Maverick Mastery®

When the business environment becomes more challenging companies tend to concentrate on hard measures such as reducing costs, increasing profits and downsizing often ignoring the sometimes intangible measures such as the management’s ability to be successful leaders, as a possible solution to how a business could weather the storm. This can be a flawed approach and can be extremely detrimental to the health of the business.

Having effective and productive leaders are imperative for an organisation’s success and ability to be agile in competitive and changing environments. This is often the reason that many HR departments insist that leadership training is the way forward to rectify the deficiencies in the organisation’s capability.

When the HR department advises the management team that they need leadership training this is often met with derision and a reluctance to attend, or worse still if they do attend, assessment following the training shows that in the mid to long term there is little to none improvement in leadership competence. This has a long term adverse effect on the business and the ability of employees to reach their potential and add value to the business.

Senior management buying in to the training intervention is essential in ensuring that it stands more than a fair chance of being accepted and embedded into the organisation.

Some of the ways that HR can embarrass itself when sponsoring leadership training

• Buying off the shelf training not aligned to the business

• Leadership training that concentrates on techniques not business

• Over reliance on one type of learning

• Using a trainer that lacks credibility

• Ignoring social intelligence as a key competency

One of the reasons that most managers refuse to attend leadership training is because they do not believe that it is relevant to their needs and they feel that after many years of managing people they are already effective and proficient managers. This perception is probably backed up by years of good Performance Reviews (where leadership ability/competency has never been assessed) and a reward structure that encourages poor leadership and a reliance on task completion over leadership ability.

It can be tempting to just buy in training that has not been aligned to the business – assuming that all leadership training is the same. It is imperative that you assess with the supplier exactly what you need to achieve and how the training can support the business objectives. The provider should also understand the culture of the business and ensure that the training embeds the desired culture and change objectives that you feel is necessary. Determination on whether coaching for junior members of the team or mentoring for more senior members will be more effective than a training course should be considered. It may be necessary to supplement the training with coaching or mentoring depending on the need of the business.

A major flaw in many leadership training programmes is that they concentrate on leadership techniques without considering how it relates to good business practice. For example, is the ability to understand Situational Leadership or Action Centred Leadership the training course or is the training course how you can apply Situational Leadership etc to your business day? It is a subtle although all essential distinction and one that will make an important difference in whether there will be any behavioural change or desired performance improvement.

Some trainers prefer to train in the learning style that is more comfortable for them rather than considering the learning styles of the delegates. This can lead to training courses that are biased and only suitable for a proportion of the management cadre. For example lots of activities like role plays for those that prefer to ‘get stuck in’ or case studies that like to problem solve. Training that relies on only one or two methods of learning will ultimately fail its objectives.

Training can ‘die a death’ if the trainer is not considered credible by the trainees. This often means that the trainer needs to have a wealth of relevant experience and the ability to understand not only leadership but business as well. Over reliance on one discipline (HR or business) will leave a training course ‘off balance’ and ineffective.

I see Social Intelligence as the ability of taking Emotional Intelligence and applying it to social situations. It concerns itself with how you interact with others and how you assess the situations/environments around you, to achieve a win/win solution or best agreed alternative solution. Social Intelligence is also about how you respond to the different situations and environments that you find yourself in. This is the essence of leadership and one that is often missed by leadership trainers!

One of our more successful leadership programmes teaches managers not only strong leadership techniques but also how to build their reputation as leaders, how to generate trust and how to role model change. It is the easiest thing to teach a leadership technique, much harder to teach the behavioural competencies that are required to lead. To ensure that your leadership training course works you must consider the following:

• What do you wish to achieve?

• Is the training course biased in how it expects people to learn or behave?

• Is it tailored to my business?

• What else is being taught other than leadership technique?

• How credible is the trainer and do they understand not only the ‘HR’ but ‘business’ as well?

In the past the majority of employees considered that career planning was the responsibility of their employers. There were a number of reasons for this but the most prevalent ones was that there was 1) a strong belief that the employee would be working at a company for many years and promotion was a ‘natural’ event and 2) that the company fulfilled the role of quasi parent and would obviously look after them and ensure their personal growth.

Beginning with the mass redundancies of the 1990s employers began to lose their belief that they were responsible for their employee’s development and begun to encourage their employees to take responsibility in their own career. Fast forward to the ‘noughties’ and it is now imperative that employees plan and control their own career movement and do not rely on their employers to do so for them.

