Category: Leadership

Leadership

How to Be a Leader Employees Don’t Leave

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

By Suzanne Ogle

There are hundreds of articles written daily on traits of fantastic leaders and toxic leaders; hundreds of buzzwords abound in the media on these topics.   Of course, there is also the age-old debate of whether great leaders are born or made.  When it boils down to being a leader that people want to stick with and not leave, that leader has to create a compelling vision of where they are going and taking their team and communicate it in the same compelling manner.  The leader needs to exhibit alignment between this vision and their values, cultivate a culture of trust and know who they are leading.  Finally, this leader needs to know the people they want to follow them.

Traits that are required to create and communicate this type of vision requires leaders to focus on what is important to their company, their values and their team. The vision has to align with the company’s mission, the leaders values and what matters to their team.  A leader has to be crystal clear on depicting this vision and communicating it in several ways to land with all members of the team.  There must be a laser-like focus on where they are going and how it achieves success – for the company, the leader and their team.   The leader has to ensure this vision has marked progress points, a beginning and an end, and can be understood by the many.  A leader demonstrates their competence by aligning the vision with the mission of the company. They continually build their credibility across the organization by knowing where they are going is directly related to where the company needs to go to be successful.

The alignment of the vision to the leaders values it critical to fostering trust, authenticity and loyalty. People do not follow someone they do not trust.  Trust is built when a leader demonstrates, actually lives their values visibly in their everyday interactions.  A leader must be intentional in their actions and interactions with people.  The focus needed for the vision requires attentiveness so that its alignment with the leader’s values is observable.   How a leader handles themselves when the pressure is on requires thoughtful, deliberate action and response.  A measured approach that is consistent and trust-worthy will make great strides in cultivating the culture of trust in which employees desire to belong.

Finally, we all want to be seen and understood.  In order for a leader to create trust with their team, they must know their team.  Creating an amazing vision is empty air if it does not matter to the people that are working to make the vision a reality.  A leader must take the time to get to know their team, their desires, goals, objectives, and dreams in order to compel them to stay and work hard together for this shared vision.   Demonstrating compassion builds on a leader’s credibility and enables the leader to hold team members accountable.  Most teams want enough structure to know what to do and know when they are off-course.  A leader that knows their team has the capacity to keep people on track in a motivating manner; one that takes into account how joining the leader’s mission to achieve this vision also makes a difference to that team member.

Leaders can cultivate skills and learn traits to make them more equipped to communicate and articulate a great vision.  One can practice communicating in a compelling manner and improve their delivery.  Great leaders may not be born great, it takes being intentional, attentive to others and having the confidence to be authentic.  Regardless, great leaders have to work hard and know how to be successful themselves, they must live their values – everyday, and they have to truly care about their team; then they can cultivate a place where people desire to work to fulfill the vision cast.

Mitigating Risks in 2023: Strategies for Business Leaders

Posted on | by root

The UK’s business landscape has always been a fruitful and diverse one, rich in opportunity. But recent years have brought significant, unique, and unprecedented challenges to the nation – and navigating the business landscape in 2023 has become somewhat difficult for investors and business leaders.

The chief challenge that businesses and investors are having to contend with is the rise in inflation and the corresponding hikes to interest rates. In such a dynamic economic environment, it is nothing short of crucial for businesses to adopt proactive risk management practices, both to safeguard their operations and maintain longer-term financial stability. What strategies can business leaders employ to mitigate the unique risks posed by present times?

The Effects of Rising Inflation and Interest Rates

The UK has been experiencing sustained high levels of inflation for over 18 months, initially brought on by disruption to the international energy market. High wholesale costs, exacerbated by fresh barriers to trade induced by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, rippled into other industries and consumer markets, causing the Bank of England to attempt deflationary measures through rising interest rates.

Rising inflation increases operating costs and reduces profitability for businesses while rising interest rates make borrowing more costly over time. Repayment rates can increase considerably, making cash flow more important than ever.

Prioritising Health and Safety Compliance

In the pursuit of cost savings, there are some businesses that may be tempted to cut corners with regard to health and safety in the form of reduced time and spending on training, for example. However, not only is this kind of approach usually illegal, but the risks it poses can lead to significant costs through civil action. By ensuring they remain compliant with health and safety regulations, businesses maintain safe working environments, reducing the likelihood of incidents and mitigating the potential financial and reputational consequences of such incidents. Going above and beyond with regard to health and safety can also boost productivity, through raising trust between staff and management.

Proactive Risk Mitigation Strategies

Mitigating risk is not something that can be achieved passively – nor is it something that can be achieved reactively. To react means to have endured, which often means the damage is done. Instead, businesses need to adopt a proactive approach that involves identifying potential risks and taking appropriate measures to mitigate them.

One key method to approach this is to conduct risk assessments tailored to specific industry processes, landscapes, or operations. Risk assessments are often thought of as a health and safety measure but can also be extremely useful as a structure for identifying weak points in a department, project or business model – let alone priming a business for future challenges and disruptions.

Turning the drafting of a risk assessment into a wider company culture can also help to fortify it against potential difficulties. Encouraging employees to speak up with their own concerns, whether through a concerted transparency push or an internal whistleblowing system, can be a strong way to build resilience – providing business executives are prepared to listen.

HGM Consulting

Strategy. Talent. Results.

