Picture courtesy of Morgo

I am still in the Bay of Islands and thinking about the week just past. Three speaking engagements, I got to speak to HR professionals, Bankers, and Entrepreneurs… it is such a privilege to meet all these new people. At the Morgo think tank, my presentation was to follow a Sean Gourley who spoke on the Mathematics of War. A Rhodes scholar he has dedicated the last seven years to determining the predictability of incursions… (well I think that is what he was talking about). So given I was up after such an academic…. I thought I would put some numbers in my presentation, which got me thinking about the rest of my content. I’m very pleased with the result of a very long night, I have a new keynote called ‘The Painted Picture – a Growth Story’.  I’m looking forward to sharing it with others – including my team, which I will get to do this coming Tuesday.

Coming up week commencing 6 September 2010

Monday: One on One’s with direct reports

Tuesday: RedBallooner monthly company lunch, Meetings with entrepreneur Rob Farmer, and another with the CEO of Insync to get the top line outcome of the Dream Employer report.

Wednesday: Lunch with our logistics partner Markitforce MD

Thursday: Lunch and Learn at RedBalloon with Dan Gregory – then I fly to Cairns to present in the evening for AIM

Friday: Fly to Townsville to speak for AIM at a lunch then on to Sunshine Coast for AIM evening event

I will be glad for the weekend..

Q: Sarah Louise What is the one piece of advice you were given as you were starting out that you would pass onto others?

A: Hi Sarah, the one piece advise - or the one question I ask anybody who is starting out is 'Why?' be really clear about why you do what you do... and no one will be able to slow you down.

Q: Jillian Kingsford Smith How do you manage to fit it all in?" ie life, work, fitness & family?

A: Hi Jillian, Who said we fit it all in... my kids probably think I'm a lousy mother, my dog definitely claims he is neglected... (Janine Allis told us that her husband claimed she was a 'laptop' dancer.) Even if I don't have a lot of time... I do make sure I am focused on what I am doing at the time, and really listening to whoever I am with. There is no point yearning to be somewhere else or playing the guilt game. We too are muddling through the best we can. My personal motto is 'if it is meant to be it is up to me' - so there is no point making the blame game. Work out what is really important, what you are best at, and get help with the rest. (I'd like to outsource fitness quit frankly - but apparently there are some things we do have to do ourselves.)

Q: Toni Bramley After being screwed by 3 different website designers I would ask Naomi what's the 2 most important questions to ask when choosing a design firm

A: Hi Toni, Web development and design can be tricky... I am not much help here. I had a similar frustration with external consultants in my early days. So I had to bring it in house. A web developer was the first hire at RedBalloon. We now have a whole bunch of professionals completely dedicated to design, database, architecture, User Interface, programming and other things I did not even know existed. The RedBalloon website (have you seen the latest version) is so critical to who we are - we wanted to have these very precious people in house. Sorry not much help here really.

Q: Fran Blake What do u believe ur #1 personality trait is that has helped u succeed?

A: Hi Fran, I'd say my #1 trait is persistence, resilience and naivety... (is that one?) I truly believed in what we do, I never ever doubted it, and I had fabulous support. Maybe my best trait is gathering an amazing team.. and aligning them to the vision

Q: Angela Sedran What's the most cost-effective way to get your brand out there?

A: Hi Angela, The best way to get 'it' out there, cost effectively, is to deliver an exceptional customer experience. The cheapest and most authentic marketing is having other people talk about you. And they will in spades if they have something worth talking about.

Quite happy to answer any questions... so do keep them coming

So week commencing 30 August 2010

Monday : Presentation on Employee Engagement for Hudson

Tuesday : Presentation on Leadership for NAB

Wednesday : Business roundtable with Barry O’Farrell Leader of the NSW opposition

Thursday : Travel to Bay of Island NZ

Friday : Presentation on Business Growth for Morgo (A very prestigious New Zealand think tank conference, though it looks like I am the only female speaker – unusual)

Oh and in between times… of course we have many many Fathers day gifts to be delivered.

Recently I wrote about the disgrace of both major parties advertising and promotional campaigns  And clearly I was not alone in my alarm. There has been much commentary this week. In fact there is little else in the press. I have just watched the 4 independents at the National Press Club lunch - all with such varied ideas of what is next - what is the most important focus. I thought greatness came from focus, doing a few things well, and getting everyone aligned to the execution of the plan.

These until recently unknown independents (except for Katter) are now in a position to, not only impact the present leadership of the country but the future of the political system.

So there is a stale mate – policies and leadership in a precarious position. The much needed true tax reform, any mention of workplace relations, a technology and broadband strategy will be hard to formulate.

What does this mean for us out here in small business land, working hard, employing people, and paying our taxes – are we now going to operate in limbo land? We will just keep doing what we do and administrators will run the country.

Did we get what we deserved? The election we had to have? The people have spoken… we want clear leadership, articulated and funded policies. We want to be the great nation that we all work to be.

Out of the ashes clear leadership must rise… our leaders owe it to the people (and the businesses) (PS as I have always said - 'there is no power in hope' - 'hope is not a strategy'... enough of the infighting and faceless power brokers - let's look at the plan )

I am very curious to know your opinion on the impact for business?

