Succession planning is important for any business. Organisations need new blood coming through with new ideas, knowledge and experience as well as new perspectives. Individual leaders need to move on at the right time and the right way that allows them to demonstrate and be acknowledged their achievements and to leave a legacy, whatever that might be.
It’s important that everyone affected sees the situation in a positive light when it’s completed (although they may necessarily not be happy with the leader moving on). In civil society we have seen recent cases involving the replacement of Garda Commissioners and the Taoiseach, (Enda’s long goodbye…) In the sporting world there was much disruption following Alex Ferguson’s departure, although he did it largely on his terms. Frank de Boer was removed from Crystal Palace after a few months. Closer to home Brian Cody is to stay on as manager of the Kilkenny hurling team whilst Martin O’Neill was offered a contract extension prior to Ireland’s victory over Wales. This result ensured the national team finished second in their group and go to the play-offs whilst a kick of the ball would have meant they finished third and the this would have been widely viewed as failure.
Timing is hugely important and for those making decisions in relation to succession it is important to keep the situation under constant review identifying when the time is right to make a change. It’s important that there are structures in place to identify and attract a successor when the time is right.
The performance of a leader is key to success, whether that is the CEO of a charity, the Managing Director of a small services business, the founder of a family business (or a Taoiseach or a football manager!) How they work through friction points and blockages is important and they need to do this across a number of levels, the individual, with some members of the team, with multiple teams or a wider group, with the whole Organisation, with multiple Organisations and stakeholders and within the wider eco-system.
Key questions to ask are:
• What is in the best interests of the Organisation?
• What’s important to you personally? Is this creating a blind spot?
• Where is the individual leader coming from, what’s important to them?
Once we have worked this out, we should look to put it all together to work out a plan that takes into account these multiple perspectives. This should be communicated clearly and commitments need to be implemented.
Decisions around succession can be hard to make and can have wide repercussions but we all have a limited shelf life and we should try to anticipate our final day proactively so as to ensure a transition is done in the most effective way. There may be times when its helpful to work with a consultant or coach who can support this process.

In a business context the same commercial considerations are not present and you won’t be able to sell on your talent for a multi-million profit but the same problems exist; if they stay how do you reintegrate them back into the team? Rather than submitting a transfer request key employees can simply become disengaged and have their head turned by approaches from other companies. Or there may be a conflict situation that is not properly addressed and has an impact on the work environment. Maybe their behaviour is not what it should be. Either way it something needs to be done…

It is important to understand how you feel about it and why. If it’s a long-standing colleague or perhaps a second in command (or team captain) its normal to have feelings of anger stemming from a perceived betrayal. It’s also helpful to understand how they feel and where they are coming from. It can be worth remembering that if you were in their situation you would probably do something similar. It’s probably not personal so don’t treat it as such.

When you look at possible options there are normally a number of these:

• Do nothing – accept the situation as it is. Is your gut telling you this is a temporary glitch and will pass with time? Be careful though, our default position is to avoid dealing with issues in the correct way, it’s usually better to be proactive rather than reactive.
• Take action now or in the future

This may be acting swiftly to get rid of the team member (the equivalent of making them train with the youth team until you get an acceptable offer). There are times when this is a valid option and you need to use your judgement but it’s not always the best option and can be a costly one if there is a challenge. It can also have an impact on those people who are left.

Or you can use the situation as an opportunity to demonstrate leaderships skills. This is where leaders can demonstrate their ability to work through a seemingly difficult and complex situation and reintegrate the person back into the team, thereby increasing performance levels.

Things may not be as they were before but sometimes things happen for a reason as a consequence of natural development and a leader’s role is create the conditions for the group as a whole to thrive. Through effective engagement you can heal some of the damage that may have been done:

• You may need to have an engaging conversation with the individual
• You may need to facilitate discussion with the rest of the team
• You may look to bring in an independent consultant to facilitate an intervention where issues and feelings can be discussed openly and a way forward can be agreed

Finally, it’s important to learn from the situation, how has it developed and what if anything would you do differently the next time. Retention of key people is an important requirement whether whatever your business and it’s not just something to consider for those running and managing premier league clubs.

At Cube HR we help individuals, teams and organisations engage with difficult and complex situations bringing creative solutions through a partnership approach and using a hybrid method consisting of consulting, coaching and facilitation/mediation.