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

HGM Consulting (HGMC) is a distinctive Canadian consultancy firm that infuses new life into businesses and enables them to expand and prosper. By offering comprehensive turn-key solutions, HGMC serves as a crucial resource for exporters and innovators, investors and investment recipients, seeking to build valuable partnerships and development strategies. In this article, we take a closer look at HGMC’s services and highlight Dr. Alexander S. Karapetov, who was recently awarded the title of the Most Influential Export & Investment Consultancy CEO 2023 (Ontario, Canada).

In today’s globalized business landscape, companies face a significant challenge when it comes to expanding into foreign markets through international trade and investment. The complexity of market entry strategies, particularly in the technology sector, can be overwhelming and require specialized knowledge and experience. This hurdle often leaves businesses feeling stuck and uncertain about how to proceed. Fortunately, well-established consulting firms have emerged as an invaluable asset for companies looking to navigate the intricacies of international trade and investment.

HGM Consulting (Canada) is an innovative leader – it holds the torch, leads the way, and even carves out a path between its clients and their desired market for investments, business innovations, and high-tech. Its expertise covers a plethora of areas such as economic diversification and international investment attraction; business innovation and related institutional development; commercialization of IP and technology transfer; international business and technology clustering; strategic planning and management; alongside risk management; organizational performance improvement; and much more.

As a strategic advisory, HGMC’s team members are more than employees – they are the very lifeblood of the business. The team at HGMC is made up of seasoned experts with a multidisciplinary background and tremendous international experience who each search for innovative solutions and sustainable ways of supporting their clients in their business ventures, including their export and investment projects. 

“The company is well-equipped to assist clients in conducting comprehensive quantitative and qualitative research, developing an investment and innovation strategy (including business planning and modelling, marketing, and related technology solutions), facilitating the investment negotiation process and in providing follow-up support in project/program design, planning, and implementation.”

Its services are well-defined, tangible, and intelligently packaged. HGMC has the innate ability to take on any project needed, and it truly knows how to navigate the turbulent waters of international investment, trade, and innovation. No matter the desired market in North America, Eastern Europe and the GCC region, or East and Central Asia, HGMC’s star-studded team can take on any challenge.

HGMC approaches every project in a bespoke manner. The company’s experts “diagnose the core problem and provide the right solution based on the integrated design that will define the right strategic target and cover all aspects essential for successful implementation – all concepts and tools critical for economic/business development and innovation”.

A lot of time is wasted when covering issues with what seems to be a one-size-fits-all approach. Whereas, with HGMC, even the most deeply rooted issue can be weeded out and cured with its tailor-made solutions.

“Broad knowledge of various markets within and outside North America, access to strategic business intelligence and to top-notch business professionals, expertise in export promotion, investment attraction and innovation enhancement, all distinguish HGM Consulting and make up the foundation for its clients’ success.”

As HGMC continues to commit itself to helping its clients in every way it can, its CEO and President, Dr. Alexander S. Karapetov consistently supports his team to do so. His professional credentials and the reputation of an influential CEO are greatly recognized by the company’s staff members, executive team, clients, and business partners, but his impact as the Most Influential Export & Investment Consultancy CEO 2023 is unparalleled.

Alexander has a wealth of strategy and management consulting experience stemming from decades of involvement in the trade. His insightful consulting skills ensure he always stays on top of his game, which inevitably guarantees a better future for all of HGMC’s clients.

Taking on each project as though it were his own, Alexander nurtures his client’s plan and transforms it so that their idea can become reality. Working in industrial investment and innovation management and international business and technology development for so many years has given Alexander a head start on the competition, making him a fantastic option if you are looking for an expert and an executive who is fully focused on understanding the trends and requirements within various investment and technology markets to ensure his clients’ success.

Alexander’s strategic economic development and management consulting skills have allowed him to make a name for himself, but his interpersonal and executive coaching skills make him truly unique as a CEO. Guiding his team and clients to success every day, Alexander’s leadership skills mimic his executive coaching approach and his personal philosophy, ensuring everyone feels seen and heard.

People celebrate Alexander’s leadership qualities and appreciate his deep experience. As just one shining example, Eugene Kritski, VP at GlobeScan Inc., said in his LinkedIn reference for Alexander, “I had a pleasure working with Dr. Alexander Karapetov on a couple of developmental projects. He showed himself as one of the most impressive executives I have ever worked with. His strategic and creative way of thinking is coupled with rich international experience in business consulting, export development, and international investments. He has a first-hand knowledge of many international markets in Europe and Asia and is a great networker and negotiator. He possesses an outstanding ability to combine a solid business intelligence and translate it into effective and well-balanced decisions and practical actions. Alexander is a talented and very reliable partner.” 

It is Alexander’s dedication to stellar teamwork and his continual professional and personal development, which make him a fantastic asset to any team he is part of. Alexander has now been recognised for his dedicated leadership and irreplaceable presence within HGMC.

“HGM Consulting is always interested in extending its horizons and is flexible in adapting to the needs of its clients. The company wants to thank all existing partners and invite those who can benefit from its assistance to reach out!”

Going forward, HGMC is set on its upward trajectory. Reliably acting as a strong, sturdy, and results-driven consulting firm with its feet firmly on the ground, HGM Consulting is a consultancy firm that will always bring success to its clients and business partners.

For further information, please contact Dr. Alexander S. Karapetov or visit https://hgmconsulting.ca/ 

Employee Wellness

Fixing the Wellbeing Gap – Employees Take a Week Off Work On Average Due to Mental Health

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

Against the backdrop of an extremely tough year for the country, workers are facing a mental health recession and taking more time off due to mental health.

