Development feedback Archive

Employee conversations are best when we work together to co-create solutions rather than sticking to a rigid agenda.

Emotional intelligence requires humanity (empathy and character) to avoid moving to the dark side

The impact the manager has on engagement is one of the most fundamentally important insights Gallup’s research has uncovered.

Toxic top performer employees damage your culture and performance. Their behaviour will have far reaching impact if not addressed.

Scrap bell curve reviews as they tend to increase disengagement, cripple innovation and collaboration

Life after you scrap annual rated performance reviews Will you follow Deloitte, Adobe, Microsoft and Accenture and scrap annual rated performance reviews? If so the question is what to do next?  Organisations are nervous to scrap annual reviews as: They want a fair and validated way to distribute compensation increases They need a record of low performance when dismissal is required They need performance data in an employee’s file for succession …

Significant research over that last 15 years has demonstrated that each of us is a frighteningly unreliable at rating other people’s performance.

What happens before their work hours may be just as important as what happens during it. Having a sick child at home, marital issues, money problems or a death in the family directly impact our ability to Engage at work.

Learn how this performance management x-factor will help your managers keep valuable talent, build an innovative high performance team and put the spark back in your organisation.

Engagement surveys repeatedly show that the key factor in employee engagement is the employee’s relationship with their direct manager or supervisor. How are you building engagement in your organisation?

The study of Psychology in business is not about telling business what to do but a reciprocal relationship which draws insights from those with experience of what works at work and shares new finding which can shape new behaviours and practices.

We can’t just toss out performance management entirely as we still need to measure performance and have a method to fairly allocate compensation increases. We can, however, make it a more effective tool.

Ways to develop effective peer-to-peer coaching meetings. Training alone can improve individual and team performance by over 20%, but training and coaching together can improve performance by over 80%.

Compensation can impact employees both positively and negatively. Fairness and consistency are essential elements of a pay for performance compensation strategy.

It is when we utilise the results of the Employee Engagement survey we improve our culture and our engagement scores.

Effective and Emotionally Intelligent performance management drives behaviours that increase engagement, embed these behaviours in the organisation's culture all in alignment with the organisation's strategic goals.

Discretionary effort is fuelled by our passion and is linked to our willingness to go the “extra mile” beyond the letter of our job description.

In today’s highly competitive economy, building a Great place to work is one of the greatest competitive strengths we can have.

Our ability to utilise the time we have is more important than having time alone. Understanding why we procrastinate, the dangers of multitasking and managing our attention and energy are essential parts of Brain Smart time management.

Many books talk about the “sandwich” feedback technique, starting and ending with a compliment. This is generally very poorly received as the compliments are often a last minute platitude.

Consider your facts, feelings and identity before approaching a difficult conversation.

When preparing for difficult conversations about behaviour, attitude or performance keep these top tips in mind. Approach it as a conversation, not a lecture! Gain perspective and remember our attitude towards the process helps shape it.

The Leadership lessons from legos are that doing meaningful work is rewarding in itself, and we are more willing to do more work for less pay when we feel our work has some sort of purpose (even if it is minuscule).

Cognitive-dissonance is only one of many biases that impact our relationships and colour our experience of life every day. We don’t like to believe that we could be wrong, so some of us may limit our intake of new information or avoid new ways of thinking that don’t fit in with our pre-existing beliefs. Psychologists call this the “confirmation bias.”

The Benjamin Franklin Effect shows we grow to like people for whom we do nice things building social support with others.

Groundbreaking research demonstrates that when it comes to social support at work the support you offer provides greater returns over time, than the support you get.

Social support has been shown to reduce the physical and mental consequences of stress, whether that support is from a trusted group or from a valued individual.

Committing our focus and energy to our most difficult tasks, helps us get to success a lot faster than we might imagine.

An amygdala hijack is when we have an immediate and overwhelming emotional response to an event. An amygdala hijack triggers a “fight-or-flight” response in our brains which takes over control from our logical rational faculties.

The best approach to the GROW model is to remember that as a peer coach we are not necessarily an expert in the other person’s challenges. The model requires us to act as a facilitator, helping the mentee/coachee reflect and select the best options for them.

