Which group of people is more numerous: Those who know what to do or those who do it?

Why is change so difficult? After we decide to improve our life, work, or the life and work of others, why does it take so long to start implementing the positive changes?

It is because our environment hardly ever makes change easy. When you decide to choose what you eat more carefully, you get dinner invitations. When you decide to improve your work-life balance, you are given more responsibility. You have to start working harder when you are already out of energy.

In other words, you are running around in circles. And you are not alone. While you are trying to make aprogresstowards your objectives, vicious circles are everywhere you look. Sometimes you do not even know you are in a vicious circle.

Whether it is time management, motivation, leadership, customer service or strategic management, you will need to knowhow to identify the ‘weak spot’ of vicious circles and how to break them.

• Procrastination: Why do I keep postponing urgent and important tasks? • Being overworked: Why do I use my precious overtime to stare at my screen? • Delegating tasks: Why don’t my people get anything right? • The stupid boss: Why does he give me pressure and unrealistic demands? • Corporate vision and strategy: Why do people resist the right thing?

Time and Place

7 July 2010, 9am to 11am, Shanghai Crowne Plaza Hotel, 400 Pan Yu Road

Facilitator: Gabor Holch

As consultant, trainer, coach, speaker and writer, Gabor has spent the last 15 years linking opportunities acro

ss cultural boundaries. He started his career in international development programmes (United Nations and OSCE) before coming to China in 2002 and starting up his Shanghai-based team of consultants. Since then, he has advised multinational companies, SMEs, public offices and universities on their cross-cultural strategy, management and communicationmethods. He focuses on cooperation between East Asia and the EU, advising clients in China, the EU, Eastern Europe, Japan and South-East Asia.

Gabor firmly believes that success has its roots in healthy teams and communities. In 2008 he became the first non-Chinese member of the China Association of Certified Management Consultants, he is an active Toastmaster and a member of various professional associations worldwide.

Register with Lisa at 5459 1006 or participate@sh-cbc.com

If you are a good listener, you find out about opportunities sooner, you find it easier to convince, influence and motivate people and it is even easier to sell. After all, you know what people’s hopes and worries are. And that is all you know to motivate them, lead them or sell to them.

but what keeps you away from being a good listener? Here are three common challenges:

LISTENING VS CONVINCING

Too many professionals are focused on what they want to say rather than what they want to achieve. You have met them, and you have even been them! A telephone salesperson who doesn’t ask questions, just reads her script. A business presenter who doesn’t interact with the audience. A boss who lectures employees and calls it “feedback”. These habits all make you a bad listener, often without noticing it.

LISTENING VS DISAGREEING Nobody likes to hear things they do not agree with. You don’t either, even if you are a very broad-minded person open to the world. When you hear something with, you experience it as mild stress, and the natural reaction is to ‘fight back’. You start convincing the other side, point out weaknesses in your argument or even become a bit offensive. In fact, when you hear opinions that are different from yours are the best times to start listening.

LISTENING VS RECORDING

Okay, so you decide to be a good listener, and make notes at meeting or during phone calls. You start writing, then you miss a few sentences. Then you start listening carefully, but then how will you remember? So you start writing again, and miss a few more sentences. And so forth, ad infinitum. Making elaborate notes interferes with listening rather then helping it. Of course you can make notes, you just have to know how.

If you want to find out more about how you can improve your listening skills, join us for a 3-hour learning event entitled “Listening Skills for HR Professionals” on 21 May in Shanghai. The details:

Time: 21 May, 2-5 pm

Place: Crowne Plaza Shanghai, 400 Panyu Road

Charge: RMB 200

To make this a more conducive discussion, we are expecting a small group of about 20 people only. Please e-mail your registrations to participate@sh-cbc.com.

To start your test, CLICK HERE.

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES: INSPIRATIONAL  LEADERSHIP

Most people would agree that INSPIRATION is only essential for writers, musicians and artists.

Not so Harry Starren, CEO of one of Europe’s most established corporate training institutions, De Baak (Holland). With his thought-provoking style and out-of-the-box method as a corporate leader, entrepreneur, trainer and coach, he has helped hundreds of professionals to lead in a creative and inspired way.