Considering your career plan

Strategic overview

Firstly you are never too late to start! When you are commencing your planning you need to decide what your strategic plan is for your career. For example, where do you want to be in the next 5 years? Will you be a generalist or a specialist in your chosen profession? What are the trends in your marketplace/industry? What skills do you have and what skills do you need? Do you wish to stay employed or start your own business?

Looking at your career

First of all you should analyse whether you are in the correct career path for you or whether you wish to change Industries. To make this assessment it is important to do as much research as possible. Will the job that you are looking for pay you the salary that you wish and support the lifestyle that you want? Does it play to your strengths and your competencies? For example if you are creative by nature than a role that requires strict adherence to rules may not suit you.

The type of person that you are will have a major impact in career choice and progression as well. Extroverts will be drawn to different roles than introverts and will also have a different game plan. Assessing whether your career is progressing the way that you wish is also useful especially if you take into account whether your own behaviours have hindered or helped you. Often people are disappointed that their career hasn’t developed in the way that they would have liked and it is because they are considered by their managers as bad promotional prospects.

By assessing past performance reviews you will be able to see whether there are any consistent trends or key development needs that you need to address before making your next move. This applies whether your next move is promotional, lateral, within or external to the company. You will also need to decide to treat your career as something which you need to manage as ultimately the only one affected by the success or otherwise of your good career management is you!

If you consider yourself as the manager of your career, what are the things that need to happen to ensure that you achieve your goals? Your assessment of your work performance would have raised a few questions including those listed below:

• How competent are you?

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• What are your interests?

• What are the company’s goals for you?

• Are you suited to what you are currently doing?

• What are your skill gaps?

By linking the answers to these and other relevant questions with your assessment of your chosen marketplace it will be easier to plan your next steps. If your most dominant need is training or qualifications then your first port of call will be your employer. Perhaps they can sponsor you in developing your professional competence, or by providing you with the opportunity to attend relevant training courses. Your employer may arrange for you to be coached or mentored by external experts or may ask you to participate in ‘job shadowing’. If you can identify an employee that you admire and consider to be good at their job you may approach them directly and ask them to be your informal mentor. This can be very beneficial as it can severely reduce your learning curve.

If your employer will not help then do consider funding your own education and development.

You may have identified your need as more experience or behavioural. If your employer is unable to provide you with more experience then look at the competencies required for the role that you desire and see if you can develop them externally to your current role. This could be from clubs, voluntary work or hobbies. An internal mentor or coach may help with any behaviour deficiencies you may have.

Another thing to consider when planning your career is how you will network to achieve your goals. Many opportunities for development as well as new jobs can be uncovered via networking with the right people. A significant proportion of job hunters for example, use the international website LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) to register their CV and job profile. They also use LinkedIn to connect to individuals from other industries and companies – it is also being used substantially by recruitment agencies to find the right candidates for the vacancies they are sourcing.

There are many online networks and places to connect with socially – be aware however that many employers are using the information to make employment decisions. There have unfortunately, been a few cases where undesirable behaviour on sites like Facebook has led to disciplinaries or decisions not to recruit.

There has never been a better time to take control and be responsible for your own career progression, providing you put a plan in place to help you navigate the path to success. And with the plethora of tools available to aid you in your journey, the future is certainly a bright one. Good luck!

In the current economic climate, the biggest headache for most small businesses is the costs associated with managing and employing staff. Ultimately, this comes down to one key question; are businesses spending too much time carrying out activities that they are not adequately trained to do? Business Mentor and management specialist Judith Germain explains why small businesses need to review the costs of their HR activities and explains why outsourcing non-core activities is so critical in today’s competitive marketplace.

It is inevitable that many entrepreneurs and small business owners will reach the point where they need to support the growth of their business by taking on additional staff, but many are put off doing so by the deluge of rules and regulations covering every aspect of the HR process. As a result, many businesses spend a great deal of unnecessary time and energy on managing their processes instead of running and growing their business.

In this article, we are going to look at the most common HR issues, which cause problems for small businesses and what can be done to ensure these areas are carried out more efficiently.

1. Legislation

Small businesses spend a lot of time trying not to fall foul of the increasing levels of legislation that befall them. Whilst legislation can be a good thing it can have a disproportionate effect on a small business.

