Do leaders and managers care about the well-being of their team members?

February 24, 2012

Research by the British Heart Foundation this week reveals that one third of people think their bosses don’t care about their well-being. But as with so many of these surveys, the results leave me wanting to ask more questions! And the main one here is, what is the leader’s perspective on this? Do they really not care? I think there are a number of possibilities at play:

1. They really don’t care.
There are undoubtedly some nightmare bosses out there, those who think people should ‘just get on with it’, or who don’t understand anyone that works in a different style to themselves. But I’d like to think this isn’t the case for two thirds of people! What is possible is that they’re so busy struggling with their own demands they don’t see the impact they’re having on their teams. In these cases they just need more support themselves. And even if they really just ‘don’t care’, you can still appeal to the bottom line; improving well-being will help their team to perform better – which reflects well on them!

2. They don’t know how to care.
By this, I mean that they don’t realise what they can do to impact on employee well-being, or think it is just the responsibility of the employee themselves. Only one in three private sector organisations have a well-being strategy in place and although this rises to two in three for the public sector, it still suggests that the organisation are unlikely to be doing enough to support managers in this area. There are tools available which can uncover how a manager’s style affects their workgroup. It’s best to build this understanding around a framework such as the 6 Essentials of workplace well-being, which break down the areas of impact to make them more accessible.

3. They do care, but this isn’t well communicated to employees.
Employers can be doing a lot to try to improve employee well-being but if it’s not well communicated it will be impossible for the individual or the organisation to reap the rewards. Leaders and managers should seek to help this communication process, and employees need to take the opportunities up! And if the employees are right, and one in three leaders don’t care about well-being, then that still leaves two out of three that do. This success needs to be recognised and shared throughout the organisation and across to others in order to change the culture.

Finally, both employees and managers need to remember that achieving true well-being requires a balance of challenge and support – it’s not just about being ‘nice’ all the time!

To find out more about how managers and employees can take action to improve well-being, read this free chapter from the Business Well-Being Network annual report: ‘Robertson Cooper’s 6 Essentials of workplace well-being‘.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

It’s never too early to get engaged

February 17, 2012

Successful restaurant chain, Yo! Sushi, has ambitious plans to double their number of outlets over the next year. It’s great to hear about growth at a time when so many companies are struggling, and what’s really admirable about their approach is the recognition of the importance of employee engagement. 25% of their staff will be taking part in a three day consultation with the executive board on the company’s culture and how they can ‘wow’ customers. Yo! Sushi obviously identify with the ‘satisfaction mirror’ concept, and understand that this wow factor relies on a happy, healthy workforce.

Another thing I like about this story is that they are starting this from existing high levels of employee engagement. It’s not about an emergency response to a problem, but about maintaining these high levels and developing a firm cultural foundation from which to grow.

I’m not sure how many of the Sunday Times 100 fastest growing companies are taking this pro-active approach, but they’d do well to take note. It can be easy to just ‘muddle through’ when you’re dealing with rapid success and your priorities are (understandably) meeting commitments to existing clients while taking on new ones, ensuring cash flow, recruiting new staff and so on. But if you can take a step back you’re in a unique position to develop the culture you want right from the start. I’m sure there are many engagement and well-being specialists in large organisations who would love the chance to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch!

Click below to hear Jamie Mitchell, former MD of Innocent drinks, talking at the Business Well-Being Network Annual Conference about how they coped with their growth spurt.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Skills under-utilisation and missed opportunities

February 15, 2012

As unemployment continues to rise the need to reverse the trend becomes ever more pressing. For many, any job would be a welcome one, for financial reasons, but also to break a spell of long term unemployment which results in low levels of confidence.

But taking ‘any’ job increases the likelihood of skills under-utilisation; and according to a recent publication by The Work Foundation this is a particular problem in the UK, especially among low-wage workers.

The situation has developed as a result of both demand side factors (poor skills utilisation due to job design and corporate strategies) and the supply side issues (with skills gaps among the labour force) – but it’s the former that is the faster growing problem.

