by Nuture HR
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Jung
The Grandfather of personality psychology, Gordon Allport, saw personality through an ideographical approach- he viewed the individual uniqueness and experience. Allport concluded, that personality traits are innate neuropsychological properties, initiating individuals to act in a meaningful consistent way across time and situation (Sollod et al., 2012 pp. 2).
Carl Jung furthered the study of personality and referred to it as the predispositions to behave in a certain manner. Consequently, personality across the board is unique to the individual.
Personality within organisations make work interesting and conversely at times, challenging. That is why within business you need to be aware of its advantages but also attentive to its impacts on individual performance and team cohesiveness and the relationships and follow through with clients.
Listed below are some advantages and disadvantages to be aware of when uniting personalities within workplaces:
Advantages:
- Some personalities mix well with others and allow for greater success.
- Great leaders are approachable, understanding and adaptable to others personalities.
- Research suggests that individual personalities within teams can influence team dynamics
- Individuals need to understand the power of the situation and its role on different personalities.
- Personalities working together can increase creative thinking
- Different personalities can motivate one another
Disadvantages:
- Often first impressions are subjective to the situation (i.e. first time meeting co-workers is nerve racking) and may force a false judgement.
Different personalities vary in productiveness, attention to detail, ability to commit to projects, motivation etc. Hence, it is worth understanding personalities to better organise teams.
For more information on personality within workplaces please contact eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
Reference: Sollod, R., Monte, C., & Boag,S.(2012). Beneath the mask. Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
by Nuture HR
Effective recruitment is the backbone to any successful business, too often though we don’t take the time to recruit effectively resulting in disappointment and poor hires! To help you improve your recruiting, please read below the top 10 tips on effective recruitment.
- Review the role you are hiring for i.e. make sure you have identifed the key duties and attributes required from the role
- Be clear in your advertisement about the requirements, skills and qualifications needed for the role to effectively carry out the duties you have previously identified
- Draft and review your advertisement to ensure it features the key duties, qualifications, skills and attributes. Also provide a brief overview of your organisation and its location to ensure you are attracting candidates that meet your selection criteria
- Create a shortlist of suitable candidates by assessing each candiate based on your selection criteria
- Organise interviews and provide candidates with at least 48 hours notice of the interview
- Prepare for the interview. Develop your questions prior to the interview based on the duties and requirements of the role
- Remember the interview is a two way forum – it provides an opportunity for you as an employer to gather information about a candidate whilst it provides a forum for candidates to gather information about you and your business!
- Undertake reference checks
- Make offers promptly – don’t waste time!
- Support new employees with an induction programme to assist them in getting up to speed with your business as quickly as possible to maximise productivity and reduce costs!
For further information on effective recruiting please contact eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
by Nuture HR
Change is essential in maintaining the success of a business and individual, however not everyone is receptive to change. This is due to a number of factors, including life experience and whether change has been a positive or negative experience in the past.
Managing change effectively can result in a business initiative being implemented successfully and embraced by the workforce, versus having an initiative fail to take off or worse be derailed!
Tips on managing change effectively include:
- communicating as soon as practicable to all impacted regarding the proposed change,
- communicating via a variety of channels to increase your impact – everyone processes information in different ways, hence utilising different communication channels assists this, for example: emails, face to face, individual catch ups, social media, team meetings, and video clips,
- tailoring your message to your audience – think of who the audience is and how they best receive information,
- asking for feedback and input – people whom have the opportunity to input into an initiative are more likely to actively support the change,
- seeking early adopters, these are individuals whom are most likely to support new ideas, they are typically supportive of new and improved ways of doing things hence by engaging them early on in the change cycle they are more likely to increase your ability to bring others along side them creating further support for the new change,
- addressing concerns early on and
- transparency – be open about the end goal in what you are aiming to achieve by introducing the changed way of working etc.
For further information and advice on how to manage change effectively, please contact eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
by Nuture HR
I am often asked what is the best way to reward employees?
