Team GB is sending the feel good factor back from China

August 19, 2008

So the Olympic Games are in full swing and I think it’s safe to say ‘so far so good’. True, there is a nagging feeling that the greatest show on earth is being stage managed a little too precisely by its hosts, but despite this the Games are doing what only the Games can do – creating a real ‘feel-good factor’ that connects almost all the countries of the world. True, Football’s World Cup does have this feel-good element, but it’s only for the select few who have qualified – so there’s no doubt that the Olympics really are unique.

And what about Team GB? As I write this blog we are third in the medal tables behind China and the USA with 16 Gold medals and more almost certain to follow. That’s the best result since London in 1908 and something that was unthinkable before the start of the Games. In fact, the British Olympic Association (BOA) had stated a goal of fourth place for the 2012 Games in London – not for Beijing. Add to this, the startling fact that the two Countries at the top of the table, USA and China dwarf Great Britain in every way: China has a population of around 1.4 billion compared with the UK’s 60 million and this is also reflected in the size of the teams - both China and the US have teams of over 600 athletes compared with the UK’s which is under 350.

All of this means that Team GB’s achievements so far are all the more remarkable and certainly makes it one of the strongest pound for pound teams at the Games. This starts to explain the positive buzz that these achievements are creating back home in the UK  - the performances, achievements and emotions at the Olympics are creating a genuine sense of national pride that is offsetting the bleak economic and weather outlooks this summer. As in our working lives, the hardest achievements are valued the most.

Success for team GB also creates connections and a greater sense of togetherness among the members of the United Kingdom – Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. When the Olympics are not around it’s so easy to focus on our local rivalries – even down to the level of rivalries between cities (football supporters are the prime example). But when we see people from all over Great Britain representing us and doing us proud these divisions are blurred or removed altogether. It would be nice to think that some of this pride and togetherness could roll forward after the Games. It also sets an example for organisations – aspiring to develop a sense of pride among our workforces similar to that which is generated by our Olympic achievements has to be a good thing.

One more thought – I think a word of congratulations has to go to our Government for the investment they have made in Olympic sports such as swimming, cycling and rowing. You don’t achieve the kind results we have seen in Beijing by getting lucky with talented athletes. It takes investment and more than a little dedication from those who are charged with implementing the plans – the managers, coaches and, of course, the athletes themselves. I’m looking forward to seeing how much better it can get and this is all before 2012 in London!

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Don’t panic!

August 15, 2008

On a number of fronts these past few months, we have all been caught up in “panic mode”, whether it is about the price of houses, food, petrol (price and availability), Council Services, the security of our jobs or the competency of our financial institutions.

So why the panic? Why do we see irrational “binge buying” when petrol distributors go on strike? People buying fuel they don’t even need when, if thinking rationally, they would see that usually plenty of fuel will be available by the time they need it and that the problem will be short-lived. The government knows from past experience that this is human nature and in these situations they now go to great lengths to put out messages that downplay the factors reinforcing such behaviour.

There may be several reasons driving irrational buying behaviour. The first is the most obvious: the natural “herd mentality” of people. If people see queues at petrol stations, they will worry about why people are queuing – “do they know something I don’t” – they then reinforce and perpetuate the panic by queuing themselves. As Albert Einstein once wrote, “imagination is more important than knowledge”. So, in these situations the quicker individual petrol stations get people in and out, the better. If queues occur, forecourt managers should consider putting a sign out indicating that there is no point in waiting, since there is at least four days’ worth of petrol at the station, even if there is high demand.

The second reason is slightly more serious and deep-rooted: it centres on the underlying insecurity in society at the moment, regardless of any particular shortage or strike action that may occur. People at present are feeling worried about the economy, about our financial institutions, about the cost of food and, ultimately, about the security of their jobs. When people feel insecure, they often feel they have little control over events, which makes them susceptible to panic situations and irrational behaviour – behaviour designed to stand them in good stead if ‘the worst happens’.

Perceiving that you lack control over your environment lays the foundations for protective behaviour, which in the case of the fuel strikes means acquiring as much petrol as possible. The “control issue” also extends to how much control we think the government has over the situation – in effect, becoming a “trust issue”. Therefore, the more the government is perceived to be doing something, the less the panic – it’s like control by proxy since the consumer has little or no control in this situation. The recent lorry driver blockades are an example of individuals trying to gain some control (over petrol prices), by influencing government policy and action. Of course, when a nation doesn’t trust a government anyway panic can kick in even sooner.

And finally, as we become more and more dependent on technology like the car, we become worse and worse at rationally thinking through alternative travel strategies. Our lifestyles are now fashioned around the car, rather than the car being fashioned around our lifestyles. This makes the insecurity more profound than it would have been 100 years ago when most people were used to living their lives in their local community. All this panic behaviour is very natural and evolutionary, but it pays to take a moment to think a rational thought that might help you to avoid an irrational act!!

