Category: Articles

Definitions of EXP (Employee Experience) vary widely. Here are two recent examples.
“Employee experience encapsulates what people encounter and observe over the course of their tenure at an organization.”

“Employee experience (or talent experience to be specific), creates the conditions that unlock high
employee engagement. It sculpts an employee’s perception of their day-to-day work environment, culture and sense of purpose, which in turn influences their level of engagement.”

Nowadays most companies are espousing the idea that a positive EXP leads to enhanced business
performance and for good reason. It does!

When organizations get employee experience right, they can achieve twice the customer satisfaction and innovation, and generate 25% higher profits than those that don’t. – Culture Amp

An analysis of over 250 global organizations found companies that scored highest on employee experience benchmarks have four times higher average profits, two times higher average revenues, and 40 percent lower turnover compared to those that didn’t. – Culture Amp

In this article, I am not going to talk about certain key elements of EXP like the importance of onboarding,
providing development opportunities and tech systems that facilitate the easy transfer of information.
Rather I will focus on my personal experience of what constitutes a great EXP. My belief is that you know
when it’s great or not primarily by how you feel.

There are simple ways to determine the level of positivity in an organization. What’s the ‘atmosphere’ like
when you walk into the main lobby? Is it flat and dull or is there an aliveness and buoyancy in the air? When you walk through the offices are people smiling? Are conversations animated? Are they having fun? Is work enjoyable?

XP is about how employees FEEL. How do you feel when you visit the office? Are you welcomed warmly?
Are you happy to be there? What are some of the key elements?

So how do you create the right conditions for a fantastic EXP? I remember the Chairman of a global finance company smiling and saying ‘hello’ in the elevator to anyone, regardless of rank. He would also descend from the top floor and drop in at random to chat with an employee halfway down the 50-storey building. He took a genuine interest in his people, included them, and made them feel good. Staff at this company felt connected and part of the enterprise.

I’m sure we’ve all had both good and bad employee experiences. Rather than continue to talk about third-party facts, stats, and perspectives I’d like to share a couple of personal stories that illustrate both exemplary and negative employee experiences. And I’d like you to consider your own EXP experiences.

What can you personally do to contribute to improving EXP in your organization?

Years ago in London, I was fortunate enough to join a pioneering group of idealists and grow a group of
companies that, for many, opened up new possibilities for creating the ideal work environment. In my book, the following elements are key to generating an engaging employee experience. An inspiring leader with an inspiring vision, a psychologically safe workplace, with its cousin a ‘feedback culture’, trust, and fun! It felt great to be part of a community. And what excited me was the fact that we were always expanding and not contracting.

Our vision was no less than the transformation of society through business. The fun element was in
particular an example of a joyous EXP. We staged costume parties and banged a large Tibetan gong to
herald the start of the day’s work and then straight after lunch. Perhaps the most outrageous fun adventure was, for three consecutive years, chartering jets, closing the companies and flying off to Morocco, Turkey, and Egypt with staff, friends, and family.

But while this may sound rather idyllic, two aspects of EXP I listed above prevented this experience from
being stellar. In fact, they put a dampener on what could have been exceptional. Unfortunately large, over-controlling egos created an environment where many were afraid to speak out and express themselves freely.

In 1999, the highly esteemed Professor Amy Edmondson coined the term “psychological safety” to describe the lack of interpersonal fear. It’s about creating a space where people feel comfortable being
themselves—where they can express themselves honestly, and make mistakes without fear of being
shamed or blamed. Ironically that charismatic leader with an inspiring vision set the tone and did nothing to dispel the internal politics and tensions that arose. When it came to psychological safety and trust there was much to be desired. Most people were scared or in awe of the Chairman and his close lieutenants.

In a company where psychological safety is a reality, it is possible to create a culture of feedback. Trust and comfort are there to facilitate timely and constructive interpersonal feedback. If only everyone in that
company in London had a ‘voice’, as Amy Donaldson puts it, it might have been possible to largely eradicate the fear of taking interpersonal risks. Things can change if, as they say, you speak ‘truth to power.’

Finally, perhaps the number one determinant of EXP is the relationship between the employee and his/her immediate manager. In my case, I reported to a Managing Director who kept me at a distance and was very cold towards me. Needless to say, I always felt uncomfortable, tense, and inauthentic around her.

This went on for two years. If FEELING is an excellent indicator of EXP then I felt bad in her presence throughout this period. Interesting that a few years later she apologized for her behavior.

Needless to say, during this period, my performance suffered as my energy was suppressed and my
contribution to the team effort diminished dramatically. A leader’s job is to minimize fear and instill
confidence in her team. Interestingly my manager had a great relationship with a colleague of mine and he flourished under her leadership producing great results. This case is an example of how, early on, an open and honest exchange of feedback would likely have completely changed the dynamic of our relationship and enabled me to bring my whole self to the workplace.

Every organization should create its own culture and EXP according to its nature and circumstances. Not
many companies are willing or able to fly their staff to some exotic holiday location! But how we behave
towards others will largely determine the quality of the employee experience. And that’s a universal truth.

