Working at home: is it productive?

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Is it more efficient to work at home or come to an office? There’s no consensus because it depends on circumstances, says David Bolchover.

Key takeaways:

Research on the efficiency of home v office working is inconclusive and often irrelevant when it comes to complex, non-regimented roles.

Homeworking aids discrete writing and thinking, is suitable for routine tasks by saving commute time, and boosts satisfaction by easing non-work pressures.

The office is better for building working relationships and solving complex, team challenges.

An informal and common-sense blend of office and home depending on the worker and the role, is likely to work best.

The debate about the commercial and economic benefits of homeworking is not new, and there seem to be little prospect of consensus. Despite earnest attempts by academics, individual productivity in most white-collar jobs is almost impossible to measure or compare, with surveys on the effectiveness of homeworking likely to prove inconclusive. As a result, attitudes to homeworking continue to be shaped by prevailing fashion, individual prejudices and self-interest.

To be sure, homeworking can free up time by avoiding the lengthy and unpleasant commute, and in some cases can even reduce office costs. But detractors say that these gains are outweighed by numerous benefits of being on site. Sentiment appears to have shifted in favour of the latter view.

By the end of the last decade, almost half of IBM employees worldwide were working remotely, rather than in the office. But in 2017, the company summoned thousands of staff back to the office. ‘There is something about a team being more powerful, more impactful, more creative, and frankly hopefully having more fun when they are shoulder to shoulder,’ said the company’s marketing director, Michelle Peluso. Similarly, Yahoo! issued a statement in 2013 banning homeworking.

Home truths

However, the research on the issue is sparse, complex and inconclusive. In a 2012 study of a Chinese travel agency call-centre, employees were randomly assigned to work either at home or in the office. Home working led to a 13% performance increase. Around 9 percentage points of this resulted from working more minutes per shift because there were fewer breaks and sick days (a much-reported benefit of homeworking) and 4 percentage points resulted from more calls per minute (attributed to a quieter and more convenient working environment).

Performance was principally determined by the number of calls made. Neither the subjectively measured quality of the interaction, nor the conversion rate of the call into customer orders, were affected either way by the employee’s location. Moreover, the call centre model, with its set hours and repetitive functions, is similar to that of a factory rather than more complex office jobs, such as marketing, communications and even in sales that don’t lend themselves to objective measurement on a day to day basis or according to the number of tasks completed.

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‘Few office jobs are judged by the number of tasks completed, making it impossible to compare performance of dispersed and co-located employees.’

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In the modern workplace, there will be many employees who prefer working in their own environment at home, at close proximity to family and friends, with at least one study reporting their higher job satisfaction and another claiming higher productivity.

On the other hand, one workplace analytics company claimed that sales teams at their European retail banking client perform better when they interact in person. In another survey, homeworkers agreed that when it comes to complex tasks this was better done in the traditional office.

One often-cited reason to oppose homeworking is that managers fear losing control of staff, a particular concern in offices where image, perception and shrewd alliances are the engines of career progress.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Without overwhelming proof one way or another, improvisation, trial and error, bias, and self-interest hold sway. Indeed, more likely, both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. It stands to reason, for example, that a person writing an article or devising a client presentation benefits from fewer interruptions. At the same time, it is essential that the same person is present and engaged during regular meetings that serve to bond a team and solve a complex problem. It’s not uncommon for an employee to do both. And everyone’s particular circumstances and needs are different.

Home working and office working can co-exist, albeit in an informal way, where sometimes it pays to work in the quiet of home, and other times it’s desirable to immerse oneself in the hubbub of the office. The team leader’s aim is to find the optimal blend that best suits each and every executive and enhances the efficiency of every role.

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David Bolchover is an award-winning business journalist and author of three books on management and the workplace.

This article was written for FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

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The real knowledge economy—reading great books

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Stefan Stern offers his views on the business benefits of reading management books and other literature.

Key takeaways:

The best business books are timeless, and worth making time to read.

Self-help ideas might grate but can stimulate fresh thinking.

Literature, history and philosophy also yield business insights.

Learn to spot phony or flabby thinking fast, and discard it.

Speaking in London 20 years ago, management guru Tom Peters recognised a loyal customer in the front row. On learning that this was his seventh time he had come to hear him, Peters declared: ‘one of us must be doing something wrong.’

