People Development Articles

8/6/2019 People Development Articles

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Rollout Performance People

Definition

Rationale

Strategies

Questions

Strategy Table

Printable version

What is People Development?

In an organization, this is a situation where the focusis on a particular group of people, position, job, or

what the military calls "billets." This focus suggeststhat leadership is looking ahead, thinking strategically,

recognizing the critical contributions that employeeswill make in the workplace of the future. Such leaders

realize that the world is rapidly changing and that theymust act today to assure that their people will be fit to

contribute tomorrow. You'll know you're dealing with"people development" when you hear phrases like,

"Our sales people are going to be expected to sell a whole

new line of digital products and we must help them make

their numbers in this new terrain."

Insurance companies will not pay for long term

psychodynamic therapy. Were going to have to find a way

to support and develop our member therapists to cope with

these changes."

"The turn of the century is coming. What can we do to becertain that our managers are ready?"

"The managed care environment is altering the way weneed to be perceiving nurses. What are those changes?What kinds of development and systems are appropriate tosupport them in their expanded responsibilities?"

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Strategies for handling people development

To facilitate people development, you will help your

customer identify the many opportunities forprofessional growth available to a group of people.

Then priorities must be set amongst the rich optionsthat have been defined. For continued success, what

do they need to know? What skills do they need?

Because there are many ways to conceive the futurerole of a nurse or systems analyst or mental health

worker, this can be a tricky and political endeavor.Performance analysis, in this case, resembles a rollout,

with an emphasis on defining the vision and direction,but it is targeted at a broader and strategic level. The

effort will be dominated by casting a wide net and

creating a process to involve colleagues in selectingdirections and priorities.

Strategy Table

Heres an abbreviated example. Lets presume thatyou were asked to help determine what the engineer of

the future might need to know and do. Don't forget toalter this template to match your unique

circumstances.

Stages Sources Possible Questions

One Customer,client orsponsor

Why are you focusing on thedevelopment of engineersNOW?What do you hope toaccomplish by developingengineers?

Are all engineers of equalinterest or is one group thefocus?What do you see as key skillsfor the future?What are the emergentchallenges?Have you established an on linecommunity that captures theideas of thought leaders orenables collaboration betweenengineers, no matter theirlocation?

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Two TheLiteratureandProfessional

Associations

What trends have theyidentified?Emergent skills?Perspectives?Emergent challenges?New technologies?

Additional sources?Implications of worldwideoutreach?

Three Internal andexternalexperts

What trends do they see asmost critical?Emergent skills?Perspectives?Emergent challenges?New technologies?From all these, what are thepriorities that they associatewith this organization and

vertical market?Who are the people in thisorganization who alreadymanifest some of these skillsand perspectives? What explicitand tacit know-how is key?

Are there any records of thisknowledge?How is it maintained?How is it shared?

Four Modelengineers

As someone who has beenidentified as possessing skillsthat are considered "model,"what do you think they arereferring to?What strikes people as modelabout how you do the work?What challenges are emerging?How have you acquired newskills and knowledge? Whatsupport did you receive from theorganization?What needs to happen toassure that engineers arecontemporary in their skills?What do you think you know

and do that distinguished yourapproaches?Consider the list of possibledirections. Which do youperceive as priorities?Why?

Five RandomlySelected

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Engineers competencies.Do you see the value andbenefit in these new roles andskills?Do you feel ready?Which do you perceive as most

critical, given your view of thefuture?What do you think it will take tosupport your growth in thesedirections?Role for you? your supervisor?the larger organization?

Rationale

Note how far the analyst goes in defining the engineer

of the future. Professional associations are tapped.Benchmark organizations and published literature arealso examined. This analyst must also talk to internal

engineering executives and experts about what theirpeople must know and also what new challenges

loom. The emphasis here is on going far afield todefine what's possible and then coming closer to home

to identify priorities.

Questions for People Development

Here are some possible questions to use with thecustomer who is eager to develop and strengthen theperformance of a particular group of people. Print the

whole page OR copy and paste the relevant questionsinto a document, then save it to your desktop or hard

drive. Be sure to review the options and select and editto work with your source.

y What do you envision this group of people doingover the next five years?

y What will they do more of? less of?y What shall I read to help me understand your

vision?y What professional associations and experts shall I

consult?

y What challenges do you imagine this group ofpeople will confront?

y How do you expect them to prioritize their work?

y What accomplishments should be most importantto them?

y What changes in technology do you view as most


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significant?y What changes in relationships do you see with

customers?

y What changes in relationships do you see withcolleagues across the organization?

y What changes in relationships do you see in the

work site?y How are you collecting examples of desirable

practice and thought leadership?

y How are you making that knowledge available tomany?

y Do we have employees who are already that way?

y If so, what do you see them doing?

y As you talk about electronic learning, I can't helpbut wonder how your people will respond.

y Do you have a sense of their eagerness to move inthis direction?

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FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF EXCELLENCE -PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT AND INVOLVEMENT

Development and involvement are the means of ensuring people commitment and loyalty for the

organization.

The correlation between necessity of enhancing skills / knowledge of the people and the businessoutcome must be clearly established by the strategic management processes. This link providescontext for the organization to develop its people for mutual benefit. For developmentalprograms to be successful the people must feel the need for the knowledge / skill to accomplishtheir tasks, which can be established through cascading of the high level strategic goals at

individual level.

