ConsultingHQ Blog

Leadership style matters

by Tanya Gray | May 11, 2021 | ConsultingHQ Blog, Identifying Future Leaders, Performance Management

Leadership skills can make a difference to your business

Contents

Leadership qualities are the very cornerstone of success
Research by psychologist Kurt Lewin in the 1930s identified three major leadership styles:
Leaders adopting the transformational leadership style tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate
Leaders will need to be flexible enough to adapt leadership style to the situation as it evolves.

Leadership qualities are the very cornerstone of success

Almost every great accomplishment has at its core, solid leadership. When everything is going well it is leadership that keeps people from getting complacent. When things are going poorly it is leadership that guides and encourages people, it is leadership that sets the new course, and it is leadership that provides hope for positive future outcomes.

Leadership style refers to a leader’s characteristic behaviours when directing, motivating, guiding, and managing groups of people. History has shown how great leaders can inspire political movements and social change.

Great leaders can also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate. In the past, managers used to operate with a rigid, bottom-line focussed, heavy into a command-and-control style of leadership. However, in most situations that style does not work now. Values have changed.

Research by psychologist Kurt Lewin in the 1930s identified three major leadership styles:

authoritarian (autocratic)
participative (democratic)
delegative (laissez-faire).

While subsequent research has identified other more defined types of leadership, this early work provided a catalyst for the identification of other characteristic patterns of leadership including the transformational leadership style which is often identified as the single most effective style.

Leaders adopting the transformational leadership style tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate.

They are not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfil their potential. Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance, more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles as well as leading to improved well-being among group members.

However, it is not easy being a leader, especially these days when we are living in times of continual and, at times, exponential change.

The social and economic crisis caused by the current global pandemic is an extreme but relevant example of the types of challenges leaders face today.

Like any other crisis, the disruptive force and major social impacts were entirely unexpected and during the early days of the pandemic the most urgent objective of leaders would be to safeguard the future of the organisation and by adopting a more autocratic approach, making quick decisions for today while also considering what will be the “next normal” for tomorrow.

The “next normal” is the opportunity for organisations to emerge from this crisis stronger than before and in the post-pandemic world, smart leaders will need to adapt their leadership style.

Covid-19 has changed what business leadership looks like now, and for the foreseeable future. The more directive leadership style adopted in the early days of the pandemic would be perceived as an overly directive, actionist one-leader show during business as usual.

Leaders will need to be flexible enough to adapt leadership style to the situation as it evolves.

An article in Forbes Magazine describes the “7 Leadership Traits For The Post COVID-19 Workplace” required to restore and revive stressed and flailing supply chains, product lines even entire industries” as being:
Candour/openness/honesty – Possibly the best antidote for a workplace climate of anxiety and cynicism is openness and honesty. People respond so much better to the known (even if the news is not great) than the unknown (which tends to fuel more anxiety) or even worse misleading half-truths or irresponsible optimism (which can irreparably damage trust long term).
Regular, reliable fact-based communication – regular, reliable fact-based communication goes a long way to bringing people together and reducing workplace anxiety.
Empathy – some people are still feeling fragile and concerned about Covid-19. There has been a loss of sense of community and cohesion among staff from the isolation experienced e.g., loss of shared office space when working from home and ongoing concerns about things like job security and sick leave balances. Even just providing some heartfelt encouragement and recognition for a job well done goes a long way.
Intergenerational and managing a remote and distributed workforce – Gen Zers and millennials require a different style of management (ethical).
Virtual and distributed teams also require a different style of leadership. You still need to bring these employees together regularly or work streams may fall apart.
Flexibility and adaptability – Covid-19 has taught us that businesses need to be flexible and adaptable to changing situations. Faced with unprecedented uncertainty, leaders need to avoid the temptation to “stick with the decision” and change course if necessary.
Humility / modesty – whether its knowledge related to public health, statistics, human resources or even legal issues, leaders will undoubtedly find themselves needing to rely on expertise that they do not themselves have to make the best decisions for the broader organisation. As a result, humility is a huge asset. It takes a strong leader to respond to a difficult question with “I don’t know, but I’ll find out”.
Active listening – while leaders certainly need to make hard decisions that will not, please everyone, making well informed decisions is still key. Indeed, there is a difference between listening and waiting to talk and for many leaders, their ability to shift gears into “listening to understand” versus “listening to respond” will be a key ingredient for their success.