Michael Banks
February 2023
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If you want to know more about PeopleSmart and the services we offer reach out to us for a conversation:
contact@peoplesmart.fr

Why is Bold Leadership more important now? In these difficult times people and organizations have a tendency to withdraw, become defensive and risk averse. It is essential that leaders, and indeed you and I, are willing to make bold decisions that allow everyone to move forward despite this inertia and fear ridden environment.

But let’s not confuse bold with reckless. In the face of a crisis, some people have a panicky knee jerk reaction. A good example was the recent budget presented by Prime Minister Truss of the UK. In attempting to be the heroic and courageous savior of the nation she was effectively committing hari kari. Her budget was ill considered and impulsive and consequently, she lost her job. 

For the sake of this article, we can assume that a bold leader is someone who is looking to make a positive impact in the world. A bold leader can emerge in any walk of life. Bold leadership is a type of skill and can be developed. It needs a blend of careful preparation and planning mixed with audacity, imagination, and risk taking. It is not about Impetuous decisions that are selfish and inconsiderate of their impact on others.

You do not have to be loud or Superwoman to be a bold leader. People love authenticity and a bold approach can be inspiring and motivating especially during these challenging times. A bold leader is typically someone who is exciting to be around and has a vision that captures the imagination and gives meaning to the work of the team or organization.

Are you a bold leader? Do you aspire to be one? Here are some suggestions for you to consider:

• In the best sense, you mustn’t care about what others think. When you stick your neck out you should expect some ‘flak’. At the same time, one needs to remain calm, balanced, and respectful in responding to the naysayers. Don’t seek others’ approval or pursue strategies just to please people. Be strong in your beliefs about what is the right thing to do.

• Self-awareness is crucial. Be aware of how limited you are by history, both personal and otherwise. Then you can choose an alternative future. Timid leaders tend to say “That’s not possible because … (what has occurred to date) while bold leaders typically are not prevented by existing beliefs or history from imagining and creating new solutions.

• Mindset: Comfortable with discomfort. It ‘comes with the territory’ A bold leader is inevitably constantly testing the limits and moving beyond his or her comfort zone. 

Apart from these aspects of self-management, the following are some characteristics that typically indicate a bold leader:

• Keep the faith over time and provide hope to others 
• Creates something that didn’t exist before
• Willing to challenge the status quo
• Risk taking and open to failure
• Courageous
• Imaginative
• Acts on behalf of the ‘whole’ versus ‘self’

Reflection Exercise: what one or two items from above would you like to improve and why?

And then there’s the mystical/spiritual aspect of bold action. 

Have you ever been faced with a ‘blank’ future – maybe a divorce or a loss of a job? And then your only choice is to take a risk and jump into the unknown. This takes courage and a trust that you will land somewhere! Even better if you have identified your purpose and are willing to commit to a path that represents fully who you really are.

There is a clear connection between being committed and being bold. When you commit you put a stake in the ground which takes courage because you are publicly stating your intention and cannot hide.

This is one of my all time favorite quotes and I think it’s a good way to finish this short collection of ideas. You may have seen it before but please take a moment to reflect and relate to your own life.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” – W.H. Murray

Reflection Exercise: think of two real-life bold leaders you admire. What makes them bold?

My examples are:

1. Anwar Sadat who risked his life to travel to Israel in 1973 to catalyze the Camp David peace accords

2. Sir Richard Branson who pivoted from selling discounted rock records to founding a major airline. This required vision and imagination.

What are yours?

 

Michael Banks 

February 2023

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If you want to know more about PeopleSmart and the services we offer reach out to us for a conversation: contact@peoplesmart.fr 

The world has changed dramatically over the past three years– and with it, the world of learning and development. Just as trainers and L&D professionals settled into online delivery, we have now shifted back to hybrid workplaces. Some organizations have reintroduced in-person training, while others are mixed or have declared themselves fully virtual. 

The new age of learning is no longer the future – it’s the present. Companies that resist can find themselves struggling to fill open positions as employees take more control of their own careers. Front and center of employee-driven learning is the ability to learn on demand, in an engaging, interactive, personalized way that is as flexible as online learning and yet has the magic and charm of in-person interactions. In other words, the future of learning has to be phygital: combining the best of both physical and digital worlds. How are trainers to pivot to this new training normal?

This new age of learning, training, and development doesn’t have to be one we resist. Forward-thinking companies can embrace the changes and adapt to a world where a commute of several hours is replaced by productivity and where in-person doesn’t have to mean everyone must be in the same room. 

Let’s take a look at how training is evolving and how companies can look to entice, train, and retain employees. But first, how did we get to this point? 

The Year Everything Changed

As 2019 began, there was already a growing disconnect between employees, who for years had wanted more freedom in the way they worked, and their employers. Many employers believed the requested freedoms would create lackluster results. 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone indoors. Traditional companies wishing to stay in business were catapulted into a future they hoped was many years ahead. For them, work meant everyone coming together under one roof to move toward the same goal. 

The idea of using a remote workforce for traditional companies meant losing control. How would employers know if each employee was putting in the adequate amount of time each day? COVID left them no other choice. Employees gathered only the equipment needed from offices and created home workspaces in a matter of days to keep things running the best they could under the new circumstances. 

