Virgin Brand Values - aide memoire

based on information available on the group's website

The Virgin brand revolves around delivering 
- value pricing, high quality, fun, great customer service and innovation 
whilst at the same time being 
- authentic, people-oriented and hip 
and associated with 
- Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and his personal reputation.

Virgin Group Brand Values

Fun = enjoyment and humour, not offensive and incompetent

Value for Money = simple, not cheap

Quality = attention to detail, not expensive for the sake of it

Innovation = challenging convention, not different for the sake of being different

Competitive Challenge = responding to consumer needs, not being irrelevant

Brilliant Customer Service = empowered, not unprofessional people

sounds great - what can I do to help...

Reaching your potential - Robert Kaplan (HBR)

Key ideas from the Harvard Business Review article by Robert S. KaplanThe Idea in Brief

Despite racking up impressive accomplishments, you feel frustrated with your career--convinced you should be achieving more. You may even wish you had chosen a different career altogether.

These feelings often stem from a common error: buying into others' definitions of success. To reach your potential, Kaplan suggests taking a deeply personal look at how you define success:

Begin by recognizing that managing your career is your responsibility. Then, follow these three steps:

Know yourself by identifying your strengths and weaknesses and the activities you truly enjoy doing.

Excel at the activities critical to success in your desired role.

Demonstrate character and leadership by putting the interests of your company and colleagues ahead of your own.

Power and the Passion

Kevin Roberts - CEO Saatchi and Saatchi

In an age where people can go from 'Hero to Zero' overnight, people can get Nobel Prizes for power point and we are burdened by loads of stifling and dysfunctional matrix management.

We need to be in the ACTION business
...and get focused on doing stuff...... it is time to act.

The role of business needs to be to make the world a better place, to have inclusive capitalism and be creators of self-esteem, to give hope, dreams and success a chance.

empower (meaning)

tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers
1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority.
2. To equip or supply with an ability; enable: "Computers ... empower students to become intellectual explorers" Edward B. Fiske.


empowerment n.
Usage Note: Although it is a contemporary buzzword, the word empower is not new, having arisen in the mid-17th century with the legalistic meaning "to invest with authority, authorise." Shortly thereafter it began to be used with an infinitive in a more general way meaning "to enable or permit." Both of these uses survive today but have been overpowered by the word's use in politics and pop psychology. Its modern use originated in the civil rights movement, which sought political empowerment for its followers. The word was then taken up by the women's movement, and its appeal has not flagged. Since people of all political persuasions have a need for a word that makes their constituents feel that they are or are about to become more in control of their destinies, empower has been adopted by conservatives as well as social reformers. It has even migrated out of the political arena into other fields.·
The Usage Panel has some misgivings about this recent broadening of usage. For the Panelists, the acceptability of the verb empower depends on the context. Eighty percent approve of the example We want to empower ordinary citizens. But in contexts that are not political the Panel is markedly less enthusiastic. The sentence Hunger and greed and then sexual zeal are felt by some to be stages of experience that empower the individual garners approval from only 33 percent of the Panelists. The Panel may frown on this kind of psychological empowering because it resonates of the self-help movement, which is notorious for trendy coinages.

Thesaurus
Noun
1.
empowerment - the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant
authorisation,
management, direction - the act of managing something; "he was given overall management of the program"; "is the direction of the economy a function of government?"
sanction - the act of final authorization; "it had the sanction of the church"
permission, permit, license - the act of giving a formal (usually written) authorization
certification, enfranchisement - the act of certifying or bestowing a franchise on
commissioning, commission - the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions
delegating, relegating, relegation, delegation, deputation - authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions
loan approval - formal authorization to get a loan (usually from a bank)
rubber stamp - routine authorization of an action without questions

