Performance Improvement

10 Forces Shaping the Workplace of the Future

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Given the time of the year, I thought it might be interesting to share what I am reading regarding the future.  In the October 2011 Talent Management Magazine, David Rasmus wrote an article titled “10 Forces Shaping the Workplace of the Future.”  Read on to see if you are experiencing any of these trends.  First of all, fluid models and the ability to adapt are paramount. 

Rasmus explains that the first concept is Transparency and Trust.  Call me crazy, but I thought trust was a constant (not a new model!)  Out-tasking is the second concept.  In other words, outsourcing is dead.  Managing various resources takes a lot of effort and organization on the company’s part.  They will need to figure out how to manage external resources more effectively.  Needless to say, online reputations are increasingly important.  In the same vane, contractors will be seen as extensions of the organization, rather than independents.

Contract-to-Hire might be the happy medium between renting talent and filling a full-time employee position.  This is an effective way for an organization to “test a new market, experiment with a new technology or evaluate the difference between insourcing and outsourcing.”

Another concept set to evolve is On-boarding.  With increased distributed and global employees, organizations are going to have to reconsider how they onboard new hires.  Other changing concepts are:  Parallel promotions, Hire-to-automate, Business continuity, as well as, Demographic shifts.

 Finally, another huge force is Virtual Work.  As the standard becomes more and more virtual work, location will not be as important.  People will be hired based on knowledge and skills rather than where they are located.  Virtual work also will change how performance management is addressed.  Lots of things to think about as we progress in the working world!

Tech Tools of 2012

Posted on by Seniye Groff

November’s  Chief Learning Officer, “Tech Tools in 2012”  caught my eye.   Apparently investment in learning technologies continues to be a priority.  Content development and learning strategy also made the list of priorities.  This means that beyond the LMS, companies want to invest in mobile learning and collaboration tools including social networking tools.  After several years of declining spending, this is good news!

Not surprising, the ability to align all the competing priorities of the organizations is a focus.  CLO’s are focused on the goals of their organization and how to align it with the performance of its employees.  This includes informal learning, leadership training, overall skill development and overall productivity.

Technical tools are still a focus, especially those tools that are more “mainstream” such as learning management systems, elearning content tools and virtual classroom environments.  The jury is still out on how to use social networking, iPads and mobile devices for training.  As these tools demonstrate success and the ability to truly change behavior, I suspect the investment will follow.

Another article that shares the need for training as a continued priority was in Fast Company‘s blog post on training to close the skills gaps that employers whine so often about.  According to the post, many jobs remain unfilled because companies cannot find qualified people.  The old adage “hire for attitude, train for the job” seems to be forgotten.  It is easy to point the finger at our schools, but ultimately companies are going to have to create their own “schools” or universities to address the missing skills that job candidates need.

 

Creativity Ideas

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Sheryl Alstrin and I presented at the Regional ASTD Conference in October.  Our topic was creativity so I thought I would share some of the ideas we presented  over several posts on my blog.

The Six Thinking Hats Overview

  • Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
    • Each hat identifies a type of thinking
    • Hats are directions of thinking
  • Hats help a group use parallel thinking
    • You can “put on” &“take off” a hat

   §   Use the hats for

    • Problem solving
    • Strategic planning
    • Running meetings
    • Much more

To know about the hats:

  • Direction, not description
    • Set out to think in a certain direction
    • “Let’s have some black hat thinking…”
  • Not categories of people
    • Not: “He’s a black hat thinker.”
    • Everyone can and should use all the hats
  • A constructive form of showing off
    • Show off by being a better thinker
    • Not destructive right vs. wrong argument
  • Use in whole or in part

   §   Benefit of the hats:

  • Provides a common language
  • Experience & intelligence of each person (Diversity of thought)
  • Use more of our brains
  • Helps people work against type, preference
  • Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)
  • Save time
  • Focus (one thing at a time)
  • Create, evaluate & implement action plans

 

 

Tools for my iPad

Posted on by Seniye Groff

My laptop recently died and since I have a sweet desktop and an iPad2, I have been researching how I can use my iPad more for work.  Recently I have come across a few items and would love some feedback if you have used these items or something else even better.

  1. Logitech Keyboard Case.  So this is a keyboard and case for the iPad.  I do not enjoy two-finger typing so I can definitely see a benefit for this tool.  It also can be used as a stand.
  2. Quickoffice Pro.  Lets you create and edit documents with MO formats.
  3. Apple VGA Adapter.  My biggest challenge with no laptop was the inability to hook up to a projector, but it seems that the VGA eliminates this obstacle.

Behavior Change

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The October issue of CLO Magazine had an interesting article titled “How to Promote Behavioral Change“.  Too often, I have seen the performance appraisal process used as a “one time event”.  Even worse, the contents of the appraisal are often a surprise to the recipient.  How can a manager expect a team member to perform to his best ability, if throughout the year he has no idea if he is meeting the expectations of the job?!  Worse still, what if expectations have not been clearly defined from the outset.  According to the article, top performers are known for three things:

  1. “They know their stuff.
  2. They focus on the right stuff.
  3. They build a reputation for being helpful.”

So if these are the metrics for top performers, as a manager how do you coach and manage your team to do these seemingly simple behaviors?  As the manager, one of your roles is to help your team be successful.  You must give them opportunities to develop the necessary skills and then provide constant feedback along the way.  But there are some additional tactics that the article outlines such as:

  • Tap into the employee’s personal motivation.  Help the employee see the bigger picture and how they fit in it.
  • Continue to help them develop their personal abilities.  This could be in the form of training, but there are other creative ways to do this such as aligning the employee with an expert that they can emulate.
  • Encourage social motivation.  In other words, have your employees hang out with other motivated employees.
  • Match the employee with a mentor.
  • Incent the employees to put their best foot forward with short term rewards to meet their goals.
  • Allow the employee to have some control over their workspace.  For example, if sitting next to the mentor can make a difference, do it!  Even if that means the employee is not sitting in their functional area.

 The article has other great tips, as well as, a case study to review.