Hire people who are better than you at what they do, then leave them to get on with it; but never take them for granted…

Let’s face facts – employing people is never an easy thing to do but without the right people, fulfilling the right roles, businesses are doomed to failure.

From the moment you decide you need someone in your business, you are faced with a myriad of challenges and conundrums, some straightforward and some (mostly dependent on the individual) highly complex.

From recruitment to retirement your people will require constant maintenance, care, support and guidance. That’s just the good stuff…

There is of course another side in terms of underperformance, lack of capability, irrational behaviour and emotional behaviour, all of which can be driven by internal or external factors.

The question that all good business leaders should therefore be asking themselves is:

“Do I honestly have the time, inclination and/or the appropriate resources to enable me to deal with the multitude of issues that employing people presents?”

BIS has a wealth of experience in terms of managing people and an in depth, working knowledge of the Human Resource issues that businesses of all shapes and sizes face on a day to day basis.

Regardless of whether it is a one-off incident, a broader cultural issue or simply an area of your business that you addressed yet, we believe we can help.

We don’t claim to have all the answers, but what we do have is an absolute commitment to support your business in terms of establishing the right environment and finding solutions to help you manage what is undoubtedly the most complex, time consuming and yet crucial aspect of running a business.

Consult, not Insult…

“Consult /kənˈsʌlt/ v. 1. tr seek information or advice from (person, book, watch etc.) 2.intr (often foll. by with) refer to a person for advice, an opinion etc. 3. tr seek permission or approval for a proposed action 4. tr take into account: consider (feelings, interests etc.)”

BIS works on a simple principle, if we are there to consult, we’ll do exactly what it says on the tin.

We won’t come in and tell you what you need and how we would do it because we start from the fundamental principle that it is your business and you know it better than anyone else.

What we will do is seek information, consider your thoughts and concerns and acknowledge how you feel about where your business is and where you want it to be.

Once when we have a clear picture will we start to express our opinions and look to provide appropriate advice, guidance and support – looking for solutions that fit with your aims and objectives and take into account the impact on the culture and ethos of your organisation – now and in the future.

Tailored for you and your business…

We have a simple philosophy when it comes to training: “Once we understand what you need, we will deliver what you want, in the way that you want it”

We will work with you to identify what you need to take the individuals in your business to the next level, which directly impacts on the performance and success of your Company.

We make no apologies for over-simplifying our approach to training, but we believe that when we understand what you need, we will be able to provide it either directly or through a network of like-minded, super-motivated providers with well-established reputations.

In terms of what BIS can deliver directly, we have first- hand experience and a proven track record on the delivery of the a wide range of courses, based on the following core subject areas.

Arbitration, Change, Coaching, Communication, Conflict, Counseling, Customer Service, Discrimination Awareness, Diversity, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Management Skills, Negotiation, Personal Effectiveness, Performance Management, Presentation, Problem Solving, Project Management, Stress Management, Teams, Team Dynamics.

Everything from the title, delivery style, content, duration and evaluation will be agreed on an individual basis – nothing beyond the core principles and the fundamentals will come off the shelf.

One size definitely does not fit all…

It’s easy to over complicate organisational design – fundamentally from our perspective it’s about you and your business and looking at what works and what doesn’t in terms of delivering on your core objectives.

We look to ensure that you have the right people in the right roles doing the right things. Companies run on the basis of personalities more often than not fail because when those personalities change the underlying framework isn’t robust enough to cope.

Our approach is always to firstly get an understanding of why you are where you are, what’s working and can be built on and what needs to change and why. Then we will work with you on making the adjustments and bedding in a structure or model that will help to both stabilise and promote growth.

Regardless of your industry, size or background, taking a regular look in the mirror to make sure that you are ship shape and have the right pegs in the right holes has no downsides – the most successful business are always those that flex and adapt to do the best they can in the environment in which they operate; survival of the fittest!

Fulfilling your potential…

There is no easy way to say it – your people are your key resource and you need them to run as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Regardless of the environment they operate in, the best teams are those have the highest performing people, it’s a simple as that.

What we look to do is establish how you currently approach performance management and help you identify how you could do it better.

It may be an individual need for performance coaching or a much broader organisational issue.

Whether it’s a tweak or a complete overhaul, businesses have to address the performance management conundrum if they want to survive and prosper. We will ensure that what you have is appropriate and most importantly can be maintained and driven effectively – to help ensure that your business is moving in the right direction.

When in doubt, choose change…

The phrase above (thanks to Lily Leung!) might sound like a mantra for constant change, for challenging what you do, what your business does, for always looking for ways that you can do things better, for never sitting back and thinking you’ve made it…and that’s why we love it.

If you can’t embrace change and all the benefits that it can bring, you will simply stand still and watch others go past you….yes, some may go past you in the wrong direction, but just because they have followed a similar path but been less successful, it doesn’t mean that adopting the status quo is the better approach, because there will always be more going past you in the right direction.

We don’t advocate change for changes sake – it’s a well-worn but very telling adage. What we do advocate is adopting a mind-set that says you will always strive for something better, for ways to improve and at the same time gradually develop an inherent discomfort with simply leaving things as they are.

We will look to support and assist you with making the Changes you and your business needs – and if we don’t think it’s right we’ll explain why. We are not here to simply facilitate change, we want to add value and help you de-mystify and manage change appropriately, based on you and the culture of your company.

Learning from experience…

We are great believers in the fact that there are very few situations in business that are unique.

Usually someone will have worked their way through a problem that we might find ourselves faced with and even if they didn’t find a solution, the mistakes that they might have made may be as useful to learn from as the solutions that others may have found.

Action Learning is all about learning from others and the approach is straight-forward.

Working with a group of peers, participants get the opportunity to analyse, in depth, an issue or problem they may be facing. Their colleagues will listen, challenge and provide their own thoughts, meaning that by the end of the session, the group has in effect reviewed an issue and proposed solutions collectively.

It is then up to the participant to pick out the bits they liked best and put them into practice – turning the theory into effective business solutions and proving the old adage that two (or more) heads are better than one!

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” (Jennifer Yane)

Stress is an inevitable consequence of operating in a modern business environment.

Whether it’s a little or a lot, occasionally or all the time, we all experience stress in the workplace…..regardless of what some may say.

For some, denial is an issue of pride, for others an admission of defeat and there are also those that want to try and shield others from the impact that stress may have.

From our experience, the only effective way to handle stress is to:

a) Recognise that it exists

and then…

b) Identify what’s causing it.

Once those two steps have been taken, there are a myriad of approaches that can be taken to help people manage their stress levels and find effective coping mechanisms.

The key for us is recognising individual and organisational differences, which will then enable us to build and provide a tailored and appropriate approach – providing workable solutions and a level of understanding sadly missing from the one-size fits all approach that others may look to irresponsibly provide.