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Activate Your Potential!

15/3/2019

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CEO to HRD: "What if we spend this money on developing our staff and they leave?"
HRD to CEO: "What if we don't and they stay?"

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For all the memes about developing staff, for most businesses, development and training budgets are finite. Joking aside, once an investment in learning has been made it's tough to see the recipient walk out of the door.

People will always leave jobs and a degree of employee turnover is healthy. But how can you stop people walking away unnecessarily or for the wrong reasons?

​People are more likely to stay in companies when:
  • they feel they are valued
  • they know that their contribution is recognised
  • they have meaningful work to do
  • they can express their strengths and personal values
  • they know that they are learning and developing

This is the basis to flourishing people and teams.
​"I would recommend this programme to anyone looking to progress in their career. It is a great opportunity to think more strategically and focus on their career"
​"The programme was excellent"
Our Activate Your Potential! programme is designed to meet all of these needs. Aligning each person's individual strengths, career aspirations and values with the objectives of their team and organisation, the programme provides a structured and unique development experience for each person.

​The programme is typically delivered over nine months, with a team of dedicated executive coaches. 

​For more information, see here, call us on 01223 655667 or email us for further details - enquiries@managingchange.org.uk.
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Using Strengths Enhances Well-being and Engagement

25/1/2019

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​There is growing support for the claim that using your signature strengths enhances work performance, engagement and personal well-being (see one of our earlier articles Playing to Strengths).

Previous studies have found evidence that the active use of strengths enhances work engagement and reduces sickness absenteeism. Now a new study* has linked the daily use of personal strengths with enhanced well-being and has included the impact that personality type has on their effectiveness.
Organisations and managers should facilitate employee strengths use, because when employees employ these strengths they are more dedicated and energised at work
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The researchers found that employees actively employing their signature strengths at work build their own positive attitude and engagement with work. They have found that personality type does affect the impact of using personal strengths. For example, those who measure high in Extraversion and low in Neuroticism experience greater benefit from daily strengths use. 
​
What about those people who are high in Neuroticism? Their findings suggest that people who are impulsive and more prone to stress (and who may experience feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, and depression more regularly) derive little benefit from strengths use without additional support. Given that the use of strengths does have beneficial impact, the authors suggest that these people may require additional personal and/or environmental support to facilitate their use. 

This study provides further confirmation that the use of strengths is an important predictor of positive affect which is particularly important in working environments that require learning and creativity.

The authors conclude that "organisations and managers should facilitate employee strengths use, because when employees employ these strengths they are more dedicated and energised at work".

If you'd like to know more about the use of Strengths in your organisation and how this can help your teams enhance their performance, engagement and well-being, get in touch.
​e: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk
* Daily strengths use and employee well-being: The moderating role of personality. Arnold B. Bakker1* , Jørn Hetland2, Olav Kjellevold Olsen2 and Roar Espevik2,  Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 2018
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Playing to Strengths

13/2/2015

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In our development work with leaders and teams we emphasise the importance of creating positive, energising working environments. We say that this is essential in order to facilitate the best performance from ourselves, and for our colleagues and teams.

We're also aware that this can just sound like the latest management 'blah blah' speak! So, is this really important and what is it about?

As the conditions in which we work become more pressurised and stressful, so our performance tends to decrease at a corresponding rate. When we work in positive, energising environments, our performance increases accordingly. What is going on?

Simply put, stressful conditions cause us to feel anxious - levels of stress hormones (particularly cortisol) increase and the short term effect on the brain is to negatively affect our cognitive thinking ability. Our ability to process information, make decisions and to make judgments is impaired (when we are highly stressed our IQ is said to temporarily decrease around 10 points which is quite a drop when you consider that the average IQ is always 100). In the longer term, sustained exposure to high cortisol levels is associated with heart disease, stomach ulcers, and increased abdominal fat, among others. So, conditions of negative stress are not good for us in terms of well-being, are linked to poor performance, and are not a particularly satisfying or rewarding way of working either. We are simply not at our best when under these conditions.

When we are at our best however our brains are influenced by (and influencing) different conditions. When levels of hormones such as seratonin and dopamine rise they help to reduce cortisol levels and are also associated with an increase in critical thinking capacity, decision making and judgment, and creativity. The ease and speed with which 'information' flows around our neural pathways is optimised This is when we do our best work. Associated with this are lower stress levels, lower rates of heart disease, quicker recovery from illness, increased confidence and greater happiness. [See Shaun Achor's TEDTalk about the "Happiness Advantage]

Let's make it easy...So the question for leadership teams is, how do we create these positive conditions in which we and our teams may flourish?

This is where the strengths approach comes in. Evidence shows that using our strengths more and focusing on our weaknesses less, helps to create those optimal brain conditions. People who use their strengths more:
  • are happier and more confident
  • have higher levels of energy and vitality
  • experience less stress and are more resilient
  • perform better at work and are more engaged

Our strengths-based team work starts with an assessment of individual and collective strengths with follow-up feedback to ensure understanding and awareness. We then coach and facilitate individuals and teams in strategies and actions to harness their strengths to maximum advantage whilst at the same time minimising the impact of weaknesses. Our experience in this work repeatedly confirms the performance benefits of creating optimistic, energised, positive working environments and doing away with negative, highly-critical and even hostile working conditions. And, by the way, this does much to enhance job satisfaction and happiness too...

​We believe that life can be complicated enough. Let's make our work performance, and the personal fulfilment that results, as easy as it can be.
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  • Home
  • Development
    • Executive Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching & Development
    • Psychometrics and 360 Feedback
    • Programmes >
      • Leadership Development Programmes
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      • Maternity Coaching
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