Smart leaders need to adapt and be prepared to change their leadership style in the post-pandemic world and as Michael Dell (the founder of Dell Computers at age 20) said “I’ve learned that you have to take advantage of change and not let it take advantage of you”.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Intrinsic and extrinsic employee rewards

by Tanya Gray | May 3, 2021 | ConsultingHQ Blog, Performance Management, Reward & Recognition

Extrinsic and intrinsic rewards – and how they affect employee Engagement

Contents

Do you know what rewards motivate your employees and make them want to not only remain employed in your business – but to inspire them to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction and excellence?
What role do rewards play in influencing employee engagement and motivation?
Intrinsic rewards (or intangible rewards) are psychological rewards that employees get from doing meaningful work and performing it well
Is the power of intrinsic rewards under rated?
What intrinsic rewards can we provide to our employees?

Do you know what rewards motivate your employees and make them want to not only remain employed in your business – but to inspire them to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction and excellence?

Of course, this is not a simple or easy question to answer – as your workforce will be made up of an extremely diverse group of people who have differing wants and needs and discovering and instilling that one undiscovered factor that will excite and motivate each person to get to work and perform to their potential can often feel like a type of magic that you do not have the spell or wand for.

What role do rewards play in influencing employee engagement and motivation?

There are numerous surveys and studies that have looked at the question of why people work. It is too easy to say money as we all know money is not the main reason people spend most of their waking hours furthering the aims of their employing entity. However, we do know that people want to find meaning in the work they do and want to see opportunities for personal and professional growth and development. They also want to be satisfied that they are being rewarded fairly and that their rewards are aligned with the organisational culture.

This discussion looks at two primary categories for rewards and recognition and their impact on employee engagement and motivation.
Extrinsic rewards are usually financial or tangible rewards given to employees, such as pay increases, bonuses, and benefits. They are rewards to which an objective dollar value can be assigned. They are extrinsic because they are external to completing the work itself and are controlled by people other than the employee.

Extrinsic rewards usually have a limited impact over time if they are not increased. Therefore, when they are used to increase employee engagement or motivation the effects can be short-lived for most people.

Intrinsic rewards (or intangible rewards) are psychological rewards that employees get from doing meaningful work and performing it well

They are intrinsic because they are internal to the work being done and achieving them largely depends on the employee’s own efforts. They are essential to sustained behaviour change and can be created by allowing employees to do more self-managing and adding value to their work by innovating, problem-solving and improvising. When someone achieves an intrinsic reward, there is a positive emotional reaction.

Is the power of intrinsic rewards under rated?

Given intrinsic rewards or intangible rewards are the reasons employees choose to work at a particular place of employment over another when both employers offer the same tangible rewards, indeed intrinsic rewards are critically important to the business’s ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. It is a mistake to view them as incidental.

What intrinsic rewards can we provide to our employees?

There are a multitude of ways your business can establish, promote and foster intrinsic rewards:

