The Value of Metronomics
We all know what a metronome is. A metronome is a device that helps its user stay in time. The user sets the beat of the metronome, and the metronome produces an audible click or other sound for the user to follow. The metronome is typically set in beats per minute because it’s traditionally used by musicians to help them keep the pulse when playing an instrument.
Why Leaders Shouldn’t Take People Leaving Quickly Personally
People leave their jobs for all kinds of different reasons.
They thought the role was right for them, but it wasn’t.
They thought they were going to spend most of their time working on the parts of the role they enjoyed, but quickly realised that the less enjoyable ‘administrative’ parts of the role were what the job is really about.
The Life Cycle of a Salesperson
Way back in 1974, a guy called Marvin A. Jolson wrote an article called ‘The Salesman’s Career Cycle’ for a US publication called The Journal of Marketing. It starts like this, “The Product Life Cycle (PLC) has been found to be a fundamental key to successful and profitable product management, from the introduction of new products to the phasing out of obsolescent ones. An analogous continuum that ranges from the recruitment of a new salesman to his termination suggests that appropriateness of the salesman’s career cycle (SCC) as a general model for assisting sales executives.”
Employee Retention and the Real Cost of Employee Turnover
It’s easy to think that the only guaranteed way to retain employees is to pay them more money than your competitors. If only it was that easy because there’s a lot more to employee retention than that.
A Year of Blocktalk 2022
Forward Planning: Where Do You Want Your Business To Be Next Year?
Hopefully, when you take that inevitable moment between now and 2023 to look back over the last twelve months, you'll see a lot to be happy about. As far as business is concerned, if a few things didn't go so well or a couple of your leadership decisions might have been better, that's what being a leader or a manager is all about—making mistakes and learning from them.
Gen X and Gen Z in the workplace: How can leaders retain their younger employees?
One of my colleagues recently created a presentation about generational differences among employees. It went something like this:
Generation X people, who were born between 1965 and 1980, tend to be ‘over workers’ with an ‘I’ve got this job for life’ mentality. They typically have high levels of faith that the company they work for will stay loyal to them.
Generation Z people, who were born between 2001 and 2020, tend to have a more transient approach to work. They’re focused on finding a work/life balance and they don’t have faith in the loyalty of the company they work for.
Blocktalk: Kyle Murtagh, Public Speaking Champion and Founder Confidence by Design
Blocktalk Bitesize: The One with Clientcast November 2022
Blocktalk: Clientcast November 2022
Blocktalk Bitesize: The One with Ross Watt
Blocktalk: Ross Watt, MD North Scotland, Newton Property Management
….could The Great Regret be starting?
The Great Regret is the fallout of The Great Resignation. While The Great Resignation was all about the mass exodus of employees who decided to pack up their jobs post-COVID and look for something better, The Great Regret is what's happened now they're starting to realise that the new, 'better' job they found isn't all it was cracked up to be.
According to recent studies conducted by the Harvard Business Review and the recruitment site The Muse, almost a third of US workers who quit during The Great Resignation are suffering from The Great Regret. The Muse even has a new buzzword for it. They're calling it "Shift Shock". In The Muse-speak, Shift Shock is "that feeling when you start a new job and realise, with either surprise or regret, that the position or company is very different from what you were led to believe." That's because the job changer has had:
With The Great Resignation over…
Economists, politicians, academics and newspaper editors with too much time on their hands love to make up buzzwords.
One of the most recent examples is the phenomenon that occurred soon after the COVID pandemic ended, when a massive wave of people who were fortunate enough to still be in work decided to pack in their jobs and look for something else.
The buzzword the economists and their cronies gave it was 'The Great Resignation'.
Blocktalk: WE TALK: Leadership Series
Blocktalk Bitesize: Cladding Remediation
Blocktalk: Special Round Table Episode - Cladding Remediation
Blocktalk Bitesize: Dr Nigel Glen
Poor Planning on Your Part is Not My Emergency
As a leader, I know it’s tempting to go for option one or two because when someone you’re working with has screwed up so badly – especially if it’s somebody on your own team – you’ll want to make certain that the solution is handled thoroughly, delivered correctly, and disruption to the project and the other members of your team are kept to a minimum. Arguably, that’s what a responsible leader would do.
The Art of the ‘Reverse Plan’
I just did a Google search of what being a successful leader means.
The results that came back described all the essential leadership qualities I’ve already talked about in previous articles, so if you’re a regular reader none of them will come as a surprise.
“A leader sets and achieves challenging goals.”
“A leader takes fast and decisive action.”
“A leader develops their team’s skills so they can reach their full potential.”
“A leader communicates their vision and inspires their people to do the work needed to achieve this better future.”
But, surprisingly, what none of the results has come back with so far is this:
Successful leaders know that a plan without a goal is just a dream.