behaviour Archives - Keystone Development and Training Ltd

Is it ever OK to do Sheep-dip Training?

January 28, 2020Uncategorizedbehaviour, business, HR, OD, training

I think yes. Sometimes. In very specific cases. I can almost hear the sound of dozens of people disconnecting from me!! I think it IS appropriate when the training supports a fundamental business change and is part of wider process change and internal communication. Everyone has to learn about the new way of doing things all together. If the training is given to some and not others, or over a long period of time, the change is less likely to happen. There’s a lot to be said for peer pressure. I should know, I’ve just pretty much done Dry January, without ever having made it my intention! My husband decided to do it, and as he wasn’t drinking I barely did either. Three glasses of wine over the whole month is a significant reduction. I was clearly influenced by his behaviour, and this happens at work too. The need to fit in should never be under-estimated. When we see those around us behaving in certain way, we are more likely to behave similarly. That’s why it can be hard to make changes after training if you are the only person who completed it. Your environment is still encouraging the established…

You can’t Escape the Stages of Team Development!

December 15, 2019Uncategorizedbehaviour, development, HR, learning, OD, pace, training

Last week I ran a strategy/team-building day for a newly merged department of around 30 people. Part of the day was about the goals of the department, the reporting lines and key deliverables. The other part of the day was about getting to know each other and how to work together as a team. We decided to keep it theory light, but (in reference to the fact that they were a NEW team) we did cover Tuckman – just to reassure them that it would get harder before it got easier, and that was normal and actually could be quite a good thing. To illustrate this, we went to an Escape Room. With 30 people we had 6 groups, so during the activity, my associate and I observed 3 groups each – approximately 15 minutes each. It was very illuminating! The group I was with first were a bit shell-shocked by the whole situation. They didn’t know what to do, everyone was reluctant to take control, no-one said much, it was all quite polite and although some people did start to fiddle with some of the props and puzzles, they did so alone. There was very little communication. As an…

Pace… Fast and Direct or Slow and Meandering?

June 1, 2019Uncategorizedbehaviour, HR, learning, OD, pace, training

A number of things have prompted this blog: Various articles I’m seeing (particularly on LinkedIn) and my recent visit to Rome. Let’s talk about Rome. We had three full days at our disposal so had to choose how best to spend our time. My husband and I have been before, around 20 years ago, so we knew what was worth revisiting with young teenagers in tow, and what wasn’t. As such we had 2 full days all sorted, and a final day to decide what to do with at the time. On day 1 we saw the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, St Peter’s Basilica and went around the Vatican Museums. We’d allowed ourselves 3 hours for this (based on past experience) and it proved to be ideal. We saw all the bits we wanted to see and had time to listen to the detailed information about the rooms that caught our attention and took all the photos we wanted, as well as sitting in the sun for a 15 minute (much needed) break. Clearly, some people had a lot less time… many tourists practically running past us to get to the Sistene Chapel in the shortest time possible (and no…

Managers Need Inducting Too!

May 10, 2019Uncategorizedbehaviour, business, coaching, HR, induction, management, managers, OD, training, values

It’s funny how in the last week I’ve had three conversations with three very different businesses about how the lack of a manager’s induction causes problems down the line: Inconsistent approaches to people management, having to go back to basics with experienced managers and the HR team getting way too involved way too often as small people problems haven’t been handled properly from the start. We know that a general induction is important for those joining the organisation, but people being recruited into management positions need a separate (additional) induction. New managers need to understand what’s expected of them, what support is available to them, and how to do things properly. People with managerial experience being recruited into a new organisation need an induction on top of the generic corporate one to help them to understand the managerial processes within their new environment. You would hope that they have been recruited because they have the necessary skills and experience, but the way they are expected to manage and report is probably quite different to their previous organisation. They need to know which forms to use when, where to find them, who to contact if… etc. They also need to know…

World of Learning – Key Ingredients of Learning Impact

October 21, 2018Uncategorizedbehaviour, design, HR, managers, OD, training, training design