It was not the author who was at fault. At 75, he has just published his 17^th book, The Excellence Dividend, a nod to his original, co-authored management blockbuster, In Search of Excellence.

His new, typically energetic and forthright, work contains familiar Peters messages about paying attention to your people, experimenting, getting out of the office, and getting things done. But the context is different. As the ‘march of the machines’ accelerates, anxious executives need their organisations to become ‘cathedrals for human development.’

This book will be gratefully received by Peters’ followers. But can the same be said for the avalanche of management books (disclosure: including my own) hurtling towards busy executives every year?

Too many such books over-simplify the complicated business of leading and managing, as they offer their key steps to success. In truth, these are generally article-length ideas stretched into book form with numerous case-studies to support a flimsy thesis. This is a demand-led business, driven by eager managers presumably killing time at airport bookshops.

Time well spent

The best business books, however, have a timeless quality, even if their examples inevitably age. Phil Rosenzweig’s The Halo Effect is a sceptical blast against the mythology of business success. Gareth Jones and Rob Goffee’s Why should anyone be led by you? asks pertinent and practical questions about leadership. Margaret Heffernan’s Wilful Blindness analyses how and why good organisations turn (and stay) bad.

For those seeking practical ‘self-help’ there’s much more choice. Although some suggestions will grate on readers, others contain valuable fresh thinking. Eric Barker’s Barking Up The Wrong Tree and Sally Bibb’s The Strengths Book are helpful personal primers. Readers seeking inspiration might consider biographies of significant figures, such as Jack Welch. Even a rigorous academic book, such as Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy can stimulate serious reflections. Luke Johnson’s Start it Up, offers a well-written combination of practical self-help and inspiration. In addition, he draws on history, philosophy and literature to make his case.

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‘Good business ideas can be found on the bookshelves, and not necessarily in the business book section.’

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Indeed, good business ideas are not always in the business book section. History, biography, philosophy, economics, political science and novels may yield unexpected benefits. Ascent, Sir Chris Bonington’s memoirs about his mountaineering exploits, says more about leadership and management than many leadership titles. Leaders, he says, must believe passionately in the mission and be utterly committed to it. They should be interested in the success and well-being of everyone involved in the expedition. Great fiction and drama can also bring home the force of a story in ways that business books cannot. Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, for example, conveys the pressures in business that lead to poor moral choices.

In his new book, Tom Peters recalls one investment superstar, telling him: ‘Do you know what’s the number one failing of CEOs? They don’t read enough.’ As another great investor, Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger, once said: ‘In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time.’

Readers notes:

Make time to read real books. It works the brain in ways that PowerPoint cannot. In particular, read business classics—they are classics because they contain timeless lessons and insights.

Be a sceptical and ruthless reader. Learn how to spot the phony or the flabby, and discard them fast. You can avoid wasting time and intellectual effort by reading summaries and reviews first to get a sense of what lies between the covers.

 Read widely and beyond your comfort zone. Bring new ideas into your business from other fields, including literature, to help understand other ways of thinking.

Write your own book. If you can’t find the book which asks the right questions or describes your world, write one yourself. If nothing else, the pain and discipline of doing so will test the validity of your own ideas.

 

 

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Stefan Stern is visiting professor of management practice at Cass Business School, a business journalist and former FT management columnist. He is co-author of Myths of Management.

This article was written for FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

 

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FT journalist expertise in corporate learning programmes

In a volatile world, business leaders need a deeper understanding of the issues behind the headlines. To help develop their leadership teams, Learning & Development and HR partners are looking for answers to complex questions on the major topics of the day that are having an impact on their  business. Financial Times journalists have the knowledge, clear thinking and insights to help develop better leaders.

In this video we show short extracts from four leading Financial Times journalists in conversation with FT Associate Editor Michael Skapinker. Each is taken from individual 30-minute conversations that form valuable introductions to key topics for our clients:

John Thornhill, the FT’s innovation editor, on digital technology and what it’s doing to business

Izabella Kaminska, the FT’s Alphaville editor, on the impact of fintech

Gideon Rachman, the FT’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, on the impact of geopolitics on business

Andrew Hill, the FT’s management editor, on leadership and the qualities leaders need

These are just four examples of the many topics on which we can offer journalistic and academic insights. Access to these and many other FT journalists helps make our customised executive education programmes unique by connecting the FT with our global alliance of leading business school and educators.

