Business Trend - Talent Management & Engagement Whilst looking for some data on the needs of organizations, I came across this visualisation based on some data from Forum. Whilst not comprehensive or universal, some of the key points here resonated with some of the issues I have seen in clients recently.Forum asked business leaders what their biggest challenges will be over the next 2-3 years. This is what they said: talent shortage, ability of staff to lead change and increased … [Read more...] about Business Trend – Talent Management & Engagement

Reading facial cues Whilst looking for some images to illustrate an influencing course I am designing I came across this graphic.From its title "5 ways detect lying clients reading their facial cues" you would be led to believe that reading body language and facial cues is easy, but is it?Are these "actions" real or constructed? If real can they be masked or covered?Take the second image "I'm signing this off today" - maybe this is not because you have lost the deal but because the … [Read more...] about 5 ways detect lying clients reading their facial cues

Public sector sexism and the lost generation It's unusual for me to write about political issues, but last week I heard what in my mind is one of the worst cases of potential sexism in an institutional organisation for many years. I'm sure you have other examples, but here is mine. Wasted 2 years of her life? "B" is 18, She has just completed a 2 year college course in animal management (diploma level 3 extended). She attained good grades. She has a passion for animal of all sizes and off her … [Read more...] about Public sector sexism and the lost generation

Who are your "Thought Leaders"? .. but before any of us can answer that we need to know What or who is a thought leader?According to the great research "god" Wikipedia:The term was coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the Booz Allen Hamilton magazine, Strategy & Business. "Thought leader" was used to designate interview subjects for that magazine who had business ideas that merited attention  The definition I prefer comes from Forbes: "It's a truism that … [Read more...] about Who are your Thought Leaders?

How Small Businesses REALLY spend their money While looking at habits and buying patterns of business people I came across this small piece of research looking at the spending habits of small business owners - 1-5 employees.Again this is US in origin, but it does show some insights. If meals and entertainment are worth up to 12% of turnover, but marketing is only worth 1% - they tells us something about attitudes to spending ON the business rather than IN the business.For those of us … [Read more...] about How Small Businesses REALLY spend their money

Social Media - it's not about you - the #1 mistake many corporates make This past week has been an interesting one for me on twitter, and it has led me to a realisation of where many in social media go wrong.The week started for me last week (I know it sounds mad) - in that I had a major series of problem from a supplier. I had already been in discussions with their social media team about the appalling levels of customer service their call centres made, along with multiple "school boy" … [Read more...] about Social Media – its not about you – the #1 mistake many corporates make

Are you or might you be subject to IR35? as contractor or employer There are an increasingly number of people working as consultants and contractors that purport to be self employed. But are you really?In the UK, the HMRC has a number of checks which is often used to confirm a persons employment status. These have recently been changed.The neat graphic below, has all the questions and the likely outcome.If you employ "freelancers" you may want to check this to see if your … [Read more...] about Are you or might you be subject to IR35? as contractor or employer

If twitter were just 100 people This is an interesting way of looking at your twitter followers.So in reality less than 5% of your followers add anything to your message by re-tweeting to significant numbers. We need to find and delete the "dead" 20It's the 20% towards the right (ignoring the "loud mouths" we need to influenceWhat do you make of this data?Check out our data visualization blog.  Source - unknown … [Read more...] about If twitter were just 100 people

The secret to social networking & social media During a conversation with a respected colleague (an individual I met through a very niche business group), we were talking about social media and what made it work.What was interesting was exploring what some considered to be "best practice" and others dismissed as laziness.What was though in some quarters as being "best practice" includes:Creating unique content Creating or initiating discussionAnd the following was … [Read more...] about The secret to social networking & social media = sharing

Leadership - what you want and what you get Whilst looking for some information on international leadership, I came across this data from KellyOCG.What I found interesting is that often you hear complaints about the leadership in the UK or the US not being "up to standard". In this survey, interestingly the UK & US are not in the top "dissatisfied" areas.But what is worrying is the fact that less than half of employees feel inspired by their boss to do their best. 29% say their … [Read more...] about Leadership – what you want & what you get