Leadership and Management Toolkit for SMEs in East Riding

Leadership and Management

A Toolkit for Owners and Managers of SMEs and Micro-Businesses in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Leadership and Management Toolkit for SMEs in East Riding

Introduction

There are currently many challenges that face UK small businesses. Changing work practices such as the expansion of the gig economy, technology, market disruptors, Brexit and environmental awareness are all issues which are regularly in the headlines. At a more local level, the East Riding of Yorkshire faces key challenges in terms of rurality, skills shortages and broadband coverage. However, as local economic strategies try to address this it still falls to SMEs to adapt and manage trading conditions. Businesses need to be resilient to these factors and the benefits of good leadership and management to achieve productivity and growth applies to all companies regardless of size or sector. Leadership and Management skills ensure that businesses have the right strategies in place to succeed and have the skills to unlock potential in their employees.

Those who can lead know how to make important decisions that affect both themselves and people across their business. Owner-Managers need their business to evolve, innovate, remain competitive and adapt to new markets and opportunities. To achieve these results, it is important to have strong leadership and management skills that will support business decisions and strategic planning.

Improving your leadership and management skills is important when setting up or running your own business. Starting and running a company will require utilising management and leadership skills on a day-to-day basis. You will need to lead your business and manage yourself in terms of time, resources, planning and decision-making. You will also be managing relationships with customers and suppliers and perhaps specific projects. Building your management and leadership skills will enable you to make decisions about how you want to run your business and what your core values are.

This Toolkit is part of a suite of resources, designed to help leaders and managers of small and micro-businesses across the geographical area served by York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP).

The aim of this particular Toolkit is to support leaders and managers of small and micro-businesses, based in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It provides practical advice and guidance about developing leadership and management capabilities in key business and personal development areas.

How to use this Toolkit

The Toolkit consists of two sections.

Section One

This focuses on the senior leader in the business, that is, the Owner-Manager or Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It acknowledges the vital role of the Owner-Manager in driving ambition for growth and provides activities to support leadership development. The topics covered in this section are:

· Personal resilience

· Finding time to add value

· Reflective practice.

Section Two

This considers areas of leadership development that are essential to support an organisation’s ambitions for growth, with guidance on seven principal leadership development areas. The topics covered draw on the “Mckinsey 7S model”: Strategy, Systems, Structure, Staffing and Skills, Style and Shared values (The Bibliography contains further reading on McKinsey’s 7S model).

The topic areas are structured as shown below.

· Introduction

· How the topic relates to leadership

· Practical guidance and steps to take to develop leadership skills.

Appendix 1 contains a series of links to organisations which are available to be contacted by SMEs seeking additional help and resources to support their leaders and managers.

Leadership and Management Toolkit for SMEs in East Riding

Contents

Section OneBusiness in the East Riding of Yorkshire4Senior Leadership7Senior Leader Personal Development - Resilience8Senior Leader Personal Development - Finding time to add value9Senior Leader Personal Development - Reflective Practice10Section TwoStrategy12Structure14Systems15Style17Staff and Skills18Shared Values20Appendix 121Appendix 222

Section One

Business in the East Riding of Yorkshire

ONS data (2016) reveals that The East Riding has more businesses per head of population than The Yorkshire and Humber region and the whole of England, with 78 per 1,000 of working age population. Of the East Riding’s businesses 70.9% have fewer than 5 employees.

The largest contributions to the business stock are in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (12.6%), Construction (6.6%), and Professional, Scientific & Technical (12.1%) industries. These sectors are dominated by small businesses.

79% of the East Riding's agricultural, fishing and forestry businesses are located in rural areas. Sectors that dominate in urban areas include Financial & Insurance Activities, Retail and Health.

During the recession in 2009 significantly more enterprises failed than started, resulting in a large fall in the number of businesses operating. However, by 2013 new starts exceeded business failures.

Challenges

A senior business expert from East Riding of Yorkshire Council has identified some of the principal challenges facing businesses in the Authority’s area.

· The geographical area is large and mostly rural (The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is the fifth largest unitary council by area in England and Wales, covering 930 square miles). Consequently businesses are spread out and isolated. It also makes recruitment difficult as often the people with the right skills are unwilling to commute large distances or relocate to the area (the average travelling distance from home to an employment centre is 8.4 miles in the East Riding as compared to 7 miles for Yorkshire and The Humber and 7.5 miles for England).

· Access to broadband is a primary issue for the East Riding because of its peripheral and largely rural nature, with a number of areas still experiencing poor coverage. These services are fundamental to business growth, access to employment, education and other services, as well as improving productivity.

· The area has a large number of independent and family traders run by an older generation approaching retirement age with a younger generation not necessarily planning to take over running the family business. Consequently a significant proportion of these SMEs will cease trading in the near future.

