

Whilst working towards improving your own leadership skills, it is imperative to evaluate and fine-tune. Continuous evaluation allows you to do this by looking at new skills you have learnt and assessing what needs additional work, enabling you to use this to lead future actions. By being honest with yourself about how your journey is advancing, you can accurately track your progression and use evaluation as a tool for improvement. Be objective and evaluate fairly both your successes and weaknesses and use your findings to build upon your areas of strength and target your weaknesses.

Methods of Evaluation

Journals and Logs

These are the most efficient methods of examining where you have moved forward against your objectives whilst also helping you reflect on what has already been accomplished. The main benefit of keeping a journal is that it is structured, so you can note down exactly what has happened as it happened. You may find it difficult to accurately note an activity you have put into your journal but there are ways in which you can stay on task. When struggling to document your feelings use the following for help:

• How do I feel?
• Has my attitude changed?
• What was the reaction of my colleagues?

The way you decide to create your own journal will depend on whatever you find to be most effective for you. However, key things to note down are:

• Feedback from colleagues or clients and your own thoughts about them
• Specific incidents and examining how you reacted to them
• How you were able to work within a specific team

Self-Reflection

As you will already know, the act of reflection is looking back on learning, events or even actions and from this trying to draw lessons. Self-reflection is an important strategy when it comes to evaluation as you can look back on your areas of weakness and identify what you would like to improve on yourself, without any outside influence. By reflecting, you can:

• Examine where you have weakness and what you can do to improve before the next time that situation arises.
• Examine what methods of learning have best suited you and build future learning around them.
• Scrutinise where your strengths lie and how you can use this knowledge in future.

Feedback

Any worthwhile evaluation contains at least some elements of feedback. Feedback can be from almost any source that is clear, honest and specific, e.g. analytical tools, colleagues or appraisals. Asking an individual for feedback can seem daunting, but it is essential for you to stay emotionally detached and take everything they are saying positively and not personally. Asking for feedback from someone in an unstructured way could potentially mean important feedback could be wasted, therefore consider asking for the following information:

• Specific strengths that you exhibit
• Specific areas in which you can be more efficient or effective
• Specific situations in which you could have acted differently

Whilst feedback can be given by anyone, it is important that you identify a suitable source, relevant to you or the situation. You should look to be selective about who you ask and consider whether their feedback has merits. Before deciding, ask yourself:

• Is feedback being given by someone that has experience?
• Is there evidence to support their feedback?
• Is their feedback verifiable?

 

Why Diversity and Inclusion is Important for your SME

In recent years the news seems to be flooded with stories relating to inequalities in gender, race, disability, etc. Just recently the issue of the gender pay gap has reached a crescendo. With consistent media attention towards equality, diversity and inclusion, it’s certainly a good time to address this within your organisation.

Diversity and inclusion within the work place does not have to simply come from a place of benevolence but it can be used to gain a competitive advantage over your business rivals in several ways, a few of which we’ve explained below.

Innovation:

When an organisation is made up of different people from different backgrounds, the opportunity for new innovative and creative ideas can flourish. Every person working within an organisation brings with them a set of their own beliefs and views. It is in the organisation’s interest to have as many different perspectives as possible to enable innovation and creation of ideas and products that they could not have envisioned without them.

Understanding your Customers:

Understanding your market is one of the cornerstones of any worthwhile business plan. Having a diverse organisation enables it to be far more in tune with its customers’ needs by having voices within the organisation that have had the same experiences and beliefs as their target market. For example, in 2019 there were  14.1 million disabled people in Britain and the total spending power of families with at least 1 disabled person is estimated at £274 billion a year (Scope) However in 2020 there were only 4.4 million disabled people employed (Scope). It stands to reason that by employing a workforce that is more diverse, they will be better able to meet the needs and requirements of their audience, which will result in a product or service more suitable to their needs.

Employer Branding:

Being seen as an attractive place to work and attracting the right talent to your organisation is vital to ensure ongoing development and growth and by embracing diversity and inclusion, this can be achieved. Being an organisation that champions diversity and inclusion displays to potential employees that you are a dynamic place to work, with a culture that values and supports its people. As well as attracting the best talent, this positive image could help to attract other organisations that see your business as a valuable, ethical partner.