Autonomy – employees want more autonomy, so allow them to take responsibility for their job and tasks and ditch that micromanagement approach. Empowered employees will take ownership and pride in their work and see to it that projects are completed to a higher level of excellence.
Let them make a difference – people want to make a difference, therefore develop an authentic culture of purpose that your employees can believe in. Encourage your people to find meaning in the work they do and show them the good that came of their specific efforts and accomplishments.
Promote social interaction – employees want to connect with their colleagues and with other teams. Encourage them to take a break and take them out of the work environment to do something fun together so that they can connect, interact, get to know and understand each other.
Provide opportunities for advancement – employees want to progress and achieve. Human beings – not just employees – do more and produce better work when they are making progress on something they care about. So, when trying to motivate employees, be clear about how their work is developing their career path and let them stretch themselves and demonstrate their skill set. Of course, through it all, be sure to recognise their efforts and achievements.
Invest in your employee’s learning, development and well-being – employees are increasingly responsible for managing their own careers and they know that their futures depend on improving their skills. If they are not expanding their capabilities, they risk compromising their employability – there is no standing still in this world. Accordingly, opportunities for growth and development are the most consistent predictors of employee commitment. Through coaching and regular feedback, managers can help employees identify development needs and enhance their skills.
Sharing company information – by entrusting employees with vital information about the organisation’s financial and operational health, business leaders send a message that they consider every worker to be a valued partner and stakeholder in their enterprises. Research shows employees who believe they are trusted by their managers can better see the bigger picture and tend to be more loyal and productive, or in other words, more engaged.
Provide recognition – numerous studies conducted over time have suggested that non-monetary rewards and recognition can be much more effective motivators than cash. Surprisingly, many employee surveys have suggested that too few organisations take advantage of the motivational power of non-monetary rewards. It is not that money does not matter – if employees feel that they are significantly underpaid – that their pay does not reflect their contributions to the organisation, their motivation is likely to suffer. But when it comes to encouraging employees to put in discretionary effort into their work and to deliver superior performance, the chance to make a difference and be recognised for it is likely to provide a very strong incentive. Employee efforts that get recognised also get repeated.

Finally, while we will never say that keeping employees engaged and committed to your initiatives is easy – especially in today’s distracted workplace – you can certainly turn things around, pick up the momentum, and sustain a healthy, flourishing, engaged culture by tapping into your population’s intrinsic motivators.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Vaccinations in the workplace

by Tanya Gray | Apr 13, 2021 | ConsultingHQ Blog, Health & Safety, HR Advice, Legal Compliance, Risk Management

Covid-19 vaccinations in the workplace

Contents

What are my responsibilities as an employer in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine?
As it is not mandatory, what can employers do to get their employees vaccinated?
Can an employer request its employees to be vaccinated?
If an employee refuses to be vaccinated, what can an employer do?
Can I make vaccinations a condition of recruitment?
Can employees take leave when they get vaccinated?
Vaccination Policy – Our Recommendation.

COVID-19 vaccines will play a critical role in protecting the health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand which will enable our social, economic, and cultural recovery.
Workplaces in New Zealand will be essential in making access to vaccines as easy as possible for all those employed in them – including employees and independent contractors. To help New Zealand’s COVID-19 Immunisation Programme succeed, the Government is recommending employers encourage and support their workforce (including part time, casual and independent contractors) to get vaccinated.

This could include:

facilitating on-site vaccinations
allowing workers to get vaccinated during work hours without loss of pay, and
providing workers with relevant and timely information from the Ministry of Health about vaccination and its benefits.

What are my responsibilities as an employer in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine?

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 states that employers have an obligation to ensure a safe workplace, as reasonably as they can, and vaccinations can be critical to this. Therefore, an employer must do what is reasonably practicable to reduce the likelihood of infection in the workplace.

As it is not mandatory, what can employers do to get their employees vaccinated?

Ideally, all the workforce would choose to be vaccinated to control the risk of infection, some may not, therefore a business must have additional health and safety plans in place to manage these circumstances.

Can an employer request its employees to be vaccinated?

The employer can request but cannot require an existing employee to be vaccinated.

If an employee refuses to be vaccinated, what can an employer do?

In relation to health and safety in the workplace, a PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) must ensure health and safety as far as reasonably practicable.

Given the current state of transmission in New Zealand, where workplaces have been able to operate safely without vaccinated staff, it will currently be hard to argue that a person being unvaccinated is a significant health and safety risk but that will depend on the industry and any further changes (such as borders opening).