Technology Does Not Stop

It’s easy to blame the pandemic for the changes but remote training is here not because of COVID, but because of technological advancements. Virtual reality simulations have existed for many years. Long before 2019, pilots logged hours in flight simulators before flying real planes with passengers or cargo. The same can be said for military and law enforcement training. 

Technology is also what may have saved the world economy during the pandemic. Without the advancements of the last decades, how would we have kept moving in the midst of this outbreak? 

While VR’s benefits were initially embraced by the gaming community, many knew its real benefits revolved around the technology’s ability to create a real sense of place and community. The VR market is expected to bring in over $12 billion in revenue by 2024. 

Opposing Sides

As COVID becomes a more manageable disease, employers and employees are seemingly pulling in opposite directions. Businesses want everyone to return to the workplace of old while employees now realize much of their work can be completed from home and would like to hold on to the new ways. 

This opposition is what has led to today’s Great Resignation. Employees exercised their value and resigned from companies they feel are refusing to change in search of companies more in tune with where work is heading. In 2021, over 47 million workers quit their jobs. 

Training Must Evolve

Training professionals must always be aware of the changes coming to the workforce. As generations bring a new outlook to work, trainers must be ready to meet their expectations to create an engaged workforce that believes in a company’s values and takes that company to a bright future. 

Think of anybody coming into an onboarding training session today. This person has spent most of their life to this point learning with the use of a computer, tablet, or phone. A trainer asking them to put away all electronics and take out paper and a pencil to take notes would be a bright red flag about this company as a whole. 

Training in Web 3.0

The internet as we know it today is a tool designed to help our machines connect all around the world. Yes, you are highly communicative online, but you are fully aware that it is happening by communicating from one device to another. 

In training, web 2.0 enabled people to train from anywhere with a solid internet connection. They do so with courses presented to them on the screen that ask them to read training material or view scenarios covering the material. A test is usually given to employees after completing the lessons. 

The shortfall of this training is that while it uses the web, it still relies on old methods of teaching developed decades ago. The idea is to memorize what is being taught. The concepts are then repeated as proof of understanding. 

Let’s go back to the pilots in flight simulators example. How comfortable would you feel getting on a plane if your pilot’s only experience came from reading a digital session and taking a written test? 

Enter training in Web 3.0, a new development that promises us a decentralized, user driven, fairer internet. A clear picture of Web 3.0 or Web3 as it is known is still evolving. What we do know is that Web3 will change the face of L&D as learners expect more authentic experiences that they can control and customize to their learning pace and environments (work from home and otherwise). 

Learning in the Metaverse

The metaverse, a key concept of Web 3, is the evolution of the internet. Rather than connecting machines to machines, you will now travel to a central place of communication. The channels for this new level of communication and collaboration are virtual and augmented reality. Together, they form Extended Reality, also known as XR. 

Benefits of XR Training

XR training is the new age of learning. Thanks to XR, your physical location is no longer a limitation. Trainers can live in one country and onboard a group of new employees scattered throughout the globe. The team can work together as if they were in one room because while connected, they are. 

Training in a virtual space is the opportunity we have all dreamed of for a long time. You can now ditch the old ways of teaching in favor of an experiential approach. You’ll cut down training time, engage your personnel, and teach the way human beings learn best.

Who Is Using XR Training? 

Here are some examples of companies already taking advantage of XR training: 

• Ford Motor Company: Worked with Bosh to develop a VR training tool for their service technicians
• Dermalogica: Uses a VR training program complete with an AI trainer for its 100,000 skin therapists
• Bank of America: VR program consists of 20 simulations for its workforce of 50,000

The New Age of Learning: Wrap-Up

The key to successfully training a new generation of people is to look forward and not back. Robert Lambrechts of Pereira O’Dell said it best, “I don‘t think there‘s ‘going back‘ to anything. That world, whatever we did in January 2020, doesn‘t exist anymore.”

The skills gap continues to grow. Traditional schools are not keeping up with the demands of today and online training is not enough. Employees are looking to their employers to coach and develop them using methods not stuck in the past. 

As trainers, it is our responsibility to work to close the skills gap and XR training is one of the best tools available to do it. Edstutia’s trainer certification program is designed to prepare trainers to fully understand instructional design, development, and delivery in XR and to put their best Web3 foot forward in engaging and developing top-notch talent.

Dr Yogini Joglekar is COO of Edstutia and Senior Consultant at PeopleSmart, specializing in change leadership, communication, and learning technologies.

Do you control your phone or does it control you? 

According to a recent study in the US, 66% of people surveyed show signs of ‘nomophobia’ – the fear of being without their phones. Also, the same study revealed that users unlocked their phones on average 150 times per day. This constant distraction can have profoundly negative effects on our relationships. In early 2010 I purchased a shiny new smartphone (for my job of course) and immediately fell in love with having a mini computer in my pocket. I could manage my emails, diary, messaging, banking…everything on the go. We’ve all been there right, but this was different to most of the technology that had come before – it was highly addictive but not like gaming or TV. Even for those of us who felt that we were not easily distracted, the allure of maximising our ‘efficiency’ and being ‘always contactable’ has remained with many of us to this day. The question for a lot of people now is, “Has the technology improved our lives or made it worse i.e; more stressful with increased anxiety?” As I was in and out of meetings a lot during this period, I left my phone in ‘silent’ mode and it has pretty much stayed that way to this day as my wife can confirm! Of course, this isn’t always possible but it highlights a common power struggle that we have vis-a-vis our tech. 

