management

Scott Watson on Female Unemployment

Shock statistics have painted a grim picture of retail unemployment particularly among female workers.  A recent study undertaken by analysts Ssentif has shown that unemployment among female retail workers has risen by an astonishing 27% in the last 12 months.

With high street retail giants such as Habitat and Jane Norman entering into administration, 126,000 former retail workers are now claiming job seekers allowance up from 94,000 one year ago.

Human Resources expert Scott Watson says that companies should be legally obliged have a duty to their redundant staff to up skill their job hunting skills in a proactive effort to help them exit unemployment more quickly.

'Of course companies needing to make job cuts or entering administration need to rein in costs.  This does though need to be balanced with corporate social responsibility for those staff who are affected.  He continues, 'This will not only help the economy to regenerate but also help skills transference in to other more buoyant sectors'.

'During the 1980's the mass closure of coal mines throughout the North resulted in the emergence of new service centre economies such as the call centre industry. Even with the current economic climate, this skills transference can be replicated in today's challenging job's market, ' Watson added.

Scott and his team have started a ground breaking online service for job hunters, called MyOnlineJobCoach, which provides expert advice on how to prepare and secure your next career move.  Fascinating concept and at a fraction of the cost (Normally £87 but via here Just £47 for 12 months) of what outplacement companies charge you for that advice.

A must for corporates who are making redundancies or putting people in the "at risk" category.

Although corporates may not be able to do anything about the economic issues, they could provide their redundant employees with a 'feel-good factor', by providing access to a site where they have over 40 videos with practical and sound advice.

Scott Watson is an international human resources expert who advises organisations including DHL, GE, AXA amongst many others.  He is author of the book 'Win Every Time - Essential Lessons For Existing and Emerging Leaders'.  Scott has personally trained over 10,000 individuals across the globe to enhance their effectiveness.

How to Fix the UK!?

A friend of mine (Clare G.) sent me this via email and it put a smile on my face.  I added a few pictures and decided to add it to my blog.  Some ideas not so silly either? Hope it puts a smile on your face too!

Dear British Prime Minister (That’s David Cameron then!)

Please find below our suggestion for fixing the  UK 's economy.

Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it The Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 10 million people over 50 in the work force. 

Pay them £1 million each severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST  retire | Ten million job openings - Unemployment fixed 

2) They MUST buy a new British car | Ten million cars ordered - Car Industry fixed 

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage | Housing Crisis fixed 

4) They MUST send their grand kids to school/college/university | Crime rate fixed 

5) They MUST buy £100 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week | And there's your money back in duty/tax etc. (Not so sure about this one though!)

It can't get any easier than that! 

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances.

And There Is More...

Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home. 

  • This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks. 
  • They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out. 
  • They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance. 
  • Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them. 
  • A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. 
  • They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. 
  • They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counseling, pool and education. 
  • Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request. 
  • Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens. 
  • Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls. 
  • There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to. 
  • The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised.  Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.  Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out. 

Think about this!

More points of contention...

COWS 

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Appleby almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the county of Cumbria?
And, they even tracked her calves to their stalls.  But they are unable to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants around our country.  Maybe we should give each of them a cow?
And Lastly?
Think about this!
If you don't want to share this for fear of offending someone then; YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
It is time for us grumpy old folk of Britain to speak up!

Phone Hacking | Murdoch | UK Government | Met Police | News of The World

OK I have been thinking how all this reminds me of something, something very familiar, something that started in a comic strip many years ago, something we have all been exposed to in our lives. Yes it's Superman, Batman and Robin, Cat Woman and I am sure you can think of many more. So here are some of the characters, can you think of any others?

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Lex Luthor's son = James Murdoch
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Daily Planet = News of the World
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Batman = David Cameron
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Robin = Nick Clegg
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Superman = Ed Milliband
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Police Commissioner Gordon = Sir Paul Stephenson
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Cat Woman = Rebecca Brookes

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My First 'Social Letter'

  1. The 'Social Letter' will only come out once per month
  2. If after reading it you don’t believe there is any value in it, just unsubscribe at any time
  3. And I will share just 3 topics with 3 tips each month around my own learning in Social Media and Social Learning

Anything in this 'Social Letter' is based on my own personal opinion and has been developed through my own research and daily experiences.