“Organizations that lack inspiration radiate sadness”, Harry Starren says. “Companies where fun is limited to lunch-breaks and after-work hours become a workplace where people feel locked-up in a psychiatric institute. People in places like this are disconnected from their own dreams and personality.”

Increasingly, leaders work together for professional teams who do not need to be told how to do a better job. They are in their companies and positions because they want to be there. They do not need instructions, they need energy and inspiration. Future leaders have to take the back seat and become comfortable with a coaching role.

Join  De Baak CEO Harry Starren for a challenging day of interactive experience, and discover the essence of INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

At a first-time appearance with this programme in China, Harry will share with 20 leaders how to make INSPIRATION the essence of leadership. Among others, you will discover:

· Why leaders need to be comfortable with to show their inner strength and weaknesses

· Why and how to make trust the core value of your leadership

· How to awaken the inspiration already in your team

· Why you need inspiration to inspire others, and where to find it

· How to make the famous concept of “Flow” a daily reality at work

“LEADERSHIP QUALITIES” IS A ONE-DAY DE BAAK-EXPERIENCE

09:00-12:00 Part One

12:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-18:00 Part Two

18:30 Dinner

WHEN, WHERE, HOW MUCH:

Date and Time: Wednesday 12 May 2010, 9:00-18:30

Venue: Location in central Shanghai, to be announced

Participation: Early bird price, registration before 1^st of May: RMB 3,000

Full price, for one-day workshop : RMB 4,000

Registration: Contact us for enquiries and registration at participate@sh-cbc.com or +86 21 5459 1006

FACILITATORS:

Harry Starren, CEO, Coach, De Baak

Harry G. Starren, M.A. / M.Sc., has held positions as academic researcher, professor, manager at a research/consulting firm, and manager of the postgraduate course Business and Public Administration in Utrecht. In addition to his current management position, he works as a trainer, teacher and consultant, in particular in the area of professional organization management. Harry Starren is on a number of specialist juries and the supervisory boards of a number of companies. He also holds management positions in a number of civil-society organizations. He wrote ‘Masters in Management, and a second book, ‘The 21 Commandments of Modern Leadership’, together with Twan van de Kerkhof.

Gabor Holch, General Manager, Campanile Consulting/ASI China

Gabor Holch has spent 15 years linking opportunities across cultural boundaries. He started his career in international development programmes (United Nations and OSCE) before coming to China in 2002. With his team of consultants, he provides leadership, cross-cultural and communication consulting services. Gabor is the only non-Chinese member of the China Association of Certified Management Consultants. He has published academic journalistic articles in China and several European countries, and recently a volume on Asia-Europe relations.

More about De Baak at www.debaak.com

In the companies I work with, the primary argument against a handover period is cost. A consultant like me would instantly reply that you can lose much more in lost efficiency and a slower learning curve for the new employee if you do not have one. Neither do we have to dwell on the advantages to the incoming person, because they are pretty obvious. Then the next question is, why would an employee who has already decided to leave the company want to do the extra work of training somebody else? Here are a few reasons why.

FIRST and foremost, the primary problem for employees in their last month of employment is lack of motivation. While she will have to meet lots of deadlines, in most case she will not take the credit for doing so, simply because she will not be there any more. Yet, having an objective helps everyone to keep motivation up, and a handover project is a good cause to work for, and on time.

SECOND, employees moving on usually cherish change. Maybe they have been promoted, thus proving to be exceptional, or gone for a better job, which is a clear sign of longing for change. They don’t want do deal with chores and trivial tasks until the last minute. They have enough of those while cleaning up their computers, having last-minute meetings and sorting belongings in boxes. The task of training someone else can be a nice change to that. The incoming person can be fresh wind, and the handover process can help the outgoing person to look back on her work and have everything ready for her departure.

THIRDLY AND FINALLY, the responsibility of training someone else makes everyone feel  proud of their achievements. From factory repairmen to CFOs, I found that everyone feels important when they train someone else, and look at their own job more carefully and critically. Training someone into your job can be a positive finishing touch to the time you spent there, and make you more careful about what you pass on.

