Category: Blog

‘Telling people what to do doesn’t work any more because they don’t do it – and nor should they.’

Good words from ex BBC boss Greg Dyke – what he has to say in People Management this month ticks lots of boxes for us….

According to a new report, only a third of employees in the USA ‘walk the talk’. Interesting reading this, and good to see that storytelling is mentioned of a way to help that engagement process.

Interesting news in the media this morning about what makes people happy. Less TV, less focus on money, more socialising with friends and participating in community activities where people feel involved and that they are contributing. A particular canton in Switzerland is the happiest, apparently, where a lot of this goes on!

We talk a lot about how employees who feel valued and listened to – that they are personally contributing to the journey their business is on – are those who put the most in. They are the ones who will be more productive and happier at work. It’s not the money that makes them tick, and neither is doing their job in a vacuum.

I’m not sure I concur with the notion that governments are trying to make people richer. Well, not according to my accountant. But anyway, we pretty much go along with what the media is saying about life in general, because we have seen how the same principles applied to the workplace actually work.

I’ve got a great big pile of magazines on my desk which are a bit of a challenge to get through, I must admit. But today I read an article in one of them by Michael West, writing in People Management (Oct 05) which really struck a chord.

An environment of positive emotions, he writes, encourages organisational citizenship. I like that phrase. Organisational citizenship – the ‘tendency for people at work to help each other and put extra effort in beyond what is required.’ He goes on to comment that researchers think that this is what makes the difference between the most profitable organisations and the rest.

If this is true, then storytelling is an ideal way of fostering these positive emotions and engendering discretionary effort. Positive emotions encourage us to solve problems more creatively, to negotiate more successfully, to be more productive, to learn from our own performance. So telling positive stories about what we are already doing at work can only serve to spark positive emotions, and so on and so forth. Negative stories do have their place as long as a positive solution is seen as the outcome. They strike at the heart strings, but only when presented in a particular way – negativity is corrosive and can cause hostility and cynicism too.

He finishes by saying ‘The idea that we can create effective organisations by focusing on performance and ignoring the role of our emotions is based on the false premise that emotions can be ignored at work. Positive relationships and a sense of community are the product and cause of positive emotions. We should work with human need, capacity and potential, rather than against them, if we are to create positive organisations that succeed and, at the same time, foster the health and well-being of those who work in them.’

Great article, Mr West.

“Sir, what is the secret of your success?” a reporter asked a bank president.
“Two words.”
“And, Sir, what are they?” asked the reporter.
“Right decisions.”
“And how do you make right decisions?”
“One word.”
“What is that, Sir?”
“Experience.”
“And how do you get Experience?” the reporter asked.
“Two words.”
“And, Sir, what are they?”
“Wrong decisions.”

Consultants Towers Perrin have released the results of a new study which finds that a quarter of employees are actively disengaged – but much of this is down to their leaders….

Simon Caulkin writes in The Observer this week that stories permit ‘meaning and memory’. Like mnemonics, stories enable us to absorb and remember incredibly complex detail. Stories have always been part of marketing, but nowadays is an integral part of a brand.

Not sure about the idea of teepees in carparks , but we certainly go along with Daniel Allen’s views on employee engagement today in the Times…

A CEO friend of mine attended a talk the other day on organisational culture.

The speaker recounted the time he and his wife checked into a hotel bedroom. On the pillow was the usual feedback form, but under the section that read ‘Was The Room Cleaned To Your Satisfaction?’ was a hand-written note saying, ‘Please look under the bed – Betty’.

Much to his wife’s amusement the man started scrabbling under the bed, and found, right in the middle, a small card. On it was written: ‘I’ve cleaned under here as as well – Betty’.

The speaker’s theme was ‘Finding The Betty In Your Organisation!’