 

Humans still have centre stage – people matter 

Business is about people – our collaborators who we entrust to deliver our promise day in and day out and our customers who believe what we believe and vote with their wallets. Technology is great and laptops and smartphones have revolutionised our professional mobility plus, coupled with a vast array of apps and software, we now can work from anywhere 24 hours a day if we wanted to. It is essential however, to strike a healthy balance. Many of us have a myriad of apps open at any one time and this can limit our ability to deeply focus on tasks without being constantly distracted. Multitasking is an enemy of productivity and the struggle now is how to design into our

daily flow, periods of uninterrupted work. This is a real challenge for many people and it is those who manage to do this well who will ultimately succeed. Without a high level of wellbeing, all of us, both personally and professionally will suffer so we have to act now. 

Rise of AI and the move towards decentralisation 

Two key areas of technological development are shaping our world more than ever – these are; artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. 

Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, namely computer systems. Specific applications of AI include natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision. In general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labelled training data, analysing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. For example, a chatbot that is fed examples of text exchanges can learn to produce lifelike exchanges with people, or an image recognition tool can learn to identify and describe objects in images by reviewing millions of examples. AI programming focuses on three cognitive skills: learning, reasoning and self-correction. 

The aforementioned highlights the machine learning element or ‘soft’ AI and most of us are familiar with these types of algorithms working away in the background when we use Google, Facebook, Amazon etc. Who has been on a Youtube video spiral based on the recommendations..? The ‘hard’ AI is the next level and the one of concern as this is when the machines start to think for themselves rather than basing their ‘behaviour’ on being fed information. Great minds of our time such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson have all voiced deep concerns about ‘hard’ AI. 

Blockchain is fast becoming well regarded in many industries and the use cases are plentiful; finance, supply-chain, cyber security, voting, anti-counterfeiting etc. Essentially, blockchain is a decentralised, immutable and secure ledger of transactions that by its very nature, is significantly more secure than a database and has ‘trust’ built in from inception. A blockchain therefore removes the third party from transactions (think: banks, custodians, estate-agents etc.) so it’s turning the centralised world as we know it on its head. 

Mindset for success 

As these two exciting technological advancements accelerate us into our increasingly digital futures, it begs the question, “Where do we as humans fit into the mix?” Here are a few pointers to consider:

• We must remember that our technology works for us, not the inverse, therefore setting rigorous boundaries for its use is key. Create a company ‘Tech charter’, communicate it well and stick to it. 
• When possible, maximise human face-to-face contact as this is where true connection happens. 
• Over communication can easily overwhelm collaborators so agree on ‘how’ different types of collaboration should be conducted and on what channels and platforms. Using three types of file sharing platforms for projects is a recipe for disaster. Focused communication wins. 
• At a Comex company level, don’t be afraid of the technology, leverage it! Set up a sandbox to experiment with AI and blockchain and share your findings with the team. 
• Challenge the 60 minute meeting default. How about 15, 30 or 45 minutes instead with 2, 3 or 4 attendees..? 
• Actively encourage and support your collaborators to disengage to re-engage by building a meaningful life outside of work. Work hard, play hard and foster well-being. 

Jeremy Peter Williams 08.03.2022

Where we’ve come from – The journey to ‘me’

The narrative of the individual has been the dominant voice in our culture since the birth of the Enlightenment (“I think, therefore I am.”) Each person was raised to be individual, autonomous, self-reliant, and high achieving. It has been a glorious age of the individual – celebrating our break from the clutches of monarchy to individual freedom and creative expression that resulted in ground-breaking achievements in science, medicine, technology, and education.

Where we are – where’s that selfie-stick!

The rise of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s and Web 2.0 (creator culture) ushered in the Instagrammer and Youtuber generation who epitomised the ultimate ‘me’ culture and this has morphed into society – many children now aspire to be the next YouTube star! It’s easily accessible using free platforms to become a ‘star’ but where is this taking us, in society and in the workplace?

Office star shining bright or a full-on galaxy ready to discover?

Let’s face it, the vibe in the office, whether physical or virtual, has a significant bearing on happiness, well-being and productivity so it’s essential to get it right. We all know companies which have a culture of fear where every man and woman are for themselves and this obviously isn’t a recipe for success especially given the current context.

We are rapidly moving into the 4th industrial revolution where technologies (Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things) are playing a more significant role in our everyday workflow and collaborators are having to adjust their approaches to virtually all aspects of their work accordingly.

It is no longer acceptable to be a ‘me first’ entitled collaborator and a recent study by the University of New Hampshire concluded that in environments of this nature:

• Conflicts are more likely

• Constructive feedback can be more difficult to receive 
• Job satisfaction is lower
• Expectations can be unrealistic
• Passing the blame for failure to others is more likely
• The likelihood of taking undue credit for successes is higher

‘Me’ leaders fared even worse as it was concluded that their effectiveness and ability to lead high performing teams was substantially reduced.

