What has been very interesting over the past six months is seeing how managers in the variety of organisations we work with have responded to the current economic crisis.
The consistent theme we've noticed is that proactive managers are a returning to the basics; focusing on customers, communicating with staff, setting clear goals, managing expenditure levels and placing emphasis on quality.
Our latest management video describes the six basic skills which managers must focus upon in uncertain times:
Communicate and delegate properly ensuring that all employees feel a sense of responsibility for tasks, are given appropriate levels of authority to complete those tasks and are held accountable for outcomes
Analyse the Current Situation of your team or organisation
Set Quality Goals which have been developed
Motivate Your Team by creating a sense of challenge and rewarding efforts - not inherent ability
Handle Change by responding to alarm with action rather than despair
Manage Projects by conducting a thorough planning phase rather than responding to problems as they arise during implementation
When the outlook is bleak, resources are scarce and uncertainty is rife, managers will truly have their mettle tested. Can your organisation's leaders cut it?
Yesterday I attended the Big Skills '09 conference in Sydney, hosted by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The conference set out to stimulate discussion on skills and training at a strategic level.
My big take-aways:
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) changes everything - including our skills strategy
The jobs that are being lost from our economy as a result of the GFC probably won't return even after our economy recovers
People are losing their jobs now who only a few years ago would never have considered themselves vulnerable and in need of re-skilling
Australian enterprises need to treat the GFC as an opportunity to restructure and invest in human capital
Some industries need to face up to the reality that they won't be around in ten years time
It is important to develop not only the workforce but also the workplace itself by using collaboration, teams and technology
We must be careful to not just develop people's skills according to short term need, but ensure people's capacity for learning is boosted - the new skills of adaptability & agility
The other big theme from the conference was the importance of leaders having strong management skills in order to boost and strengthen organisations' ability to innovate. Roy Green, Dean of Business at UTS described how innovation is critical to improving productivity, growth, social inclusivity and environmental sustainability.
It certainly drove home to me the importance of not only the management skills training which I am involved with in ensuring our organisations are productive and innovative but also the innovation programs which we have been rolling out at Management Consultancy International over the last year and a half, including LEGO Serious Play.
Here are my notes from the panel discussion:
Panel: Why Are Skills And Training Important In The Current Economic Climate?
Tony Jones’ Introduction:
Japanese trade has plummeted nearly 50%, their GDP has also plummeted
Japan is beginning to look more like its in depression rather than just in recession
Moving from 'Global Financial Crisis' (GFC) to a 'crisis of globalisation'
Governments must prepare for large-scale job losses
In Sydney today we lost 100 or more apprentices - like canaries in mineshaft
National skills base was in crisis before the GFC!
David Finegold - Dean School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University
Lowered opportunity costs for investing into training
Example of Toyota – used opportunities of recessions to improve their workforce and processes so that when demand picks up again
Develop long term capability
Green jobs will be more important
Philip Bullock – Skills Australia
Govt needs to be thinking how they can make opportunities for businesses to invest
Businesses which are looking for niche areas
Roy Green – Dean of Faculty of Business, UTS
In Australia we have moved from periods of complacency to adversity!
The key priority is a national recognition is that our competitive advantage is our knowledge and ingenuity – this must be put into policy; into a 'skills eco-system'
Investment / commitment to the innovative capability
It’s good to have an elegant innovation system instituted but it is what happens in business which is critical – that’s where the rubber meets the road.
When labour market does pick up again
Mmantsetsa Marope – Senior Education Specialist, World Bank
Africa's experience is that we must balance the basic skills with a capacity to take up unknown opportunities
Thinking outside the box to define skills as a specific capacity
The effects of the GFC - the poor and young will become more marginalised
Growth with equity is particularly important – mitigating the vulnerability of the potentially weak.
People who are losing their jobs now would have not thought themselves as vulnerable two years ago!