· There is a lack of labour in the area with skilled individuals often leaving to work in more urban settings. The East Riding is a net exporter of highly skilled labour; statistics from the 2011 Census showed that the number of young people aged 16-24 migrating to other local authorities within the region from the East Riding was almost 3,200 and second only to Leeds across the Yorkshire and The Humber region. This results in SMEs struggling to recruit both generally and particularly in roles where specialised skills are required.

Opportunities

Notwithstanding these challenges, there are many opportunities for businesses in the area.

· East Riding of Yorkshire Council has developed an economic strategy which will act as a blueprint in guiding economic activity in the East Riding for the next four years. Its primary aim is the promotion of growth in all parts of the area. It seeks to build on the East Riding’s natural specialisms, such as food, manufacturing and the renewable energy sector. It also looks to address longstanding challenges in productivity, innovation, business growth, skills demand and existing pockets of deprivation in urban, rural and coastal areas. The four priorities identified in the strategy are: business growth, lifelong learning, quality locations and sustainable economy (See Bibliography for a link to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Economic Strategy).

· A joint bid between East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Hull City Council has secured significant funding from The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to create the Humber Enterprise Zone. This aims to develop skills and supply chains for the renewable energy sector and to make a nationally significant energy cluster on the Humber. The Enterprise Zone represents a major opportunity for SMEs in the region and particularly those in the low-carbon and renewable energy sectors. The zone is the largest to be announced by the government to date, being twice the size of the next biggest.

· An overhaul of apprenticeship funding means that large businesses (those with an annual wage bill of more than £3 million) now have to pay into the government’s apprentice levy scheme, from which they can draw down to fund their apprenticeship provision. Unused funds can be passed onto smaller businesses to help fund their apprentices’ training (it is likely that large businesses will pass on funds to their supply chain). This represents an opportunity for SMEs to benefit from high quality training for both new and existing employees. In addition, the same level of funding is now available for apprentices of all ages (previously the majority of apprenticeship funding was reserved for 16-18 year olds), so employers will have more opportunity to train older, experienced employees (both new recruits and existing staff). For those businesses wishing to provide apprenticeships to 16-18 year olds, the government will make a £1,000 payment to help cover the additional cost associated with training this age group. Finally, degree level apprenticeships are being developed. These will make studying while in employment an increasingly attractive proposition to individuals who previously would have needed to attend university full-time in order to gain certain high-level qualifications. This provides an opportunity for SMEs to attract the best talent to their businesses. (See Bibliography for the Department of Education’s policy paper on apprenticeship funding in England from May 2017).

Senior Leadership

Research commissioned by the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP) in July 2017 illustrates how effective leadership is essential to improved organisational performance. It recognises that owners and senior managers have expert knowledge of their industry and their business. It identifies that support is required in relation to the changes that will come as a business grows and expands.

The research uses data from the Employer Skills Survey to demonstrate that organisations report leadership and management skills gaps in motivating staff, setting objectives and planning resources. It describes primary research that shows many organisations do not have business plans or training plans.

Strategic management, planning, organisational skills, team working and problem solving are highlighted in the research as the top five skills sets that are crucial to the effective management of organisational performance and growth.

This Toolkit focuses on practical advice and guidance to help owner-managers develop these vital leadership and management skills sets.

Leadership versus Management

The main difference between leaders and managers is that leaders inspire people to commit to their vision for the business whilst managers organise people to carry out specified roles and tasks.

Business success demands both strong leadership and excellent management. Effective leaders secure employee engagement to deliver the company’s vision while good managers ensure that day-to-day processes and tasks are properly implemented and carried out. More often than not the owner-manager in a micro-business or SME will have to demonstrate high levels of both leadership and management skills.

Senior Leader Personal Development - Resilience

Introduction

This refers to the ability to solve problems within the context of constant change and challenge in the workplace.

Role of Leadership

The leader’s role is to develop solutions in a timely manner so that emerging problems and broader challenges can be addressed successfully.

Practical Guidance

· Step one

Think about a time when you needed to be resilient and identify what helped you succeed in meeting the challenges you faced.

· Step two

As an aide memoire for future reference record the factors that helped you overcome those challenges.

Practical Note: Appendix 2.1 highlights two tips to help you stay resilient.

Senior Leader Personal Development - Finding time to add value

Introduction

This is the time you use to focus on delivering your ambitions for your business.

Role of Leadership

The leader’s role is to set aside regular and sufficient time to step back and reflect on the core purpose of the business. The focus should be on:

· Strategy (defining the purpose and setting the direction of the business)

· Innovation (the process of translating an idea or invention into goods or services that create value or for which customers will pay)

· Creativity (finding new and better ways of doing things).

However, leaders of small businesses often find they spend most of their time on routine activities such as managing staff, dealing with suppliers or helping customers.

Practical Guidance

· Step One

For a defined period (perhaps three days) consider recording in a diary each task you undertake and the time you allocate to it.

