May 27, 2008
This week I’ve been at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth presenting the results of a survey that my University spin-off company Robertson Cooper administered to Inspectors and Chief Inspectors in England and Wales. The Police Federation is the staff association that represents rank and file officers in all 43 police forces in England and Wales – that’s the majority of serving police officers so its views carry some weight!
Much of the debate at the conference centred on police officers’ right to take strike action. In this country this is a right that they don’t currently possess because of the critical role that the police play in upholding law and order. This is something that has been taken for granted for many years, but now that we have entered more uncertain economic times where strike action is becoming more commonplace (see my earlier post on the Oil Workers strike things are changing. This situation for police officers was exacerbated by the Home Secretary’s refusal to grant police officers a pay rise for which they had been lobbying earlier in the year.
All this got me thinking about the psychological side of strike action and what having the right take it is really about for police officers. The conclusion that I came to was that it’s about feeling in control. Police officers have to deal with some of the most difficult, dangerous and stressful situations that you can imagine – where often they can not control what will happen next. Having the right to feed back to their employers about their working conditions through political lobbying alone is just not going to feel like it’s enough – particularly when all other sectors have the right to strike. Entering a protracted process of negotiation (where someone that they don’t know and have never met is representing them) is hardly likely to give officers the sense that they are in control of your own destiny. In this sense, it’s easy to see why having the right to withdraw their services in extreme circumstances may provide a powerful means of taking control. In many ways, it’s the ultimate form of feedback to the organisation!
I’m not saying that police officers definitely should have the right to strike – there are clearly issues of national security and the need to uphold the law to consider. But equally, not having the right when the rest of the UK workforce does have it fundamentally affects the psychological contract between officers and their employers. As always, I’d welcome your views.
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Management, Productivity, Stress, Well-being | Tagged: control, police, Stress | 
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Posted by Cary Cooper
May 21, 2008
I’ve been struck recently by how widespread the application of Lean Management principles has become in the UK economy – both in the private and public sectors. Traditionally reserved for the manufacturing and retail sectors, Lean is a model for managing organisations in a way that focuses only on delivering exactly what the customer wants, when they want it. In other words, there is no slack or waste in the system and this allows businesses to keep costs to an absolute minimum. The current trend for using these principles pre-dates the credit crunch, but the shortage of cash in the economy makes them more relevant than ever.
However, these are not new ideas. In fact, the American Edwards Deming pioneered many of the techniques associated with the Lean approach when he exported this way of thinking (which became Total Quality Management and Just-In-Time manufacturing) to the Japanese car industry in the ‘50s - a time when US car manufacturers were on top of the world - rich, comfortable….. and complacent. This complacency came back to bite them over the next forty years as leaner foreign manufacturers gradually eroded their market share. And the effects of this abide to this day, as I’m reminded by the proliferation of Japanese cars I see every time I return to the States!!
The claims made for the efficiency gains that Lean processes can deliver sound impressive – with 50% improvements in performance and quality being perfectly achievable in relatively short timescales. But are we to believe that there are no negative consequences to such major change? Think about it for a minute - even if the costs vs. outputs balance better on paper after the changes are made, removing cost generally means removing people (often in significant numbers) as well as other resources. How can removing hundreds of people from an organisation not affect morale, motivation and employee engagement?
As a result of such changes, the workload of some people grows exponentially which, in turn, puts pressure on work relationships, communications and employees’ ability to maintain quality under pressure. For some this will change what work feels like forever in terms of the nature of the relationship they have with both their job and their employer. These people may feel that their employer has broken the psychological contract and the risk of the best people leaving is increased. All of this is against a new background of relative job insecurity that has accompanied new economic times and this is a particularly unusual feeling for public sector workers who in the past have been immune to such concerns. But these days, given the current climate, we can all justifiably ask ourselves the question “Will I be next?”
