On PM’s LinkedIn group

Claire Warren | 29 Nov 2011 | 12:56

• RoseMarie Loft: The one that does both, depending on the priorities of the situation.

• Mara Thorne: Agreed, they’re not mutually exclusive. If your boss is approachable and listens to you and values you, you are more likely to go the extra mile for them, which means that the results are likely to follow.

• Dean Bennett: You can’t get results if you don’t stop, if you don’t listen and if you aren’t focused on getting results. It takes all three. I find it very interesting how we tend towards the dualistic thinking of either/or, (what American business consultant, author and lecturer Jim Collins refers to as “the tyranny of the Or”), rather than looking at how we can combine things in ways to get new results – in behaviours as well as other areas.

• Lorraine Hall: The one who stops and listens will empower you to achieve results.

• Wendy Cox: Both. A good manager should recognise when there is a “fire-fighting” situation and so it’s necessary to command and control. If this is regular practice, though, the manager effectively works solo, discounts anyone else’s opinions and ideas, avoids change and having to explain actions and becomes an isolated expert with no team to support their work. When that happens, the organisation should be worried.

• Andrew Greaves: By listening to others a manager benefits from the skills of others, is less likely to make mistakes and is more in touch with their workforce. However, I’ve known some great managers who probably spread themselves a little too thinly to listen to others as much as they would like. In those cases, entrusting some soft skill tasks to others – such as making time to listen – can work really well. If there’s a skilled “people person” in the senior management team, I’d suggest there’s a case for giving them a role as listening post on behalf of the organisation’s leaders.

• For more on this discussion, go to linkd.in/listenresults

Other popular discussions: Is it too hard to sack under-performing staff? linkd.in/underperform

Are eccentrics a welcome part of office life? linkd.in/crazyboss

Ten top tips for talent management

Claire Warren | 7 Apr 2011 | 17:04

Should talent management programmes be aimed at a select few or should we define everyone within organisations as talent? Clearly there are a number of issues associated with taking a more narrow approach. Cultural background and lack of confidence, for instance, can mean individuals are overlooked or deselect themselves. And failing to effectively deal with those people who don’t make it onto talent development programmes can lead to reduced motivation and a “them and us” mentality. On the other hand, now, more than ever, organisations are expecting more from less and need to ensure that they have the right people in the right jobs.

Judging from a session I joined at the “Hands on Talent” focus day at the CIPD’s HRD 2011 conference, these questions are very much on the minds of HR professionals. It’s clear that there is unlikely to ever be a one-size-fits-all approach but in a short brainstorming session delegates did come up with a list of key components for a successful talent management programme that I think are worth sharing:

• Transparency, fairness and good communication are essential.
• Ensure there is buy-in from the CEO.
• Communicate a clear definition of what the programme is and that it has the support of the CEO/board.
• Have clear selection criteria, defined from the start.
• Ensure you have an effective performance management system and equip line managers with the tools they need to deliver on it.
• Use role models and share successes.
• Don’t over-promise or under-deliver.
• Analyse the future capability needs of your organisation to ensure your programme meets those needs.
• Ensure there is a commercial return on investment.
• Continuously review your programme.

Saga of David Laws shows diversity has a long way to go

Claire Warren | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:20

The resignation of David Laws as chief secretary to the Treasury has left me feeling decidedly uncomfortable. I’m happy to see the back of MPs who abuse the expenses system for personal gain. But Laws says he made no personal profit from paying rent to his partner and it would seem that he was genuinely motivated by his desire to hide his sexuality.

Working as a London-based HR journalist it’s easy to start believing that we are making progress on diversity issues. But instances such as this remind me that we still have a very long way to go.

Laws told the Western Daily Press that he grew up at a time when homosexuality was seen as “wrong or shameful” yet it turns out he is only 44 – younger, in fact, than former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, who openly admits to being gay.

Whatever his motivations for wanting to keep it secret, Laws shows us that no matter how far we think we have come, there are still many people who don’t feel able to admit to being gay.

I accept that, given MPs have not been allowed to lease accommodation from a partner since 2006, Laws really had no choice other than to resign. But I can’t help thinking that this is one expenses scandal that I’d prefer not to have seen the light of day.

Laws is by many accounts a talented and thoroughly decent individual and it’s clear from his own words that he went into politics to make a difference – in his resignation letter to David Cameron he says he “pursued a political career because of my sense of public duty”. I just hope that his efforts to hide his own “difference” don’t keep him away from front-bench politics for too long.