Whether you are working with individuals, two colleagues or business partners, teams or other groups, between different groups, across a whole organisation or in society in general, the principles are the same (we call these the 6 levels) Clients are looking for ways in which to maximise engagement at whatever level is most important to them at that moment in time, or across multiple levels.

We do this by employing a contingency leadership approach which means we look together at the particular situation, firstly by mapping out the environment and then looking at the stakeholders to understand what is important to them as it is more likely we will need to move them through employing negotiation methods rather than through command and control.

There are typically 6 opportunities to increase people engagement when examining a work situation. We see engagement as being two way as once you engage with a situation this leads to a feeling of engagement. By examining a situation you are engaging with it which, although this may be difficult, will lead to increased clarity and control and creative action. We define engagement as the feeling you get when you are doing something that is important to you, where there is challenge and complexity but you feel equipped to deal with this. When this happens you think clearly, feel focused and content as well as being in control and you can experience a feeling of being in the zone, similar to Flow as described by the psychologist, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi. This comes about when you reach an Engagement Point where you are doing something that you are passionate about, you are using your strengths and there is a need for what you are doing. This is similar to the Hedgehog concept as described by leadership expert Jim Collins.

There are 6 sides of the cube that we take our clients through, each of which offers an opportunity for engagement.

1. Holistic structures and culture need to be established. Too often we work in an environment where our structures are disconnected and unclear to ourselves and our stakeholders. To maximise engagement for ourselves and the people we work with we need to ensure we have the right structures and the culture suits our purpose
2. Roles should be defined on an ongoing basis. We should be clear about our role and the role of those we work with, our stakeholders. Roles need to be structured to get the most out of people. Whether they are colleagues, subordinates, customers, suppliers or consultants it is important to build a team where people have clear roles
3. Conflict points should be identified. Relationships are hugely important and it is important to understand where there is conflict or potential conflict. Conflict can be positive as well as negative and is needed for creativity and innovation. We all experience conflict but we need to be proactive in dealing with it so it does not become negative and destructive. Conflict engagement is looking at the particular situation and the conflict style we adopt and asking whether we are employing an appropriate strategy. Every conflict presents an opportunity, you just need to find it.
4. Understanding happens through reflection in order to learn, develop and grow. Every situation should be reflected upon so as to understand how you can learn from it. Life is a sequence of learning opportunities and we all learn as we go through it. Carol Dweck writes about the growth mindset and this is something we try to encourage our clients to adopt so that they may learn and grow.
5. Be present to accept what we can’t control and change what we can. We often spend a lot of time and effort concerned about what we have no control over. We need to focus on energies on changing what we can by taking responsibility for our actions.
6. Engagement with our purpose increases the amount of meaning we derive from the work we do. Purpose or Mission can be difficult to define and we are naturally predisposed to attempt to find it and to ensure what we are doing is working towards this. Our purpose needs to be aligned with our values and our behaviours in the moment as well as our vision of the future which maps out where we want to go. When we align these elements we feel more engaged. It is not always clear to us what these elements are and whether they correspond with what we are currently doing and it can be very beneficial to reframe this so it is aligned with our purpose, values etc.

People will often look at situations in a way that covers some of these elements but there are times when it is beneficial to have an a trusted partner work with in a systematic way in acting as a coach or facilitator. As we have a multi-disciplinary background we bring to every situation a different perspective. We are workplace experts who bring the tools necessary to help you and your stakeholders engage with the issues that are important, which in turn leads to greater engagement with what you do and therefore increased performance levels.

Sports are also all about performance, and its crucial to get this mix right. The weekend just gone gave us some wonderful sporting examples to illustrate the point.

• In the All Ireland football final reply, Mayo, who despite being widely regarded as an inferior team really put it up to Dublin for a second time but just couldn’t get over the line. They just couldn’t find that extra 1% in performance which would be the difference. A last minute miss from a free showing perhaps, that they lacked the necessary belief

• The US Ryder Cup team showed that at times having a team of superior individuals does lead to success. As well as the talent on display there was a hunger and desire to win evident which was hard for the Europeans to match. One always had a sense that the Americans were not going to leave this one behind.