Employee Retention:

An organisation that is seen to be promoting inclusion within its own people practices demonstrates to its employees that they are valued and respected. When people feel like they are being listened to, they are more likely to buy into the ethos of the organisation. When this happens, it brings employee turnover down and pushes up their productivity.

Diversity and inclusion is not simply something that should be promoted because it is the right thing to do. It has real tangible benefits to every organisation that truly believes in it and implements practices that helps to utilise the diversity that everyone can bring. By embracing inclusion, an organisation is able to get the best out of their people, increasing staff retention and productivity. Therefore the question shouldn’t be why diversity and inclusion is important for your SME, but whether or not you can afford to ignore the benefits that diversity and inclusion brings.

Find out about the BS 76005 – Valuing People Through Diversity and Inclusion framework.

The Happy Employee: Transparency

When it comes to the workplace environment it can be difficult to ensure total transparency. The phrase ‘you are the face of the company’ is something that employees often hear, and whilst this is designed to encourage employees to represent the company as best as they can, it is also true.

As an employee, you are responsible for various company procedures, as well as client interactions – acting as a major part of the company. Which is why transparency in business is important; how can you represent your company without total understanding of how the business runs? By implementing transparency in the workplace, you can effectively increase overall employee productivity.

Information

Some companies limit the information that they provide to employees; both client related and internal. By including employees in communication about the company’s profits and achievements, a positive connection is forged – as employees can understand how their hard work contributes to the company’s success. The same can also be applied to losses and any setbacks, as employees will feel invested and increase their efforts to ensure the company gets back on track.

Authority

By providing authority to employees, you can motivate them to become empowered. Employees who are given authority become more inspired to be decisive and take responsibility for their actions, both of which are strong elements in great employee performance. This also reduces time wasted on waiting for approval from a higher authority, and allows employees to continue with the work that they are given at their own pace.

Communication

Giving your employees an opportunity to discuss ways for the company to move forward, improve operations or point out areas that require development, allows you to establish a connection with your team. Show them that management appreciates and values employee thoughts and suggestions. Consider implementing the changes and requests your employees offer, where applicable, as this further cements your relationship with your employees and demonstrates that they are an important part of the business.

Deliver on your promises

As management, it can be easy to offer incentives to your employees to encourage them to work harder and more productively. Whilst these incentives can be an effective tool, often we can forget what we have promised – or put it to the side so we can focus on more important things. However, by not delivering on your promises to your employees, they can become unhappy, resulting in a lower standard of employee performance. By ensuring incentives are given to employees, big or small, and providing everyone with the chance to receive these bonuses, you are ultimately encouraging employees to work harder to receive these benefits.

 

Ultimately, transparency provides your employees with a clear and happy path to success, allowing them to feel valued, supported and involved, whilst ensuring any grievances can be swiftly and effectively handled.

Help your employees beat the January blues

Most people agree January is a pretty miserable month. This year, Monday 20th January is Blue Monday – scientifically (or not as the case may be!) the most depressing day of 2020. But in all seriousness, business should recognise the risks associated with not managing employees health and well-being effectively. We’re sharing our thoughts about three subjects that contribute to stress in the workplace and have a negative impact on the well-being of your staff.

MINIMISE STRESS THROUGH A HEALTHY WORKPLACE CULTURE

It’s no surprise that stress is the number one cause of long-term absence. According to HSE statistics, in 2018/19 there were 0.6 million new or long-standing reported cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in the UK.  In 2018/19,  12.8 million working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety.

Pressures and stresses can come from both work and home. At work there are often heavy workloads and long working hours, while at home there can be financial stresses, lifestyle pressures and general family concerns, all of which have an impact on the way people feel and act at work.

Employers should consider the mental, as well as physical, wellbeing of their employees, focusing on prevention rather than reacting to some of the possible outcomes such as high staff turnover, high absenteeism rates and the associated business costs with both of these.

The introduction of flexible working or flexi-time can help employees deal with stress by allowing them to balance their work and personal lives more effectively and reducing the need to take time off. Businesses should also ensure managers at all levels of an organisation are supportive and empathic. Awareness, encouragement and recognition are important, as feeling valued and appreciated provides a key extrinsic motivator which can have a positive impact on a person’s well-being.

