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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Career Segmentation (Part Two)
Last month we introduced Career Segmentation. Click here for the full article or see the summary chart below. This month we look at how the model can be applied, both by individuals and organisations.
Individuals
The critical thing for individuals to manage is the two very strong career rhythms that run simultaneously. The first is what we call ‘The Price To Pay’. We all understand that to succeed in any role there are certain minimum conditions/standards that have to be met. This is well understood by most people. Understanding the second requirement is less commonly understood - ‘The Price To Stay’.
As the requirements of the job shift, the organisations’ requirements of you will also change. What helped you win the role will not necessarily work in helping you keep the role. The ‘Price To Stay’ moves over time which is where Career Segmentation thinking is required.
Depending on what stage of your career you’re at will depend on how best to respond. As individuals we will always correlate the career phase with our life stage. A Young Gun generally being more prepared (and able) to live anywhere and make personal sacrifices for their career than say The Safe Harbour, who needs to be able to offer different benefits as part of their ‘Price To Stay’ strategy.
It’s an economic fact that the most expensive (whole cost) people to employ are long service, middle managers, which is why cost hawks see them as attractive to exit. Constantly adding to the value you bring to the role helps militate this threat, and aligning your strategies with the correct Career Segment will reinforce your personal value proposition even more.
Organisations
Sensitive, nuanced and conscious management of people informed by Career Segmentation helps align expectations and so increases engagement. If an organisation supports someone in staying au courant combined with the individual playing their part, everyone wins. And if a person still loses their job through no fault of their own they are more likely to be and feel more employable – the key ingredient is finding another job.
When employers and employees are together, able to have an informed, open and authentic dialogue about career management and employability, everyone benefits.
Structured training hold in-company Career planning workshops. To find out more contact us.
Individuals
The critical thing for individuals to manage is the two very strong career rhythms that run simultaneously. The first is what we call ‘The Price To Pay’. We all understand that to succeed in any role there are certain minimum conditions/standards that have to be met. This is well understood by most people. Understanding the second requirement is less commonly understood - ‘The Price To Stay’.
As the requirements of the job shift, the organisations’ requirements of you will also change. What helped you win the role will not necessarily work in helping you keep the role. The ‘Price To Stay’ moves over time which is where Career Segmentation thinking is required.
Depending on what stage of your career you’re at will depend on how best to respond. As individuals we will always correlate the career phase with our life stage. A Young Gun generally being more prepared (and able) to live anywhere and make personal sacrifices for their career than say The Safe Harbour, who needs to be able to offer different benefits as part of their ‘Price To Stay’ strategy.
It’s an economic fact that the most expensive (whole cost) people to employ are long service, middle managers, which is why cost hawks see them as attractive to exit. Constantly adding to the value you bring to the role helps militate this threat, and aligning your strategies with the correct Career Segment will reinforce your personal value proposition even more.
Organisations
Sensitive, nuanced and conscious management of people informed by Career Segmentation helps align expectations and so increases engagement. If an organisation supports someone in staying au courant combined with the individual playing their part, everyone wins. And if a person still loses their job through no fault of their own they are more likely to be and feel more employable – the key ingredient is finding another job.
When employers and employees are together, able to have an informed, open and authentic dialogue about career management and employability, everyone benefits.
Structured training hold in-company Career planning workshops. To find out more contact us.
Followership And Engagement
Followers come in all shapes and sizes – whether they’re followers of an individual, a team, a brand or a belief – by definition, they are the loyal supporters. There has been a great deal of research into the nature of Leadership but its contingent aspect, that of Followership, has been far less well served. Not withstanding the seminal work done by Kelley et al there are still some very interesting debates to be had about the nature of Followership and how leaders/organisations can improve their Employee Engagement through a better dialogue with their followers.
Kelley suggested a possible spectrum of Followership styles from Passive Followers through to Exemplary (effective) Followers; however we think it is worth looking a little more closely at the contrast between Passive/Active and the impact of being Actively Negative v Actively Positive. On the table below we look at Followers down the left-hand side and compare this with Leaders and their ability to ‘actively’ listen:
The Active & Negative: are the ones who appear to be the ‘moaning minnies’ - the regular complainers who can always find something to criticise and never appear to be happy (unless they’re moaning about something). Curiously, this group often behave this way because they are used to being, or expect to be, ignored or marginalised.