• Tottenham Hotspur on the other hand have shown that despite Manchester City’s vast resources and budget it is still possible to perform better when they beat them 2-0 on Sunday. Spurs played like a team who had really bought into their manager’s vision and now look like they have a coherent identity and style that comes from a clear purpose and they are performing well as a result.

Every leader, whether that’s a sports or a business manager needs to motivate and develop their team on a regular basis in order to achieve high performance levels. Traditionally performance has been discussed formally once or twice a year as part of an annual appraisal with possibly an interim review after 6 months. Many companies are now moving away from this model for the following reasons.

• It is seen as a costly form filling exercise that is stressful to all involved and doesn’t deliver results
• Often it is one-way monologue rather than a constructive dialogue between a manager and team member
• It happens too infrequently and feedback should be delivered more immediately in order to be successful
• It can be difficult to ensure that managers provide a consistent rating across the organisation and ratings are often arrived at in an arbitrary manner which means employees are rarely satisfied and are often demotivated as a result
• It focuses on past behaviour rather than being future focused as it should be ensuring the talent is being developed to meet future business requirements
• It is often seen as a HR process rather than one which supports the business
• It may actually hinder collaboration according to the Harvard Business Review (Oct 2016)

Many of the world’s leading companies are moving away from the traditional performance appraisal in favour of more innovative ways of managing employee performance, and regular conversations about performance and development are being shown to be more effective.

It is essential that whatever system you use to monitor and improve performance fits with your Organisation depending on the size of the company, the sector you operate in and the company culture. At Cube HR we help our clients develop and implement a system that works for them. Please get in touch for a no obligation telephone consultation to find out what

People Engagement is key to any successful business and its worth taking time to consider whether you are engaging with your stakeholders in the right way. In any business the employees are key stakeholders who interact with customers, suppliers and other employees. The following are 6 areas where you should be reviewing how you currently operate;

1. Do I have the right structures to create a work environment which maximises engagement? How do I communicate what the Organisation is all about?
2. Have I defined my role (and any role I have responsibility for) to maximise engagement? Can I reframe elements of it to use my strengths better?
3. Who am I interacting with? Am I engaging them in a positive way and discussing issues of importance?
4. Do I create the conditions to maximise performance for me and anyone else I can influence? Do I have a growth mindset and the tools I need to be great at what I do?
5. Am I maximising opportunities for engaging with positive change?
6. Am I (and my team) engaged?

People engagement is our area of expertise. If you feel you may not be operating to your full potential in any of these areas please get in touch so we can do a complimentary sense check.

• How does a leader make their mark on a new team?
• How do they create a particular culture?
• Are there things that you should not change?
• What to do with those who are not part of their plans?
• How do you connect with and engage and motivate the team members?
• How do you go about bringing in new people?

These are typical problems for those in leadership position in organisations. When a manager is appointed to lead a team some will adopt a hands-off approach whilst others will look to make immediate changes similar to Messrs Guardiola and Mourinho. Change can be good and can help to motivate a drive performance but if the team are not adequately paced and it is not controlled it may be hard to bring people with you. In the cut-throat world of premier league football one wonders how two players, Joe Hard at City and Bastian Schweinsteiger at United felt about the new, strong willed manager who was keen to demonstrate his way of doing things. Both players, established and successful internationals in their own right have found themselves to be surplus to requirements. In a normal work context there are other considerations like the legal implications of moving someone on but the impact of any change can be considered to be negative or positive. Those who hire managers need to spend time working with them to establish what they want to achieve and how this will impact on stakeholders such as employees, suppliers or customers.

A new hire with the right attitude and ability can generate a significant lift to the whole business area. It is therefore important to recruit well ensuring that the ‘fit’ is right having regard to your organisation’s culture and the existing team.

At Cube HR we work with our clients throughout the recruitment process, from the initial consultation on considering the requirement and whether a permanent, temporary or consultant role is required to developing the role specification. We will then work to find the most suitable candidate having regard to the business requirements, the organisational culture and the ‘team-fit’. We can support the talent identification and assessment process and then be involved in other crucial aspects such as managing the offer and onboarding, including coaching and training during the induction and probationary period.

