South Wales Business Review Volume 5 Issue 3

Adolygiad Busnes De Cymru

Business Unboxed Rethinking Work Culture for the 21st Century

Dr Paul Thomas

Saying Goodbye to Command and Control Coastal Housing Group

Engaging Employees to Improve Service

Are Your People Digitally Literate?

inside | SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

3 Editorial:

BUSINESS UNBOXED Rethinking Work Culture for the 21st Century

4 The Big Interview: DR PAUL THOMAS on Saying Goodbye to Command and Control

8 Think Piece:

Summer/Autumn 2014 Volume 5 Issue 3

16 Industry View:

COASTAL HOUSING GROUP Engaging Employees to Improve Service

18 Industry View:

20 News and Events 22 Books:

THE THREE CAREER QUESTIONS BY BRUCE BLACKSTONE HAZEN

EMPOWERMENT WORKS! 24 Next Issue: Business lessons from the HOW COOL IS CYMRU? Hospitality Industry What’s the Business Value of ‘Brand Wales’?

ARE YOUR PEOPLE DIGITALLY LITERATE?

10 Think-Piece:

WORK, REST AND PLAY A Space for Creativity

14 Insight:

SHARED SPACE The Rise and Rise of Coworking Culture Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format (e.g. Welsh, large print or text file for use with a text reader), please email swbr@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk Fformatau eraill Os hoffech y ddogfen hon mewn fformat arall (e.e. Cymraeg, print mawr neu ffeil tesun i’w ddefnyddio gyda darllenydd tesun), anfonwch e-bost i: swbr@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk ISSN 2049-5544 Disclaimer: The articles in this publication represent the views of the authors, not those of the University. The University does not accept responsibility for the contents of articles by individual authors. Please contact the editor if you have further queries.

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Registered Charity Number / Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig 1149535 © UWTSD 2014. All rights reserved/ cedwir pob hawl.

Image: ©SiuWing/Shutterstock­­

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Post:

Lucy Griffiths

South Wales Business Review Adolygiad Busnes De Cymru Swansea Business School Ysgol Fusnes Abertawe University of Wales Trinity Saint David Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant Ty Bryn Glas Campus Campws Ty Bryn Glas High Street / Stryd Fawr Swansea / Abertawe SA1 1NE

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU |

PRODUCTION TEAM Editor: Lucy Griffiths Editorial Board: Kathryn Flynn Samantha Morgan Christopher Thomas Design & Print: UWTSD TEL

Editorial: Business Unboxed Rethinking Work Culture for the 21st Century

Selected Contributors:  Professor Andrea Liggins

Former Dean of the University’s Faculty of Art and Design and Director of Creative Industries Research and Innovation Centre, Professor Liggins has research interests in photography and the relationship between the arts and sciences. Recent research projects include an exploration of the workspaces of creative practitioners.

 Dr Paul Thomas

Paul is known by the BBC as ‘The Business Doctor’ and is an experienced and respected thought leader, author and trail blazer on matters relating to change, organisational development and structures that allow people to thrive and flourish within 21st century organisations.

 Jacqui Jones

Jacqui is the Programme Director for the Leisure, Events, Tourism and Sport Portfolio of programmes within the Faculty of Business and Management.

Her vast range of industry contacts has enabled her to assist hundreds of UWTSD students in accessing international placement opportunities in a range of leading global companies.

Lucy Griffiths Editor

In our modern economy, where human labour has been transformed by technology and where knowledge and services play as important a role as physical products, are our notions of how organisations can and should operate also shifting?

In this issue of the South Wales Business Review we’ll be unpicking this question, and exploring whether the industrial age’s cultural legacy of hierarchical organisations and rigid working practices and environments is still fit for purpose in our post-industrial (or neo-industrial depending on your perspective) economy.

Dr Paul Thomas discusses his ‘Simplexity’ concept as a response to outmoded command and control management cultures in our big interview on pages 4-6.

Jacqui Jones considers the importance of empowerment and how this can be embedded in our education system on pages 18-19.

The importance of digital literacy to 21st century work culture is highlighted by Chris Thomas on pages 8&9 and we explore a variety of different approaches to work and working environments, including an interview with Coastal Housing Group’s Director of HR and Organisational Development, Caroline Belasco, and a fascinating exploration of creative workspaces by Professor Andrea Liggins.

I hope this issue gets you thinking about the culture of work in your organisation – join the conversation on Twitter by tweeting us @SWBusReview, and look out for our next issue later in the year, where we’ll be asking whether ‘Brand Wales’ is working to support Welsh businesses.

Lucy

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The Big Interview: Dr Paul Thomas on Saying Goodbye to Command and Control

We recently met up with Dr Paul Thomas, known by the BBC as ‘The Business Doctor’ and respected thought leader, author and trail blazer on matters relating to change, organisational development and structures to discuss how 21st century organisations and workplaces are transforming.