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Blame Games

August 13, 2008

So the Olympics have got off to a positive start with an incredible opening ceremony and gold medals in the pool and the cycling for Team GB. But not all athletes have been as successful as we saw in the case of the 14 year old Tom Daley and Blake Aldridge, who came 8th out of 8 in the final of the 10M synchronised diving event on Monday.

However, it wasn’t until afterwards that the bullets started to fly as Aldridge (almost twice the age of Daley) told the press that he blamed his partner for their failure. He said:

“Unfortunately it’s a partnership; you both have to be on the top of your game. I wasn’t on top of my game but Tom was nowhere near the top of his.”

These kinds of comments are dangerous in what is essentially a team event and there are parallels with the world of work here, where blame cultures never, ever deliver good results. When blaming others for failures and looking for scapegoats becomes the norm in organisations it becomes toxic for those involved and for the business as a whole. Trust and responsibility breaks down, people resent those who should have taken responsibility and take this behaviour as a message or role model that gives them permission to do the same.

People often find it easier to blame ‘the system’ or the organisation and, by extension, its leaders as a group of people. However, this is no better than employees blaming each other and is just another substitute for taking responsibility and working together to solve the problems that arise as part of working life.

I hope the swimming coaches in Team GB have taken the time to sit Aldridge and Daley down and explain the value of sticking together to solve their problems, rather than trying to do so in the media. They should also be taking steps to ensure that this is not the start of a blame culture developing in Team GB, where individual athletes value their own success over that of the team. The Olympic silver medalist Leon Taylor, who acts as mentor to Tom Daley, had it right when he said,

“Synchronised diving is a partnership and the last thing you need to be doing is apportioning blame.”

He could have substituted the words ‘Synchronised diving’ for ‘Work’

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Posted by Cary Cooper

More golf lessons – pressure management

July 24, 2008

Reflecting further on the British Open and reading the coverage in the papers this week, I realised that another lesson about pressure management was played out at Royal Birkdale last weekend. The eventual winner, Padraig Harrington almost had to pull out of the tournament after injuring his wrist in practice. He got through an Open Championship that was played in hellish weather conditions to win out – and when he was interviewed afterwards he cited the wrist injury (and the threat of its return) as a positive factor in enabling him to win and, more specifically, in helping him to manage the immense pressure of the situation.

When questioned about why this was the case, he revealed that he actively used the injured wrist as a distraction from the pressure over the four days of the tournament. By focusing on protecting the wrist and how he needed to flex his game to take account of the injury he found a way of improving his concentration for ‘managing’ his way around one of the toughest courses in the world. It also enabled him to focus on his own game and not worry unduly about what the competition was doing. Harrington gave us all a great example of how a positive mindset can work to our advantage in adversity – he took a potentially disastrous situation and made it work for him in the context of defending the championship.

Another player who used a different perspective to his advantage was the leading Amateur Chris Wood, who like Justin Rose ten years ago, managed to beat the majority of the professional golfers by coming in the top five. Unlike Harrington, no one had any expectations of him, but he used this lack of pressure and attention to put in an amazing performance. Because he had not been there before there was nothing to be afraid of so he used his inexperience positively and to good effect. I suspect that this week he will not be ruing the fact that, as an amateur, he couldn’t collect the £150,000 his finish merited, but will be celebrating the performance, media attention and the experience it gave him.

Both of these great sportsmen have shown us that by taking a different mental approach and by being positive – great things are possible. And Harrington, in particular, reminds us that when things go wrong at work you can still have a happy ending!

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Posted by Cary Cooper

The British Open Golf teaches us something about well-being

July 21, 2008

I’m no golf fanatic, but I couldn’t help but be struck by the remarkable events of the last four days at Royal Birkdale where the best golfers in the world battled it out by the sea in the wind and the rain.

The tournament was remarkable for several reasons – not least for the sensational performance delivered by Greg Norman as he bid to become the oldest ever winner of the British Open at 53, competing as only a part-time golfer. He led after the first round (a nice story, but surely he’d fade away as the full-time pros got used to the conditions?); he led after the second round (this was getting interesting!); he led after the third round going into the final day and he even held the lead jointly going into the last nine holes. Although, in the end, the brilliance of last year’s champion Padraig Harrington came through, Norman’s third place has been widely hailed as one of the great Open performances of all time.

It’s also testament to the powers of physical and psychological well-being. Norman looked in great shape for a 53 year old (he looked ten years younger) and he also looked incredibly happy and relaxed. Much has been made this week of the bitter divorce that cost him dearly. On the other hand his recent marriage to former tennis star Chris Evert has reportedly been the key to his rehabilitation, he spoke in interviews about the strength and balance he took from having his ‘soul-mate’ around.