A study conducted by Westfield Health found that on average employees take a week off work due to their mental health. Despite this, the majority of workers (66%) aren’t accessing any mental health support.

Unfortunately, the study also revealed there is little sign of things improving, with 46% of those surveyed feeling their mental wellbeing will not improve in the next year.

Businesses have committed to tackling the problem, they are spending more money on wellbeing, with 42% of businesses increasing their wellbeing spending in 2022 and nearly a half expecting to further increase it in 2023. Despite this, more than half (56%) of workers with access to wellbeing support at work do not use it.

This is resulting in a wellbeing gap as mental health worsens but businesses are still not seeing engagement with the support they offer. Westfield Health warns that spending wisely is more important than spending more, especially as budgets are squeezed.

To tackle the mental health recession employers need a strong wellbeing strategy focused on what employees need. Unless the support offered by businesses has an impact, the crisis will continue to spiral and ultimately affect talent retention and the bottom line for businesses.

Commenting on this, Vicky Walker, Group Director of People at Westfield Health, says: “While it’s encouraging that businesses recognise the importance of wellbeing at work, the decline in workers’ mental health across the country is cause for concern and needs action.

“Many businesses are planning on spending more on wellbeing in 2023, but budget worries are on the horizon. Our research found that the top barrier for HR teams investing more in wellbeing was a lack of budget. It’s not just about what you spend, it’s about how you spend it.

“To avoid the wellbeing gap worsening, businesses need to get strategic. To get the most out of their investments, employers need to have a wellbeing strategy that’s effective, measurable and impactful with engagement from employees. Without a strategy, their efforts may go to waste.”

One of the top reasons why employees are not engaging with their employer’s wellbeing support is due to a lack of two-way communication. The research found that 41% of employees were not being asked to input into their workplace’s wellbeing strategy and only half (51%) feel their manager is there for wellbeing support.

Vicky continues: “Businesses need to do more with less this year and that means there is added pressure to prove a return on investment for employee wellbeing. Our research found that only 43% of workers said their employer had a wellbeing strategy or measured wellbeing.

“Employee wellbeing is hanging in the balance as mental health worsens which will inevitable hit productivity and bottom lines. Creating an employee wellbeing strategy is the most effective way for businesses to help their people through this.”

With communication and support being key, Vicky shares the steps to what an ideal wellbeing strategy should involve:

  1. Engage with employees and collect data – ask them how they feel about what they need to improve their wellbeing, the organisation’s culture, values and their wellbeing at work to identify areas of concern for the organisation;
  2. Identify themes and objectives;
  3. Review against business priorities;
  4. Create or update wellbeing strategy;
  5. Implement and monitor the strategy.

“It’s important to continually review your strategy, it’s a cycle, not a linear process. So when step five is underway, it’s time to return back to step one and repeat the process again and again.

“Measuring your wellbeing strategy’s success is what will lead to real engagement from employees. This, in turn, leads to a return on investment. At a time when HR needs to prove an impact, and balance budgets and wellbeing, the importance of strategy can’t be ignored.”

Team Manager

What Can Psychology Teach Us About Team Management?

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

By Gaute Godager

Management continues to be a tough skill to master and shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. However, one fundamental that all successful people managers should understand is the psychology behind human behaviour, needs and ambition. This is key to creating a strong team that embraces the direction of travel of the business and part that they play.

There are some key principles of psychology that can be easily applied to everyday management techniques, explains psychologist Gaute Godager, who was instrumental in helping drive the success of Attensi, the leading gamified training specialist.

Gaute harnessed his psychological expertise and understanding of learning to create gamified training that taps into human behaviour to successfully coach managers and trainees all over the world.

Here, he explains his tips on how team leaders can utilise psychological tools to boost motivation and accelerate learning via gamified training to get the most from their teams.

 

Rewarding failure

A big part of being a good leader is understanding where the strengths and weaknesses of your team lie. To identify this there must be a fail-safe environment in which employees can make mistakes.

Gamified training rewards failure, which is something that managers are often afraid to do. People learn from their own mistakes, so when you make a mistake on a learning game, it still ignites the reward part of the brain and encourages you to try again, allowing the failures to take place in a safe environment.

Punishment in response to an error is unproductive, as it teaches people to hide their mistakes. Managers rewarding staff for learning from their own mistakes demonstrates that there is huge value in the process of learning to grow from previous failures.

 

The Silence of the Managers

Managers can often beat around the bush when it comes to delivering feedback to employees, perhaps to avoid conflict or because of time constraints. Despite the benefits to a business of candid feedback, any kind of fault-finding can often feel uncomfortable and socially challenging.

Without feedback it is difficult for employees to know where they may be falling short and as a result, they are deprived of the opportunity to improve. Consistent, honest feedback is vital for personal development and ensuring that learners remain keen to learn.

Gamified training is clear and instant in delivering feedback, highlighting errors or triumphs in a concise and non-confrontational way. This then allows employees to learn from their mistakes and make changes to their future performance.

 

Forget me not

Information overload is a common occurance for modern-day employees. Due to the volume of outlets constantly competing for our attention, it has become more difficult to retain information.  

Psychiatrist Hermann Ebbinghaus’s ‘Forgetting Curve’ states that within one hour of learning, people forget approximately 50 per cent of newly acquired knowledge. This then reaches 70 per cent after 24 hours and 90 per cent within a week.

This theory is also applicable to training, as heavily detailed training is often unengaging and forgettable. Creating training that is enjoyable and digestible makes training a lot more impactful and yields a much higher level of engagement from employees.