Imagine coming to work each day and being surrounded by team members who truly want to do a great job in everything they do. We can’t motivate someone else, motivation comes from within, however we can inspire motivation and create an environment in which motivation thrives.

Questioning skills to help engage your audience. Questioning can help build relationships and coach if done effectively

Listening is not always easy. Be in the moment. In order to be a successful listener we must be physically and mentally present.

Understanding David Rock’s SCARF model can help us reduce conflict. Understanding that the brain seeks pleasure and strives to avoid pain helps us become aware of the triggers that can lead to conflict.

How accurate is the communication participants receive? Is the information accurate and available when required, or is there a lack of information and satisfaction with the communication available?

The facilitator must be open to ideas and thoughts from the focus group members, and not just concentrate on trying to get answers to pre-set questions or find the “proof” for theories. The facilitator should be willing to explore deeper than the surface answers offer.

A communications strategy is the tool that helps support the organisation's strategy for customers, employees and partners. It is the who, what, why, when, where and how of effective communication.

In a fast moving multimedia world we need to ensure our communication is effective and clear.

We don’t care what people say, we are more likely to believe what they do. We communicate information in multiple ways (eye contact, gestures, posture, body movements, and tone of voice).

The ability to engage and retain valuable employees and their intrinsic knowledge has a significant impact on an organisation's bottom line. The attitude and actions of an employee's immediate manager can help enhance employee engagement or can sour the relationship and lead to employee disengagement and loss of key talent.

In a fast moving multimedia world we need to ensure our communication is effective and clear. The aim is to discover what is working, what needs adjustment and what needs to be changed.

A Mentoring Programme can be difficult to implement but have numerous benefits to the individual and the organisation. Benefits of developing a Mentoring Programme: Help with on-boarding: Mentoring can help smooth the process of bringing new employees up to speed, and help redeploy existing employees in a new area of the organisation. Studies by Gallup show that the first few weeks of an employee’s new position is critical to …

To create an effective mentorship programme certain essential elements are necessary. To avoid ineffective mentorship programmes be aware of these key elements, they can be warning signs of failure. 1. Training A mentoring relationship requires training to be effective. Without any training less than 1 in 3 programmes (30%) deliver significant results for the participants (or the organisation). By training mentors you raise the success rate to …

We believe what we see above that which we hear. Still the most powerful method to persuade or to positively change behaviour is to demonstrate the desired behaviour. For effective adult education don’t tell them what to do, demonstrate the desired behaviour and offer suggestions instead. Telling can bring out the inner stroppy child.

What are the qualities of a great Mentor? Mentorship is becoming an essential element of dynamic innovative business. It helps develop talent and with Knowledge Management – sharing intrinsic knowledge. 1. Demonstrate integrity Great mentors have credibility and live their own advice, they walk their talk. It doesn’t mean they have all the answers, but it does mean they act as a positive role model. Good …

Mentorship programmes need to be aligned with the strategic goals of the organisation. The purpose of the relationship is to develop the protégé not only for the current job, but also for the future.

The key discoveries from neuroscience that impact Performance feedback and employee engagement. Our ability to make decisions, solve problems and collaborate with others, is often directly impacted by our responses to threats. When we learn to manage these threat responses we are able to increase engagement.

Top Presentation skills tip. When speaking practice feeling the emotion, showing it in your face and body language, then saying your line for more natural body language and sincerity.

Leadership means we are always on stage “What you do teaches faster, and has a lasting impression, far beyond what you say.” T.F. Hodge Part of our job, as leaders, is to inspire the people around us to step up, and go the extra mile. To accomplish this we must demonstrate best practice, by doing what we tell others to do. It doesn’t matter whether we are …

There are many stories about employees who received glowing performance reviews right up to the day they were let go for “performance issues.” There were problems that should have been addressed, but instead “positive” platitudes were used to cover the underlying criticism to avoid hurting feelings. Not all positive feedback is created equal. In order for feedback to encourage positive behaviour it needs to be …

Our perception of the world is coloured by our unique mental circuitry. We tend to focus on fear and obstacles when we try to bring about change, instead of focusing on the change. Our brain requires energy to focus and achieve.