This applies to situations most where the employee in charge of the handover is leaving under friendly terms, such as for a better opportunity, maternity leave or towards a promotion. However, I often encounter another mistake; employees who leave with a grudge are usually saved the job of handover because the supervisor or HR is afraid that the outgoing employee will spread a bad attitude on the incoming one. From making another employee present to preparing the incoming staff member in advance, there are several ways to avoid giving up on the handover altogether. More details on this could be left for another posting soon.

Do you have a question, comment or suggestion?
Contact me directly and you will hear from me soon.

  The breakfast seminar “Making CSR Communication part of your business strategy” in Swissotel Shanghai on 5 March gathered great audience who were the to do just that: exchange ideas about corporate responsibility in a Chinese context. Indeed, in the environment of modern China, where companies and people have been typically focused on making money much more than how it is made, the issue of CSR is picking up. Representatives of several companies already ahead of the market were also present and contributed a great deal to the discussion.

Question: How can we deal with the problem of “greenwashing”, in other words when companies publicize CSR goals or activities just to look greener?

Answer: This is inevitable as a more responsible corporate behaviour becomes a prerequisite for connecting to quality clients. Responsible companies, for instance, will require their providers (e.g. raw materials or energy) to meet responsibility standards as well. There will always be companies that try to “cheat the system” and report responsible behaviour that in reality they do not display. In my opinion, such efforts are a waste of resources. While they may mislead the occasional visitor of their website or corporate venue, the actual situation will turn out even under the scrutiny of the most basic due diligence research.

A great comment by Jan Devens from DSM was that China is bound to become one of the leaders of CSR know-how simply for the money to be made this way.

This is a shrewd observation in a number of ways. First, Mr. Devens shared with us that the companies who take CSR seriously are often the ones who have gone through the trauma of being blamed for industrial accidents, chemical spills or similar incidents in the past. If such eventualities spur companies to take CSR more seriously, there is certainly no shortage of mishaps in China, including low work safety, collapsing mines and food safety scandals. Moreover, if China manages to attract as much R&D in the field of corporate awareness, prevention and cleanup as it did in hi-tech, the benefits are considerable.

While CSR has become a buuz word for business, a clear  and consistent approach to CSR communication is more  the exception than the rule. It is easy to bounce into either extreme. On one hand, many companies spend a disproportionate amount of time and resources on flashy CSR websites and brochures, rather than on being responsible corporate citizens. On the other, several businesses silently toil on in a responsible manner, but are too busy to publicise their achievements.

Gabor Holch will share the communication professional’s perspective, while fellow presenter Bart Berende (Mattmo) will contribute the marketing and visual angle. Both presenters will support their message with live examples from companies whose representatives will be present at the event.

To see the details and register, please click over to BenCham.

De Baak headquarters in Holland

The Dutch are in a privileged position, with 100 years of history in management consulting (the association of Dutch management consultants celebrated its 100th anniversary last year) and more than 300 years of trade with East Asia. They are also known for their keen business sense and direct approach. In my experience, training and consulting programmes developed in Holland have a sharp focus, are practical and refreshingly upbeat. Companies like DSM and Tebodin, where we delivered such products, will agree with me.

De Baak, a leadership consultancy with 60 years of history and affiliated with the Confederation of the Nehterlands Industry and Employers, will show us how all this and more can be applied to leadership in a Chinese context. After delivering a number of successful in-house programmes, this upcoming open course will be an excellent opportunity to become familiar with De Baak’s unique, thought-provoking and action-packed style.

Click on this  link to download the detailed PDF description of Leadership Qualities: Look Inside to Find the Leader.

For enquiries and to register, contact us at participate@sh-cbc.com or call Lisa at +86 21 5459 1006.

Have you or your team ever run into these problems?

• Your team spends hours at meetings, and yet they do not get tangible results.
• You receive hundreds of e-mails from your team, yet you miss important information.
• Everybody wants better communication but nobody takes charge of it.
• There seems to be an agreement about what to do, but there is no follow-up.

If you have, it is time to think about how people share information and responsibility. It is time to discuss internal communication with professional communicators and fellow HR professionals.

