There is a famous story about the late Prof. Theodore Levitt from Harvard Business School where he says people don't want to buy a ¼ inch drill, they want a ¼ inch hole. 

In business, it is critically important to understand why your customer is buying your product or service. It is very often not for the product or service itself, but for the experience or utility that your specific product or service will deliver them afterwards.

I am reminded of this story because I went to meet with EazyCity recently and expected to learn about how they provide accommodation and language training services to their clients but instead ended up learning about how the staff at EazyCity are passionate about helping people change their lives!!

And of course, it makes perfect sense. Young people don't travel to a new city for the accommodation, or even for the language. They can learn that online from home. They travel to new cities because they are looking to change or improve their lives in some way. The accommodation, the language training, the translation services, even the job finding services, they are all the drills. The life changing experience, now that is the "Hole"!

EazyCity are a tremendous success story on so many fronts. They started in Cork 10 years ago and today they have offices in Cork, Dublin and London and are in the process of moving into the US. Their workforce is young, dynamic, passionate, dedicated and above all flexible. And, as I witnessed first hand when doing a team workshop with them recently, they are happy!

So what is their secret?

Well I think the first thing is that the owners, Julia and Enrico, understand and care about what their customers are looking for. They have traveled to other countries themselves and they understand what is driving the young traveler these days and they are passionate about looking after them and helping them fulfill their dreams. Ask any of the staff and they will tell you they are "welcoming service" and they are there to help their clients in whatever way they can. Julia herself says that the day will never come when a client is left to fend for themselves because of something like a delayed flight. They will always be there to welcome the client into our cities no matter what time of the day or night they end up arriving.

The second part of their secret is the staff they recruit. As Julia puts it, they are looking more for attitude than skills. The important qualities are commitment to the job and flexibility. They work long hours and they are available to their clients 7 days a week. If someone is going to be resentful that they are missing a social engagement because the client they are welcoming has a delayed flight, then they are not the right person for the job.

That may seem like a tall ask – yet they have pulled it off. All of the staff that I interviewed spoke about wanting to do all that they can to help their clients and solve their problems and even referred to the role they were playing in helping improve their clients' lives. The key attitude they say they bring to work with them every day was positivity.

The third part of their secret is the culture of the organisation. This is something that EazyCity's owners, Julia and Enrico, pay a lot of attention to. They have identified their 8 core values, which can be seen displayed in their stairway. 

Thank you Troy, Barbara, Justin, Luca and Julia for sharing your wonderful story with me. Thank you for showing me how seeing beyond the mere product or service you are providing to the great positive impact you can make on people's lives can make a great, dynamic, exciting and fun business.

How about you reader? Have you managed to understand the real driver behind why your customer wants or needs what you are selling? Do your staff understand it? Does your company's culture support it? To learn about how you can get your organisation totally aligned with your customers real needs, drop me line at [email protected]. 

To learn more about EazyCity check out www.eazycity.com

PepsiCo dates back to 1898. It employs about 285,000 worldwide (~550 in Ireland) and is the second largest food and beverage company in the world. PepsiCo Ireland has been consistently ranked in the top tier of the best places to work in Ireland for the past 5 years at the annual Great Place to Work Awards. With a pedigree like that, they have got to be doing something extraordinarily right in relation to their People Factor and I met with Lisa Schembri, their Organisation Capability Director based here in Ireland to find out what.

The first thing that strikes me after talking to Lisa is that there is nothing accidental or random about PepsiCo's successful People Factor. It is carefully researched and thought out and is inextricably linked with their overall business strategy. They recognise that people are a key part of their business strategy so much so that 50% of performance measurement in PepsiCo is focused on achieving what they call "people goals" (see performance measurement criteria below).

When I am working with leaders in organisations there are a few key things that I impress on them that they have to get right. They are…

1. You have got to have a strong purpose and vision for your organisation.  It has got to be attractive and inspiring to your people.
2. You have got to be able to communicate that vision clearly, consistently and regularly
3. You have got to have a clear strategy to allow you achieve that vision. 
4. You have got to consistently measure performance against that strategy. There is no point in stating something is important to the business, such as morale or engagement and then not measure how you are performing against it. 
5. Develop your people and shine a light on the positive behaviours and attitudes that you want to grow and encourage in your business.

PepsiCo model how to do all of this exceptionally well for us. Here's a brief outline of how:

PepsiCo's promise to the world and to its employees is simple and clear, to deliver performance with purpose. This performance refers to delivering business and financial success while the purpose refers to the three strands of

Human sustainability

Environmental sustainability and

Talent sustainability

 If you are an employee of PepsiCo you want them to deliver on this promise and you will want to be part of the story of making it happen.

