Hpctleaders's Blog

Inducting new employees che cklist

hpctleaders — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:27:20 +0000

Inducting your new team member

Induction can generally be split into two distinct parts. The first is induction to the organisation, which the human resources department often carries out. This part of the induction program covers general items such as pay arrangements and employee benefits and activities, where the new recruit will fit in, the organisation’s history and its products, services and customers.

HR departments of large organisations sometimes have induction videos or provide this information on its intranet and/or in booklets. If your organisation doesn’t provide organisation induction, develop a checklist based on the check list below; for inducting new employees to your organisation.

Here is your induction checklist

ð History, background

ð Nature of activities (the products or services provided, who its customers are, locations of various operations, etc)

ð Who’s who in the organisation (show the organisation chart and explain key roles and functions)

ð Introduction of key staff members from other departments and the management group

ð Organisation vision and values

ð A tour of the organisation’s main functional areas

ð Key policies (e.g. EEO, health, safety and welfare, smoking) and sources of advice and assistance within the organisation

ð Benefits (e.g. superannuation, credit union facilities, employee purchase schemes)

ð Details of relevant awards, enterprise agreements, pay arrangements

ð The performance appraisal system

ð How wages are calculated and paid

ð What training and further development that is available in the company

Some of our clients have also asked us the following questions.

Do I need to induct someone who transfers to my group from another area in the organisation?

Absolutely, they won’t need company induction but they will need departmental induction.

How can I make future employees welcomed?

Be there to greet new employees on their first day
Make sure their work area is ready for them
Appoint someone to show them around, make introductions and take them to lunch if you can’t do this.
Begin with information that is most directly relevant to your new group member and move on to information that is more general
Don’t give all information all in one go – spread it out over two or three weeks so recruits can absorb it in easy doses.
Develop a checklist of what you will cover. Review it with the recruit at the beginning so they’ll know what to expect
Stay in touch with recruits. Discuss how they are settling in, whether they have any questions, their performance and contribution to the department. Hold this discussion every four weeks for the first three months and keep brief notes of the main discussion points in the employee’s personnel file.

Now that you have a new team member, what are your professional development plans? High Performance Coaching and Training can assist you with these needs. Please see brochure by clicking on the link below.

www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au/brochure.pdf

The programs will meet your budget and very cost effective. You can outsource your training with us from as little as $150 per team member per month. We will design for your needs and bring it in-house. For more information please give us a call on 1300 661 453

I hope you have found this article of assistance.

Lee Stemm – Leadership and Performance Coach/Trainer

High Performance Coaching and Training

Working with people – A key to Success

hpctleaders — Tue, 01 May 2012 02:12:35 +0000

Work with others to ensure success

Developing effective relationships

Supervisors who don’t work well with others don’t go far. More than ever before, the ability to engage the commitment and cooperation of colleagues is vital to our effectiveness and success. In fact, it could be our most important asset

To work effectively with others we need a basic understanding of ‘what makes people tick’; but before we can understand others we need to understand ourselves. Knowing our values, strengths and limitations is the foundation of our ability to understand others and develop satisfying relationships with them.

What drives you?

What do you believe is important and worthwhile? What are you willing to stand up for and strive for? Knowing and acting on your values and making decisions based on them builds your integrity and self-respect. It helps you to act consistently and earns the respect of others.

Do you walk your talk?

Have you ever known anyone who says one thing and does another? A supervisor might say ‘I believe in participation and I really value the contributions of my work team’. If this same supervisor fails to listen to team members’ ideas or suggestions, their behaviour indicates a belief more like: ‘People don’t have any ideas worth listening to or valuable contributions to make’. Or a supervisor might say; ‘My team is great; I’ve taught them all they know’, yet constantly check up on them and avoid delegating work. Their actions say they really believe: ‘I can’t really trust my people and need to keep an eye on them’.

