is a history of being taken to food , water and shelter which encourages them to have confidence in the person leading them .
A company I worked with in South Africa had a problem which they asked me to help solve . I said no twice until I was asked “ under what conditions ” I would do the work . This showed the first signs of a willingness to consider change . My conditions were simple and were not about my remuneration !
I met the CEO and he agreed to do 5 things that cost nothing but did require a change in behaviour , which would be highly visible to all in the company . He in effect became the herdsman who walked in front . I was helping a top manager to become a leader others would willingly follow .
I repeated the exercise with managers at all levels in the organisation and helped to equip them with some fundamental leadership skills such as greater self awareness and awareness of others as well as higher level finance for non financial skills which raised their view of the business to a higher level . In effect I was positioning each one to be able to act as a leader and understand the business consequences .
I also insisted that the employees be given training which would make them much more valuable to the organisation by ensuring that they were first tested for literacy and numeracy and then raised to the level of receiving an externally accredited qualification within a period of 18 months .
Costly ? Not at all . At the start of the exercise the organisation had a 55 % staff turnover , 35 % absence rate and 40 Tribunals a month and a low profit level . So what were the finishing figures ? These were 25 %
‘‘ In other cultures the herdsman walks in front and the goats or sheep follow . No dog to bark , bite ankles or legs is needed . The animals follow willingly . Why is that ? The answer is that they know from the behaviour they see that they are being taken care of , there is a history of being taken to food , water and shelter which encourages them to have confidence in the person leading them .’’
staff turnover , 20 % absence rate , 4 tribunals a month and profits had risen by 70 %.
In other words the project paid for itself many times over . It had a high ROI . Money for training the staff was recovered from a government levy which all organisations paid .
Was there a trick involved ? No , it was simple . I helped managers to learn leadership skills and ensured that they were both coached to ensure that these were effective and regularly checked up on to ensure that these were being used .
It was important to raise the expectations of the staff , provide them with evidence that they were safe in the hands of these leaders and that they could give of themselves freely . Most of the work carried out for managers fell under the heading of coaching and development rather than training as they already had the technical and practical skills as well as knowledge of the organisation and its services as well as the legal framework in which they operated .
This particular story ended when all of the staff gathered together at an awards ceremony where people were to receive their certificates , having successfully completed their courses .
I took a chance and asked the managers in the audience of hundreds to stand . I then asked the staff to applaud them for the changes they had made in the way they now led them . Gladly there was a loud noise as the applause rang around the auditorium .
I then took a further chance and asked the managers to applaud the staff for their help and support as well as hard work in achieving their qualifications . Job done .
Which kind of business herdsman are you ? Do you manage or do you lead ? come in handy .
With that I hope I have helped in improving your understanding of some aspects related to preterm labour and hope it will be useful to you or someone close to you .
After meetings there are usually AOB ’ s and mine is to wish you a prosperous 2017 and cognizant that this is election year to positively impact on those around you to vote peacefully and wisely
Dr Clifford J Ferguson is the Managing Partner of Rainmakers , and chairman of Glad ’ s House . He can be reached via mail on : Cliff . Ferguson @ rainmakers . uk . com , or website ; www . rainmakers . uk . com .