The behaviour of your staff is always motivated by something, e.g. the task, company culture, environment, etc, etc. As a Manager, if you can understand the motivation, you will understand the behaviour of each of your reports. As an extension of this, it makes sense that if you can manage the motivation of your staff, you will manage their behaviour. This makes management more effective.

iWAM (inventory for Work Attitudes and Motivators) is an EQ test that uses 48 cognitive patterns (known in NLP terms as Meta-programmes) to identify what motivates staff members in their work environment. The test is probably the most in depth analysis of motivational attitudes that exists today making it a vital tool for managers.

InnoChan Solutions is the only company in Ireland who is licensed to deliver certification training for the iWAM test to HR, Management and Coaching Professionals.

So where can iWAM help?

The iWAM test can be used at every level of Management and HR processes including:

• Recruitment
• Management
• Development

In Recruitment, iWAM can be used to identify the motivators required to successfully work in a vacant role. This knowledge will help identify the language needed in the job advert to attract the right candidates, thus reducing the cost and time reading through lots of unsuitable applications. Additionally, it is possible for companies to develop Models of Excellence in relation to specific roles within the organisation. The MoE will focus on the specific Motivators required to fulfill the role and can be used as a direct psychometric test to guage the suitability of applicants. In short, iWAM reduces the time and costs associated with recruitment while better ensuring that the selected person will be a better fit for the role (avoiding a repeat of the process in a few months).

In Management, iWAM will help managers, supervisors and team leaders to manage their teams in a more effective and engaging way. The days of the ‘one size fits all’ style of management are gone. In order to achieve maximum employee engagement a manager must know what motivates his/her reports and manage them accordingly. The iWAM Team report will provide this information. The result? A motivated team, targets met (and exceeded), improved staff retention, better working environment, greater use of individual staff skills, etc.

In Development, iWAM will help senior management to identify specific areas for employee improvement. It helps management decide on the promotion potential of supervisors, team leaders, etc. If your organisation is multinational, you may want to promote one of your managers to a role in a foreign division. It is time to unveil another  of iWAM’s powers; regional comparison. Unlike many other EQ tests which are run against global comparisons, the iWAM test is run against a geographical ‘Standard Group’. So, how does this help? Let’s imagine that you are recruiting for a management role in a division in the Asia. You want to select someone who will successfully fulfill the role as well as fit into their new working environment. The iWAM test can be run against the ‘Standard Group’ of the area/country that they will be working in. The report will quickly highlight any potential cultural issues that might be encountered. This will give the new manager time to address the issues or, give the company time to select someone who will better fit into the new culture.

iWAM is the new way to manage your business. It is an extermely powerful tool that will result in:

• Greater efficiency,
• Improved management effecitveness,
• Reduced costs,
• Greater Staff Retention

You can’t afford not to use iWAM.

As the ONLY company in Ireland licensed to train iWAM test administrators, InnoChan Solutions can administer the iWAM EQ test for your entire company from the most senior managers to floor staff. We can also train you and/or your HR department to take over the administration of the test so that you can do it yourself.

Contact us today at info@innochansol.com to arrange a no obligation discussion on how iWAM can work for you.

For most of my working life, I have dealt with customers of one shape or another. I have also had occasion to deal with suppliers. I have noticed a major difference in how organisations tend to treat both sides of their business. This became very evident to me when I moved from a CRM role to Purchasing with a major company. Immediately, the tone changed. When dealing with customers of the organisation, the focus was on diplomacy, care and attention. Customers were listened to and given the best of service at all times, which of course is correct practice. However, Suppliers were treated completely differently. The relationship tended to be more adversarial. There was an element of, ‘Customers do unto us, so we must do unto Suppliers’. This got me thinking; is it right to treat suppliers differently from customers? Which is more important to the company; the supplier or the customer?

I guess the customer/supplier importance situation is a bit of a ‘chicken and egg’ situation when trying to decide which is more important. However, let’s break it down and explore the matter.

