solent 250 roundtable 47
Went praised the work of further education, particularly the vocational sectors, because you get “oven-ready employees.” However, he argued that a more generic education would imbue a greater innovative mindset. Getting the balance right between specialist skills and knowledge scope was academia's challenge.
Armstrong: “Diversity does help bring different backgrounds and experiences to the workplace, but personally I believe it is all about changing mindsets – from the fixed traditional mind to the experimental growth mindset. Education can help develop mindsets.”
He exampled England rugby coach Clive Woodward who gave all his players a new laptop. “Though ridiculed in the media, he did it to discover which players had the capacity to learn.”
Stevenson noted the paradox that smaller businesses are putting in more controls to sustain their standards and cultures, while the bigger corporates are releasing wider delegation, empowerment, and freedom of expression within their organisations to enhance their cultures.
Eynon wondered if difficulty in gaining and retaining good employees had led to less rigid employment regimes. “Twenty years ago perhaps, this Roundtable workplace culture discussion would not have taken place.”
Gawthorne: “People do evolve and change their priorities.”
Eynon noted how people's ambitions and attitudes could change as they get older. “Remotivating them or altering their cultural viewpoint can be very difficult.”
Reed mentioned millennials' mindsets: “It's not just the career opportunities they see; it's the skills the job allows individuals to develop that matters. People today don't join companies to do a job forever; they join to learn skills and build networks they can take with them.”
Moxon: “What we are seeing at Solent University now is your future business generation coming through. Although their work attitudes may have changed, don't underestimate the value of their communication skills and methods.”
The right cultural message . . . that doesn't sink the boat
Andrew Stembridge
Moxon: “The one thing not going to change is change. Employees who do not embrace change will be the ones who harm an organisation's culture.”
Southampton Solent University was currently going through a ‘charter crusade', he explained – changing the organisation with seven fresh strategic values. “It's all about involving people, and making a 'giant learn how to dance'.”
Evolving workstyles and attitudes
The hospitality industry was challenged today by the need to maintain higher customer standards, with a more diverse employee-base often not prepared to work as hard as previous generations, stated Stembridge. “That is impacting on how we run the business and its overall culture.” Culture used to be inspired by leaders, not overseen by managers, he noted. “Are we doing the right thing, or simply doing things right?”
Eynon echoed Stembridge's concerns: “Some people don't buy into today's levels of customer service. You have to cut out that attitude or you won't survive.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2016
“How do you communicate with your different levels of people?” asked Moxon. It may be by web portal, email, text or publication, but it's not communication until its read and understood, he added. Plus, how is the message conveyed? People will default to their preferred learning styles.
Gawthorne: “In comms terms you can't do it all. You have to decide what media styles work best for your business, how it communicates internally, how it is perceived externally.”
Adrian Went
“The key is having a flexible communication structure in place with appraisal systems, forums, one-to-ones etc so that everyone has the chance to speak. The open-door policy is good, it's changed things, and nowadays there is often no door.
“It's about employee engagement, plus trust and confidence in the leadership team – being able to sit down when you are up against things, and have an honest conversation with everyone to resolve what needs to be done.”
Providing employees with an understanding of the bigger picture could produce behaviours ranging from fear to enthusiasm, said Went. “You do need to be ready to balance that situation.”
Getting the right message to the right audience in the right way is key, said Gawthorne. Too much knowledge could make people focus on the small hole in the boat rather than its supreme buoyancy.
Management has to be convincing and confident added Armstrong, while highlighting words from Alex Ferguson's book about leadership. “When new players joined the club, he simply said: ‘We expect to win every game. Get used to it'.”
Does workplace environment impact on employment culture?
Hawkeswood: “It helps, but fundamentally the people in it are more important.
When Blake Morgan moved in here eight years ago we were fiercely proud of the modern working environment, but already with concepts like agile working, efficient use of space has made today's workplaces different again.”
John Eynon
Continued overleaf ...
businessmag.co.uk
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