Last trimester the whole company got behind a ‘Red Dawn’ theme. Everyone chipped in as we launched the new version of the website. Some wrote copy, others proofread, some tested or took photographs. It was the biggest project we have ever undertaken since our launch. It went smoothly – and we all celebrated.

This year it is all about ‘Growth’. Perhaps not in the obvious way you would consider – this theme will result in continued growth of revenue. (You can be assured that there is a fabulous celebration when we deliver beyond the plan.)
The real beauty of the theme (and what I am so excited about) is the whole theme is premised on the growth and development of each and every RedBallooner. With personal growth the business will grow too.

We have had a training and development budget every year since we have had a formalized employee experience function. Sometimes people are too ‘busy’ to use it.

We have put our peoples personal development at the centre of this year’s theme (and it is a full 12 month theme) with smaller ‘sprints’ at different times also based around the ‘Grow’ theme.

As part of each persons personal plan (the combined personal plans make up the company wide plan) there is dedicated 30 hours per trimester for personal growth. People are banking growth hours by completing many and varied educational activities. From being part of our ‘We Care’ volunteer program to online brain training. Reading from the RedBalloon library to attending lunch and learns. There is a list of 10 possible ways to earn ‘Grow’ hours.

Everyone is playing… and of course the teacher learns most from the students. What fun.

As a result I'm sharing what I am doing for the week. (Of course some weeks are more interesting than others… but even when nothing is on I am still reading, learning or meeting people.)

Well I thought I would give it a go. (Some would say I'm all over the show like a mad woman's breakfast..)

Monday - All Day judging session on the Voiceless Grants Committee

Tuesday – Meet with executives of Big W – to launch the  RedBalloon Father’s Day range in-store

Wednesday – Breakfast with Audette Exel – The most amazing business woman – Founder of Isis and the Isis Foundation

Thursday – Melbourne for a Business Round table meeting

Friday – Lunch with 550 – On a panel at the sold out Business Chicks Luncheon in Melbourne – Fellow speakers, Janine Allis founder of Boost Juice,  and Kristina Karlson founder – Kikki-K – We three retailers all have much in common – all of us also work with our partners.

Not a overly busy week - but plenty of variety....

Jim Collins told us that values are the essence of great businesses. But trust throughout business is the basis for all values. No one can be in business, or lead a successful business if they don’t trust those around them. If there are caveats on that trust then surely by definition it is not trust.

The basic premise of family is trust and shared values. Communities are founded on trust… by very nature it is about give and take. But really do we trust those governing the country. I understand that politicians are considered one of the most un-trusted professions of our community (next to real estate agents according to one study). What can be done to rebuild our faith in the leadership of Australia – at all levels of government? How can leaders build our trust on both a business and personal level. Input please.

At RedBalloon being completely transparent with the team has worked for us. They expect that of the leadership team – it is one of our values. We lead by example at RedBalloon. However transparency does not mean every detail needs to shared – what it means is that all business decisions must be put in context for the whole team. We would always communicate such things in person with a company wide meeting – and the conversation is succinct and factual devoid of emotion or malice it doesn’t ever include anything that could be construed as defamatory. We also provide the forum for questions - either in public or privately.

However, RedBalloon does seek advice on tricky situations… There are people who do this all the time, so I asked Stuart King more about what he suggests business do about letting people know that 'Bad Apples' will not be tolerated – and that action will be taken… here is his response.

Q: If we just let people know that someone moved on, how do other staff know that it is because the person wasn’t working in alignment with our values and that it was our decision? Erin Atkinson

A: Research suggests that communicating internally about an employee’s conduct could create the risk of a claim of defamation. However we should be able to communicate honest, concise, factual information about why a person was terminated.

• Employees often know more than the leadership know they know.

In my experience, unless people within an organisation are aware that a decision to act against an employee was made because of inappropriate conduct, the deterrent effect of action is lost. In effect the organisational response is not visible. Be assured that colleagues and perhaps supervisors know of unethical, unlawful or inappropriate conduct that may have occurred. They may have seen it and privately shared observations and thoughts about it with other colleagues.  Office gossip is a vehicle for information about workplace conduct issues and is common in workplaces.  Observations of others are often the least secret. This is often how a workplace culture can be undermined, the published values are considered as being not visibly nor actively supported and employees learn how things are ‘really done’ in their workplace. Yes, people do leave if they perceive inaction by an employer. What is worse however is when colleagues adopt similar behaviors with the view that nothing will be done. Action or inaction impacts directly on values and reputation.

• Someone must stop these activities

Employees who act unethically are too often moved on from organisations in a quiet manner as it is often easier to do that. I have seen evidence of that, and toxic employees simply moved on can cause havoc in their next organisation, and so on it goes until they are stopped or exposed.  Problem being that they hurt people and organisations along the way.

• Transparency in communication doesn’t mean every detail.

