Don't waste budgets for knowledge workers Real research - a prolifically miss-quoted set of statistics? A few weekends ago I was catching up on some industry updates and came across an interesting piece by Donald Taylor at TrainingZone. In the piece he reminded me of the study by Robert Kelley and his longitudinal study of knowledge workers at Carnegie-Mellon University. In this often quoted research, it is suggested that little of what we need on a day-to-day basis is required to … [Read more...] about Training, Learning and Development is Dead – Knowledge workers
Should Employees Work Full Notice Period?
How to maintain performance when a person is expected to work full notice period As an employer we want the employee to stay working and contributing to the last possible day of their notice period - to get the most out of the "asset" before they leave. As an employee, we have made our decision to leave and we want to go as quickly as possible, working as little of our notice period!This is a challenge that faces every employee and employer more often that we would like to admit to. In … [Read more...] about Should Employees Work Full Notice Period?
How to Run a Successful Staff Survey
Planning for Employee Satisfaction Surveys Many organisations feel the need to "survey their people" and put some questions together and hope for something useful. Unfortunatly this is where it often goes wrong - not with the intent, but the implementation.Asking questions is easy, asking the right question and interpreting the results is quite another. In this short series of articles we continue our exploration of what it takes to run a successful employee survey.The following outlines … [Read more...] about How to Run a Successful Staff Survey
When is change not change?
We have recently heard of public and private sector improvements in our network. But they are set to fail. This is worrying, but we know that failure is not inevitable.Why am I so confident in saying change is prone to fail? It is simple. Many leaders in organisations seem to think that need is just procedural, but it is cross-functional transformational change. Change that needs managing as change and not a service improvement.Service improvement can be initiated at the top with a … [Read more...] about When is change not change?
Citing a Web Reference for Academic or Professional Study
How to write a Harvard Reference We at RapidBI publish a lot of original and re-developed content relevant to students, managers and others interested in business. Often we get asked as to how to reference web content. This short article will help with the Harvard Referencing of content of our (and others) site. Electronic Information The key to referencing a CD-ROM or website is similar to a book or journal - you need to know the author, date and title. For web pages you must include the … [Read more...] about Citing a Web Reference for Academic or Professional Study
10 No or Low Cost Employee Morale Boosters
Simple Management StepsIn difficult times all managers are challenged with keeping staff engaged and morale high (or even up!). "Boosters" are activities that can have short term but duplicable results in lifting morale in individuals and teams. Morale boosters can take the form of recognition, compensation or special perks or privileges. Here are 10 no or low cost morale boosters to get you started: Ideas - Employee morale often improves when staff feel they are valued and … [Read more...] about 10 No or Low Cost Employee Morale Boosters
A Guide to Conducting Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Surveys
A guide to Conducting Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Surveys Employee survey techniques have developed significantly over the past few years, with web based technologies it is easier and cheaper than ever to collect and manage data.In the past, any HR driven initiative was seen as tactical and of little real benefit to the organization as a whole. Now many enlightened organizations see HR and employee surveys as a powerful business improvement tool.Customers now have a greater range … [Read more...] about A Guide to Conducting Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Surveys
Harvard Yale Written Goals Study – fact or fiction? #fakenews alert #management #leadership #selfdevelopment
Written Goals study, or is it studies? Many have reported that writing your goals down is sound and researched proof that you will be more successful and make more money. It must be true as it is often being quoted as coming from Yale or Harvard Business Schools. But alas this is fake news. 3% of Harvard MBAs Make Ten Times as Much as the Other 97% Combined ..or... Why 3% of Yale MBAs Make Ten Times as Much as the Other 97% CombinedOr so the written goal study story goes regarding personal … [Read more...] about Harvard Yale Written Goals Study – fact or fiction? #fakenews alert #management #leadership #selfdevelopment
Business & Life Coaching – The Modern Day Gold Rush?
Qualify as a Coach? - Investment or Con? It is said that in California the people who made the money on the gold rush were the people selling the picks and shovels not those digging for gold. The same could be true in the world of Coaching, with those making the money selling training and profiling tools. Most coaching practices are not full time, with many all but ceasing trading after just a few yearsHave you ever thought about training to be a coach and looked at the many adverts for … [Read more...] about Business & Life Coaching – The Modern Day Gold Rush?