Gamified training breaks down learning modules into smaller, more manageable minigames and tasks, leading to more repeat attempts and higher levels of information retention. There is also a competitive element with leader boards, so employees can compete against colleagues in a fun way. This method of training also requires a higher degree of problem solving than traditional learning methods, which is another contributing factor to its levels of engagement.

By understanding the psychology behind human behaviour and motivation, managers are better equipped to select impactful and effective methods of training that support employees through continual development and working to their full potential.

Businessman talking in meeting

Are You Leading or Micromanaging? Here Are a Few Signs to Look Out For

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

Only the teams and organisations that evolve at pace will be here in a decade, and micromanaging is a real threat which can have devastating effects on the morale of employees and the performance of an organisation. A flourishing working relationship with employees is built on a foundation of trust and respect, and micromanaging is a rapid way to kill this.

A recent survey revealed that 71% of employees have had their job performance hindered by micromanagement and 69% have considered changing jobs because of the behaviour. Cultural transformation and performance intervention specialists FirstHuman point out some classic signs that leaders could be micromanaging their team.

Oddi Aasheim, Performance Intervention Partner at FirstHuman said: “Micromanaging is a complex issue to tackle within the workplace as it requires senior leaders to take a raw and honest look at themselves and their behaviour in the workplace. The idea that poor team performance and morale could lie at the fault of the leader’s management style is a tough pill to swallow but is a sign of a truly authentic and responsible leader if they’re courageous enough to do so.”

Here are a few indicators to which senior leaders should be paying attention.

 

Reluctant delegating work

Many leaders feel that the way of working and the outputs of their teams should comply with how they themselves think a task needs to be performed. When experiencing that team members may see things differently, their fail-safe is to do things themselves or revert to detailed management of the sub-tasks to be performed. When employees experience senior leaders keeping the work to themselves it can send a message that they are not trusted to action tasks correctly or effectively. This often results in stories about how the leader is a ‘control-freak’, or wants to keep the glory for themselves if the outcome of the work is a success.

“Micromanaging is often about leaders fearing failure and being attached to ‘looking good’ to their own bosses”, Oddi said, “and very few leaders would openly admit to being a micromanager. It is common that the people who are the experts in their area are the ones that get promoted, and it becomes difficult for them to create the space for a team to experiment, make mistakes and learn. Their version of getting things right is often attached to doing things the way they would have done it. Whilst these reasons might be perfectly understandable to a leader, the effect that it has on employees are not to be ignored.

“If tasks are not delegated to employees, there is no opportunity for them to showcase their expertise and therefore very little opportunity for growth.”

 

Bristling when decisions are made without their input

Senior leaders often hold positions of power and authority within an organisation, and they may feel that their exclusion from decision-making processes diminishes their authority and undermines their ability to lead effectively. 

Oddi said: “If senior leaders find themselves being unhappy when decisions are made without them, it’s a good idea to step back and ask themselves why. If the upset is about a perceived risk to themselves or their standing in the organisation, it is time to get a good leadership coach. A senior leader wanting every decision to be sent their way will make employees abdicate responsibility, be fearful making decisions and delegate upwards overloading the leader. Empowering employees and giving them a degree of autonomy is crucial so they can develop key skills and become proactive problem-solvers.”

 

Having an obedient team

Many a satisfied leader will refer to having a team that is effective, efficient and stands ready for anything. This might sound great and can be the perfect set-up for specific situations. However, more often than not, it is a sign that the team has become compliant and highly trained, rather than being creative and generative. If a leader has a team that is a mirror image of how they prefer to work, then it is once again time for the micromanagement alarm to sound.

Oddi says: “When I hear a leader that mainly communicates to her/his team about how to complete tasks, and not about producing outcomes and results, I get worried. Training a team to be perfect in the tasks they perform is a sure sign of micromanagement. Whilst this is appropriate in some compliance heavy roles, it is a sure-fire way of disempowering people in more creative spheres.”

“If you are a leader that has a view on the long-term sustainability and success of the organisation, you need to foster people and a culture that learns and evolves quicker than the competition. You are dependent on employees that are free-thinkers and generate new ideas and ways of working. Leaders who are potentially micromanaging need to look within themselves to ensure they are not snuffing out the light of their team and causing more harm than good”.

5 Marketing Tips to Streamline Your Multi-Channel Sales

Posted on | by root

Statistics show that 73% of consumers shop on more than one channel. Furthermore, 30% higher lifetime customer values are attributed to consumers that shop across multiple channels.

A multi-channel sales approach can provide multiple benefits, including expanding your customer pool, diversifying your products, and giving you access to customer insights.

Let’s have a look at five marketing tips to streamline your multi-channel sales.

1. Adjusting prices to each channel

When using multiple sales channels, you should avoid implementing a rigid price structure. For each channel, you should take into consideration costs, customer behaviour, and the intensity of the competition.

For instance, if you are new to online marketplaces like Amazon and you still haven’t built a strong reputation in that channel, you may initially set a lower price than the one you have set in physical stores located in a regional area where your brand is particularly known and beloved.

Another example is using different price structures for certain products when sold to end consumers through a retail shop compared to a B2B sales channel because individual business clients may order the products in larger volumes when you bring the price down a bit.

2. Optimizing inventory management

Opting for multiple sales channels requires proper inventory management too. An organized inventory is essential for a successful multi-channel strategy, enabling you to maintain accurate product availability and prices across all of your channels.