People involvement starts with their participation in exercise to gain consensus, extends toinvolvement in improvement activities and ultimately culminating in empowerment to make

decisions in the business interests of the company.

Through development, people are equipped with necessary wherewithal to accomplish thebusiness goals and through involvement of people the organization ensures that the acquiredknowledge and skills are put to use in the most productive way which enable companies to

achieve their targeted business goals.

Critical success factors influencing people development and involvement are:

y Creating compelling need for development among peopley Aligning individual goals with those of organizational goalsy Providing opportunities to put the learning acquired through training into use and thus

enriching people experience

y Empowering people to use their knowledge and experience for the benefit of theorganization

y Building long term relationship through care for people and encouraging participative


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decision makingy Devising management systems and rewards schemes encouraging people involvement

and commitment

Related articles:Empowerment drives continuous improvementFrom employee satisfaction to employee engagement

Alagse

Promoting Thought Leadership...

Alagse

Articles

Total QualityLeadershipStrategyBusiness

Process

Management

HumanResources

Change

Management

MarketingManagement

AlagseInsights

Managementon Ground

Zero

TrendsThought

leadership blog

Empowerment drives continuous improvement

Power means control and authority. Empowering is passing the authority and responsibility topeople down the hierarchy. With delegation you can give power to the people but empowermentis about making people exercise the power delegated to them in the best interests of the

organization. Empowerment driven by a sense of ownership and control over ones job, results incontinuous improvement.

Inculcate the sense of ownershipEmployees can exercise the power in the best interest of the organization only and only if they

feel the sense of ownership. The sense of ownership can be created by igniting a passion in theemployee about the job he does to such an extent that whatever he might be doing, he is alwaysconscious of his job. Any instance is a potential stimulant for triggering a thought for improvinghis work. Such sense of ownership can be inculcated among employees by giving themworthwhile goals and logic to pursue. Unlike many companies, the purchase people of Wal-Mart

negotiate with their supplier as if they are going to make some personal purchase theoverarching rationale being that every dollar that they save goes to customer, in line with theirlowest price strategy. Ownership is general acceptance or buy-in of employees to the companysgoals and values. Such passion can be aroused in the employees by providing them withbusiness information, and information pertaining to their activities and their role in improving the

business performance. Clarifying their role in the game plan of the company combined with the

timely feedback about their performance goes a long way in developing a cultural undertone ofownership among the employees.

Ensure people are in control of their jobsOwnership alone cannot empower people. Ownership is only the emotional component ofempowerment. With ownership comes the urge for improvement. The practical part of exercisingpower delegated to an individual comes from having control over the job he is responsible for.

Control over ones job basically comes from the knowledge of the job. The knowledge comesfrom experience and learning that one acquires on the job. To enrich the experience, theemployee must apply learning to improve his job. For an employee to be able to apply hislearning for improving the process or activity he is connected with, he must be confident of

support from superiors. In effect the control an employee has over the job comes fromknowledge, which comes from applying his experience and learning to process improvements,

which in turn wil l happen only if he is confident that he has the trust of higher ups.

Make continuous improvement a culture

Sense of ownership in the employees combined with control over the job or process can fuel thecycle of improvements, which go on and on. For continuous improvementto become a culturaltrait, empowermentis the value a company must harness. The role ofmanagers in

empowering the employees is clear-cut they need to create buy-in for companyvalues and goals, establish role clarity, design structured channels for dissemination ofinformation related to job, process, company and business, instill systems thatencourage collaboration where trust and knowledge sharing is the way of conductingthe business.

Related articles:People Development and Involvement


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Continuous learning, innovation and improvement

Alagse

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF EXCELLENCE - CONTINUOUS

LEAR

NING, INNOVATION AND IMPR

OVEMENTContinuous improvement is a means to ensure meeting and exceeding increasing expectations of customers and otherstakeholders and overcoming the challenges posed by changing market forces. Improvement backed by innovationthrough generation of ideas for new or improved work practices, products, and services and translation of ideas into reality(strategies, products, processes, business models etc.) gives a company unique advantage in the market place.Organizational learning is not only through the experience of its people but also through understanding the needs and

expectation of its stakeholders. Learning provides a company with what and how of improvements to be taken up.

The prerequisites for organizational learning, innovation, and improvement include:

y Establishing clear organizational goals and strategies to achieve the samey Establishing right priorities and measuresy Reviewing implementation of strategies against the plans is a major source of organizational learningy

Establishing management systems (structures and processes) by designing appropriate feedback and reviewmechanisms that encourage innovation rather than process compliance

y Establishing a culture of finding ways of improvement in contrast with the culture of finding faults (basic barrierto innovation)

y Use of scientific analytical tools / statistical tools that provide new insights into performancey Readiness on the part of leaders to listen to and support innovative ideas and concepts (creating and sustaining

innovative culture)

y Shattering the notion that we are the best and instead look for best practices for triggering innovative ideas

Related articles:

Empowerment drives continuous improvement

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF EXCELLENCE -PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT AND INVOLVEMENT

Development and involvement are the means of ensuring people commitment and loyalty for the

organization.

The correlation between necessity of enhancing skills / knowledge of the people and the businessoutcome must be clearly established by the strategic management processes. This link providescontext for the organization to develop its people for mutual benefit. For developmental

programs to be successful the people must feel the need for the knowledge / skill to accomplishtheir tasks, which can be established through cascading of the high level strategic goals at

individual level.

