Rich Baker
Rich is an experienced and innovative senior leader with a passion for employee engagement and customer service.
He has 17 years strategic and tactical management experience including general management, customer service, organisational development, employee engagement, human resources, internal communications, social media, and logistics.
Qualifications include an MBA from the triple accredited Open University Business School, the Post Graduate Diploma in Performance and Change (Merit) and the Professional Certificate in Management.
Rich is also a Fellow at the Institute of Leadership and the Chartered Management Institute and an expert advisor to the Employee Engagement Task Force.
If you're interested in any of the above and would like to connect, choose from one of the services below or click 'contact'.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Tweets
- “@KatyAskew: HR Mag - Economic climate creates a 'new breed' of influential HR director, according to Penna research http://t.co/sq3jeYN1”
- Canadian teenagers send Lego man into space http://t.co/N8cmPZeP
- Cameron tells Davos: Germany must be bold over eurozone crisis http://t.co/HmBIpzxV
- If you care about well being, business performance or making a difference you should follow @Engage4Success #FollowFriday #engagement #in
- Morning! Busy day ahead interviewing but before that some comms work! What about you? 😊
- “@richardbranson: “Eternity is very long, especially towards the end.” - Woody Allen.” ha!
- Feet hurt. That's where I carry my stress weirdly!
- “@kpmarek: Wow. My photo of Waitrose is literally everywhere!! Mad.”
- “@edbatista: BJ Fogg's Behavior Model defines an "activation threshold" that must be crossed for change to occur http://t.co/WEdpjlSl” #in
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Posts
- Oct 14, 11
I've had the pleasure of working with some great people over the years, and there's none better than David Tomkinson, a Director with the andpartnership.
David has over 25 years experience in the retail sector, working with blue-chip organisations including British Home Stores and Boots the Chemist. He has held senior roles in store management, training, development, HR and organisation development. Using his approach based on minimising resistance, he's introduced culture change programmes into large organisations, involving initiatives such as coaching, self-managed teams and 360’ feedback, achieving dramatic business improvements.
In this post, David builds on the thinking around leadership capability.
I have often been struck by the number of leaders that seem to get into a senior role and then spend a large percentage of their time doing their old job, or the jobs of their team.
My experience is that this is often because they are no longer being asked to do what they enjoy, what they are passionate about or what they perceive themselves to be good at.
A good sales person will be promoted to sales manager and suddenly won't be selling any more, but managing others who are. No wonder then, without development and awareness, that they jump back into their teams day to day world at every opportunity. When they say 'I could do this better' they are probably right! Unfortunately getting down into the detail disempowers people, encourages abdication and affects the enjoyment of the Individuals.
Of course there are some leaders who naturally love strategy and 'big picture' and their problem is different - keeping themselves engaged and performing whilst in junior roles that require more detailed involvement!
However, for the majority of junior and middle managers, climbing the 'greasy pole' is quite stressful as they struggle to get clear on what is their role, what they should be delegating and to let go of what they love.
The answer seems to lay in greater self awareness, having 'big conversations' and getting in touch with what what they care about.
If they are clear on what they are trying to create then it makes it easier to make great decisions, they are more comfortable with their role and purpose and they find new enthusiasm in leading a team to deliver their passion. By enabling open and honest conversations to take place, leaders become more self aware and team members can give them feedback when they do inadvertently 'meddle' in their work!
I saw this recently in my interactions with a Managing Director of a large blue chip company. He was driving his team mad by getting involved in solving problems every time they occurred. As a result all leaders were leading at the level below where they should. Also he said to me 'I don't do visions' and struggled to focus on the future rather than the short term. There was a feeling of disengagement throughout the business, and a feeling of not being trusted to do your job.
I worked with the senior team to surface these feelings and got them to have powerful conversations about their frustrations. We then worked on the Future he wanted to create, what he was passionate about and what he was leading for. He was able to articulate this once he let go of the limiting belief that he 'didn't do visions'.
We were then able to engage all the senior leaders in what they were passionate about and how their part of the business can help deliver this future. They were then able to talk to their people in a different way, getting people excited about the future rather than overly focussing on the present. We also got them to identify their limiting beliefs and turn the volume down on these, to allow the more positive voices to be heard.
We helped leaders to develop Coaching skills, to avoid the temptation to jump back in, and undertook regular away days with the leadership team to review progress, identify what still needed to be done and help them to form new habits rather than reverting back to old behaviours.
The result?