Hidden Dangers of 25% budget cuts
In tough times we need to make tough decisions How to cut 25% budget without spiting your face.With public sector organisations all over the UK (and others) facing mandatory cuts of 25% budget cuts across the board, many are going to make mistakes they will live to regret.Whether we like it or not the target has been set. The goal for leaders now is to make appropriate cuts.A couple of weeks ago I ran a leadership and change management programme for a group of senior leaders in … [Read more...] about Hidden Dangers of 25% budget cuts
The 5 Traps to Avoid – Increasing Trend for People Going Freelance
How to have a sustainable business model With the economy showing little in the way of recovery, every day there seems to be more and more people looking towards self-employment, in particular in the freelance or contracting markets.This is having a strange impact on the supply and demand in the profession. People are often despirate for work, so set low rates - custonmers like the thought of saving so hire at the lowest cost... but what is the real cost?When contracting or freelancing, … [Read more...] about The 5 Traps to Avoid – Increasing Trend for People Going Freelance
What is Jelly? – co-working for lone workers
Jelly - A Semi-Weekly Work Together Today I received an interesting tweet about "#Jelly". This got me interested and I stared a little research. In essence, Jelly is a way for people that work on their own to have a social connection - work colleagues if you like.The site that co-ordinates groups (http://jellynyc.pbworks.com/) says this: What’s Jelly? Jelly's a casual work event where everyone's invited. It's for anyone who'd like to work alongside other creative people in a welcoming … [Read more...] about What is Jelly? – co-working for lone workers
Rapid Business Intelligence (BI)
Is Rapid Business Intelligence (BI) Really essential for OD?Rapid Business Intelligence ranges from data about an organization's performance, through to customer purchasing habits, industry, market and/or competitor analysis.Once a strategy for Rapid Business Intelligence data collection has been developed, the systems provide a rapid approach to having this data for business focused decision making. Measure the wrong things or fail to take into account changes or trends and the data … [Read more...] about Rapid Business Intelligence (BI)
10 Tips for Setting SMART-er Goals and Objectives
10 Tips for Setting SMART-er Goals and or Objectives George Ambler has a good post on SMART goals at his blog The Practice of Leadership.It's title is the "10 Steps to Setting SMART objectives" and references an article by Andrew Bell whose title is also "10 Steps to SMART Objectives" (.pdf). His 10 steps are repeated below, with my emphasis.Some of the tips may seem like no-brainers, but I find it's usually the simple things that get forgotten or overlooked: 1. Understand the … [Read more...] about 10 Tips for Setting SMART-er Goals and Objectives
History of SMART Objectives
Introduction to SMART objectives and SMART GoalsManagement by Objectives is often credited to Peter Drucker in his 1954 book “The Practice of Management”, from this claimed history and approach the use of the acronym SMART(er) has grown. Having said that, for those that have bothered to read the book - there is NO DIRECT reference to SMART by Drucker in this publication. While it is clear that Drucker was one of the first to write about management by objectives, the SMART acronym is harder … [Read more...] about History of SMART Objectives
School Improvement Review – SIR
RapidBI is Looking Back to School In the last few weeks we have been approached and asked if we have a BIR suitable for the education market. One of the problems with the BIR in this context is the structure of the organisation and its relationship to its customers (the students). While the BIR will work well for the management of the education establishment, it will not be as successful at looking at teacher and student engagement. Nor will it take into account the limitations on "marketing" … [Read more...] about School Improvement Review – SIR
Free Business Plan & Business Planning Template
What is a good structure of an effective business plan ? There are many types of business plan format or template. The sample listed here may be used when raising finance.Its purpose is to show that you have a clear vision of what is expected, that you have taken account of key factors and that you can convince the funders (or lenders) that you are a safe bet!How do you write a Business Plan? Firstly you need to undertake a business planning process. This involves the planning, … [Read more...] about Free Business Plan & Business Planning Template
Learning and OD through Social Media
Can we Learn from Social Media? One thing that amazes me is the lack of acceptance in the Learning and Development world of Social Media. At a conference workshop last year, out of 40 people only three used social media for learning.Sure some organizations are setting up LinkedIn groups, Ning or other groups and forums for people to share ideas, but that is in many ways an extension of networking or action learning that already exists, just migrating to new platforms.Learning through social … [Read more...] about Learning and OD through Social Media
Porter's Five Forces – Competitor Analysis (Michael Porter)
Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis Michael Porter's five forces is a model used to explore the environment in which a product or company operates.Five forces analysis looks at five key areas mainly the threat of entry, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry. New Entrants Suppliers Industry competitors and extent of rivalry Buyers Substitutes Introduction to Porter's 5 forcesThe model of the Five Competitive … [Read more...] about Porter's Five Forces – Competitor Analysis (Michael Porter)
Innovation Index – Practical & Real?
Innovation Index - is it relevant to 99% of businesses? Innovation, we all are being asked to deliver it, but can we agree on what it is? Does it even matter?Politically, many countries and global firms are involved in some form of Global Innovation Index, but does this really tell us what is happening, or who the innovative organisations really are?Produced as a joint venture by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and The Manufacturing … [Read more...] about Innovation Index – Practical & Real?
