In this Issue
Management Challenges for 2010...and how to meet them
Innovation is the Key
Engaging for Success
Are you making the most of National Occupational Standards?
Support for using National Occupational Standards
In order to ensure the Management and Leadership Standards remain up-to-date and future-proof them for the next five years, The Management Standards Consultancy has carried out a global scan of trends and developments in management and leadership, drawing from the many articles published in professional and academic journals and reports of surveys carried out by professional bodies and consultancy firms. BeaBetterManager.com offers some solutions to these challenges.
1. Adaptability
The uncertainty facing businesses in the current recession is likely to continue in the future. It seems unlikely that the economic environment, and therefore businesses, will return to pre-recession ‘normality’. This will therefore require a different kind of leadership focusing on adaptability and the ability to make better decisions in an unpredictable environment. CIPD sees that “innovation and the ability to cope with fast-paced change are acknowledged as the key capabilities for organisational survival and growth” (CIPD, 2009, Organisational responses to economic challenge).
See Manage Innovation and Change.
2. Trust/ethics
Unsurprisingly, levels of trust in business leaders as well as political and civil leaders are at an all time low (CIPD, 2009, Organisational responses to economic challenge). Gaining and maintaining the trust of stakeholders (including employees and customers) is essential for businesses as “for an individual company, loss of trust leads to higher transaction costs, lower brand value, and greater difficulty attracting, retaining and managing talent” (Beinhocker et al, 2009). It is therefore strategically importance for businesses to regain the trust of its stakeholders.
A major part of gaining, maintaining – or, more pertinent to the current situation, regaining – stakeholders’ trust is communication and transparency. Honest communication needs to begin within the organisation first and must go beyond complying with legal obligations and focus equally on ethical concerns.
Transparency is a clear way to communicate the ethical governance of a business to stakeholders. The importance of ethical business governance has been a growing issue in recent years, but has been promoted in relevance due to the economic crisis and the lack of trust of consumers (and often employees) in business leaders. “Moving forward, it appears that the new metric of corporate leadership will be closer to this: the extent to which executives create organizations that are economically, ethically, and socially sustainable” (O'Toole and Bennis, 2009).
See Manage Stakeholders, Communication and Ethical Stance.
3. Environmental sustainability/resource productivity
The rise in cost and possible shortages of natural resources, are likely to affect much of businesses’ decision-making in the future.”We believe that, in the years to come, ‘resource productivity’ (the output achieved from every unit of oil, power, water, or other resource input) will become central to company competitiveness” (Beinhocker et al, 2009).
While green and ethical consumption have slumped during the recession it is predicted that green consumption in particular will resume its pre-recession course (Flatters and Willmott, 2009).
See Manage Environmental Performance.
4. Well being/employee engagement
Well-being is an issue that had been growing in momentum for some time even before the economic crisis. It is clear that employee well-being and employee engagement are linked; if an employee feels that their well-being is not of importance to the organisation or is feeling stressed or over-worked, their loyalty to or engagement in the organisation is likely to suffer. The importance of this is due to the link between employee engagement and productivity.
Strong people management skills and honest communication with employees appear to be the answers to improve both well-being and engagement. However with most organisations looking to cut costs, it seems that ‘soft’ skills are most likely to suffer in reduced training costs.
To this end a review of employee engagement was commissioned by the Department for Business, to report on its potential benefits for organisations and employees. The review found that a wider take up of engagement approaches could impact positively on UK competitiveness and performance. The Macleod review, published July 2009, made recommendations which have been accepted by government and an action plan will be announced autumn 2009 (Macleod and Clarke, 2009).
See Manage Performance of Teams and Individuals.
5. Talent management
Talent management is a current issue which is likely to remain important in the future. With the obvious concern in the recession of cutting costs, which affects both training and recruitment, the focus seems to be on talent retention rather than recruitment.
See Manage Human Resource Requirements.
6. Globalisation
There are differing views on the future of globalisation. While it is generally agreed that the global trading system is likely to recover following the current period of economic crisis, one train of thought is that there is likely to be a greater emphasis, even in global companies, on recruiting locally due to the rise of fuel prices and environmental concerns amongst other factors (Sparrow, 2008). On the other hand, there is a view that the global market for managerial and technical talent will continue to grow due mainly to the ageing population in Western countries (Beinhocker et al, 2009).
See Review the External Environment.
The latest report from the Chartered Management Institute shows that managers across the UK are reaffirming their commitment to innovation to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Innovation for the Recovery explores the views of 850 senior managers to detail the changing role of innovation in the recession. Developed from managers’ day-to-day experiences, the report encouragingly shows managerial commitment to innovation yet warns of distinct challenges ahead.
Key Findings:
In autumn 2008, the Department for Business commissioned David MacLeod and Nita Clarke to carry out an independent review into employee engagement. The MacLeod Review published its report - Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement in July 2009. The report set out a compelling business case for employee engagement, highlighting the potential benefits for organisations and individual employees of ‘a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.'
The report set out evidence showing that improving employee engagement can help improve organisational performance, and specifically, that performance in areas such as turnover, profit, staff attrition and absence, accidents and wastage is improved in organisational units with higher levels of employee engagement. Benefits for employees of engagement include higher satisfaction, sense of well-being, commitment, and the opportunity to give of their very best.
The report identified four key enablers for engagement which had potential to impact on bottom line organisational performance:
The review revealed that there was a general lack of awareness about employee engagement, and while many managers and leaders were keen to do more to engage with their staff they felt unprepared to do so – either because they did not know where to start, or because they lacked the so-called “softer” management and leadership skills to create and sustain authentic relationships with their employees.
Work is now being taken forward to implement the recommendations of the report, including raising awareness of employee engagement amongst the business community and ensuring effective signposting to information, guidance and support for businesses wanting to improve their engagement levels.
Visit the People InterAction website.
See also Develop Your Personal Competencies.
National Occupational Standards (or "NOS") describe the standard of performance expected of a competent person as they go about their work. They also specify the knowledge and skills required.
All checklists on www.BeaBetterManager.com are linked to a wide range of NOS.
Click here for tips how to NOS to solve problems, seize opportunities and achieve results.
Support for using National Occupational StandardsThe Management Standards Consultancy has nearly 20 years' experience helping individuals and organisations improve their performance using National Occupational Standards. During 2010, it will be focusing on supporting organisations wanting to use NOS for the first time.
Click here to get support for using National Occupational Standards to meet the challenges your organisation faces in 2010.
Past Newsletters