Fragility of life and the mercurial nature of planning
David Finegold
Jobs lost today are likely not going to return once the recession is over
It is important for our training organisations to be NIMBLE
Eg – ppl retrenched from recreational vehicle industry being retrained for orthapedic industry where there is long term demand in Indiana, USA
Singaporean model of creating a skill eco-system
City-state is more conducive because of geographic concentration
Government has been far more interventionist
The balance between the government being a fast-follower and innovator must be found clearly
The unique thing about this recession is that until we have some sense of faith in the financial system we won’t be able to implement some sort of solution
Major restructuring of executive re-compensation would have been off the agenda six months ago but it is now part of the agenda
WA – as mining boom goes down
Generation y has had it pretty easy – but now it is going to have it rough
Example is of apprentices in mining industry who were being paid 58k now being offered 18k outside of the industry
The UK's system of “Foundation Degrees”
Equivalent to the first 2 years of a 3 year full-time degree that leads to honours
England only at the moment – embedded in educational system
Set up to facilitate high level skills
Set up in response to skills shortage
Many people who never thought that they would be capable of being a part of tertiary education have participated and gone on to completing honours degrees.
Robyn Shreeve – Principle Westminster College London
UK – large infra-structure projects have been approved in order to counterbalance the reliance on the financial services sector
UK govt has guaranteed apprenticeships to everyone that wants one
The Rudd Government, despite their talks of having an education revolution scrapped the innovation program ‘Commercial ready’ – which was designed for companies which were having trouble accessing venture capital.
Patricia Neden - Innovation & Business Skills Australia
Focus needs to be on promoting companies that are entrepreneurial and innovative which will be emerging in the future
Emerging ‘Green Economy’ – the great hope for the future?
Debra Rowe - US Partnership For Education For Sustainable Development
Stop waiting to emerge from the recession/depression and instead use our capacity to recreate global financial systems that work in a way that is good for humanity
“Economics as if people really matter”
Make use of research about what quality of life is all about – not just growth
How do we measure success?
Not just green jobs – eg solar installers
All jobs - with new knowledge, skills – for example how to be an “effective change agent”
Is Obama administration serious about the Green Economy? David Finegold
Social entrepreneurship – a whole new sector who want to make a difference – find ways which we can help these people make a difference.
Eg: using franchise systems to combine non-profits & for-profits to distribute medicinal drugs in Africa
New Zealand – National Skills Strategy
Didn’t just want another supply-side strategy
Demand side approach – because were not able to make changes to the tertiary educational system
It is important to get industry to be more intelligent about how they voice what their skills development needs – in a longer term manner
Some industries need to face up to the reality that they won’t be around in ten years time
What are your thoughts? How will the GFC affect your organisation's skills strategy?
In mid December we worked with the Canadian LEGO Serious Play partner to develop and implement LEGO® Serious Play™ workshops for Qantas in Sydney. Qantas is presently on a mission to improve their customer service in order to become the best airline in the world. What Qantas understands is that adopting a quality service-centered organizational culture is one of the smartest ways for an organization to improve their R.O.I. By using LEGO Serious Play with their teams, they were able to explore concepts and reinforce their new ideas to take them from good to great.
Companies like Qantas that position themselves within the marketplace as the leader in customer service will weather the economic downturn well and emerge as the industry leader as the Global Economy straightens back out after this shift. Once companies move into a leadership position it can be very difficult for trailers to catch up.
At the Management Consultancy International end of year prize giving function, several of our candidates and training managers received special awards.These individuals and teams stood out from the over 600 portfolios that we assessed during the year and the high quality and precision of their work was truly remarkable.
TAA portfolio of the year went to SharonMorgan from Oporto and Peter Quinn from Hyundai.
FLM students of the year were Matilda Ika Rob Scott from Toll Holdings.
Customer Contact student of the year went to Abbe Keeble from Travel the World.
SydneyPorts took the team award for best TAA group where there was a 100% completion rate and some outstanding portfolios submitted.
Often in learning and development, managers and coordinators who put so much effort into ensuring the successful rollout of programs are not recognized.This year, we introduced a new category called ‘Learning and Development Champions’.We awarded certificates to Daniel Fluckiger (ex-Allianz Insurance), Fel Donatelli (Allianz Insurance), Tanya Sitta (Toll Personnel), Dan Moore (Daikin) and Jodie Elder (Travel the World).All of these learning and development champions show an extraordinary amount of passion and dedication for ensuring successful projects and programs.