Are there supervisors hypocrites? Possibly. More often then, a conflict between what people say and what they do is due to one of three other reasons. They may really value participation and want to believe that people are reliable, but their core beliefs, on which they base their day-by-day behaviour, haven’t caught up with their values yet. Or those values might be part of their organisation’s values and culture, but not their own, and they feel pressured to claim they believe in these things when they really don’t. A third possibility is that another, stronger, value overrides the value in question; for example, a supervisor in an organisation that punishes mistakes might value participation but values staying out of trouble more, and doesn’t want to take the risk of involving the team. Either way, what they say or what they actually do don’t match. They don’t ‘walk their talk’.

People are happiest and work best when their own values and the values of the organisation they work for match. That way, it’s easy to practise what you preach. A strong sense of your own values and your organisation’s values will help you act with integrity and consistency and earn the respect and confidence of others. This is central to working well with others.

We believe that good training builds employee’s confidence and increases their value for the organisation. It saves you the time and irritation of fixing ‘mistakes’ and ‘destroying relationships’. It will save you time in correcting bad habits and to maintain a high morale within the organisation. High Performance Coaching and Training will come to your organisation and conduct in-house training that is specifically designed to meet your outcomes. We provide coaching and training to meet all levels of development within your organisation. Give us a call to discuss this further. 1300 661 453

www.highperofrmancecoachingandtraining.com.au

Effective Organisations

hpctleaders — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 06:16:11 +0000

What does an effective organisation look like?

One obvious sign of an organisational effectiveness is the fact that the organisation is meeting its performance targets either in terms of sales, products made, service level achieved and quality of whatever key performance indicators have been set. But it is a mistake to stop there. It is important that an organisation sustain its ability to reach its targets and in many cases grow to increase its performance targets. It is probably fair to say that the degree to which that will happen is directly proportional to the quality of relationships the people in the organisation have with each other; and that the people have with the organisation. A proper balance is imperative. Sometimes people develop such healthy working relationships that they focus on keeping the relationship happy and forget that they are there to meet performance targets. Some indicators of an effective organisation are:

Staff initiatives at innovating
Level of staff turnover
Level of absenteeism
Job satisfaction – do people feel their skills are being utilised and recognised?
Morale (how much healthy humour is there?)
Conversation at lunch and breaks – is it constructive or full of whingeing
Loyalty to organisation in what is said outside of work
Amount of goodwill offered by staff (willingly ‘going the extra mile’)
Level of trust among staff members and between staff members and managers

Today the survival of many organisations will depend upon their ability to adapt to rapid and ongoing change, much of which is imposed on them. At times, survival during these changes may seem nearly impossible, let alone sustaining current levels of or increasing productivity. Organisational survival relies very much on the people who will develop and utilise the systems that will help to make it happen. Just as a car needs to have all of its components properly aligned in order to be effective, so does an organisation. And the most important components are those directly relating to the people within it.

Learning is an essential key to changing behaviour. A learning organisation is like the perfect soil in the optimum location for rose plants. It encourages growth and all the other skills and personal qualities that are possible for each individual to develop. In a learning organisation, every interaction, decision and task brings with it opportunities to reflect, evaluate and learn. Learning organisations will:

Thrive on change – not be afraid of it
Be willing to question the patterns of thoughts that lead to certain results in the organisation – not be afraid to examine its mental models and alter them if necessary
Communicate success and failure – monitor, reviews, conclude, change
Have a curiosity about what causes things to happen and the systems that feed into each task and experience – desire to see all the systems working together in the most effective manner possible
Facilitate learning from staff – empower people, offer training when appropriate, remove hierarchy
Reward learning – provide benchmarks for performance appraisals , rewards improvement and risk taking
Create a shared mental model – create an atmosphere so people are free to challenge their own and others mental models and challenge each other’s subconscious mental models and blend them to create a common one for the team

Training and development programs have an important role within the organisation.

Bring our Leadership Mastery Program – In-house – We will come to you!

High Performance Coaching and Training are now facilitating this innovative program in-house. This program is a series of workshops designed to further develop leaders and teams within your organisation or business.

High Performance Coaching and Training will come to your office to facilitate this program to your leaders. What is included in this program?