Practical Note: you can look at a simple method to capture this information in Appendix 2.2

· Step Two

Analyse your diary and calculate how much time you have allocated to working in the business versus working on the business. Consider how much value you brought to the business in proportion to the amount of time spent on a particular set of tasks.

· Step Three

You might think it necessary to allocate your time in a different way. Consider tactics such as:

· Creating time and space that will help you to focus better on the purpose of your business

· Prioritising tasks (which are important or unimportant, urgent or non-urgent)

· Delegating more.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.3 for a simple way of capturing this information.

Senior Leader Personal Development - Reflective Practice

Introduction

Reflective practice is mainly concerned with self-development. It is the process of consciously reflecting on actions or decisions to inform continuous learning and development. As such, it is a valuable means of:

· Applying insights and learning from the past

· Assessing what is happening now

· Identifying future improvements.

Much academic work has been carried out in the field of reflective practice; see the Bibliography for further reading.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.4 for two examples of reflective practice models.

Role of Leadership

Leaders will benefit from critically reviewing their past actions to determine what was successful and where they can make improvements. In the simplest terms, this is about learning from mistakes. Schon (1991) calls this ‘reflection on action’.

However, reflective practice can also encompass the ability to assess what is happening in the here and now and to make instant decisions in response to an incident or circumstance as it occurs. This is ‘thinking on your feet’ or ‘reflection in action’ (Schon 1991).

An effective leader needs to cultivate both of these attributes. For some people they come naturally but there are steps that can be taken to develop them.

Practical Guidance

· Step One

Take some time to reflect on your day at work. Review the activities of the day and evaluate how successful or productive you thought they were.

· Step Two

Identify important learning points. These will be balanced between ‘do more of this because it worked really well’ and ‘could do that differently to get a better outcome’. Effective leaders reflect on how they would approach tasks, challenges or opportunities differently, as and when they reoccur. You might want to consider developing plans, strategies and ideas to inform your future approach to similar situations.

· Step Three

Put into action the plans, strategies and ideas developed in Step Two. After that return to Step One and analyse how successful your new strategy was. In this way you can continuously, review, refine and improve your performance.

Section Two

Strategy

Introduction

This is a plan to generate growth over the longer term (usually three to five years). It might be helpful to view the plan as a set of guiding principles that govern how your business will achieve some essential objectives such as:

· Identifying your target customers

· Defining the offer to the customer, that which differentiates you from your competitors (the value proposition)

· Deploying resources in the most efficient and effective way.

Role of Leadership

Leaders produce and direct the plan to generate growth. The leader should provide the business with a sense of purpose, define its objectives and enable its employees to understand how they contribute to its success. A clear strategy defines what success actually looks like, what steps are required to achieve it and how it will be measured.

The second year of a business's lifespan is crucial as this period involves evaluation and the distribution of support, resources and capital to ensure its survival. As a result, the two-year business survival rate is typically lower than the one-year survival rate. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2013, 94.9% of businesses in the East Riding made it past the first year while 77.1% survived the second year. These rates are better than those seen regionally and nationally (in Yorkshire and The Humber, 93.4% survived the first year, 74.6% the second year, while in England 93.5% survived the first year, 75.1% the second year). However, almost one quarter of new businesses in the East Riding do not survive their second year. This highlights the vital importance of longer term planning and strategy to the success of a business.

Practical Guidance

· Step One

Assess the current position of your business using the information that you currently assemble to understand how the business is performing. Things to consider might include the following.

· What is our Manufacturing Cycle Time?

· What is customer feedback telling us?

· What is our turnover?

· What is our profit margin?

· Step Two

Working to one, two and five-year timeframes, identify the broad aspirations to progress each area of business performance identified in Step One. Set specific, measurable goals. For example, considering a manufacturing business, if annual production currently stands at 500,000 units, what would you like it to be in one, two and five years?

Practical note: Appendix 2.5 shows how to capture this information.

· Step Three

It is often useful to group specific targets into an overall business improvement aim. Here is an example.

“Currently we make 1 million units a year; this is 10,000 units per person. We would like to increase this to 1.5 million units per year. This means that everyone needs to make 15,000 units. Currently 85% of our customers rate our product as good or excellent. We would like to improve our customer satisfaction rating by 10 percentage points to 95%.”

· Step Four

The best way to achieve a business improvement aim is to ensure that all your staff take “ownership” of it. It is therefore worthwhile to think about the most effective way of involving them in it, for example, through text messaging, social media, posters or e-mail.

· Step Five

Consider the goals you want to achieve over the next 12 months. Identify the essential actions that will achieve those goals. Develop short-term action plans to deliver each goal.

Practical note: Appendix 2.6 shows how to capture this information.

Structure

Introduction

This is the way the organisation is structured in staff and lines of accountability.

Role of Leadership

The leader’s role is to define and regularly review structure to ensure it delivers the business’s strategic objectives.

Practical Guidance

· Step One

Consider whether your current organisation structure accurately reflects individuals’ functions and amend it if necessary. If you do not have a structure written down then you might find it helpful to create one in simple diagrammatic form.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.7 for an example of a simple organisation structure.

