NZ Health and Safety Legislation; Fostering Wellbeing and Resilience

With the recent changes to Health and Safety (H&S) legislation, New Zealand employers need to ensure that they are taking all practicable steps to ensure both the mental and physical well-being of their employees is being protected within the workplace. This includes adopting proactive and developmental approaches that foster wellbeing and resilience; which is not only an obligation under law, but is also instrumental in facilitating higher levels of performance.

The Adaptive Skills and Behaviours Required to Succeed in Future Work Environments

There is a lot being said about the future of work, and what this means for the type of skills, attitudes, and behaviours we will require to succeed.  With this future already upon us, it is important that we pick up our pace  of change, and look to build capability that helps us to adapt, thrive and succeed within an ever changing world.  Best selling author, Jacob Morgan, describes in his latest book ‘The Future of Work’ five trends shaping the future of work;

1. New behaviours
2. Technology
3. Millennials
4. Mobility
5. Globalisation

These trends are bringing a dramatic shift in attitudes and ways of working; new behaviours, approaches, and workplace expectations.  Whilst many of us are sensing these rapid changes, we aren’t necessarily sure why these changes are happening, what they mean, or how they will impact us.

As Jacob Morgan says:

“The disruption of every industry is also causing a bit of unrest as people struggle to define where they fit or if they will be obsolete.  It’s forcing us to adapt and change to stay relevant while giving rise to new business models, new products, new companies, new behaviours, and new ways of simply existing in today’s world”.

So, the burning questions are:  what exactly do these changes look like for employees, managers, and organisations?  And, what skills, attitudes, and behaviours do we require to succeed?

What we do know is that modern employees are more self-directed, collaborative in their approach, and want to shape and define their own career paths instead of having them predefined for them.  They are continually seeking out learning opportunities that fit with their personal purpose and professional aspirations, and are looking for development opportunities that benefit them holistically as a ‘whole person’.  They seek the skills, confidence and healthy mind-set to challenge the status quo, to think on their feet, and to continually adapt within highly fluid and ever changing organisational environments.  They are looking to learn and develop emotional and social intelligence;  to work within increasingly networked communities;  to lead, collaborate, innovate and share.

Consistent with the above is five crucial behaviours, identified by Morgan, as being required by employees in the modern workplace;

1. Self-Direction and Autonomy – to continually learn, and stay on top of important tasks within manager-less organisations
2. Filter and Focus – to be able to manage the cognitive load associated with increasing amounts of pervasive information
3. Embracing Change – to continually adapt to new working practices whilst demonstrating resilience and healthy mind-sets
4. Comprehensive Communication Skills – to support collaborative work practices, and to communicate ideas and provide feedback succinctly
5. Learning to Learn – to be willing to adopt a pro-learning mind-set; to step outside comfort zones, reflect, and make meaning of experiences.

Organisations also need to adapt to the future of work to support these trends and demands, and ensure they are attracting, developing, and retaining top talent.  A good place to start is by fostering and embracing the principles of organisational learning.  Peter Senge suggested in his book ‘The Fifth Discipline: The Art of the Learning Organisation’ that in order for an organisation to remain competitive within the complex and volatile business environments that we find ourselves operating they must build their capacity for continually transforming.  This involves developing cultures that;

• Encourage and support employees in their pursuit of personal mastery (the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, and seeing reality objectively)
• Encourage employees to challenge ingrained assumptions and mental models
• Foster genuine commitment and enrolment through shared visions.

Here at OPRA we are developing a carefully selected set of best-of-breed, soft skill learning and development programmes to help individuals and organisations embrace these current and future trends. Our programmes are designed to equip professionals with the emotional intelligence, healthy thinking, learning agility, collaborative team behaviours, and motivation required to demonstrate exceptional performance within the modern workplace environment.  We have grounded our programmes on the principles of positive psychology, and an understanding that REAL learning and engagement only occurs when self-awareness, participation, and a tangible sense of progress are present. Therefore, and in light of this, all our programmes are designed to;

• Develop self-insight and raise awareness of individual and collective strengths
• Utilise proven research based content, delivered by expert and accredited practitioners
• Provide access to on-going professional coaching opportunities to further deepen learning
• Incorporate social learning methodologies to encourage and enable collaboration and sharing
• Provide applied on-the-job challenges and reflection to embed and sustain behavioural changes.

Watch this space for further announcements about OPRA Develop over the coming months. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss how OPRA can support your learning and development with proven, researched based soft-skill development programmes, then please contact your local OPRA office:

Wellington: 04 499 2884 or Wellington@opragroup.com

Auckland: 09 358 3233 or Auckland@opragroup.com

Christchurch: 03 379 7377 or Christchurch@opragroup.com

Australia: +61 2 4044 0450 or support@beilbyopragroup.co.au

Singapore: +65 3152 5720 or Singapore@opragroup.com

Effective Talent Management

There is no doubt that more and more organisations are implementing talent management strategies and frameworks. However whilst talent management is fast becoming a strategic priority for many organisations, Collings & Mellahi (2009) suggest that the topic of talent management lacks a consistent definition and is still largely undefined. Literature reviews reveal that one reason for this is that the empirical question of “what is talent?” has been left unanswered.

The term talent has undergone considerable change over the years. It was originally used in the ancient world to denote a unit of money, before adopting a meaning of inclination or desire in the 13^th century, and natural ability or aptitude in the 14^th century (Tansley 2011, as cited in Meyers, Woerkom, & Dries, 2013). Today’s dictionary definition of talent is “someone who has a natural ability to be good at something, especially: without being taught” (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2014).  This definition implies that talent is innate rather than acquired. This holds important implications for the application of talent management in practice. For example, it influences whether we should focus more on the identification/selection of talent or the development of talent.

Talent management is defined as “an integrated, dynamic process, which enables organisations to define, acquire, develop, and retain the talent that it needs to meet its strategic objectives” (Bersin, 2008).

Integrated talent management implies we take a more holistic approach; starting with the identification of key positions and capabilities required which contribute to an organisations sustainable competitive advantage (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). Equipped with this information we are better able to gather talent intelligence to help determine capability gaps, identify individual potential, and any areas for development.  Talent intelligence and performance tools capable of gathering this type of information include: well validated psychometric assessments, 360° surveys, engagement surveys, post appointment and exit interviews etc. Strategic and integrated talent management is not only essential in the current market, but provides an opportunity to be pro-active rather than reactive in addressing your critical talent needs.

We suggest that key components of an effective talent management process would include:

1. A clear understanding of the organisations current and future strategies.
2. Knowledge of key positions and the associated knowledge, skills, and abilities required (job analysis and test validation projects can assist here).
3. Objective metrics that identify gaps between the current and required talent to drive business success.
4. A plan designed to close these gaps with targeted actions such as talent acquisition and talent development.
5. Integration with HR systems and processes across the employee lifecycle.

What is clear is that talent management is becoming more and more important as organisations fight for the top talent in a tight job market. Key to success will be identifying what ‘talent’ looks like for your organisation and working to ensure they are fostered through the entire employment lifecycle.

 

Meyers, M. C., van Woerkom, M., & Dries, N. (2013). Talent—Innate or acquired? Theoretical considerations and their implications for talent management. Human Resource Management Review, 23(4), 305-321.

Collings, D. G., & Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 19(4), 304-313.

Bersin Associates. (2008). Talent Management Factbook.