The Performance Solution

What can we do for you in ICF Coaching Week 2010?

2010-02-03T02:31:00.001-08:00

ICF Coaching week is fast approaching (February 7 – 14) and one of our favourite tools to use is the Inventory for Work attitudes and motivations (iWAM).

The Inventory for Work Attitude and Motivation (iWAM) is an online or paper-and-pencil questionnaire which helps an organization identify an individual’s attention filters and cognitive styles, also called metaprograms.
With the iWAM, one can predict what motivates a person, their work attitude, how they prefer to communicate, and how they prefer to act in their work context. iWAM allows the organisation to take into account the individual preferences and to value each person for their strengths. Using iWAM will help an organisation make better use of the human potential of its workforce.

We are the only company in the UK who are licensed to train people to use iWAM and we would like to announce a unique offer: for those who book an iWAM course during coaching week (February 7-14) we are happy to offer it half-price!

Our next iWAM courses are running from 12-14 of May 2010 and 8-10 December 2010. So contact us to come and join this exciting course.

Give us a call on 01225 867285, an e-mail: enquiries@theperformancesolution.com, or a tweet @TPSCoaching to find out more.

Our 2010 so far!

2010-02-01T02:41:00.000-08:00

Phew!

2010 has certainly started with a bang. We've hardly had time to say Happy New Year and it's already February.

We won a major contract with a large multinational insurance company at the end of last year and we've started in house coach training. The group so far have been hard-working and full of energy for learning new skills. Thank you to everyone for that and we look forward to the next module!

We've been rebranding as you know and our new website should be launched this month. We're so excited about it and hope that you will let us know what you think. We're going to be bringing you more coaching resources, tools and articles and creating a great coaching space!

It's also International Coaching week from the 7th to 14th of February and we're going to offer our iWAM course half price to anyone who books it during that week! So if you'd like to know more about the inventory of work attitudes and motivations and become certified to use it, make sure you get in touch.

Dates for upcoming iWAM courses are as follows:
12-14 May
20-22 September
8-10 December

And for 1 lucky person we'll be giving away a free iWAM course at the Association for Coaching Going Global Conference. We're planning lots of great stuff on our stand and hope you'll come and meet us there.

Finally (for now), we'll also be at the European ICF conference in Paris in the Summer and hope that we'll meet lots of you there as well.

We hope your 2010 has started out well and invite you to join us on Twitter (@TPSCoaching) or LinkedIn to let us know what you've been up to.

How to motivate your employees

2010-01-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

We’d love to be able to give you a clear statement on how to motivate your employees, wouldn’t it make life easier to read it and put it into practice and sit back and watch them perform to the best of their ability?

But just because there isn’t just one way to motivate your employees doesn’t mean we can’t help you to do it.

Knowing how to motivate your employees is knowing WHAT motivates them. We are all motivated by different things. Some of us by money, some by changing environments, some by challenge, some by routine, some by feedback, and some by being left to work on our own. And if you offer your employees the wrong motivators for them, they won’t respond.

So here are some of our top tips for learning how to motivate your employees:
1. Ask them. So many employers don’t know how to appropriately ask their employees important questions. Short coaching courses can teach you how to ask more pertinent questions to get to the root of what you need to know quickly and carefully.

2. Listen to their answers. It seems basic but we interpret answers based on how we see the world. One of the best ways to make sure we keep our own views out of our questions and therefore get purer answers is to use Clean Language. A few simple techniques can dramatically change how your employees respond.

3. and finally if you want a shortcut: use a reliable psychometric. We use Extended DISC and the inventory of work attitudes and motivations (iWAM). Asking your employees to fill out one of these short questionnaires can give you a real insight into what motivates them so that you can respond to it.

Simple! Contact us if you’d like more information on any of these topics, we’d be glad to point you in the right direction.

Tel: +44 (0) 1225 867285
e-mail: enquiries@theperformancesolution.com

New Changes to coaching accreditation

2010-01-11T02:33:00.000-08:00

The European Individual Accreditation (EIA) is a Europe-wide
recognised award that confirms that individuals and line manager
coach-mentors have the appropriate level of knowledge and the
ability to apply it effectively in their coaching and mentoring
practice at various levels.

