Wentworth Jones Associates

The Financial Value of Happiness

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:22:16 +0000

Chris Croft recently sent me this article which we thought has significant value.

Chris Writes…

“I have been reading Happiness at Work by Jessica Pryce-Jones (she did that TV series on Making Slough Happy, you may remember?) and they have measured the effect of happiness on productivity. Clearly it’s going to affect sickness, and employee turnover, but what about when people are at work?

A good way to measure productivity is Time On Task. How much of your day are you actually working? I mean really focussing on the task and doing something productive? Partly through no fault of our own we can’t spend 100% of the day working productively, nobody can. You might like to jot down a figure for yourself before you read the next bit. And ask your colleagues what percentage of time the actually spend working. Jess’s research found that the least happy people spend 53% percent of their time on task, and this rises through the levels to the most happy people who spend 78% of the time on task. I’m surprised that nobody does better than 78%, but then maybe that is true! (It’s also interesting to note that happy people don’t become complacent and do nothing, which is what some managers might fear). So if we say it goes from half to three quarters, that means that if your staff are unhappy you are losing a quarter of their output! The inter quartile range (taking out the extreme cases basically) goes from 63% for the averagely unhappy group to 73% for the averagely happy group. So if you could move the unhappy half of your people up into the happy zone you’d get another 10% from them. This would require some effort – more communication, more involvement (though that would probably give better decisions etc!), a nice coffee area, flexibility of management style and maybe even working hours, more recognition and thanks, etc – but if you calculate the value it’s probably worth it. For example – 50 employees x 0.5 (just the unhappy half) x 30k (you have to double wage cost to get real cost if employing someone) x 10% = £75,000 And if you add an effect on labour turnover, let’s say 5 people fewer leave per year that’s 5 x 5k (?) = £25k And 2 days (?) per person less of sickness: 2/200 x 25 people x 30k = 7k So even without better decisions, more being done, more sales etc we are gaining at least £100k If your organisation has 500 employees then it’s a million pounds gained. A Council that has 5000 employees would save £10 million if most of their unhappy staff could be made reasonably happy. Maybe it’s time to think about how you could do this? “ Wentworth Jones Associates is a firm of proven business leaders, senior executives, and leading educators who understand business, make connections, and support you in exploring innovative ways to add value to your organisation. Contact us today to understand how we [...]

Effective Delegation – Supporting the Development of Your Employees

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:32:33 +0000

Developing the potential of our colleagues and employees is one of the pillars of any manager’s role. Effective delegation skills are therefore a critical part of a manager’s armory of assets.

There is no short cut to the art of mastering delegation but here are some ideas which we hope you will find useful.

Almost any task can be delegated. On a daily basis we routinely delegate work which, in theory and in practice, we could do ourselves. Think about it. Did you delegate the making of your lunch today? Do you delegate part of the education of your children? Do you delegate the farming, transportation, and preparation of the food you will eat tonight?

Here is a seven step system of delegation that we have found to be effective in supporting managers with their mastery of delegation. Good luck with WORDUSE for DELEGATION

1) Why are you delegating this particular task – explain the reasons to your colleague. If it’s because you trust them to do a great job then tell them. Delegation is also about the personal development of your colleagues – explain this to them too.

2) Outcome – be clear about what outcome you desire and what is expected. If your colleague has a clear picture (and you do too) about what is expected then there is a good chance you will both succeed.

3) Resources – detail precisely what resources are available… and remember that the most valuable resource is probably you and your knowledge. Explain that this is available too!

4) Deadlines – set and agree progress reporting deadlines, set and agree milestones. Better to have the deadlines close together initially. Once you, and your colleague, are confident that the task is in hand, understood fully, and proceeding well then the frequency and intensity of reporting can be reduced.

5) Understanding – check that there is understanding of your communication by asking your colleague to explain in their own words about what is required, when, and why. A useful question that you could ask might be “So that I can make sure that I have explained everything clearly please can you tell me in your own words precisely what I have asked you to do?” After all in communication what is important is what is understood, not what was actually said or was actually written down.

6) Set controls – there is a difference between delegation and abdication. In delegation you are fully responsible for the eventual outcomes. Set up and agree controls, for example, around financial expenditure, use of other team members, and use of outside agencies.

