Former Disengaged Employee reveals “How to stop your staff leaving you to work for your competition”

PERTH, Australia - June 29, 2015 - PRLog -- Lara Steel was, just a few years ago, a high powered middle manager in the non-profit sector turning tax payer millions into community services, while supervising a huge team of over 30 staff.  Having been the quintessential ‘organisational citizen’ she then caught the dreaded ‘employee disengagement’ disease which is going around… decimating businesses from the inside according to recent statistics. She resigned and used her experience to found a management training company that this week releases a world first innovation in frontline management. The EMPOWER Method of Performance Management is the first of its kind in the world to seamlessly combine employee engagement, performance management and talent management strategies in just 7 simple steps.

Steel is highly credentialed, having studied at every major university in Western Australia, with post graduate qualifications in business and completing a Masters in Organisational Psychology, her approach is based on current organisational behaviour and psychological research.

‘There is nothing in the program that isn’t backed up by current research on the topic. It’s all evidence based but I wanted to bring the research to life. So often we hear of these great studies that are completed with relevant findings, but its hard for large organisations to actually implement them. I wanted to make it easier to get the science working on the frontline.’

And with heavy weight clients like the energy giant ABB Australia, Wilson Group and Life Without Barriers seeing the benefits, heads are turning. As Andrew Smith, Plant Manager for ABB Australia put it:

"It has changed my approach in finding solutions to inappropriate behaviour and assigning work. It has highlighted the humanity in the HR activities... Utilising the strengths of our employees with better alignment to the business goals."

Given the costs associated with recruitment, the time it takes to get new staff up to speed, not to mention the loss of years worth of organisational knowledge, letting staff walk away without doing everything to keep them is hard to justify in a business sense. According to Steel, it is only by re-engaging the human side that Managers will be able to move forward with their staff. Her insights into her own journey of disengagement really bring the gravity home.

“ I am 110% convinced that if someone had actually really listened to what I needed, I could still be happily contributing to the organisation. But instead I went on to work for a competitor. It really didn’t have to be like that.”

But its not all heart-strings and fluff either.  There’s strong evidence to suggest that many managers actually avoid addressing underperformance because they are concerned about bullying allegations and harassment/discrimination laws, since many a lawsuit has eventuated from a disgruntled employee after a less than satisfactory performance review. Combining employee engagement and performance management is designed to keep the processes very grounded. There is also a strong component around ‘power dynamics’ which is a topic most training and consultants are silent on.

‘Power dynamics are one of the biggest reasons why false bullying claims and illegitimate unfair dismissal claims are lodged. When someone is disempowered by their manager - particularly if they are losing their job, then many will want to fight back. The trick is to keep them personally empowered no matter how it works out and it is possible when you understand how the different types of power work in that kind of situation.’

Work Life Innovations specialises in ‘Performance Management without the Drama’; delivering customised management training Australia-wide. The EMPOWER Method of Performance Management is released on July 1st. See www.worklifeinnovations.com.au or call 1300 780 329 for more details.

Method outline, explainer video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhBNtfm0kw) and photos attached.



Available for interview.