The basic purpose of every company, its raison d’étre, is to make a profit. In order to achieve this, it requires two primary elements:

1. A product or service that it can sell at a cost that is higher than the cost of production and,
2. Customers willing to pay for it

This will meet the primary goal of the organisation. In order to be able to make the product from the sale of its product, a company must:

1. Be able to efficiently produce the product and,
2. Be able to source the materials required from suitable Suppliers

It’s a simple process really; we need to be able to source from suppliers and sell to customers. For many companies their sole focus is on the customer. In true Supply Chain parlance this is good practice as the focus of everyone in the supply chain should be on meeting the needs of the final consumer. However, if everyone is focussing on what’s happening downstream, we miss the opportunities that lie upstream behind us. Let’s face it, when you are driving your car, you concentrate on what’s in front of you (‘downstream’) but you must also, through the use of your rear-view mirror, be conscious of what’s going on behind you (‘upstream’)

Since setting up InnoChan Solutions, I have met numerous clients who have lost sight of their suppliers. As far as many are concerned, suppliers are a necessary evil and exist only to serve. When one of our important customers place harsh demands on us, we turn around and put even more pressure on our suppliers. This is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences on our ability to meet our customer demands.

In order to usnderstand these dangers, we need to understand the structure of a Supply Chain. In essence, the further up the chain we travel, the less choice we have in suppliers.

Think of a Supply Chain as the ultimate champagne glass filling trick that you might see at a wedding. The glasses are stacked in a pyramid shape and as the top one overflows, it fills the glasses at the next level until the many glasses at the base are filled. In supply chain terms, the base layer of glasses are the end consumers. There are many of them and they can get their champagne from a number of the glasses (‘suppliers’) above them. As you progress up each layer of the supply chain, there are less ‘suppliers’ to draw from. So what does that mean in real life terms?

In most cases your business is one of many suppliers that your customers can choose from in order to satisfy their need for your (or your competitor’s) product. You give these customers your undivided attention in order to win their business and (hopefully) retain it. However, your business is also a customer to your suppliers. The only problem is that in real terms, you have less choice in the number of suppliers available to you to purchase from. This fact is ignored/not appreciated by many in business. I have come across several instances where a buyer placed undue pressure on a supplier, generally over price, quantity or lead times. This pressure lead the supplier to take the decision to stop trading with the buyer’s company.

So what, I hear you say. The buyer can source the materials they need from another supplier.

But that is not always the case. Remember that the further up the supply chain you go, the less choice you have. This means that a buyer may not have the availability of alternative sources of supply for their material. What happens then? How will the company meet its commitments to its customers?

If the buyer goes back to the supplier, the relationship will be dramatically changed and the cost of the materials will be much more expensive. This, in turn will place additional pressures on the company’s ability to supply its customers at the price they are willing to pay which could force customers to switch to competitor products.

Poor relationships with suppliers can affect your relationships with your customers. Think about that, the next time you want to put pressure on your supplier!

So what’s the answer?

Which is more important; Supplier Relationship or Customer Relationship?

In my opinion, they are equally important. As the song says “you can’t have one without the other”. Both suppliers and customers are two sides of the same coin. Companies today, must recognise the importance of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and give it as much attention and commitment as they currently do with their Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In fact many of the methods and philosophies used for CRM can be transferred to SRM procedures.

So what should you do?

Take time out to review your CRM and SRM procedures. In some cases, you might even need to develop SRM procedures. This is a worthwhile exercise because, without your suppliers, you will have nothing to produce that can be supplied to your customers.

The message is simple:

Without Suppliers there will be no customers and, Without Customers there will be no Suppliers. We all need to play in the game in order to win at this business thing….

This is the time when many set New Year Resolutions. It is a time when our ‘clocks’ reset and we start a new year again with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. It is also a time when we promise to achieve something new. We make resolutions (promises) to lose weight, stop smoking, spend more time with loved ones, learn a new language, take up a new hobby, etc. etc. etc. The list is endless.

In many situations these resolutions are forgotten as life takes over and we resume ‘normality’. We might promise to get back to the resolutions at some point in the future, possibly after we get past some ‘blocking’ incident. I read once that a New Year’s Resolution is a todo list for the first week in January.

The problem is that in some situations, when we stop pursuing our resolutions, we feel sorry. We might even blame ourselves or consider our inability to achieve the result as a failure. Some might even say things to themselves like “I knew I couldn’t do it” or, “I never achieve what I set out to do”. Very limiting and degrading statements. They are statements that we then use to beat ourselves up with as we take on other tasks during the year. So why should we put ourselves through that? Why bother with New Year Resolutions at all?

New Year Resolutions can be very beneficial and rewarding if we do them right, follow through and achieve them. We feel motivated as well as a huge sense of achievement when we successfully complete them. This success can even propel us to achieve more, to take on more challenges. In short, achieving our targets help us to realise more in our lives.

So if they are so good an idea, why do so many of us not see our resolutions through? Why do we end up in situations where we feel that we have failed?

