A man owned a small farm in Hampshire. The Hampshire Department for Work and Pensions claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him. "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him £400 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her £250 per week plus free room and board.
Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about £100 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whisky every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally. "That's the guy I want to talk to...the half-wit," said the agent. "That would be me," replied the farmer
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Friday, 13 November 2009
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Time for Business to SWOT up?
This is a very worrying time for business. The banking crisis and the certainty of recession mean that there are very hard times ahead. Inevitably, some businesses will not survive. Even well run and stable businesses are likely to find it tough and will need to be flexible to thrive.
Business plans that were carefully crafted only a few months ago will need to be re-visited. In a world that is changing so quickly do those plans still hold good? The threats that business faces today are very different from those being faced only a few weeks ago. At the same time there will be new opportunities although they may be a lot harder to spot. The big question is whether your business is well placed to cope with the new threats and take advantage of new opportunities.
One approach that may serve business well is to conduct A SWOT analysis. Whilst this will not in itself provide the answers we need it is an important tool to help take proper stock of the situation. Only by recognising new threats and opportunities and how well placed we are to cope with both can we even begin to plan for the future. It may also help us to spot the actions that need to be taken in the short term.
Strengths
Now is the time to remind yourself of the strengths of your business and to consider which of these strengths will help you now. These will vary from business to business and it is worth considering some of the following areas:
What are the known weaknesses in your businesses? Again it is worth considering all of the points listed under strengths. For example, relying heavily on just a few customers may be a real problem. Do your employees have the knowledge and skills to cope with the changes you may have to make? If not, there may be a training need to be addressed. Of course, now is not the time for expensive training solutions but are there some priority needs that could be addressed with low cost solutions?
Opportunities
In these gloomy times it may be hard to think of too many business opportunities but they do exist if we look hard enough. Let’s take the example of the supermarkets. With money amongst shoppers getting tighter they have recognised that there is more of a market for their own label bargain products and have adapted their businesses accordingly.
It’s also worth remembering that your competitors will be struggling too. Some may go out of business and this presents potential opportunities if you can ride out the storm.
What other potential opportunities can you think of? Don’t just look for the obvious. For example, employees who have been resistant to change in the past may have a different attitude now. With the job market likely to become more challenging the opportunity to acquire new skills associated with change may seem a lot more attractive.
Threats
Of course, there are many threats at the moment. Will the bank manager continue to support the business? Will your competitors try to undercut you in a cut throat battle for your business?
What about your business partners? Will they be struggling too? If, so what might the threat be to your business?
What other potential threats can you think of? Again, it is important to look beyond the obvious threats.
We are not suggesting that a SWOT analysis will solve everything. It is merely a tool to help us to fully understand our situation and is one of many approaches that can be adopted at all levels of an organisation to start planning your way through the next few months. It may also help you identify some quick solutions that might even make a difference straight away.
By Karl Halliwell a Trainer Bubble author.
Business plans that were carefully crafted only a few months ago will need to be re-visited. In a world that is changing so quickly do those plans still hold good? The threats that business faces today are very different from those being faced only a few weeks ago. At the same time there will be new opportunities although they may be a lot harder to spot. The big question is whether your business is well placed to cope with the new threats and take advantage of new opportunities.
One approach that may serve business well is to conduct A SWOT analysis. Whilst this will not in itself provide the answers we need it is an important tool to help take proper stock of the situation. Only by recognising new threats and opportunities and how well placed we are to cope with both can we even begin to plan for the future. It may also help us to spot the actions that need to be taken in the short term.
Strengths
Now is the time to remind yourself of the strengths of your business and to consider which of these strengths will help you now. These will vary from business to business and it is worth considering some of the following areas:
- Skills, knowledge, motivation and loyalty of the workforce.
- Flexibility of the business. How well can it cope with change?
- Financial strength of the business
- The relationship with your business partners
- The reliability of your business partners
- Your spread of customers
- Your spread of products.
- Your control of expenses
- How well managed is the business?
- Your systems and efficiencies
- How good is your risk management and contingency planning?
What are the known weaknesses in your businesses? Again it is worth considering all of the points listed under strengths. For example, relying heavily on just a few customers may be a real problem. Do your employees have the knowledge and skills to cope with the changes you may have to make? If not, there may be a training need to be addressed. Of course, now is not the time for expensive training solutions but are there some priority needs that could be addressed with low cost solutions?
Opportunities
In these gloomy times it may be hard to think of too many business opportunities but they do exist if we look hard enough. Let’s take the example of the supermarkets. With money amongst shoppers getting tighter they have recognised that there is more of a market for their own label bargain products and have adapted their businesses accordingly.
It’s also worth remembering that your competitors will be struggling too. Some may go out of business and this presents potential opportunities if you can ride out the storm.
What other potential opportunities can you think of? Don’t just look for the obvious. For example, employees who have been resistant to change in the past may have a different attitude now. With the job market likely to become more challenging the opportunity to acquire new skills associated with change may seem a lot more attractive.
