MENTOR - NOT A TEACHER, BUT AN AWAKENER !

'Seek' Rather Than 'Tell'

The modern usage of mentor – trusted friend, counsellor or teacher – first appeared in François Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Telemaque in 1699, Wikipedia (2009).  Dictionary.com has a similar definition for a mentor, “Wise and trusted counsellor or teacher, an influential senior sponsor or supporter.”  And Wikipedia notes that “Mentors provide their expertise to less-experienced individuals to help them advance their careers, enhance their education.”

Today the word mentoring with respect to the corporate world could mean anything from performance monitoring to life counseling and everything in between, with little standard process or measurement. The role of a mentor is to catalyze skills, talents or behaviors in a person to help him/her be more effective on the job. It contributes to business productivity by enhancing engagement and efficacy for the person being mentored  as well as for the team/peers of the mentee.  

An important prerequisite in mentoring is the the presence of chemistry between the mentor and the mentee to build the required trust. The mentee must volunteer and see the benefits of having a mentor. Further, a good mentor does not give a set prescription but helps the mentee write his/her own prescription and helps the mentee evolve as a better person. Executive mentoring has resulted in a profound transformational experience in senior leaders which, in turn, has contributed to organizational effectiveness. An important aspect of professional success involves participating in mentoring programs. And now more than ever, during these challenging economic times, employees need mentors to guide and advise them as they navigate flattened corporate structures.

Mentoring really helps and is not a fad. Mentoring should be mandatory whenever an individual requires support. Whether it is a leadership role or customer service clerk, we should honor the new person entering the job by providing a mentor for them. By providing them with a mentor, we are setting up the new person for success versus failure.

There are four types of mentoring situations, which could take place at the workplace: 

1. Advice: Here, the manager simply gives advice to his/her employees whenever the employee requires it; 
2. Role/job transition: The person leaving (the mentor) hires someone to replace him/her and the new person (the mentee) ‘shadows' the mentor for a period of time in order to ‘learn the ropes' of his/her new job;
3. Outside help: In this situation, an outside consultant is called in to mentor the new person in their new role;
4. Assistance: There could be a new employee who needs support to learn the job quickly or an existing one who is valuable to the organisation but needs grooming.

BALANCE IS THE KEY.... !!

“Happiness Is Not A Matter Of Intensity But Of Balance, Order, Rhythm And Harmony.” ~ Thomas Merton

One of the crucial areas of balance is work-life balance - the balance between a career, with its satisfaction of creativity and financial reward, and family life with its reward of love and service. Today, work is widely viewed as a source of personal satisfaction. A good balance in work and life can play a phenomenal role in the attainment of personal and professional goals.

Ryana Malhotra has a husband, three kids and a public relations business in New Delhi. Her hectic life speaks volumes about what time management means to her. As she puts it: "I'm running all the time." In the 3G fast-paced life, there are many pressures that new-age couples have to deal with - running a home, managing daily chores like cooking/cleaning, raising children and handling the tough deadlines at work! Originally, work was a matter of necessity and survival. Throughout the years, the role of ‘work' has evolved and the composition of the workforce has changed.

Today, work is widely viewed as a source of personal satisfaction. A good balance in work and life can play a phenomenal role in the attainment of personal and professional goals.

There are five principles you can use to get more done in less time and get back to a healthy balance between time spent at work and home:

• Set specific goals: Set them with actions and incremental milestones that you can track. Define your goals in terms that create a vivid mental picture of your desired end-state;
• Focus on what's important: Don't let the urgent, the convenient and the immediate distract you from the important. Stay focused on reaching the milestones that support your goals;
• Be proactive: Create the habit of working intentionally. Minimise your distractions. Make a ‘not to-do' list and adhere to it;
• Set your own standards: Don't mindlessly follow social and cultural norms. Instead, follow your own values. Establish your own principles of operations;
• Delegate: Outsource activities that others can do as well as or better than you. Delegate responsibilities to people that have more bandwidth than you.

