Business Improvement

I advise organisations on the innovative, evidence-based techniques that increase employee engagement, solve business challenges and transform profitability.  I also debunk the many myths around conventional strategies and  focus on practical implementation, not theoretical advice.

For instance, if a professional sports coach saw his elite athletes only once or twice a year and then told them everything they were doing wrong, it’s unlikely they would ever achieve any success. Yet when it comes to managing the performance of people in organisations, this kind of approach is standard practice. Despite overwhelming evidence that they are demotivating and demoralizing for both employees and leaders, annual or bi-annual performance appraisals are still the strategy in use by the majority of organisations. The alternative – the monthly one-on-one system – is one of the greatest management tools of all time.

Similarly, when leaders complain that it is impossible to attract and hire good people, that the mining companies have taken them all, or that they can’t compete on salaries, its often due to something that the organisation is doing wrong. A large retailer I worked with couldn’t find enough store leaders to grow at their projected target rate. After analysis I discovered that 50% of their best applicants were dropping out before interview. And the reason – a 1 hour psychometric test at the very start of the application process (which is a bit like someone asking you out on a first date and taking you to their parent’s home for dinner. Its too much commitment before you’ve built the relationship). They axed the test and filled all their positions with great people.

As a business adviser then, I specialise in short, sharp immersions to analyse an organisation’s people practices, and supply advice, tools and templates to accelerate their success. I’ve advised businesses in many countries such as China, South Africa, and the UK and I enjoy a challenge. Even though every business likes to feel its people problems are unique, I’ve worked in a range of industries – from dairy to retail to hotels to stockbrokers to transport – and found evidence-based solutions are successful across the board.

As French novelist Marcel Proust once said: ‘The only real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.’