Month: October 2020

Categories
Case Study

Culture and Values Development

About

Client: Regional Local Government Council

The client services a region that has been impacted by the downturn in the mining industry and was facing a significant reduction in rates revenue to support the maintenance of the infrastructure that had expended to cater for the boom.  

Solution

Our Director and team engaged to help the client understand the current and desired culture and the values that would underpin the organisations’ goal of working together across the organisation to deliver efficient and effective service to their clients and community.  Our team undertook a systemic Cultural development program. 

A culture diagnostic, where over 80% of employees took part formed the basis of the current state and provided insight into the type of culture needed to achieve the organisation’s goals.  From this data, the values of the organisation were developed, and employees engaged in activities to bring the values into focus in terms of how they undertook their work each day.  

An intensive Individual and collective leadership development program was undertaken with the Executive and Senior Leaders of the organisation, to build their understanding of how culture is formed and their role in moving the organisation toward the desired culture.  

An Interactive ‘cascading the culture’ program was undertaken which engaged the whole of the organisation through a program of internally driven culture activities.  This program partnered closely with the leaders, HR personnel and ‘culture coaches’ building internally capability and sustainability within the Organisation.

Benefits

The focus on leaders’ development prior to cascading the culture and values activities deeper into the organisation positioned them to begin to build the values and culture into their leadership practice.  In the Pulse Survey conducted 9 months after the initial work with leaders the result indicated that 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they were personally committed to the target culture and had personally changed a behaviour to align with the target culture.  

Following the cascading of the culture, activities and communication employees responded strongly indicating positive change overall with good awareness, understanding and commitment to the values and target culture.  Respondents reported the following:

  • 91% agreed or strongly agreed that they were aware of the values 

  • 83% agreed or strongly agreed that they were personally committed to the target culture 

  • 57% agreed or strongly agreed that that had changed behaviour to align to the target culture

  • 55% agreed or strongly agreed that they have observed their manager trying to change their behaviour’s to align to the target culture

  • 55% agreed or strongly agreed that the organisation was making progress towards improving the culture

Research has demonstrated that a “Tipping Point” of 35% is required to achieve cultural change.  The results indicate that the “Tipping Point” (35%) was achieved in all aspects within six months of the program implementation.

Categories
Case Study

Organisation Culture Development

HRS Connect Case Study on Organisational Culture Development
HRS Connect Case Study on Organisational Culture Development

About

Client: Large Regional Local Government Council

The Regional Local Government Council’s CEO had developed a revised strategic plan designed to improve service delivery.  To do this successfully the organisation needed to work smarter through a focus on culture, building capability at the leadership levels, increasing engagement in achieving Council’s goals and objectives and demonstrated commitment to working in accordance with Council Values. 

Our Director and team developed a strategically aligned Organisation and Cultural Development Program that addressed the organisation’s goals, objectives and expectations whilst building leadership and general employee capability.  

A key element of the program design was a focus on driving accountability and responsibility to the appropriate levels in the organisation, so that ‘managers manage’ at their appropriate level.  The building of internal capability to support the sustainable delivery of the Council’s strategic plan was also a core design feature.

The approach and methodology delivered a systemic and comprehensive program including:

  • A strategically and values aligned description of the target culture through significant employee engagement.

  • A practical program for leaders and employees to build understanding, engagement and embedding of the target culture and the link to enabling the strategic direction.

  • A leadership development program, customised to each level, to support the leaders to create and lead a strategically enabling culture, enhancing their overall leadership effectiveness.

  • Internal resource capability development to support the ongoing embedding of the target culture.

  • Organisational Pulse Surveys to monitor progress.

The program was delivered through a number of phases. (See below)

Diagnosis and Program Design

The Director and Team worked closely with the client to develop an understanding of the current culture, identify the required culture to deliver on the strategic objectives and analysis of the gap between current and required cultures.  The approach provided every employee with an opportunity to provide input into the current and target culture utilising a simple, time-efficient and cost-effective engagement approach, that resulted in significant and sustained employee engagement and commitment to the values, behaviours and strategically enabling culture. 

The team worked with the Executive Leadership group to identify the key culture levers required to achieve the strategically enabling culture.  A key component was to ensure understanding of initiatives/actions currently underway and which can be integrated and leveraged during the program, identification of those that needed to be introduced and those that need to be ceased in order to achieve the target culture.

The program design and implementation resulted in clear behavioural expectations, rapid engagement, commitment and shifts in culture through all levels of the organisation using the Council Values as the platform.

Organisation and Culture Transformation

Working with the Council Leaders

The Director and team developed and facilitated a program to equip the leaders with the knowledge, skill and awareness to effectively create and lead the culture in their areas of responsibility and supports them to lead the achievement of the organisation’s strategic goals.  The program was delivered through a range of individual and collective leadership interventions, including education workshops, on the job application, internally led peer group coaching program and individual coaching support.  A key design component was to create platforms for leaders to purposefully engage with their peers, which also had the result of increasing the efficiency of delivery and cross-collaboration between groups and reducing silos across directorates.