PepsiCo have crafted very clear messages for both its employees and the external world using a variety of media such as the Internet, intranet, video, posters, spoken word and written word. There is a consistent thread throughout all their communications and the messages are reinforced by being constantly and regularly accessible to people.

Click here to see a great example of how PepsiCO can deliver their message in a  clear, accessible and attractive manner. 

PepsiCo breaks down its strategy into six clear business imperatives and again they communicate these openly and in accessible language. Click here to see how these are communicated online for the benefit of shareholders and the general public.

PepsiCo measure their overall performance as a company against their promise of performance with purpose and publish their results for the world to see here.

Across the globe, each business unit of PepsiCo has aligned to six pre-defined categories of performance that they measure against. They are

As well as measuring their business performance, PepsiCo measure their how engaged their workforce is with a biannual Organisational Health Survey in which they score 11 percentage points above the average. And they measure how their associates or employees rate their managers with a Manager Quality Performance Index.  

Hand in hand with performance measurement comes development and growth. There is no point in measuring someone's performance if you are not going to use that data to help the person and the business grow. PepsiCo have a standard performance management process that is rolled out right across the globe. These processes involve the use of some structured online tools but critical to the processes are a series of development conversations between managers and employees and the identification and execution of key development actions.

The model of career development within in PepsiCo is one of "pull" rather than "push". The staff member is invited to identify where they would like to develop their career themselves and after some sense checking is done (a desire to move from the laboratory to head of Finance in 2 years might need some re-thought!) a plan of action and measurement is put in place which is revisited several times throughout the year. 

The result of all of this is that as a leader or employee in PepsiCo you can have a sense of purpose about your work and a sense of clarity in how you are performing and developing. This leads to motivation, engagement and increased productivity. It ultimately leads to success for the organisation.

Does your organisation deliver performance with purpose? Do your people know what that performance or purpose is? Is your strategy clear to everyone in your business or is it just inside your own head? To learn more about how you might deliver performance with purpose in your business contact Miriam at mailto:[email protected]

A heartfelt thanks to Lisa Schembri for sharing with me how the PepsiCo's People Factor works in practice.

One could argue that organisations are just a whole series of conversations. Some conversations take the shape of meetings where critical decisions are made or ways forward negotiated, others are social conversations, held over tea breaks or at the water cooler.

Many respected thinkers and writers on the topic of organisational change such as Peter Senge and Margaret J. Wheatley write about bringing about positive change through the power of conversation (ref: The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter by Juanita Brown, David Isaacs, Corld Cafe Community, Margaret J. Wheatley, Peter Senge).

If you really want to learn what an organisation is about, what it's values are, what type of place it is to work in, wander around for a while and listen to the conversations that are taking place, on the production floor, in the board rooms, at the water coolers. If you want to bring about some positive change in an organisation, a good place to start, and some might say the only place to start, is with those conversations.

In my personal experience of working with organisations and teams to develop cultures of innovation, high performance and success, the one thing that allows individuals and teams to engage fully in their work is the feeling that what they think and do matters. And one of the simplest, most powerful ways to give them that feeling is to listen to them and to make sure that they feel heard.

So, if you want to start having some powerful, positive conversations in your organisation today, the number one most important thing you can do is start listening and ensure that everyone else starts listening too. And be careful, this type of listening is not shutting your mouth long enough to let the other person finish speaking. It is listening with the intention of truly understanding (as Stephen Covey says in his 7 Habits). It is listening hard enough to ensure that the other person is heard and feels heard. Then you will find them able to listen to you and to engage with their whole heart and mind.

What are your thoughts of the most important aspects of a powerful conversation? Have you used the power of conversation to bring about change in your workplace?

To learn more about how you can change the conversations in your workplace contact Miriam at mailto:[email protected]

What could Pepsico Ireland , DoneDeal and Mamukko  (a new, up and coming upcycling business based in Kinsale) possibly all have in common?

The first answer is they are all exciting companies that are experiencing success, albeit at vary different stages.

The second answer is very simple, and it is what all businesses have in common, people. But it is a bit more than that; they pay particular attention to the "people factor" of their business. They are conscious of the pivotal role that people play in their business success and rather than take it for granted, they give time, care and attention to how they manage their respective "people factors".

Your people factor could refer to the culture of your organisation, your recruitment practices, your employee engagement practices, your change management practices and not least, your leadership.