Training Needs Analysis is conducted to ensure training is designed to meet organisational needs
10 x 3hour workshops – specifically designed – These are run monthly for ½ day
All workshops include an individual phone follow up coaching session per month
All workbooks and training materials supplied
Cost effective and workshops conducted at a time that suits you

For further Information of our Leadership Mastery series go to this link:

http://highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au/leadership-development-.php#link

Call our office today for futher information – 1300 661 453 or email us on:

Building a Cohesive Team

hpctleaders — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:03:51 +0000

Build a Productive team
Develop a strong team that achieves results
If you’re like most supervisors, leading people is your biggest challenge. Whether as individuals or in groups, people can be tricky and unpredictable.
How do you see the role of a team leader? As controller, commander, ruler and decision maker? Or as delegator, coach, champion, catalyst and guide? With the growing use of teams – work-based teams, virtual teams, merged teams, temporary teams, problem-solving and value – adding teams – your ability to help people achieve more together than they could on their own is a valuable skill.
What is your team’s culture?
What groups and teams do you belong to? What are their unwritten codes of behaviour, assumptions about their world and ways of doing things? How do people help and support each other? Who talks to whom? Who ignores whom? Whose lead to people follows? What are their energy levels: for example, how fast do people walk and how quickly do they get things done? What is the dress code? How much do they laugh? These are all aspects of a team’s culture.
Do you have a group or a team?
Does each person in your work group rely mostly on themselves to get their own job done? If so, you may have a work group. Or does everyone pitch in together, able to contribute because of everyone else’s contributions? Then you probably have a team.
In a team people depend on each other, it’s only through ‘pulling together’ that they achieve their goals. In ‘real’ teams, people skills are complementary. They may or may not work in the same physical location, but they combine to achieve something together that no one could achieve on their own. People can work individually, in subgroups or as a whole team as the need arises. In effective teams, there is a feeling of ‘us’, an esprit de corps, and‘we’re all in this together’ camaraderie.
Whether you are supervising a work group or a team, develop a shared vision and shared commitment to goals, a sense of team spirit and cooperation, respect and appreciation for each other’s differing contribution. You will reap the benefits in increased cohesiveness, morale and productivity. For that reason, we use the terms ‘groups’ and ‘team’ interchangeably.
So here is our team to build a cohesive team
• Paint a clear picture of the team purpose – through team meetings and in individual discussion
• Make the goals and measures of success clear through team meetings and in individual discussion
• Make sure everyone knows their own part in achieving them
• Make sure everyone understands the parts other team members play in achieving them
• Make the most of everyone’s skills, knowledge and work preferences
• Build a sense of team spirit and pride, for example by celebrating the team’s success in reaching its goals

I hope some of these teams above will assist you to build a cohesive team. High Performance Coaching and Training can support in your team alignment. Just give us a call or a free team analysis assessment.

Lee Stemm – Leadership and Performance Coach / Training
High Performance Coaching and Training
www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au

Effective communication – Creating framing statements

hpctleaders — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:00:22 +0000

Effective Communication

Developing a Framing Statement

One of the best ways to open a discussion is with a short framing statement outlining the ‘whats, hows and whys’ of a conversation before beginning it. This ‘sets’ the scene’, explains what you want to discuss and prevents you from jumping in with both feet.

Think about a frame around a picture does; it draws your attention to it, highlights its main features and co lours and separates the picture from its surroundings. A frame to a conversation does the same. It identifies what will be and what won’t be discussed. It introduces the topic and often specifies how the conversation will proceed.

Developing and delivering a short framing statement will help you in three ways. It will ensure you have analyzed and organized your information and thoughts. It will help clarify your purpose and the way you will go about achieving it. And it will help set the scene for a productive discussion.

