Maverick Mastery®

Radical EU plans which would see women entitled to full pay for the first 18 weeks of maternity have ‘little positive benefit’ for working women and could be the final straw for UK’s struggling small business, according to HR specialists at Dynamic Transitions.

The proposed changes, which could be enforced as early as this year, will have a profound impact on small businesses, especially those that are cash tight. Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is concerned that many businesses will simply not be able to cope.

Germain says:

“This move may well be the final straw for small businesses as they struggle to pay bills at a time when resources are low and cash flow is at a premium. Particularly for businesses that employ only a handful of people, losing one member of staff can have a huge impact on the day to day business and this is just yet another added stress that is not needed in the current climate.”

Despite the fact that UK businesses would have two years to implement the new regulations, Germain has real concerns for the immediate impact on the employment opportunities for young women, as businesses feel less inclined to hire and retain women of childbearing age.

“We already know that the recession is bringing about a steep decline in graduate opportunities and moves like this will only serve to see yet more incredibly talented young women unable to secure work and lose out on opportunities to progress their career in a similar way to their male counterparts.”

“The short term financial gain of increased maternity pay for 18 weeks clearly does not outweigh the widespread long term effects on opportunities for women who want to work and have a family. In its attempt to encourage fairer working practices for men and women, Brussels is just pushing the divide further apart”.

Judith Germain is founder and principle consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent® and improving leadership performance in companies. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions is warning City law firm trainees who have been paid to defer their training, to use their time sensibly or risk having their places withdrawn.

Further to news that a number of City law firms are offering trainees up to £10,000 to defer their training, Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain believes that many firms will be using the opportunity to see which graduates have stronger leadership tendencies by observing how productively they spend their free time.

“Many graduates may be drawn into seeing this as a free ticket to a year of ‘loafing’ before they start their training, but in reality they need to realise that they are also being tested to see how self-motivated they can be when left to their own devices. Law firms are making the decision to defer start dates because they feel they need to in the current climate. This doesn’t mean they will not be watching to see how their trainees use their time,” says Germain.

Despite claims by some firms that there is no stipulation on how trainees spend the time or money, Germain urges trainees not to take this at face value, or be too complacent about their job prospects next year.

“The fact that some firms have gone as far as telling trainees that they need to do ‘something useful’ in the year, suggests that there is likely to be consequences for those that don’t. I predict that this time will be used to assess from a distance how these individuals use their time and those who don’t take it seriously may end up finding their places withdrawn next year, which may actually hurt their future career prospects.”
“Graduates should use the time to ‘round off’ their experience by doing relevant work or by enrolling in further education. Employers will be more impressed with those that use their time well,” says Germain.

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

Baby Boomers facing the choice of either early retirement on good pension plans or struggling through a recession where they are not appreciated or valued by their younger bosses; are likely to take the initiative and leave employment now. Thus leaving a huge skills gap in an already unstable market, warns talent management specialists at Dynamic Transitions.

According to Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain, organisations are increasingly realising that younger managers lack the experience and skills to effectively guide their staff through a recession, causing disgruntled baby boomers, who don’t see any benefit in working harder than they have to, opting to leave the workforce completely. Germain warns that this will leave a glaring hole in key positions across core business functions and predicts that many companies will now be facing the prospect of suddenly losing expertise and strategic direction at a time when it is needed the most.

“Younger managers and employees who face working in a recession for the first time can suffer from a lack of confidence and the key skills required to enable their employers to succeed. The reality is that this isn’t likely to be a short recession and there will be ripple effect across the industry for several years at least. These managers may have been more than capable in good times but now the pressure is on, many are finding that they simply don’t have the knowledge and experience to effectively manage and guide an increasingly unnerved workforce and experience shows that the best staff tend to be the first to jump ship if not managed effectively”, says Germain.

Germain argues that the need for effective Talent Management is becoming the most critical requirement for companies who wish to remain in business during the recession, as the lack of short term financial rewards and benefits diminishes, placing a greater emphasis on job satisfaction and a feeling of value. Germain also believes that the implementation of longer-term reward packages would help retain senior talent, a view mirrored by CIPD president Vicky Wright at yesterday’s CIPD Annual Conference.

“Companies need to invest in effective talent management programmes and leadership initiatives that are innovative and creative for the current times and encourage more experienced and senior staff to sign up for the long haul. Those that can achieve this are more likely to succeed and retain the key talent necessary to remain robust in these difficult times”, says Germain.

Judith Germain is founder of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent®. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Despite the word ‘Maverick’ being banned by a leading State University for its continued over-use during the past twelve months, the economy is actually dangerously short of real Mavericks and the emergence of Generation Y employees is set to make this situation even worse, according to leading talent management expert Judith Germain.

Following the 34th release of Lake Superior State University’s annual List of Words to Be Banished and the playful inclusion of ‘Maverick’ for its overuse by John McCain in the US Presidential Campaign, Dynamic Transitions MD Germain believes that joking aside, the time has come to redefine what being a Maverick actually means, and why it is good for business.

“McCain coined the word ‘Maverick’ in his campaign speeches but clearly missed the full scope of what being a Maverick actually means in a business context. I define Maverick as wilful independence and ‘Maverickism’ can actually be found on a continuum from the conformist right through to extreme maverick tendencies”, explains Germain.