7) Encouragement – offer support and encouragement. The idea is that the task will be completed on time and to an excellent standard. Much more chance of this happening with your support and encouragement!

At Wentworth Jones we offer a range of in-house leadership and management development courses aimed at enabling you and your business in being even more successful. Please contact us today for a no obligation [...]

What we need is more collaboration not more competition

admin — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:31:36 +0000

Collaboration not Competition -

guest post by David C Roberts

Whilst competition may bring the illusion of short term gains it must now be avoided in favour of an approach that makes the very best possible use of the limited resources that will be available to us all in the coming years.In my experience of working with organisations over the last 30 years it has become clear to me that when individuals, teams, organisations, and even governments collaborate great things can be achieved.

Lets have a look at a few examples of how collaboration works to improve the everyday life of citizens:

Healthcare – If you were under the surgeons knife would you want the team striving to save your life to be working together as a unit or to be in competition with each other? Just close your eyes for a few moments and imagine what would happen if the theatre team behaved in the way that you, or some of your colleagues, do.

Innovation – How many of the great inventions of our time have been developed by an individual working alone? Not many. I can, however, think of many examples of innovations that have been achieved by team working: The motor car; insulin; space travel; champions league football -
all of these have been achieved as a result of collaboration over a sustained period of time.

Community – Great communities are forged by individuals forming groups for the benefit of all. Great communities never consist of individuals working for personal gain.

Encouraging collaboration and co-operation is the responsibility of all of us and in particular the responsibility of senior management. At home this is the job of parents, at school it is the job of the teachers, and at work it is the primary responsibility of the senior management team- the leaders.

How can we do this?

When organisations reward and recognise people for individual achievements then the organisation unwittingly or wittingly undermines collaboration. A strategy for ensuring collaboration may include the following charachteristics, which were identified by Will and Kenneth Hopper, that the early Puritan migrants to America found so effective.

First, the organisation needs crystal clarity as to its purpose; secondly, there needs to be an acceptance that the group is much more important than the individual; third, those leading should only be leading if they have a thorough understanding of the organisation – also known as domain knowledge; fourth the organisation needs to galvanise its resources; and finally new technology needs to be embraced.

It will come as no suprise that once these charachteristics were abandoned in favour of short term individual greed the current financial crisis ensued.

This post was inspired by the following publications. The Times Business Book of the Year Will and Ken Hoppper’s The Puritan Gift W. E. Deming’s The New Economics for Government, Industry, and Education.

David Roberts works to help individuals, teams, organisations, and communities collaborate and achieve more. He can be contacted by email at

Children ask great questions so why don’t we?

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:59:27 +0000

Guest post by David C Roberts

Toddlers ask great questions. Sometimes I wonder if children have been secretly trained at a leading law school. They are curious, they are interested in things and they ask open questions; who, what, when, where and how questions. Once the bit is between their teeth they then launch in with repeated salvos of the why? question.

And then, just as they start to get mastery of the art of asking great questions, we (the parents) step in with the artillery and use the words ‘because I said so.’ The result might be that we encourage our children to stop asking questions and to start interpreting and using their own creativity to work out what is going on. The result might be that we (the parents and the other authorities) remove, unintentionally, little by little, the natural inquisitiveness of our young people.

Many years later, when our young children are grey haired and sat as members of a select committee of MPs asking questions of powerful press barons, how useful would it be if they could recall those childhood days and start to ask those telling open questions and the telling follow-up why questions?

The child’s approach to questions (which i list below) might be a useful lesson for us all both as leaders and as parents.

1) Be interested and curious about what is going on around us. Be interested in what other people are doing and what they are curious about. You may find out important information and you may also uncover opportunities for collaboration. (Children call this making friends – in business we call it networking).

2) Use open questions. Questions which require more than a yes/no answer. Questions which start with how, what, why. Ask about how people feel about things as this question is much easier to answer than answering the question what do you think. When investigating ask why and keep asking why.

3) Resist the temptation to interpret too early, to jump (and we probably do) to too quick a conclusion. Dig a little deeper and it is more likely you will uncover what is really going on.

Try it and let me know how you get on.

About David

Latent Knowledge – what is it and why is it important?