The concept of work-life balance is becoming more and more relevant in an ever-dynamic work environment. The role played by the individual is as important as that of the organisation in managing this tumultuous see-saw.

Balance activity with serenity, wealth with simplicity, persistence with innovation, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie.

TRAINING IS EVERYBODY'S RESPONSIBILITY

Training = Workplace Learning + Performance Professionals

Today, the training has become increasingly complex as the available training options expand to meet the growing and divergent needs of organizations. Traditionally, training was something done to you or by you to increase your knowledge, skills and abilities. When people talked about training, they pictured some form of classroom setting with a "trainer" working with a group of participants, or alternatively, someone receiving skills training "on-the-job" from an "instructor".

This vision has been significantly extended through the impact of new approaches such as e-learning. People are searching for a word or phrase that better describes the techniques, methods and technology now available. Training and Development is now better described as an association of workplace learning and performance professionals. Over the years, we have progressed from training to learning and development, in much the same way as "personnel" changed to "human resources" and now "human capital".

If an organization needs to take their place in the world, the providers of learning, education and training should agree to some common themes. Training is not just about work. Yes it is an essential and key activity in the workplace, but learning and development applies to all aspects of human development. Lifelong learning should apply to all. Importantly, everyone has a training role.

Part of our mindset should be that everyone is responsible for training, just as many are now seeing that safety is everyone's responsibility. We need to learn from the recent trends in the health and safety industry. Too much emphasis was placed on the responsibilities of employers and managers. Not enough emphasis was placed on employees to observe safe work practices. The emphasis now is on all three parties. In the same way, training should be everyone's responsibility.

Technology has significantly expanded the learning delivery methods available. To meet the changed and changing operating environment, organizations need to learn and adapt quickly. This means that training needs to be available easily and quickly. "Just-in-time" not only applies to manufacturing and quality processes - it has become a viable model for learning and training as well. This means that a lot of learning is and can be in small chunks. Training is changing as a result of the need to be "just-in-time". 

Our organizations are leaner, and some would say, meaner. Many organizations expect employees to be fully trained before they are employed. Once employed, knowledge and skills need to be constantly updated. This can be done through structured courses and additional qualifications and/or unstructured methods. Both individuals and organizations can play their part.

A wealth of material is available to assist, particularly now the internet is so widely available. Organisations need to encourage self-help. The resources need to be available. Skilled workers, at all levels, should be encouraged and equipped to pass on their knowledge and experience to others. These workers need to learn the appropriate techniques and methods to do this. This doesn't mean that everyone should undertake the Certificate  in Assessment and Workplace Training. Some people only need basic "on-the-job" training techniques.

On the other hand, organisations need to ensure that their planning and human resources systems are monitoring the "big picture". This means effective performance management systems identifying individual development needs as well as systems providing organisation wide training where required, for example, with the introduction of new systems or ways of operating.

Individuals have responsibilities. Organisations have responsibilities. Training providers (formal, informal) have responsibilities. Management of these interrelationships is a complex task.

GET FIT TO MAXIMISE PERFORMANCE & PROFIT

Healthy Body ! Healthy Profits !

To succeed at business, you need skills, but you will not perform to full potential if you’re unfit. Fitness is where the motivation, focus and energy comes from. We can all be terrible at allowing work, targets and pressure to take over our lives but without a healthy brain can you really work at your true potential and enhance your staff's motivation levels? Probably not... 


For most business owners and managers it is easy to forget exercise, grabbing ANOTHER black coffee, eating late and forgetting breakfast, however the risk factors of this are not only dangerous but can demodulate your team. Your business and team are only as healthy as you are. 

Rather than purely putting the employees through just various training courses, it is also important to promote  new Brown Bag lunches, arrange for a number of external people to come and do talks on things such as Yoga, Mediation and Healthy Eating.

Top Tips for all of those who are Workaholics - 


You would never forget an important meeting with a customer so don't forget an important meeting with the rowing machine! You can not work to your best ability if you are unfit.


Ensure your staff have breakouts! - Why not create a break out zone in your office?


