One of my favourite types of project is when I can work on the 'People Strategy' for a company. Probably in part because of my mixed business/HR background – as a People Strategy goes hand-in-glove with the Business and Financial Strategy of an organisation – and...
Having been involved with change management and many change projects throughout my career, and having worked with many other change consultants and teachers, VUCA has been that comfortable friend with which you often begin when talking about why change management (and...
I was recently asked by a fellow consultant if I could help and shed some light with information about Stakeholder Mapping, for a company for whom they were designing leadership workshops. I’ve used Stakeholder Mapping a lot during my career, especially when running...
I have written earlier about benchmarking in connection with the talent management project at the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA were interested to learn what other similar technological companies did in regards to talent management. As I wrote at the time though,...
One of the executives I am coaching in Russia has recently helped set up a new department on Sustainable Development. This is a new area for him (his background is commercial) and also for the chemical company for which he works. Consequently there are many different...
I’ve mentioned William Bridges, his methods of change and transition management and some of his tools in a couple of earlier blogs.* I was certified by him in the use of his material early in my change management career and have used and re-used his concepts in many...
During a set of change management workshops that I designed for people in different national Kazakh companies who were involved in ‘Transformation’ a couple of years ago, I used to ask who had heard of the Transition or Change Curve. And in any group of twenty-plus...
There is one organizational development process that I have used occasionally and really wish I had been able to apply more often in my career: Open Space Technology. And why have I not been able to use it more? Well, Open Space is not for the faint hearted. Most...
Having run the leading Corporate University in Kazakhstan and now advising one of the top Corporate Universities in Russia, both of which were under the expectation of their stakeholders that they would be developed and ‘transformed’ into something better - without...
One of my favourite icebreakers that I have used for people to get to know each other better, especially in new organisations, is People Bingo. There are different versions of the game, but the one that I think works best is when the people involved are...
A simplified risk management methodology - and especially the risk matrix of impact against likelihood - can be extremely useful in HR and other projects, even when your company does not officially require you to use them. Having had business, leadership and project...
My current Russian client, a large and very successful petrochemicals company, has had many reorganisations in the last couple of years. One of these that they are implementing in all their production locations, is a systematic delayering. I recently designed...
When I was head of the Corporate University in Kazakhstan, one of our ‘best sellers’ was Teambuilding. And my people were pretty damn good at it. Which I guess is the reason that we had so many companies as clients and return as clients. I have always had mixed...
Recently with a new client in Russia I’ve found myself in executive coaching sessions talking about brand. And previously in Kazakhstan, we built the concept of brand into the new senior leadership development course we introduced. Brand is a concept I embraced many...
In the last few years I’ve been involved with setting up high-potential identification programmes in a number of companies, both in ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ countries. Recently we held a workshop in Paris for a client who wanted to review best practices, to help...
I do not normally read lists in HR, management or leadership blogs. Which is ironic given that some of my blogs here appear to contain lists. However one caught my eye recently and I ended up reading it. It was ’21 executives share the daily routines that help them...
We have recently developed and used the concept of Learning Agility in the HR Consulting group, which reports to me in my current role, possibly for the first time in Kazakhstan in a Kazakh company. I had used Learning Agility a couple of times in previous companies,...
The HR Consulting group within my current organization has a range of expertise including carrying out online engagement surveys for all of the National Companies. When we report the results it is often to the CEO of the company and their top leadership teams. This...
I was recently contacted by Susan Bridges, the widow of William Bridges, the guru of Transition (and Change) Management. I had corresponded with Bill who taught and certified me to use his material many years ago, and Susan, who is producing an anniversary updated...
Effective non-financial motivation appeals more to the emotions of employees than pay, bonuses and status symbols. It helps people feel appreciated and valued. It increases loyalty and engagement. They send a message to staff and work positively in terms of retention,...