For example the Disability Discrimination Act can see small businesses paying huge sums for failing to follow good processes and investigating absence claims properly. Many small businesses do not see the need for establishing absence policies believing that because the business has a family atmosphere there will not be any issues. This is beset with problems as once an employee falls ill, especially if their illness falls under the DDA, then the employee is often encouraged to claim against the employer in pursuit of the huge payouts that is perceived to be available to them. This can cause the business to spend an inordinate amount of time defending a DDA claim which is costly not only in management time but also in professional costs (ie external lawyers).

There is little understanding of the DDA amongst business owners and yet it is one of the most pervasive employment laws affecting businesses. Having a good absence policy can reduce the risk of a DDA claim and it is worth investing in getting such policies drawn up by a HR professional to ensure they meet the needs of the business and the requirements of the DDA.

2. Absence Policies

Whilst absence from work due to sickness is inevitable, businesses need to consider whether the amount of time taken off is reasonable and reflected across the wider business, as there may be underlying issues which are affecting the bottom line that are being missed or masked as ‘absence from work’.

If sickness/absenteeism levels are out of the ordinary (or relating to certain department(s) only) then it could suggest that there is a more serious underlying problem involving the management of the business. This could be due to poor management style, ineffective methods of delivery, low department morale, low motivation etc.

For example, where a department is under threat of redundancy, absenteeism is relatively low and attendance is stable (due to the fear that any days off work could mean that they are chosen for redundancy). But alongside this most organisations will find that there is an increase in absenteeism in other departments as a direct result of the redundancy threat in another department. More often than not this is due to low morale and upset about the pending redundancies.

The key challenge is to look at the company as a whole, and tackle the causes of absence and not the symptoms of it. This could mean a stronger reliance on preventative methods rather than just reactive ones. Thus ensuring that any issues with management efficiency and style as well as employee morale and motivation are identified and resolved at an early stage in order to avoid impacting on absence levels later down the line.

It is worth looking for a consultant who specialises in leadership and development issues who can come into the business and identify and resolve these issues at the core before they have a knock-on effect throughout the entire business.

3. Recruitment

Particularly in smaller businesses, the most crucial task of Recruitment is often undertaken by untrained employees. This can cause a minefield of potential dangers. It’s important to be able to recruit and retain the right employees because replacing an employee on average can cost a business between £5k – £10k.

Remember, businesses may face claims of discrimination in their recruitment process (which are unlimited). One option for small businesses looking to recruit new staff is to hire recruitment agencies to do it instead, as they can reduce the risk and overall cost of the firm doing it itself.

4. HR software for Payroll, Talent Management etc

For many businesses, HR software can bring a number of benefits, the most primary one being a significant cost reduction for the company in terms of administrative time, reduced staff turnover and HR headcount.

Significant improvements in how a company recruits and retains its employees can be established by using Talent Management software as it can provide detailed knowledge of the cause and effect of current and proposed recruitment strategies. Another area where Talent Management software comes into its own is in managing absence. Accurate record keeping, trends analysis and objective assessment can lead to increased attendance, lower costs and avoidance of expensive legislative issues flowing from contravening the DDA as mentioned earlier.

However, HR software should be treated with caution as one of the mistakes that companies make typically when buying integrated Talent Management software is allowing finance, payroll and procurement needs to influence the choice of system with limited input from a HR perspective. This often means that the significant cost savings and performance improvement that could be achieved by having a detailed knowledge of the talent of the organisation are never utilised, because they can be seen as expensive intangible factors for non HR practitioners. This can make the new system an expensive acquisition for small businesses with little practical use in managing the talent of a diverse workforce.

There is nothing worse than spending a small fortunue on a new piece of software only to end up never using it, so it is worth seeking advice from a HR specialist when considering the various HR software options available to ensure that the most suitable option is chosen for the needs of the business.

6. Pastoral Care

Perhaps the most cost effective and efficient means of reducing HR costs is probably the simplest and most overlooked; listening and talking to employees! A happy workforce will be productive, efficient and loyal and simply by looking after staff and ensuring that their needs are met through the business, there will be less absence, less overtime costs and less recruitment costs as staff churn reduces.

Mentoring and Coaching programmes are the most effective way of managing the personal and professional needs of employees and I have come across many situations where a simple miscommunication or misunderstanding between management and employees could have potentially had a disastrous effect on the business if it had not been nipped in the bud during an early mentoring session.