Not all new-hires will come with the established pedigree of Mourinho and Guardiola but you too can ensure that your new hire is right for your particular requirements. Now all that remains is to see which new hire is more successful for the Manchester clubs this season

It seems it was considered a done deal that Billy would sign a new contract and this had even been shook on when it was agreed. If this is the case you would have to wonder what went so wrong after this. The answer is that although the main terms were agreed in principle this was not followed through on and in fact the Irish Amateur Boxing Association actually emailed Billy a few days after the meeting to suggest amendments to the contract. Contract negotiations for existing as well as new employees can be tricky affairs and the involvement of a supportive third party can help ensure these are finalised in a professional way. It is also vital that all stakeholder are involved throughout and issues don’t arise at a later point regarding approvals etc.

When Trust between an employee and an employer is compromised engagement levels are affected and performance dips. It’s difficult for leaders to always be aware of potential risk areas within their teams which is why it is vital that you create a conflict positive culture. Conflict is normal and is necessary for high performance as it helps generate the creative thinking necessary to innovate. If someone feels they cannot discuss their concerns or issues then they are more likely to pack it in when the opportunity arises. Although this may seem sudden for the individual it is often the only option they can see. Sometimes this is OK for the Organisation as some turnover can be healthy and can reinvigorate the team but not when it is your star performer and you are unprepared to manage their succession.

It is worth remembering that there are times when an employee or prospective employee will make demands that are not reasonable and/or the organisation simply cannot accept. It is at times like this that you really see the value of a good succession plan which you can utilise straight away. When negotiating you need to have a BATNA which stands to best alternative to a negotiated agreement. It weakens your negotiating positon if you do not have or are not aware of what this is. No deal is sometimes better than a bad deal… When we coach and consult with clients we work this through beforehand so you are not overly influenced in the heat of the moment.

Key questions to consider:

• Have you got a succession plan in place?
• Have you developed a negotiating strategy when dealing with a key person in your company?
• How much trust exists, what can be done to improve this?
• Do you have visibility of any potential problems coming down the line?

1. Structure – how is your team setup?
2. Right people – do you have the right people in the right roles?
3. Conflict Management – does your team know how to manage conflict creatively and is the right external support available when it is needed? We saw how conflict was managed poorly during the infamous Saipan incident prior to the 2002 world cup.
4. Performance – do you know how to measure your team’s performance effectively and address any performance deficits when it is necessary?
5. Change – how does your team deal with change, do they have the right individual and collective mind-set? A superb example of this was the Ireland rugby team’s reaction to losing 3 of their key players to injury against France.
6. Engagement and Well Being – How focused are your team and is the dynamic healthy or destructive?

If you are responsible for creating and leading teams in the workplace you have an important role in ensuring their success (or failure!) similar to Joe Schmidt and Martin O’Neill. Cube HR works with clients across the 6 areas described above to ensuring workplace teams perform to their potential, just get in touch if you could like a complimentary, no obligation review of your teams effectiveness.

Step 1:

The first step is to look in detail at the situation – we take a coaching approach and ask questions in order to elicit relevant background information but also to help our client understand and reflect on the situation. By speaking with a third party this can help create the space needed to understand the reasons for the conflict. We also look at our client’s goals or vision of the future and the desired results. We look together at a person’s strengths as well as what they want to change. It is better if we can help our client to be as clear as possible here although some flexibility is needed as you should keep an open mind about what the future brings. Conflict can be positive and represents an opportunity for development and learning. The more bitter and entrenched the conflict the greater the opportunity for transformation.

Step 2:

Conflict is often due to an identity based need that is not being met or is threatened often unconsciously or we may feel that our values are being threatened. Through coaching we help our clients discover what may be below the surface, in other words what might be driving the behaviours that we exhibit. We also help clients put themselves in the other person’s shoes so that we might understand what is driving their behaviour. Remember if you were in their place with their life history and personality you would probably act in the same way…

Step 3:

The next step is to generate options for taking action – it is important to remember that one option is to do nothing and there are a wide range of options for action available. Our clients take control of the situation by acting in a strategic way. Through brainstorming we will generate options and look at the pros and cons of each. Our client then decides on their preferred course of action.

Step 4:

We then plan how this will happen using visualisation techniques and modelling the communication. We provide feedback to our clients until they feel comfortable communicating with the other party if this is what they wish to do. Other options are to take no action or to seek a formal resolution of the issue through investigation and adjudication for example.

If you are currently experiencing conflict and would like an initial free consultation please contact is at info@cubehr.ie