People involvement starts with their participation in exercise to gain consensus, extends to

involvement in improvement activities and ultimately culminating in empowerment to makedecisions in the business interests of the company.

Through development, people are equipped with necessary wherewithal to accomplish thebusiness goals and through involvement of people the organization ensures that the acquiredknowledge and skills are put to use in the most productive way which enable companies to

achieve their targeted business goals.

Critical success factors influencing people development and involvement are:


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y Creating compelling need for development among peopley Aligning individual goals with those of organizational goalsy Providing opportunities to put the learning acquired through training into use and thus

enriching people experience

y Empowering people to use their knowledge and experience for the benefit of theorganization

y Building long term relationship through care for people and encouraging participativedecision making

y Devising management systems and rewards schemes encouraging people involvementand commitment

Related articles:Empowerment drives continuous improvementFrom employee satisfaction to employee engagement

From employee satisfaction to employee engagement

Employee satisfaction has

long ceased to be acompetitive advantage.New industries taking shape

at a "never seen before"

rate and expanding

operations of companies in

the fast changing globalarena, have provided

numerous opportunities for

the employees. Competition

between companies is nolonger limited to the

traditional frontiers of

marketplace, technologyand raw materials but hasimpregnated into thedomain of human capital as

well.

Though companies vie torecruit the best available

talent but the realcompetitiveness lies in

retaining the best talentwhich indeed is the most

decisive factor for success

today.

In such a competitive landscape, the industry has fast


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realized that focus on employee satisfaction alone is not a

sufficient condition for creating an environment where the

best of the talent continues to commit itself all the while

towards the company goals.

Employee satisfaction is not enough

An employee may be satisfied with the pay and perks,welfare measures, his growth and with his job but this doesnot guarantee a state where employee exhibits unwavering

commitment towards his job to take company's

performance to distinctly higher levels of excellence. This isthe scenario where an employee is satisfied with the

company and the work that he does but is simply not

motivated to put forward his best performance. He is

satisfied and yet may not be a willing team player. An offer

of better pay, perks, working conditions, location etc. mayinvariably lure the employee away from the current

assignment.

The next summit - share ofmotivated employees

This gave way to companies focusing on building a higher

percentage of motivated employees who have a greater

concern for improving process performance and also are

less likely to be lured away by reasonably good offers fromoutside. They are more focused and energized than a

merely satisfied employee. These employees may still havea narrow focus of their work rather than an overview howtheir good performance contributes to the company. They

may still not put personal efforts to understand the bigpicture, and align their work in the best possible way and

continue to rely on the job description that was given to

them. We are talking of a state of organization where

employees are willing to continue with company and alsohave their attention on process improvements. Motivating

factors could well be "fulfillment of personal / intellectual /

professional / social needs" as they go about their work butthe point of maximizing overall gains for the company isstill nowhere in their thought horizon.

Employee engagement - the ultimate state

The focus quickly shifted to maximizing employee

engagement. Employee engagement is classically defined


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as a state where employees are committed to the concerns

and culture of the organization to such an extent that they

use their discretion in the overall interest of the company

while discharging responsibilities during their day-to-daywork. Engaged employees perform at consistently high

levels of productivity and dedication and passionate aboutthe organization and the work that they are involved in. By

this definition it is clear that employee engagement is adefinite antecedent of employee involvement whose

continuum stretches from employee participation to

employee involvement to employee empowerment. Also in

this state of the organization employees carry high degreeof organizational pride.

The two flavours emerging from the above discussion of

engaged employee are commitment and high degree oforganizational pride.

Employee commitment

Commitment is the state of organization people, wherepeople feel ownership for the job and area of work and

hence have higher degree of loyalty for the company. There

is a tendency in people at this stage to understand thecustomer needs and find ways of fulfilling the same.Customers, teams and long term thinking get prominence

rather than a narrow focus on self, tasks and shortterm. There is an all round understanding of the strategy

of the company and employees feel connected to thestrategy. There is a deeper sense of understanding of how

their work contributes to the overall benefit of the company

and so find meaning the in the job that they are doing.

Engaged employees - highest level of organizational pride

At highest level of employee engagement, employees are

not only committed to the companys overall game plan in

the current timeframe, they start believing in companysphilosophy and internalize the values of the company. They

also believe in the vision of the company and can see how

their behaviour and performance will one day make the

vision a reality. It is the stage where they are always willingto go the extra mile for companys sake by using their

discretion in the overall interest of the company. Here the


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employee not only aligns his behaviour and efforts with the

needs of external stakeholders such as customers and

society but at the same time dons the role of a brand

ambassador of the company. This is where employeeperformance and intentions are aligned to a perfection with

the company goals.

To be continued...

Related articles:

The CBAM:A Model of the People Development Process

2003, Barry Sweeny

IN

DEX:

y Read Me Firsty What is the CBAM Stages of Concern Model?y Linking the Stages of Concern and the "Bridge"y What Happens When a Person's Individual Learning Needs Are NOT Met?y The Main Obstacle to Developmenty The Primary Goal of All Professional Development Activitiesy Using the CBAM Stages of Concern to Structure Needs Assessment & Program

Evaluationy Predicted CBAM Results You Can Expect to Achievey Using the CBAM & Data to Plan & Provide Program Level Staff Development &

Individual Mentoring

y MORE Cautions - The Assessment of Perceived Needs is Tricky.