This is a short blog post based on the notes I made during this session at the World of Learning Conference in October 2018. It may not be complete or totally accurate – it’s just what I took away. I have to say that this session was one of the most insightful and useful – based on transfer of learning, which is a topic that is very important to me. This was an interesting session about an area of learning that matters to me… transfer to the job. Ina Weinbauer-Heidel explained that in most traditional training, 15% of learners get a positive outcome in that they transfer learning to the job successfully; 70% attempt to transfer learning but (for a range of reasons) fail to do so; and 15% don’t even try. So what is the reason for this lack of transfer? Her research identified over 100 factors that influence transfer of learning… she focused on 12 factors that L&D professionals can influence, which she has called 12 Levers of Transfer Effectiveness. These Levers fall into 3 categories: Trainees, Design and Organisation – You can imagine my delight when the importance of training design (not delivery) was highlighted as one…

FARE Training – Providing Vitamin D for Learning

April 19, 2018Blogbehaviour, HR, OD, training

When the sun shines and it’s warm outside, I actually WANT to eat salad and fruit. This is good, because I’m carrying a few excess pounds and eating more healthily will help me to get back into shape. It’s harder to make healthy choices when it’s cold, wet and dreary, even though I know I should. The draw of a cheese toastie is just too much! the vitamin D in the sunshine does us more good than we realise. For me, it’s highlighted the importance of a vitamin D equivalent in learning, and the link between environment, feelings, actions and results, and how one affects the others: Your environment affects your feelings, your feelings shape your choices and actions, and your actions define your results. Of course, your results then feed into creating your environment, and around we go again. Most training interventions (understandably) focus on actions: what we do. What we do – our behaviours – have a direct impact on results so it makes total sense. Our behaviours are also the easiest to define, observe and learn, and they are within our circle of control. But we know that impact will be limited if we don’t spend time…

The Same but Different

February 20, 2018Uncategorizedbehaviour, bespoke, training

Because we didn’t get back from our family holiday until late on Sunday evening, I did the weekly grocery shop yesterday (Monday) rather than on a Saturday when I usually do it. I went to the same place, at around the same time of day, and although everything looked the same, I quickly felt like I’d entered a parallel universe!!! The shop was quiet for a start, I mean audibly not just less busy. The regular staff (in my mind) were nowhere to be seen. But perhaps the biggest change was the behaviour of the shoppers. As a busy working mum, I have my list (written out in the order of the shop), I grab a large trolley, fill it up and am out again around an hour later. Yes, I check the sell-by dates, but it’s quite grab and go. This is normal for Saturdays. It’s what we all do. On a Monday morning the (mostly retired) clientele take their time. They go in pairs too. They discuss every potential purchase. One woman spent 5 minutes examining punnets of pears before putting on in her trolley. And it became very clear that they aren’t used to waiting at the checkout whilst a…

Shhhh! It’s a Secret

November 6, 2014Blogbehaviour, induction, managers, training

I was at the CIPD conference yesterday, and many of the seminars and discussions touched in some way on mental well being or neuroscience. In particular, how making mental well being a priority, and understanding how our brains work can help us to create happier and more effective workplaces. I don’t profess to be anywhere near an expert on these things, but I do have some knowledge and (largely due to my active involvement on social media) have been aware of the key concepts and benefits for some time. I suspect that many HR and training professionals are in exactly the same position. Yet, as I sat in a seminar about the importance of neuroscience in HR yesterday, a worrying thought hit me: “It’s all very well the HR/Training team knowing about these things, but almost everyone else in the organisation is completely unaware of what this is, let alone how important it is and how to use it”. It’s like this is a big secret we are keeping to ourselves…and I can understand why. Many senior managers are still resistant to ‘soft stuff’ so unless you can link it directly to hard and fast results, they will dismiss it as…

When being the ‘best’ isn’t enough

June 25, 2014Blogbehaviour, business, management, managers, performance, suarez, values

I don’t watch football, but I am very aware of the outrage caused by Luis Suarez and his latest biting incident. This behaviour by itself is bad enough, but the fact that some people see fit to defend the player or try to play it down ‘because he’s a good footballer’ is just as bad, if not worse! If one man bit another in a the street he would (quite rightly) be charged with assault or GBH, for that is what it is. The fact that the attack happened on a football field should make no difference at all. If, as a society, we feel biting people is wrong then it is wrong full stop. The trouble is, people get blinded by short-term targets. They will forgive his behaviour if (within a 90 minute window) he scores enough goals to get a good result for the team. The same happens in businesses up and down the land. Particularly if those business are built around achieving short-term goals: the weekly sales target, the monthly profit margin, the daily output target. The ‘best’ sales person, the most ‘commercially-minded’ manager, the most productive operator are almost left to their own devices to achieve the…

Tag: behaviour

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