· Step Two

Review and, if necessary, update the job descriptions for each role in your structure.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.8 for a basic job description format.

· Step Three

Review the current job descriptions in line with your strategic ambition to ensure all areas of the business are covered. Where there is an evident gap, consider where the responsibility should lie and include this in the relevant job descriptions.

Also, identify where responsibilities, duties and tasks are included in job descriptions but do not actually contribute to helping you deliver your business objectives. You might need to change or even remove these.

Systems

Introduction

These are the tasks, procedures and processes that people undertake to get the job done.

Role of Leadership

The leader needs to delegate tasks effectively by explaining the outcomes and results that people are expected to achieve. Giving staff autonomy in how to complete a task can often be more productive than ‘micro-managing’. Trusting staff to use their judgement helps to motivate and engage them.

Processes need to be assessed continually to ensure that they are efficient and productive and contribute to actual business objectives. Consider the following points.

· Are processes not being followed? This may be because the business has changed and the process is now outdated or redundant. Ensure employees understand the process and have been properly trained.

· Do bottlenecks exist? One of the reasons for having processes is to eliminate bottlenecks. Listen to employees who carry out the process to ascertain why a bottleneck exists and how it may be eliminated.

· Are dependencies understood? For example, a customer makes a complaint and is promised a refund which is not issued because the employee responsible for processing refunds is not informed. Clear lines of dependency and communication need to be established.

· Are tasks being duplicated? Processes should be analysed to eliminate unnecessary duplication and increase efficiency.

· Do metrics (standards of measurement) exist to measure the efficiency and success of a process? Metrics could be a combination of a financial goal, a level of customer or employee satisfaction or a performance standard that needs to be attained. Having meaningful ways to measure the success of a process is an effective way to identify inefficiencies.

Practical Guidance

The organisation structure and job descriptions covered in the Structure section underpin the practical guidance for the Systems section.

· Step One

Work with the current jobholder to identify the processes in which they need to be involved in order to function effectively. Agree with the jobholder a set of metrics against which they can measure their success.

Practical Note: you can find a simple checklist for work instructions in Appendix 2.9.

· Step Two

Undertake regular reviews with the jobholder to establish how well they are doing against the agreed metrics. This is also likely to help you as a leader to identify processes that are no longer relevant (or, as the case may be, never were).

Practical Note: Appendix 2.10 provides an example of a flowchart for documenting processes.

Style

Introduction

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. There is a strong correlation between the style of management adopted and the climate, culture and shared values of the business.

Role of Leadership

Effective leaders are adaptable and use different leadership styles for particular situations. Some leaders may only have one style or a preference for a particular style. The challenge is to adopt a style appropriate to the circumstance with the aim of achieving the business objectives. Adaptability of style is an increasingly significant quality of effective leadership, as the role of the leader is often complex and dynamic. Highly effective leaders know the style of leadership that is most appropriate in any given circumstance.

Practical Guidance

· Step One

It helps to understand the different leadership styles and the situations in which they might be appropriate.

Practical Note: Appendix 2.11 describes different leadership styles.

· Step Two

Think about the leadership styles you use, how often they are employed and how effective they are. Leaders always find it beneficial to adapt their style to a particular situation or employee. If you feel a particular approach has not had the desired effect in the past, it is always worth considering adopting a new one.

Staff and Skills

Introduction

This is about ensuring your team has the right skills, knowledge and working practices to deliver your business strategy.

Role of Leadership

Leaders need to identify and plan the best way of deploying their talent pool to achieve their strategic objectives. They need to provide staff with opportunities to learn and develop the skills, knowledge and ways of working to deliver those objectives.

The YNYER LEP recognises that significant skills gaps exist in both the Construction and Health and Social Care sectors and must be addressed to meet replacement demand.

The Employer Skills Survey 2015 identified skills shortages in the Construction sector as a major area of concern. In 2015/16, apprenticeships in construction accounted for just 3% of total apprenticeship starts. Skills gaps existed in all occupations from skilled trades to Quantity Surveyors and Project Managers. In addition the sector had image problems, especially with parents of potential entrants.

Similar issues existed in Health and Social Care, with staff retention being a particular challenge because of problems with specific job roles within the sector rather than for all occupations. The Employer Skills Survey 2015 found that retention difficulties were often associated with long working hours, lack of career progression opportunities, job location and unattractive conditions of employment.

Research undertaken in 2016 by Burning Glass Technologies (a leading provider of real-time labour market data products and analysis) revealed that the top five skills employers listed in online job postings were (in descending order) customer service, teaching, Microsoft Excel, sales and business management.

Practical Guidance

The section on structure includes developing job descriptions that identify the essential skills people need to carry out their responsibilities.

The section on systems includes producing work instructions which describe what people need to do.