Our future will be determined by our ability to get back to ‘we’ and communities will lead the way – if we embrace this collective power 

Paradigm shifts do not just happen by chance. They are evolutionary, driven by agents of change – scientific, cultural, philosophical and technological. It is now increasingly believed that refocusing a culture back to an inclusive ‘we’ culture is what is needed to successfully navigate our way into the looming 4th industrial revolution. 

Communities will take on more power in organisations and bottom-up, consensus decision making is on the rise. This is surely a good thing but a change of mindset right through the organisation is required for this shift to be realised in an effective way.

5 ways culture-first start-ups are leading the way  

1. Hiring for the best cultural fit is the most important aspect of fostering a community that will be led by consensus decision-making and collaboration. Involving the current collaborators in the hiring process can really help with finding the right cultural fit and also the engagement of existing collaborators. It’s a win-win! For example; pair up team members to interview a candidate around one of the company’s values. 

2. Working environments are also fundamentally important as a basis for a successful ‘we’ culture. Having communal working areas where impromptu conversations or meetings can take place (if face-to-face) and organising virtual coffee breaks if working more online can all help foster a positive vibe.

3. Technology has a huge influence on our work nowadays so it has to be embraced in an intelligent way, but there is the real risk of over-complicating simple processes and the tech can easily switch from being your friend to your enemy if not managed correctly. Tip: keep it simple and clearly lay down the rules for which apps and software can be used and stick to it by creating a ‘tech charter’ which everyone agrees on. This way, miscommunication can be avoided and face-to-face time can be maximised. 

4. Celebrate your successes! No matter how small, make sure to always acknowledge and celebrate the small wins (as well as the big ones of course!) as business should also be fun. Some companies have a bell that they ring when a deal is closed and others arrange social BBQ nights once per week (socially distanced of course now). More and more companies are progressively getting back into having yearly offsite trips abroad to foster cultures of collaboration and inter-team connectivity which goes a long way to building trust and long-term performance. In short, it works so it’s worth the investment.

5. Many KPIs are outdated and aren’t suited to a modern collaborative culture of ‘we’ so it’s wise to take a close look at the underlying KPIs in your organisation as these will be driving a lot of the behaviour that can be observed. In order to install and nurture a community culture of ‘we’ focus the KPIs around outcomes not activities. The team members will hence be more focused on putting their energy into achieving the desired result through working closely with their colleagues with a clear focus. The other benefit is that they will be more likely to take ownership of the outcome of their work which will lead to increased job satisfaction. Tip: this can only be achieved if there isn’t a culture of fear (of making a mistake). 

It’s safe to say that this road to a ‘we’ culture will be long and windy but it is definitely worth starting out on this journey right now as the companies which do so, will surely be ahead of the pack and quite possibly, some of the leaders of tomorrow.

Article written by: Jeremy Peter Williams 

If you are a Human Being reading this article then you are at the right place to understand why belonging to a community is important for each one of us!

From childhood our life is built around them: first, our family, then friends with common interests or passions, then colleagues or professionals that share the same experiences or knowledge and many more in other fields of our life. I am sure you see what I mean here: communities are essential for all humans.

And learning capabilities is no exception.

Learning is necessary and important for each person individually, but it also has many benefits in the business environment – among many other factors it contributes to improved performance. Below I would like to look at WHY to buil a learning community, WHAT is done in it and the ADVANTAGES of creating them.

1. WHY is it important to build Learning Communities in your organization?

• Learning is an experience!
  Do you agree? When you learn something new there is nothing better than putting it into practice. If you are just trying to memorize theoretical concepts, you might not remember a lot. However, if you try and fail and try again the things you theoretically learnt then you are truly learning. And of course, if you succeed in your trials, this is the best part!
• Learning communities improve motivation, collaboration and knowledge-transfer
  What if your learning experience could be shared with a group of colleagues in a safe environment where everyone can share their own practices? Belonging to a community is essential when learning something: we all are “in the same boat”, we can help each other, there is strong solidarity that is naturally created. The people with whom you are sharing this experience are bound to you in some way. Have you ever experienced this?
  In your organization, if you can create learning communities around specific topics it will definitely reinforce your employees’ motivation and collaboration. At Hewlett Packard an informal community of practice emerged around a customer software: employees scheduled a monthly call where attendance was not mandatory. People could come if they were willing to come and available. Thanks to this community, the software significantly evolved and attendance to the monthly meeting was steady, showing the attachment that employees had in this community and the will to help each other to make things better.
  Finally, another great reason to build learning communities is the knowledge transfer from one person to another (known as “peer-to-peer” learning). When you create learning communities on specific topics within your organization you are also mixing profiles and experiences. This is a wonderful way to encourage and support internal knowledge-transfer. This was the case for the US airline company JetBlue which implemented a program with senior employees transferring their knowledge to other employees (program was named “JetBlue Scholars”) and resulted in 86% of employees who felt more engaged and 96% willing to stay in the company.

2. WHAT is done in a learning community?

Wenger defined several activities that can be done within a “community of practice” which can also be a learning community. Here are some of them:

• Problem-solving
• Searching for information
• Sharing of experiences
• Identifying gaps
• Growing confidence
• Brainstorming innovative ideas
• Developing critical thinking

All these activities cannot be done only at an individual level. If you need to solve specific issues for your business you could create a community of practice around the topic to collectively find and test the solutions.