This free guide outlines the background to European Mentoring
and Coaching Council (EMCC) and the EIA. It describes the
benefits of undertaking EIA qualifications, what it means for
coaching and mentoring as a whole and the implications for HR
professionals and their organisations. Also included is a summary
of the assessment criteria for each of the four levels of EIA
accreditation.

See http://emccaccreditation.org/eia-home/eia-accredited-coach-mentors/

Soft Skills for Hard Benefits

2009-12-03T02:13:00.000-08:00

...Continued from December Newsletter

Who works in a company where the biggest investment is in the desks? Or the water-cooler? Or the printer? The biggest asset most companies have is their staff. So why neglect them, why not make the most of those bright minds that stood out at interview?
Around the globe, HR is fighting to keep their best people as new opportunities open up to them post-recession. How are they doing this? They are bringing in external coaches to coach their A-team, to work out what motivates them and find ways to put it into practice. Managers and directors are also training in coaching to learn to perform more effectively.
“But it’s too expensive...” we hear you say. In fact, recent research shows the opposite. Coaching in business has been proven to produce a large return on investment. For specific case studies from the ICF please click here. This will be explored further at the conference this week and we look forward to bringing you further news on this topic.
Aside from ROI, coaching has been proven to have significant links to individual skills and behaviours, team performance, productivity and employee job satisfaction as found by a meta-analysis published in this month’s International journal of coaching. With the large amount of evidence supporting the benefits of coaching, it’s not can we afford to, but can we afford not to? Coaching really is a soft skill which produces hard benefits.

Coaching for obesity

2009-04-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

NHS to give overweight children 'life coaching'
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor London Evening Standard
20.04.09

OVERWEIGHT children will get life-coaching classes to help them slim in a scheme on trial in London.

NHS bosses are recruiting motivational trainers to "empower" nine- to 11-year-olds to lose weight and become more healthy.

The new attempt to tackle the nation's obesity crisis is a radical departure from "bootcamp-style" methods where children are put through a rigorous exercise regime.

Children will be nominated for the mind-training workshops by teachers or school nurses and be encouraged to make lifestyle choices to lose the fat.

Those attending will get monthly face-to-face sessions with psychology coaches as well as weekly telephone sessions. The life-coaching scheme is being piloted from this Saturday by the NHS in north-east London.

Redbridge primary care trust is the first to test the life-coaching classes but others are also signed up to the programme. Experts say mind training will transform the attitudes of children to food and exercise.

The Government has already spent £372million on anti-obesity measures, including a clampdown on unhealthy packed lunches, a ban on junk food from school vending machines and compulsory cooking lessons. But London children are among the fattest in the country, with one in three officially overweight by the time they start school.

Coaching company The Performance Solution is carrying out the free workshops to help change the mindset of children. Those attending must be above the healthy weight for their age and height compared with the national average.

The sessions will be run by ex-marine Alan Chambers, who led the first British team to walk unsupported to the North Pole. Mr Chambers, 40, said blaming children for being obese was futile.

He said: "The fact is existing methods are not working and advertising campaigns cost a lot of money. I was a dreamer as a child but if you are four stone overweight then you're limiting your chance of adventure.

"This is about motivation, not blame. It's not a case of 'by the end of the class we will have changed your BMI and you'll be running the London marathon'.

"It's about giving them the psychological skills to change their mindset. If they make different lifestyle choices the weight will fall off." The workshops will be supported by a text service and a dedicated helpline to ensure the children stay motivated.

Their parents will also be given coaching to ensure they are not giving their children unhealthy choices.

Pratibha Datta, NHS Redbridge's director of public health, said: "The goal is to help these youngsters adopt lasting change. That means encouraging them to adopt more empowering beliefs and values about what they can do. The life coaches are well placed to make this happen and it is potentially a very exciting project."

The wheel of life test

The aim of life-coaching is to help people lead more balanced lives.