PT: The majority of people in any organisation are hard working, loyal, innovative, creative, passionate and committed – except, it seems, for the eight hours when they are at work! Many of those attributes disappear as soon as they enter the workplace, because when they are in work they have to be supervised, controlled, and told what to do via a myriad of rules, regulations, procedures and policies - but why?

supportive leadership, not management.

The challenge lies with the notion and mindset of managers, the what and why of teaching ‘management’ from school age upwards and of management itself as a concept. The endless systems, processes and structures and a manager’s need to control the how, not just why things are done, all hinder the type of organisation that we need to be today. Disagree? Then just ask your workers if they are excited about coming to work each day. Then ask your managers the same question and you’ll probably get a very different response.

It’s 19th century thinking and it simply doesn’t work or make sense in the 21st century. For modern organisations the challenge is to trust staff, treat them like adults not children, and have human,

Indeed, working for the past 15 years as an academic and visiting ‘consultant’ in businesses around the globe, I’ve experienced a fair share of line-managers who say (and I wish I had a pound for

SWBR: What do you see as the key challenges facing organisations today?

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every time I heard it) ‘Yes, I know it doesn’t work, but it’s the process,’ or, ‘We have to do it this way as it’s the system’ not realising that we can change the ‘system’ to be much more conducive to the 21st century workplace. Another significant challenge for today’s business leaders is to realise that the change is already happening, there are now many examples which clearly show there is more than one way of leading and designing the modern organisation, we just need to listen, see and act.

So the first challenge is to re-educate, realign, or reallocate the majority of managers, team leaders and supervisors who know that the system, rules, processes and procedures aren’t working and don’t actually help. For whatever reason, there are still managers who

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“For modern organisations the challenge is to trust staff, treat them like adults not children, and have human, supportive leadership, not management.�

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| SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW cannot or will not amend, alter or bypass current procedures and, instead wait for some magic solution to rescue them from the mad management virus.

Those of you who were around in the 80s and 90s will be able to remember the revolution that took place amongst frontline workers and the ‘shift of power’ in the unions. Now, however, the revolution must be in the boardroom, and within the ranks of senior managers.

So my second challenge to all senior managers, directors and CEOs is to give up power and control, to swap it for results, empowerment, engagement and influence. Great organisations and leaders have a clear sense of purpose. If the purpose is clear, then humans become passionate, and passionate employees drive outputs and results. It is quite simple, but still a huge challenge for some traditional thinkers.

them to ask permission to go to the toilet! Then, of course, allowing them to go home at a certain time. The problem with this is that if adults are treated like children they will act like children.

We need to stop ‘buying’ the time of people in companies, and concentrate on buying talent instead. Many people working today already view themselves as working at a vocation – a lifestyle that they are passionate about. These are people who have talent and people skills, and are unspoilt by the notions of conforming to out-dated principles such as management.

You only have to look at the creative industries, such as fashion or design, where people work passionately with common goals in mind, to see what difference there is in how people work together and are treated. I appreciate that some may see that in a different context, where you have a bin man or a factory worker, for example, the strict management of staff is necessary. But

“Great organisations and leaders have a clear sense of purpose. If the purpose is clear, then humans become passionate, and passionate employees drive outputs and results.”

SWBR: Are traditional approaches to management fit for purpose in 21st century organisations?

PT: DNA Definitive UK, founded in 2003, is a collaborative network with key advisors along with economy enhancing bodies such as industry associations, private enterprise, higher education and government. I had always argued as part of the DNA group, that we must encourage and support managers to become critical about managerial thinking and practice because, for the most part, managing today just doesn’t stack up.

Managers or should I say ‘management’ the thing we do rather than the people who do it, tend to treat people like children, telling them when to come in, what to do, even, at times, requiring 6 | Vol 5 Issue 3 2014

this is not the case; these people and job functions should have just as much right and opportunity to be involved in the activity and direction of the company, and the role they play within it. Bin men as with any other job, are proud of what they accomplish each day, have pride in what they do, just like a nurse, a teacher, or a factory worker.

We all migrate towards jobs (if possible) that really are of interest to us. If we do a job that inspires and motivates us, the passion and energy we devote to it is evident and has significant impact. We should be employing talent seekers not HR Managers with this in mind, so they can grow this passion not enforce out of date, energy sapping rules, policies and procedures. We should have talent keepers, not team leaders, or supervisors.

Only when we change these titles do we start to see the real roles leaders at all levels play in a successful company or organisation.

SWBR: How can organisations respond to drivers of change in their environment?

PT: Responding to change is quite simple. The key is engagement, trust and supportive frontline staff, the removal of hierarchy, so speed of reaction increases, and the acceptance of failure when moving forward. Most organisations want to assess, analyse, monitor, research and plan change. By doing so, they remain firmly in the past. Trust in the frontline to drive forward and implement change and get the organisation to support this approach.

Start with having real ‘agile working’ and remove core working hours.

Introduce flexible shifts that are output not timesheet driven. We have been in a 24/7 culture for a number of years, therefore we need to lose the notion that we are buying time from workers. We are not. We need to buy talent, speed, adaptability and creativity. Getting staff engaged means allowing them to take a little more control of how and what they want to do. Set the ‘needs’ of the company/service through open ‘opt-in’ debates and let them get on with it.