· Step One

Introduce a structured performance review process. This should include opportunities for people to discuss their performance and, when appropriate, how they could improve it by developing their skills and knowledge. Refer to the organisation structure chart to decide who is best placed to undertake performance and development conversations with each person in your organisation.

· Step Two

Implement a schedule of one-to-one performance review and development conversations.

· Step Three

It is useful to have a template or form to record the principal outcomes and actions from the performance and development review conversations.

Practical Note: Appendix 2.12 shows a simple template for recording performance and development review conversations.

· Step Four

This next step following a performance and development review is to collate all the outcomes and develop a Training Plan for your business as a whole.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.13 for an example of a Training Plan template.

Practical Note: The Chartered Management Institute has produced a useful guide for conducting training needs analyses. A link to this can be found in the Bibliography.

Visit the YNYER LEP website for more information on current publicly funded training opportunities: https://www.businessinspiredgrowth.com/project/skilled-inspired-people/.

Shared Values

Introduction

This is the last ‘S’ of McKinsey’s 7S model and is informed by the previous six (Strategy, Structure, Systems, Style, Staff and Skills) (see Bibliography for further reading on McKinsey’s 7S model). Shared Values are the guiding principles that determine how people work together and set the tone of the business culture in an organisation. When employees share a common set of values it can unite a business and provide it with a framework to govern positive workplace behaviours and relationships (both internally and with customers).

Role of Leadership

Good leaders play an essential role in developing values, and in ensuring that they continue to be shared and embedded across all working practices as the organisation develops and grows.

Practical Guidance

Writing down a set of values can help an organisation define its culture and climate. It helps to think of culture as ‘the way things are done around here’ and climate as ‘what it feels like to work here’. As a leader, it is highly beneficial to embed shared values in performance and development conversations.

· Step One

Reflect on some examples of Values statements from other organisations.

Practical Note: see Appendix 2.14 for examples of Values statements.

· Step Two

Identify the values that best reflect the culture and climate of your organisation. The most effective values are frequently those that all your employees have contributed to shaping in some way.

· Step Three

Share your organisation’s values regularly and widely, both internally and with your customers.

· Step Four

Ensure that the values are embedded in your organisation and that staff adhere to them. Use performance and development conversations to reinforce the values and highlight practical examples of how employees have demonstrated these values in their work.

Appendix 1 Links

Organisations which provide a range of useful resources and advice to support the professional development of leaders and managers of SMEs:

· East Riding College www.eastridingcollege.ac.uk

· Hull College www.hull-college.ac.uk

· HCUK Training www.hcuktraining.co.uk

· Federation of Small Businesses www.fsb.org.uk/regions/yorkshire-and-the-north-east

· How's Business www.howsbusiness.org

· The Business Network, Hull and East Riding www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-network-hull-and-east-riding

· Institute of Leadership and Management www.institutelm.com

· Yorkshire Enterprise Network www.yorkshirenetwork.co.uk

Business support units or equivalents at District Council Level:

· East Riding of Yorkshire www.eastriding.gov.uk/business

· Kingston upon Hull City Council www.hcandl.co.uk/libraries/business-information-and-support/business-support

Appendix 2.1

Tactics for Resilience (page 8)

Stay Positive

Train yourself to focus on positive potential outcomes even when you’re experiencing the harshest of circumstances. It might seem difficult at the time but many successful leaders will testify to its effectiveness.

Retain Perspective

Work is a big part of our lives, but we know there are other activities and people outside of work which contribute to our overall sense of well-being and fulfilment. Even in the most challenging of situations, it is often highly beneficial to step aside and consider the bigger picture.

Appendix 2.2

Finding time to add value (page 9)

Example

Date

Time

Activity

Outcome

Growth ambitions - Added value

04/06/18

7.00am

Emails

Answered client query

Opportunity for further sales

“

7.15am

Telephone call

Booked train travel

None

“

7.30am

Chatted to member of staff

Clarified tasks

Improved alignment to vision

“

7.45am

Made coffee

None

None

“

8.00am

Chatted to member of staff

None

None

“

8.15am

Email

Deleted junk mail

None

Blank Template

Date

Time

Activity

Outcome

Growth ambitions - Added value

Appendix 2.3

Finding time to add value (page 9)

Task List

1. Planning.

2. Checking e-mails.

3. Taking a visitor booking.

4. Cleaning out email files.

A prioritised list categorising tasks into the structure of important/unimportant and urgent/non- urgent is shown below.

Urgent

Non-urgent

Important

Taking a visitor booking

Planning

Checking emails

Unimportant

Interruptions

Cleaning out email files

Appendix 2.4

Reflective practice models (page 10)

Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984)

Concrete Experience Feeling

Continuum

Diverging

Feel and watch

Accommodating

Feel and Do

Processing

Continuum

Active Experimentation

Doing

Reflective Observation

Watching

Perception

Converging

Think and Do

Assimilating

Think and watch

Abstract Conceptualisation

Thinking

Lawrence-Wilkes REFLECT model (2014)

R

1. Remember

Look back, review and ensure intense experiences are reviewed objectively. (Subjective and objective).