Visit the HSE website for more information about dealing with workplace stress: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/

LIMIT OUT OF HOURS COMMUNICATIONS

Just about everyone is contactable all of the time these days. Often it’s hard to ignore those emails and messages when they come in, even if it can wait until Monday morning. As an employer or manager, it might be worth taking a moment to think about how sending emails out of hours might affect the recipient and put them under unnecessary pressure. If you don’t require an immediate response but just want to tick it off your ‘things to do’ list, consider setting up a time delay or create a draft to send early the next working day instead.

DISCOURAGE PRESENTEEISM

Presenteeism, where employees continue to come into work when they are unwell, can be a big issue for employers. A member of staff who is not fully fit enough to engage at work may be physically present but will not be making a proper contribution to the business, impacting not only the quality and quantity of the work they produce but affecting the overall working atmosphere, including for the people around them.

‘Presenteeism’, or people coming into work when they are ill, has more than tripled since 2010, according to the latest CIPD/Simplyhealth Health and Wellbeing Survey. The survey reports that 86% of over 1,000 respondents said they had observed presenteeism in their organisation over the preceeding 12 months, compared with 72% in 2016 and just 26% in 2010. Having unhealthy people at work could create a vicious cycle, with more employees falling ill after catching a cold or illness from sick colleagues.

Presenteeism is more likely to occur there is a culture of working long hours and where the demands of the business take priority over employee wellbeing. Employers should take action to make sure that the culture of the business supports employees as recognising the importance of healthy, happy staff will lead to business performance improvement across the board.

Do something about the wellbeing of employees in your organisation…

INSPIRING provide a range of support for organisations looking to improve their Health and Wellbeing culture, including Employee Surveys, Leadership and Management Development and consultancy services to help implement BS 76000 – Valuing People standard.

4 key ways to increase personal productivity

In both your professional and personal life, productivity has its place. But why is productivity important?

From a business perspective, productivity is the efficiency in which a company runs. However, while productivity is imperative from a company’s standpoint, personal productivity is just as crucial. By maximising your own productivity you are reprogramming your mentality towards tasks, which can then be applied to your professional work life.

Decide how long to work for

It can be very easy to begin a task, or even a work day, with the notion that you will work for as long as you can force yourself to concentrate, or for as long as you can. But by resigning yourself to work in this state of mind, you’ll find yourself often looking at the clock and willing the time to go faster. Once you decide how long to work for, commit to it. As a result of this you’ll find that the first few hours of the day go by much faster – and you’re spending much less time clock watching.

For example, if your work day is 8 hours long – commit to producing a worthwhile work output for 8 hours. Not only will time go a lot faster because you’re focusing on your work but you’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment. Once you know how much time you’ve assigned yourself to complete tasks in, plan what tasks you’re going to focus on and provide time allocation for each piece of work. Assigning one hour for a task to be completed in a high standard means that you can complete 8 similar tasks by the end of the day.

If you need help, ask

Asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness; this is why typically we avoid asking for assistance when we are struggling with a task. Rather than putting yourself under pressure to try and complete a task that you don’t understand, finding someone to help you is much more effective. It presents you as willing to visit various options in order to produce worthwhile results. Asking for advice or assistance can save you time and resources. Plus, it reduces the chances of having to begin the work again.

Know when to take a break

Breaks are important for your brain, as well as your wellbeing. Productivity is about working to your best capability to produce a high-quality work output. However, by not giving your body and mind the rest that they deserve, you ultimately end up reducing your productivity. Working continuously for hours at maximum productivity is a fail-safe way to exhaust yourself. Alternatively, try working in shorter bursts to ensure that you are not tiring yourself out, and to help you achieve maximum amounts of efficiency. Giving yourself a ten minute break every few hours is sure to help clear your mind, making you ready to work productively once more.

Prepare for the next day

At the end of your work day, or after completing your tasks, try to spend half an hour planning the next day. Be realistic about what you want to achieve, and do any research or organising that you may need to do. By preparing yourself in advance for the next day, you ensure that the time you spend working is entirely on the tasks you have set yourself, rather than on unnecessary efforts. By providing yourself with an agenda you also leave your brain free to think about more important things that need your attention.

 

How do you make yourself more productive?

 

Looking after employee mental health and wellbeing

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week from 13th to 19th May 2019, which should give UK organisations a reminder that they need to look at the problems that can arise by not managing employee mental health and wellbeing effectively.