It’s here that the spotlight falls upon leadership and internal communication. Because I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with the Lean model, just that this kind of ‘all or nothing’ cost-based approach requires extremely high levels of leadership skill and ability if it is to be a success. Apart from managing the aftermath of the change process itself, this is fundamentally about culture change and the trick is not to lose all of the good aspects of the old culture while bringing in the new ways of thinking and acting. For example, I have talked before about discretionary effort - something which has been given willingly in many organisations where in the past there has been space and time to go beyond the current task. But one of the likely side-effects of the Lean approach is a new employee mindset that sees spending time thinking about the bigger issues as a waste of time in a world where it’s only important to focus on the essentials of the next deliverable. Of course, organisations can manage impressions to the outside world so that it looks like they are becoming leaner and fitter for purpose, but inside these things can quickly take on a life of their own and before you know it you have a completely new culture! This is fine if you want a completely new culture and weren’t fussy about what you lost from the old one, but most organisations have positive differentiators that are worth holding onto – cherishing even.
Radical change always has consequences. Lean is a very efficient way of finding the dead wood, but it can be a brutally blunt instrument so the changes it suggests should be thoroughly evaluated for sustainability and implemented wisely. Above all, it should only be considered if a leadership group is confident and talented enough to pull it off.
1 Comment | Engagement, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Talent | Tagged: culture change, employee engagement, Leadership, Lean, morale, Motivation, performance | Permalink
Posted by Cary Cooper
May 13, 2008
This week, I’m really pleased to welcome another colleague and good friend to share my blog, Gordon Tinline. Gordon is a Director of Robertson Cooper and a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. Most of his work in the last four or five years has been helping organisations reduce stress and realise bottom-line benefits through well-being improvement. Increasingly this work focuses on the links between leadership behaviour and staff well-being. Over to you Gordon…
Middle management is so often the forgotten layer in organisations – the focus is always on high profile senior leaders and those subject to the pressures of the frontline – whether that be police officers on the street, Northern Rock bank tellers or nurses in Accident and Emergency. But in reality, being a middle manager is just as difficult – in many cases, more difficult.
My work on well-being as a Director of Cary’s university spin-off company, Robertson Cooper has shown that those in middle management positions tend to experience demands from both above and below. This is often compounded by a feeling of getting all the grief without the power to influence the root causes of many of the problems faced.
Picture the scene: Your boss is on your back and asking you to justify last month’s results… “Oh and by the way, can you also dig up some information to support the strategic change initiative I’m working on at the moment?” Piling on the pressure, your staff keep asking you why they are not being kept in the picture about all the recent changes that they perceive as being designed to make their lives difficult. You are seen by them as ‘the problem’ in that you clearly know what’s going on and are just not telling them. Of course, they can’t see your perspective - you don’t know much more than they do, and when you ask your boss he doesn’t seem to know either – but tells you to stay positive and keep morale high. So it’s back to square one!
So what are your options? A. Get promoted, but be careful what you wish for unless you are heading directly for the top tier!! B. Keep sympathising with your staff and tell them you know how they feel - that it’s all down to the organisation and your boss. But then don’t be surprised when they rate you as a weak manager in your next 360 appraisal and your relationship with your boss deteriorates. C. Chill out and try not to let it get to you – it’ll soon be the weekend and you can forget it all for at least half a day before you start preparing for the week ahead and checking your blackberry in case anything has occurred to your boss on his Sunday stroll.
Of course, none of these options are really going to get you anywhere on their own. The answers lie in building open and constructive relationships upwards, downwards and sideways. Get closer to your boss and find out what it is that’s driving his behaviour – what are his real goals and what makes him tick. Start to join this up with the needs of those you manage - make things more transparent for them. This is not always easy and you will need to devote time to it as a specific goal…….on top of your current workload.
But this is my point- the best middle managers are able to step back from the day-to-day tasks and multiple demands from above and below. They make time to consider the vital role that they play as an ‘operator’ of many of the organisation’s strategic aims and policies; that is, by taking a different perspective middle managers can start to see themselves as the lynchpin of delivery, as opposed to a pawn for more senior managers to move around on a whim.
And finally, option (c) above is not entirely facile - the middle manager needs to learn to switch off. Work pressures may be endless, but you have to believe that you are not failing (yourself or your employer) by not being able to work endlessly to keep everyone happy. If you fall into this trap the result will be a downward spiral of performance and health where no one wins.
