Welcome

Welcome to the first Robertson Cooper Newsletter of 2007. This month, the newsletter contains the following:

  • Introducing Vector, our revolutionary new approach to Leadership Development
  • Shortcuts – short news items including, the launch of the Police Well-Being Network
  • Quarterly Quiz – win a signed copy of "Inspiring Leaders" by Cary Cooper
  • Dates for your diary – conferences and events we hope will interest you
  • Robertson Cooper in the press

R&D work at Robertson Cooper reveals ‘Vector’ – A new approach set to revolutionise Leadership Development

Drawing on the latest research, the Product Development team at Robertson Cooper has developed a unique approach to leadership development that brings together the leader and the environment he/she creates for the workgroup.

Research has shown that the way we behave at work is the result of the interaction between ‘Person Factors’ and ‘Situation Factors’ – rather than solely being caused by either one or the other. This idea reflects the reality of most workplace tasks where the outcome is usually the result of a complex interaction between a person’s personality and the elements of the situation they find themselves in. For example, if you are presenting at a conference success or failure is not only determined by your personality, but also by the nature of the venue, the audience and the purpose of the event - and how they all interact with your natural way of approaching the task.

The Vector approach builds on this insight by bringing together two different assessment tools. Firstly, Leadership Impact is a personality-based assessment of the leader, which shows his/her likely impact on the workgroup. Secondly, ASSET assesses the workgroup’s perception of the workplace in terms of what is blocking and enabling productivity and performance. Vector enables organisations to make predictions about the likely impact of leaders and then to check those predictions against how the workgroup actually sees the workplace. The combined results provide a powerful process for developing leaders and workgroups to bring about measurable performance improvements in both. It connects leaders to their organisations.

Vector is unique because it provides a common framework to report on the leader’s likely impact and the key situational factors that drive performance and well-being. It’s different to other approaches because they tend to be solely based on an assessment of the leader’s personality, where the feedback framework is organised to reflect the structure of the person’s personality (person factors). With Vector, the framework used is that of the situation (situation factors) – and the person factors are mapped on to the situation so that the likely impact can then be explored with the leader. This provides a genuinely new view which can be used to form the basis of truly effective leadership development programmes.

Vector is already being used on Senior Civil Service, Police and Local Government leadership programmes and is designed to be used as part of coaching or peer mentoring initiatives. For more information, email sales@robertsoncooper.com or call 0870 3333591.

Robertson Cooper Launches the Police Well-Being Network

During the last five years, Robertson Cooper has worked extensively with the Police Service to reduce work-related stress and improve well-being. This work has included delivering quality of working life / stress audits for fifteen Forces, as well as providing substantial support with post-audit interventions.

We have established a strong police-based network of professionals working in this area and there is now considerable interest in strengthening this network so that forces can draw on it for support as and when they need it.

We are therefore formalising the Police Well-Being Network so that interested parties can join as members on an annual subscription basis. The benefits of membership include invitations to three Police Well-Being networking workshops per year, regular reports on Well-being in the Police Service, a two hour meeting with a Consultant to discuss current issues within the Force and access to telephone advice throughout the year. Members’ organisations also get access to many of our well-being products as part of the package. If you are interested in joining the Police Well-Being Network email Susannah Robertson or call 0870 3333591 and ask for Susannah.

The Quarterly Quiz

The answer to last month’s quiz question was that the top two stressors in Police Control Rooms are work-life balance and lack of control & influence - so the correct answer was C.

The winner of £25 worth of Marks and Spencer vouchers is Julia Brooks, HR Director at WestLB – Congratulations Julia, the vouchers are on their way to you.

In this month’s quiz, we’re testing your knowledge of celebrity psychologists.….from the past. The winner will receive a signed copy of Cary Cooper’s new book “Inspiring Leaders” and a copy of our interactive stress management CD ROM resource, Under Pressure.

We want to know which of the following people is widely recognised as the Founding Father of the modern discipline of Psychology?

  1. Abraham Maslow
  2. Wilhelm Wundt
  3. Jean Piaget
  4. BF Skinner
  5. Albert Bandura

Click here to submit your entry. All correct entries answers will go into a hat and the winner will be drawn at random. Good luck!

We've Grown

As part of our continued growth, we are very pleased to introduce Vikkie Buxton and Sophie Armond who have recently joined our Sales and Marketing team in Manchester.

Vikkie will be working as our new Business Development Consultant. Before joining us, she gained her Psychology degree at Manchester University and then worked in the Drinks Industry for Maxxium UK, as Regional Brand Development Manager.