For example, let’s say there are 30 black Nike t-shirts in stock. If five have been sold on Amazon, four have been sold on eBay, and four have been sold through your small physical retail store, then it’s crucial for you to update your inventory throughout all channels to the new availability of 18 t-shirts.

By doing so, you will prevent annoying situations that may damage your reputation as a seller, like having to cancel an order due to a lack of availability. Using inventory management software can help you prevent these types of scenarios.

3. Distributing personalized content through individual sales channels

When using multiple sales channels, you should also take steps to tailor your content to each channel. This means using messages and monetization tactics that can maximize results in those specific channels.

For each channel, use the tools that are effective in adding value to the customer’s journey and helping your audience better connect with your products or services. Examples range from creating video content specifically for YouTube to optimizing your website’s SEO to drive more organic traffic to using email marketing tactics to drive more sales from your customers.

Simultaneously, you should keep in mind your overall marketing and brand object to coordinate and synchronize campaigns across multiple channels.

4. Optimizing marketing campaigns based on analytics insights

Analytics tools can help businesses track the performance of each campaign across different channels. This allows them to make real-time adjustments to make sure that their efforts are reaching the right audiences and conveying the right messages.

Analytics can also be used by companies to compare their performance in each marketing channel and identify those that deliver the best results. This will allow them to focus their efforts and investments on those channels that are driving the most ROI.

5. Leveraging automation

Using the right automation tools can help businesses reduce the amount of manual work needed to manage different sales channels.

Automation can also increase the coordination between different channels and streamline various operations such as inventory management, product updates, and customer service.

Automation simplifies the process of amassing data from several sales channels, which can give invaluable insights into consumer preferences and behaviour. This information can be used to streamline marketing campaigns and product offerings, with the ultimate goal of maximizing prospective earnings.

Moreover, automation also helps in facilitating back-end activities like inventory management and order fulfillment, allowing businesses to trace their products through multiple channels with ease.

What Does it Take to Lead with a Global Mindset?

Posted on | by root

The rise of globalism and technology has led to a shift in the way organizations need to approach leadership. As businesses become increasingly interconnected and employees collaborate more on a global scale, it is critical for managers to develop the skills necessary for leading with a global mindset.

From recognizing diversity to understanding cultural nuances, having an international perspective can help organizations unlock greater growth potential in both customer engagement and employee productivity. In this blog post, we’ll explore what goes into becoming a leader with strong cross-cultural fluency and how you can foster this skillset within your management team.

What should a leader have to lead with a global mindset?

To lead with a global mindset requires a leader to be humble yet confident, open to new experiences and ideas, and passionate to make a difference in the lives of others. They must have an understanding that their decision-making has implications beyond their own industry or region and strive to bring out the best in team members by encouraging collaboration across boundaries.

Leaders should also possess strong communication skills so they can easily understand new cultures and respect different opinions. More importantly, they should be someone who has the courage to take risks that could move the organization forward while helping reduce any potential cultural clashes along the way.

How to become a global leader

A global leader is someone who can foster relationships across communities, cultures, and borders. To become one, you must move away from narrow thinking and develop a mindset that is flexible and open to diverse perspectives.

To achieve this, it helps to shift your focus from the domestic market to an international field. This means researching different countries around the world and learning about the different cultural values in each place. It’s also important to keep up with global current events and develop an understanding of their implications out of curiosity rather than judgment. Seek new insights and invite conversation about potential opportunities as opposed to having rigid opinions on business strategies.

Lastly, incorporate diversity into every task or idea by actively seeking input from people across various backgrounds, such as international colleagues or stakeholders. It’s impossible to be a successful leader without being able to see things from multiple angles while also considering cultural sensitivities when making decisions—this is what it takes to have a truly global mindset.

CQ – how important is cultural intelligence for global leaders

Leading with a global mindset requires a nuanced understanding of different cultures, along with the ability to not only recognize those differences but respond to them in meaningful ways. This can be achieved through the framework of cultural intelligence, which includes four core elements:

attitudeawarenessknowledgeskillsTo have a genuinely global mindset requires being aware of personal biases and actively seeking out opportunities to understand cultures different from one’s own– such as traveling abroad, reading books about different cultures, or connecting with people from diverse backgrounds.

It also necessitates developing expertise in topics such as politics and customs specific to geographic areas and fine-tuning one’s communication skills to navigate different environments and be perceived positively by members of other cultures.

Overall, it takes commitment and perseverance to develop a global mindset, but doing so will ensure effective leaders can respond thoughtfully to the changing environment they’re leading in.

The importance of upgrading skills when moving to a cross-border leadership style

Upgrading skills is essential when transitioning to a cross-border leadership style. Employers are increasingly looking for leaders who can collaborate with people from different regions, cultures, and backgrounds while being respectful of cultural nuances. Cross-border leaders must be comfortable navigating international markets, building relationships with local partners and suppliers, and communicating in multiple languages or through interpreters.

They must also have the capability to envision global solutions that stretch beyond their own immediate environment. Such proficiency can only be achieved by mastering a wide range of skills such as intercultural and interpersonal communication, team collaboration across borders, mentoring diverse teams, and effectively navigating virtual teams. In other words, global leaders must possess the technical knowledge and the flexibility to effectively manage complexity on a grand scale to draw success out of uncertainty.