Threats
Of course, there are many threats at the moment. Will the bank manager continue to support the business? Will your competitors try to undercut you in a cut throat battle for your business?
What about your business partners? Will they be struggling too? If, so what might the threat be to your business?
What other potential threats can you think of? Again, it is important to look beyond the obvious threats.
We are not suggesting that a SWOT analysis will solve everything. It is merely a tool to help us to fully understand our situation and is one of many approaches that can be adopted at all levels of an organisation to start planning your way through the next few months. It may also help you identify some quick solutions that might even make a difference straight away.
By Karl Halliwell a Trainer Bubble author.
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Is Learning and Development Finally Coming Home?
Recent developments in America suggest that learning and development could be resurrected from the dark, dusty recesses of human resources into a bright new future.
Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.
I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad, but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing, although hardly isolated.
Most HR Directors will argue that they’ve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce, but with all due respect to diversity laws, this is a two-eyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue, learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.
Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and, perhaps more importantly, the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a no-brainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR, which serve to ensure the business is ‘ticking over’ and doesn’t get embroiled in any legal issues.
Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employee’s point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised, the first concern of the individual is, ‘What development can I expect?’ and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development, there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.
The employee – understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.
The employer – understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.
So, businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.
This isn’t a knew theory, but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.
The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer (CLO), whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR, which reports to, you guessed it, the CLO.
The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development, with a key focus on; coaching, training, motivation and project management, which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.
Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLO’s (currently five in the FTSE 100), there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all, it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!
Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.
Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.
I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad, but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing, although hardly isolated.
Most HR Directors will argue that they’ve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce, but with all due respect to diversity laws, this is a two-eyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue, learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.
Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and, perhaps more importantly, the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a no-brainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR, which serve to ensure the business is ‘ticking over’ and doesn’t get embroiled in any legal issues.
Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employee’s point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised, the first concern of the individual is, ‘What development can I expect?’ and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development, there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.
The employee – understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.
The employer – understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.
So, businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.
This isn’t a knew theory, but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.
The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer (CLO), whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR, which reports to, you guessed it, the CLO.
The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development, with a key focus on; coaching, training, motivation and project management, which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.
Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLO’s (currently five in the FTSE 100), there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all, it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!
Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.
Monday, 5 February 2007
Team focus - How to re-set the sights.
I was at a training event recently and during the opening 'set the scene' intro the senior director in the company asked the group to list all the things that were stopping them providing a good service to their customers.
The team took great pleasure in listing all the concerns: Morale, time, work pressures, customer issues, the products etc etc.
The director gleefully added each and every comment to the flipchart and when no more issues were given he looked up and said.."I have only one problem with this list......." He let the question hang in the air for a few seconds and when the team's started to look around non-plussed, he said, "You're not on it!"
It may not have been what they wanted to hear, but Wow, did it have an effect.
Identifying a team members complacency is often the key to re-generating a workforce, it's a common problem and one that can have disastrous effects. In my experience, there tends to be two main reasons behind it.
1. The team member has been doing extremely well and has taken their eye off the ball.
2. The team member is not doing as well as his counterparts and so feel de-motivated and unable to achieve.
In both situations the key is to encourage the team member to 'buy-in' to the business once again. They need to appreciate the consequences of their action, or in-action, and learn to change.
So how do you do it?
The best approach is to identify the team member's drivers, that is, what it is that makes them want to succeed. For some, it will be the desire to get away from how they currently feel, for others, it will be the hope of reaching a better future state. Once you know what approach your particular team member prefers, you can encourage them to work towards, or away from it.
Of course it's not always easy to identify a person's drivers without asking them. So that's exactly what I suggest you do! You don't have to be so upfront with the question, using coaching as a method of understanding is a great way to achieve this.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that through a good use of questioning and an even better use of listening you will be able to not only identify your team's drivers, but also help them establish a need to change.
Why not re-focus your management team with our great one day training materials pack on 'Leading Effective Teams', or help develop your manager's coaching skills with 'Coaching Skills for Managers'. At just £53 each, they provide a perfect solution to your management team's development.
Friday, 19 January 2007
Trainer Bubble Forum
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We welcome everyone from any field of training and would love to hear from you!
We designed it as a friendly place to share training ideas, ask questions, find help and encourage others that are involved in the training industry.
We welcome everyone from any field of training and would love to hear from you!
Trainer Bubble - Training Resources
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Trainer Bubble was set up in 2006 as a site dedicated to providing valuable training resources to trainers around the world. We provide course materials and many other training tools. This includes an amazing free section, where you can download training games, icebreakers, energisers and many other training documents.
If you would like to view what we currently have on offer you can do so by following this link: Trainer Bubble
Trainer Bubble was set up in 2006 as a site dedicated to providing valuable training resources to trainers around the world. We provide course materials and many other training tools. This includes an amazing free section, where you can download training games, icebreakers, energisers and many other training documents.
If you would like to view what we currently have on offer you can do so by following this link: Trainer Bubble
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