The employer can ask employees whether they have been vaccinated for risk assessment purposes. If an employee declined to provide the information, the employer should proceed as though the employee has not been vaccinated but should first inform the employee of this assumption.

If workers in the workplace are not vaccinated, the PCBU should do a risk assessment to decide if further control measures are needed to reduce the risk of transmission. Alternative control measures could include (but are not limited to): lower risk duties or worksites for the worker; eliminating or limiting close or face to face interaction with others; working from home where possible; increased social distancing requirements; increased hygiene and cleaning practices; additional training and posters; temperature checks; and additional PPE.

If an employer believes on reasonable grounds that there is a real and imminent risk to health and safety which can only be adequately addressed by vaccine (this is only likely to be in very limited situations where close contact is unavoidable and PPE not wholly effective e.g. health care situations) the employer must consult with the employee and explore all reasonable alternatives and it will only be when all other options are exhausted, that termination of employment would be justifiable. The employer should take specific expert advice on the health and safety requirements, risk and employment implications.

If your employee refuses to be vaccinated, taking no further action to prevent infection in your workplace will not satisfy your legal health, safety, and wellbeing obligations.

Can I make vaccinations a condition of recruitment?

Employers can require vaccination as a condition for new employees, but only where this is reasonable for the role e.g. where the employer has identified real and imminent risk to an employee working without vaccination and has considered alternatives. This is only likely to be reasonable in limited circumstances such as nursing homes.
Employers need to be careful that they are not exposing themselves to discrimination claims by rejecting an employee based on the candidate’s decision to refuse vaccination. That decision could be based on a pre-existing medical condition or religious grounds. Given the current state of transmission in New Zealand, where workplaces have been able to operate safely without vaccinated staff, it will currently be hard to state that a person being unvaccinated is a significant health and safety risk unless the business is particularly high risk or there is a law change. However, when NZ’s borders reopen, this may create a different situation.

Can employees take leave when they get vaccinated?

If an employer is asking an employee to receive the vaccine, then the employee should be paid for the time it takes to get the vaccine. If the employer is encouraging employees to receive the vaccine, the employer should discuss time off work and whether the time will be paid with the employee and come to a mutual agreement. Employers should consider whether allowing paid time off work will help encourage staff to receive the vaccine.

Vaccination Policy – Our Recommendation.

Start now by thinking about factors specific to your particular workplace including:

What do your employment agreements include? Requiring a new employee’s agreement to be vaccinated as a condition of commencing employment is likely to be lawful in most circumstances, However, employers must exercise caution when deciding not to hire an employee whose refusal to be vaccinated is linked to a human right such as religion or disability.
What risks are you managing in your workplace by seeking to require vaccinations?
Are you providing a safe and healthy workplace if you don’t require vaccinations?
Are other steps being taken to achieve the same outcome of minimising the spread of the virus, such as physical distancing, mask wearing and/or sanitising?
Is it relevant what the prevalence of the virus is at the time vaccinations are being required?

Commence conversations with your employees about COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as possible. The consultation and support approach is the best way. Remember that all discussions about COVID-19 vaccination must be fair and reasonable and done in good faith.

Keep up to date with information that is provided on NZ government websites and think about where your business and workers fit in the vaccine rollout. Share information with your team.

Make vaccination as easy as possible for your people.

If your business is considering a vaccination policy for employees as part of your response to Covid-19, please feel free to contact us for advice specific to your situation.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Annual Performance Reviews

by Tanya Gray | Sep 17, 2020 | Annual Performance Reviews, ConsultingHQ Blog, Performance Management

Employers should have conducted annual reviews by now

Annual reviews are usually conducted in September prior to strategic & budget planning for the financial year ahead and for the balance of the current year.

Performance reviews are a requirement for employers – regardless of the situation your business or the national or global economy is faced with.

We recommend that employers follow an established and standard process for conducting performance reviews and this year, more than most, a focus on goals and the achievement of them or progress toward them is required to evaluate performance – obviously taking into account whether or not it was possible for employees to meet expected and agreed goals.