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:41:36 +0000

Guest post by David C Roberts

Physics may or may not have been your favourite subject, however I am sure you will remember the lessons about latent heat and how when steam condenses it gives up heat (latent heat) a heat so potent that it can easily burn you. Even if you cannot remember the physics lesson then you will be well aware that putting your hand near the steam that comes out of the kettle is a very bad idea. In the simplest terms latent heat is heat that is released or absorbed by a substance when it changes state (for example steam to water) without changing temperature. The word latent was born from the Latin word latere meaning to lie hidden.

So what is ‘Latent Knowledge’ ?

Latent knowledge is the knowledge that we have that we have not yet harnessed. Like the latent heat contained in steam latent knowledge has substantial power and potential yet it lies hidden in the history of our experiences. The power of latent knowledge lies in the understanding that a considerable amount of energy has been expended to gain this knowledge, but only a small amount of effort is required to access this knowledge (we can compare this with the huge amount of energy that is required to boil a kettle and then how easily the resultant steam can condense and burn) .

Why might knowledge lie latent?

In theory we learn from our experiences ( hopefully). Something happens, we reflect on what has happened, and then we change our future actions as a result. But do we really learn from our experiences all that could be learned, or do we learn only part of what can possibly be learned? Thinking of an example from a failed business. The business owner was asked what went wrong and he answered ” The Bank was unhelpful, there was a slump in the economy, and it was difficult to get good staff.” When asked what did you learn from the experience he replied “You can’t rely on banks, and I’ve learned I’m never going to go into business again.”

At this point the business owner’s learning is little more than rationalisation and blame, yet the experience, the considerable effort, and the energy that had been expended in running his business must have resulted in much more learning. So where has this learning gone? Where is the knowledge? It has gone nowhere; the knowledge is lying latent awaiting the time when it can condense and release its potency.

How can Latent Knowledge be released?

A way of releasing latent knowledge may be to recognise that during episodes when we expend a considerable amount of energy it is likely that there is a significant amount of potential learning and therefore creation of latent knowledge (the more difficult the episode seems the more likely that an increased amount of latent knowledge has been stored). By asking the question “what could I have learned from this experience?” may allow the process of unlocking and releasing some of the latent knowledge that you have accrued.

Effective Delegation

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 11:26:50 +0000

A principle leadership skill is the art and practice of effective delegation. If you are good at your job then it is likely that people and customers will want more from you. Whilst your business is growing this is an excellent thing; however you may reach a point when you feel a real sense of pressure, of being overwhelmed, stress, and a sensation that you may be letting people down. The growth of your business, your career, becomes limited. The most effective way of overcoming this limitation is to learn and master the art and practice of delegation. The Ten Principles of effective delegation.

The following principles may give a guideline to managing the process of effective delegation successfully.

1) Clearly articulate the desired outcome. Begin with the end in mind and specify the desired results.

2) Explain why you have chosen the particular task to de delegated and why you have chosen the particular person to delegate this task to. Is the delegation part of the development process of this person?

3) Delegate to the lowest possible level in the organisation. This principle is based on the idea that the people closest to the coal face, closest to the work, are the most knowledgeable of the details of everyday work.

4) Identify the constraints and boundaries. What are the lines of authority, the responsibility and accountability? Decide if the person whom you are delegating the task to must wait to be told what to do, or should they initiate action? Should they make recommendations or should they act and then report back?

5) Remember that if you are delegating a task you are only delegating the task – the responsibility for the task remains with you.

6) Use the time that you have created for yourself to provide adequate support to your colleagues who you have delegated tasks to. Great, regular, communication and supportive monitoring is a key to successful delegation.

7) Keep your focus on the results of the delegation and not in the way that your colleagues are doing the task. Allowing an individual to control her own process and methods of completing a task will build trust and confidence.

8) When things are not progressing well avoid upward delegation i.e. accepting the task back. When a problem occurs seek recommendations and possible solutions from your colleagues as doing this will accelerate learning – providing answers will not.

9) Establish time and dates for updates – more often at the start of the project and less frequently as the colleague takes hold of the task.

10) Make time and take time to review work that is submitted to you.

Initially, initiating effective delegation takes time and commitment on your part, but once your skills in delegating increase your will reap significant rewards. Your team will grow in terms of ability and commitment to the business. The quality of your life will improve as you will have more time to focus on the things that are most important to you.