When evaluating the costs associated with managing and running a small business, it is crucial to indentify areas which take up a disproportionate amount of time and detract from the overall growth and development of the business. Outsourcing the more lengthy or risky HR activities such as recruitment, payroll etc can free up valuable time within the business to focus on more critical areas such as the development and well being of employees and their motivation and desire to help make the business prosper.

I define Troublesome Talent® as the wilfully independent. This is the type of person who is recognised as being a maverick – hugely talented but difficult to manage. They often complete targets and objectives with ease but cause enormous problems with colleagues and peers in the process. All the while being loved by the customer. I often get involved when the business loses patience and is faced with the dilemma – ‘Do I sack or do I develop?’ Sacking can be a very expensive option, not least due to the disruption to the business.

What makes Troublesome Talent® so different from the rest of the talent pool?

I believe that talent management is the ability to nuture, develop and maintain the talent of the organisation so that they can meet the objectives of the organisation. It is a holistic approach to managing talent rather than a specific component approach that many companies undertake. For example concentrating talent management strategies on the ‘top team’ or ‘high potentials’ rather than on key talent across the organisation.

This holistic approach is more likely to enable the manager to nuture and develop their Troublesome Talent® who are often ignored or excluded from talement management programmes due to their personalities or ability to cause disruption within a structured organisation.

The common question posed by a maverick is ‘Why?’

Mavericks do not compromise their standards to fit in, and therefore cannot be managed conventionally. Despite the fact that they often do not utilise their talents effectively, mavericks tend to be the top performers in companies and within business. Common traits of low boredom and impatience means that mavericks often have trouble articulating effectively what they want or what they mean.

They are unlikely to go with the flow for an easy life which is unlike the rest of the talent pool. These individuals will not only acknowledge ‘the elephant in the room’ they will actively try to drive it out – which is the exact reverse of what is expected in most companies and will often be treated which huge amount of suspicion. Often managers feel challenged by these individuals and react to them in an aggressive way which will typically drive Troublesome Talent® to initially protest and then react by becoming destructive within the company.

How would you develop Troublesome Talent®?

When you are considering developing your Troublesome Talent® it is worth considering the three points below, which can be considered the biggest challenges that they face.

Communication with others and the need to speak the truth

Whilst your maverick at work is very articulate, they may have problems communicating to others in a way that their audience can understand and accept. If you ask your Troublesome Talent® whether you are doing a good job, and they feel that you are not; expect to receive blunt, to the point feedback on your shortcomings. They are extremely loyal to those that they trust and respect so if you are their manager and do not live up to their expectations – expect a rough ride!

For example mavericks have an overiding need to tell the truth. They feel that to do otherwise affects who they are and lessens their integrity – one of the principles that they hold dear. This is why communication can be fraught, their need to tell the truth far outweighing the need to not upset someone else. The trait not to upset someone is not usually as well developed as it is in others. This is generally because the maverick has such high self esteem, there is little that will upset him and he naturally feels that everyone else is like him. (Do not assume that your Troublesome Talent® is however unable to be hurt at work).

It’s important to develop their communication skills and that doesn’t mean sending them on a communications course! What they need is mentoring on the cause and effect of their behaviour tied in with a compelling reason for them to change. Without a compelling reason there will not be any change at all – they are not concerned with ‘fitting in’, so get to know them. What do they want? Promotion? Variety? Autonomy? – then tailor their learning on how they can achieve what they desire. Be realistic with them, don’t lie – if they catch you out, they will not forgive or forget!

High self esteem and self confidence

This can often be interpreted as arrogrance rather than the high self confidence that they feel. Troublesome Talent® often only express an opinion with quiet insistence when they know they are right. This can often mean they do not appear to listen to counter arguments or may appear to be inflexible once they have made their decision. It’s a problem of perception rather than just behaviour. This is a communication issue and should be addressed as such.

The need to complete objectives

Mavericks like to complete their objectives as they take pride in solving problems and finding solutions. They will often induldge in lateral thinking to solve the problem, seeing things often missed by others. They are`also likely to break rules that appear unimportant or break with protocol to ensure that an objective is met. Mavericks are often punished or penalised for taking this route which can lead them to becoming despondent and destructive.

