Xpand

Xpand how you think and change the way you operate - in 2 days

In the two day experiential Xpand programme delegates are taught the thought process that will leave them with an improved and enhanced understanding of how to apply:

• Communication skills
• Team-building strategies
• Decision-making approaches
• Skills to better manage workloads
• An overview on how to effectively manage work and life
• Powerful tools to change negative stress into positive energy

Additional benefits of the programme to your business:

• Decreased absenteeism
• Increased work motivation
• Clarity of focus and energy
• Increased self-responsibility
• A clearer understanding of goals
• More psychologically aware employees

The New Rules For Work

The new rules for work predict who is most likely to become a star performer and who is most prone to derailing. Academic abilities are largely irrelevant. The new measure focuses on personal qualities, such as initiative and empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness.In the new stripped-down, every-job-counts business climate, these human realities will matter more than ever.

Daniel Goleman, Working With Emotional Intelligence

"………….. training has a tendency to react to present needs, rather than build capabilities for the future; to transfer large amounts of information rather than build on the knowledge of participants …….."
Taken from the CIPD's fact sheet on Training: An overview

This is where Xpand is different from other training programmes out there. Based on sound coaching principles the programme is fully experiential, does build on capabilities for the future and does build on the knowledge of the participants.

Change management

Many things cause organisational change. These include:

• Challenges of growth, especially global markets
• Changes in strategy
• Competitive pressures
• Customer pressure
• To learn new organisation behaviour and skills

Research indicates that organisations are undergoing major change approximately once very three years, whilst smaller changes are occurring almost continually. There are no signs that this pace of change will slow down. In this context managers have to be able to introduce and manage change to ensure the organisational objective of change are met, and they have to ensure that they gain the commitment of their people, both during and after implementation.

There are different strategies for change management, Xpand meets these:

Normative-re-educative strategy
This approach believes that changing the norms, attitudes and values of individuals will lead to changes in their behaviours. It is based upon core beliefs, values and attitudes. So change will occur as individuals change their attitudes and this leads them to want to behave differently.

Action-centred strategy
This focuses on problem solving, looking at problems and focussing on remedial action.

Why is change management relevant?

Change management is relevant as though the research finds that change is taking place at an ever-increasing pace, the evidence suggests that most change initiatives fail. For example, recent CIPD research suggested that less than 60% of organisations met their stated objectives which are usually bottom line improvement.

The impact of failures to introduce effective change can also be high; loss of market position, removal of senior management, loss of stakeholder credibility, loss of key employees.

What is work-life balance?

In his book Managing work-life balance David Clutterbuck defines work-life balance as:

• being aware of different demands on time and energy
• having the ability to make choices in the allocation of time and energy
• knowing what values to apply to choices
• making choices

Xpand recognises the enormous pressure on employers to come up with all the answers. By recognising what defines work-life balance, as stated above, the Xpand programme instils in delegates the ability to meet all of the above to enable them to facilitate their own change and embed a work-life balance appropriate to them. Because the programme is based on sound coaching principles, the emphasis always remains on the individual taking control and operating self management.

Why should employers be interested?

The world of work is changing - in the 24-hour, 7-day society, customers expect service at times that suit them. More and more people have to juggle responsibilities at home and in the work place. And when employees are asked about work, the two concerns that emerge most frequently form the CIPD surveys on employee attitudes are long hours and work intensity.

What is the business case?

There are benefits to business when introducing policies to underpin work-life balance issues:

• higher productivity and competitiveness
• increased flexibility
• raised morale, motivation, commitment and engagement
• reduced absenteeism
• improved recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce
• wanting to become an 'employer of choice'
• meeting legal requirements