Don’t micro manage! Micro managing will not only increase harmful stress levels for you and the workforce but will slow down the ability to change, adapt and meet the ever growing demands on resources, with resulting poor delivery of services as seen today in some customer services.

SWBR: What will the successful organisations of the future be doing differently?

PT: Great, high performing organisations have a clear understanding of what each department/section/person does for the rest of the organisation through conversations, not emails or policies or documents. They then simply ask, ‘How does each person’s contribution help our current customers and gain us new customers?’ Create truly flexible areas of work, where team members can sit and work together, outside of ‘formal’ team roles, and mix it up.

What we need in times of high pressure and uncertainty is to be able to rely on

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU | real flexibility from all staff. Flexible staff create mutual trust as everyone needs to talk and communicate about what they are doing, where and why. By doing this, new meaning, understanding and co-operation increases, along with innovation. Then remove break-time, lunch-time and sickness policies, and all other petty rules. Companies in the future and even now, need to realise that they have to throw out the rulebook and policy manuals and put the people who make them back on the frontline so they can add real value.

The concept that ‘work+fun’ creates a better employee, increased output, greater job satisfaction and less negative issues will be firmly in practice in the future. HR will become the OMG people (Officer of Marginal Gains) and lead by example.

We see it already but in the future all companies will have an informal relaxation area to have ‘me-time’ and ‘team-time’.

With increasing stresses from the external environment it has never been more important to have time, space and the ability to communicate informally. Informal ‘rest’ times are the most productive ways of re-energising staff, removing damaging stress and worry and allowing greater effectiveness. We are not machines, and allowing people to exchange information in a human way, when they want to, rather than when they have, to will increase a company’s rate of innovation, effectiveness and sustainability.

The future is already happening in some organisations, and I’ve seen it working, with no talking about hours or clocking people in but asking instead for their commitment, their passion, and ideas on how to make things better, faster and more pleasing to the customer whilst reducing costs or/and increasing profits.

In the future there will be evidence and accepted knowledge that longterm sustainability and success will come from the frontline, not from management or hierarchy. It will be as a result of encouraging diversity, trust, empowerment, and, of course, democracy. Promoting leadership from the ‘bottom’ will help everyone engage and deliver, far more than in traditional top-down, manager led companies.

The advantage already exists in the organisation.

Have no meetings, ban them, along with managers, I know this is radical stuff for many, but if necessary keep meetings to a maximum of 10 minutes for gettogethers. People at all levels of the organisation, but especially managers, must stop doing any activity that is a waste of work time, customers’ time, or simply anything that does not add value. Government is a prime example of poor structure, onerous meeting culture, confused processes, wasted talent and misguided efforts. The drive to do things urgently to save Welsh manufacturing is off-put by the need of the civil servants and politicians to protect their positions and minimise risk and comebacks. It has simply focused inwards and is not output driven in action.

According to our research, the need to let all employees have the freedom to work the way they want to will be a huge gain in performance in the near future.

Companies must make work something they do, rather than a place they go.

SWBR: What three key things can organisations do right now to ensure they are fit for the future?

PT: Trust staff, build relations throughout the organisation and drive the purpose motive, are my three key things. When we start to question how managers at all levels manage, the task of removing the traditional ‘role’ of manager can become extremely contentious. However, getting the managers to drive purpose, not process is the key. From this simple

“According to our research, the need to let all employees have the freedom to work the way they want to will be a huge gain in performance in the near future.” start, we start to see relationships form.

In trusting staff and building relationships most realise that their managerial roles are not necessarily adding value to the ‘customer’, but simply creating more bureaucracy, rules and procedures, which can be counter-productive, and cost extra time and money. The results are incredible with staff energised, passionate and loving the time in work, making the purpose motive real.

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Think Piece: Are Your People Digitally Literate?

Christopher Thomas Christopher Thomas, Lecturer in Information Systems and e-Business at Swansea Business School reflects on the growing need for digital literacy in organisations in Wales, and how we can close the skills gap.

Image: ©SiuWing/Shutterstock­­

Policy documents on a digital Wales have been produced by the Welsh Assembly with gathering impetus.

‘Delivering a Digital Wales’ (2010) sets out the Welsh Government’s agenda for improving access to digital technologies and firmly embedding digital skills into the school curriculum.

Huw Lewis, Minister for Education and Skills responded to the ICT Steering Group’s report in March 2014, that digital literacy is now “a key theme under ‘Wider Skills’. Digital Literacy (DL) also links in with two of the Welsh Government’s nine policy statements on Higher Education: Employability and Exploiting New Technologies.