Promote breaks and lunch breaks - We are all human - The brain works threefold AFTER a short break.


Break the mould - why not give it a go?


Encourage wellness programmes - why not set a team competition?


Stop feeling overwhelmed and stop overwhelming your team. Pressure equals low productivity. Fun, fresh and innovative ideas increases team morale, productivity and enjoy!

Look after your health & the outcome will be richer! You will be able to enjoy it more so as you would’ve built up a strong fit body! 

HR SPECIALIZED LANGUAGE..

A Positive Approach !

We come across many HR specialized language, and we try to understand things in a negative way. The ultimate aim of sharing the below terms is to create a positive environment around us. Positive Attitude is the key to Corporate Success

COMPETITIVE SALARY -- 

You work you take.

JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY -- 

You can implement your knowledge right from today.

CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE --

Be happy you have a family atmosphere people are warm, friendly.

MUST BE DEADLINE-ORIENTED -- 

Plan and perform you will be perfect

SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED -- 

To earn more name and money.

DUTIES WILL VARY -- 

You should be king of one and jack of many.

MUST HAVE AN EYE FOR DETAIL -- 

You will become perfect.

CAREER-MINDED --

Female Applicants must be focused both officially and personally.

APPLY IN PERSON -- 

If you are high-flyer job is immediate.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE -- 

Your quality will speak, only when you meet us in person.

SEEKING CANDIDATES WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE --

You will have lot of interesting assignment.

PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS A MUST --

Every problem has a solution.

REQUIRES TEAM LEADERSHIP SKILLS --

Move with group, but be a leader.

GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS --

A hall mark quality of a Manager.

MANAGE IN STYLE

Analyse And Apply !!

Today’s manager needs to vary his Style of Management to bring out the Best in each Employee. 

The demands of the workforce today are not the same as they were yesterday. The corporate world is changing at the speed of light and there is no escaping the pressure to create a new profile of what a manager should be. New demands from customers, employees and society drive the corporation and the manager to be different. This means that as a manager, you need to assess and evaluate what type of leader you need to be. It also requires you to be ready, willing and able to change. 

The successful manager of the 21st century is regularly evaluating himself and constantly asking: "How can I do this better?"  They are flexible, learns fast, thinks and acts globally and creates value for all stakeholders involved such as colleagues and customers. They take full responsibility for his own behaviour and drive their team to achieve exceptional results.

You will need to use different styles for different people and different situations in order to get your people to perform at peak levels. You should therefore analyze what type of support your subordinates need in their various tasks and responsibilities and then manage and lead them accordingly. 

What you need to do is to evaluate your subordinates’ ability and motivation to perform their tasks in order to choose the correct management style. And it’s a different style for each task, depending on their ability and performance. To make it simple, you can divide your team members into three categories. 

The Low Performer

This person has little or some ability and is often new to the job or specific task. His performance is low and he doesn't deliver significant results. The reason for the low performance can be a lack of ability for and understanding of the job or task. 

However, the person can also be de-motivated, that is, not being committed to the work or having a negative work attitude. If a person is categorised as a low performer, you need to provide him with a clear direction, clarification and training, then supervise closely and follow-up accordingly. Basically, you tell him what he needs to do. The management style for a low performer is Directing. 

The Average Performer

This person has a good understanding of the job or specific task and moderate or even high ability. His performance varies throughout the year. Sometimes, the individual's willingness to perform is reduced due to a lack of self-confidence, low motivation or difficulties faced in performing the task. If a person is categorised as an average performer, you need to encourage, support, motivate and give some direction and clarification. The management style for an average performer is Coaching. 

The Peak Performer

This person has an excellent understanding and ability of what needs to be done. He achieves beyond expectations or even produces superior results. The motivation is high and he seldom needs Encouragement. 

He is a self-starter and needs very little or even no direction and supervision. But he will expect a facilitating management style and a manager who is more a colleague and mentor than a boss. Make sure you delegate responsibility, give him authority to decide and challenge him to take additional responsibilities. The management style for a peak performer is Empowerment. 