Working with the Organisation

The program included the creation of an internal group of ‘champions’ who are a representative cross-section of the organisation.  The team developed and facilitated a program to build the capability of the group to champion the culture, facilitate internal education sessions, support of leaders to build understanding, application and commitment to the values and culture.   The champions delivered a key role in reaching every part of the geographically dispersed (indoor and outdoor) workforce.

The internal capability build and ownership from leaders through to all levels of employees was at the core of the program and important in enhancing engagement across the organisation.

To achieve this, the program included the development of monthly activities designed to make the culture relevant/ practical for every area of the council.  The Team provided a framework and guidance for leaders and champions to develop and deliver consistent culture activities. These were able to be customised to suit the diverse operational requirements of the organisation.

 

Measures of Success

An Organisational Pulse Survey was undertaken 12 months into implementation, reporting very high engagement with the culture and observations of leaders leading the culture 

  • 93% reported being personally committed to culture and values.

  • 89 % were personally working toward aligning their behaviour to the culture and values.

  • 57% have observed people throughout the Council working to align their behaviours to the culture and values.

  • 61% believe we are making progress towards improving the culture and values.

A second Pulse Survey undertaken in April 2018 reported continued strong engagement along with positive improvements in observations of leaders leading the culture.  This recent survey also gauged employee pride in the organisation, with the results reported being above the strategic target.

  • 92% reported being personally committed to culture and values.

  • 90 % were personally working toward aligning their behaviour to the culture and values

  • 63% have observed people throughout the Council working to align their behaviours to the culture and values.

  • 66% believe we are making progress towards improving the culture and values

  • 76% feel proud to work for the Council (strategic target was 70%).

Categories
Staff Profile

Karen Schulz

Karen Schulz

Karen Schulz - Director

Karen’s experience in cultural transformation and business performance is grounded in over 20 years of proven performance working as a senior leader, executive coach, consultant, facilitator, university lecturer and cultural and strategic transformation change agent.  She works nationally and Internationally with Boards, Executives, Senior Leaders, Middle Managers and Employees across t transport, retail, research, utilities, education, aviation and finance industries as well as the government, non-government and not for profit sectors.

Karen brings a balance between strategic cultural diagnostics and program development and an ability to partner with the business to provide sustainable and practical implementation of cultural transformation programs, business and people performance initiatives along with leadership coaching.  Karen’s natural style has enabled Karen to design practical and business suitable programs implemented through customised approaches designed to build internal capability, ownership and deliver sustained benefits for people and the organisation.

As an experienced Executive and Leadership coach with up to 2500 coaching hours, Karen has a proven track record of effectively supporting leaders to rapidly identify and understand underlying mindsets, beliefs and behaviours and supports them to make significant behavioural shifts.  As a neuro coach, Karen utilises the results based coaching system drawing from the heart of neuroscience and incorporating the study of change, systems theory, learning theory and positive psychology. 

Qualifications and Skills

  • Brain Based Coaching, NeuroLeadership Institute (2018)

  • Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner (2016)

  • Professional Development Certificate in Coaching Practice. Institute of Coaching & Consulting Psychology (2009) Sydney University

  • Senior Consultant: Walking the Talk (Global Cultural Transformation Organisation)

  • Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Central Queensland University (1993)

  • Life and Success Coach (2016)

Memberships

  • ICF member

  • Australian Institute of Company Directors

  • Women on Boards

  • Institute of Managers and Leaders

Highlights

  • Karen’s experience is grounded in 25 years of proven performance working as a Corporate Senior Leader, Executive Coach, Management Consultant, University Lecturer and Strategic Business Transformational Change Agent.

  • Partners with Boards and Executives to align business strategy, culture, leadership development, structure and performance with business outcomes.

  • Experienced executive and leadership coach (2500 hours) to Board Members, CEOs, Executives through to Emerging leaders, accredited in leading edge 360-degree leadership feedback diagnostic tools such as The Leadership Circle and LSI

  • Development and delivery of customised Leadership development programs utilising world class frameworks, a mix of customised individual and collective leadership interventions which rapidly build leadership awareness and capability for Board Members, CEO’s through to front line managers.

  • Design and implementation of measurable cultural transformation programs with demonstrable employee engagement (90% and above in all engagements) and positive shifts in cultural.

  • Strategic change management specialist providing behavioural change, supporting leaders to lead change, building change resilience and managing program level change impacts.