Their development in this area depends on your ability to enable them to see the consequences of their actions. The effect of a single minded pursuit for a solution can sometimes not justify the journey to get there. Often Troublesome Talent® is rewarded by the organisation for this behaviour (bigger bonuses, recognition) whilst at the same time being punished for it by HR teams or their manager. This is counter productive and can be confusing to the employee.

Troublesome Talent should not be ignored and companies that do run the risk of slipping behind their global competitors who place developing talent as their number one priority. There is lack of accountability for leadership development by senior management they need to realise that it is not HR’s responsibility to develop individuals – it must be developed by senior management if it is to have any impact on developing and retaining talent for the future.

Managers refusing to embrace leadership training have a misconception that they are already effective and proficient managers due to years of good Performance Reviews where leadership ability and competency have never been assessed, according to leadership specialist Judith Germain.

Judith Germain, Managing Director of leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions claims that many managers have been managing people for years under a reward structure that encourages poor leadership and a reliance on task completion over leadership ability. Therefore in tough times when strong leadership ability is required, many are falling below the mark and are unwilling to now embrace the training needed to improve.

“Having effective and productive leaders are imperative for an organisation’s success and ability to be agile in competitive and changing environments. This is often the reason why many HR departments insist that leadership training is the way forward to rectify the deficiencies in the organisation’s capability. When the HR department advises the management team that they need leadership training this is often met with derision and a reluctance to attend, or worse still if they do attend, assessment following the training shows that in the mid to long term there is little to none improvement in leadership competence,” explains Germain.

Germain suggests that senior management buy in to the training intervention is essential in ensuring that it stands more than a fair chance of being accepted and embedded into the organisation but in the managers’ defence, Germain says that many organisations make the job harder than it should be by implementing the wrong training strategies in the first place.

A major flaw in many leadership training programmes is that they are bought as ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions which have not been aligned to the needs of the business. Such solutions tend to concentrate on leadership techniques without considering how it relates to good business practice. For example, is the ability to understand Situational Leadership or Action Centred Leadership the training course or is the training course how you can apply Situational Leadership etc to your business day? It is a subtle although all essential distinction and one that will make an important difference in whether there will be any behavioural change or desired performance improvement,” says Germain.

Germain also claims that the over reliance on particular learning styles at the expense of others by the trainer and the trainer’s perceived credibility can also have a detrimental affect on the success of leadership training, as can the ability to embrace Social Intelligence into the programme.

“I see Social Intelligence as the ability of taking Emotional Intelligence and applying it to social situations. It concerns itself with how you interact with others and how you assess the situations/environments around you, to achieve a win/win solution or best agreed alternative solution. Social Intelligence is also about how you respond to the different situations and environments that you find yourself in. This is the essence of leadership and one that is often missed by leadership trainers,” says Germain.

Judith Germain is managing director Dynamic Transitions a leadership company specialising in working with Troublesome Talent ® and improving leadership performance within organisations. Judith provides strategic mentoring for senior executives and business leaders and delivers innovative leadership programmes, leadership consultancy, training, coaching and mentoring to corporate clients. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com or email jude@dynamic-transitions.co.uk

Ends

Due to the economic climate and mass redundancies taking place many professional women are now seriously considering running their own business for the first time. For many it has become increasingly difficult to balance their responsibilities as primary carer and senior manager in organisations where long hours, rising stress and uncertainty is becoming commonplace. Other women with young children or who are considering motherhood are judging their organisations with a critical eye – and deciding that their work is incompatible with being a parent.

Key considerations when deciding to set up your own business

All working mothers need to make decisions regarding their working lives and if you have decided to run a business, there are a few key things you will need to consider before you proceed.

Income

How much income do you need to generate and how much time do you have? Many start ups pay scant attention to this important dynamic – swept away by the possibilities of being their own boss. It is fairly unlikely that you will be able to generate the same amount of money that you did when you were employed immediately, so you need to decide how long you can survive without this source of income.

When you are running your own business income can be fluid and hard to judge when you will receive payment for work completed. Whilst companies may agree to pay you within 30 days for example, it is not unusual for you to receive payment after this date – even before the recession!

Cash flow becomes all important, so it is essential that you have given sufficient thought to how you will manage this as well as the minimum amount of money that you need to generate and by when.