To be a manager in the 21st century is definitely a challenge. But if one follows the above guidelines you will take a big step forward as a manager. Remember to: 

• Analyse your subordinates’ performance levels, motivation and general needs' .
• Apply the “correct” leadership style accordingly; Develop each person’s ability and influence to achieve self-responsibility; Give your vision of where you want to be as a company, division and team; and Lead them towards your vision and encourage peak performance at all levels and all times. 

Source: http://www.123oye.com/

AVOIDING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL MISTAKES

If You Think Employee Satisfaction, Productivity And Performance Are Important!

Mentioning "Performance Appraisal" gets such mixed responses because people have such mixed experiences. If your respondents aren't hostile, or scornful, then they're clearly not impressed.

Why are performance appraisals seen to be negative experiences? Isn't a performance appraisal simply a meeting between a manager and a member of his or her staff, where together they appraise the staff member's performance during the year (or other time period) and agree on goals for the coming year?

Well, that's the theory.

In reality, many managers handle performance appraisals quite poorly. And the result is not only an unpleasant meeting, but one where the manager and his or her staff member never quite understand each other, never quite appreciate the other's point of view, and never quite settle on appropriate goals for the coming year. It's almost inevitable that the staff member will end up less happy and less productive than he or she was before! 

Below are few big mistakes that managers often make in conducting performance appraisals. Fortunately, these mistakes are easily avoided once you make a conscious effort to avoid them.

Waiting For The Performance Appraisal To Give Feedback:

This is the biggest mistake and the most common one. It's where a manager fails to give someone adequate feedback on their performance during the year, and then dumps it on them in the performance appraisal meeting. Unfortunately, the feedback is almost always negative, so the employee ends up sitting there in shock -- at best, wondering why his or her manager didn't say something sooner; at worst, feeling unjustly victimized. And you have to wonder -- how can a manager expect an employee to do the right things, the right way, if the manager hasn't provided any guidance or feedback all year?

The Solution: Managers should make it a habit to tell their employees if they've done a good or poor job, and if it's a poor job, explain how they can do things better in the future. There should be no surprises in the performance appraisal!

Over emphasizing Recent Performances:

It's all too human to remember, and give greater weight, to recent events rather than earlier events. However, this can lead to an inaccurate and unfair assessment when it comes to reviewing an employee's performance.

The Solution: Take note -- and ideally take notes -- of the employee's work throughout the year.

Being Too Positive Or Negative:

Some managers feel uncomfortable giving negative feedback and consequently, can omit to give employees the constructive criticism they need to improve. And then there are other managers who are instinctively too negative, leaving the employee wondering if they can do anything right! While, as a manager appraising someone's performance you should give your honest opinion, you also want your employee to understand and appreciate what you're saying.

The Solution: Instead of being too positive or negative -- which can result in the employee not believing what you say -- think about the impact on the employee you want, and communicate your feedback accordingly.

Being Critical Without Being Constructive:

Some managers can be too critical and neglect to provide any constructive advice on how an employee can improve. This doesn't help the employee or the manager. Even if your criticisms all have merit, if you don't explain how the employee can improve, he or she is likely to miss the validity of what's being said and simply think he or she is being victimized. Not to mention the fact that his or her performance won't actually improve.

The Solution: If you need to be critical, be constructive too!

Talking Not Listening:

The final big mistake that managers make in performance appraisals is doing too much talking and not enough listening. These meetings are supposed to be interactive -- where the manager doesn't simply relay his or her own appraisal of the employee's performance during the year, but also listens to the employee's viewpoint. 

The Solution: If you have criticized the individual's performance, it's not only fair, but important, to get the employee's response as to why he or she may have underperformed.

Moreover, a key objective of the performance appraisal is to agree on goals for the following year. How can there be true agreement and commitment to such goals, if you don't learn the employee's point of view? One can avoid the above mistakes -- it just takes a little effort. It's certainly worth it, if you think employee satisfaction, productivity and performance are important!