Children at the workshops will have to complete a specially designed test called the Wheel of Life.

This is a simple exercise where they rate every aspect of their lives including health and well-being, self-esteem, friendships and achievements.

They also fill in a form with multiple-choice questions on subjects such as "I have an ongoing exercise programme" or "I am my normal weight and look good".

Their answers are scored according to how healthy they are and how balanced their lifestyle is.

It also gives an insight into their eating habits such as what takeaway shops they pass on the way to school or what clothes they would like to wear if they lost weight.

The life coach then sets them individual goals to motivate them to become more fit and healthy.

Reflections from Neil Crofts

2009-03-16T04:03:00.001-07:00

it’s not a recession it's a transition.

It’s a transition from the industrial economy to the networked economy. This transition started 10 years ago with the dotcom boom. Over the last 10 years we have seen many industries collapse under scrutiny of the digital spotlight.

Now it is the turn of the banks, car makers and other monolithic industrial structures to transcend to the new level or succumb. It is the older, less culturally advanced businesses that are suffering the most. It is not so much the technology that makes businesses vulnerable or brilliant, but their culture.

The culture of the network paradigm is - flexible, transparent, insanely creative, cellular, distributed, diverse, inspiring, permeable and authentic.

The culture of the industrial paradigm is - structured, opaque, incremental, hierarchical, monolithic, homogenous, predictable, obedient, and bounded.

In today’s connected world customers want to buy from businesses that inspire them. People want to work for organisations that inspire them and politicians want to support businesses that contribute more than just money to society.

The next generation of hyper successful business will be networked. The boundaries between employee and customer will blur as with Threadless and Digg. Where people outside the company help create the product.

Businesses like Plenty of Fish where one man who works around one hour per day brings in $10 million per year, o-desk, e-lance and guru will change the dynamics of employment. It will become more and more difficult for uninspiring companies to attract great people.

The whole notion of employment will shift, more and more, from 9 to 5 to flexible, multi role, portfolio careers with individuals working for multiple employers.

Instead of commuting to corporate HQ more and more people will use flexible office spaces like The Hub or online spaces like Linkedin or Facebook to find their community and collaborators.

Cost effective online collaboration tools like ning, powownow and Skype enable those with a mission to access greater global collaboration.

Success will come from doing something valuable and inspirational with a culture of creativity, innovation and challenge.

Businesses and organisations who are unable to make the shift will succumb.

What can we do?

Invest in personal development. If you don’t already know what you are great at and what you are most passionate about - find out.

Invest in the next generation. We need to take the next generation beyond education. My contribution to this is to be part of www.amentorforeverychild.com, please join the web based community and contribute what you can.

Transform the culture of your organisation. If you recognise that the organisation that you work for is following the industrial model and you want to keep your job, start working to change it.

2009-03-13T05:03:00.001-07:00

Recession is a blip in time, integrity is for life and once lost can be very hard to regain.

2009-03-13T04:46:00.000-07:00

We are all experiencing similar challenges from credit crunch, to regulation of our profession, debates about CPD and professional standards, increasing overheads, reducing margins, the old chestnut of using time effectively and with all of this my plea today is to hold fast to our values and our integrity. We can all benefit from a value chain management approach,adding value to our clients by referring them to the best possible solutions even if that means we may lose a sale in the sort term. In the longer term our brand image and integrity is retained, our client will return and those to whom we referred our clients will refer others to us. This is not about commission systems and control, this is about trusting in the wider system, in abundance and elevating to a strategic process that will ensure longevity of our brands even if in the short term it impinges on cash flow and profitability. It's all about being 'fit for purpose'.

Today (Friday 13th) we found we had a new competitor for some of our work. That's fine, it's a free market and more competition spreads the word about the value of personal development in business. What wasn't acceptable is that the competitor had repointed one of our websites to their own. Luckily we picked this up before it had any effect on our business. Are those really the suppliers we want in a leaner world?