A recent survey conducted by St John’s Ambulance found that nearly 45% of people have considered leaving their job due to mental health issues. Furthermore, two thirds of people who took part in the survey said they felt uncomfortable asking an employer for a mental health sick day and 1 in 4 felt their work is having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing.

Workplace stress is a massive problem for UK workers. According to the HSE, over 11 million days are lost at work a year because of stress at work. It is the legal duty of businesses to take action to protect employees against stress by doing a risk assessment to assess the risks in the six main causes of stress in the workplace, namely:

1. Demands
2. Control
3. Support
4. Relationships
5. Role
6. Change

Pressures and stresses can come from both work and home. At work there are often heavy workloads, long working hours and colleague relationship issues, while at home there can be financial stresses, lifestyle pressures and general family concerns, all of which have an impact on the way people feel and act at work.

Employers should consider the mental, as well as physical, wellbeing of their employees, focusing on prevention rather than reacting to some of the possible outcomes such as high absenteeism and staff turnover rates.

Employers can help people deal with stress by allowing them to balance their work and personal lives more effectively. Businesses should also ensure managers at all levels of an organisation are supportive and empathic. Awareness, encouragement and recognition are important, as feeling valued and appreciated provides a key extrinsic motivator which can have a positive impact on a person’s mental wellbeing.

Visit the HSE website for more information and advice about employee mental health and wellbeing and dealing with workplace stress: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/what-to-do.htm

For more information about Mental Health awareness week, visit the Mental Health Foundation website.

Measure the wellbeing of your employees

INSPIRING provide a range of support for organisations looking to improve their Health and Wellbeing culture, including Employee Wellbeing Surveys, Leadership and Management Development and consultancy services to help implement BS 76000 – Valuing People standard.

What is Lexcel and why should you become accredited?

Most legal firms have heard about the Lexcel Standard, however many do not understand what it entails and how it can really benefit a legal practice.

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BS 76000 recognises the value of the people in your business

BS 76000 provides a framework for organisations to value people, for the mutual benefit of both parties.

People management standards such as Investors in People (IIP) have been around for a long time now and many organisations have benefited from working within their frameworks. However, the new Management System Standard, BS 76000, looks to go a step further by providing organisations with a complete view of how people processes fit into organisational strategy, highlighting how both employees and businesses can benefit from developing and maintaining excellent working relationships.

There is always room for improvement, and our experience tells us that even those organisations that spend considerable resources developing and engaging their workforce can experience issues with perceptions of fairness or consistency.

BS 76000 aims to address this by offering a structural approach for organisations to develop a management system which can be adapted to meet the specific needs of your organisation.

Anne Hayes, head of market development for governance at BSI, describes BS 76000 as “an over-arching management system standard that helps organisations to assess what they already have in place and address any gaps. It is the chance for those organisations which already demonstrate good practice to achieve recognition and gives those which are committed to improving, a framework to build upon”.

The BS 76000 standard was developed by experts from industry bodies, employers and unions, and refined by a 100-day public consultation. Care was taken to ensure that senior management was balanced with potential users, those representing workers and small business owners. The result is a standard which applies to organisations of any size, sector and at any stage of maturity. The BS 76000 standard is available to purchase from the BSI online shop.

INSPIRING now provides BS 76000 support in addition to our ISO consultancy services, all of which are delivered by our team of qualified ISO consultants.

If you would like to chat to us about how Inspiring can help you work towards achieving BS76000 certification, call us on 0800 612 3098 or get in touch using the enquiry from on the left.

5 tips to make sure everyone has a happy Christmas at work

With Christmas fast approaching and the festive season in full swing, we've put together a few tips on how to cope with some common Christmas situations and avoid a Christmas work disaster!

Is Christmas ‘PC’?

Employees are protected from discrimination based on religion or belief, but this doesn’t mean neutralising Christmas altogether! All workers are entitled to dignity in the workplace, which means respecting all faiths. Common sense and a degree of sensitivity for the feelings of others have more place at work than political correctness.

‘Secret Santa’ gifts

By all means, let employees buy a funny present but get them to think carefully before buying something that might offend. What may seem humourous to you could be viewed as a joke at others’ expense. As a sense check, ask givers to put themselves in the recipient’s shoes and imagine how they would feel.

