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Engaging People

Which Approaches Work Best?

Dr George Sik

eras ltd

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When it comes to engaging people, it’s

not a ‘one size fits all’ solution – it’s

strictly horses for courses

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So what seems to work in the

following areas…?

• Customer Service

• Education

• Finance & Administration

• Management

• Healthcare

• IT

• Production

• Sales & Marketing

• Technical

…and, of course, good old HR!

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How different are the Public and Private

Sectors?

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We chose to look at approaches to

Leadership and to Conflict

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Leadership

The Commander: Listen to me!

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The Democrat: I speak for the

people!

Leadership

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The Driver: Give me 110%!

Leadership

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Leadership

The Motivator: Ask not what I can do for

you…

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Leadership

The Pragmatist: Give us the tools and

we’ll finish the job!

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Leadership

The Visionary: Here’s my idea…

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Conflict

Avoidance: ‘Sort it out amongst yourselves!’

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Conflict

Competition: ‘You get nothing for coming

second!’

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Conflict

Compliance: ‘Anything you say!’

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Conflict

Conciliation: ‘Give a little, take a little…’

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Conflict

Co-operation: ‘Let’s work together!’

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But out of all these ways of behaving, what

seems to work best where?

Remember the categories:

• Customer Service

• Education

• Finance & Administration

• Management

• Healthcare

• HR

• IT

• Production

• Sales & Marketing

• Technical

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The Commander: Listen to me!

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Commanders predominate in Management

and in Sales & Marketing

They are rare in Customer Service, Finance

& Administration, Healthcare and IT

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The Democrat: I speak for the

people!

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Democrats predominate in Customer

Service, Education and Healthcare

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The Driver: Give me 110%!

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Drivers predominate in Sales & Marketing

and are rare in IT

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The Motivator: Ask not what I can do for

you…

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Motivators predominate in Customer

Service, Education and Sales & Marketing

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The Pragmatist: Give us the tools and

we’ll finish the job!

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Pragmatists predominate in Finance &

Administration and Technical roles.

They are rare in Customer Service,

Education, Healthcare and HR

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The Visionary: Here’s my idea…

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Visionaries neither predominate nor are rare

in any areas we have examined. I guess they

are ‘one offs’!

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Avoidance: ‘Sort it out amongst yourselves!’

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Avoidance is common in Customer Service,

Education, Healthcare, HR and IT

It is rare in Management

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Competition: ‘You get nothing for coming

second!’

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Competition is common in Management

It is rare in Customer Service, Education

and Finance & Administration

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Compliance: ‘Anything you say!’

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Compliance is common in Customer

Service, Education and Finance &

Administration

It is rare in Management

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Conciliation: ‘Give a little, take a little…’

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Conciliation is common in Customer

Service, Education, Healthcare and HR

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Co-operation: ‘Let’s work together!’

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Co-operation is common in Customer

Service, Education, Healthcare and HR

It is rare in Technical roles

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As for differences between the

Private and Public Sectors…

Very little stands out in the Private Sector,

which may not be surprising, given the

diversity of company sizes, roles and

cultures.

However, it DOES seem that there is a very

noticeable Public Sector culture…

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The Public Sector is especially likely to sort out its

differences using Co-operation and Conciliation (NOT

Avoidance, in case you were wondering – in fact, that’s

a little more common in the Private Sector!)

It has more than its fair share of Democrats but is very

short on Pragmatists

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One final thought: because these different ways of

behaving predominate in different areas, it is natural to

think of them as being routes to engagement in those

areas.

However, it’s important to remember that just because

something occurs frequently, that doesn’t necessarily

make it successful. What we see every day, isn’t

necessarily good.

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Thank you