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It has felt like a particularly long winter this year. If you're anything like me, you're happy to see it finally ending. We're pleased to jump into spring with news of several upcoming HR events and activities, including a 1-hour BBC programme on MBTI.
This month, we're delighted to share with you the story of British Library Revisited. British Library is a long-standing OPP client whose leadership development efforts have flourished in recent years. They've had great success and we congratulate them! And if you're a Radio 4 listener, make sure you tune in on 30 March at 9pm to "How Myers-Briggs Conquered the Office" when Mariella Frostrup will investigate the world of the MBTI instrument. We're excited to hear how MBTI comes across in this short programme - it may be controversial it may be dull but it's certainly sure to be interesting and we'll be listening in. Share your views with us afterwards online as we discuss the programme on LinkedIn.
If events are more your style, have a look at this year's events calendar, particularly the upcoming teambuilding workshop on 29 April. Throughout the spring and summer, OPP is offering several seminars and free webinars focused on teambuilding, team performance and MBTI Step II. Make sure you reserve your place soon as these sessions are proving to be very popular.
Enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine and the daffodils this month. Spring seems to be well on the way!
Penny Moyle
Head of International Business
 British Library revisited: leadership development works
Alistair McIntosh, Organisation Development Manager at the British Library, summarises: "The LDCs have given our senior managers a fantastic opportunity to raise their self-awareness. They have learnt to enhance their effectiveness by playing to their strengths as well as addressing their development needs. The LDCs are now a platform to offer similar opportunities to even more staff, which we believe will have a positive impact on the overall performance of the Library."
The Library's current change programme promotes leadership as a continuous development journey for its managers. Since 2006, OPP has helped the organisation implement a series of development activities, the core of which is a three-day development centre, targeted at senior leaders within the Library. The first Leadership Development Centre (LDC) was held in March 2006, and LDCs are still being delivered now as the programme is rolled out throughout the Library's senior management grades.
Read more about the British Library's success in leadership development > >
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Upcoming event on team effectiveness - Book your place now!
Deconstructed and reconstructed: engage and energise newly formed teams and remote working groups for immediate success
29 April 2010 – London Developed specifically for HR managers within organisations, this is an ideal session to help you support your team leaders who are struggling with:
- Rebuilding their staff teams
- Engaging remote employees
- Improving morale
- Retaining top talent
In this half-day session, learn how to leverage team build exercises to keep newly formed functional groups and remote working groups engaged, energised and driven to deliver. You'll leave this session equipped with the essential practical tools and principles associated with team building so you can immediately apply them and make a difference within your workplace.
Call now on 0845 603 9958 to book your place for just £99 (+VAT)
Request a call back > >
Download a PDF of the full event description > >
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 Why I love MBTI ThinkBox!
Nicki Hickson
Director of Learning & Development for the UK and Ireland
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young have embraced the intersection of personality knowledge (through MBTI) and online technology and are using MBTI ThinkBox to tailor and strengthen their coaching and leadership development efforts in the UK. Nicki Hickson, Director of Learning & Development for the UK and Ireland, explains:
 "...our internal coaches are now using MBTI ThinkBox to work with their coachees - sometimes to gain additional insight into how to approach a coaching engagement, but often actually with a coachee to work through a development need and make it that much more relevant to that person. The ability to instantly leverage the power of type so that our employees can really understand what's going on in their internal and client relationships is really valuable. Our coaches have been able to work with coachees to gain a better understanding of type and how they apply it to their everyday relationships at work."
From the coachee point of view, Nicki reports that "it's very accessible and people have been impressed with the way that you can access a multitude of resources - for some people the videos have been quite resonant whereas for others, they've really valued looking at particular authors who are experts on a particular management or development topic. It's not only useful for the type lens it provides - recently I used it with someone and we were able to zone in on a particular competency and find specific resources aligned to that development need."
- Nearly 1,000 bite-sized modules are fit for fast, informal, relevant learning
- Available 24/7 via the web, personalised for each subscriber
- Search resources by personality type, business issue, or competency framework (customisable)
Learn more | Download PDF datasheet | Register now for an online demo
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Upcoming Seminars and Webinars – Book now to reserve your space!
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Book your place today and watch this space for more events in 2010 including a London-based 14 July event with international type expert, Dr. Jean Kummerow. Want to know more about this year's events? Download our current 2010 events calendar.
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20 April
Webinar
11am - 12pm |
Psychometrics and ROI – learn how to evaluate your investment in psychometrics
This webinar gives an overview of the concept of Return on Investment (ROI), and how it can be applied to business psychology, outlining the issues and possible solutions in assessing the effectiveness of training and development.