E

2. Experience

What happened? What was important? (Subjective and objective).

F

3. Focus

Who, what, where and so on. Roles, responsibilities and so on. (Mostly objective).

L

4. Learn

Question: why, reasons, perspectives, feelings? Refer to external checks. (Subjective and objective).

E

5. Evaluate

Causes, outcomes, strengths, weaknesses, feelings - use metacognition (Subjective and objective).

C

6. Consider

Assess options, need or possibilities for change? Development needs? 'What if?' scenarios? Refer to external checks. (Mostly objective).

T

7. Trial

Integrate new ideas, experiment, take action and make change (Repeat cycle: Recall).

Appendix 2.5

Strategy (page 12-13)

Example – Manufacturing

Management Information

Aspiration

Current Position

One-year Goal

Two-year Goal

Five-year Goal

Manufacture

To increase number of units made by 20%

1,000 made per year

Increase by 5%

Increase by 10% from base

Increase by 20% from base

Customer Feedback

To have 90% of customers rating our product as good or excellent

80% rate the product as good or excellent

Increase to 85%

Increase to 90%

Maintain

Turnover

£2.5m

£1.5m

£1.75m

£2m

£2.5m

Profit

To improve the return on sales (ROS)

ROS of 10%

ROS of 12.5%

ROS of 20%

ROS of 25%

Blank Template

Management Information

Aspiration

Current Position

One-year Goal

Two-year Goal

Five-year Goal

Appendix 2.6

Strategy (page 13)

Example - Manufacturing

Management Information

Aspiration

Current Position

One-year Goal

Actions/Objectives

Review

Manufacture

To make 1,200 units

1,000 units made

Make 1,050 units

Improve production efficiency and productivity.

Improve staff capability through training and development.

Customer Feedback

To improve % of customers rating the product good or excellent

80%

85%

Review the customer feedback and identify any critical trends and develop action plans to address.

Turnover

£2.5m

£1.5m

£1.75m

Review pricing policy and costs.

Profit

To improve the return on sales (ROS).

ROS of 10%

ROS of 12.5%

Efficiencies/pricing policy.

Blank Template

Management Information

Aspiration

Current Position

One-year Goal

Actions/Objectives

Review

Strategy (page 13)

Example – Manufacturing

Objective

Activities

How?

Who?

Timeframes

To make 1,200 units

Increase production efficiency

Adopt lean techniques

Production Director

3 years

Blank Template

Objective

Activities

How?

Who?

Timeframes

Appendix 2.7

Structure (page 14).

Example organisation structure diagram:

Leader

Appendix 2.8

Customer Service Manager

Operations Manager

Sales Advisor

Accounts Admin.

Accounts Admin.

Production Operative

CS Advisor

Production Operative

Finance Manager

Structure (page 14)

Example – Generic Role

Job Title

Reception/Administrator

Job Overview (aligned to strategic ambition)

To be the first point of contact for customers either in person, by telephone or by email.

Key Responsibilities

To answer all incoming calls, deal with enquiries or pass to appropriate colleagues.

To book in visitors.

To respond to visitor questions.

Key Skills and Values (including qualifications)

Qualifications

· Customer service (will be supported to achieve customer service qualification if not held)

· Business administration (desirable).

Skills

· Telephone skills

· Verbal communication

· Microsoft Office skills

· Organisation.

Values

· Handles pressure

· Professionalism

· Customer focus

· Teamwork.

Accountabilities

Customer experience feedback.

Health and safety/security; maintain safe and clean reception area by complying with procedures, rules and regulations.

Adherence to relevant policies and work instructions.

Blank Template

Job Title

Job Overview (aligned to strategic ambition)

Key Responsibilities

Key Skills and Expertise (including qualifications)

Accountabilities

Appendix 2.9

Systems (page 16)

Suggested approach to creating work instructions.

1. Revisit the task to ensure you remember exactly how it’s done.

2. Develop a plan that divides the task into a series of steps.

3. Write a summary of each step.

4. Rehearse the work instruction to confirm all steps are detailed and the steps are in a logical order.

Appendix 2.10

Systems (page 16)

Example process flowchart: Purchasing Process

Complete purchase requisition form

Approved?

Purchase requisition

No

Yes

Credit or cash?

Fill out CCPR

Cash

Credit

Independent contractor (IC)?

No

Yes

IC’s agreement filled out or on file

Obtain Purchase Order (PO) from Controller

Invoice CCPR

Invoice PO

Documents to Controller for approval

To Controller

Purchasing Process

Appendix 2.11

Style (page 17)

Autocratic Leadership

Leader holds all authority and responsibility. They make decisions on their own without consulting people in the organisation and expect prompt implementation. There are distinct disadvantages to using this style. It promotes very little learning as employees are merely told what to do and not how to do it; there is no room to exercise judgement and therefore develop. Morale can be negatively affected with employees feeling stifled and frustrated. Productivity can be hampered as a lack of autonomy can dampen enthusiasm. Managers can often find this style exhausting. However, there might be circumstances where this style can be effective: for example, when the business faces a sudden crisis or emergency. In this instance it may be necessary to act quickly and decisively to avert a threat.