3. What are the ADVANTAGES of learning communities?

The list of advantages can be very long and here are only just a few ones:

• Diversity (views, knowledge, people)
• Take a step back on your own practices and knowledge
• Engagement & motivation
• Integration and satisfaction (promotions in schools
• Friendships
• Opportunity to know and work with people you might have not had the chance to meet otherwise
• Take ownership of your learning (involvement)

4. HOW can I implement learning communities in my organization?

The good news is that you don’t need much to build a learning community! The only thing you have to do is find a topic and create a group of people that are interested in it. Of course, it can start with a “formal” training with an expert, but it is certainly not the only way – the key point is to make people regularly interact and share ideas and experiences on the topic of interest.

Another good news is that you don’t need to have physical communities; people can work digitally (even if the benefits of physical meetings are proved in terms of people’s emotional connections) the key here is that you make sure they have the available tools to communicate properly.

If your learning communities start with a “formal face-to-face” training then make sure that you’ll have at least one facilitator to encourage and bring dynamism within the community.

Do you want to go further? I suggest you read articles and books from Etienne Wenger who has studied in detail the concepts of communities of practice.

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PeopleSmart has significant experience in thought partnership, design and delivery of learning community solutions, so if you would like to know how we could help you build your culture and communities around learning, and so much more, it all starts with a conversation.

Since the onset of the COVID crisis, there has been a very lively and rich discussion around what this all means for leadership under the extreme conditions we have been going through. What follows is a very personal contribution, based on my initial training as a social historian and 37 years of experience in the Learning and Development space.

Even with the tremendous advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, human beings (and by extension, leaders) will continue to play a critical role in the success of organizations. But this raises a new series of questions: who we recruit, who we promote, who we decide to invest in for L+D spend, how we recognize and reward. There are a few leadership models out there with 6 dimensions and perhaps the TALENT “proto-model” proposed below could make a small contribution to how we can collectively consider updating our pre-existing models on leadership for the COVID Era.

Lean

Lean has a well-proven track record in terms of improving industrial performance. Could we apply some of its basic tenets more systematically to Leadership? In my opinion, one of the key learnings of the lockdown is that business performance was not necessarily negatively impacted by fewer meetings, less bureaucracy and the suddenly forced experimentation with remote/hybrid working. When we consider the well-known Eisenhower Matrix (with 4 quadrants – on the vertical axis “importance” and on the horizontal access “urgency”), I think that the lower right-hand quadrant (non-urgent/ unimportant) has proven to be much larger than 25%.

Source: https://theblogrelay.com/eisenhower-matrix-for-decision-making/

In terms of the LEAN dimension, could sociologists help us better understand what we need in terms of leadership for this COVID Era? François Dupuy (whom I had the great pleasure of meeting on a number of occasions) – wrote a seminal work back in 2011: Lost in Management. He very knowingly speaks of how organizations – by creating rules and processes to ensure “homogeneity and clarity” – actually create what he calls “intermediary bureaucracies”. In a famous quotation of the Franco-Austrian sociologist Erhard Friedberg (my loose translation): “Rules are not important for what they say but how the actors make use of them”. In a nutshell, organizations have proven to be very effective in adding layers of bureaucracy and paying people to manage all of this (processes, reporting…). Could we use this period of “forced reflection”, to get leaders to more deeply reflect on the cost-benefit analysis of corporate processes? The clear risk is that our new hybrid working mode – back-to-back Zoom/ Teams/ Cisco meetings – could actually replicate and in fact reinforce existing corporate bureaucracies. Could we rather seize the occasion to re-think, re-set and reframe (something around “Back to the Basics”?). Could LEAN methodology in terms of leadership help us here? There has always been a fine line in balancing the well-founded need to create a robust corporate process whilst fostering innovation (along with getting a maximum out of our increasingly diverse talents). In a nutshell, how can we benefit from adding more fluidity and flexibility to our modes of leadership? We also need to think about what this means for “scaling-up” in fast-growing organizations, where remote working has become dominant.

As we will be seeing in the TIME dimension below, some leaders have difficulties in changing their management practices for COVID-era hybrid working (e.g., continuing to control and supervise the schedules of their team members). These ‘old-school’ leaders already had a preference for spending most of their time in meetings. The ever-provocative Elon Musk has recently pleaded for CEOs to spend less time in meetings and reduce their use of PowerPoint.

Food for thought:
How can we most effectively apply LEAN to our leadership behaviours?
How can we “protect” our teams from corporate bureaucracy whilst maintaining a minimal level of control?

The Covid 19 pandemic has been re-shaping our lives for more than a year now. We had to change the way we work, connect with others, and live our lives. Many were able to actively focus on learning new skills to deal with technology allowing them to continue working remote, others to get organized to home-deliver all sorts of goods. In general, organizations had to quickly make changes to grant their employees to work safely and remain productive.

Change is natural, even refreshing when it is approached in a gradual way. With the pandemic, change struck the world abruptly and unexpectedly.