Clearly the Welsh Government is keen to improve the digital literacy skills of the nation…

The term Digital Literacy, now being championed by governments is, however, an ambiguous term. Perhaps the simplest definition of digital literacy is “those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society” (JISC, 2011). Having kept the definition deliberately broad JISC goes on to include several specific factors bringing together key elements such as ICT literacy: adopting, adapting and using digital devices, applications and services; information literacy: finding, interpreting, evaluating, managing and sharing information; media literacy: 8 | Vol 5 Issue 3 2014

critically reading and creatively producing academic and professional communications in a range of media; but they also include lifelong learning skills: studying and learning effectively in technology-rich environments, both formal and informal; communication and collaboration: participating in digital networks for learning and research; professional development in terms of managing digital reputation and online identity.

Many have argued that today’s generation of young people, immersed in a world full of networked and digital technologies learn differently to previous generations. However, a number of recent reports have pointed out that not all young people are so familiar and confident in the use of new technologies.

The idea that society could be divided into two groups – ‘digital natives’ who grew up with digital technology from birth and ‘digital immigrants’ who were already socialised before digital technology arrived on the scene – is now largely discredited as they have no basis on empirical evidence.

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How ‘Google Literate’ Are You? Find a specific file type…

Search within a date range…

How many of these simple techniques for better ‘Googling’ did you know?

You can search for a specific file type (e.g. PDF, PowerPoint, Word Document, JPEG) by including Filetype: followed by the relevant file extension in your search.

So, if you wanted to search for a PowerPoint presentation you would use: Filetype:ppt Include two dates with two full stops between them to search within that date range.

So, if you wanted to search for web pages or documents posted between 2010 and 2014 you would include this in your search: 2010..2014

Use Google as a calculator and converter

Simply type calculations in the search box and Google will do most simple calculations for you! Google also has a weights and measures, and currency converter that will convert for you just by typing the conversion you want into the search box.

Exclude a word of phrase from your search

If your search results keep showing something unrelated, you can exclude words or phrases from your search results by placing a minus sign before the word. So for example if you wanted to exclude Wikipedia entries from your search results you would add: -wikipedia

Get a definition

Simply search ‘define:’ followed by the word or phrase you want to define and Google will provide you with a definition! Define:Education.

There are many, many more hints and tips for better Google searches to be found online…just Google ‘Google search tips’ for more.

White (2012) instead makes a distinction between digital residents and digital visitors. The resident is an individual who lives a percentage of their life online. The web supports the projection of their identity and facilitates relationships. The visitor is an individual who uses the web as a tool in an organised manner whenever the need arises. Digital literacy skills are clearly also becoming increasingly important in work and business. With the abundance of data available and being continually collected by organisations we interact with, all citizens need educating in the uses of data and in the ways it can cross public and private boundaries.

Ethical and security issues need to be understood along with managing one’s digital identity.

Digital Literacy can also help people make positive contributions to public life through citizen journalism, healthcare, and community research projects.

According to the government agency e-skills, the potential economic benefit of getting everyone in the UK online is more than £22billion.

If businesses exploited ICT fully they could create an extra £47 billion GVA over the next 5 to 7 years. (e-skills, 2012). Employers now expect graduates to know how to locate, assess, and interpret information from a wide variety of information sources so information can be utilized for knowledge-building and decision-making purposes. Martha Lane Fox launched the new UK government’s ‘Networked Nation’ manifesto in July 2010, research in support of the manifesto found that more than 90% of all new jobs require basic internet skills.

Digital literacy is identified as a high level skill (JISC 2011) which the UK needs to compete in a global market. Digital literacy is therefore central to the success of many of our business and a focus on digital inclusion can also support social justice agendas.

Employers can often assume that younger employees are immersed in digital culture and have all the necessary digital skills to be digitally productive.

However, ask yourself a simple question: do you and all your employees know how to search the internet - efficiently?

We all use search engines but do we get the results we need? An interesting article ‘Do your students know how to search?’ in the website www.edudemic. com, although aimed at the classroom is equally relevant for the boardroom. It explains some of the finer techniques of

searching using quotation marks, plus and minus signs and full stops. For more info, check out our quick guide to better search technique (above). Also the article makes you aware of ‘filter bubbles’: the system search engines use to filter your search results based on your previous search preferences. This means that two individuals searching using the same key words will get a different set of results.

The ability to access quality data quickly and efficiently is what can give companies an edge, and this is just one example of how true digital literacy can help businesses in a competitive marketplace.

So how can you make sure your employees are digitally literate? There are any number of ways to encourage digital literacy in the workplace, whether through in-house knowledge-sharing and training (how about a buddy system or hints and tips sharing through internal communications channels?), or through formal external training (check out the workshops offered by Software Alliance Wales at http://softwarealliancewales. com ).

Whatever you do, it’s important to keep up with the pace of change – and that means developing an organisational culture where time spent learning is seen as an important contributor to the company’s success.

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Think-Piece: Work, Rest and Play – A Space for Creativity

Professor Andrea Liggins In 2012 I had the privilege of photographing renowned illustrators, such as Quentin Blake and Ronald Searle, in their work environments in Europe and the U.S.A, for a research project and book Making Great Illustration. I was also funded to explore their creative processes, and particularly how they arrange the space around them to help with that creativity. With 40 years of working in the creative industries and education I hadn’t realised how important my workspace was to me, taking it for granted until a visitor would comment, ‘what an interesting office’.