Democratic Leadership

People are involved in decision making and contributions are valued. The democratic leader retains final responsibility but considerable authority is delegated to others. Communication within the organisation is both upward and downward. This style can be effective when a circumstance requires an input of ideas to arrive at solutions such as when managers are uncertain about how a project should progress or a problem be solved. If the working environment is stable and not subject to upheaval or uncertainties, then this style can work well, particularly where employees are experienced qualified and have proven they are able to carry out their duties autonomously. However, the style has its disadvantages; progress can be slow since input is required from employees at every stage. Where staff members are not experienced or well-trained this style can be ineffective as close supervision may be required and consume the leader’s time and effort. This style is often ineffective in a crisis, where swift and decisive action is required with insufficient time to seek employees’ views (or where conflicting opinions may put a brake on any meaningful action).

Strategic Leadership

Strategic leadership is primarily concerned with strategy formulation and implementation. The ability to make decisions (or support others to make decisions), which enhance the prospects for the organisation's long-term success. Strategic leadership provides a sense of direction and builds ownership and alignment between staff and strategy. However, this style sometimes fails to focus on the details, such as implementing robust systems to measure progress towards goals. The style can be particularly effective in small, growing businesses where the speed of change can generate potentially confusing situations. It helps to communicate the meaning of events to employees and can give them a sense of direction. Effective strategic leaders have the ability to make sense of a complicated situation and then help their employees navigate their way through it.

Transformational Leadership

Motivates others to do more than they thought possible. Sets more challenging expectations and typically achieves higher performance by empowering staff to aim high. This style values innovation, flexibility and versatility and is therefore effective at keeping the business relevant. However, some employees are uncomfortable with change and may be unwilling to adapt; this can result in demotivation and employees leaving the business. The fluidity of this style can be well suited to growing businesses where change is inevitable and needs to be embraced. It can enable leaders to innovate and find new ways of working as opportunities and challenges present themselves.

Team Leadership

A clear vision of future success and the ability to align hearts and minds to its achievement are two key attributes of this style. At its best this style is inspirational and provides a strong sense of purpose and direction. It encourages employees to feel part of the business and value themselves as investors in its success. However, it carries with it a risk of alienating certain employees when, for example, their ideas are not taken forward. In addition, it can result in too many people trying to lead the team and insufficient focus on getting the job done. This style is particularly effective in creative industries or in situations that require ideas and input from employees to solve a particular problem. It can also be effective in motivating staff as it strengthens the perception that the leader is on the same level as them.

Laissez-faire Leadership

Allowing people to work as they choose with minimal or no interference, it is perceived to be a less satisfying and less effective management style. The lack of direction set by the leader can result in objectives not being met (or even set) and employees not working together in a coordinated fashion. However, there may be situations where this style can be effective such as when employees need space to be creative and too much direction could hamper their efforts.

Coaching Leadership

Motivating, inspiring and encouraging, this style can help to develop a strong bond between leaders and the wider team and support fostering of respect and cooperation. Employees are encouraged to learn, develop and become better at their jobs and will often actively seek out opportunities for professional development or learning. However, this will require leaders who are highly skilled and expert in their field with sufficient credibility to coach their staff effectively. This style is valuable in settings where employees need instruction and training and are motivated to develop. However, it should be avoided where a leader lacks experience and expertise specific to the role of the employee. This style can also be ineffective in a crisis where there is little time for coaching and where efforts need to be directed towards dealing with immediate challenges to the business.

Visionary Leadership

Inspiring through providing clarity of vision - everyone understands their contribution to business objectives with success clearly defined. This style can give employees a sense of freedom, pride and self-esteem, as they are free to perform in a way that is comfortable to them as long as the vision is achieved. This style requires leaders to provide employees with feedback so that they are aware of their performance and progress towards achieving the vision. It is particularly effective where a business does not have a clear direction; the leader can provide the vision and steer the business towards it. This requires a leader with credibility and who commands respect from their employees. Visionary leadership is much less effective where employees are poorly trained or underdeveloped as this means they will need more guidance than usual. It is also ineffective where a leader lacks credibility. Finally, employees may become complacent or feel that the manager does not care about how they work, as they may perceive the style as not being sufficiently ‘hands on’.

Appendix 2.12

Staff and Skills (page 19)

Example - Generic Role

Name

Gene Ricrole

Job Title

Receptionist

Date of Meeting

1/4/18

Review of Performance against objectives

A summary of achievement against the objectives that have been previously agreed.