My work is all about helping organisations get their people factor right. For years now I have helped leaders deal with people crises, engage positively with change and build successful engaged workforces. It is a subject I am passionate about. I believe getting your people factor right is critical for success for numerous reasons.  It is what is going to deliver you innovation, creativity, flexibility, loyalty, accountability and responsibility. It's a no brainer really!

But I recognise that there is no one way to get your people factor right. It is different for every organisation depending on size, environment, history, context, leadership and industry sector.

There are many organisations in Ireland already getting the people factor right in their own unique way. I think we can all learn from them. I am not suggesting that we try to imitate any of them but we can take inspiration from them. We can take ideas to apply to our own particular situations and we can grow our own unique, successful people factors.

Over the next number of months, I intend to seek out and interview organisations where it is obvious that there is something special happening with the people, where you can see that they are making a huge contribution to the organisation's success and where that contribution is recognised and acknowledged. I am going to share the stories of what I learn here with you.

I fully expect to be inspired by and to learn from these organisations. And if you are a leader, owner, manager, HR professional or any interested party, my sincere hope is that you will join me on this journey of learning and that you too will find inspiration and practical guidance for your own organisation.

If you have an interesting people factor story you want to share with me, don't be afraid to contact me, either through the comments below, or at [email protected].

Have you been through a redundancy or early retirement process recently, either as ..

• An employee leaving
• An employee staying with the company
• An HR person or leader managing the downsizing process
• A union official supporting staff?

For some, redundancy or early retirement, is a welcome opportunity to pursue dreams or take a well-earned break. For others, it can be a diminishing experience, leaving them unprepared and ill equipped for their new lives.

In some companies, the process is handled very well, with sensitivity, consideration and foresight. In others, it can be cold, clinical and rushed.

In researching best practices for redundancy processes, I can find plenty of material to help companies cover themselves legally and reduce costs, but very little in the line of how to manage the human story here. I personally have been through a very well managed redundancy process. I left feeling appreciated and well looked after. But I am meeting many people who have not shared the same experience.

A downsizing or redundancy process affects everyone it touches, be it the people leaving, the people remaining behind, the leaders who have had to make the decisions – or at the very least, communicate the decisions and support the staff, the HR staff who have to implement the process and the trade unions who have to represent the staff. It can be stressful, harrowing, enraging, scary and confusing and yet if handled thoughtfully and sensitively, it can allow people to move through it, to have good endings and positive beginnings and feel appreciated and empowered.

I would like to start a conversation here that will, through the stories of real life experiences, allow us to paint a picture of the practices that will make the Human Story of Downsizing an uplifting one – that will be a guide to other organisations who are facing this challenge so that they can care for all their people well through the process.

If your experience of a redundancy or early retirement process was a positive one, please share it with us and tell us what were the key things about it that made the difference for you.

If your experience of a redundancy or early retirement process was a negative one, please tell us what hurt you and what were the most important things in your opinion that would have made a difference to you. What would you ask the company or organisation to do differently?

Let’s learn from all the experience we have recently had in this field and put it to some good use!

You cannot open a newspaper or listen to the radio or TV nowadays without hearing about some organisation that is downsizing, closing down or completely restructuring itself. Global companies are moving their operations to ‘cheaper’ locations, public service organisations are having their budgets slashed while many are just failing to keep their heads above water in the current economic crisis.

We only hear the news when the final decisions are made public. But for many of these organisations, they have already had to endure weeks and months of waiting and wondering where and when the axe was going to fall. Thousands of people are getting up every day and going to work worrying about if, and for how long more, they are going to have a job. Many leaders are lying awake at night struggling with how long more they can sustain looking their people in the eye and telling them that they still don’t know what the future holds. The stresses all round are massive.

And yet, you can’t give up. There is still a job to be done. There is product to get out the door, people to be looked after, customers to be served. How do you manage to contain the anxieties of your organisation’s people and still focus on getting the job done? How do you prepare your people for the worst outcome and still keep striving for the best?