Read Me First


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The information you are about to read is somewhat complex and lengthy. Do not allowany impatience on your part to effect your openness to learning and using thisinformation.It can be the most powerful tool you will ever learn for achievingsuccess in your mentoring or any other professional growth programming effort. Ipromise!

If you asked me, "What is the one most important thing to know in planning professionalgrowth programs, I would answer, "The CBAM Stages of Concern"! This is so becausethe Stages of Concern is the best tool there is for planning professional developmentactivity to address the individual needs of people. If your mentoring or other professionalgrowth activity is designed to help people develop, you need to design the activitybased on a model of development. Here it is.

What is the CBAM Stages of Concern Model?

The CONCERNS-BASED ADOPTION MODEL (CBAM) is a very well-researchedmodel which describes how people develop as they learn about an innovation and thestages of that process. Actually, the CBAM is a complex, multi-part system, of which the"Stages of Concern" is but one part. However, it is the one part which the author mostprefers and with which he has the most successful experiences.

In fact, the author has used the Stages of Concern hundreds of times for planningmentoring and other staff development programs and activities of every imaginable kindsince 1986 when he first was trained on the CBAM model. He can state with confidencethat you will be very successful if you base professional development needs

assessment and programand mentor activityplanning on the CBAMstages of concern.

The CBAM wasdeveloped at theUniversity of Texas -

Austin. If you would liketo read about the CBAMand learn how to use the

whole model, considerobtaining the bookTaking Charge ofChange, which waspublished by the

Association forSupervision andCurriculum Development


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(ASCD) at www.ascd.org and written by Shirley Hord, Gene Hall, et. al. (1987)

Reference to the adjacent figure shows that the Stages of Concern defines humanlearning and development as going through 7 stages, during which a person's focus orconcern shifts in rather predictable ways. To understand this process, start at the

bottom of the image with"awareness

"and read up each step plus the statement(s) nextto each step. Those statements are similar to what people may say when they are

concerned about an innovation at that level of development.

As you read about these 7 stages, note that:

y The lower three stages are focused on oneself, a clue of which might be the use of "I"and "me", as in "I am frustrated".

y The middle stage (management) is focused on mastery of tasks to the point theybecome routines and are easier to do, a clue of which might be the use of "it" or areference to the activity, not the self. An example that a person is struggling at themanagement level could be a statement like, "Prioritizing my use of time and the

management of paper work is killing me!"y The upper Stages of Concern are focused on the results and impact of the activity, a

clue of which might be the use of pronouns which refer to clients, protgs, orparticipants who receive the benefits of the activity. Examples might include, "Thestudents are really learning better since I started using that strategy."Or, "Customersseem to appreciate the personal attention and are buying more products."

Linking the Stages of Concern

and the "Bridge"

You may have seen this graphicon an earlier web page.

The "Bridge" describes thesequence necessary for peopleto implement in practice whatthey have learned in training,and the role of mentoring in thatprocess. It is a criticalfoundation concept on which alldevelopmental support effortsshould be based.

When we compare the Stagesof Concern model to the"Bridge", notice what we learn:


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y The lower Stages of Concern occur at the training side of the "Bridge":o awareness (what is the innovation?)o information (how does the innovation work?)o personal (developing a plan to use it)

y Also occurring at the training side of the "Bridge" are any skill development aspects ofthe training, which are the beginning of the management Stage of Concern, such as:

o demonstrationso participant practice during the training, and...o corrective feed back on the practice the trainer may give participants.

y When the participant is in their own setting, trying to independently implement theirtraining and build their mastery to a routine level of task management (Stage ofConcern), THAT is when the power of mentoring becomes so critical for participantsuccess.

y If mentoring is provided at this point, participants CAN progress and continue to grow.y If participants are NOT supported:

o they can NOT continue to growo implementation problems will often overwhelm them, and..o the innovative practices will be discardedo coping strategies which are often poor practice will be adopted.

What Happens When a Person's Individual Learning Needs Are NOT Met?

y If a person's needs are addressed at the stage they are at, then they can move to newlevels of practice. When they are open and ready to learn, they will ask questions likethose on the right side of the stages.

y When people are overwhelmed or feeling unsuccessful, they are not ready to grow. Inthat case they will NOT state responses such as those listed at the level we might

expect. They will be focused at a lower level where they still have concerns.y If their professional development needs remain unmet, they can easily become stuck at

some lower level of development, perhaps even for the rest of their career!

Learning to hear what people say, and interpreting it as a level on this model can helpus learn to hear their level of need for support and ensure that our assistance is alwayson target. Further, it ensures that employees won't get stuck and will continue todevelop over time, eventually reaching the collaboration level, which is the highest levelof practice, the level we want them to reach.

The Main Obstacle to Development

The traditional structures and norms of organizations have not facilitated employeedevelopment beyond the Consequence level. That is because the time forcollaborative employee learning has always had to compete (usually unsuccessfully)with the time for work and productivity. At the consequence level an individual, isolatedemployee is focused on the impact of their work on the people they are supposed to


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effect (think students, clients, or customers). That is, of course, not a bad place tobe! However, isolated employees in traditional, non-collaborative organizations are notlikely to reach higher levels of professional practice and increased results because theyare denied the day-to-day time needed to interact with and learn from their peers andcolleagues.