This month my 3 topics are;

Social Language

Personal Exposure

Social Tools


Social Language

Michael, do you agree that the Internet appears to have found its niche? Social Networking has exploded across it like a tsunami and instead of sinking we have all taken to our boats and are exploring the high seas to see what effect it will have on our daily personal and business lives. Why is it then that I still hear such outdated language via email, blogs, press etc?  Why is our language not changing or are we just afraid of letting our guard down?  Here in the UK I believe it is going to be particularly difficult for us to speak in a different (social) language, we just seem to be afraid of being more social in our discussions.  A ‘Social Language’ that is more engaging, more holistic, more inviting and asking both clients and friends to join the discussion.

My 3 tips for a new Social Language are:

  1. Stop promoting yourself or your business (people do not like being sold to on Social Media)
  2. Start listening and communicating
  3. Become more engaging by asking great questions and sharing views

Personal Exposure

Are you worried Michael about your own personal exposure on Social Networks?  Let’s turn the clock forward, let’s say to 2020.  A lot of teenagers will be well out of University, looking for jobs.  Guess what their employers will be looking at?  Their Social Network footprint and their language in those networks.  There is no better way to get to know a person, then to look at their Social Networking sites and see what they have been up to.

Sure lots of students will be trying to hide their profiles from their employers with the fear of being ridiculed for the games they play, their chats with their friends, the apps they use, the places they check-in to and much more.  Now, it's not that difficult to learn about someone,  so much of what you say or do on Social Networks is indexed by Google.  Good luck to those students who will be trying to hide 10 years of social media exposure! This infographic (to download click the link) illustrates nicely the case for transparency versus the case for anonymity.

I know you are happy Michael for your business profile to be in the social domain, but what about your personal profile?  Why do we say, I want to keep my private life separate from my business life?  I don’t want people to know that much about me, but very happy to share what I do for my work, because I could earn from that.

Well I have some news for you.  People buy people first and when we are in a business lunch or networking event and after we finished talking about what we do for a living, we start asking questions like...where do you live?...where are you going on holiday?...how many kids do you have?...what sports do you follow?...who do you support?...and so on.

I think you are probably getting my message, we all need to start getting used to the idea that you need to be more personal on social networks and share something about yourself.

My 3 tips for creating Personal Exposure are:

  1. Make your profile open, so that anyone can find you on Social Networks and can get to know you
  2. Consider the view that everyone is a personal contact, don't consider them to be different, just because you met them in the workplace
  3. Be careful to judge people that blend their personal and business lives (this is done regularly on Twitter)

By the way here is a great blog post by Social Media Examiner; http://bit.ly/mGyaCU

Its called Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide.  Some great learning in there for you and how to develop a more personal relationship with everyone!


Social Tools

Certainly in my research and learning, I have come across so many different sites, tools and apps that can help me in my social media endeavours.  So, Michael I decided to share a couple of tools with you, that help me keep track of all of these.

The first one is Google Bookmarks.  A great way to have all your bookmarks available on the Internet (Or do we now say the Cloud?).  I found that having these in the 'Cloud' is really beneficial.  You can also install a plug-in to your browser, which then allows you to quickly add them when you are on a site that you need to bookmark.  You can also keep bookmarks organised by list for easy retrieval.

Start creating your bookmarks here: https://www.google.com/bookmarks.

The other tool I use is www.oneforty.com.  Here I can record all the different Social Media tools I use, currently I use 58 different ones, whether through the web, desktop or mobile.  They have a library of all the different tools and its a great way to learn about what they can do for you and keep track of all the different ones you have signed up to.  I have looked at many other tools too but these two for me have made life a lot simpler.  Plus you can share it with your colleagues too.

My 3 tips for managing Social Media Tools are:

  1. Save all your bookmarks inside Google Bookmarks, for easy sharing or retrieval.  And get the plug-in for your browser.
  2. Create a spreadsheet on your personal computer and record all the urls, usernames and passwords and make the sheet password protected.
  3. Use a tool like oneforty to record all the tools you use and also find other tools.

For next month I have in mind to cover the following 3 topics:

Are you ready to go back to school?

Does using video to teach your colleagues work?

Do you really understand Social Media?

Michael, if you have time to discuss this 'Social Letter', ask more questions and engage with me, please stop by on www.facebook.com/stayingaliveuk Let me know if I met my promises and any suggestions on how could I make it even greater for you next time?

Have a great month and I hope to catch up with some of you either face to face or in those amazing social networks.

Michael

More about me!

Yammer Social Learning

I copied this thread from Jane Hart’s Social Learning Community http://c4lpt.co.uk/community and I felt it made such interesting reading and illustrates the debate that is taking place in organisations today about Social Media, Social Learning and how to embrace and engage these technologies.