Last but definitely not least, there is always the admin support team that ensures that it all happens smoothly. This year Co-ordinator of the year awards went to Laura Kennedy and Emma Bates from Toll Personnel and also to Maria Mercado-Thai from Vodafone.
A few weeks ago I listened to Terry Davis, MD of Coca Cola Amatil, talk at the Local Government HR conference on the topic of innovation and HR.Here are some of the key points that he put forward:
1. Terry stressed that particularly in tough times, what gets you through is having the “best team of people in place”.
2. The top brands will survive – the others will cease to exist.
3. Staff do what they are rewarded for most and this makes KPI’s integral to the business model. People gravitate to what hey are paid for and earnings are at risk based on performance.
4. People who own a strategy should be the ones developing it.People therefore come before strategy.
5. Business success depends on levels of engagement and how rewards are structured.
6. Core values are extremely important as this is what drives the business.
7. Community projects are important as they create higher levels of customer advocacy.
8. You need the right leadership to challenge the status quo – you need to be able to question things without fear of retribution.
9. Coca Cola has its own internal recruitment and does not outsource to an external agency.Key roles are filled via referrals and not through advertising.Files are kept on key people who will eventually be head-hunted.
10. Coca Cola is committed to a strong policy of diversity – 2 women out of 8 board members and 25% of senior leadership are women.
11. OHS features as a standard agenda item at board level.
12.You need to continuously innovate – even if at first you do not succeed.The ‘Mother’ product was not initially successful and has now been re-launched with great success.Failure is a way of learning.
13. Tough times mean that we will have to work much harder and much smarter to achieve what we want to.CEO’s need to be clear about what the goals are for the future to avoid coffee machine talks about who is next on the chopping block.
14. It is important for all employees to take leave. This refreshes everyone to come back with new ideas and also is valuable in eliminating petty fraud.
15. Work-life balance is not a key value at Coca Cola.There is no substitute for hard work and that is what life is about.
16. Set clear codes of conduct so that everyone knows how to respond in a range of situations and there are no issues around ethics.
I was invited to assist in facilitating the Womenbuild session at the Microsoft PDC conference 2008 on 26 October this year. I was privileged to co-facilitate at this most incredible event – particularly as it is an issue that is close to my heart. The purpose of the Womenbuild session was to find ways to attract women into technology fields and to create avenues for them to harness their talent and innovation when developing software.
The 5 hour session was formulated around the principles of LEGO Serious Play and the group was challenged to build a whole range of different models, all relating to the theme of what it would take to create a more vibrant network of women and how the message could be spread at further conferences to be held in the future.
The recurring theme from the WomenBuild day was about establishing relationships and connecting with others to form stronger networks.Participants also spoke about how vital it is to commence working at school level to encourage younger generation girls and show them that bridges can be built and obstacles to entering the profession can be overcome.
The group also discussed establishing a mentoring program where young women are ‘buddied’ with those who are more experienced in the profession.
About 20% of the group was made up of men. They made some interesting comments - some had specifically come as they would like to ensure that their daughters have every opportunity available and that there would be no glass or concrete ceilings in their way.
The WomenBuild program incorporated the powerful LEGO Serious Play hands-on process that draws on the power of creative thinking to shift group conversation from talking heads to focused minds. Each table was run as a facilitated conversation with physical LEGO brick constructions that ensured that the diverse wisdom within the group was tapped into.
The participants certainly left the room with a clearer shared understanding of the inspirational career paths for women in the IT profession.
Well done to Microsoft for stepping up in a proactive way to encourage a diverse workplace and to ensure that the software development industry has pathways and possibilities for all who wish to enter the field of software and product development.
I am often asked about why it is important to hold nationally recognised qualifications. Some organisations prefer to do training that is needed simply to fill skills gaps and do not want to spend the time or the money linking these immediate needs to training packages. There is certainly an argument though that, particularly when the labour market tightens, individuals who have sent themselves a clear career path value qualifications. National certificates and diplomas are are worth their weight in gold in terms in terms of creating the entry point into a job. As an article in the My Career section of the Sydney Morning Herald on November 1-2, 2008 briefly mentions, in a tighter marketplace the key action items to holding a job and progressing career prospects are: Upgrade your qualifications and nurture your networks. Your viewpoints are welcome!