The lack of time and opportunity to learn and practice collaborative work has at leastthree negative results:

y It maintains the current disposition toward isolated figure it out on your own practice.y It prevents employees from effectively functioning like a team in which the diverse

strengths of the team members can be used to increase the impact of that team on thedesired results.

y It denies employees the means of refining their work strategies and practices from alevel of competence at which the focus is primarily on activity and completing tasks, toa level of excellence where the focus is on the results and effectiveness of doing thosetasks.

The Primary Goal of All Professional Development Activities

The goal of all professional development programs should be to help people reach thecollaboration level of practice, such as illustrated on the Stages of Concern.

This is especially critical for a mentoring program which targets new employeesbecause the beginning of a career is the very best opportunity we have to change theculture of the organization and our professional relationships to those of the learning

community we know our organizations need to become. Proactive, powerful mentoringprograms intentionally make use of this incredible opportunity. Therefore, the real goalof every mentoring program is not establishment of mentoring relationships. It is thatthose relationships help people to learn to work together better in collaboration, andthrough that, improve their own performance and that of the students.

Using the CBAM Stages of Concern to Structure Needs Assessment & ProgramEvaluation

The program evaluation process and needs assessments, are terrific tools to help youbetter use mentoring to take full advantage of the opportunity to improve the culture ofthe organizations. In addition to seeking information on content, the items in any needsassessment should be written specifically to relate to the lower six of the seven stagesin the CBAM Stages of Concern model. By doing so, you not only gain answers aboutthe specific content that was the focus of your question, but you can also collect datawhich will allow you to know and show others powerful patterns such as:


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y The levels of professional development and practice attained by unsupported newemployees

y The levels of professional practice and development attained by the employees whohave been supported by a strong mentoring program.

This is terrific evidence that your program is effective.

Predicted CBAM Results You Can Expect to Achieve

Based on the author's mentor program evaluation experience, a safe prediction is thatyou will find the following to be true. Your should try to demonstrate similar kinds offindings in your own program:

y Experienced but new employees hired by your organization from other settings will needabout a year to move through the stages to the consequence level of the CBAM.

y Without support, those new but experienced employees will not move beyond theconsequence level.

y With strong mentoring support, new but experienced employees can move to thecollaborative level in about two years.

y Unsupported beginning employees (with a year or less experience) who you manage toretain, will require at least three years to reach the consequence level, and they will notprogress beyond it.

y Unsupported employees who are NOT retained during the first three years do sobecause they have only attained the management level of the CBAM and feel their workhas little impact and value. They leave because they feel unsuccessful as employees.

y With strong orientation, training, mentoring, AND other such program support, beginningemployees can move beyond the consequence level to the collaborative level in about

three years. Notice that this is a level of practice that many experienced employeesnever reach at all!

y Once employees attain the collaboration level and work at that level for two years ormore, they know its value and, given the opportunities and time to maintain and liveout that disposition, will continue to seek and give collaborative support among theircolleagues.

y However, WHEN the expectation and collaboration of a formal mentoring relationship iseventually withdrawn, and IF there are no formal expectations and programs in place tocontinually sanction and structure collaboration, the daily press of the work will easilyovercome the desire to reflect and grow. The reflection and growth will decrease due tothree factors:

o A lack of collaborative activities and the inherent discipline they provide to make

the time for reflection, goal setting, and action planning to attain the goalso The overwhelming needs of the customer/client which the person feels called to

serveo The inherently selfish feelings that attend meeting one's own needs for

professional growth, rather than serving client/customer needs.


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Management Development

"Working to empower your staff"'

As a manager, the most crucial aspect of the role is to have effective staff working for you. This means

getting the right people, with the rights skills who are motivated to perform effectively. In so doing they


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will assist you in achieving your goals. People management is one of the most difficult aspects of the job

to get right. We are often only aware of this until things go wrong for example when we have poor

performers or difficult people to manage.

We believe that there are four key aspects to People Management:

Below are a range of programmes we have run for our clients. They provide skills which either prevent

people management problems from occurring or enable managers to handle difficult situations as they

arise.

Having the Right Skills for the Job

Recruiting and selecting the right person for the job and then developing those skills necessary to

become and stay effective is a key requirement of every manager. Below are some examples of

programmes that we have run to support managers in this area:

y Recruiting And Selecting The "Right" Person For The Job: This programme was developed for

NHS middle managers. It covered both the recruitment process (advertising, etc) plus all aspects

of selection, including interviewing and psychometric testing. Sample Agenda

y Coaching Skills for Managers and Professionals: This was an open course run on behalf of the

NHS Training Authority for line managers and professionals. It enabled managers to acquire theskills necessary to use work and the working environment for the development of their staff.

Sample Agenda

Back to model

Managing Peoples Performance


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By managing peoples performance effectively, managers can avoid some of the problems associated

with poor performance.Where performance does deteriorate, then managers need to develop the skills

to deal with this problem quickly and effectively. Below are some examples of programmes that we

have run to support managers in this area:

y Performance Appraisal as an Aid to Performance Management: This programme wasdeveloped for middle managers in the food industry. It explored the skills of appraisal

interviewing as part of the process of managing performance.

y Managing Poor PerformanceThis programme was developed for middle managers of a railway

organisation. It enabled managers to understand the causes of poor performance and develop

strategies and skills to take corrective action Sample Agenda

y Discipline and the Disciplinary Interview: This programme was developed for Directors of Public

Health. It explored the role of discipline as part of performance management, and the

organisational procedures, legal requirements and skills for carrying out a constructive

disciplinary interview.