Accessibility

Another key consideration is how much time you have available to devote to your business. You will need to be as realistic as possible when making this determination. For example are you planning to work from home whilst looking after your children? If so how will you deal with the distraction that they may cause? Do you have other responsibilities that might steal your time? How much time do you need to run your business? Remember there are 24 hrs in the day and your business may not need to operate between the hours of 9am to 5pm!

Partner support

Running your own business is difficult to do and it can be made all the harder if you have little or no support from your partner. Other than financial support which you may or may not need you will need the emotional support of those around you. Running a business has many ups and downs and to ride this rollercoaster you need to be able to have strong resolve and good support network.

Key considerations when running your own business

Ensuring that your service or product is wanted

When you have decided to run your own business you will need to check that your business idea is a sound one. Is there enough demand for what you do? Is it distinct enough from others in a similar market to attract clients easily without heavy marketing costs? Is it something that you are really passionate about? The last question is key mainly because you will be working significant hours to ensure that your business is a success.

When business owners start running their business they have a clear vision of the services or products that they wish to sell. Over time they move away from their vision in the hope that by diversifying they will be able to sell more and increase their revenue. This is often a false economy as the more you become a generalist in your niche the more you are likely to drive away customers.

People prefer to buy from specialists, experts in their field and the higher the value of the service that you are providing the more you will need to be seen as the only provider of choice.

Social Networking

One of the things that you will need to decide is whether to invest time in networking. Social networking is an excellent way to gain clients and develop your business. By using social networking you are able to establish your expertise in the marketplace, gain advocacy and utilise sales leads and referrals. One of the best social networking sites for small businesses is Ecademy (www.ecademy.com), it has a dizzying array of tools and facilities to aid your networking efforts. For example you are able to network online to connect to others, sell your services in their marketplace, blog to establish your expertise and attract others to you. You are able to start and join clubs where you can meet likeminded individuals and your activity on the site can benefit from their excellent Search Engine Optimisation.

Ecademy caters for those that want or prefer to network face to face with others as well. Regional and special interest clubs meet regularly and there is a club to suit everyone’s interest. Lots of the clubs organise speakers for the membership who can learn a number of key business skills like marketing, networking or business planning.

Trusted advice

When growing your business you will need to ensure that you receive good advice at the key stages of your business development. Whilst networking you may find a good partner to collaborate with or a key advisor or number of informal advisors that can help you in the decision making process. Often business owners make the mistake of believing that they can receive good quality impartial advice from their family or friends. That is often a false belief as they are unable to be truly impartial or objective and have typically little experience in running a business. A common mistake is the belief that it is possible to run a successful business without the support or help of others. Where ever possible seek the advice of a trusted advisor rather than go it alone.

As a working mother myself, I know first hand the challenges that working and raising a family brings. But with the right approach to work, balanced with dedicated family time (and some ‘mum’ time too!) you can look forward to a prosperous and rewarding new stage in your career. Good luck!

In this economic climate there is a lot of temptation to ‘rationalise’ the workforce by shedding difficult individuals that consume a substantial amount of management time and pose an increasing risk of litigation in the future. This becomes even more attractive when the HR Director is challenged with the request to downsize an organisation, especially if they have the mistaken belief that by reducing the number of Troublesome Talent® they reduce the number of problems within the company.

Wilfully independent people (Troublesome Talent®) tend to be the 20% of the best performers in an organisation although they can present 80% of the problems. Persevering with them however, can be rewarding as they have the ability to knock a company out of complacency and into increased performance and profitability. Managing these difficult but talented individuals is becoming increasingly more complicated within flatter organisations. This is especially true where managers and team leaders are responsible for the performance of a workforce that are not their direct reports.

Trying to impose a conformist approach on these individuals is most likely to ensure that they become dysfunctional! I define leadership as trusted influence. Leadership over management is the key to harnessing this type of talent, with success dependent on an individualistic approach. Troublesome Talent® require their leaders to be worthy of following, having little time for those that do not come up to their exacting requirements. A good leader is able to inspire and extend trust and to influence their Troublesome Talent® to become better leaders, regardless of the position that they may hold within the company. Helping to instil leadership capability, (including emotional and social intelligence) into these difficult but talented individuals is a great first step to harnessing their talent.