Here are some tips to follow that will help you do just that:

1. Honesty - Be as honest as possible with your staff. Resist the urge to “protect them from the truth”. They are adults, just like you, and while they may not like what you say, they will in the long run appreciate your candour.
2. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Connect with your staff three times as much as you would in normal times. Be clear, be honest, be direct. Remember, communication is a two-way process. Allow them to communicate with you.  Make space in your diary for communication.  Have an open door policy.
3. Listen. Give people the space to express their anxieties and fears. When people feel heard themselves they are better able to be open to what others have to say. Very often, just being heard can provide enough release to allow people become “unstuck” and move on.
4. Focus – Focus on what needs to be done right now as well as what can be done. Do not be distracted by what is not possible.
5. Resist the urge to “rescue” your staff from their anxieties. By “rescue” I mean reassuring your staff that everything will be ok and then taking on the impossible burden of trying to ensure that everything does turn out ok for them. It may or it may not turn out to be “ok” for them but the chances are that this outcome is out of your hands. Rather than rescue, acknowledge that times are difficult and ask your staff what they need in order to support themselves better.
6. Bigger picture. In times of anxiety our awareness contracts and all we can focus on are the issues and obstacles in front of us. In order to see beyond this into the realm of solutions and paths forward we need to expand our awareness and start seeing the bigger picture. As leader, you can play a vital role in drawing your people’s attention to this bigger picture. If you are struggling with seeing this bigger picture clearly yourself, get help from a coach, a mentor or a trusted advisor.
7. Appreciation and pride. Use every opportunity to appreciate the good work that is being done by your people. Ignite and keep alive their pride in what they have achieved over the years and continue to achieve every day.
8. Prepare yourself – If you are worried about being able to be strong and supportive for your staff in the event of negative outcomes in the future work through all the possible outcomes in your mind, or better still, with your management team. Decide what the possible future scenarios might be. Work through each one in turn. Sit with each scenario for a while as if it was really happening. See what it feels like for each of you. Pay attention to what emotions it brings up. Don’t judge these emotions – there is no right or wrong way to feel. But realise that different people will react differently to the same scenarios. This will allow you feel more prepared and grounded when facing the eventual outcomes with your staff.

To learn more about how you can bring your organisation successfully through challenging times check out Space For Change at www.spaceforchange.ie.

I have just discovered that “pollywog” or “polliwog” is another name for a tadpole but I have also heard it described as that stage where you are halfway through the transformation from being one thing to another, from being a tadpole to a frog. Remember, the tadpole starts off its life as an aquatic creature with a long tail and gills but gradually starts to grow legs, loses the tail and develops lungs so that it goes from living above the waterline to below it. Quite a metamorphosis. But when it is in mid transition it must be one hell of a tough place to be. It is neither tadpole nor frog. It must feel awkward, unfamiliar, clumsy. I wonder if it knows that it will come to an end and that one day it will finally grow into a frog!

Life feels a little like that for me at the moment. I have left a full-time job and set up my own business. I feel like I have left the safe pond of the organisation that I worked for and have hopped out onto the bank of the world of the entrepreneurs and the self-employed. The only problem is I am not yet a fully formed frog. I am still in the process of developing the legs and lungs that I need to survive in this world. I feel awkward and ill-equipped to deal with all the complexities of owning your own business. Sometimes I feel I just want to turn the clock back and jump right back into the pond that I came from but I know that is not possible.

It is scary and it is exciting at the same time. I have moments of blind panic interspersed with little moments of achievement such as writing my first blog, publishing my website, opening my business bank account, getting my first client ….. all little milestones in the life of the 21st century entrepreneur. I know I can never turn back and I know it may not work out as I hope it will. But there is one thing I know for sure….. every time I get that knot in my stomach or hit another milestone, I know I am really alive, really living and I would not have it any other way!

Rebbit!!

I know, I know, loving change ain’t all that easy. Change can be painful, hard work, uncertain and to say the least, uncomfortable. Unless we are in a really bad place (and sometimes not even then) most of us wish that we would never have to change.
But, to quote a Mr. Robert C. Gallagher, ‘Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine”. We are always, and have always been, in the middle of some change process or another, even if it is just the process of aging. And nowadays, change seems not only to be found everywhere, but seems to have developed a speed that leaves the mind boggling. There is no escaping it!
And since there is no escaping it, we may as well learn to appreciate it and embrace it. Imagine what the world would be like if we had no change – we would still be living in caves!! Imagine what we would be like as individuals if we never developed and grew! I shudder to think what I would be like if I never changed from my first job all those years ago. What if the seasons never changed? What if we never grew old and died? We would have to stop having children. We would never bother challenging ourselves or doing new things because we had eternity to do it. We would never appreciate the smell of fresh flowers or the sight of a beautiful sunset because the fact that we had eternity to experience them would make them seem commonplace. Imagine all the joy and experiences we would be missing out on if we did not have change!
Even when change is painful, it is usually necessary for the cycle of life to continue.
So, while we may curse and resist change, we should learn to love it too as it is what makes life interesting and worth living. And maybe the next time we will move to meet it half way and welcome it as an old friend; a friend who may well challenge and frustrate us, but who always leaves us wiser and better off for having known them.


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