WorldPrism model of culture

To lead with a global mindset, one must recognize the importance of understanding not only culture but also cultural styles around the world. The WorldPrism model holds that cultural styles can be divided into two dimensions:

shared concentratedShared cultures value collective identity and prioritize relationships, while concentrated cultures put emphasis on hard work and performance. Knowing these differences is essential to leading effectively with a global mindset, as it allows leaders to respect multiple perspectives and accept different ways of working within their teams.

Understanding both shared and concentrated dimensions helps individuals develop strategies for working well with colleagues from different backgrounds, making them more successful in navigating complex global contexts.

From a global perspective, having a strategic mindset is essential for successful leadership. Leaders must seek out opportunities to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and industries, cultivate effective communication skills, and understand their impact on the world. Investments in global knowledge help leaders create solutions that are applicable across countries and cultures alike.

While implementing a global mindset is not easy, doing so makes us better professionals, better citizens of the world, and more creative problem-solvers who are equipped for long-term success. Ultimately, being open-minded about different ways of working and looking outward with an international outlook prepares us for a future of true global leadership.

5 Habits of Highly Effective Team Leaders in 2023

Posted on | by root

Managing people can be burdensome but you may never know how complex it is until you take the mantle of leadership. It takes an extra level of resourcefulness and expertise to constantly guide and motivate a set of individuals.

Even when an organization brims with talented and highly motivated employees, the entire workforce could be jeopardized if poor leadership and management practices come into play. In fact, 24% of employees become enthusiastically disengaged as a result of poor leadership.

While there may not be a single right approach to leading a team successfully, leadership is a skill that can be learned and improved on. Most people who have succeeded as team leaders are a product of hard work and consistency.

Whether you’re a business leader aspiring to be more effective in your role or a manager looking to enhance your employee’s leadership skills, here are 5 habits you should learn to be a highly effective manager in 2023.

Why you need an employee management system

The most productive organizations are those that stay updated with the latest technological initiatives. With more hi-tech software coming into the limelight, organizations are moving past the antiquated ways of manually carrying out activities to fully automated processes.

One of these intriguing pieces of technology is the employee training management software which allows team leaders and HR professionals to finesse their employee management activities. What does it do?

This software allows you to seamlessly keep track of employee records, work history, and other valuable employee data which can be used to gain insights that allow you to understand and improve the nature of your workforce.

To become successful in your leadership role, you might want to do away with spreadsheets and adopt employee management software. It’s your first step to becoming a highly effective team leader.

5 Habits of highly effective leaders in 2023

Task delegation If you’ve ever had to work under the supervision of an unskilled team lead, you’ll realize how annoying it can be when duties are spelled out in an unclear manner and you have to make further clarifications.

One of the most important traits of a highly effective team leader is the ability to delegate tasks with clear descriptions. Every assignment you assign should be;

  • Rich in context
  • Purpose oriented and
  • Showcase the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) elements.
  • Avoid any form of ambiguities and inconsistencies that can create even a teeny-weeny bit of confusion.

Decision-making

Leaders are always at the forefront of organizational decision-making processes and oftentimes, you’ll be faced with scenarios that warrant you to make critical decisions that will affect the success of your organization.

As such, your decision-making prowess must be top-grade!

One unique quality that sets an effective leader apart from an ineffective one is your ability to make tenable decisions no matter the weight of its result while having the conviction to stand by your decisions.

While your path will always be laced with setbacks due to decisions that aren’t favourable, a highly effective team leader is one that takes responsibility for his actions while leveraging unfavourable outcomes to ameliorate the decision-making expertise.

Transparency

Maintaining a transparent work culture can help you gain employee trust and loyalty. When employees are kept abreast of organizational goals, wins, and challenges, they become motivated to contribute their all to ensure your company’s overall success.

Additionally, transparency allows your employees to have a deeper understanding of their roles and that eventually translates to higher levels of employee engagement.

But on a broader note, transparency in the workplace is a double-edged sword which can make or mar the productivity of your workforce. Too much transparency can leave employees feeling exposed and vulnerable, according to Bernstein in Harvard Business Review.

As such, employees begin to keep their activities secret even when they have no skeletons in the closet. A highly effective team leader is one that strikes a balance between transparency and privacy while creating boundaries that enhance experimentation and collaboration.

Conflict management

A gathering consisting of people with varying personalities and backgrounds is prone to constant strife. As a matter of fact, the American Management Association has it that managers spend 24% of their day managing conflicts.

When conflicts ensue, oftentimes as a result of difference of opinions, a highly effective team leader should be able to adroitly make resolutions or calm the tense atmosphere to avoid disrupting other business proceedings.

To be successful at this point, you must have the ability to analyse conflict and understanding of how to best manage the situation. A good conflict management offers you more than just peaceful coexistence, but employees tend to bond on a whole new level.

Lead by example

Actions speak louder than voices! A great way to showcase your effectiveness as a leader is to take the lead when carrying out organizational assignments. That singular act motivates your employees to take a giant stride towards organizational success.

Being a leader transcends task delegation and supervising activities, an effective leader gives the employees reasons to do more.

You must make them see how vital their individual contributions are to ensure the overall success of your organization and how far you’ll go to ensure that they succeed in their respective roles.

Embrace the burden

The path to becoming a successful and effective leader isn’t always a smooth one and it doesn’t happen overnight. Every successful leader who has left their marks in the hearts of their followers has an untold story of hardwork, disappointment, resilience and consistency.

With that said, it’s about time you get rid of negativities that will cripple your determination, feed your focus and take your business to that great feat you’ve always yearned for. The world is your oyster!