As the urgency required to focus on the day-to-day necessities, the emotional intelligence part had to be left aside in most cases. That is why today many employees report feeling tired or even exhausted.

Emotional Intelligence is, “The capacity to be aware of, understand, and manage one’s own emotions, mood, time and behaviour effectively” and “Perceiving, understanding and acknowledging the way others feel”

Over the past decade, leaders from all industrial sectors have come to recognize the importance of EI to enhance motivation, engagement and performance. Just as the opposite has demonstrated to occur, that is a drop in performance and disengagement when leaders lack self-management, empathy, and the ability to engage and inspire. It is true that even in the best of times managing emotions and staying emotionally connected to the team can be a challenge for many leaders. But during and following the Covid 19 tragedy, EI skills have gained an even more important role. Remote work and social distancing require an even higher level of Emotional Intelligence readiness and competency for leaders and teams, as employees need to be heard and crave feeling safe and valued.

What strategies can be adopted to help EI grow in organizations?

• Measuring Emotional intelligence in the organization and employ resources to develop EI competencies.
• Start rewarding leaders and employees who demonstrate self-management, care and empathy and use emotional information to make decisions.
• Stop rewarding leaders and employees who get results but break relationships in the process and make decisions that do not take into account the impact of emotions.

That can be achieved by taking some courageous steps such as:

• Providing training, coaching and mentoring to leaders and teams to enhance their emotional competencies.
• Create ways to celebrate leaders and teams for their Emotional Intelligence. For example, how they managed to create engagement and bonding via Zoom or helping their people to get to know each other by intentionally mixing teams and assigning mentors.
• Sustaining trust by creating a climate of openness on feelings, difficulties, or obstacles. Regular check-ins can provide the structure for this kind of authentic sharing and support.
• Use meetings to reinforce engagement. Leaders can build time in meetings to see how smart the team is. For example, showcasing one person per meeting, letting them talk about their work, or highlighting their strengths for them and giving positive feedback in public, or doing quick introductions each week allowing people to get answers to their questions and to the challenges they face. In so doing, meetings become a time when engagement and trust can be built.

To quote Mark Nevins:

“If you don’t have the basics, you’re not going to excel post-Covid.”

We need to realize that we will not go back to the pre-Covid way of working. Many organizations report that they are thinking of creating some sort of mixture between work in the office and remote.

For example:

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, suggests if you have 100 employees
you won’t need 100 desks, maybe 60.

Unilever workers will never return to their desks full-time, CEO Alan Jope has stated.

Emotional Intelligence will be more and more crucial in the workplace and represent the true area of strength for leaders and teams.

Learning and Development

GENOS Podcasts – Check out the latest podcast by GENOS on “Real Stories and business insights on the power of EI in the workplace.”

Exploring EI – Virtual classroom – To help you understand the principles of the Science of Emotions, the fundamentals of EI behaviours and the core EI dimensions – On-demand

Leading with Emotional intelligence – Series of 6 virtual classrooms – To help you explore all the key competencies that can make you an Emotional Intelligent leader, using your EI in your leadership of people – On-demand

Coaching for Resilience – To help leaders and teams bounce back and forward in effective and positive ways with one-on-one or team coaching series of sessions fine-tuned to your needs – On-demand

Since the onset of the COVID crisis, there has been a very lively and rich discussion around what this all means for leadership under the extreme conditions we have been going through. What follows is a very personal contribution, based on my initial training as a social historian and 37 years of experience in the Learning and Development space.

Even with the tremendous advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, human beings (and by extension, leaders) will continue to play a critical role in the success of organizations. But this raises a new series of questions: who we recruit, who we promote, who we decide to invest in for L+D spend, how we recognize and reward. There are a few leadership models out there with 6 dimensions and perhaps the TALENT “proto-model” proposed below could make a small contribution to how we can collectively consider updating our pre-existing models on leadership for the COVID Era.

Agility

The COVID Era has certainly made Agility more critical than ever. VUCA has been around since the US Military developed it in the 1980s, but it is my feeling that the acronym has been abused and misused in many corporate and governmental environments. Most of the time we have been paying lip service to agility, imagining scenarios with say a potential of 15-20% deviations (what we could call “VUCA light”). In fact, we should probably have heeded the advice of those arguing for a more robust model – VUCAE – with an E for exponential. Over the years I have had the privilege of connecting with Singularity University in the Silicon Valley. If collectively we had onboarded their reflections on the incredible exponential element of change, we could have potentially managed the current crisis more effectively. It is my feeling that this “E-dimension” will be critical over the coming years.

During my stint as an L+D leader in a major global multi-national, I had the opportunity to experiment on the subject of agility with a very senior group of VPs. We used the KornFerryHay Agility Questionnaire and were rather taken back by the results. While the individual reports remained confidential, we were provided with a collective picture that demonstrated just how relatively low the overall agility of this very senior sample size was. Based on this experience, I have reflected on the following: are we hiring, promoting and developing the right profiles in terms of agility? Can we in fact develop agility? More on this below in the NOVELTY dimension.