Contact Karen

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HRS Connect Director Karen Schulz

Our Team

Categories
Staff Profile

Janeene Hutchinson

Janeene Hutchinson

Janeene Hutchinson - Director

Janeene brings diverse experience in business and people management, business improvement, project planning and delivery through a successful career working as both an external consultant and internal senior leader spanning more than 20 years. Working with an array of clients, both State and National as a consulting manager specialising in HR project management, change and business transformation.  Janeene’s client profiles include private enterprise (banking, finance, service to FMCG to Manufacturing), State and Federal Government entities up to 20,000 employees. 

Janeene is a skilled transformation program manager and HR executive who most recently led merger and transformation activities for Energy Queensland (merger of Ergon Energy, Energex and SPARQ). Janeene’s expertise and skills lie in understanding the motivators for great employee and business performance, finding fresh approaches to entrenched or emerging challenges, and creating smart end-to-end solutions which deliver on-time, on-budget, and with powerful executive, employee and shareholder buy-in. 

Janeene is described as a strategic, resourceful, tenacious and principled professional who takes pride in setting and delivering the highest standards of personal and team performance: to contribute to an organisation’s success. 

Qualifications and Skills

  • Masters of Human Resource Management, QUT, 2003

  • Accredited MBTI and The Leadership Circle

  • PROSCI Change Leadership Certification 2019

  • Cert. IV in Assessment and Workplace Training, AIM, 2002

  • Bachelor of Business Management, QUT, 1994

  • HSE Lead Auditor, SAI Global, 2010

  • ICAM Lead Investigator, Safety Wise Solutions, 2010

  • Hay Job Evaluation, Hay, 2004, 1995

Memberships

  • Fellow Certified Practitioner Human Resources

  • Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors, 2018

  • Women on Boards

Highlights

  • Provided strategic and operational human resource leadership expertise to Executives and General Managers to affect the successful implementation of an organisation-wide senior management restructure.

  • Project managed the decision requirements, approvals and implementation of all HR aspects related to the Organisational Design Review (ODR) project – Approximately 450 senior leaders impacted.

  • Delivering complex $100m-plus national projects on time and within budget.

  • Building genuinely engaged teams across disciplines, geographic locations, cultural realms and hierarchical levels.

  • Developing innovative strategies to resolve complex people and business challenges in resource-constrained and union driven environments.

  • Developing and delivering strategic initiatives across the breadth of the employee life cycle to enable business performance.

  • Consistently implementing effective people solutions that reduce absenteeism (improvement of 20%) and turnover (10% -15% improvement).

  • Leading technological transformation with critical objectives of >$50m in bottom-line benefit.

  • Negotiating industrial disputes while safeguarding organisational reputation and commercial outcomes.

Contact Janeene

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HRS Connect Director Janeene Hutchinson

Our Team

Categories
Insights

Leading Through Connection

As the world edges closer to COVID-19 recovery, at times it can feel like we are in an unsettling holding pattern. This holding pattern continues to deliver heightened levels of uncertainty and the risk of unknown future direction on many levels – individual, family, community, organisational, and the greater world.  If we are holding on to the hope of returning to ‘normal’ we are misguided – there is no going back to our old concepts of normal yet there can be an untapped opportunity in the new normal.

Pandemics and major world crises are not without precedence: To name just a few, the world was vastly different after the 1918 Spanish Influenza Epidemic, each of the two World Wars, and more recently the GFC.  The speed of change and need for rapid adaptation has impacted many businesses like Kodak and Nokia.  It’s not about whether the impacts are negative or positive, it’s much more about the way we adapt as leaders and flexibility in the way we work.

In these times of heightened uncertainty many leaders are seeking the focus required to take their organisation and their people forward, one that is meaningful, stabilising and sustainable.  Overwhelmingly the response has been the criticality of connection.  As humans, we crave connection.  With the likelihood that we will experience more diverse working arrangements, a key challenge for leaders Is how they dial-up connection.

We can view the connection through two lenses.

The first lens of connection is through the organisational vision and core purpose.  As we emerge from COVID, leaders have the opportunity to reassess the vision and core purpose, to identify changed risks and dependencies. This may lead to a fresh approach or a reset of the vision and core purpose with the added benefit of strengthening the business. People are searching for the anchor, how do I connect, contribute and add value in this time of uncertainty.  Through providing clarity of purpose, how they contribute to the attainment of the purpose will dial up their sense of value and connection.

The second lens of connection is bringing people together through the vision and core purpose. In times of crisis, new attributes such as empathy, agility and effectiveness rise to the surface and are valued. Often in times of natural disasters (which COVID19 can be equated to), people come together and collaborate to deliver high-performance outcomes. Strongly connected to their purpose and end goals, people are empowered to move obstacles, be decisive and timely, with accountability to make things happen.   This builds connection and more empathy within their teams and organisation. 

To lead in these continued times of heightened uncertainty, leaders will need to dial-up connection and this will require an authentic commitment by leaders who recognise and value the contributions of people and teams.