Work Culture

Proactively Addressing Employee Mental Wellbeing to Drive High Performance and Happiness

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

Author: Cedric Bru, CEO of Taulia

Not long ago, mental health was a fringe consideration for business leaders, but recently it has become clear that a happy, cognitively healthy workforce is increasingly important to productivity. For companies to succeed, they must take responsibility for employee mental health in the workplace and ensure they are contributing all they can towards their wellbeing.  Inputting the right processes and people to identify poor mental health in the workforce is, therefore, a business imperative for the leadership of today. While there is not yet a firm handbook for how to do this, removing barriers for accessibility to mental health support and leaning on performance data to understand employee productivity patterns are great first steps that CEOs can take to improve employee wellness.

 

Hiring a Chief Wellness Officer

Hiring a Chief Wellness Officer (CWO) is one way in which employers can be reassured that employees are looked after. A CWO’s primary role is to support staff and help them maximize their professional performance and development, whilst forming a culture of wellness within the workplace.

A good CWO is a trusted point of contact for every employee within the organization, but they should also work closely with human resources to develop a tailored approach to people management and career development. Satisfied, motivated, and purposeful employees tend to have better mental health.

Removing any barriers of accessibility to mental health support is the greatest first step any business can make in improving employee wellness. Whilst a relatively new position, CWOs have already proven themselves to be an important and necessary addition to any organization. Taulia has certainly seen and felt the benefits throughout the organization since bringing our Chief Wellbeing Officer, Todd Musselman, on board.

 

Open feedback culture is critical to improving mental wellbeing

While productivity and purpose are not the only elements of good mental health, they can be great motivators in a workplace. In order to ensure that productivity and purpose are on track – both organizationally and individually – it is critical to foster a constructive feedback culture.

At Taulia, we have found that it is critical to provide many channels of authentic feedback to give each employee, with their own unique personality and style, an avenue to express themselves. This includes initiatives such as a regular cadence of departmental and regional fireside conversations; anonymous feedback surveys, and departure surveys.  Delving into some details, employee engagement surveys have helped provide us with an honest – and anonymous – insight into how employees feel about their work, the company culture more broadly.  This helps to make sure we are reacting to their feedback by moving in the right direction and making the necessary changes, as well as continuously tracking employee satisfaction and wellbeing.

The second is a more personal approach – actively asking colleagues if they would welcome our feedback has created a culture in which feedback is considered, not kneejerk and thoughtless, while recipients are far more receptive to getting feedback. I make a point of leading by example here: if a colleague gives a presentation and I want to provide a perspective, I will ask them if they are happy to receive feedback before giving it. It is a subtle change, but the difference felt by individuals can be enormous.

 

Use performance metrics to identify poor mental health

For all the efforts leaders can go to to create the right culture, having the processes in place to identify poor mental health is perhaps the most important thing you can do to safeguard employee wellbeing.

Where motivation and purpose are great ways to keep mental well-being strong, it is usually true that a lack of motivation and purpose can either be a cause or symptom of poor mental health. The question is, how do we identify changes in motivation and purpose? This is a hard question to answer exactly, but there is usually a tangible result on employee outputs that are either empirical, observed by colleagues, or acknowledged by the sufferer when asked.

Where Taulia has its employee survey, we also make sure that regular face-to-face check-ins with line managers are diarised and attended. These are opportunities to discuss wellbeing and workload, and on their own they can be enough to improve employee mood and stimulate better results.  For those who might not wish to talk openly, it is an opportunity for managers to recognize the cues of body language.

Employees are the most important asset to any business. Engaging your workforce, providing them with purpose, and giving them the tools to provide feedback and excel are critical to their wellbeing, and the success of the business. Good mental health does not come about by chance; it is the product of well-thought-out processes and thoughtful, highly skilled individuals whose responsibility it is to ensure employee wellbeing. Actively caring for your workforce by putting the right systems and people in place is one of the most valuable things you can do.

Cedric Bru
Cedric Bru
Three people having a business meeting about their finances, with papers and graphs scattered on the table

7 Ways To Save Money On Company Costs Without Compromising Quality

Posted on | by root

If your business costs are exceeding the mean line, you must keep an eye on where your finances are going. You must start doing some serious budgeting. Otherwise, you may end up cutting into your company’s profitability. Although it is more difficult to reduce costs without compromising the quality of your goods or services, a company’s reputation may be affected by even seemingly little details, such as the quality of its packaging. Before making any cutbacks, think about how they will influence your customers. Fortunately, there are ways to save costs that don’t mean sacrificing quality. Let’s get the ball rolling.

Tips To Cut Business Costs

We’ve bent over backwards to provide you with ways to cut business costs without sacrificing the quality of services or products that you offer to your customers. So, without wasting a moment, let’s get started. 

Use Solar Panels One great technique to identify where you may make savings without sacrificing quality is to examine your company’s energy bills. Changing from a gas supplier to having rooftop solar panels can be a cost-effective option as compared to electricity costs. Investing in energy-efficient lighting for your workplace may be a more manageable option. It may seem counterintuitive to spend more money at first, but in the long run, these adjustments will save you money and help the environment.

Make Bulk Purchases

Some companies make bulk purchases to save money. This is a smart strategy for cutting corporate expenses without compromising product quality. Your company may save money if you switch to biannual rather than monthly procurement of needs since many vendors provide deeper discounts for larger orders. Space for storing items and dividing up responsibilities for any overflow delivery should be taken into account.

