You need to find a better way

5 Better Ways to Secure Futures

1. Change the rules of the game, from compete to innovate; “break the rules”; after all real change comes from changing the way you think.  Encourage difference; easier said than done but the “exclusivity of thinking the same” changes very little.

2. Centre your appraisal program on generating ideas to improve your customer’s experience, lots of them all of the time.  Share them and some of them may even get put into practice.

3. Empower your teams and people to tell you what they think; making change happen on the ground where it matters most and improving service delivery.  Some will love this accountability and others will need help, lots of it.  And oh be ready to help your managers find their coaching skills in this type of culture. 

4. Invest in researching what your customers think.

5. Abandon suggestion boxes, after all shouldn’t we thinking outside of boxes? Link your induction, appraisal and recognition schemes together, makes change faster and a lot simpler.

Is innovation something you can do every day?  How do you make time to think at work?

A study of 6,000 people conducted in collaboration with a large healthcare firm asked respondents questions about where, when, and how people did their best thinking. Only 10% said it happened at work – that much I thought?!

1350 people participated in the Disability Care Australia conference on the 23 and 24 June in Melbourne; thinking together about how to secure the future for the 4 million disabled living in Australia.  Facilitating new ideas about how to be NDIS ready.

How do you make time to think at work?

Don’t ignore your impact

You probably know or should know that 1 in 5 Australians are disabled.

Living, like all Australians; you and me with a vision 4 life; with very ordinary needs and high expectations for the future.

1000 people from across Australia will be at the forthcoming Disability Care Conference in Melbourne on Sunday 23 and Monday 24 June; taking risks; sharing; to create a better future for the 4 million living with a disability in Aus.

Inspiring people creating more than better ways of working Kate; better ways of living for an important and diverse group. In awe and privileged to be there in just 4 days.

Who said that…? Lots of people know;

Measuring what costs you most will save you $.

Reducing staff turnover will save you $ in recruitment costs, people’s time and we all know the consequential benefits of continuity for the customer

Taking annual leave makes sense for everybody

Implementing graduate management programs to reduce average cost per hire will both deliver you a unique talent pipeline and save you money in the long run.

Prevent injuries.

They’re boring but they matter; policies in the use of overtime, effective use of casuals and rostering guidelines

What is most important; talent or hard work?  Well isn’t it just like Fish & Chips, Charlie & Lola and Posh n’ Becks?

You can’t have one without the other surely?

Stop, pause and think. Some might say that everybody has a talent; you know that thing you find yourself doing naturally and often.

Some might say that unfulfilled talent just needs more practice.  Does that mean that this person needs to work harder?

What in your experience gets your vote?

This better be good Kate was once upon a time feedback from an underwhelming manager. No pressure.  Clearly my intention was never to do a good job, and certainly my enthusiasm and ideas should be curbed, dare it be different or contagious.  Culminating in a piece of well-intentioned but marvellously unhelpful work weary advice from a more established team player; don’t be yourself Kate!

Sound familiar?  Leave yourself at the door and get on with more, just do more, don’t really stop to think and those deep connections with colleagues can actually harm rather than help. And emails, plenty of them telling you what to do, what not to do, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do and please can you do. It seemingly never stops and the list goes on.

And what about initiative fatigue, lots of people across different functions in silos developing, redeveloping, reengineering and updating processes and programs, when simplification and less, clarity of who does what with meaningful targets and recognition would go a long way to improving the experience at work.

Heck HR is the worst offender in many instances yet can add value in so many other ways; enabling implementation of strategy in engaging ways, a champion for lobbying others ideas and a cultural daredevil daring organisations to permit their people to think and be themselves.

The good news is that the world of work did get better but the everyday experience of corporate life in my 20 years of working has left me with a quest to help others create better experiences for their people at work.

Ever heard the phrase see everything, ignore some of it and focus on one? It can happen and it can contribute to achieving things you wouldn’t think possible. What made one of my bosses really great was his stunning ability to be focused on what’s important, an obsession with measurement to improve for his customers, moving at pace and creating excitement with his people and enabling us to be ourselves at all times.

The good news is that a better way does exist and every business can make experiences at working better than today.

Do you know this feeling? Set up by someone else to meet with somebody you have only ever heard about, maybe a picture if you’ve Googled their name.  You meet at the designated time, date & place and lo and behold they are late. You’re feeling nervous with butterflies and sweaty palms, will they like me, what will they ask and I am ready?

You meet and first impressions are lasting impressions. You like them but you think that you talked too much and really unsure that the pink shirt worked! You walk away hoping that you get another chance; however fleeting.

You sit by the phone the next day, waiting to hear from them, hoping they want to see you again. A week has passed and nothing, don’t just let me down gently, just let me down!  Then a call out of the blue, a request to meet the parents; you are a bit over the delay but heck it’s probably worth seeing where and how they live.

The big day comes and you arrive at their plush surroundings, clearly they have been successful and this makes you even more nervous.  The paid help greets you and you notice that your prospective beloved has temporarily disappeared in some other part of the surroundings. Doesn’t bother you and you settle in for another assessment of suitability and fit for the “family”.    You have just half an hour to make a decision of a lifetime; these are obviously busy people but is that enough time to qualify my credentials and potential?

And then it goes quiet for 2 weeks and I wonder have they spoken to my friends? I will be sure to tell them what this family is like. Do they want me? Do I want them crosses my mind as I keep searching for more dates.  We could have worked out so well!

My matchmaker calls with good news, I am in and the official 2^nd date is confirmed however it’s for a trial 6 months whilst we figure out if it will work, no formal marriage proposal yet but I have time to impress!

Sound familiar? This experience of work includes the pre-employment stage of recruitment; somebody needs to tell the parents.