It is important to provide your Troublesome Talent® with as much time that their need. These individuals value their expertise and their unerring ability to be right! As such they fear looking stupid and will do whatever they can to ensure that they do not receive a knock to their self esteem. The ability to think well of themselves is all important. This is why they will want to be able to have instant access to their manager when they need to check their understanding of the brief. Restriction to this access will cause them to be resentful, frustrated and ultimately destructive. If their manager can remember that the constant questioning is not a challenge but a quest for clarity and respond appropriately, this will enable the individual to become more productive. Once they are able to fully understand what is required and the relevant boundaries of the brief they will usually hurtle off at break neck speed completing their task with accuracy, insight and efficiency.

Troublesome Talent®, sometimes referred to as Mavericks, require others to recognise their expertise and their uniqueness. Recognise this in subtle ways, as constant reinforcement of how good they are will be mistrusted. The best approach is to let them know that you are impressed when they exceed your expectations.

Demonstrate regularly and consistently that you believe in them. When a maverick mistrusts you – all is lost and it will be impossible to garner their cooperation in any initiative that you are involved in.

Try not to overly constrain them with unnecessary rules – they will break them anyway! Consider guidelines that allow them room to manoeuvre instead. This is the best way to get the most out of them.

When your talented employee ‘misbehaves’ you need to give them a compelling reason (for them) to change. Let them know that their behaviour is unacceptable, at times when they have gone too far. Get this right and you will have their respect for ever. Remember, the way to do this is to influence them to change their behaviour – employing command and control tactics will make things worse.

Remember, if your difficult but talented individual respects and believe in you, they will work tirelessly to ensure that your vision is implemented and is successful. For them to be effective, you need to let them be creative when and where they need to be.

UK companies run the risk of slipping behind global companies if they continue to focus on things that can work counter towards improving the business through leveraging their talent.

Many businesses understand the need to develop and nurture their top talent but according to the CIPD Global Leadership Forecast 2008-2009 accountability for this lies mostly with the HR team and junior managers within the business. Only 19% of UK senior managers being held accountable, in global companies this rises to 36%.

Most business leaders are aware of the old adage ‘you get what you measure’ and this can explain why there appears to be failure in companies ability to ensure that effective leadership development takes place. Senior management abrogating accountability can be an effective way to ensure the success or otherwise of this vital development is hidden in a HR metric, potentially not even aligned to the business.

The CIPD found that 64% of UK companies felt that improving or leveraging top talent was a number one pirority for their business. To achieve this then overall accountability must move from HR (who should continue to support managers in this area) and junior managers to senior managers. This is the most effective way to ensure that talent management is taken seriously by the company and enables our business priorities like improving customer service and maintaining growth in increasingly competitive markets take place.

Senior management can be held accountable in a number of ways the most effective include:

• Align accountability for talent management to salary and bonus schemes

• When senior managers resort to the Board on their functional responsibilities like growth targets,talent management has an equal amount of ‘airspace’

• Ensure that senior management are not promoted unless there is a successor readily available

• Ensure that talent management is addressed as a senior management team not just an individual managers responsibilty

• Enable the HR team to hold senior management accountable to effect talent management as well as the Board.

The measures above are designed to ensure that senior management remains focused on developing and nuturing top talent as a key importance to the business. These managers are most able to define key talent’s career opportunities, morale and ability to perform well for the company via their direct control or patronage. If this ability is used well then the company is more likely to achieve its strategic objectives.

The pressures to work more efficiently are as important as ever in the current climate and deligation is often an area in which many small business owners struggle. Often used to taking control and managing tasks from start to finish, business leaders need to proactively manage their time so that it is spend guiding the business forward. Leadership specialist Judith Germain explains why delegation is so important in growing SME’s and why it should be seen not so much of a burden as it is a reward and may lead to the discovery of a successor within the business.

The importance of delegation within a growing business

Delegation is crucial for effective succession. A successor is much needed in a growing business, so everyone can move on to higher things without depending on people from outside the business, however this can be provoked if the manager fails to provide good delegation skills. Many growing businesses suffer because of the inability for business owners and key personnel to delegate responsibilities to their teams. This not only stifles the growth of employees but hampers the company’s ability to move into the right direction. This also stops them from meeting their personal business objectives.

When a manager can’t delegate properly he runs the risk of increasing employee turnover due to employees being de-motivated. The business is then likely to suffer as it will start spiralling out of control and become stagnant. This can be a result of either not enough delegation, or micromanagement, which occurs when the manager provides too much input and direction into the task he set to the assigned person, leaving them feel un-motivated and soul destroyed as they don’t get the freedom. Without following guidelines to good delegation your business may result in a slow death.