Did you know that the success (or not) of your Resolution depends on how you phrase the actual promise?

It’s true.

When deciding on New Year Resolutions we tend to use vague, non-committal language that gives us an ‘out’ if we need it. We tend to say things like “I should stop smoking” or “I must lose weight” or “For the New Year, I could join a Gym and get fit for the summer”. All great desires, but saying things like “should”, “must” or “could” we are not committing to out goal, we are merely expressing a wish.

If you want to make a New Year’s Resolution succeed you need to commit to it. Wishful language doesn’t do this. In order to give yourself the best chance of success your resolution must:

1. Be expressed in terms of commitment, e.g. “I WILL stop smoking”
2. Time based, e.g. “I WILL stop smoking by Easter“

With these two simple steps you are both committing and setting yourself a deadline for the success of your goal. Once you have set your resolution in this format, you have given yourself a commitment and a deadline. This means you will be able to track your progress, realise how you are succeeding and use that as a motivator to reach the goal.

But there is a longer term benefit to setting and achieving your goals; self-belief. By achieving your goals you will be proving to yourself that you CAN set your mind to something and CAN achieve it. This will build your confidence and self-belief which will open you up to tackling new goals and ACHIEVING THEM.

And it all starts with how you phrase the goals/resolutions you set at this time of the year.

Why not use the start of 2013 as a time for a New Beginning for YOU?

You might surprise yourself and 2013 might be the beginning of a New You…

Happy 2013!!!

So we are coming to the end of another year and 2012 will soon be consigned to memory as we embark on the adventure that is 2013.

As we count down to the end of 2012, how was it for you?

In today’s busy and very fast paced world, do you take time to reflect on what has passed and what is to come? Have you challenged yourself to review your progress against your plan.

In the commercial world, it is common practice (or, at least it should be!) to review progress against the strategic plans that were set which inform management on the overall direction of the organisation. But what about the most important organisation of all; YOU Inc?

In work, we follow the procedures aimed at delivering corporate results and driving the company forward. We develop KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) so that we can see when things are going well, or not, against the plan and, during periodic reviews, we adjust our plans as the business environment dictates in order to achieve our goals.

So why done you do the same for YOU?

Now is the perfect time to have your review meeting. Take time to check where you are going in life.

• What is/are your long term goals?
• Where do you want to be at the end of 2013?, 2014?, in 5 years?

Take time to review what happened over the course of 2012.

1. What positive things happened for you over the course of the year?
2. What negative things happened for you over the course of the year?
3. What positives/learning can you take from both the positives and negatives over the year?

Over the last 5 weeks I have had the pleasure of working with a group of 20 people seeking to upskill and return to the work place. They have joined a FÁS traineeship programme that will see them undergo 22 weeks of intensive Supply Chain training which will be followed up with 16 weeks work placement. The participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and ages.

The start of the programme, like any other, was a time of fear and trepidation. However, all shared the same concerns; (1) that this would not be “just another FÁS programme” and, (2) that the programme will lead to full time jobs at the end.

Despite having formally lectured at various levels of Supply Chain Management for a number of years, I too came to the programme with some fears and trepidation, namely, this would be my first time facilitating training on a full time basis (20 weeks, Monday to Friday). It would also be my first time working with a group of unemployed people as well as my first time brining ALL my Training, Coaching and NLP skills to a live process.

From the outset, I saw one major issue that had to be dealt with; the perception that these people had that they were attending “just another course”. Speaking with them, it was easy to feel the sense of doom and absence of hope that many in our society (as well as societies around the world) are experiencing, i.e. “what’s the point?”, “there’s nothing [jobs] out there”.

What was needed was a serious change in perception. This was my first FÁS course and I too was aware of how FÁS training courses were perceived. However, I was also able to point out that “this was my first FÁS course” so by default, it would have to be better, i.e. if I hadn’t facilitated one before, the course would be different. My challenge was to make it a ‘good’ different for each participant.

I was also faced with the challenge that, at the start of the process, the participants held a view that there is no work available for them. Some have been unemployed for a number of years. All have been using a ‘scatter gun’ approach to job hunting by applying for everything they saw. That approach lead to continuous rejection which fed their belief of no hope, no jobs, etc, etc.

So what happened?