Although the short term benefits of finding a job are obvious and welcome, the long term implications of under-utilisation are a risk to the well-being of the individual, the performance of organisations and therefore the strength of the wider economy. For the individual, skills under-utilisation is often a result of organisational structure, with a sharp polarisation between high skilled and low skilled jobs. For the low skilled, this often manifests itself as a lack of autonomy and poor job conditions – two of the six key drivers of employee well-being.

At the higher level, better utilisation of skills could help to close the gap between the productivity levels of the UK and its competitor countries. Organisations that restrict an employee’s ability to utilise their full skill set are failing to take advantage of a considerable source of competitive advantage which already exists within the business.

In a month when firms like AstraZeneca and Nokia are announcing redundancies, and the likes of McDonalds and Starbucks are the ones increasing their workforces, this issue looks set to become increasingly relevant.

For a full exploration of the issues please see ‘The Skills Dilemma: Skills Under-Utilisation and Low-Wage Work’ produced for The Work Foundation by Jonny Wright and Paul Sissons.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Teaching failure

February 8, 2012

I read earlier this week that a top girls school is introducing a ‘failure week’, to help their pupils get used to the idea that it is normal to make mistakes and that some risks should be taken, with the aim of building resilience. This is a valuable lesson, particularly for those so used to succeeding that the prospect of failure can become quite scary.

The importance of this was also highlighted in another recent article, about American entrepreneurship. One of the reasons put forward for the US spirit of entrepreneurship is that this lesson is more easily learnt – that failure is deemed almost a necessary step on the path to success. I think this approach, and what the school is trying to teach, is much healthier than the alternative. It means people won’t hold back for fear of failure, nor is failure likely to feel as devastating. By experiencing only success even the thought of failure can cause disproportionate, and restrictive, panic.

Trying your very best and something not working out is obviously different to failure as a result of lack of effort! But schools and businesses should prepare their pupils and employees for the former if they want them to reach their potential.

For Guardian coverage of Robertson Cooper helped Winstanley College to develop resilient pupils, click here.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Dying regrets

February 3, 2012

I’m afraid this blog may seem a little morbid for a Friday, but an article this week brought back to me how important getting the work-life balance right really is.  A palliative nurse has written a book which talks about the regrets she has discussed with those nearing the end of their lives.  Number two was ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’.

Of course people recognise that for most of us work is a necessary part of life – and several research projects have shown that it is better for our health than unemployment.  In the moment we justify that we have to work, for financial security, or we assume that ‘ambitious’ should be a permanent state.

The alternative does not have to be no work at all, or working only enough to maintain a ‘minimum’ living standard.  What we should be considering is not necessarily working less, but working better. This might mean flexible working to allow people to make parent’s evening, a special birthday, or just be home in time for dinner; offered within a culture where people feel able to take advantage.  Unfortunately, many organisations and individuals are not open enough to new ways of working, or cannot see the wood for the trees when mid-career.

There’s a second strand to this as well, and that’s about creating ‘good work’, work that is purposeful and that promotes a sense of achievement.  Yes, work might still get in the way of life, but if it also enriches us as individuals (as well as having positive knock on effects), it won’t feel so much like something that ‘got in the way’.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the relationship between happiness and wealth, this kind of evidence suggests that we need to work on getting our priorities straight before it’s too late.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Government funded workplace mental health support service

January 26, 2012

Last week I posted a blog expressing my disappointment about the way mental health is still viewed by some employers, and explaining that in light of increasing demands the importance of workplace support in this area is greater than ever. So I was heartened to hear that a government funded workplace mental health pilot has now become a national initiative and will be available for the next three years to support individuals with mental health conditions to retain employment. The new service was launched in December 2011 and is being delivered by Remploy. It is fully funded through Access to Work (a Jobcentre Plus scheme) and therefore comes at no cost to the individual or employer – welcome news in the climate of ongoing cut backs and austerity measures.

The emergence of services like this, alongside the continually increasing recognition of mental well-being as a business critical issue hopefully means we’ll soon see an improvement in the number of people with mental health conditions who report feeling well supported at work.

To find out more about this welcome new service, you can contact the team at Remploy on 0845 146 0520, email vocationalrehabilitation@remploy.co.uk or visit their website for more details. 

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Healthy, wealthy and happy – can we have all three?