Kate is our new Marketing Assistant. She started her marketing career with a small marketing agency that worked in the Pharmaceuticals sector. Later, she worked for the Oxford Greyhound Stadium, where she was responsible for marketing the ‘Love the Dogs’ brand.

We are delighted to welcome both Vikkie and Kate to Robertson Cooper and they are both looking forward to providing a high standard of service to our clients.

Conferences and Exhibitions

PPMA Exhibition (formerly SOCPO) - Brighton 28 - 30th March, 2007

The Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA) conference and exhibition takes place in Brighton at the end of March and as usual it's the place to be if you are a senior HR manager or Director in the Public Sector. For the third year running, we will be exhibiting and this reflects our belief that this is the premier event in the public sector HR calendar. If you are a delegate please do come and see us on Stand 44 in the exhibition hall. For more information about the event go to http://www.ppma.org.uk .

Stress, the Workplace and the Law - London, 19th- 20th April, 2007

We have teamed up with Meridian Conferences who are running a new event for HR Directors, Managers and Health Professionals called Stress, the Workplace and the Law in Central London. Our Managing Director, Ivan Robertson will be on the speaking platform looking at the evidence for the link between well-being and productivity, as will our clients at City of London Police and Astra Zeneca. If you would like to book your place, please call Andy Quinn on 0776633 8145 or email aquinn@meridianconferences.com

HR Solutions & Employee Benefits 2007 – Manchester G-MEX 1-2nd May, 2007

The HR Solutions and Employee Benefits show is another important date in the HR calendar. Ivan Robertson will be delivering a keynote speech at this prestigious event and we will also be exhibiting at the show. Because of our involvement in this year’s event we are able to invite you to register for free VIP tickets which include:

  • A complimentary conference pass
  • Fast track into the show
  • Complimentary glass of champagne or other drink

If you would like free VIP tickets, email Sophie.Armond@robertsoncooper.com with your request. For more information about the event go to http://www.employeebenefits-confex.co.uk. If you decide to attend, we would love to see you at Stand 18a.

In the Press.....

The British Psychological Society (BPS) Conference, 2007

This year Robertson Cooper had three papers on the agenda at the BPS conference. Of the three, the one focusing on the links between age and stress presented by Product Development Psychologist, Lucy Watt, received the majority of the press coverage.

The Financial Times reported on this piece on January 10th, 2007 as follows:

‘A study of more than 4700 staff in the Educational sector highlighted the different stress levels felt by workers of different age groups.

The results showed that workers’ stress levels initially increased as they got older, “but the surprising finding was that those aged over 56 years reported significantly less stress than their younger colleagues. This may be because workers over 56 are likely to be approaching retirement age and have a different relationship with work than their younger colleagues…”

Cary Cooper, Director of Robertson Cooper, Business Psychologists, said: “By tailoring any anti-stress interventions to meet the needs of different age groups, organisations could manage stress more cost effectively and could ultimately maximise the potential of an ageing work force.”

People Management – Well-Being Special Issue

Robertson Cooper’s Managing Director, Ivan Robertson features in the ‘Core Values’ article in January’s issue of People Management which focuses on Well-Being. The article by Steve Smethurst covers different perspectives on well-being, including the view that it is already delivering measurable business benefits to many organisations. The piece challenges the view that well-being is just about getting massages at work and doing more exercise. The Well-Being supplement – The Guide to Health and Well-Being - provides an industry overview, case studies and also looks at the Employee Assistance Programmes and Health providers. You can read the ‘Core Values’ article at:
http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/PM/Articles/corevalues.htm

HR Director Magazine February Issue

Based on the work we do at the top levels in organisations, we were recently asked by the Editor of HR Director Magazine to write an article looking at the strategic role of HR Directors. Our Product Development and Marketing Manager, Ben Moss wrote the piece and it appeared in the February issue. Click here to download the PDF version from our website.

Robertson Cooper Management Clinic Column in The Public Servant Magazine

Robertson Cooper now has a regular Management Clinic column in the Public Servant magazine. Each month provide a Business Psychology perspective on the key issues facing the Public Sector. So far we have looked at the difference between leadership and management; the importance of resilience in the Public Sector today; the human side of Capability Reviews and the evidence that improving well-being impacts bottom-line success factors for organisations. To download the PDFs of these articles, click here.

And finally...

We will soon be seeking feedback on our website in advance of its makeover and re-launch later this year. Please look out for our survey which will be issued in February. Everyone who leaves feedback will be entered into a draw with a chance of winning £20 worth of Amazon Vouchers.

We hope you enjoy this issue and welcome your feedback. Please email your comments and suggestions for future issues to ben.moss@robertsoncooper.com

creating well, motivated organisations


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