Enabling Change: Re-energizing Your Organization

It has been shown that change management is a carefully planned and systematic way of formulating, communicating, and implementing change in an organization.

A key element of the change management process is the enabler, or a professional who creates a constructive environment in which change can happen effectively and efficiently.

So what are the skills and qualifications of a change enabler?

• An in-depth understanding of how people go through the change process.
• Familiarity and knowledge of change management concepts, principles and methodologies.
• Understanding of project management theories, principles, methods and practices.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively at all levels of an organization.
• Strong, active listening skills.
• Keenly-developed problem solving and root cause identification skills.
• Acute analytic skills and decision-making abilities.
• Commitment as a team player and the capacity to work with, and through, others.
• Facility in influencing others and moving toward a shared vision and goals.
• Involvement with other change efforts — both large and small — and previous change management experience.

It's natural that most individuals react with caution and with concerns when changes are being planned or occurring in an organization since they may have an impact on their future, security and organizational fit.

But change occurs and it affects people, often in stressful ways. The real challenge for the enabler is how to get over the resistance of those who don't want to change.

At Y2CP we are the professional and experienced change enablers which your organization may need right now.

Leaman Long, B.A., B.Ed.
Y2 Consulting Psychologists

Teamwork – Is it Underrated or Overrated?

It depends...

If it means working collegially and listening to — and understanding — other members of the team, in order to determine best approaches, then it is.

If it means "toeing the corporate line", "not upsetting the apple cart", or "maintaining a civil workplace", then it isn't.

How do team leaders build dynamic teams?

Sound leadership is a key element in building sound teams. Through example, team leaders should be able to establish and maintain positive working environments, and to motivate and invigorate team members.

Open communication is a vital factor in the interpersonal interactions of teams. Team members must be able to articulate their thoughts and feelings, contribute ideas, resolve professional differences, and assess the viewpoints of the other team members.

Décompressons! Dix conseils gagnants pour les leaders

Leaders : Voici 10 trucs efficaces sur comment mieux gérer votre stress au travail rédigé par le Centre de Creative Leadership.

La main-d’oeuvre au Canada : Chiffres intéressants publiés par Statistiques Canada !

Cela nous permet d'ouvrir les yeux face à la réalité canadienne et de pouvoir comparer notre milieu de travail avec les autres au Canada.

Knowing Yourself Well Leads to Greater Success

The end of high school and the transition to post-secondary education represent a significant turning point in the lives of young adults. Choosing the right and appropriate college or university program is the first hurdle towards a well-paying and interesting job. In today's world, post-secondary education is the key to success.

Unfortunately, too many young people choose their post-secondary program without really taking the time to seriously think about it. A haphazard choice is the main cause for dropping out of a college or university program. Dropping out has numerous negative impacts: loss of self-esteem; fear of making another mistake; limiting oneself to small jobs that do not pay well; difficulties in motivating oneself to go back to school.

How many young people manage to know themselves well enough to choose an appropriate post-secondary education program? Very few: in fact, according to certain studies, not even 30 % of those who are finishing high school. This means that up to 70 % of young adults make a more or less realistic choice.

Bien se connaître pour mieux réussir

La fin des études secondaires et la transition aux études postsecondaires constitue une période charnière dans la vie des jeunes adultes. Un choix réaliste et ajusté d'un programme à l'université ou au collège est la première condition à remplir pour accéder à un emploi bien payé et intéressant. Car pour réussir aujourd'hui, les études postsecondaires sont la clef du succès.

Malheureusement, beaucoup trop de jeunes font un choix d'études postsecondaires sans réellement prendre le temps d'y réfléchir sérieusement. Un choix irréfléchi est la principale cause d'abandon d'un programme à l'université ou au collège. Un abandon cause beaucoup d'effets négatifs : perte de l'estime de soi, crainte de se tromper à nouveau, limitation à des petits emplois mal payés, difficultés à se motiver pour retourner aux études.

Combien de jeunes parviennent à développer une connaissance de soi suffisante pour faire un bon choix de programme d'études postsecondaires? Très peu, en fait, selon certaines études même pas 30% des finissants et des finissantes du secondaire. Cela veut dire que jusqu'à 70% des jeunes font un choix plus ou moins réaliste.

Investing in Employee Development in Order to Stay Competitive and Meet Organisational Needs in the GOC

The federal government's Policy on Learning, Training and Development (2006) specifies that all employees must have learning plans aligned with departmental business priorities. The learning plans are intended to enable employees to acquire and maintain the knowledge, skills and competencies needed for their level and functions, and prepare them to do the next job. Accordingly, all public service employees are to be developed.

You've heard it many times: public service leaders are accountable for leading and managing people to achieve results aligned with strategic directions. This is a tall order at any time in a dynamic political environment marked by evolving priorities, shifting resources, changing employee expectations, and ongoing public scrutiny. However, people remain at the heart of it all – people who take on the challenges of leadership, and the people they lead.

Leaders need to strategically manage the flow of talent through their organizations so that the right people are in the right place at the right time. In the hurly burly of daily activity, however, leaders often focus less on developing people after they are on board.

Managing Work Overload

In many organizations, one of the most frequently reported workplace stressors is related to workload.

Y2 Consulting Psychologists, an HRM firm specialising in Government organisations, have led several workplace assessments in GOC departments and agencies. In many of the GOC organisations that were assessed, indicate struggling with the volume of work, the tight deadlines, constantly changing priorities, priority setting/urgencies, lack of resources, significant workload fluctuations and uneven distribution of work.

The issues of workload management and productivity are tightly intertwined. How can you achieve greater productivity with your existing resources?

Creating Positive and Healthy GOC Organisations

To be truly successful, an organisation must have a work climate of trust and openness, that is a positive atmosphere. A positive atmosphere indicates that members of the organisation are motivated, committed, involved and satisfied. It means that people are comfortable enough with one another to be creative, take risks, and make mistakes. It also means that people are satisfied with their jobs and with their work environment. You are also likely to hear plenty of laughter, and research shows that people who are enjoying themselves are more productive than those who dislike what they are doing.

Trust is by far the most important ingredient of a positive atmosphere. Some of the characteristics and behaviours that build trust are: honesty, dependability, sincerity and open-mindedness. It’s also important to keep in mind that what one person sees as trustworthy is not necessarily what another sees. We each have different values. Trust is not built overnight. In fact, building trust is often one the greatest challenges of most organisations. If a team you work with has done a good job of building trust, the other aspects of a positive atmosphere will come more easily.

Making New Hires Count

Rather than being another management burden, welcoming new hires and retention of employees should be viewed as best practices for managers. 

We know that the approach by which an organization’s employees and resources are coherently managed is fundamental to its effectiveness and well-being.

And managers who engage their employees are more likely to retain them. 

It has been shown that retention efforts are bolstered in any organization when managers:

• care about each individual employee
• listen and understand what motivates employees
• provide clear direction, roles, responsibilities and expectations
• reward and recognize contributions
• help employees develop, and
• remove barriers to success