Spring Newsletter 2009
In this issue
We lead this defiantly positive newsletter with an article on the role and importance of personal resilience and mental toughness in these challenging times together with the practical steps you might take to identify and develop this capability.
Lauren Bernardi of Human Assets continues this theme with her thoughts on harnessing elements of Positive Psychology to improve productivity and business performance.
We also have two challenges for you - firstly, test your (or your colleagues) ability to give feedback with Talent FQ, our unique 'Feedback Quotient' assessment.
You could also qualify for a place at a training session with our compliments! See below for more details.
Our second challenge for you is to help settle a family dispute here in the office and enter a draw to win an iPod in time for Easter.
One of our employees' sons (aged 11) has seen the recent print advertisement for the company and thinks he can do better than his Dad who created it. We've decided to put it to the test and ask you to look at each and vote for who you think has done the better work. For the winner, gloating rights until at least the end of Easter and an iPod, for the loser, well, humble pie. Register your vote and your entry to win an iPod for yourself as well! Find out here.
In 'other news', we are pleased to announce that 5one, an international specialist marketing services company has selected our very own Talent 360® product for their annual appraisal process.
Saffron Interactive also offer some good practice around knowledge-based assessment design and announce their new product, Workbench.
Finally, We would also like to remind you about the Annual Association of Business Psychologists' Conference in May where we will be presenting a case study on the subject of identifying and progressing those with high levels of leadership potential.
We hope you enjoy this newsletter and if you would like to discuss any items within it, please contact me, Ian Lee-Emery, on 0845 054 2364 or 'reply' and your note will find its way to me.
The importance of Resilience
Personal resilience or 'Mental Toughness' is often associated with endurance athletes or arduous solo attempts to conquer some far flung peak or natural obstacle. More recently however, parallels with its applicability to the business world have been made and common themes are emerging in science, psychology, sport and business.
We examine a number of these factors, review recent research and identify key traits of those likely to survive and even thrive in this unstable world.
Our conclusion provides a pragmatic strategy and accompanying resources that you could apply to assess and develop these traits in your employees within the context of their role, your own organisation and the business world.
Read our article here.
Focusing on the Positive
Lauren Bernardi of Human Assets offers some alternative strategies to building motivation and productivity in employees, beyond offering mere financial incentives.
Using elements of positive psychology and other strengths-based approaches, she describes three researched, proven, practical and cost-effective techniques to improve organisational performance in these testing times.
Read the article here.
Test your Feedback Quotient with Talent FQTM
In our last newsletter we established that feedback, in its various forms, is an invaluable source of input for individuals, teams and organisations.
It is widely acknowledged that the actions taken as a result of the feedback are closely tied to how the feedback was delivered; get it wrong and resentment and denial are a very real possibility, get it right and the scene is set for real and lasting change.
We have developed and tested an assessment, called Talent FQ, that challenges you to identify the right (and wrong) course of action when in various tricky feedback situations. After you or your colleagues have completed this short challenge, you will receive a one page report that shows strengths and weaknesses in the underpinning competences essential for good feedback delivery. You will also find out what our expert panel would suggest in these situations.
To mark the launch of this unique assessment, if at least one person from your business has taken this test and your business decides to take our 360 feedback course, then one place will be with our compliments!
Test yourself here. Contact us here to request more information, including a full course outline of our 360 feedback course.
Other news:
5one select Talent360 from Head Light Communications
5one, a specialist marketing services company with offices in London, New York and Cape Town, has chosen Talent 360® as the tool to underpin its 360 review and appraisal processes.
We hope to bring you a case study in the near future.
Saffron Interactive launches Workbench to improve knowledge-based assessment
Jennifer Wrigley of Saffron Interactive offers her thoughts on how to create better questions to assess knowledge and retention for learners using e-learning programmes.
Their new tool, Workbench, allows users to create more interactive questions and to track their responses. Find out more here or contact them on +44 (0) 207 092 8902 or http://www.saffroninteractive.com
Last Call - Using 360 to identify Leadership Potential
We have been invited to share our experiences of using 360 for 'high-stakes' applications such as Succession Management and Leadership Identification.
Amanda Johnson of Hertfordshire Constabulary joins us at the Annual Association of Business Psychologists' Conference (May 7th-9th) and will be explaining how the Constabulary make use of and overcame the obstacles of applying 360 reviews to more than solely personal development planning.
The Conference, entitled 'Business Psychology in an Age of Austerity' will feature four streams:
- Adapting to the downturn
- Well-being in hard times
- Business psychology in practice, and
- Developing business psychology.
Find out more here.
Resources & Articles
The following resources and articles are available as pdfs on our web site:
The Impact of Feedback - make the most of feedback and avoid the pitfalls.
Review Rating Scales Tool - select the scale that's right for your assessment.
Talent & Employee Engagement - you can't ignore the connection!
Are your Talent Management processes fair? - advocates and saboteurs!
Choosing your assessment strategy - which assessment instrument?
Keys & Eyes - designing 360 questionnaires that will really tell you something.
Positioning 360 - creating 'pull' from the business for a 360 feedback programme
Introducing a 360° Review - Keys to success
What 'good' looks like - finding a consistent way to describe it
Appreciative Inquiry - a technique for extraordinary results
Motivation to change - dealing with different attitudes to change
Competences & business planning - developing competences to deliver a business plan
If this newsletter is the first you have seen, past issues can be found on our web site in Media Activity, if this is the last you want to see __UNSUB__.