Some employers may even have managed to review goals in place as an interim measure when it became apparent that the year would be non standard.

Having performance review standards in place removes any element of personality related issues from the equation and places the focus entirely upon the performance.

If goals have not been achieved, spend some time drilling into why that may have been and if the goals were in fact reasonable under the circumstances that unfolded. Your employees will be grateful for the opportunity to share their view on how things may have played out differently, share their views in the working from remote and give you valuable insights for your business planning, which inevitably will involve some new situations that have arisen as business challenges recently.

Here are the things that you should cover in your performance reviews:

Review the core competencies required for the specific role and rate the employee on their level and have them rate themselves also to see if you are on the same page.
Review goals and subgoals as they were agreed.
Review progress toward the goals and if they were achieved, not achieved or partially achieved.
Review any roadblocks experienced.
Review any specific training requirements or other ways around the roadblocks to ensure they do not continue to hinder progress.
Get feedback on support provided to the employee when it was required.
Establish new goals and stretch goals for the year ahead.

Your team is your most valuable resource and is also your single greatest outgoing. Ensuring that goal reviews and performance reviews are fair and reasonable will win you respect and loyalty – and may well be the difference between enabling that employee to grow further with your business, or leaving and taking their experience with them.

Another aspect of the annual performance reviews in 2020 may be to review communication processes and assess if you need to put layers in place or introduce new methods of communication for people to be able to function as optimally as possible with away from the office – because the reality of the year ahead is that flexibility will be the new normal.

If you feel you require some assistance with conducting performance reviews this year – or with any aspect of HR, please reach out. Funded options are available through the Regional Business Partner Programme. Our team of HR professionals are available to help you with this and to help with your annual business planning!

Book a complimentary 15 minute consultation now with our Director, Tanya Gray.

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Employee skill matrix

by Tanya Gray | Sep 9, 2020 | ConsultingHQ Blog, Performance Management, Training & Development

Employers are at risk when making team changes – even minor changes, without correct processes in place. The Skill Matrix reduces this risk.

Contents

The role of the Employee Skill Matrix
Restructuring or temporary restructuring
To create an Employee Skill Matrix, the 4 pillars for success are as follows:

There are a number of areas of high risk for employers when it comes to HR Management – one of which is considering changes to employee roles without the foundation of knowledge and consideration of the bigger picture.

The employee skill matrix provides the structure of information required to make sensible moves – whether they be temporary or permanent.

Putting correct, structured processes and communications in place during any shift in employment is the other side of the high-risk equation. Where personal grievances are upheld in court, it is almost always due to a lack of correct procedure being followed rather than the actions taken.

Every alteration of an employee’s work environment requires documentation and written consent from both parties for every aspect.

The role of the Employee Skill Matrix

The Skill Matrix is a grid that tables the skills, experience & training an employee has and matches them against the skills & experience required for each role, often also taking into consideration the relative importance of the role to the business & the relative time of accumulating the required level of expertise & training for any given role replacement.

When you conduct a skill matrix for every employee and you also detail the skills required to do any job in your business well, it becomes apparent where you have overlaps and where you have gaps.

It will also become apparent if you have gaps in your succession plan in covering key and core capabilities – and you will see the requirements for training and development in some areas.

It can happen that in considering moving one person from one role to another, that you plug one hole and in doing so, create another hole. Employees with overlapping key and core skills become relatively more important to your business overall.
There is value in letting employees become aware of their importance – this instils a sense of pride. It is equally important that they see you putting in place the necessary steps to replace them if required to do so – if for no other reason than to have adequate cover should any key employee become ill or require leave.

A strategically planned HR Strategy takes the future direction for the business into consideration and identifies priorities for the process of building skill and capability for the future – allowing business owners to build experience and trust in the most impactful areas.

Restructuring or temporary restructuring

On any occasion where a business owner needs to respond to an emergency or unforeseen situation (such as a pandemic limiting business functionality), an equally planned and measured approach must be put in place.