Getting empowerment into perspective: a three-stage training framework

Abstract: Empowerment is a powerful concept that is in danger of being debased by over-hyping. It is important to realize that empowerment is a slowly-created state of mind, rather than a verb – one does not “empower” by some magical, one-shot injection. The old, authoritarian, “macho” management attitudes are hard to dispel. Rather than overcoming them by exhortation, proposes a three-stage training framework. The general framework is that empowerment occurs as the organization sincerely “engages” with people and they progressively respond to this engagement. In operational terms, the scope of a person's job/task is progressively extended, leading to a growth in that person's personal capability. The first stage of this process is for the manager, as an enabler, to use people's current capability fully in their current job/task. In the second stage, the manager leads as a coaching enabler, extending people beyond their current capability, developing their full potential. Finally, the visionary enabler creates a broad climate of commitment in the organization through a sense of belonging and excitement in the job.
Author(s): John Nicholls Journal: Empowerment in Organizations ISSN: 0968-4891 Year: 1995 Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Page: 6 - 11 Publisher: MCB UP Ltd

Responsibility, attitude and accountability

copyright Pearce Innovations, LLC. Paper given by Marc Pearce Vice President.... continued from previous post.

Quality and safety also an issue

Building projects, by their dynamic nature, involve other responsibilities — namely quality and safety — that deserve similar attention. As managers, we should define specific goals for these areas too. Of course, each supervisor may have different requirements, depending on his(her) trade, but it's still important to establish guidelines. Quality success, for instance, may be defined as:

• Installation meets specification.
• Rework is less than one percent
• Zero compliance items remain at the completion of an activity.

As for safety, it is, and should be, one of the highest priorities for builders today. Injuries can devastate a project in both money and morale, not to mention taint the reputation of the company. Supervisors and their subordinates make the best safety proponents on any construction project. You can empower them by defining aggressive requirements involving everyone. Safety success might include:

• Four safety audits performed each week by every front line supervisor
• Periodic examination by project and upper managers of safety practices being implemented
• Random interviews with subordinates by managers to determine the perceived attitudes toward safety of their supervisors

Attitude Is Key

Schedule, cost, quality and safety are fairly easy to define and, if managed professionally, will net a satisfactory project. But there's another "softer," more elusive issue that can have a profound impact on the project too. Attitude, in my opinion, is everything. It involves managers, supervisors and subordinates. It permeates all aspects of the project and site: In planning the work, in delivering a quality product, in training for safety, and in interacting with both internal and external clients. As managers, we usually know the type of attitude we want to see in others. The trick is to convey that message to our supervisors. Attitude success might include:

• Cooperation – readily helps subordinates and other front line Supervisors
• Communication – readily and accurately shares information with subordinates, peers and managers
• Teamwork – readily implements team and morale building activities or functions.

But how do we actually measure attitude since it involves perception? It's really quite easy once you've defined what's acceptable and what's not acceptable. You simply score each person, based on the collective observations of managers, peers and subordinates. I have to admit, measuring attitude can yield a few surprises. On one or two occasions, my perception of a particular supervisor has been considerably different than that of their subordinates.

But the underlying message is that by talking to others you gain valuable insight. For instance, some of the most experienced supervisors can be some of the worst communicators. Yet by learning that, you can provide specific training so that a supervisor not only improves his(her) skills but takes one step closer to success.

Accountability Is Essential

As a manager, you'll probably have other objectives or targets important to your organisation that you'll want to measure. After defining all the elements of a supervisor's success, you need to periodically monitor his(her) performance. Gathering, reporting and analyzing data is critical in measuring an individual's progress. But you'll need to determine how, and with what frequency, that information is collected and shared.

There is any number of measuring sticks to score a person's performance. It can be as simple as checking a "yes" or "no," indicating achievement of a specific target or marking a scale from one to five – or zero to 100 percent.

Whatever the gauge, by formally grading supervisory performance, managers can pinpoint accurately what and where attention is needed. For example, a supervisor who routinely scores low on safety may be putting others at high risk for an incident. Or a supervisor who seems to have a substantial rework rate could be experiencing outside influences – such as design or material deficiencies – that negatively affect performance. Low scores will trigger management to act. Periodically reviewing and adjusting each supervisor's goals, as predicated by the project, has to be part of the process. Objectives may be different, for instance, during the design-versus construction phases. A word to the wise: Invite front line supervisors to be part of the goal-setting and evaluation process.