I would suggest that there is a fundamental link between an organization’s capacity to be agile and cognitive biases. Daniel Kahneman has been a pioneer in exploring this for many decades, winning the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002 and publishing a best seller – Thinking Fast and Slow – in 2013. During the height of the pandemic this Spring, Olivier Sibony, Professor of Strategy at HEC Paris, presented a very interesting analysis of how these cognitive biases impacted decisions made during this period. [2] To cite a few examples:

1. The bias of our mental model: we focus our analysis of current crises on seemingly similar past events (e.g., SARS 2002-2003). But we are obviously in a very different ballpark.
2. Exponential growth is in fact counter-intuitive – it’s way out of our comfort zone. Collectively, we did not see it coming (an example of “VUCA-light”?).
3. There was clearly an NIH (“Not Invented Here”) syndrome in our initial reaction to the virus (think of Trump’s infamous Chinese virus proclamations). This is what Sibony refers to as “exo-group and endo-group bias”. It could never happen to us.
4. There seems to have been a clear phenomenon of “expert group think” back in the Spring of 2020. Of the 18 top scientific experts cited in Sibony’s study – only one “outlier” was close to predicting what has unfortunately panned out.

In terms of the above, how can we encourage and develop leaders to be more agile – and more aware of their cognitive biases – when we are affronted with the next major crisis. How can make sure that the “outlier” voice is at least listened to? This is most likely going to be a very rich collective learning experience.

A very striking paradox of the COVID Era is that for larger organizations, the corporate planning function has probably become more vital than ever. In our VUCAE era, we need to think more broadly and radically in terms of scenario planning. Perhaps we need to reflect on the profiles in this corporate function – are we sufficiently open to including original thinkers (or to use another term “outliers”). More on this below in the NOVELTY dimension around the idea of Groupthink and “deferring to the creative types”. [3] Finally, what is the relationship between AGILITY and risk assessment? How can we equip leaders to be more “risk-savvy” than ever?

Food for thought:
What have I been doing to become more agile in these challenging times?
How can I help my team become more agile?
And perhaps a more basic question, can we develop agility?

The job of a diplomat is complex and multifaceted. By its nature, it requires one to operate in environments of great diversity. In order to be successful, diplomats, while defending their countries’ interests, must maintain an awareness of the perspectives of host nations. The most successful among diplomats do not rely solely on their own education or knowledge (and perhaps language) of the countries where they serve. Rather, they seek out and rely on the expertise of the diplomatic mission’s locally-hired employees, or LE staff. Indeed, effective collaboration between the two groups requires a clear understanding and practice of the principles of diversity and inclusion.

LE staff provide continuity for the diplomatic personnel and possess local language and cultural expertise. In the case of the United States, LE staff support of foreign policy at more than 270 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. They form an integral part of the team dedicated to representing the U.S. abroad.

Beyond providing institutional knowledge, LE staff are institution-builders too, carrying out the daily tasks that enable the managing officer to focus on program management. They represent the continuity of a diplomatic mission and, as such, carry the torch long after their individual supervisors have moved on to other postings.

LE staff not only fulfill their functional duties; more importantly, they are also negotiators, facilitators and no small part of the bilateral relationship. Their native knowledge and understanding of the reality on the ground, and the relationships they build and nurture with a broad range of contacts, are essential elements of informed analysis and pertinent reporting. In essence, they serve to bridge two cultures.

As a U.S. diplomat for over 20 years who worked in seven countries on five continents, I can attest to the importance of building a productive and mutually respectful professional relationship with LE staff. Achieving this, however, does not come naturally. Even seasoned diplomats and LE staff must apply the necessary skills inherent to diversity and inclusion to account for the multitude of personalities they encounter. How, then, to ensure a win-win result?

Practicing an inclusive approach in a diverse environment starts with building trust. Within the first weeks in a new job, a meeting with each staff member sets the initial tone. Demonstrating a sincere interest in them fosters open communication and a fruitful professional relationship. Once mutual confidence has been established, listening to their advice on local affairs and including them in the decision-making process enhances the feeling that they are valued.

Finally, it is essential to recognize that, even within one small country with a relatively homogeneous culture, numerous sub-cultures likely exist. For example, Togo in West Africa is about the size of Denmark (with double the population); the official language is French. Two indigenous languages, Ewé and Kabiyé are national languages and a third, Mina, is widely spoken in the south. According to some sources, however, a total of 44 languages are spoken throughout the country. Woe be to the diplomat who ignores the subtleties in cultural differences between people from the north and the south.

Acquiring a deeper understanding of the diversity around us also adds richness to our own lives. For example, soon after I began working in Togo, I noticed that, following an initial greeting, locals would ask, “et la famille?” – meaning, “how’s your family?”. Before long, I added this phrase to my own greeting repertoire both in professional and social encounters. With three simple words, I not only demonstrated knowledge and respect for a local tradition but also established an immediate rapport that paid dividends on a number of levels. It may come as no surprise that inquiring as to someone’s family is also well received in non-African contexts.

Technology and travel bring us into contact with an ever-growing number of diverse communities. The trend is irreversible, despite recent setbacks resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. We do not have to be diplomats to apply the elements of diversity and inclusion discussed here in order to achieve a higher level of performance. When we do, we create allies, establish more harmonious professional and social settings, and continue to expand our personal horizons. That is a recipe for success no matter how you cut the cake.