 
Click HERE to visit our YouTube channel to watch excerpts from each of the four conversations:

 

 

 

 

Coping with digital disruption is a major concern for GCC business leaders

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Digitisation and the disruptive effects of the online revolution are among the greatest business priorities in the Gulf over the next two years, according to a survey of business leaders in GCC countries. At the same time, increasing threats to companies from online hackers is placing a much greater emphasis on the need for cybersecurity.

The findings come from a survey of business leaders: Global Perspectives on Corporate Learning in the GCC, commissioned by Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance. The report is supported by Dubai International Finance Centre.

The research is conducted annually and seeks the opinions of almost 1000 business people in GCC, Western Europe, China and Japan on issues around leadership development and executive education.

The seriousness with which the impact of digital disruption is viewed in GCC countries is underlined by initiatives such as UAE Vision 2021, Saudi Vision 2030 and NEOM (Saudi Arabia’s new economic zone), Smart Dubai and the creation of a Minister of State for AI in UAE.

“The digital revolution is transforming the Middle East,” says Bassem Banna, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance. “The rise of big data is driving new market entrants, particularly in the financial, insurance and HR sectors in GCC countries. Tech is fast becoming the number one disrupter of established business practices in the region.

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Tech is fast becoming the number one disrupter of established business practices in the region.

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Bassem Banna

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Vice President of Corporate Partnerships

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FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance

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According to the Corporate Leaning Pulse report, while the top three business priorities for 2017 globally were growth, strategy and financial management, over a third of business executives surveyed in the GCC identified digitalisation as one of their top business challenges in the next two years, alongside business growth and financial management.

“With almost 100% smartphone penetration in the UAE- the highest percentage of any country in the world – and 70% social media adoption, digitalisation will inevitably become the number one concern for businesses,” says Bassem Banna.

Global Perspectives on Corporate Learning in the GCC is available to download here.

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Political risk: techniques and responsibilities

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Key takeaways:

Determine who is responsible—a CRO, key departments or others.

Use ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ techniques to capture unexpected and strategic threats.

Cast a wide net, making use of employees, partners, processes and risk models.

 Our third article on geopolitical risk suggests techniques for spotting the danger signs.

Odysseus lost six sailors and risked his life when he tried to navigate between Scylla and Charybdis. What Homer neglects to mention, however, is that our ancient hero lacked a system for gathering data on the two hazards and calculating a risk-reducing path between them.

Today, companies navigating uncharted commercial waters understand the need for effective risk management systems. Their first task is to decide who should be responsible for spotting risks. Much depends on the organisation’s size and culture, though similar sized companies in similar sectors disagree on the matter. Some firms have a dedicated risk function and a Chief Risk Officer on the management committee. Others split responsibility between departments, with Finance, Legal, Compliance and Operations usually playing a role.

The second task is to determine what techniques to use. Odysseus relied on eyes and ears. But generally, the more techniques used, the more comprehensive, diverse and reliable the resulting data will be. Of course, there’s always a balance to be struck between cost and reward, but remember: the costliest risk is often the one you hadn’t thought of.

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‘Different techniques will suit different companies in different circumstances. But companies should at least combine bottom-up and top-down systems.’

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Different techniques will suit different companies in different circumstances. But companies should at least combine bottom-up and top-down systems. The former rely on those individuals who are closest to threats to identify and report them. The latter require those with strategic responsibility to view the full range of risks, spot how these might flow from one business area into another, and see which threats have strategic significance.

Some of the techniques companies use—either alone or with specialist support—are listed below:

Your people and partners:

Analysing past mistakes. Companies often start by looking to their own—or competitors’—histories for signs of what can go wrong. Institutional memory is crucial, so engage your long-serving staff members.

Staff and stakeholders. Regional staff, suppliers and partners will have a distinct sense of local conditions and can pass these impressions up the chain informally or preferably through a systematic reporting process. But this means fostering a risk awareness culture throughout the organisation, and creating procedures that allow all employees to submit concerns. Remember, a shop floor worker in a remote manufacturing facility may perceive local threats more quickly than senior managers at HQ.