 

 

How are you, as a leader, adapting and keeping connection?  We urge Leaders to contemplate:

  1. What are your strategies to connect your people to the vision and core purpose?

  2. How are you dialling up your connection with your teams?

Categories
Insights

Organisational Performance through Creating and Leading Psychologically Safe Teams

Whether face to face or remote, in stable and unstable times, Leaders need to create a psychologically safe environment for their teams for them to thrive. A psychologically safe environment is one in which people can bring their whole self, without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career.

Why would leaders want to lead a psychologically safe team environment?

The concept of psychological safety has increasingly become understood as a significant driver of workplace productivity. A Gallup study found where team members feel psychologically safe there occurred a: 

  • 27% reduction in staff turnover

  • 40% reduction in safety incidents

  • 12% increase in productivity

People experiencing psychological safe team environments operate with accountability, creativity and a focus on achievement and performance.

What if you could:

  • Gain strategic insights and a deeper understanding of your staff, including their preferences and expectations;

  • Access executive-level data to drive strategic decisions that lead to growth and differentiation;

  • Enable your employees to deliver on your customer promise by preparing and supporting them for success.

We partner with Conductor Software to accurately measure psychological safety and its financial impact providing senior leaders with specific recommendations to change it in a way that measurably improves their bottom-line.

Through the insight of Conductor Software and our human-centred leadership expertise, we are able to work with leaders and organisations to achieve a paradigm shift in how to view and approach your people, unlock existing potential, increase revenue and build high performing teams.  Through linking people, leadership and business performance, we clearly identify leadership performance, the impact of this on KPI’s and develop laser-like leadership development actions.

Your Next Steps

If you’re interested in understanding what you can do to support your people to continue to grow and achieve their potential and position your organisation to capture new and emerging opportunities, then we have an exciting opportunity for you.

As Accredited Professionals in Conductor Software, we are offering 100 free surveys until the end of July to our clients so we can help you unlock existing potential in your business.

Read more about Psychologically Safe Teams

Categories
Insights

19 Golden Tips On Working Virtually

Having worked remotely as team members or as a leader with geographically dispersed teams, there are many lessons learned that we would like to share. 

Over the past 25 years, of being a remote worker and leader, technology has changed significantly in some ways and in others….. not so much. 

When we commenced there was this thing called net meeting, Lync, webcams, now we have Teams and Zoom to name just a couple and Skype, which facilitate face time in a more social environment.

Given there is a significant increase in people working in a decentralised work environment, we want to share 19 tips to more effectively engage with and create a productive remote relationship with either your team members or your leader. 

There is also, so much experience across the globe if you can relate to the tip, in a few words feel free to add to it. 

 

Purpose:

  1. Create a habit of purposeful water cooler chats – schedule checks in’s that would normally occur as people would interact in an office.  It makes people feel included and have a sense of relatedness.

  2. Opportunity to keep business going and connecting with people working from home, throughout Australia or across the globe. 

  3. Can be used to help people “catch up” for a virtual coffee break.

Prepare:

  1. Have a refreshment and dedicated space.

  2. Allow time for people to dial in and test the technology.

  3. Dress for the event – is it an office meeting or catch-up with friends?

  4. What’s behind you creates interest for others.

Conduct:

  1. Agree on etiquette – have people discuss how they want the session to run and what works. 

  2. Incorporate the team culture and desired behaviours into the interactions.  E.g. if a team/organisation value is teamwork, how do you incorporate this into the meeting/ conversation to demonstrate teamwork.  If creativity is a value, encourage how the team can be creative in the current environment.

  3. Encourage people to use the camera – it creates a sense of being in the same room – albeit virtually.

  4. Look at the camera – even remote eye contact makes a connection with people.

  5. The speaker will shift and focus on the loudest noise, so mute when you are not talking and to block out background noise. 

  6. Never put the call on hold – everyone will hear only the music.

  7. Allow time for ‘checking in’ at the beginning of the call – Cover topics in terms of how people are coping with the family at home, what strategies have they employed and can share with the other on the call.  How can you bring respectful humour into the check-in? 

  8. Go around the room at various times during the session to invite people/locations into the conversation – if people know they will be asked questions, it will keep them more engaged as they are not sure when they will be invited in, but they know they will be.  It takes longer, however, minimises distractions, increases engagement and the buy-in is worth it. 

Share information

  1. Explicitly check if people can see your screen when sharing and check for delays in moving pages.

  2. Share the screen as though it was a whiteboard – creating something “live” as people in the meeting discuss or talk creates a sense of inclusion and engagement.

  3. Share the desktop or just specific files.  If you share the desktop, people can see any file that you have open and click on during the meeting, is that your intent?

  4. ………. Readers, what are some other strategies you would like to share?