Reward and recognition is something that means different things to each of us, based on our own values and stages in life. Due to this, there is never a simple answer, rather I recommend you consider the following in determining the best way to reward your employees:
What does the individual value most e.g. financial or non financial reward or in turn public recognition versus a simple thank you?
The following examples, demonstrate different types of reward based on our values and stages of life for example:
* Employee A is currently undertaking further education, hence they may place more value on time off to enable them to study
* Employee B may value financial reward, as they have recently purchased their first home
* Employee C may value flexibility in the way they can work, due to family or caring commitments
* Employee D places value on being recognised by other team members for the great work they’ve accomplished
* Employee E does not like a fuss, however likes to be acknowledged by their manager when they have completed their work to a superior standard
Once you understand what your employees value, you are better equipped to determine the best way to reward your employees on a case by case basis.
For more information on reward and recognition please contact eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
by Nuture HR
Why is it that managing performance is so difficult?
For many of us, managing performance (both high and low) is a timely and often emotionally charged activity in our day to day working lives. It is because of this, that it is often placed towards the bottom of our to do list! The result:
• frustration that it remains on our to do list,
• feelings of loss of control of the situation,
• further decline in the performance of poor performers and
• for high performers whom are overlooked, it results in a disconnect from our business which can result in high performers seeking career opportunities elsewhere!
So how can you make it easier?
1. Establish the real issue that is concerning you; for example is it timeliness, the need to improve an individual’s capability across certain tasks or is it taking the time to thank a hard working employee and encourage them to take on more challenging tasks or roles?
2. Prepare for your conversation by briefly making notes on what it is you want to raise and remember stick to the facts. Now add in questions to ask the individual for their response, that way you can understand what is or isn’t driving the behaviour of the individual. Also understand your own emotions, to prevent your emotions from getting the better of you during the performance meeting!
3. Make a time to talk to the individual and stick to it no matter what, nothing sends a signal that the matter isn’t important than a meeting that needs to be rescheduled!
4. Rehearse the conversation and think of any questions or concerns the individual may raise, think about how you would like to tackle these so that you are prepared.
5. Have the conversation and remember to be confident, listen to what the individual has to say and document the key points. Set goals and timeframes for the goals to be achieved.
6.Determine a time to review progress made and to determine next steps.
For further information on managing performance please email eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
by Nuture HR
Social Media Policy and Reinstatment
A recent decision by the full bench of Fair Work Australia (FWA), highlights the consequence of not having all your ducks lined up when it comes to ending the employment relationship. In a recent decision by FWA, an employer terminated an employee due to the employee placing disparaging comments about a number of managers on his Facebook profile page. The company investigated the matter and determined that the comments made were offensive, derogatory and discriminating. The employee was subsequently terminated due to serious misconduct and the employee subsequently filed for unfair dismissal.
The matter was reviewed by FWA and FWA determined that due to the factors listed below, the employee was not guilty of serious misconduct, there was not a valid reason for the termination of his employment and the termination was harsh, unjust and unreasonable. FWA ordered that the employee be reinstated and that he be compensated for lost wages (in the form of his ordinary rate) from the time he was terminated until the time that he is reinstated minus any monies he had earned during that period and minus the money he was paid in lieu of his notice.
Resons provided by FWA for reinstatement and compensation
- the employees length of service & age
- his lack of understanding about social media and belief that his setting were on the maximum privacy settings
- the low probability of him coming into contact with the managers he had made comments about
- the employer’s lack of social media policy
- the lack of action against other employees regarding their derogatory comments about the managers on Facebook
- the employees regret of the situation
- the conduct occurred outside of the workplace
So what can we learn from this?
From the above case, it becomes apparent, that as an employer you need to consider all angles and if you are considering terminating an employee you must factor in how you have treated other such employees in similar or the same circumstances. It also highlights the need for organisations to have in place a current, easy to comprehend social media policy to prevent costly instances such as this from reoccuring in the future.
For more information on developing an effective social media policy please contact eva@nurturehrconsulting.com.au