Back to model

Empowering andMotivating Staff

Engaging and maximizing peoples potential through commitment and passion is a key element of

managing people. These are skills that are often overlooked when developing management skills. Below

is just one example of the programmes that we have run in this area:

y Workplace Counselling Skills for Managers: This programme was developed for middle

managers of a dairy company. It enabled managers to acquire basic workplace counselling skills

so that they can provide support to their staff in a way which empowers them.

Back to model

Achieving Results

Core to achieving results is to ensure that:

y Staff focus on the right work priorities

y They have appropriate responsibilities delegated to them

y They are set realistic workloads and deadlines

y Managers are able to creatively develop solutions to problems as they arise

Below are just a couple of examples of programmes that we have run in this area:

y Creative Problem-Solving For Managers: This programme was developed for middle managersin a food company. It explored the organisational and personal barriers to the application of

creativity and innovation in the management role. It introduced techniques to overcome these

barriers and to develop greater creativity either working individually or with others in groups.

Sample Agenda

y Managing Stress within Your Organisation: This programme was developed for middle

managers in the NHS. It enabled managers to understand how stress develops, recognise the


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early signs of stress in their staff and take appropriate action to minimise unhealthy levels of

stress.

Back to model

General PeopleManagement

Sometimes our clients are looking for programmes that cover a range of these people management

skills. A typical example would be:

y Management Skills For Technical and Professional People In A Leadership Role: This

programme was developed for new managers in a pharmaceutical research organization. It

provided an introduction to management for staff who had achieved a high level of competence

in their specialist field, but who were now required to manage/supervise others.

Back to model

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Introduction

"Highly participative and practical"'

We design and run a wide range of training workshops and development programmes on personal,

interpersonal and management subjects tailored to meet the needs of our client organisations.We

believe that it is important to assess the specific needs of the organisation and those participating on a

particular programme. In this way, the programmes aims and content can be aligned with the

organisations goals but still ensures that it is pitched at the right level to fulfil participants needs. As

part of this diagnostic process, we need to gain a good grasp of the organisation's culture and the issues

that are facing participants within their work situation. This then enables us to design case studies, role-

plays and other training materials that are appropriate to these situations.

All programmes are highly participative, using a wide range of experiential learning techniques,from self-assessment questionnaires and reflective exercises, to skill-based exercises and role

plays often using CCTV. The aim is for participants to acquire workable and practical techniquesand skills that they can apply back in the workplace.

We also recognise that applied learning can only be acquired if there is a clear awareness by theindividual participant of their own specific behavioural needs, and that they have the confidence

and commitment to apply these new approaches when they return to the "real world". Thisinsight, confidence and commitment will only come if participants feel supported before, during

and after the programme. We see our role as working in partnership with both participants and


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their line managers to provide a safe and positive learning environment and with the organisationto ensure that the follow-up support is available.

By clicking on the topic areas on the left of the page you will find examples of workshops that

Change Matters has delivered in the past, together with a few sample agendas.




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Leadership Development

"Success through effective leadership"'

The essence of effective leadership is the ability to inspire confidence. A leader can only lead if the

followers follow. Inspiring confidence in others depends on self-confidence, emotional maturity, clarity

of vision and the ability to see things through to a satisfactory end point satisfactory for both those

who are being led as well as for their organisation. Leadership is a combination of innate ability and

consummate skill. Our programmes are designed to help people recognise their own innate leadership

qualities and develop skills to capitalise on this potential.

Our work is based on enabling managers at all levels of the organisation to develop theirleadership ability and to enable them to successfully take their organisation forward into the 21st

century.

While there are a wide variety of leadership programmes available to organisations, ours are

unique in their focus and orientation and have demonstrated they will produce the desiredoutcomes.

Leadership Development Programmes

Each organisation requires effective leadership. However, a successful leader in one organisation does

not necessarily transfer readily to another organisation. Effective leadership is clearly linked to thebusiness needs and the culture of the organisation.We develop a tailored programme for each client

organisation that takes into account the specific needs of the organisation and the individuals involved.

We have found that the most successful leadership programmes are those that take the individuals on a

journey of development over several months. There are no quick fixes - such individuals need to grow

into their leadership roles. Every programme is very differently designed to meet the clients

requirements. Nevertheless, there are some common elements which describe our approach.More

information on Our Approach to Leadership DevelopmentExample of programmes we have designed

in the past:

y

Multidisciplinary Clinical Leadership Programme:This was a long-term leadership programmedeveloped for clinical leaders from a wide range of professional groups within the NHS. It

consisted of a combination of a process of personal development diagnosis and planning,

specific workshops, one-to-one coaching and action learning groups.

y Leadership for the Future:This programme was developed for graduates of a high tech

engineering organization who were about to take up a leadership role for the first time. Such

programmes are aimed at technical, professional or administrative staff who have had no

previous experience of managing people.