He res are the steps to make a framing statement ………

State the problem – “We haven’t been able to blend our ideas and efforts and I think this is causing us both extra work. Let’s see if we can find a way to work better together.”
Map the discussion – “Before we begin discussing our productivity rate, I suggest we first review our standards. Then I’d like to move on and see if we can figure out what is preventing our consistency, How does that sound to you?”
Point to your goal – “Lee, I want you to succeed at this job and I’d like to discuss some ideas that may help you.”
Establish what will be focused on and what won’t – “Today, we won’t be talking about your overall job performance, which is excellent, but only about the incident that happened yesterday.”
Review relevant key events – “We have spoken previously over the past month about the importance of providing correct figures from your department not reaching us on time. It happened again this morning.”
Outline the information you want to discuss – ” During this meeting I would like to review the figures and what you based them on. Then I would like us to put in place an action plan for improving the correctness of them.

The example above is a good template to work through ensuring that you have planned and organized your productive discussions. Ensure that you fully understand each other’s position before moving forward. a good saying to remember is “First you need to understand before being understood.”

Conflict management – turning negative phases to positive phases

hpctleaders — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:00:46 +0000

Projecting a Professional Image

Use Positive words Look at the phrases below.

Which would you rather hear? which would attract your cooperation?

It is pretty clear that the more positive words and phrases we use, the more people will take our message on board.

If you can’t make them positive, at least make them neutral. Here’s How ………..

Negative Phrases Negative Phrases Positive Phrases

You’ll have to …….

You never ……..

You’re not listening ………

No worries !

What’s the problem?

Instead try these positive phases

I’ll need you to …… so that ……..

How about ……….?

Let me run through that again, ……..

That’s terrific,

It’s a pleasure

How can I Help?

Be objective If you want to sound more professional and level-headed , don’t exaggerate or be overly critical.

Compare the negative and disapproving with the more balanced and composed ways of saying the same thing. It is important to get your message across whilst still maintaining strong professional relationships based on trust, openness and integrity. More information about us go to our website:

http://www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au

I hope you will find this information useful

take care Lee Stemm – Leadership and Performance

Coach High Performance coaching and training

Handling Conflict is an Important Skill

hpctleaders — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:34:30 +0000

Handling Conflict is an Important Skill A vital sign her high performance teams is the ability to handle team conflict. Conflict among team members is an inevitable part of group life. People pulled together to work on complex issues will naturally experience frictions associated with diverse working styles, thinking styles, behavioral norms, and performance expectations. Research, indicated that it’s how people work with the conflict that determines whether their conflict is a positive and productive force or a destructive force. And so, if we can order one piece of advice for handling team conflict, it is this: “do not avoid it”. avoid ind conflict not only stifles creativity, it creates barriers to relationships that can ultimately pull the team apart. Rather than avoiding it, we suggest that team members develop an orientation to conflict that allows them to expect it, work through it, and learn and grow from it.

Teams that have established sound team management practices and problem-solving skills have fewer conflicts. This makes sense intuitively, because establishing team management practices forces team members to identify behavioral norms and to develop a common understanding of their purpose, objectives, and strategies. This alone removes many pressures and paternal sources of team friction.
Furthermore, teams with well-developed problem-solving abilities have developed the capacity to work out and build on diverse views rather than stifle them. Even with well-developed team management and problem-solving skills, most teams from time to time will encounter issues that can lead to interpersonal strain.

So what causes conflict within teams?
Using our circle of conflict tool outlines some of the major sources of conflict, regardless of the level (interpersonal,organizational, communal, or society) or setting: The circle identifies five central causes of conflict:

problems with people’s relationships
problems with data
perceived or actual incompatible interests
structural forces
differing value

Are you currently using a structured process to deal with conflict within the organization or business. High performance Coaching and Training can support and assist you in developing and implementing a sound conflict management. Just give us a call and org anise a meeting with us. We can come to your office or talk over the phone.
I hope you have enjoyed this article – In our leadership mastery series – next topic – 1/2 day Conflict Management Workshop – En quires are welcomed.
I hope you have found this information helpful.
Take Care
Lee Stemm – leadership and Performance Coach + Trainer
High Performance Coaching and Training

www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au

Conflict Management – Perfect Phrases when dealing with negative employee

hpctleaders — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:55:58 +0000

Negativity is toxic. Addressing it head on and specifically goes a long way to not only resolve your conflict but also to create a more productive work environment for everyone. See here are some phrases that you can use when working with this employee -

