+Cary Cooper is one of the UK’s leading authorities on workplace stress and wellbeing. In this first instalment, he lays out his recommendations for organisations...
Improving wellbeing – a six point plan
1) Conduct a wellbeing audit – all the instruments are out there eg ASSET
2) Identify where the problems are, then use focus groups with staff to develop a change plan
3) Ensure that your managers are ‘socially skilled’, by training and recruitment
4) Don’t just allow flexible working, encourage it
5) Eradicate the long working hours culture
6) Trust and value your people, and you’ll get improved engagement
Cary Cooper is Distinguished Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School. He has written over 150 books on a range of topics, including stress and wellbeing at work. You can follow Cary @ProfCaryCooper.
What three questions would you ask one of the world’s foremost leadership thinkers? Here are John Adair’s answers to mine…
What are effective leaders magnificent at doing?
JA: What effective leaders do well is to enable their team or organisation to achieve its task, maintain and build the common teamwork, and to help each individual member to develop their full potential.
Are modern day leaders too detached from their people/followers?
JA: True leaders should be among their people, especially when it comes to sharing dangers and hardships. Otherwise a social distance develops and understanding (which literally means to stand among people) goes out of the window. While this presents no problems to most leaders who aspire to excellence (or for senior leaders in olden days), security problems make it difficult if not impossible for national leaders to move freely among their people in today's environment. Even so, the best leaders avoid this threat of becoming detached by using their creativity in order to ensure that they do stay in touch.
What is the most overstated aspect of leadership?
JA: People in leadership roles (who are not always leaders in terms of having the necessary leadership ability) tend to overstate achieving the task at the expense of building the team or releasing the creative potential of the individuals that work with them.
John Adair has written many books on leadership, including ‘Effective Leadership’ and ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’. You can find out more at johnadair.co.uk.
One of my pet peeves is people not replying to emails. And I'd like to think I'm a reasonable person so by that I mean within a reasonable timeframe and assuming you're at work and able to do so!
I mentioned this to an esteemed colleague of mine the other day who pointed out, "There is really no excuse, it should be common courtesy to do so." Phew, it's not just me.
You can imagine my delight when I discovered that Lou D'Ambrosio, former CEO of Sears Holdings and Avaya, is also onside (I quote from Betty Liu's excellent book, "Work Smarts: What CEOs Say You Need to Know to Get Ahead").
'Single digits, low numbers' – got it?
Lou says, "When I send an email to somebody, I do expect a relatively immediate response. Responsiveness is measured in hours not days. And hours being, you know, single digits. And like low numbers."
I'm sure you can all think of an offendor. And it seems to become an epidemic, "I shall not be contacted by email, phone, letter, LinkedIn or carrier pigeon!" The very same people who have multiple contact details in their email signatures (why bother?).
We're probably all guilty of the above in some instances and for a number of valid reasons perhaps. But it's the serial 'nayrepliers' that really irritate me. And yes, you know who you are.
Remember, we're looking for single digits and low numbers. Oh, and that's hours not days. Not asking too much now, are we?
What else can you do to work in a more effective and efficient fashion?
In her brilliant book, "Work Smarts: What CEOs Say You Need to Know to Get Ahead", award-winning reporter and anchor of Bloomberg TV's 'In the Loop', Betty Liu, lists five of her favourite work smart tips.
Five killer work habits
1) "Ask questions: never be embarrassed to raise your hand and ask a question when you don't understand something — that's how you learn. Whatever the question, chances are you aren't the first and won't be the last to ask it.
2) "Don't guess: if someone asks a question, never begin your answer with, "I think..." Know the answer and deliver it with confidence. If you don't know the answer, be upfront and ask for time to find it.
3) "Look sharp: dress for the job you want. Your appearance is the first thing people notice, and always looking your best shows that you respect your work and your clients.
4) "Being on time is being late: if you wait until you get to your desk in the morning to start thinking about the day ahead, it's already too late.
5) "Prepare like a demon: there's no such thing as being over-prepared. Do your homework. Being prepared for anything and everything will give you increased confidence and make you unflappable."
All the above points are as they appear in Betty's book and from her interview with JP Morgan Vice Chair, Jimmy Lee, part of his "killer work-habit" workout.
You can find out more at betty-liu.com or @BettyIntheLoop.
More tips on working smarter
We've all come across HR technology systems when applying for jobs. But is your CV carefully tailored to the role in question, and more importantly, have you included the right keywords and phrases that match the specifications of each job you're targeting?
