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Create a work environment that supports being on top of your game

Guest post by: Karen Kelloway

Article Overview: I’ve often thought our organizations could do better collectively if we modelled our corporate culture on a golf game. There’s a respectful ambience, a book of rules, a score card, and most importantly the expectation that everyone is there to play their best ...

Create a work environment that supports being on top of your game

I've often thought our organizations could do better collectively if we modelled our corporate culture on a golf game. There's a respectful ambience, a book of rules, a score card, and most importantly the expectation that everyone is there to play their best. In golf, we play for ourselves, yet we often step back to study the landscape with our teammates, strategizing on how to avoid the sand traps and what club to use. If you hit a bad shot your teammates are going to say ‘good try' or they'll say nothing at all. And when you hit a really good shot everyone shares in your success. At the end of the game you sit around to de-brief, talking about what you did right and the shots you were most proud of hitting. And there's an expectation that you'll go away and work on what didn't quite work. You might practice putting, go to the driving range, read a golf magazine, watch a how-to video, or get a lesson. Whatever you do, the intention is always to improve your game.

So how do we adopt this kind of continuous learning, ‘playing at the top of our game' mentality into our work environments? Particularly in times when organizations are looking to cut costs?

Dr. Rick Fullerton, senior consultant, adjunct professor and director of the Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia says that in difficult economic times nearly all organizations cut back on anything that is not clearly linked to the bottom line results - training, learning and development tends to be one of those areas. He says the downside to cutting training is that employees may become less capable of keeping up with changing requirements.

To decrease training costs, some organizations are looking to online delivery, virtual classroom training and e-learning, but going the virtual route isn't always the answer. It might work for standardized training such as an orientation or workplace safety, but learning styles and linking results to business goals still matters.

Creating a culture where people are motivated to do their best needs to become part of the organization's business plan. This is a sentiment that many in the HR industry share. People development accounts for $300+ million in North America, yet organizations don't necessarily trust that investment is going to pay off. If you're going to get a return on your investment, no matter how much you spend, the training and development has to be linked to the broader business goals.

We need to start moving away from the idea that developing people is some sort of option or add-on. People development needs to become part of how we do business. What is the employee good at, interested in, passionate about, and how does this fit into our organization's success? What would be different if this employee was playing at the top of their game? Where are the gaps?

And while it's important for the employee to identify what training would help fulfill their desire for career advancement and fulfillment, it's equally important for the leadership of the organization to not only help the employee link their learning to the big picture, but ensure there is capacity for that employee to use that new-found wisdom. Otherwise, the employee (and investment) will move to another company who has created the space for that expertise.

To keep your organization competitive, Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette (KBRS) - the company I do leadership development with - advocates building that capacity through three key areas: organizational culture, individual behaviours and organizational practices. KBRS advises focusing on developing people as a competitive advantage in the same way organizations focus on managing money, R&D or closing a deal.

"Part of an individual's growth should include a personal improvement plan that identifies measures for tracking progress, sets specific targets to be achieved, and incorporates feedback loops," says Fullerton. "You can employ a wide range of tracking tools, such as mini-360 surveys, physical measures (e.g. weight, heart rate), job observations (watch me, give me feedback) and more."

While we are all on a life-long learning track, most of us have to interact with others to achieve our goals. Fullerton says if you work as a team, learn as a team. He says more and more organizations are using small group coaching, peer learning groups, communities of practice and most importantly having managers lead by example.

And if you still aren't sure how to move forward with integrating training into your individual and team development, you can always hit the golf course for a game of best ball. Best ball - a tournament that includes two to four golfers competing against other teams - involves collaborating, playing to your strengths, cheering each other on and strategizing on how to get the best results. Call it experiential learning.

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Article Tags: adjunct professor, bottom line results, business goals, continuous learning, corporate culture, cutting training, dr rick, driving range, economic times, golf game, human resources association, learning styles, sand traps, score card, senior consultant, top of our game, virtual classroom training, virtual route, work environments, workplace safety



Related Forum Posts
Re: What are you doing if o have a bad day? - Glad you all like that idea. I don't play it too often, but it definitely helps with stress or relieving anger. David, that reminds me of another game for the NES called Galaga. It's also a shooting game in which you have to also dodge projectiles. Very fun as well. A pure classic. I would say that any video game would work well to just take your mind off of work. Who knows, you may be able to come up with a breakthrough idea from playing them!
Re: Let Your Employees Nap At Work - Taking a nap in between working hours does help but however, I don't think a lot of companies will allow that. Mostly are related to safety concern. The place where I work at is definitely a no-no even though it is an office environment. But however, instead of a nap, will not allow the employees to engage in relaxing activities like reading the newspaper or even reading the news online, having a chit-chat at the pantry or even a simple dart game.
Men and Women, or Republican vs Democrat? - >>I don't know many men who talk about the environment so I think you're right that it probably wouldn't be in their top ten It all depends on what you mean by the environment. Global warming? Yes...men such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannitty and Neal Boortz say it's not happening and that it's just an anti-capitalist plot. And I think the Republicans prefer to believe that while Democrats - male, ie Al Gore - are pushing it for all its worth. Meanwhile female Sheryl Crowe is telling us to use one square of bathroom tissue a piece... that's just plain silly! If American Women were that concerned about the environment they'd all be riding their bikes to work instead of driving those big old SUVs...
Re: Why aren't there more women entrepreneurs? - My opinion on this (being a women, and being disabled), is; Women in general like security. Women are the caretakers, in general. In the work environment we are the one to have children. We are the ones who leave work to do this. We deal with a stigma that we are bad mothers if we work, but we are a bad mother if we do not work. I feel there is no way a man could ever understand this. Sure they can try, and some do a good job of it, however they truly do not understand. How could they?? Being a entrepreneur is throwing cation to the wind. It takes believing in yourself. It takes a women who can have someone say no, put us down or just plan old negativity and for us to turn it around. Women who can do this are called names, while men in the business world are just expected to have a thick skin. Studies show in the work environment that women are more apt to be bullies. Women are more apt to turn on each other. We expect more out of each other. Many women also use the work environment to socialize and to find a mate. Men and women are not created equal. Once we understand this and take what we are and "run" with it; the better all of us will be. Women business owners, women entrepreneurs are still considered a minority. Since there are more women then men in this world, some day this will turn around. This too is why men need to protect themselves and keep us under some kind of control. What bothers me to no end is when women give in to the mans world using sex as a selling tool. We need strong women leaders, not those who use their bodies as a step up. This is just my opinion on this subject.
Re: Playing sports or games with clients - If we are playing more than one game, I will let him win the first game, then win the second one and let him win the third. Business relationship should not be jeopardise because of sport or game. The reason is because some people don't like loosing.


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