Service providers. A company’s banks, external legal team and other services partners usually provide valuable market intelligence, albeit designed to sell their services.

Buying specialist information. Independent third-party analysis on politics and business conditions in key markets can supplement and test the company’s own contacts on the ground, who may lack a macro perspective. This kind of intelligence will be generic, and you will still need to judge which risks are relevant to you and how they will affect your organisation.

Processes:

Brainstorming. Free-wheeling discussions with senior cross-functional teams can throw up risks that none might have considered alone.

Strategic analysis. A company’s strategy process can be mined for risk implications. Explore the ‘Threat’ element of any SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. A PEST (Politics, Economics, Social, Technology) analysis may also throw up risk management issues.

Project management. Most include a section on risks to the project. The tendency is to focus on single issues relevant only to that project, but this is an opportunity to capture broader threats that might spill over into this project. It is also worth considering how failing to execute the project would affect the rest of the business, and to make sure that this risk is captured outside the project itself.

Regulatory requirements. Some companies or departments, such as IT, may engage in formal risk reporting to meet regulatory requirements, which should then be incorporated into the broader corporate risk framework.

Models:

Scenario planning. Specialised external facilitators can help surface interconnected risks and plot their path through the company, and for ‘war-gaming’ the response. Methods run from loose narratives to complex statistical modelling, and it is important to identify a technique that is both relevant and practical.

The Delphi method. A cross-functional panel responds independently to a questionnaire, and a facilitator consolidates the responses and issues subsequent rounds of questions, helps to avoid ‘group think’ and shares responsibility evenly.

Fault Tree Analysis. FTA turns the risk identification process on its head by asking ‘what do we really want NOT to happen?’ and then investigating what would make it likely to occur. You DON’T want to be held up for bribing foreign officials, so asking what might lead staff or partners down such a path illuminates where the risk lies.

Root Cause Analysis. This considers the deeper variables that underlie a headline threat. For instance, you might already understand how a transport workers strike would disrupt transit links to your factory. But thinking more deeply about the state of industrial relations ahead of a round of pay negotiations might provide an even earlier warning (not to mention help you forecast wage inflation).

The Bowtie method. This examines how a single risk event might manifest across the organisation, usually resulting in a bow-tie shaped diagram. As well as a visual summary, it provides a systematic account of the contingent threats, and how failing to address the risk in one area could wend its way into others. The risk event sits in the middle; its possible causes and preventive actions sit on the left side; the consequences and post-hoc responses are on the right.

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Alasdair Ross is an expert in global affairs, economics, business strategy and industry trends. He works as an independent consultant and writer.

This article was written for FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

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Womenomics: gender diversity and the rise of female-driven growth potential

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Womenomics: Gender Diversity and the Rise of Female-Driven Growth Potential by Tine Arentsen Willumsen is a new international business book published today. Its theme covers women’s influence on the global economy, both as consumers and managers.

Business leaders and politicians are increasingly focusing on the subject because diversity creates better results, more growth and stronger innovation, according to the author and a range of high-profile contributors to the book.

Its primary intended readership is international business leaders and organisations. It contains research, contributions and cases from companies such as DeBeers, BMW, Danske Bank, BIG and McKinsey & Company, which together offer global perspectives on gender diversity and female-driven business growth.

In addition. the book contains a contribution from Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance. The section’s authors, Esther Lopez and Virginia Figuero, whose contribution is entitled ‘The Life Phases of a Professional Woman’, looks at how organisations need to change to promote a more balanced representation of women and men.

‘One major reason for the lack of progress is that meaningful roles and flexibility have not been properly defined,’ say Esther Lopez and Virginia Figuero. ‘As professionals, women need to be empowered and motivated. This requires a cultural change in corporations, which could start by defining more clearly what is meant by flexible working. That does not always mean part-time work to accommodate the demands of early motherhood. It could mean redefining jobs around targets, deliverables and/or projects instead of working hours.’

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One major reason for the lack of progress is that meaningful roles and flexibility have not been properly defined.