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Facilitated by European Funding through the Creativity and Innovation in MicroEnterprises (CIME) project, I used the opportunity of meeting with these illustrators to explore the contribution that a working environment makes to creativity.

In all, 30 Illustrators were interviewed and photographed; some were managing studios employing up to 50 artists and designers, others were sole traders.

Some spaces were cluttered, others pristine and orderly, the studios ranged from a converted factory in Barcelona to the box room of a terraced house in London.

In spite of the differences patterns emerged. In each studio there was a space set up for creative work, which was separated from the conventional office, or business work.

For those using computers for their creative practice (usually using an Apple Mac) a separate computer for their business dealings such as emails and accounts was used (usually a PC), with as much distance as possible between the two but sometimes in tiny studios this was only at each end of a desk.

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“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” Pablo Picasso

Javier Mariscal, who designed the corporate ID of the Barcelona Olympics in his huge warehouse in Barcelona - an eclectic mix of high tec equipment and objects of curiosity.

A shared space for several creatives in Barcelona including a television producer, graphic designers and illustrators - big enough for separate work areas and a pool table.

Collaborative working space with open spaces and zoned areas for creative work, rest, and play.

All the creatives’ spaces were characterised by having an escape, a place to rest, to sit and chat, to drink coffee. In shared spaces this encouraged the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Most illustrators interviewed stressed the importance of play in the creative process. Javier Mariscal, renowned for the design of the corporate identity of the Barcelona Olympics, said it simply “It is very important to play, play, play.” Pablo Picasso also suggested a fundamental element of creativity. “Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up”.

football. However, it is this idea of play that can be incorporated into the work place, diverting the mind to a different less formalized activity. For the larger companies with research departments, utilizing the space for more relaxed collective and inclusive ‘think tanks’ for all staff is an opportunity to capture the ideas of others who may not have the opportunity to express them. This provides the company with a completely different perspective, and is far better than the isolated suggestion box. In smaller offices some ‘play’ projects can take place in the ‘rest’ zone. There are many internet sites that will help businesses find creative thinking and

The informality enabled lateral thinking and the early discussion of ideas in a ‘safe’ environment. It is often the formality of the boardroom that can stifle or kill the delicate fledging of an idea; ideas need to develop a substance before they face the real world of feasibility studies and market research.

Some of the larger illustration studios followed the ideas of Google and the British drinks company Innocent, in having definite space set aside for games and play. Not every company is able or wishes to find room for table tennis or

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practical projects, many of these creative thinking ‘games’ involve techniques such as ‘random input’ or ‘reverse thinking’.

These three zones, however small, of Work, Rest and Play, can be set apart in a multitude of ways, through the decor and with the clever use of lighting, even if it is using the distance from a window, moving from the energizing effects of daylight through to a more subdued restful space.

The most noticeable impression gained through visiting all the illustrators’ studios was that every one of them contained a collection of oddities, a ‘cabinet of curiosities’, sometimes in a cabinet, but mostly on windowsills and shelves. These ramshackle collections which provided sources of stimulation, consisted for example, of found natural objects or clockwork toys, some of financial value, some sentimental, others with no value at all, other than their incongruity. It is this factor that elicits the comments from visitors to my office, they ignore the mountains of paperwork and the filing cabinets, and instead focus on the assortment of old cameras, the ceramic pieces, an old school metal water-jug and fire-bucket. Pictures on the walls and pinned to shelving also adds to the interest.

The need for creativity and innovation is not confined to the creative industries. During a recession and the emergence from it, is usually when industry has the greatest need for re-generation and change management.

The ideas presented here although based on the studios of artists may have some currency in other office spaces, and small changes in the work environment could promote greater changes in working practices, beneficial to both the business and the people working within them.

One of the meeting spaces and ‘rest’ areas in Javier Mariscal’s huge design studio 12 | Vol 5 Issue 3 2014

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Insight: Shared Space

The Rise and Rise of Coworking Culture You’ve probably noticed the rise of the coworking space in recent years.

These spaces – and I call them spaces because they are a challenge to our traditional notions of ‘offices’ – allow several individuals or small companies to work alongside each other in a shared space, often at a lower cost than setting up their own premises.

Coworking isn’t just about saving money, however. The sense of community and the access to skills and ideas those who use them have can gain them new business, spawn partnerships, or simply offer a more inspiring place to work than they could have achieved on their own.

There are a growing number of such spaces in South Wales, including Welsh ICE near Caerphilly, the Indycube chain, which has more than ten coworking spaces across South Wales, and Desk Den and Tech Hub in Swansea.

Gathering together groups of people with complementary skills to create industry clusters is another approach to coworking. Swansea’s Tech Hub, for example, is part of an international network of coworking spaces for tech start-ups that has bases in cities with a high concentration of technology-based companies including Bangalore, Berlin and Bucharest.