How to know what to delegate

Managers should delegate tasks to the subordinate that are non core to what they do. They should be tasks that will make the individual reasonably confident with completion and success but that will develop and stretch their knowledge at the same time. So basically you should give them tasks that could be done better by someone else but by letting them try they will feel more motivated, maybe even more than the usual person you assign to the certain task.

What the manager needs to do to delegate successfully

First of all he needs to make sure he has chosen the right individual(s) and that they fully understand the task provided. Secondly that they feel confident that they can achieve the task to a good standard, which you should then choose certain times of checking on their progress but make sure you don’t approach them too often or they may feel nervous of making wrong actions. You should kindly talk through a mistake with the individual if it occurs but do it in a way that’s still leaving them motivated. Praise them for good work as this will spur them on and make them do an even better job. Last but not least make sure that they have the resources they need in order to complete the task.

How to select the right people to delegate to

You should keep an eye out for the individuals who are operating below their capability, or individuals that are wanting to develop further, as well as the people that can handle additional workloads, or sometimes aim for the people who arent performing to their greatest abilites, especially the troublesome ones as this may keep them engaged in working more effitiently and enjoy their jobs more.
If you are not sure what tools they need, just ask them! Or show them someone who can guide them to success, for example someone who regularly does the task provided.

How to provide effective feedback

Feedback should be transparent, honest and constructive. You should criticise on what they are doing wrong but praise them for what they are doing right, and provide them with constructive critisism so its not taken to heart but will be thoroughly improved. Remember everyone learns from their mistakes.

What role remains for the manager once he/she has delgated

Strategic thinking or planning is not done by enough managers as it is quite time consuming, however once you’ve delegated it gives you time to focus on things that happen next instead of getting in a muddle. He/she will even be able to take time out to work on developing the team and improving the overall performance of his department or company. This leaves them on top and possibly ahead of other businesses.

Brand reputation is rapidly becoming the ultimate decision maker, but many small businesses are putting their earning capacity at peril by treating social networks as just ‘places to hang out with friends’, according to reputation specialist Judith Germain.

In an internet-led world where consistency is essential and everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature, Germain claims that many business owners are simply forgetting that social networking sites are places where reputation and credibility is established, maintained and developed, and are not just a place to ‘hang out with friends’.

“Many business owners take a relaxed and whimsical approach to how they network on places like Facebook, which can be quite detrimental to them. Others join business networks and then remain ‘invisible’ to the membership, ignoring the opportunity to enhance their reputation and find advocates for their service,” says Germain, MD of Dynamic Transitions and Vice President of the BlackStar Life Members Community on Ecademy.

In her recent article ‘How to have the right reputation for your business’, which is currently the most liked article on Ecademy, (and originally published in Better Business), Germain reveals that brand perception and delivery is becoming all important for the survival of the business. Although small business owners often have a habit of believing that this isn’t an issue for them, not realising that it can determine whether their business stands out from the crowd and whether they will secure business from the competition. She explains that when businesses have chosen to pursue a pull marketing strategy (especially on a social network) they need to ‘pass through’ a number of stages to ensure that they are building the right reputation to gain advocacy.

“People increasingly buy from those that they know, like and trust, especially where the purchase is service rather than product related. Being credible and having a good reputational (personal) brand is essential, enabling the buyer’s decision-making process to choose you over another business each and every time. Your business strategy needs to incorporate your personal brand, and how you intend to leverage it. Remembering that with pull marketing, people will buy from those that they trust, it is therefore important to create a brand that is trustworthy, and consistent no matter where it is encountered,” says Germain.

Whilst the current economic climate shows no signs of improving in the short term, Germain believes that the increased competition for reduced customer spend has meant that establishing and promoting your competitive advantage has never been so crucial.

“A good, strong and credible reputation is the one thing which can provide you with the superior and sustainable leverage you need to survive the credit crunch, whilst others around you fall by the wayside, and it will not cost you a penny,” says Germain.

Judith Germain is managing director and principal mentor of Dynamic Transitions.; a leadership company specialising in working with Troublesome Talent ® and improving business performance within organisations. You can download their free article ‘How to have the right reputation for your business’ at www.developing-leadership.com/whitepapers.html For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com or email jude@dynamic-transitions.co.uk

ENDS

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