Cut Down on Waste

The potential for waste exists in every facet of a company.   Printing papers instead of storing them digitally results in unnecessary paper usage and the potential loss of data due to loss or theft. Reducing waste begins with raising awareness among workers about the need of conserving resources. Stressing the negative effects of trash on the environment might motivate workers to be more frugal. As an example, if you want to cut down on theft, you might beef up your security measures and keep an eye on your raw material waste to see where you could save costs.

Assess the Efficiency of the Staff

In today’s cutthroat business environment, efficiency is key. As a result, you will be unable to affordably transport people. Examine the work being done by personnel and their output. An employee who is not doing their weight should be given a warning before being disciplined. If a warning doesn’t get the job done, firing the worker is the next logical step. See how much work each employee has. Think about how reorganizing the workload may affect the workforce size.

Change Your Vendor

Not many businesses can do this since switching suppliers might scare off clients; but, if your company utilizes services or goods that have no connection with what it sells or provides, you may be able to switch to a cheaper provider. You may be overpaying for office supplies that don’t affect the quality of production.b So, why waste money when you could get by with cheaper materials that don’t change the quality of the final product in any meaningful way?

Automate processes

If you automate your operations, you can save expenses without lowering service standards. Tasks like data entry, payroll, inventory management, and employee scheduling fall under this category. You may save money in a variety of ways by automating some of the routine operations you conduct by hand every day. One tool that can support your trading business and lower business operating costs is Bitcoin Trader. 

Automating repetitive tasks not only saves time but also money by reducing the likelihood of a human mistake. Companies might lose hundreds, if not millions, due to data input and communication errors. Several of these mistakes may be avoided by delegating the task to a machine.

Let’s Conclude!

Cost control in the company should always be a priority. The aforementioned cost-cutting measures need not be one-time events. These tips will allow you to reduce expenses and boost profits. But if you don’t keep an eye on factors like productivity, waste, and vendor pricing, those expenses will start to rise again. We wish you a profitable and productive business ahead!

Three people having a business meeting about their finances, with papers and graphs scattered on the table
modern company or startup listening to African American woman presentation about business

In the Midst of ‘Loud and Quiet Quitting’, Here’s How Senior Leaders Can Open up Communication With Their Employees

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

Making its way into Collins Dictionary’s ‘Word of the Year’ list for 2022, ‘quiet quitting’ refers to an employee actively deciding to do the bare minimum within their role and no longer going above and beyond with tasks not directly related to their job role. Gallup’s global workplace report for 2022 showed that only 9% of workers in the UK were engaged or enthusiastic about their work, ranking 33rd out of 38 European countries.

2023 has since seen this workplace trend being joined by its polar-opposite cousin ‘loud quitting’. This is the negotiation tactic employees are now adopting which involves making their boss very aware that they are unsatisfied in their job role and are actively looking for a new job – with the hope that they respond with promises of a more fulfilling job role within the company and a payrise.

With these trends highlighting a serious issue of how employees truly feel about their job role and how much of these feelings they choose to reveal to their boss, leadership, cultural transformation and performance intervention specialists FirstHuman are offering advice to senior leaders on how to encourage communication that truly engages with employees.

Oddi Aasheim, Performance Intervention Partner at FirstHuman said: “The rise of quiet and loud quitting within the workplace has mostly been discussed from the point of view of the employee, but it puts the spotlight on senior leaders and how well, if at all, they are connected to what really matters to their employees.

“Whilst there can be a number of factors in the workplace which accumulate to job dissatisfaction, senior leaders can consider the following to open up communication with their employees.”  

 

Listen for what’s important to them

For anyone to be engaged and motivated by what they do, it must be linked to something that matters to them, something that is important in their life. It may be about professional aspirations, community and connection to others, growth as a leader or financial security for the family. The key for any leader to unlock drive and motivation in the workplace is to engage with their people and show a genuine interest in what matters to them. Then find the connection between this and the job that they do. 

Oddi said: “Coming to work and seeing how your job directly contributes to your goal is a powerful motivator.”

 

Open doors and be accessible 

Open your office door, make your email and number known, do walk-abouts and have town halls. Ask in your team meetings what your direct reports have learnt about what is important to their people to set the expectation that this is something that is expected of them to engage in. Demonstrating to employees that you are genuinely interested in listening to them and make time for this will have an immediate impact. One of the main drivers of dissatisfaction in the workplace is ‘not being listened to’.

Once the leadership has opened their doors and taken a genuine interest in listening to what their employees find important, a safe space has been created that will vastly improve communication, allow creativity to flow, increase transparency, and build trust between employees and management.

 

Practise authenticity and impartiality

Being a leader and allowing yourself to bring your authentic self to work has benefits at work no matter what your role is, but for senior leaders it is an effective way of nurturing open communication between management and employees. Making authentic connections that truly mean something deeper to employees will allow them to feel completely comfortable expressing any concerns or bringing new ideas to the table.

Impartiality is a learned skill as we all have biases based on environments and previous situations. Because of this, it’s vital that senior leaders notice their strongly held opinions and biases by actively self-reflecting on their leadership. Being able to spot when these cloud our listening and how we see things, and being willing to put them aside is a critical element of authentic and impartial leadership.

Finally, “Good leadership takes a holistic approach to ensure employees feel part of the bigger picture and not just a pawn employed to do a job, Oddi added, “as this plays a big part in employees feeling valued and respected. By senior leaders recognising that their employees have aspirations for their future self and career as a whole, deepening the communication means they can be supported and nurtured and a Potent Environment can be created where extraordinary results are possible.”