One of the most important factors that coworking spaces develop is a culture of collaboration rather than competition, with start-ups that could potentially be competing with each other choosing to work together to create better products and services, and often more successful companies.

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The success of coworking spaces is often dependent on the creation of an environment that people want to work in – something better than they would have access to at home. This means creating spaces that allow for both concentration and collaboration, and access to facilities such as high speed broadband, printing and copying, and usually free coffee!

There is also a ‘come and go as you please’ culture which means users can be flexible about the hours they work to meet their own personal work patterns or family commitments.

Coworking spaces are designed to offer welcoming and inspiring spaces with opportunities for networking, meetings, individual working and areas for eating and relaxation, and, as they need to attract users often provide some of the best examples of innovative work space design that any company could replicate.

Key features are oopen plan spaces with soft seating and games areas for relaxation, and hi tech, hi spec flexible hot desk spaces and moveable furniture to allow for events and meetings.

Whatever your company size or location, there are lessons to be learned from the design of co-working spaces, and if you’re currently trying to run a small business from a cramped home office, there are often free taster days on offer, so why not give co-working a try?

Coworking Links swansea.techhub.com thedeskden.co.uk welshice.org indycube.com

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Industry View: Coastal Housing Group

Engaging Employees to Improve Service

Maggie Inman

Caroline Belasco

Dr Maggie Inman from Swansea Business School recently met up with Caroline Belasco, Director of HR & Organisational Development, Coastal Housing Group to find out more about the unique approach to employee engagement that put them in he UK’s top 25 non-profits to work for.

MI: Can you tell us a bit of about the company?

CB: It is a not for profit organisation providing a public service. Coastal is a registered social landlord providing affordable homes to those living in the City and County of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire. It is a housing group formed from the merger in 2008 of Swansea Housing and Dewi Sant Housing Associations.

Pictured: Coastal Housing’s roof garden for employees, complete with beach huts.

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MI: What makes the culture of Coastal Housing unique?

CB: Decisions being made by staff at all levels, work being delegated ‘up’ to senior staff, high levels of trust, no blame culture and embracing hidden talents. It is underpinned by the Vanguard Method of Systems Thinking with a Leadership style that supports this.

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MI: How do you ensure staff engage with this culture?

MI: How do you set direction for your employees?

CB: There is a broad Corporate Plan.

The leadership team cascades the broad objectives to their teams. Teams then act to fulfil these in the way they feel is appropriate. The team decides how to deliver the service.

MI: Can you explain what these involve?

CB: Staff at the front line are expected and trusted to make decisions that impact on customers every day. It is the manager’s role to make sure staff have the tools to do their job and remove any blockages which prevent them from doing it. For example many staff are given credit cards which they use for what they need to go about their work without asking permission from a manager. We don’t spend time dwelling on mistakes.

We encourage staff to ‘have a go’, then reflect on it, learn from any mistakes and move on.

MI: Is there a ‘best’ way of doing things in your company?

CB: No. There is no best practice; it’s what is right for each individual customer and right for our business. We expect all staff to make judgement calls based on their knowledge and experience on an everyday basis that will affect people’s lives. We regularly review our systems to add more value to the customer and to remove any blockages that slow up the process/service.

MI: Can you give SWBR an example of how things have changed in the way you work?

CB: Yes. Several years ago it used to take approximately six weeks for a new client to be approved for the housing register if they qualify. It now takes approximately thirty minutes on the phone, with no paperwork. We constantly work hard to remove ‘waste’ in the system to speed up the service.

MI: Why did Coastal Housing decide to move away from a more traditional, topdown approach to work?

CB: We wanted to provide exceptional service delivery. By empowering staff, they can be innovative and flexible in how they deliver a high quality service.

CB: We recruit for attitude. Most of our new staff are recruited in to our housing service team. We can then assess what areas they respond to particularly well and what skills they have, such that we can work with them and encourage them to move on to suitable opportunities in Coastal, whether that is a new role or new projects where they can make a real difference. We want staff to work in the area that they enjoy and have a talent for.

MI: What do you anticipate will be the key drivers for change in the future and how will you ensure continued employee engagement?

CB: The ever increasing need to be able to be flexible to meet the changing needs of the business, and to have staff that are skilled such that they can adapt quickly and effectively and respond to such change. Challenges centre around a multigenerational workforce, such as differing and increasing expectations and approaches to work and technology.

MI: What advice would you give other companies who want to break away from more traditional work cultures?

CB: • Don’t let red tape get in the way!

There are always ways to be innovative and overcome obstacles.

• Have a clear vision of what the business is aiming to achieve - and communicate it!

MI: What impact has this had on your organisation?

• Constantly question – is it adding value to the customer?

CB: Very high customer satisfaction levels and an excellent reputation as a provider of social housing. We have high levels of staff engagement, low absence levels (2.14%) and low labour turnover (3.3%) (Sector average is 6.1%). We came 13th in the Times Top 100 not for profit in 2013 and 25th in 2014.

•

Being an ‘employer of choice’ obviously helps with recruitment as well.

