Introduction
Welcome to The Leading Edge! Those of you familiar with the Sage Portfolio Group monthly newsletter have no doubt noticed that this issue looks a little different. We hope you like the new look, and more importantly we hope you find the articles in this issue informative, interesting and engaging. This issue of The Leading Edge includes the second part of Sage Portfolio Group founder, Melanie Parish's four-part article "Is it Management or Organizational Development?" as well as an article about being a values-based organization. We've also included an article about the potential impact of Feng Shui on business success as the first installment of our new series "What's Out There"-a monthly column where we will introduce you to some of the interesting, albeit sometimes strange, things that are going on in the business world today. Once again, welcome to The Leading Edge! Feedback is always welcome at corporateinfo@sageportfoliogroup.com.
Is it Management or Organizational Development?
Part 2
By Melanie Parish, CPCC, PCC
Part One of this article can be read in the January issue of the Sage Portfolio Group Monthly Newsletter, which can be viewed at www.sageportfoliogroup.com/archives.html.
Development Conversations versus Performance Reviews
A typical performance review looks back and gives an opportunity for an employer and an employee to reflect and discuss what has happened. The employee hopes for positive feedback and a raise. The employer hopes she will be able to create a better employee in the future. Even with these idealistic intentions, it is more often the case that both the employer and the employee leave the review simply feeling relieved to be done. It never feels very pleasant but it’s a chore that “has to be done.”
A development conversation is a bit different. This can be a yearly opportunity for the employer and employee to sit down together - maybe over lunch –and reflect. A development conversation is an opportunity to look for ways to maximize performance within the company from the point of view of the employee and employer in collaboration. This opportunity enables the employer to strategize on how to meet the needs of the employee in terms of growth and professional development. It is forward thinking and solution oriented. It is the employer’s job to try to “grow” the employee and to meet the needs the employee requires to for that growth.
It is the employer’s job to hold a vision of the big picture for the employee and find opportunities to provide time/resources to train employees towards a more senior position. In turn, the employee may see an opportunity to share with the employer about untapped skills or resources that may be valuable to the organization.
The development conversation is based on a mutual perspective of good intent. This means the organization assumes it will benefit from positive employee development and will aid the employee to find solutions for development goals. In turn, the employee assumes the organization wants her to develop as a person because there are benefits to an organization with employees who love their work.
Questions for a development conversation with one of your employees:
Where do you see your future 5 years from now?
What skills do you need to acquire to get there?
What do you see within your area that impacts the company most positively?
What do you see within your area that impacts the company most negatively?
What could we do to help overcome those obstacles?
What skills do you have that we aren’t currently utilizing?
Take some time to look in your organization to see where you might be able to utilize development conversations…
Part three of Melanie’s ‘Management versus Organizational Development’ article series will be in the March issue of The Leading Edge
Frog Pond: Reflections From a Values-Based Organization
by: Jennifer Dawson
Sage Portfolio Group is a values-based organization. This means that the company has gone through the enlightening and affirming process of identifying and articulating its key values. But more than simply a one-off statement of what the company stands for that is posted on a web site, being a values-based organization requires an ongoing commitment to ensuring that all aspects of the business are carefully examined for their fit with these values. As a quickly growing company, Sage Portfolio Group is in the process of developing and systemizing its operations, and ideas and inspiration are constantly flying around the office.
As part of the integral check-and-balance in a values-based organization, all employees at Sage Portfolio Group are encouraged to ask the all-important question: “But how does that fit with our values?” in response to the latest idea. Nothing is too small—from purchases of organic fair-trade coffee for office use to the establishment of a creative office vanpool. Rather than being rebuked for offering a sober second-thought, an employee who asks “How does that fit with our values?” is commended for taking operational discussions to a level at which philosophy or principles can be explored.
Sage Portfolio Group’s key values are beauty and quality; innovation and science; absolute integrity; and teamwork and collaboration. Our final value, “frog pond”, is where the title for this column originates.
The frog pond at Sage Portfolio Group - yes, we are a company with our very own pond - has come to symbolize the way the company does business. Sitting out by the frog pond has a peaceful timeless quality. It is comfortable, expansive, and safe. Sitting by the frog pond on a warm Ontario evening with a glass of wine and a meal made with fresh organic produce from the local farm is relaxing and nurturing. There is time to talk. Time to plan. Time to dream. This value is shared with Sage Portfolio Group’s customers through the company’s caring customer service. It is shared with the world through the company’s social consciousness.
Go With The Flow: A Feng Shui Perspective on Business Success
by: Jennifer Dawson
I once had a colour consultant tell me that no colour is absolutely off limits in anyone’s clothes closet; the challenge is simply to find the right shade. That’s a good thing, because in chatting with Feng Shui consultant Christopher Cole I learned that my business wardrobe of basic black and various shades of blue—my most flattering colours, I thought—was not going to guarantee greatness. Based on my birth date, Cole quickly suggested my power colours. Pink? Yellow? This would constitute a complete personality overhaul. “And, for success in business”, he stated without hesitation, “go with brown.” But what about the raucous red sweater I was wearing? “Of your worst colours, red is the most nurturing,” he said diplomatically. Across the phone line, I could hear his smile.
Feng shui—pronounced ‘fung shway’ in Mandarin and ‘fung soy’ in Cantonese—is a 4000 year old Chinese practice that blends an understanding of energy flows with Chinese astrology. Cole, a consultant practicing in the Hamilton area and founder of Balanced Way Consulting, explained that a feng shui practitioner will approach a client’s quest to optimize health and success in both life and business by examining the physical environment—the room, building or property, including influences like neighbours—as well as the astrological aspects of key individuals in the business or family.
For business clients, Cole starts with the business itself. “I treat the corporation as a person, with its own personality. I also feng shui the business according to the nature of the work it does.” A pet store, he explained, will have very different needs from a pulp and paper mill. He finds that his corporate clients usually have two interests. “Everyone wants to make money,” Cole said. “But feng shui clients also generally want to help people, and have a spiritual bent.” The optimum time for a consultation is prior to large changes in an organization: a new product launch, an office renovation, a hiring blitz. It’s at these times of change, Cole notes, that people are open to new ideas and have the capacity to make suggested alterations in layout or colour scheme.
I do believe firmly in energy flows. Anyone who has stood with a group of people in a circle holding hands and watched a light bulb illuminate simply from the electricity flowing from person to person, can’t help but be convinced. So when Cole shared an anecdote about a CEO whose desk faced the window—which meant his back was to the door, as well as to the corporation—it made sense that turning the desk around would improve energy flow. And likely employee morale.
I can also appreciate the interpretive sophistication in the recommendation that a pulp and paper company avoid a red business card. “Your business card is like a snapshot of your face,” Cole said. “Red is a fiery colour. Fire consumes wood.” Which would be a bad idea for forestry products. “We chose more nurturing colours for their cards, green with blue accents, symbolizing growth and renewal.” The company’s profits soared.
But me wearing pink? Maybe I’ll start with brown.
You can check out Balanced Way Consulting at www.balancedwayconsulting.ca
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