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Leadership Skills Workshops

For those more experienced leaders, we have developed specific short programmes that cover

particular skill areas. Example of programmes we have designed in the past:

y

W

orking Effectively in Teams:T

his programme was developed for a group of Public HealthSpecialist Registrars. It explored the skills of being both an effective team leader and an effective

team member by understanding how teams function and how they can be improved.

y Leadership and Teamwork using the Outdoors:This workshop was developed for a group of

high potential middle managers within local government.We worked in collaboration with an

outdoor centre on Dartmoor to explore the skills of being both an effective leader and an

effective team member. It has the advantage over similar indoor programmes in creating

situations with 'real' risks and consequences to leadership decisions. Sample Agenda

y Managing Change Effectively:This workshop was developed as part of a broader leadership

programme for a group of senior executives from Africa. It explored the problems and

difficulties of managing change and the strategies and techniques necessary to overcome such

difficulties and introduce the change in a systematic and effective manner.y Leadership and Empowerment:This was a programme developed for a group of senior

physiotherapists. It explored the role of leadership within the management function and the

skills to effectively empower their staff.

y Project Leadership for Public Health:This workshop was developed for a group of public health

practitioners. It went beyond the standard project management techniques to include the

management of the project team and its stakeholders. Sample Agenda

y Success through Positive Power and Organisational Politics:This workshop was developed for a

group of clinical managers who were members of the PEC (Professional and Executive

Committee) of their primary care trusts. It enabled these managers to explore and understand

the various sources of power and political mechanisms that operate within and across

organisations, and to develop successful strategies for maximum achievement in accomplishingtheir goals.




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Interpersonal & Communications Skills

"Developing self-assurance"'

All employees within an organisation need to have well developed interpersonal and communications

skills, if they are to be effective in their role.Regardless of their position within the organisation, they

need to work with and through other people. We have run a wide range of skill development

programmes to improve participants skills in this area. Below are just a few examples of the many

programmes that we have designed and delivered for our clients:

y Handling Difficult People: This workshop was developed for a multi-disciplinary group of

clinicians. It enabled participants to develop and practice effective strategies for dealing with

different types of difficult behaviour.

y Influencing Skills and Managing Conflict: This workshop was designed for a group of Directors

of Public Health. It enabled participants to gain an understanding of conflict and their personal

style of managing it. In addition, it aimed to develop effective influencing strategies and skills

which enable conflicts to be a positive experience. Sample Agenda


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y Negotiating Skills for Everyday Life: This programme was developed for middle managers in a

local authority. It enabled participants to develop effective negotiating skills in everyday

interpersonal relationships both on a one-to-one basis and in groups.

y Effective Presentation Skills: This workshop was developed for managers and clinical

professionals within an Acute Trust. It enabled participants to develop and deliver persuasive

presentation to both large and small groups in both formal and informal settings. SampleAgenda




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Career and Life Planning

"Finding your own direction"'

Times have changed. Organisations, whether in the public or private sector, if they are to survive and

prosper, have to continually react to the rapidly changing environment within which they operate. This

means that organisations have to be sufficiently flexible to cope with such changes. This involves

frequent job changes, new organisational structures, new patterns of work, retraining and continually

up-dating skills. Organisations can no longer promise managers a career for life nor fulfil promotional

expectations.

We have developed a number of programmes for our clients. These enable individuals to takeresponsibility for their own career development by reviewing and planning their future career

direction. Below are a few typical examples of programmes we have delivered in the past:

y Career/Life PlanningWorkshop: This programme was developed for senior doctors and other

clinicians who were frustrated with their present role. It enabled individuals to review their

career or their life, change direction or confirm that they were in the right job but needed to

develop it in some way. Sample Agenda

y Career Counselling and Planning: During times of organisational change, we have been

approached by executives and senior professionals from a wide range of organisations whowant to review their career or their life, plan a change of direction or confirm that they are in

the right job/role/organisation. We have been able to provide effective one-to-one career

counselling for such individuals.

y Successful Job-hunting: This programme was developed as part of a support programme for

redundant managers. It enabled participants to identify suitable vacancies, produce a powerful

CV and develop appropriate interviewee skills. Sample Agenda




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Trainer/Coach Development

"Helping to develop others"'

Our consultants have worked for many years in all aspects of training and development both as internal

provider/manager and external consultant.With our wealth of experience, we have run workshops on

all aspects of training and development.We are happy to be able to impart this knowledge and

expertise to our client organisations. This includes trainer development, coaching and mentoring skills

for managers and professionals as well as consultancy skills.

Trainer Development

We run a range of programmes for the full-time and part-time trainer - for those who are newly in the

role, and for those more experienced trainers who wish to hone their skills. Such programmes cover a

wide range of topics, including:


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y Training needs analysis at an individual or organisational level

y Training policy and strategy development

y Programme design and delivery (including the use of a wide range of methodologies)

y Work-based training and development

y Training evaluation

Examples of programmes we have run in the past:

y Training the Trainer: Variations of this programme have been run for a number of regions

within the NHS for Public Health Consultants/Specialists who perform an Educational

Supervisory role for those on the Public Health Facultys five year training scheme. It combines

an understanding of the Training Scheme with the skills required to supervise and provide on-

the-job training skills.

y Group Facilitation Skills: This programme was developed for public health practitioners who

need to facilitate multidisciplinary groups. It combined an understanding of group dynamics,

individual behaviour and the development of facilitation skills.