• Don’t worry about the ‘what if’s’.

Have a go - it’s fun trying and you will certainly learn a lot along the way.

Challenge yourself, and the way you work. Just because it’s always been done that way doesn’t mean it’s not time for a change.

• United support from the management and leadership team, to trust and empower staff.

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Opinion: Empowerment Works!

Business Lessons from the Empowered Work Culture of the Hospitality Industry

Jacqui Jones

Jacqui Jones, Programme Director for Leisure, Events, Tourism and Sport at Swansea Business School, highlights the business lessons other organisations can learn from the hospitality industry, where ground-breaking approaches to employee empowerment are generating tangible business results.

Image: ©discpicture/Shutterstock­­

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ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU | ‘Customer Service Empowerment’ is a cutting edge approach to customer service in hospitality which allows operational staff the autonomy to plan and do the job they know best. This in turn creates service excellence and allows staff the freedom and opportunity to solve customer complaints in the manner they find most appropriate to guest needs, rather than the traditional action of passing issues on to a Supervisor or Manager to deal with.

This management strategy was driven forward by the Disney organisation from the 1980s as part of the dawn of the hospitality WOW factor where staff became cast members and were responsible for putting on a show for their guests in order to achieve their aim of exceeding guest expectations. In simple terms by employing Disney fanatics and training them to take responsibility for the guest experience the company quickly became the world’s leading entertainment organisation resulting in increased profits, rapid expansion and financial return on investment.

This process has been further developed in recent years by Ritz Carlton the world’s leading luxury hotel brand and part of the Marriott group. The organisation’s Gold Standards, Legends Philosophies and Diamond Service have resulted in the development of a service excellence strategy with employee empowerment being the key to success. The organisational aims are underpinned by their belief in “Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen”, a distinctive corporate culture and credo that focuses on enabling all levels of operational staff to take control of guest recovery and excellence.

Simon Cooper, a Fellow of UWTSD and ex CEO of Ritz Carlton and Marriot USA, stated clearly “anybody can write a credo...the real challenge, is how you bring the credo to life, every day. Our business model isn’t overly complicated, enlightened leaders and engaged employees provide the outcome.” In basic terms every line employee within the organisation is empowered to spend up to $2,000 to personally self-manage guest issues and ensure customer loyalty and service satisfaction.

Empowerment is also a strategic resource development tool, responsible for enabling the work force and allowing them to become highly motivated, creative and customer focused.

Operational staff are encouraged to use their initiative and develop their potential management and leadership skills whilst also allowing the workforce to become responsible for their own actions; after all they are the people closest to the guest and most aware of guest needs.

Within the luxury hospitality sector organisations are increasingly appreciating the potential lifetime value of guests and the need to create brand loyalty.

Today’s high end market place is no longer the “twin-set and pearls” segment of the past, the most recent strategic development is in terms of further developments in anticipating guest needs both through personal service and the use of guest preferences to be one step ahead of customer expectations.

“Empowerment is a lot sexier than setting Standards” Solomon (2013) Employees are given the freedom to make decisions within a judgement framework to ensure service recovery and enable them to personally anticipate guest needs. This therefore instils within them the organisation’s values, culture and mission as well as promoting teamwork and Customer Service Excellence at all levels of the organisation.

This strategic approach also encourages staff to develop within their roles and responsibilities. In simple terms it allows them to bring their personalities to work in order to promote leadership skills, whilst motivating and inspiring them as operational level staff (from food and beverage staff through to front desk agents, housekeepers, spa therapists et al) to be creative in preparation for future management careers.

These performance principles are increasingly being utilised by leading global hospitality and leisure brands, but can also be applied to organisations in all sectors. Organisations need to have confidence and courage to take risks if they are going to adopt this 21st century work culture, but the rewards can be great in terms of staff motivation and performance, customer feedback and loyalty, as well as the direct financial returns.

How can you empower your employees to provide the best possible experience for your customers?

For full references for this article, please contact the editor.

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| SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW For full details and booking for any of the below events please contact: Jamie Tavender (Faculty Marketing Officer) jamie.tavender@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk

News and Events

Events @ Swansea Business School 12 and 13 September 2014

Swansea Open Day

Open day for prospective Students.

For details and bookings please visit http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/opendays/

12 November 2014 9.30am-4pm

Conference: ‘The Challenge of the Future Generations Wales initiative for public service professionals’.

A one day conference jointly hosted by the Faculty of Business and Management and the Institute of Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness (INSPIRE).

Week Commencing 16 November 2014

Enterprise Week

A week-long celebration of enterprise and entrepreneurship – full details to be announced.

International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development (IICED) Launches UWTSD has taken a global lead on innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship education. The University has spearheaded international efforts to find new ways of supporting students and to equip them for the 21st Century working environment, where flexibility and adaptability will be key skills.

This summer the University launched a new International Institute to continue to build on this work. IICED will be an international focal point which brings together a distinguished group of international experts in entrepreneurial education to engage in high-level discussions and to consider global perspectives that can impact, or have impacted, on policy-making. The Institute’s aim is to inform international best practice in enterprise, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial teaching, learning and evaluation.

