Robert Macleod - The only constant is change
You will have heard the phrase; "the only constant is change"
and so true it is.
You will have heard the phrase; "the only constant is change"
and so true it is. In the unsettled economic times we are in I do
not think there are many people unaffected by changes in their
business and personal lives. However, change can be good as well as
bad. I remember interviewing two employees as part of an assessment
who were most upset at a number of redundancies being made in
another part of their factory. Yet later that day I spoke to one of
the men they had talked about who was supposed to be unhappy about
his situation. What transpired was quite the reverse, he was
delighted! He explained how his redundancy payment allowed him to
fulfil his dream of setting up his own nursery and market garden
business, quite a contrast to the perception of the others. As
managers of people this is what we need to appreciate - people's
perceptions. We need to lead our people and above all
communicate in an open and honest manner to show them the vision of
where we are going.
Setting aside the current crisis in the Government; the
current economic situation will not last forever and we need
to look at the future and plan for it. You should be aware that
Investors in People itself has changed, not the requirements to
meet the award but the way in which we can use it. It
takes into account your situation and your business issues and
aims. In addition to this, we have launched some
additional awards to recognise the practices you have
that go beyond the minimum requirements of The Standard. These are
already proving popular and if you would like more information
please contact
us.
You might quite rightly ask; "Where have these changes come
from?" Well, let me outline the vision for you. The vision is to
have an effective standard or guide that encourages organisations
to improve through their people and recognise those who do so. It
needs to reflect the needs of organisations, provide stretch and
above all else, work. Over the last 17 years Investors in People
has evolved to keep pace with the changing needs of organisations.
The first version was very structured with requirements for certain
processes. Now it is much more focussed on the outputs of your
processes than the processes themselves, giving you more
flexibility. This evolution has come from feedback and testing with
the main users of it - yourselves! The original ideas for the
change came from feedback from you on what you would like to see
and get from the award. The latest changes have been piloted
extensively across three regions in the UK, amendments made and
then run in local areas to gain more refinement prior to being
released last month.
In addition to this change, you will see that we also have a new
look. The last logo had been in circulation since the beginning so
it was time to bring it up to date. I hope you like it, it brings a
fresh modern look to our communications and to yours. But don't
worry about renewing all your stationary immediately, you just need
to phase it in as you reprint or rebrand.
Finally, having been a fresh young graduate seeking
employment during the last recession I know they do not last
forever so we all need to be ready for the upturn. Now is a
good time to recreate your vision for your future and start to plan
to achieve it...and remember to share it!