Daily Brew

Let me ask you a question. What do you think is a better scenario? One leader taking responsibility for a group, or a group of people taking responsibility for one another?

Commitment is one of the five key behaviours needed for business leaders to build a high-performing and cohesive team.

Let’s talk about benefits. Work perks. All those added extras you offer your employees. And no, I’m not talking about the stuff you’re legally entitled to give your people, like holiday allowance, a fair salary and a workplace pension.

As human beings, we’re automatically drawn to stories. The way an incredible film can move you to tears, the way a TED Talk can inspire you, or the way a friend can have you laughing so hard your stomach starts to hurt.

It’s strange to think that we can actually end up spending more time interacting with our colleagues than we do our friends. And sometimes even our family. People that we have never met before, and may have never met if it weren’t for the organisation we work for.

Twenty years ago, advocating for vulnerability in leadership would have seemed absurd. Even a decade ago, you would have got some strange looks for that suggestion. Vulnerability? A leadership strength? Come on!

This week’s blog is for the MDs and CEOs out there. Because I want to ask you a very specific question: What is the purpose of your organisation? Your core reason for being?

Now more than ever, you need to know the answer.

By its very nature, conflict is uncomfortable. That’s probably why so many people instinctively try to avoid it. But I think it’s realistic to say that everyone has, at one point or another, experienced conflict in their workplace. Whether it’s a disagreement over the direction of a project or something as simple as who’s turn it is to clean the coffee maker, conflict is a part of our daily lives.

2020 was a big year for learning and development. In the year of - brace for the nation’s favourite phase - unprecedented change, L&D was catapulted from to the top of the agenda, with countless businesses transitioning to remote working.

While we might all be a bit sick of reading about it - or writing about it, in my case - COVID-19 is still very much a part of our lives. However, with a new year comes a new hope of beating this virus and returning to some form of normalcy.

Have you ever walked along a riverbank as a rowing team glides by? It almost seems effortless, doesn’t it? They cut through the water like a hot knife through butter. They’re completely in sync; eight people rowing as one team. It’s pretty impressive. I think so, anyway!

While the recruitment world has changed considerably in the last few years, the power of word-of-mouth recommendations certainly hasn’t. When people have a good experience, they invite friends and family to do the same, which is why employee referrals have become one of the most popular and most productive ways for organisations to find top talent.

We love to talk about millennials in the recruitment world, don’t we? Generation Z too. Digital natives; tech savvy; social media experts, the lot of them. These generations changed the workplace, with their disruptive trends, entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas. But before long, there will be a new generation in town. And they’re really going to shake things up.

Creating and maintaining a positive company culture that is not only authentic, but felt by people both inside and outside of your organisation, can be a challenge for business leaders. Add a global pandemic and a remote team into the mix, and that challenge suddenly becomes a whole lot bigger.

Picture this pandemic as the enemy at the gates of your organisation. It’s throwing challenge after challenge your way.

And just when you thought things were returning to some resemblance of normal...bang! Bojo announces lockdown number two. The war rages on.

Think back to 2019; a pre-pandemic world. We thought we understood the world of recruitment. It was comfortable. Predictable. We thought we knew what we wanted as employers. We thought candidates knew what they wanted too. We thought nothing could ever change. We thought wrong.

It’s no exaggeration to say that social media has changed the world. It has changed the way we communicate, the way we govern and are governed, the way we do business, the way we respond to disasters. And, of course, it has changed the way we find and attract new talent.

Social media and sector crossbreeding has penned many a new industry term, and it’s this refinement of recruitment practices and communication that has given us more food for thought and ways to action our messages.

This year, we have seen a seismic shift in our global workforce - and that’s not even considering the COVID-19 pandemic!

Sound is one of the most powerful tools in branding, affecting decision-making, risk-taking and how we behave. So, why is it often overlooked and underrated?