The most transformational coaching workshop I’ve ever attended started with the facilitator (Sir John Whitmore) writing these words on the flipchart: This is not the truth! Right there and then, I knew I was in the right place, and in the right presence. At the time of the workshop, about 10 years ago, Sir John had…
This paper was a finalist in the 2016 Research Competition and explores the topic of collaboration and what it actually means in practice and what it takes to be successful. The paper sets out to address this, uncover ways in which organisations might improve their collaboration, and shed light on behaviours that can get in…
“Write a blog on the Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching?” was the request. “I’ve just written about 12,000 words for my postgraduate certificate and now you want me to write more?”, I thought regressing into Kevin the teenager. I had thought I would have a bit of a break from writing after completing my qualification. Not…
Most of the studies on trust in organisations have taken a cross-sectional approach (snapshot view) and looked at it at a single point in time. However, trust is a dynamic phenomenon and cross-sectional studies of trust are inadequate to meaningfully capture changes in trust and understand how it fluctuates over time in response to events…
Interpersonal trust is essential for an organisation’s success. Low interpersonal trust between employees results in high staff turnover, low employee engagement, and unnecessary monitoring, duplication and bureaucracy. New research by Roffey Park on trust in work relationships has highlighted eight specific behaviours that tend to foster interpersonal trust. Being transparent Transparency in interpersonal relationships is…
If you search the phrase ‘compassion at work’ on the internet you will find numerous articles calling for more compassionate workplaces. It seems that although we know the value of compassion in our lives, we somehow manage to ignore it and find it difficult to be compassionate when we are at work. Some people may…
Coaching has become increasingly used within organisations to provide a learning experience for leaders and managers where complexity and change is ever increasing. Having to hold situations where no clear solution is immediately evident is often stressful for managers who historically deal with the certainty of process and outcome. Coaching can offer a broadening of…
The challenges that leaders face change over time therefore the capabilities of individual leaders must also evolve. As Roffey Park’s Management Agenda research has identified, organisations continue to report they do not have the breadth and depth of leadership capability that complex, competitive business environments require. Whilst the majority of managers rate leadership skills of…
While I was reading the news, I came across a classic example of lack of compassion in an organisation. An employee, Toner, needed to take his terminally ill grandmother to hospital for a medical test and there was no one else in his family to do it. Toner was told by his boss that he…
Storytelling is receiving increasing attention in the management literature as a powerful tool for addressing many of today’s key leadership challenges, including articulating a clear vision and strategy, engaging employees, generating commitment to change and establishing trust in leaders. In this report we draw on existing literature and semi-structured interviews with senior leaders to examine…
How do employees view the trustworthiness of their organisation during change? What informs their judgments of organisational trustworthiness? What can leaders do to sustain trust during turbulent times of organisational change? What can HR/OD practitioners do? This research explores the employee view of organisational change, and in particular its impact on perceptions of trust. Three…
In fact, it is bonkers. And before I provoke a storm of interdisciplinary warfare between opposing camps of practitioners, let me backtrack for a moment and start with a couple of definitions: Organisational Development: “a systematic approach to improving organisational effectiveness – one that aligns strategy, people and processes” – Roffey Park’s definition Organisation Design: “a dynamic process of…
