Sunday 8 September 2013

Reward & Recognition - Performance Management and the integral role of Managers in organisational and employee development.

Most companies have yet to arrive at the realisation of understanding the importance of appointing to management, capable employees who are talented in and committed to managing people well. Many fail to realise the accountability of poor performance at lower levels actually sits with managers, this means ensuring supervisors themselves are well-managed and engaged. Middle-management definitely needs more love. Achieveable by implementing a functional employee engagement strategy as opposed to tackling a range of problems caused by the lack of that overall strategy. Research shows that australians have been known to respond exceptionally well to great management, a 'cool culture', meaningful recognition and opportunities to take on new challenges. The overall employee output and the intensity of this output can be directly measured by the level of investment an employer makes in improving that overall experience at work. In other words, you get the engagement and performance you deserve. Nothing, absoloutely nothing is more important and more intstrumental than an awesome manager who has the ability to individualise the company's approach on behalf of that employee. And yet, only 9% of employees strongly agree their managers understand them, one in two employees think their manager is incompetent (hahaha). Yes, comical but this is derived from a 2013 Hewitt study of employee engagement. The relationship an employee holds with their direct manager is the most important. They serve as an intemediary between the employee and the wider organisation. Helping the employee understand and make sense of what changes are taking place in the wider business, and how this affects the employee. And when it comes to helping those who are interested to progress with their careers either within their roles or beyond, the immediate manager should act as a sponsor or a mentor, someone who connects people with opportunities and can secure the right resources and approval to make it possible. The concept CLEARLY DEFINING performance expectations is equally important. Making sure that general divisional teams and processes are aligned with objectives, managing cooperative relationships within cross-functional teams and providing people adequate resources and necessary support to kick goals necessary to do their job and push boundaries where possible. This all forms part of the BASICS of effectively managing people but what is equally important is the responsibility of middle management towards fostering an environment that enables high performance (ie HP>D not HP

Utterly confused head space, stagnant career - normal part of human development?

At a time when most teenagers (and, let’s face it, those of us in our mid-twenties aswel) are struggling just to get out of bed, the story of a courageous and adventurous nineteen year old is being aired on prime time television. A fearless individual with nothing to lose and only everything to gain, speaks of the importance of believing in your passion and the courage to pursue it. “You gotta take it as it is, and do it”. Thanks, ‘Flyin Ryan’. "All of our lives we spend listening to everybody else, we want to please them, we want them to approve whatever we’ve done its almost a caged feeling. LEARN TO SAY NO!" - Alicia Keys. Two remarkable and deeply inspiring stories aired on sixty Minutes tonight. Which have only built on the existing notion of wanting to break free from my own ‘caged feeling’ once again. Self-actualization is a continuous process of human development and a core component in human development, as proven by Abraham Maslow. "What a man can be, he must be”. This quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. According to Maslow, to achieve this level of need, the person must not only achieve the previous needs (morality, creativity, spontaneity and lack of prejudice) but master them.