Practical tips. Prompts to get you thinking. The odd rant.

I’ve written a lot about giving feedback, particularly in The Feedback Book. It’s an essential skill for anyone who works in a team and/or manages people in the workplace. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that that feedback isn’t just given – it’s also received. How do you feel when a colleague says, “I’d like… Read more

Investors in People (IiP) have just published their annual ‘Job exodus trends’. It makes essential reading for managers – though brace yourselves, it’s not pretty. Here’s a few headlines: 77% are stressed of respondents at work Over half are looking for another job 24% are unhappy at work The point that really stood out for… Read more

  One of Zoomly’s clients took an interesting approach to their six-pack of bite-sized workshops: they repeated the same topic, ‘How to interview potential recruits’, six times. This meant that they were able to provide essential basic training for all the managers who get involved in the hiring process. Some of them were pretty senior,… Read more

  How can you tell your team is really motivated? What are the signs that say so? Do they show enthusiasm for their work, their colleagues and the wider organisation? Is there discretionary effort – going above and beyond what’s expected (as opposed to demanded)? Are they energised and engaged? Research old and new* backs… Read more

As the end of the year gets ever nearer, many a Learning & Development professional finds themselves trying to establish the value of their efforts. Yes, they got feedback at the time (before anyone left the room if they were smart) but they know that was just the initial reaction. How to find the value… Read more

Experienced givers of feedback will know the alternative (and more widely used) name for this workplace snack. Whatever they’re called, I’m not a fan of them. I’ve lost count of the number of times this point has come up during Zoomly’s ‘How to give effective feedback’ workshops. Someone asks, “What’s so wrong with the old… Read more

Something that’s been coming up in Zoomly’s workshops recently is goals. Not in a good way; we’re talking about goals that are unclear, too vague and utterly unhelpful. Whether the topic is appraisal discussions, coaching skills for 1:1 conversations or simply giving feedback (yes, you can have a Zoomly workshop on each of those topics),… Read more

You’re working hard, getting stuff done, getting good feedback from your manager and colleagues – so promotion will surely be headed your way, right? Wrong. OK, you might be lucky: the right opportunity appears at the right time. For most people who get promoted, there’s more judgement than luck involved in getting that promotion. ‘I… Read more

You’ve completed a training course of some kind – what action do you take to ensure that new learning sticks? It’s great when people tell me how they’re using what they learned from some Zoomly training and how it’s benefitting them – and that’s because they’ve made it stick. When I ask people in organisations… Read more

At this time of year, many employers are conducting mid-year performance reviews. And many children will soon be getting their school reports. Did you ever get this comment in your school reports: “Must try harder”? I certainly did. With the passing of time and the benefit of hindsight I appreciate the intent and feel less… Read more