The Active & Constructive: are the ones who can be demanding, challenging and a royal pain in the neck – precisely because they do care, often passionately, and speak out not only to provoke a response (which is important) but because they think they can see a way to improve things. They can generate a creative synergy through their contributions and willingly engage with the leader’s/organisation’s vision and goals.
Some Observations:
From this model there seems to be some interesting areas of potential movement that Followers and Leaders can benefit from – for example, the Disillusioned Cynics could become Potential Converts with the right opportunity to make their voice heard and to see some direct action as a consequence of their input. In contrast, the ones who were Active & Constructive could easily become Potential Cynics themselves if they feel that their leaders say they’re listening but are in fact only paying lip-service!
For more on Followership, Leadership and Engagement contact us.
Kelley suggested a possible spectrum of Followership styles from Passive Followers through to Exemplary (effective) Followers; however we think it is worth looking a little more closely at the contrast between Passive/Active and the impact of being Actively Negative v Actively Positive. On the table below we look at Followers down the left-hand side and compare this with Leaders and their ability to ‘actively’ listen:
The Active & Negative: are the ones who appear to be the ‘moaning minnies’ - the regular complainers who can always find something to criticise and never appear to be happy (unless they’re moaning about something). Curiously, this group often behave this way because they are used to being, or expect to be, ignored or marginalised.
The Active & Constructive: are the ones who can be demanding, challenging and a royal pain in the neck – precisely because they do care, often passionately, and speak out not only to provoke a response (which is important) but because they think they can see a way to improve things. They can generate a creative synergy through their contributions and willingly engage with the leader’s/organisation’s vision and goals.
Some Observations:
From this model there seems to be some interesting areas of potential movement that Followers and Leaders can benefit from – for example, the Disillusioned Cynics could become Potential Converts with the right opportunity to make their voice heard and to see some direct action as a consequence of their input. In contrast, the ones who were Active & Constructive could easily become Potential Cynics themselves if they feel that their leaders say they’re listening but are in fact only paying lip-service!
For more on Followership, Leadership and Engagement contact us.
Selling ... The Essentials For Success In Tough Times
Right now businesses are wisely looking at controlling costs and creating more efficient ways of doing business. Yet that’s only half the story of remaining successful in straitened times. Businesses need to get out there and sell their products and services. Yet when the market is tough salespeople can lose confidence, and in doing so focus on the wrong things, turning customers away or offering excessive discounts to secure business at any price.
Organisations with confident, effective sales people who understand both their own sales cycle and the purchasing cycles and process of the customers are able not only to achieve higher sales figures, with sustainable margins, but do so by bringing their customers with them, ensuring longer term success.
Structured Training's 'Selling ... The Essentials For Success' course has a great track record for providing sales people with the tools they need to succeed in the field. By offering an intensive, fast paced two-day programme we are able to give sales people a motivational and skills boost that works for them, in a time frame, and at a cost point, that allows their organisations to see a quick return on their training investment.
To find out more about Structured Training's improved 'Selling ... The Essentials For Success' course click here, or contact us.
Organisations with confident, effective sales people who understand both their own sales cycle and the purchasing cycles and process of the customers are able not only to achieve higher sales figures, with sustainable margins, but do so by bringing their customers with them, ensuring longer term success.
Structured Training's 'Selling ... The Essentials For Success' course has a great track record for providing sales people with the tools they need to succeed in the field. By offering an intensive, fast paced two-day programme we are able to give sales people a motivational and skills boost that works for them, in a time frame, and at a cost point, that allows their organisations to see a quick return on their training investment.
To find out more about Structured Training's improved 'Selling ... The Essentials For Success' course click here, or contact us.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Career Segmentation (Part One)
Marketers are familiar with life stage segmentation in trying to understand buying motivations and decisions. For some time we have been interested in how the same technique might be applied to looking at career phases.
