Teryl @ Work

It has become a cliche, and, like most cliches, there is a mix of truth and fallacy. So what does the average employee look for at work? High pay? Constant access to social media? Extensive leave? Very flexible hours? Well, yes, but research and empirical evidence also shows: Fair treatment  Growth Pleasant colleagues Pleasant working environment A manager who is demotivating can undo any positive effects that great corporate policies can have, while a great manager can mitigate the effects of a less people sensitive business strategy. Some ideas that work some of the time Discuss your reason for being there Sometimes we forget our business purpose or the difference we make to our clients, suppliers and various stakeholders.   Discuss it with your people, if you manufacture chocolate its easy to cover the "we make people feel good" side, but what if you do aluminium sidings?   Find the value in what you do, and share it with everybody. At...

What is the difference?   Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have quite a few mentors, who were generous with their time, ideas and input.  And I have certainly had sponsors, who have recommended me for really good positions and opportunities, as well as head hunting me at just the right time! But once I was in the position of having a mentor who was also a great coach and a sponsor. Sieg Frankenfeld held my current position of heading up  +Accsys (Pty) Ltd  for 4 months as a caretaker, before I was promoted from Sales Director to CEO, and he was, and is, an unbelievable coach. We were at a meeting at our Head Office once, and he was presenting on the company, and he kept saying "I" have done this and "I" have done that.   When we sat down together after the meeting, I queried saying I instead of we about all the positive input and he, smiled, and said "Do you think you will be able to share the failures with your team, too?"  I still use ...