You'll have instant feedback on how the program is playing – and a perfect backdrop for getting supervisors to buy-in. What's important is to focus attention where it's needed with laser-type accuracy instead of a shotgun approach.

Recognise and Reward

Managers are sometimes quick to discipline, but slow to recognise. But the suggestions enumerated here should help you identify those supervisors who are excelling within your organisation and, more important, merit your praise.

Supervisors who are successful in meeting their goals deserve to be rewarded, even if it's just a kind word. Too often, however, I think we ignore the obvious: Recognition, given in front of peers, goes a long way in lifting a team's spirit and improving morale.

Upper management should also encourage successful supervisors to acknowledge subordinates who've contributed positively to the team effort. Rewards don't need to be elaborate or expensive. Gift certificates or a catered lunch will suffice. The idea is just to motivate others by acknowledging "job well done."

You might be surprised at the spin-offs. Recognition will foster an innovative environment where camaraderie and even friendly competition helps everyone meet overall objectives.

The bottomline? Organisations that help supervisors be successful – and recognise them in the process – can expect measurable increases in performance and efficiency.

Pearce Innovations • www.pearceinnovations.com •

Empowerment and Accountability of Front Line Supervisors Improves Construction Performance

Historical Perspective

Construction projects are, by their very nature, dynamic environments, full of many variables. One day it's necessary to spray water to keep down the dust; the next day it's necessary to pump water to control the mud. Determining performance amidst such constant change is challenging at best. But the situation is more tenuous because our industry doesn't measure its front-line supervisors nearly as much as it tracks schedules, costs or safety. Yet these are the very people who have direct contact with hands-on personnel. Because they can influence performance and efficiency daily, their role should be encouraged, tracked, measured and rewarded. But how? Begin by retooling attitudes of the past. Gone are the days when a project boss can run his(her) site by simply invoking "It's my way or the highway" or "We've always done it that way" or even "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Gone also are the days when the solution to improving productivity and efficiency is simply pushing people to work harder. Managers have learned that putting the muscle to individuals can cause a backlash. Rather than raising productivity, it leads to quality problems and safety issues, not to mention absenteeism and low morale.

Today, savvy upper managers build on traditional productivity measures by motivating their front line supervisors to take responsibility for project outcomes. To do so, they create an environment in which supervisors are both informed and armed with:

Written descriptions of their responsibilities

• Access to planned-versus-actual data specific to their team's tasks
• Clear and measurable goals for success
• Frequent feedback on performance
• Continued training and rewards for their efforts —and those of the team

Communication is key.

Regardless of their titles, most supervisors want to do a good job. Yet they often ask questions for which they should know the answers. During my 18-year stint as a construction project manager, I was constantly amazed at the time I spent responding to my supervisors' queries: "When is 'X' scheduled to be finished?" "What is the equipment budget for 'Y'?" But I came to realise that as managers, we were often not effective in closing the information loop. Our front line supervisors sometimes didn't know or understand what was expected of them, even though we thought we had the items covered in the weekly schedule or budget report.

We have every fiscal reason to make things clear since supervisors routinely have direct weekly responsibility over thousands of pounds in labour, equipment and project material costs. So motivating subordinates to work smarter, not just harder, can be a positive step in improving the bottom-line.

Finding the holes; targeting changes

Moving forward starts with an honest evaluation of the organisation for ways to improve it. Your corporate soul-searching will no doubt lead to changes for both upper managers and front line supervisors. But you want to begin by asking people at every managerial level some trigger questions to identify what might be missing.

1. Do we have an effective communication tool to share information with our front line supervisors? Is that sharing done in a timely fashion?
2. Are we getting the right information concerning cost, scheduling, materials and effort hours to supervisors to help them with day-to-day decision-making?
3. Do we clearly define the expectations of our front line supervisors? Do they understand those expectations?
4. Do we have a program in place to measure accountability of our front line supervisors?
5. Do our front line supervisors understand the fundamentals of cost management?
6. Does our organisation have an effective change management system in place? Have our front line supervisors been instructed in the "do's" and "don'ts" of that system?
7. Do we have a process in place to identify where front line supervisors need training?
8. Do we allow, even encourage, our front line supervisors to implement innovative ideas?
9. Do we have a mechanism or forum in place to implement those ideas in other projects or areas? Does your organisation have a best practice data source?
10. Do we have a program for recognising and rewarding success?

