GTP22: Unlocking human potential

Investors in Excellence

This blog post has been produced for the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce as part of the 2022 Growth Through People campaign.

Growth Through People is the Chamber’s annual campaign aiming to help local firms boost productivity and grow through improved leadership and people management skills. In 2022 this involves 8 free webinars and events sharing best practice advice and guidance taking place throughout March, and a Growth Through People conference on 30^th March. In addition, throughout the campaign the Chambers will be publishing thought leadership podcasts and blog content such as this.

Thanks to our Headline Partners and Sponsors – Aston University, Birmingham City Council, South and City College Birmingham and the West Midlands Combined Authority - all Growth Through People workshops are free to attend. Interested readers can find out more and register to attend Growth Through People workshops here, and the Growth Through People conference here.

Ban the use of human capital

One of the most regrettable and incorrect phrases used in business is to address people as human assets or capital. It’s better to use the more appropriate human capability or human resources. Even better than these is human potential, as the precursor to improving performance.

The keys to success

From our vast experience in delivering optimal performance improvement, we have twenty keys to success by unlocking people’s potential:

• Learning and Development unlearning what doesn’t work and relearning what could.
• Thinking and planning getting the strategy right so that everyone knows what success looks like and how the business will get there.
• Knowing what to do competency-based performance using a rising scale of good, great, greater, and exemplary working.
• Right attitude living out the core values through the right attitude and the best behaviour.
• Aspire not expire always looking up to continuously stretch and improve without burning out.
• Unlocking keys some of the many quick and easy tried and tested tools and techniques to simply improve work.
• Change management requires robust leadership.
• Personality profiling is so much more than the traditional personality type indicators or trust management tests. Let the true person out and let that person live.
• Motivation giving people their destiny in their own hands and letting them be strategic leaders in their own right.
• Commitment improving the right sort of commitment is a great key to success.
• Self-esteem continuously monitor, measure, and manage morale and working spirit.
• Objective-setting no excuse for not giving people the SMARTER^iie objectives to work to.
• Manage stress a robust stress management and resilience training strategy and programme works wonders.
• Reflect and feedback always make time and allow people to have enough time to reflect and feedback.
• Communicate effectively communicate and respond, push and pull or close the communicating loop with timely output and honest feedback.
• FLO every person doing their bit to become a follower leader organisation.
• Appraisal isn’t a dirty word when you use a bang up-to-date rolling appraisal tool.
• TEAM training, empowerment, appraisal, and motivation.
• Achieving only achieved through leading, resourcing, and delivering of human capability.

There’s more

With these keys to success, people also need great excellence performance tools to get the job done superbly.

About the Author:

Kevin Hart, MD and Programme Director of Investors in Excellence, is a specialist in Strategic Human Resource Management and Talent Development. He has an extensive background in diverse operational situations, managing complex cultural change programmes to meet strategic objectives. An inspirational leader and outstanding team player.