Herding Cats?

I am priviledged to be running a workshop today for MIND, the leading mental health charity here in the UK.

I was just chatting with the regional Change Director and getting her views on how an organisation like her manages its operations, given that they rely heavily on volunteers to deliver much of their service.

She told me that while the approach had to be different, there were many things in common. While there is no employment contract, the stick that many commercial and public organisations use to control employee behaviour, all volunteers have to sign up to the charity's statement of values and agree to conform to organisational norms.

I read recently that commercial companies should start to treat their employees as if they were volunteers, especially those who are in Handy's "Strategy Core" of employees. The days of treating them as servants (the approach Handy takes to the Peripheral Staff in his "Shamrock Organisation" model) are, or should be over. This will become more important now, as companies compete in ever harsher conditions to retain their most talented employees.

The danger is that companies will use voluntary redundancy and cost-cutting on benefits to respond to the current market trend. The results of voluntary redundancy are almost always that you lose the most experienced and the most talented and are left with the mediocre - not exactly a sustainable competitive advantage. Cost-cutting on benefits, including transferable skills training (declaration of interest here, Dave) drive away the most talented in the same way.

Be very careful that you do not act like an industrial baron towards your most valuable employees in this recession - you must act like the Lord of the Manor and show them your loyalty now to secure theirs through and beyond the current crisis.

All the best,

Dave Bull
Team Coaching Network Ltd
http://www.teamcoachingnetwork.com