So today, let's question the values that our behaviour is exposing. Are those the values that we want to be remembered for, are they the values that make us congruent human beings and will our children be proud of the behaviours we are exhibiting in these interesting times? I can guarantee that coaches and consultants from The Performance Solution are chosen for their integrity, alignment and professionalism and that we will stick to this standard come what may.

Rigorous coaching research

2008-11-17T01:29:00.000-08:00

There are still wide variations in coaching practice and whilst 70% of companies in the UK are using coaching in their organisations, the supply is fragmented and unmanaged with a lack of quality control in ensuring that only professional coaches are used. The profession is now providing a qualification route up to Masters degree level with accredited professional membership to ensure there is a check at the skills and capability level of the coach. The insurance companies are starting to ask questions about coaching, as regulation becomes nearer and claims for negligence are a possibility. Are the coaches you use qualified, skilled and insured and do they really add value to your business. What is their personal history in terms of a business career, specialist qualifications and roles and strategic understanding?

This month the CIPD launces a practical diagnostic instrument to help learning and development professionals better understand some improtant aspects of coaching in their business and show how coaching fits within the wider organisational context. They have also launched a major new research project entitled "Coaching at the sharp end". which focuses on the coaching experience of line managers. Coaching is about building organisational resilience and resources. In these challenging times it is absolutely critical to ensuring the effectiveness of your key people, protecting your investment and reducing stress levels whilst maximising creative responses. It is an essential tool in helping the economy bounce back from recession with the energy and vitality to compete in a new and changed world.

All the coaches at The Performance Solution are qualified in both coaching and an organisational specialism, are supervised and have held senior roles in industry. Both external and company employed coaches who are trained by The Performance Solution meet the robust accreditation standards of the Association for Coaching and Kingston University.

Self as Instrument

2008-10-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

Self As Instrument (SAi) is the title of a skill set that the organization change profession commonly refers to. Skillful practitioners use these to organize a multitude of dynamics that can enhance change processes. The skill set is based on systems theory that asserts that the productive use of the self has the capacity to effectively influence the larger system. It is an especially important skill set for change practitioners to possess because they guide the client and the group through the unavoidable turbulence that organization change creates. Skillful use of the self can improve change processes in the design, implementation and sustaining processes of organization change. The specific skills that make up this concept, SAi, are vast. It includes both intra-personal and inter-personal skills as well as cognitive and affective skills.

SAi is a fundamental key to managing organization change

Within each person resides the sacred territory that they are unconsciously protecting. When changes occur externally their well guarded perceptions, habits or behaviors are impacted. It can be unsettling. With the great changes occuring in our culture and economy today almost everyone's comfort zone needs to be better managed.

Learning how to broaden the comfort zone is a fundamental SAi key skill for personally managing organization change. It took a lifetime to create this unconscious skill set, yet we don't even know exists. It takes gradual, incremental steps to consciously begin opening to new coping abilities. In other words, it takes continual practice and a regular rhythm of practice to begin making the changes. Eventually these new patterns become an unconscious mindset that is better equipped to deal with changes, whether personal or professional.

Models similar to SAi

There are many other models that are similar to SAi. Each unveils more understanding to either the intra personal or the inter personal skills use by the Self. To name just a few of these models a brief list follows:

Self Differentiation

SAI for Organization Diagnosis

Johari Window

Helping Skills

Emotional Intelligence

f you are interested in self as instrument coaching please contact Anna Gomez. She has worked with a wide range of professionals: from international executives to line staff; from global corporations to non profits; from social service agencies to military suppliers. Linking your most essential self to your greatest concerns can create dynamic progress. The cost of your first session is free. Dr. Anna Gomez Terra Firma: Grounded Change http://www.groundedchange.com/GroundedChange@gmail.com

Assessing how employees perform day in; day out.

2008-10-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

Measuring typical performance will tell you how an employee will perform consistently, tather than measuring optimum performance. Motivational testing will measure what drives individuals on a daily basis and will give an individation of the language that line managers should use to get the best out of their people.

jobEQ provides online HR tools that help to improve Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in the workplace. jobEQ brings HRM to the next level by focusing on work attitude, motivation, values and skills for each part of the human resources process. Whether you are an HR consultant or an organization looking to improve its own HR, jobEQ can help you find and manage great employees. E mail here to discover how we can make sure the right people have the right jobs

Stay ahead of the game during the downturn!