Objective 1 – review of performance

Objective: Consistently provide good customer service.

Achieved: Customer experience score is at least 4 out of 5.

Development Summary

Record further training and support required, and any areas where performance is particularly strong and should be developed further.

The upgrade to the IT and phone system is planned for the next six months. Training for this will be required.

Development and Training

Specific activities for training and development. To include: training courses, projects, coaching and so on.

Attend introductory day with IT provider.

Attend local college course on software package.

Mentoring support from IT provider to set up and embed the system (1 day a week for 6 weeks).

Blank Template

Name

Job Title

Date of Meeting

Review of Performance against objectives

A summary of achievement against the objectives that have been previously agreed.

Objective 1 – review of performance

Objective 2 – review of performance

Objective 3 – review of performance

Development Summary

Record further training and support required, and any areas where performance is particularly strong and should be developed further.

Development and Training

Specific activities for training and development. To include: training courses, projects, coaching etc.

Appendix 2.13

Staff and Skills (page 19)

Example – Generic role

Objective

Training/ Learning Need

Activity to meet Need

Who?

By when?

Review

Improve efficiency by upgrading the IT software.

To understand the IT software package.

Introductory course.

Reception.

30/09/18

31/10/18

Blank Template

Objective

Training/ Learning Need

Activity to meet Need

Who?

By when?

Review

Appendix 2.14

Shared Values (page 20)

Coca-ColaLeadership – The courage to shape a better futureCollaboration – Leverage collective geniusIntegrity – Be realAccountability – If it is to be, it’s up to mePassion – Committed in heart and mindDiversity – As inclusive as our brandsQuality – What we do, we do well.

William Jackson Food Group (Hull)

Consideration

We are a family business and consider those around us – our colleagues, customers, suppliers and local communities – as part of the family. A community should be a better place for having one of our businesses in it and we make sure this is the case.

People

We look after people well. We respect them and appreciate their role in our success.  We’re keen to attract and develop brilliant individuals who share our passion, our pride and our values. We enjoy seeing colleagues succeed and encourage them to be the best they can be by motivating them and giving them the best possible training.

Integrity

We are ethical and trustworthy. We take pride in knowing everyone in our supply chain, right the way back to the farmer. We value our reputation for supplying fantastic trusted food and make our decisions wisely as whatever we do today will impact on tomorrow. We don’t define rights and wrongs but have a saying “No sharp practice – you will know it when you see it”.

Boldness

Our business is built on boldness. We’ve had to be bold to survive the challenges of the past 165 years. We will continue to be bold in making our decisions and executing our strategies to ensure we survive for another 160 years and more.

Openness

Trusted long-standing relationships are as important to us today as they were to our founder William Jackson six generations ago. We believe great relationships are secured by being honest, open and transparent, with no sharp practice.

Commitment

With more than 160 years behind us, there’s no doubt that we’re in it for the long-term. But in addition to having a business to be proud of today, we must demonstrate the perseverance to ensure we have a future to be proud of and as the custodians of this very special business this is something we are all very committed to.

Bibliography

East Riding of Yorkshire Council Economic Strategy

http://www2.eastriding.gov.uk/council/plans-and-policies/other-plans-and-policies-information/economic-strategy/

Understanding the East Riding Economy: Local Economic Assessment; East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Date Observatory

http://dataobs.eastriding.gov.uk/lea

Future skills needs in the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership Area: Skills Needs in the Priority Sectors, looking to 2023: Visitor Economy; Beyond 2030; June 2017 York North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership.

https://www.businessinspiredgrowth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Calderdale_FNR_Visitor-Economy_Final_01_-Jul-17.pdf

McKinsey Seven S model

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_91.htm

CMI; website and Professional Manager (various issues) – author’s account.

http://www.managers.org.uk/

CiPD; website and People Management publications (various issues) – author’s account.

https://www.cipd.co.uk/

Positive Organizational Behavior in the Workplace: The Impact of Hope, Optimism, and Resilience; Carolyn M. Youssef, Fred Luthans First Published October 1, 2007

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What is reflective practice?; Bright Knowledge

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Reflective Practice: Business Balls

https://www.businessballs.com/self-awareness/reflective-practice-1824/

7 Tips for Effective Time Management; Lee Polevoi

https://quickbooks.intuit.com

The Eisenhower Matrix

http://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/

Leadership Styles

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/12-different-types-leadership-styles-jim-mathiasch

Training Needs Analysis https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/Campus%20CMI/Checklists%20First%20Management%20Role/Training%20needs%20analysis.ashx

“Grow your People –Grow your Business”

A series of Toolkits developed by Associates of Calderdale College on behalf of York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership to support leaders and managers of SMEs in the following priority sectors and groups:

· Construction

· Engineering

· The Visitor Economy

· The over 50s

· Women in Leadership and Management.

This Toolkit was designed by the College as part of an ESF funded Skills Support for the Workforce programme.

March 2018.

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