So how can an organisation be transparent in response to an employee who does not demonstrate alignment with organisational values? Confidentiality, procedural fairness, principles of natural justice and the presumption of innocence all have application in how organisations respond to inappropriate employee conduct.  The process applied in response to unsatisfactory conduct at work can be a trap for new players and always seek professional support and advice before embarking on an investigation. Providing investigative and organisational processes that are legitimate, robust and fair should sustain action which follows.  I also believe that being consistent and sharing a conversation with employees about standards of conduct, about conduct that will not be tolerated or countenanced and about the type of conduct that will bring about a firm response and may result in termination (ie: breach of employment conditions, dishonesty, equal opportunity breaches, occupational violence or bullying etc) is very important.  Don’t leave the conversation until after something has happened.

Prevention is always better than the cure. In short, there should be no surprises for employees so share the rules and back them up with action if they are breached.

Communicating within an organisation the reasons for a person’s departure should be considered and managed carefully. Particularly if another person remains in the organisation may be effected. A claim for defamation can be real, it worries people and carries a risk for organisations.  Most organisations manage that risk by saying nothing, [which is not always the best thing for the culture of the business].

Prior to making an internal communication seek supporting advice.  Communications that are made internally about the termination of an employee should be factual, concise lacking opinion or emotion.  Caution should be exercised, as an employee who is terminated may challenge their termination and is entitled to be protected from defamation prior to the factual and legal reasons for the termination are addressed and resolved.

Even if the business is small - I would always seek support and guidance - somebody to independently view the communication to ensure that it could not be considered defamatory. Also acting quickly is really important. Get people together as soon as possible. Face it before gossip does start to fester. And give people a forum to ask questions and challenge leadership.

It is our ongoing commitment, that will make the difference to the workplace. We never give up stay absolutely committed to having a fabulous place that you want to work in too.

We are pretty close to our people at RedBalloon – as a leadership team we are all committed to the team and we listen and recognise contribution. But engagement is a journey. It is many many ongoing activities. It has taken an amazing commitment from everyone in the business to want to be a part of a Great Place to Work.

I responded to the question ‘Act quickly. Cynicism and anti social behavior cannot be tolerated – there is a place for these people but not inside your business - if someone is not living the values and contributing, they need to be somewhere else. As a leadership team if we don’t act quickly then the trust and values we have worked so hard to nurture will begin to look like lip service. It might be unpleasant – but our people expect us to be forthright and make the tough decisions.’

Many years ago we recruited someone who was in a very autonomous role. After just a few months I was beginning to here whispers from his team that all was not right. There were a few resignations in that team, which seemed odd. One of those employees in the exit interview outlined that this colleague had in fact been using company resources to run his own business – during work hours. When challenged by his colleagues he had said ‘that I knew about it – and had condoned it’. The employees were confused. It looked as if I was saying one thing but turning a blind eye. So they went to find jobs else where.

His actions and words completely undermined our values and the trust in the leadership team.

Listening to Stuart King, Managing Director of KWS Workplace Solutions at a recent HR conference. His business looks at bad apples. According to Stuart ‘Essentially bad stuff happens in the community, and workplaces are a microcosm of that..... so bad people exist in workplaces. Sometimes the culture puts controls over them, on other occasions it gives them license – it is our job to weed them out.’

RedBalloon didn’t use outside services to investigate our problem. But in some cases it would be much better to have experts support in such an investigation.

Our 'bad apple' chose to disappear quickly and quietly when confronted. Our culture would not allow such behavior to go unnoticed for long.

So my advice is – if you think you have a problem, don’t ignore it, it won’t go away. Get external help if needed. Act quickly! Otherwise all your hard engagement work will be a complete waste of energy. However, we as employers have a responsibility, we cannot just pass the problem on to some other employer, if unlawful activities have taken place then the appropriate actions must be taken - no matter how unpleasant - your people will respect you for it. We cannot have the bad apple upsetting someone else's apple cart.

The truth is any organisation no matter the number of people or the size of the budget can be a great place to work if they accept that what they need to have first is trust. Trust underpins the belief in the organizations purpose.

Trust is the foundation of a Great Place to Work; it stabilizes relationships when times are tough, when important decisions need to be made and enables us to remain focused on the future.

Do you trust who you work for? (Do you believe in what the business is doing and how it is run?)
When employees trust leaders to make the right decisions and look out for their interests, then they gain respect for them too.  Here are some things that contribute to that trust:

• When management recognises honest mistakes are part of doing business
• When management authentically seeks and responds to suggestions and ideas.
• When management shows a sincere interest in me as a person, not just an employee.
• When managers show appreciation for good work and extra effort.
• When we are given the resources and equipment to get our jobs done

Do you trust your colleagues?
Manager’s aren’t always the bad guys, camaraderie between co-workers is equally important as trusting the boss.

• Is there a sense of “family” or “team” feeling in your organisation
• When people join the company they are made to feel welcome
• People feel at home when they change jobs or units
• There’s a sense of fun and celebration at times
• Can you express yourself freely

Does the business trust you?
When we have trust we also to a certain extent predict what other people will do and what situations will occur. Does your business surround itself with employees it can trust? That it can count on. This is where a shared set of values are so important.

This is also about empowering employees to make decisions so they don’t have to ask or waste time decision making due to mistrusting one another and not wanting to take the blame.

to be continued: