articles
The following articles and papers have been written by our people at Penumbra. If you would like any further information please contact us.
How can you keep your talent in a downturn?
(Posted:02.01.2009)
A major dilemma facing organisations in an economic downturn is which people they should let go and which ones they should retain. Release or retain is not as straightforward a choice as it may appear. It’s a general fact that organisations have a poor fundamental understanding of the high-value skills and abilities of large numbers of their people. When a major commercial bank decided to get rid of 500 of their branch managers because they were assumed not to have the ability to take initiative and grow business, they found, to their amazement, that over half of them had started their own businesses within three months of leaving the bank.
Putting people onto the balance sheet
(Posted:19.09.2008)
Companies have various kinds of performance and value measures – revenue, margin, net profit, productivity, assets, receivables, contracts, etc. – but they don’t have a measure of what many of them claim is their biggest asset: their people. Their financial statements show things like total wage and salary costs, how many people work for them, and the remuneration packages of the top few executives, but they don’t show a measure of how effective their people are – i.e. what they are “worth” to the shareholders. What you pay people is one thing; what they generate in returns for the company is another. If it’s the people who drive the value in a company then isn’t it important to have a clear measure of their value?
Controlling your performance blocking behaviour
(Posted:28.01.2009)
What causes people to engage in various types of performance blocking behaviours
Is the engagement being broken off?
(Posted:21.11.2008)
Employee engagement is a current management in-term and hot topic in management circles. In essence it refers to the degree to which people are enthusiastic about their jobs and work and how that translates into effort to achieve their work goals and contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. The term is new – it was created by the Gallup organisation who conducted research to show that it was related to things like productivity, profitability, and employee retention– but the concept is old. We used to call it commitment or involvement.
Bad behaviour isn’t necessary
(Posted:28.01.2009)
One of the most important criteria for successful leadership is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is about understanding your emotions, being able to control them, and recognising other people’s emotions as they react to your behaviour.
Do strong leaders destroy leadership?
(Posted:21.01.2009)
If you enter “leadership” on Google there are 172 million entries. If you go to Amazon for books about leadership you’ll find more than 37,000 listed. A search for leadership articles takes you into the millions. Leadership isn’t a concept, it’s an industry.
What is performance blocking behaviour?
(Posted:25.07.2008)
Quite clearly, not everything that people do creates positive results. Some actions accelerate performance, some sustain performance, and some block performance. Behaviour that accelerates performance focuses on changing the way things are done, on creating and driving a vision, on enlisting the skills, ideas and energy of people at all levels, and on improving overall effectiveness. Behaviour that sustains performance is aimed at making things run smoothly, at ensuring plans are implemented and targets are achieved, and that quality is maintained. It is centred on implementation, consistency, attention to detail, and improving efficiency.
What is this thing called talent?
(Posted:11.07.2008)
Talent is a major issue for organisations and is the subject of hundreds of books, articles, conferences and discussions. But unfortunately, in these discussions not everyone is talking about the same thing. McKinsey defines talent as the sum of a person’s abilities, The Economist says it’s brainpower, others say it’s leadership, and still others talk about it as the possession of emotional intelligence.
What’s wrong with failing?
(Posted:06.06.2008)
Why is it that people are afraid of failure? Failure’s not just part of life, it’s essential to life – and to success. Henry Ford put it most eloquently: “Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently”. You can’t learn if you don’t fail. At an elementary school in Japan recently the parents objected to allowing just one child to be Snow White in the school play because it would make the others feel as though they were failures, so it ended up with 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch. But before we laugh at Japan, there is a concerted movement in the UK to do away with children winning or losing at sports days because we can’t have anyone failing. Presumably we can’t have races anymore unless perhaps there is a super-efficient handicapper who can ensure that everyone crosses the finish line together.
What’s your next move?
(Posted:11.04.2008)
Lifelong careers are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, at least in Western Europe and North America. Statistics indicate that people now have more than three careers over the length of their working life. However the definition of career change tends to be rather unclear. Is it changing functions within a company – e.g. from marketing to operations? Is it moving from one company to another? Is it moving to a completely different occupation, like architect to chef? Each of these moves entails a progressively bigger change and each presents different challenges.
How do you know who has potential?