UWTSD Sponsors Young Business Dragons The University of Wales Trinity Saint David has become the main sponsor of the Young Business Dragons competition, which sees teams of school pupils from across the Swansea Bay City Region competing for the title of Young Business Dragons 2014.

The competition involves schools working with business mentors to develop enterprises based on this year’s theme ‘smart homes’, and more than 4,000 young people will participate.

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Professor Andy Penaluna, Director of the International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, said: “We are delighted to take our strong international background in enterprise and entrepreneurship and use it to support the Young Business Dragons competition. Entrepreneurs play a key role in a nation’s drive for growth. As a result, entrepreneurship and enterprise education, at all levels, is important.”

“It is vital that we promote the development of enterprise skills within the young people of our region. Innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship is at the heart of everything we do at UWTSD and becoming the overall sponsor of the competition will allow us to support this agenda at grass-roots level.”

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU |

Wales Institute for Work-based Learning Up-skilling the Welsh Workforce Learners are able to gain qualifications ranging from undergraduate level through to a Professional Doctorate (DProf).

Dr Liz Wilson, Head of the new Institute, said: “The official launch gave us an opportunity to celebrate the many successes of our learners and employers to-date, as well as showcasing the innovative partnerships we have forged, working with employers in the private, public and third sectors. This includes organisations such as Torfaen County Borough Council, Tata Steel, the Fieldbay Group of Care Homes and Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services.”

Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Ken Skates AM, recently launched the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Wales Institute for Work-based Learning.

The Wales Institute for Work-based Learning has developed from the multiaward winning activity of the Work-based Learning team at UWTSD. As the first Higher Education Institution in Wales to

develop and deliver an integrated bilingual continuing professional development framework programme, the University is able to offer programmes that incorporate accreditation of employers’ staff development programmes; accreditation of prior experiential learning; and delivery of a range of modules leading to an academic higher level qualification in Professional Practice.

In his launch speech, Minster Ken Skates AM said: “In January, I launched our new Policy Statement on Skills which sets out a ten year plan to create a more highly skilled Wales. As part of this, we’re calling on employers to invest in the skills of their workforce to develop their businesses and help their employees access the learning opportunities they need to succeed in the workplace.”

“I’m delighted that the Wales Institute for Work-based Learning will be right at the centre of this drive to up-skill the Welsh workforce.”

Honorary Fellowship for Legendary Entertainer Max Boyce Alongside the hundreds of Swansea Business School graduates gaining their degrees this July was a very famous face. Legendary Welsh entertainer Max Boyce was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in recognition of his achievements in the entertainment industry and his commitment to charity work.

Max, who had recently undergone major surgery joked with the audience “No one is more glad to be here today than me. Just four weeks ago I had a quadruple heart bypass operation. It’s not a bad thing really as I wouldn’t have fitted into this cap and gown a few weeks ago. “ He went on to say “I am genuinely proud to receive this Fellowship. It is said that a man’s true worth can only be measured by how they are perceived by people who live and share the same square mile. I am deeply honoured, more than you would ever know, to receive a Fellowship from a University within my Square Mile.”

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Books: Taming the Career Tornado

Answering the Three Career Questions, by Bruce Blackstone Hazen.

This book by US Career Consultant and Business Model You™ Co-creator, Bruce Hazen, focuses on something that affects most of us in one way or another – that moment when you consider yourself at a career crossroads.

This practical book is designed to walk you through those moments of uncertainty and help prevent them in the future, and suggests that many of us get caught up in the ‘tornado’ of moving from job to job without really thinking about our underlying career goals and purpose. Hazen’s approach to career management pulls you out of the whirlwind of day-to-day activity and focuses your attention on what really matters in terms of your career.

Through three fundamental questions - Move up?

Move out? Adapt your style? - the book aims to help you to find a sense of direction for the long term. With simple tools and exercises like the ‘Think Out Loud Laboratory’ focused around the three key questions it walks you through the process of finding out what your goals are, but also provides the practical tools and strategies for achieving them.

There is clear evidence of the author’s background in psychology and organisational behaviour, resulting in a human-centred approach to career management that feels more personal than some of the more diagnostic approaches taken by others in the field.

Reading the book is like being coached on a 1-2-1 basis, and this plays out through the emphasis on the reader taking responsibility for their own career experiences.

So, if you’re feeling like a square peg in a round hole at work, you’re not sure whether the organisation you work for is going to offer you opportunities to grow and develop, or you’re simply drifting along and are in need of something to jolt you into action, this book has some exceptionally perceptive insights into the way we work now.

Reviewed by Lucy Griffiths

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ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU |

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Next Issue How Cool is

Cymru?

Measuring the Business Value of ‘Brand Wales’

Out Autumn 2014 To reserve a copy please visit www.uwtsd.ac.uk/swbr or email your name and address to: swbr@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk

Image: ©japonka/Shutterstock­­