Below we have developed our own tool that we believe identifies the key phases of the career focused working life:
These age ranges are not exact, for some they happen slightly earlier or later, but we believe for most people these are the key phases that need to be paid attention to:
The Seeker
It’s in childhood that much of how people approach their working life is formed. A person’s approach to leadership, responsibility, authority, conflict, motivation, material acquisition and ambition all are shaped in this phase. Formal learning plays only a part in the process.
It’s in childhood that much of how people approach their working life is formed. A person’s approach to leadership, responsibility, authority, conflict, motivation, material acquisition and ambition all are shaped in this phase. Formal learning plays only a part in the process.
The Student Protégé
How focused is the person? A university degree is now much more than a lifestyle choice or a deferment of work decisions. The financial cost means choices have to be conscious and considered. It’s in this phase that people experiment, test early passions, and reject options. If they’re lucky they will find good advice and a mentor. They should be laying down deep layers of learning.
How focused is the person? A university degree is now much more than a lifestyle choice or a deferment of work decisions. The financial cost means choices have to be conscious and considered. It’s in this phase that people experiment, test early passions, and reject options. If they’re lucky they will find good advice and a mentor. They should be laying down deep layers of learning.
The Young Gun
This is a short, key phase. It’s where ‘early form’ needs to be demonstrated. The person gets noticed through early achievement. By leveraging all they have learnt so far this phase has the potential to be a real career ‘kicker’.
This is a short, key phase. It’s where ‘early form’ needs to be demonstrated. The person gets noticed through early achievement. By leveraging all they have learnt so far this phase has the potential to be a real career ‘kicker’.
The Bet Placer
Here the person should be succeeding with real achievements. Through the generation of insight they position themselves to take advantage of opportunities. They become an important member of the ‘go to’ cohort when things need to be done.
Here the person should be succeeding with real achievements. Through the generation of insight they position themselves to take advantage of opportunities. They become an important member of the ‘go to’ cohort when things need to be done.
The Rain Maker
In this phase the person has real power (and uses it) to change and transform things. They see more angles, more opportunities and more risks than others. They make things bigger and they put interesting things together. They can, and do, make things happen.
In this phase the person has real power (and uses it) to change and transform things. They see more angles, more opportunities and more risks than others. They make things bigger and they put interesting things together. They can, and do, make things happen.
The Safe Habour
Here judgement is everything. Because they have seen a lot, they call things right and they call them early. They can be relied on to say something sensible (not the same as being conservative) and to come up with solutions.
Here judgement is everything. Because they have seen a lot, they call things right and they call them early. They can be relied on to say something sensible (not the same as being conservative) and to come up with solutions.
The Counsel
Wise words said by people who have no further career ambition and probably no financial incentive either. This makes their opinion valuable.
Wise words said by people who have no further career ambition and probably no financial incentive either. This makes their opinion valuable.
Next month we will explore how Career Segmentation can be used, both by organisations and individuals.
Seven Things Every New Sales Person Should Know
If you are planning to go into a sales role for the first time there are a number of key things you should be clear about before taking the plunge. Or if you are the one who is recruiting new sales people then it’s doubly important that you have taken the right steps to identify these areas of knowledge and skills and that you can support your new sales person to make the grade.
We list our top seven things every person that is new to sales should know:
We list our top seven things every person that is new to sales should know:
- It’s tough out there: non sales people get the idea that sales-folk swan about in a company car with an expense account only communicating when they want to moan about something. In reality the sales-person has to develop a level of resilience and coping skills higher than most other professions.
- Their market: sales people need to know what is happening in their sector not just at the local level, but if they are to succeed, also at the macro level too – what are the major change drivers in their market? – who are the movers and shakers?
- How to find meaningful ‘insight’: customers want to deal with sales people only if the sales person can provide some sort of clear focus on critical factors that the customer hadn’t thought of themselves.
- The commercials: high turnover is fine but what about the margins? Where are the real, long-term, profitable relationships to be had? Which customers’ corporate strategy aligns best with their sales organisation’s strategy? Which customers are going to be worth all the hard work and focus in the long haul?