We all need to support the ideas we agree to as a team
We should try to be more open to suggestions anybody makes about improvement. It will ge us a long way.
Listening non defensively to feedback from our customers is very important.
We have to avoid always finding what is wrong and never looking at what is working.
Talking negatively behind other people’s backs is a no-no.
We can’t work with leaders who are supportive in pubic but not in private
It seems unacceptable to me that during a meeting you are positive, but afterword you go around and talk negatively about what we decided
Whenever ___________ brings up a new idea, you roll your eyes! I fear he or she will soon not make any more suggestions.
I was shocked when we had that conversation at lunch yesterday and you did nothing but highlight the negative characteristics of people. collaborating with you will be very difficult when you only see people’s weaknesses.
Are you aware of the fact that you come across as negative
Do you agree that you have to break this negative pattern? How are you going to do it? how can I help? Would you want some coaching?

I hope some of these phrases give you some idea in moving forward with this employee.

take care

Lee Stemm = Leadership and Performance Coach / Trainer

www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au

Dealing with Poor Performance

hpctleaders — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:26:46 +0000

Dealing with poor performance

If someone’s performance is not reaching expectations, don’t wait until appraisal time rolls around before addressing the problem. Deal with it quickly, before it deteriorates even further or becomes a hard-to-break habit, and before your temper frays and your comments are motivated by anger than helpfulness.
Research shows that 85% of the time, poor performance is outside the employee’s control. Often what looks like a poor performance problem is not really one at all. Less than 15% of cases of poor performance result from employees having a pressing personal or motivational problem that is stopping their ability to willingness to do their job well.
Possible causes of poor performance

Poor Performance – 85% of the time

• Poor or insufficient training or experience
• Faulty tools, equip or materials
• Cumbersome procedures and systems
• Unclear or unspecified performance standards
• Performance standard not understood or seen as unimportant
• Poor performance is as rewarding as good performance
• Lack of information
• Poor job placement
• Poor teamwork or disharmony in the team

Poor Performance – 15% of the time

• Leader not setting a good example • Personal problems
• Acts of God

Here’s how to build performance …….
• Stick to behavior (what the employee says or does) or a measure of success not met. Make sure it’s an issue they can do something about.
• Be balanced: give both positive and constructive feedback
• Be a coach, not a critic
• Don’t attack the person, just their performance. You can’t make someone do better by making them feel bad
• Say ‘I’ more than ‘you’ to avoid sounding patronizing or pushy
• Follow your formula for giving feedback
• Keep the focus on improving performance.

I hope you have found this article interesting and helpful

Lee Stemm – High Performance Coaching and Training

Leadership and performance coach and trainer

Looking for Professional Development? Give our office a call and we can discuss your needs!

www.highperformancecoachingandtraining.com.au

1300 661 453

Conflict phrases for when there isn’t enough resources

hpctleaders — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:28:39 +0000

Here are some great conflict phrases to use when there isn’t enough resources:

I know times are tight now and we have to do more with less
You have said that we need to be more creative with the resources we have
I have been around long enough to know that there is never enough time/money.people here

however ……….

It seems like I keep getting more and more on my plate with no additional help
the list of objectives keep growing while the resources are shrinking
there isn’t enough time in the day anymore
everyone is pressing me to create more results
I cannot be all things to all people
it seems like there is unrealistic planning going on

specifically …………..

i am working sixty hour a week and there is no end in sight
I worked all weekend to prepare for the project meeting – and this was not the first time
Pauline gave me another project to work on, on top of everything else
the deadline for the system rollout was moved up a month and we lost two people on the implementation team

Follow Up Phrases:

Do you have any suggestions?
Do you have any creative ideas?

I hope some of these ideas are useful

Lee Stemm PCC

leadership and Performance Coach / Trainer