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Esther Lopez and Virginia Figuero

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FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance

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The title corresponds with the Womenomics Nordic Business Conference, masterminded by the book’s author Tine Arentsen Willumsen and first held in 2013.

‘Much has happened in five years, and the importance of diversity for growth is well documented with international research,’ says Tine. ‘Hence decision-makers can refer to the cases and strategic recommendations in the book to explore the new growth potential and attract the entire talent pool.

‘My wish is to contribute to the global debate on diversity from a broad perspective. The book highlights how female top management and women’s increasing economic independence affect business growth and society.’

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Womenomics: Gender Diversity and the Rise of Female-Driven Growth Potential by Tine Arentsen Willumsen is published by Above & Beyond Publishing. ISBN13: 9788797062609

Further information on the book: https://www.saxo.com/dk/womenomics_tine-arentsen-willumsen_haeftet_9788797062609

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The Chief Financial Officer’s blind spot: employee sentiment

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Key takeaways:

Encourage HR and Finance to work together to establish true staff costs.

Identify, compile and map existing data and processes that determine performance.

Work with stakeholders to identify and quantify material hidden costs.

Set up real-time access to data and create benchmarks across business units.

CFOs typically lay off staff to cut costs. But they should first calculate the hidden costs of a poorly managed workforce, says Paul Lalovich.

Any Chief Financial Officer worth her abacus can recall the average salary of staff or the intricacies of the senior management incentive scheme. But can they put a figure on low employee morale, a poor hiring decision or other, less tangible workforce costs that set a company back?

How much does it really cost when a highly trained and experienced employee leaves because he doesn’t feel he fits in—and then recounts his unhappy experiences to the media? Too few CFOs, Human Resources managers and board members recognize—let alone measure—these factors. But they should and they can. They are as significant as anything that appears in the company accounts.

Most CFOs have a handle on employees’ primary costs: base pay, overtime, bonuses, health benefits, training, payroll taxes, relocation expenses, and more. The total cost of a workforce (TCOW) as a percentage of operating expenses can range from 20% to as much as 75% in sectors such as healthcare, professional services and software development. So it may seem reasonable to cut headcount as way to reduce overall expenses. Who would fault Coca-Cola, for example, after it responded to a 20% revenue decline in 2017 with a six-year, $3.6 billion cost-cutting program, that involves 1,200 job losses?

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‘Too few CFOs, Human Resources managers and board members recognize—let alone measure—hidden employee costs, even though these are as significant as anything that appears in the company accounts.’

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But TCOW includes much more than recruitment and payroll costs. Companies need to get smarter about reducing the staggering waste of resources associated with disengaged employees and other causes of poor workforce performance.

Consider the following:

• Voluntary turnover (the cost of losing an employee) ranges from 25% to 200% of base pay.
• Underperformance (the difference between an employee in the top 5% versus one in the bottom 5%) can be equivalent to double annual base salary.
• Time to proficiency (the time taken for an average employee to reach optimum proficiency) takes around 28 weeks, and it can take much longer to reach ‘world-class expertise.’ Do companies consider this when a good employee leaves?
• Disengagement infects engaged employees too. The latter is 54% more likely to quit when they work with a disengaged colleague.
• The average cost of employee absences amounts to 35% of base pay.

Actions for managers

How can companies stop the wasteful cycle of bloated workforces and mass layoffs? We visit a doctor when we feel ill. We consult tax professionals before filing our returns. So why not apply the same care and attention to a company’s biggest cost? After all, if, as most employers claim, success depends on having the right people to execute the right strategy, they also need the right tools and information to be able to recruit, retain, engage and motivate those people.

HR and Finance departments need to work more closely together to get the facts. They can start by doing the following:

Map the processes. Identify, compile and map all existing data, processes, and other factors that undermine talent performance, and then produce a formal cost analysis.

Quantify hidden costs. Work with key stakeholders to identify and quantify material hidden costs (invisibility is itself a sign of poor talent management). Start with Human Resource Information Systems and partner with Finance, which probably maintains the organisation’s Enterprise Resource Planning system, to obtain the remaining data.

Manage your data. Combine HR and Finance data in a cloud-based workforce analytics platform to allow simple, real-time access to the data required for effective analysis, management, and control of TCOW. Cloud-based platforms support a variety of technologies, such as mobile commerce and big data analysis, thus enabling an efficient flow of information and communication regarding TCOW.