The bird’s eye view of an external party such as ourselves is extremely valuable in this situation, as we look at skills and capability as much as (if not more than) anything else – and we are somewhat more removed from the stress of the emergency situation to hand.
In every business situation, employee skills, experience and aspiration to a degree must be considered before all else – even in emergency planning situations.

To create an Employee Skill Matrix, the 4 pillars for success are as follows:

List the roles in the business (the positions)
Nominate the key skills required for each of the positions, the relative level of experience or competence required, and the relative importance of the skill to your business. Key roles require a robust succession plan to be in place.
Rate each employee against each of the required skills for each role (regardless of the role they are presently in, taking into account the level of skill and level of experience.
This should give you your map of where you need to increase resources and where you may be able to release or redeploy some.

Please give us a call to discuss further if you need some expert advice or if you feel you are getting caught up in the details.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Force majeure clause

by Tanya Gray | Aug 20, 2020 | ConsultingHQ Blog, Employment Agreement & Policies, Legal Compliance

Business owners who do not have an allowance for force majeure in employment agreements moving forward would be wise to consider this now.

Contents

Force majeure is not straightforward – there are strict and precise rulings around the use of this clause.
Force majeure must render business operations not possible to continue.

Force majeure allows employers to be excused from contractual obligations to employees (or any other contracted party) due to enforced ceasing of business due to pre-specified external forces.

Effectively, force majeure enables employers to be excused from contractual obligations to an employee under certain conditions where they are prevented from following certain usual business practices due to significant circumstances beyond their control preventing business operations.

Force majeure is not straightforward – there are strict and precise rulings around the use of this clause.

In wording a force majeure clause to include temporary business closure due to coronavirus or any other communicable disease, one must have specifically included pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of disease in the force majeure clause. It is worth noting that an epidemic – while serious in its own right is not the same as a pandemic.

Importantly, Force Majeure covers specifically what the parties agree on – so the clause must be very specifically and carefully worded. There is no overriding governance or independent doctrine on the intention of the force majeure clause and any legal challenge will rest solely on the working of the clause in question.

Force majeure must render business operations not possible to continue.

The one thing that is clear however is that the event or situation enabling enactment of the Force Majeure clause must be significant and must render business operation or operations by impacted employees either physically or legally impossible.

The other factor that is clear is that the nature of the force must be out of the control of the business owner – and not possible to work around in any way.
It is also worth noting that where business operations are made very difficult due to employee restrictions, this is not the same as being rendered impossible. Force Majeure may only be put in place where business operations are physically or legally not possible.

In summary, force majeure is a specialised area of HR where employers really need to seek specialist advice to ensure the Employment Agreement is written to include specific situations, and must be very clear about the fact that the specified situation must be unavoidable, be out of the control of the business owner and must prevent business continuance.

Traditionally, Force Majeure would have included Acts of War (which would include terrorism, but there is no harm in specifically including terrorism), a change of law or government required restriction of trade and ‘acts of God’ – which would include all natural disasters, but not necessarily include business closure due to communicable diseases.

Indeed, where Coronavirus is the cause of business closure – and the closure meaning that the business is not able to trade in any capacity, a force majeure clause must specifically state that cease of trade due to a pandemic is covered.

In the case of a pandemic being the ‘external force’, the clause should go into further detail in the instance of an employee being prevented to work due to quarantine requirements – even though business operations may be able to continue in some way.

In its own right, this example must be a mandated requirement. The following of recommended advice from health experts in quarantining, for example, would not suffice.

So – force majeure, while straightforward in principle in enabling an employer to be excused from obligations to employees, is not at all straightforward in implementation. The clause must be broad enough to cover most possible situations, yet specific enough to state the exact situation and action agreed and allowable.
Finally (and importantly), a force majeure clause must be both reasonable and not be off putting to a potential employee.

Please contact us for assistance in this area. Our team of HR experts will be happy to discuss this with you.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

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