Business performance is now at a record high and employee engagement has increased dramatically. Most importantly, the MD is now enjoying his role in shaping the future and leaving the problem fixing to those who have the remit to do so!
You can get in touch with David on 07710 003029 or e-mail at david.tomkinson@andpartnership.com. Read more at the blog at leadership consultants.
- Oct 13, 11
I've been thinking about this recession.
Some organisations are stuck in a vicious cycle. Businesses in all sectors are struggling and many are being forced to restructure/downsize/whatever you want to call it.
As a result, the employees left are concerned about their future. They aren't even certain they'll have a job in 6 months time.
As Maslow eluded to, if you're not getting your most basic needs of job security met, the chances of achieving any higher level needs are slim.
And what does that mean for how people behave? Well, it means people are understandably cautious; they won't raise their head above the parapet. They will cover up mistakes. They won't take risks.
They'll cover for poor performance because they don't want to expose their colleagues.
As a result, organisational performance starts to slip. People try and do too much, and not do it well.
The organisations' performance slips and the inevitable restructure again rears its head. The cycle continues.So, how do we help them break out of the cycle? What needs to happen that is different?
- Oct 12, 11
In your organisation, do you promote people who are good at their job?
What happens when they are promoted?
I'd wager that in a few cases, they thrive - the extra responsibility is something they grasp and they deliver great results, the right way, through their people.
In most cases however, I'd bet they don't.
Here's a recent example. Dave (not his real name) worked in a local shop. He was fantastic with his customers. They loved him. He constantly went out of his way for them; he remembered their morning paper, their usual groceries, even their lottery numbers. Head office recieved many letters and calls about him.
Because he was so good, his manager put him up for a promotion. He was promoted to a management role at the same shop.
So, how is Dave performing now? Well, he's 'steady'.
He's not bad at his job, but the company no longer receives letters and calls about service in that shop.
Why? Dave's replacement isn't as passionate about service as him and whilst Dave was great at service, he's not so great at leading and inspiring people. He's never had the training and development and to be honest, he's a bit out of his depth.
Dave is happy in his new role, but secretly he misses his old job; the instant satisfaction he got from helping people. Yes, he likes the extra cash, but it's not the same.
Recognise something similar in your organisation?
Three lessons here;
- Don't promote people who are only good at their job - it's no indication of their leadership capability
- If you're really serious about customer service, pay and reward your stars what they deserve, not what you can get away with. They'll continue to delight your customers and stay happy
- Leaders aren't born, they are made
What do you think? Are we promoting people who will be great leaders or who are great in the current role?
- Oct 05, 11
In another serendipitous moment, I found this video of hotelier Chip Conley (@ChipConley) talking at TED about how he went in search of a business model based on happiness.
Find out how an old employee and a buddhist king helped him learn that success comes from what you count, and the implications on ourselves, our work and our society.
Enjoy.
- Sep 30, 11
Another interesting and quick video - this time by edelman london with Clare Chapman talking about the relationship between engagement, empowerment and intrapreneurialism.
- Sep 28, 11
Thanks to Raffaela Goodby for the link - this is the first of many (I'm hoping) videos from the Engaging for Success Practitioners Group.
By the way, if you're intending on sharing I'm suggesting we use the hastag #e4s. Thanks!
- Sep 28, 11
Another good employee engagement video, this time from the Birmingham Post, with David McLeod talking with business leaders.
He makes some great observations and points about how to engage employees, with in my opinion, the most important;
You cannot do this unless you have a sincere respect and belief in the welfare of your people.
Leadership doesn't always start at the top, but it's vital you employe leaders who genuinely care for other people, rather than just considering them as a 'depreciating asset'!
- Sep 28, 11
People ask me, why is my twitter name @theintrapreneur? Have you made a typo? ;-)
Well, no. Here is the answer:
Intrapreneur - The spirit of entrepreneurship within an existing organisation. An intrapreneur is a person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organisational environment.
“Intrapreneur’s Ten Commandments” developed by Pinchot:
- Come to work each day willing to be fired
- Circumvent any orders aimed at stopping your dream
- Do any job needed to make your project work, regardless of your job description
- Find people to help you
- Follow your intuition about the people you choose and work only with the best
- Work underground as long as you can – publicity triggers the corporate immune system.
- Never bet on a race unless you are running in it
- Remember it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission
- Be true to your goals, but be realistic about the ways to achieve them
- Honour your sponsors
- Sep 28, 11
We talk a lot about Serendipity on Twitter.