Establish key benchmarks. Analyse TCOW as a percentage of expenses or revenue across different business units, job groups, tenure, and other categories that might be relevant to the specific industry or enterprise.

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Paul Lalovich is a change agent helping organizations to understand and actively manage their headcount, employee productivity and total cost of the workforce (TCOW). He is currently Organizational Effectiveness Advisor working at Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation in Abu Dhabi.

This article was written for FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

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Great leaders know their values

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Key takeaways:

Don’t ignore ethical problems—that’s how scandals blow up.

Find a trusted colleague to talk you through your dilemmas.

Focus on the facts of perceived wrong-doing and seek practical solutions.

If nothing is done, be prepared to resign and avoid being tainted.

Too many crises blow up because business leaders fail to assert their company’s underlying values says Stefan Stern.  

Nothing happens suddenly. Corporate crises appear to erupt dramatically and without warning. Leaders seem to be caught off guard. But as crisis management and PR experts will tell you, the origins of the disaster were often plain to see for those who knew where to look. More likely, managers at all levels will have just hoped it wouldn’t blow up while they were around.

Although different in their own ways, the recent scandals engulfing Volkswagen, Facebook, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Carillion and others all involved senior people who knew that something was wrong but failed to act in time. The resulting fines, share price falls and unpleasant headlines could all have been avoided.

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‘Ethical dilemmas aren’t always easy to navigate. Often, managers need to make the best, pragmatic trade-offs between conflicting pressures.’

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Ethical dilemmas aren’t always easy to navigate. Often, managers need to make the best, pragmatic trade-offs between conflicting pressures. In ‘Managing in the gray,’ Joseph Badaracco, professor of business ethics at Harvard Business School, suggests that managers begin by asking themselves all of the following five questions, and not just those with the easy answers.

What are the net, net consequences? Don’t just anticipate the initial reaction to a possible decision. Dig deeper and consider the medium-term consequences.

What are my core obligations? Would I be failing in my duty if I do nothing? Or is it simply my task to alert someone else?

What will work in the world as it is? It is easy for outsiders to criticise a manager who appears to have ducked a tough decision. But maybe it just wasn’t possible to take it. The manager might simply have been ignored or worse, fired. Ultimate responsibility lies with the company’s leaders. They set the moral tone, and if it’s lax, managers will struggle to shift the culture without resorting to whistleblowing.

Who are we? What does this business stand for, and are our actions consistent with our desired identity? Phony, PR-driven measures will not convince staff, customers or critics that the business is serious about dealing with a problem. US coffee retailer Starbucks’ day of awareness training on racial identity, for example, may have been a good start, but any new approach must be developed and reinforced over time.

What can I live with? Will your conscience be clear following your decision to act or not act?

Values first

Regulation and management control may limit the damage wreaked by bad ethical choices. But staying faithful to the company’s underlying values is a safer way of avoiding trouble. For example, the Wells Fargo scandal, in which bank and credit card accounts were invented to help staff meet performance targets, revealed a failure of values not processes. ‘Values-based leadership’ might have rejected the damaging use of so many blunt financial incentives, says Jennifer Jordan, professor of leadership and organisational behaviour at IMD.

‘The best leaders are those who not only emphasise meeting goals but also emphasise how those goals are met,’ she says. ‘If those goals are achieved at the expense of the company’s values, then the achievement is more than shallow – it’s a major blemish to the company’s public image and trust.’

Ethics matter, not just because negative PR can dent the share price. Poor choices damage a firm’s reputation and depresses employee morale. They deter new recruits and hasten the departure of current talent. There are long term ramifications to bear in mind.

As Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organisational behaviour at Stanford’s graduate school of business, notes: ‘More people need to have a sense of stewardship over the lives of their employees who’ve placed their well-being in leaders’ hands, and take that responsibility seriously.’

Action points for managers:

Find a trusted colleague. The company’s hierarchy may not help you as you wrestle with your conscience; so find someone in the organization you can confide in.

Reports facts, don’t just whinge. If you think that something is wrong, and it is safe to point out, do so – but objectively, with facts, not just gloomy or negative foreboding.