During his glittering career in the ‘80s and ‘90s he was the World Number 1 for over five years (a record), but he only won two major tournaments and earned a reputation as someone who threw winning positions away under pressure. Norman’s battles with his demons were well known, but this weekend they were banished - I suspect permanently. He displayed a mental approach that was characterised by well-being and positive psychology, as he coped with the enormous mounting pressure. And you could see him using his maturity to enable him to smile when things didn’t go his way – he was resilient.

Unlike, the eventual winner Padraig Harrington, Norman had no official right to be walking onto the 18th green at Royal Birkdale to receive the adulation of the huge and appreciative crowd on the final day of the Open. Although he didn’t win, I suspect that as someone who never thought they would experience that buzz again he feels like a winner this morning!!

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Posted by Cary Cooper

A clean start….and 100 new goals

July 17, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an article on the BBC news website about Ian Usher, who decided to make a clean break after splitting up with his wife, having emigrated to Australia 6 years ago from the UK. He did this by putting his entire life up for sale on ebay! Yes, everything – his house and all its contents, his car, motorcycle, Jet Ski and parachuting equipment. He even included aspects of his lifestyle such as an introduction to his friends and a two week trial run at his job in a rug store – so he really was selling it all.

He states his reason for doing this on his website (http://www.alife4sale.com/index.htm) and the main driver is to do with moving on from all reminders of the life that didn’t work out with his former wife. This is despite the fact that he enjoyed his lifestyle and job in Perth, and had great friends. Before the sale went through he wrote on his website:

“On the day it’s all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all”

Now, we’ve all probably had days where we’ve felt like doing this – but how many of us would actually go ahead and do it? Mr Usher is clearly hoping that selling his life will be the major cathartic experience that enables him to move on psychologically and start to live his life again. I sincerely hope that it works out this way for him, but there is a fine line between healthy unloading of issues and running away from them - it will be interesting to see how he feels a few weeks / months into his new life.

Interestingly, Mr Usher is not hanging around – since selling his life he has launched a new website which focuses on his new life (http://www.100goals100weeks.com/index.php) where, as the address indicates, he has laid out 100 goals to achieve in 100 weeks. Now, this is a move that we could all probably learn something from - because by giving himself clear (mostly) achievable goals he has restructured his life in a way that will stretch him to seek new experiences and learn new skills. All of which is great provided that it’s anchored by an overall goal or vision of the kind of new life that he wants to lead.

Of course, Ian’s position is rare because he is unencumbered by the responsibilities of a steady job and a nuclear family, which makes it easier for him to do this than for most of us. But he’s earned that because of the huge risk he’s taken and I wish him luck over the next 100 weeks…..and I hope that Richard Branson is at home when Ian calls by to meet him!!
http://www.100goals100weeks.com/goals_List.php?page=1

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Diaries of a novice blogger… part 2….the silent audience?

March 28, 2008

Since my last post about the extent to which social networking and blogging are used in the HR community, I have been thinking more about this topic. I have scanned quite a few of the better known HR-related blogs and noticed one overwhelming trend that seems to apply to all of them: Blog readers hardly ever post comments.

There are obviously exceptions to this rule and I have been lucky enough to elicit a few comments myself – so ‘commentors’ you can ignore this post! But this got me thinking about readers’ motives for visiting blogs. The implication is that it’s very much an information gathering or learning exercise, rather than being driven by a desire to get involved in a debate with experts or with fellow blog readers. I’m very happy to be proved wrong (feel free to do this by immediately posting a comment!!!), but I’m sure that this is a fairly common pattern in the field of HR and beyond.

So it seems like there might be a somewhat vicarious army of HR blog readers out there – amassing interesting information in silence. Maybe once your voice is heard you move from being ‘blog reader’ to ‘blogger’ the experience is changed forever??

But from my own experience, I can only encourage you to take the plunge and become a fully fledged blogger. Sharing your views and reacting to other people’s opinions in a free flowing way can be genuinely rewarding and can lead to understanding and realisations that wouldn’t be possible if you were reading a book or newspaper.

End of diary………for now.  

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Diaries of a novice blogger…

March 25, 2008

I’m still just a novice blogger as I’ve only been doing this for a couple of months, but I have to say that it’s been a really interesting experience. I’ve been writing books and articles and commenting in the media for years, but self-publishing has given me a completely new perspective on things.

It’s also left me wondering about the extent to which HR professionals are using social media and web 2.0. This is your cue to write a comment and tell me the answer to this conundrum…..

