In this update we cover five issues:
- Global Workplace Study 2020
- Collective Brains
- Personalisation
- Customer service
- HR Trend Institute for sale?
The more challenges you experience, the more resilient you are
This is an interesting study by Mary Hayes, Frances Chumney PhD and Marcus Buckingham for the ADP Research Institute®.
Many interesting findings, as:
🦠 Proximity to COVID-19 increases workplace resilience
🦠 The more changes you experience, the more resilient you are
🦠 Married people have higher resilience levels
🦠 If you are on a team, you are more likely to be fully engaged
🦠 If trust in team leader, senior management and team members is high, levels of resilience and engagement tend to be higher.
Highly recommended to download and read this report. Also read the HBR article “What really makes us resilient?” by Marcus Buckingham.
Collective Brains, the power of collective intelligence
Recently I joined the Collective Brains network as a mentor/advisor. The network has just started, and the expectations are high.
“Collective Brains is a platform that matches business advisors and mentors to your needs. Our business advisors and mentors have a vast amount of experience and knowledge to help you reach high performance”.
More “brains” are welcome, let me know if you want an introduction.
Personalisation is powerful but difficult
We see government and organisations struggling. Example: working from home. The directive (in The Netherlands) is: work from home, unless…
It would help to look at some variables:
🦠 The kind of work (Frans van Houten of Philips said earlier this week that people in creative professions, as R&D, need the inspiration of colleagues and others, and that works a lot better if people are together and can easily meet and bump in to each other). Casual collisions are important for innovation.
🦠 The personality of people. Some people can work very well alone at home, others get a lot of energy from the contacts with other people.
🦠 The home situation. How do you live? With whom do you live? Are there children at home? Do you have a quiet place to work?
These variables can determine which workplace is most appropriate at a certain moment. With a hybrid workplace design (office with various possibilities, hotel, shared office, home, …) a match can be made between the personal needs, wishes and capabilities and the available hybrid workplace options.
“How would you like us to solve this?”
A long time ago I heard someone from DHL talk about the protocol in their service centre. She said that when a customer calls with an issue/ complaint, the instructions are that you should always ask: “How would you like us to solve this?”. According to her, most clients were very reasonable. Most say something like: “It is ok if you deliver the package tomorrow”. Hardly ever someone said: “I want you to arrange a helicopter and deliver my package to me now!”. But if a client made clear that the delivery was very urgent, the call centre employee was empowered to take all the action necessary. Two key elements: A clear protocol, and empowered service centre staff.
A friend went to an Apple store with his iWatch 5 (10 months old) with a battery live of around 10 hours. The question: ‘How do you like us to solve us?” was not asked. The answer would have been: “I want a new watch”. After a long discussion Apple was willing to send the watch to their European Apple Watch control centre, and after some time they send him a new watch any way. Conclusion: the wrong protocol (try to discourage complainers, especially if the have not bought iCare) and low empowerment of shop staff up to manager level.
Last week I had arranged a handyman to help me with some maintenance work (via a site like “my handyman.com”). The handyman (Bert) did not arrive at the agreed time. I phoned the help desk. In their system my appointment was on another date. Fault of the system. No apologies, and the question “How would you like us to solve this?” was not asked. My answer would have been: “I hope you can send someone later today or tomorrow”. I cancelled the order, and I did the work myself (with the usual very mediocre results, when it comes to work I have to do with my hands….
Thinking out loud
One of the options I am considering for 2021, is selling the HR Trend Institute brand and platform. nothing firm yet, but if you have thoughts and want to discuss, please let me know (preferably by e-mail, tom@hrtrendinstitute.com).