(Posted:05.12.2008)
Every organisation is looking for people with potential but the problem is that they often don’t ask the question “potential for what?” Talking about potential in general is not very helpful; everyone has potential of one kind or another. One of the outstanding characteristics of human beings is their ability to adjust to changing circumstances. It’s what has allowed the species to survive and become dominant. But some people are less flexible than others, and different people are interested in doing different things. Defining potential has two sides: what the organisation wants done and what the individual wants to do.
Give people a choice
(Posted:14.01.2009)
Marcus Buckingham asks the key question about managing talent: “What would happen if men and women spent more than 75% of each day on the job using their strongest skills and engaged on their favourite tasks, basically doing exactly what they wanted to do?”
Got any ideas?
(Posted:07.01.2009)
Are you creative? There’s a mistaken belief that very few people are creative and that the rest of us poor plods couldn’t come up with an original idea if it was given to us on a platter. And quotes like “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” (Steve Jobs) are pure rubbish. Everyone has ideas.
Modesty is for wimps
(Posted:09.10.2008)
Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, says Level 5 leadership (i.e. Great leadership) involves being modest and considerate. According to Collins, level 5 leaders “build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will”. Oh yeah? Tell that to Jack Welch, Larry Ellison, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Steve Jobs, Philip Green, or a host of other highly effective and successful leaders.
What do they think you are?
(Posted:29.08.2008)
Moving up the career ladder into wider leadership roles requires an individual to do a number of things. It’s not a simple or smooth process, nor is it simply a matter of doing the same sort of things that made one successful in the last job, only more of them. Taking a first leadership role, or moving from one leadership role to a higher and broader role, means doing some key things differently.
Which way to the egress?
(Posted:14.03.2008)
The great showman P.T. Barnum, who attracted large crowds to his “Grand Travelling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome” which featured various “freaks”, had a sign towards the rear of the exhibition hall which read “This Way To The Egress”. People who went through the door learned a new word, because egress means exit.
How to make the relationship between client and B2B researcher work well
(Posted:08.02.2008)
Many who commission B2B research have specialist knowledge of their sector or industry but relatively little direct experience of B2B research or of the potential benefits, drawbacks, or pitfalls of market research in general. Larger companies such as American Express, FedEx, Dell, Microsoft, Nokia, or HSBC are likely to have in-house B2B market research specialists (and perhaps sector specialists within the B2B market). However, many companies - even sizeable ones - (in industrial sectors, for example) do not have staff with this expertise. Hence, it is a good idea for those undertaking B2B research to gain some understanding of the research process and what might be achieved. In particular, if external agencies are used, it is important that they feel they are "in good hands".
The importance of understanding whether your customers are ecstatic, exasperated or easy come - easy go
(Posted:02.10.2007)
Increasingly, customers are being seen by companies as the most vital source of future growth. This is driving a realisation that customers are an asset that needs to be nurtured. Unlike most assets, this one is more difficult to manage as people have emotions that can unleash unpredictable attitudes and behaviour.
Driving and sustaining brand momentum through a superior customer experience
(Posted:28.02.2007)
Customer perceptions of organisations are formed through a range of experiences which revolve around two core elements. On the one hand, there are the experiences that result from intended actions and which are associated with buying and using a product or service and, on the other hand, there are those unintended ones that can occur when talking to an acquaintance about a particular brand, listening to the news or noticing an advertisement.
Is improving people's performance the Holy Grail of management?
(Posted:05.07.2006)
Business organisations are continually striving to improve the performance of their people. Numerous initiatives are unleashed in an attempt to chase this goal which so many perceive to be the Holy Grail of management.
Can rudeness at work be managed effectively?
(Posted:22.05.2006)
An article concerning rudeness in the workplace by Alison Maitland in The Financial Times – May 12, 2006 – (Bosses with "no time to be nice') raised a number of interesting points. The article quoted from the results of a UK survey of 1,100 individuals concerning workplace behaviour. Respondents reported various instances of being insulted, criticised in public, shouted at, demeaned and ignored. One of the questions raised in the article was whether the frequency of these types of behaviour has increased in recent years. Research indicates that this has been the case in the United States.
Engaging or enraging?
(Posted:22.05.2006)
Businesses depend on good people who are becoming both harder to attract and to retain. An important characteristic of high performing organisations is that their employees are enthusiastic about what they do and who they work for and that this engagement motivates them to "go the extra mile". Creating an environment where this is the case is simple in concept but complex in practice.
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