But seriously, who in the HR community is getting value from reading, writing and contributing to blogs? Based on my own recent experience I have no doubt that there is a great deal of value to be gained from this medium, but I wonder if we did a survey of HR Directors how many would have ever read a blog, let alone written one? Maybe I’d be surprised; maybe someone should run the survey?

Or is it just the younger members of the HR profession who have grown up with the internet who see social networking as a legitimate and valuable tool for delivering their work objectives and developing as individuals? I certainly think they are the easiest group to convert, but do they feel empowered to use the technology during working hours?

If my hunch that social networking only touches a fraction of HR professionals is correct, what are the barriers? Is it time? Is there a skill gap? Somehow I doubt it, but I do suspect that there is a mindset out there that says it’s not real work unless you’re writing a report or a policy. Or maybe it’s really all about marketing and HR blogs are not marketed effectively enough to be widely used? At the end of the day, we would all click on a link if we thought it would deliver information that was valuable to us.

As you can see, there are more questions than answers, but one thing I am sure about is that the more senior HR staff we can get modelling this behaviour, the sooner it will start to become a legitimate use of time and a real source of value for businesses.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Whitehall studies prove link between workplace stress and heart disease

February 11, 2008

Researchers at University College London (UCL) who have been studying the same cohort of Civil Service employees since 1985 announced this major finding last week and I believe this constitutes a real call to action for UK employers.

This type of long-term research provides a unique and reliable insight into how work conditions impact us over time to produce certain health outcomes, so we have to take its conclusions seriously. The research documented how workers felt about their jobs, monitored heart rate variability, blood pressure, and the amount of the stress hormone cortisol that was in the blood. They also collected information about diet, exercise, smoking and drinking. They then looked at out how many people had developed coronary heart disease (CHD) or suffered a heart attack and how many had died as a result.

The results showed that chronic work stress was associated with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) – particularly in men and woman under 50. And because the measures were taken over many years and included a full range of lifestyles (i.e. good and bad), there is no dodging the conclusions – in fact, the researchers controlled for the effect of lifestyle and still the link was proven.

For many years, this link between workplace stress and CHD has been suggested, but never has it been so starkly demonstrated. Business psychologists often talk about the links between well-being and the bottom-line business outcomes to convince organisations to tackle stress at work – well, forget productivity and absenteeism as outcomes, it doesn’t get much more bottom-line having a heart attack and dying!

These kinds of conclusions are forcing employers to sit up, take notice and carefully consider their responsibilities for providing a workplace environment where stress prevention is second nature, but also one where active steps are taken to promote well-being. So, not only do employers meet their statutory responsibilities as an employer, they also improve their business and ensure that their success is sustainable.

You can see the full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2498217.stm

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Posted by Cary Cooper

The loyalty test – how long would you keep working without pay?

January 15, 2008

I am a keen football fan – for many years I have followed Manchester City, but I’m also a fan of football in general so I’m no stranger to the back pages of the newspapers. Every year the FA cup, and in particular the 3rd round, throws up its giant killing stories but one caught my eye this year for different reasons.

It was about the League One club Luton Town FC who are having a difficult time of things financially, but who landed a big tie with Liverpool in the 3rd round of the Cup. The result of this was that the manager and the players were not paid in November, and received only 50% of their wages in December – a difficult prelude to Christmas for all concerned. So far, most of the players have stayed with the club, but now Luton have earned a lucrative replay with Liverpool and the manager faces the prospect of seeing his best players leave in the January transfer window.  

This made me think about how an equivalent situation would play out in the world of business or the public sector. I suspect that many of us would have very little patience if our boss told us that he/she couldn’t pay our full wages for two months running… and then added that the organisation still really needed us to carry on working at the top of our game. It’s almost unimaginable, isn’t it? It would probably be something that could only possibly happen in smallish, family businesses where there exists a sense of ‘loyalty beyond reason’. The kind of society we live in means that the vast majority of us would have too many financial commitments to be able to forego our salary at all, let alone for several months.  

However, it is worth considering what these smaller organisations achieve when staff are willing to lose out on pay for the broader good of the business. Imagine the potential for bigger business if their staff were so engaged that they would be willing to make such sacrifices. But is it possible to develop a workforce in a big business that feels like a family? Certainly with latest research findings that show clear links between levels of employee engagement and levels of productivity it seems it would be a goal worth achieving for many large organisations. In this sense, workplaces can be very much like families – if it feels like a good place to be high levels of loyalty follow.  

As for Luton Town FC, I wish them luck against Liverpool - both on the pitch and financially!!  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/luton_town/7154021.stm 

http://www.robertsoncooper.com/Pages/Products/ASSET/Wellbeing-Productivity-Link2.aspx  

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Posted by Cary Cooper

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