2008-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

In these intuiging times many people are wondering how they should be behaving at work. Our advice is to stay put, especially if you have been employed for more than a year as you then have employment protection. Think about your employers' strategy and work out how you can add most value and find a senior mentor to find opportunities for you on long term projects which are vital to your organisation and will build capability for the future. One of the most naive things you can do is ask for a pay rise at the current time, one of the best things is to keep developing yopurself and your talents, keep networking and become indispensible. This may be a time to study and gain further qualifications, demonstrate your committment and contribute to your future, become part of a virtual action learning set, gain credits for competence or work based learning and get a Masters degree. Whatever happens, keep yourself marketable. This so-called recession is hyped up by the media and while waiting on the bench we need to keep fit to play in a challenging and vibrant future.

Try a coach

2008-10-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

Want to become a coach? Could you use a coach?

If you want to become a coach, it makes a lot of sense to experience coaching, right now.

And if you are a coach, this is the time to work with a coach for a month or more to move some big goals forward.

The Performance Solution is offering a 50% discount on coaching if you contact us by November 1st and take the sessions during December in London, the South East, Hampshire, Wiltshire or Somerset.

If you’ve been wanting to move something forward in your life, I encourage you to take advantage of this offer today, by contacting samantha.white@theperformancesolution.com

2008-10-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Who are we?

The Performance Solution is an international boutique consulting practice, established in 2000 and still headed up by founder Managing Director, Behavioural Technologist and much sought after executive coach; Sally Vanson. The management team includes Dr Allan Parker, Operations Director, executive coach and international business improvement facilitator, and Kevin McAlpine; Executive Coach and Director of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism development services. Paul Stewart is our Customer Relationship Manager, Tracey McCulloch our Administration Manager and Lucy Vanson and Samantha White look after our clients' daily needs.

We are Behavioural Technology specialists, focused in the area of Performance Improvement in organisations, working with process and project management supported by the people performance skills required to achieve bottom line results. We are headquartered in the UK and work internationally across Europe, Australasia, the Middle East and parts of the USA, having native language speakers in most countries who are professionally qualified in their areas of expertise.

Our style and approach

At the core of our work is the concept of “freedom with responsibility, partnership and optimum performance”. We work with partners and clients to co-invent a bespoke range of consultancy and development interventions, including project management and co-ordination of other providers to ensure consistent, sustainable and measurable results, which challenge preconceptions and accelerate value to the bottom line.

The Performance Solution adopts a highly interactive style of facilitation, basing it on an approach which is fast, effective and fun, and involves principles from Neuro-Linguistic Programming, accelerated learning, emotional intelligence as well as the more traditional Kolb and Honey and Mumford models. A key philosophy is to use and build on the latest accelerated learning methods using visioning tools, multiple intelligences, making the learning sensory and meaningful for each unique individual on the programme.

Our approach is always to work closely with the client to co-invent realistic and pragmatic solutions that fit the organisation and business context. These solutions focus on leveraging both individual and organisational performance. We are keen to always establish how any assignment can be measured in both behavioural terms and in bottom line results.

Accredited and Professional International Coaching and Supervision

2008-10-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

We are delighted to celebrate the 200th graduate of our Certificate in Advanced Coaching Skills. This programme is accredited through the Association for Coaching and gives 15 credits towards the MA in Coaching and NLP which we run in partnership with Kingston University. We have enough alumni now to run CPD courses in specialist topics which add value and process to their coaching skills. Make a note of this blog to stay up to date, and take advantage of exciting events planned for 2009 and beyond. Share your learning and insights by adding comments and become part of a vibrant and professional learning community who are working to enhance the profession by achieving consistent standards in their work. We plan to regularly feathure our international coaches and alumni, their successes and uniqueness as well as projects and opportunities.