- How to say ‘No’: not only to all those colleagues and co-workers who make unreasonable demands on the sales person’s valuable time, but also having the confidence to say to ‘No’ to customers who make unreasonable demands.
- Their company: the organisation’s corporate strategy, its vision, values and goals, its history and background, its current market position and competitors as well as all its relevant products and services.
- How to provide excellent customer service: the difference between ‘good’ profits and ‘bad’ profits is about the customer’s experience of the service they received – ‘good’ profits come from customers who rate the service they experienced 10 out of 10 and therefore become loyal promoters!
If you are new to sales or you are recruiting new sales people and want help with any of these seven key areas, please contact us.
Would You ‘Lunch & Learn’?
What if you know your people desperately need some development in a key area of their role, and supposing you even had the budget to pay for it, can you really afford to let them out of the office long enough for it to happen?
It seems that even during these cash-strapped times, often the biggest obstacle to getting people trained up is the impact that their absence has on the day-to-day operations. The lost opportunity costs added to the costs of training, travel, accommodation etc are just too much to contemplate when people are under so much pressure just keeping their heads above the water.
What if you could do your people development in bite-sized chunks during your lunch time, say between 12:00pm and 2:00pm? Minimum down-time, minimum disruption to normal service, maximum impact without any fuss!
So what can you do in 90 minutes that will make a real difference to your people over lunch?
Business Simulation - a high-impact, practical activity (with a little underpinning theory for good measure) on a single, critical task such as:
Managers: The Selection Interview, The Performance Appraisal, The ‘Difficult’ Conversation, Motivating Individuals etc.
Sales People: Getting Past the Gatekeeper, Selling to the Difficult Buyer, Handling Complaints, Overcoming Objections, Tough Negotiations etc.
The activity would be completed at your place of work whilst participants enjoyed a ‘free’ lunch (what better incentive do you need?) along with receiving valuable techniques and strategies that actually make a difference.
The activities would be based on real-life examples prepared with information supplied by the organisation beforehand. Briefs would be sent out to participants prior to the session and all attendees would be encouraged to play a part in the Business Simulation with everyone receiving personalised advice and feedback.
'Lunch & Learn' saves you the money, time and hassle of normal training whilst you maintain business as usual and your people are getting the added motivational benefit of learning new skills or refreshing old ones without the added pressure of having to catch up on their work-load afterwards!
If you would like to find out how 'Lunch & Learn' could benefit your organisation, please contact us.
It seems that even during these cash-strapped times, often the biggest obstacle to getting people trained up is the impact that their absence has on the day-to-day operations. The lost opportunity costs added to the costs of training, travel, accommodation etc are just too much to contemplate when people are under so much pressure just keeping their heads above the water.
What if you could do your people development in bite-sized chunks during your lunch time, say between 12:00pm and 2:00pm? Minimum down-time, minimum disruption to normal service, maximum impact without any fuss!
So what can you do in 90 minutes that will make a real difference to your people over lunch?
Business Simulation - a high-impact, practical activity (with a little underpinning theory for good measure) on a single, critical task such as:
Managers: The Selection Interview, The Performance Appraisal, The ‘Difficult’ Conversation, Motivating Individuals etc.
Sales People: Getting Past the Gatekeeper, Selling to the Difficult Buyer, Handling Complaints, Overcoming Objections, Tough Negotiations etc.
The activity would be completed at your place of work whilst participants enjoyed a ‘free’ lunch (what better incentive do you need?) along with receiving valuable techniques and strategies that actually make a difference.
The activities would be based on real-life examples prepared with information supplied by the organisation beforehand. Briefs would be sent out to participants prior to the session and all attendees would be encouraged to play a part in the Business Simulation with everyone receiving personalised advice and feedback.
'Lunch & Learn' saves you the money, time and hassle of normal training whilst you maintain business as usual and your people are getting the added motivational benefit of learning new skills or refreshing old ones without the added pressure of having to catch up on their work-load afterwards!
If you would like to find out how 'Lunch & Learn' could benefit your organisation, please contact us.
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