Be constructive and practical. When you share your concerns suggest manageable steps that will solve the problem.

Don’t ignore it. Bad news eventually gets out, so it is always better to deal with it as soon as possible. This has been true for almost any corporate scandal.

Be prepared to leave. If you cannot report or act on your concerns, and there is no safe channel for whistleblowers, think seriously about resigning. If it all eventually blows up, you won’t be tainted, and (legal contracts permitting) you will be free to speak your mind.

 

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Stefan Stern is visiting professor of management practice at Cass Business School, a business journalist and former FT management columnist. He is co-author of Myths of Management.

This article was written for FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

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Leading change: who to influence and how

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Financial Times | IE Business School Corporate Learning Alliance hosted the latest of its Masterclass Series for HR specialists on 8 May 2018 in Barcelona. Led by Corporate Learning Alliance educator Dr Robert Rosenfeld, the audience consisted of HR, learning & development and talent management professionals from major companies involved in international banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, food and fashion.

In a highly interactive session involving open discussions and teamwork, participants debated the changing role of HR professionals and how they need to respond to the current business environment. According to Dr Rosenfeld, in this new business environment – referenced with the acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) – complex problems can no longer be dealt in the traditional management hierarchy of the CEO-to-middle-management.

Business issues, argued Rosenfeld, need to be analysed and solved by different groups in an organisation. In this context, the HR role needs to evolve, changing away from the current service-providing department. HR must become more like a consultant’s role: proactive and open to change and innovation. In this way, HR professionals become business partners who will help promote and lead change within the company.

New skills for HR

The modern HR professional needs a new set of skills to drive change effectively. In a rapidly-changing world, companies need agile professionals who can respond quickly to swift changes. In an previous Masterclass held in Madrid in February 2018, Dr Rosenfeld grouped HR business partners into three classes depending on their core competences:

• Strategic Positioner
• Paradox Navigator
• Credible Activist

In addition, Rosenfeld explained that HR business partners should be expected not only to lead change, but also to excel in managing internal conflict and creating a working environment built on trust and mutual respect.

Within this new set of competencies, Rosenfeld pointed out what, to him, seems like one of the most common and crucial challenges for HR professionals: ‘how to influence without authority.’ On most of occasions, HR professionals need to exert an influence among executives who are on the same leadership level. This requires the HR role to create the right environment to get people on-board: persuasive rather than exerting power. According to Rosenfeld, this collaborative way of influence is more effective than exerting authority.

Dr Rosenfeld explained that influence is give-and-take – rather like a currency exchange. Everyone is a potential ally if needs and expectations are identified. Once goals and priorities are clear, and other people’s circumstances are understood, HR is in a position to decide what can be offered to gain their support. From sharing resources to helping implement new projects, to supporting personal development and offering emotional support.

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Influence is give-and-take – rather like a currency exchange. Everyone is a potential ally if needs and expectations are identified.

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Dr Robert Rosenfeld

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FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance educator

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Persuasive techniques

There is a series of techniques that can be adopted when aiming to obtain support without exerting undue authority:

Reciprocity: if we do something for someone, that person will most likely return the favour.

Commitment: this is the same principle as the ‘foot in the door’ – if we get people to agree on a small issue, we can then build a larger commitment or support.

Social proof: we tend to give authority to people with many followers (either on social media or in society).

Liking: brands use celebrities as role models to position themselves. It works the same way within organisations: we need to spot role models in our company and get them on our side.

Authority: some people’s opinions are perceived as determinant or important, either based on their professional goals in life, their experience or their knowledge. We need to identify whose opinions are heard in our company.

Scarcity: creating a sense of urgency (‘we must take on this project now or we will miss the chance’) can help mobilise people.

Before applying these techniques and principles, it is necessary to have a well-defined map of stakeholders based on their level of influence and their interest in the project:

Keep satisfied group: Stakeholders with high power but are less interested in the project. We should engage or consult in areas of interest and try to increase their level of commitment.

Key player group: Stakeholders with high power and high interest in a project. We need to focus all our efforts to maintain the support of this segment, involving them in governance, engaging and consulting with them regularly.

Monitor group: Stakeholders with less power and little interest in the project. We should keep them informed via general communications: newsletters, websites, blogs.