Too much focus on the bottom line can lead to disengaged employees as they feel they do not matter. Managers now have the hard science to support development of our most important asset, our people while developing engagement. Passionate engaged workers translate in to a healthy triple bottom line (people, profits, planet).

When people feel criticised we become defensive and don't hear the message. 5 key areas of social reward (and threat) directly impact the brain: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness.

Relationships are a dance between two emotional human beings who colour each interaction through their own expectations, experiences, and history. Each of us has a different skill level when it comes to communication, luckily better communication is a skill that can be learned. Communication can make or break your relationships.

Positive acknowledgement is the tipping point, it encourages positive behaviour. Criticism, with little or no acknowledgement, encourages apathy and disengagement. At work, and in relationships, when we get acknowledged for effort, we tend to repeat the appreciated behaviour and add new positive behaviour. When we get criticised we often think “well why bother” and stop trying as hard, reasoning “It doesn’t matter what I …

The Tipping Point, for teams and individuals, is a Positivity Ratio of at least three times (3:1). Every interaction impacts your positive to negative ratio. Operate inside the three-times-positive zone and your team will flourish, achieving a state of flow.Fall outside this zone and your team will become sluggish, work together less effectively, and easily get caught up in the pull of a downward spiral …

Giving and receiving feedback is potentially some of the most important communication we can engage in with the members of our team. Once, or twice, a year we deliver a pile of “stale constructive criticism" to each employee and are surprised by the negative responses. Giving feedback effectively is a skill, that takes practice to build competence and confidence. Without a tried tested process which …

Giving and receiving feedback is potentially some of the most important communication we can engage in with the members of our team. Once, or twice, a year we deliver a pile of “stale constructive criticism" to each employee and are surprised by the negative responses. Giving feedback effectively is a skill, that takes practice to build competence and confidence. Without a tried tested process which …

What leaders do the rest of the organisation will imitate, bad or good behaviour. Organisations with a strong feedback culture tend to perform better. The transparent approach ensures the focus is on problem solving; it reduces speculation which damages engagement levels and the brand of the organisation. Behaviour acknowledged gets repeated.

When we don’t have an appropriate method to express ourselves we may bottle up the emotion, or blurt out our feelings at the wrong moment. Both are destructive in business, or personal, relationships. If the lines of communication are not kept open we may miss out on important information relating to our skills, or relationships with clients and co-workers.

When we don’t have an appropriate method to express ourselves we may bottle up the emotion, or blurt out our feelings at the wrong moment. Both are destructive in business, or personal, relationships. If the lines of communication are not kept open we may miss out on important information relating to our skills, or relationships with clients and co-workers.

The Tipping Point, for teams and individuals, is a Positivity Ratio of at least three times (3:1). Individuals and Teams with these high ratios had higher profitability, better reviews, and customer satisfaction scores. Teams and individuals with a positivity/negativity ratio below 3:1 tended to be less engaged, receive lower customer scores, and were less profitable.

You may have try an element of a process numerous times before you succeed. It is essential to pay attention to the process and get feedback as to what elements work, and those that do not. Our brains are elastic and will build up new pathways as we practice.

Deliberate practice also often involves specific feedback from a skilled teacher or mentor. It is not repeating the action in a familiar way but stretching beyond your comfort zone and learning new habits or skills.

When we praise intelligence we tend to put people in a fixed mindset where intelligence is fixed, and they have it (increasing the fear of new challenges as they may not have it after all). When we praise for effort we tend to put people in a growth mindset where they are developing skills as they are working hard.

Imagine your parents had tried to help you learn to walk like most managers try motivate their employees? Would criticism, cajoling and feedback once a quarter have helped you learn to walk? As parents coaching kids we give them immediate feedback, rather than waiting for the end of the quarter. We are encouraging, in tone and words, rather than being sarcastic, critical and using negative …

Positivity creates the opportunity for human moments that transcend a smiling face and hopeful thoughts. A positive work environment impacts our body chemistry, reduces stress and improves creativity and problem solving abilities. Just as a negative environment increases stress, negatively impacts our body chemistry and reduces tolerance and empathy.