Elliot R

My organization is just entering the informal learning and social media discussion. My position is that both topics should be addressed in the same conversation. This statement says it for me: "Social learning/media is simply informal learning facilitated by technology." Does anyone have data to support this? I have lots of excellent articles, and Jane's reference to this

http://www.danpontefract.com/?p=847 really helped. I am familiar with the 70/30/10 model as well. Anything else?

Charles J: Elliot, not to be pedantic, but social media, social learning and informal learning do describe different things. Unfortunately it's not black-and-white.

Social media is just that. Media that supports social interaction. In it's raw state in our market-driven world social media is usually as much focused on advertising as on learning.

Social learning is what I'd term 'learning through others'. Where interaction with others (colleagues, like-minded folk, our boss, people we meet on the street or in virtual environments like this) leads to new ideas and new behaviours. There is a school of thought that ALL learning is social. My view is that quite a lot is, and it's increasing with the proliferation of technologies, but there is some learning that is deeply personal and self-directed.

The 'informal' term is rather a catch-all. It's also slightly misleading as it can be taken as 'haphazard' and serendipitous. Some informal learning may be that, but a lot isn't. Informal learning is all learning that is not directed in a structured way. It can be social or it can be isolated learning (where you learn through practice, for instance). It may be accidental, but it's more likely to be highly directed.

Harold Jarche separates learning into a set of categories: directed/self-directed/undirected with learners (or workers) being dependent learners, independent learners or interdependent learners depending upon particular context. Jane has pulled this into a structure here http://bit.ly/eOQwyX that you may find useful. It's not something to show business managers, but it may help clarify for people who have some experience and expertise with how people learn.

The 70:20:10 model is another framework for categorising learning - with the '70' describing learning through experience and practice, the '20' describing learning through others, and the '10' describing formal, directed learning. Again, unfortunately, some specific learning experiences are likely to 'bleed' across categories.... nothing is black-and-white.

Charles J: I should have said that informal learning is 'more likely to be highly directed BY THE LEARNER' ....

Charles J: Good catch, Nic! I shouldn't have used 'unfortunately', or should at least have qualified it with "unfortunately for people who want to put things in nice neat rows"..... I can't count the number of times I've been challenged on the 70:20:10 split by people saying that 'it won't work that way in my organisation, we need to do 'x' amount of formal development... etc'.

The point is that all of these frameworks and categories are intended to act as useful tools, not recipes.

Nic L: Charles. Thanks for a very helpful differentiation of the terms. There is currently lots of confusion and overlap of use of them even amongst those who truly "get" the learning revolution.

I would take issue with a single word in your post! "Unfortunately" in your description of the 70:20:10 model suggests that we ought to be able to categorise every element of learning and behaviour. You then go on to say nothing is black and white! I think we have to understand that as scientists and analysts and conceptualisers of one type or another there are no hard line differentiations in human behaviour - it is a continuum.

One of the difficulties we face as the L&D fraternity is to explain clearly to those with whom we seek to collaborate what we are all about. Using hard definitions and differentiations provides some insight but also again confuses the reality. There is a huge diversity to the way we learn and that the way forward is to recognise the centrality of the "learner" and to meet his/her needs by fostering whatever media, mechanisms and structures that will make the process effective. Drawing lines on the continuum invites the taking up of standpoints that mask the incredible breadth of the field in which we work. In doing so this risks the promotion of inappropriate or sub-optimal ways forward for the learner.

Jane H: Exactly! As Harold has articulated clearly here, there are no cookie-cutter solutions http://internettime.posterous.com/

David S: Charles, your explanation of the differences in definitions is very helpful, thank you.

Is there is a distinction to be made between the private and public sectors in terms of both mindset and investment?

I work a lot in the public sector and many in L&D are still coming to terms with facilitating learning rather than instructing, never mind the use of technology. E-learning is in there but with its detractors. Initiating and integrating online CoPs are rare in my experience as most rely on intranets which are not the same thing.

Charles J: I don't see any difference between the needs and outputs in terms of mindset and investment for public and private sectors, David.

When it's boiled down everyone is focused on helping people do their best and work to their potential using the most effective and most efficient approaches available. I think it's irrelevant whether there's a profit motive behind the organisation's raison d'etre or not. For-profit and NFP organisations all want to get the best outcomes from their people.

However some of the levers that L&D and others in organisations can pull may be very different. For instance, for-profit organisations will respond to levers that are couched in terms of productivity and profitability. NFP and Govt. organisations will want the semantics to be presented differently - in terms of best value for the end user/customer/client/taxpayer and efficiencies.