Keep informed group: Stakeholders with little power but interested in a project. We can make use of their interest through involvement in low-risk areas, identifying goodwill ambassadors. This group should also be kept informed and consulted regularly.

HR, L&D and talent management professionals need to define people’s motivations and interests thoroughly, how and when they want to receive information, what their opinion of the project is, and who can influence their opinions.

The world has brought profound changes to companies. Innovation is no longer the responsibility of the marketing or business development departments. HR departments need to be positively disruptive as well. Working in a similar way to consultants that look outside their business to identify changes that could affect their company, HR business partners have to ask themselves whether their HR business model is viable; if, as HR professionals, they are capable of creating the climate of trust necessary to lead change.

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The successful corporate away day

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This article was first published in People Management, the UK’s leading HR media brand, published on behalf of CIPD, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Click here to read the article in People Management.

It’s a rare opportunity: your entire team in one place, away from the office, for a couple of days and nights. But the dreaded ‘away day’ (or ‘offsite’ or ‘strategy’ day) is notorious for wasting time and money with forced team bonding, says Ian Sanders. Done well, however, the away day can nurture team spirit, encourage reflection and review team progress.Successful away days involve more than team-building at a country hotel with a free bar. As Financial Times management editor Andrew Hill sees it: “Strategy away days are an absurd but useful ritual.” He adds: “If team members are properly directed and the offsite workshop is well designed, new ideas and emotions surface. Bonds between colleagues are built or reinforced.”

An away day I facilitated recently at a country house in Kent brought new team members together with staff from different divisions. Many were meeting for the first time. Using a simple, three-act storytelling structure, 50 participants recounted personal experiences around a fire, which fostered a deeper mutual understanding and helped forge a strong working relationship.

Away days also allow new leaders to make an impression and foster organisational culture. They are used to facilitate brainstorming, strategising and innovation. For example, food delivery firm Deliveroo took its rapidly growing design team for a two-day offsite in a picturesque Sussex village. The simple format and clear goals did the job. Participants divided into three groups to consider specific design challenges across the company’s product areas. “Each day ended with the team sharing reflections, insights and new learnings, before a collective cooking session,” says Sana Rao, Deliveroo’s product design lead.

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‘Away days provide a valuable opportunity for team-building, innovation and developing strategy – but only if they’re organised with clear goals in mind.’

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So what ingredients make for an engaging and productive away day?

Get the location right. It’s essential to go offsite, says Kevin Le Goff, who organises away days. “Finding a neutral territory, free from distractions, that’s inspirational, helps participants focus and plan,” he says. It shouldn’t feel like a long day at work. Of course, there’s always an incentive to keep costs down. In that case, glamping or booking a large house through Airbnb may be a better choice than a five-star hotel, even if it means sharing bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens. Just don’t book another office space.

 

Be clear about the purpose. Away day goals should be apparent to participants as well as organisers. Is it about strategy and visioning or socialising and celebrating? The former may be more relevant for companies undergoing major changes; the latter is more appropriate as a ‘thank you’ for a profitable year of hard work. Either way, let staff know.

 

Schedule time to socialise and play. Away days are not a business conference, so don’t pack the agenda with speakers. Use games and team-building activities as ice breakers but choose carefully. Not everyone shares the CEO’s love of paintball. Nor is a free bar in the evening always advisable.

 

Include an overnight stay. A sleepover maximises time and is a rare chance for a disparate workforce to get to know one another. Brad Feld, founder of Foundry Group, says it’s critical for teams to dine together, either to discuss a ‘meaty topic’, heal relationships or remind ourselves that despite differences we are friends.

 

Assign action points before you leave. Amid the fun and games, some serious points will hopefully be made. But too often they are half-remembered back at the office. Make sure that someone is tasked with note-taking – possibly rotating the job – and assigning action points before everyone packs up.

 

Invite outsiders. Guest speakers inject some fresh perspectives into discussions. A sports coach can be a good motivator; a customer can open your team’s eyes to their vital viewpoint. If your office lacks a charismatic facilitator, hire a professional with a licence to be provocative.

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Ian Sanders is a creative consultant and storyteller

This article was written for FT | IE Corporate Learning Alliance
© 2018 Corporate Learning Alliance

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