Share an early afternoon with CBC GM Gabor Holch and fellow managers discussing how to make life easier for you and your team by improving internal communication. Learn and share practical methods to:

> Decide what results you want from communicating
> Choose the best communication method for a task or message
> Share the task of effective communication with your team
> Follow up and get and measure results

Event Facilitator: Gabor Holch

Gabor Holch, Management Consultant and GM of CBC, has helped multinationals, small and medium-size enterprises, public organizations and academic institutions in Europe and Asia communicate with clients, staff and partners for 15 years. Starting as a junior consultant for merger & acquisition training strategies in Eastern Europe in 1995, he later worked with various levels of European, Asian and international development, conflict management, management consulting and training projects. Since 2002 he has advised companies and public institutions in China, Southeast Asia and Europe.

EVENT DETAILS:

When: Thursday, 18 June, 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Where: Bankers Club, 52F, Bank of China Tower, 200 Yin Cheng Zhong Road (Lu Jia Zui Station on subway line number 2) －银城中路200号中银大厦52楼（地铁2号线陆家嘴站）

2-2:30 pm: Networking and refreshments
2:30-3:30: Interactive workshop on Internal Communication
3:30-4:00: Q&A and discussion
4:00-5:00: More networking and refreshments

Attendance and refreshment are free of charge for registered invitees.

For registration and information

Please contact Penny at 5459 1006 ext. 116 or penny@sh-cbc.com.

Our answer to most of the clients is that they can deliver almost the same value from a significantly reduced budget. Why? Because at times when budgets were more generous, so much of the money spent on training  has been wasted. Here are a few ways that companies burn cash allocated to training, based on a presentation delivered by CBC GM Gabor Holch, and the following discussion at the Shanghai Chapter of the European Chamber of Commerce today. It helps to discover some of the pitfalls that you have fallen into in 2008. It helps even more to learn how to avoid them.

Cash-Burning Tip #1: Provide training they don’t need.

Ignoring the needs and expectations of your trainees is a general pitfall.  You may send a well-trained group of top managers on a skills-based programme, only to find out they actually needed a laid-back session where they could brainstorm their experiences and share best practices. Or the other way round, mid-managers or frontline people hungry for guidance and problem-solving tools may complain about the lack of substance. The solution is to define desired trainig outcomes and delivery methods through the cooperation of top management, HR and the training provider.

Cash-Burning Tip #2: Ignore staff turnover in your training plan.

HR Forum, EU Chamber Shanghai

We often find that although HR has a clear idea of staff turnover in different departments and on different levels, a few months after the training it comes as a surprise that 10, 20 or 30% of the staff trained has left the company. In other words, you have spent money on training for your competition. You can solve this problem by carefully planning how the skills delivered enter your organizational chart and how they are shared within the company. If turnover on lower levels is high, train the supervisors, who can share the skills and tools with their teams in a trickle-down manner. Of course, you have to keep supervisors accountable for using the skills learned.

Cash-Burning Tip #3: Create contradicting training messages.

This often happens when individual training programmes are delivered without being customized to the vision, mission and strategy of your company. Let’s say, you deliver Six Sigma, Project Management and Leadership Skills training this year. All of these courses address quality issues, but they approach them from different angles. However, if different trainers use different standards to define and manage quality, your staff will not use the training content in decision-making and daily tasks. Make sure that each programme delivered follows the same values and guidelines, which are usually well-defined in your company’s mission statement or strategy.

Cash-Burning Tip #4: Leave paid services unused.

Companies are often impressed by the added value that training providers deliver, such as cutting edge assessment and evaluation tools, refresher sessions and feedback collection, or support tools like online learning. However, many of these added services are never used: refresher sessions are forgotten or postponed indefinitely, participants do not log into their online learning accounts, feedback results are not used for decisions about further training or promotions. The best approach is to plan realistically and keep participants, training providers and yourself (HR) accountable. Ask yourself the essential questions. Is it realistic that your busy top managers will log on twice a week and spend 2 hours learning online? If it is, create incentives so that they really do. If you spend hours collecting and analyzing feedback, how will you use the data?

To avoid burning your training budget away in any of the above ways, you need a reliable training plan and reliable training providers. You can start with either. If you have a well-engineered plan, all you have to do is find the provider who can deliver the qulaity, values and services you need. If your plan is not clear-cut yet, use the provider’s expertise to make it better. Ultimately, training has to support the strategy your company follows, and the provider must be able to support your HR to deliver value for the hard-earned money you spend on training courses.