So the routes to the end goal may be different, but the goal - helping to maximise workforce capability in the best way possible - will be the same.

Social and informal learning have a very important role to play in getting to the goal in every organisation whether it's a multinational for-profit, a small or medium-sized enterprise, a government department or a charitable trust.

David S: I absolutely agree that the goal is the same and on the importance of social and informal learning. I sense sometimes in public sector environments that there is a mystique about the methods and 'that's what others do'. It's a cultural resignation attitude.

Elliot R in reply to Charles J: Agreed. My recommendation to my team would be to use the term "social learning" v "social media" as the latter implies more of a marketing strategy via social technology.

However, I don't believe you can have social learning without technology. But, IMHO, you can have informal learning without technology. Would you agree that the potential use of technology is one factor that distinguishes social learning from informal learning?

Nic L: Elliot - I have to disagree with you! Social learning happens all the time - whenever people meet together to discuss and share. it is totally ubiquitous and at the root of our humanity. If we try to limit it to any kind of structured context we deny its power.

Elliot R: I think we are talking past each other as you are correct. I am referring to technology only as a potential enabler. My organization is trying to force informal learning into a formal learning category and measure it via social learning which I do not believe is a good use of time.

Gary B in reply to Nic L: Just curious, then is the learning different from the delivery method or are we in need of a different term that incorporates a larger more encompassing term - process -method?

Jane B: Hi Elliot (and how are you, by the way?) . I think your last comment here sums it up well. The idea that L&D can own, direct, and manage informal and social learning (and get credit for it) is causing lots of problems. They didn't own, direct, or manage that before, after all. We're just finally at a time when others are recognizing social learning as legitimate learning, and learners have tools and capabilities at their disposal to help them better get what they need, not just the content that is pushed to them. Agreed: Trying to force it into old paradigms is not a good use of anyone's time.

Nic L in reply to Gary B: Gary - for me the learning is the outcome which becomes visible in changed or improved performance at individual or organisation level. There are countless delivery methods - which are ways people address their needs and arrive at their learning.

Gary B in reply to Nic L: Nic, I agree with you that the "learning" is really the outcome that manifests in a variety of ways, but I'll extend your phrasing a bit further and suggest that the delivery is separate from the processing of the information that was delivered and maybe the whole "social media" "social learning" etc could multiple steps -- such as we use social media as the tool that results in social learning (I have no idea if we should name whatever intermediate processing takes place - probably not).

Elliot R: Gary, your comments echo my thoughts...social media as a POTENTIAL enabler towards social learning.

Nic L: Elliot and Gary - I agree with you both that the social media are potential enablers of learning - amongst many others. Social means when people talk to one another - so there are almost countless ways in which that happens. The social media present the L&D community with a fantastic new way to foster social interaction with a global reach which is focussed on learning. But the SoMe are not something we own in L&D - we just harness the vehicle to help people collaborate and learn. In situations where SoMe are not familiar it is an inappropriate way of pursuing our aims - and getting to a point where learning communities and CoP's will get involved via the SoMe requires sensitivity and a lot of energy to create an ambience that is confortable for learners.

Michael de Groot in reply to Nic L: Wow what a great discussion here. All really great stuff. The conversation here would make an excellent blog post. I will just add one small thing if I may. The days that organisations are carving up SoMe are numbered. See for me Social means it's owned by everyone and not just one department or one individual. I know it will take time for the penny to drop and we all like boundaries, which is the old military way of doing things. Over the next 12 -24 months (hopefully) it will be a battle for organisations to become more social, holistic and transparent. Those who get it will flourish. Others who don't will have frustrated employees. Am I making sense?

There is an Elephant in the Room!

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There is some amazing research out confirming that Elephants appreciate that they need to co-operate to achieve a result. Here is a brief exert from the report.

The Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) involved in the study had already been taught that pulling on a rope brought a platform towards them, and a food reward on that platform within reach.

But this apparatus, set up at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang province, presented them with a new twist on that simple task.

One rope was threaded all the way around a platform - like a belt through belt loops - so if one end was tugged, the rope simply slipped out and the platform did not budge.

But if two elephants each took an end of the rope and pulled, the platform moved and that could claim their treats.

"When we released one elephant before the other, they quickly learned to wait for their partner before they pulled the rope," Dr Plotnik told BBC News.

So here is the largest animal on the planet, who is already known for their social abilities, showing us how co-operation and working together as one, will get the job done.

Why is it then that our human nature favours the single endeavour and reward the single executive for their efforts, when clearly they could never have achieved it on their own. I am of course talking about the obscene pay rewards for bankers and indeed senior executives of global companies, who are being rewarded, as if they delivered the profits single handedly.

