Are you able to give a little extra?
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Author: Bal Bansal
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
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Thank you for staying…
I’m not talking about a hotel stay – where at the end, they say thank you for staying with us. I’m talking about work.
If you are a manager, people manager… when was the last time you said to someone – Thank you for staying.
Bal – do you think people are naturally looking to leave?
Not naturally, but let’s be honest, most people, are looking for alternatives. Want to do better. Want to move on. Yes, there will be a section of the workforce that want to stay… however, this thought was provoked within me, when a few weeks ago, someone was leaving… and we were like, oh… we’ll miss you, etc.. and then someone else stood there, and we jokingly said to them – thank you for staying!
Is everyone looking to leave? Do you really want some people to stay?
Well, your top performers, those who are doing well for your organisation and those you want to stay – should be thanked for staying.
I’m not saying, you go out and say thank you to everyone for staying. Choose wisely. Target the individuals whom you want to stay.
Studies show that there’s a high percentage of high performers that will not like becoming comfortable. They want to be challenged. They want to experience new things. They will look for opportunities – and if they don’t receive them, then guess what – they will look elsewhere for them. They could even move continent!
That’s right – not just moving job, but moving state/region, moving country… and 28% moving continent!
Ok, but in a time frame – what’s the likely hood of a top performer leaving?
1 in 5! – intend to leave in the next six months!!
So just imagine what saying thank you for staying, could do to them….
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
This week, I was invited to give a talk about Leadership at the CIO London Event.
It was a fab event, thoroughly enjoyed it… and sharing one of the slides as my Friday thought…
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4 day work week anyone?
This morning, as you do… I’m having my English Breakfast Tea, scrolling on my social media and noticed that Nico Orie shared a brilliant article on LinkedIn.
Firstly, go follow Nico on LinkedIn, and secondly – you got to read the article he shared… for those wondering what it was – it was that Microsoft in Japan, trialed a 4 day work week, which meant, the employees had every Friday off.
What this meant was staggering! Productivity increased by 39.9%! 23% less electricity being used!
Here’s the link to Nico’s post – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicoorie_microsoft-japan-experimented-with-a-three-day-activity-6596854917795852289-81UI
And here’s a link to the actual article that showed the information – https://www.inc.com/betsy-mikel/microsoft-japan-experimented-with-4-day-work-weeks-to-combat-overwork-results-were-pretty-incredible.html
So I started to read up a little more – it seems like there’s a number of companies that are trialing this 4 day week, with a Friday off…. and all the results show an increase in productivity. Why?
Because – firstly, this allows many employees to do things on a Friday that they struggle with during the week – for example, seeing the doctor, going to the bank (though many do online banking, a few still go to a bank), having the car MOT’d (if you’re in the UK, that’s mandatory), and many more things that you delay to the weekend or would have to do after work.
Also, it changes the mental attitude. Most of us complain about how short the weekend is. Now… you’ve essentially got an extra day! – the whole work life balance just got that little bit better!
Will we all move to adopt the 4 day working week – I don’t think it’ll happen overnight, but can definitely some companies and industries moving to this model. Some won’t be able to – because the way they are structured or how their business models work.
I’d like to take this opportunity, on this Monday morning to show my support for a 4 day working week! – And let the productivity increase commence!!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Compliments and Criticism… take both.
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Are you testing and learning?
So… you want to come to the first Think Lean and Get Digital Workshop?
You should! – It’ll not only be informative, educational and fun… but you’ll be taking away a lot more than you bargain for! – Yes there is a charge for it… and I can inform you now, your Return On Investment will pay dividends!
Okay – one thing I will talk about is innovation. I’ll explain how important it is to test and learn.
Yes, that’s all great Bal, but have you got any real life examples?
Yes. Yes I do.
Recently, the fast food chain, KFC cause a massive stir on Social Media.
That’s right. Because of the above. Someone took a photo of this banner in Glasgow, and shared it on Social Media. Before you knew it, it went viral and people were sharing it, liking it and talking about it.
80 piece popcorn bucket for £5.99 is a bargain. Well and truly a bargain. So much so… it’s a deal that many would take up in an instant!
Now, what’s this got to do with ‘innovation’ or ‘test and learn’.
Because later on in the day, KFC put this message out…
That’s right. KFC were testing it out in 10 restaurants in Glasgow – and seeing how it went – would do a nationwide release.
2 things here…
- They’re testing the market – yes, 10 restaurants… yes, in Glasgow… yes it’s only for a short period of time – but the key thing is to test. Now as this got out to the rest of the country and the world – KFC knew they were onto a winner.
- What’s the worse that could happen? – people don’t buy it… some people even made funny comments such as “are they actually going to count the 80 lol”. To be fair, I thought that’s a great comment. How are they going to actually ensure there’s 80 in each on. Obviously it’ll be done at the factory and pre-packaged… no?
So… test and learn. Give it a go – educated go…. see what the customers say, and if there’s hunger for it (no pun intended) they’ll let you know. But the important thing is… you’ll learn from it!
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Finally… You can learn too!
Many folk have suggested… ‘Bal, why don’t you hold some workshops, or events where we can learn a little more from you about digital and this thing called, lean, which you’re always going on about’.
Okay. I will. Here you go folks –
I’m going to finally do it. Will have my first workshop around Christmas time, focussing on a few ‘Lean’ subjects – mainly centred around the customer. And then how digital can pay huge dividends for you – and why it’s important to innovate.
Will share more details soon – if you are interested, please reach out to me, and I’ll put your name on the list. Only going to have 20 in the first workshop – and I’ll let you know the cost.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Do you love what you do?
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Can you really disconnect?
This week – I’ve ‘officially’ been out of the office. That means, I ‘officially’ booked some days as holiday from work, and put my out of office on – also let people know i’m on holiday and if they need anything, then let me know either before or save it till after.
But can we really disconnect?
Ok – I haven’t checked my emails. That’s one rule I made and thought to myself, if I respond to one, i’ll respond to most of them – and then, what’s the point on being on holiday?
Then, on Monday (I think it was) I received several WhatsApp messages… from Anna. Anna had a number of questions and wanted some help with something at work. I let her know i’m out of office – but the ‘inner self’ suggested a few options and suggested a few things, and then said let’s catch up when I’m back.
This made me think – and joked with Anna – maybe, I need to put my WhatsApp on ‘holiday mode’. I’ve silenced many groups (work mainly…) which i’m part of – so they don’t ping.
But in this very connected world – it’s becoming more and more of a blur… so where is the work life balance?
It’s difficult to find that balance. There will be times when work needs you most! (that’s probably most of the time!) but you, and only you, need to focus on life. And then, you’ll be able to figure out the balance. Somehow.
There’s no magic formula that I’m aware of… or is there?
No. There isn’t. So there’s ways you can have a more balanced life… and some things I’ve learnt to ensure you are switched off…
- Have 2 phones. That’s right – switch your ‘work’ phone off. Give one or two folk in your team your other number in case if the building is burning down (or other serious emergencies).
- On just holidays, but a friend once told me ‘Respect The Weekends’ – this is your time, to disconnect, re-focus and relax.
- There was a great LinkedIn post by Cristina Ghetti (I’ll let you search and read it) about being away from work, etc… and it’s a fantastic post because you know what… work will always be there.
So, whilst things are figureoutable – make sure you have time to relax. I’m back in the office tomorrow – so if you’ve emailed me, yes – I’ll aim to reply tomorrow. Till then… I’m off to spend some time with the family!