You've got to impress more than just the hiring manager. I asked award-winning CV writer +Sandra Ingemansen for her top five tips to beat online ATSs.
1) Formatting
Make sure you have a CV with simple formatting, meaning no use of fancy tables. This should be in Word or a plain text format. Although some technology nowadays does read and parse PDFs, it’s a hit or miss because you don’t know which ATS a company is using.
2) Section titles and position listings
Only include standard titles e.g. Qualifications, Professional Experience, Education, Skills, not titles like Career Narrative, Affiliations, Publications etc. as your CV might not be parsed correctly. There is a very specific order for writing positions and employment listings as well. If not done correctly, ATSs may not identify this correctly.
3) Spelling/typos
One of the silliest reasons jobseekers have their CVs discarded is due to spelling mistakes. Why? ATSs are sophisticated, but they’re not smart enough to understand contextual meaning if your CV is riddled with spelling mistakes and typos.
4) Keywords
It’s not just a matter of sprinkling a few keywords but the right keywords since ATSs mathematically score CVs for relevance. If you need help going about this, you can use Wordle or TagCrowd to input the job descriptions and help you figure out which keywords to incorporate. Remember to include relevant responsibilities, skills, licenses/certifications and software. Contrary to what many job seekers believe, ATSs don’t rank your CV higher because you’ve stuffed an abundance of keywords into your CV. Use skills related keywords two or three times on your CV, beginning with your qualifications summary, and that’s all.
5) Follow-up
Most importantly, don’t count on landing an interview by simply submitting your CV through an ATS. If you’re applying to a job you really want to interview for, do some company research on who the decision maker/interviewer is for that position. Call them, email them, connect with them somehow to get more information.
"Your chances for landing an interview are far more likely by using this two-pronged approach than by simply submitting your CV to the ATS 'black hole' hoping for a response," stresses Sandra.
You can find out more about Sandra a www.resume-strategies.com or follow her on Twitter @Resume911.
More leadership insight from top executive coach and psychologist, Dr. Cindy Wahler.
Hard work, while admirable, is no guarantee of success. What is the right kind of ‘heavy lifting’ that we should be doing to get ahead?
CW: All leaders should look to how they can add value and make a difference outside their identified deliverables. Perhaps this may include saving costs, improving efficiencies, enhancing employee engagement, new product development. It is easy to hang out with the usual suspects meaning your core group of peers. I would recommend being part of a wider industry network that challenges a leader’s thinking. Where they can bring back ideas from innovative leaders in the field and determine how they might adapt some of these concepts to their organisation.
What practical steps can I take to get to the next level? (we often hear about adding value to your organisation etc. but sometimes it’s not that easy to understand what we need to do)
CW: Great question. I would highly recommend leaders identify who in their organisations are the true thought leaders. Ask them to be their sponsor and request a project outside of their usual scope. Standing out by creating visibility and adopting a sponsor who is your advocate is a crucial and vital component. It is these sponsors who have a voice at the table regarding your career and potential advancement.
What qualities/competencies make for a good leader?
CW: Emotional resilience, flexibility, ability to influence and impact, innovation, ability to execute.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders and those already in leadership positions?
CW: Getting your job done is table stakes. Your greatest currency is your internal network. These leaders will play a key role in helping support your success and future career path.
And finally, if you were a CEO, what steps would you carry out to unleash leadership talent in your organisation?
CW: I would make it a number one priority by tying performance to not just fulfilment of objectives but also measuring and rewarding leaders for their leadership behaviours and ability to develop staff.
You can find out more at cindywahler.com. Cindy is a regular contributor to Forbes.com.
Do you look back on the working day and often feel that you haven't achieved as much as you can or not been productive enough?
Maybe you need to become more work smart. I asked corporate leadership expert, Dr. Cindy Wahler, for some pointers on becoming more efficient.
Three tips to smarter working
1) Delegate, delegate, delegate. Too often many do not succeed, as when they move from middle to senior management, they do not empower their staff and unfortunately ‘stay in the weeds’.
More about delegating
2) Set boundaries. Of course all things are urgent but your success depends upon your ability to push back and negotiate timelines and priorities with your manager.
3) Always ask how your tasks fit into the bigger picture. This understanding might in fact prompt you to suggest a different approach or a better way of doing things.
You can find out more at cindywahler.com. Cindy is a regular contributor to Forbes.com.