Facilitation and Translation

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:30:14 +0000

“It is one thing to translate words, but translating feelings is the gift of a select few” Carlos Ancelotti talking about Ray Wilkins.

The role of the facilitator is often misunderstood, and in many cases undervalued. A facilitator can ensure that meetings move forward effectively, they can perceive misunderstandings, and crucially can often spot opportunities. Chelsea Football Club benefited from the experience facilitation of Ray Wilkins until their shock decision on November 2011 that his services as a middleman were no longer needed.

From a narrow perspective the role of the facilitator can seen to be an unnecessary expense, however to Mr Ancelotti and Chelsea Football Club the loss of Mr Ray Wilkins has proved to be a very expensive efficiency cut.

Keeping Excited About Your Business

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:04:14 +0000

What can you do once the initial excitement of starting a business has gone and you are now faced with day to day problems and bureaucracy?

Success and Happiness

admin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 22:00:18 +0000

I have been thinking about definitions of success and also doing some reading around the subject -

Happiness seems to play an important role.

My own world view has been for sometime that success is a very personal thing and that each individual defines success in his or her own way. An example of success (for me at this juncture in life) would be something as simple as participating with my daughter whilst she learns something new. Another example would be when one of the students, whom I teach, has an ah-ha moment and is able to explain a new concept. Success is also about my own professional consultancy and the feelings that I have when I do piece of work well.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004) writes about good business – his research into how leaders make sense of what they do. Drawing on the work of Abraham Maslow he describes the progress towards self actualisation or happiness:

In the first stages the basic needs for survival are required. Food, clothing, a roof over our heads. Satisfying hunger brings a sense of happiness when your basic needs are not automatically provided for however, once these basic needs are there additional clothing or more heating are unlikely to make an individual happy, a twelve bedroom mansion with three swimming pools will not provide happiness, in fact it may lead to a sense of loneliness; The next stage is that humans require a sense of security , or keeping what they have already – police , a strong army, just laws, a stable economy are required. Even all these characteristics are not often enough to provide happiness; Next is the search for love, to belong, to be a part of a community and maybe at this stage we go in search of things that make us more loveable – fancy clothes, cosmetics, hair colours, or we join societies, take part in church activities, or search out more learning opportunities; Many people leave happy and contented lives at this level , but some search for more. Their search for “the next gateway” is self-esteem. This can be found in an honourable profession, it can be found in power or fame, or it can be found in the symbols of success. This is enough for some but for others there are still more requirements – self actualisation.

Self actualisation is about being the best we can be, it is about being able to express all of the potential that we have. Csikszentmihalyi explains that “It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100% – when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment that we have been given.” He further argues that this ‘mechanism’ ensures that after all of our other needs have been met there is an inbuilt desire to use the full armoury of of our talents which enable us to preserve the [...]

A Unique Way of Delivering Enterprise Education – Global Enterprise Education Tour

admin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 01:07:36 +0000

In the spring of 2011 David C Roberts will embark on a global enterprise education tour with the purpose of sharing best practice in delivery of enterprise education and enterprise learning. The programme is called ‘A unique way of delivering enterprise education’

In these times of global change and economic uncertainty it is more vital than ever that young people are encouraged to go out and have a go at doing business. David feels that by sharing the best practice and know how of enterprise education then more educators — especially those working in academia –will be empowered to inspire their current and future students to go out and do business: Good business.

Starting in his home city of Manchester, U.K., David will share with students, entrepreneurs, and local business people one of his workshops. Facilitators from his local University will then deliver their enterprise workshops. The intention is that the participants and facilitators will then synthesise the most powerful aspects of the workshops and David will travel to the next location and repeat the process. The intention is that during the tour a unique way of delivering enterprise education can be developed and shared amongst all of the participants.

How can you get involved?

If you are and educator or administrator involved in Higher Education and you would like to partner with this event we would like to hear from you. In the first instance please e-mail hello@wentworthjones.com

It is planned that the trip may include the delivery and sharing of enterprise education workshops in Ireland, The United Kingdom, Germany, Croatia, Romania, Turkey, Oman, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, India, China, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South America, USA, and Canada.