Higher Skills in the Workplace Showcase Event 13th May 2014 Ducks, Ants, Raisins, Coins and ‘The Power of Why’; the Higher Skills Wales in the Workplace event inspired those in attendance, setting thinking cogs into overdrive. With over 75 delegates from across the private, public, and university sectors, the day challenged old thoughts and led to new ways of thinking.
First on the programme was Aimee Bateman of careercake.com. Aimee focussed on ‘The Power of Why’ and how important it is for leaders to communicate their own why. Aimee’s message was clear to the room: as a leader you are followed because people want to follow you. Through communicating your ‘why’ and sharing it with others, people will follow you, in turn they will be confident to share their own ‘why’ with you. This honest approach can lead to a much more innovative, motivated and inspired working environment. The room was challenged to think; highlighting that ‘people don’t just buy what you do, they buy why you do it.’ Aimee suggested some simple questions to help create a personal brand, in doing so this will assist individuals to define their own ‘why’. These simple reflective questions, answered honestly, can assist in motivating and refocusing an individual’s mindset: how would you like to be perceived by your own employees and team? What aspects of yourself are you attempting to sell? What is your ultimate purpose of why you do something? Once you have your answers, Aimee encourages you to share them with your team communicating your ‘why’ with them. Honesty is imperative for this exercise, without it employees will not buy into your ‘why’. Aimee challenged those who perhaps view money as their why; maybe it is the key motivator on the surface, but is it really why you do what you do? These questions are designed to help you dig deeper into your why. If you struggle to answer these questions and find your why, perhaps a change is required.
Following Aimee’s inspirational opening, the delegates were broken into two workshop groups. In room one, Kevin Brown from Elevate Cymru entertained with his unique and quirky presentation addressing ‘The Art of Compromise in Management.’ Kevin’s workshop tackled this delicate Higher Skills in the Workplace Showcase Event 13th May 2014 Report
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subject and covered how a good leader can avoid conflict within their team and keep compromises positive for all concerned.
Kevin interestingly used two examples from the animal kingdom, ants and ducks, to highlight his main points. Ants are often attributed with great qualities, teamwork, commitment and dedication to reach a goal, every ant has a set role. These are all positive attributes any company would list as important in order to succeed. However, Kevin drew attention to the fact that when an ant’s goal is interrupted or challenged, they are not willing to compromise, instead they continue in the same direction, regardless of any warnings or sense, resulting in a failure to reach the desired goal. Ducks show similar qualities but one slight difference: they are willing to share leadership responsibilities and change their approach to a task. Kevin used examples of duck behavior on migratory flights; ducks will alter their plans if a fellow duck is hurt by waiting until they are better (or die) before flying off again and resuming their flight. Ducks also compromise the speed at which they travel, this is so weaker ducks can keep up pace, the leader duck will even drop back in the formation to allow other ducks to lead and take charge of the route. These examples were used to highlight the need for organisational leaders to take a backwards step sometimes, allowing others to lead and innovate. It is important that failure isn’t feared when allowing staff to develop their ideas; regardless of the result the exercise will still empower staff. Kevin’s message was simple, endeavour to find out why a need to compromise has occurred, deal with it and adjust as soon as possible and don’t be afraid to allow others to lead if required. With these empowerment techniques developed, the need for compromise born out of conflict will be a factor less prevalent in an organisation.
In room 2, Heather Fish, also from Elevate Cymru, led the workshop on the topic of ‘Mindfulness in the Workplace’. Mindfulness is a state of being aware of the moment you are in. Through an interesting experiment with raisins, Heather guided delegates through a process that encouraged the room to focus on the raisin they had each selected. Delegates were asked to consider the taste, smell and texture of the raisin. If thoughts started to drift, Heather encouraged focus back to the raisin. Mindfulness teaches us to be aware of the moment and the exercise with the raisin emphasised that, through greater awareness of the raisin, distractions are limited if not eliminated. This can be applied to the office as a way of coping with stress and anxiety, simply focussing on the moment, the task, consciously returning to a focal point and avoiding ‘autopilot’, can aide in a more measured, less stressful, and task led approach to workloads.
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Ending the day, Alex Collier, an Operations Technician from The Royal Mint, took to the floor and shared his experience of completing numerous courses through the METaL project. Part of the Work Based Learning Programme, the METaL project is led by Swansea University, delivering short, accredited, technical courses on the subject of Metallurgy. Alex is currently working on the Integrated Secure Identification Systems (iSIS) project at The Royal Mint. This is an exciting award winning technology developed by The Royal Mint to prevent fraudulent copies of coins being produced. At present Alex is working on the production of the new £1 coin where this technology will be used for the first time anywhere in the world. Alex confidently told the room his journey so far at The Royal Mint. Joining the company with 12 GCSEs, he started his working career in the general production area of the Mint. Due to his strong work ethic, Alex was moved to the coatings section of business and put on a personal development pathway, which included his enrolment on the METaL project’s materials and coatings modules. Not having any involvement in education since his GCSEs, Alex told us that he was at first concerned that he would find the courses difficult. However, through hard work, commitment and a strong support network at The Royal Mint, Alex achieved the highest scores in his class on all but one of the five modules he undertook. He shared how his new skills and knowledge have added to his confidence and he feels he is now making a more valued contribution to his team, especially when it comes to problem solving and thinking of new ideas. Alex has definitely caught the learning bug and is now looking towards studying further METaL courses, and hopes to progress onto a full degree course. Alex is a fantastic example of what can be achieved if you challenge yourself to go outside your comfort zone. A perfect way to end an inspiring and thought challenging day. Following the event, there has been some outstanding feedback. Here are some of the comments made by delegates, when asked what they found beneficial on the day: ‘Aimee Bateman - insightful approach to leadership with many useful hints to adopt in a work role’ ‘Mindfulness as an approach to everyday stress reduction’ ‘Well structured and balanced giving ‘food for thought’ particularly the poser of WHY’ ‘Speakers were great, particularly Alex, who did very well’ ‘I thought the day was different and dynamic - great speakers’ ‘It helped focus my mind’ ‘More Kevin Brown
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