Gordon Tinline
No Comments » | Leadership, Management, Well-being | Tagged: 360 appraisal, leaders, manage, middle management, middle managers, performance, pressure, staff | Permalink
Posted by Cary Cooper
May 8, 2008
With the teacher’s strike, the Grangemouth oil refinery worker’s strike in Scotland and other groups considering industrial action, we have to ask the question: Are we going back to the bad old days of industrial relations we saw in the 1970s - the ‘them and us’ mentality that caused so much damage all those years ago?
It is certainly the case that in difficult financial times, with jobs insecure, pension funds under pressure and financial markets in turmoil relations between management and employees often get strained. On the other hand, if employers engage with their staff, treat them with respect and communicate with them accurately and honestly about what’s happening the consequences can be managed more easily.
Senior management must be proactive about trying to empathise with the perspectives of their employees - who at times, like these, feel less secure about their jobs and more worried about their own personal financial situation. They therefore rely on the skills of their manager and other organisational leaders to provide accurate information about the viability of the organisation and future plans so they can make good decisions to safeguard themselves and their families. Where possible, employers should be making every effort to involve staff in decision making on these important issues – this effort will be repaid tenfold when things settle down and the workforce appreciate that they were dealt with fairly. Ultimately, engaging staff in any process of change helps to ensure survival now and growth in the future.
Taking a step back, I think there are signs that the current unrest is not so much to do with salary issues, but more an underlying concern about the openness of management and their lack of engagement with and trust of their employees. There are also signs that the shear amount of work that certain professions are being asked to do is taking its toll and is not in line with the rewards offered – and that’s rewards in all their forms, not just pay. For example, earlier this month figures from The National Association of Head Teachers showed that more than a thousand Head Teachers and Deputies are leaving the profession early every year because of work pressures.
General Secretary Mick Brookes blamed a long-hours culture which saw nearly 44% of his members working 60-hour weeks. This is reflective of a general sea change in public attitudes which indicates that people have started to think that ‘enough is enough’, and that society will have to change. Undoubtedly, it’s going to take some strong leadership and a reappraisal of our values to get us out of an ever frenetic life style, so I’ll leave you with a question even bigger than the one I started with:
Where is the drive for that change going to come from?
1 Comment | Engagement, Leadership, Management, Personal Resilience | Tagged: Engagement, leaders, Leadership, engage staff, work pressure | Permalink
Posted by Cary Cooper
May 1, 2008
Reading my last post, I realised that it painted a pretty grim picture of childhood in Britain today and I want to balance that off with some more hopeful news. At the end of 2007, the Education Secretary, Ed Balls, announced that lessons in happiness, well-being and good manners are to be introduced in all state secondary schools. I remember thinking that this was a major step forward for education in the UK – one that begins to align the Education sector with some of the latest thinking from the world of business.
By introducing this initiative, the Government is acknowledging that well-being, self-awareness and a sense of purpose are just as important as the tasks that pupils are required to complete in order to achieve their academic objectives.
Pilots of the ‘Seal’ programme (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) – an idea which originated in the States - have already been successfully implemented in primary schools here and have been found to boost both academic performance and discipline by helping children to better understand their emotions. So, the Government concluded that it’s important for children to develop an emotionally intelligent way of approaching their work, as well as producing good results – Hallelujah! Exactly the same is true for adults in the workplace.
The hope is that the benefits of teaching children how to express their feelings, manage their anger and empathise with other people will create calmer, more productive school environments, as well as boosting the concentration, engagement and motivation levels of students. It is no coincidence that these are the exact same benefits that employers can expect when they commit to creating workplaces characterised by high levels of well-being and engagement.
And this emerging alignment between the worlds of education and work bodes well for the future of the UK economy – because tomorrow’s employees are likely to enter the workplace with a much more mature and productive approach to work. They will bring with them a holistic attitude which will include an understanding of the importance of balancing work and life to deliver sustainable levels of high performance, more sophisticated people skills and higher levels of personal resilience. So, although our children are reporting that they are more unhappy than ever, change is afoot and I’m delighted that these classes are set to be a standard part of the national curriculum. Because, as I explained in a recent post, you can learn to be positive!
Click here for the full article in from The Times.
No Comments » | Engagement, Personal Resilience, Productivity, Well-being | Tagged: Engagement, holistic, Motivation, people skills, Personal Resilience, productive, Sense of purpose, Well-being | Permalink
Posted by Cary Cooper