January 16, 2012

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has today released a report containing research which, they claim, shows that the leading indicator of happiness is wealth. The conclusion that the IEA, the free market think-tank, draws is that the government should forget their investment in, and promotion of, ‘general wellbeing’ and concentrate on boosting growing the UK economy.

At the heart of the argument is a disagreement with the so-called ‘Easterlin’ school of thought which holds that after a certain point our wealth no longer drives our happiness. Amongst other things, the new report contends that 20% more wealth has the same affect whether you earn $500 a year or $50,000 a year.

As a psychologist it’s not my place to enter into an argument about the economics that sit behind the assertions made by the two sides in this debate. I’m sure that it’s possible to use the data to construct arguments to support both positions. However, what concerns me about the new research is the implication that focusing on happiness, well-being and mental health is a waste of time…and that we should just get back to making money!

Research of this kind is based on pulling together macroscopic financial data from many countries and connecting it with very general ‘life satisfaction’ scores. It has its place, but it doesn’t necessarily tell the story about what is happening on the ground. Money is important to all of us – of course – but it is only one of the many things that influence how we feel and how happy we are with our lives. The data in any given year may nudge us in one direction or the other, but how can we forget recent examples of footballers grappling with depression and mental illness? Or the many stories of lottery winners who fail to find happiness? Or our own experiences of what really makes us happy on a day-to-day basis? How much evidence do we need before we accept that money alone is never enough to bring true happiness? For the vast majority of people it’s about finding the right blend of relationships, health, social support, achievement, community, family, love, work, money and a whole host of other things. In short, it’s about living a balanced life.

I don’t think this new finding should in any way put off David Cameron and the government in their attempts to measure and develop the happiness of the nation.  The current effort is partly about encouraging those who have enough money, or are within touching distance of that ‘saturation point’, to consider more deeply what they want; to think about whether they need more money or whether it would benefit them and their community if they knew how to live a happy life, whatever their financial status.

Yes, in our economy wealthy people at the top need to continue to create wealth so there is a trickle-down effect – but if we leave it at that we are setting a dangerous precedent for the aspiring middle classes who will assume (as many do now) that the goal is to get rich, rather than to live a good life and contribute to the happiness of others. The current government’s efforts are as much a response to massive increases in mental ill-health, as they are to the sense that we are focusing on the wrong things. In this sense, I agree with the assertion that we can no longer afford to focus on growth at all costs and to the detriment of our health.

I do think, though,  that the government is in for a tough fight in the face of challenges such as those issued by the IEA report. On the one hand the coalition is promoting happiness as an ultimate goal that will bring us a sustainable economy and better lives – ones that don’t rely unrealistically on credit and spending on things we don’t need. Yet, right now we are trapped inside an economy that is based on, and demands, growth. Every headline bemoans the lack of it and over Christmas we were again encouraged to get out there and spend to help the ailing high street. All that talk of ‘make do and mend’ that we heard a few years back has faded and we’ve been encouraged to revert to our former spending patterns. So the government has a dilemma: does it want us to genuinely change the goal of the whole enterprise to be about achieving happiness or does it want us to focus on growth? If the only way to get happy is growth then we are, as the new research would have it, back to square one!

In reality, this points to an awkward transition period where we need old levels of growth to support the nation’s economy (which will, in turn, support our old habits!) while we try to make a shift to a new way of living and working based on different values. Maybe we need some signposts for how this will be achieved – this could be about moderating our growth targets slightly in favour of changing the way we do business – taking the hit now for the long-term strategic benefits this will bring. It will be a massive challenge, but no one ever said this would be easy and we now need to decide whether we’re up for it or not!

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Are we being too pessimistic?

January 10, 2012

In a recent Chartered Management Institute forecast report on business expectations for 2012, based on 772 managers throughout the UK, and in all sectors, it was found that ‘43% of managers felt optimistic about their organisation’s prospects’ for 2012 but only 8% felt optimistic about the UK’s performance in the same period.  In terms of the latter, the three factors that loomed large were ‘the restructuring of the public finances, the price of energy and the instability of the euro’.