Register now > > |
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29 April
London
9:30am - 12:30pm |
Deconstructed and reconstructed: learn how to focus newly formed teams for immediate success
In a world where teams have been deconstructed, reconstructed and refocused, how do we keep our employees energised and our teams motivated? In this half-day session, learn how to leverage team build exercises to keep newly formed functional groups engaged, energised and driven to deliver.
Learn more> >
Reserve your place today - call 0845 603 9958 |
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14 July
Webinar
9.30am-
11.00am |
How to present and sell MBTI Step II: An introductory guide for internal HR managers and independent consultants
Interested in exploring the facets of MBTI type? This introductory session provides an overview of Step II facets and how they surface in decision-making, outlining the key business benefits and applications of Step II. This webinar is excellent for MBTI Step I qualified practitioners who are looking for deeper insight and is also a great refresher for those who are already MBTI Step II qualified.
Pre-qualification:
Register now > > |
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14 July
London
1pm registration & networking lunch
Session
2pm-5pm |
Going Deeper with your MBTI Step II Sessions in Teams, Careers and Coaching
Utilising material from a forthcoming publication, MBTI Step II Applications, international type expert Dr. Jean Kummerow, will provide examples and techniques to enhance your use of the Step II. This highly informative session is ideal for MBTI practitioners who are either Step I or Step II qualified and interested in staying up to date with the latest developments in the world of MBTI.
Join us at 1pm for a networking lunch. Session begins promptly at 2pm.
Pre-qualification:
- Delegates must be MBTI Step I or MBTI Step II qualified
- Delegates must have completed MBTI Step II questionnaire prior to session and receive feedback (learn more about questionnaire process, feedback and fees)
- Delegates who are not MBTI Step II qualified are encouraged to join the 14 July webinar on How to present and sell MBTI Step II: A guide for internal HR managers and independent consultants
Reserve your place today - call 0845 603 9958 | |
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 The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni
Review written by Vanessa Rhone, Lead Trainer, OPP
Lencioni offers key messages packaged within an easy to digest format.
Lencioni has a penchant for packaging key themes about leadership and teams into a story, followed by the key areas to concentrate on. Overall, this book seems to bring the ideas of Good to Great to life through the story of two leaders. One (Rich) demonstrates the all the characteristics and practices of a great leader, whilst the other (Vince) is intelligent, analytical and hardworking, but does not do as well.
One of the things I enjoyed about this story was Rich's focus on reflection and continuous development and re-invention. As his company grows he has to learn how to maintain the appropriate culture, whilst delegating more to others. He faces a number of dilemmas and has to overcome the temptation to just do more of the same, working longer hours and reducing his life balance. So, he decides to focus on what is important and settles on four disciplines:
- Build and maintain a cohesive team, creating team members who knows each other well enough to say what they really think and feel, so that issues are surfaced and dealt with effectively. It is quite heartening for those of us who use MBTI, that the team use an MBTI session to develop their relationships
- Create organisational identity, by going through a process of establishing the purpose, values and strategy of the organisation
- Over-communicate to the organisation, in recognition that one communication is not enough. Lencioni outlines a number of different methodologies to consider
- Reinforce the organisation's culture and focus through HR systems, by aligning recruitment, performance management, reward and dismissal to achieve the organisational goals
These are not new ideas, but they are packaged well and they do emphasise what is important. The downside is that the book makes the huge complexity of organisational life sound rather simple and formulaic.
I strongly recommend this book as introductory reading for managers who are new to leadership as it communicates leadership messages in a brief and coherent fashion. More sophisticated or challenging leaders will want the depth provided by Good to Great or similar.
Buy now from Amazon > >
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Word on the street
MT Expert's Ten Top Tips: Help your team through the change curve Management Today
So how can managers steer their teams through the curve effectively? MT asked Ameet Thakkar, a consultant at OPP, for his top tips.
Read more...
Police spend one fifth of time completing HR, IT and finance duties Personnel Today
Police spend one-fifth of their time completing back-office duties such as HR, IT and finance, research has shown.
Read more...
A cultural shift is needed to encourage flexible working, says work and pensions secretary HR Magazine
The secretary of state for work and pensions is expected to call for a 'major cultural shift' in the way firms approach flexible working. In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Yvette Cooper said part-time work should not mean an end to career progression in a company.
Read more...
Half of workers now want job for life, finds study People Management
The recession has created a workforce that craves stability and security rather than pay or advancement, according to research by professional services firm Towers Watson.
Read more...
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