Now I appreciate that somewhere along the way, someone decided what a reasonable pay package should be for a senior executive and that set the standard, which continued to escalate to ridiculous amounts of money that do not make any real sense at all in this current new Millenium.

Who says that a senior executive has to earn a huge salary to compensate him or her for the stress and pressure of having the top job or even those who are one or two levels below the top job.

People at the very bottom of the organisation have exactly the same emotional stress as someone at the top of the organisation. In fact the higher up you get in an organisation it's not about what you know but more about how you manage people, because your stardom success is totally dependent on how the people below you perform. I would even go as far as saying that someone at the top of the organisation should get paid less and instead receive a performance related modest bonus based on results of the team he/she manages.

I think you get my point. Let's reward people who are truly responsible for delivering results on the frontline and motivate the executives by encouraging great leadership and management through a modest bonus incentive scheme.

The largest animal walking the planet realises how to share his/her success, let's learn from the natural world and take some tips from the Elephant!

The Domino Effect of Leadership

The first time I was exposed to the concept of leadership, apart from in my parental home, was at primary school in Amsterdam, when the teachers had put together a huge presentation about the holocaust and a display of the most horrendous images I had ever seen so far during my young life. It certainly made an impression on me and has stayed with me forever. I guess that was the objective.

Of course the leader that caused this according to my teachers was Hitler. Now Hitler is probably the most famous leader of all time, not because of the good he did, but because of his terrible deeds. Everyone does forget that his actions were duplicated by many of his officers and followers, who copied his behaviour and his actions in great detail.

In this short piece I would like to engage you to think a little bit about leadership. In particular the effect leadership has on the people around you. We are all leaders, whether you think you are or not. Your actions and your behaviour have an impact on how others behave around you.

I would like you to have think about the most senior leader that works in your organisation or a leader that you have worked for at some time in your life. More than likely you will have had either a great or not so great experience. And more than likely you will remember the experience. Most leaders that we have worked for, maybe not even directly will be memorable to us. Consider for a few minutes those leaders that have had the most impact on you.

Now just take one of them and consider what it was about her/him that made it so memorable for you.

Now can you remember who this person's leader was? What was your view of her/him at the time?

Can you see any similar behaviour patterns between them both. Consider just even one and you will see that there will be some similarities in their behaviour.

Humans more than any animal on this planet copy their fellow humans in their behaviour. Why do you think it is that daughters and sons end up being so very similar to their mothers or fathers. I am sure there is lots of research on this subject.

Anyway what's the point of all this I hear you say? Well, in terms of leadership and those at the most senior positions in corporate life, they have very little idea the impact they have on those around them. Their behaviour literally will shape the way that people will ultimately behave. If you are an encouraging and sympathetic leader, you will encourage those traits of those around you and indeed it will filter throughout the entire organisation. If you are an autocratic leader, maybe moody and short tempered, guess what? The same traits will develop of those that report to you and very likely to the rest of the team below them.

Quite worrying don't you think? Well it's also an opportunity to self reflect and examine your own behaviour and look around you and consider all the people who have made an impact on you during your life, your parents, teachers, friends, colleagues and most importantly the person you are or have worked for.

My message is for all leaders and as you are a leader in some way in your life, please consider how you behave towards the people that have to take your lead, whether it's your own children or people that work for you. The way that you act, the things that you say, your written communication have a major and significant impact on the people around you.

And more importantly if you lead a large group of people and are a CEO of a major organisation your people will copy you starting with your immediate reports and although it will water down somewhat, it will still filter down to all the layers within the organisation.

That's why I have called it the 'Domino Effect of Leadership'

I would love to hear about your own experiences.

In between me writing this article, I watched a programme on BBC 4 about the Brain with Michael Mosely and found that he was confirming my theory and that this was put to the test in 1961.

In 1961 Albert Bandura conducted a controversial experiment known as the Bobo doll experiment, to study patterns of behaviour associated with aggression. Bandura hoped that the experiment would prove that aggression can be explained, at least in part, by social learning theory, and that similar behaviors were learned by individuals modeling their own behavior after the actions of others. The experiment was criticised by some on ethical grounds, for training children towards aggression. Bandura's results from the Bobo Doll Experiment changed the course of modern psychology, and were widely credited for helping shift the focus in academic psychology from pure behaviorism to cognitive psychology. The experiment is among the most lauded and celebrated of psychological experiments. Here is a video clip that shows the experiment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWsxfoJEwQQ

Michael