What is worrying about the findings in this CMI survey is that the mantra being projected by economists, media and even some in government is more pessimistic than the businesses on the ground. Indeed, in this report only 33% were pessimistic about the future of their business – that’s still too high, but the majority of businesses were more positive than negative.  Of the three main concerns, government can do something about the first two, and, in addition, begin to create a more positive culture, trying to avoid the ‘doom and gloom’ that we constantly hear from all quarters.  The psychology, and not merely the economics of the economy, is now paramount in trying to instill confidence in businesses to invest, expand and export.

Let’s attempt in 2012 to be more optimistic, to have a ‘can do’ attitude.  As George Bernard Shaw in his play Mrs. Warren’s Profession wrote: “people are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them!”

Future Forecast: Expectations for 2012 by Pearson, G and Woodman, P., Chartered Management Institute, Dec 2011.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Guest blog spot – Ben Moss

January 5, 2012

ImageToday the TUC released their Labour Force Survey results (Summer Quarter 2011) showing that 5.3 million workers put in an average of 7.2 hours of unpaid overtime a week last year, worth around £5,300 a year per person.  The headline is that “Workers gave bosses almost 2 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year, or the equivalent of 1 million full-time jobs” .  I have to take issue with this conclusion.

Just because there is extra work to be done (there is always extra work to be done!) it doesn’t mean that employers are in a position to create more jobs.  To draw that conclusion is to ignore the fact that we are in a stagnant economy that shows little sign of future growth.  How can you create 1 million jobs when there is no extra money to pay for them and the strong probability that such reckless decision-making would put whole companies and therefore, millions more jobs at risk?  To me, this is just more of the same rhetoric from the unions who seem unable to acknowledge the fact that the money just simply isn’t there.  At best, they are stuck on the compromise position that the cuts are required, provided that none affect their members.

Of course, overload and lack of work-life balance are serious issues – and we neglect them at our peril – but working hours above those specified in your contract have long been part of working life in the UK and other first world nations.  In fact, many contracts specify that this will sometimes be required – it is part of a mature psychological contract between employer and employee in developed countries. Employers must create the conditions for the work situation to be perceived as fair – for example, a sense of control, flexible working arrangements, a sense of purpose and good line management.  At the same time, employees must take responsibility for managing their own work-life balance – for example, many actively want to work extra hours for their existing salary to reach the next level in their career and they should be allowed to do this.  We must avoid presenteeism, but this can be achieved through good management, good relationships and good judgements on the part of employees.

This is the reality of working life today – we are not in a temporary state of crisis that will soon pass.  Using statistics like these to effectively bully employers into recklessly creating jobs is not the answer.  We have to find ways to work from within organisations to create a more sustainable way of doing business.

Follow Ben on Twitter: @psycho_boss

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Posted by Cary Cooper

Who are you?

January 4, 2012

I don’t want to dwell on the usual New Year’s resolutions of joining the gym, giving up smoking or eating more fruit.  Instead I’d like to encourage readers to consider one that we can all do for our own benefit, and the benefit of those around us; getting to know ourselves a little better.

You might think you know yourself fairly well already!  But actually, in lots of training sessions we ask reflective questions that many people struggle to respond to.  Even ‘what makes you happy?’ – a seemingly easy question – can be difficult to genuinely answer.  This is partly because it is easy for people to become ‘set in their ways’ and not challenge the way they think or behave, even if it’s unhelpful.  It can also be because we’re so caught up in day-to-day activity, or focusing solely on making others happy, that we forget our own, personal ‘bigger picture’.

Similarly, there are many people who do not understand what triggers certain feelings within themselves.  So we respond with irrational levels of, for example, fear, anger and guilt – making the situation seem worse than it truly is and moving us further away from a successful outcome.

The benefits of understanding our natural responses, as well as reconsidering our goals and values, are huge. It gives a starting point to work on strengths and address our weaknesses.  That’s not to say that we all need change completely, indeed, personality is quite fixed. But the way we approach situations can be altered so that we get more out of them; whether it’s overcoming your fear of presentations or having an open conversation with your teenage daughter.

I don’t want this to become another item on the to-do list, and success does not mean digesting a self-help tomb!  It’s just something to be aware of, and be open to working on when you get the opportunity. And if you already recognise things about yourself that you might like to change, they may be a burden that you’ve got used to carrying with you.  Now’s the time to do things differently and whether the change is big or small, congratulate yourself for taking action.

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Posted by Cary Cooper

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