“A maverick personality is one which is wilfully independent at all times and in all circumstances. They are keen to make their mark and do things their way and often blaze innovation and lateral thinking to the projects and problems that they are working on. They often exasperate the people around them and peers can feel that they can’t keep up or hurt if an objective comment from a maverick is delivered in their usual blunt and brutally honest way”, explains Germain.

Germain believes that having maverick tendencies as opposed to having a maverick personality, is when the CEO or business owner is wilfully independent in their business dealings only.

Germain believes that the real advantage can be gained by those who can achieve Maverick Mastery® which is about being talented and different and being able to blend knowledge and skills for business success.

“When mavericks are running their business they do things in a way that is different to the rest of their industry, they take risks that other CEOs shirk at, and push harder and seek challenges that others feel are ‘insane’. This can be good for business especially if the CEO can harness their maverick nature”, says Germain.

Germain also believes that more Generation Ys need to adopt maverick tendencies if they want to stand out from their peers in an increasingly competitive environment. “Generation Y employees are already at a disadvantage in the current recession due to a difference in their values and work ethics, meaning they are often seen as lazy and unwilling to put in the extra time and effort that Generation X managers see as a given. Finding out what it means to really be a maverick and adapting those tendencies at work will give Generation Y employees real leverage and help them to secure their place in the business”, explains Germain.

Judith Germain is founder of Dynamic Transitions, a leadership company specialising in dealing with Mavericks in the workplace and Troublesome Talent. For more information visit www.maverick-mastery.com

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Organisations experiencing a plunge in employee morale and productivity due to fear of redundancy need to take radical action by demanding that senior management take a more active front line role to help rebuild confidence and loyalty, says the MD of leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions.

The leadership specialist is urging leaders to take action now to prevent their most valuable employees from moving on to new positions due to their lack of confidence in job security, and says that ‘this is one of the effect’s of country’s mass cull of jobs, and it will continue to ripple through organisations for at least the next 12-18 months”.

“The inherent danger in a credit crunch situation is that the good employees get enticed away in their search for job security, leaving the organisation in a very vulnerable position when it comes to driving the business forward”, explains Germain, a former Head of HR with over a decade of experience in managing the strategic and operational running of the businesses in a number of industries.

“With so much negativity in the air, employees often feel like they are going to be the last one’s to know what’s going on within their organisation, and so try to predict what is going to happen, often making assumptions based on inaccurate or irrelevant information. When there has been internal redundancies, good employees are even more likely to come to the conclusion that they’d better hedge their bets by leave before they are pushed”, says Germain.

Dynamic Transitions has devised a simple 6 point plan for leaders looking to drive employees forward during the credit crunch, suggesting that a very simple internal communications delivered by good managers who can empathise and engage with their employees, whilst continuing to provide valuable and morale enhancing training, will be the making of many organisations over the coming 12-18 months.

“Employees just need to know what is going on and feel like they are involved in the future of the business. Leaders need to think of this period as a time for reflection and focus. Employees need to see that the organisation isn’t just sitting back and admitting defeat but is fighting to build its position in the marketplace and that the team is a core part of the organisation’s future. If employees know that the business wants to survive, and they can see their role in determining its future, they are more likely to want to do all they can to save it”, says Germain.

You can download your free ‘six point plan to keeping talented employees during the credit crunch’ from www.developing-leadership.com/leadership-whitepapers.html. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com.

The proposed end to Britain’s opt-out of the 48-hour working week could have disastrous consequences for businesses in the UK, who are currently surviving on the goodwill of employees who work extra hours to survive the credit crunch, warn specialists at leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions.

According to the Surrey-based consultancy firm, many employees and especially managers are working in excess of 48 hours simply to help keep the business afloat and their jobs intact. If they are unable to continue, businesses will have no choice but to raise the cost of their services or hire additional staff, neither of which will sit well in an economy heading towards recession.

The announcement from Brussels comes at the same time as reports by Friends Provident, which suggest that employees are more prone to illness and stress than they were three years ago and that many already put at least seven hours of unpaid overtime in a week or work two jobs. Germain believes the move to reducing the amount of paid overtime available to staff, particularly in ‘blue collar’ jobs such as production or retail will result in even more stress as their ability to earn much needed extra income is slashed.

“Companies may find themselves in a situation where they can’t give staff overtime because they have already worked their 48 hours. This is likely to cause added strain on businesses who may then put pressure on employees to work even harder in less time, resulting in a dramatic fall in morale and an increase in costs if these staff then go sick”, explains Judith Germain, MD of Dynamic Transitions.

But office workers will be hit too, as Germain warns that the biggest issue facing businesses will be managing the performance of high achievers or ‘mavericks’ who enjoy the buzz of working hard and achieving their goals, even if it means working long hours.

“In the UK it is common place to work long hours, its part of our culture and its why most offices, especially in The City, expect staff to be available beyond the traditional ‘working day’. With the option of overtime (paid or unpaid) potentially taken away from them, ‘mavericks’ can become more disruptive and despondent, and this in itself will have a huge knock on effect on the business if they are not managed appropriately”, says Germain.

Dynamic Transitions is a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent. You can download their free whitepaper ‘Harnessing Maverick Talents’ at www.developing-leadership.com/whitepapers.html For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.