In his classic book, Austin (1978) distinguished four levels of serendipity or chance. They can apply to individuals, but a team provides more opportunities for them to happen – look for the similarities with what happens on social networks.
Have a read and then let me know your thoughts – how do you leverage your networks to improve opportunity?
Chance 1 – ‘blind chance’ or accident. By sheer luck you just happen to find yourself in the right place at the right time. Nothing to do with your lifestyle, though you had the presence of mind to take the opportunity when it appeared.
Chance 2 – wide-ranging exploration. A wide-ranging, energetic, enquiring lifestyle will tend to generate opportunities for useful chances to happen (though it can also result in lack of focus – you have to achieve a balance). As Charles Kettering, the engineer, put it: ‘Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you least expect it. I’ve never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting
down’ (quoted in Austin, 1978).Chance 3 – the prepared mind. ‘In observation, chance favours the prepared mind’ (Louis Pasteur). Specific, highly developed interests and background make you more likely to notice chance events relevant to that background. 3M’s Arthur Fry had been looking for uses for Spence Silver’s semi-sticky glue, so when the bookmarks in his choir-book kept falling out, his ‘prepared mind’ made the link to the idea of the now ubiquitous Post-it note.
Chance 4 – individualised action. This combines Chance III with an enhanced version of Chance II – you not only have a ‘prepared mind’, ready to respond to relevant opportunities that emerge, but also have a lifestyle that makes ‘relevant opportunities’ more likely to happen. This may be, for example, because you increase your networking and communication, or put yourself in more places where you are likely to be exposed to input you can use.
(Thanks to the Open University Business School).
- Sep 28, 11
By Rich Baker
One of the areas I am studied as part of my MBA involved a look at how innovation and creativity manifest themselves in individuals and organisations.
Part of this considers the perception we have of intuition. Rather than it be a ‘magical’ ability that some possess and others do not, it is argued that intuition is more a matter of ‘expert recognition’ i.e. a ‘by-product of of training and experience that has been stored as knowledge’. (Simons, 1988).
Traditionally, in the West we have always sought to rationalise decision making, and this has implications upon the value placed upon both individuals in organisations, and the role they play. I have a friend who has little ‘formal’ education, but is an insightful people manager who always seems to know what to say and when to achieve the best out of people, in sometimes complex political environments. Luckily the organisation in which she works recognises this, and she holds a senior leadership position.
Similarily, our judgement is affected by patterns that might seem rational, are in fact a product of what we might expect to happen.
Try this test;
Which of the following birth orders is more likely?
BGBBGB
or
BBBBGB
Most people assume the first, in actual fact both are as likely to happen.The same would be true if we were to toss coins. This is what is called representativeness bias. (Thanks to the Open University for the exercise).
I’m interested in the impact this has not only on the individual, but also upon decision making in organisations. How do we reduce bias, but harness and leverage intuition?
Thoughts? Does your business/organisation place value upon tacit knowledge or ‘intuition’?
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Info
- Senior business leader, culture and engagement expertTransportation/Trucking/Railroad | Birmingham, United Kingdom, GBSummaryAn experienced and innovative leader and strategist with a passion for employee engagement and customer service. Corporate social media pioneer and intrapreneur.
17 years strategic and tactical management experience, 7 at a senior level, including employee engagement, human resources, internal communications, social media, general management, business strategy, customer service, team leadership, organisational development, and rail catering and retailing.
Qualifications include an MBA from the triple accredited Open University Business School, the Post Gradute Diploma in Performance and Change (Merit) and the Professional Certificate in Management.
An expert advisor to the (David McLeod led) Employee Engagement Task Force.Specialties: Senior manager, employee engagement, organisational development, on-board catering, customer service, MBA, online, strategic business focussed people solutions, coaching, team leadership, general management, internal communications, social media, strategy, innovation, UK.Experience- May 2010 - PresentHead of Employee Engagement / London Midland
Education-
2009 - 2011The Open UniversityMasters in Business Administration (MBA) in Financial Strategy, Innovation, Change, Performance Management, Strategic HR, Business Strategy
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2006 - 2007The Open UniversityPost Graduate Diploma in Management in Managing Performance & Change
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2005 - 2006The Open UniversityProfessional Certificate in Management in Business
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Honors:Nominated and Finalist in Rail Person of the Year Featured in '5 Star Service' - the best selling book by Michael Heppell
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Interests:Communications, Leadership, Social Media, Politics, Engagement, Travel
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