Coaching andMentoring SkillsBack to top

Coaching and mentoring skills have more recently been recognised as essential for managers who have

a key role in developing their staff. Much money on off-the-job training courses has been lost because

participants have not been supported on returning to the workplace.We believe that this is an essential

component of all those organisations who aspire to being learning organisations. An example of a

programme that we have run in the past:

y Coaching Skills for Managers and Professionals: This was an open course run on behalf of the

NHS Training Authority for line managers and professionals. It enabled managers to acquire the

skills necessary to use work and the working environment for the development of their staff.

Sample Agenda

Consultancy SkillsBack to top

With a wealth of experience in this field, we have been asked by our clients in the past to run training

programmes on consultancy skills. Below are two examples of these programmes

y Consultancy Skills Programme for External Principal Consultants: This programme was run for

an Institute of Health who wanted to set up and run a consultancy service to the NHS. It covered

all the skills involved in gaining a piece of consultancy work through to completion of the project

and beyond. It assumed basic consultancy skills. Sample Agenda

y Consultancy Skills Programme for Internal Advisers: This programme was developed for

Medical Audit Advisers in the NHS. It enabled those in such an advisory role within an

organisation to take a consultancy approach to their work.



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Personal Development

"Development involves the whole person"'

Personal effectiveness and self management is the core to all personal achievement. In the eighties and

early nineties, the importance of these factors was ignored and an emphasis was placed on the more

measurable behaviours and indicators of performance. However, the growth of interest in such topics as

neurolinguistic programming (NLP), emotional intelligence and work-life balance indicates a recognition


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of the importance of this area for personal effectiveness.We incorporate many of these tools,

techniques and theories within our programmes. Examples include:

y Effective Time and Self Management: This programme was developed for clinical directors of

acute NHS Trusts. It not only helped participants in the prioritisation and planning of their work,

family and personal responsibilities but explored the time wasters and the personal barriers to

effective change.

y Managing Stress in Your Life and YourWork: This programme was developed for line managers

within the NHS. It enabled participants to manage and live effectively with stress in their lives

and their work. Sample Agenda

y How To Be More Assertive At Work:This programme was developed for a multidisciplinary

group of senior managers in the NHS. It provided a "safe" environment where participants can

explore their existing approach to situations, and provide both the confidence and skills to be

more assertive at work. Sample Agenda




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Introduction

"Realigning the organisation"

Here, our main aim is to work in partnership with each client to raise their capability to handle change

whilst always pursuing the clear goal of improved performance as an ultimate outcome. In our view, this

means taking full account of the clients services or products, markets, technology, history and culture indeveloping an effective strategy for developing the workforce

It is also our belief that organisations are complex, organic, political, uncertain and changing. Torespond effectively to these realities we help our clients to increase their performance throughimproved leadership, team working, creativity, communications, and commitment at all levels of

the organisation.

To achieve this our consultancy projects, typically, involve the following stages:

y Goal Setting - This would involve meeting with the client to draw up a project specification

including clear goals and success criteria for the work. In addition, we normally like to establish asteering group so that senior managers are working with us throughout the project.

y Collecting of Information - The process of data collection will vary according to the project but

may include one-to-one interviews, group discussions, direct observation, and surveys.

y Analysis and Diagnosis - The information is collated and key issues and problems identified

y Feedback of Findings and Joint Design of Action Plans - The findings of our research is fed back

to the client verbally, and normally supported by a report. Because of our discussions, we work

with the client to agree action plans for taking the project forward.

y Implementation - This stage will vary greatly depending upon the project and the agreed action

plans. However, as a rule, our aim is to work with the client to increase their capability for

managing these issues effectively in the future. Therefore, we will be working closely with key

representatives of the organisation in order to ensure a lasting success after we have finished

the project. This must include a strategy for embedding these changes into the culture of the

organization.

y Follow up and Review - Depending upon the needs of the client, we will carry out a review of

the project against the original goals and success criteria agreed at the beginning.


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This general approach is applied whether we are working on a full Change Management programme or

some element of organisational change and development. Our approaches to the services we offer in

supporting the development of our client organisations are listed on the left of the page.


People Development

Develop Existing Talent

People development is crucial to your company's success. Particularly today, it is imperative to

develop existing talent with a focus on business objectives and growth opportunities. Assess

Systems' people development expertise helps you grow and develop your peopleyour greatestcompetitive advantage.

Customized Development Strategies

Assess Systems' development and consulting solutions evaluate work-related personality,

intellectual abilities and other factors influencing job-specific competencies. We help you

identify skill gaps, performance levels, development progress and succession needs.

y Succession Planning

y Professional & Leadership Development

y Executive Coaching

y Performance Appraisal


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Develop ExcellenceCompetencies Define Performance Goals

y Assess Systems helps develop people by first defining the primary behaviors and competencies

needed for success.

y Our rapid, no-hassle method easily creates a new competency model, builds on existing models,

or lets us train you to build your own.y With our competency-based assessments as the foundation, our solutions target high

performance standards and help develop talent excellence.

One big appeal of what you offer is the development aspect, since often clients are not skilledin developing their people. Your products go beyond just helping clients select the best

candidates you provide a starting point for where to focus development efforts in order to

increase the likelihood of a successful engagement.

Marilyn Davis, Ph.D.Catalyst International

People Development Articles

Documents

Transcript of People Development Articles