Answering "no" to any of the above questions should raise red flags since they cover the components necessary for breakthrough success.

Information Empowers

To create any win, you want to ensure that each supervisor has accurate and timely information — along with clearly defined goals — to effectively manage subordinates.

Every supervisor should understand his(her) specific activities — and the labour and cost implications of them. As managers, we tend to keep detailed cost information close to the vest. But such data can be useful in making day-to-day work decisions, not to mention, improving efficiency and performance. The important thing is to package goals in relation to the factors most important to the organisation:

Cost , schedule, safety, quality and attitude.

For example, your schedule should spell out each task clearly so that front line supervisors know their assigned responsibilities and can't fall back on that old canard, "that's not mine to do." The budget for each task needs to include both effort-hours and labour cost, details which can be very valuable to supervisors in making daily decisions.

Once you've established each supervisor's responsibilities, the next step is to identify targets that will define this individual's success. That can be done in various ways. You may define success, for instance, as:

• Completing an activity before the actual due date
• Working activities in their planned sequence
• Achieving an actual progress percentage that's greater than the plan

In looking at "budget vs. actual effort-hours and costs," you also may define success as:

• Keeping construction equipment rental at 10 percent under budget
• Keeping actual effort-hours at five percent below budget
• Managing change so that cost of it is recovered with no impact to schedule.

But merely outlining budgetary and labour goals for supervisors is only part of the success equation. Every definition has to be backed-up by a management team that's both supportive and continuously involved. If we're to see positive results, we need to encourage supervisors to discuss schedules and budgets with subordinates and, as a team, look for innovative ways to save time and money.

Pearce Innovations • www.pearceinnovations.com •

Successful company leaders empower their people to execute their company’s mission and then hold them accountable to do so

That’s the essence of a new book titled, “Vital Factors: The Secret to Transforming Your Business - And Your Life.” The book’s co-author Lee Froschheiser is the chief executive officer and president of Management Action Programs (MAP) Inc. in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Froschheiser was recently interviewed over the phone by SBT executive editor Steve Jagler.

SBT: One of the lines in your book is a reference about how effective leaders don’t spend most of their time telling people what to do. Instead, they create a system that empowers people to understand and execute the company’s mission statement. Is that a core principle of your book – empowering people and then holding them accountable?
Froschheiser: “The essence is to get people to understand what the right things to work on are, and empower them and train them and coach them. And when I give my speech in Milwaukee, I’m going to talk about empowerment, and what goes into empowerment. And then, you’re right. You’ve got to hold people accountable.

“I can go into companies and ask employees, ‘Do you feel empowered?’ And a lot of times, they’ll say, ‘No, I don’t feel empowered.’ As a leader, empowerment doesn’t mean they (employees) get to run amuck. As a leader, empowerment is that you train and develop and they understand that this is what I need to work on, and I’m going to be held accountable on this. It takes a lot of energy to tell people what to be doing all the time.

“I like to use the analogy of a buffalo herd and a gaggle of geese. I go fly-fishing up in Montana all the time, right in the heart of Yellowstone National Park, and there’s always buffalo herds there. If you ever watch a buffalo herd, a buffalo herd truly does have one lead buffalo. Where the lead buffalo goes, that’s where the herd goes. That’s why the buffalo hunters could wipe out so many buffaloes. They’d find the lead buffalo, they’d shoot it, and the rest of them would all stand around, waiting for the lead buffalo to move. And what happens in companies when the leader is always telling people what to do, is you become a buffalo herd. When the leader’s not there, guess what? Nothing happens. What you really want is an organization where there’s empowerment, and you become that gaggle of geese, where, when the lead goose gets tired and falls back, the next one takes the lead. And you don’t have that in an organization if you don’t have empowerment. So, you’re right on.”