The Christmas party

Although the Christmas party may take place away from the workplace, and sometimes even in employees’ own time, it’s still connected with work. Employers are responsible for much of what goes on and can still be liable for bullying, harassment and discrimination at the Christmas party. Employees should therefore be advised on sensible conduct and alcohol consumption and reminded that appropriate employee conduct work policies continue to apply at the event.

Photos and social media

Remember not to post photos on social media sites without the informed consent of the people in the pictures. If someone in the photo complains, they would be entitled to bring a grievance against the person posting that photo. Also, publishing compromising photos or employees making derogatory comments about their employer could have a negative impact on the company’s reputation.  In either case, these actions may result in disciplinary action, depending on the company’s policies.

The Christmas ‘wind-down’

Some employers may be more relaxed during the festive period, for example, organising a late start after the Christmas party, allowing employees to bring their kids into the office, or granting extended team lunches. However, you’d be advised not to take any of this for granted!  Remember that employers are entitled to insist on normal working hours and obligations, just as employees expect to receive full pay without deductions for unauthorised time off.

TEAM UP WITH INSPIRING…

For more information about any of our services, get in touch using the form on the left, email us or give us a call on 0800 612 3098.

How to Create Effective Learning Within Your Organisation

Providing effective learning within an organisation is a necessity, both for employees to help them reach their potential and for the organisation to grow as a whole.

To ensure effective learning is taking place, organisations should consider reviewing what is on offer for each employee and the different methods of learning available. You will not want to waste time and resources trying to teach employees in ways that are not going to be the most beneficial. Creating effective learning enables the right learning techniques to be applied to the right employees to make learning as efficient as possible.

How to Determine Effective Learning Techniques

One of the best-known learning techniques is from Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984).

The Learning Cycle claims that effective learning happens when the individual being trained has experienced the training either in a hands-on capacity or within a training course. They then have interpreted this for themselves and gone onto digest it and understand what they have been taught. The last step is implementing their new knowledge.

To understand this cycle more clearly an example is when a child learns that a fire is hot. They learn by putting their hand near to a fire and it will hurt them and therefore they will not do this again. Thereby effectively completing the Learning Cycle.

Learning Styles

Understanding that different individuals have different preferences is key to Honey and Mumford’s (1982) Learning Styles theory. They developed the idea that as individuals, we prefer one of the four stages of Kolb’s Learning Cycle more than the others. This is to say that we are more receptive to training in our preferred element.

Theorist

These individuals like the theory behind things. They need to draw upon concepts and facts to fully engage with learning. They prefer to be challenged intellectually by information and create their own theory or conclusions.

Methods of Learning

• Models
• Quotes
• Facts
• Statistics
• Theories
• Background Information

Reflector

These people like to learn by watching others. They prefer a back-seat role where they can see what others are doing. They like to be at the edge of activities to observe, this allows them to collect multiple pieces of data and draw their own conclusions from watching activities from different perspectives.

Methods of Learning

• Self-analysis
• Observation
• Feedback
• Coaching

Activist

These learners like to be thrown into the deep end. They love to be put straight into activities. They have an open-minded approach and are open to new experiences and different ways of working. They often find success in crisis situations.

Methods of Learning

• Problem Solving
• Puzzles
• Role play
• Group Activities

Pragmatist

Pragmatists need to see how things work in the real world. They find it hard to relate to activities that are not true to life. They constantly seek an opportunity to put what they are learning into practise to see if it holds up. They focus on outputs and implementation.

Methods of Learning

• Problem Solving
• Ability to test the training
• Case Studies
• Discussion

Using learning styles to facilitate effective learning

Effective learning is the result of identifying what learning style suits an individual and allowing them to learn in that way. There are many free online Learning Style Questionnaires. It would be beneficial before starting any training within the organisation to discover how your employees learn the most efficiently. The Learning Styles are a very good indicator for how well employees will respond to certain training methods. Despite this, just because they have a preference does not mean they are incapable of learning through other methods. When conducting training, the focus should always be on the training and trying to effectively deliver it to employees. Sometimes training cannot be delivered in a way that some employees will enjoy that is just a fact of life. But, for the most effective learning it is beneficial to try and alternate learning styles.