Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Building-better-performance-expectations.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Building-better-performance-expectations.html Ask yourself: on a scale of 1-10, 10 being high, how effective are the staff in the business? Chances are you will offer a number between 6 and 7. If extra effort is put in by the leadership that can be lifted to perhaps 7.5 maybe as high as 8 for short periods, then when the extra effort stops, as it must, performance slides back to where it was that is about 6.5. Our research states that 65% is about as good as you will get with the current set of performance and HR tools; to achieve consistently better staff performance, without extraordinary leadership efforts requires much better thinking about how staff are supported to be successful and perform as well as they are able. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/One-more-time-how-do-we-motivate-people.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/One-more-time-how-do-we-motivate-people.html How to motivate people? The hoary old chestnut that never seems to be resolved and on which is written so much I am wary of contributing to the confusions and misinformation. It is not really possible to ‘motivate’ someone rather you offer them reasons why they could or should motivate themselves. It does sound a little obvious since each person has select and very exclusive to their own mind and feelings. The term ‘motivation’ in business often means something like: Get people performing better than they are now. That may or may not involve ‘motivation’, but it is surprising the discussions that occur around the issue of ‘how to get them going?’ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Lasting-gains-in-staff-performance.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Lasting-gains-in-staff-performance.html Leadership does make a difference. Leadership pays back in many ways, first better business results, second, people more satisfied, more stable in their jobs and obviously more committed to doing the right things at the right time. For these reasons the search is on for the holy grail of leadership, what is it, how to do it, and how to train people so they do it more often and better than they do now? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Toward-a-better-understanding-and-application-of-engagement.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Toward-a-better-understanding-and-application-of-engagement.html The improved model of the link between staff behaviour and strategy leads to a sharper and different view of engagement based on engagement as visualization. That is people guided to ‘see’ themselves acting out the ideals needed in the role to succeed and achieve the goals and KPIs. This is exactly the same notion as understood and sued in sports. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/What-makes-OPD-unique-and-different.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/What-makes-OPD-unique-and-different.html Good question. Answer: It is a better model of the link between staff behaviours (human performance) and business strategy and goals. It is the best possible model in fact, it is the only way staff behavior can be linked directly to strategy. So what? If your thinking is clearer, do you act more effectively? Of course you do. OPD has answered the question: How is staff behaviours linked directly to business strategy and goals? Having answered the question, the OPD-SHRM system then provides the consulting support and web based administration systems that enable every team leader to apply the model to their team. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/but-what-do-I-do.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/but-what-do-I-do.html All this theory is fine, but what does a team leader actually do to develop improved human performance? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Leadership-and-people-versus-task.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Leadership-and-people-versus-task.html Over the years there has been discussion on the leadership issue of people versus task. What exactly was the balance, when should the leader be concerned about people and when about task, and what is the difference between these two sorts of activity. The OPD model does not eliminate this distinction between people versus task, but it does give it clear and definite focus. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Why-do-I-need-a-theory-of-leadership.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Why-do-I-need-a-theory-of-leadership.html We ‘see’ via our minds not our eyes. We need understand ‘theory’ and ‘model’ as the conceptual template via which we actually ‘see’ situations. The clearer we ‘see’ the more effective we act: So better theory and models enables us to act more effectively. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Aligning-minds-and-what-that-means.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/Aligning-minds-and-what-that-means.html If we are to align staff actions with goals and strategies then it is essential that we understand how to align minds. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/why-we-do-what-we-do.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Human-Resources/3412/why-we-do-what-we-do.html An overview of the key factors underlying the causality of human emotion and conduct.