The first week of any FÁS course is ‘red-tape’ week, i.e. induction, where all the Health & Safety, Means of Assessment, Course information, etc. is gone through. It was an ideal opportunity to begin the process of creating an integrated group who are sharing a journey. It was my first opportunity to demonstrate that this course would be different, not in a good way, but in a GREAT way. We spent part of that time working on both the participant’s course and personal perspectives. It was challenging breaking down the obstacles of (sometimes, years) of negativity to let the participants see, that they actually have got options.

Week two of the process focussed on CV prep and personal development. It was fun challenging their perceptions and watching the lights go on as they came to realise that they were actually going about things the wrong way for them. Virtually all admitted to using the ‘scatter gun’ approach to finding work. As time went on, this approach became more desparate and even less focused, which further fuelled the “nothing out there” belief. Experiencing this phenomenon first had was a real eye opener for me. Here was a group of intelligent, hard working people who want to work, but feel that at every turn, society, the government, life has turned against them. Things had to change!!! But How??

The first hint, came when the participants began working on their CVs. Not one person highlighted their skills, achievements or what they could bring to a job on their CV. I had seen this before when working with a client who was trying to become an Assistant Director of their organisation. They had listed their roles and previous companies, but not a single point about what they had achieved, i.e. NOTHING that would encourage a prospective employer to say “wow! we need to meet this person”.

It may be an ‘Irish thing’, but we really seem to have a problem stating our accomplishments. It might be out of a sense of ‘fear of being found out’. It may also be as a result of the, sometimes misguided rule that a CV must not exceed two pages.

Working with the 20 people in the group, we re-wrote their CVs, everyone listed their duties and achievements for each role they had worked in and then added a Profile paragraph at the start of their CV. The key for each person after that was to take time and actually READ their own CV.

The effect was dramatic.

People actually began to realise what they could bring to a prospective employer. For many it was the first time they actually SAW their abilities in black and white. As one person put it “I have never before considered what makes me shine for an employer”.

The times, they were a changin’. The participants became engaged. They developed a Learning Agreement between themselves (which included a rule “Ban Negativity!!”).

There was even an encounter with the Center’s Training Manager. When he came to address them and started speaking of how difficult things were, one of the quieter members of the group, raised his hand and told the Manager, “I’m sorry, but we don’t accept negativity in this room”.

Next up was the approach to employers. Each participant must find his/her own work placement. Armed with the new CVs and determination, they began contacting companies. After only 5 weeks of their 22 week programme, over half of the group either has secured, or is in discussions with prospective employers (which they don’t actually need until February 2013). One amazing aspect is that some of them are lining up possible work placement companies with a view to deciding which will be the best option for them for both experience and/or permanent employment. There’s a turn around.

In fact, since the course began, two of the participants have received offers of some temporary work and after discussing the matter with the companies in question, they have decided to stay on and complete the course first.

The first 5 weeks have been a journey into the unknown for us all. Together we will journey another 15 weeks before parting ways. The new-found determination and focus of these people has been an inspiration to me as well as the fact that I can see the results of working with people in adverse situations, changing perceptions and challenging existing and unhelpful belief patterns.

The next stage of the process will be the first of a rigourous assessment period (in the space of 4 months, the participants will undergo 7 written tests AND will have to complete 4 written assignments). Time to deal with the nerves and fear associated with examinations.

Bring it on!!!

You have probably heard the saying “Can’t see the wood for the trees” which implies that you are too close to a problem to see the solution. It is widely used to encourage people to take a step back and take time to review. We are also familiar with the term “there are two sides to every story”

Unfortunately, my experience with clients is that even when they take that step back, they still tend to focus on the problem rather than the positives, i.e. they only look at on side of the story. Focusing on the problem only makes you feel worse and increases the perceived ‘gap’ between the issues and the solutions.

Here is a very simple solution to help you focus on the solutions rather than the problems;

• Take a coin and place it on your desk, night stand, or somewhere where you can leave it for a period of time.
• Look at the coin. What do you see? You see one side (could be heads or tails). When you look at the coin and notice one side, can you see the other side? No because it is against the table. So you are only looking at one side, right?
• Now here comes the physical part of the exercise. Get ready. Deep breath…..
• Turn the coin over.
• Now what do you see?
• You see a different face of the coin. It is the same coin, but a different side of it (aka, a different perspective). Now where has the original side gone? It is still there (on the other side of the coin), but you can’t see it.

Now turn the coin over. What have you done? You have taken positive action which will enable you to focus on the other side of the coin (that’s the practical bit). You have also turned the negativity ‘off’ by turning that face of the coin into the table. So you are now looking at your business, life or both and you are only focusing on the positives and on the actions you can take.